Trailmix....

A couple of days ago, I watched “Unbreakable”. I know the first thing that pops into everyone’s mind is the Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson movie but this is far from it. Unbreakable the documentary is about the legendary trail race the Western States 100 and by 100 I mean a 100-mile trail race. The race hast been in existence for some time now but in 2010, there was this epic battle because the race had four of the top ultra runner’s running the race so the documentary gives you a little history on the race and these ultra running giants who have all signed up to run the race. If you are a geeks like and subscribe to trailrunner magazine then you would know I am talking about Anton Kuprica, Kilian Jornet, Hal Koerner and Geoff Roes. For those who are not aware, I may have run ten marathons total but my true passion has been on the trails.

It has been some time now but I remember taking the challenge of going up to the Los Liones trail in the Santa Monica mountains with Sandra who was a rep at Ortho-McNeil. Sandra bragged about how in shape she was and how she always did this hike before work. I just bragged. So we met up one day after work at the trail and away we went. I remember Sandra was walking at a blazing speed and I was feeling like I was going to die. We walked all the way to the top and though I was in agony, I refused to stop. To make matters worse for me, Sandra decided she wanted to run the whole 3.5 miles back which at the time was a distance that I was not use to. In the end, my legs were battered and beaten as well as my ego but something within me liked the challenge I had just went through. Something about the trails intrigued me. It was leg busting and backing breaking just to walk uphill but when running through the technical parts of the narrow trail I seemed to come alive. I felt like I could run forever. I knew from then on, I would be drawn to the trails and trail running.

My first trail running event was back in 2005 when I ran the 6k Xterra Malibu Creek Challenge. I had year of running under my belt and I just knew I was ready. The race might have had about 200 people so it was still new and unknown to many which was awesome. When the race started, I took off down a flat road. I thought I was golden until we made a turn and started winding gradually up a hill. That’s where my legs gradually burned and my lungs felt like they were on fire. What was going on here? All of a sudden I found myself walking and not only that, I was tired. We made it up the hill and the course turned up another climb. I gathered myself and started running but no sooner had I got about 50 feet I had to stop and being that we were on a single-track trail the proper thing to do is step to the side. The next thing I knew I was stepping aside more and more and it seemed as if the entire field of runners were going by me. After being a lame duck on the incline I caught a break with a fast downhill where I then encountered a new problem I had never experienced before. In a street race, you have plenty of road to run around people but on a trail if someone is in front of you especially on a downhill it is suicide to try going around them without possibly injuring them or yourself so you have to just be patient and that is what I did but I lost so much time and momentum. I tried sprinting the last mile and a half of the race and just burnt out with a ¼ of a mile left. That was the longest 6k of my life and it was only 36 minutes.

One would think that after that experience I would be discouraged but the race was exciting and it taught me that I knew nothing about trail running and that I obviously did not do enough hill running and spend nearly as much time on the trails in order to do well.

I think to date, I have run over 10 trail running events. Last was by far the most challenging and disappointing for me and running and the trails. Instead of running the normal Malibu Creek Challenge 6k I decided it was time to up the stakes and run the 22k race and challenge myself and boy did I. I sucked half of the race. I pretty much walked after mile 4 all the way up to mile 7 then woke up and finished strong the second half of the race. I was please overall because I got close to the time I predicted I would cross the finish line. I followed up that race with a painful and utterly disappointing performance at the Point Mugu 11k. In 2010, I ran Point Mugu for the first time with my friend Dave and I came in 4th in my age division and so in 2011 I had a goal to return and win my division or place in the top 3 but if you remember from some of my previous blogs the race was a disaster. I took a nasty fall training at Point Mugu two weeks before the race and my legs just did not recover in time for the race. I was mentally and physically out of that race within 5 minutes of the start. I made a great surge and tried to make a comeback towards the end of the race but several runners on the downhill refused to move out of my way and with only about .2 miles to go I literally stopped and walked to the end. I had never been do disgusted with myself but I knew that I had been running to hard and too much that year and it showed so I took some time off.

I started out the year running the Boney Mountain 21k which was the hardest race in the Xterra series. This race was a test of all test with a climb from mile 7 all the way up to mile 11. That is something no runner wants to see on an elevation chart but I gave myself a modest goal for the race and beat it by 4 minutes. So is there a 100 miler in my future? I am not sure but when I watched the documentary on the Western States 100, it started to excite me. These guys are out here pushing themselves to limits that few can comprehend but there’s something about nature that few understand. The trails are about enjoying the trees, the scenery, and the moment. Trail running is about freedom from the city, from people, and from all that, which seems harmful. I think you begin to develop as a runner because you constantly pay attention to your surroundings and environment and what is up ahead and around the corner. You develop instincts like jumping over rocks or slowing up on downhill turn or skipping over certain sections. You develop so many tactical skills and strength and resolve to continue to climb up winding inclines that never seem to end.

We are fortunate to be in a city with access to hundred of hiking trails and national parks and all I ever hear from people is how they need to escape. Well, next time you are feeling crowded and stressed by all that is going on in your life, escape 10 miles to the SM mountains and take a nice stroll on the trails. Who knows you might see a bear and then you’ll discover what trail running is all about!

