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!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
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.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
It never rains in Southern California…unless you are running 13 miles- PART 2
The plan was simple – a friend of mine was running a 5k in downtown LA which just happens to be about 13 miles away from my house. The rain drumming on the roof created a perfect melody for sleeping, that coupled with the fact that my bed was extra warm and comfortable made it impossible for me to get up as my alarm sounded at 4:45am….snooze…10 minutes later the alarm sounded again…snooze…alarm…snooze…finally Denise’s elbow in my kidney was just the right amount of encouragement I needed to get out of bed. I dressed slowly in the dark waiting for a valid excuse to skip the run and get back into bed – nothing came to mind, so I set out on my trek to downtown…only 45 minutes behind my scheduled departure time – somehow my mind failed to recognize the fact that I would miss the 5k entirely.
Sidewalks at intersections in California typically slope 5% towards the gutter which slopes back towards the sidewalk 3%, this creates a nice canal for run-off to travel down, so it can get to the drain and eventually to the ocean – as we learned in Nemo – all drains lead to the ocean. These facts are usually of little importance, but on a morning you choose to run in what some Southern California’s would call “a torrential down pour” these simple truths become of paramount importance. The first intersection brought several options – jump over the raging river, go over the river somewhere close to the intersection where the river seem to be at it’s narrowest, or just run through the water and accept the fact that I was going to get wet…I had put ben-gay on my legs the night before and stretched before my run, so I felt limber enough to make the jump…the reflection from the street light seem to go on and on, making me realize I had severally under-estimated the width of the river…SPLASH! Well, that didn’t work out well…in less then half a mile I had to accept the fact that I was completely soaked…12.5 miles to go!
The rest of the run I resigned myself to the fact that just running through the puddles was not going to get me any wetter, so despite odd looks from drivers passing me in the comfort over their cars, I jumped, hopped and maybe once or twice, skipped through the approximately 100 streams I encountered on my run. I arrived in downtown LA 40 minutes after the 5k my friend was running in had started…I know he’s slow, but I don’t think he’s that slow, so I cheered for him…on the inside. I called my wife to pick me up and she was on her way before we even hung up. We planned to meet at an intersection ½ mile up the road. I tried to time her drive in my head so we would arrive at my extraction point at approximately the same time…I sprinted the last block (which for some reason made me feel like I was 10 years old), turned of my iPod and found a good spot for her to park to pick me up...unfortunately LA traffic decided that I would need to wait another ½ an hour. In 13 miles on the streets of Los Angeles I learned that I could indeed run in the rain, that I was an “*@#!(@~! Loco” (as was noted by a man waiting for a bus with his wife), and that jumping over, around and through puddles makes a run go by much faster!
Sidewalks at intersections in California typically slope 5% towards the gutter which slopes back towards the sidewalk 3%, this creates a nice canal for run-off to travel down, so it can get to the drain and eventually to the ocean – as we learned in Nemo – all drains lead to the ocean. These facts are usually of little importance, but on a morning you choose to run in what some Southern California’s would call “a torrential down pour” these simple truths become of paramount importance. The first intersection brought several options – jump over the raging river, go over the river somewhere close to the intersection where the river seem to be at it’s narrowest, or just run through the water and accept the fact that I was going to get wet…I had put ben-gay on my legs the night before and stretched before my run, so I felt limber enough to make the jump…the reflection from the street light seem to go on and on, making me realize I had severally under-estimated the width of the river…SPLASH! Well, that didn’t work out well…in less then half a mile I had to accept the fact that I was completely soaked…12.5 miles to go!
The rest of the run I resigned myself to the fact that just running through the puddles was not going to get me any wetter, so despite odd looks from drivers passing me in the comfort over their cars, I jumped, hopped and maybe once or twice, skipped through the approximately 100 streams I encountered on my run. I arrived in downtown LA 40 minutes after the 5k my friend was running in had started…I know he’s slow, but I don’t think he’s that slow, so I cheered for him…on the inside. I called my wife to pick me up and she was on her way before we even hung up. We planned to meet at an intersection ½ mile up the road. I tried to time her drive in my head so we would arrive at my extraction point at approximately the same time…I sprinted the last block (which for some reason made me feel like I was 10 years old), turned of my iPod and found a good spot for her to park to pick me up...unfortunately LA traffic decided that I would need to wait another ½ an hour. In 13 miles on the streets of Los Angeles I learned that I could indeed run in the rain, that I was an “*@#!(@~! Loco” (as was noted by a man waiting for a bus with his wife), and that jumping over, around and through puddles makes a run go by much faster!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
It never rains in Southern California…unless you are running 13 miles. Part 1
The annual rainfall in Los Angeles is typically 15 inches (which usually arrives during the 35 wet days we have a year) and 80% of our days are cloud free. Ideal temperatures and conditions for most outdoor activates…except this past Saturday – I knew trouble was brewing when weather.com said there was 100% chance of rain…this is LA, we never have 100% chance of rain! So, I resigned myself to the fact that I would be running in the rain…besides last years LA marathon was run in the rain, so this would be good “just in-case” training.
I searched the archives in my brain for the rainy day prep I was taught in the Army and married it with the new “I don’t wanna get wet” attitude I had developed in the years since my time in the trenches. So, the plan was simple…I would try to stay as dry as possible for as long as possible, but pick clothes that would not weigh a ton once they did get wet…but I came across the question most fashionistas ask themselves everyday…which shoes should I wear?? My dilemma was more practical than fashion – do I wear the old shoes (250+ miles on them) and risk ruining them, but I was seriously considering those for the marathon…or do I wear the newer ones (less than 100 miles on them) and risk ruining or severally shortening their life? My wife offered no practical advise (sorry dear – “it’s up to you” doesn’t help!) so I did the only think I could think of…eanie meanie minie moe!! Old shoes it is!!
I searched the archives in my brain for the rainy day prep I was taught in the Army and married it with the new “I don’t wanna get wet” attitude I had developed in the years since my time in the trenches. So, the plan was simple…I would try to stay as dry as possible for as long as possible, but pick clothes that would not weigh a ton once they did get wet…but I came across the question most fashionistas ask themselves everyday…which shoes should I wear?? My dilemma was more practical than fashion – do I wear the old shoes (250+ miles on them) and risk ruining them, but I was seriously considering those for the marathon…or do I wear the newer ones (less than 100 miles on them) and risk ruining or severally shortening their life? My wife offered no practical advise (sorry dear – “it’s up to you” doesn’t help!) so I did the only think I could think of…eanie meanie minie moe!! Old shoes it is!!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Dancing in the rain?
100% chance of rain during my run tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes...but my expectations are low.
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