Race Report - Bumble Bee 5K (& Balloon Parade!)

Background

Haven't done a lot outside of work and run since my last race. I did run the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Half Marathon w/ Alanna, to both help her PR and have an excuse to go to Vegas. One thing new to the training of late is the addtion of weight training. Now, just by looking at me you could probably tell that I'm no stranger to the weight room, but this was a bit different and felt more tedious than anything else. With that said and with months between my last race effort, I was getting ansy to run. Bumble Bee 5k fit in nicely.

Pre-Race

The parking situation downtown would've sucked if you were going there strictly for the parade, but as I was racing as well it made for a good warm-up. I lined up near the front as this race was not chip timed. I was actually surprised with how small the event was, but at least that made it easier to line up. Chatted with fellow Track Club/JT clients while waiting for the gun. Also noticed a stroller to my right...this could get interesting.

Race

I think the announcer actually said 'ready. set. go!' Within 3 seconds I had past the start line. Within 10 seconds I was getting up to speed. Within 15 seconds a runner had fallen, presumably trying to pass slower runners OR being passed by faster runners. My cat-like reflexes kept me safe from danger and things thinned out significantly within a minute. The race headed south along harbor drive.

"This is fast," I thought to myself for the first mile when I looked at my watch. 6:45 through 1 mile. This was fast. The second mile started in front of the San Diego Convention Center, a slight dip in the road that lead to the Center's underground parking proved to be the only hill. 'This is still fast, Ryan' (yes I refer to myself by my first name; we're homies like that). 6:50 as we wrapped around the Center making our way back north along the water of the embarcadero. At this point of the race is about when I started rationalizing my effort vs. expected results to myself. 'Hey Ry (I get real informal when I want something), you know if you slow down a tad, you'll still PR.' 75% of the time, I listen 100% of the time. That wasn't the case here. I'm not sure what happened, but I kept pushing. My vision became blurred and all I could see were the feet of the old man behind me. While I slowed, the effort did not decrease. 7:12. I'll take it. W/ a tenth left I could see the finish line. A straight shot along the the embarcadero w/ the U.S.S. Midway in the background. Go. With the wife and child cheering me on, I finished 29 seconds later, a time of 21:18 per my watch (I was used to the chip time, so I didn't start it until I crossed the start line. Official times to come).

Post - Race

That was all I had today. Might not seem fast to many, but for me it's my best and my best by over 95 seconds. I started running races into the 7 minute / mile range in 2008 and have been waiting since then for this, my first sub 7 minute race (6:51 per my watch). I'm quite excited about it and am about to celebrate w/ several drinks and good friends. I've had a rough year and am glad to finish on a high note w/ my family at the finish.

Random

Lol just looking through my photobucket.

My favorite thing at the moment

My favorite thing at the moment is my Nike (RED) shoe lace bracelet. Hand braided by my cousin, Joy. Enhanced with a ROAD ID given to me by my sister-in-law and Fam. And made even more special by it's message; not the "Enjoy the Journey!" part, but that my wife and kid are the two most important people in my life.

Ps - Don't ever take me up on the offer to smell this thing. I run w/ it.

finding a new balance

a couple months ago my friend got really excited about running. he joined a running group and got excited about owning his first official pair of 'running shoes'. Road Runner Sports is a great resource for new runners...that's where i went (years ago). Anyway, my friend (let's call him jason) was excited to report back that he got fitted with some Asics Kayanos. Nice, i thought. That's the shoe I've been running with for the last 4 years. Then i thought some more. Heavier runners need more cushion in their shoe. with jason outweighing me by 75 lbs, it was clear i was running with too much shoe. with this information and two fresh new pairs of kayanos to run through each step in the runs to follow felt labored, weighed down. Were the shoes i've trusted through 4 years and over a dozen pairs holding me down? prob not significantly, but when i arrived to movin shoes and told them i've been running w/ Kayanos they gave me a wtf are your crazy face and validated my too much shoe theory. awesome.

I went w/ new balance 870s with the help of an old dude and a cat (see below (old dude not pictured(neither are the NB 870s))).

Under pressure (insert vanilla ice mash up here)

There's been a lot of pressure that I've put on myself as well as from outside sources lately. It's resulted in making running not so fun anymore. I like running with my friends and even though I know I can't do that daily if I want to stay on pace for my own goals, it's nice b/c the more people the greater chance of smiling faces at the end of the run.

(granted, this is pre-run)

letter

wow - it's been so long since i've posted that it took me a minute to remember my url. below is the fundraising letter i sent out earlier this year when I rode 100 miles in the ADA's tour de cure. Wondering if I should do it again in 2011...

You can stop diabetes (I know, I've seen it)
by Ryan P. Espiritu on Monday, 01 March 2010 at 17:11

Dear Friends and Family of the year 2010,

I am writing to you from the year 2020. I know you all must have a million questions for me and what the future has in store for us, but without disrupting the space/time continuum too much, here are a few answers:

-The Chula Vista Chargers are currently 10-time defending Super Bowl Champions; having won an unprecedented 193 games in a row (not including pre-season).

-Hover boards and self lacing Nikes are all the rage; Back to the Future 2 had it right all along.

-Jared admits to an eating disorder losing his endorsement with Subway; he is currently sponsored by McDonalds.

-The television network ABC has dissolved after the season finale of the hit show Lost revealed that the entire series was a dream Jack had while napping on his flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. Fans are still pissed.

-The winning Mega Lotto numbers for July 17, 2010 are 5 – 12 – 34 – 39 – 47 – 18. Don't get too excited, however, the $158 Million jack pot is split among 600,000 'winners'.

-Yes, Kelly Clarkson is still amazing and has single-handedly achieved world peace.

-The lives of more than 23.6 million Americans who suffer from diabetes, in the hope that future generations can live in a world without this disease, have improved – thanks to you.


On April 17, 2010, Past-Ryan will be joining thousands of other riders in Tour de Cure to support the American Diabetes Association. By making a donation on his behalf, you will be supporting the Association's research effort while also helping fund programs and advocacy.

