My UltraLife

I had the great fortune to take a couple weeks off and tour through Italy with some friends and family.

So if you’re the UltraLife guy and you’re in Italy…what should you do?  Well, Run Through Italy, of course!

We had 17 days to explore many cities and towns in Italy.  I didn’t have a chance to run every day so I picked 4 key locations to run and make a short video of the experience; the sights and sounds of each location.

As you can see from the video’s we began our journey in Venice.  Even with all the canals I was able to find enough solid ground to get in a nice run.

I used my new iPhone 4 to shoot the video, then used the iPhone iMovie application to edit the video and uploaded to YouTube directly from the phone.  This is really phenomenal and I think you will agree the video quality isn’t bad either.

After a few days I left my bulky Canon HD camcorder in the suitcase and used the iPhone for video and photos exclusively.

Our tour continued to Milan, Lake Como, then Forence where I did my run through Florence…..

I didn’t run in Lake Como, but it is so beautiful it was one of the highlights of the trip so I wanted to include the video I shot during our day trip to the lake.  I really wish we would have known how great it is…I would have stayed for a few days.

Florence is the gateway to Tuscany and a big city with lots to see.

Everyday it was 90 degrees or hotter and we walked and walked all over the city.  The days I didn’t run I’m sure I still burned plenty of calories.  Those calories were certainly off set by all the pasta, pizza and wine however!

We walked so much that when I ran I felt like I had walker’s legs.  You know that burning in your lower legs.  When you walk a lot for several days then run, you find you are using different muscles…and it burns for the first few miles!

Tuscany is known for its rich landscapes and small hilltop villages.  Siena is one of the larger towns.  The old town is on the hill top and the newer town has spread through the valley below.  We stayed in a wonderful old farm house just down the hill from the old town.

Siena was not as touristy as other towns.  They have vegetable stands, a laundry mat and other things that told you people still actually live in this old town, which gives it more character.

As I kept shooting and editing video I learned more about the iPhone’s cameras.  It has both front and back cameras.  The front camera is great when I am shooting headshots of myself and the rear camera for scenery. 

Unfortunately iMovie displays the front camera shots upside down.  I guess Apple isn’t perfect after all.  So beginning with the Florence video I started editing on my small notebook using Microsoft’s Movie Maker application.  This is also a pretty basic editor and unfortunately my notebook (although it has a Celeron processor) choked on the HD video, so making fine tuned cuts was difficult.  Thankfully I wasn’t using a net book with an Atom processor…it would have been impossible.

It has been almost exactly a year since I posted a video so it was fun to get back to making movies.  It’s a fun hobby and hopefully….not too boring for the viewer.

The runs through Italy were a great experience. When you run through a new place you see and experience more than you would if you are just visiting the location for business or as a tourist.  You go places you would not go otherwise and you see everything from a unique perspective.

I enjoyed my Run Through Italy……I hope you enjoy what I have tried to share.

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This week we’ve had the largest wild fire in Los Angeles County in the past 100 years with over 150,000 acres burnt.  The fire caused the entire L.A. basin to be smoky. 

The unhealthful air mixed with high humidity and 100 degree weather convinced me to skip my Tuesday run.

On Wednesday I checked the AQMD (Air Quality Management District) website, yes, we have that in L.A.!

Below is the map from Sunday Sept. 6th.  The Green area is good air quality, yellow is moderate and orange is BAD! That’s where the fire is still roaring.

The interesting thing is that on Wednesday the only Green area was a swathe of area from Seal Beach up to Cerritos.  We do get a nice ocean breeze here and I guess it really pays off for air quality. 

With knowledge that I wouldn’t die from smoke inhalation, I was willing to brave the heat and get running.

I still kept the Wednesday run short but went a bit further Thursday logging 10 miles for my mid-week runs.

Saturday morning I upped my long run mileage and headed for Huntington Beach Pier.  I knew that the Pier was 18 miles + so to end up with 20 miles I added a lap around Regional Park.  I hit 20.50 miles when I finished at the pier.  Perfect!

