5,280' of Pain and Oxygen Debt

SoCal USATF Road Mile Championships at El Toro Airfield (Irvine, CA)

I have never run an official mile race other than HS or college gym classes. I don’t even remember my precise time. I think I ran ~6:00 in college. Not sure.

This Road Mile Championship is a brand new race for the SoCal area, and one that I hope will remain for years to come. Most any runner likes to know what they can run for just one single mile... no string attached... nothing but racing one single mile. And this was a true race. No one was thinking about just finishing. Everyone was thinking... how fast.

And the old El Toro Airfield was the perfect venue for this race... cool weather (even in August) and one flat, straight runway for takeoff. The USATF had done this event right. The course was measured to precision with time clocks at every quarter. There would be 16 races separated by age and gender... complete with computer chip timing.

Since I’ve been 5K training this summer towards the Santa Monica 5000 in mid-Sept, this race came at a perfect time on the calendar for me. I haven’t done this much high-intensity, short-rep speedwork in years... if ever. But unfortunately, 10 days ago, I bruised my ribs pretty bad and missed 5 days of running (including DNS’ing a 5K last weekend). My ribs are still sore, but not enough now to keep from running and racing today.

I wasn’t sure what kind of time to target for a race this short (especially with bruised ribs). I haven’t run a race shorter than 10K in years. I just knew it would be 5,280’ of pain... and some severe oxygen debt. I just didn’t want to make it any worse by going out too fast in the opening quarter.

My goal was to run sub-5:30... and my A-goal was actually 5:20. I figured I’d attempt splits in 80 and just try to hang on for the 5:20. But I still felt that’d be too fast. Maybe I better shoot for quarters in 82 and go for 5:29.

I warmed up by jogging down the runway to the starting line in the distance with my youngest daughter... one of my favorite parts of the morning... nothing like doing a warm-up mile with my daughter down a runway in the middle of nowhere. :-) As we ran that long straightaway, I thought... “Daggum, a straight mile is one heckuva long distance!” This was nothing like a mile on the track. I could barely spot the finish line from the start line. Sheesh!

After we got to the starting line, she walked on back to momma and her brother and sister while I jogged around waiting for the start of my race. It was really nice knowing I had my own little cheering section back at the finish line. Normally, they don’t go to my races because there’s rarely any race I run near home.

About 8:40am, it was time for me to line up with the Open Masters Men (40+). I wasn’t sure how competitive this race would be since there was also an Elite Masters Men race (QT was sub-5:30) after mine. I should’ve signed up for the Elite race, but I wrongly presumed that an official QT was necessary (which it wasn’t). So I wasn’t sure how competitive it would be in the Open Masters race.

The gun went off, and we took off. I was in about 6th or 7th place and by the quarter I was in 5th place. Coming up on the quarter, I see the clock ticking 1:08... 1:09... 1:10... 1:11... 1:12... 1:13... Ruh roh... a bit too fast! But I was feeling ok. Just keep steady.

I wore my GPS/HR monitor (mostly to analyze the data after the race) and glanced at it only a couple of times in the race... it was showing me running at a speed about ~4:56/mile. Yikes! Backed off the accelerator just a tad to prevent an ugly blow up at the end.

I saw the half and three-quarters splits as I ran by, and I remember doing the math in my head thinking... hang on and get that sub-5:20! In the last quarter, wow... oxygen debt... severe oxygen debt... seriously severe oxygen debt... breathe... breathe... breathe... I gradually moved on up into fourth place and then into the third. (Note: discovered in the results, I actually finished 2nd in my race.) Well... I don’t think it was so much that I sped up but that I just hung on better than two of the guys in front of me.

I could see the finish line approaching fast... run... breathe... run... breathe... hang on... here it comes... hang on... yes... 5:08!!!

Ok... whoa... slow down legs... stop... bend over... breathe... breathe... breathe... holy freakin’ cow... breathe....

Wow, I didn’t expect that at all. Seriously. Did I just do that? Wow. My wife and kids run over and congratulate me. They knew I’d be happy with 5:08... and yes I was.

After I caught my breath, I jogged down the runaway as a cool-down and turned around at halfway to come back and see my friend John Loftus finish with the elites. But I messed up and thought his race was 4 races after mine and it was only 2. As I was jogging back towards the finish, I looked to my side and here comes John. He was kicking towards the finish and I missed my chance to photograph him. Saw him finish in 4:57. That’s huge. Sub-5 and he’s ten years older than me. Huge congrats, John, on the PR. Sorry I didn’t get a pic of you.

Good day. After examing my GPS file, I realize I ran a much more even-paced race than I initially thought:

Quarter split, total time, avg HR, max HR, quarter distance (GPS distance):
0:00, 0:00, 110, 110, 0m (0m)
1:16, 1:16, 148, 174, 402m (413.7m)
1:17, 2:33, 165, 182, 804m (808.2m)
1:18, 3:51, 170, 187, 1206m (1204.9m)
1:17, 5:08, 174, 190, 1608m (1614.0m)

It felt really bizarre and surreal to run a race this short. Now I'm really looking forward to the Santa Monica 5000... and doing this mile race again next year. Thanks for reading.

Drinking the Kool-Aid: My First Ultra-Marathon

I've wanted to do this for years, but it never fit into my schedule until now... my first attempt pushing the envelope beyond 26 miles, 385 yards... my first ultra-marathon... the Holcomb Valley Trail Race (33 miler).



Where? The mtns above Big Bear, 99% trails and fire roads... ~15 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.



Elevation? ~3,850' net elev gain and drop... low point (start/finish) at 6,750'... high point (~mile 8) at 8,212'... 6 climbs to high points on the route.



Weather? Ideal... 50s at the start and 60s at the finish... bright sunny day... about 50/50 with shade/exposure on the route.

Why now? Good timing. I finally got that sub-3 marathon burden off my back. Time to try something new... and I love the mountains.

Training? I piggy-backed my training off of my winter and spring marathon training in which I ran 3 marathons in a matter of 12 weeks (somewhat unintentionally) culminating with marathon PR at the OC Marathon on May 2 in 2:59:28. Basically, I recovered for about 8 days and started training hard again. My key workouts for each of the next 3 weeks were:
• 6-mile tempo run at lactate threshold (6:34 pace then 6:23 then 6:21 then 6:24)
• tough longish (15-17 miles) run on big hills (~1000' elevation gain)
• b2b long runs (20/11 then 22/16 then 25/20)

Goals:
Main goal: since I've never run farther than 26.2 miles, I wasn't sure how my body would respond in the final 7 miles. So my main goal was not to overdo it and finish strong without limping across the line in a death march. Goal accomplished. I ran a neg split (2:38/2:35) and my fastest mile was my last mile. (Here's my Garmin file which gives all the data on mile splits, HR, elevation, map, etc.)

I had no idea what to target as a time goal since this race was considerably farther than I had ever run and it involved big climbs and downhills... on trails (which can be tricky with rocks and roots)... and at altitude (all between 6,750' and 8,212'). But these were my "sketchy" goals:
• Time Goal A: sub-5:00 (~9:00/mile pace)? This was so far-fetched I didn't mention it to anyone... but it sure would have been nice. Fwiw, only two runners ran sub-5 this year. Jorge Pacheco (a fast, elite ultra-runner who won Badwater 2008!) won the race and broke his own course record in 4:13. Second place finished 43 minutes behind him (!!!). I was a full 60 minutes behind the winner, but only 17 minutes from second place.
• Time Goal B: sub-5:19 (essentially sub-5hrs for 50K... a very tough goal). Since this race was an odd distance (33 miles), not a standard ultra distance (like 50K, 50 miles, etc.), I thought it'd be cool to hit this mark. Goal accomplished. I looked at my Garmin when it read 16.5 miles (halfway) and I was at 2:38 (on pace for a 5:16 finish). I hoped I wouldn't fade at the end... but I just didn't know... and fortunately I didn't.
• Time Goal C: sub-5:30 (~10:00/mile pace). Based on past results for this race, I figured this would probably get me into the top 10 overall... and it did... 6th overall and 1st in the M40-49 age-group (well, technically, 3rd AG... but the other 2 got overall awards and there was no "double dipping").

Race plan:
• Gels and an Endurolyte capsule (sodium & electrolytes) every 4 miles.
• Carry a handheld bottle and refill it at the 7 aid stations.
• Try to avoid overdoing it too early so that the end doesn't become a cramped-up death march.
• Wasn't sure what heart-rate zone I should target since this involved steep climbs at altitude. Planned to target 148-150 to avoid an ugly crash and burn at the end. A mile into the race, I had already abandoned that plan and targeted 158-160 (essentially my target HR zone for OCM)... and it worked out ok. My avg HR for the entire race ended up being 159... and I finished strong so my adjusted plan worked.



