Race Report: Surf City Half Marathon 2012

My race goals for 2012 were to start off the first 3 months focusing on improving speed and doing road races. The rest of the year would be dedicated to trail/ultra races. Sounded good on paper but it quickly got to the point where I was sick of the pounding of the man-made stuff and longed for only the steeps and dirt of the Santa Monica Mountains + beyond. With entries for road races for Jan-Mar already paid however (and they were pricey), I had little choice but to follow through. Oh well.

So here we were, Super Bowl Sunday and I was to run the 1st race I ever participated in back in 2007 (then called Pacific Shoreline). Was I looking forward to it? Not really. Was I going to run a hard and honest race despite a lack of focused training for these kinds of races? Absolutely. 

I got up at 5am grumbling and groggy from a full day the day prior. It was work, a baby shower in the valley, a screening of Unbreakable in Santa Monica then my mom's birthday dinner in Koreatown. Eventually hit the sack around midnight. My drive down to Huntington Beach was serene although I found myself stealing glances towards the east of the San Gabriel Mountain range and the sun that was rising behind it.

Tony K, JB Benna, Scott Mills, Jimmy Dean.

Thanks to my friend Danica, I procured a spot not too far from the start/finish. We met up and made the walk down together before I hopped into Corral 1. National anthem done and at about 7:45am, the half marathoners were off. 

I did my very best to not get caught up in the sea of fast starters and be diligent about not taking off too quickly. Almost off the bat, I felt a curious tightness in my inner right calf and had difficulty getting into a comfortable breathing vs. stride rate. In fact, I wouldn't feel "comfortable" for a long time into the race.

Mile 1 - 7:02
Mile 2 - 7:08
Mile 3 - 7:12

The course itself is pretty flat and fast. There comes a point after about mile 3 when you encounter a minor hill but it's something most trail runners would laugh at. While I wasn't laughing, I did ease up to keep my heart rate and breathing steady.

How is that thing in yellow beating me??

There are two long out-and-backs for the 1/2 so it was a welcomed distraction to keep my eyes on the other side of the course to see if I could recognize and cheer on fellow runners and friends. On the first I spotted my gal Lori and then shortly after saw Emil and Shacky, all 3 of whom were running the full.

Mile 4 - 7:25
Mile 5 - 7:12

Once we rounded out of the hills and neighborhood of the first few miles, the course spills back out onto the main stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. I was starting to warm up and feel better as the miles progressed but still had difficulty finding that sweet spot.

Leg muscles bitch. What. 

Nothing worth noting about the next few miles as it is basically one long out-and-back on PCH with coastline and lagoon views. So instead, my gaze was either to the other side of the course or directly 5 or so yards in front of me. Around the 7 mile mark, I took in my one and only gel. Rest of the time, I was either drinking water from the aid stations or a nasty concoction called "Vita-Lyte" (gross). Calf was still tight and I was getting a hot spot on the inside of my left foot. Great.

Mile 6 - 7:18
Mile 7 - 7:20
Mile 8 - 7:23
Mile 9 - 7:20
Mile 10 - 7:25

With about 5K remaining, I was just ready to be done. However, I knew I didn't have it in me to sprint it in yet. Crowds were getting larger and larger as I approached the finish but despite that long stretch of road, it was still nowhere in sight. As tired as I felt, I at least took some comfort in that I wasn't one of those poor souls who were running the marathon that had to veer right about a mile away from home.

Mile 11 - 7:24
Mile 12 - 7:09

Mouth Breather.

With about a mile left, I finally decided to expend whatever energy I had left and give it a go. While I made a conscious effort to not look at my watch during the race other than at the mile splits, I finally decided to sneak a peek at my overall time with about a 1/4 mile left. It read something like 1:33:30. Shit, I couldn't believe I was only about a minute or so off of my 1/2 marathon PR. I was in an all-out sprint at that point (for me anyway).

Mile 13 - 6:54
Mile 13.15 - 6:01

Watch clicked as I crossed the finish line. Final time = 1:34:57.

Chick'd + Utility Belt'd. 

About 20-30 seconds off my PR. Drats. Oh well, given how low my expectations were, I'll definitely take it!

As I made my way out of the finish chute, I decided to tack on some cooldown miles and ran back up the course. I saw Lori again and ran with her for a few seconds but she was hauling at that point so I decided to back off. After a couple of miles, I ran back to the finish, met up with Danica again (who ran a solid race herself) and grabbed some post-race iced coffee before saying goodbye.

