Saturday, March 24, 2012

LA Marathon - Part 1

On paper a marathon is nothing more than a person traveling 26.2 miles on their own feet. Nothing spectacular until you start looking deeper into how this affects the body and you look at the reality of how few people ever attempt this distance. A US study showed that 1 in 126,626 runners die from sudden cardiac arrest while running a marathon. Die...in a marathon...that seems to me to be a major effect on your body. This means marathons are more dangerous than playing football, scuba diving or even rock climbing. So it stands to reason that a small percentage of the population actually attempt a marathon. In 2011 approx. 518,000 runners finished a marathon in the US - out of a population of over 311 million. And while the exact number is nearly impossible to calculate somewhere between .1%-2% of the world's population has EVER run a marathon. I sure am glad I didn't research that data BEFORE I set off to run the LA Marathon - ignorance is bliss.

The days before the marathon I would obsessively check the weather report. 30% chance of rain, became 40%, which eventually topped out at 80%...wonderful, my first marathon and it's going to rain in LA! It took a few days, but soon I relented and began the planning process for a wet run. Trash bag vs. poncho. do I change shoes at mile 15? change shirts? Which shorts will keep the chafing to a minimum? So many questions to answer and only one run in the rain to use as a gauge. By the time I went to bed the night before the marathon it was almost certain that there would be either minimal or no rain, so the worrying was for not...at least it kept my mind off the marathon.

Everything was planned, prepared and packed as best I could...my wife was even armed with a race day packet that contained directions to drop me off at the start, directions to mile 15, and to the finish line...with full color maps and alternate routes. The traffic to the start was horrendous...are we surprised that LA traffic was bad?? So, I arrived at the start line about 15 minutes before the start...in a way it was perfect, no time to get nervous, no time to get cold...but almost no time to properly tie my shoes. The national anthem was great, the horn sounded for the elite women and the 13 minute countdown until we started was on. We shuffled forward trying to avoid puddles and discarded items as we went and before long I was under the start banner...iPod started and I was off on my adventure.

I knew that there would be people along the road cheering, but I never realized how many and how enthusiastic and generous they would be. The first few miles were mostly downhill which made them seem to pass effortlessly. At about mile 4 the biggest hill loomed ahead. I planned on walking the hill...I was feeling good and I wanted to run it, but I convinced myself to stick to the game plan.

Around mile 5 I came in full contact with the generosity and awesomeness of the people of LA. I have run half marathons in Culver City, Anaheim, Long Beach, and the OC, but I was not prepared for what was ahead of me. First it was one simple sign on cardboard..."Free Chili Dogs"...then another sign..."Free Homemade Chili Dogs"...then a third sign "Free Chili Dogs. Runners Only!" And then...there he was...a guy standing on the side of the road, small Weber grill in front of him, tongs in hand, and chili peculating on the side. If you overlook the fact that a chili dog at mile 5 of a marathon is digestive suicide, this was an amazing sight! This took planning! This guy felt he needed to help the people running the marathon and so he thought feeding them would help.....but what does he feed them??? Pretzels???...nah, not substantial enough...bananas???...nah, too slimy...Gummi Bears???...nah, too sticky....nope he decided that the best thing to feed marathoners running past him would be chili dogs...as I was passing this scene I couldn't help but chuckle as I noticed a young runner grabbing a chili dog...I looked to the guy running next to me and said, "that's not going to end well!" He responded, "Let's stay ahead of him." Good plan...and so I kept up the pace...

I was feeling good...probably better than I expected, but I knew the pain was waiting for me somewhere ahead...the only question was where...

