running from the stadium to the sea

the 2010 edition of the LA marathon will be making its way across town tomorrow morning. unlike previous years, however, it has completely new starting and ending points: it will start at the top of elysian park at dodger stadium and will end clear across town near the ocean in santa monica. on its way to the finish line, the runners will be making their way through the cities of los angeles, west hollywood, beverly hills, and santa monica...

... and i will be one of those 25,000 who will be running, walking, and/or partying along the 26.2 mile course. i say partying because that's exactly what i plan to be doing, especially in those last miles through my neighborhood streets on the westside!

considering that the last marathon i ran was the kiawah island marathon in south carolina back in december 2008, i'm wondering how much running my body still remembers. especially since my "training" for tomorrow's marathon involved more sun salutations and bike riding miles than actual foot-pounding-on-pavement miles. honestly, the longest run i logged prior to this race was a mere 15 miles. but hey, if i can can walk a marathon just four months after ACL repair surgery (the 2005 fargo marathon in north dakota), i'm confident i can do anything. right? :)

anyway, because the route will be completely different from any previous incarnation of this annual road race, i'm giving a heads-up to all of you who think the road closures will be the same as previous years. because they won't.

in fact, the race will go right past the front doors of FOUR yoga studios this year. and because these studios are well aware of accessibility issues their students might have, they've issued these advisories:

MILE 4 - Bikram Yoga Downtown LA: We have CANCELLED our 6:30 and 8:30 AM classes

MILE 7 - Urth Yoga: If you are planning on attending Keric's Sunday morning 9:00am Mixed Levels class, we suggest you arrive at least 15 minutes early to give yourself time to find parking & walk.

MILE 15 - Up Dog Yoga and Cycling: As a result of street closures on both Santa Monica Boulevard and La Cienega we will have a limited schedule that day. Meaghan teaches full blast yoga at 1pm and for you die-hard cyclists, Adam is teaching at 8am -AND- 9am. (note: after running the marathon today, i realized the course didn't run in front of up dog. but it did get pretty close...)

MILE 23 - Maha Yoga: If you are planning to come to Maha Yoga on Sunday morning, March 21, please plan on giving yourself PLENTY of extra time. San Vicente Boulevard will be closed to traffic throughout Brentwood and Santa Monica as part of the LA Marathon course.

in addition, there are a number of studios within close proximity to the course, so you might want to give yourself extra time to get there, especially if you're planning to make it on time to a morning class. these studios are:

~ still yoga and YAS in silverlake
~ karuna yoga and shakti box in los feliz
~ golden bridge yoga in hollywood
~ city yoga in west hollywood
~ yoga works westwood
~ yoga hop, yoga works montana, bhakti yoga shala, yogis anonymous, yogaco, power yoga east and west, aanand saagar, and yoga works main street in santa monica

here's the official course map found on the LA marathon website: course maps

and the planned road closures times as published by LADOT: event routes and traffic plans

finally, here are bus route changes to accommodate the road closures along the course: MTA and big blue bus

hmmm... maybe this would be the perfect time to master your meditative breathing while you're stuck in traffic?

i've just checked the clock; it's time for me to get ready for bed since i have a 3am wake-up call...

wish me luck! and if you see me along the course, come jog with me a while and keep me company :)