My Long Run in San Diego

Just came back from spending the weekend down in San Diego for my brother's birthday (along with my mom and sis). It's always fun spending time with him and his family because I have two absolutely adorable nephews, with a third one on the way.

I made sure I brought my running gear with me because I wanted to get my long run in this morning. After getting in a full 8 hours of sleep - something I haven't done in a looong time - I had breakfast with the fam before stepping out in full running gear ready to put at least 13 miles in. First thing's first though - coffee.


That decision would come back to haunt me. I should've reminded myself that coffee is a diuretic. After running/drinking my coffee for the first 3 miles or so, nature started to beckon. So I slowed to a walk hoping it would go away. No such luck. It soon went from a 'beckon' to a SCREAM.


So there I was in a newly developed area with nothing but houses and the closest public restroom probably was in the Starbucks I left behind at mile 0.75 or so.

I so hated Starbucks at this point.

After deliberating whether or not to go in the bushes, I remembered that I had passed a fire station not too far back. So I managed to walk back the mile or so and the guy working the desk allowed me to use their facility. He truly was my hero at that point. I was so thankful that I got a $5 bill out of my water belt and left it on the desk before taking off.

The rest of my run went a lot smoother. Only other obstacle came when I unknowingly passed the street that was to lead me to the Miramar Resovoir which was to have an awesome bike/running path. Once I realized it was back a couple of miles down the road, I turned back around, got some proper directions and eventally found it.


It turned out to be about a 5+ mile loop around the water and boy, was it nice. And there were plenty of families, runners, roller-bladers, and bikers out in tow. And who can blame them? It was Central Park-ish with nothing but clean air to breathe in and an unobstructed path to run on. I was truly jealous when it was all said and done - an absolute runner's paradise.


I was just past mile 13 in my long run when I left. The streets coming and going were pretty hilly and I really started to feel at this point. On top of that, my 22 ounce bottle containing my Accelerade was all but gone and the sun had come out and baking my non-suncreened skin (stupid).

But I eventually made it to civilization and I made a beeline right to the AM/PM by my brother's place for a large Gatorade. Nothing ever tasted sweeter to me than that bottle at that moment. As you'll see from the following video, 15.95 miles when it was all said and done. Some challenges faced on the road aside, it was indeed a good day and a good run.


Intervals tomorrow if the legs aren't too sore. Have a great week everyone!

New Running Shoes!

Got me a new pair of running shoes. I wanted to stray from my trusted Mizunos and give other brands a try this time. So I went into Top-to-Top in the Marina this morning with an open mind. However, after trying on various types of shoes (mostly Asics), alas I came back to the Mizunos. The Mizuno Wave Nirvana 4 to be exact. $125.99 + tax. Yikes. Hope they're worth it.
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7 miles easy today. Legs are sore. New shoes were stiff. But ran it nonetheless.

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night..

Road Warrior

Ran 10 miles yesterday, my longest run on road since the LA Marathon. Started off easy for the first 4 miles and then ran the last 6 @ MP (Marathon Pace). Since I was running at rush hour, I tried to stay off the bigger streets as much as possible.

I've also been trying to ween myself from running with my iPod shuffle. On trails it's less of an issue, but it's taken some adjustment for running on the road - especially on the longer runs. But it hasn't been that bad overall. Most of the time, I focus on my breathing - and when that doesn't work, I'll usually hum whichever song happens to be stuck in my head at the moment.

Today, I'll be doing some light lifting after a 7-mile tempo run. Sexy stuff.

San Diego, Here I Come

Ok, I did it.

This morning I officially signed up for the Rock 'N Roll Marathon in San Diego. The race will be run on June 1st. This certainly crowds up my race schedule so I'll probably have to re-prioritize a couple of runs.

It took the possibility of getting a free techical t-shirt to get me to finally commit, but I'm in nonetheless.

So let's start training.

Back to Intervals

Last night after weeks of avoiding it, I finally got myself back to the track to do interval training with running coach Andrew Lockton. With legs feeling slightly heavy from my 18-mile day yesterday, I decided to suck it up anyway knowing I needed to put in speed work. It's something I'm not particularly fond of doing, but it's a necessary evil.

Once everyone showed up, we began at 6:30pm running 1600m at around 10K pace with an 800m recovery. I immediately tried to start off with the couple of 'elite' guys we have in our group but quickly tailed off realizing I could not keep pace with them. So I ran solo. After the initial 1600m, we repeated the same distance at the same tempo. This was followed by two sets of 800m at around a 5K pace with a lap of recovery in between. These were brutal and taxing but I got through them anyway. Finally to end things off, we put in 1600m at an 'easy' pace.