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Captain Obvious works for a fortune cookie company

No, of course I can't sleep! In 6 1/2 hours I will wake up to "marathon morning" but instead of getting super loaded on rest my body has decided it wants to stay awake...wide awake. Tonight I had Chinese to carbo load...after my belly was full of rice and orange chicken, I open the always insightful fortune cookie..."important events are in your future." Wow! Didn't see that one coming!
Tomorrow is going to hurt...there is really no way around it. Some have said that I can stop if it gets too hard, but I can't get on that bus...it is finish at all cost...any other attitude will certainly lead to failure. I am confident I will travel 26.2 miles tomorrow...it may take forever, but I will finish this race!
So, yes, tomorrow is an important event, but there is another huge event on the horizon..,in August I start on the road to becoming a pastor. That is really an important event! Does God really want me to be a pastor? I really think He does, so I'm taking that huge leap...I just wonder if God will put up mile markers for me.
Ok, I'm getting tired (as is probably obvious by the rambling) so good night Los Angeles...I will see you tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Bridge over troubled waters


God never promises smooth sailing…He doesn’t say, “come and follow me, and I will make your life easy like macaroni and cheese.” Nope, not even on long runs. 22 miles is what I had before me Saturday morning (21.89 for you legalistic types)…the alarm was set for 5:30am for a 7am departure…½ hour snooze, ½ hour stretching and dressing, another ½ hour of procrastinating and I would be off! When I hit start on my iPod at 7:15 am it was already sunny out…like it was going to get pretty warm in So. Cal. I have started listening to music only on long runs, so actually made me go a little faster when “Groove I in the heart” came on…of course it was only the first mile, but I was feeling pretty good. Having suffered a few minor stomach issues on recent long runs I decided to start with water and mix in Gatorade as needed…this seemed logical until it became apparent that water travels through the system much faster than Gatorade…about mile 4 there was a nice big park, but after a few minutes of exploring, I realized that the nice people of Bellflower keep their park restrooms clean by keeping them closed on Saturday mornings…no worries…another restroom would come along soon...soon, right? 5 miles later in Lakewood I came across a park with an open restroom…just in time! Refilled the water bottle with lukewarm metallic tasting water and I was off again…I still felt good, the Shot Rox I was trying for the first time (yes, this will come back to haunt me!) were very tasty and the new knee brace seemed to be working well, despite the fact that I needed to tighten it every 2-3 miles…was my leg getting thinner??
About mile 11 it all turn bad…I suddenly realized that it was really pretty warm…and I had 2 sips of water left…but I’m on Carson blvd in the middle of Long Beach...not exactly the Sub-Saharan desert…surely there will be somewhere to buy a Gatorade…Smart & Final…nah, it will take too long…CVS, nope…too long…then came the critical error…I thought…yep, I thought there was a gas station at Carson and Palo Verde just as I would make my turn northward…that would be Carson and Los Cayotes Diagonal!!! So, now I started to panic…maybe I should knock on someone’s door and ask them if I can get some water from their water hose…would anyone find me as I tried to crawl over the next sand dune? Sooooo thirsty….water…Then there it was, like an oasis…a beacon of hope! 7-11!!! Interesting people at 7-11, but that’s a story for another day. Peanuts and Gatorade in hand I was off again. Then it hit me…a little at first, but strong every step I took…I was REALLY thirsty!!! I drank the last of the Gatorade around mile 17 knowing there was a CVS about ½ mile up the road…there I bought a water…again, super thirsty I guzzled 1/3 of it down. Next water stop was about mile 19…this time a Walgreens…and of course all of this water made me desperate for a restroom again…about that time my stomach started to rebel…it really wanted the run to be over, and boy so did I! It took longer than I had expected…much longer than I had wanted, but it was over. My last long run before the LA Marathon was in the books! I did end up “losing my lunch” about an hour after the run, so those Shot Rox will not be going to LA with me!
Am I ready to run 26.2 miles? I don’t know…22 is almost 26…I just worry about how long it will take me…will there even be a finish line when I finish??
After my run I found out a dear friend of mine had died a few days before. He had a heart attack alone at home and a neighbor found him 2 days later. I had 2 sermons rumbling in my head for that next day and as I stood in that church I realized that I needed to share my friends death with those their…to remind them how fragile life is and how quickly it can come to an end…and that we don’t need to despair in death…that the sin that separates us from God has been conquered…that Jesus took the sins of everyone, believer, non-believer, young, old, rich, poor…everyone and died for those sins upon a cross. And so I share those truths with you today. I miss you Nate.