His goal is to raise at least $1,000. Help Past-Ryan err…I mean me…errr… him or US reach our goal by supporting this year's Tour de Cure. Please follow the link to his personal Web Page below to make a secure, 100% tax deductible donation.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. It is a disease that has deadly serious consequences, and there is no cure. In 2007, the total estimated cost of diabetes in the United States was $174 billion, which includes indirect costs resulting from increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, disease-related unemployment disability, and loss of productive capacity due to early mortality. You can help me help the American Diabetes Association by making a donation.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Tour de Cure. I appreciate your support for this worthy cause.

Together we can stop diabetes.

Sincerely,

Future Ryan P. Espiritu

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC551018030?px=5671932&pg=personal&fr_id=6800&et=WorxOAyYEfPjWL1X1st_zQ..&s_tafId=345346

Click here to view the team page for KRAWCZAK
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC551018030?team_id=448959&pg=team&fr_id=6800&et=e-oU1VwsGRuSirdcDCUx0w..&s_tafId=345346

If you no longer wish to receive email messages sent from your friends on behalf of this organization, please click here or paste this URL into your browser: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TellFriendOpt?action=optout&toe=6780a20e8b1f03859298192c8ba984de174d5c9fa14c5eff

2010 Long Beach Marathon

Background

At the beginning of the year, I didn't say to myself "I think I'll run 3 Marathons this year" or "900 running miles + 800+ cycling miles and hours of cross training sound like a good idea." But on Sunday that's exactly where I found myself, toeing the line for my 3rd 26.2 race in less than 4 months.

Pre-Race
After my last pre-race run, a quick 4 hours in the office, a quick carbo load, the fam packed up the Rav-4 and headed up north towards long beach w/o stowaway, Nana. Within a couple hours we arrived at the expo. Here's some pics:

**stop**

So I don't have the energy to finish this race report. I'm tired. I've been working a lot. I've been dealing with other issues and in the few days following my marathon I had to respond "shitty" at least 2 dozen times when asked "How'd it go?" To clarify, it went shitty. Can I chalk it up to a 'bad day'? Maybe. Does that make it any easier to swallow? absolutely not. I did everything I was supposed to do and by mile 12 I knew my race was going to be far from something to blog about.

Just after the half marathon point, the 4 hour pace group caught me. really? REALLY?! 2 hours and 30 minutes later I finished at just over 4:30. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

With that my half marathon/ marathon season is over for 2010. I could rush into another winter marathon, but my legs were clearly fatigued. I need a break. I had run a lot this year. A promising start in Huntington led to disappointment after disappointment with a glimpse of 'yeah, that was cool'. Next half marathon is Carlsbad.

I know I sound bitter, but it's not all race related. I've been working a lot and my hearts not been into much of anything lately. I'll be back to blogging more frequently when I have the time.

my

If all is going well, I should be passing the 20 mile marker at the time I've scheduled this post to post.

The first ten miles of the marathon, I would have run with my head. Knowing my my abilities as well as my limitations; conservation is key for these miles.

The second ten miles I would have run with my legs. I've done the work. I've logged the miles. I am physically capable.

The next 10k or 6.2 miles is where I've struggled. They say you're supposed to run these with your heart. But what's that mean exactly? Throughout my life, women have influenced who I am today (makes a lot of sense now, huh?). My heart is with them. My last 10k is for them.

mile 21 - my Lola, my grandmother on my dad's side, basically raised me.
fed me. bathed me. and even wiped my butt when I would scream 'a lee na ku
besa'. I love my Lola. I miss her much.

mile 22 - my mother. she's worked so hard for me to have the opportunity to
succeed. I hope she's proud of me. I love my Mom.

mile 23 - my sister. her obsession w/ late 80s / early 90s boy bands has
clearly molded my current taste in music. in spite of that, i still love her.

mile 24 & 25 - my wife. for the last 13 years she's been there for me
when I failed. she makes me want to succeed. be better than I am. I
love my wife.

mile 26 & 26.2 - my daughter. I could write all day about this little
girl. she is my heart. I love my daughter.

Things could go wrong and I might not reach my goal. But if i run 6.2 strong miles in the end, I will consider it a success.

The 101010 weekly run down

I wonder if people in the 11th century were as stoked on this date in the year 1010 and if so, how did they express their excitement w/o facebook? hmmmm.

Anyway, this week I've found that work is hard, life is hard and training is really the only thing I know how to do.

With a heavy week of all the above, I actually looked forward to my Saturday workouts: a 1:40 run followed by a 40 min run (book ending 7 hours of work). I treated the 1st run as a dress rehearsal. from the time I woke up, to the socks, this training runs would be essentially done at race pace (zone 2). from la jolla to mission beach was the plan and i got there quite comfortably. the way back was a bit of a disappointment as i couldn't keep my HR down. while the overall run was evenly paced, it took a tad more effort to keep up the last five miles than i would have liked/expected. I could just be tired or maybe I don't really know how to train either...

...

Balanced

I wear a few things on my right wrist:

(from left to right)

- A pink silly band in the shape of a pig. why? a) cuz I'm silly (ck my non running related blog at gotsilly.blogspot.com) and #2 - my daughter was born in 2007. The year of the pig according to the Chinese calendar. Ni hao, bitches.

- A green silly band in the shape of a turtle. why? because it's a reminder to me. while not necessarily slow, but pacing myself early on is key to a successful race. We all know who won in the race between the tortoise and the hare.

- a white Power Balance Band. why? cuz i think it has magic powers. actually no, i don't. it replaced my livestrong bracelet that zoey decided to play hide and let's never seek with. I wear it, as a matter of fact, for balance. my left wrist is the home of my Garmin Forerunner 310xt. I'd run in counter clockwise circles if i didn't offset the weight of that thing.

Update (3 weeks later)

Somehow the silver thingy has disappeared. I don't know where it has gone, but i want my 25 dollars back and now I'm also afraid to go through airport security.

green jello

I've never felt so much emotion for a complete stranger. I'm both jealous and happy for the owner of http://www.willrunforbeer.blogspot.com/. I came across her blog will scouring the internet (by scouring, I mean 'googling.') for a jpeg of a race clock reading '03:59:59'. My current race goal and her previous, her blog is the first that comes up in a google search.

Within a few clicks and a few blog posts reads, I knew that she's since acheived her sub four hour goal was in the middle of a new goal: training to qualify for Boston.

Two real purposes for this entry:

1) to share an entertaining blogger w/ my nine followers (8 if you don't include myself).

and

2) it's nice to see a real person accomplishing real goals.

weekly RUN down - ahhhhh recovery week.

