I took an early direct flight out of LAX to Reagan National Airport. My row lucked out as there was no one in the center seat. I tried to get some sleep, but the seat was just too uncomfortable. So I ended up playing a bunch of solitaire on my Kindle. DCA is one of my favorite airports. It is directly connected to the Metro rail, so it's very convenient. Once I landed, I made a beeline to the Metro station to catch a train to the DC Armory.
In hindsight I had enough time and should've stopped by my hotel to drop my stuff off in my room. Instead I went straight to the expo and totally forgot about going through security check before entering the Armory. Yes, I was that idiot that dragged his bags through security. Oh well, it was a pain in the ass, but I got through it. I picked up my race packet and also for my friend. I then bought a luggage tag for my friend who helped me out by picking up my stuff for the LA Marathon. Before leaving the expo, I remembered to buy a pair of CEP compression socks for my plane ride home. I've heard nothing but good things about these socks for recovery.
American Airlines
Armory
Back of shirt
Luggage tag
I then rode the train to Chinatown to eat my pre-race bowl of ramen at Daikaya. Along the way from the station to the restaurant, I bumped into a bunch of my Marathon Maniac friends. What a coincidence! Once at the restaurant, I was able to grab a seat at the bar and got to see them prepare each bowl of ramen for all of the patrons. This restaurant had a hipster feel to it and most of the employees there were not Japanese. I ordered the Mugi miso ramen and added nitamago. The ramen was good with perfect noodles and flavorful broth, but it was expensive. They have an a la carte menu, so your bowl can get pretty expensive really quick.
Chinatown
Mugi miso ramen
After getting my ramen fix, I hopped back on the Metro to get to my hotel the Club Quarters just Northwest of the White House at the Farragut Square. I'm a fan of staying at a Club Quarters. They're always nice and clean with very easy to use self check-in/check-out machines. They also give out free bottled water. It's those little things that makes a hotel stay that much better.
Nice bed
TV
Decent shower
Bathroom
Before turning in for the night, I went back out to get my usual meal from a nearby McDonald's. I found one about a block away. After eating my Big Mac and McNuggets in my room, I got my gear ready while watching some TV. I had to prepare for rainy weather as they were forecasting a 70% chance of rain.
Big Mac and Chicken McNuggets
Race gear
Saturday
The race started at 7:30am at the corner of Constitution Ave NW and 14th Street NW. So around 5:30am I started my walk to the starting area. I saw no one along the way. I guess everyone either got someone to drop them off or took the Metro. I got there early enough that I had a pick of which portapotty to use in the corral area. I found it quite funny that out of the hundreds of portapotties out there, there was two old guys hanging just outside of my portapotty talking about their prostate.
Starting line
After taking care of business, I hung out near the gear check area to wait for my friend. I noticed for the first time at a Rock n' Roll race that they were using those yellow school buses instead of UPS trucks. I think this presented a problem because there were huge lines for every gear check bus. The doors were not big enough openings compared to UPS trucks. Clearly this was not a well thought out idea.
Dr Spandex!
Goal was to finish under 5 hours.
I started with my friend in corral 7. But the pace was a bit quick for me after a couple of miles. I had to save something for the LA Marathon. For most of the race starting from about 1 hour into the race, I was fighting the urge to go number 2 or 1.5... my sphincter muscle got quite the workout. I liked the course but it was deceptively challenging. It was as if there was a small hill or climb around every turn. We ran with the half marathoners for just a little over 12 miles. As they were making their final push for the finish line at the RFK Stadium, we turned the other way to run about 14 more miles. It was good to see some of my fellow Maniac friends on the out-and-back sections. I kept the effort pretty even, but it actually got a little warm near the end and I started to deal with leg cramps. I love the course for the Marine Corps Marathon, but this one wasn't too bad.
Early in the race from Michael Hoyt
1: 8:44
2: 8:16
3: 8:39
4: 9:24
5: 9:16
6: 9:24
7: 10:40
8: 9:36
9: 9:45
10:10:01
11: 9:52
12: 10:07
13: 10:55
14: 10:18
15: 11:23
16: 11:32
17: 11:19
18: 11:56
19: 11:48
20: 11:32
21: 12:19
22: 12:29
23: 13:23
24: 12:30
25: 12:10
26: 12:48
26.2: 1:59
Finish: 4:42:09
Finish area
After the race, I had to get back to my hotel as quickly as possible so I can shower before my flight back to LA. So after getting my gear bag, I headed for the Metro station to catch a ride back to the hotel. I opted for a late checkout for $35. With room tax that came out to about $40. I'm sure my fellow passengers were grateful that I did that before getting on my flight. I wore the CEP compression socks for my flight home.
