The Los Angeles Marathon

Marathon #14 came after a loooooong hiatus from racing. Leading up to Boston I was feeling insanely burnt out on running and racing.  It wasn't fun anymore.  So I took a nice long break. And now I'm back.  

I had decided on the LA Marathon a couple of years ago when I found out that it was to be held the same weekend as the Olympic Marathon Trials. Watching the trials seemed like an extremely cool thing to do.  And now, here it is.

Let me first tell you that besides all the running-fun that happened this weekend, I was in food heaven.  As a vegetarian married to someone who eats gluten-free, we don't always have a world of choices when it comes to eating out.  Not the case in LA.  Everywhere we went there were millions of vegetarian AND gluten-free choices.  We ate with abandon at any restaurant we came across. It. Was. Awesome.

Dude, this is a side salad at a pizza joint.  How fancy is that???

The first of many happy meals.

Our hotel was in Santa Monica, which happens to be the most amazing town on Earth. We were 2 blocks from the beach.  The beach has a running/biking/rollerblading* path that was rumored to go 26 miles along the coast.

Makes the Trolley Trail look a tad less fancy.

Dude, if I could run on this trail every day, in this sunshine, I would probably run 26 miles a day.  No wonder people in California seem so fit/happy.

Exploring.

We walked the trail and soaked up the sunshine... contemplating if we have maybe been wasting away our lives living in the damn center of the country.

Love this guy.  Love this beach.

My first of many juices.  LA loves juice.  Me too.

Dinner on Friday night ended up being at a mall... we didn't realize when choosing a restaurant that it was going to be in a mall.  We were a little hesitant, but it turned out to be awesome.  Only in LA will you end up eating at a restaurant in a mall that has it's own herb garden outside.

Have I mentioned how much I love LA?

Saturday morning and we were off to the races!  But not before breakfast.  We stopped at some "healthy" restaurant and discovered our first (of many) acai bowls.  It's essentially a smoothie in a bowl, topped with pretty things.  It was delicious.  I made Drew read up on the Olympic hopefuls who we would be watching.

Acai bowls and Runners World.  I'm in heaven.

Drew studies up.

We headed downtown and found a spot along the race course.  The marathon trials ran along a different course than the LA Marathon.  The course was essentially a big loop so we were able to see all of the runners 3 times!

I was a mess waiting and waiting for the runners to show up.  And when they did, there were so many!  The qualifying times are pretty tough, but this year they had more runners qualify for and run the trials than they ever have.  Most of them know they don't have a shot at making the Olympic team, so for them this really is like their Olympics.

Cheering!!!!

I could have died when the runners finally came through.  These women are my idols.  I read about them, stalk follow them on Instagram, know their stories.  And now here they were, close enough for me to jump out and tackle cheer them on. It really was amazing.

Kara Goucher, I love you!!!!

Look how close I am to Meb!  I thought he might stop to say hi, but he was in a hurry.

Des!  Look at her stride.  All business.

I felt very emotional about the women's race.  Kara Goucher is my all-time favorite hero.  She's been through some serious runner turmoil as of late and a lot of people have said she's past her prime and it's time to give up professional running.  This was supposed to be her big come-back.  I wanted more than anything for her to take top 3 and make the Olympic team.

Britt and I often compare ourselves as a running team to Kara Goucher and Shalane Flannigan.  They used to be training partners and have been on the Olympic team together before.  However, now they run on separate teams and Shalane has a new running partner, Amy Cragg. #runningdrama

Shalane and Amy.

Shalane and Amy lead the entire way.  It was amazing to watch.  The way they helped each other out and worked as a team seriously makes me want to cry with joy... and hug Britt.  It turns out Shalane was doing really poorly in the warm weather and started to fade.  Amy pulled her along and it the 2 of them finished 1st and 3rd, with Des Linden taking 2nd.  Kara came in 4th.  My heart breaks for her, but I'm incredibly proud of her.  I just hate that I won't see her running in this year's Olympics.

One more of Meb, he took 2nd!  Another Olympics for the most patriotic American I've ever known.

After the trials we planned on going to the expo.  But the Expo is where the trials started and finished so everything around it was blocked off.  We were running on acai bowl fumes at that point and things were not looking good.  Hangry doesn't even begin to describe it.

We finally made it back to the hotel after sitting through the most horrendous traffic the world has ever known.  And now we know why we don't live in Santa Monica.  We found a burger joint and rushed to eat as our blood sugar plummeted.

