Where Has Jones Been?

I know, I know! Where have I been? It has been almost 4 years since my last post. Did I retire from running or lose the drive and enthusiasm for the sport? Not yet! I know it has been a while since my last post but I am still here. A lot has changed since 2018 when I last blogged about the Malibu Creek 21K. For one, we have been in global pandemic with the COVID-19 virus that kicked into gear in March of 2020. I guess that is where I should pick back up but actually let me pick up just a bit before that in 2019. In 2019, my LA Marathon streak was very much still alive. I had run my 16th consecutive race and I was having really one of my best running years or at least the most productive. I don’t know what it was about 2019, but things were coming together and after the LA Marathon, I knew I wanted to do something different. For years, I said I wanted to travel to Cuba and I knew they had a marathon and half marathon there. What better way to get to know a place than to run there and in 2018, I watched Will Smith live out his bucket list dream which was to run a half marathon and it just so happened that he did it in Cuba. I remember seeing a 2-3 minute video of him running the race and the one distinct thing I recall was how drenched he looked throughout the race and after the race. I knew that meant that Cuba was just as humid as Miami and I tried running in Miami once while on vacation and it sucked! Nevertheless, I said to myself, this was my year! I did all my research and scoping out the information and found my way to the registration page. Seemed a little sketchy because the process was through what looked like a 3rd party registration site but I was registered which was the easy part. Everything else was the mystery; where would I stay, what about getting around, what could I take, what couldn’t I take? I had plenty of time to work it all out but if know me, I never do anything easy. For the previous few years, I had run the Vegas Rock N Roll half marathon always scheduled in November. Now registered for the Havana half marathon, I figured “How cool would it be to run the Havana race on November 12th and turn around and run the Rock n Roll race on the 19th”. Ideas like these always seem realistic and feasible until you are in the midst of the actions and realize life is so much easier when you stick to being practical but I was determined to make this happen. I even added more to the pot by registering for the Malibu half marathon on November 2nd. My thought was that I would have the Malibu half marathon to get myself warmed up for Havana and Vegas. I think I had been listening to David Goggins way too much and just believed I was superhuman and could do anything but I quickly came to my senses a few weeks before the Malibu race and decided what would be best is to focus on Havana and Vegas. Afterall, Malibu was here in my town and I could run that any time. I am pretty obsessive when it comes to my hotel or place to stay in proximity to the race start, so I did all kinds of google map searches, trying to see how far certain airbnb’s were to the race start and bib pickup. I knew that there was talk about not being able to access internet in Cuba so I wanted to have as much knowledge as I could before going. I found an Airbnb that was less than a mile from the start of the race and super close to the bib pick up. I booked my flight, got my visa and I was set with one caveat. I am frightened as hell about what to eat before a race and what my options would be, especially in another country but I knew there was only so much I could do about that. I feared that if I tried bringing tons of stuff, they would confiscate what I had so I brought 2 packs of oatmeal, 3 protein bars and my hydration tablets. I had 3 pairs of shoes and all the running gear imaginable along with 2-3 trash bags that I instinctively brought with me which were tremendously helpful and you will hear why soon. I would like this to be about my Cuba experience as a whole but I will try to stick to running on this one and talk about Cuba itself another time. Running out of state always seems like twice the headache because of the prep and adding travel to the mix but running in another country is on another level and this was Cuba I was traveling to run a race. You cannot just get what you want. There are no REI’s stores or Whole Foods or 7-11 to grab a Gatorade and whatever else. You make do with what you have. I learned that right away. I arrived pretty late on Friday night. The race was Sunday morning at 6am. I got a little bit of sleep, awoke and headed to get my bib about a mile away. While there, I saw a guy who was on my flight from New York. He was also running the race. He and I linked up with some locals and walked to the free meal they arranged for runners. This was not something I wanted to do especially because the location of this free meal was 6 miles away and the humidity that day was killer and my mind was on saving my energy and relaxing and trying to hydrate but here I was on a journey through HAVANA! All in all, we walked 8 miles that day! 8 miles the day before a half marathon in intense humidity and oh yea; it was not so easy to just grab water. We found a mall which was about 3 miles from my Airbnb that had 2-liter bottles of water and because you want to be considerate, we only bought two each. By the time I had a chance to sit down, it was around 3-4pm and I had been up at 9 that morning thinking I was just going to go grab my bib and walk back and chill. I sat in my Airbnb which had an engine like sounding AC in the bedroom but only regular fans in the living room which provided a false sense of relief from the humidity. I knew there would be no way I would be able to go the remainder of the day without dinner or something, so around 6pm, I stepped outside and walked up and down the streets of Havana trying to scope out a place to eat but in came my fear as I was now really too close to the race but then my judgment went south. I saw a guy outside a hotel and he greeted me and asked where I was from and said come and have a drink on him. Turned out to be a really cool guy named Chris who was Cuban but lived in Miami and he was in Havana on business. He bought me a few beers and I decided at that point it was time to go and try to hydrate or find something to eat. Why oh why did I decide to buy two ham and cheese sandwiches from a shop off the block near my airbnb? Hunger and poor judgement overcame my pre-race meal rules and common sense. I knew from the first bite that the cheese had an odd taste but I kept on eating and before long, they were gone. I decided I would try to get some sleep and I would like to say it was the pouring rain that got me out of bed, but those two ham and cheese sandwiches came calling. I spent over an hour running back and forth to the toilet and that is all I will say about that. I recall looking at the time and it was about 2am, then 3am and the rain was still coming down and I was dizzy and feeling dehydrated and miserable at the same time. At that moment, I figured with the pouring rain, there would be no race and the way I felt, I did not care. I said f this and went back to bed and still had my alarm on for 5am. I got up and said, “if it’s still raining, we are skipping this race” but when I opened the windows to the balcony, I saw people in running gear walking down the street and no rain. I knew that I would be at that start line regardless of how miserable I felt. I opened my packets of oatmeal, and thankfully I was able to keep it down, I drank some water and took a protein bar with me and out the door I went. Something happens once I get to the race. I know that if I just show up, the energy and adrenaline will most definitely get me pumped enough to where I believe I can do it no matter what. Once the race starts, that is a whole other matter! It was a beautiful overcast morning with clouds still looming in the air but it was perfect because my fear had been the sun blazing and humidity sucking the life out of me with each step but I was just overjoyed to be on that start line. I had no idea about the course. I knew that it started by the capital and ended by the capital and away we went. I felt cool and calm and surprisingly, I felt great! There is no race that has better views for the first 1-5 miles which start at the capital and then along the Malecon which is this long stretch of road by the ocean in Havana. The Malecon has a long short wall which people sit on at night and hang out with friends, drink and just enjoy the beautiful atmosphere. At certain parts, the water from the Ocean crashes up on the rocks and over onto the sidewalk splashing anyone who dares to get that close. A rainbow that morning shined bright in the distance. It was such a beautiful scene that I had to stop and take a picture and of course try to capture myself in a selfie and a kind Cuban gentleman offered to take the photo for me. After my treacherous night, this could not be a better start to a race. It was truly magical and this is where every story comes has a but, followed by how thing went off the rails. My but comes in at mile 6 and this is also where those trash bags I brought along came in as well. We had perfect weather to a perfect backdrop and at the flip of a coin, it began to sprinkle, which quickly turned into a downpour which quickly turned the street of Havana into a monsoon. I had the trash bag I brought with me in my running pouch. I took it out and put some holes in it and put it on. Most looked at me as if I were crazy but I was dry with the exception of the race bib. They used a bib that I had never seen before. Almost like it was made of regular paper. I had mines pinned to my shorts and once it got wet, it just ripped away. Each time I tried pinning it again, it just ripped. There wasn’t a timing chip attached to it, it was just a number and there were people at various points writing down the numbers of those in the race. What was I supposed to do? I was wearing a visor and I folded the bib and tucked it into my visor and looked crazy but there was nothing else I could do. This is also a good time to point out that about 75% of the people were running the 10k, 20% of us were doing the half marathon and 5% were running the full marathon so when we hit a certain point where the 10k folks turned around, it was relatively a small batch of runners out there. From mile 7-11, it was like running in a river. I mean the rain poured. There was a street that had a long uphill and the water streamed down and there literally was no part of that street you could run without having water ankle high. Every race I have run, has a few guys out there running without a shirt no matter the temperature, and I recall a guy with no shirt running over to the gas station asking them for anything he could use to cover himself. I ran over to the same area just so I could stay dry for a second and try to change the songs on my iphone. The rain was coming down so hard that my hands were wet and my phone screen wouldn’t move. I decided at this point of the race, that I would just do whatever I could to survive because everyone around me just kept pushing forward and wouldn’t you now it, around mile 11, the rain stopped and the sun started to shine through and it brought its friend Mr. Humidity! I could not catch a break! But there were only 2 miles left and this was where there were literally 200 to 300 feet between me and the next runner. It felt like you were out there alone and most Cubans were just going about their day. This was not much of a crowd cheering and roaring kind of event so you had to stay focused and just run and when I crossed that finish line, I think it took me a few minutes to process the whole race. It was like I had been through 2-3 separate races with multiple weather changes and yet I weathered the storm! When I was done, I gave one of my favorite pairs of running shoes to a Cuban runner who I promised them to before the race. I then walked back through the streets of Havana barefoot, drenched and proud with a race medal around my neck! This experience is much more than these few pages but I will pick this story back up again when I talk about the week after when I made it to Vegas for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon! Stay tuned!

