In one of my blogs I spoke about my encounter with a woman who broke down after her 5k performance and how she put a huge amount of pressure on herself because she’d done well in her first three 5k events. She expected to go out and do well in each event and when she didn’t, her mood and her confidence were completely shattered. I talked about getting back to just going out there and just run and to forget the times but I seem to be better at giving advice than taking it.
After writing that blog, I got trapped in the same syndrome of having a few races that I expected to do well in but I came up short of my expectations and instead of letting it go and moving on, I focused on my bad performances and sure enough, it carried into my next race. The week after the Keep LA running where I had the encounter with that woman, I was scheduled to do a duathlon but for those who read my previous blog about my swimming nightmare experience know that I dropped out of the swimming portion of the race and decided to do the non-competitive 5k race but of course I expected to still do well given my performance in the 5k the week performance. This would be the easy race that I could go out, run a an easy 22 or 21 minutes but it did not work out that way. I was miserable that entire race. I ran 23:07, which was one minute slower than the time I got in the 5k the week before. I then ran the Filipinotown 5k, which has a killer course where the last mile and a half is uphill. I expected to run well regardless and I bonked big time grabbing another 23 minutes and some change.
Upset and frustrated, I tried to figure out what was going wrong. Was it my training, the lack of training, or over-training? Then I realized. I’d been putting so much pressure on myself to go out and run these events and perform well and if I didn’t, I considered the event a complete failure. I forgot about going out there and just having fun and stop worrying about the time. I too got caught up in thinking about when and where was the next 5k so I could sign up and try to redeem my previous bad performance when I should have been trying to focus on the good things I did and try to focus on how to improve and get back to running an all around better race.
I took a week off from running and just relaxed and when I went out for my first run, I realized one of things I got away from was running. For the last six to seven months, I’d been focusing clearly on cross training; bike riding, stairs, hiking, and swimming. All good things but one thing that is important in running, is the running. I was running less and cross training more and when the running events came along, I expected to just go out and run well but I did not have the same burst and efficiency that I did before. I remember an article in Runner’s World titled “shut up and run” and that’s what I did.
I went out a week ago and ran the Jet to the Jetty 5k and ran 22:11 and grabbed second place in my division. I didn’t expect to win my division and I really did not focus on achieving a certain time. I was super excited and stoked to pick up a medal to and hear my name being called out. Ironically, I ran the Jet to the Jetty last year and came in 3rd in my age division so I actually improved.
It’s easy to get yourself in a rut but getting out can be difficult. I just had to remember to get back to the basics and remember the reasons why I run and that is to enjoy it and to have as much fun as possible. With that formula you cannot lose.
Runner’s can be as complex as complex carbs but we keep going back for more…
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Learn Your Limits Master Jones
In batman begins, Alfred tells Bruce Wayne “know your limits master Wayne” to which Bruce Wayne responds “batman has no limits”. Alfred’s response: “but you do”
I use this reference because I’ve always believed that there are no limits to the things I could do but on Tuesday, I learned a valuable lesson.
In May, after finishing up the Malibu Creek trail run, my friend Dave mentioned his next event would be a duathlon the playa del rey, which consisted of a 1000-meter swim and a 5k run. I said I would certainly be interested in doing it because swimming was my first love and I felt like it was a breeze for me. Well, I completely forgot that the event was approaching and Dave reminded me last week that it was coming up on the 18th. In my mind, I was ready. What’s a 1000-meter swim to me anyway? As I recall, I told one of my friends that I could do that in my sleep. What I did not factor in was the 2-year drought I have had from swimming because jumping in the pool at Bally’s in vegas does not count.
On Monday, I decided to refresh my memory of just how long a 1000-meters was and realized this was not a distance to be taken lightly especially considering the swim would be in the ocean. So my plan was to hit the pool everyday this week to so by the time Sunday got here, I’d be finely tuned for the race. I bought a new pair of goggles on Monday and planned to hit the pool Tuesday at 6am. I got up at 5:30 Tuesday, hopped on my bike and rode down to the Culver City pool. I thought I’d be the only one at the pool but to my surprise there were about 8 people who beat me to the punch. I got out to the pool and of course I seem to be the only person out there in regular shorts. Speedos have become the suit of choice now but that did not faze me. Looking unsure and confused, I didn’t know which end to go to or which lane to hop in but I spotted the slow lane sign and hopped in.
