So with my foot feeling a little better each time out, I feel confident enough to start planning my schedule for the first half of the year of 2010.
As of now, it's going to be a hybrid of road and trail races, but in the back half of the year I'd like to focus more on trails and ultras. It of course depends all on how the first 6 months go. Crossing my fingers for a healthy, injury-free year!
2/7 - Surf City Half-Marathon
2/13 - Twin Peaks 50/50 (might volunteer, schedule permitting)
3/7 - PCTR Malibu Creek 25K
3/22 - LA Marathon
3/29 - PCTR Sycamore Canyon 18 or 30K
4/10 - Renegade Off-Road Triathlon (yeah, we'll see)
4/24-25 - birthday run(s) (TBD)
6/6 - San Diego RnR Marathon (carried over from last year)
Alright gang, if I don't talk to ya by then, have a great, happy and safe New Year!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Race Report: Volunteering at Santa's Marathon
A few days ago, I decided to volunteer at a small marathon/half-marathon taking place in Legg Lake Park over in El Monte that a few friends would be running in. This was part of a series of smaller races put together by race director extraordinaire Charlie Alewine - very popular among people looking for smaller, intimate races - especially among Maniacs.
Last night, I went to a holiday party that I was only intending to make an appearance at and then come back early to get in a decent night's sleep to make the 6:30am start time. That was the plan anyway. One conversation after another along with a surprise drop-in by a dear friend I haven't seen in awhile, my head finally hit the pillow well after midnight (probably closer to 1am). Needless to say, when the alarm finally went off a little after 5am, I was NOT a happy camper.
I made the approximately 30 minute drive east towards the destination and greeted Charlie the RD, along with my compadres who would doing the relatively flat 2.2 mile loop for either the full or half distance. A little after gorgeous sunrise, the group began the race while I manned the one and only aid station along with Charlie and a fellow Maniac in Marina.
Responsibilities were minimal outside of making sure enough drinks were poured (water and Gatorade) so the 3 of us mostly shot the shit while we aided the 20 or so runners as they passed through.
Jeff downing fistfuls of liquid.
Marathon vet and maniac, Joe.
Rocco pacing his wife to a 7+ min half PR before proceeding on to finish the marathon.
Jeff displaying his 3rd place trophy for the half finishing in 1:49:XX.
I knew at some point, I wanted to get in about a 40 minute run per my recovery from stress fracture plan. So after getting the ok from Charlie, I took off with Rocco the next time he passed through for two loops, or approximately 4.4 miles around the park. We ran a very even and steady pace and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the rest of the beautiful park from the runners' vantage point.
Running with Rocco.
Ducks, ducks...geese.
It was nice to break a little sweat. After finishing the loops, it was back to work at the station while snapping some shots of the marathoners as they finished.
1st finisher James coming in at 3:5X:XX getting his trophy from Charlie.
Marcia (aka "Vixen"), me, James, Emil, Renee and Jeff.
A pair of Maniacs.
A "guns to the head" finish for Rocco (running in with Renee).
After the race, a few of us decided to head over to a nearby restaurant for some post-race dim sum. Unfortunately, there was an hour+ wait to be seated, but our growing hunger was tempered by some good conversation.
Post-race dim sum!
All in all, a great day under the sun with some old (and new) running friends. Volunteering is always a great way to stay connected to the running community when you're injured and generally, just a great way to give back to this great sport of ours. Hope you all had a great weekend!
Last night, I went to a holiday party that I was only intending to make an appearance at and then come back early to get in a decent night's sleep to make the 6:30am start time. That was the plan anyway. One conversation after another along with a surprise drop-in by a dear friend I haven't seen in awhile, my head finally hit the pillow well after midnight (probably closer to 1am). Needless to say, when the alarm finally went off a little after 5am, I was NOT a happy camper.
I made the approximately 30 minute drive east towards the destination and greeted Charlie the RD, along with my compadres who would doing the relatively flat 2.2 mile loop for either the full or half distance. A little after gorgeous sunrise, the group began the race while I manned the one and only aid station along with Charlie and a fellow Maniac in Marina.