Malibu Fear Again and Again

I started running back in 2004. I ran my first trail race in 2015 with the Xterra group. I had done some hiking before to which I got my ass handed to me on some simple trails so trail running seemed a bit foreign to me but in 2005, I was a lot younger and my infatuation with anything running was at an all-time high. I thought I could do anything. Running can make you feel like that or at least running a race and crossing the finish line can. I remember running the Xterra 6k and thinking it was hard as shit. It had a climb about a quarter of a mile in that seemed like it went on forever then you turned and went up another climb that seemed like you were going up the stairs for a slide at a water park because before you knew it, you were running downhill for about a mile and a half and it was filled with twists and turns down a single-track trail until you were spun out to the fire road and back up and over a hill to the straight away mile run to the finish. It was a rush and a serious sense of accomplishment. I would return to the run the 6k a few more times and I always felt like I was just on the brink of running my best time but would miss it by a few minutes which would leave me chasing that ever so difficult dream of placing top 3 in your age division. In 2007 or possibly 2008, I finished the 6k and stood around feeling myself like I was the top trail runner on the planet and about 10 minutes later a guy came blazing through the finish line. He was one of the first or second finishers of the 22k but the thing that caught my attention was that he only had one arm. He looked strong, fit as hell and totally made me feel like a complete loser. Sure people tell you to run your race and why should you compare yourself to others but sometimes that is a load of crap. In that moment, I knew that it was time for me to step up and stop celebrating a short victory in having run the 6k 4 years in a row.

The only thing I knew about the 22k was there was a portion of it called bulldog that people swore was hell. I emailed the race director before registering for and simply asked him was this really something I should be concerned with. His response: “definitely!” and he said don’t underestimate the last climb at mile 13. It has been over 6 years now that I started running the 22k and everything that race director said held true the first time I ran it and it has remained true including yesterday when I ran it again. One, I had no business running the race yesterday because simply put, I was not prepared mentally and physically. After the LA marathon in March, I have spent weeks trying to rehab an ankle/tendon issue which has kept me from any serious running. My longest run was about 5 miles two weeks ago. That doesn’t help prepare for a 14-mile race with nearly 1,800 feet elevation over 3 and a half miles but I am who I am so I was there at the start line with ambitions to at least finish without needing an ambulance at the finish line.

I had shades of last year’s race which was about 90 degrees and I literally felt like I was crawling the last mile of the race and finished about 40 minutes slower than my best time. It was miserable and a race I wanted to forget but it is kind of hard to forget when you know anything can happen with this course and I have never really had what I call a great performance at this race but we were blessed with low temperatures and overcast skies from start to finish. When we started off yesterday, I knew about 2 miles in that I just did not feel strong. I could not tell if I just needed to warm up or was this going to be a repeat of last year. I knew that the bulldog portion of the race would be coming up around mile 3 and it was there that I thought to myself “you are in for a grind today”. I started up bulldog which at the start of it makes you feel like it would be a piece of cake and that is because you really haven’t started the climb. When we hit the slightest bit of incline, I was tired, my legs were not turning and I was sweating like a pig so I knew the only thing I could do is to start hiking with some pace and try to dominate the climb. This is usually when I would throw on the headphones in a get into a groove but I heard a voice from behind and it was Cyris. I have been seeing Cyris and his wife at all the Xterra events for basically the last 5 years. Its super cool to see him because he’s always super positive and provides a feeling of family and that is what the trail running community is. Everyone is competing but they compete with a sense of seeing their fellow runner do well. Cyris and I started chatting and making our way up bulldog. He told me he had been battling a bad sinus infection for the last few weeks so he just couldn’t get into gear and run like he wanted but the conversation we had going up bulldog actually distracted from how hard it was. We were attacking the climb stride for stride. It wasn’t a competition at all. Just two runners feeding off each-others energy and pushing one another. I truly needed that and once we reached mile 6 and finally a chance to straighten out our backs and walk upright and start a bit of downhill, I knew we would go our separate ways.

In the past two years, mile 6 was where I looked to make up ground on the dreadful climb up bulldog and all the time I lost but I was so out of it the last few years that I sucked running downhill from mile 6 to 7 and so on but yesterday, my spirit wasn’t broken and I knew the course so well that I knew I just needed to conserve my energy and run the parts I could and conserve my energy until mile 10 when you essentially have downhill sprint for 2 miles to mile 12. When you reach mile 12 of this race, you actually exit the park and you are on the main highway for a bit which is crazy. It was there that I spotted another guy I have seen at these races, Joe Lewis. It was just last year that he and I were climbing up mile 13 like two turtles until we finally made it to the top and somehow made it to the finish. Once I saw Joe, it gave me even more confidence because he had sped past me in the early going so to catch him let me know I had rallied from that slow beginning and still had a lot in the tank. I sprinted past Joe and up the road and then back into the park where you run for a bit before the dreaded last mile uphill. I would say this is definitely the worst of the race because you just have nothing left but yesterday I was able to conquer mile 13 by just keeping a steady pace and moving my feet no matter how tired I was. Last year, I could barely walk 3 feet on this portion before I would stop, look around and trying to catch my breath and walk another 3 feet and stop again.

When I was done yesterday, I was able to talk to Cyris, Joe and a bunch of others that I see each year. There was a level of content and excitement on just about everyone’s face yesterday and really I think it was a sigh of relief especially for all of us who ran it last year and suffered through the heat. I could feel that we all were excited to finish and also to be able to celebrate a good hard race. If it hadn’t been for Cyris on that uphill, I may not have had the same result. He pushed me along and sometimes whether you believe it or not, you have to abandon your normal race plan to just go with the flow. This race continues to be a challenge no matter what but if I can lace up the shoes, I will be there to accept the challenge.

Legs are sore but I am feeling good!!

Glasses up for Number 15

When I finished the LA Marathon last Sunday, I went directly from the finish line on Ocean Blvd. in Santa Monica to the Renaissance Resort in Indian Wells. This had been one of my goals for year’s. Specifically to go be in the spa at the Renaissance after the race because it has one of the very few spas I love and with the drop of my bags and right back out the door to the spa, the dream was complete. For 3 hours, I was heaven and there was nothing more thrilling and rewarding than that moment but less than a few hours before that moment, I had to go through the usual hell to get to this moment of bliss. One of my proudest accomplishments was finishing one marathon but to have this be my fifteenth consecutive was just an insane feat to think about it because I could never actually see myself running one. This year was special as they all are but this year the race introduced a new program called LA loyal to recognize those who have braved the streets of LA in a few categories. Those who completed the race two years in a row received something special, those who completed at least five consecutive races received a little more recognition and items and then there were those who completed at least ten consecutive LA marathons received a different race bib, a special designed LA loyal shirt and hoodie and a special medal which resembled the medal given at the inaugural race in 1986.