There was only one guy swimming in the lane so I waited for him to get down to the other end before I started my lap. I went out strong and felt a little rusty and a little stiff but felt like I had my old stroke back but then something profound happen. I hit the halfway mark and noticed I was already a bit winded. This couldn’t be. As I hit I got down to the other end and hit the wall, I turned to go back and already felt like I had swam 4 laps. It was at this point I knew I was in trouble. I got to the wall where I originally started and stopped. I took my goggles off, looked at my watch, looked around and noticed the lifeguard who was a man of at least 60 years of age was looking in my direction. Now I felt the pressure to perform. I put my goggles back on and took a deep breath and off I went again. No sooner as I hit the middle of the pool, my arms were on fire as if I had lifted weights for six hours. My pace began to slow considerably and I began to realize that my long hiatus from the pool was starting to show big time. I made it to the wall breathing hard, and all dazed and confused. I looked up and the old man at the lifeguard stand was looking straight down at me again. I realized the old man probably thought he was going to have to come in to save me.
I tried to summon the courage and show some grit so I started off on another lap and now I was barely able to even make it to the wall. I was falling at least 2 feet short of the wall on each lap. I had to play it off by looking at my watch as if I was timing my laps. As I glared down at the other end, I saw a torpedo looking black guy preparing to jump into my lane but he seemed to waiting watch me and get a glimpse of skills or shall I say lack there of. I figured I had to show some heart so I began to swim back down. At this point my arms were like noodles. I was gulping water, swimming wildly through the lane but I made it and stopped.
Mr. Torpedo as I call him, greeted me, tightened his goggles and jumped in and was smoothly off in the water. He looked like a tri-athlete, which I thought I was but quickly realized at that moment I was simply a runner and none of that mattered in the water.
I figured I would push for at least two more laps but when I made it down to the other end I just felt deflated. So deflated I decided to swim my next lap with a backstroke all the way down to the other end. When I pushed off the wall, I was smooth and felt like I was gliding but I glanced to glance to the right and saw I was barely half way through the lap. I was so tired that I stopped mid lap and being the middle was about 9 feet deep, I had to keep swimming so I turned around and swam conventionally, which once again prompted the look of concern or maybe it was the look of shame from the old man on the lifeguard stand. Either way, I was done.
My arms were so tired I could barely pull myself up out of the water. I quickly changed and rode back home in disgust. I had to come to grips that if I attempted to swim on Sunday at the duathlon, they could be pulling me in with a jet ski or I would drown trying to complete the swim. My ego still planned to go to the race and swim no matter what but I finally realized that I do have a limit and my experience at the pool Tuesday morning proved that so I made a very difficult decision to pull out of the swim but I would still be able to run in a separate 5k event.
I have to thank the old man on the lifeguard stand at the pool because his glares down at me has given me the fuel I needed to motivate myself to get back to actually training in the pool regularly and setting an attainable goal of doing the Malibu duathlon in September or the Los Angeles Triathlon in October.
I have been humbled but my will remains strong.
I use this reference because I’ve always believed that there are no limits to the things I could do but on Tuesday, I learned a valuable lesson.
In May, after finishing up the Malibu Creek trail run, my friend Dave mentioned his next event would be a duathlon the playa del rey, which consisted of a 1000-meter swim and a 5k run. I said I would certainly be interested in doing it because swimming was my first love and I felt like it was a breeze for me. Well, I completely forgot that the event was approaching and Dave reminded me last week that it was coming up on the 18th. In my mind, I was ready. What’s a 1000-meter swim to me anyway? As I recall, I told one of my friends that I could do that in my sleep. What I did not factor in was the 2-year drought I have had from swimming because jumping in the pool at Bally’s in vegas does not count.
On Monday, I decided to refresh my memory of just how long a 1000-meters was and realized this was not a distance to be taken lightly especially considering the swim would be in the ocean. So my plan was to hit the pool everyday this week to so by the time Sunday got here, I’d be finely tuned for the race. I bought a new pair of goggles on Monday and planned to hit the pool Tuesday at 6am. I got up at 5:30 Tuesday, hopped on my bike and rode down to the Culver City pool. I thought I’d be the only one at the pool but to my surprise there were about 8 people who beat me to the punch. I got out to the pool and of course I seem to be the only person out there in regular shorts. Speedos have become the suit of choice now but that did not faze me. Looking unsure and confused, I didn’t know which end to go to or which lane to hop in but I spotted the slow lane sign and hopped in.
There was only one guy swimming in the lane so I waited for him to get down to the other end before I started my lap. I went out strong and felt a little rusty and a little stiff but felt like I had my old stroke back but then something profound happen. I hit the halfway mark and noticed I was already a bit winded. This couldn’t be. As I hit I got down to the other end and hit the wall, I turned to go back and already felt like I had swam 4 laps. It was at this point I knew I was in trouble. I got to the wall where I originally started and stopped. I took my goggles off, looked at my watch, looked around and noticed the lifeguard who was a man of at least 60 years of age was looking in my direction. Now I felt the pressure to perform. I put my goggles back on and took a deep breath and off I went again. No sooner as I hit the middle of the pool, my arms were on fire as if I had lifted weights for six hours. My pace began to slow considerably and I began to realize that my long hiatus from the pool was starting to show big time. I made it to the wall breathing hard, and all dazed and confused. I looked up and the old man at the lifeguard stand was looking straight down at me again. I realized the old man probably thought he was going to have to come in to save me.