So this week's scheduled was denoted as a recovery week, but before I was able to do that I had to get in my first 'double run' in two months. You guessed it, that means 2 runs 'at least 6 hours apart' per the schedule. The first being a 90 minute run and the second being a 30 minute run. I committed a Boot Camp Challenge run with some friends from Mt Carmel c/o 1996 and Joey. Very very good times. This probably would have been a much more enjoyable run, had I not had to run 90 minutes w/ Zone 4 pick ups at 5AM (approx 5 hours before the start of the challenge).



Here's a pic of Team Skittles (read: taste the (double) rainbow)

That was Saturday. With two birthdays and a comedy show to attend throughout the rest of the day and into the late evening, I was for sure spent. Recovery was in order.

Today was the first day I ran since. An easy zone 2. Zone 2 actually gets pretty fast now, so it turned out to be not so easy and b/c the shower at work was occupied, I've been sitting in my own stink for the last 7 hours. I can't wait to get out of here.

My new goal in life

is to have been quoted on the inside of a Dove milk chocolate (or it could be dark chocolate, I'm not racist) wrapper. similar to this:

Here's one off the top of my dome:

Dove

_________________________________

High Five with your heart and you'll

never get an inadvertent thumb to your eye.

_________________________________

Ryan

San Diego, CA

The weekly RUN down

Another day, another dollar. I suppose I have 7 dollars owed to me from somewhere.

The week started pretty horribly, but I managed to rally towards the end.

Failure to launch
I had everything packed and ready to go for my track workout last Thursday. I had a fuel plan and I had thoroughly thought this workout through. 2 sets of 4x400s. I got this. Mid morning work meeting turned into a lunch. Not a big deal, I can do this track workout after work...or can I? Short answer no. Having stayed later than I intended and having forgotten that summer was drawing to a close, the sun would have set before I got through my 400s. Tracks have lights, sure, but on a Thursday they're generally used to illuminate High School JV football games. #fail. I can do it the next morning, no big deal. Not thinking of it through as thoroughly as my normal afternoon / lunch runs, I left the house w/ an empty belly.

Eight total 400s, that's just 2 miles. NBD. No big Deal. After a brief warm up, I toed the line, hit lap on my 310xt and was off. Zone 4 felt more like the twilight zone. Where was I? Why was I there? WHY IS THIS SO HARD RIGHT NOW? I finished the 400 at 1:27. Sure, that was fast. but not vomit fast. I stopped my watch ready to concede defeat, but sometime within my allotted 90 second rest I gathered myself and tried again. 1:36. Considerably slower. and now this time death felt imminent. And after I stopped my watch this time, there was no going back for more. I sat there for a few minutes before I left for work. I had cut my workout short, I would be early.

Comeback
Long runs in the program I'm in are a lot easier to manage on your own, but doing them alone still suck. There's nobody to keep you accountable for getting up at 5am on a Saturday, nobody to gossip with or just interact with in silence. Running alone w/ just my thoughts isn't easy; there's not much going up there. So when I arrived at the Lake before 7, I already felt better about my previous failure. The run was good too. So I was happy.

Tuesday I found myself back on track at the track. This time with Googliano. 'Just a 5k, 400 on 200 off. nonstop.' The off was not a recovery slow jog. This was going to be difficult. I finished at under 25 min for my 3.1 miles so I was pretty happy. Googliano seemed to be pleased as well with the effort.

My blog sucks lately and I apologize.

nice sleeves

so I guess I never realized how much I wear my emotions on my sleeve until this morning (is that the saying?).

Yes, I'm tired.

Yes, I'm beat up.

Yes, I'm less than happy at times.

But would you be able to tell that if you didn't know me? by just looking at me?

*ding* the elevator doors part at P1 and I see a familiar face of a lady on the second floor. I've never talked to her before, but I knew she worked in the building. With that I gave her a half hearted smile, got in the elevator, pushed "3" and followed elevator etiquette by promptly facing front towards the elevator doors.

"bad day already, huh?"

wow. It wasn't even 9am yet, and I'm already setting myself up for a bad day.

Today's a recovery day on my workout schedule. Hopefully, I'll also use this day to recover from everything else as well.

The weekly RUN down

Wow. 10 days since my last blog post. (i don't count the repost of dcrainmaker's giveaway as a post). I don't like it b/c it means 1 of 2 things... or both! It could mean I either fell off the program and have nothing to write about and/or work has gotten in the way. Thankfully, it was the latter (what?). Yes, that's right I'd much rather be super busy at work and still get my workouts in than missing workouts completely. With that, here are some moments of note.

My too hot to handle too cold to hold moment

With a brief 8 hour window between Zoey's kids' race and Jg's Half marathon at Disneyland (see below!) for us to drive back to San Diego for my newphew's 1st birthday, I had just enough time to get my long run in. But it was hot, like too hot. Weighing my options I felt I would have a more successful training run if I didn't die in the middle. zone 4s are hard enough, zone 4s in 90 degree heat.... no thanks. With that said, I took to my treadmill and pounded out my 90 minute run whilst watching I Love You, Man. Double win!

My so proud of my girls moment

Zoey in the 1-3 yr old 100m Dash! Zoey had no idea she was running, as you can see in the vid below it turned out to be much more of a workout for me trying to get Zoey back on track. It was Zoey's first race, she got a medal and everything. I loved it.

Jg, Joy, Erwin, Carolyn & Mark in the Disneyland Half Marathon. All of them did so awesome, Jg smashing her previous PR while making it look easy and everyone else looking amazing in their first half marathons. Also in his first half marathon debut, Gavin (not pictured) ran 1:43. wow! kid is fast. Looking forward to training/racing him in the future.

It's rare that I get to spectate and I enjoy it, but let me tell you...it's stressful! found myself pushing Zoey in the middle of the course at one point being engulfed by Mickey-Eared runners/walkers. Oops, my bad.

A lot of work, friends and food in between, but my head feels mushy right now. =(

DC making it rain (310xts)

more from DC Rainmaker. He likes to give stuff away.

september giveaway

"It's my Birthday, Please don't kill me"

That was my reply when Coach Googliano (that's my new nickname for him. he wins races. google it) texted me about today's workout. He replied with "I'll have a special gift waiting for you"... I arrived to the UCSD track and he had his gift in hand. Cold water. I brought my own, but it's the thought that counts I guess.