Responsibilities were minimal outside of making sure enough drinks were poured (water and Gatorade) so the 3 of us mostly shot the shit while we aided the 20 or so runners as they passed through.
Jeff downing fistfuls of liquid.
Marathon vet and maniac, Joe.
Rocco pacing his wife to a 7+ min half PR before proceeding on to finish the marathon.
Jeff displaying his 3rd place trophy for the half finishing in 1:49:XX.
I knew at some point, I wanted to get in about a 40 minute run per my recovery from stress fracture plan. So after getting the ok from Charlie, I took off with Rocco the next time he passed through for two loops, or approximately 4.4 miles around the park. We ran a very even and steady pace and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the rest of the beautiful park from the runners' vantage point.
Running with Rocco.
Ducks, ducks...geese.
It was nice to break a little sweat. After finishing the loops, it was back to work at the station while snapping some shots of the marathoners as they finished.
1st finisher James coming in at 3:5X:XX getting his trophy from Charlie.
Marcia (aka "Vixen"), me, James, Emil, Renee and Jeff.
A pair of Maniacs.
A "guns to the head" finish for Rocco (running in with Renee).
After the race, a few of us decided to head over to a nearby restaurant for some post-race dim sum. Unfortunately, there was an hour+ wait to be seated, but our growing hunger was tempered by some good conversation.
Post-race dim sum!
All in all, a great day under the sun with some old (and new) running friends. Volunteering is always a great way to stay connected to the running community when you're injured and generally, just a great way to give back to this great sport of ours. Hope you all had a great weekend!
Friday, December 18, 2009
5 Years
Crazy. Time just absolutely flew by.
Wish you could have been around to see your son the "runner", instead of your son the "smoker" or the "screw up". Think you would've gotten a big kick out of it.
Much love pops. Thanks for keeping me company on my runs.
Wish you could have been around to see your son the "runner", instead of your son the "smoker" or the "screw up". Think you would've gotten a big kick out of it.
Much love pops. Thanks for keeping me company on my runs.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Deleted Scenes & B-Sides
So it's nearing the end of 2009. This year started off with so much potential until I took to barefoot/minimalist running a little too hard and fast resulting in being sidelined for over 16+ weeks with a stress fracture in my left foot.
Oh well. Them's the breaks (pardon the pun).
Instead of reflecting on the disappointing race year because of my injury, I wanted to take the time to reflect on some of the 'lighter' side of running. The following are race pics/videos that for their own reasons, failed to 'make the cut' in my posts. But since it's nearing the end of the year I figured I'd now share them with you, my running friends. Enjoy!
Trail running in Sandstone Canyon.
What a rugged trail runner I am. Check out how delicately I deal with the stream crossing.
I dunno why but when I realized later that I posed in front of a sign that said "Oriental", it cracked my shit up.
When race photos go bad.
Lori, Ryan, Danica and Sara having a laugh at my expense for tracking my weight daily back in March (yes, I was trying to get down in weight at one point).
Post-race pho (Malibu Creek 50K) with commentary by Ryan the Hawaiian and me making love to some tripe thing.
Taken from the LA Marathon. I promised my cousin I wouldn't post this. Then I realized he doesn't know about this blog.
Ultra stud Evan following his CR win at Sycamore Canyon looking like someone nearby ripped a good one.
Comedy duo Ryan the Hawaiian and Lori the morning after their Old Goat 50 mile adventure.
Me looking a little too Access Hollywood/Nancy O'Dell-ish at Pat's Run earlier this year.
My nephew Joshua, the budding trail runner.
Me running down Westridge Fireroad. Nothing too exciting here.
Picture fail at SFM (with Aron and Danica).
..and now, I present to you the rest of the videos from my Skyline to the Sea debacle that saw the cutting room floor but in retrospect I wish I'd included somewhere.