As humble as I may appear for two minutes, this is something that truly excited me because I always felt like the race should do something to recognize those outside of the legacy runner’s for their commitment to the race and the city. Once I ran my second LA marathon, I said I would make it a mission to run every single race until I am unable to do it. I unable to be a legacy runner because I have not run every single race since its inception but I figured I could start my own streak and create my own legacy and that is what I set out to do. According to the LA marathon stats, there were only about 500 runners who are in this group of having completed 10 plus consecutive LA marathons which would then include the 144 legacy runners so that would mean I should be pretty impressed considering that is 500 out of twenty-four thousand runners each year.


To get to that spa and to my 15th completion, I had to go deep into my mental banks and find a way to get through this race. I struggled right away. I went out way to fast and around mile 4, my legs were already feeling heavy and sluggish. I probably shouldn’t have jammed and jumped around at mile 8 with the band that was jamming on the course but I felt the energy and the groove and minutes later I thought I hit the wall of the race but I have been here before. It sucks but you have to decide if you are going to pack in or are you ready to get down and dirty and go to your dark place to summon a different person. I threw on the headphones, Dr. Dre kicked in and I started to get in that groove and though it wasn’t smooth, I punched my way through miles 9, 10, 11 and 12 and then at mile 13, I had to search again for something to carry me. There is a voice that says “you have been here before, so don’t be surprised, just step up to the challenge”.


I hit miles 14 and 15 and by 16 when I saw my friends, I felt a bit emotionally spent but encouraged and my real wall came at miles 17, 18 and 19 but I knew if I just kept my head up then there would be a bright spot and at mile 20, I had a small cup of beer and that euphoria kicked in and my feet crawled with steps and though they were slow and I needed the occasional walk break, I was moving. My friend Cristina jumped on the course at mile 21 and helped me run two more miles and then I knew it was not a matter of finishing, it was how I wanted to finish and I may have run my best miles at 24 and 25 because I was truly flying or maybe it was the numbness in my feet that made it feel like flying because I couldn’t feel anything. As soon as you cross that finish line, you are trying to recap what happened the last 4-5 hours and it feels like you have had an out of body experience which would explain the pain, the emotion you feel and the joy. I finally decided to give myself permission to just do nothing until now which is why I am finally reflecting on everything. It feels good to finish the race but a runner’s mind skips to the next race but until I can walk again without pain, I will continue working on relaxing!

Pain is inevitable but the rewards will last a lifetime…..

26 Miles then You go Crazy

I never understand how difficult running 26 miles really is until I am struggling and wondering “why in the hell am I out here”? I know many would say if you have run the race 13 previous times you would know how difficult the race is but not necessarily. The LA marathon is the one marathon I run per year and outside of running the LA marathon and the NY marathon in 2006, I really have stuck to half marathons and shorter distances throughout the year so I have a short memory as soon as I complete the race and then I am quickly reminded as soon as the race starts as to just what I am up against.

For more than three weeks, I had what felt like a golf ball on the bottom of my foot. I couldn’t step down with pain and oddly it went away when I would do any training runs and as if that wasn’t enough, I pulled my hamstring 2 weeks ago on a simple run so going into yesterday, I had a lot of anxiety and tons of nerves. I do it to myself each year where I nearly go nuts worrying about the various little bumps and bruises and how they will play out in the race. I am never really worried about finishing the race but I always have anxiety about whether enough I will have enough dog in me to grind out an ugly race which was exactly what the race was yesterday.

I felt fine when the race started but there was a quick concern when I hit mile 2 and I just felt a bit lethargic and not yet into the flow of the race. I walked up the hill by the Disney concert hall which is what I always do and I had a plan to really pick things up around mile 6 and 7 but it was like I was running in mud. My foot pain wasn’t a problem and my hamstring felt great but as I read another runner post after the race yesterday that her legs felt like lead from the start, I realized it wasn’t just me but when it happens in a race, you have to just put your head down and grind. I tried to distract my mind by throwing on my music and zoning out and by mile 9 I was in a nice groove and I started to zoom past runners left and right but I felt around mile 16, things slowed for me. I cruised to mile 17 and 18 but I knew my legs were heavy and I would really need to do whatever it took to pull this one out.

There isn’t much of a blueprint to turn things around in a race when things start to go south. I always say it is time for a gut check. This is where you need turn into a psych patient and therapist all at the same time. I talk to myself non-stop and I look for any and everything to give me a spark. Any momentum you get, you need to turn it into miles for as long as you can. I was in a zone until around mile 22 and 23 when my legs cramped badly. I was forced to walk until the cramps subsided and then I would shuffle until I could run again but it would only last so long before I had to stop again. I had been in this ongoing battle with this muscled up black guy who I couldn’t shake the whole damn race and here he came creeping up at mile 25. As he edged in front of me, I could see he would stop eventually and then I would pass him but it wasn’t meant to be as my legs seized beyond my control and I could barely walk without limping so I had to concede.

It is funny how running goes. When I was struggling mid-race, I had all these thoughts. I wondered if I could do this another year or whether or not I had trained enough or did I have the mental toughness I use to but that is exactly why I run the marathon each year. That mental battle is what catapults me to keep moving my feet regardless of the pain and hurdle in front of me. I know that I will have to suffer in order to succeed and not many are willing to go through that type of pain and misery just to receive a medal. You can run 26 miles anywhere or at any time but there are very few chances to run amongst 24 thousand others looking to achieve a goal of their own and I couldn’t be more supportive of each and every person out there regardless their reasons for running. It takes balls and courage to step on the start line and it is commendable to do an event of this type of magnitude where you risk toenails and severe dehydration and pain for days afterwards but you will also gain resolve, mental toughness and a chance to build on that for the future. Some run the race once and that is enough for them and that is ok because honestly, it isn’t for everyone. I don’t encourage people to run it because it is not for everyone but if you are ready to push yourself to the limit and know what you are made of, the race will be waiting for you next year!!


Let your legs do the talking!!

New Era and New Day

It is no secret but I just turned 42 about 4 days ago and I got to celebrate my birthday in sunny Miami but before getting to Miami things weren’t so sunny. Mere days before departing for Miami, I got sick. I knew it was coming when I awoke one night in a cold sweat and my throat was killing me. Thanks to a few co-workers who were selfish enough to come to work the week before coughing and sneezing in my area for days on end, I was now in jeopardy of either missing my trip or having an awful experience. I contemplated even going to Miami the night before departing which gives you an idea of just how I felt but nonetheless I still boarded the plane on Saturday and arrived at the awesome private pad I rented in Miami Shores. I still felt like crap and on a Saturday night in Miami, I only managed to go out for 2 hours before realizing the bed was my best option. I awoke the next morning not too happy and feeling like I should have stayed home but one of my friends told me to just sit back and relax and enjoy the awesome pad and allow my body a chance to rest. They were right. Here I was in this place surrounded by bamboo and palm trees and my own pool and why did I feel the need to force myself to do anything? I took that day and did nothing except lounge, read and relax as well as the days that followed including my birthday. I know what you are thinking, what does this have to do with running? Just relax, I am getting to that.

On my birthday, I got up and felt a lot better than the previous two days. My mom called me to wish me a happy birthday as well as a myriad of friends and I was just feeling inspired and blessed to see another birthday so I used that inspiration and energy and I laced up the shoes and out the door I went. I had no idea what direction I was heading but the skies were stunningly beautiful so I just ran. My chest was on fire and my head was still congested so I had to stop multiple times to catch my breath but I was taking what my body gave me and I was enjoying the moment and the time and opportunity to do something I enjoy even though I could not do it at 100%.
About 6 minutes into my run, I saw an older woman just trying to make her way across the road. No driver would stop and she cautiously walked into the road with her walker. I quickly dashed over to help her by halting traffic and escorting her across safely. I am no hero but people should have some type of compassion and they should want to help other. That is just what a decent human being does. I felt like God put me there at that time to be a service to someone else and in turn, I felt even better on my run. I kept cutting up and down streets ultimately losing myself in the moment and getting lost. I could not remember which blocks I cut down and which way I had gone but I eventually figured it out and made my way back to the house. Waiting for me was the pool and a beer from the fridge. What a day and what a great birthday and the rest of my trip.

