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Surviving the LA Marathon, and making it in under the wire!
Members of the Pasadena Tri Club that I belong to often submit race reports to the group, and a member Sue recently inspired a limerick format. This was my effort in recounting Sunday's LA Marathon: There once was a runner named NikiWho trained well but at times it was trickyBefore dawn she often ranThus the lack of any tanBut she felt ready to tackle the 26.2 hillyRace day dawned with perfect weatherShe was pumped and had it togetherUnfortunately she crashed and burnedAnd through cramps she would learnThat instead of a PR finishing is betterMy previous PR was 3:30, and based on my training I felt that 3:20 was possible. With my time of 3:40:30 that sure did not happen, but I was grateful to make it to the finish line after the cramping I experienced. I was still happy with my time, and managed to qualify for Boston by only 29 seconds - that was close! In speaking with others at the finish a lot of people went 10-30 minutes slower than they expected, so I was not the only one who underestimated this course. It was humbling to see that I had actually done my long training runs faster, but anything can happen on race day. I had taken my PowerBar gels like I normally do (6 total), but realized that one difference was that I was drinking the water from the course rather than the PowerBar endurance drink I normally take. Could that have been the difference?The course scenery was awesome, and the crowds were plentiful and super enthusiastic. The net-downhill aspect of this course was deceiving, as there were some very significant climbs in the first third of the race; that probably contributed to my downfalll, as I was still keeping pace through that portion - oh well, lesson learned. My complaints were the parking situation (only allowed in Santa Monica, not Dodger Stadium), there not being enough bathrooms at the start (did anyone else make a trip up into the bushes?), and the common practice of people seeding themselves up front when they should be further back (I had to weave around tons of walkers in the first mile, although on the flip side it kept me from going out too fast). I would probably do this race again someday in the future, but will attempt other new races first. I am going to try my luck by entering the lottery for the Nike Women's Marathon in April - crossing my fingers!
Great job Nicole, keep up the good work.
California, United States
Team Elite Triathlon, Athletes/Active Lifestyle
I competed in cross country and swimming in high school, and ran on the UCLA cross country…MORE
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