But this run was much tougher than the 15 mile run to Bolsa Chica last week.  I simply felt tired and that resulted in many more short walks.  If I stop running I don’t come to a full stop but walk for 30-45 seconds and then start up again.

Last week at 15 miles I felt I could have kept going.  This week I had to keep pushing myself or I would have walked the last 5 miles!

Even with the extra walking periods I made it to the pier in exactly 4 hours.  Not bad I suppose but I should be able to cut 15-20 minutes off that time once I’m back to running non-stop.

I know it’s all about conditioning and building up my endurance levels.  I just need to keep logging the miles.  I got in 30 miles this week so I’m staying pretty consistent.

This coming week I travel to Oregon for my nieces wedding.  Hopefully I’ll have a chance to get in some runs while in the great Northwest.

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Saturday morning I ran from Cerritos to Bolsa Chica State Beach; a 15 mile run.

It felt great.  This is my longest distance in over  6 months and I felt I could have gone further but I’d already made plans for a friend to pick me up at this location.

This long run gave me a total of 30 miles for the week. Not bad for a week that has averaged over 100 degrees each day with morning temps in the mid 80’s.

Also it’s not bad since I took most of the previous week off.   After my 6 mile run Tuesday Aug. 18, I swam and played water polo.  That night I had severe hip pain and was limping.

I’d had this nagging pain a few times before but now it was really bad so I decided to take several days of rest.  

I tried to figure out what this pain was.  It was in my hip, but not in the muscle and not in the joint.  It was higher.   My Hypochondriac self started thinking kidney.  Could I have a kidney stone?  I read up on the symptoms.  Probably not a kidney stone.  Probably just poor core conditioning.

I’ve acquired a rather round mid-section over the past several months.  I decided to use the week off to work on core muscles with lots of sit ups and leg lifts.

When I started running again on the 25th, the pain was there, but very slight and didn’t get worse.  I think I’ll live.

It’s strange though…every time I have an injury or strange soreness it’s something new and different.  I’m hoping to continue core strengthening hopefully I can enjoy some pain free running.

The 15 miler to Bolsa Chica was very nice….next Saturday maybe I’ll run all the way to Huntington(18 miles) or Newport Pier (23miles).

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I ran my First Half Marathon today.  The Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach, Ca.

I know it sound strange.  I’ve run Marathons, participated in Half Ironman’s an Ironman and completed a Double Marathon, but never have I run in a Half Marathon event.

I just didn’t think it was worth paying money for something that I could do any weekend on my Saturday long run, but this was fun!

I really didn’t plan this.  One of the swim mom’s priest had signed up for the race but later hurt his back and decided to drop out.  The day before the race I got a call telling me that if I wanted to use his bib it was mine.  

I thought my chances were slim.  They usually ask to check I.D. before handing over the runners packet, but I decided to got to the expo and take my chances. I showed up, presented the number and got the bib.  I would be Father Brendan Mason at least for 13.1 miles!  The bib even has his name printed on it; Father Brendan. 

It was a beautiful morning and the Half Marathon crowd was very friendly and excited.  Last year I ran my personal best Marathon time on this course so I decided to push myself a bit and see how well I could do.

Most of my Half Marathon splits during a Marathon have averaged between 2:13 – 2:18.  Today I finished the half marathon in 2 hours 00 minutes 40 seconds! (2:00:40)

I averaged a pace 0f 9:10 per mile with my fastest mile at 8:55.   This is a big improvement over my old pace of 10:30 – 11:00 per mile.

I came in 3,047th out of 10,743 runners

Father Brendan is 37 yrs. old so in the Mens 35-39 group I was 335th out of 692 runners….49% of the age group….I feel 37 again!

I’m not the fastest by a long shot, but good for me, so I’m happy.

I can honestly say that the Half Marathon distance was fun, which is not how I’d normally describe a full Marathon, so maybe there will be more Half Marathons in my future.

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I am feeling faster and stronger and working to increase my mileage each week.

