It has been many years since my last road marathon, four years, to be exact , and the decision to run another one came about when it was announced that the Olympic Trials Marathon would be held the day before the regular people marathon in LA. It was like the buy one, get one free of marathon weekends. The Trials We flew into LA Saturday morning and arrived downtown at the convention center about ten minutes before the start of the men's race. The course couldn't have been more spectator friendly. The runners would loop past us four times, so we got to see the entire race unfold. So. Exciting. For a tiny little video I put together, see previous post here. Making 5:45 mile splits look like no big deal The LA Marathon Dodger Stadium, 5am. My race plan was pretty simple: Cruise the first ten miles at an easy pace, no music, soak up the experience, and have fun. At mile ten, put on the tunes and do the work to get through the next ten. Then, just hang on, and