Hello everyone,
The marathon went very well. Our group had trained at a 12:00 minute and 11:30 mile so we had set a goal of finishing at 4:57.
UNEXPECTED RESULT:
I was so excited with in the first two miles I pulled off for relief somewhere on Cahuenga blvd. At this point I lost my group. I saw Betty who was outside the Rennaisance hotel at Hollywood and Highland. She was just as happy taking pictures of everyone running by. I gave her a hug and my cell phone and my keys - I had my screwdriver too but left it at the metro station- I hooked up with another APLA group from Santa Monica who were running a slower pace but higher ratio which was 5:1 (running 5 minutes walking 1 minute.) - The Santa Monica group were super nice people and we ran along for several miles until their first rest stop - for some reason this took about 10 minutes. After mile 8 I decided to run at my own ratio which was a 3:1. I held this ratio after running through Hollywood and some really nice adjoining neighborhoods all the way through downtown.
By mile 16 I began catching up with others in my group. everyone had fragmented except 3 or 4 people. I saw Ed, my pace group leader who hit the wall at mile 10. He had an extra IT Band Brace and let me use it. It helped stave off the aggitation a few more miles.
I hit the wall shortly after I saw my parents and Phil again at mile 18. We were just approaching the Staples center by this time. By mile 22 my I decided to accept the IT band situation was going to be with me throughout the rest of the run. It was the one thing I had worked diligently to smooth out and avoid, but it really flared up. At this point I changed my ratio to a 3:2 and this helped a lot.
It was really weird to hit the wall at one of the toughest parts of the course, we were in an old warehouse indutrial district. The crowds cheering us on had thinned out and at that point I had to rely on my own mental and will power.
I was EXTREMELY happy when we turned into Little Tokyo to see the Taiko drummers. I knew at that point I was in the home stretch; I think about 2 miles left or so.
When I finished I tried to jump up and hit the the Time Clock but my right hand and arm were so heavy only my left hand would go in the air above my head.
Cathy, who flew all the way from Boston to support her daughter, was there at the finish line to put the medal on me. I was ecstatic! Very special moment!
She went to get me some food and I wanted to sit down but they made me keep walking. Someone handed me a banana and a warmer wrap. A large, thin, tinfoil sheet that actually works! I walked around a bit and found Tim and my new friend Amy who came out to show support.
All in all my chip time was 5:55. about an hour more than what I wanted to do, but right at the time I trained for. I’m already thinking about the next one! I’m very glad I finished this one.
Again, you guys have been a great source of support and encouragement. I’m very grateful. Special thanks to Larry for getting me into this stuff back in 2004. He said I could run farther than I thought I could; and who knew I’d like it enough to do it 6 hours at a time? As a person who was athletically challenged growing up, I’m really thankful Larry introduced this form of excercise to me.
Thanks for checking in.
Stephen A. Thomas