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Los Angeles Marathon!

Yep, it’s a surprise to me too, but come 7:20am on Sunday, March 21, I’ll be lining up at the starting line for the LA Marathon!

In an effort not to bore you too much, I’ll try to make it brief. Last week, while talking with Coach Jimmy (of the SoCal Coyotes I’ve been running with recently), he mentioned that POM Wonderful had approached him looking for four athletes to sponsor to run the marathon. POM is participating in the marathon and they want some runners to represent them in connection with the race. He offered the opportunity to me and I jumped at it. Before the race, I’ll get featured on the It means I’ll be featured on POMWonderful.com, stop by their booth at the Marathon expo before the race and follow-up with them after the race.

I have to admit that I’m just getting acquainted with the POM Wonderful online “Community” and as I learn more I’ll get more information out to you all. But, even from the little I know so far, it’s obvious they’re committed to health, wellness and fitness. First off and initially most important to me, they have a presence at the marathon and have been involved with some of the official marathon training programs. The Community is their place for all things related to pomegranate and health. There is information from health experts, blogs from consumers and tons of pomegranate recipes. This one looks particularly yummy right now:

Back to my marathon though. For months I’ve thought about running the marathon, but was convinced I couldn’t. First, I haven’t been doing what I’m used to being “real” marathon training (you know, like those 20+ mile runs…). And second, I’m racing at Oceanside the following weekend. I didn’t want to miss the marathon entirely and had agreed to help pace a couple friends both trying for marathon PRs. But always in the back of my mind was just how great this year’s LA Marathon is going to be. Way back in 2007, I paced a friend run her first marathon at LA. It was fun to run with her, but that course SUCKED. The LA Marathon has had it’s share of problems over the years, including never being able to put together the awesome point-to-point course that LA deserves. Finally, this year, they have that course. Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica, showing off a lot of LA’s best scenery. Local runners are really excited about the course and this could be the first year of the resurgence of the LA Marathon. To be there should be a ton of fun. So, when Jimmy approached me with this opportunity, I decided that I could participate (officially) in the marathon, still help my friends reach their goals and be part of a pretty cool campaign by POM. It’s going to take some crafty maneuvering on raceday, but I know I can make it happen. I’m not going out there to set a PR, nothing even close. I’m not trained for that. But I’m counting on my base, and some recent tough trail running to carry me through 26.2 (or a little more). And Oceanside has been something of an afterthought recently anyway. I haven’t spent the time on the bike or in the pool to do myself justice at that race. So, I’ll go out and have fun both weekends!

Other than the fact that it starts at Dodger Stadium, runs through LA and ends at the beach, I don’t really know the course, but I have been following Billy and Danica in their adventures running the course and previewing it on their blogs. If I’m not going to run the actual course, those descriptions, pictures and videos are the next best thing!

Funny thing, training deficiencies aside, it’s just about time for my taper!