Long Run Sunday: Hell in (a Runner's) Paradise

Today would be the first Sunday morning that I put in a medium-long run (between 11-16 mi) on the road - and not trails - in a while. Since I was already down in San Diego for my nephew's birthday on Saturday, I figured I'd stay the night so I could do my run around Lake Miramar - an absolute runner's paradise. Why? A) It's on an enclosed road B) The entirety of said road is paved asphalt, and C) The 5-mile loop is long enough (and plenty scenic) that it doesn't get repetitive.

When I awoke around 7am, I peered outside and saw nothing but clouds in the sky. Perfect. Unfortunately, from cleaning up the blankets/air matress, regular morning prep including going to the bathroom, kissing my nephews goodbye and explaining why I couldn't stay longer, getting my morning cup of joe, and then driving in circles trying to find an area to park, by the time I arrived it was a little after 8am and wouldn't you know it - the sun had just come out. Urg.

Lake Miramar while ideal in a cooler conditions, when it's sunny and warm out, there's not a whole lotta relief by way of shaded roads or cool breezes. Anticipating that it would be warm out but not quite expecting it to be as warm as it was, I set off on a moderate pace of somewhere between 8:45-9:00 min/mi. By the time I hit mile 5, I was already drenched in sweat and my pace started slowing. At the 10K mark, I took my one and only GU shot (should have brought another). By miles 6-7, I started walking some. At mile 10, I had drained my 22-ounce bottle of Cytomax mixed drink and stopped at the car to grab a 12-ounce bottle of Evian to take with me for my last 5-mile loop. Wasn't enough.

By mile 12, that bottle was empty and had nothing to replenish the buckets of perspiration that I was losing (yeah, sexy ain't it ladies?). The last 3 miles were tough but since I was determined to at least finish strong in spite of my lackluster performance, I put in my last mile under 9 minutes (only my 5th sub-9 mile of the day). Final stats: total distance = 15.07 miles, total time = 2:24:57, avg. pace =9:37 min/mi.

Bah.

Still treated myself to a cold 32-ounce Gatorade (which I downed in record time) and a hamburger, fries and a coke at McDonald's for the long drive back up to Los Angeles.

This week's total = 44.2 miles.

Post-Olympics: Ryan Hall

Trail Run: Sycamore Canyon

One of my favorite places the Trail Runners Club runs is Sycamore Canyon, about 40 minutes up the Pacific Coast Highway. I try not to miss out on these excursions so up and out by 5:15am I went. After picking up Cody and Miss Sara, we made the long, sleepy trek to the park.

It was still overcast and cold when we met up with the other members but we quickly warmed up during our 1,100+ ft ascent for the first 4 or so miles. Unfortunately, the marine layer kept visibility limited to about a few yards in any direction. But it certainly aided us by keeping the sun off our backs while we ran.

Sara during the long, arduous climb above the clouds

The trail elevation of the course we covered

Green and fresh air

Most of the run was spent dodging random rabbits and swatting at mosquitos (I ended up with about 6-8 bites). But Miss Sara and I were enjoying ourselves, taking our time and using walking breaks as needed when trails got steep. After running primarily on fire roads, we reached my favorite part of this run. It's a narrow single track road that runs along the ridge with some spectacular views of green canyon below. And it's a pure decent down.

After reaching the main fire road, we made the final mile run back to the start of the trailhead. Total distance covered according to my Garmin was = 11.96 miles.


Since I was in charge of food and drinks this week for the club, I decided to get a little fancy by bringing along my gas stove and pre-whipped batter of pancake mix (w/ fresh blueberries sprinkled in). It was a huge hit with the carb-depleted bunch while I was just glad I brought the right amount. After stuffing our faces, we all bid adieu and made the drive back into civilization.


Another Sunday, another great run. Hope you all enjoyed your weekends!

The Men's Olympic Marathon

*WARNING - SPOILER ALERT

Beijing. China. Olympics. 2008. The Super Bowl of running on the world's biggest stage took place. The Americans? They were poised to compete with the best thanks to the emergence of one Ryan Hall (along with Ritz and Sell). The result?

....


Seriously though, a great win (first gold for a Kenyan?!) by Samuel Wanjiru. A new Olympic Marathon record on a tough day (heat + humidity). Very impressed by how he kept his foot on the gas from start to finish.

