LA Marathon: 2 Days Before

Before I proceed, please note that these are things you DON'T wanna do leading up to a marathon.

With the LA Marathon 2 days away and my buddy Ryan in town from Hawaii, there was a lot to cram in the 48 hours leading up to the big race. I picked him up late Thursday night from the airport and while it was nearing midnight, first order of business was to make a stop at In-N-Out for some double doubles (animal style w/ chopped peppers!).

The next day, my friend Rachel and I got off work early so that the trio of us could get in a quick afternoon trail run. Since our agenda for the day was jam packed, we went to the most accessible trail which was Temescal Canyon. We dedicated about an hour or so to running the trails and actually got some good climbs in.


Ryan the Hawaiian


Rachel and Ryan climbing up Temescal


View from the top

While it initially looked like we would be in for overcast skies, the sun quickly broke out less than a mile into our run and we were already drenched with sweat. Since Ryan and I would be doing the 26.2 on Sunday (Rachel wasn't), we kept it easy, took some pictures and just enjoyed the company.

After we got back to the car, we quickly made our way back to my place, cleaned up and then fought Friday drive time traffic towards Dodger Stadium for the expo. There, we met up with some other friends and mostly hung out around Danica's Long Beach Marathon booth. I meandered around to check out this and that but just ended up purchasing some PowerGel.


Miss Long Beach herself, Danica


The gang at the expo in front of Dodger Stadium

Once it got towards 7pm, we drove to nearby Silverlake to grab some dinner. Once Danica was relieved of her expo duties, she joined us shortly thereafter. After a long dinner of sharing yuks and some good "hipster Vietnamese food", a few of us kept the night going by walking to a nearby German tavern.


Full and all smiles post-meal

First order of business was to purchase some Irish Car Bombs (Irish whiskey/Baileys/Guiness) for the willing (4 partook, including yours truly), and then we settled into a booth in this dark, eccentric bar sharing some more stories and laughs while pounding beer and sharing a sausage platter until close to midnight.


Before the carnage

All in all, it was busy but super fun day. Seeing my running friends is always a guaranteed good time. Today, the plan is to take it easy (no running I promise!), take care of some lingering blisters (from Thursday), carbo load a bit and then God willing - get some rest before the BIG DAY.

I am very excited about tomorrow - it's going to be awesome. Can't wait to share the best that this city has to offer with 24,999 of my closest friends...and with the rest of you!