This was my best race ever! What an amazing day i had!!!
Although there aren't really any weird or funny stories form the day, as there always are from mexico, the day went smoothly and i simply felt amazing.
I used the la subway (?) to get to the start line, and everything seemed really well organized. I dropped off my bag at the gear check, stood in line at the port-a-potties, and made my way to the starting area. It wasn't too crowded when I got there, and I wasn't too far from the start. I ducked through a fence where a bunch people were using a residential street to jog and warm up. The men were also using the yards and walls as bathrooms. ha! lines and lines of dudes standing against every bush. the ladies (myself included) found a bog tree/bush area, and we decided it was the ladies' room. it was certainly better than the alternative!
the began and I started only a minute or so after. I was swept up in all the excitement and passed the first mile at 7:45 or so. I decided to slow down, but the next 2 miles were downhill so I just "went with it". I missed the mile markers for 2 and 3 somehow, and at 4, my watch read 21 minutes for the last 3 miles! i was flying!! at this point i was a little nervous. I though that i might hit a wall too soon, but in general i felt great. better than ever before! over the next 8 miles, i slowly reducec my speed to about an 8:30 pace. After the 21km point, I started feeling those first fast miles. Nothing was painful, and i still felt great, but the perceived effort was rising. staying at an 8:30-8:45 pace was possible, but more difficult. I felt well-hydrated, though, and ate my little bags of honey and PB, and drank gatorade (although not as much as in previous races), and in general had a great time.
the race was full of "entertainment", lots of different kinds of drum lines, rock bands, gospel choirs, etc. I guess the mariachi bands were on a break when i passed :( I was hoping to see them. I did see, though, 2 sinaloense couples dancing to banda music in full sinaloa costume! ha ha! that was hilarious.
allyson met me at mile 18 and took some video. she, jill, and john all get good-friend-awards for the day for driving me around and/or cheering for me.
the best part of the race was between the mile 23 and 24 markers. the course enters downtown LA via a long, high bridge with an amazing view of the entire area. It was a gorgeous day, and on the bridge, there were no photogs, spectators, or anyone excpet the runners, and all you could hear was the soft patter of footsteps. what a lovely moment to have after 23 miles of loud "entertainment" and shouting crowds.
By that point, i had slowed quite a bit. I knew that I could even slow to a 10 min pace and still easily get my goal time, so the pressure was off and I could relax. I was already in shock at how fast my time was. I couldnt' believe how great i was feeling during the whole race. I never imagined i could run so many fast miles all in a row!!I had about 2 9:30 miles at some point, but i still felt pretty good (although i think i had stopped smiling at that point) and i had the oomph to sprint at the very end and passed up 5 or 6 people in the last 50 meters. My shocking time was 3:44:09. I am still in disbelief! An entire 10 minutes faster than my goal!!!
I had a great complimentay massage and exited the finish area through a parking garage to avoid the crowds. I walked back to the metro station (5 blocks... it felt far) and waited for John at our pre-arranged place. After being harrassed by a fat teenager with chapped lips and a nudey magazine, I saw John coming and escaped into his car. We celebrated with Mashti malone's peanut butter cuup ice cream and a meal at Real Food Daily. Today I am waddling, but somehow I also feel like I'm flying.
Yay! I can't wait for the next one!