Hall? 10th - a place behind Dathan Ritzenheim who ran a fantastic race (by his standards). For Ryan? I can't help but say that we expected better results.

He ran too conservative a race, possibly respecting the conditions a little too much when guys like Wanjiru and fellow Kenyan Martin Lel took off almost from the gun. Sure, one by one guys started dropping off...but it seemed like he was trying to eek into medal contention instead of actually trying to win. At the Flora London Marathon a few months ago, boy...he did his best to hang with the boys all the way through. And he nearly did. Just didn't happen this time.

Oh well. Still proud of my boys. US distance running will be in good shape for a few more years since guys like Hall and Ritz are still in their early to mid-twenties. But someone like Hall with the god-given talent that he possesses needs to do more to be the best. And although it happened on the world's biggest stage, I think he learned his lesson. As an elite runner you have to respect the course, respect the conditions...but respect your competitors even more.

Time to Alienate Some Readers

This will be my one and only political post, I promise. But I just could not be more thrilled after the announcement that broke a few minutes ago tonight!


My optimism in the future of American politics just increased two-fold. Go Joe!

Thursday Run @ Sunset

10 miles @ general aerobic pace last night on the Santa Monica/Will Rogers bike path.

9:25 pace. Yet another not-so-great run. Had to walk about half a dozen times. Frustrating. Nothing else left to say...will leave you with some pics.

Endless summer.

Really dude?

Last bit of sun.

Finish Line in Sight

Well, it has been months in the making and we're finally nearing the finish line. My friend Cody's (film composer of Ultramarathon Man) short entitled Running for my Father is set to premiere on Thursday, September 4th at 7:30pm.


It is a candid and emotional journey of his quest to run his first marathon in his father's memory. We've been working tirelessly these past few months shooting, re-shooting, editing, etc. Now, it's just a matter of promoting the movie.

Since I'm fairly new to this process, I'll start here by telling you my running friends, to see please come out and support this movie. No matter how many times I've viewed it (and trust me, it's been many), I still get emotional during the goosebump inducing film. Whether you're an experienced or new marathoner and/or someone who has previously lost a loved one, I think you will really enjoy this movie.

You can RSVP here. Hope to see you there! Thank you.

Love/Hate

That's how I feel about tempo runs - think it's been pretty well documented. But I know how essential they are to the training so when the Pfitz 18/55 plan (currently in the 3rd week) called for 8 miles today with 4 miles @ lactate threshold pace, I said bring it on.

I was feeling miserable earlier on in the day, don't exactly know why. So I came home early today to lie down for a bit. When sleep wouldn't come I said 'fuck it', and laced up. It was still pretty warm out in the late afternoon but my park offered ample shade so I went anyway. The run itself was difficult - I think I ran the tempo paces pretty hard. I was shooting for roughly 8:00-8:15 pace for those 4 miles but here's what I ended up with:

Mile 1 - warm up
Mile 2 - warm up
Mile 3 - 7:43
Mile 4 - 7:42
Mile 5 - 7:02
Mile 6 - 6:59
Mile 7 - cool down/recovery
Mile 8 - cool down/recovery

So much for that. Those last couple of miles at tempo were pretty dang tough but I managed to hold the pace until that magical chime at mile 7 rang on my Garmin. Yay me. Food time now!

Found: My Running Spirit

I needed tonight.

After yesterday's (Sunday) virtually non-existent trail run and subsequent lackluster 11-miler effort later in the evening, my confidence - and perhaps more importantly, my passion for running took a major dive. Thankfully, I had today off. But luckily for me, not from all things running.

It just so happened that both a book signing by none other than 'Ultramarathon Man' Dean Karnazes for his new book "50/50" AND the opening week of the much-anticipated movie (for me anyway) "Running the Sahara" were both taking place in Pasadena. So Cody, his wife, Miss Sara and I braved the rush-hour traffic and ventured over there.

We first went over to the book signing where we sat in about a crowd of about 50 or so folks. Dean spoke for a bit, a Q & A session followed and then we lined up to get our books signed. Dean was great and took his time to chat and take a picture with us. I also spoke to his very engaging father Nick in length, as I did fellow blogger Darrell who himself is on a quest to run a marathon in all 50 states. He somehow recognized me and we got to spend a few minutes talking in person for a change. Great meeting you again buddy!

