LA Marathon 2012

What a weekend! Leaving Early Saturday morning arriving in LA at 11:30 am. We splurged for this race and booked a five star hotel located near the finish line. The drive down to SoCal was wet and littered with wrecked vehicles. Fortunately, the rainstorm that had been lingering for days moved out and blessed us with clear blue skies so of course we hit the streets for St. Patties Day!

I was a good boy and avoided the enticing Black and Tans while my brother and fiancé sipped ‘em down! A day filled with pasta from the local authentic Italian eatery, and running along the coast and underneath the Santa Monica Pier. My brother and Brittany were nuts, they seemed to be having more fun than every body else. They sure didn’t let the wind hinder their enjoyment of the warm water, which they found to be such a treat compared to the freezing cold ocean water we are used to in Bodega Bay.

My night ended early. Hot bath with tea, then I hit the sheets! I was nervous for this race. I had trained my ass off literally logging hundreds of miles, not to mention continually training for the up coming Tri Season.

Race day: early rise and shine. I had to get to the bus located across the street from our Resort in Santa Monica by 4:30am. This was a bummer considering the race had a start time of 7:24 am. I arrived to the LA Dodgers Stadium at 5am leaving me almost 2 1/2 hours to pick my ass and try to keep warm. Outside temp was 42 degrees (not the warmest of mornings) and before I forget, of course the pre race jitters! I for some reason always have to use the bathroom...like every 5 minutes before every race. My nerves get the best of me!

A race with this many people finding the proper pace corral is like finding a needle in a haystack. My coach put together a race plan for me, which put me with a 3:05 finish. As the race began I wanted to make sure to follow the plan. "Pace yourself at no faster than a 7:10 mile for the first 10k and at the 10k mark pick up the pace to a mild 7:00 mile and try to hold this until mile 20. Not lifting until the 20-mile mark. This would put me in somewhere around 3:07-3:10. 
Of course in a perfect world this would be 1-2-3, but sometimes you have to adapt to what your body is telling you and race smart. I knew at mile 6 I was working too hard and that my heart rate was higher then it normally should be. I felt fully rested, nutrition was in line, and pace was realistic with my training.

The day ended up being warm and I had planned for a wet cold race! I found myself shedding clothes almost instantly. I kept hearing Coach Dave in my head, "if you ever have moments of just not feeling great pull back, hydrate, refocus, and then pick it back up." Well I found myself doing this a few times and guess what…it worked! My finish time was 3:15:03 a PR for me. I was stoked to finish strong and from miles 20-26 oddly enough I felt alright it was the first 20 that hurt and required me to focus and dig deep. I learned a lot about myself at the LA Marathon this year --- Race smart. Adapt to the unexpected. Be a little more patient and let the race come to me.