254. LA Marathon Recap 2025

[00:00:00] You're listening to episode 254 of the Marathon Running Podcast. In this episode, we're going to do a recap of the LA Marathon. This is the Marathon Running Podcast and Letty Run's YouTube channel with Letty and Ryan. And yes, we're officially now on all channels. Join us for weekly content on all things running and let us take you from the starting line to the finish line and beyond.

[00:00:31] Hey runners and welcome to episode 254. My name is Letty. My name is Ryan. And we're almost at episode 262. And do you know the significance behind that? Mm-hmm. What is it? It's the one that comes after 261. Besides that? 26.2? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So if you guys that are listeners, long-term listeners, have any ideas of what we should do for that episode, let me know.

[00:00:57] Because I'm trying to make it special. And coincidentally, I think that's also the season finale of season 5 or 4, whatever season we're in. And I'm so bad at counting. We're going to go through that ordeal again. Well, we're actually going to go through that ordeal again. Because as you guys know, because you clicked on this episode, we're talking about the 40th running of the LA Marathon. What anniversary is that?

[00:01:20] Exactly, right? They called it the 40th running. And the first inaugural LA Marathon was in March of 1986. So while at the Expo, we had a ton of people approach us and asked us to explain the whole thing. And literally, it was the hardest thing, right? Because it's not like a birthday. If you're born in 86, you're turning 39 this year. But when you're running your first marathon, you're not starting at zero.

[00:01:49] That's how I try to explain it. I don't know if I succeeded. It's very confusing. But here we go again. And we're laughing because we had that last year when I was celebrating our whatever anniversary it was for the podcast. And I was off by a year. I had added a year. And it was so confusing. I even got a cake with the wrong number on it. So bad. You're like, this is our third year podcasting. Happy 4th anniversary. I'm like, wait, what? I still don't get it quite well. But I'm going to let you do the planning and the cake for this year's anniversary.

[00:02:17] Anyway, so do you want to hop into this special recap? Because you know I love marathon recaps. What are you holding there? I'm holding my medal. It's a participant medal, just like with all the other marathons. And I'm wearing it because for you listeners that are not watching, we do now also have the YouTube channel. And we're airing all of our podcast episodes on YouTube. And I know that I already put out a video, a runner's weekend of the LA Marathon. So this is going to be very much focused on audio and maybe some tips.

[00:02:47] And we're really going to kind of go through it a little bit better than in the vlog style video that we've done on YouTube. So let's get started. So start off with your trip to LA. So I left on Thursday because there was a lot of events surrounding the LA Marathon that I was part of that I wanted to attend. So yeah, Thursday early morning, as you know, I left the house. And my flight was at 540 a.m. So don't even ask me. But I got there really early. I think I got there at 11.

[00:03:17] Of course, it took an hour to get a rental car or even more. But then I was well on my way to my friend Cora's place. If Cora is listening, she's not a runner. So she's probably not listening. But yeah, shout out anyway. But thank you so much for letting me crash in your crib in Burbank, which was awesome. Yeah, Cora is a good friend of yours for a long time. So it's nice to have a comfort place, you know, to go to a comfortable place to go to. And you're not staying in a random hotel or something. So that was neat. And then this time in LA was different because you were an ambassador.

[00:03:47] Yes, Ryan. I was an ambassador this year for the LA Marathon. I was selected. And it was pretty amazing to get to know the other fellow ambassadors and Lucy, the coordinator, and everything that they do for the LA Marathon. Unfortunately, since we don't live in LA right now, I was unable to attend the events that were happening throughout the year. Hopefully next year, if I get reselected, I will be doing more of that because it's such a great running community.

[00:04:14] LA is yours and my favorite place for running out of all the places we've lived. And the running community since we've left, it's only grown with all these different running groups. And it's a very active place in the world. So I really love it. I really love working with them as an ambassador and hop into that role. So that was exciting. So you had a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement going to the marathon this year. Did you run it last year? I think you skipped a year before at least, right?

[00:04:43] I think last year we ran Rome and it was on the same day. Yeah. Yes. So you hadn't run it in a while and now you're an ambassador. So I know you were excited to go, which is kind of neat. I was very excited also because the finish line had switched when I used to run the LA Marathon. When I ran it for the last time, it had ended in Santa Monica. And so it's been a minute and now it ends in Century City. So the course has changed. I was very excited to see that too. I heard many good things about it.