I'm not a disciplined runner - far from it. Whenever I read about the training programs from runners logging 60+ miles per week, my head starts to spin. But I do think that someday, that will be me. I run primarily for the love of running. This always comes first. But in a distant second, there is a part of me that wants to improve upon my time from race to race.

So that's where we're at now. Running a sub-4 hour marathon is my goal currently. If and when that goal is realized, maybe...MAYBE I'll put in the necessary work to try to qualify for Boston.

Midnight Run

Every now and again, I'll feel compelled to go out on a late night run. Historically, these impulses come about on Sunday nights which is when I've just come home from a 12-hour day. Last night was no different...except that I'd never done one when I'd already run that same morning.

As mentioned in my previous post, I put in an 11-miler in Mandeville Canyon before going off to work yesterday. But like I also mentioned, I still felt full of energy after the run and felt like I could've logged more miles. Think I took care of that last night.

Shortly before midnight after putting away about 3/4 of a large BBQ chicken pizza, I laced up and headed out the door. Didn't have a route in mind, didn't know how long I felt like running...I just started venturing west. The streets were eerily quiet (yes, even for midnight on Sunday) but I relished in this silence to really immerse myself in the moment, listen to my breathing and take in the stillness of what's usually a chaotic city.

Before I knew it, I was in Santa Monica and about 4 miles out. I decided to turn back and head towards my house, but opted to cut through residential areas this time. The night grew more silent and at times, I got a bit jumpy. But I settled down and realized that the only thing I had that would be of interest to a mugger is an antiquated GPS device.

I eventually made it back home after covering 7.25 miles and a cleared head. After showering and brushing my teeth, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Mandeville Canyon

Meet up #3 for me and my new trail running group. This time, the schedule called for an 11-miler through the hills of Mandeville Canyon.

It what shaped to be a pretty warm day, it didn't affect the majority of us who got going right around sunrise. The first 3 miles or so started us off on an incline and after that, it was an equally angular descent down the canyon. Of course, once we reached the bottom, we got to do it all over again and started climbing a second canyon that was steeper than the first. But boy oh boy, was that 2nd climb worth it.

Once the canyon plateaued, what we got was a stunning near-360 degree of Los Angeles and the valley. With nary a cloud in the sky, you could see as far as Catalina off to one side, and virtually the entire San Fernando Valley off to the other. At this point, I was running side by side with "Irving", a 67-year old veteran runner of the club who knew this trail like the back of his hand. In fact, the club annointed this particular route we were running "Irving's Run" in his honor as he had mapped it out.

I could not help but kick myself for not bringing my camera along this time.

The rest of the run was less strenous and passed with the two of us sharing running stories. The canyons started to fill up with other runners, bikers and people with dogs whom we greeted with a curt wave or a "good morning" as we passed one another. Once we reached the end, I still found myself in good strength and not all that fatigued. I would have done it again had it not been for work obligations and a table full of refreshments that our trail leader customarily sets up.

So after some nibbling, rehydrating and socializing, I bid my club adieu and off I went to work. It was a good morning.

Big and Little

I have been a part of the Big Brother/Big Sister program for almost 2 years now. I've been mentoring a terrific 7-year old boy from Watts during that time and it's been a tremendous experience for the both of us. One area I like to stress the importance of is physical activity. We play basketball and football whenever we get have a chance...but there are times when I just really would prefer to run but schedule won't allow it. So instead of choosing between hanging out with him and running, I'll combine both. Sometimes you just have to get creative in how you get them in.

What I'll do is when it comes time to pick him up, I'll be sure he brings his bike along. We've usually just confined ourselves to the bike path on the beach, but I really wanted to run last night so we did this around my neighborhood in West LA this time around. With him on his little bike and me in running gear and a hydration pack strapped to my back, we set off on our little adventure.

We probably covered anywhere from 4-5 miles and had a blast doing it. We ran/biked over to the nearby Santa Monica airport where there's also a dog park, so we saw some planes take off and played with some dogs. It was a good workout for sure because there are some hills in the neighboring neighborhoods when I had to run-push him at times. At various points we made drink stops, ran through parks and just had a grand ol' time.
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In other news...just received my Garmin Forerunner 301 in the mail today! Woo hoo!

It may be a slightly antiquated model given the latest technology that's out, but for $130, how can you beat that? Can't wait to try it out in tonight's run..

