Let’s just get this out of the way quickly…marathon day was very hot! Muy caliente! When I started looking at the 10 day forecast, I knew it was going to be a tough one. Why couldn’t our local meteorologists be wrong this time around? Good thing when I got to Dodger Stadium there was an eerie cloud cover that looked like it wanted to swallow us all up, but it didn’t stay around long.
The night before I set my clocks forward (wouldn’t want to be late, now would I?), and set two alarms for 3AM. Yes, two! I kept thinking of that Seinfeld episode when the marathon runner overslept and missed the Olympics because the volume was too low. Well apparently my volumes were too low and I didn’t wake up until 3:45. Agh!! It was okay though. I still had plenty of time to eat my breakfast, get ready, and make it to Dodger Stadium in time to get through the security checkpoint and to use the restroom before saying hello to a couple fellow Team NutriBullet members. I also got to meet up briefly with my friend Danny whom I really only see at races.
I also met up with my Team NutriBullet running mate, Kia, who was running her first marathon. We were our own pace group during training runs. But I was really hoping to see my fellow LA Leggers and the group I ran with up until joining Team NutriBullet in December. Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them walk right past me! Yay! I had to go over and say hi and because I didn’t have a pace group, I joined in with them. Even though it was a short time not running with them, I’ve missed them. And I ran with them up until Hollywood, where I lost them. I even lost Kia somewhere in the beginning. I kept looking back to find her but didn’t see her amongst the mass of runners.
Once I got into Hollywood, the sun was finally showing itself. Up until about mile 11 or so, there was a nice little cloud cover. However, once I got onto Sunset Boulevard, the sun was here to stay and there was no relief in sight. I kept thinking, “I can’t wait until Brentwood and Santa Monica where it’ll be much cooler.” I’ll tell you right now, that much cooler never happened. Never! Someone told me it got up to 88 degrees in Santa Monica – hotter than it was in Downtown LA. So from Hollywood, here on out, it was just me. The funny thing is I would come upon people I knew and would run with them for a little bit and then either myself, or they, would speed up or drop back. That’s just how it goes sometimes.
Coming upon West Hollywood, I couldn’t wait to see the big gigantic Nutribullooza event happening around mile 15. I ran down San Vicente, then made a right onto Santa Monica Boulevard, and thought, now where is this Nutribullooza? It took a couple more blocks to get there, but it was loud and the party was certainly happening here! A fellow Team NutriBullet member was right ahead of me. He ran past the NutriBullet cheering squad and the cheering squad yelled out his name. Yay! I’m right behind him. My turn. Well I ran along side of them and I got…crickets. Must admit it as kinda funny. Maybe they didn’t want to yell out “Go Vegan! Go Vegan!” That’s what I put on my bib this year instead of my name.
This was probably the second time I didn’t put my name on my bib. The first time was a few years ago in the LA Marathon when it took place in May. I put CRAZY on my bib because I thought it was “crazy” to run a marathon in Los Angeles in May. Hella hot, right? Wrong. The weather was perfect! Cool temps and cloud cover the whole race up until I got to about mile 22 or 23. Why couldn’t that weather have happened this time around, eh?
Anyways, back to the name calling. I did get several “Go Vegan” cheers and I must say it made me giggle a little bit, especially the first time I heard it because the way the person said it, sounded as if she really believed Vegan was my name. Even a young lady at the start line told me, “I should’ve put that on my bib!” How awesome is that? Next year, young lady. Next year.
Some people started to call out my “name” but it ended up like this: “Go…uh, runner.” I heard that a few times. Those people probably thought for a millisecond what they were about to yell out and caught themselves. “Um, why would I say that when I eat every animal and tell myself just about anything in order to justify it?” Listen, I get it. But maybe they just couldn’t read my bib name. It’s all good. But I thank all the wonderful spectators who did yell it out to me. I got a smile every time.
After West Hollywood, I made it through Beverly Hills, Century City, West LA, and finally into Brentwood where the cool breezes of the Pacific Ocean were soon to make everything feel much better. Ahhhh. Nope. Sucka!! One sign I was particularly excited to see was the Mile 22 sign.
There are only a couple of reasons why this sign is my most favorite. First off, 22 is my favorite number. It’s just the bestest number around. Secondly, this was my 22nd marathon. And I suppose thirdly, this means there are only four hot mess miles left to survive go.
And those miles passed by sloooowly. I was drained at this point. The heat was a major factor. I felt I fueled right with dates, salt tablets, water, oranges, and some honeydew ice thingy someone passed out in Century City. Good thing I don’t drink Gatorade because the marathon ran out of it. But that honeydew thing was tasty. I used to love eating honeydew but then I became sensitive to it and every time I ate it I became really nauseous and sick. I only ate a little bit and it didn’t affect me. At least I really couldn’t tell because at this point, I was already feeling very blah.
Prior to the marathon I was getting a little anxious and nervous. For the past several long runs, I was struggling with an irritated blister on my right foot that surfaced on a 16 miler just two weeks after the Sean O’Brien 50K. How could I do 30+ miles and not get one single blister, and yet, run 16 miles in road running shoes and BAM! Blood blister? I recently got new running shoes but I never tested them on a long run and so, I was left in a dilemma. Do I wear them in the marathon? In the 11th hour, I decided to run in my trail shoes. My plan could’ve seriously backfired, but it didn’t. No problems with blisters what-so-ever! I’d rather deal with just the pain of the heat, rather than dealing with the pain of the heat and the pain of having blisters. So thankfully I made the right choice because I made it across the finish line with my feet feeling fine. My 22nd marathon was completed and in the books!
