Three Marathons: Part Two
Last post was a brief recap of the three marathons I ran in nine months (December 88 to September 89) and training while our boys were 12 to 24 months old. The Los Angeles Marathon in April 1989 was a learning experience. I learned that you can beat your previous time if you (a) run the whole way instead of walk and (b) break through the inevitable wall and finish the race. The marathon starts at the Coliseum and takes you through LA neighborhoods: China Town, Korea Town, Japan Town, Hollywood, and back to the Coliseum. There were so many people on Figueroa that it took me 10 minutes just to cross the start line. And with so many people it's easy to start out too slow and then set a pace that is way too fast. But the thing that surprised me most was the wall that I hit at mile 21. I felt it coming and didn't want to finish. My hips were aching, my feet were dying, but I wanted to finish the race at the Coliseum. My brother Pat recorded the marathon from one of the local s