Saturday morning, I made the dreaded drive out to Dodger Stadium. I love the Dodgers, but I hate LA traffic especially around the stadium. No matter the time of day, it's always a pain in the butt to navigate. Since it was also raining, I was expecting the worst. I got there around 9am and ran into a lot of traffic from those finishing the 5k race. The rain wasn't that hard when I first got there, but it started to really pour.
Raining cats and dogs!
Welcome to Dodgertown!
Go Dodger Blue!
Expo time
I was glad to see that they had improved the bib and shirt pickup process. They each had their own separate tents to accommodate the people picking up their race packet as well as those running inside to get out of the rain. The tent with the official race merchandise was a mess. It was not their fault that the tent was faulty. It was leaking a lot of water which ended up forming a nice big river right through the middle of the floor.
Bib Pickup
A river runs through it!
After picking up my stuff and buying a pair of LA Marathon gloves, I went outside to check out the booths. There wasn't much to see as there were quite a few empty booths, either from no-shows or abandonment due to the down pour.
Before heading home, I stopped by Little Tokyo to buy some snacks. I bought some beer to help me get some rest. The worst of the cold was over, but I was still dealing with sinusitis and bronchitis which made it hard to breathe and have a nice restful sleep. I was still coughing up a storm with the occasional phlegm.
I sifted through my expo haul and noticed that I had Dodger Suite Access! I totally forgot that I had signed up as a charity runner with Train 4 Autism. They are one of the charities I support each year.
Carboloading with Japanese beer and snacks
Expo haul
Dodger Suite Access!
My Team in Training coaches always told us, "nothing new on race day!" I must frustrate my coaches since I never really did follow their good advice. For this race, I had put together my Superman costume. I never did do a test run with any of it. So I ran with a new singlet, arm sleeves, shorts, shoes, and cape!
Everything you see here is new for race day!
Race day
I woke up at around 1:30am to get ready and felt horrible. I felt exhausted and just plain miserable. But I've felt worse before so I got ready anyways and headed out to Santa Monica to meet up with my Coyote friends and ride their special chartered bus to Dodger Stadium. There was a mix-up with the pickup spot, so the bus driver was late.
Waiting for the Coyote bus to Dodger Stadium
When we got to the stadium, I had to rush to the suites to take care of "business". My GI system usually gets jacked up when I drink too many beers. But it was a small price to pay to get some sleep. After exchanging pleasantries with my charity friends, I headed over to the gear check area to meet up with my friend who had decided last minute to run in costume with me. We bumped into more of our friends.
Sam (Operation Jack) being interviewed
Train 4 Autism Dodger Suite
Wonder Woman and Superman
We headed over to corral C, the sub 5 hour corral. It was definitely not as chaotic as being in the free-for-all Open corral. One of my friends wasn't able to sneak in with us. Bummer.
Starting line
Corral C
Goal A: 5:30 and have fun
Goal B: 5:45-6:00 I did not know how hard it would be to breathe
The race
We took the first mile or so really easy. I increased the pace a bit and the right ankle was again coming up sore. After a few miles, I decided to ditch the plastic rain poncho. The clouds were breaking up and the weather was looking nicer as the race went on. We separated for a while since my friend needed to adjust her costume. I jogged along for the next couple of miles until she caught up. It was pretty difficult running with sinusitis and bronchitis. I just had a hard time getting enough oxygen. I even had to duck inside a pho restaurant to get some napkins so I could blow my nose! Also with the GI issue, it was a rather uncomfortable run. My friend caught us and passed us around Hollywood.
Around mile 14, we stopped into the Saddle Ranch Chop House to get some drinks. My legs were feeling really heavy at this point so I welcomed the break. After the drink, I was able to run a little bit better since it numbed my ankle a bit. We found Jesus in West Hollywood.
We found Jesus!
I then started putting the crawl in the pub crawl. As much as I could, I made it a fartlek run. I put in a lot of speed bursts especially when running around corners. I was definitely pretty cranky and whiny when I'm sick. But my friend really kept things fun and helped me along. The spectators loved the costumes. Around mile 18 we stopped by a liquor mart to get another drink. We sat down at a curb, which I'm well known to do from time to time during a marathon. Then the next drink was at the VA where the going usually gets tough. My legs were sore and I kept looking forward to the next drink stop. For our last drink, we took a shot of bourbon at a Cheesecake Factory in Brentwood. It helped with the cough. :)
Those SRLA shirts must be made of Kryptonite
photo taken by Denise Taylor
photo taken by Denise Taylor
10k: 59:35
20k: 2:07:59
30k: 3:33:00
40k: 5:16:28
Finish: 5:34:03 Wonder Woman really did not want to run a 6 hr marathon :)
I didn't spot the majority of the mile markers, so I didn't have my mile splits. That was probably a good thing, which really forced me to run by feel.
Post race
Although I was feeling pretty run down and ragged after the race, I had a ton of fun. So much fun, we might have to make it a pub crawl every year! Wonder Woman and I parted ways as she needed to check out of her hotel and I had to meet up with my friend who had finished over an hour earlier. I met up with my friend and a few others at the Ye Olde King's Head. We tried to eat there, but the service was slow. We left and went our separate ways. We then went to a Coyote post marathon party near the morning bus pickup spot.
After hanging out for a while, my friend and I got cleaned up and went to Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills. It was my first time. I heard great things about the place and was excited to finally eat here. I was super exhausted and surprised I didn't just fall asleep in my food. I was so tired that I really didn't touch the steak. Probably a good thing since I was dozing off on my drive home. I should've pulled over and gotten coffee. I guess that's what happens when I've been up since 1:30am, sick, and just ran a marathon. I'm definitely not a machine or the energizer bunny. :)
The house salad was very good. I've been eating a lot of salads lately instead of heavy foods and I feel much better. The ahi tuna tartare was also very good. I love ahi tuna. The lobster mashed potatoes was what I was really craving. It was every bit as good as described on Yelp. Then came the Chef's cut ribeye chop. It was a good steak. I don't know if this makes sense, but I was just too tired to eat anymore. But I had the leftovers 2 days later and it was still very good. Sorry to say I did not get a picture of the steak. Yes, I was that tired. :)
House salad
Ahi tuna tartare
Lobster mashed potatoes
3 comments:
Love your report! Can't wait for Hollywood - have to get a cool costume ... Thinking Michael Jackson maybe - hehe!!
Love the costume and the addition of beer and shots to the race- I actually laughed out loud as I read about you making those stops along the way. I'm very impressed you came in under 6 hours with drinking during the race.
Sounds like a fun LA Marathon/pub experience!
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