[00:05:11] And yeah, I just wanted to check it out and be part of it again because I really miss LA so much. We can get to that during your race recap a little later. But let's start off with anything you did prior to going to the expo, which we all know is your favorite part. Yes. So what did I do prior to going to the expo? Well, I did go to a physical therapy place that had invited us to visit them because they wanted to show us, our podcast, what they are all about.

[00:05:39] So I attended that and it was quite interesting. And then after that, I just went for a run, went to Trader Joe's because we love Trader Joe's and stocked up on some groceries that I knew I was going to need to nibble on. And that was it. That was it for Thursday. Like I said, I only had a half day and then expo was going to be on Friday as well as Saturday. So expo day. Where is the expo? The expo is at Dodger Stadium and it's actually an outside expo. Which is unusual. It is unusual, but it's not unusual for LA. They've always done it that way.

[00:06:09] They say it never rains in Southern California, unfortunately. On Friday it rained. But since I got to go both days, it was kind of nice to see the difference. And, you know, the rain didn't sway people from attending and visiting the tents. It's just, you know, we were runners. We're tough. We're used to doing that anyway. I went to the expo. On my way to the expo, I saw the Kenyan elite runners running and I saw Liam, the elite runner coordinator, standing there.

[00:06:37] I had only met him via email because we got one of our friends that we had met on our Kenya trip into the LA Marathon, into the elite wave. So I pulled over. I said thank you to him and got to meet him in person. And then I headed to the expo. And it was just kind of funny because I was, as I said, staying in Burbank and wanted to avoid the traffic on the freeway and cut by Griffith Park. And it was just a pure coincidence that I ran into them. Yeah. That's cool.

[00:07:04] Was it different going to the expo as an ambassador? Yes, it was because I got an ambassador batch. The LA Roadrunners had set up in their tent an area for myself and Rizzo, who's also an ambassador of the LA Marathon, who was also a podcast host for us to do live podcasts at the expo if we wanted to. So that was really cool. Rizzo had brought in all of his equipment. Shout out to Rizzo. Thank you so much because I wasn't traveling with a ton of equipment. So he had set all that up. That was really cool. What is his podcast?

[00:07:34] His podcast is Rizzo Run Club on YouTube. And he did an amazing job just promoting the LA Marathon on his Instagram. I mean, there were countdowns. There were tips. He would run the course and say, OK, this is the hill. He was really, really helpful. And while hanging out with him, he got approached like a friggin' celebrity. People were taking pictures with him. I was his own personal videographer, too. It was really, really cool to see. So go check out his podcast. Yes, yes, yes.

[00:08:03] And he made a huge difference. So that was really cool. We also got to go to the media conference, which, you know, I love that sort of thing. It's my wheelhouse. We got to see Brian McCurt speak, who is Brian McCurt of the McCurt Foundation, which puts on the LA Marathon. He introduced Koichiro Kadama, the CEO of ASICS. And then they made the announcement that ASICS was not just any sponsor anymore.

[00:08:29] They were the there are going to be the official title sponsor of the LA Marathon next year. Then they introduced the legacy runners. And Ryan, I teared up for that one. So the legacy runners are the runners that have run every single year since 1986. So there was 83 of them left at this point. And that was really cool to see because, you know, even if they were 20 years old, now they would be in their 60s.

[00:08:57] And while at the expo, they had their tent next to ours where we were podcasting. And I got to speak to a whole bunch of them. And the joke that I had going was, OK, you're literally married to this marathon. Because imagine you're doing something for 39 years this year, the 40th time, where literally nothing can come in between you and your training for this marathon. And a lot of them said yes.

[00:09:20] I mean, one of them got married that same year and he knows how long he's been married based on what number of LA Marathon he's running. So that was really cool because it's such a huge commitment. And the point that they made was that it takes not just them, but it's a family thing, right? Because you can't steal yourself away and be that selfish. You have to have that support. And all of them obviously did. And they were all very happy.

[00:09:47] So with that, shout out to you, Ryan, because you always put up with my running and my marathons mostly. You are. Thank you. So what else did you do at the expo? So yeah, so after the media conference, we did walk around and we saw tons of the tents of the vendors. One of them that stuck out to me, which I've never seen on a marathon expo, was the Impossible. Which Impossible, if you don't know, it's the plant-based meat made out of feed protein. I've been a vegetarian since age 12, so that was really kind of cool to see.

