4 Days Until the L.A. Marathon..

Sorry it's been awhile but it's been a pretty crazy/hectic/chaotic past few days. Along with the marathon prep (ok - more like marathon stress since I'm in the taper period), it's been a juggling act of work and school and life and everything little thing in between.

Am I going to be relieved once this is all over? I dunno...my next race is going to be a month after the marathon (Great Race of Agoura Half) so I can't slow down on the running. There is a sick, masochistic side of me that somewhat enjoys the sleep-deprivation and chronic soreness I suppose. Why else would I choose endurance running as a hobby?

In other news...I got to meet one of my running heroes 'Ultramarathon Man' himself, Dean Karnazes!

Thanks to my new running bud (and talented composer who scored the movie) Cody, I got a VIP ticket for the screening of Dean's new documentary last week.

Of course, since I knew he'd be there I made sure I took my camera and book for him to sign. He really is as advertised - just a truly genuine and nice guy.

The movie itself was very good too. In case you haven't heard about it, it's a documentary following Dean and his crew around on his quest to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.

And here I am stressing about the ONE.

It was truly a night to remember. Thanks again to Cody and Dean.

My Last Long Run

18-miles completed.

The weather was pretty ideal for running this morning...mostly overcast, in the 60's, w/ a light ocean breeze. I ran from my place down to the Ballona Creek bike path which leads you all the way down to the ocean water. Not the most scenic by any stretch of the imagination unless grafitti, filthy ducks and sewer water draining out into the marina's your thing.

I decided to use this run to also test out a new water bottle belt I purchased at Adventure 16. It clips on the front part with adjustable straps to synch it nice and tight, and in the rear there is a holder with a 22-ounce bottle and a separate pouch to carry your Gu, keys, money, etc. It took awhile to get used to, especially because I felt the need to re-tighten the straps every other mile. It would cease to be a problem later though. I just wanted to try something other than my handheld bottle for a change in the marathon.

The first half the run was seamless - easy in fact. I was enjoying some awesome tunes on my trusty iPod shuffle and had many a spiritual moment while gazing out in the crashing surf and calm horizon. Once I hit the turn-around point of Imperial Hwy at Dockweiler Beach I took a minute to stop, enjoy the view, and down a shot block.

This, in retrospect threw me off my rhythm and it was evident with the first step I started taking back.

I began encoutering some serious headwind on the Creek headed eastbound which was funny because I thought it would be the other way around. And while the cyclists were zooming by me (they probably outnumber runners/pedestrians by a 2-to-1 margin), my pace of approximately 8:30-9 min/mile slowed to around 10:30-11 pace. The range of motion in my legs became limited so that my stride resembled that of a 70-year old out pitter-pattering. I got passed twice. I hate getting passed.

Eventually, I made it home after 3 long hours out on the road. Don't think a sub-4 hour finish time at the marathon might be in the cards for me. Oh well.

I finished off my run by running across the street to buy a 7 lbs. bag of ice which I added to my bath of cold water and sat there for 10 minutes grinning. I definitely earned it.

Bring on the marathon.

Last Long Run

Tomorrow's it.

In what should have been done probably a few weeks ago, I am preparing to run my last long run tomorrow morning of approximately 18-miles. It'll look something like this.

I'm praying for decent weather and an injury-free run. This will be my longest run since last year's marathon. Let's hope I have it in me.

15 days til the big race..

Cramming

One of these days, I'm going to train for a marathon properly.

Unfortunately for me, it doesn't look like this is going to be one of those times.

With the Los Angeles Marathon looming a mere 19 days away, I've just gotten around to getting a long run under my belt this past Sunday. It was a 13-14 miler that started from my place, down to the beach, up the boardwalk until I hit the pier, and then back the way I came. It was hotter than a sonuvabitch that day. My body has a history of betraying me when temps start hovering over 70 degrees. Add to it that I still wasn't over the bug from the previous week and it made for a brutal run. I probably slowed down to a walk a half a dozen times. Not good.

I currently have my sights set on an 18-miler this Sunday morning. But with my crazy busy schedule these days, I don't know how many daily runs I'll be able to get in leading up to it.

The procrastination and the cramming has to stop. At this rate, I'll be lucky to finish at my glacial time of 4:58 from last year.

Let Down

Sorry for the delay. It has just taken me awhile to get over the major let down that was last Sunday. I'll give you the short of it since I don't feel like divulging all the details.

So after a night of dinner and some TV at my dear friends' house, whom along with their 3-year old were getting over a flu, I started feeling ill myself. In a panic, I started consuming all the EmergenC and Airborne I could get my hands on. Symptoms subsided some and by Saturday night, I was 85% certain that I'd be running Sunday morning, rain/wind and all. I had laid out my running gear, pinned the number to my shirt, tied the chip to my shoe, etc. I thought I was good to go.

Boy was a I wrong.

First of all, I could not fall asleep to save my life that night. Secondly, I had way too much meat earlier and paid by being nauseous the entire night I lied awake in bed. I probably tossed and turned for about 5-6 hours before I realized that I was just not feeling as well as I should be to run 13 miles. In fact, I wasn't well enough to do most things in my condition.

So my one-year anniversary of running, my 10th official race...it just wasn't meant to be. Instead of basking in the glory of finishing the Surf City Half-Marathon, I was instead relegated to shivering underneath blankets with some kind of flu while watching Ryan Seacrest inexplicably host the pregame Super Bowl show.

Strange day indeed.