What is my new post really about? In running I have learned that no matter how hard you prepare, no matter how hard you train and how much you want to do well, you have to learn to take what your body gives you and to take each race and opportunity and make the best out of each and every situation. Like many runners, I can be incredibly competitive and I beat myself up over bad performances or I refuse to compromise and in turn I ultimately lose out on the experience of it all because getting the chance to race and compete is a honor and opportunity that many do not get. Take advantage of each and every opportunity you get in life because opportunities come and go and running like so many things in life if not forever. Sometimes it takes little things like getting sick to remind you what is important and to just relax and enjoy the moment as best as you can.
CREATE YOUR OWN WORLD OF PERFECTION!

Sunday the 13th

Boy does 13 years go by in a blink but this past Sunday, my 13th consecutive running of the LA Marathon did not go by in a blink. I always get the question as to why would I put myself through a grueling 26.2 mile race and my answer is pretty much the same but the truth is I made a decision a while back that I would run every LA marathon since my first running of the race in 2004. That miserable experience ignited me to start from scratch and learn everything I needed to know about being a runner. It also didn’t hurt to be motivated by my dad passing away the morning after completing the first race. My dad was the reason I ran the race in the first place. Through the ups and downs of running, I continue to find the motivation and the desire to lace them up week in and week out and get outside and train not just for the marathon but for better health and overall fitness.

What happens in the LA Marathon is something amazing each and every year. I never quite know what to expect or how to best prepare but on Sunday, I found myself at mile 20 feeling miserable, tired and on the brink of complete and utter meltdown but still 6.2 miles remain in front of me. I have been here 13 times so I have felt this before and I have experiences all the highs and all the lows but it is amazing that in a matter of minutes, things can go from good to worse.

On Sunday, my ankle and knee were so painful that each time I planted my left leg on the pavement, I cringed in pain. I figured I could just master the pain for 6 miles but it just was not possible. My body just would not do what I wanted it to do and so for the remaining 6.2 miles, I had to embrace the situation and I had to understand that this would be a miserable 6 miles of the race and deep down I could hear my dad challenging me to see if I had the heart to fight through the pain and agony knowing I would finish the race but I would have to go through potential hell to do so. That is why I run this race. I want that challenge and I feed off of that challenge. If you can conquer the doubt, the fear and the pain, then what can’t you do? Life comes at you one mile at a time but you just have to stay on course to cross the finish line! 13 done and many more to come!!!


Keep those miles coming…..

The UPS and Downs

One of things I have about running is one of the things that keeps driving me and that is from week to week, race to race, no experience is the same nor is running well in an event a given. I think I have written about the PT. Mugu 11k trail race 5-6 times now. This race has become my white whale. I first ran in 2010 and came in 4th in my age division. Running is not always about the top 3 in your age division but it certainly adds a feather in your cap and trail races are as competitive and as difficult as they come so you can imagine after the 2010 race, I assumed I would come back in 2011 and capture that top 3 placing in my age division but I got hurt a week before the race and couldn’t run well in the race. Subsequent years, I just fell apart. I put so much pressure on myself to do well and I couldn’t live up to the pressure I put on myself and in result, I did not run well. Nothing changed this year but I was ready to put that curse behind and yesterday, the curse proved better than I again.

I got a small cold about two weeks ago and I was determined to not allow it to keep me from that top 3 podium spot. I rested and got myself feeling well enough to go up to PT. Mugu last weekend after hearing the course would change for the first time in over 4 years. We were being told the course in which I studied and trained would now start where it ended, which is a 2.7 mile run of a nasty incline, then out for about 1.4 miles and back down the 2.7 miles. In 92 degree heat last week, I braved the heat and the incline feeling winded and tired but strong and confident and ran quite well. That gave me so much confidence going into the race yesterday but one week is a lot of time between training and race day and it proved to be that way yesterday.
With little sleep, I felt like I was too lethargic and decided I would take an energy gel on an empty stomach and this is 2 minutes before the start of the race. I started with the first wave of runners and we blasted out and it was on the first climb that I knew I was in trouble. I felt like my stomach was revolting against me and quickly felt nauseous and if you’ve run uphill before then you would know that feeling sick to your stomach is not going to work. Five minutes in, I was walking and no matter what I did, I could not summon the energy and I got passed up by waves of people who were minutes behind me. I watched my goal just fly out the window. When I got to the top of the climb, I tried to rally a bit and push to the downhill and turn around and back up hill. I did what I could and when we got to the 2.7 mile downhill to the end, my watch had 56 minutes and I pushed until I couldn’t push anymore but finished in 1 hour and 13 minutes. I basically smashed 6:30 minute miles to the end and I knew I wouldn’t place in the top 3 but I wasn’t expecting to finish 4th. 4th!!!!! It was like learning that you were one lotto number away from 20 million dollars. It is an accomplishment but my goal fell short and I couldn’t help but think about how different each race and experience is different but you have to know that when you are in the race, you have a choice to fight and push through the most discouraging of times when your body cannot perform and you are miles from finishing.

I walk away from days like yesterday discouraged but then I realize I have plenty to be happy about and I put things in perspective and know that I have plenty of races ahead of me. Beat up, bruised and battered is just temporary. When I get back to my feet and back out there, I have more incentive and a new goal for my next race. This is why I keep lacing up the shoes. The challenges just keep coming!

Runner's Mind

I get little time these days to add to my running blog but I try to hold on to all the things I wanted to put down on paper. I ran my 3rd 5k this month yesterday and it came at the worst time possible. After a crash on my bike last week, I got up the day after in more pain than I expected. My back was so stiff that I couldn’t even bend over to put on my shoes and socks for work. I kept trying to fight through the pain only to make the pain worse but in true fashion, I refused to miss the race yesterday. Call it pride, call it stupidity but I like to say I am just competitive to a fault. I knew it would be a tough morning after I hopped on my bike to ride to Westchester for the race. My back hurt too much to really ride the way I wanted but when I got to the race and I saw all the other runners warming up and sliding into position to show off their running abilities, I got a boost but that only lasted so long. When you haven’t run in over a week, the reality is you just cannot expect to blaze down the course but I held my own for about 2 miles and my body called it quits. I finished 6th in my division and though it is respectable, it doesn’t satisfy my appetite and ego and after the race, it reminds me why I keep running. I seem to still think I can do this thing and I can get better. Sounds crazy but it is what keeps me going.

Running is serious work, especially for someone my size and I hear it all the time. Years ago, I really did not appreciate the older runners who tried to give me advice on training and preparing for races. When you are younger, you just think you can wake up and run and do little to no preparation for races but I have learned that the only way to perform well and to be successful is to be consistent in your approach and the real work happens leading up to the race. Training until you are exhausted, running on the hottest days of the year and just pushing as hard as you can. I was that kid just some years ago telling someone I could run a certain time in a race and they would just laugh at me. Now I realize I was an idiot. I am insulted now when people think I just wake up and run or that running is easy. It’s a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice. That is why it is such a reward. There is nothing better than running a race where it all comes together. You could care less about your time or placing because to have that race where you feel like a million bucks, no problems and you finish strong is priceless.

I believe I have a lot of running life left and I am just scratching the surface and I am looking forward to spending the next three weeks on the trails preparing for a trail race that I have been looking to win my division for the last four years. I know it will not be easy but I am ready to work.

For now I will rest and recover and lace up the shoes for my next adventure.

