Sarah's LA Marathon Recap: Running with the LA 100

I had the amazing opportunity to run the LA Marathon and be part of the LA 100 with ASICS, Featherstone Nutrition and Believe in the Run. Through this program, we brought together 100 women from all over the country, Canada & Europe, provided them with 16 weeks of run coaching and nutrition coaching (plus some fun gear perks!), and then met up in person to run the Los Angeles Marathon together.

Throughout training we had a Slack channel with all 100 of us, and it was so cool to watch all of the women connect, ask questions, and encourage one another throughout the journey. When we finally got to LA, things only got better! We made friendships, hung out, grabbed dinners, and even started making plans for future meetups.

As I’m writing this on the plane home, I can still feel all the excitement and energy from the weekend. I feel so grateful to have been part of it—not only from a work perspective, but also as a participant.

This was the first race I’ve traveled for in a long time. Over the past five years with young kids, I’ve mostly stayed close to home, so carb loading and planning meals away from home hasn’t been something I’ve had to think much about.

In the days leading up to the race, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I’d need and what I should pack. I came fully loaded with anything I could think of: bagels, Pop-Tarts, pretzels, Swedish Fish, graham crackers—you name it.

The goal of a carb load is to fully top off glycogen stores before race day. I’ve done carb loads in the past and can absolutely attest to how much they help prevent hitting the wall. With an extremely hot race predicted for Sunday (we burn through carbs faster in the heat), I knew I wanted to set myself up for success.

Using our Carb Load Calculator, my goal was 400–425g of carbs per day X three days. Those numbers can feel intimidating at first, but the more you practice carb loading, the easier it gets.

For the most part, I stayed pretty laid back with my carb load. On travel day, I focused on making sure I hit my numbers, and once I got to LA I just made sure to scale up my carbs and eat frequently.

One lesson learned: when we went to pick up our bibs on Saturday, it took much longer than expected (thanks LA traffic). I didn’t pack snacks or extra fluids—big mistake. I had to play a little catch-up when we got back to the hotel. So lesson learned: always pack extra snacks and fluids when going to the expo.

This carb load relied less on liquid carbs than I’ve used in the past, mostly because of travel and what I was feeling that weekend. At the end of the day, you know your body best—so choose carbs you enjoy and that work well for you.

Pre-race nutrition was surprisingly hard for me this time. This was my first marathon in over two years, and I woke up feeling very anxious. Add in the time change from Ohio to LA and daylight savings, and my body had no idea what time it actually was.

Thankfully, ASICS provided a bus to Dodger Stadium, so we left the hotel around 4:00 AM. Since I woke up at 3:30 AM and the race didn’t start until 7:00 AM, I wanted to eat twice. If you’re up more than three hours before a race, it’s usually best to have two small meals.

At 3:30 AM in the hotel room, I had a mini bag of animal crackers and 12 oz of Liquid IV. Then once we got on the bus, I ate a pack of s’mores Pop-Tarts and slowly sipped more Liquid IV.

Being able to stay in the Dodger Stadium suite before the race meant we had access to food, water, and real bathrooms. We felt incredibly spoiled and very grateful.

Around 6:20 AM, we headed to the corrals. A group of the LA 100 women sat together on the ground, chatting, making last bathroom stops, taking our final pre-run gels, and laughing way too hard. Those 15 minutes before the race were probably the most relaxed I’ve ever felt before a marathon—and I have those six women to thank for that.

We knew this race would be a grind. Weather reports were predicting 90+ degrees, and the LA sun delivered. At the start it felt relatively cool with low humidity, but it was already 63°F at race start.

The first few miles were nicely shaded as we looped through downtown LA, ran down Sunset Blvd, passed the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and headed toward Rodeo Drive. It was a beautiful course. The runner next to me especially enjoyed when I saw the Hollywood sign and immediately started singing Party in the USA.

The crowd support was phenomenal. There was hardly an empty spot along the course. Water stops and Electrolit were available about every mile for much of the race, and run clubs filled in the gaps with water and snacks.

Since I was getting sodium from both my gels and handheld bottle, I mostly stuck to water on the course. I skipped the first few aid stations and sipped from my handheld. After mile four, though, I grabbed water at almost every station and dumped multiple cups over my head as the temperature climbed toward 80°F.

The final eight miles were absolutely brutal—full sun, rolling hills, and temperatures reaching about 85°F by the finish. One LA Times article described the course as a “concrete hellscape,” and honestly… that felt pretty accurate in the moment. And that final hill at mile 26? Truly cruel.

Before this race, I made several changes to my in-run nutrition. In the past, I always used UCAN gels. But at only 15g of carbs per gel—and with my goal of at least 50g per hour—I knew I needed more.

Over the summer I tested my sweat rate using a Levelen sweat test, and discovered I lose about 1 liter of fluid and 1800 mg of sodium per hour. My sodium needs are extremely high.

I tested a lot of gels leading up to this race and ultimately landed on Victus, which is both high-carb and high-sodium. I’ve had stomach issues during races in the past, but these settled really well for me. I also carried a handheld water bottle with a full serving of RNWY Salty Carbs (raspberry lemonade flavor, of course).

Overall, my in-race nutrition went almost perfectly. I started feeling nauseous in the last five miles, which I suspect was due to flavor fatigue (I only packed lemon gels plus one random UCAN gel I was very thankful to have) combined with the heat. I made it to the finish line without major issues, though I was extremely grateful to the medical volunteers who handed me a vomit bag immediately after finishing.

Being part of LA 100 came with some amazing perks—including an awesome crop top we all raced in. It made it so easy to spot teammates on the course, and we were constantly cheering each other on as we passed.

I also wore the ASICS Metarun split shorts and a white ASICS visor. The shorts were super comfortable, though I struggled a bit fitting my larger gels into the pockets. I ended up putting one gel in the back zipper pocket, my first gel in my handheld bottle, and the rest lined up in the front of my sports bra—which actually worked really well.

For shoes, I wore the ASICS Metaspeed Edge Tokyo. I had never raced in ASICS super shoes before. I’ve always loved the Nimbus, Novablast, and Superblast for training, but hadn’t tried their race-day options yet. I picked up a pair at my local running store and did one 20-mile run in them before race day—and immediately fell in love. They had the perfect bounce, felt comfortable for the full 26.2, and were incredibly light. My toes took a little bit of a beating, but I think that was mostly due to the steep downhill sections of the course that were so insanely aggressive! These are definitely staying in my race-day rotation.

After the race, we headed to True Food Kitchen for our LA 100 post-race celebration. There were tons of options for food, juices, and fresh cocktails. My stomach felt better, but food still didn’t sound great at first. My mouth felt like cotton, so I immediately went for water and drank the chocolate milk volunteers handed out after the race.

I tried a few bites of noodles but still wasn’t feeling it, so I grabbed a wrap to go and got on the bus back to the hotel. By the time we returned, I was finally getting hungry again and ate part of the chicken wrap along with a bag of pretzels.

Later, a bunch of us cold plunged and swam before heading out for post-race tacos, chips, and guacamole—which we had been craving since before the race.

This marathon was truly unforgettable.

The heat and hills will definitely stick with me for a long time (and I don’t think my legs will let me forget them anytime soon). But the relationships and experiences with the LA 100 group were something really special.

The cherry on top? A postpartum PR.

I felt strong the entire race—mentally and physically—which hasn’t always been the case postpartum. I’m still riding the high from the weekend and hoping this is just the beginning of many more races to come.

Now the real question is…

Which fall marathon should I sign up for next?