I tried to summon the courage and show some grit so I started off on another lap and now I was barely able to even make it to the wall. I was falling at least 2 feet short of the wall on each lap. I had to play it off by looking at my watch as if I was timing my laps. As I glared down at the other end, I saw a torpedo looking black guy preparing to jump into my lane but he seemed to waiting watch me and get a glimpse of skills or shall I say lack there of. I figured I had to show some heart so I began to swim back down. At this point my arms were like noodles. I was gulping water, swimming wildly through the lane but I made it and stopped.
Mr. Torpedo as I call him, greeted me, tightened his goggles and jumped in and was smoothly off in the water. He looked like a tri-athlete, which I thought I was but quickly realized at that moment I was simply a runner and none of that mattered in the water.
I figured I would push for at least two more laps but when I made it down to the other end I just felt deflated. So deflated I decided to swim my next lap with a backstroke all the way down to the other end. When I pushed off the wall, I was smooth and felt like I was gliding but I glanced to glance to the right and saw I was barely half way through the lap. I was so tired that I stopped mid lap and being the middle was about 9 feet deep, I had to keep swimming so I turned around and swam conventionally, which once again prompted the look of concern or maybe it was the look of shame from the old man on the lifeguard stand. Either way, I was done.
My arms were so tired I could barely pull myself up out of the water. I quickly changed and rode back home in disgust. I had to come to grips that if I attempted to swim on Sunday at the duathlon, they could be pulling me in with a jet ski or I would drown trying to complete the swim. My ego still planned to go to the race and swim no matter what but I finally realized that I do have a limit and my experience at the pool Tuesday morning proved that so I made a very difficult decision to pull out of the swim but I would still be able to run in a separate 5k event.
I have to thank the old man on the lifeguard stand at the pool because his glares down at me has given me the fuel I needed to motivate myself to get back to actually training in the pool regularly and setting an attainable goal of doing the Malibu duathlon in September or the Los Angeles Triathlon in October.
I have been humbled but my will remains strong.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Take the Good with the Bad
How do you deal with a bad performance? This is a topic I will keep covering over and over again.
Since 2004, I’ve averaged about fourteen different running events a year ranging from 5k to the grueling 26.2 marathon. My goal in the beginning was to accomplish running the LA marathon and after an embarrassing and painful debut in 2004, I felt compelled to start from scratch and run smaller events. To my surprise, I sucked at every distance. I thought that shear athleticism would equal fast times but quickly realized athleticism alone would not be enough. There were several races I ran where someone twenty or thirty years older than me would go zooming pass me and it was completely deflating. After running various events in 2004 and experiencing the highs and lows after various performances, my goal for 2005 was simply to improve my overall time, performance, and to build a better running foundation.
2005, I registered for all the same running events and I found success but not in every race and not by huge margins. I expected to jump from running a 5:59 in my first marathon to 4 hours in my second but I was only able to manage a 5:44. The year after, I clocked in 4:56, and the year after that 4:44. I quickly realized that improving my time would not come as quick as I wanted it. I had to learn to be patient and understand that you have to patient and realistic. At some point, I became obsessed with trying to improve and trying to run the next race no matter what it was just so I could yield a faster time but over training and little time off, led to injury after injury and my performances began to suffer. Sometimes you experience burnout when you don’t even realize it. You need to take some time of, relax, and try to get back to running for the enjoyment.
At today’s Keep LA running 5k in Playa Del Rey, I share some advice with a runner and I tried to build her spirit back up after what she considered to be a horrible performance. Her name was Catherine. I saw her warming up 30 minutes before the race and she looked focused and ready. When the gun went off, everyone shout out of the starting chute. Around the 2-mile mark, I could see her up ahead and her body language did not look good. Before I got to her, I saw Catherine stop. I kept going and after the race, I asked her what happened. She just broke into tears.
She fell apart around mile 2 and just did not have anything left in the tank and psychologically it broke her down. I told her she ran strong and she finished with a respectable time but she had such high expectations. Her previous two 5k’s she came in 3rd in her division. She put so much pressure on herself that the outcome fell short of what she hoped to accomplish but I pointed out to her that this 5k brought out all the fastest runners and though you expect to run well, sometimes other factors come up but you cannot continue to hang your head otherwise your performances will continue to suffer.