Lucky Number 12

My last post was on February 27th. I was really in a different space and time because I was feeling the pressure and anxiety as the LA Marathon was approaching. How fast time flies! Seven days after the race, I get a chance to sit and reflect on the race. I guess being sick helps because I have a lot of time to sit here and just do nothing. Can I say my 12th LA Marathon was filled with tons of just anxiety? I think because I knew that my longest run was a miserable 12.5 mile run that left me stuck in my tracks. I was so discouraged after that run that I pondered whether or not I would need to withdraw from the race but I took a few days off and just reloaded and went out for some shorter runs and felt pretty good. I focused so much on what I had not done in terms of miles that it began to dominate my mind along with all these people who were telling me what I could and could not do in the race. I decided to say “wait a minute”. I am the one who has run this race eleven years in a row and I decided to just go into this race with the mindset of one step and one mile at a time.

Any week leading up to a marathon is difficult. You try your best to relax and rest but that is easier said than done. For me, it just happened to be the busiest weeks at work and the fact that you are running a marathon is lost on pretty much everyone at work. It is generally, “Oh, you are running a marathon, that is cool, now keep breaking your back with work”. All I could do is focus on my hydration which is something that gets me each marathon and knowing we were expecting 90 degree weather, I really upped my fluid intake. Walking to the expo from the metro train on Friday I knew the heat would be a problem. I was sweating and I had barely walked about ten minutes. I didn’t linger much at the expo. I grabbed my race packet and got my ass back home. I tried to chill as much as possible on Saturday. You pretty much cut yourself off from the world to try and focus and before you know it, your alarm is going off at 3:00am.

I made so many rookie mistakes for this race that I needed to be slapped. I wore a brand new pair of shoes then tried to park in my usual parking spot in SM without checking the day before so did not know the meters changed and I was forced to park about a half a mile away and walk to the shuttle where I had to stand in line for forty-five minutes. It just seemed like the morning was a disaster. When I finally got to Dodger Stadium, it was 6:15 and they were calling for people to get prepared to line up. I hadn’t got my mind right nor anything else but before I knew it we were off and running and I am not sure I had more than a five minute stretch period. It was insane. When the race started and we began to run, I felt calm and relaxed. I hit the miles and didn’t think about much except taking it easy and hydrating as best as I could. I always have indicators of what kind of day it is going to be and when I hit mile 6, I felt like I was gliding and started to say to myself “stay in the flow and find your zone”. We all worried about the heat but it was nowhere to be found and I knew we were being blessed because had the heat shined down the way it did on Saturday this race would’ve have had a different feel and outcome.

My best time in the marathon was 4:28 back in 2010. I surpassed that performance this year. I did not surpass the performance in time but just the way I felt and the way I executed the race plan I had set out to execute. I had told myself that 12-14 miles would be all that I had in the tank but I blew through those miles feeling like a million bucks. When I ran into my buddy Tendo around mile 16, I was feeling great and in a zone that I did not expect but when that happens, you just ride the wave. There were moments when I felt doubt and fatigue but that really didn’t come until mile 21. Just before mile 21, I saw a little Latino man give someone a can of coke. I needed a can of coke bad. I ran up to him and said to him “senor, tienes uno mas para mi?” and the little man responded si! He ran and got a can of coke for me, then gave me a hug. I thanked him and that moment not only carried me the rest of the race but it just added to why this race and day was special. It was as if everything aligned just right on this one day and my faith in who I am and what I can do rang true. When I crossed the finish line, I gleamed with joy and content that I had just run a perfect race. People will look at my 4:57 time and wonder what I am talking about but you have to be a runner to appreciate what I did.

My longest training run as I mentioned before was 12.5 miles but I realize that how I train where I train is what gave me the strength to go further than the miles that most kill themselves trying to do all year. When I go out for my training runs, I go around noon when it is already warm. I always run with a hydration pack that contains about 2-pounds of water on my back so I voluntarily made my training runs harder and harder. Why? I know that running just to run doesn’t prepare you for the rigors of 26 miles. You have to train in miserable conditions so when the race comes you are not surprised about weather, terrain or anything else. I also knew that the past year I just beat up my legs so I went back to weight training and smashing killer lunges and squat workouts. So when it all comes together on race day, you are blown away and ecstatic! You get one chance to do to this and do this right.

Most important thing in life is to believe in yourself and surround yourself with people who support and love you because that is all that matters!!!

Life is one day and one mile at a time!

Training Wall

A week ago, a Med Student and I were talking about running and how people think that if you are a runner things just seem to flow on each run but if they were runners, they would know just how far from the truth that statement really is. Today, I may have had my worst run ever and with just 15 days from the LA marathon, it couldn’t be more discouraging and what was even more discouraging was I generally have a way of working my way out of bad runs. I am generally terrible at the beginning of all my runs but by the second half, I can pull it together but today felt like I was running the second half of a marathon when things go to shit and you can’t run another step but you keep trying to convince yourself that all you need to do is put one foot in front of the other but today my mind, my body and spirit were not up to it and before I knew it, I was dragging and going slower and slower and my legs were like lead. At one point, I thought I was running with a refrigerator on my back. I stopped probably 7 times to try and get it together but mostly because I needed to and couldn’t run anymore. All my years of running, I never thought I would need to pull out of the Marathon but during my run today, I thought there is no way in hell I can make it through the race feeling the way I did.

Few days ago, I watched the 2014 recap video the Ultra Du Mont Blanc race in Chamonix, France. 103 miles up the alps with elevation gains that could be deadly for the average runner but people do each year. One of those people is Anton Kuprika who is one of the top ultra-runners in the world and after having to pull out of the race in 2013 around mile 70 because of injury, he was attempting to run the race for the second year in a row in 2014. He went out hard the first half and hit a major wall. Anton wasn’t feeling good at all. He couldn’t eat and he was on the verge of calling it quits but he decided to take a nap and when he got up, he felt better and his stomach was settled and he was able to eat some food and before long, he was back up and running and he able to finish the race for the first time. This is a guy that has won hundred mile races before and 20-30 miles are walks in the park for him but on this day, it just was not working but as he put it in the video, he does these races to challenge himself and to see how far he could push it and not necessarily to win.

The reason why I continue to run the LA marathon is because I know I will need to go through hell and at some point I know I will need to challenge myself to go beyond the pain, beyond the exhaustion and beyond my limits. People often question why I would put myself through that but it is such a great feeling when you are in the moment and you are trying to find that unknown factor to get you through that part of the race when you just feel like you can’t take another step but you have 10 miles to go and you have one only one decision in my mind and that is the finish line. How do you do it? It doesn’t matter but you have to finish. You may lose some toenails, you may be severely dehydrated, you may have to run through the worst pain ever but if you cross the finish line, you then know you can accomplish any and everything.

Miles hurt but quitting hurts even more!

This sport can be unkind

While I was out on my so called long run on Saturday, I started thinking about blogging. The first thing that came to mind was just hard this running shit can be. It was 85 plus degrees Saturday and here I was out running at noon time. I stuffed my small hydration pack with a large bottle of half frozen water and I carried another bottle of cold water to pour over my head to try and keep my body cool. You always know the level of heat when you are the only nut job out running and around the places where most runners should be. I struggled from the first five steps until the final steps of the lame ten and a half miles I ran. Why would anyone put themselves through the agony you ask? Sometimes I am not sure but I continue to try and win this battle between runner and all that stands in our way and I have no idea why but each year it has been a struggle to just make it to the starting line of the LA Marathon but somehow I do only to struggle through the race.

Why run in 85 degree heat you ask, I don’t think I had a choice. I was having the best training runs ever through Christmas and just when the New Year hit, the flu hit me. Not much I could do except waive the white flag and just deal with it. 2 weeks of nothing but agony and no exercise or running. When I finally felt like I could walk without my lungs feeling like they were going to collapse, I took off for a run I was away for work up in Monterey. I managed 6.2 miles but it felt like 20.2 but I knew I had to start somewhere and when I was just thinking this would be the climb back up that mileage ladder, I woke up days later feeling like someone or something was trying to tell me that I am not running this marathon. This time around, I didn’t have the flu but I had a small cold that was bad enough to keep me from running another week and a half. It has taken a lot of mental energy to stay positive and focused on what I need to do but I kept telling myself that I have done this race enough times now that I having nothing to fear but one of the bad things about having run this race multiple times is that I am no longer fooled by anything. I know the course, I know the miles, I know the pain I will need to ignore and I know what to expect so for me, the training becomes that much harder.