[00:10:14] I was kind of confused why they would be at a running expo, but I don't know. It's LA too, you know? Yeah, I mean, it's reasonable. I mean, yeah. And Letty has introduced vegetarianism. Vegetarianism. I can't say that for whatever reason. Letty has made the rest of her family vegetarians, pretty much. And so... But not intentionally. Intentionally, yes, probably. But willingly, no. And we ended up eating some of the Impossible and Beyond Meat burgers, because it's kind of a nice type of burger once in a while.

[00:10:44] And so we've been familiar with it. They're not sponsored by the podcast at all, right? No. I wish they were, right? I wish, yeah. Impossible if you're listening. Yeah. But yeah, so we ended up eating a decent amount. So we had some experience with it already. And it was interesting to see it become more mainstream. I wonder what they had there. You said it was like a food cart? It was a food cart, and they would prepare either bowls or little burritos. Was it just ground meat mostly, or...? Yeah, made it... Well, no, they had nuggets too.

[00:11:13] I think they were trying to have a little bit of a menu so they could introduce people to the variety. So if people were into nuggets, they would give them nuggets and bowls and all that stuff. And, you know, Ryan, I was just kind of thinking, if they were to sponsor us, I would be wearing a shirt that says Impossible Athlete. So you just like the name? I love that name. Again, Impossible if you're listening. Anyway, there were lots of other carts there. The other funny thing is, on Friday at least, it was a little bit cold.

[00:11:40] And there was this one place, I forgot the name of it, and they were handing out rainbow popsicles. And it was just so cool to eat them. Did they want to get them? I mean, they were pretty much shoving them into our hands. So I was trying to eat it. It tasted good, too, but it was just really cold. Then Saturday, it was a whole different story, right? You'd want that. Another vendor was Chiquita Banana, which... That's a pretty common item at Marathon. It's a common item at Marathon, especially the brand Chiquita.

[00:12:09] I ran into so many other Ecuadorian people, and all of us agreed that when we go to a grocery store and we buy banana, if it has a sticker on it, we all check. Because we hope that the bananas come from Ecuador. But that was kind of funny. They let you go up there, and you'd scan their code, and you'd take a picture with a banana, and then you were given the choice of getting a hat or a fanny pack and all that stuff. I went twice. Since I have two half-Equadorian children, I got them Chiquita Banana hats. You were happy for the rest of the day.

[00:12:38] I was happy with the hats. I don't really... I'm not a big swag person. I don't like to collect swag. So it sounds like you're promoting all the vendors at Marathon right now. I'm just mentioning the ones that are sticking out. So Friday, you went to the expo and it was raining. You saw some interesting vendors, but you went back Saturday, and it was a better mood because it was sunnier, and it was more in tune to the typical LA weather. I mean, I wouldn't say better mood. I feel like everyone that was at the expo was happy. So it was better weather.

[00:13:08] Better weather, and a little bit warmer. So on Saturday, we had the meetup with the ambassadors where I literally got to meet all of the other ambassadors. We took a group picture and sang Kumbaya. So that was really, really cool. For real Kumbaya? No, not in real life. But we were all, you know, hanging out for a minute. And then Rizzo and I recorded a live podcast on last-minute tips for the LA Marathon. On Saturday, they actually had the 5K. I wasn't signed up for the 5K, but a lot of them did the 5K.

[00:13:38] And so that was kind of cool because you'd see all the people already with one medal walking around. And then I drove home to get off my feet because I knew I was going to have a marathon the next day. And my approach for this marathon was, because I am training for the London, or I was training for the London Marathon, was to run 18 miles at a harder speed. And then the last 8 miles were going to be where most of the fanfare would happen.

[00:14:06] And, you know, the running clubs and all that stuff. So I was excited for that. And I didn't want to just strain it. I also really wanted to take it in because, you know, I love the city. So that was that. That was the initial thought on all of this. Any prior to race preparations? Preparations as in trying to figure out parking. Food, parking, any of that stuff. Do you have any special meals? Do you have pasta meals? Do you get carb loading? I went trader Joe loading and just ate some of the ready foods that they had.