Me with Nick - Dean's dad

Following a quick dinner, we rushed over to make the 9:30pm showing of "Running the Sahara", a film about Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin's quest to run the entire length of the Sahara Desert to raise awareness for an organization called H2O Africa. Boy let me tell you, the movie did not disappoint.

It certainly had the benefit of having studio money to up the production quality of the film (Matt Damon also produced and narrated the film), but I thought it stayed true and on point for the duration of the 104 minute movie. Perfect length, near flawless story-telling and very engaging personalities. All about 3 runners running non-stop for 111 days across the Sahara. Go and see the movie if you get a chance.

Tonight moved, inspired and renewed my running spirit/soul. I just hope it shows in my running performance moving forward. Off to bed now...goodnight!

Momma Said..

Today (Sunday) will probably go down as my worst running day since the day I ran the Napa-to-Sonoma Half Marathon back in July of '07 (don't get me started on that miserable racing day).

It's a little past midnight on this Sunday/Monday night. I got back from my run a little while ago. I was supposed to do 13 miles tonight after work. I ended up doing a little over 11. But it wasn't even that close.

It was one of those runs where each mile felt like 5. I probably stopped to walk a good 5-6 times - including the last .65 miles back home. Legs were wobbly, I completely lacked energy and I felt like I couldn't quite catch my breath at times. Oh well. Not gonna dignify this run by analyzing it any further. It happened, it's over with and now I'm just ready to wipe this whole day off the books.

Off to get some much needed shut-eye. Tomorrow's a new day. G'nite.

Trail Run: A Big Fat DNF

After attending a wedding out in BF Orange County late into the night, the last thing I needed this morning was an early wakeup call to run the trails of Westridge. But that's precisely what I did, in hindsight against better judgement. Mostly in a rush to try out my new trail shoes.

Woke up pre-dawn after about 4 or 5 hours of sleep, and rushed over to pick up the lovely Miss Sara. We met the other members of the Trail Runners Club by 6am and shortly thereafter, we were off. The run from the Westridge Trailhead immediately starts on a climb and it was tough going right from the onset. The legs were still sore but I was also plagued with stomach issues stemming from last night. I tried toughing it out but it got worse as I went on so at about a mile and a half, I turned around dejected and walked back to the start.

A big fat DNF. If you don't what that stands for, it's the ugliest 3 letters a runner can hear. Even if it's not in a race.

Will do my 13 miles later tonight after work though.

Day on the Job w/ Brian Sell

A Home Depot employee by day, a marathon megastar afterhours: Brian Sell.



What a truly down to earth, genuine guy. Best of luck next week buddy. Go Team USA!

This and That

I am now in Week 2 of Mr. Pfitzinger's marathon plan. Today called for 10 miles at a general aerobic pace. While I was really looking forward to breaking a sweat tonight after not running at all yesterday, I was not looking forward to running in the hot and muggy weather we've been having in LA today.

Still...for the next 17 or so weeks, whatever Pfitz wants, Pfitz will get.

I started out later then I wanted to, but still managed to make it over to mom's in time to catch the sunset on my new, secret road by Loyola Marymount U. The run itself was more difficult than I had anticipated as the combination of the humidity and the legs still not operating at a 100% wore me down slowly but surely. By mile 4, I was drenched in sweat and wanted to quit.

But no - I have a lot riding on this next marathon and want to make sure I do it by the book to have every chance of suceeding in my sub-3:40 marathon time goal. So I pressed on...10 agonizing miles later and I was back at mom's looking like I'd run through a field of sprinklers. Avg pace came to = 8:42.

In better news, my new (and free!) test shoes came today. Made by Teva, they are trail shoes due out in spring I get to use thanks to my connection to the Trail Runners Club. The timing couldn't be better since it was high time for a new pair of trail shoes anyway. Can't wait to try 'em out this Sunday (assuming I'm not too hungover from a wedding the night before).

Pfitz: 18/55

I'm in folks. Using a popular marathon plan devised by Pete Pfitzinger, I am starting out on an amended 18-week plan that maxes out at 55 miles a week (hence the title).

The race I'm targeting? CIM on December 7th.

The time I'm targeting? A sub-3:40 (thanks to Shackalaka for throwing down the challenge).