Malibu Creek State Park

Week 2 of running with the Trail Runners Club of LA.

Today: 13.6 miles in Malibu Creek State Park. Glorious weather, stunning views, and of course...Bulldog Road (3 mi of continuous climb up to almost 2,500 ft).

Gotta love it.

Getting Serious

I've been a 'runner' for a little over a year now and if you ask me now, I'd say that I'm somewhere between casual and serious. While I probably run more than the average 'jogger', I can't really say with great earnestness that I've always done everything I can to train for my races.

No real training schedules, no consistent speed work, the long runs are few and far between...basically I run when I feel like it and how far I feel like running it. The good thing though is that I run almost every day and usually run in excess of 4+ miles. I've run sub-2 hour half-marathons and sub-4:30 marathons.

But I can do better.

For one, I'm planning on finally investing in a watch/GPS/heart rate monitor. I've been resisting running with a certain time in mind for the 'purity' of it, but think this is the only way to truly gauge my improvement. Next, I plan on incorporating more speed work into my training. Be it interval training at the track or a couple tempo runs during the week, all I've read is that these are the only true way to improve race day performance.

I'd also like to run my first ultra this year. The only one that looks tempting is a 50K in San Francisco in December, but I'll keep looking. Other goals: sub-1:45 half and sub-4:00 marathon.

Let's get to work.

Time Management

I don't know how it happened but my calendar's has been getting booked solid lately. This has led to: a) justifying my recent Blackberry purchase b) leaving me very little time to get caught up on my Tivo'd shows and lastly, and most importantly - c) having very little time to run.

This week for example, I've only gotten one run in on Tuesday night (a 6.75 miler) and that was crammed between work and a community council meeting (which I was late for).

I think my nephews being in town for a week certainly doesn't help because they require the full-time attention of either my mom & sis, or in the case of last night - me. That's right. I had the pleasure of having the entire night to lug my two nephews around town (they're 4 & 2 in age). From the constant buckling and unbuckling to and from carseats, pulling over to find bathrooms, feeding them, calming them, shushing them, cleaning them....oof.

I give you parents much, much props.

Don't get me wrong, I love and adore them almost as if they were my own but kids can be quite a workout. After about 6+ hours with them, I was glad to hand them over.

How do you full-time parents do it? More importantly - how do you SINGLE parents do it??

200 Mile Week

THIS absolutely blew me away.

214 miles in one week. ONE Week! Especially in lieu of what she has had to endure...it's just truly inspirational. Time to get off my ass.

Way to go Jenny!

Ah...Trails!

Sometimes us urbanites take for granted the true beauty of nature that can be accessible in a matter of minutes by car. I'm certainly guilty of this.

So my latest mission became this: to sign up and run with the Trail Runners Club. Unfortunately, I lost an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings last night. So when the alarm went off, I had to pry and drag my sorry body out of bed @ 5am after 4 hours of sleep. I sure picked a hell of a day to sign up.

A brief stop at the Coffee Bean across the street and it was off to the rendezvous spot. It was still dark by the time I arrived @ 6am and once the dozen or so of us were accounted for, it was another 30-40 minute bleary-eyed drive up PCH to Sycamore Canyon. Here's a write up of the run on the Trail Runner's Club website:

This run starts and ends in Sycamore Canyon, climbs up the Serrano Canyon Trail to Serrano Valley at an elevation of 1303 ft. with it's majestic views of beautiful Serrano Valley with rolling grassland meadows that are a lush green in winter and a golden brown in summer. From Serrano Valley we take a right onto Old Boney Trail, then continue left on Old Boney Trail, then left on Blue Canyon Trail, until it intersects Sycamore Canyon Fire Road. Then we turn left on the fire road and take it home about 4 miles to the finish.

All in all, it was about a 12 mile run. The aforementioned "Serrano Valley" was absolutely breath taking. Just lush green as far as the eye can see with mountains framing the view. It was truly a sight to behold.

From the start, I ran side by side with a younger gal who's been with the club for a few months. She's training for a couple of 50k ultras which was inspiring. We both ran at a similar pace so it worked out perfectly for us. We shared many stories and laughs while manuvering through single-track roads, across some shallow brooks...all the while never forgetting to admire the majestic beauty that surrounded us.

When it was all said and done, we were neither too spent or underworked. It was the perfect distance on what turned out to be a most perfect morning.

It's safe to say that I am officially hooked. I will be back next week for sure...same time, different trail.

..And Then, He Rested

A few of my closest friends and I do this thing every week called 'Survivor Thursdays'. It's not nearly as exciting as it may initially sound as it basically entails the 5 of us ordering takeout and watching "Survivor".

