2024 LA Marathon: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Welcome back to Unexpected Abundance! We’re a week removed from the LA Marathon, and I wanted to give you a recap of how the day went. Overall, the race day experience was amazing. Marathons are always filled with energy and excitement, as runners from across the world come together to accomplish their individual goals. It’s a big task to accomplish, whether you’re running a 5k or running the full marathon. This year’s race had the second largest participant field, with the largest being in 2020. The crowds along the course were so energetic and provided additional motivation to all of us running the course. Even though I didn’t have the best performance, I’m grateful that I was healthy throughout training and was able to run the full race without any major injuries.

Although the race day experience was amazing, the race itself wasn't for me. Sunday was a tough outing. My official time was 6 hours and 39 minutes, which is 30 minutes slower than my time in the 2020 LA Marathon. A lot of factors led to my poor performance, but there is nobody to blame other than myself. As I reflect, I thought I had a solid training program leading up to the race, but my lack of execution during the week and on race day were what ultimately failed me. Preparing for a marathon begins months in advance, when you first lace up your shoes for that first run, to the moment you cross the start line. I expected to have a smooth routine on race day, but didn't consider external factors, such as awful traffic and warm weather. My body felt prepared, but my mind didn't, and it was apparent. The day felt off for me and I never got comfortable. Although this is a disappointing feeling, I am looking forward to correcting my mistakes and improving my time for the next race!

Good

• Let’s start with the good parts of the race. I finished it! Seriously, 26.2 miles is a lot of miles on the body and anybody who pays money to do this is a little psychotic (including myself in this group). There was a moment during the race where I knew I wasn’t going to beat my previous time and shifted my focus to finishing the race. Just like I did in 2020, I put one foot in front of the other and kept it moving. I crossed the finish line with mixed emotions, but nonetheless, still crossed the finish line! Another finisher’s medal added to the collection that will continue to grow.

• When I first ran the race in 2020, I physically couldn’t move for a full week. I gingerly walked around my house until my body healed itself. Fast forward to this race, I walked an additional mile after the race to the pickup area where my wife was waiting for me. I felt general soreness but was completely healed by Wednesday. I took extra days off because of my laziness, but I am running again 😊. Since I spent the last three months running, my body was used to the longer mileage and healed quicker. On a day where I underperformed, I was encouraged by my recovery and will be using that to fuel my training in the future.

• After feeling disappointed with my performance, I shifted my focus to the next race. I decided to let the disappointment fuel my training for the next 7 weeks ahead of the OC marathon and decided to scale back and run the half marathon instead of the full marathon. Although it was hard to admit, I knew that 7 weeks was too quick of a turnaround time to prepare my body to run another full marathon. I’m in good spirits and am excited to run this half marathon in May!

Bad

• Race day attire: My race day fit included compression leggings, compression socks, running shorts, a long sleeve shirt, sunglasses, utility belt, and running shoes. I’ve worn this fit for long runs throughout my training, but it backfired on me for the race. I had looked at the weather in LA for the race and saw it was going to be low 70s with no clouds in the sky. I thought it was perfect running weather, but I failed to account for the rising temperature throughout the morning and how that would affect me. For context, I weighed in at 238 lbs the day before the race. I don’t have a typical runner’s body that is lightweight and lean, meaning I don’t do well in warm weather because my heart rate starts to go up and my body starts to overheat. Well, that happened on Sunday. Although this wasn’t the only factor that affected me, it threw me off my game. It was a bit warm in LA around 10:30 am, which was around the time I was going through West Hollywood. I started to run at 7:30 am when it was freezing at Dodger Stadium, but it got warmer as the race went on and my attire didn’t help my situation.

• Hydration: This was probably the biggest/dumbest mistake I made. I didn’t hydrate as much as I needed to prior to the race. Around mile 8, I started to feel dehydrated and clammy. It was an awful feeling, and with the weather warming up, I couldn’t run for longer than two minutes. Mentally, I knew I could keep running, but I physically felt ill and couldn't gather strength to run longer than two minutes without walking. I was drinking water and ElectroLit at every aid station, but my stomach felt full, and it was a mess. A disappointing experience to hinder months of training, but that's part of the experience.

• Finish Time: I mentioned earlier that I finished 30 minutes later than my 2020 result. My goal time was under 5:30 hours, coming in at about 12 minutes per mile. I think the biggest reason I felt disappointed was because I had spent the last 3.5 months training for the race and I didn’t address small but important things in preparation for the race. Ultimately, these small things hindered my performance and the result wasn’t great.

Ugly:

• My mindset. Man, my mindset was the most disappointing. I let the external factors affect me mentally throughout the race, and I never got comfortable. To start the day, my wife and I were stuck in traffic for an hour getting off the exit to get to Dodger Stadium. It was only 2 miles to go up the hill towards the entrance, but it felt like I was never going to arrive. My goal was to get to Dodger Stadium around 6 am to stretch and mentally get in the zone. My wife dropped me off at 6:50 am, 10 minutes prior to the start time. I needed to use the restroom, but the lines were so long for the port a potty that I decided to do a quick stretch and get in line to run. I eventually had to use the restroom around mile 3 and waited 6 minutes before getting back on the race. Although I was able to get back on pace, seeing my watch mark the mile time as 18 minutes affected me. Shortly after, I began to feel sick due to the warm weather and it went downhill from there. If you saw me on the course, you would think that I only ran for the month prior to the race. Mentally, I should have been stronger, but I wasn’t, and it affected me for the entire race.

Sunday wasn’t my day. Some days will be good and bad, and it’s up to the runner to adjust. Unfortunately, I didn’t adjust. I let the bad day get to me, and it affected my performance. After reflecting for a few days, I’m grateful for this experience. I finished the race, came out healthy, and got another medal. The race opened my eyes to multiple areas for improvement, and I’m looking forward to getting better. I know this post seemed somber, but it’s a way for me to reflect and share my experiences with you all. I wouldn’t be doing anybody a favor if I didn’t discuss my bad experiences with running. I hope I can provide insight and encouragement to people that are in my position. Running is an amazing sport, and it requires commitment to get better. Not every run will be great, and that’s okay! Not every race will be great, and that’s okay too. This is part of my running journey, and I’m proud of where it's headed.

Thanks for dropping by for another conversation! I always look forward to posting, and I hope you’re enjoying the conversations as well. I’ve begun training for the 2024 OC Half Marathon, and I’ll be posting about my training, along with other topics. Be sure to follow us on TikTok (@unexpectedabundance), Instagram (@unexpectedabundanceblog), and Pinterest (@unexpectedabundance). Until next time, stay safe!