Today I ran the LA Marathon.

This was my 3rd marathon. 

My goal was 3:40 and although I didn’t hit that, it was a PR and I’m really happy with the time.

I wrote a post about my 2nd marathon, but I failed miserably with thatone, and this 3rd marathon was a “redemption” for me.

 That 2nd one humbled me. I was overconfident and made shortcuts on my training. I ended up having to walk many miles because I was not properly prepared.

This time was different. I was prepared. I followed all my training plan - almost perfectly. I ran in the snow and 10 degrees Fahrenheit even on days when I didn’t want to.

Most importantly, I never lied to myself. I never lied to myself about what was possible. I don’t set an unrealistic pace goal and I pushed myself during training to hit certain targets.

I lost weight ~18lbs and I cut out drinking. The weight loss made me faster. The no drinking gave me more energy and motivation and I was less tempted to miss days because of a hangover.

For my 2nd marathon, I felt the feeling of “giving up” when I cramped and started walking to ease the pain. I had never felt this before in a race scenario, and when I look back, I regret caving like that. I know in that race, I did not give it my all.

For this race, there was no chance I was going to give up like that, no matter what. There were times where I was in so much pain for this race, but I never once stopped to walk.

I know that I gave this race my all. I gave it everything that I had and now I know what it’s like to feel that way. 

When I crossed the finish line, I cried. Then I laughed in so much relief it was over. Then I cried again. It was one of the best feelings I’ve felt in my life.

After the 2nd marathon I walked away feeling like I gave up, and now I realize that’s worse than any other outcome.

Another thing I noticed - the more I run the more I “do it for myself”.

When I ran my first marathon, it’s a massive accomplishment and it was awesome to get all of the validation from friends and family.

But this time around, I cared less about that. 

I run for myself. 

I noticed this because after the race, my friends kept congratulating me, and I kept thinking “for what?” It didn’t even feel right to be congratulated.

Running is just normal now. Running a marathon is no longer a crazy feat - it’s a normal thing I can do - and the only competition I care about is myself - beating my own time and besting myself.

Of course, the validation is nice and I still want people to know I’m running a marathon. But my favorite part about running the marathon (other than the running itself) is bringing my friends and family to together and hanging around LA.

In general, I don’t call myself a runner and I try not to talk about my running. The only person I talk to about it is my dad because he’s a runner and is genuinely interested in my training and plans.

Anyways, I’m stoked about my time and I will continue on my goal to break 3:30 by the end of the year. I will be training a lot this year and run another marathon this fall.

I will also be running at least 2-3 more half marathons (1 Brooklyn, 1 San Diego already planned).

I also want to run 10k every day for 30 days challenge - I will try to do that in April.