I’ve got only 30 days left to be ready for the Twin Peaks 50/50 and it’s proving to be great motivation to keep up my running schedule.

- Week of Jan 12 – 17 = 33.84 miles   - my long run was a 15 miler

- Week of Jan 19 – 24 = 30.51 miles – my long run was an 11 mile hill run on Saturday.  This is a big loop with lots of hills we used train on our bikes for the Wildflower Triathlon.   I had planned to run on Sunday, but my legs were sore so I was lazy.

This week is starting off strong.  I hope to bump the mileage a 50 mile week.  i just may have to miss the Super Bowl!

I plan to run the hill loop twice for 22 miles on Saturday and run at least 10-12 miles on Sunday.

The good thing is I am injury free and I’m feeling good.   I just need to keep running the hills to prepare for 11,000 ft. elevation gain.

Wait….hold everything.  I just visited the Twin Peaks 50/50 website and saw the following message posted on the home page!

Due to course conditions caused by December storms, Twin Peaks 2009 was cancelled. Please read the Twin Peaks Blog for more details and updates.

The next Twin Peaks will take place on:
February 20th, 2010.

Yikes!……I feel my motivation waning……I need to find a new event….quick!

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If you’ve been following along you’ll know that I took a bit of a break for about the last 3 months!   I’ve gained back about 15 pounds and added back that pouch to my stomach.  Bye bye 6 pack.

But there have been some benefits.  The nagging pain in my right foot and left hip are gone.  During the summer I had pain with every footfall.   Now I am finally running painless.  It’s fun again.

Another benefit is that I’m actually running faster than ever!  It was very common last summer for me to be running 10:30 minute or even 11:00 minute miles.    Now I am usually running under 10 minute miles.

Last night I did my usual 6.2 mile Cerritos Loop and clocked my fastest time ever….59 minutes!

I hope to keep it up and try to increase my pace even more.   Even at this pace, I’m no speed demon.  But it’s good for me.

With some new stretches and exercises I hope that I can continue to run pain free, but at the moment I’m just happy I’m improving and enjoying the benefits of my break from running.

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I always need to sign up for an event and set a goal in order to motivate myself.

After my Double Marathon last September and breaking the 50 mile barrier I knew I would be ready for something different. 

Many of the 50 mile and longer runs are trail runs.   I have gone on a few trial runs in the past for training and found them to be great fun and very scenic.  Running through the hills and forest is much more interesting than running up and down the river bed.

So…..I have just signed up for the Twin Peaks 50/50.    This race offers both a 50 Km and a 50 mile route.

I’ve chosen the 50 Km distance.  I’ve picked the shorter distance because it will be my first trail run event and the 50K run should be challenging enough with an 11,000 foot elevation gain over the 32 mile course.  

I’m no mountain goat.  I’m used to running at the beach, at sea level, on flat surfaces.  Running up and down hills has never been my thing….but it will be now!

The run takes place on February 28, 2009 so I have only a couple months to train.

I’m excited….a new challenge.  A new reason to get up and get running.  A new training routine….I’ve got to find some hills to train on!   Once I make it through this I’ll look for longer distance trail runs.

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The Long Beach Marathon (Sunday Oct. 12, 2008) marked the grand finale to my Year of Running.  Last year’s Long Beach Marathon was the beginning of a year that included 6 official Marathon events, the MyUltraLife Double Marathon and miles and miles of training.

I checked my workout summary and the totals from my Garmin GPS watch.  During this year of running I ran a grand total of 1,673 miles!

That’s a lot of miles, but I can tell you…..it felt like a lot more than that!    Going through the weekly totals, I can see that I had lots of slow weeks.  It wasn’t until after the San Diego Marathon that I really started to increase my weekly mileage.

The Long Beach Marathon was a nice finish to a year of running.  Of course the MyUltraLife Double Marathon was the big achievement, but it was great to complete another marathon almost a month to the day after the double.