[00:14:35] I think I bought like two or three things that I was just nibbling on. Spicy Indian? No, no, no, no, no. I actually bought like a pasta salad and some bread and some lemon cookies. Morning of parking mishap. Morning of parking mishap because I was coming from Burbank, right? I should have just driven down to Union Station, hopped on a bus and that's it. Instead, I decided, oh, I should park the car in Century City.

[00:15:01] But since I haven't been there in a while, I didn't really think about road closures or traffic or anything. So I was driving from Burbank, which is north of the Marathon, all the way over to the west side. But there were some street closures, so I was almost in Santa Monica and then I had to go drive back east towards Century City and then hop on a bus. So that was kind of my fault. I also didn't sleep well that night.

[00:15:30] I think I slept like two and a half hours. And so I was trying to sleep in as much as I could with those two and a half hours, left the place too late and then stood in long lines and sat in traffic. Basically, I got to Dodger Stadium at 6.30 instead of I wanted to be there at 5.00. It was just, you know, logistics. I'll have to plan that out better next time. But I made it there on time. I found the VIP tent that the ambassadors were allowed to go to.

[00:15:57] Unfortunately, most people were already in the corrals when I got there. So I just checked my check-in bag and then headed towards the corral. Oh, before I did that, I also stopped by the elite tent because our Kenyan driver that I told you about that I got into the LA Marathon, he was running as an elite. So I said hi to him real quick because I hadn't seen him yet. Was he excited? He helped him out? Yeah, he was very excited and grateful because, you know, it's so hard for them to get the visa.

[00:16:22] It sounded like he couldn't really reasonably make it here without some help. And so it was nice that you helped him. It's tough being like in America, which may be changed. We can travel a lot of places. I think, what was it like was one of the best ones? Well, Germany has a couple more countries that we're allowed to travel to without visas. So we were kind of spoiled that we can visit so many countries. But a lot of other places, you can't just freely visit other countries. You can, especially Kenya. So it's difficult.

[00:16:50] If you're coming from a third world country, then there's always, I'm an immigration attorney, so I can say this. There's always the fear that the person coming to the country will not leave. So that's kind of hard. So for him, it took a letter from the elite coordinator that then had to be signed off by Athletics Kenya. And then at the consulate, I had written a letter in support of him to kind of vouching for him. Is it vouching? Yeah.

[00:17:16] Vouching for him that he will leave the country after his arrival and not overstay his visa. That was nice of you that you gave him the opportunity. Or at least you helped him get the opportunity to come and run it. It was nice to help out. But at the same time, he did run a half marathon an hour and three minutes. Yeah, he's not slow. He's not slow. And then, so this guy, you kind of alluded to your friends when you met in Kenya and stuff. But he was actually the guy that drove you around during your Kenya trip, right? The Adidas Run Club has some of the best athletes in the world. And I don't think he was fast enough for them.

[00:17:46] With a 103 half marathon, what can you do in Kenya? I mean, that's crazy because it's only like minutes off. But I guess minutes is a lot when you're that fast. No, exactly. Like, just what is it? Like, what's the marathon time, half marathon time that you'd have to be at? Like, just sub one hour, slightly? Maybe. Well, I mean, at the camp there, I think there's other reasons also he wasn't in the camp, right? Yeah. Anyway, it doesn't matter.

[00:18:12] Point being, this guy that you met because you were driving around, or he was driving you around through Kenya, through your trip there. And you guys got to know him and you helped him out. And if you want to see some more of the videos of Ledi's Kenya trip. Yeah, you can see them on YouTube. There's a whole playlist of, I think I named it the Kenya Vlog. So I really like, and then you were talking, we were talking about this today actually, coincidentally. Is you have a video of all the top runners, just a short clip. And you took it when you were driving in the car next to him or so.

[00:18:41] And it sounds, the sound is really cool. Because you have all of them running a good pace, obviously. And the footsteps, it just sound very rhythmic together and stuff. And I was looking, you showed me, and what was it on YouTube shorts? It has like half a million. 650,000 views. Yeah, that's crazy. And it's 10 seconds long. And I guess it's just like what you said, you know, the rhythm of running, how they make it look easy. The sound of the footsteps.