We're only going to do 3 x 1000s with lots of rest inbetween. He clearly didn't read my text about killing me. 1000 meters is 2.5 x around the track and for anyone, it's a helluva long time to be in a near 'sprint' mode. It also means I get to pass him 3 times as he says 'up up up, go go go!'.

first one - 3:46. pretty good, right crazy brazilian guy? wait what? do that again? twice?

second one - 3:50. I sensed a wee bit of disappointment, but couldn't be 100% sure as his eyes were masked by his giant oakleys.

third one - 3:59. I moved to the infield. I vomitted a litttle bit, but there were people watching and didn't let it escape my mouth. tmi? I dropped down to one knee and thanked the dear lord baby Jesus for another year of life.

The weekly Run down

With a new month's program in front of me, Coach JT asked me to do a few things:
A - Focus on nutrition - ALL THE TIME, not just during racing/training
B - Visualize and mentally prepare for each work out before I go to bed
C - Take note of how I feel during each workout

My responses
1 - okay. less McDonalds and beer...and ice cream. okay, I can do this.
2 - sounds silly, but okay
3 - okay, I'll blog about it with 'the weekly Run down'

I've avoided writing blogs on purely training because they tend to be dry. In hopes of avoiding this, I'll spare you the details, but rather describe various 'moments' of interest throughout the week.

I'm super fast right now moment
Zone 2 is below racing pace. Anything in this pace you should be able to sustain for a pretty good amount of time. I was happy to see my zone 2 pace was hovering around sub 8 for my first 20 minute interval. After some 30 second speed intervals, I ran another 20 at zone 2, pace dipped expectedly, but still happy with it as it was still mid 8s. woot.

Almost died moment
With an unpredictable workload at work and JT's AM being booked, I had no choice but to schedule my Track workout w/ Juliano during lunch (p.s. summer just arrived here in San Diego). Now, his track workouts make me want to vomit enough as it is w/o him there, but when he's there yelling at me in his crazy brazilian accent to 'go go go, up up up!' it's hard to slack, not even a little. 'we're going to do 6x200s w/ 200 recoveries, a 400m recovery and up to 3 more 200s depending on how you feel and your splits.' translation: hope you told your wife and kid you love them this morning.

Not wanting to set the bar too high for the remaining 200s, I ran the 1st conservatively. Bad idea. JT noticed, 'really go for it. these are sprints.' Oh, okay. The last time I sprinted I was drunk racing Oliver down the hallway of the Mandalay bay hotel, but okay. 'ready? annnnd up' (I think that's brazilian for on your marks, get set, go!). I leaned forward, I put my head down, I pumped my arms, dug into the track and I ran like ugly chicks were chasing me. 'yeah yeah there you go!' crap. Now I gotta do 4 more, just like that. By the end of the 6th 200, I had lost my shirt and nearly my pre-workout meal (4x over). After the 400M recovery, I arrived to JT saying 'okay, only 1 more (instead of 3)'. Translation: I'll live to blog about it.

Looking forward to the weekend and putting a lot of hard work in before my birthday on Monday!

Michael Phelps-ish

Well, no. Not at all actually. Not even a little bit.

Earlier this year a friend posted her half marathon medals on facebook, noting the combined mileage (39.3). With that I thought it'd be fun to gather my medals. It took a while, months actually, but here they all are with the exception of one half marathon. Any guesses at the Mileage?



LB Full - You're next.

Race Report - 2010 San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon

Hello and welcome to 2010; June 6th, 2010 to be exact. Take it slow at first, time travel can be a bit much on the senses, especially for newbies.

Background

This is it. I know it. My 5th attempt at 26.2 and if the trend of the previous 4 are any indication, this will be my first sub-4 finish, hopefully well below 4 hours. A lot of things going in my favor right now:

-I'm another year older as a runner, and another year stronger

-the course has changed to become pan cake flat at the finish

-I've trained. a lot. I even read a book by Jack Daniels and have been following it to the letter.

This is going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy...

Pre-Race

I woke up more rested than I've ever been before a race. I must've crashed out a 9 and Zoey must've known the importance of a good night's rest; she opted not to kick me in the face in the middle of the night. Score.

The plan: meet at running bestie Janelle's house so she can bus me and 4 others (Na, J-Nice, Lyn and tRACEy) to the start. side - Janelle hasn't run since February. Slacker, right? pregnancy has her sidelined - end side. Simple enough, right? Simple quickly turned into a debacle, which included tRACEy running out her door and jumping in the bus half naked.

We arrived just minutes before the gun to find the largest crowd I've seen in my 5 years of marathonin'. The half marathon addition to this event has brought everyone and their mothers to Balboa Park at 5am in the morning.

The National Anthem. Some stretch. The gun. We were off...sorta.

Race

With the addition of thousands of Halfers (yes, that's what I call them), the corrals were packed and had to be at least a half mile deep. It was a mess and I was glad I was closer to the front w/ my expected finish time.

This is me, just after the Halfers split from the fullsies heading into downtown. The nice mile gradual downhill is dope.

For the most part, the new course was the same for the first half. Some slight tweeks lead the full marathon runners through Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. After a few miles downtown, the race starts. Here's me seeing my friends at mile six or so, smiling as I spot my giant head plastered on poster board. based on the smile alone, you can tell I'm in pretty good spirits.



I say 'starts' b/c after the Fullsies (patent pending) make the left turn on 10th street, we start to ascend the only real 'hill' in the race. It's gradual, but it still a challenge and with race day temperatures being 10+ degrees higher than the average for this time of year, it hurt a little more than usual. At about the same time we reunite w/ the Halfers again. But not the halfers we broke apart from earlier. Those guys are well ahead of us and probably on Friars road by now. Mile 9 for the full marathoners abrutly merges w/ mile 5 of the halfers. If it's possible to road rage as a pedestrian, this is where it would happen. I got to mile 9 in approximately 81 minutes (a 9min/pace). thousands of other got to mile 5 in the same amount of time. I'm just saying, that's not effective. I'm used to bobbing and weaving in the early stages of a race, but miles 9-10? I was fatiguing fast.

