LA Marathon

I ran the LA Marathon yesterday.  I'm  trying to focus on the positives about this race and my effort but I'm having a hard time doing that right now.  Maybe later this week or next weekend I'll be in a better place but today I'm not happy with it.  I know it was the best I could do yesterday.  However, it was my 7th marathon and my 7th disappointing finish that was 4+ hours.  I can't seem to get in under that 4 hour mark and I find that incredibly disappointing. 

One positive about the LA Marathon was their tracking system for the runners.  Both my husband's and my cell phone received five texts over the course of the event.  These were the texts received:

• HONDA LA Marathon: Cherl - 10K in 0:57:40. Pace: 9:17. Est: 4:03:23. ETA: 11:37:44.
• HONDA LA Marathon: Cherl - 20K in 1:53:17. Pace: 9:07. Est: 3:59:01. ETA: 11:33:23.
• HONDA LA Marathon: Cherl - 30K in 2:54:42. Pace: 9:22. Est: 4:05:34. ETA: 11:40:07.
• HONDA LA Marathon: Cherl - 40K in 3:57:54. Pace: 9:34. Est: 4:10:49. ETA: 11:45:22.
• HONDA LA Marathon: Cherl - Finish in 4:08:19. Pace: 9:28. At 11:42:44.

It's pretty cool to see my race like this.  My plan was to stay under 9:00 until Mile 20 and then pick it up to finish in under 4 hours.  Obviously, that didn't happen.  Too much jockeying for space for many miles, too many bigger-than-I-was-expecting rolling hills in the first half, some severe calf cramping late in the race... it all adds up to a disappointment for me.  I had plans to sign up for another marathon soon -- either Ojai (Ca) in June or the Foot Traffic Flat in Portland (Or) in July -- but now I'm rethinking marathons.  I don't know that they are really for me.  I love the sense of accomplishment, I'm just tired of the disappointment.  I don't think adjusting my goals is the answer either.  I always have trouble late in the race.  I've got some major blues happening today.

Maybe it's just post-race blues?  Maybe in a week I'll feel better about it and more excited about the next race?  I just don't know.

Do you feel like this after a race?

LA Marathon: There's Still Time!

I found this SIX week marathon training plan on the LA Marathon website.  Wow.  I think this plan basically gets someone across the finish line but I'm not sure what kind of shape that person would be in when they finished.  Still, it's an interesting plan and if you have nothing to do on March 18th, come join me in LA!  I've heard great things about this course -- sounds like a fun 26.2 mile tour of LA, starting at Dodger Stadium (inland) and ending at the Santa Monica Pier.  Fabulous!

marathon routes: your favorite?

OC Marathon 2011

My husband and I were talking this afternoon about the merits of various marathon routes. He and I both prefer a single loop. The point-to-point courses are okay, but I'm never excited about the super early wake-up time in order to shuttle to the race start. Loops like the above are okay, too. I don't mind some doubling back; seeing those in front of and behind me don't bother me. The (mentally) tough part of the OC Marathon will be around mile 12 for me. All the runners start together and it is at this point that the half marathon runners take a left while the rest of us continue on. That'll be tough but I suspect it'll be forgotten by mile 15.

A friend is considering the Palos Verde Marathon and I did, too, until I looked carefully at the course. The entire race is run on the peninsula which is breathtakingly gorgeous but it's really a half marathon route that the marathoners run twice. I would be done mentally after the first loop.

What about you? Your favorite marathon routes? And what do you make of these races that cater to the half marathon runners? Although Palos Verde has been running since time began, asking the marathon runners to run two loops of the half marathon is absurd to me. Maybe I just need to pick marathons that don't have a half marathon race event -- OR a "quarter marathon" route (Hippie Chick in Oregon). What the heck is up with that??