Speedy Canizales

(I ran the marathon almost two months ago and just got around to writing about it. I just wanted to clear that up in case you thought I ran another marathon between then and now – that would be crazy!)

A week after finishing the LA marathon there were too many things buzzing around in my head to write a proper post, so I thought I’d wait until things settled down a bit to do a proper post-mortem.  Turns out that takes almost two months.

So – I did it!

I ran 26.2 miles and lived to tell the tale. My finish time was a respectable 3:51, 11 minutes over the Boston qualifying time for Boston. (However, if you look up my results at the LA Marathon website it will seem like I missed running Boston next year by 17 seconds. That’s because LA decided to try something new this year by putting the timing chip in the race bib instead of attaching it to our shoe, and mine stopped working somewhere around mile 18. My official time took my mile 18 split and “projected” my finish at 3:41.) My goal was to cross the finish line at 3:40 to qualify for the Boston marathon next year but it didn’t happen at this race. It’s back to the drawing board and another marathon in the fall or winter for me.

The week following the marathon I was beating myself up for missing my goal time. All I could think about was what I did wrong during the race. I started to get a cramp on my side at mile 7, and despite my best efforts to ward it off, I was in pain from mile 18 to the finish. It took all my willpower to get to the finish line, and when I FINALLY got there I was in a lot of pain. I was really angry at myself for giving in, and upset I could not overcome the pain. Looking back now I realize that did my best, and that I have every reason to be proud of myself. Even though I was in pain kept putting one foot in front of the other, and kept going until I reached the finish line. Sometimes it’s about putting forth the effort no matter what that makes us who we are. I’m sure that’s true for a lot of people who ran the marathon. It will make qualifying for Boston that much sweeter.

I learned a lot from my first marathon, both physically and emotionally. Physically I need to change my training plan so that I am running more miles at a faster pace. I found that during training my pace was slower than it should have been during my long runs, and in order to get faster I need to get my body used to a faster pace during training. Emotionally I need to stay relaxed and live in the moment. During the first few miles I constantly compared myself to other people and tried to keep up with them. They ultimately finished faster than me. That is probably how I got a cramp in the first place – trying to keep up – when I should have been focusing on my body and what it was trying to tell me.

All that running talk aside, running across LA was a blast!  There were so many people cheering from the sidewalks, encouraging runners to keep going and reminding them how awesome they are.  I felt like LA was giving me a big hug throughout the entire course.  At mile 12 I saw my boss cheering for me, and it perked up my spirits.  At mile 14 my mom and Rene were there, an awesome surprise (I didn’t expect them until the finish) and half a mile from them, drag queens in cheerleader outfits (only in West Hollywood!).  At mile 17 Nike store employees dressed in bright green bodysuits were yelling and shaking cowbells that could be heard a mile away.  At mile 19 there were cheerleader squads working their butts off with routines designed for the marathon.  All this on top of bands on the sidewalk playing music as runners passed, and offering runners all kinds of food if they needed it.  Normally people here in LA are so insulated in their own world (myself included), so getting that contact from strangers, all offering encouragement, was beautiful.

I fell in love with LA all over again.

(Complete LA Marathon album can be seen here.)

*****

A week after the marathon I jumped into training for my first Olympic distance triathlon at Wildflower. It’s a 1500-meter swim, 24-mile bike (hilly course) and 6.1-mile run at the end. I’ve practiced on the course twice already and… I am nervous!

I’m not worried about finishing the race (I’ve got this) but I want to do well and that has its own set of hang-ups and insecurities. I’m trying not to think about it too much and just live in the moment. As bizarre as this may sound, I often find myself smiling during a race. It gives my body such an adrenaline rush that I forget about the nervousness and the fatigue, and keep on going.

This is something I’ll be telling myself when I’m standing at the starting line with all the other females in my division at Lake San Antonio, shivering in my wetsuit and asking why I do this to myself.