Considering it was her 3rd or 4th 5k, she has a lot to learn about improving finishing times as well as how to run the 5k to an exact science. She went out with the front of the pack, which was a six- minute pace. She went from 6 minutes at mile one to 8 minutes for the 2nd mile. A huge drop off because her normal comfort level was 7:30.
She was still gloomy but I was glad she was smiling when she walked away.
To some, this running thing is serious. I wouldn’t be writing these blogs if I didn’t think it was.
As long as you run with passion, the time really doesn’t matter.
Since 2004, I’ve averaged about fourteen different running events a year ranging from 5k to the grueling 26.2 marathon. My goal in the beginning was to accomplish running the LA marathon and after an embarrassing and painful debut in 2004, I felt compelled to start from scratch and run smaller events. To my surprise, I sucked at every distance. I thought that shear athleticism would equal fast times but quickly realized athleticism alone would not be enough. There were several races I ran where someone twenty or thirty years older than me would go zooming pass me and it was completely deflating. After running various events in 2004 and experiencing the highs and lows after various performances, my goal for 2005 was simply to improve my overall time, performance, and to build a better running foundation.
2005, I registered for all the same running events and I found success but not in every race and not by huge margins. I expected to jump from running a 5:59 in my first marathon to 4 hours in my second but I was only able to manage a 5:44. The year after, I clocked in 4:56, and the year after that 4:44. I quickly realized that improving my time would not come as quick as I wanted it. I had to learn to be patient and understand that you have to patient and realistic. At some point, I became obsessed with trying to improve and trying to run the next race no matter what it was just so I could yield a faster time but over training and little time off, led to injury after injury and my performances began to suffer. Sometimes you experience burnout when you don’t even realize it. You need to take some time of, relax, and try to get back to running for the enjoyment.
At today’s Keep LA running 5k in Playa Del Rey, I share some advice with a runner and I tried to build her spirit back up after what she considered to be a horrible performance. Her name was Catherine. I saw her warming up 30 minutes before the race and she looked focused and ready. When the gun went off, everyone shout out of the starting chute. Around the 2-mile mark, I could see her up ahead and her body language did not look good. Before I got to her, I saw Catherine stop. I kept going and after the race, I asked her what happened. She just broke into tears.
She fell apart around mile 2 and just did not have anything left in the tank and psychologically it broke her down. I told her she ran strong and she finished with a respectable time but she had such high expectations. Her previous two 5k’s she came in 3rd in her division. She put so much pressure on herself that the outcome fell short of what she hoped to accomplish but I pointed out to her that this 5k brought out all the fastest runners and though you expect to run well, sometimes other factors come up but you cannot continue to hang your head otherwise your performances will continue to suffer.
Considering it was her 3rd or 4th 5k, she has a lot to learn about improving finishing times as well as how to run the 5k to an exact science. She went out with the front of the pack, which was a six- minute pace. She went from 6 minutes at mile one to 8 minutes for the 2nd mile. A huge drop off because her normal comfort level was 7:30.
She was still gloomy but I was glad she was smiling when she walked away.
To some, this running thing is serious. I wouldn’t be writing these blogs if I didn’t think it was.
As long as you run with passion, the time really doesn’t matter.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Smile now, Run Better
We’ve all had bad days here and there. The key is to try to find some positives you can use to make the next day a better one. The same principle applies to running, especially when it comes to your performance in a running event. Bad performances can dampen your mood, shake your confidence, and just simply ruin your week.
Every runner has experienced some level of disappointment with one or several of their race performances. They key is not to be discouraged by a bad performance. We have to learn to not only get back to running again but to take something away from our bad performances, otherwise you continue to have continuous bad performances.
For non runners, it is this state of confusion when you explain to them your disappointment in a race time or your overall performance during a race. To them, it is no big deal but to you, you have put in time, effort, planning and commitment, all with the hopes of accomplishing a goal, which is to do well. If you’ve run some of the same events multiple times, your goal may be to break your previous years time or just to simply have a good solid race. When you have a bad race, take a few days and do something else, then go back to trying to figure what you did right and what you can do to improve on for the next time. The one thing about running is there’s always room for improvement.
A running event is a special and unique thing. You really cannot simulate the same type of atmosphere during training runs and the thing about the event is that you get that one time and that day to get it right or you have to wait until the next year or move onto another event and hope to fix what you did wrong. You have to have a short memory because you should never go into your next event with thoughts or concerns about your last performance. Each race gives you a chance to erase the bad performance you had from the previous one but you can also look at as a chance to build on the previous performance whether it was good or bad. The game plan is to change your mindset. I beat myself up a lot over performances when in fact, I may have done better by a minute or three but I think it is the reason I continue to run. I always feel like there’s a need to improve and I always feel like I can get better.