About my race:

The race had a staggered start of four waves started every 2 minutes to avoid too many runners clogging up the trails at once. The waves were seeded so the fastest runners were in the first wave. I was disappointed to be seeded in the fourth and final wave (since I had never run an ultra)... but that actually turned out great. At the end, when I was running near anyone, I knew I had either a 4- or 6-minute lead on them depending on whether they were in the first or second wave. :-)



Opening 3 miles were a steep climb... had to do some power-hiking even within the first mile to avoid spiking my HR too early. I didn't mind if people passed me at that point, I knew I could pass them back by the end... and I did... since I started in the fourth wave, I passed everyone except only the 5 people who finished ahead of me.



In the opening 6-8 miles, I couldn't find a nice steady pace... I was either going too fast and my HR was climbing or too slow and my HR was dropping too low. Finally, I caught up to some other runners about my pace (from an earlier wave) and that helped steady my pace... one of whom I ran with for ~12 miles on the PCT. I asked him if he minded that I followed him since this was my first ultra and was trying not to overdo it. He didn't mind. We talked a little bit. Around mile 21 on some climbs I ended up getting ahead of him. After the finish, he came up and congratulated me on my race and informed me that I won our age-group. I thanked him repeatedly for letting me tail him for all those middle miles and also thanked him for saving my race or else I would have crashed and burned for sure. I really owe my AG award to him.



I also learned the hard way that while trail running, don't follow the runner in front of you too closely... you gotta be able to see the rocks and roots coming up. Around mile 8 or 9, I took quite a tumble (nearly down a steep ravine) when I tripped on a rock. I cut up my right knee pretty good... but it's not a trail race until you fall... :-) And I must say, I saw more runners than not who had taken a spill during the race. Lots of battle scars.



The race went remarkably smoothly for me. I don't have time to tell about all the sights and sounds today. Suffice it to say, ultra-runners are interesting folks. And the route was amazing. Great views of Big Bear Lake from high up and also Holcomb Valley, the High Desert... and even the ghost town of Belleville. In 1860, the town had grown to 10,000 people and came within 2 votes of becoming the county seat of San Bernardino County during the (smaller) southern California gold rush. All that remains is a few old mine shafts, a log cabin, and "Hangman's Tree" where justice was meted out in this rough town.





What's next?
I always like a challenge. Some of my running friends think that since I've succumbed to the dark side of running and have run an ultra, now I'll be signing up for a 50- or 100-miler soon... well, not so fast. Yes, I finally drank the kool-aid and found myself part of the ultra-running cult... but I have no immediate plans to go farther... at least, not yet. 33 miles was plenty for me right now. Since I've (unintentionally) run a marathon (or more) in each of the four local counties this year (Diamond Valley Marathon in Riverside Co.; LAM in Los Angeles Co., OCM in Orange Co.; and now the HV33 in San Bernardino Co.), I'm gonna set aside the longer stuff for a few months and work on the shorter stuff... namely, speedwork for 5K/10K... something that's long overdue. And then I hope to arun the Cal International Marathon in Sacramento in December.

And I'd like to dedicate my first ultra-marathon to my friends Jay and Anita Finkle who are amazing ultra-runners who regularly run 100-milers. All the best to both of you, especially with the new challenge you're facing. You two are a great inspiration!

The Orange County Marathon

I'm sure I blog way too much about my running, but this marathon was truly special... something I've been trying to do for years... and it all happened very unexpectedly. Here's my story... and it's not just about running... and hopefully it can inspire others to dream big, train hard, and shoot for the stars.

Back in 2006, as I was training towards the Boston Marathon in April 2007, I set off on a "Quest for Sub-3"... striving to run a marathon in under 3 hours (6:52/mile pace). To that point, I had never trained harder in my life for a race... and I ran my fastest times for 10K, 15K, and the half marathon leading up to race day. I flew to Boston with hopes high and came home with them crushed. That was the year of the nor'easter and I never ran a single mile that day at the necessary pace. I was embarrassed, frustrated, and disappointed with my performance... and worst of all suffering some injuries from over-training that kept me from running another marathon for 17 months.

Since then, I've encountered minor running injuries off and on... unable to be consistent enough with my running to make any progress at the marathon. In the meanwhile, I ran some tough, scenic marathons (Big Bear 2x and Leadville) since I wasn't in shape for a PR ("personal record"). Still, it seemed like I should be able to run a sub-3 marathon. In the past four years, I've run 35:53 for 6 miles, 38:40 for 10K, 57:45 for 15K, 64:55 for 10 miles, and five times in 1:25 or faster for a half marathon (twice in 1:23)... all of which pointed to my potential to run a sub-3 marathon... yet I had never gotten within ten minutes of that marathon goal.

After battling plantar fasciitis (inflammation of a tendon in the foot) for much of 2009, my training went well in the fall and I ran a PR 1:23:14 at the Mission Inn Half in Nov. I started targeting the L.A. Marathon for March 2010. I averaged 80+ miles per week (mpw) for 26 straight weeks (including tapering and an injury week)... 6 weeks in a row in Nov-Dec I ran 100+ mpw (including one week of 121). But I crashed and burned horribly at LAM. I wanted to try again soon and at least run a PR this spring and make progress towards sub-3:00 in the fall.

Since starting my "quest for sub-3" back in 2006, I hadn't even improved on my fastest time (3:11:50 at St George 2005... something I wanted to bury in the past since it was a downhill course). Meanwhile, one of my running friends who's my age who had not run sub-3 as of 2006 has since gone on to run sub-3 multiple times, including 2:41 a few weeks ago. Another friend in his 20s, who had not run sub-3 as of 2006, recently ran 2:28. Me? My bests since then have only been 3:14:56 at Boston '07 and 3:16:13 at LAM '10... both of which were huge disappointments for me.

Strategy for OCM?

I only had 6 weeks time between LAM and OCM... and I had never attempted full-effort marathons on such a quick-turnaround. This gave me: 2 weeks recovery from LAM (weekly mileage was 28.5 and 70.0), 2 weeks of solid training (82.0 and 83.5 miles), and 2 weeks of taper (67.6 and 28.0 before the marathon itself on Sunday)... and most importantly, I needed to correct my mistakes from LAM:

(1) Don't go out too fast. I crashed and burned horribly at LAM by going out too fast on the opening hills. But I didn't make that fatal mistake on Sunday, not even on the opening downhills. I kept my HR ~158-159 (about 2 bpm lower than at LAM) on the opening half and felt remarkably fresh at halfway... like I was just starting a half marathon race. My friend Sam Felsenfeld who is about my same speed got about a minute ahead of me after a couple of miles, but I didn't worry about it. I had to run my own race. By mile 10 or 11, I gradually caught up to him... but of course, his legs have run 6 marathons in the last 3 weeks... including 3:03 at Boston just 2 weeks ago... since he's running 60 marathons for his son this year.

(2) Fix the fuel and cramping problems. I've cramped up and bonked really bad in the closing miles of my last four marathons. This time: ate banana bread on the drive over... drank 1.5 quarts of UltraFuel (like uber-Gatorade)... took 5 gels (1 before the start, 4 more at miles 6, 11, 16, 21)... took 3 Endurolyte capsules (sodium, potassium, and magnesium) at start, mile 8, and mile 16. Never bonked. At mile 21, I was thinking and my mantra became, "What wall?" :-) Never cramped a bit. My fastest two miles were my last 2 miles.

(3) Lose some weight and try the old-school carb-deplete/load. I think I weighed 181 when I ran LAM (and even hit 183 at one point in the week or two before LAM). I was so mad at myself after LAM that I dieted while recovering. Lost 5-7 lbs that week. Lost 1-3 lbs for the next several weeks. Six days before OCM while carb-depleting, I weighed 164... 17 lbs of weight loss. My jeans wouldn't stay up without a belt. But it wasn't easy. Carb-depleting was miserable. Ate less that 20g of carbs a day for 7 straight days... that's not much carbs at all. My runs during that time were horrible... slow paces and high HR... but it didn't affect me mentally because I knew it was just glycogen depletion, and it would benefit me on race day.

Why OCM?

It was soon (at least sooner than San Diego Rock-n-Roll marathon in June). It was flat (at least flatter than Palos Verdes Marathon on May 16) and would probably have cool temps since it's next to the ocean. It seemed to be a good weekend... initially. I had to attend graduation at my school on the Saturday before, but no biggie. But that all changed quickly...


