Sometimes we need a little crazy in our life...my life is probably a few weeks (or days) away from "crazy status." I am volunteering at a retreat in July, so I have 4 weeks of training...during which my daughter will be graduating high school...and then shortly after she will start college and I will begin seminary. So, you know what that means...I should probably add more things to make it that much more interesting! The question is what do I want to add to my schedule? The choices are pretty straight forward:
--Cypress 5k/10k - 7/28/12...I have been doing sprints, so a good 5k might be a good test to see how much my speed has improved. One small problem...it's close to my wife's birthday...sooooo will she be willing to let me run it?
--San Francisco Marathon - 7/29/12...this race is rife with problems...it's far, both from home and race distance. Can I get back up to marathon distance in such a short time? And of course my wife has to be willing to go to San Fran for her birthday.
--Disneyland Half Marathon - 9/2/12...I would love to do this race, but it's sold out, so unless I find someone that will sell me their race number, I will not be running this race.
--Rosarito-Ensenada 50 Mile Bike Ride - 9/29/12...I have been riding my bike a lot more...but enough to make it up the huge hill on this course?
--Long Beach Marathon - 10/7/12...I will probably be registered for something in this event...bike ride is fun...the half marathon and I have some unfinished business, or am I crazy enough to run the marathon distance?
--Rock n Roll Half Marathon Los Angeles - 10/28/12...they have really cool medals...and since it is right before Halloween, I can wear a costume...I wonder how heavy a Wile E. Coyote costume would be...
--Rock n Roll Vegas Marathon - 12/2/12...a mini vacation to Vegas...and a half marathon...what's not to like??
--Los Angeles 13.1 - 1/13/13...this was my first half marathon and would be a good race to set a personal record...plus it is the official warm-up race to the LA marathon...which means...
--Los Angeles Marathon - 3/17/12...they say that you get addicted to running marathons...as soon as you forget the pain you were in...
So there they are...a few of the options to keep me busy for a while...any thoughts/advise would be appreciated...
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
LA Marathon - Part 2
It has been difficult writing about the marathon...it's not a lack of material, to the contrary, it is an over abundance of amazing sights and feelings. Cheer alley that was so loud I could not hear the song playing on my iPod; passing a guy dressed as Jesus on Rodeo drive - 2 songs after "Jesus lead on" played, my friends Marty and Elaine at mile 18...I almost ran past them, and I don't think I said anything because I was already soooo tired- it was so nice to see them. And of course my pit crew at mile 15, who got me going again in little over 2 minutes-love my girls for all their support and sacrifice. Way too much for one blog post!
It may be cliche, but life is marathon, not a sprint. And after conquering the streets of LA in 6 hours and 27 minutes I feel like life holds no challenge I cannot overcome-with the help of God of course. Pain came and went, but at the mile 20 water stop my body decided my marathon was over...I was at a complete stop...not a single muscle was moving..,the first time i had been at rest in hours...and it felt GOOD! The majestical scene was broken when a lady ask me if I was ok..."sure" I said...and I continued on my trek to Santa Monica. I don't think I was really ready to continue, but I also didn't want her calling the medics. So I pressed on, but the question loomed...would I've really quit? Would I have really just stopped after months of training? Given in to my desire to stop the pain? These questions have haunted me since I crossed that finish line, but I honestly think I would have kept going...my marathon was not won that day, it was won in the miles I traveled through Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, La Mirada, Norwalk, Downey, Bellflower, and Long Beach in the months leading up to March 18th.
Indeed, the fact remains...life is a marathon, and for me the miles ahead hold the graduation of my daughter from high school, her first day at Concordia University Irvine and my first day of seminary one week later. Yes, there are still difficult times ahead for me, but I will overcome - I know where my strength comes from! So if you see someone at their mile 20, go ahead, ask them if they are ok...they might say that they are fine when it is obvious they are not, but you might be that voice that helps them keep moving.
Was that a blog post or a sermon? Maybe it was both. God bless!
It may be cliche, but life is marathon, not a sprint. And after conquering the streets of LA in 6 hours and 27 minutes I feel like life holds no challenge I cannot overcome-with the help of God of course. Pain came and went, but at the mile 20 water stop my body decided my marathon was over...I was at a complete stop...not a single muscle was moving..,the first time i had been at rest in hours...and it felt GOOD! The majestical scene was broken when a lady ask me if I was ok..."sure" I said...and I continued on my trek to Santa Monica. I don't think I was really ready to continue, but I also didn't want her calling the medics. So I pressed on, but the question loomed...would I've really quit? Would I have really just stopped after months of training? Given in to my desire to stop the pain? These questions have haunted me since I crossed that finish line, but I honestly think I would have kept going...my marathon was not won that day, it was won in the miles I traveled through Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, La Mirada, Norwalk, Downey, Bellflower, and Long Beach in the months leading up to March 18th.