Scheduled rest day today. Tomorow's run calls for 8 miles at "general aerobic" pace (any runs of 10 mi or less done at a steady pace) with 10 x 100m "strides" thrown in.



Here we go!

Trail Run: Santa Ynez Canyon

Another Sunday, another early morning trail run with my trail club.

This time, we would revisit the Santa Ynez Canyon in Palisades Highlands. My friend Cody and I ran a little late this morning so instead of meeting up with the early group at our meeting spot on Temescal, we rushed over to the trailhead where we just caught up to them.

To my surprise, I saw 3 members that ran in the Mt. Disappointment 50K just yesterday! Are you kidding me? One of whom was my gal Jes who actually won her age group (18-29)! Not to get all daytime talk show on ya but I just have to give her an emphatic, "you GO GIRL"!

Amazingly, she and I were able to run together for the entire length of today's run. I'm still nursing sore glutes so I was taking it easy, taking in the scenary and taking pictures of some gorgeous views. Another recent racer Kenna, who ran the half in San Francisco in a blistering 1:44, caught up to us around the midway point and the three of us ran together for awhile.

The run itself was interesting, diverse and beautiful offering wooded single-tracks, fire roads, grassy fields and some challenging hills. It turned into a fairly warm day after about an hour in so I was glad we decided to take it easy today. When it was all said and done, we had covered 10.6 miles.

After our usual post-run food and drinks, Cody and I (along with his family) decided to head over to Will Rogers Beach to cool off. There, I actually got in a couple more miles running along the shore. Some boogey boarding, swimming and body surfing followed.

I think it's safe to say that I'm officially pooped now. But it was definitely a great day under the sun.

Here are some pics:

8/8/08

Today was my 2nd 'real' run since the marathon last Sunday. And in the spirit of 8/8/08, I decided to dedicate today's run to honor the start of the Olympic games in Beijing. And what better way to do so then to run at the height Friday evening rush hour?

Running over the 405 during rush hour

There was still some residual soreness and the ol' legs weren't quite firing as they normally do, but it was still great to get out there again. I probably ran in the 8:45-9:15 pace for the majority of the run.

Running down Centinela

Starting from home, I made my usual venture west through some residential neighborhoods, through the Santa Monica Airport, around the golf course on Rose St, around my local park, and then back home.

My neighborhood park for tempo runs

My favorite dirt section of the park

Final distance? 8.08 miles. Now's time to shower and grab some Korean BBQ with my friends. Yeah baby.

Running Again

Finally got to start running again post-San Francisco and it felt good.

Did about 5 miles in the late-afternoon sun around my local park (to run in the shade as much as possible). Did my best to keep my heartrate between 70-80% even though my legs were telling me that they could run faster.

I'm already eye-balling my next marathon, possibly CIM in early December. Will keep y'all posted.

Moving Forward...w/o Bloody Nipples

So I had nearly 2 days to bask in my own little personal glory of meeting my marathon goal. I think that's enough.

Now I'm looking ahead towards my next marathon. CIM? Surf City? Tucson?

And what do I set as my next time goal...3:45? 3:40?

These questions will be answered in my head in due time I suppose. I'm giving myself a couple of days off of running, but was already going stir-crazy yesterday from not breaking a sweat. So I hopped on my road bike after work and headed for my gym to do some strength training. Will do more of the same today before putting in my first few recovery miles tomorrow.

But before I completely put San Francisco behind me, I wanted to take a quick look at what I did right in my training leading up to it and what I didn't do or could have improved on.

Things I did wrong:

1) More/Longer Long Runs - after cramping from Mile 19 on in San Diego, I vowed to get in more endurance training in time for this event. The result? Two 18 mile and one 16 mile long runs between the two marathons. That ain't nearly good enough. Even though I staved off cramping until after Mile 22, it was on the fringe from the 'teens til the very end. I need to do better.

2) Longer Tempo Runs - kind of in line with the previous one. My runs @ lactate threshold pace never really exceeded 4 miles per given session. I feel like runs of 5-8 miles could really benefit me for future half/full marathons.


Things I did right:

1) Train for the course - I knew San Francisco would be hilly. I made sure I remembered this by taping the elevation chart to my bathroom door. So I trained accordingly. That meant incorporating hills into long runs, running consistently with my trail group and doing hill intervals where I would have just done them on the track.

