L.A. Marathon 5:39:37

I did it! I finished the L.A. Marathon! Not nearly as fast as I wanted to, but I finished.

The pace leaders for my 11.5 pace group with the L.A. Leggers were doing a great job and had us slightly ahead of schedule. I was doing really well for the first 15 miles, when I really had to go to the bathroom. I had to go from about mile 5 and it was getting critical. I finally found a port-a-potty bank that didn't have a line, so I left the group and ran over. It has happened before on long runs that as soon as I stop running, my legs start to really hurt. All of the lactic acid just sit in the muscles and the pain is intense.

I did my business and tried to catch up to my pace group. We all wear yellow hats, so it is a fairly easy group to identify in a crowd. After about twenty minutes, with my legs really beginning to hurt, I saw a group of yellow hats ahead. I finally caught up with them, but I realized it was not my group of yellow hatted runners. I was heart-broken. At the same time, I felt a twinge in my calf that I had injured in December. Not wanting to re-injure, I made the decision to walk the rest of the marathon. My sub-five hour finish dream was over. Oh well, I was determined to finish.

I called the Great Magnetic Wife to let her know that I would be later than I hoped. She was downtown and we met on the course. She brought her puppet, Spot the Cheetah, figuring that a cheetah would like the running event. The Great Magnetic Wife is like that. It was wonderful to see her.

Just then I saw a couple of people from my pace group who were also walking. We ended up doing it together with a few short runs from time to time. We did finish the last quarter-mile or so running and strong. I was hoping for a sub-five hour time, but I ended up at 5:39:37. Hey, I finished!

The legs are sore, but the feeling of accomplishment is high.

John Thum