Time to Get Caught Up

It seems like this is an ongoing theme of mine. Getting caught up. I spend a weekend getting caught up on my reading, only to fall waaayy far behind by the middle of the week. To all my loyal readers – thanks for remaining loyal. And thanks for putting up with the once a week comment floods!

Speaking of getting caught up, it’s time to get back to running. I took Monday and Tuesday off after Sunday’s race, and then even with all the good intentions last night, had to postpone that run as well. So, this will be another short week of running. I’m hoping I can hit somewhere around 30 miles or so after last week’s 33.5.

• Thursday: 7 easy miles.
• Friday: 3 easy miles. Resistance workout consisting of three sets each: Single leg squat, oblique bridge, lying draw-in w/ hip flexion, quadruped; Two sets each: Single Leg Squat Jump
• Saturday: 14 long miles
• Sunday: 7 miles at race pace. Resistance workout consisting of three sets each: Single leg squat, oblique bridge, lying draw-in w/ hip flexion, quadruped; Two sets each: Single Leg Squat Jump
• Total: 31 miles

This weekend’s running will be interesting as my youngest son will be graduating from High School (congratulations Kyle!) So we have Friday night Baccalaureate, Saturday Commencement, and early Sunday AM pickup from Grad night. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze a few hours of running in. Heaven knows my waistline needs it.

Now That That’s Done…

(This is part 2 of my report covering this past weekend at the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. Click here for part 1.)

So there I was. Standing outside the trolley stop. Dripping wet from the humidity. I’m sure I must have smelled a hard seven mile effort too. It was time for me to head off to wherever I could to cheer on my relay teammates and others that I knew were doing this marathon, unlike me, in an unwimpy way. In a minute or two, the trolley came rolling up and I was off.

In the light rail car, I realized why San Diego must welcome the Rock ‘n Roll with open arms. It was 8:00 AM on a Sunday morning. Standing room only. I can only imagine the coffers of the hotels and restaurants around town.

I hopped off the trolley and recognized that I was near the half way point of the marathon. Penny had mentioned that she was going to set up near the half point on Friar’s Road, so my next adventure was walking down a few hundred feet to where Penny and Yas had set up. Penny had her signs out, Yas and the Bean were enjoying the (now) sunny and pleasant weather, and even Velcro was getting into the swing of things: 

Penny had picked the perfect spot for spectating. I saw soooo many of my fellow blog/twitter friends as the waves of humanity crested the rolling hills that make up this part of the course.

First, Bob had finished his relay leg and came walking up to say hi. Way to get into the spirit of Rock ‘n Roll Bob!

I got to yell at I Love Steaks (Emil) as he went running past. Next up was my niece, still looking strong at mile 14:

We saw Kimberly looking strong:

I ran (yes – Slomohusky - ran) about a quarter mile with Slomohusky, who was all smiles despite having trouble on the big hill on the freeway a few miles back. Then came someone who I hadn’t been able to find in the start – RunningLaur! She was all smiles when Penny told her that she had some Nuun in her bag of tricks!

I bid Penny, Yas, The Bean and Velcro adieu so I could make my way to the finish. I was hoping to catch the MsV as she ran the final leg of our team into the finish. I walked back to the trolley stop and boarded a shuttle to the finish line.  I had planned on running some circles over by the finish to help out any of my fellow runners who might be lagging in the late stages of the race, but believe me – at this point *maybe* half a mile. I set up just beyond the 26 mile marker.

First person I saw was Tea Time. She was hauling ass! I pulled in next to her and ran (no jogging for that girl!) with her. She just kept on repeating “I’m dying! I’m dying!” All while clipping along at an 8:30 pace. I tried to lift her spirits and ran her right up to the 26 mile marker, uttered something about how she had less than a lap around a track left and sent her on her way (her final finish time – 4:00 – outstanding!)

Next up was Wadiasoft. Like Tea Time he kept repeating the mantra. “Man – I’m dying! It’s so hot!” When I mentioned a picture though, he managed to crack a smile. I wish I could look this good at mile 26! Obviously all his training and weight loss was paying off!

Then MsV came running down the trail doing Team Twitterati justice! Way to represent the final leg Linda! In her normal fashion, she had picked up a straggler along the way (read her story here) and was running him into the finish. I ambled up next to her and we ran into the finish chute.

There must have been something on the course that had infected the runners, because next up was my niece repeating over and over “I’m dying! I’m dying!” I ran her into the finish chute and sent her on her way for her inaugural 4:41 marathon! Woo hoo!

Finally, Ms V and I found Alicia and ran her into the finish chute to cap her first marathon in less than  five and a half hours. And despite what she kept repeating the last half mile – she never did stop and walk. Congrats Ali!

And then, just like that, another marathon weekend was done. Except for the lines on the shuttles and trolleys. But I’ve already talked about that.

Postscript – I wanted to thank all of my fellow runners who allowed me to bug and photo them during the race. These blogs posts would be meaningless without all of you. Also, I wanted to say hi to everyone I knew who was at the expo and race that I wasn’t able to cross paths with, especially Irene (see you at Shelter Island?), and Adam (sorry I couldn’t make it up another 3 or 4 corrals!)