Admitting defeat.
Where are all the runners?
Ribbon obsession.
Which way??
Famous last words...
So to recap: I got lost, made fun of, and injured in 2009. But I like to think that no one laughs at themselves better than I do.
Ok folks - thanks for reading (and watching). Let's hope 2010 goes a little better than it this year!
Oh well. Them's the breaks (pardon the pun).
Instead of reflecting on the disappointing race year because of my injury, I wanted to take the time to reflect on some of the 'lighter' side of running. The following are race pics/videos that for their own reasons, failed to 'make the cut' in my posts. But since it's nearing the end of the year I figured I'd now share them with you, my running friends. Enjoy!
Trail running in Sandstone Canyon.
What a rugged trail runner I am. Check out how delicately I deal with the stream crossing.
I dunno why but when I realized later that I posed in front of a sign that said "Oriental", it cracked my shit up.
When race photos go bad.
Lori, Ryan, Danica and Sara having a laugh at my expense for tracking my weight daily back in March (yes, I was trying to get down in weight at one point).
Post-race pho (Malibu Creek 50K) with commentary by Ryan the Hawaiian and me making love to some tripe thing.
Taken from the LA Marathon. I promised my cousin I wouldn't post this. Then I realized he doesn't know about this blog.
Ultra stud Evan following his CR win at Sycamore Canyon looking like someone nearby ripped a good one.
Comedy duo Ryan the Hawaiian and Lori the morning after their Old Goat 50 mile adventure.
Me looking a little too Access Hollywood/Nancy O'Dell-ish at Pat's Run earlier this year.
My nephew Joshua, the budding trail runner.
Me running down Westridge Fireroad. Nothing too exciting here.
Picture fail at SFM (with Aron and Danica).
..and now, I present to you the rest of the videos from my Skyline to the Sea debacle that saw the cutting room floor but in retrospect I wish I'd included somewhere.
Admitting defeat.
Where are all the runners?
Ribbon obsession.
Which way??
Famous last words...
So to recap: I got lost, made fun of, and injured in 2009. But I like to think that no one laughs at themselves better than I do.
Ok folks - thanks for reading (and watching). Let's hope 2010 goes a little better than it this year!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Trailing Behind
FINALLY!
Alright, so I haven't been posting my run workouts in great detail lately because they've been rather...pathetic. But a surefire way to get sidelined again would be to do too much too soon. So even in spite of getting the green light from my sports med doc a few weeks back, it's been very, very slow going. Light running about 3x's a week and a very gradual build-up of time on my feet. I'm following a modified version of Pfitzinger's 'return from injury' program detailed near the bottom of this link.
Like I said, it's pathetic but at this point I'll take anything I can get.
Worn in honor of my friends racing CIM this Sunday
Foot's still not a 100% so I've been trying to listen to my body the best I can. If the foot is still bothering me a couple of days after a run, I'll usually take a few more days off. Except for today.
While my foot was still a touch sore after Monday's run, today I received two items in the mail that made me lace up and head to my nearest trail: 1) SKINS compression calf sleeves (thanks to the recommendation of my friends Ryan and Rachel), and 2) a new camera to replace the one I broke back at the LA Marathon. Until now, I've been using the iPhone and while pretty good picture quality came from that thing, I hated the idea of getting sweat and dirt on it. And of course, as all iPhone users are aware - no flash for the camera. 
Today's run called for about 30+ minutes of running with a short walk break in between, but I really loathed the idea of running around my traffic heavy neighborhood. So, I jumped into my truck and headed a few miles northwest to Sullivan Canyon to do my measly little workout. No regrets, had a blast (although I did get a little cold towards the end when the sun was all but set) and braved rush-hour traffic back home after getting a little dirty. Sleeves worked great, but won't truly know until they've been really put to the test when I can get some distance underneath me. And of course, I'm glad to be armed with a camera once again so that I may provide more silly and off-the-cuff photos + videos for my little audience. Til next time!
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