You Can’t Win Everytime…

This weekend was, errrr, eventful. I was supposed to run 13 miles on Saturday, 6 on Sunday, and rowed 4 yesterday. Here is how things ended up:

Saturday – Woke up around 4:30 with a bit of a stomach problem. Details would be TMI. Suffice it to say I would have been trotting from bush to bush. I decided to live and play another day.

Sunday morning – Plan was to get out for Saturday’s 13 miler. Tried burning the candle at both ends Saturday night. Took my kids to see George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic at House of Blues (great venue to see a concert). George was his normal self and played for three and a half hours.

Didn’t get out of the place and back home until 1:30. In the morning. Getting up early on Sunday didn’t happen. Started on my last blog post while having AM coffee. Had a difficult time stringing more than three coherent words together. The day draws on.

Sunday afternoon – Got the blog post published in the early afternoon. Find out that the wife and I were home alone for the evening. Decided it was time for a night out on the town. 13 miles ain’t happening. Decided to take Penny up on her invitation to join her at the Laguna Hills Half Marathon on Monday. Drive to the Laguna Hills Mall and sign up. Get the last large shirt. Out of goody bags.

Monday morning – Up at 5:30 AM for a 7 AM start. Problem – was out until 2:30 AM. Threw on some running gear and bolted out the door. Picked up normal pre-race breakfast (apple fritter, coffee) and ambled down the freeway. Get parked, changed, and situated in time to meet Yas and the Bean, and Penny before the race. Run into Lisa near the start line. Decide that a 2:10 would be a good goal time. (Kind of late to be thinking Half Marathon goal?) Remind myself that I’m here to do a thirteen miler. Not to set a PR. I am not peaked for a Half.

Monday 6:45 AM – Get in the start chute with 6,000 other runners. I see bandits. Guess if the organizers aren’t giving away shirts and goody bags there’s no reason to pay right? Hmm. Oh well.

Monday 7:00 AM – Starting gun sounds. Typical 6,000 runner race. I started by the 9:00 pace marker. Immediately run into walkers. Guess it must be a language barrier.

Monday 7:30 AM – Feeling good. I pass the 5K point. Make a potty stop at the porta potties. I’m feeling strong and not really working that hard.

Monday 8:00 AM – Pass through the 10K point. 1:01:20. Feeling good. Sweating profusely. Time for an Endurolyte fix. One problem though. 5:30 AM through everything together haphazardly. Must have thought I was running a 5K. No fuel. No electrolytes. Hmmmmm.

Monday 8:10 AM – Still feeling okay. We’re on a piece of trail where runners are going both directions. I’m on the lookout for those I know that are running (I Love Steaks, Wadiasoft, Rad Runner, a bunch of Cal Coasters) Lisa passes me going the other direction. She’s looking strong. We wave at each other. She yells some words of encouragement. I grunt.

Monday 8:15 AM – Getting close to the turnaround. I see Rad Runner heading back up toward the finish. She’s heads down and all business. Twitter friend Christina (biblio_phile) gives me a low 5.

Monday 8:19 AM - Get to the turnaround. 8 miles in. 5 miles to go. All uphill.

Monday 8:25 AM – Penny is looking good. Looks like she’s on track to a new PR.

Monday 8:35 AM – 9.5 miles Starting to feel some fatigue. Sure would be nice to have an electrolyte fix! What was I thinking (or not thinking) this morning? This is a freaking half marathon! Slow down to a walk to crest a hill.

Monday 8:45 AM – Okay. Officially in some trouble here. Just past 10 mile mark. I think Keith Moon has been resurrected to play drums on my calves. I look down and see the Alien trying to break out of my right calf. Have to stop and release the cramp. Shuffle in to the 10.6 mile aid station. Grab three or four cups of gleukos. Looks like water. Tastes decent. But too little too late to save the day. Up to this point, I was on a 2:0x finish pace. Now it’s hang on and try to make the 2:10.

Monday 9:05 AM – 20 minutes since the aid station. I’ve made it 1.1 miles. That’s 3 miles per hour. If I do more than walk, my calves start cramping. Now, my attempt at jogging results in lower ab cramps. Time to throw in the towel and enjoy the weather and scenery. What did I say on Saturday? Live to play another day?

