Foo-Detour - LA Marathon

[Editor Note: John asked me to run the 26th running of the LA Marathon last week and in turn I asked him to write this week's blog. After running for five hours in the pouring rain...I think I'm the one who go the raw deal. Without further ado...Here's Johnnnnnyyy!!!]

Michael has been asking me write a guest blog entry for a few weeks and after running through every excuse in the book (twice) he finally presented me with his ace in the hole:

“Did you see Jessie’s blog this week? Her boyfriend wrote a guest post.”

What could I say to that? I had been bested by Robby (Oops! Sorry, Jesse… I meant to say “R”). I had no more excuses. So let me dust off my references to 90s sitcoms, Disney films and of course New Jersey and write my very first blog post.

Some people run marathons to get fit, some people run them to cross something off their bucket list, but I run them for one reason…TO EAT!

When you’re training to run 26.2 miles in one morning you can put away some serious food. 

They call it “Bib Pickup" for a reason:  they know you’re going to eat!

So here’s a look at what Michael and I ate before and after Sunday’s race.  I wanted to document every Gatorade, banana and energy chew we ate DURING the race too, but the torrential rain meant we couldn’t bring a camera on the course.

The night before the race is traditionally a big carbo-loading pasta dinner and ours was no exception. Flipping through the most recent issue of EVERYDAY FOOD Michael came across a recipe for asparagus pasta with a poached egg on top. We added peas, pine nuts and swapped out pappardelle pasta for the linguine the recipe called for.  We also threw together some garlic bread and voila!

Dinner was served. The addition of the peas and pine nuts was smart, but we should have stuck with a smaller noodle (linguine, fettucine or even angel hair). The thick ribbons of pappardelle took over the flavor of such a light dish.  Also I wish I had a second poached egg on top because the runny yolk gave everything a rich, almost creamy flavor.

And what would a pre-race meal be without dessert? Knowing Michael’s obsessions with desserts of any kind (but especially peanut butter) we whipped up a quick batch of tasty Chocolate-Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge which we enjoyed before drifting off to sleep.

All too early our alarm clock went off and it was time to lace up and head to Dodger Stadium, the starting point for the LA Marathon. Now I don’t know much about sports, but I do love baseball and try to attend one Dodger game per year. Last year I even sat in the “All You Can Eat” section. Maybe I can venture there again and that can be my second blog post? 

Our race day breakfast was enjoyed before the sun even came up in the parking lot of the stadium: a bagel (from Brooklyn Bagel Company, where else?), a banana and a Gatorade.

We were ready to conquer 26.2 miles.

The race was hard. We were so wet and cold we could barely move our fingers. For the first few miles the wind and rain were fun: “Look I’m running in the rain!” From about mile 6 on though it was anything but fun. And 16.5 miles in, I needed to stop and take a water break. Michael didn’t dare stop [EDITOR NOTE: He pleaded for me to go on] so he continued on to a 4:59 finish time and I came in 10 minutes after. We’re weren’t setting any records, but we were happy.

After crossing the finish line, and changing into warm clothes, we met our friend Justin (who beat of our times handily). He asked what we wanted to do and without missing a beat Michael and I said: “We want to go to Disneyland!”

Justin paused, shook his head and said: “I meant for lunch.”

Clearly Justin didn’t realize he was dealing with two people who would go to Disneyland just for lunch but I quickly played it off. “Just kidding! Let’s go to one of my favorite sandwich places in LA.”  And that’s just where we went: All About the Bread.

I’m not writing about what we had there because that place seriously deserves a post all its own. The sandwiches (and the bread!) are just that good. Their meatball sandwich made Los Angeles Magazine’s list of the best sandwiches in the city. ‘Nuff said.

After a nap and shower Michael and I were hungry again. Anyone who knows me should not be surprised.  My stomach is a bottomless pit when I haven’t been running!

The LA Marathon's “Stadium to Sea” route boasts “A Landmark Every Mile” so I asked Michael which of the city’s culinary landmarks he wanted to hit up now that we were relatively dry. Without hesitation he responded: “Yogurtland!” Not QUITE what I had in mind, but you can’t deny people what they want after 26.2 soggy miles.

On our way to the Michael’s culinary Mecca we passed an indisputable Los Angeles icon: Pink’s Hot Dogs. (Or as my mother inexplicably calls it: “Pinky Lee’s”). Normally the line for Pinks is so long it would make Space Mountain blush. But on this cold night there was not a soul there so we ended up making a quick pit stop before Yogurtland.

After running past landmarks for 26 miles, Michael and I got to enjoy our last two sitting down: a chili-cheese dog and a hotdog with sauerkraut. 

And Yogurtland wasn’t bad either… but finishing the race was so much sweeter.

Thanks John for the great recap. Whenever I get that tug to run another 26.2, I can come back to this post and remember why anyone who runs a marathon is completely out of their mind. We'll be back soon with an all new pLAte. In the meantime, we'll get back to carbo-loading...who says it has to stop once the race is done?