Indeed, the fact remains...life is a marathon, and for me the miles ahead hold the graduation of my daughter from high school, her first day at Concordia University Irvine and my first day of seminary one week later. Yes, there are still difficult times ahead for me, but I will overcome - I know where my strength comes from! So if you see someone at their mile 20, go ahead, ask them if they are ok...they might say that they are fine when it is obvious they are not, but you might be that voice that helps them keep moving.
Was that a blog post or a sermon? Maybe it was both. God bless!
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...
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!
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.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Puffy Stray Cats
Smells are a part of running in LA...there is heavenly hamburger intersection - Carmenita and Telegraph - where the smells from Five Guys, In n Out and a hint of Jack in the Box mix to make a scent guys would pay $1000 for...forget about Channel #5...Burger#1!!! There are also the mom-n-pop Mexican restaurants that provide an irresistible enticement to skip the run and go straight for a chorizo burrito...and yes, there are often unpleasant smells, cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and way too many dog poop piles.
----Side bar - my dear dog owning friends...is it really that hard to pick after Fido? There is actually a fantastic new way of pick up your puppies digested delights, it's called a PLASTIC BAG!!----
My run this weekend took me along Leffingwell and as I passed La Mirada I was feeling pretty good. Having traveled over 5 miles, successfully taken my life into my own hands by crossing yet another busy intersection, and noticing the down hill ahead I was a happy camper....and then the smell. Subtle at first, but soon it became so strong that even mouth breathing couldn't stop the nauseating smell from entering my nostrils. I looked away briefly and then BAM!! Puffy stray cat!! The cat looked like it had been sucking on helium…fully intact, no sign of trauma (except the obvious fact that he was dead) paws up and disturbingly frightening. Words escape me to accurately describe the morbid scene, but trust me…it was pretty gross!
Proper path planning prevents a pessimistic persuasion - the 1 mile stretch of Colima between Whittier blvd and Mar Vista look simple enough on mapmyrun.com...there are no big red arrows or flashing signs saying "BEWARE!!" but there should be! Go ahead and laugh at me because I a) didn't remember how far Mar Vista is from Whittier (it's like a block, right?) or b) that I failed to realize it would feel so incredibly steep (7%)...ok, 7% may not be pike's peak steep (say that 10 times fast) but in the middle of a 16 mile run, 7% is a huge momentum killer. The turn onto Mar Vista was a brief moment of bliss…down hill as far as the eye could see, with my bad vision, that’s not very far, but it was a great sight none the less. Blister maintenance about halfway down helped me gain confidence in my ability to finish a marathon for a little while…because 16 miles is JUST LIKE 26.2!! Towards the end of the run, my optimism and bliss had washed away completely…after suffering from an upset stomach from mile 10 on (note to self – Fig Newtons are NOT a good running snack!), and having to stop for another Gatorade about 2 miles before the end, I kept feeling like I could have done better. My goal was to finish the 16 miles without dying…no real time goal, but after hours of mathematics while running, I had a “must finish by” time which came and went, draining any energy I had left. Late start, stomach issues, blisters, running up hill for a mile straight, chaffing and less than stellar liquid management made for a rough training run, but it might be exactly what I needed to prepare for March 18th…or additional evidence that I should have gotten a chorizo burrito at mile 2 and headed home.
I still don’t know if I can definitely finish the LA Marathon, but 16 is almost 18 and 18 is almost 20, so I am confident I can finish my last 2 long training runs…and they keep telling me that if you can run 20 miles, you can run 26.2, so I have nothing to fear, right?
----Side bar - my dear dog owning friends...is it really that hard to pick after Fido? There is actually a fantastic new way of pick up your puppies digested delights, it's called a PLASTIC BAG!!----
My run this weekend took me along Leffingwell and as I passed La Mirada I was feeling pretty good. Having traveled over 5 miles, successfully taken my life into my own hands by crossing yet another busy intersection, and noticing the down hill ahead I was a happy camper....and then the smell. Subtle at first, but soon it became so strong that even mouth breathing couldn't stop the nauseating smell from entering my nostrils. I looked away briefly and then BAM!! Puffy stray cat!! The cat looked like it had been sucking on helium…fully intact, no sign of trauma (except the obvious fact that he was dead) paws up and disturbingly frightening. Words escape me to accurately describe the morbid scene, but trust me…it was pretty gross!