[00:19:10] And a lot of people, there was like 400 comments on it. A lot of people accused me of AI and all that stuff. Oh no, you were actually in Kenya. I mean, I guess. I mean, you could make it with AI, but that was actually, you were actually in Kenya. Yeah, yeah. But it was kind of interesting, you know, because now AI can create all that stuff. But it's still better, obviously, when you see that in person. I think it's like, it's harmonics, right? So, like, if everyone's running a slightly different pace, what'll happen is it'll sound mismatched. And then eventually they'll match up again.

[00:19:39] And then they'll start mismatching. And so you kind of captured that. It was kind of interesting and cool. Well, when I was filming it, it's not just a 10-second clip when I filmed it. I did cut out a little bit in the front and the back where it did match because I liked that myself. I think it's called like ASME or something. There's a term for it. Okay. Yeah, I learned that term and I forgot the abbreviation for it. But yeah, so... So to get back on track. Yes. Race day came. Like I said, I raced to the corral because I was running late.

[00:20:07] And I ran into Ezra who was holding the LA letters up. He is the director of Ladybug and... A cartoon for kids that our kid watches. Yes. And so he was dressed up in the Ladybug gear, which was really, really cool. And then the anthem happened. And of course, I started tearing up because I live in America now. And I don't know why the anthem always makes me tear up. Gets me emotional. And then... Quick recap, ladies from Germany.

[00:20:36] She's a German citizen. And a U.S. citizen. She married me. And not because of me, but because of... You know, she has... Her mom is an American citizen. And just over time, she's been here for a long time. She did find... And she's an immigration lawyer. She finally got her American citizenship within the last few years. And so now she is dual citizen. And now I'm working on getting my Ecuadorian citizenship. Are you really? No. Okay. So then we start running.

[00:21:03] And for the first couple of miles, I was paced by literally the masses of people in front of me because I was towards the end of my corral. And... Was that because of the parking misstep? All of it. I just got there a little bit later. And so it was a slow pace, which unfortunately, I'm very good at running downhill. And that would have helped me, maybe. But I mean, who cares? In the end, it was still fun. It was such a great vibes, Ryan. So first half, memorable parts? First half. Okay.

[00:21:30] So first half, you go and make a left on Sunset. And you go through Chinatown, all these areas. You go through downtown a little bit. There's this big hill that I've dreaded ever since I've ran my first LA Marathon in 2009. Which kind of comes up by Disney, by the Disney Hall. And there's always drummers there. So that was kind of cool to see. So instead of fearing it and being intimidated by it, I just kind of smiled. I don't know. I think I smiled a lot.

[00:21:56] Also, I had brought my Insta360 Go 3S. I know you love it when I say the full name of the camera. Yes, we did. I had brought my little camera in my pocket. And for this marathon, since I wasn't racing it, I decided to just take videos and talk a little bit on it. And that really put me in a good mood. Because I felt like I was not by myself. I was chatting with someone. I was cracking jokes. I was singing along to music and all that stuff. It was kind of cool. You posted those videos? I did post that video too.

[00:22:26] And I know you've seen it because I know you've subscribed. And you've religiously watched all my videos. I'm telling everyone else. Yep. Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate that support. Gee, if I don't support you, you're going to stab me in the back. So how did you like that video? If I don't like your videos, I'd be like kicked out of bed. Anyway. It was great content. I watched it five times. That's where all the views come from. It's probably just you playing it on repeat. Yep. Anyway, so once you leave the downtown area, there's another area that I really love.

[00:22:56] Angeleno Heights. My uncle used to live there. It's basically Douglas. And it's those old Victorian houses that are historically protected. That's where they filmed Scream and everything. And that was, you know, just memory lane. I used to visit. The first time I visited the USA was when I went to LA to stay at a family reunion in that house. So it runs close to there and then down towards Echo Park. And I studied for the bar of renting a place in Echo Park.

[00:23:25] So that was really, really cool because that was my little bit of an old stomping ground. And then you go towards Hollywood, which that was also cool because I used to party and go out in Hollywood. And so that brings back memories too. And that was, yeah. So I think Hollywood, you asked me about the half mark. That was where that happened. Again, I was trying to run an 18-mile training run. So at mile 13, I was feeling strong.

[00:23:51] I think I felt strong in general just because I knew I was going to let off the pace at mile 18. And I wasn't straining at all. I was just kind of enjoying it. But at the same time, coming from Florida, I feel like the longer I live in Florida, the more I feel every single foot of elevation. So I started feeling it. Yeah, I started feeling a little bit of it in my hamstrings and my back.