Ten days before race day, some of the men at my church decided to take the boys camping that weekend (Fri, Apr 30 to Sun, May 2) so we could all camp, bike, and fish together. Initially, I thought, "Nooooooooooo...." because I needed my rest for my big race. And I knew my son would want to go... and of course, I would want him to go... and me with him. I was so tempted to say, "I'm sorry, son... my race is that weekend... we can't go." But I couldn't. I didn't want to be "that dad"... you know, the dad whose own stuff is more important than his kids. Eleven year-old boys don't understand schedule conflicts. They just think they're not important if you say no to a camping trip. So against my better running judgment, I agreed that we'd go on Friday and Saturday but come home on Saturday night. And my son would also be bringing a friend who otherwise wouldn't be able to go. And I'd have to entrust these two rambuctious boys to the oversight of other dads while I attended graduation on Saturday morning. Things were getting complicated...

So my weekend?

Friday: drive an hour over to Costa Mesa to get my race bib at the expo, eat lunch with my friends Sam and John (both of whom were also running this race), drive home (east) on the friggin' 91 freeway on Friday afternoon (one of the worst in the LA/OC area), get home (later than I was supposed to), throw all the camping gear in the car, drive the 3 of us to Lake Perris, set up camp... and later that night in the dark when I moved my car to allow a friend to back in with his camper, I accidentally ran over two kids' bikes that had been left on the passenger-side of my car where I couldn't see them... major anguish and guilt-trip over that. :-( Went to sleep at 10:30pm.

Saturday: got up at 5:45am, ran 4.0 miles at Lake Perris, cooled off, entrusted the boys to friends, left at 7am, stopped by my house, showered (because I smelled like smoke from the campfire the night before), get dressed in coat & tie, cap & gown, attend graduation, drive back to camp (only had banana bread and iced tea for supper Fri, breakfast Sat, & lunch Sat), took the boys fishing for 2 hours in the hot sun (lathered in sunscreen and drinking tea non-stop), packed up camp, left at 4:30pm, got home at 5:30pm, unpacked, showered, threw all my race stuff in a bucket next to the door, was in bed by 9pm, and slept in my race clothes.

Sunday: never woke up for 7 hours until my alarm at 4am, used bathroom, grabbed race bucket, ate banana bread and drank UltraFuel while driving (also while driving: applying vaseline, pinning bib, putting on socks and shoes), arrived at the OC Fairgrounds (and forgot where I parked... had to walk the parking lot for 30min after the race searching for my car), hopped on the shuttle bus at 5:10am, found Sam, Tim, John, and other friends, lined up, ran. I didn't even know where I was running... hardly had a chance to look at the course map... knew where 3 hills were.



My Race?

Half a mile into the race, I look at my GPS watch at it read 4.5 miles and suddenly realized... dang it... I forgot to reset the daggum thing after Saturday's run while camping. (I normally do that at home on my laptop... but I never got a chance to connect it.) But it's too late. I can't reset it now. I know I ran 4.00 miles on Saturday, but I had no idea what the time was. Suddenly found myself having to "run blind"... other than knowing my HR and mile splits. I realized, I'll just have to run 26 one-mile races today. It's ok. Just get under 3:10. I won't be fast enough to get near sub-3 so it's not like I'm gonna miss it by a few seconds anyway.


The miles start clicking off and I keep running miles under 7:00/pace but yet I'm in control... I'm not straining... not feeling exhausted at all. It felt like a simple, long training-run... not much effort... the miles were clicking away one by one by one so easily... but of course, I'm not used to running on such flat ground.



When I caught up to Sam around mile 10 or 11, I asked his overall time and tried to subtract it from mine to figure out how to interpret my overall time. He told me and I tried doing the math and couldn't figure it out... 34 minutes? 33?... too much blood going to my legs instead of my brain... :-) (Afterward discovered the difference was 33:37.19.) I gradually pulled away from Sam and he cheered me on. But I reminded him that I had a history of crash and burn. He agreed. I replied, "You're not supposed to agree with that." :-)

Around mile 12 or 13, I crossed the first timing mat. I didn't hear a beep like I should have (and I crossed by myself with no one else right with me). I yelled back at the lady overseeing the device (who had pointed me through the timing blocks... which were rather narrow... only about 5-6' apart), "Hey, it didn't beep?!?" but I didn't stop and she had no idea who I was. But it concerned me. I looked down and my D-tag chip (the computerized timing device) on my shoe had come unglued and was flopping open (you can see that on my left in some of the pictures). I stopped and stuck it back together... but it came undone a few seconds later. No time to stop now... it was still stuck under two sets of my shoe laces. But I kept an eye on it all day to make sure I never lost it.

Everything was going smoothly... incredibly so. I geared back on the three small hills to prevent my HR from going too high and then picked the pace back up. At mile 21, I was feeling so good, I was thinking, "What wall?" and started pushing my HR a tad higher. I was reeling people in the whole second half of the race. No one ever passed me after the half-marathoners split off... and I wasn't surprised because I was careful not to overdo it on the first half. But somehow, one guy caught up to me around mile 22 or 23. I could tell by his breathing he was working a whole lot harder than I was. I also knew there was one last hill after we left the Santa Ana bike trail and Fairview Park. I went up that hill at a steady pace (not too fast and not too slow) and hard-breathing guy hung with me.

After that hill, I looked at my watch and calculated that I had exactly 2 miles left. And I just took off and ran like a man possessed. I left that poor guy in my wake. I can't imagine what he was thinking when I surged that late in the race, but I was feeling great... no bonking, no cramping... and I knew it was nothing but flat ground to the finish. I knew I was running a PR... but I had no idea what my overall time might be. 3:02? 3:03? I didn't know. I just wanted to get the best PR possible. My 25th mile... are you ready for this? = 6:26 (Yes, that's correct... 30 seconds faster than my average pace.) I didn't care that my HR had now risen into the 170s.

And I didn't let up. Occasional by-standers were pointing me out and cheering me on because I was clicking and kicking. In the 26th mile, my Garmin watch was showing a pace under 6:00/mile (!!!) and my HR was going higher and higher... but it didn't matter. I felt strong and was about to finish and I was running a marathon PR. I had a smile sand-blasted on my face because I knew it was my day. I couldn't stop smiling. I was pumping my fist as I crossed intersections and came across spectators.

I passed the 3-mile marker for the 5K and knew there was only one-tenth left. I sprinted for all I was worth... one more corner... I turn the corner and see the finishing clock ahead for the first time with less than 50 yards left... 2:59:20!!! I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES!!!


I had no idea until that point... with just a few seconds left... I was going to run sub-3... I was whooping and hollering as I running towards the finish... I had no celebration dance planned because I wasn't expecting this... I just put two fingers up with each hand since there was a big "2" on the clock instead of 3... and crossed in 2:59:33. After crossing the line, I just shouted and yelled for all I was worth! A photographer from the Orange County Register took a bajillion pictures of me because I was so elated. I finally had to tell her to stop and told her my name, age, city, and that I had wanted to do this for years... my first sub-3 marathon. I look over to the side and see John and he was so happy for me. I spent several minutes in the chute just explaining to him through the fence that I couldn't believe what I just did... and that I had run a negative split and my last two miles were so freakin' fast.


I went through the chute, got water, found John (who ran a solid 2:50). A few minutes later, I found Sam (he ran a solid 3:06) and his wife, kids, dad (who ran the half), and step-mom. They were so happy for me. I wanted more than anything to call my wife and kids... but my daughter had lost our extra cell phone and so I had my wife's cell phone and she didn't have one on her.

I was so choked up afterward. I felt like Jim Valvano wandering around on the basketball court... I just wanted to hug someone. I didn't want Sam and John to notice the tears in my eyes so I kept stepping away from them. I wasn't crying because I ran fast. I was crying because I went camping with my son and I just wanted to hug him. I had done it the right way. When I got home, I told him, "You know, if I had run sub-3 today and not gone camping with you... it would've been hollow, shallow, and empty. I would have much rather missed my goal... even by a few seconds... and gone camping with you. I enjoy running, but I love you." Priorities matter.


But then my worst nightmare... I didn't attach my D-tag correctly on my shoe (didn't know that at the time, but now I do)... the chip part was under the laces and it never read all day... OCM had no results for me. And my Garmin file was messed up because it had Saturday's 4-mile run at Lake Perris, OCM, and then I never hit the stop button until long after the race. After analyzing the Garmin file, I evidently ran 2:59:28. I emailed OCM and after four of the longest days of my life, I heard back from them and they authorized and included my results based on my Garmin file and a finishing photo from the OC Register. Whew!

Aftermath

It was rather fortuitous that I was so stoked at the end because that photographer from the Orange County Register shot a great photo of me right after I finished which documents that I ran sub-3. And I even ended up with my picture in the paper (at least the online version).

