Episode 30: My Second Marathon

If you asked me a week before the LA Marathon I would have told you I wasn't running.

I signed up approximately 6 months before the race but I suffered 2-3 injuries on the way there.  As the race got closer it became less and less about time and became more about "can I finish the race?".  With a month to go I ended up hurting my ankle from over use. Every run since then I would start feeling my ankle by mile 4 but I continued to strengthen my ankle by doing calf raises, icing and heating whenever I had the chance.  With a week to go I was pretty set on not running and I was heartbroken by that decision.  With a last ditch effort I decided to try a 10 mile run the Thursday before the marathon.  I proceeded to do 5 miles without pain then stopped to stretch to give myself a little rest before the next 5 miles.  The next 5 miles I felt great and was sub 7:20 per mile.  From there I decided I would try to run on Sunday.  But going into Sunday my goal was to get to mile 16 and see how I felt.

Here is my mile by mile split from Sunday:

MILE	TIME	SUMMARY
1-3	00:23:35	My plan was to go out in 9 minute mile pace.  Yeah, I didn't do that.  I struggled to find the mile markers and ended up going sub 8 minute mile pace for the 1st three miles.  A fun little bit that happened in the first half mile of the race was the line of men peeing off to the side of the road by some "wooded" area.
4	00:31:37 (8:01)	I try to recalibrate here and cool myself off from the nerves.
5	00:40:37  (9:00)	I get cool and relaxed.(Take gel shot)
6	00:48:18  (7:40)	I'm easily excited.
7	00:56:15 (7:58)	Yep, still excited. (Take gel shot)
8	01:04:12  (7:55)	Stig and Punky!  What hill?!  i'm definitely excited!
9	01:12:31  (8:18)	Chill out Don...
10	01:20:28  (7:56)	Oh my god.
11	01:28:31  (8:03)	I started talking out loud telling myself to chillout.
12	01:36:39  (8:07)	I see one of my students and sarcastically asked him why he wasn't cheering for me.  What nerve?! (Take gel shot)
13	01:44:54  (8:14)	At the half I just feel tired but I keep truckin' along.
14	01:53:22  (8:28)	The adrenaline starts to wear down.  It only took half a marathon. (Take gel shot)
15	02:01:44  (8:21)	I see a co-worker at the end of this mile!
16	02:10:49  (9:05)	meh
17	02:21:03  (10:13)	I start stretching to gauge how I'm really feeling. Hey I see another family from our school!
18	02:30:37  (9:34)	And I start to see that there are rolling hills and I'm starting to feel a cramp coming on so I take plenty of time to just walk and stretch (Take gel shot)
19	02:41:18  (10:40)	Same deal.  I'm really worried about cramping
20	02:51:48  (10:30)	I take a water from a kid no older than 3 and it really pumped him up!
21	03:05:11  (13.22)	Worried about the hills again so I really took a breather here
22	03:13:34 (9:23)	The hills were done so I started trying to pick up the pace again and I see my friend Bryan here so I start to get amped up again!
23	03:26:44  (12:09)	I hit another wall here and I start walking.
24	03:35:47  (9:03)	I gather myself and try to pick the pace up and I see Sparta and Jeff!
25	03:45:34  (9:47)	Theres two miles left so I decided to just put my head down and try to finish.
26	3:55:49  (10:15)	My calves start to cramp so I try to focus on not putting pressure on my toes too much til the finish.

Once I got to mile 16 I reassessed and I wasn't feeling pain but my legs were just feeling really tired so I decided to go on.

From mile 16-18 I felt alright and actually stopped a couple times to stretch a little bit and actually felt ok.  Once I started Mile 19 it was very stop and go up all the way to the finish where I would stop at up hills in fear of cramping out my calves. 

All in all I am extremely proud of finishing.  I really needed a "win" right now and this was definitely it.

I'm pumped to start my training up again this week to make running a more consistent part of my life.  LETS GO!