The first leg was on a small regional jet to Nashville, TN. I love these flights because people cannot bring on those humongous "carry-on" bags. Also on my side of the plane, it was just one seat. During my layover in Nashville, I ate at a Burger King because I could not find a McDonald's. Whoppers are good, but I still prefer Big Macs. :)
After getting on the second leg back to LAX, I had to rush to get down to Costa Mesa to meet up with my friend that helped me out with picking up my race packet. I met up with him at Ramen Yamadaya to eat a late dinner.
BK Whopper and chicken nuggets
Sunday
I barely woke up after my final alarm went off. I seriously considered bagging the race and going back to sleep. Instead I got ready and started heading for Santa Monica. The 60 freeway was closed down near the 605. I had to get off of the freeway and head over to the 10 freeway. I really hate the 60 freeway. It is the crappiest freeway at all hours of the day. Eventually I made it and parked in the big parking lot just South of the Crescent Bay Park on Ocean Ave. I gathered my stuff and made the trek over to the bus shuttle stop by the Civic Center on Main St.
I bumped into a few of my friends while boarding the bus. After being dropped off at Dodgers Stadium, I made my way to the luxury suites that were opened for charity runners. It's always good to use real flushing restrooms instead of portapotties.
Luxury suite for charities
View from the suite
I tried to meet up with a few of my friends to run together, but that didn't work out. Good thing because I would have totally slowed them down a lot. After bumping into a few of my friends at the gear check, I put on my cape and headed for Corral C. I hung out with some fellow Marathon Maniacs and chatted with one of the pacers. Some of the runners found it funny to see that my bib said Clark Kent as I was dressed as Superman.
I didn't noticed this at first when I took the picture, but the guy wearing the shirt with "To God be the glory" on the back of his shirt was a Legacy Runner that I had spoken with several years ago because we went to the same barber. He starting talking to me when he saw that I was waiting to get a haircut wearing my 20th anniversary LA Marathon t-shirt. Great to see that he is still running!
Corral C
Super friends!
Goal was to just finish.
I was super tired, but it was great to start the LA Marathon once again with Randy Newman's "I Love LA!" blaring through the speakers. It was my 9th LA Marathon. It would've been my 10th in a row, but I skipped the one in 2011 with the torrential downpour to run the NYC Half Marathon. As usual the first mile around Dodger Stadium was super slow. It's mostly uphill and just a big clustersmurf! The legs were tired and sore, but good enough. My plan was to just run the first 10k and re-evaluate from there. That would get me through the steep hill with the taiko drums. Along the way I bumped into Supergirl with a nice big flowing pink cape. I kept an eye out for Cousin Sal on Hollywood Blvd, but didn't find him.
There goes Supergirl!
Running down Hollywood Blvd
After reaching the halfway point, I stopped in at the Saddle Ranch Chop House in West Hollywood to get my first beer for the race. I chugged a Guinness and headed back out for some more running. Kind of missed running with Wonder Woman this year. I might need to find a new pub crawl partner. I went searching for a store selling beer during mile 20. It proved to be a difficult task. Most of the liquor stores shut down knowing that the LA Marathon was going to prevent their customers from reaching their stores for a good part of the morning. I finally found one and bought a tallboy for my trek through the dreaded VA section. I had to walk quite a bit going down San Vicente Blvd. Once I finally made the turn onto Ocean Ave, I tried to run as much as I could but I was just feeling very tired.
Time for a Guinness!
Time for a tall boy
1: 9:47
2: 8:35
3: 8:52
4: 9:36
5: 10:05
6: 9:50
7: 10:22
8: 10:24
9: 10:30
10:11:12
11: 12:00
12: 11:38
13: 13:00
14: 16:49
15: 11:17
16: 12:58
17: 13:56
18: 13:32
19: 12:31
20: 20:53
21: 15:48
22: 13:01
23: 13:31
24: 14:13
25: 12:50
26: 13:37
26.2: 1:48
Finish: 5:22:35
Well, I survived my first marathon double. I kind of wish I hadn't made my first a coast to coast double. I was pretty much a jogging/walking zombie during the second marathon. I'm sure my experience would be similar to running a 100 miler due to the sleep deprivation. The plane ride in between races was the hardest part of the weekend. It was also the most stressful part because my return flight had a connection. Would I do it again? Probably not. Would I recommend it? No, I would not. It really took the enjoyment out of the two marathons. But now I can say that I did it.
Coast to Coast marathon double
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