I just wish that I had run a bit more during the month between the double and the Long Beach Marathon!  I guess at my age, one’s physical fitness level can really fall off in a short amount of time.  I sure felt the penalty of a month of light workouts.  There is no way I could have completed 52 miles this week.

I was joined by most of the UltraLife Relay team.  They all had a great run with Poon setting a personal best time of 4:28.  Yeah team!

Everyone is asking what’s next?   The answer is “I have no idea,” but I know I want to keep it up.  I have seen how quickly I can move from peak shape back to flabbiness.  I’ll find an event that sounds like fun or a good challenge and sign up.  Spending money for an event is always a great motivator for me to prepare and participate in an event.

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I am falling behind in my posting.   The less work I actually have the less I seem to accomplish!

On Saturday August 23rd, the same day the Running Photos were taken I did a 9 mile hill run. 

You may recall several months back I posted the San Elijo Hill run video.  I walked most of that hill while I filmed the video!  I’ve run the hill a few times over the past few months, but I must admit I always walked part of it…..until this time.

On August 23, 2008 I ran all the way to the top of San Elijo Hill non-stop.  I surprised myself.  Half way up I was going strong and realized that I had not stopped to walk, so I decided then and there that no matter what I would not stop till I reached the top!  And I did it!

At the top of the hill they have this very nice placard and sign showing the start of a 10K loop, but after this point there are no other markings! 

How do you know where to loop?   

I just ran all the way along the ridge till I hit the radio tower, turned around and ran all the way back for a total of about 9 miles (more than 10k)?   

I was happy to have run all the way up the hill for the first time….non-stop, however the next day’s planned 20 mile run turned into a very slow 10 mile run.  Maybe I over did it?

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I know, everyone is so excited!  I did it, I completed a 75 mile week! Yeah! 

The key was not being lazy and missing a day of running during the week like I did last week.  By Thursday I’d completed 24 miles and only needed 2 long runs for the weekend to clock in the 75 miles.

At least I got in one of the 75 miles weeks, so I’m not too far off of the training plan.

Because of another swim meet and blistering 90 degree heat humidity, I didn’t begin my Saturday run until 6:30 PM.  I got home after 11:40 PM. 

I’ll tell you, running through some areas in the dark on a Saturday night can be a bit scary.   I stuck to the streets which meant lots of stop lights and cement sidewalks, but it’s safer and better lit than the flood canals (hobo’s and coyote’s) at night.   I headed due East on La Palma and went from Norwalk Blvd. all the way to Kramer/Glassel and back, which takes you through some interesting Spanish speaking areas.  

No matter what, I wanted to get my 25 miles booked, even if it meant running till midnight!   This run hurt.  It must have been all the cement.  I tried to run on the street as much as possible, but them damn cars wanted to use the pavement as well so I kept jumping back on the sidewalk.    With traffic lights, a pit stop and a bit of walking I made it home in about 5 hours 10 minutes.

Luckily and surprisingly I wasn’t sore the next morning.  A little stiff maybe but once I got moving I was fine.   I am still amazed that I can even do this (run the next day, I mean).

For my Sunday Run, I arranged with a friend to meet me in Newport beach.  I wanted to run the course, at least half way.   I ran to Cerritos Regional Park, then reset my watch and started heading for the beach.

The hardest part were the first 9 miles to Seal Beach.  The wind from the ocean was quite strong and a direct headwind.  

The wind through Bolsa Chica Beach was quite strong.  I saw many a pop up canopy with the cover blown off and the support beams bent.    Luckily the wind was pushing Southward so it worked to my benefit and actually pushed me down the beach. Thank God!

I felt that I was running slower than the day before, but heck, I’d just ran 25 miles the day before, I shouldn’t even be doing this!   I had taken a water and bathroom break at Seal Beach and walked through Huntington Beach Pier area (so many visual distractions!) but then slogged along towards Newport Beach.

The sun set as I entered Newport Beach.  It was fun to see people in their houses, viewing their lives through plate glass windows or open patios.  Many people were having parties or big family dinners.  Most were watching the Olympics.

