Los Angeles Marathon 03/24/19 Recap

A bit of a late post... had a busy week with training, post-race recovery at Precision In Movement, and my last week of pharmacy interning. 

Race Start. I am in the front on the right side, wearing a white top. 
Half of us were wearing the same shoes, haha!

Went into the race with a positive mindset believing that I was ready for it (that's what I trained my mind to believe). I only had about 2 months of quality training... recovered from iron-deficiency anemia in December and had a virus for 10 days in Feb/Mar. Two months was not enough time to get my body to elite runner shape. 

A bit about Anemia:
In anemia, the body has a low amount of red blood cells which carry oxygen to the body tissues, so when you are exercising not enough oxygen reaches your muscles. This causes you to feel short of breath, fatigued, and muscle aches just from doing one minute of running. This also increases the demand on your heart because it is trying to pump more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles so your heart beats faster and harder. It can take months to gain back muscle, cardio endurance, and oxygen utilization. When my iron stores and blood levels were back to normal, I was back into running. Within a few months, I gained back 20 pounds of muscle (body weight staying the same), and I was improving in my workouts, but hadn't reached my peak before the marathon. 

The Race:

I ran the marathon with everything I had - heart, endurance, and strength. My goal was to run with the front pack of elite women for as long as possible. They started out fast - 5:22 per mile pace, and I stayed with them because I thought they were just trying to break away from the pack and eventually slow down to a steady pace. I was wrong, our 5K split was 17:19, my fastest 5K time. By mile 4, they were still running hard and I was trying too hard to keep up, I still had 22 miles to go so I decided to conserve my energy and run the race at my own pace. Little did I know that they were chasing after the course record. The female winner from Ethiopia finished in 2 hr 24 min which is 5:30 per mile pace! I set my fastest half marathon in 1 hr 16 min. From mile 19 on, the hard effort from running fast at the beginning of the race began to take a toll. Glad to see the Loma Linda Lopers at mile 19 and the Riverside Road Runners at mile 20 to cheer me on, and friends along the course! My finish time of 2 hr 44 min is another Olympic Trials Qualifying time (my time of 2 hr 37 min from last year remains my official qualifying time because it is the faster time). I believe this challenging race made me stronger and helped prepare me for the Sendai International Half Marathon. 

Finish Line

Support:

http://precisioninmovement.com/

Visited Precision In Movement the week of the race for massage and recovery, such a huge help in reducing tighness/soreness, flushing out lactic acid, and great advice! 
On race morning, I usually feel bloated from loading up on pasta the night before but this time I didn't... had the Mediterranean bowl with falafel from Freshii, half a bagel, 2 bananas, and 2 small cashew/date bars. 

Was ecstatic to come across Freshii only half a mile from my hotel! The owner was super friendly and excited when I talked with him about running and how Freshii in Riverside has supported me with healthy, energizing foods that fuel my training. My parents flew down for the weekend, really enjoyed catching up, laughing, and having a good time together. Dexter, a friend from the Lopers, who was also the race photographer, walked alongside me to the start line and prayed for me. Ruben, who has been like a coach to me for the past few months, spoke words of confidence and strength to me before the race and his belief in me taught me to believe in myself. Felt so encouraged from family and friends! God is good, I give Him all the glory and thank him each day for His protection, neverending love, gift of running, the best friends and family, and surviving pharmacy school! Graduation is in May!! Starting this week and for the coming months, I will be focused on studying for the pharmacy license exam and also training for the Sendai International Half Marathon and the Olympic Marathon Trials (HUGE things)! 

Guest speaker for the Loma Linda Lopers a week before the marathon. Shared encouragement for the L.A. Marathon & pre-race tips. The Lopers is a running club in Loma Linda that trains every Sunday 6:30 am at the Drayson Center. From March 31st through August 4th, they are offering a discounted $20 membership! (https://www.lopersclub.org/) Gave away lip balms that I made! If you missed the event, I am selling them for $2 each to help support my training - supplements and shoes. 

Contact to place an order: shootingstarz@pacbell.net

If you would like to make a general donation to help support my training: GoFundMe

Thank you!

Upcoming Agenda:
4/28/19 - PossAbilities Triathalon (relay team, I will be running the 5K). 
5/12/19 - Sendai (Japan) International Half Marathon 
5/26/19 - Loma Linda University Pharmacy Graduation!!
Freshii 5K Run (date to be announced)
2/29/20 - Olympic Marathon Trials, Atlanta, Georgia!!