This was dinner, folks.  Dinner.  As in, we missed lunch.  I'm not sure how much you know about prepping for a marathon, but in general you don't want to skip meals the day before.  Or so I hear.

This was maybe the best meal I've ever eaten.  Ever.  Isn't it funny how food tastes so much better when you are genuinely hungry?

Eating all the food!

After dinner it was back to the hotel to get some shut-eye for the big day!

I awoke excited to run!  The race started at 7 and I had signed up to be on the 5:30 shuttle from Santa Monica to Dodger's Stadium, where the race started.  I had checked my map and was sure I knew how to get to the shuttle.  However, while walking there I didn't see a soul.  The streets were empty. There were no shuttles.

I finally saw some runners walking in the opposite direction and decided to follow.  Thank heavens. They turned out to be from Santa Monica and lead me to the shuttles... a mile in the opposite directions!  I seriously would never have found it on my own.  Crisis averted.

I hopped on a shuttle and headed toward the start.  I sat next to a nice blue-haired Santa Monica native who gave me all kinds of restaurant recommendations, as well as race advice.  I have a hard time with talking to other runners sometimes. I'm not sure what it is about me that screams newbie, but people love to give me advice about running.  And I have no idea how to politely interrupt their lecture on hydration strategy or how to pace myself to say that this ain't my first rodeo.  Hell, it's not even my 10th rodeo.  I'm a Boston marathoner.  I got this. But I just remain silent...

The race setup was pretty cool.  We started downtown at Dodger Stadium and ran through all of the different parts of LA until we arrived in Santa Monica.  They call it the "stadium to sea" marathon. The race took us past all of the famous red carpet spots and through Beverly Hills.  Running down Rodeo Drive was so much fun!

My goal was to BQ, just to know that I could.  It was a very warm day and I was pouring water on my head at every aid station.  Even so, I kept just ahead of the 3:35 pace group. I was hot hot hot until mile 25.  It was the strangest thing.  As we entered Santa Monica, we literally ran into a cloud. I went from feeling completely overheated, to being kind of chilly.  So strange!

Drew was at the finish, snapping pics.  Isn't he just the best?

Who am I waving at?

By the end I was completely dead.  It was all I could do to keep myself moving forward.  I remember being passed by so many runners! I felt like if someone bumped into me I would crash and there's no way I could get up and finish. Luckily no one knocked me down. :)

Running in that damn cloud!

Still smiling, even though I'm getting passed!

The finish was kind of a cluster.  I had a hard time finding Drew and I was getting COLD!  We finally met up and made our way to the beer garden where I feasted on booze and Cheeze-its. Fantastic recovery food.

Boom. Done.

After cleaning up we hit up another healthy food joint that had all kinds of options for us.  I happily devoured a vegetarian open-faced sammy and shared this tasty smoothie with Drew.  We love smoothies.  So does LA.

Yum Yum Yum!

We had the stupid idea to try to go to Malibu after the race, but then spent an hour in the car and made it about 3 blocks.  We accepted the fact that LA is only fun when you are not in a car.  So we took the car back and walked to Whole Foods for snacks and then hit up the beach which was right there.  Why had we wanted to drive to a different beach?  Because we are stupid.

Beach + Drew + popcorn + not being in a car = my happy place

The beach was crowded and we had lots of fun watching these seagulls rob a woman while she played in the ocean with her son.  They literally pecked her paper bag of snacks open and stole her food.  We just watched.

Seagull Thieves.

I ventured into the water for some ocean-therapy on my legs.  Have I mentioned that I've somehow developed planter fasciatus? Yeah.  It sucks. But the ocean cures everything, right?

Pacific ice-bath.

Oh my gosh!  Have I mentioned that it was Valentine's Day?  How could I forget???  So, please imagine this whole thing as incredibly romantic.  Because it totally was. Just to make sure, we watched the sun set and read each other love poems**.

Oh how I love this guy.

And then we ate pizza and hit up Whole Foods yet again for a bottle of wine and a chocolate bar. Then I put on my sexy compression sleeves and toe stretchers and we watched TV in the hotel room... in separate beds. #marriagerules

Best Valentine's Day ever.

Monday morning: acai bowls and green smoothies.  Have i mentioned how much we love acai bowls? No? Well we do.

He is so hot.

Then we drove to Malibu.  Because that blue-haired chick had told me about a restaurant that served all organic/local food on a pier over the ocean.  People, I'm not going to miss that.