Cats Have 9 Lives, I have 9 LA Marathon Completions

I hate making excuses especially when I do not run well but after yesterday’s marathon I am not sure what I can say but I did complete another Los Angeles Marathon giving me a total of 9 straight LA marathon completions. I am all about finishing and I am all about the accomplishment but finishing is not always the sole goal. I took plenty of steps last year to ensure that I would come into this marathon not just in shape but in marathon shape because in previous years, I felt like I always took a break from running around December and really did not start my marathon training until mid January and no matter what, I felt like my overall fitness for the race was just not there so I changed that and trained a lot in December. I was primarily running trails, building up my legs and working on my endurance. I started off the year by running the Boney Mountain 21k trail race and I really felt like I had my marathon plan in gear so what happened? A hip injury three weeks ago on a simple run which lead me to sit out for three weeks and my first day of running was yesterday at the marathon and boy did it show.

I felt great overall in the morning. I felt like I hydrated well, my shoes felt good, and I even felt like my hip was all healed up. Of course I can never do anything easy so I stuck to the idea that I would run in a costume but instead of a costume I ran in a Michael Jackson wig which may or may not have played a part in my demise during the race. It seemed like the race started before I was even ready but I felt like I had stretched well and there really was not much to do but jump in the crowd.

I started off with a nice moderate pace but about two miles in, I felt like my legs were a little tight but I thought nothing of it. I made a stop at a porta pottie and stopped here in there to take some crowd pictures and then I put the camera away and tried to focus on the race but I just could not get into a groove. Around mile 7 I felt like I just did not have the right energy and my legs felt way too sluggish. The weather was perfect but the sun was started to shine and I was sweating a lot more than normal, especially with the wig under my hat. That should have been a sign for me to lose the wig but I was committed to the idea that I would wear it to the end and that is what I did.

Around mile 9, I decided to pick up the pace and turn on the ipod and I really started to get it going and I felt invincible but as we ran downhill into the 14 mile mark area, I felt that all two familiar twinge that you do not want to feel in my left quad so I immediately pulled to the side and tried to stretch and when I did, my calve began to cramp up. This is where the mental part of the marathon starts. I knew that I would have more trouble as the race progressed but I tried putting it out of my mind and keep running. The faster I tried to run the more the cramps came so I slowed more and more and before we hit rodeo I knew I would have to struggle to the finish line.

As we came up Santa Monica Blvd and mile 18 and 19 I felt like I could still make a push and finish with 4:20 but slowly but surely I was at a snails pace. Talk about a collapse. I had about 5 miles to go and at least 50 minutes left to at least come in around 4:30 and I could not overcome the cramping and fatigue. I know I should be happy to finish in 4:50 but for some reason I am really disappointed and makes the after race recovery seem that much harder but don’t count me out just yet. This race only drives me to come back again next year to correct the mistakes I made this time around. What lies ahead for the rest of the year is uncertain but for now, I will be living in the bathtub and spending more money on Epsom salt than food…

Marathoning really hurts..

Right Back at you in 2012

It has been a while since my last post. Over four months to be exact. 2011 was a rough year In terms of running. I think I spent most of the year battling nagging injuries and because of my stubborn nature, I chose to ignore all signs that I needed to rest instead of running races. My performances suffered and I became frustrated after each event. The last event I ran in 2011 was the Topanga Canyon Turkey Trot and I was overall pretty satisfied with my performance in the race but still I needed to take a break and I did.
I spent the first few weeks of December just relaxing then I decided to start cross-training more. I bought all kinds of exercise devices and equipment like resistance bands and I even bought an aerobic step which most laughed at. The goal for me was to rebuild myself by strengthening my legs and working on strengthening my core. I also registered for the Boney Mountain 21k which was titled as the hardest race in the Xterra trailrace series. I knew that it would be the first week of January and I knew that I would have good amount of time to train through December but I wanted to train smart and be efficient and not break myself down as I had done in the past.
I set an attainable goal for the Boney Mountain 21k and that was 3 hours. By setting the bar lower than my usually high standards, it took a tremendous amount of the pressure off of me and I felt more relaxed and calm before the race. I went into the race confident and ready because I had spent the previous 3 weeks just working out and not running at all. Everything I did involved leg building. As a runner, you sometimes forget that just running alone is not enough. Running as much as I have run over a nine year period have weakened my legs and joints and I really have done nothing to build them back up so I thought it was important to get back to reshaping and building me, the person then concentrate on the running after.
On the day of the race, I went out to Boney Mountain State park and just had fun. I took pictures while running, I walked when I had to, and I finished strong slapping high fives and skipping through the finish line two minutes shy of 3 hours. For the first time in a while I ran a race without putting a ton of pressure on myself and it felt good.
So now I am back full circle and the LA marathon is staring me in the face and for the 9th year in a row, I will be lining up at the start line, trying to keep my LA marathon streak alive. It always seems like the race comes so fast but for the first time in a long while, I felt like I was heading into the race in the best shape of my life but a week ago without little to know understanding of what happened, I came up with a bizarre hip flexor injury and now it is looking like I may have to change my goal for the race but I am one hundred percent going to run or walk the race.
I have also decided to raise funds for a charity that I felt could use some exposure and as if the injury was not going to make this race hard enough I felt like it would be fun to run the race in a costume. Why you ask, why not. My dad is the reason why I started running and when he passed 9 years ago the thing he reminded me of just about every other day was to go out and enjoy everyday like it is your last and for me the LA marathon is my race and my day to enjoy myself, smile, run, walk, and in the end celebrate completing the race one more year.

Sit tight because here we go…