I got to the half marathon point just as the sun came out. It was hot, but now it just got almost unbearable. 14 is where I strategically placed the wife and kid to refill my bottles (perpetuem goes bad after 2 hours), still technically on pace, I knew i didn't have much left in my tank. My legs were shot, from my feet to the top of my thighs. I felt broken and I had only run 14 miles? The physical shortcomings turned me into a mental wreck. Jg excited to see me, was met w/ 'I can't...' she was to meet me at mile 21 just before Fiesta Island, but I advised her to abort; I was going to be able to get there by our predetermined time.

15-20 were long miles. Long sad run/walk miles. I walked through an aid station where a volunteer decided I looked like I needed some encouragement. "let's go man, you're stronger than this! let's go!" (obviously using my exposed arms as a basis for judging my physical fitness). And as he patted me on the back I mustered up enough energy to trot out of his eye sight. I needed more than encourangement.

At the top of East Mission bay, I saw J-nice as I made my way back from a short out & back at 18 or so. She had a tremendous amount of pep in her step for her itty bitty frame and for someone who was on mile 17 of 26.2. She was going to catch me. And catch me she did, right before Fiesta Island at mile 21 or so. J-nice (so aptly named), made a futile attempt to get me going, saying 'I'm not leaving without' and other nonsense. Even Kate Winslet had to let go of Leonardo. My race had ended miles ago, there's no way I was going to end hers. I've never been so proud to have anyone pass me during a race and was happy to have been a part of her first marathon journey.

The Fiesta Island loop, I've trained for. I knew it was going to suck. As much as it sucked in training, it sucked much more knowing I was running w/o a purpose and that I had 4 miles worth of time to reflect on my failure. I passed the SDTC aid station w/ .8 miles to go and picked it up some, might as well make the finishing pictures look good right? This is me w/ less than a quarter mile left.



4:39:46. wow. what a melt/let down

Post-Race
I grabbed my medal, a water and a wet towel from a volunteer. The towel's presumably to cool you off, maybe clean you up a little. I used it to conceal my tears. That's right, that grown ass 31 year old man who found himself an isolated spot just past the finish line to weep, was me. Heartbroken w/ dissappointment, I could have sat there forever with no direction. Not just immediately (i.e. do I hit the beer garden or do I back track to my friends and family), but for the days, weeks and months to come (i.e. am I really a runner?).

Race Report - The 2010 AFC Half Marathon

Background

The third and final race of the wildy popular Triple Crown series in San Diego is arguably the most difficult. I can't speak on that one way or the other as I've never run the La Jolla Half marathon (the Carlsbad Half marathon completes the triple crown series), but with a killer hill at mile 11 and unpredictable summer weather, I can say with 1,000% certainty (dawg) that it's not my favorite.

Having run this race 3 times with all 3 races well below expectations, I wasn't eager to go for the sad face four bagger. But with the new training program I've been following, I've gained some confidence. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of the Triple Crown Series noted above, tons of runners seeking the special medal make this race sell out months in advance...with that said I had to procure my bib through other means - frowned upon means. if you know what i mean(s).

Pre-Race


Me, Jason, Jenn and Laura got to the bus loading area and start line without issue. With over an hour to spare we hit the rest rooms first and then kind of just chilled for half an hour or so before I left them to warm up. Ran into Marc and Brannen during their warm up. These two are fast. I want to be like them when the grow up - and that's why I hired their coach.


The race started as expected...a big clusterf*ck at the start. I don't know why they put up the estimated time banners, they are never used. There is one road that leads in/out of the Cabrillo National Monument, it's used by buses dropping us off up until the gun goes off as well as the staging/corral area. With buses coming in as late as 15 minutes prior to start, there's no time to get lined up. *clap* wait - was that that gun?


Race


Without corrals, things can get dangerous. Being surrounded by runners of all levels I found myself weaving and wasting energy; unavoidable as slowing down for slow runners just to pick it up again would have the same effect. Mile one was slow. Miles 2-5 were better, picking up the time I had lost and I was back on track. I was trying to remain conservative, knowing the generous downhills have been my downfall in my past 3 attempts at this race.

The pounding of the downhills can make for a very ugly middle portion of the race, but at mile six, I still felt okay, but in an attempt to keep my heart rate below zone 'you're going to die' I backed off a tad, hoping to just get out of the Harbor Island loop unscaved (i.e. not walking). The Harbor Island loop is approximately 2.5 miles of tangible FML. In fact, I'm 87% sure that's where FML originated.

I made it out of the loop of death at the same time my pace began to waver. I spent a good portion of mile 10 with trying to chase down my buddy, Van. his strut is unmistakable. 'If I can get to him, we can finish strong together', I thought. Probably an accurate thought, but he managed to elude me and I was alone again and with my pace slipping I was getting eaten alive by the stronger runners. Demoralized, I put my head down and continued on.

With 3 miles left, my high expectations, my personal 13.1 PR and the course PR were all out of reach. I got to the top of 6th street w/ my family and Joy and Oli waiting to cheer me and my friends behind me on. That was cool. Across the bridge and down into the finish I saw Janice and her kids as they waited for Marko (who I also saw at the start). That was cool too.

I crossed the line at 1:56:44.

Post-Race

Maybe I should change my blog title... clearly, Half Marathonin' ain't easy either. Dissappointed, but not completely heartbroken, I know I have a lot to work on and a lot of room for improvement.

I have to have a conversation with my coach to talk about the direction of the training programs coming months.

*ps - sorry for the lack of pictures to add some color to this blog, but this is one I'd rather forget. Like Rene says, 'no point in dwelling. on to the next one.'

"Let's see if you bastards can do 90"

Said Marty McFly [being chased by terrorist].

If you're not familiar with my movie reference, I'm sad for you. Back to the future is a classic and back in the day 90mph was not only fast, but it also facilitated time travel.

With my seventh marathon just over 2 months away, I thought it'd be a good idea to do retrospective race reports on my first five 26.2 mile races (sixth is documented HERE) to give my 6 readers (5, not including myself) an idea of how far I've come.

So dust off your bedazzeled Ed Hardy shirts (you'll want to fit in, when we get to 2008) and take a ride with me in my blogger DeLorean.

dot dot dot (...)