The drive was much easier than the day before, except for when we experienced verbal abuse from a mad-crazy woman while parking.  For a minute I thought Drew was going to have to fight her.  But she backed down. Have I mentioned how not fun it is to drive in LA?

Oh yeah.  I'm on a pier. Over the ocean.  

The food was awesome, duh. The restaurant was so cool. But don't be fooled.  We were sitting on this pier, sweating our faces off.  I think I sweat more at lunch than I did the day before during the marathon.

Sweaty salad.

And then it was back to the airport and home to the middle of the map.  What a fantastic trip!!!  I'm so glad to be back to running/racing.  Not only do I feel a renewed love for running, but I love the experiences it allows.  Of course my goal to run a marathon in every state is about running.  But it's also about traveling and experiencing our amazing country. And there is no one I love doing it with more than Drew. ♥




*Drew was beside himself any time we saw a roller-blader.  He was sure rollerblading had not made it to this century.  He's so happy to know that it still exists in California.
**False.

Boston

I've been pursuing this dream for a long time.  I ran my first marathon in 2006.  And I knew.  I just knew that this was it.  This is what I want.  This is who I am.  The marathon had become a part of me.

 

Even so, Boston seemed so far away.  My first race time was 4 hours and 31 minutes.  My Boston qualifying time is 3 hours and 35 minutes.  Trimming off almost an hour from my marathon time was a daunting task.  But I knew I had it in me.  I knew I would run Boston.

 

Between my first marathon in December 2006 and my first qualifying race in October 2013 there were 6 more failed attempts at a BQ.  It took seven years to qualify.  During those years I experienced setbacks and injuries.  Those seven years were full of brutally early Saturday morning long-runs, cross-training, speed work, exhaustion and burn-out.

 

During that time I hired a coach who pushed me and trained me (sometimes at 4:30 AM) and made me realize how good it feels to push myself so hard.  I met Brittney, who believed in me and wouldn't let me falter on my dream.  She even convinced me to sign up for this crazy 50-states marathon club. 

 

In those seven years I've run in terrible heat, torrential downpours, and did one crazy-stupid 20-miler on icy roads.  It wasn't as bad as the 20-miler on the treadmill.

 

Every run, every early morning, and every aching muscle has been worth it.  Because I made it. 

 

I am a Boston Marathoner.

The Boston Marathon runs on a Monday.  Marathon Monday is a state-holiday.  These people take running seriously.  Drew and I flew in late Friday night and stayed at a hotel near the airport.  Even pulling in to the hotel near midnight, there were runners everywhere.  Boston was being taken over.

 

On Saturday morning we took the subway into Cambridge to meet Brittney & Scott at our hotel.  We settled in, then headed into the city for the marathon expo.

Oh hey Bestie!

The expo was ca-razy!  It was freaking huge!  Britt and I went in on a mission.  We were there to spend money.  And we did it.  I now have a full wardrobe of Boston Marathon gear to wear whenever the occasion calls for it.  Because you know, I like people to know.

 

Usually the Boston gear is all really brightly colored blue and yellow.  We were kind of bummed that the colors this year were purple and orange.  Not exactly flattering... and not nearly as recognizable as the classic Boston colors.  But never-the-less, we loaded up.

 

After that we headed down to Fenway for a Red Sox game. 

 

Fenway with my honey.

But first we had to stop off and get some eats... and brews.  The area around Fenway is super cool with all kinds of restaurants and bars.  We had a blast!

 

Check out Britt's purple and orange.

Holy cow.  The game was so cold.  We were so glad we'd bought all that running gear because we had to put it on!  I'm wearing like 3 jackets below.

 

OMG I'm cold.

Red Sox.

After the game we be-bopped around Boston's downtown and had some dinner and more drinks. 

 

On Sunday morning I met Britt for a little shake-out run.  We decided to run across the Charles and into the city to the finish line.

 

Britt's still decked out.  She's run Boston before so she knows what's up.

It was super cool to see the finish line... even though the road was still open and we made cars stop so we could get a picture.  The whole thing seemed so surreal.

The Finish Line!

We had signed up for a bus-tour of the course for Sunday morning.  The bus drove us out to Hopkinton where the race starts, 26 miles outside of Boston.

 

We are ready!

It was cool to see the start and the little towns along the race course.  Our tour guide had some fun stories about the history of the race and he pointed out some fun spots for us to look for when we ran.