In May, I ran 3 races, 3 weekends in a row. Each a race I’d previously run before and though I felt a little dismayed by my performance, I sat down and realized I improved my finishing time in each race so I learned to ease up on myself. It is not always about competing. Sometimes you just have to go out there and have fun.
Trust your ability not your shoes!!!
Every runner has experienced some level of disappointment with one or several of their race performances. They key is not to be discouraged by a bad performance. We have to learn to not only get back to running again but to take something away from our bad performances, otherwise you continue to have continuous bad performances.
For non runners, it is this state of confusion when you explain to them your disappointment in a race time or your overall performance during a race. To them, it is no big deal but to you, you have put in time, effort, planning and commitment, all with the hopes of accomplishing a goal, which is to do well. If you’ve run some of the same events multiple times, your goal may be to break your previous years time or just to simply have a good solid race. When you have a bad race, take a few days and do something else, then go back to trying to figure what you did right and what you can do to improve on for the next time. The one thing about running is there’s always room for improvement.
A running event is a special and unique thing. You really cannot simulate the same type of atmosphere during training runs and the thing about the event is that you get that one time and that day to get it right or you have to wait until the next year or move onto another event and hope to fix what you did wrong. You have to have a short memory because you should never go into your next event with thoughts or concerns about your last performance. Each race gives you a chance to erase the bad performance you had from the previous one but you can also look at as a chance to build on the previous performance whether it was good or bad. The game plan is to change your mindset. I beat myself up a lot over performances when in fact, I may have done better by a minute or three but I think it is the reason I continue to run. I always feel like there’s a need to improve and I always feel like I can get better.
In May, I ran 3 races, 3 weekends in a row. Each a race I’d previously run before and though I felt a little dismayed by my performance, I sat down and realized I improved my finishing time in each race so I learned to ease up on myself. It is not always about competing. Sometimes you just have to go out there and have fun.
Trust your ability not your shoes!!!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What about the Boston Marathon?
When you first start out running, your goal can be to just get in shape or to try something new. There are thousands of us out there who had running a marathon as a goal. That goal then shifted from running a marathon to running a faster time in the marathon then running one of the five most talked about marathons; Boston, NY, Chicago, London, and Berlin. I argue that the NY Marathon is the best but there are those who say Boston remains the best and most prestigious. Boston is in fact the oldest marathon in the country and it’s well known as one of the hardest to get into because of its crazy qualifying times. So far in my short running career, I have run the LA marathon seven times and the NY Marathon once and people keep asking me about Boston. I really have no desire to run Boston and I’ve never felt compelled or even challenged to try to qualify. My blog today is about another race that comes in as the 2nd oldest race in the country and that is the Palos Verdes Marathon and Half Marathon. This is a race that no one talks about but I feel that it deserves to be talked about because of its long history and challenging course.
I wondered how a race that has been going for 45 years remains a small but consistent running event and after 2 years of running the half marathon, I realized why. It is so damn hard!
I registered to run the Palos Verdes half marathon in May 2008; I was unfamiliar with the location of the race, so as I approached what I believed the starting area, I parked and decided to follow a guy who looked to be running towards the start. I ended up losing the guy and had no idea where the start was and I was already ten minutes late so I made a judgment call and hopped in the car and went back home. So when May of 2009 rolled around, I was prepared to be early and ready to run the race. This time around, I found the start and I quickly found out that I was not ready for this race. I had been off from running for about 3 months because of a nagging back injury but I needed to get ready for the LA marathon that would be on memorial day for the 1st time ever. Why I chose the palos verdes half marathon as a comeback race made no sense.
All I knew was that the race was known as the rolling hills marathon and half marathon and that is exactly what it was. I started off great but who doesn’t. A mile and a half into the race this guy I know, shouts out to me, “here comes the hill I was telling you about”. I was none to enthused because it wasn’t a hill, it was a mountain. That hill killed me. I stopped a quarter of the way up and had to walk. When I finally reached the top, I struggled to regain any kind of rhythm but soon after my misery, I realized we were steadily running downhill and for the next four miles, I went flying downhill. It quickly hit me as we approached mile 6 that we would be looping and going back up the hill I just shot down and my confidence was shattered. For six miles, I battled the incline but it got the best of me. I walked in shame then ran in pain. I managed to suck it up the last 2 miles but as I dashed towards the finish line I cramped up and barely made it one minute shy of 2 hours.
