2016 Women's and Men's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to Be Hosted by the City of Los Angeles on February 13, 2016

Today USA Track & Field, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and LA MARATHON LLC announced that the City of Los Angeles will host the Women’s and Men’s 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon.

The 2016 Olympic Trials will be held February 13, 2016. With separate starts, the men’s and women’s races both will be carried in their entirety on NBC. The 2016 Olympic Games will take place in Brazil.

In winning the bid, LA MARATHON LLC proposed a February race date that accommodates an NBC broadcast and ensures athletes optimal time to recover should they choose to run in the 2016 Olympic Trials for Track & Field in June.

Now for the other interesting news in the announcement...the LA Marathon will follow a day later, on February 14, 2016. For those of you who have followed the LA Marathon in the past, this should sound unusual to you. In the history of the LA Marathon going back to 1986, the LA Marathon has never been run (literally and figuratively) in February. In all years with the exception of 2009 (when the marathon took place in late May), the LA Marathon took place in March.

Start times and specifics on the criterium courses for both the men’s and women’s races will be determined in coming months

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country’s #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org.

LA MARATHON LLC is a leading U.S. running organization dedicated to inspiring the athlete in every runner and connecting communities through health and fitness.  The LA Marathon is among the largest marathons in the country with more than 25,000 participants, thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of spectators. The “Stadium to the Sea” course, starting at Dodger Stadium and finishing near the Santa Monica Pier, is one of the most scenic in the world, taking runners on a tour of Los Angeles past every major landmark. The race has been named Best Big City Race by Runner’s World.

In a Perfect World I'd Be Running a 20 Miler Six Weeks Before the Los Angeles Marathon

Potrero Road Westbound in Newbury Park

The Los Angeles Marathon is six weeks from today and in my younger days by now I'd have have run 3 to 5 20 milers at this point. But today I'm at zero 20 milers but got have some solid 14 to 17 milers in the bag. This includes a run through Hidden Valley via Potrero Road, a run down Sycamore Canyon to the beach and back and several road runs.

In my younger days I was family-free and could get to bed any time I wanted and wake up early without concernt Today I'm constrained by kids, the dog and other things that take the focus away. But that's ok. Life changes and priorities change. I just have to shift my mentality from running a P.R. marathon to running a solid marathon.

Next Sunday I'm running the Ventura Habitat Half Marathon to test my fitness level five weeks prior to the full marathon. Based on my most recent 5K time of 18:17 on Thanksgiving Day, I believe that I have the aerobic capacity to run about a 3 hour marathon. I think a 1:26 half marathon time next Sunday would prove that out using the rule of thumb, half marathon time x 2.1 equals projected marathon time.

Getting back to the long runs, since I'm doing a half marathon next Sunday, there will be no long run next weekend. That leaves basically one last opportunity to run a 20 miler, three weeks prior to the marathon. Assuming I don't injure my right hamstring again at the half marathon, that's what I'm hoping to accomplish.

Ran Half of the Camarillo Marathon This Past Sunday at a Training Run

On December 28th I ran one of my longest training runs of the year, at 14 miles. Then, having not partied on New Year's Eve, decided to do a 2 hour run up to Boney Peak and back.

The next few days my quads and calves were sore, but that didn't stop me from looking at the CVG Upcoming Races listing and thinking, why not sign up for the Camarillo Marathon this Sunday and use it as a training run. So, I signed up Thursday night and picked up my bib number on Saturday. My legs were still sore on Saturday.

Some local runners have bad memories from the well-publicized issues at the inaugural Camarillo Marathon in 2010, when there were issues with course logistics. I'm very pleased to say that the race was very well organized on Sunday. The race started at 7am and is a double-loop course now, with plenty of water/Gatorade stops and a reasonable number of porta-johns along the course. They did a nice job and I would recommend this course as a flat, very low key alternative to the larger courses. The beauty of race like this is that you can wake up not so early, drive over, park, run, finish and be home shortly thereafter.

In any case, I opted not to run two loops on Sunday. The legs were still a bit shot so I decided to run a just over 7 minute pace to not overexert myself. It was yet another day of sun and wind. It didn't get overly hot (mid to high 60s, maybe low 70s later on), but the Santa Anas were out in force and it was quite dry. It was one of those days where I drank at every single water stop but there was no sweat on my shirt to speak of as the wind immediately dried it up.

Had my only issue been sore legs, I might have continued to run the full 26.2. But of all things, my stomach wasn't feeling up to the task on Sunday. My fate was decided at a pit stop around mile 11, when I said to myself "it ain't worth it." Adding to my discomfort was the beginnings of chafing in the back armpit area (I wore a sleeved shirt, not a singlet, and the wind was wreaking some havoc). Having signed up not to race, but to train, I opted to keep it positive at the halfway point, bail out and head back home to hang with the kids. I paced myself to a 1:32ish 13.1 miles. Slow for me, but purposeful. I'm still a bit sore today.

The overall winner was 27 year old Amanda Phillips of Roseburg (I'm assuing Oregon), who blew away the entire field, women and men alike, in 2 hours, 52 minutes. I saw her on the first lap turnaround and she looked really smooth. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers were men who came in around 3:06 and 3:07. The race had only 122 finishers but I would run it again. www.camarillomarathon.com