I began to analyze my strategy and how I plan to succeed without being able to achieve the time and goal I had a few months ago but then I have days like today where I’d planned to rest and do nothing but something told me to lace up the shoes and I did and things just clicked. My legs were a bit tired but I was in a groove and a flow. Sometimes when you are starting back with running after any kind of layoff, the hardest thing to establish is the flow and groove you may have had before which is so important. When I am in a groove, I can just run and feel like I am out there enjoying the run and feeling like I can go as far as I want but for the last few weeks, it has been the opposite. Most of my runs have been tough from the outset. I consider myself a second half runner so I generally suck in the first part of my runs or races but I am able to just fight through that and put it all together but for some reason my last few runs have been pure grit and me just trying to grind it out. That is no way to run and no way to enjoy running at all so I am glad I went out today. This is why this sport is just so damn tough. No run is ever alike. You have many ups and plenty of downs and sometimes it doesn’t work or it is hard and you are just incredibly frustrated and most of all challenged beyond your limits but for me, there is never any doubt or the word quit in my mind.

I am not sure what or how I will do this coming marathon but I know that I will be at the starting line and I will make it to the finish line as always. I am hoping for a little magic in the race to give me that extra boost.

Greatest of All Time

We all reach for inspiration and the motivation to keep lacing up our shoes day in and day out. Since I started running in 2004, I have used my Dad as my inspiration and then along the way I found little things here and there. I have always been a solo runner. I was never really into running in a group. I always felt like I could get it done alone but when I least expected it, I had a runner partner that I call GOAT (greatest of all time). I thought I was a good runner, I thought I was fast, and I thought no one was tougher but GOAT proved me wrong. It started out as just a simple run and it blossomed. I cheered GOAT on at races even if we running different distances, I knew where they were at all times.

When we hit the trails, I just knew I had the edge but GOAT had me pegged. GOAT could climb hills like no other and I could only sit back and watch in shame. Nothing I could do worked. I was challenged day in and day out. I had met my match in the running world. What a combo we were out on the road or on the trail. I had someone who pushed me in every possible way and even though I said I would never team up, I did and I enjoyed it. There came a time when GOAT could no longer run and it left me in a world of confusion. I think in 2012 and 2013, I lost a lot of my edge and I lost my drive and I lost that feeling I once had when I had that running partner who challenged me and who I knew would be out there running either alongside me or somewhere out on the course. I really found myself void of that desire and hunger to run but I kept at it and it was tough. I never gave up on a race but my passion and my performance suffered. I had to finally come to grips that I would have to find a way to get back to running solo like I did for so many years and it was hard.

Most would ask why I am even writing this blog but one, it is my blog and two, when I laced up my shoes today, half of me wanted to just stay home and do nothing. For about two miles I just felt like I was running with a refrigerator on my back. I was tired and I was running in a rut and I had the goal of running 8 miles and I was huffing and puffing like a person who smoked two packs of cigarettes. I thought back to the days of when GOAT ran with me and watching the passion and desire in which they ran with and how they made it look so easy. I remember how I missed those days of having that partner besides me and challenging me each step. I don’t think they really knew how important to me they really were. As I kept running, I got stronger and stronger today and I felt like I wasn’t even running anymore. I just enjoyed being out in the sun and running up and down hills and into and around neighborhoods. I felt strong and energized and I felt like I could go and go. All in all, I cranked out 9 and a half miles when I planned on 8 and early on I really felt like I would be able to get maybe 3 miles or maybe 4.

I am writing this blog more for me. Sometimes I need to look back at what got me to this point but more importantly to thank those who helped me along the way. They will be out there with me each and every day.

Sometimes God hands us gifts from above that changes our lives forever…

My Friend For Miles

Holiday’s always bring back memories. Some good, some bad but nonetheless they are memories and we need memories to remind us what is most important to us like our real friends and our family. I wrote about my friend Rhiannon Meier in 2010. Rhiannon was a great friend and an amazingly spirited person and on December 9th, 2007 she was killed by a drunk driver. I sit here more than 6 years later remembering what an incredible friend Rhiannon was.

When it came to running, I was still a novice if you ask me but around the time I met Rhiannon, things started to click. I was accepted to run the NY marathon in November of that year and Rhiannon was probably more excited about me running the race than I was. She had been toying with the idea of running the LA marathon so I agreed to go running with her which was a huge commitment because I hated getting up early in the morning and Rhiannon wanted to go running at 6am. I had to drive and meet her down in Santa Monica at her place right around Ocean Blvd which just happened to be my favorite spot to run. She was a beginner runner in senses of the word but I didn’t mind. We got a chance to run and talk about her job and we got to know each other better. No one supported me more than Rhiannon. I recall her coming to a 5k of mines and I was so embarrassed. She screamed, shouted and cheered for me as I crossed the finished line and I remember thinking she really is a good friend to get up early and come sit and cheer for someone running a 5k especially since my own family barely came and supported me at anything. When it came time got to NY for the Marathon, Rhiannon insisted on taking me to the airport because she said it was a special occasion and she wanted to see me off. When I look back at all the love and support she gave me and that is something that I truly miss but what I miss more is my friend.

In 2007, Rhiannon started training with the LA leggers so that she could get in a group that ran a comfortable pace for the 2008 LA Marathon. She bugged me over and over to come join her one Saturday with the leggers. I agreed and I remember it being the longest Saturday ever because she was in the 11 minute run group. They ran and walked and that day we were doing 9 miles but sometimes friends sacrifice for friends. Rhiannon always supported me so I did the same. I had never seen her so happy and ready to run the marathon in March. Well, she never got that chance. What that drunk driver took was my friend and a person who lived life each and every day with a smile on her face and she would do anything for you if you asked her to and sometimes when you didn’t ask. My friend isn’t coming back but I always said that I would keep her memory alive by talking about her and remembering her each time I lace up my shoes for the Marathon. I know she is still there cheering me on every mile and at the finish line.

I was never a big cliché person but I do believe people never get the flowers while they can still smell them. If you get the chance to tell someone you love them or care about them, don’t wait because you never know what tomorrow may bring and those who do not understand that, don’t deserve to be in your circle.
Great people only come around once in a lifetime….

Running Season is back!!

I seem to always write about running 5k’s and I am back to talk about it again. Today I was back running a 5k at the Jet to the Jetty 5k down in Playa Del Rey. I ran this race in 2012 and just skipped running in in 2013. The course is a course I have run several times so there is little to the imagination to this course but there has always been a mystery to running the 5k no matter the course or how many you’ve run. Early when I began running ages ago, I just ran the race without thinking too much. Then I came up with all these strategies which really did not work and I got into a habit of trying to run out front with the pack and there was someone in the race where I just burnt out and couldn’t recover and in a 5k, there is little to no time to recover. In 2010, I was running an average 22 minute 5k and I won my division a few times and then I just fell apart. I was doing more trail runs and longer and grittier races and really did little to no speed work so when I did run a 5k, I couldn’t’ get back to the formula that helped me run at my best and my ego was too big to just lay back and run from the back but today, I returned back to my old form. I biked to the race so I would have a nice warm-up which made me conscious of trying to conserve my energy. I felt so relaxed when the race started because I was in the back and ran around the slower people and really I was able to just gauge my tempo and what pace felt good and before I knew it, we were on the turnaround going the long stretch towards miles 2. I saw a guy I had not seen in years and he is an older guy who runs with a shuffle as if he has no knees but he runs at a very consistent pace. I remember never being able to pass the guy in several races until the later part of the race. The guy whos name is Bullet by the way, was up about 20 yards and I resisted the urge to pass him right away. Instead, I decided to lay back and find my groove and before I knew it, I was slowly creeping on him and it wasn’t long before I passed him and once I passed bullet, I passed a few other people. This is a part of the race where there is about a mile and some change left and occasionally I have just slowed and slowed and that is the worst because you end up being caught by all the people you passed up but today, I kept my composure and told myself to just keep pushing and stay smooth. I had one guy to beat and once I got passed him and saw that he had nothing left in the tank, I was home free.