Since my last post, I have been informed that a friend had passed away. I'm sad to say that I didn't know him as well as some of my close friends did. From my experience, however, I can tell you that he was a good guy with possibly the most sincere smile I've ever seen.

That's it for now...

Sunblock c***block

I've been horrible about apply sunblock in my first 5 years of running. It wasn't until recently that I realized that I don't want to die. It might have everything to do w/ this little one:

Or maybe I just smartened up and realized, just because I wasn't getting sun burned, doesn't mean the sun wasn't taking it's toll on my milk chocolately skin. In any case, I put my motorcycle up for sale (anyone want to buy a white 2008 GSX-R 600 w/ extremely low miles?) and headed to Vons where, w/ my HSA credit card in hand, money was no object.

The sun screen Market is huge. The selection made my head hurt, but as with everything else in life, I looked for the one with the prettiest packaging and easiest (to apply). Anything that referenced 'sport' or 'active' seemed right up my alley. I also had to make sure the product came in a spray on applicator; imagine how awkward it would be to ask a coworker to get my back before I left for a lunch run. Now imagine all the female coworkers having already left for lunch.

For the last two months or so, I've felt pretty awesome in my war against skin cancer...but now the bottle's about dry and I'm sad. Sure, I realized I'd run out eventually, but I can't help but think back to the ride w/ E.J. , Rene and others, where I offered E.J. some sun screen and he proceeded to generously apply what seemed like half the bottle to his exposed arms, legs and face. My 'whoa whoa whoas' were met w/ 'I burn easily, bro'. Not wanting him to die either, I let him continue to drown himself in sunscreen - imagine the gasoline fight scene in Zoolander. I caught E.J. 5 miles into the ride climbing mount soledad and he looked like he had just lost his puppy or was remembering the end of the note book. He had an equal parts tears, sweat and sunscreen cocktail streaming down his face. *Hint* always apply sunscreen with enough time for it to dry before your activity...especially on your face.

I should walk to Vons now for some more sunblock. After all, I am a runner. What's 3/4 of a mile? But the lazy in me, wants to see if my favorite nickname, 'Rhino', is more than just a play on my name and is also reference to my tough exterior.

Course Marshal

Running in Next week's AFC Half Marathon - *tangent warning* AFC stands for America's Finest City, San Diego, California. A moniker I stand behind 100%. Don't believe me? google it, the internet doesn't lie. *end tangent* - came with a prerequisite. Having been sold out months ago, my entrance required me to volunteer at the San Diego Track Club's 56th Balboa 8 & 3 Miler (two races). No problem, I've found that I really enjoy volunteering.

The wife and I arrived 30 minutes before the race start this morning. She registered for the 8 mile race and I received my assignment: "Course Marshal 6." Whoa, this sounded serious. Unlike my previous stints volunteering pouring water and selling $1 pace bands, effing this up would have a consequence.

Course Marshal 6 was placed on the corner of Juniper and Balboa Drive, so off I went.

From the course map excerpt above, you can see I was located 1.5 miles from the start of the 8 and 3 miler and approximately 7.25 from the finish of the 8 (the 3 mile race did not come back around my way). My CM6 instructions were to 'instruct the runners to continue on Balboa Drive.' As easy as they seemed, I still read my instructions over and over just to make sure I didn't miss anything and with a good 20 minutes before I had a lot of time to think about my course marshaling strategy.

Would I use percision arm movements, like military ground crew readying a jet for takeoff?

Or maybe the not so percise windmill motion of a 3rd Base Coach, waving his runner home??

Yes folks, this is actually the kind of crap that runs through my mind. And as the leaders made the left turn from the bridge onto Balboa Drive, I saw that they were being paced/lead by a mountain bicyclist. Awesome, I don't have to tell anyone where to go. The leaders follow the guy on the bike and everyone else follows the runner in front of them. My knowledge of the course, would only be necessary when there was a big enough gap between runners. So now I was bored.

Mixing up my applause w/ "good job runners", "nice work ladies" and very brief conversations with running friends from the track club and the wifey, I found volunteering very rewarding towards the end of the race. Where the runners started thanking me for being out there on the course and you could tell they truly appreciated my 'good job runners.'

Congrats to all the runners and especially the wifey!

***

Managed to get in a 90 minute trainer ride and a 30 minute treadmill run this weekend. Feeling good. Less than 1 week away from the AFC Half.

The mean streets of La Jolla (?)

Did the blog title confuse you? If so, you probably have never run down La Jolla Boulevard just after 5pm on a weekday.

Yesterday, I went out on a seemingly harmless 40 minute run with a focus on 'active speed'. The active speed part entailed me running 'super fast' for 40 seconds w/ 1:20 walking between the 10 sets. I was surprised with how much ground I was able to cover It's difficult finding an uninterrupted stretch of road, without intersections, signal lights or even foot traffic to slow you down.

Passing through these intersections at speed was scary. I obviously looked before I crossed, but I realized if I were to have to stop abruptly, I wouldn't have been able to. The fact that the divers are generally older, doesn't help much either. I had to actually jump out of the way of an elderly operated Mercedes, imagine the Black Mamba jumping over an Ashton Martin (okay, nothing at all like that). It was a stressful run, but I got home okay.

Be safe runners. I approach running in high traffic areas like I do riding my motorcycle or even bicycle, assume they don't see you.

want a garmin 310xt?

check out dcrainmaker.com. all he wants is a blog comment...and you to link to his blog...and a retweet. but that's all, I swear.

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Tripe H

There are three things I think of immediately after a race, especially a marathon: Hurt, Hunger, and Hungover.

Hungover is definitely an exaggeration, but with no race looming, there's definitely a greater amount of beer and alcohol consumed post race as compared to the week leading up to the race.

Karl Strauss - Special Mini Keg Beer Night. aka Cask Night

Hunger, so hunger. I eat out as it is...a lot. Post marathon it seems like every meal is spent 'out'.

Breakfast - breadbites. nom

Lunch (and Dinner) - Hooters, Lemon Pepper. nom nom

Aroma - Pastries provided by management...provided too often.

Above and beyond the previous two H's, I'm hurt. Hurt bad. And not bad meaning good either, but bad meaning bad. It took until mid-week before I was able to walk w/o a limp.

It's Sunday now and I'm back at running with two weeks left before the AFC Half marathon on August 14th. And just as soon as the soreness went away, I opened up my credit card statement with all my eating out. Ouch...now that hurt.