I vowed to return and run Palos Verdes again in 2010 to get some redemption for my previous performance. Well this past Saturday, I returned to the race and a bit of nostalgia kicked in from the start of race as well as my stomach which seemed to have its own fireworks show going on inside of it. I knew this would only add to the difficulty of completing a race that slapped in the face the year before but I am a true runner and I take the bad with the good so I sucked it up. I anticipated the giant hill a mile and half in and just like last year, I ran it thinking I could conquer it but my legs and stomach said please stop and walk and that’s just what I did. I knew that I had miles of downhill coming so I paced myself and when the downhill came, I ran it like a bat out of hell. I began to get into a groove and did my best to ignore my stomach as it cramped and growled but as we began to go uphill towards the turn around at mile 6, I spotted a porta pottie and had no choice but to stop and relieve the pressures in my lower intestine. You get the point.
After the turn around it was the uphill battle that I so despised. I ran then stopped. Ran then stopped. I certainly was not the only one. This is where I began to realize this was a race that consumed any and everyone who ran it. Every person running looked drenched from head to toe. I had witnessed at least four or five people who had horrible falls including an older woman who suffered terrible bruising to her face. I saw more ambulances going up and down than runners. It was at this point that I realized I would just do my best and not worry about my finishing time. I pushed from mile 9 until the end of the race and finished in 1:56 and I was exhausted. My running shirt, shorts, and hat were soaked. I looked like someone dumped a Gatorade bucket on top of me. Runners all around acknowledged one another with head nods and some came up to me to congratulate me on a great run. Runners at this race understood one thing, and that was, it is not about your time, it was about surviving and finishing the race.
I now realize why there are only 1100 runners in this half marathon. People usually sign up for events where they can get a PR or there’s some gimmick that comes along with the race; well I believe the people who run this race, run it because like Boston, it is prestigious as well. Its known to kick your ass!
Keep running Alive!
I wondered how a race that has been going for 45 years remains a small but consistent running event and after 2 years of running the half marathon, I realized why. It is so damn hard!
I registered to run the Palos Verdes half marathon in May 2008; I was unfamiliar with the location of the race, so as I approached what I believed the starting area, I parked and decided to follow a guy who looked to be running towards the start. I ended up losing the guy and had no idea where the start was and I was already ten minutes late so I made a judgment call and hopped in the car and went back home. So when May of 2009 rolled around, I was prepared to be early and ready to run the race. This time around, I found the start and I quickly found out that I was not ready for this race. I had been off from running for about 3 months because of a nagging back injury but I needed to get ready for the LA marathon that would be on memorial day for the 1st time ever. Why I chose the palos verdes half marathon as a comeback race made no sense.
All I knew was that the race was known as the rolling hills marathon and half marathon and that is exactly what it was. I started off great but who doesn’t. A mile and a half into the race this guy I know, shouts out to me, “here comes the hill I was telling you about”. I was none to enthused because it wasn’t a hill, it was a mountain. That hill killed me. I stopped a quarter of the way up and had to walk. When I finally reached the top, I struggled to regain any kind of rhythm but soon after my misery, I realized we were steadily running downhill and for the next four miles, I went flying downhill. It quickly hit me as we approached mile 6 that we would be looping and going back up the hill I just shot down and my confidence was shattered. For six miles, I battled the incline but it got the best of me. I walked in shame then ran in pain. I managed to suck it up the last 2 miles but as I dashed towards the finish line I cramped up and barely made it one minute shy of 2 hours.
I vowed to return and run Palos Verdes again in 2010 to get some redemption for my previous performance. Well this past Saturday, I returned to the race and a bit of nostalgia kicked in from the start of race as well as my stomach which seemed to have its own fireworks show going on inside of it. I knew this would only add to the difficulty of completing a race that slapped in the face the year before but I am a true runner and I take the bad with the good so I sucked it up. I anticipated the giant hill a mile and half in and just like last year, I ran it thinking I could conquer it but my legs and stomach said please stop and walk and that’s just what I did. I knew that I had miles of downhill coming so I paced myself and when the downhill came, I ran it like a bat out of hell. I began to get into a groove and did my best to ignore my stomach as it cramped and growled but as we began to go uphill towards the turn around at mile 6, I spotted a porta pottie and had no choice but to stop and relieve the pressures in my lower intestine. You get the point.
After the turn around it was the uphill battle that I so despised. I ran then stopped. Ran then stopped. I certainly was not the only one. This is where I began to realize this was a race that consumed any and everyone who ran it. Every person running looked drenched from head to toe. I had witnessed at least four or five people who had horrible falls including an older woman who suffered terrible bruising to her face. I saw more ambulances going up and down than runners. It was at this point that I realized I would just do my best and not worry about my finishing time. I pushed from mile 9 until the end of the race and finished in 1:56 and I was exhausted. My running shirt, shorts, and hat were soaked. I looked like someone dumped a Gatorade bucket on top of me. Runners all around acknowledged one another with head nods and some came up to me to congratulate me on a great run. Runners at this race understood one thing, and that was, it is not about your time, it was about surviving and finishing the race.
