My 2010 LA Marathon In Graphs from runpix.com
Sunday, March 28, 2010
runpix.com created these great graphs of the race.
you can view this in a pdf also Download 2010lamarathon
runpix.com created these great graphs of the race.
you can view this in a pdf also Download 2010lamarathon
A website runpix.com tallies up all the marathon statistics and then puts out a USA Today like graph of your race. Since the are still crunching numbers I couldn't get my final pdf version of my run but I did grab a preliminary results screen grab of my race. And god am I slow. It's funny being a person who hates math find graphs so interesting. I'm the guy who reads USA Today when staying at hotels. Yup, that's me!
I really did die in those lat 4.5 miles. It's so on for 2011!
When I decided to make it my New Years / I'm Turning 40 Resolution to run the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon I hit the internet in search or running blogs. Luckily between that search and twitter I found a few other runners blogging about training for the marathon. Most of them were fun blogs of casual runners who love to run marathons and blog about it. Since they have posted post-marathon here are some quick links:
Chic Runner chickrunner.com - I didn't find her blog to after running the Los Angeles 13.1. Doing a quick search for results I found her blog and was drawn to the lady who runs in a pink tutu. I think next year I'll wear a pink tutu.
Run Bob Run bobrunner.blogspot.com - Bob's subtitle for his blog is "Confessions of an Semi-Overweight, Middle Aged, Runner and Triathlete." Whatever the guy kicked my ass by 30 minutes. Reading his blog about him having "marathon induced insomnia" made me feel better when I couldn't sleep Friday or Saturday night.
Gymnotes gymnotes.com - I found gymnotes late last week and wish I had found it weeks ago. Lot's of prep and running day tips. Plus lots of great pix! After reading the post about The Blessing Of The Shoes I so regretted not going.
Just Breathe justbreathe.com - I got to admit to being a long term follower of Just Breathe. Even way back when, August, when running a 10K was a challenge. It's a great blog about general running.
Dave Travels wonderfulworldofdave.com - Just another great journal with lots of pictures of a regular guy who likes running.
I know I am missing out on at least 3 other blogs. Most likely because my RSS Reader is way out of control and they might not have done a post Marathon post. So in case I missed anyone feel free to comment and ad a link to your blog. I wanted to post about these runners because by reading these blogs this 1st time marathoner didn't feel so alone in training. Thanks Runners!
Oh and that pix ain't me it's Shia Labeouf crossing the finish line at about 4 hours and 35 minutes.
Elvis was spotted in Hollywood!
I wanted to take lots of photos with my iPhone as I ran the LA Marathon. That way I'd have something to remember it by. But between sweat, grim and being sore I didn't take as many pictures as I had planned. But here they are...
The day started very early. Very very early. I was leaving my building around 4am as those crazy kid neighbors were just getting home. I made my way and finally got to LA Dodge Stadium. As you can see it was still dark outside. Why oh why does one get up at 3am to run?
I was shocked that they allowed us down the the field but we were. I didn't want to walk around too much as I wanted to save my legs.
The JUMBO TRON! Or whatever they call it. That former Patriot Football coach was blabbering on about something. Don't know why they'd have a former New England Patriot Coach speak to people in Los Angeles. (I Kid)
People were stretching, taking photos and just having a good ol' time for it being so early on a Sunday morning.
More pictures of Dodger Stadium.
Wait why didn't I think of wearing a pink hat like that? I saw this couple later on around mile 22-ish. Well in Brentwood.
A picture for all you baseball fans. Which if you read my blog I hardly doubt you are but in case you like the Dodgers. Oh and I got to use the non-box suite restrooms for the first time. I figured that it would have a trough but it didn't. Shocking. But no desert cart like you get in the box suites. The cocktail served in a chocolate cup is divine! Mmmmm....
The race is about to start. I wore extra clothes that I didn't care about to toss aside as the race started. Don't worry the clothes are collected and donated to a charity. I was nice and took them off before I entered the race area. Others just tossed the clothes as they started to run hitting other runners. Tisk Tisk!
Now we are off. Slowly, walking...
And we are running like the wind. We have ran a loop around the stadium and we are still in a clusterfuck. Some of the walkers and speedwalkers wanted to be up front so we are all dodging them. I mean I'm not a fast runner and I do try to go to the right marked mile pace sign so I find it baffling with others don't. It's rude.
Downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown, no finer place for sure,
Downtown, everything's waiting for you
(Downtown)
Oh so here we are running in....DOWNTOWN LAYou and me, be running up that hill
You and me won't be unhappy.Well maybe not you but I'm unhappy running up hills. At this point I was still running up the hill on Hill Street in downtown. Many people opted to come to a grinding halt and walk up it. Grrrrr....
Still feeling pretty good. Think this was Siverlake. I heard someone yelling my name but figured it wasn't really my name cuz' who do I know in Silverlake, please. This was my first time East of LaBrea in ages.
Disney's Stitch was running. Sadly it took me all the way to Hollywood to catch up to someone wearing a furry costume that I can only assume was hotter then hell! But I was still feeling good. At the mile markers I was checking my pace and it wasn't what I wanted but was staying consistent. I figured it would be like swimming the 1500 I'd just even split the whole race. HA!