Yes - that Survivor.

It's hokey but it's the only time of the week we'll set aside to basically open up a bottle of wine and sit down to catch up with each other. Watching the show is mostly an afterthought.

So with that in mind and in the interest of actually having my first full day's rest since running the marathon, I did just that. I rested...fighting the desire to lace up to run a few miles. Instead, I did almost the exact opposite: I stuffed my face with an order of Outdoor Grill's delicious tri-tip sandwich along with generous sides of their potato salad and french fries. This was all washed down with a couple of glasses of Merlot.

So sue me.

After the meal, I had half my friend's cannoli and treated myself to a nice little jacuzzi session. But you know what? As I sit here and recount my relaxing evening amongst friends, I can safely say that I would have rather been out running a few miles tonight. Seriously.

What's wrong with me?

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857 days since my last cigarette

The Morning After..

Well as expected, everything's pretty sore this morning. My quads, my hamstrings, my calves...even my left arm for some reason. But it was all worth it for sure.

My plan for today is to just consume a lot of water and later tonight, go on a brief and easy trot on the treadmill to get the blood going again. Perhaps get a little time in my friend's jacuzzi too.

Other than that, no significant distances for the remainder of the week. Can't slack off too much though because this is my racing schedule coming up:

Great Race of Agoura Half-Marathon - 4/5

Xterra Malibu Creek Challenge 14-Mile Trail Run - 5/10

San Francisco Marathon? - 8/3

I'm sure there might be a couple more in the summer...just not which ones yet. Keep y'all posted!

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More marathon notes...

For whatever reason, in the past couple of weeks, I've had the pleasure of running into and meeting some of the great ultramarathoners of our country. I've already told you my run-in with Dean Karnazes for the screening of his new movie last month.

Well, at the marathon expo on Saturday just as I was heading out, who else to I see but the one and only Pam Reed:

I had no idea how slight she was in real life (I'm 6'). Also didn't know that she battled anorexia for 15 years or so. But she was a super nice lady and we shared a nice little talk. I purchased her book which she also signed and very much look forward to reading it.

Fast forward to yesterday's marathon. Somewhere between miles 1 and 2 where the road started to decline, I see a shirtless black guy run zoom by me. I notice a tattoo of some Chinese writing just below the base of the neck and think to myself, "hmm...that tat looks familiar". It then dawns on me...holy shit - that's David Goggins!

I've seen that little YouTube clip several times as a source of motivation and even carry around his interview on Endurance Planet on my iShuffle at times (scroll down to Sept 4th).

So I thought, do I not break stride or do I haul ass to catch up to him? I chose the latter. He was probably running at a 7-7:30 pace this early on in the run so it was do-able for me. I pulled up to the side of him and said hi and what I thought he was doing was great. He was taken aback a bit at first, but thanked me and we shook hands and off he went.

Here's the link to his Special Ops Warrior Foundation.

Success!

Just ran and completed my 2nd marathon today!

In my 2nd year of running the LA Marathon, I officially crossed the finish line at a chip time of 4:20:54 - about 38 minutes better than last year. While I'm fairly happy with the time, I felt that I could have run it faster.

While I ran the first part of today well, after mile 17 or so I started cramping. It was subtle at first but the onset of it started coming fairly consistently in my right hamstring and calf as the race wore on. It never fully contracted and seized up but it was right on the cusp of doing so several times. When it just became unbearable, I would have to pull over to the side of the road to stretch the heck out of it. This happened at least a dozen times.

Anyway, it was long, grueling and arduous - but I finished. Hobbling and walking through the latter part which was frustrating, but necessary. 2,869th place overall ain't so bad when you consider anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000 people ran today I suppose.

I treated myself to a heaping order of burger and fries at the finish area, and a nice long ice bath once I got home.

Overall, it was a good day.

T-Minus 24 Hours

March 1st - the day before the marathon!

Holy cow...can't believe it's already here. Today's going to be a busy day of work, the marathon expo in downtown, appointments, a carbo-load dinner and tying up any loose ends for tomorrow.

25,000+ people all gathered together with a common goal in mind. It's going to be a highly intense, nerve-racking scene. And once that gun goes off at 8:15am, it'll be 4-5 hours of continuous and no doubt, painful running. Can't wait.

My goal as with any race is first and foremost to:

1) Finish

-and then-

2) Finish under 4:30

Wish me luck, and best of luck to all you running side-by-side with me tomorrow!