Good times, great weather and my last road race before the LA Marathon next month. Bring it. 

Old Cabin/Boney Mountain

Always eager to explore new trails in So Cal, I decided to make the hour drive to meet up with Evan in his neck of the woods of Thousand Oaks. He told me the loop we were gonna do came the closest to resembling trails he was accustomed to running in his home state of Alaska. That brought on both a mix of excitement and apprehension.

Tempted to floor it. 

The morning got off to an exciting start when I was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol just a few exits from my destination. Apparently I was doing 80+ MPH. This was the sympathetic text I got from Hone:

Heh, dick. 

Anyway, thanks to some eye batting I was able to talk my way out of the speeding ticket and just got a fix it ticket for registration/insurance stuff. Whew. 

Easy on the eyes.

I arrived few minutes after 7am and we got started shortly thereafter. The trail started on a flat-ish single-track in a beautiful green valley but wasn't too long before we started climbing. And holy hell, what a climb. The initial climb wasn't too bad and I started thinking "this is manageable, I can handle this". But around mile 3 the trail started becoming more and more technical, rocky and steep. And not steep with windy switchbacks - steep with a virtually straight line up to the top. Ah, this is what he meant with the Alaska comparisons. 

Ah...crap.

I kept my head down huffing and puffing trying to keep up with Hone. Running, hands on knees hiking, cursing...whatever it took. He was nice enough to slow down for me often but I swear, no idea how he can run up the entirety of this route day in and day out. After climbing for awhile Evan pointed out the view to which I replied "hell no, not looking - haven't earned it yet". He got a good chuckle out of that. 

Almost there.

Finally, we hit the summit (~3,000 ft) and we took a minute to snap some pics and admire the view. And what a view it was. Damn, wish this place was closer to LA. 

Summit.

Priceless views.

For all the initial climbing, we were treated to a long, gradual descent. Around the 10 mile mark, we started yet another steady climb around the Boney Mountain course area. Not nearly as gnarly but by then my weak Bambi legs were whimpering. We eventually reconnected with the original "out" trail and after about 16 miles and 4,400+ feet of climbing, we were done. The day had warmed up plenty so I was thankful we got started early. This would have been a bitch of a run with the sun high in the sky.

Solid week of training for me, although nursing a slightly sore right foot for most of the week. Surf City Half next week. Yay. 

Race Report: 2012 LA 13.1 Half Marathon

My 1st race in over half a year. And it almost didn't happen.

I'll spare you too much of the details but the short of it was that I woke up Thursday morning with a bad bug in my stomach. I'm guessing it was either bad meat on the burger the night before or some kind of stomach flu but either way the following day I was slammed with nausea, stomach aches and fever. Fast forward to Saturday where I was definitely feeling better but still not 100%. I spent most of that day going to the bathroom while trying to desperately replace electrolytes by chugging Pedialyte to prep for Sunday morning. And even though a 2-mile test run on the treadmill went horribly, I set my alarm for 5am anyway and decided to make it a game time decision.

Please don't let me be this guy...

...or this gal.

After some second guessing the morning of I said to hell with it, popped an Immodium and hoped for the best. The new course for the race starts at the Venice Boardwalk and so I parked several blocks over and did a little jog to the start arriving with several minutes to spare. I initially jumped into the 1:40 area but when I spotted my friend Danica, I came back out and decided to start with her in the 2:00 corral. My goals were to get in a solid, honest longish road run without necessarily "racing" to kick off my LA Marathon training. After about 15 minutes after the scheduled start time of 7am, we were off.

It was nice to start off nice and slow as we headed south on the boardwalk. We took in the sights which were a blur of Venice bums, Vibram Five Fingers and yes, even the occasional Camelbaks. After about a mile and a half, I decided to run ahead and told Danica I'd see her at the finish. After leaving the boardwalk the runners wound around Venice down towards Marina Del Rey.

Mile 1 - 9:03
Mile 2 - 7:21
Mile 3 - 7:36

It was somewhere around mile 3+ when I saw a group huddled on a sidewalk to the left cheering the runners on. After closer inspection, it turned out to be a group of Coyotes including my buddy Dave. It was great to see them and definitely provided a boost. I continued on running at what felt like marathon effort more than half. We circled the Marina and then entered into the Ballona Creek bike path which leads out into the windy concrete path that runs along Dockweiler Beach.