I missed running 22 minutes by 16 seconds but I was more pleased with the fact that I ran the race I had been trying to get back to running. After the race, bullet came up to me and said I looked like I was in a groove and I ran a perfect race. I knew that laying back in the beginning is what helped. I never felt rushed in this race. I felt a bit of fatigue in the end and I knew that came from biking to the race but I will take it. When it all comes together in a race, you don’t worry about the time or anything else. It is about the satisfaction you get from running hard and running to your capabilities. I learned that I had to go back to the beginning to get me back on track.
Coming back to form!

Keep those Legs Turning

I can’t stand to hear my own voice on an answering machine and I generally hate reading things that I wrote but since my running blog is all about my trials and tribulations, I thought it would be go back and read about my serious tribulations at the Malibu Creek 22k race. After reading my post Malibu Creek race blogs, I get that this race has not been to kind to me but I returned today to blog about my race performance at the race this past Saturday on a positive note for a change. Since 2011, it has been no secret that this race has just kicked my ass. There really are no positives at all but this year, I had to stop and think of what was wrong with my running and where was I struggling and I realized that in 2010 and 2011, I was averaging about 14 running events per year. I was in such a great groove, running probably at least a race each month and sometimes two weekends in a row but that production fell in 2012 and 2013 and my overall -running fitness fell and my running times suffered tremendously. I was second guessing myself in every race and lacked the confidence I once had. It is no secret that running is about volume and my volume shrank. I was running maybe 1 day a week and occasionally on the weekends and trust me that just does not work. So this year, I went back the drawing board and challenged myself to get back to running a high volume of races and doing more training days and this past Saturday, I was able to finally finish the Malibu Creek 22k with a smile on my face but it still remains my ultimate challenge so far.

In the last month, I have run about four 5k’s. 3 5k’s in consecutive weekends. People will say 5k is nothing and they are right but in order to excel at higher distances, you need to do speed work and hill work. It is a fact. This is what allowed me to have a lot of success in 2010 and 2011 and I went away from that. It certainly was not easy just jumping back into running 5k’s for time. You just don’t show up and start running a 7 minute mile and in fact I realized I could barely run a 8 minute mile for 3 miles but with work, it was slowly coming back. In a 5k, you have to learn to pace yourself and keep it together for a sustained period of time. Go out too fast in the race and you could be sucking wind for 2 miles but the goal is to know when and where to push it. These things all transfer to running the higher distances. I was not sure how well prepared I would be for Malibu because even though I was building back my speed and endurance, I just had not spent enough time on the trails so what I was banking on was that I had been running a high volume. I had a lot of nerves about the race because 14 miles on a trail no matter where you are is no small feat and at Malibu once you are up at a certain point, you are simply at the mercy of no man’s land.

When the race started, I just stuck with my own pace and three quarters of a mile the first hill arrives and the sun was blasting already and I could tell what type race it would be but I stuck to my plan and took that first hill at a conservative pace and kept it pretty casual. When we hit mile 3, I was feeling a little sluggish but that is all due to not sleeping well the entire week due to heat and mile 3 to 4 starts the Bulldog part of the trail that can send people home in a body bag. The crowd of runners were starting to slow considerably and people who looked like they would be ripping it up were reduced to slow turtle like walkers. I was dripping sweat and felt hot as hell but continued to drink my fluids and pressed and pressed and once we got to the top of Bulldog, I had memories of last year when I started cramping and thinking how am I going to go 8 more miles like this but not this year. I took the downhill to mile 7 feeling calm and relaxed. When we went back up, I was expecting to feel tired but I was feeling inspired and strong and when I hit mile 8 and realized that I was still strong and passing runners left and right, I knew this was a different year.

I embraced trail, I enjoyed the scenery and I allowed myself to enjoy the moment. At mile 10 when the race goes downhill for about 2 miles, I took off like a rocket passing another 15 runners. At one point, I was running with no one in sight and when I took that exit out of the park where you run part of the road with oncoming cars, I felt like this is the race I had hoped for but I knew the uphill at mile 13 was coming. It was here that I was just spent but still in a good place mentally and I gave it what I had and when I crossed that finish line, I thought shit, I didn’t cramp or anything. I had a goal of running 2:30 or 2:40 but finished 2:57 but it really wasn’t about the time. This race was about re-establishing that feeling of knowing that I can power through anything and more importantly I had fun. As I sit here today, a little bruised and tired, I feel like I am about to go on a running tear and I am so energized to get back to doing what I love and that is competing and enjoying life to the fullest!!

Only way to conquer a mountain is to go over the top of it!!

Eleven is 11 in My Book

As I sit here today moving at the pace of a turtle, I get a chance to reflect on the yesterday’s LA Marathon. It easy for me to talk about disappointment and discontent for my finishing time but yesterday morning about an hour about a half from the race start yesterday, I was sitting in the halls of dodger stadium just resting and trying to calm my mind and my nerves and not wanting to be bothered when an older guy sat down next to me with a cup of coffee and a donut. I thought maybe he was there to cheer someone on. He had on the basic of all running shorts, regular t shirt and a hat but I noticed his bib said Legacy Runner. He was one of the 100 or so men and women who have completed all 29 marathons since its inception which a feat that I have been marveled with since learning this group existed.

The legacy runner asked me how many races I had done and when I told him this would be 11th in a row, he remarked how cool it was. As I worried about finish time and running a certain pace, I realize how much this race was about something entirely different. The legacy runner was telling me that a few weeks back he’d fallen and hurt his knee and that he really had not recovered so he was a bit worried about the race but that he would crawl to the finish line if he had to. His goal, was to just finish in a predicted 8 hours because he would be forced to walk at this stage of his life but it was the dedication and the resolve that he represents that reminded me why I am out there and what matters most and that is to enjoy each mile like it is your last because in some senses, you never know what tomorrow brings.

Yesterday’s race was amazing in the first half. We had low temperatures and some cloud cover. Things were turning out better than I’d imagined but I was starting to feel a little fatigued already at mile 9 which let me know this would be a dogfight but I was prepared. When we got to mile 12, it seemed like the earth turned and the sun then blasted through and blast it did. I felt like I was running on the sun and my pace slowed minute by minute. By mile 17, I was spent and I began to walk a bit here and there and when we hit mile 18, I knew the finish was near but still far from it. At that point, I just enjoyed in the fact that I had the opportunity to finish another marathon and how blessed I am to be in this position. The clock reads out what time you finish but none of that matters. What matters most of knowing you left it all out there and you did not give up. I hope and wish the legacy runner I met finished well and I hope one day I will be able to attach the word legacy to my name in some capacity.


Learn to crawl first before you run!!

The Curse of Malibu Creek

My last post was about my addiction to all things running and how I pushed myself to the brink at the Malibu Creek 22k. Well, it seems like Malibu Creek is dominating my life or better yet, it is the race that has cursed me. Why? Well for one, I am back here writing about the same trail again. Tomorrow there will be hundreds lining up to run the Bulldog 50k and 25k at Malibu Creek and instead of being amongst the hundred struggling up the mean climb known as Bulldog, I will be sitting here mad that I can run because of a damn cold that I haven’t been able to shake for a week and most likely due to pushing myself way too hard in order to do well at tomorrow’s race. Guess my plan backfired or maybe the Malibu Creek curse has emerged. I have yet to run a great race at this park and I figured this would be the weekend that it would happen. Only just a few hours ago did I really decide I am backing out of the race even though most of the week I have been completely and utterly kicked in the ass with a fever, stuffed of head, and a chest that feels like a smoke factory. Last night I began to prepare all my gear and then I laid a plan to run the race in stages where I could rest and hike the 15 miles that has normally broke my back but when I got up today and I my calve felt like it cramped up for no reason, I knew it was time to waive the white flag. I thought about what my Grandmother would say if she were alive and it would be “you need to rest” and she would then make me promise her I would and there was nobody I respected more than my Grandmother. So tomorrow I rest but me and Malibu have some unfinished business.