[00:24:16] And as you know, I've had a little bit of a back problem in November and December. So I felt that getting a little bit aggravated. But I figured, nah, you're already running. Might as well just continue. Maybe it's your mind. Who knows? So 13 and a half, we're at Hollywood. And then second half, I guess, that's what you're going to ask next because I love doing that. I love separating. It's hard because I think sometimes when you're remembering it, you jump around a bit, which is okay.

[00:24:42] You know, it's natural, but I think if you at least separate it a little bit, then it kind of gives a more chronologic timeline for the events. So second half, you went from Hollywood. Now you're heading towards the ocean. Used to end in Santa Monica, which is on the ocean. Now it doesn't quite. No, you are at the Century City Mall is where it ends. But obviously you need more mileage, right? So you're basically passing the Century City Mall.

[00:25:06] I think it's at mile 18, almost, no, a little bit more than mile 18, maybe between 18 and 20, something like that. So as soon as I hit 18 miles on my Garmin, I stopped the Garmin and restarted it because I didn't want to ruin that pace. Those of you guys that are in Strava, you know, you feel my pain. And I restarted it. But then something happened. When I was running the slower pace, I could really feel my lower back and that kind of sucked.

[00:25:35] I was trying to figure out why that would happen, right? Because why didn't it hurt more when I was running faster? But I think the slower running aggravated it more. At the same time, I didn't have the energy to run faster again. So I let the crowds carry me, Ryan. And that's the thing, Ryan. I know you like smaller races better. But the LA Marathon, the vibes that you get from that race, it literally carries you through.

[00:26:01] There is not a second where someone is not looking at you, screaming your name if it's printed on your shirt. I mean, there were those little cannons that have confetti blowing out. There were people with signs that say, well, one of the signs was touch if you're horny. I didn't tap that. But there were other ones that were like, tap for energy. I tapped those. I high five children. I mean, the crowds were pretty deep.

[00:26:26] And so I figured, you know what, my mantra for that race was lucky to do this. And I'd come up with that mantra when I was running here because I'm so grateful for my health and for not having any kind of problems. You haven't divorced me yet. My parents are healthy. Our kids are healthy. I wake up every morning with barely any pain. I mean, who cares about the back that will eventually fade? So it has gotten better. Like, you know, there are so many worse situations for people.

[00:26:55] And so that was my mantra, lucky to be here. And so then while I was running and I was feeling a little bit grumpy, I was like, I'm lucky to be here because you had agreed to watch the kids. And I get to do this. Like nobody's twisting my arm making me do this, right? Yeah, I think you've had some cool podcasts in the past too where you talk to people that haven't had as much fortune in life and still have a good outlet.

[00:27:20] So rather than have to go through pain and agony in order to have a good outlook, it's good just to go and try to think of just being grateful and being happy with what you have. It's nice. And I think, Ryan, that's the thing. Who was I talking to yesterday about that? Somebody had said that I never post anything vulnerable. And I was thinking about that. And I don't.

[00:27:43] But at the same time, I feel like being in the boat that I'm always grateful for everything. It's hard. Like, I don't really have that. You know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's really your personality. I don't think it's that you're hiding anything or you're not presenting things. Because, I mean, the way you present the races is basically how you are during the race.

[00:28:07] Like, you don't sit there and have these moments throughout the race where you're just, like, in misery and you're like, why did I do this? Like, I mean, I've run with you in marathons. Like, you just, that's how you are. You're just happy the whole time mostly. Like, I mean, if you have back pain, you have back pain. Then you might be a little bit, you know, complaining about your back pain. But in general, like, you run around smiling. I mean, look at the vlogs that you've done. Like, if people can go look at them and you can see that's how she is when she runs, like, the whole time.

[00:28:34] It's not like you're happy on the camera and then you go down and you're, like, miserable as you run. I mean, it's like you're just the same. I don't think it's a lack of vulnerability. I think it's just your personality. That's how you are, especially when you're running. I just have a big mouth, so it looks like I'm smiling a lot. My teeth are so big. You just breathe it. You're like, I mean, it's just, like I said, it's just a personality thing. I feel like you just are happy to be there and just want to do it. So it's kind of nice.

