Picking up from yesterday –
So, I picked up any stress I had from my life. I’m starting a new job soon, and I had to pick between two job offers. And it’s always impossible to know if you picked the “right” one. And just you know, blah blah, whatever, any random life stress. I piled it all on at the start line so I could run it all off of me.
And, boy did I ever.
Usually, in races I like to take in the atmosphere and just enjoy myself, but I wasn’t in that space today. And that’s a-okay with me. I popped on those headphone, cranked up Alanis, CeeLo, and my other various run-it-out musicians on that playlist. And I ran it all out!
In the first few miles, every time I thought about walking a single step, I thought to myself, “This is your only time to be angry. Any anger or frustration you have with anybody including yourself – you gotta get it out right now.” And then I wouldn’t walk. Because I needed to run.
I was dying to finally reach that sub 3-hour half. As I started to get closer and closer to the mile 7 mile marker, I saw that I might make it to mile-7 in sub-1:30. I figured if I could do that, I’d be pretty golden.
Sure, enough, I crossed under the mile 7 arch at 1:29:10. This sub-3 is mine!
I did try to tell myself, “Don’t be too terribly focused on the half, because you’re in a full marathon.” But then I kept thinking, “Get your half, girl!” And “that sun is going to be so killer as the day wears on. So get all the running done you can right now.”
As we ran through Hollywood, first, I was shocked at how it felt so much closer to downtown than it ever had before. “How is it before noon and I’ve already run from farther than my house to an area where I hang a lot, and I’m not even really all that tired yet?”
“I should do this run all the time!” (In the moment that made so much sense, but seems ridiculous now and will almost certainly never happen again outside of the LA Marathon.)
One thing I loved was the message from Book of Mormon, which is playing at the Pantages. As we ran by the theater, they’re scrolling marquee said, “Marathoners, you’re doing something incredible!”
“Something incredible” is repeated in a song from that musical. I smiled so big! (That cast recording is actually a total work out jam of mine, and was very helpful through the race.)
So, everything is sunshine and roses. I’m running out toxins (figuratively and literally), I’m on track for my sub-3 half, one of my favorite musicals is in marathoning spirit.
And tomorrow, I’ll talk about the crankypants parts.