Monday 9:40 AM – Finish line. I’ve walked (yes folks – walked) two miles. Muster what I can to appear to be running across the finish line. These will not be pretty race photos. I don’t think I’m even going to look when they are released.

Monday 9:45 AM – Make it to the recovery area. Crap! Nothing left except water and Myoplex? Bananas – gone. Oranges – gone. Recovery drink – gone. No bagels or anything to use to replenish carbs. Hey organizers – there are still a ton of runners and walkers on the course! You’re going to leave them all high and dry! WTF?

Monday 10:00 AM – Assess the damage. Sore legs. Sore back. Sore abs. Unofficial finish time 2:40:57 (Garmin time). What went wrong? I took my stoopid pills. No water belt. No fuel. No Endurolytes. No training. Race plan at 6:50AM. What was I thinking? It just goes to show – you can fool a 5K or a 10K. But this 13 mile thing is a little more serious. I got *exactly* what I planned for.

Monday 10:30 AM – This is more like it!

Lisa, Penny, Yas (and the bean) and me enjoying the post race shade.

That Was Much Better

After Thursday's little debacle, I was hesitant heading out for another semi long run. I was also worried that my run was coming at the end of another long day. I couldn't even get out of the house until 6:15, and didn't get underway until about 6:45 PM. The weatherman (yeah I know - sexist term - but this way we can blame a guy) had forecast cloudy and cool temps. And while it was cooler than it had been during the week, it was still in the upper 70's when I got started. This run was shaping up to be a repeat of my Thursday night cramp fest.

Rather than tempt fate by doing another around the Back Bay run, I headed up the San Diego Creek trail. I started out a little slower than Thursday, and before I knew it (well, actually not) 13 miles was done and over with.

Final stats for this run - 13 miles in a ssssslllllloooowww 11:01 pace. Heart rate at 78% of max. I'm starting to get concerned about a couple of things here. First off, I am running at the same pace and same heart rate as when I started this whole training business 13 weeks ago. I wish I could say I was feeling more fit, or getting faster, or something. But I'm not. And what has me most concerned is there's some burn out at work. I need a race, but it's not race season here in Southern California. America's Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego is in a week, but that has been sold out now for several weeks. There are some 5Ks here and there, but what I really need is a 10K or something like that to let me air things out and see where I stand in a race situation. Not only would that give me a checkpoint to see some of the benefits of my training, but would also give me a little mental break. Well, I guess it's time to HTFU, put my head down and keep my feet moving.

Good luck Rock n' Rollers!

As I sit here writing, the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon is in full swing! The runners should be enjoying the heavy and deep marine layer today. In fact, it's drizzling outside here as I write. That bodes well for some of by blogging buddies running today (Chic Runner, Magazine Smiles, Rookie on the Run, I Love Steaks, On Your Left). Also, a bunch of my Tweeps, and a bunch of others from Runner's World Forums are running. Best of luck to all of you! I'm hoping that I have a ton of race reports to read this coming week!

Speaking of a deep marine layer - I used that to my full benefit yesterday to put in the 13 miles on my plan. I slept in a little and got out the door late, but with May Gray in full swing, I was pretty sure the sun was not going to be making an appearance until Noon at the earliest. I headed up the San Diego Creek trail at a slow comfortable pace.

In my search for new trails and routes, I figured something out last week. The San Diego Creek trail that I run on a regular basis is actually a route used by a couple of organized trail systems. One is the San Diego Creek trail, which I usually follow. This trail provides a 20 mile round trip through Irvine from our Saturday morning start point at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach.

I found out this week though, the Mountains to the Sea Trail uses some of the same route. This trail splits away from the San Diego Creek trail six miles from my start point and heads north into the hills. According to the trail's description, there's an additional 16 miles of trail (one way) from where it leaves the San Diego Creek trail. Yesterday, I poked my head up that trail by going about three quarters a mile on it. Looks like I will have something new to check out as my runs get longer over the next few weeks!
Final stats for yesterday - 13 miles at a nice easy pace of 10:27 with an average heart rate of 75% of max. On the schedule for today - 4 recovery miles.

P.S. - My running buddy Charlie Prokop (remember him from my last half marathon?) just passed the 21 mile point in 2:22. That's a 6:49 pace. Wow! A fifty something year old running at that pace. Makes me tired just thinking about it!