Two Marathons in Six Weeks

In the last six weeks, I doubled the number of full marathons I have run. This wasn't on purpose though. I thought I wasn't able to run the Surf City Marathon on February 3rd, so I signed up for the L.A. Marathon (March 17th). However, after I signed up for L.A., I found out I was able to fly back from Austin, TX on Saturday night (Feb. 2) and just get enough sleep to run the full marathon. I even needed help from my brother-in-law to pick up my race number. The Surf City Marathon, didn't go as planned. I had been training well, running two 20 mile runs at 8:30 pace. Since my best time up to this point was 4:17:04, my goal was to break 4:10. But with the training going so well I had visions of breaking four hours. In Austin, I was entertaining our customers, so I wasn't able to get adequate sleep, properly carbo-load or hydrate. The first 18 miles went OK; however at mile 18, I cramped so bad my toes on my right foot curled. A runner asked me, are you cramping? As I hopped around, I told him yes. He graciously offered me a salt tablet, which I took. However, by that point it was too late. I fought through 4 miles, but at mile 22 my legs were done. I had to walk the rest of the way, and ended up with my worst marathon time (4:22:28). During my six weeks in between, my focus was on recovering. I only went up to 16 miles on my long runs, since recovery was key. I also researched the best way to avoid leg cramps. The two solutions were slow down at the beginning of the race and take "salt" tablets (actually salt, calcium, and magnesium). I decided to bring 13 salt tablets with me and borrowed a race belt from my co-worker to carry a gel shot, and sport beans (salty jelly beans). I also wrote down a list of things I needed for the race. For the Surf City Marathon, I forgot my watch, sunscreen, and salt tablets. The weather for L.A. was ideal; in the 50's. The course starts at Dodger Stadium and ends in Santa Monica. Some of the highlights include... Dodger Stadium, Chinatown, Olvera Street, Little Tokyo, Hollywood, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Beverly Hills / Rodeo Dr., and Santa Monica. I started out slow as I was in the "Open" corral, which is at the back of the pack. I had to pass people to go at a decent pace, but I didn't want to expend too much energy going around people. It was probably a blessing in disguise, as it forced me to conserve energy. After the first 3 miles, the course opened up and I got in a rhythm. Once I got through mile 22 without cramps, I was feeling good. Since the last three miles were downhill and the weather actually was getting cooler as I was nearing the ocean, it helped keep me strong. This was the first full marathon that I didn't cramp much at all, and it resulted in a PR (4:08:58). The one thing that the L.A. Marathon did that nothing else could was make me not hate the song "I Love L.A." They played it prior to the start of the marathon. Growing up in NorCal, that song always bugged me. But the marathon was a great experience. Being with 24,000 other runners was exciting. The volunteers were great and was I glad for all the orange slices and pretzels that they handed out. After the marathon I realized how much L supports me in my running endeavors. Every weekend she deals with my inflexible training schedule, and even every weekday, I realized that there are things I neglect due to my training. I am glad God provided me with such a wonderful wife.