Westside LA Team In Training - Summer 2009 Marathon & Half Marathon Team

Posts Tagged ‘marathon’

After 26.2 miles, the LAST thing you would want to see are a few flights of stairs! That was one of the way to get to the victory party. You know we all took the escalator up! The Victory Party consisted of dinner, drinks, and dancing. We all exchanged stories, and some wore their medals proudly, as you should! Festivities continued to the hotel for some fun, then on Monday, people who stayed played in the pool for a bit.

View Victory Party Photos Here
View the SD Monday Photos Here

Our Honored Teammate Laura Maloney crosses the finish line with an entourage of Westside LA’s coaches, captains and mentors

4:00am meeting time. Who does that?!? We do! Some of these pictures already have surfaced on Facebook photo albums, but this massive set has them all! Again, we are all so proud of ALL of you who finished the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon! It was such a long journey with months of training, but all the hard work paid off! I had fun running with people in my banana costume too! Congratulations! Go TEAM!!

View the SD RNR Marathon Course Photos Here!

Sometimes finishing photos could be used for marathon marketing purposes, and out of the thousands of thousands of runners, Elite Racing picked one of our own. Remember Marcela? She’s was one of our Featured Alumni last month. Some of us already knew she was on their website and a few marketing flyers, but this past weekend at the San Diego Health Expo, we were surprised to see her at center of the main entrance in one large banner! So we had a little fun with it.

View Health Expo Photos Here

(A LOT more pics to come soon!)

Remember, if this is your first marathon or half marathon, whether you’re a runner or a walker, you should focus on completing the race and not on your speed. For many of you, this will be an incredible personal milestone. Repeat with me now:

“For your first race, JUST FINISH!”

1. Not resting the day before.
The day before the race you should sit around the pool or watch lots of movies in your room. Don’t spend lots of time at the expo. Your sleep two nights before a race is the most important…you may be nervous the night before.

2. Eating too much the night before.
Don’t overload on pasta! You don’t want to be looking for a porta-potty all day.

3. Trying new equipment/food/drink on race day.
Nothing worse than finding those new shoes blister, those new shorts chafe, or that new drink makes you sick to your stomach.

4. Going out too fast.
The #1 biggest mistake. Don’t let the adrenaline take over. If you run your engine hot early on, it can take a long time to recover. No sense getting to mile 13 really fast then struggling for another 13.

5. Not taking your walk breaks early.
If you trained with walk breaks, take them from the start and regularly. You’re going to be excited, so use your mental discipline.

6. Drinking too much/too little.
Drink 16-20oz an hour. Start early and carry your bottle. Fill it up at the aid stations and keep tabs on how much you’re drinking.

7. Not maintaining proper form.
Don’t slump over when you’re tired. Make your body an efficient machine.

8. Getting down on yourself if you start to hurt.
You will hurt at some point. Expect it, and know you’ve put the time in to get through it.

9. Racing with a stranger.
Don’t get sucked in. Don’t let the heat of the moment ruin your race.

10. Forgetting to enjoy the day!
Have fun! Remember why you’re here!