 

This is where we start!

 

After the tour, we had to head back to the expo because I realized that in my visions and dreams of running the Boston Marathon, I had envisioned myself running in all my glory, sun shining on my face, all while wearing my typical race gear of shorts and tank.  I'd brought running tights in case it got cold.  When I returned to reality I realized it was going to be freezing cold and RAINING!  And that I'd prob end up with hypothermia if I didn't better prepare.  So we loaded up on gloves and arm sleeves and parkas.  Then to dinner!

 

Boston's North End is where its at.  We made a reservation that day, so we assumed the restaurant wasn't one of the most popular since it had tables available.  Even so, this was hands-down the best Italian meal I've ever eaten! 

 

 

Hand-made pasta and eggplant parm.  Love!

Dinner was followed by a trip to the bakery for cannoli.  I can't remember the names of the two bakeries, but supposedly they compete for best cannoli in Boston.  We only tried one, but it was the best freaking cannoli of my life.  And totally worth waiting in the line that snaked out the door.

Italian pastries forever!

Okay, race day.

 

Britt and I took the subway down to the bus-loading station and checked our bags.  We loaded a bus that took us back to Hopkinton to wait around in Athlete's Village where we were provided with bagels and coffee and Gatorade while we sat around freezing our asses off.

 

These athletes are cold!

We were part of the second wave start.  So we took a nice little walk through town and found the starting line. 

We're about to run BOSTON!!!

Britt is in charge of our throw-away gear and she found us some very tasteful Chiefs sweatshirts for the occasion.  I was not sad to take this off and put it in one of the donation bins that lined the start.  I'm thinking that Boston's less-fortunate collected a lot of ugly sweatshirts this year!

Britt & I had planned on wearing our Garry Gribbles Racing Team singlets for the race so that we could represent KC.  We also thought maybe they'd feature us on the Facebook page since we were running BOSTON.  No such luck.  I was seriously devastated that we had to wear so many damn layers and look like silly fools instead of the serious athletes that we are.  I'm wearing my arm sleeves underneath my long sleeves.  It was so so cold.

Serious athletes!

Bah.  No pics from the race.  But that's okay.  It was incredible.  Definitely not how I pictured it, but incredible all the same.  When we started the rain was a mere sprinkle.  We did not let it get us down.  We were running the Boston Marathon.

 

As we progressed, the rain got heavier, then lighter, then heavy again.  I tried to focus on being in the moment, taking it all in, enjoying the experience.  Despite the rain, the crowds were huge.  Every small town we ran through was out in force.  It feels really special to have so many people acknowledge something that is so important to you.  It was such an amazing feeling.

 

Several months back, we decided that we weren't going to wear our Garmin watches during Boston.  We wanted to enjoy the race and not worry about our time.  It was a weird feeling not checking my splits and keeping tallies on our pace, but it was really cool too.  We walked through the water stations, took several bathroom breaks, and stopped to chat for a couple of minutes when we saw the boys around mile 18.  Time was not a concern.

 

We dominated the infamous Newton hills that culminate in what is known as Heartbreak Hill.  I was feeling good, not great.  The last few miles were tough.  It was cold.  I knew I hadn't trained as hard as I had for other races and I could feel my endurance lagging.  But the crowds kept us going.  As we got closer to Boston the crowds increased.  At one point a crazy hipster in thick-framed lab goggles leaned over the railing and screamed at us "You're running the Boston Marathon!"  It is the single most vivid memory I have of the race.  I will never forget that feeling. 

 

We were so glad that we had worn our race singlets, even if they did look a bit goofy over our long sleeves.  Matching is always a good idea.  It brings attention and people are more likely to cheer for you.  We constantly heard shouts of "Go Kansas City!" throughout the race.  See?  We were totally repping our city!

 

As we closed in on the finish, I knew I was totally depleted.  We pushed our way down the finish shoot and crossed the finish line hand-in-hand.  We did it.  We were Boston marathoners.

 

This is where it got ugly.  Running in 40 degree rain is one thing.  Stopping is another.  Although the volunteers were super quick to wrap us up in our (super-fancy) mylar blankets and even opened our water bottles for us, it wasn't enough.  The cold quickly set in.  We were soaking wet and about a mile and a half from the park where we could pick up our checked bags containing dry clothes. 