Proper path planning prevents a pessimistic persuasion - the 1 mile stretch of Colima between Whittier blvd and Mar Vista look simple enough on mapmyrun.com...there are no big red arrows or flashing signs saying "BEWARE!!" but there should be! Go ahead and laugh at me because I a) didn't remember how far Mar Vista is from Whittier (it's like a block, right?) or b) that I failed to realize it would feel so incredibly steep (7%)...ok, 7% may not be pike's peak steep (say that 10 times fast) but in the middle of a 16 mile run, 7% is a huge momentum killer. The turn onto Mar Vista was a brief moment of bliss…down hill as far as the eye could see, with my bad vision, that’s not very far, but it was a great sight none the less. Blister maintenance about halfway down helped me gain confidence in my ability to finish a marathon for a little while…because 16 miles is JUST LIKE 26.2!! Towards the end of the run, my optimism and bliss had washed away completely…after suffering from an upset stomach from mile 10 on (note to self – Fig Newtons are NOT a good running snack!), and having to stop for another Gatorade about 2 miles before the end, I kept feeling like I could have done better. My goal was to finish the 16 miles without dying…no real time goal, but after hours of mathematics while running, I had a “must finish by” time which came and went, draining any energy I had left. Late start, stomach issues, blisters, running up hill for a mile straight, chaffing and less than stellar liquid management made for a rough training run, but it might be exactly what I needed to prepare for March 18th…or additional evidence that I should have gotten a chorizo burrito at mile 2 and headed home.
I still don’t know if I can definitely finish the LA Marathon, but 16 is almost 18 and 18 is almost 20, so I am confident I can finish my last 2 long training runs…and they keep telling me that if you can run 20 miles, you can run 26.2, so I have nothing to fear, right?
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Killing me with science
It is done…the last “checkpoint” run on my path to the LA Marathon is in the rear-view mirror. The surf city half marathon was fun…except for starting too late (in my humble opinion, 8:30am is far too late to start a race), no cups at the mile 7 aid station and no water at the mile 9 aid station…oh yeah…and there is that monster blister I started to develop at mile 3 and popped at mile 10 with such force that it might have skewed the rotation of the earth – NASA is still check on that. My time 2:44:03 was not my fastest (did I mention the nearly debilitating blister) but was within a comfortable range for an old man like me. The fact that I have no other race on the calendar hit me pretty hard right after the race. No buffers…nothing else to work towards…the next time I put on a race number it will have “LA Marathon” on it. So, the questions start racing in my head – Can I really run 26.2 miles? What am I going to do about blisters? Can I really run 26.2 miles? Water was an issue at surf city, should I carry water? Can I really run 26.2 miles? What if it’s really hot, should I wear a hat? Can I really run 26.2 miles? Will my iPod battery last 6 ½ hours? Can I really run 26.2 miles?
Part of my concern about completing a full marathon lies within the science of physiology – facts are facts, our body was not really designed to run 26.2 miles – especially my fluffy body. First you have glycogen – simply put this is the chemical that provides most of the energy used during prolonged exercise…but like anything else it has its limits, and for most of us that limit is 2-3 hours, so when you expect to finish a marathon in 6 ½ hours you are looking at over 3 hours of running on empty and the body does everything it can to stop you from running on empty glycogen stores. I guess this is something I will experience in my next 3 long runs (16, 18, & 20 miles), but something I am dreading. Pushing through the “Blister of 2012” incident helped to reinforce the fact that I can overcome adversity, but will it be enough to keep my body running despite it’s efforts to make me stop? I guess we will find out March 18th on the streets of LA.
Part of my concern about completing a full marathon lies within the science of physiology – facts are facts, our body was not really designed to run 26.2 miles – especially my fluffy body. First you have glycogen – simply put this is the chemical that provides most of the energy used during prolonged exercise…but like anything else it has its limits, and for most of us that limit is 2-3 hours, so when you expect to finish a marathon in 6 ½ hours you are looking at over 3 hours of running on empty and the body does everything it can to stop you from running on empty glycogen stores. I guess this is something I will experience in my next 3 long runs (16, 18, & 20 miles), but something I am dreading. Pushing through the “Blister of 2012” incident helped to reinforce the fact that I can overcome adversity, but will it be enough to keep my body running despite it’s efforts to make me stop? I guess we will find out March 18th on the streets of LA.
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