I chugged along past the Newport Pier and then stopped at the Balboa pier, just a bit short of where our turn-a-round point will be.   I was surprised that I ran with less pain than the day before (mostly asphalt on this run) and I still felt strong during the last few miles. 

I finished the 25.10 miles from Regional Park to Balboa Pier in 5 Hours 5 minutes - not to bad for a second 25 mile run in 2 days.

The weeks mileage:

Tuesday                     8:08

Wednesday               8:05

Thursday                  8:06

Saturday                25.12

Sunday                   26.35 (1.25 miles run to the start at Regional Park)

Total:                      75.66

This will end up being my longest mileage week.  From now until the race I’ll be tapering down.  Next week is an easy 35 mile week followed by a 50 mile week (can’t slack off that much) then back to 30 miles and then really taper before race day.

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This week was supposed to be a 75 mile week.  I’ll end up a bit short of that but I am happy that I was able to clock 45 miles between Saturday and Sunday.

I missed my Tuesday run because I was basically exhausted from watching the boys Junior Olympic Water Polo finals till 11PM Monday night.  Wednesday was the first day of Swimming Junior Olympics and I was able to sneak in only a 4 mile run.

Saturday I was at the Junior Olympic Swim meet in Mission Viejo.  Josh made the finals and that left a 5 hour break in the middle of the day.  I took advantage of the break and went for a 25 mile run. 

Sunday afternoon I ran to Seal Beach Pier and back (20 miles) for back to back 20+ mile runs, a personal first.

I was surprised that after the 25 mile run through the hills of Mission Viejo I wasn’t sore at all and felt great as I started my Sunday run.  

Totals for the Week:

Wed:         3.76 miles

Thurs:      8.15

Sat:          25.27

Sun:        19.89

Total:      57.07 miles

I must admit that I ran slower on Sunday, but I’m not going for speed.  I going for the mileage and building up of endurance.  It is a bit strange to run back to back almost marathon distance long runs.  You always read about recovery, but this training program doesn’t allow much time for recovery.

With just 41 days until race day, I just hope I’ll be strong enough and really ready for the double Marathon.

Next week’s schedule calls for 75 miles once again.  The J.O.’s are out of the way so I should have time to accomplish that goal.

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Well, I almost did it again.  I missed the 60 mile mark by about 7 miles, but I think I did pretty well logging 52.85 miles with only 4 days running this week.

Wednesday:  7.95 miles

Thursday: 8.26 miles

Saturday: 22.72 miles

Sunday: 13.86 miles

If I would have stuck to my plan and run 8 miles on Tuesday I would have easily hit the 60 mile mark.  

As the week went by I figured I could take advantage of the 3 day, 4th of July holiday by adding in a Friday run, but NO….I hit the snooze button and slept till 10 AM!

I still wanted to reach my goal so I figured I’d just add a few miles to my Saturday and Sunday runs.

I started early Saturday morning but by 7 AM the marine layer was already burnt off (no cloud cover- which is typical for early mornings near the beach which later burns off as the day heats up), so I knew it was going to be hot. 

I ran past the Seal Beach Pier and towards Sunset Beach.  At my turn around point I felt strong, but my shirt was drenched with sweat.  I still had fluid in my camelbak but when I returned to the pier I bought a quart of cold water and gulped it down.

I roasted on the run back.  There was no sea breeze and the sun was burning hot.  All I could think about was the weatherman’s report from the night before that June 5th would be the most intense day of UV rays from the sun for the year.

I felt zapped of energy, walked often and really was in severe pain for the last 4 miles.  I thought to myself, "If I feel this bad during the 52 mile run, at least I know I have endured it before." I spent the last few miles in a mental debate; should I run home through the park which would add a mile to the run or just go directly home.  At the end, I took the direct route home, screw the extra mile!

What amazes me is that when I went for my Sunday afternoon run, not more than 24 hours later,  I felt great.  I had just run nearly a Marathon distance the day before and I was running again and felt strong.  