I know some of my non-running friends were kinda surprised that I was so disappointed after I ran the L.A. Marathon. Sure I finished, but my goals were so much higher that day (and not unreasonable either). It's kinda funny... but 6 weeks ago at LAM I had 7 goals for that race (and only achieved one of them):

(1) Top 100 (ended up needing 2:57 to do so at LAM... at OCM, I was 23rd overall... but granted... OCM had 1500 marathoners while LAM had 25,000... but still I was in the top 2% at OCM)

(2) Sub-3:00 (I ran 3:16 at LAM but 2:59 at OCM)

(3) Sub-7:00/mile pace (My average pace was 7:29 at LAM but 6:51 at OCM)

(4) Qualify for guaranteed NYCM entry with 3:10:00 (missed it at LAM; got it at OCM)

(5) PR (missed it at LAM; got it at OCM)

(6) BQ = qualify for the Boston Marathon (got it at LAM; moved myself several corrals closer to the start at Boston by my time at OCM)

(7) Negative split... running the second half faster than the first (ugly 8-min pos split at LAM; beautiful 1:48 neg split at OCM 1:30:38/1:28:50)

Also, I never stated this, but I thought it'd be really cool to do what my friend Pam did at CIM... run my last mile as my fastest mile. I certainly didn't do that at LAM. My last four miles at LAM were 8:34, 8:19, 8:07, & 8:01... my four slowest miles of that miserable day... and those were all downhill. My last four miles at OCM were 6:47, 6:57 (some uphill), 6:26, and ~5:55.

Sorry for the long report. It's been such a long journey to the land of sub-3:00... and it happened when I least expected it. I wasn't being modest or sand-bagging when I stated my goal for OCM was merely 3:10. At one point to a friend, I even mentioned 3:05 and felt extremely nervous saying that... I remembered all too painfully how my hopes were recently crushed at LAM and didn't expect a lot better on Sunday. But sometimes it's your day... or maybe your weekend. :-)

Thanks for reading.

Running from the Stadium to the Sea

We live in the internet age so yeah, people already know my time at the Los Angeles Marathon (LAM) on Sunday... 3:16:13... basically half splits of 1:34/1:42... an ugly 8-minute positive split. And yeah, I'm disappointed with my performance, although I feel I gave it my all. But here's the story.

Background and Training

So back in 2003, I ran the L.A. Marathon as my return to marathoning. It was my fifth marathon, but my first in five years. My training for it was pathetic. In the 12 months leading up to it, only 3x did I run farther than 14 miles (17.8 was the longest)... and two of those runs were only 12 and 9 days before the marathon when you're supposed to be tapering... a recipe for disaster... and it was. It was a warm sunny day... and the last 8 miles were pure misery. In long-distance running, you can never do better than your training. My training was abysmal and so my race was painful.

That year, LAM had the novel idea of printing our names in big letters on our race bibs. It was a great idea while I was running decent (well, at least running) in the first half of the race. But in the death march of those last 8 miles as by-standers would yell, "Go Jeff! You can do it, Jeff!"... I just wanted to be anonymous, and for it all to end as soon as possible... which was about the only motivation that kept me moving.

That was then, this is now. Now 9 marathons and 14,000 miles later, I entered the L.A. Marathon again, this time hoping for a PR ("personal record"). After that initial experience in '03, I had pretty much sworn off this race. It was hard running through the throngs of 20,000+ runners in the opening miles. For several miles, you couldn't run full stride because of the thick mass of humanity surrounding you. And it all seemed too much like an "event," even a circus, rather than an actual race. I really prefer to run the smaller marathons in more scenic locales instead of the big-city mega-thons and their logistical hassles.

But for 2010, LAM was sold and received new management. A new course was designed... running from Dodger Stadium, through Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and ending at the beach in Santa Monica. And the race promoters hyped it as a "landmark every mile." So I figured I'd give it another shot.

After battling plantar fasciitis for much of 2009, my training started going well in the fall. I ended up running a PR at the Mission Inn Half in Riverside and that projected that I could potentially (and finally!) run a sub-3:00 marathon... a longtime goal of mine which I've never actually come close to doing. Running that fast doesn't come natural (at least not for me). It takes large amounts of consistent training. For 6 months, I only missed a total of 10 days of running (8 due to a hamstring strain in January, a rest day after a marathon in Feb, and a rest day before LAM itself). It's not easy doing that... but it's the only way to improve at marathoning. Most of those runs began well before sunrise and one as early as 4:15am. Six of my long runs ended up in the rain (which is usually rare in SoCal... except for this winter). Nothing like running 20 miles in a downpour at 5:30am with cars driving by wondering, "What is that idiot doing out there?" Git 'er dun.... :-)

And there's no substitute for mileage in marathon training. So my weekly miles while training for the last 6 months have been: 62, 78, 77, 80, 80, 80, 80, 91, 100, 108, 100, 110, 121, 102, 62, 6 (hamstring strain), 80, 80, 85, 81, 81, 86, 89, 84, 58 (tapering), and 57 (including LAM)... an average of 81.3 miles per week for 26 straight weeks. In that span, I ran 21 runs of at least 20 miles (not counting LAM itself), the last several of which were fast-finish long runs in which I pushed the pace at the end of the run. And my training included other key workouts such as mile repeats, hill sprints, 14-mile MP (marathon-pace effort) runs, and LT runs (lactate-threshold). The only reason I mention this is simply to say I didn't show up on race day and expect to run a decent marathon without the training... I can only run as well as my training... but the cruel thing about marathoning is that even with all the solid training, there's still no guarantee that it will go well on race day... but conversely, it can't go well without the training either.

I give you some of that background to help you understand why I'm disappointed with my run at LAM. I know some of my friends are surprised that I'm disappointed. But I had been targeting this race for 6 months, my training had been solid and consistent, and my shorter races projected me to run at least 3:01 in a full marathon. I really didn't think I'd be quite that fast on Sunday, but I did think that 3:10 was very, very doable... almost shooting too low.

My mile splits from LAM (based on my Garmin 305):
Mile .... Time - AvHR MaxHR
Mile 01 - 6:50 - 155 - 170 (MaxHR is probably a false read)
Mile 02 - 6:38 - 164 - 176 (MaxHR is probably a false read)
Mile 03 - 6:26 - 162 - 169
Mile 04 - 7:20 - 165 - 176 (MaxHR is probably a false read)
Mile 05 - 7:21 - 166 - 171
Mile 06 - 7:11 - 164 - 168
Mile 07 - 7:02 - 162 - 166
Mile 08 - 7:25 - 161 - 164
Mile 09 - 7:13 - 161 - 165
Mile 10 - 7:20 - 161 - 164
Mile 11 - 7:10 - 162 - 168
Mile 12 - 7:10 - 162 - 167
Mile 13 - 7:32 - 162 - 166
Mile 14 - 7:06 - 163 - 168
Mile 15 - 6:57 - 161 - 167
Mile 16 - 7:14 - 164 - 169
Mile 17 - 7:14 - 165 - 169
Mile 18 - 7:34 - 166 - 169
Mile 19 - 7:23 - 165 - 169
Mile 20 - 7:54 - 167 - 169
Mile 21 - 8:10 - 167 - 171
Mile 22 - 7:58 - 166 - 170
Mile 23 - 8:34 - 166 - 168
Mile 24 - 8:19 - 164 - 168
Mile 25 - 8:07 - 163 - 171
Mile 26 - 8:01 - 167 - 173
..26.37 - 2:45 - 169 - 174
Totals = 3:16:13 (chip), 3:16:19 (gun), 7:29 avg pace, avgHR 164, 381st overall, 66.52 PLP









From the elevation profile, you can understand a little better...
(1) why miles 2, 3, and 15 were faster
(2) why miles 4, 5, 8, 13, 18-23 were slower
(3) why I'm very disappointed with miles 24 to the finish.

My Goals: (from toughest to easiest)
(1) Top 100 (would've ended up needing 2:57:34)
(2) Sub-3:00 – only if I ran a perfect race on a perfect day (didn't really expect to do this)
(3) Sub-7:00/mile pace (roughly 3:03:30 finish) – tough goal
(4) Qualify for NYCM guaranteed entry (sub-3:10:00)... seemed very doable based on all my race times (10-mile, 2 halves, and a 10K in past 6 months)
(5) PR – try to beat both my actual fastest (3:11:50 St George 05, severe downhill aided) and what I consider my PR (3:14:56 Boston 07)
(6) Qualify for Boston (sub-3:20:59)
(also) Negative split – run the second half faster than the first... which was possible because the toughest part seemed to be the opening 8 miles and the last 3 are a nice downhill.

