Editor’s Note: Over the next 22 weeks, Bruin reporter Katie Shepherd will be training for the Asics L.A. Marathon and writing a weekly column chronicling her experiences along the way. She’ll be reporting on the science and health aspects of endurance training as well as featuring students and L.A. residents who are taking on similar races this year.
By the end of March 15, I will have run just over 502 miles.
I’ve paid my registration. I’ve filled out my paperwork. I’ve bought my running shoes.
Starting this week, I’ll begin training for the L.A. Marathon.
It’s a large undertaking, and not a cheap one either. For U.S. residents, registration costs $160 before taxes and service fees. A good pair of running shoes sells for around $100, give or take. And I’ll need at least two pairs.
But that’s all I need to run the marathon, really. Around $350 and enough grit to run 502 miles.
So now the question remains: Why run a marathon at all?
Maybe for the extra years running regularly can tack onto my life span.
Or because regular exercise can protect against depression and anxiety, the latter of which will no doubt find its way into my senior year as I apply to graduate school and try to land my first real job.
Perhaps I’m just looking for something to mark my last year at UCLA – and possibly my last year in Los Angeles – so when I look back, I can remember not just studying and going out on Thursday nights, but also working toward something personal, difficult and uniquely representative of the city.
But more than anything, I want to use this marathon as a chance to explore a part of UCLA and Los Angeles that isn’t familiar. I want to write about the other Bruins who choose to compete in 5K runs, half-marathons and the dreaded 26.2 miles. I want to find niche groups in Los Angeles that view long-distance as a hobby, a task to have fun with. I want to answer questions about the healthiest, most effective and safest ways to train for a race like the marathon.
I want to share what I learn about nutrition, stress injuries and how to prevent them, health apps and UCLA fitness culture.
The 26.2-mile path ahead of me stretches from the Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica, passing by TCL Chinese Theatre, where I discovered my hands are about the same size as George Lucas’ as a second-year.
It begins at a baseball stadium I’ve never been to and ends at the pier where I was once ushered out of the ocean during a night-time swim by lifeguards on an ATV.
Along the way, I’ll pass some of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles – and isn’t the best thing about this city its food? I’ll pass by my old workplace, a public relations office in Beverly Hills where I squeezed in six-hour shifts between classes and editing Opinion columns for the Daily Bruin last year.
But I’m even more excited about the unfamiliar things I’ll experience by running the marathon: the new people I will meet, the unexplored neighborhoods I’ll run through and the things I’ll discover about myself along the way.
If you have questions regarding endurance training, running or marathons, email Shepherd at kshepherd@media.ucla.edu.