LA Marathon: The End of my Marathon Training

I completed it! Heck yes! Now that I got that out of my system I can write my final recap for this series. Check out all the posts about running a marathon here. The past weekend I completed the LA marathon in a little under 6:30, slower than I anticipated but it was really hot so that affected the run. Honestly though, I am just happy to have finished it at all. As I hobble around the office today I am glad I can still walk and that I have my medal around my neck, showing what the human body is capable of in only 5 months time.

Here are my before and after stats:

• First training run – 16:00 minutes a mile
• Last training run – 10:45 a mile
• Weight at first run – 258
• Weight after marathon - 239
• Body fat % at first run – 27%
• Body fat % after the marathon – 25%
• Run Completed - 63
• Miles completed – 329
• Calories burned – 60,253
• Shoes I went through – 2
• Countries I trained in – 2

And the most important stat

• Money raised for World Vision to donate clean water to children in Africa – $1,230

Marathon Recap

The race started early on Sunday morning and after 15 minutes of waiting we finally crossed the start line for our run. I was feeling really good and the miles fell away fast as we ran through Olivera and Chinatown. When we hit downtown there was a lot of music and excitement waiting for us as we headed up the first big hill.

This continued through Echo Park and Silverlake before getting the first view of the Hollywood Sign at mile 8. I was still feeling good through mile 10 as we ran down Hollywood Blvd and Sunset and I loved seeing all the people dressed up and cheering us on.

Around 17 miles is when I hit my wall. It was a hot day and the grind of the miles took a lot out of you. Add to that the fact that the LA marathon ran out of Gatorade, which they said would be at every other stop and was at none. I started to dump water on my body every chance I got and even went into a gas station along the route for a Gatorade to get back the electrolytes.

I pushed on until about 23 miles when my foot erupted with the Peroneal Tendonitis that has plagued me on the training. I was walking in pain but I remembered what I had been told, 50% of the marathon is just mental so I told myself “You are not giving up, even if you walk to the finish.” I also was dealing with nipple chaffing and two blood blisters so it was all around a good time. After walking out the rest of mile 23 (which had a hill as well) I found the energy to slowly run the rest.

As we got to the base of the hill and 1/4 mile into 26 you could see the ocean and that was enough to push hard to the finish. It was also awesome to see all of the people cheering you on as you neared the finish and it made it easy to keep pushing. The feeling that you get as you pass the finish is pretty unreal.

After taking a photo and grabbing my medal I pushed myself to continue walking so I didn’t stiffen up. This was very tough but it made the first time I sat down that much better.

I can now see why people do this, I mean I have done hiking and stuff all over the world and nothing has compared to how hard this was. Maybe it was the sun or that I needed more training but this was one of the most difficult things I have ever done.

Will I do it again? I don’t plan on it and you can see by my foot that I am now limping. At least I can now add marathon runner to my bio and that is enough for me.