I did get #6, the BQ, which used to be a huge, long-time goal for me, so I am grateful for that... but it's really disappointing not to get #5... that's my main goal as a runner for this year... and it seemed very doable. And if I at least got #4, it would be good progress towards goals #3 and #2.

Race Expo and Logistics

I got my first taste of the potential chaos of LAM before I even got to the race expo at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. On my way, going up the 5 and 101, the freeways became a parking lot. Still not sure why... other than, It's LA. Took me 2 hours to go 25 miles. I kept looking at the clock thinking, I'd better get to that stadium soon 'cause I can't run the race the next day without my bib... well, I guess I could, but not with any kind of official time. And I really wanted my bib... I had considered all kinds of possible names or slogans to put on it... "Me"... "Olden Sloe"... ended up settling on "Git er dun"... :-)

The expo itself was a zoo... crazy long lines for everything, and especially to pick up bibs. I only had to wait 45 minutes in line for mine, but afterward the line was multiple times longer... maybe as many as a thousand people waiting to get theirs standing in the sun in the parking lot at the stadium... on the day before you run 26 miles. Lesson learned for the next morning: get to the shuttle buses very early to beat the crowds or else my race could be ruined before it starts.

The expo seemed a little disorganized for such a major event... not just the crazy long lines for bib pickup, but everything else as well. They ran out of the race t-shirts which are free for registered runners. No biggie for me. I've got enough t-shirts... although LAM keeps emailing me now saying I can buy a finisher's t-shirt... how nice of them to offer. But when the expo ran out of sub-4 corral bracelets, that really bothered me. LAM only has two starting corrals (sub-3 and sub-4) to seed the faster runners at the front of the race. Back in November when I registered for this race, I sent in my race time from Big Bear last year and had a confirmed placement in the sub-4 corral. But you had to pick-up the blue sub-4 wrist bracelet at the expo or else you couldn't get into that corral on race day. After 15 more minutes of waiting, they got the bracelets for us.

For race day, LAM allowed no parking at Dodger Stadium (the start) since the race circled the stadium one full time before going out onto the roads. LAM wanted runners to catch pre-race shuttle buses from the finish line in Santa Monica (first bus at 2:30am; last bus at 6:00am). LAM also wanted runners to buy parking ($17) at the public parking structures in Santa Monica in advance for Sunday. Since I had my reservations for the shuttle and parking, I headed on towards Santa Monica where I was going to spend the night.

Traffic was crazy. The drive from Dodger Stadium took me nearly 2 hours (not counting my dinner)... I nearly ran it that fast on Sunday... well, not really, but you know what I mean. I had wanted to drive the race course to see the route and hills for myself in advance, but traffic was so ridiculous that wasn't even possible. I just wanted to find the fastest, easiest way to get to my room for the night so I could rest and relax before the big day.

Santa Monica itself on Saturday night was pure chaos. It's a small little beach city and it was completely overwhelmed by the crowds. Traffic was stand-still bumper to bumper. You could sit through a traffic light 4 or 5 times before getting through it. It could take 15-30 minutes just to circle one block. Parking was nowhere to be found. Even all the hotels had sold out their parking lots. I called my wife ~8pm and said, I can't park anywhere. I might have to drive home (70 miles away) and drive back at like 3:30am... or drive about 20 miles away and just sleep in my car... and I wasn't exaggerating. I was completely at a loss at what to do. I did find parking... finally... and checked in. Got to bed about 9:30pm, but tossed and turned most of the night. Really poor night's sleep.

Race Day

I woke up at 4:15am (before my alarm) knowing I'd better get my tail to the shuttle buses ASAP, even though I had a reservation on the 6:00am bus. I ate a PB & honey sandwich and had two cups of coffee and headed for the buses two blocks away. About 5:00am, I was on the bus heading to the stadium and got there ~5:30am... two hours before the start. I had no idea of the chaos I avoided by my early arrival.

About 5:45am, I entered the sub-4 corral and was only the second person there. So I got to relax and sit on the ground against a pole right near the front of that corral. My earliness paid off. Two hours later when the gun fired, I was only about 10 rows back from the Kenyans and crossed the start line only 6 seconds after the start. I never had to worry about tripping over the crowds in front of me. And I positioned myself strategically on the inside of the circle around the stadium to minimize the distance on that part of the route. And after 1 mile after I had circled the stadium, I looked over and saw the starting line and half the runners in the chute behind me had not even gotten to the start line yet. At LAM, it's absolutely imperative to get in the corrals up front.

So early that morning, I sat in the corral for 90 minutes as it slowly filled up. Most of the time I spent chatting with one of the Legacy Runners (there's 234 runners who have run LAM all 25 years). He was a great guy. Until 2006, he had always run LAM under 3:30. But then he was in a real bad car wreck. He figured his LAM streak was over, but his kids convinced him to do it that year even though he was injured and on crutches! He said he was bloody and sore afterward, and it took him over 6 hours, but he was very glad to have completed it. He's yet to break 5 hours since the wreck, but he hoped to do so on Sunday. I sat there and thought. Wow. Just wow. I hope it went well for him. What an inspiring guy. Made my day just talking to him.

Little did I know about the chaos outside the corrals. Bathrooms in the stadium and porta-potties outside were all overwhelmed by the 25,000 people. LAM was unprepared for the over-hydrated masses that had an immediate issue to take care of. As one runner put it, "An army may travel on its stomach, but marathoners travel on their... well... you know." :-)

But that's nothing compared to the traffic. I've heard reports and seen pictures of hordes of people having to walk/run from the freeway to the stadium... more than a mile or so... just to get to the starting line... because the freeways became so grid-locked. It wasn't just people being dropped off in cars... even the shuttle buses couldn't get through and people were jumping out the doors and running to the stadium because they knew they were going to miss the start. The start ended up delayed by 22 minutes... and at the time as I sat in my corral, I kept wondering why... but fortunately the sun never came out in full force so the late start didn't push us into the heat of the day (as expected).


It had dawned on me as I left the chaos of the expo on Saturday... basically LAM 2010 was like an inaugural race, even though this was its 25th year... it had new owners, new management and a new course... a situation ripe for disaster when you've got 25,000 runners, a p2p course, shuttle buses, parking issues, and major road closures. It'd be really hard for them to pull it all off smoothly with no snafus. So now, I'm really glad I got there early and avoided ruining my race before it even started... I don't need their help with that... I can do that myself out on the course. But enough with the logistics.

Nutrition

I didn't do the carb deplete-load thing that some of my marathon friends do. But I did load up on carbs... good carbs... for three days starting on Thursday. I also was drinking fluids non-stop to hydrate well, especially on Saturday. I had a good plate of spaghetti on Santa Monica Blvd on Saturday night... well, other than the long hair I found cooked into it... so the meal now goes down as my worst pre-race meal ever. But I kept telling myself despite all the snafus with traffic, the expo, parking, etc... just stay positive... it'll all work out.

And early Sunday morning, three hours before the race, I had my PB & honey sandwich with coffee. And on the bus and in the corral, I finished a second cup of coffee and a bottle of water. I took three gel packs: (1) 10 minutes before the start; (2) another at 10 miles; and (3) another at 20 miles.

Weather

It was supposed to be ~52° F and cool at the start, and it was. The humidity was ~75% (acc. to the TV broadcast)... but that's not miserable or unreasonable. Weather at the finish in Santa Monica was more of a concern. It was supposed to be sunny and a high of 75° in the mid-afternoon. But fortunately, the marine layer of thin overcast cloud cover never burned off. It was almost hard to detect shadows. It was mid-60ish when I finished... warmer than I prefer for a marathon, but again not unreasonable.

Tactics and Race Execution

I ended up at front of sub-4 corral (just behind sub-3 runners) and crossed the start line within 6 seconds of the start.

And I must say, I thought I did an excellent job running the tangents. I'm surprised my GPS says I ran an extra 0.15 miles. I was on the inside of the circle going around Dodger Stadium. I always spotted the direction of the next turn and ran gradually diagonally to it... often by myself apart from the parade of other runners. But running the tangents like that can help prevent running an extra minute or two in a marathon with all the turns and curves.

LAM records my 5K splits as:
05K - 20:46 - 0:20:46
10K - 22:52 - 0:43:38
15K - 22:29 - 1:06:07
20K - 22:39 - 1:28:46
25K - 22:18 - 1:51:04
30K - 23:25 - 2:14:29
35K - 24:59 - 2:39:28
40K - 25:54 - 3:05:22

I pretty much ran by feel. I wore my HR monitor, and I suspect some people think I'm obsessed with the thing, but I really didn't watch my HR or pace much while racing. There were so many hills on the first 8 miles that pace was irrelevant. You just had to go by feel. And I could always feel if I was starting to push too hard, and usually my HR monitor would indicate that as well.

