I had the day off from work for the Thanksgiving holiday, so in the morning I took the bus down to the Fullerton train station to take an Amtrak train up to Union Station. Amtrak trains cost more, but there wasn't a Metrolink train running around that time. From Union Station, I took the LAX Flyaway bus over to LAX. The ride on the Flyaway bus was nice and comfortable. It only took about 40 minutes. The duration will depend on the traffic. I wasn't sure if the traffic would be worse with it being the Thanksgiving holiday.
Fullerton Station
| Foothill Transit 286: | $1.25 |
| OCTA 143: | $2.00 |
| Amtrak FUL to Union Station: | $15.00 |
| LAX Flyaway: | $9.00 |
| Total cost one way: | $27.25 |
While it wasn't the cheapest route, it was a good way to avoid having to deal with the stress of LA traffic. Next time, I'll look into taking the Silver Streak bus into Union Station which is a lot cheaper than taking the Amtrak or Metrolink train.
After being dropped off at terminal 1 for Southwest Airlines, I noticed that the terminal was starting to look really nice. They were finally well into remodeling a much neglected airport. After getting through TSA, I did a walk around of the terminal to check on the remodeling progress. Like the other terminals, they had swapped out some of the fast food restaurants for more sit down restaurants.
Southwest
I ended up at California Pizza Kitchen to eat a late lunch. The employees working there seemed very unorganized and not well trained for each of their positions. I'm going to guess that most of them were all new hires. Once I got seated at a small table, I started things off with an iced tea. Then I ordered their Sicilian pizza. I almost never ever order a pizza, but hey, it's in their name... when in Rome! It turned out to be a very tasty delicious pizza! Just the right size.
Iced Tea
Sicilian pizza
It was a short flight into Las Vegas McCarran Airport. These days I just don't feel like making that 4 hour or so drive. I feel that my daily work commute has pretty much put me off of road trips. I just don't want to spend any more time inside of a car. Anyways, it took me a while to find the correct floor in the parking structure in order to catch my Lyft ride. Good thing I double checked the signs on the wall. If you land in terminal 1, you have to catch your ride on level 2M.
Viva Las Vegas!
It was a short car ride from the airport over to my hotel, the Hampton Inn located at the corner of E Sunset Rd and Eastern Ave. It's my favorite hotel to stay at whenever I'm in Vegas. They had complimentary airport shuttle service, but I didn't want to wait. I like this location for a few reasons. It is located away from the hustle and bustle of the Strip and there's no casino. It's also a smoke-free facility. Although you get to hear planes take off and land all day, it doesn't bother me one bit since I prefer to have white noise whenever I sleep.
Cray cray! They knew I was coming! :)
After checking into my room and dropping off my bags, I went back out to go get drinks and dinner. I stopped in the 7 Eleven next door and bought two 1 liter bottles of water for $2 and a bottle of organic Gatorade. The organic Gatorade was new to me! Nothing new for race day? Phooey! :)
Hydration
Organic Gatorade?
Since I was running a marathon tomorrow, I made my way over to the nearby McDonald's to pick up dinner. I ordered a Quarter Pounder Deluxe, a Big Mac, an order of fries, and a non-sweetened iced tea. I took it to-go to eat it back in my room. I normally eat 20 pieces of McNuggets with my Big Mac, but lately I've been opting for french fries and the Quarter Pounder Deluxe instead. It's not an exact science. :)
After enjoying my meal, I was able to watch some Star Wars on TV. I always love watching the original trilogy whenever it's on. After I got my race gear in order, it was time to catch some shuteye and get some rest before tomorrow's race.
Return of the Jedi
Saturday 11/26
At about 8 am, I had gotten ready and made my way over to the start/finish line of the race located at the southern end of the Sunset Regional Park. It was a pretty chilly morning, so I was glad that I had worn my arm sleeves and brought some gloves with me. I brought a drop bag so I could store some of my stuff while I ran my race. I showed up a little early because I still had to pick up my race packet. I like races that have race day pick-up.
Sunset Regional Park
Start line
The race started promptly at 9 am. For the marathon the first loop was just under 1.5 miles. Each subsequent loop after that was slightly longer than 1 mile which I ran 24 times. I ran the first 3 miles at a harder effort and it felt hard. The air felt really dry, much drier than what I was used to breathing in southern California. I slowed things down after reaching my first walk break at the usual 30 minute interval. My friends ran the 1 hr race as they got off of the course just as I was about a quarter way through my race.
About 1 hr into race
I started having stomach aches which was unusual during a run. I'm going to guess that it was the organic Gatorade which is why you never should try something new on race day! After I was finished with my bottle, I switched to water to see if that would help it go away. They eventually went away, but then I could tell that there was an electrolyte imbalance as soon I would be dealing with head swelling and leg cramps. I started drinking Heed and took Hammer gels that was available at the aid station. By mile 18 - 19, I was reduced to a walk. I grabbed a bag of Lay's potato chips to see if I could get the legs working again. I never had good races with Heed or Hammer gels. I think their products just don't agree with me. Thank goodness the chips helped. I felt better for the next couple of miles.
Lay's potato chips
The leg cramps would keep coming back and hitting hard at times. I had to grab another bag of Lay's potato chips and walk a lap which definitely helped. My friend joined me for the last 4 miles or so to try and keep me distracted from the pain and fatigue of the final miles.
Finish line
Click here for my Garmin data.
I wasn't trying to or expecting to run a great race as I'm not a fan of multi-loop courses. I did get quite familiar with the course over the 5.5 hrs that I was out there. I can still see the entire loop if I close my eyes! It was for my friend's 55th birthday and this was the race that she picked for her birthday race. I guess I could've run the 1 hr race with them. I guess I'm more of a marathon maniac than I care to admit. :)
Medal
My friends were there at the finish line to watch me finish. They drove me to my hotel for me to clean up before we headed over to the Grand Cafe at the Green Valley Ranch Resort to eat a late lunch or a very early dinner. My friend works there as a chef. They know that my usual post race food is a burger, so they wanted me to try out their Café Hamburger. It was a good classic burger. I had an iced tea to go with it. It was a nice quiet birthday meal without much hoopla.
Café Hamburger
After we were done, my friends dropped me off at my hotel. I scheduled a shuttle ride to the airport at the front desk for tomorrow morning before heading up to my room.
Sunday 11/27
I took an early morning complimentary hotel shuttle ride over to the airport. It was packed with no empty seats. The driver was making the Southwest airline stop last, so I was way in the back of the van. After a short flight into LAX, I waited for the Flyaway bus to Union Station. This driver was a not very friendly. You could clearly tell that she did not like her job. I found it a little strange, but you pay $9 for the ride when they drop you off at the station.
My Amtrak train was scheduled around noontime, so I found a seat to wait. As it got close to lunch time, I bought a foot long corned beef Reuben sandwich at Subway. It came with Swiss cheese, Bavarian-style sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing on rye bread. It was nowhere as good as the menu photos or what was shown in commercials. I would not order it again.
Union Station
Once I got into the Fullerton train station, I waited for the 143 bus over to the Brea Mall to catch the 286 bus home. I might give all of this public transportation another try on my future trips. As I've said before, it's not very cheap, however it does remove the driving stress as well as the wear and tear on the car.
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