I now realize why there are only 1100 runners in this half marathon. People usually sign up for events where they can get a PR or there’s some gimmick that comes along with the race; well I believe the people who run this race, run it because like Boston, it is prestigious as well. Its known to kick your ass!
Keep running Alive!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
I Eat Hills For Breakfast
There are those who run right pass hills and any challenging terrain, then they get into running events with a hill that resembles an anthill and they fall to pieces. After crawling up any hill, they’re unable to recover. In fact, that usually becomes the talk of most; how there were too many hills. If you plan to be a successful runner, then avoiding hills is not the answer. Hill running is vital to the success for building endurance as well as building a solid foundation.
I’ll be honest, hill running hurts and here’s the good part, everyone suffers on hills. Why, because hills are unpredictable and they make it hard to get into a good steady rhythm. Most runners attack hills the wrong way. I remember thinking I had to run all out when I got to a hill but as soon as I got to the top, I had zero energy left and all I could do was place my hands on my knees and beg for an oxygen tank. Hill running should be done in moderation. Expecting to be able to run from zero elevation to 375 feet with ease in a day or two just will not happen.
The idea is moderation, not exasperation. Start by running slow and try to keep a steady pace. The idea is to build your endurance. Depending on the incline of the hill you may find that you have to stop and walk. In the beginning, making it to the top of whatever hill you are running should be your goal, not how fast you can run the hill or how you look when you get to the top. After making it to the top, take a deep breath then walk down because that give you time to catch your breath and recover. It’s also easier on your knees to walk down instead of running downhill. People talk about running downhill and loving it. If you value your shins, and quadriceps, you’ll walk. Try to mix philosophies by sprinting up hills from time to time. The variations of training styles help activate different muscle groups, which is something that is very hard to do while running on flat surfaces.
Once you’ve worked up a good hill training regiment, you should begin to see results when you return to running on flat surfaces. Hills build toughness and character and increase your endurance like you would not believe. So many runners talk about being stuck in a rut in terms of their finishing times in their 5k, 10k, half marathon, or marathon. If you’re seeing little to no results, then look at your routine and make some changes.
Hills don’t bite, but your lack of hard training will…..
I’ll be honest, hill running hurts and here’s the good part, everyone suffers on hills. Why, because hills are unpredictable and they make it hard to get into a good steady rhythm. Most runners attack hills the wrong way. I remember thinking I had to run all out when I got to a hill but as soon as I got to the top, I had zero energy left and all I could do was place my hands on my knees and beg for an oxygen tank. Hill running should be done in moderation. Expecting to be able to run from zero elevation to 375 feet with ease in a day or two just will not happen.
The idea is moderation, not exasperation. Start by running slow and try to keep a steady pace. The idea is to build your endurance. Depending on the incline of the hill you may find that you have to stop and walk. In the beginning, making it to the top of whatever hill you are running should be your goal, not how fast you can run the hill or how you look when you get to the top. After making it to the top, take a deep breath then walk down because that give you time to catch your breath and recover. It’s also easier on your knees to walk down instead of running downhill. People talk about running downhill and loving it. If you value your shins, and quadriceps, you’ll walk. Try to mix philosophies by sprinting up hills from time to time. The variations of training styles help activate different muscle groups, which is something that is very hard to do while running on flat surfaces.
Once you’ve worked up a good hill training regiment, you should begin to see results when you return to running on flat surfaces. Hills build toughness and character and increase your endurance like you would not believe. So many runners talk about being stuck in a rut in terms of their finishing times in their 5k, 10k, half marathon, or marathon. If you’re seeing little to no results, then look at your routine and make some changes.
Hills don’t bite, but your lack of hard training will…..
Monday, April 19, 2010
Back to the pavement
After a short break from my blog, I am back.
The LA Marathon was awesome. I grabbed my new PR which was a time of 4 hours of 28 minutes. I was stoked considering I spent the week leading up to the marathon complaining about my legs feeling sluggish and my calves and shins felt as if I’d already run a marathon. I may be a veteran of 8 marathons but no one escapes the nerves and the phantom pains which seem to get me each year but once the race day was here, I knew I had two just go out there and run and that’s what I did.
It was a new course, which was challenging from the start as we started out running up an unpleasant incline around dodger stadium, then down and then up again and out of dodger stadium. I knew this would be a battle the whole way. I never really got into rhythm the first six miles and it was starting to look like I would struggle to even make it to mile 10 but around mile 8, I just let it go and turned it up a notch. I stopped at stage where some women were singing and I danced with one of them. I was starting to really relax and just enjoy the race.