[00:28:55] So anyway, so with that said, we passed the finish line and continued running, which, you know, some people say that's not the best way of having a finish line set up because you're literally passing it. And I'm usually not a big fan of in and out stuff on the course. So we went out another four miles and then came back. But Ryan, they had organized it in the way that all the running clubs were out there. And during the last four mile out and back. Yeah. And just all these people.

[00:29:23] I mean, I saw people from our running club beforehand. Lucy and John were there. I saw people that it was loud. But so that carries you through again. So it was very positive. So I did that. Kind of run, walked, hobbled it. So you got to mile 18. You switched off your garments, started up again. Is that when you started having the most back pain and stuff? Yeah. Remember you said you were actually hurting during that one.

[00:29:48] Yeah, because I think it felt like after I stopped and walked a little bit and reset the garment and then I started running again. Then there was a lot of pain. Just tightness. You stopped for a massage. Oh yeah. There were some very nice ladies that had a massage gun and some icy hot. And so they put icy hot on my back and used that massage gun on me. And I just, I don't know. It felt really nice. So you hobbled into the finish? I mean, I did give it a kick. And I figured I'm just going to deal with the pain later. Because I was still very excited to be there.

[00:30:18] And again, it was just crowds of people. It was super exciting. The finish line was beautiful. Under the arch it said congratulations when I looked up. And then of course, you know, you get this beautiful medal that says 40 for the 40th running. And then after that, I got myself a nice Mylar blanket, collected my items and went to my car that was parked close by. My friend Min is a member of Equinox.

[00:30:45] And so he put me on the list so I could take a shower at Equinox because the mall was right there. So I did that. I did a hot shower and then I sat around the sauna for a while. That sounds nice. That sounds nice, right? And then after that, there's a restaurant called Eataly. For those of you that don't live in the U.S., it's a chain. And our daughter thinks she's pronouncing Italy wrong every time she says it. Yeah, she was like, Mom, that's not how you say Italy. But yeah, so we had VIP access there. So then I ate a lot of food.

[00:31:14] And then I don't know why it took me so long. And then I realized that Eataly actually had a terrace that overviewed the finish line. So that was cool, too, because then I was just kind of sitting out there. That sounds awesome. Just sit and watch the rest of the people come in and get some food. That's pretty lucky. I wish you would have been there. I would have honored to have been there. That sounds fun. They had open bar, too. But of course, I'm not drinking right now. I mean, I don't know. It's not like I have a reason. I guess I was training for London, and I didn't want to drink because of that.

[00:31:44] It's not good for your fitness, necessarily. No, it's not. And I don't know. I just didn't feel like... And plus, I'm a lightweight, and I had parked my car down there. So that probably wouldn't be a good idea anyway. And I didn't really feel like drinking anything. I was just so happy already. I didn't need to be dancing on that table. That escalated quickly. So yeah, so that was basically it. And after that, I said goodbye and went back to my car and drove, hung out with a friend. And then my flight out was at 11 p.m., red-eye flight.

[00:32:11] So that was basically everything in a big summary. All right. So besides the back pain, it was a good experience. Yes, yes, absolutely. And I don't think I've ever had a bad race in L.A. or bad experience in L.A. You know, it's just a city and reminiscing on memories and making new memories and just such a vibrant city and such beautiful people. All of that. It's really, really cool. We got to do it next year. Yeah, hopefully we can schedule that and figure that out. Yeah. Well, we almost made it into a spring break trip. But then my brother had a baby.

[00:32:41] And we chose to take the kids to Wisconsin the day after for that. Yeah, so you flew from L.A. to Wisconsin. And we met you there and hung out with the new cousin. Yes, yes, which was great and cold, but awesome. So anything else this week? So that's it for that. Now looking forward to recovering from this back pain. And then doing London next month. So we'll have some more recaps. We'll also do a Boston recap because I'm going to be attending the Boston Marathon, even though I'm not running it.

[00:33:10] I'm just going to be attending it as media, which I'm very, very excited for. So stay tuned for that. If you have not seen the images of L.A. or Kenya or whatever, go to our YouTube channel. We are at Running Podcast and you can find us there. Have a great week of running. Thanks for tuning in. For more information, go to www.marathonrunningpodcast.com or check us out on all channels.