2) Tempo Runs - I think this goes without saying but for me, sometimes it takes a lot for me to work up the motivation to do speedwork. And training in the summer just took that much more effort to work up the motivation to run them. But I knew the importance of these runs and made sure I incorporated them into my weekly schedule at least once.

3) Sacrifice Vanity for Optimal Race Day Performance - my decision to lose some weight by putting strength training on hold and just eating better helped me on race day, I'm sure of it. I think there's a pretty significant difference running at around 175 lbs vs 185 or so (my previous weight). Sure, I wasn't as muscular or 'cut' as I once was...but having bulk on was for sheer superficial reasons - no functionality whatsoever as it pertained to my life. Unless you count opening pickle jars.

4) Tape up my nipples on race day - umm...'nuff said.



Can't wait to get back to work!

Race Report: San Francisco Marathon

Back in LA/Recap:

I am back folks. Tired, weary and sore from battle. Sore in places I didn't think I could be sore in.

But I'm smiling. Ear-to-ear.

There's so much I want to write about from my weekend in San Francisco, but I should just stick with the race. While the hills were brutal, the weather gods were looking out for us today. And for that, I am one grateful man.

This was intended to be a marathon that I was just going "run for fun". Hang out and stay with my cousin Frank, spend time in the city I love so much, then run a marathon alongside my cousin and his girlfriend, Leslie.

Boy, it didn't take long to get my competitive juices going and have my attention refocused on taking care of some unfinished business from San Diego in June. Namely, that oh-so-elusive sub-4 hour marathon. A cake walk for the gifted runners out there, a mountain to overcome for a middle-of-the-pack guy like myself.

Here we go.

THE MARATHON:

Wake up call at 4:00am. Actually got a fair amount of sleep for the first time before a big race. Went to bed at 9pm the night before, pre-race jitters only kept me tossing and turning for the next half hour or so. For me, that's pretty good.

Ran a little late this morning because there was only one bathroom to share among the 4 of us (Frank, Leslie, and her friend). We finally made it out the door and hit the starting area by about 5:15am or so. It was still dark out and a little chilly, but not all that bad. I was actually hoping for something colder though.

Even though they'd be running a little slower (1st time marathoners), we all jumped into my wave because we wanted to start out together. Gun went off somewhere between 5:35 and 5:45am and off we went from Embarcadero!


My race strategy coming in was to run the first 10K somewhat conservatively, then do the best I could the remainder of the way, hills and all (in San Diego, I thought I started out a little too conservatively, thus missing my sub-4 there).

The San Francisco Marathon didn't seem to attract as many of the characters as I'd see in a big race like LA or San Diego. But I did immediately run into a Roman soldier before hitting mile 2. After asking permission, I snapped a pic of him and continued on. At the 2.5 mile mark just past Fisherman's Wharf, we hit our first hill. Nothing too crazy but certainly a harbinger of things to come.


Once it came back down, it was fairly flat for awhile as we continued to run right alongside the bay. Then between miles 4 and 5 at Crissy Field, we saw it. In all of her majestic glory: the Golden Gate Bridge.


To get there, we would have to start a steady climb up from mile 5. Once we reached it, we began our path to run the entire length of it, loop around at mile 7.5, and back the way we came passing runners while doing so. Weather wise, I think anyone who was out there would agree that this was the gnarliest part of the run. Unexpected gusts of wind blowing from any which direction both chilled you to the bone, while making you very wary of articles of clothing that might blow off. I snapped the following picture at the turnaround before heading back across the bridge.


Once off the bridge, we passed Baker Beach and hit some hilly neighborhoods (I don't recall which). Just before mile 13 and on through mile 19, we would be running through the Golden Gate Park which I assumed would be my favorite part of the race. Uh uh.

First of all, by the time I reached the halfway point, my calves and hamstrings were already tight from the hills. I started to doubt myself because if I already felt this sore at this point, how could I possibly get through another 13.1? Also, a combination of the rolling hills of the park and lack of crowd support started to get to me. Most of the runners kept to themselves, and while I would ordinary enjoy the silence and get in my own head a bit, it was not a fun place to be in at that moment. I needed a distraction. Conversation. Music. Anything.