Disappointments

I'm still trying to figure out how I missed all my main goals so miserably. Running 3:10 seemed way too doable, almost as if I was shooting too low. As I was running towards the finish and knew I could push no harder because I was cramping up so bad... I was wondering... am I just an over-achiever at shorter distances (half in 1:23, 10K in 38, 10-miles in 64) and just an under-achiever at the marathon? Or maybe both? I dunno. The frustrating thing is that I trained specifically for the full marathon... not for shorter races... lots of long training runs as I mentioned... lots of MP miles.

But I was cramping up pretty bad in the last 6-8 miles. It was really demoralizing when the 3:10-pace group and their balloons on a stick came bobbing by ~mile 18. And I couldn't do anything about it. I saw my goals running off down the road without me. Of course, it was also pretty bad when I got passed by Minnie Mouse around mile 10 or 11... you never want to get passed by a guy dressed like Minnie Mouse in a race... never... I don't care who you are... at least with my disappointing run at Boston 07, then I was able to beat the Easter Bunny and a Dairy Cow.

It was really disappointing to not get to take advantage of the super sweet downhill in the last 3 miles. The women's winner ran 2 of her fastest miles of the day (5:10 and 5:17) in those 3 miles... but not me. At that point, I was spent and cramping up really bad... calves... legs... abdomen... very hard to keep from stopping and walking, but I never did... but I also never ran faster than 8:01 for any of those 3 miles... over a minute slower than what I had hoped. It really hurts to be cramping up while running downhill... well, actually it hurts if you're cramping and running uphill too... or on flat ground... or walking... standing... sitting... breathing... existing...

After I finished, I just wandered around kinda aimlessly and cluelessly. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't happy at all with my performance and couldn't explain why it went this way. I walked on back to my car and was happy that it wasn't towed. :-) And then I remembered, Dang it... I checked a bag at Dodger Stadium that I needed to pick up... and my brain was so fried, I couldn't remember what I had put in it... My wallet? No... Cell phone? No, I don't have one... What was in the mystery bag? So I walked back to the finish only to find that I had to descend down the pier nearly 100' in elevation (not distance) to where the bags were. After a long wait, I got my treasures and was grateful to find all the insignificant food and trash I had checked before the race. Good planning by my pre-race self. Then I looked up and saw the street way above me... seemingly perched atop a high alpine peak... in my delusional state of mind I wondered, Where do you catch the tram back up to the top?

Anyway. Such was my day. Three days later, I've had lots of time to sit and think... especially to sit... my legs still don't like the idea of walking yet... I nearly fell on my face in front of a class of students on Monday because my legs didn't respond when my brain clearly sent them nerve signals to move and they didn't. And I'm still trying to sort it all out. I dunno. Maybe I just haven't given myself enough time lately to develop as a marathoner. I ran Leadville (July 09) and Big Bear (Sept 09) on minimal training (due to the PF) and survived those two. It's really only been the 6 months since that I've had solid non-stop training (except for the hamstring hiccup in Jan). It really takes several years of consistent training to truly develop in the marathon.

Did I peak too early in my training cycle? I don't think so. I did a 2-week taper this time and my runs in weeks 5, 4, and 3 were progressively getting faster and better. I felt like I was peaking just right for this race.

Was I dehydrated? Again, I don't think so. It didn't turn out hot and sunny, but I did sweat a lot nonetheless. I took Power-Ade or water at nearly every mile aid station. And I drank a cup of coffee and a bottle of water on the bus and then in the starting corral... and I seemed sufficiently hydrated and re-used both of those containers for other purposes. I am wondering if I need to take electrolyte supplements to help avoid cramping and to help stay hydrated though.

As I still scratch my head and wonder what happened, I'm thinking probably more than anything, I just ran too hard on the hills (both uphill and especially downhill) in the opening 8 miles. I think I probably trashed my calves and quads at the cellular level more than I realized at the time (even though my effort and HR didn't indicate I was overdoing it)... and then I just paid for it later. Many of those opening downhills were pretty steep. I should've remembered all the warnings about the same kind of downhills at the start of Boston... if you run them too fast, your quads will hate you at the end... and it'll become a death march.

But you know, at Boston 07, I regretted that I never attacked the course and ran aggressively... I never gave myself a chance to do well that day. On Sunday at LAM, I may have overdone it on the opening, even though it didn't seem like it at the time, but I'd rather go for it than be hesitant. Hitting half in 1:34 seemed very reasonable (at the time)... 9 minutes slower than I ran the Palm Springs Half 5 weeks ago (1:25)... but then again the front half of LAM was much, much hillier than Palm Springs.

Fortunately, unlike Boston 07 (my last marathon PR attempt), I'm healthy and injury-free... sore from cramping... but injury-free. So I should be able to recover, resume training, and build on this (unlike Boston)... well, I hope to. Three days later, my left calf and thigh are still pretty sore. We'll have to see how this recovery goes. If it goes well, I might consider doing a quick turn-around marathon instead of waiting again until the Fall... maybe the OC Marathon (May 2), maybe Palos Verdes (May 15), maybe San Diego Rock-n-Roll (June 6). But they each have their plusses and minuses... and I'm still pretty stiff and sore.

And I don't mean to sound depressed or distraught by this race report. I am frustrated and disappointed with my race performance and execution. I don't get a second chance at a marathon this weekend... I'm not built like my friend Sam Felsenfeld who is running 60 marathons this year... and wow, I have so much more admiration for him now after the pain I felt this weekend. My disappointment is simply that I trained very well for this race and just didn't execute it well on race day. That's frustrating.

But all in all, it was still a great run. Despite the logistical snafus with the new course this year, it was a great race. The course has a net downhill of 430' but it's still not an easy course... especially in miles 18-23 with some uphill. The downhill finish to the beach is super sweet if your legs aren't trashed from the hills at the opening.

It's an incredibly scenic and iconic course. Flying down Rodeo Drive was a blast. Running towards the Hollywood sign on Sunset Blvd was great. It was great running down Hollywood Blvd in front of the Pantages Theatre (where my family saw Cats just last weekend), Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Kodak Theatre. On the TV broadcast, they showed that even Samuel L. Jackson was outside at the Kodak Theatre cheering on runners. My son thought it was cool that Mace Windu had cheered me on. :-) The crowds were outstanding... all the way... lots of bands, cheerleaders, and other groups.

So yeah, it was still a good experience, just not a good run on my part. It had been 7 years since I had run LAM, and this time I really hoped to nail it. But I didn't. But I am healthy, injury-free, and looking forward to my next attempt.

Sorry for the way too long description and thanks for reading. And btw, here is a great time-lapsed video of the race.

Unplanned Sneak-a-thon at Diamond Valley Lake

(Alternate title: "It Never Rains in California... Ha!")

I've been training for the L.A. Marathon which is 6 weeks from tomorrow. Training has been going well. I like to incorporate a few tune-up races into my marathon training cycle so I had planned on running the Diamond Valley Lake Half Marathon on January 23... but it was postponed two weeks due to bad weather (ironically). I ran a 10K instead that day. Ended up deciding to run the Palm Springs Half on Feb 14 instead since our family plans were too hectic to race on Feb 6 at Diamond Valley out near Hemet.

But yesterday, my son's basketball game was cancelled for today (ironic that an indoor game was cancelled, but my outdoor event today wasn't... but I digress) and Mary Ann mentioned, Well now you can go run that race. So I was going to run the half... and incorporate it as part of a long run... 2-mile warm-up, race the half, and cool-down for 5 for 20 total. But then I thought, you know, I might as well go ahead and run the full marathon and support my friend Sam Felsenfeld and his effort to run 60 marathons in 2010 as he raises support for autism research (www.operationjack.com). Sam's a great guy and a great runner and I really admire all his efforts for the sake of his son, Jack.

So even though I had trained hard all week (MP miles on Tues and LT miles on Thurs) and had zero taper, I figured, just go out and try not to overdo it or shoot my wad and ruin my chances for a PR at LAM in 6 weeks. I figured I'd go out and try to hit 8:00 miles and try to keep my HR in the 140s or 150s and not overdo it and try to finish ~3:30.

And the weather... well, that's a whole other story. Forecast looked bad... real bad. Rain showers all morning long. And since I ran the half at Diamond Valley years ago, I knew the wind would be really whipping off that lake... and it was. And I also knew that except for the parking lot and the three dams (DVL is a man-made reservoir), the marathon course was all on the dirt service road circling the lake... and it would be muddy and messy. But you know, even though I was doing this short-notice, with zero taper, in bad weather... I really admire Sam for enduring unknown conditions week after week for the sake of his cause. So I wasn't about to wimp out on Sam. I was committed.

