Picking up from yesterday –
I definitely felt cranky in the middle of the race. So, let’s just get that all out now.
There was supposed to be Gatorade starting at mile 3 and at every odd mile marker thereafter. I never saw Gatorade – not once.
At mile 3, I thought, “Well, I must’ve just read things wrong. Maybe it doesn’t start ’til 5.” At mile 5, I thought, “Uh, seriously, what is going on here?” And at mile 7, I thought, “What sort of cruel joke is this?!”
(I mean, come on, LA Marathon, prevent hyponatremia, much?
Never in the entire race did I get Gatorade, which made me very sad. Around halfway through, I tweeted, “I would have your baby for some Gatorade. #LAMarathon.” Only one person favorited it. (Thanks, Janine!) I sort of thought it might be worth a few more favorites , but you win some, you lose some.
The incredible lack of Gatorade is why those Clif Shot Bloks saved me! So, again thank goodness Clif was at the expo. Huge hugs to you, Clif company.
Speaking of the water stops, I sometimes get a little annoyed with the runners. And I think the only solution is for me to just get faster so I can be in the area where people care more and are more aware. Because I saw so many runners just leisurely walk along the water tables.
But psst, runners, when you do that, you’re not really leaving room for other people to get in and out. My understanding is when you approach a water stop, stay center-ish – not dead center, ’cause that’s for fast people bypassing the stop altogether with no slow-down. But stay center enough that there’s plenty of room by the people giving out water. Swerve in, grab your cup, and swerve out! That’s the important part – the out-swerve, so then more people have space and can also get their drinks.
Also, this was the first race where at two of my stops, I ended up getting water from volunteers not really paying attention. I greatly appreciate that they’re out there in the sun, getting up so early on a weekend and not getting paid. Totally understand all of that and am very grateful for it.
But, maybe, if you’re going a little nuts, perhaps just take a break? Because twice, I was about to grab a cup from someone who just started basically swinging his (and her) body around exaggeratedly. One seemed to do it because he was bored. One seemed like she saw a baby and was interested in looking at it.
Both times, I took a step back to get toward their swinging hand – and almost caused a collision.
Oh man, I’ve written enough words for the day, but believe it or not – there’s still more to be cranky about! Let’s get to it tomorrow.