Next up for me – a couple weeks of training (again) and then the Billy Goat Half Marathon Hill Climb on June 19th. Six and a half miles and 2400 feet up, then six and a half miles and 2400 feet down. As the Race Director says - “It ain’t but one hill!”

A Marathon the Easy Way

So after yesterday’s cathartic session, I am ready to give you all an upbeat step by step on how to enjoy a Marathon – the easy way. Leave it to me to figure that out!

The journey actually starts on Saturday. My original plan was to ride the train from OC to San Diego on Saturday for the expo, and then drive early Sunday morning for the race. But, if there is one thing L.A. is *not* known for – it’s our public transportation network. Sure enough – when I went to buy a ticket Friday night, there was a “Service Alert”! No trains on the weekend due to track maintenance. So I punted late Friday night and ended up booking a room in San Diego for Saturday night. I was lucky enough to find one with a shuttle to/from the race. I was set!

My day began on Sunday with my 4AM wake up call. I packed up my room and made it out to the 4:45 AM shuttle. Fifteen minutes later we were at the start line.

The first thing that struck me was the humanity stuffed into the northwest corner of Balboa Park. This was going to make my most important task of the day very daunting – finding my blogging and twitter pals. Yikes!

 

But, it wasn’t long before I heard the sounds that akaAlice had told me to listen for – the coach on the bullhorn. I wandered in that direction and score! Heffers!

It was shortly after that the highlight of my day occurred. San Diego’s history is steeped in the military. There is a large Navy/Marine presence in the city, and we were honored with the USMC marching band to kick things off:

I was hoping to make it to the 3:30 pace group to meet Adam, but the crowds were just not moving forward, and time was getting tight. Sorry Adam!

By this time, there were about 30 minutes to the start of our little run. Time to make it down the corral line and find some people I had been dying to meet! First stop – corral 9 for Tea Time and her sister!

Then corral 20. All the way from Kansas. Hannah! I hope Southern California treated you well!

Next was corral 34 to meet up with Slomohusky. Great seeing you again Slomo! By this point it was time to get back to my starting corral. As a relay participant, I was free to choose whichever corral I wanted, but I decided to move into corral 19 to give my niece and her friend a few last minute pointers before their first marathon.

Then, it was time for the National Anthem, followed by the “buzz”:

And then we were off. Another start. Another marathon! Well. Not really. It took us around 15 minutes to make it over the start line. But soon enough we were running.

I was lucky enough to have pulled the straw to run the first leg of the relay. It was overcast and in the mid 60’s but INCREDIBLY humid as we headed around the neighborhood and into Balboa Park. I dove into the first water station at mile 2 and grabbed some liquids. Soon enough we were in Balboa Park and on some of the new, realigned course. I need to say this – this part of the course was AWESOME!!!

From Casa del Prado’s distinctive Moorish architecture, to the statue of El Cid:

And past the Spreckles’ Organ (too bad Phantom of the Opera wasn’t playing when we ran past!):

On a side note, the more I run, the more I realize what a small community this is. I ran into a gentleman who I saw at Laguna Hills the weekend before. He is making an attempt to run 50 half marathons by the age of 50. San Diego was #29. He was looking real strong at mile 4!

Soon, we were leaving Balboa Park and back into downtown San Diego:

Next stop was Petco Park in the Gaslamp Quarter, the home of the San Diego Padres at Mile 5:

 

Then, we made our way through the streets of the Gaslamp and down to Seaport Village and the U.S. Naval Reservation past mile 6. At this point I was starting to hurt. I thought that my leg was around 7 miles in length so I had sped up at mile 5. We were on  a short out and back along the harbor when I realized the transition point was *not* at mile 7. In fact, it was nowhere to be seen. Thank goodness about that time Allison came bounding up! She was all smiles and provided a huge lift for me. She had come out from Atlanta to enjoy San Diego with Team in Training. We first met at Surf City, and will be meeting again for the San Francisco Half. Thanks Allison!

I pulled it together and rounded a corner to head back into downtown. My Garmin was saying 7.5 miles. Then – there it was. Runners standing around with nothing to do. That could only mean one thing – TRANSITION ZONE!!!!

And just like that, my race was over! Woo hoo! Speedy Sasquatch released!

Final stats: 7.6 miles in 1:10. Splits:

• Mile 1: 9:09
• Mile 2: 9:33
• Mile 3: 9:31 (Miles 2 and 3 - I kept having to slow down as I ran into the back of waves that had started before me).
• Mile 4: 9:25
• Mile 5: 8:41
• Mile 6: 9:43 (Photo stop at Petco! Have I told you I’m a baseball fan?)
• Mile 7: 9:27
• Mile 7.6: 6:06 (9:28 pace)

I gathered my wits and went off to wander the streets of San Diego. Before I left though, I plastered a high five to my niece as she passed the relay transition! Woo hoo! Go Patricia!

Up tomorrow – time to turn into a spectator and cheerleader.