I got up at 5:30am and checked the weather hoping that maybe the forecast changed overnight... but it didn't... except it was going to be a few degrees warmer than predicted, which was good. It ended up being 54° at the start (not the 40s)... which was about the only redeeming aspect of the weather today... well, other than a couple of gorgeous rainbows during the race. But of course, it feels much much colder when you're soaked to the bone and getting pelted by winds.

As I was driving out to Diamond Valley Lake through pouring rain, I was thinking, This is really crazy. Got there. Sat in my car for a while as I watched all the race personnel and vendor set up things. It was like a circus seeing all the canopies getting blown and coverings flapping in the wind. I sat there thinking, And we're supposed to run in this? This is insane! (Note: notice the blown over sign with the concrete base in the picture.)

I spotted Sam and asked his advice about what to wear. Micro-fleece? Two tech shirts? Gloves? Hat? (And no, I didn't even bring the now infamous Boston rain pants... not even an option.) I ended up wearing shorts, one long-sleeve tech shirt, running cap, and no gloves. The sideways rain was stinging our legs. I hid under a canopy near the start line waiting for the starting gun. I didn't want to spend one second standing out there exposed to the elements while not running. I figured (or hoped?) my body would generate enough heat while running to keep me warm.

Gun sounded and we were off. I ran with Sam for a few minutes and then let him go on ahead of me. The dirt road which circles the lake is ~22 miles so we started counter-clockwise and did a short out-and-back and then came back through the starting line after running ~4.5 miles. At the turn-around, I thought I was in about 10th or 12th place, but not sure.

Now we'll be circling the lake clockwise for the rest of the day. The wind is strong. The dirt road meanders up and down and in and out along all the inlets and curvatures of the shoreline. For the first several miles I try avoiding the puddles and mud, but after a while it's useless so I just try avoiding the soft mud with deep footholes from the runners ahead of me. Don't wanna come out of a shoe with the suction of that mud.

We cross back through the east marina and are cheered on by the race people at the start. When we hit the east dam, the conditions are unreal. It's nearly 2 miles across the east dam and it's perfectly level... but I ended up logging my slowest miles of the day on it because of the strong headwind... but I could look at my HR monitor and know I didn't want to work any harder through that wind. As I came across other runners, we all just laughed at the conditions and knew this was one for the memory books. Even the nor'easter in Boston 2007 was mild compared to this. We would come around a bend in the road and get absolutely blasted by headwinds. Occasionally, we felt the push of a tailwind or ran in the leeside of a hill, but you never break even in conditions like that.

Fortunately, when we hit the two smaller dams on the west end of the lake, we were pushed by a strong tailwind. My pace was suddenly in the 7:20s without much effort and I felt like a kite. We were all flying across those dams. The guy on the bike leading the race leader later said he didn't even pedal across the west dams since the wind just pushed him and he even had to use his brakes... although the big climbs at the end of those two dams made my mile splits there a little more average though.

Along the way, I could see Sam about a couple of minutes ahead of me. At MM 16, I measured that I was only 64 seconds behind him. But then he seemed to just take off and was far further ahead. On those western dams, I lost sight of him in the rainclouds. I was still trying not to overdo it but sub-consciously it's just natural to reel in runners ahead and one by one I did all day. There was Eric the ultra-runner, then a lady who was struggling with ankle pain, then a guy out in his first marathon, then Steve from Pasadena who was running his 153rd... and then Sam.

The bad thing about running behind Sam was that he ended up being like a carrot in front of me that I couldn't keep out of my sights. Around mile 24, I caught up to him and it was good to run the rest of the way in together. A couple of last good-sized climbs, rounded a bend, and there was the east marina back in sight. Sam wanted me to finish ahead of him, but there was no way I was gonna bump him down a spot. Sam said, Let's go! And we pushed it. He crossed in 3:28:01 for fifth place and I was one step behind him (3:28:02). All in all, a solid run in poor conditions. He ended up nabbing 2nd in his AG (30-39) and I got 3rd in mine (40-49).

Mile splits: (pace and avg HR)
01 ... 7:51 ... 145
02 ... 8:00 ... 149
03 ... 7:52 ... 146
04 ... 7:52 ... 147
05 ... 8:09 ... 149
06 ... 8:10 ... 149
07 ... 8:39 ... 148 – into strong headwind on east dam
08 ... 8:05 ... 148
09 ... 7:48 ... 148
10 ... 7:57 ... 150
11 ... 8:10 ... 147
12 ... 7:48 ... 148
13 ... 7:59 ... 152
14 ... 7:58 ... 152
15 ... 7:58 ... 152
16 ... 8:01 ... 153
17 ... 7:55 ... 151
18 ... 7:45 ... 152 – pushed by tailwind on west dams
19 ... 7:57 ... 152
20 ... 7:59 ... 150
21 ... 8:02 ... 152
22 ... 8:01 ... 156
23 ... 7:58 ... 158
24 ... 7:42 ... 161 – catching up to Sam
25 ... 8:29 ... 156 – couple of good-sized climbs at the end
26 ... 7:50 ... 156
(Note: my GPS only measured 26.0 miles... but GPS isn't always 100% precise... fwiw, Sam has the same GPS as mine and his measured 26.4 miles...)

I ended up running my first negative split in a marathon (1:44:20/1:43:35... watch-time)... well, at least one that wasn't drastically uphill on the first half (ala Pikes Peak, Crater Lake, Death Valley, or Leadville). I'll take tomorrow off from running, but Sam will be running the same pace tomorrow morning for 26.2 miles at the Surf City Marathon. Thanks for reading and good on ya, Sam! Great to run with you today.

Running the Bear

Well, I didn't plan to blog about my run at the Big Bear Lake Marathon since this wasn't a peak effort or a target race for me, but I was describing it to some running friends online and ended up typing way too much (as usual) so I enhanced the narrative and here's my recap.

I knew going into this that I wasn't in great marathon shape... I was battling plantar fasciitis in the winter and spring which severely limited my running. I got in barely enough runs to run the Leadville Trail Marathon on July 11. But then I only got about five decent weeks of training in between recovering from Leadville and then tapering for Big Bear. And my long runs didn't go well (I was bonking at the end of the last 3... not good) and my weekly mileage wasn't as high as I like it (only averaging ~55mpw)... so I knew going in, that it was going to be a struggle on Saturday. But I wanted to continue running this race each year, since I did so last year in the inaugural edition. I also wanted to "Run the Bear" (the marathon slogan) since I did the "Ride around the Bear" bike century through Big Bear back in June.

So on Friday, I drove up to Big Bear and secured the same campsite (Yellow Post #26) on the southshore that I had used before last year's race. Then I went over to the race HQ and registered. Normally, I do that well in advance, but lately I just never know if my plantar fascia is going to let me race or not. I called Mary Ann to let her know everything was going smoothly... and I began my pitchtalk that we really need to buy a house up here and live here year round... :-) Then I went over to the pasta dinner sponsored by the local middle school. Good carbs.


They changed the course for this year so it was actually a little easier compared to last year. Last year, it was a loop course that included some long climbs up high to the ski resorts in miles 19 and 20... really, really tough since Big Bear Lake itself is at 6,750'. This year, they basically took the first half of last year's course, and made it an out-and-back... which removed those monster climbs and retained the most scenic part of last year's course. But still there were some good-sized roller-coaster hills in the last 4 miles after crossing the dam this year... really tough stuff... hills at altitude at the end of a marathon is a recipe for some serious pain and suffering.


So last year, I ran 3:21 (having bonked on those tough climbs) and finished 10th overall. I knew that even with the new course, I probably couldn't get within 10-15 minutes of that time since my training has been limited by PF. But still, 3:30 was my goal (basically 8:00/mile pace)... which is tough enough on roller-coaster hills in thin air. And I ended up running Saturday's race with my trainers (Air Pegasus) because my PF did not like my Asics Speedstars (my normal racing shoes) at all earlier this week when I tried a short easy run in them.

Unfortunately, they started the race 2 hours later this year... they had one of those blasted bike tour thingies beforehand. I'm certainly not against cycling, but it's aggravating when a bike event delays a marathon start by 2 hours on a sunny, warm day. Runners more than cyclists need the cooler early morning temps to do well. So us runners didn't start til 8:30am. Aaaarrrrggghhhh. I made it very clear to every race volunteer that I encountered that that is waaaaaay too late to start a marathon in one of the sunniest places in the country. Seriously, Big Bear has more sunny days than almost any other place in the US. It was 49° at 6:30am (perfect marathon weather). But two hours later when we started running it was already 64° and sunny, and when I finished shortly after noon it was 75°... and there were plenty of people behind me that had to endure more of that hot sunny weather than I did. If you're not running, those temps are nice, but marathoners risk serious dehydration if it's that warm. It was one of those mornings where you could feel the intense sunshine even before the air temps had a chance to warm up. Fortunately, I lathered myself in 70+ SPF sunscreen, otherwise I would have been scorched, not just dehydrated.