 

As we plodded along, I became colder and colder and grumpier.  By the time we made it to pick up our bags, I had completely lost the functioning of my hands.  I couldn't feel my feet. There was no way I could even open my bag to get to my dry clothes, let alone get them on.  And then we found out the subway station was closed.

 

I'm not going to lie.  I went to a dark place.  I don't think I've ever been so miserable in my life.  We headed in the direction of our hotel, which was a few miles away, and stopped at a little snack shop in the park for coffee.  As Britt was gathering her things she spotted a cute little dog with his cute little family and stopped to pet it and chat.  In my most saten-like voice I screamed at her, "Brittney!  I'm going to kill you!  Get your stuff and let's go!" 

 

Not my proudest moment, nor one that she will ever let me live down.  But she grabbed here stuff and we made our way toward Cambridge.  Praise the Lord that we stumbled on another train stop which took us across the river, saving us another mile of walking.  I sat on the train, completely drenched and shaking uncontrollably.  I have never been so happy and relieved as I was when we arrived back at our hotel. 

 

I immediately headed to the shower where I stayed for maybe an hour, just letting the hot water wash over me.  Drew, who is seriously the best, came back to our room with a venti hot chocolate from the Starbucks in the hotel lobby.  It was maybe the best thing I've ever consumed. 

 

After recovering the feelings in my limbs and returning to my happy place, we met Brittney and Scott for drinks and snacks at the hotel restaurant.

 

Proudly wearing our medals!

We had dinner out and then dessert at Shake Shack, all the while showing off our Boston pride.

We earned these medals!  And milk-shakes.

 

 

Tuesday was our last day in Boston.  We headed down to the harbor to check out more of the city.  I just loved how the entire city of Boston embraced the marathon.  It was like we were rockstars. 

 

Boston Strong.

 

Seriously, he's the best.

 

We also made our way to the Harvard campus to soak up some knowledge.  Wouldn't you know it?  Britt and I had accidentally worn the matching shirts we bought when we BQ'd in Chicago.  She is maybe my soul mate. 

 

Soul sisters.

Brittney & Scott had an earlier flight than us, so we had lunch on our own and then decided to check out the JFK museum that afternoon. 

JFK.

The view from the museum.

And then it was back to KC for us.  The Boston Marathon was over. 

When arriving back, I was surprised by a few things.  First, when I arrived back to school, my kids were freaking out.  Apparently my substitute had put a race tracker up on the overhead so that the students could actually watch me as I progressed.  She said that several students and teachers would stop by all morning to see how I was doing.  I found out a handful of other teachers had the same thing up in there classrooms.  I have never felt more love than I did when I got back to school and had so many students and teachers congratulating me and acting genuinely excited for me.  I was like a celebrity!

The other surprise was how many people asked what my time was.  Remember, we didn't run with our watches or have a goal.  We took lots of breaks and our finish time of 3:45 in no way represents our typical marathon times.  Yet EVERYONE asks what my time was.  No one has ever asked me about my race time in other marathons.  Seriously.  No one asked when I ran a 3:24 in Memphis, or a 3:28 in Duluth.  I felt like I had to add a disclaimer and tell people that I wasn't actually racing.  I'm sure no one cares or even registers that my time wasn't great, but it was just ironic that of all things people cared about the time. 

Just a few other pics. Like I said, Boston loves the marathon.  The whole city was decked out in marathon swag.  Every store-front and restaurant had marathon daphodills in their doorways.  They were yellow daphodills planted in blue pots to represent the race. Sam Adams even had a special beer brewed just for race week called the 26.2 Brew. 

Marathon signage.

The subway stations were lined with marathon marketing!

Brittney arrived a day before us, and when she went down to the start there was a memorial set up for the victims of the 2013 bombing.  But by the time we arrived on Saturday it had been taken down.  I'm not sure why, but my hope is that there is a permanent memorial in the works.

The bombing memorial.

I'm not sure where I go from here.  I've been pursuing this goal of Boston for the longest time and I'm not sure what to do now that I've achieved it.  I've been taking some time off from running this summer.  I've signed up to pace a couple of half-marathons this fall, but won't be running another full marathon until February of 2016.  For now, I guess I'm just trying to let my body rest and figure out what comes next.  I do know that I want to go back to Boston again someday, maybe many times.  I've qualified for next year's race, but I think I'm going to hold off and hopefully make Boston an every 5-year thing.  So, hopefully you'll see me back there in 2020!

Thank you for all the love and support through this journey!