I Need Help for My Addiction

I sit two days removed from the Malibu Creek 22K and I am little worse for wear. My feet are swollen, my calves hurt so bad that I can barely walk without limping. I reflect a bit and realize just how hard I pushed myself at the race. I realize just how lucky I am because in all seriousness I could have had a heat stroke possibly kidney failure from pushing as hard as I did. My hands were swollen after the race and when I got home, I weighed myself and realized I lost 6 pounds. These are all signs of pushing way too hard and now my body is pushing back. Is there ever a time when you have to say enough during a race? There is but I always believed that when I reach that point, I would say F%#* you and just keep on going but on Saturday there were moments in that race that I felt something else and it was a bit of doubt and fear that I may have pushed too much but I still pushed on? That is what separates some of us who are determined to do whatever it takes to run a race and get to the finish line where most don’t see the point and I wouldn’t expect them to from their living room sofa. Running is an addiction like any other addiction. Think about it.

Runner’s run in the rain, 90-100 degree weather, they run in the snow, they run inside on treadmills, they run outside on hills. Runner’s run when they are sick, runner’s run when they are hungover. Runner’s run to run and runner’s run for fun. The worst thing for a runner is to have an injury because they will try to run through it only to make things worse. Why, why, why? Because it is an addiction like those who need that last cigarette, or that last sip of whiskey. You need to have it, you need to do it, no matter the condition, the consequence and when you can’t, you are miserable and unhappy. I have come to grips with the fact that my addiction will someday kill me but at least I will die doing something I love doing and that is competing and enjoying my life.

Running is free but the pain could last a lifetime!

You think you know what hills feel like?

In 2005, I ran my first trail race which was the Malibu Creek 6k. Very few people ran trails back then and my only experience on the trails was a little bit of hiking that felt like a monumental task. When I did the 6k, it seemed like I had just accomplished a something great but about 20 minutes after, the fast runners who had run the 22k race started to cross the finish line. When I saw a guy cross the finish line with only one arm, I realized though the 6k was a tough race, I had done nothing and felt pretty small at that moment yet I still had no real desire to run the 22k. People always say things like “you’ve run a marathon so you should be fine” which shows just how little people know about trails and the extreme difficulty of the race. I decided in 2011 that I could longer just run the 6k at Malibu and that it was time to try the 22k. I guess it was the fear of the unknown that kept from running it but I figured how hard could it really be? I mean after all, I could run 26 miles and 14 miles seems like nothing but I found out in 2011 that this race, this trail, and all its challenges were more than I could have imagined in terms of difficulty and yesterday I lined up again to run this race that had just about took everything I had to just make it 6 miles.

What is the big deal about the Malibu race? One word; Bulldog! Bulldog is the climb at mile 3 of the race that seems like you are running with a piano strapped to your back that is if you can run it. If you manage to make it to the top around mile 5.6 or so then you get some downhill relief to mile 7 until you have to run back up for another mile. This up and down sequence continues until mile 9 where you feel like you can run up no more and thank God because you start an insane downhill run until hitting mile 12 where you exit out of Malibu Creek State park to run along the highway for a minute then enter back into the park. You would think, “cool, if I can just hang on, I will be at the finish in no time”. Sorry, because mile 13 is back up and nasty incline where you need every ounce of strength and energy to just move your legs and feet. When you reach the top, you go back down a series of switchbacks until you reach the roach where you have a nice 4 minute run to the finish.

2011, I sucked, 2012 I was no better, and yesterday may have been my worst performance at the race. I think I was toast about 10 minutes into the climb up Bulldog. You things are bad when you can’t pass people twice your age or better yet, they are passing you. I chatted with this guy Spencer who said it was his first time running the race but he had hike Kilamanjaro but none of that matter yesterday because he was crawling his way up bulldog like everyone else. If the incline wasn’t enough, the sun came out and it felt like it was a 102 degrees. I knew I was in trouble because I was drenched. I lost way too many fluids and I had another two miles until the top. I felt my spirit say this is it. I am not going to make it up this trail today. My legs ached, my back ached, and I just wanted to stop. I kept pushing and pushing and when we hit the top and I began to run downhill, I felt my calve twinge and if you have ever felt that twinge in your muscles then you know that it is only a matter of time before the real cramps start. From mile 6 until the finish line, I cramped up but I just tried to run through it. When we started the crazy run downhill from mile 9 I thought I would be able to make up ground but the cramps kept coming. I ignored them and ran hard but when it was time to run back up before exiting the park, my legs locked and I looked like Frankenstein running from a mob. When I eventually crossed the finish line, I could care less about time, medals, or anything. I just wanted a beer and off to the beer garden I went where there were an assortment of runners chilling and relaxing and equally sharing their war stories from the race.

I left this race once again just humbled and understanding that I have a ton of work to do. I came to the race hoping to knock off 30 minutes form my previous time but I ended up adding to my time. Trails are work and to be successful on the trails you have to put in the time and you have to want to run the hills. It is the only way to get better. I have a long way to go but I am up to the challenge.

Back to the drawing board.

10 Times LA Equals a Decade of Running

It is all over. I completed my tenth consecutive LA Marathon and I think I am ready to run number 11. I knew I was ill prepared for this marathon because I had only trained for it from the beginning of February to just three weeks ago. That is barely enough time to train for a half marathon but there was no reason to panic. I have run the race 9 times so why did I seem so nervous and apprehensive the week leading up to the race? It may have been because I spent more time trying to figure out what costume or disguise to run the race in, when I should have been focusing on a running strategy. I also made one of the biggest mistakes before the race in going up to Mt. Wilson just three weeks beforehand and I ran as hard as hard as I could downhill killing my quads to a point where they hurt worse than when I have completed a marathon. I did my best to combat the pain but my legs remained sore for days. I had no options except to rest and ice and hope for the best on the day of the race and that is what I did.
The day of the Marathon I felt like it was just another day. I got up, headed to Santa Monica to board the shuttle to Dodger Stadium and just sat back for the ride. When we got to Dodger Stadium, I found a spot at the opposite entrance so I could just sit and relax and not be bothered. There are several types of people who run this race. There are those who are out there for the social aspect whereas I like to just zone out to myself. This is the first time the time just seem to speed on by and before I knew it, the race was starting. I was experiencing a stomach pain like no other and I couldn’t tell if it was nerves or consuming way too many fluids but one thing I knew was that it wasn’t going away. I took my time and got ready because I knew I had time with that many runners and we had timing chips so it really didn’t matter when I got to the start line. I think I was also trying to keep my running outfit a secret all the way up to the start and that is a good thing because as soon as I took off the jacket, a photographer came up to me asking me to pose for a photo. I learned a lesson and that is Superman is more popular than Batman, at least on that day. I have never garnished so much fan support from the start of the race until the finish.
Something was different about this race. I have run this course at least 4 times and for some reason it just seemed like I couldn’t remember anything about the course. I was just out there. I was running in my own world and at my own pace but my stomach continued to plague me. I felt sick to my stomach and really could not drink enough fluids so I knew that could come back to bite me but I just pushed on. I normally just take off and start running at a faster pace so I could make up time but on this day, I just figured I would enjoy myself and soak up the atmosphere. This was number 10! A decade of running and I wanted to enjoy every minute of it. The highlight of the day was seeing my friend Caryn out on the course cheering me on as she said she would. I ran as hard as I could to honor her and her battle with cancer and the struggles that comes along with it. Her drive and will kept me driving my legs all the way to finish in superman fashion.
I sit 5 days removed from the race and I cannot believe how good I feel. I have never felt this good physically and mentally and I feel like I could lace up the shoes and go out for a run right now but for once I am going to take it easy and enjoy in the accomplishment of completing a decade of running and continuing my marathon streak to 10 in a row!!!
LA IS BEST EVEN WITH THE STRESS