Hamhock Nation

The above sign was held throughout the 2010 San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Course by THE O.G. HamHocks! I saw her twice, but I'm sure she mile hopped to more locations throughout the day. I've been told spectating a marathon is as exhausting as running one. A BOLD (and italicized) statement, but having run six and seeing my friends and family afterwards, I believe it.

What's a HamHock, you ask? "I dunno" or *shrugged shoulders* are both acceptable answers. I had the same question. My friend uses it a lot in her status updates related to running i.e. "hamhocks about to trot a sexy 7..." At first I thought it was slang for her running friends/gangsters. She's from Mira Mesa, so I imagine there's tons of slang I've never heard of originating from there.

Now if you were to wiki / google it, you'd see a hamhock is a cut of pork or something like that. But with signs like the one above and status updates like 'C'mon hommies, get out & play and work your <3s...XoXo's'...I define HamHock as an awesome and inspirational runner.

Thanks for inspiring, Hamhocks!

I love my garmin(s)

I was a new runner in '06. I thought I could jump from a 10k to a full marathon w/ easy and thought headbands would make me faster and running specific watches smarter (running wise). The first two were clearly misconceptions in hindsight, but I don't think I'll ever run w/o a garmin.

I first stumbled upon the garmin 301 when training for my first marathon in 2006. Kind of reminded me of the old school Nintendo Power Glove and looks like the GPS systems the Rangers wear in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

It was cool, but it was the first of it's kind and a new model had already been rolled out by the time I had finished my first marathon. Pretty much a no brainer to upgrade as I had bought it from Costco and let's face it, w/o a M16 in my hand, it doesn't look as cool as they do on the Rangers. Thank you again Costco no hassle return policy.



With the 301 returned, I bought the new 305. Much smaller, but still a brick compared to regular wrist watches. I did however, love it and I'd still be running with this thing if I realized how to care for it. It stopped charging and figured the battery had gone bad after 2 years of use. It turns out the connectors were just dirty. I sold it to my coworker for 80 bucks and a beer. I think he still owes me the beer.
The 405 was purchased w/ my 80 bucks and the promise of beer savings. Much easier on the eyes, lighter, and you can wear it as a normal watch. I loved it. Then one day it decided to get really crappy on me. Also the display is limited to only 3 data fields per page. Now that I've started w/ HR specific workouts, I wanted a fourth. This would keep me from scrolling through mid run. I still have this one and keep it as a back up just in case something goes wrong or i forget the 310xt. Creating custom workouts on the fly is also not possible w/ the 405. You have to set up advanced custom workouts on Garmin Training Center then upload to your watch.
This one's Jg's. It's pink. It's cute. Chicks dig it. The end.
The 310xt is what I've been running w/ for the last 3 weeks or so. You can split the top field display below into two fields so that there's four total. I run w/ "time", "lap pace", "distance" and "BPM". These are all things I like to see at any given point during training or races. I do have other fields set up, but during my most recent 26.2 mile adventure, I didn't scroll to any of them. This was surprising.

The battery life on this is dope to. A true multi-sport watch, I can take it for a swim if and when I make that transition.

Basically, if Garmin's selling it, I'm buying.

Race Report - The 2010 San Francisco Marathon

Woo! First Race Report! I think I'll try to follow the following format 'background', 'pre-race', 'race', 'post race' and 'final thoughts'.

Background
Seven weeks ago I ran my 5th San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. It was a disappointment to say the least. Immediately following races like that, I tend to make rash decisions; it usually takes me about a week to cool off and say 'there's always next year'. I didn't make it to the 7th day and before I knew it I was signed up for another full marathon and enlisted the services of a coach. It was shortly thereafter that I started this blog.

I've run the 1st half of this marathon before and I loved it. The hills were challenging, but were rewarded with corresponding downhills. The start line was organized with timed wave starts; zero congestion at the start. At the time it was a PR and the second half was supposedly flatter and faster. Makes sense, right?

Pre-Race
After my last pre-race run, the fam packed up the Rav-4 and headed up north - hella north. Seven plus hours and 480+ miles later we were crossing the Bay Bridge. (Just below the SF side is where the full marathon starts/ends)


From there we, or I should say "I", hit the expo to pick up my packet and possibly get some official race merchandise. Coming late on the second day usually means slim pickings...although there seemed to be plenty of Women's v-neck shirts available.

After an early dinner w/ friends, it was time to call it a night as there were three alarms set for 3:30 and a wake up call scheduled, I needed to get to bed as soon as possible.

Here are my little troopers hanging out with me at the Runner's World Challenge pre race area at 4:30 AM!


Here I am rested, ready and with a swollen left cheek. Apparently bees and other creepy crawlers agree that my left side is my best side.

Race
Without a camera in hand, google images will, yet again, assist me in painting you a picture. yay!

The course started and ended just north of the bay bridge. I toe'd the line armed with a completely different training plan under my belt, fueled pre-race w/ a new nutrition plan and with a race plan in mind. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was time to execute.

Heading North along the Embarcadero was mostly flat and easy. I've ravved about the wave starts in the San Francisco Marathon, and again, it did not disappoint. No bottlenecks. No zigging. No zagging. No one to blame for slowing you down. I was trying to keep at an 8:55 pace. I was feeling good.

Approximatley 5 miles in, runners climbed the base of the Golden Gate bridge. Very neat. This is the best out and back you'll ever experience in a race. The only complaint is that runners in each direction have just one lane w/ no buffer between the runners headed out and those headed back. This made for some incredible dangerous passing situations. Not a lot race directors can do there, the bridge is still open to traffic. I was maintaining my pace quite well as we got off the bridge

Heading back into the city, there are a couple of big climbs before I reached Golden Gate Park, where the 1st half marathon would end, the 2nd would start and the full marathon would spend a majority of it's time (6 miles). Now apparently there's a famous 'hippy hill' in this park. I didn't see that, but I did see more hills than I expected and a bunch of crazy people climbing them. Still feeling good through 16, but the hills of the first half and the unexpected hills of the second half had clearly taken it's toll on my legs.

