Third in line this month was one of my favorite marathons, the Los Angeles Marathon! This was my 4th year running it and Sean’s 7th so we were both #LALoyal!
Since this is my 4th year running LA, I’ve recapped this race a lot. If you are interested in reading all about LA, you can read 2015, 2016 and 2017‘s recaps.
But let’s get to this year.
We left for the expo a little later than I would have liked around 10:30/11am, stopped at Plant Power in Encinitas for lunch and finally got to the expo around 2pm. We walked around for a short time, got some photos, etc.
LA Marathon started a new program called LA Loyal which means that if you have run the race at least one time and continue to run the race in consecutive years, you become a part of their legacy program.
If you were in the between year 2 – 4 you got a special LA Loyal Bib, if you were between 5 – 9 years, you got a special LA Loyal T-shirt & a mug (although they ran out of mugs by the time we got to the expo). If were 10 or more you got all of these things plus more & a special medal that looks like the first LA Marathon medal at the finish.
I like loyalty programs and I think this is a nice addition to the race.
Another thing I did this year was pre-purchase the marathonfoto bundle. They had a sale for $20 off for LA Marathon and then because it was St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I was able to get an additional 20% off so it ended up being around $42, less than the normal cost of 2 photos.
We stayed with Sean’s sister again for the race so we didn’t have to get a hotel. We had a pre-race meal at True Food, Sean & I split a rice bowl & a vegan pizza. Yummy!
We headed back to their house, got our clothes set up, with a 4:00am shuttle to Dodger’s stadium, we were going to have to get up early. I like to do Flat Jenny’s not necessarily for the photo but because it means I’ve got everything set for the race & then I don’t have to search for anything early in the morning.
I bought us parking in Santa Monica again for $20 & we signed up for the 4:00am shuttle. This year, the shuttles were 100% better than last year. They had everything organized and the volunteers were on point!
We got to Dodger’s stadium pretty quickly and it was freezing!!! We didn’t have any issues with our shuttle getting to the stadium. Although, Sean was wishing we had a blanket like some of the other runners, lol.
After about an hour, give or take, in the stadium we headed out to hit up the port-a-potties. There were bathrooms in the ball park, but the lines were ridiculous & I didn’t want to miss getting to drop my finish line bag. They said the bags had to be dropped by 6:30am.
We headed out towards bag drop and got in line for the port-a-potties, by this time the lines were pretty long and after waiting in a line that never moved, it was almost 6:30. I told Sean that I was going to the gear check and then headed over. The gear check lines were soooo long. For next year, this would be something that they need to work on. I saw lines that were 2/3x longer than the port-a-pottie lines. I don’t know exactly what was going on with them.
After I dropped by bag, I ended up not being able to find Sean again before the race started. He was in Corral A & I was in Corral E.
But I did run into my friend Almi, who went on to crush it and run a sub 4 hour race! So proud of her!
Anyways, I made it to my corral & never got a chance to use the bathroom, I wish they had port-a-potties inside the corrals, but unfortunately they don’t.
A few minutes after I got there they sent the Elite women off and then all the corrals got pushed up. I’m not sure why I forgot this from the last 4 years, but basically there was so much room in the corrals that I was up with the C corral folks by the time I started the race.
I headed out, just wanting to survive this race. After the last 2 weeks of half marathons and starting 80 Day Obsession, my butt was a little sore, although I wasn’t upset about that because it meant that my glutes were finally firing! and my legs were tired.
I did have to hit up the first set of port-a-potties since I missed the pre-race bathroom stop. Fortunately there wasn’t too long of a line so I didn’t lose much time. After this I just worked on keeping my breathing & heart rate under control and just cruised along through Chinatown and up to the Disney Concert Hall. My favorite band of the whole race are the Japanese drummers, I always walk up this hill, I’d like to say just to listen to them, but it’s a pretty steep hill ;).
We made our way over towards the Chili Dog Station, which is so fun. I don’t think that they have a vegan version, lol, and it’s still way too early in the race, but I always love seeing them out there. I did see another Orange Mud ambassador & his friend out there eating one while running!
When I got to Mann’s Chinese Theater I was struggling a little with tummy troubles, but we still had over half the race to go so a minute or two of walking and then I was running again.
Right as we were approaching Beverly Hills around mile 16 the 4:15 pace group caught up with me. I was trying to stick with them for as long as I could, which would be through BH. I could see them through mile 20 and then they took off up the hill lol.
I did my best to run as much as possible during this race & I really succeeded. I pushed as hard as I could and while towards the end, I really struggled with a lack of calories, I got to that finish line and managed to be within seconds of my PR. At the time I really thought I had PR’d but after looking at the official results I was just over.
The last three miles, which are normally some of the funnest for me because we are going downhill & almost to the finish, where a serious struggle this year. Due to my lack of calories and probably the first week of 80 day obession, my calves were really cramping and my fingers were starting to tingle again.
I pushed so hard to get to that finish line. The last 3 miles, which were not fast, but I managed to run pretty much every step. I was so close to a PR, I had to try for it.
I finally got there hands up, smile on my face, sorry to the girl behind me for blocking your face, I had no idea you were right there. And as soon as I stopped running, the hurt set in.
I was in a lot of discomfort immediately after the race. I was hungry & sore but you have to keep moving. I got my medal, put it on for a photo and then immediately took it off. I love the LA Marathon medals, but they are super heavy and after a race, I can’t always handle having it around my neck.
I started getting texts from Sean & made my way over to him. Grabbing a few snacks on the way. I think I mentioned this last race, but being vegan, you have to really look at the post race food options. This race has always been someone lacking in my opinion in post race food, with fish pretzels, animal crackers, bagels & bananas. I grabbed a banana & some animal crackers & made my way to find Sean.
I found him & we got my gear bag. We made our way to the port-a-potties to get changed and then made our way to the Santa Monica pier where we got some french fries & a coke to refuel before some photos.
All in all, it was a great race, my fastest time on this course, beautiful, runable weather, awesome spectator support & volunteers.
We’ll be back next year!