Mile 4 - 7:28
Mile 5 - 7:36
Mile 6 - 7:43
Mile 7 - 7:52

The legs started feeling fatigued after the 10Kish mark so I slowed up a bit. The concrete wasn't doing my legs any favors either. We hit a bit of an incline to lead out to the out and back path along Vista Del Mar street that runs along the coast. This part was fun in that I got to see and cheer on several friends along the course. We also got a touch of drizzle that never amounted to anything more than that.

Mile 8 - 7:50
Mile 9 - 8:03
Mile 10 - 7:54

When I finally hit the turnaround before Manhattan Beach, I was still chugging along at a comfortable pace. While I could have picked up the pace a bit, my legs did feel genuinely fatigued and didn't want to thrash them for the sake up putting a slightly better time and also compromise future workouts.

Mile 11 - 8:00
Mile 12 - 7:49
Mile 13 - 7:21


Finish Time = 1:42:58

The finish had a nice little downhill and a throng of people gathered at the top of Vista Del Mar. No finish kick for me, I just simply finished with a smile on my face, grabbed my medal, said hi to some friends, cheered on a few other runners before heading back via a shuttle.

In the end, I'm glad I ended up doing this race. I got some nice miles in on a great, revised course. I didn't end up having any stomach issues during the race other than some pre-race nausea. And of course, got to see some friends I haven't seen in awhile.

Big thanks to the 13.1 Marathon series for hooking this blogga up!

My Interview w/ Meb Keflezighi

So excited for the Olympic Trials in Houston this Saturday and seeing Meb go head-to-head with the likes of Ryan Hall, Dathan, Gotcher, et al.



May the best 3 win.

Hey, Wanna Run a Half Marathon for Free?

I know some of you may have seen the same giveaway on other blogs. But here's why you should really enter on MY blog. 

A) I do not believe in random selection. I'm all about favoritism. 

B) I've never said "you're almost there" (except the one time I helped a lady give birth in an elevator). 

C) I'm better looking than 79.2% of the other giveaway...ers. 

D) I've gotten lost in an ultra once and dedicated an entire race report whining about it. 

E) I don't listen to music while running so when you see me on the course and yell "looking good!", I'll be able to yell back "bullshit!". 

So create your own fate and leave a comment telling me why you want to run the LA 13.1 Marathon. But make my sides tickle. Be creative. Say something nice about the kick-ass new course. Bet you'll smoke me by XX:XX. Tell me what costume you'll run in. Offer sexual favors (I'll politely decline). Offer money (no comment). 

Something. Anything. And let's BOTH throw down come January 15, 2012. 

Good luck. 

VIDEO: PCTR Santa Monica Mountains Trail Race

Yesterday, I had a pleasure of volunteering, shooting, hanging out at PCTR's Santa Monica Mountains trail event. It was rainy, cold, windy and muddy but I enjoyed every single second of it. Congratulations to all that showed up to run in the harsh and challenging elements mother nature threw your way.

I managed to piece together a little highlight video below. Hope you enjoy.



Congrats again runners!

Shoe Review: Brooks Pure Grit

I rarely do "shoe reviews" on here but felt compelled to do one for the Brooks Pure Grit - the trail version of the PureConnect line. I've been looking forward to getting these shoes for awhile and thanks to the Brooks ID program, was able to procure a pair yesterday. Of course, I went right out and tested them on a 10 mile run in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Pure Grit.

Right out of the box, my first impression was very favorable. The upper of the shoe was form-fitting but not uncomfortably so. It was almost as if they were custom made for my feet. The laces are rugged and built for off-roading, reminding me of the laces on my NB MT101s. Overall, it was a very solidly constructed shoe.

As I made my ascent,  I was a bit surprised by how heavy they felt. Now "heavy" is all relative but at 8.9 ounces, I felt every one of those ounces. When doing long, steady climbs the last thing I want is to notice the weight of my feet. Also, they felt a bit "foamy" on the sole - noticeably more so than my MT101s or Racer ST5's (my other two favorite trail shoes). On ascents especially, I like to be able to connect with the ground which ironically with their trail version of the "PureConnects" I wish I was able to do more of.

The Pure Grits really shined on the descent however. The padded soles really absorbed the pounding and rocks well and the "grip" of the soles were evident. I was able to rock the downhills (or about as much as I'm able to right now) without really thinking about feet protection and was instead able to focus on footing.

Overall, these are really solid trail shoes and I will definitely include them in my rotation. However, I think they will be better served for the longer stuff (20+ miles) than shorter jaunts in the dirt.