Fortunately, I made it out of there at mile 19 and was greeted by a small crowd that immediately gave me a morale boost. My time of 2:55 and change at mile 20, even more so. I'd just need to run the next 10K in under 1:04 to make my sub-4...definitely, definitely doable!

With guarded optimism and an extra spring in my step, I continued on the mile and a half journey down Haight Street in the famed town of Haight Ashbury. With mostly downhills to deal with for the majority of the way and no major cramping yet, I continued to feel relatively good. 'Wall'?...What Wall?


Um...THE WALL:

From a little past mile 22, those all too familiar muscle cramps that plagued me in past marathons started up. Like sudden bolts of electricity, it first lightly attacked up my left calf, then my right. For the next 4 miles or so, I was in full-on survival mode.

I'm not going to reveal too much of what went through my head during that time, but I will say that it involved me drawing inspiration from people I'd long admired. That, and an ongoing mantra of "Sub. Four. Sub. Four..." (step, step..)


Not taking for granted anything that can happen, I truly didn't allow myself to believe that I would get my time until home stretch. And boy, despite the cramping, it was truly glorious. I just missed having the clock time read under 4 hours by a few seconds but I know what my Garmin said and I knew my goal into 3-hour territory and another step towards qualifying for Boston (one day) was realized. Was so happy, I again kissed the ground as I did when I finished San Diego.

FINAL TIME = 3:53:20

It was every bit as sweet as I thought it would be. To have a pretty ambitious goal, fall short - but pick yourself up to try again. Thankfully as I mentioned, the weather gods were on our side today as it remained cloudy and overcast throughout.


Mile Splits (Garmin read 23.59 mi):

Mile 1 - 9:09
Mile 2 - 8:42
Mile 3 - 8:57
Mile 4 - 8:27
Mile 5 - 8:27
Mile 6 - 9:13
Mile 7 - 8:24
Mile 8 - 8:19
Mile 9 - 8:21
Mile 10 - 8:21
Mile 11 - 8:18
Mile 12 - 8:35
Mile 13 - 8:31
Mile 14 - 8:02
Mile 15 - 8:31
Mile 16 - 8:44
Mile 17 - 9:36
Mile 18 - 7:53
Mile 19 - 8:49
Mile 20 - 8:41
Mile 21 - 8:51
Mile 22 - 8:11
Mile 23 - 10:11
Mile 24 - 9:52
Mile 25 - 9:28
Mile 26 - 9:09
Mile .59 - 5:25

I'm going to enjoy this for a couple of days before figuring out my next goal/race. But I did most certainly enjoy this one. Thanks to all of those cheering me on and wishing me well today...can't tell you how much it meant to me!

And finally, a special mention and kudos goes out to my cousin and his girlfriend for finishing their ever 1st marathon, my TRC buddy Kenna for her always consistent finish (1:50 in the half) and to my gals from Runner's World for setting new PR's (Lori in 3:28 for the full and Silly Lillie a 1:29 in the half).

Great job out there guys!!

The Day Before: The Expo

Countdown: Only 1 day left before the SF Marathon!!

So I'm here in San Francisco and absolutely loving it. This is one of my favorite cities to visit and am getting increasingly excited about running the city tomorrow.

After flying in last night, my cousin, his girlfriend and I drove into Mission to have some awesome deep dish pizza before watching a running movie and then crashing. Didn't get as much shut-eye as I would have liked so I hope I get a fair amount tonight before tomorrow morning's 4am wakeup call.

____________

The Expo


This morning, we took our time getting ready before heading out to brunch and then to the expo. The expo for all the negative talk I heard about it was actually pretty well setup I thought. The trio of us got everything we were looking for...and I even scored a free Mizuno hat! The guy running the Mizuno stand appreciated that I supported their product so much that he let me take a $10 hat on the house. Groovy!


Also ran into some fellow Runner's World Forumites in 'Lillie', 'Gundy' and 'Spandex'. Great to meet them in person, as it was to meet running legend Bart Yasso. Here are some pics:






Now at my cousin's home, we polished off a homemade carbo-load dinner, laid out our race gear, and I made my customary pre-marathon call with my mentor, Richard. Nerves are still fine and I feel pretty mentally prepared for the race tomorrow morning. It's just a matter of leaving it all out there on the course.

Full race report to come tomorrow (hopefully it'll be a good one). Time to get ready for bed folks - good night!