Once in Hollywood I was getting sweaty and grimy and my iPhone touchscreen really didn't like that. Taking pictures and using Twitter was becoming a pain. And then in West Hollywood I spent the time looking for people I know. Then came Beverly Hills. The pain started to settle in. Here is Burton Way.
Look Ma, I'm running! Must have been a slip of the hand. But you can see my new Asics Gel-Evolution 5 that I bought on sale. And you can see the little pouch that holds my Nike+ sensor. Which was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off once again. I need to go more high tech if I'm going to keep up with this running thing.
Another lame ass pix. I was getting too tired and sore to care anymore. I had to concentrate on running and not pictures. And plus this is my hood. I run here all the time I can take pictures with less of the rift raft around. I do regret not taking pictures of that hot male go-go dancer in WeHo or the WeHo Cheer group! Next year or then again Pride is coming up!
The last picture I took was at Mile 20. The race went downhill after this. Well the course went downhill and I went tumbling down. I was falling apart and the last 6.2 miles were hell. Somewhere around mile 18 or 19 the fine folks from Sports Chalet sprayed some sorta magical pixie dust on us the made the pain go away. I swear it was better then crystal meth. It got me going for 1 hour and then the next 6 hours I lost track of time.
Well those are my pictures...oh wait but there's more...
I got this neato medal and all the Chocolate Elf Graham Crackers I could manage to carry as I limped to the side at the end!
It hurt. It really hurt! I should stick to swimming. Swimming the 1500 Free is a cakewalk next to running a marathon.
So I am on the disappointed side. I really thought I could hold a particular pace but over time it proved to be not the case. I ended up doing 5:44.18. While I was running and checking my pace I kept revising my goal time. I was so hoping to be under 5 hours even if it was a thousand of a second. Then instead of hitting the wall the wall came crashing down me. After mile 17 it was bloody murder. But this was my 1st marathon after only doing two 1/2 marathons. Six months ago running a 10K was a challenge. So I should be happy but I just know I should do better. But that is what next year is for. Training for 2011 LA Marathon starts soon!
Today was the day to get my bib and goodie bag! Gotta admit I'm nervous as hell for Sunday. I heard that people are selling the bibs online for hundreds of dollars since it is sold out. Hmm...maybe I should sell mine and sleep in! Nah, I'm going to do this even if I have to crawl.
Pick up was at Dodger Stadium which is the starting point of the marathon.
There was this great mural of the marathon route. Above you can see just out of Dodger Stadium heading to Chinatown/Downtown with the freeway.
More of downtown LA and I think that is suppose to Echo Park. I'm only guessing based on running the route previously
I have no clue what part of town that represents. Maybe Silverlake?
I'm thinking is is Silverlake just cuz' it's the hipster/artsy part of town and I cann see "works of art" on a building. It still is a cool mural.
Then you have Hollywood and Beverly Hills. But wait. "No Cruising Zone"? Yes, West Hollywood is represented in this mural. Glad to know that West Hollywood is void of any landmarks except for it's "No Cruising Zone". I think I missed that on my Starline Tour.
Ahh...the finish line in Santa Monica. I didn't get a picture of all the panels as people were enjoying the panels and a few people thought they'd just stand around and wait for friends in front of the panels.
Then there was a booth for the Los Angeles Marathon Museum. I don't think there is an actual museum. Would be an interesting thing to see if they did.
A few more things. When I was in the tent some older gentleman walked in wearing various clothing items from various past marathons. He had a hat on from about 10 years ago. It's amazing how people come back and run this marathon year after year.
The LA Marathon has a great twitter feed @lamarathon and have been posting pictures all week long leading up to the big 2010 LA Marathon. I've been finding some great photos so I figured I'd share a few of them with you...
Here is the Chronotrack B-Tag. This is your tracker! Nothing to attach to your sneakers. Technology is cool! from twitpic
Oh and here is the other side of the bib. Wonder who is #215? from twitpic
Here ya go. The mile markers / clocks! from twitpic
I've rested, stopped drinking alcohol and haven't really run since Tuesday yet today's run was painful. Oy! I have a full taper week ahead before the marathon so I'm not that worried. I did notice a few things about today's run that I'll make sure I change. One of them was that being flatfooted I rub my socks in the same place at the arch of the foot. Well the socks are pretty much worn out at that spot leaving me with a blister. Those socks are now in the trash. I'll be buying a new pair of running socks this week. May wait for the Expo on Friday and buy some there.
I had wanted to do a really long run but consulting various websites I realized that 10 miles was what I should run today. So I headed out to run. It was a bit brisk in the shade but nice in the sun. After being in the sun for a bit when I did get back in the shade it was almost too much. The sweat was cold on me! Brrrr....Luckily I got back in the sun really quickly. Damn winter! The run wasn't anything new. Just the usual loop around West Hollywood / Beverly Hills. Some of the run was on the LA Marathon route but then again I live near mile marker 12 so it was easy enough to do.
I did have a few moments of feeling good while running but mostly it sucked. Oh well not every run can be great. I got to remember that I've had horrible swim practices right before a meet then do some of my best times. One workout means nothing. It's just a blip in the training. On my run I ran past this big house with a tiny lil' Smart Car in the driveway. I thought it was funny and snapped a pix.
You could drive that car in that house is my guess. "Honey, bring me the morning paper" Zoom, Zoom "Here ya go". Well at least that is what I'd do if I owned a Smart Car and that house.