What does a first-time marathoner like Michelle Escovar do after
completing the biggest race of her life with a blood blister the
size of a half-dollar on one foot and a possible stress fracture in
the other?
Hit the bars for a few brews, of course.
Escovar is a fourth-year economics student (with a minor in
accounting) who finished Sunday’s L.A. Marathon above her
desired time of four hours but well before the final competitor
crossed the finish line.
The race included men and women in their 80s and 90s, parents
pushing children in wheelchairs, and one man who was running for
his daughter who had been abducted.
I caught up to Escovar ““ but only because she had just run
26 miles ““ at the Westwood Brewing Company to find out what
would drive a seemingly well-grounded woman to run that far for
fun.
All told, Michelle did what few sane people would: She ran for
more than four and half hours, through one of the largest cities in
America, choking on carbon monoxide and smog, on a hot day in
March.
All without stopping to relieve herself.
“Going to the bathroom is probably one of the most
difficult things as a runner,” Escovar said. “You
don’t want to stop and lose your momentum ““ or the
group you’re running with. So a lot of runners just “¦
go while they’re running.”
This could be a problem for most rookie marathoners, but not
Michelle.
At the risk of offending her grandpa, one of her biggest
supporters and a source of immense inspiration, Escovar admitted
why she had some inhibitions about this rather gruesome aspect of
distance running: “I’ve never urinated on myself
before.”
Luckily for Michelle, her 20-something year streak of bladder
control didn’t end on Sunday, despite drinking close to a
gallon of water throughout the day.
If you think the race was hard, be glad you didn’t have to
prepare for it. Sacrifice was a way of life for Escovar in the
months prior to the marathon.
Forced to leave parties early or not go at all, get to sleep by
11 o’clock nearly every night, and wake up at five
o’clock in the morning on Saturdays since August to eat her
morning PowerBar, Escovar has learned to adjust her lifestyle for
her desire to complete a marathon.
And then there was her appetite.
Although it was fairly normal during the first few months of her
training, after running 20 miles one day, her appetite increased
exponentially.
After one particularly large meal with her family,
Michelle’s mom was left staring at her pride and joy in
disbelief.
“What?” Michelle asked.
“That was almost gross,” her mother replied. Then
Michelle ate some more.
Not that you can tell. A slender five-foot-six, Escovar looks
like a runner. When people would ask her where all the food she was
devouring went, she candidly replied, “It goes to my
ankles.”
All of this left me begging the question, “What would
inspire someone to run that far?”
Her response, “I was kind of thinking to myself today,
“˜This is a really fun deal, if it weren’t for all the
running.'”
Ironic but true. Observing the marathon, you’d think
it’s less of a race and more of a county fair.
With fanfare ranging from leather-clad Harley owners to people
attempting to hand beer to competitors, the L.A. Marathon provides
entertainment for everyone. For some reason Escovar refused the
Natural Ice offered to her and kept on trucking.
“Once I realized I wasn’t going to meet my time
goal, I had much more fun,” Escovar said.
She credits family and friends as driving inspirations, as well
as her running partners.
As far as winning the race, there may be only one explanation
for not being the first woman to cross the line on Sunday.
“I definitely ate too many donuts this quarter for
that,” Escovar said with a laugh.
Though there are things she could have done differently, Escovar
left me with the following: “I’m very happy with the
results. I also think I have a lot of room to grow, room for
improvement. I’ll definitely do this again; it’s
totally an addiction.”
Then she washed her words down with a beer.
Karon’s distance-running career consists of watching his
mother run a half marathon once. She’s a stud. E-mail Karon
at [email protected].