We met at Santa Monica High School at 7am, and it was immediately obvious that the day was going to be slightly different. Half of the site reps and coaches were in costume. My favorites were Team USA girl in blue, red and nifty sequin silver bracelets and Captain Awesome, “who took Jared’s place” and sported goggles and a red cape.
Now, before we run, our site reps and coaches will tell us how proud they are of us, review the course, and send us on our way. This time a rep from APLA came out and shared with us a letter he had recently received. The man who wrote the letter, thanking APLA, was tested positive back in 1985 and has not only managed to stay alive, but also managed to regain his life in the process. He said, at one point, that APLA was (paraphrasing) “so patient and helpful that my only choice was to move forward.” That can be said about the training program as well.
Receiving maximum motivation to take on 23 miles, we were sent on our way about 7:45 am. We strolled a couple blocks westward and entered the beach at Shutters. Immediately hooking south, we began our run.
It’s amazing how much distance you can cover, especially when it’s normally been measured by walking. The first major site we passed was Venice Beach still rubbing its eyes. It ends at Pacific Avenue, which is really Marina del Rey, and did a slight zig-zag into an alley that ran parallel with the beach, taking us into a sleeping residential area packed in tight with three-story beach bungalows of every architectural style. There are no streets here, only sidewalks, with small manicured lawns on either side, all leading their way to the shore.
We reached a turn-around point somewhere in the alley around 9am and as we started back towards the direction we came, we started seeing the city wake up. First we saw cute dogs of every size being escorted by their owners, then construction workers. As we passed through Venice Beach, store owners rolled up their metal doors and large street cleaners noisily made their way along the boulevard. Roller bladers and bicyclists started appearing in our path, as we noticed outdoor dining areas were starting to be sprinkled with patrons.
We past Shutters Hotel, our original starting point, and followed the path until it brought us to Temescal Canyon Road at Pacific Coast Highway. There we turned around again, eventually leaving the beach all together at San Vicente. From that point we ran beyond 26th street into Brentwood, looping through the neighborhood and enjoying a little hill running along the way. Eventually (you guessed it), we turned around and came back the same way we came, passing Santa Monica Pier for a second time until we reach the high school.
We arrived around 2pm, running 2:2 (that’s run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) for 6 hours at a very slow training pace. It was great to get a feel for the marathon would be like, but it was one we all struggled through. For some reason, Saturday was particularly warm for this time of year, reaching a high of 81 degrees. Despite the cool breeze coming off the Pacific, we battled with not having any shade cover.
Also, everyone was hurting. Many of us have problem areas by this point, and I must finally confess that includes me. Like quite a few kids in my pace group, I have the I-T band injury. It happened about a month ago, and I know all too well what that “sharp pain in the knee area” feels like. Fortunately, with Advil and a handy Ace knee brace, I don’t feel a thing during the run, but I started feeling a pull in my calve muscle on the opposite leg. I started laughing, “oh god, I’m going to be a mummy by the time I cross the finish line.” I was doing good in comparison to some of the other runners, who were battling I-T band with either ibuprofen or brace, pounding headaches, sore feet, and kinked shoulders. I don’t know anyone in our group who wasn’t suffering.
Yet, we had each other. There were so many volunteers who went all out by decorating their stands and overflowing with Halloween treats, that it provided a fun excuse to stop, rest the sore part of the body for a moment, and laugh easily for a moment. Also, many had signs that read “You are heroes”, and that sometimes would make me smile.
Most of all, though, it was my group that got me through those 23 miles. When we finally made it back to the high school, our site reps had created a finish line, complete with a finish line with an arch made of yellow and red balloons. As we crossed, our site reps were there and they gave us each a medal. The entire time I thought how I was standing there because of the group. As I looked around, all of sudden, I thought of that letter and realized, yet again, thanks to this program, “my only choice was to move forward”.
So, that’s that. After this, we meet for a couple 8-mile maintenance runs before we leave for Florence to do the actual marathon on November 26th.
Stay tuned and don’t forget to donate.
See ya!