From Golden Gate Park the marathon ran through some residential neighborhoods of San Francisco. No Olsen twins, but this is what I can picture when I ran through here. My pace had slipped considerably. 8:56 through 7.6 miles, 8:59 through half, 9:15 through 20. I had given back a lot of time through the first 7 miles of the second half of the marathon. But there was no wall mentally. I was still in the game and getting those two minutes back felt manageable.




Shortly after 20, I decided to try and pick it up in an effort to get back on pace. My heart was there, my mind was along for the ride too, my legs, however, gave me a big middle finger. Cramps hit both hamstrings and both calves almost simultaneously. This was new to me, so I backed off. More and more people began to pass so I tried to go again and about 21.3, I cramped in my right calf and was forced to move off the course and come to a complete stop. I felt crippled and defeated. Asked by a spectator if I was alright, I told him I was cramping and he replied 'Maybe that's your body telling you to take it easy?' Maybe, but maybe I might not listen. Within a few minutes I was able to rub out the cramp and start 'running' again.

Not being able to carry any sort of decent pace, I was content in the fact that it was almost over. I hobbled through McCovey Cove and AT&T Park. As a childhoold Giants fan, this was a treat. From there, there was only 1 mile to go.

I came in at 4 Hours 17 Minutes and 5 Seconds.

Post Race

After the finish, I gangster limped my way over to the Runner's World Challenge meeting area. I was greated by a round of applause by my fellow challengers, the Runner World staff and the wife and kid. This was nice.

Below is a picture of me in front of a picture of Bart Yasso. He's kind of a big deal. He was there in the morning, but not post race - I was too shy to ask for a picture.

I did ask Jenn w/ Runner's World for a photo. I guess you might say she was my online coach, who answered a lot of questions I had about the challenge, training and the race itself.



After a few pictures and my free massage we were off to meet w/ the Martinezes for lunch before heading home. This is me with Ricardo and His wife Alexis.



After lunch, it was time to make our way home. I had to be at work the next day. Blah.

Final Thoughts

If you typed in the URL for this blog, you know that I did not reach my goal. I did however, run strong though 20 and refused to quit after cramping. There are definitely way more positives for me to take away from this experience than negatives. In my previous 5 marathons I hit a mental wall before anything else. Thoughts like "why am I running" or "laying down would be dope right now"...none of those this time around and I believe nutrition had a lot to do with it (However, there's still some nutritional kinks to work out, i.e. preventing cramps). The only thing I kept thinking was "why won't you do what I ask, legs!"

With the short prep time, I kind of kept the fact that I was running another marathon on the down low. So, sorry if I might have mislead some of my besties in the hamhock community. My next race in the attempt at 3:59:59 is the Long Beach Marathon in October. I have two months and a lot of work to do, but San Francisco has given me the confidence in my training program.

Finally, thanks to my wife and kid who spent 16 hours in a car to spend 24 hours w/ me in San Francisco. I truly can't ask for a more supportive wife and a kid more comfortable on a long car ride. This big ass medal is for you two.

The Power of Prayer

Never underestimate it, right? Here goes nothing...







Dear Lord, adolescent teen years, Jesus: (I figure everyone prays to baby Jesus and full grown Jesus, that teen Jesus would have some extra time on his hands)







Please keep me and my fellow runners safe and watch over us as we traverse 13.1/26.2 miles of the City of San Francisco.







Please grant us the wisdom to know our limitations, the strength to reach them and the courage to exceed them.







In Your name we pray. Amen.







P.s. if you can make the weather ideal for running for the next 5 hours, that'd be dope. If you can also inject me w/ some temporary Jesus HGH, that'd be wicked sweet too.

CAPS AND ASTERISKS!

It's scary how easily I amuse myself.

Hit the snooze

There are a lot of things in training and in racing that you can't control. You might get stung by a bee or step on a snake, for example. Or race day temps are unseasonably high. Maybe you get hit by a car, like DC Rainmaker. All sorts of uncool bad stuff can happen and how you handle it is not what I'm here to write about.

I'm blogging today about the things you can handle. The things you can control. If you get a stomach ache because you're trying something new on race day, that's your bad. If you chaffe because you just bought a new race out fit the day before your race - well you might look cute, but you're dumb. Don't do either of those things. Don't be dumb (let's see if DBD spreads like wildfire among internet lingo). If you're alarm clock mysteriously doesn't go off, it's your fault. And if you haven't realized it by now, yes EJ, i'm talking about you.

Far too often my buddy, EJ (follow him on twitter HERE follow his blog HERE), tweets about how his alarm fails and because he pushes his tweets to his facebook, it's looks like it's happening twice as much as it should. So the below, friend, is for you and all other would-be early AM athletes.

****HOW TO SET YOUR ALARM CLOCK****
by THE ryry

Out of the box, the Sony Dream Machine FM/AM CD dual alarm clock radio doesn't do much. This won't get you up. #pluginfail


Once you find an outlet and plug this bad boy in, it flashes between the pic below and the pic above. Still not going to get you up. #failtimesetfail


To set it, you have to hold down the 'clock set' (circled left below) button until the hours start flashing. Use the '-time set+' buttons to adjust the time (circled right). press clock set again to get the minutes to flash and adjust in the same manner as the hours.


Couple of things to keep in mind while your setting the time. #1 you want to set it based on a reliable source. you'll want to use something like your phone or the time on your DVR. If you want to kick it old school go ahead and dial 'popcorn' on your rotary phone (kidding, this will not work. if it did it would say 'at the tone, the time is now 2010'). the second thing is to make sure the time is properly set to AM or PM. I used my watch below to set the time. It's connected to satelites, i'll trust that over my microwave anyday. Note - green dot next to PM means it's set for PM. No green dot means AM.


Once you're comfortable with the time, it's time (pun intended) to get to work on the alarm. On my alarm clock, I press and hold the big "A" which stands for alarm A. Now the alarm time starts to flash. adjust similarly to the time set noted above. Note - AM/PM is also important here. Make sure your alarm time does not have the dot next to the "PM" if you want to wake up in the morning.


Now that the alarm is set, you have to turn it 'On'. My alarm has 3 options I can wake to #1 my favorite kelly clarkson CD, #2 boring morning show DJ's or #3 a beeping that gets progresssively louder. I prefer the beeping.



So there it is, my first 'how to'. Hope you enjoyed. =)

PS. yes, my alarm is actually set for 3:30AM tomorrow morning. =))