I'm a little embarrassed to post my mile splits because in the closing miles I logged some of my worst mile splits ever (outside of Pikes Peak and Leadville). But I try to be a transparent kind of guy, even when I don't do so well, so here goes...


Mile 1 = 7:50, 0:07:50 - Taking it easy on the opening climbs from the marina on Pine Knott Drive and west on Hwy 18.

Mile 2 = 7:16, 0:15:07 - This mile marker had to be off since I did not speed up that much. I was chatting with a couple of other runners, one of which I suddenly realized I knew from previous races. We pass through a water station but only one of us was able to grab a bottle while running through... so we share it among ourselves... good thing because we were gonna need every drop we could get in our system later in the day....

Mile 3 = 7:46, 0:22:54 - Starting to get in a groove. I'm thinking, Don't run any faster than I think I can maintain at the end of the race. Try for an even effort.

Mile 4 = 7:49, 0:30:43 - Enjoying the scenery. I catch up to a guy who's a firefighter and we chat for a while. We're thinking, These hills are going to be tough to come back over on the way back.

Mile 5 = 7:44, 0:38:27 - The lake is beautiful to run near. We're now running through the last of the half-marathon racers that started at the same time but 2 miles up the road from us. We'll be running through the half runners all the way to our halfway point.

Mile 6 = 7:34, 0:46:02 - A little fast... I hope I'm not letting the half racers cause me to run too fast by subconsciously trying to reel them in.

Mile 7 = 7:46, 0:53:49 - Back in my groove. Highway 38 is a nice smooth place to run, right next to the lake. There's a little bit of shade from some trees, but not much.

Mile 8 = 7:46, 1:01:35 - Becoming the definition of running in a groove...

Mile 9 = 7:38, 1:09:13 - Oops, slightly lost my groove... 1/3rd done.

Mile 10 = 7:56, 1:17:09 - Now running on the bike path on the northshore through Serrano campground. It's more up and down than the highway is.

Mile 11 = 7:51, 1:25:01 - Still on the bike path going up and down... I gradually pass another marathoner, and we chat a little bit.

Mile 12 = 7:43, 1:32:44 - Back in the groove again...


Mile 13 = 7:35, 1:40:19 - Oops, how the heck did that happen, that was a tough mile... maybe the mile marker was slightly off...

Half = 1:42:00 - On track for a 3:24 finish... I don't feel like I'm overdoing it, but that's still probably too fast for me... but we'll have to wait and see...

Mile 14 = 9:05, 1:49:25 - What?!? This mile marker was definitely off... I didn't slow down much if any, even though there were some uphills. I'm now running next to another marathoner near the turnaround, and I mentioned, "I think you're second female overall." She said, "Yeah, but the other lady is way too far ahead of me." I said, "Well, you never know... it's hot out here... there's gonna be a lot of people fading on the back half today." She moved on ahead of me but slowly I caught back up, and unfortunately, I think the heat took it's toll on her because gradually she faded and I didn't see her any more. It was becoming very lonely out there now. The half marathoners had split off and us marathoners were very spread out. I couldn't see another runner in either direction for miles and miles on the back half until long after I had recrossed the dam.

Mile 15 = 6:53, 1:56:18 - Some of this mile was obviously in the last one. I definitely didn't suddenly run a sub-7 mile.

Mile 16 = 8:14, 2:04:32 - Now I'm going uphill on the highway towards the Big Bear Discovery Center... it's getting sunny and hot... I can't see anyone in front of me... and I won't all the way to the finish...

Mile 17 = 7:58, 2:12:31 - Maybe I can hang onto 8:00/mile pace and still get my 3:30 goal...

Mile 18 = 7:48, 2:20:19 - Ah, nice split... there's that groove again.

Mile 19 = 7:57, 2:28:17 - This is about where I would start bonking in my long runs in training... let's see if I can work through this...

Mile 20 = 8:28, 2:36:45 - Just keep running, even if I have to slow down some...

Mile 21 = 8:06, 2:44:52 - These hills in the last five miles are going to be brutal... keep on running...


Mile 22 = 10:15, 2:55:08 - Finally on an uphill, I have to stop running and start power-hiking... my heart-rate is spiking... and no sooner do I slow from running and a motorcycle patrolman pulls up and says, "Jeff!?!" And it's my friend Chad. Dang it... wouldn't you know he'd spot me just as I start walking... :-) anyway, he was working patrol for the race and just happened to spot me. He rode alongside me for a good half mile and we chatted.... it was kinda nice... it took my mind off my misery for a while... :-) Chad offered to get me some water or food. I said, "How 'bout a ride..." :-) Of course, I was kidding... I was gonna finish this race even if I had to crawl to the finish. Chad said I was about 10th or 11th place... I said, I don't think I'm that high. I figured I was probably about 15th or 16th but I really didn't know. And it really didn't matter... I was struggling so bad that I honestly expected people behind me would be waiting in line to pass me.

While talking to Chad, we crossed the dam at the far western end of the lake which also was the lowest point on the course. That dam part was really tough because it was mostly uphill from there for the next several miles. Just pure evil.

Mile 23 = 10:39, 3:05:47 - My 3:30 goal is getting crushed by these hills and the intense sunshine. I'm really dehydrated and cramping up, even though I'm guzzling all the liquids I can get my hands on at every aid station.

Mile 24 = 9:22, 3:15:10 - At last a little downhill... run as much as I can...

Mile 25 = 11:03, 3:26:14 - That's a Leadville kind of split... but this ain't Leadville... ugh... dang, I see someone coming up from behind me... and within a few minutes he passes me... nice smooth pace for him... but he's the only marathoner that passed me after 3 miles into the race... I'm really surprised because I'm fading horribly... I guess most everyone else must be suffering in the heat and on these hills as well.

Mile 26 = 8:27, 3:34:41 - This was mostly downhill... during this mile, my watch beeped 12:00 noon... ding, dong, my goal was dead... 3:30 was officially gone... now I see another runner coming up behind me in the distance... she looks like she's running strong... I'm gonna try to keep jogging and maintain my place and minimize my damages. And later I learned she was running fast... she ran a 12-minute negative split on the course (1:54/1:42)... wow. (Btw, this was a different lady than the one I saw at the turnaround.) And I barely was able to run fast enough to keep her from passing me. I hate being passed at the end of a race. In the opening miles of a race, I don't mind as much... but at the end of the race, it's just downright annoying.

Back half = 1:54:22... ugly 12:22 positive split

Finish = 3:36:22 (8:15/mile pace), Chad was right... I finished 12th overall... and the next day I was surprised to see in the online results that they listed me first in my age group (M40-44)... but that's only because they didn't count the first two overall finishers who actually were in my AG... even though I don't see it that way. I know I wasn't the fastest or even second fastest person in my AG since the winner finished nearly an hour ahead of me! I'm not exactly sure why races do that with the AG results... I guess everyone needs a trophy. But 12th overall in 3:36? I only dropped 2 spots from last year and yet I was 15 minutes slower? I guess it's still a tough course and it certainly was a hot day... but 12th?... definitely a small crowd. :-) For the record, there were more than 13 of us... :-) but not many more (197 finishers to be exact)... but certainly nothing like the big-city mega-thons... and for my finishing pose, I must give credit to my running maniac friend Sam Felsenfeld... I got it from him... but I had to do that because that's what I felt like this at the end of the race... (btw, check out Sam's goal for 2010... amazing stuff)


I was really surprised that I only got passed by one runner in those last four ugly miles. But I guess it was a war of attrition out there for everyone. I noticed that the same guy who won the race both years finished over 2 minutes slower this year. Maybe it was the warm sunshine or maybe those hills on the new course aren't really that much easier than the ones on last year's course. I dunno.

Anyway, I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't in shape to run as fast as I did last year, but I'm not too disappointed. I knew I was going into this undertrained and my long runs were not optimum... and I must admit I'm pretty amazed I was able to keep from bonking worse, even though those last 5 miles were ugly enough. At least that didn't happen a few miles earlier.

And I am glad that I ran this, even though it was painful at the end. This is the 2nd year for Big Bear having a marathon and I've run them both. I'd like to make this an annual tradition... especially if we ever happen to move up there... a 90-minute commute isn't that bad, is it? :-)

Thanks for reading.