When I got into the groove, it seemed like I was gliding out there. I didn’t feel any pain or fatigue. I was simply in the flow of the race. The miles seem to just fly by. I bumped into several friends running throughout the race and that made the race seem like a regular day in the park. It’s always hard to describe the feeling when you’re out there amongst twenty-five thousand people running and striving towards one goal and that’s the finish line. As I crossed miles 13 and 14, I knew I was all but there but not quite. I was feeling so good and running so fast, I wondered how long I could keep it up and we hit miles 19 and 20 my legs let me know, they had enough and it would be on me to push through the road block the rest of the way. It was a struggle from miles 21 to 26 but I was so excited about the possibility of completing another LA marathon that I didn’t care at all about the time but in the end, it was a victory all the way around. It’s one thing to finish the marathon but depending on what fashion you finish the race can carry over for month to come.
So what now? Well my blog was not just about the LA marathon it’s about my running in general. The marathon is really just the kick-off for the rest of my year. I’ve had my break now it’s back to training and dropping down to the 5k ranks which in my opinion is the hardest race to run, not in terms of the miles but the time. It has taken me over five year’s to get my 5k time down to 21 minutes and that’s still a heart pounding, on the verge of cardiac arrest 21 minutes. I don’t intend on settling there. It’s never an easy transition from training to run 26 miles down to 3 miles at a frantic pace but I love the distance and the challenge. My first race since the marathon was yesterday at the Hermosa Beach 5000, which is a race where all the speed demons come out to show their 5k skills. This is a race where 47 year olds are running 6:30 minute miles or better. I managed a disappointing 22 min and 30 seconds but I’ll be happy with it for now. Back to the training zone to reach my goal of 19 minutes.
Spring is here, there are a lot of upcoming 5 and 10k’s around Los Angeles. If you are looking to get back into shape, then this is a good first step.
Run with purpose!
The LA Marathon was awesome. I grabbed my new PR which was a time of 4 hours of 28 minutes. I was stoked considering I spent the week leading up to the marathon complaining about my legs feeling sluggish and my calves and shins felt as if I’d already run a marathon. I may be a veteran of 8 marathons but no one escapes the nerves and the phantom pains which seem to get me each year but once the race day was here, I knew I had two just go out there and run and that’s what I did.
It was a new course, which was challenging from the start as we started out running up an unpleasant incline around dodger stadium, then down and then up again and out of dodger stadium. I knew this would be a battle the whole way. I never really got into rhythm the first six miles and it was starting to look like I would struggle to even make it to mile 10 but around mile 8, I just let it go and turned it up a notch. I stopped at stage where some women were singing and I danced with one of them. I was starting to really relax and just enjoy the race.
When I got into the groove, it seemed like I was gliding out there. I didn’t feel any pain or fatigue. I was simply in the flow of the race. The miles seem to just fly by. I bumped into several friends running throughout the race and that made the race seem like a regular day in the park. It’s always hard to describe the feeling when you’re out there amongst twenty-five thousand people running and striving towards one goal and that’s the finish line. As I crossed miles 13 and 14, I knew I was all but there but not quite. I was feeling so good and running so fast, I wondered how long I could keep it up and we hit miles 19 and 20 my legs let me know, they had enough and it would be on me to push through the road block the rest of the way. It was a struggle from miles 21 to 26 but I was so excited about the possibility of completing another LA marathon that I didn’t care at all about the time but in the end, it was a victory all the way around. It’s one thing to finish the marathon but depending on what fashion you finish the race can carry over for month to come.
So what now? Well my blog was not just about the LA marathon it’s about my running in general. The marathon is really just the kick-off for the rest of my year. I’ve had my break now it’s back to training and dropping down to the 5k ranks which in my opinion is the hardest race to run, not in terms of the miles but the time. It has taken me over five year’s to get my 5k time down to 21 minutes and that’s still a heart pounding, on the verge of cardiac arrest 21 minutes. I don’t intend on settling there. It’s never an easy transition from training to run 26 miles down to 3 miles at a frantic pace but I love the distance and the challenge. My first race since the marathon was yesterday at the Hermosa Beach 5000, which is a race where all the speed demons come out to show their 5k skills. This is a race where 47 year olds are running 6:30 minute miles or better. I managed a disappointing 22 min and 30 seconds but I’ll be happy with it for now. Back to the training zone to reach my goal of 19 minutes.
Spring is here, there are a lot of upcoming 5 and 10k’s around Los Angeles. If you are looking to get back into shape, then this is a good first step.
Run with purpose!
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