My Sunday run was the most pain less run I have had in more than a month.  Mind you, not pain free, just much less pain that I have been experiencing. 

Sunday was much cooler than Saturday.  there was a strong coastal breeze blowing inland, slowing my pace a bit, but I welcomed the cooling effect. 

My friend wanted to meet me along the beach, pick me up and have dinner.  I really wanted to run 21 miles and complete the 60 mile week, but as I ran along past mile 10, 11 and 12 I thought what the heck, 6 or 7 miles more won’t help me that much.   I was feeling good and knew I could keep going, but dinner sounded pretty good so I stopped, made a call to set a meeting place at the entrance of Bolsa Chica Beach.

I was proud of the fact that I can now run 23 miles on a Saturday and get back out and run 14 miles the next day.  A few months ago that would have been impossible.

If I keep it up, I know I will be ready for my 52.4 mile run Sept. 14th.

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After struggling to keep up with the UltraMarathon training schedule,  I accomplish the mileage goal of 60 miles for the week.  

Whoo Hoo!  I did it!  I feel great that I accomplished this weeks mileage goal after falling short several times in the past weeks.

This was the first week that called for a long run on both Saturday and Sunday with 18 miles for Saturday and 20 miles on Sunday.

My Saturday schedule called for a Cerritos Aquatic beach party at Huntington Beach, so I decided to run to the beach!  The party started at 10 AM.  I started at 7 AM and actually was one of the first people to arrive.   The run was 18.44 miles and I finished in 3 hrs 16 minutes; a pace of 10 min 40 seconds per mile, which is pretty good for me for this distance.

After a short break I joined the kids and went body surfing…till 4 PM!

I was exhausted and woke up the next morning with that weird tingling feeling in my arms and legs which tells me that my muscles are still exhausted.   I knew the night before that a Sunday morning run would be out of the question.  If I waited till the evening when it started to cool off, I might not get home ’till 11 or 12 at night.

I decided to heat out at 3 PM, in the 90 degree heat of the afternoon.   There is almost always an ocean breeze blowing inland and today was no different.  The wind kept me feeling cool, but running against that headwind (even if it’s only a few miles per hour)

can be daunting.  All I could think about was using that ocean breeze to help push me home on the return.

After the 18 mile run the day before it took a while to get warmed up.  I know this route extremely well so psychologically I set mile stones to walk for a bit; 4 mile bridge, half way bridge, end of the river bed, but I didn’t walk for more than 20-30 seconds at a time.

I reached the pier, but my stop watch on hold and headed to the store and bought a liter of water.  Although I still had my drink in my camelbak, cool clear water was what I desired.  I downed the bottle and relaxed at the pier for a few minutes before heading back.

The first few miles on the return went well, most of the time I felt like my body was on autopilot.  At this point in my training running is almost like walking.  It’s just automatic.  Running is actually easier than walking.  I don’t even breath hard. I just keep chugging along. 

I made it to the halfway bridge without walking, but then my 20 second walk continued for nearly 2 minutes.  I pushed on with the goal of running to the 4 mile bridge before walking…I almost made it.   I walked under an overpass….ah, cool shade!  Then walked over the 4 mile bridge as well.

By this point my legs were really hurting.  Often times you know by the end of the run that your legs will hurt the next day.  During this run I didn’t have to wait till the next day, my legs hurt now! 

My pace was running about 1 minute per mile slower than the day before.  I tried to push harder, but realized that my finishing time didn’t matter, what mattered was that I was going to complete the 60 mile week!

I did it.  I finished the 20 miles in 3 hours 52 minutes with an average pace of 11 minutes 41 seconds per mile.

Back to back long runs are tough, but I believe these long weekends will really help me prepare for what is to come just 76 days from now!

I get to rest on Monday and then start it all over again with another 60 mile week on the slate.   I hope I can make it.

Side note:  They say that blog posts are supposed to be short.  I’m sorry if I drag on too long.  If you read the whole thing…..thanks!  I just can’t keep it short.

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I’ve completed several marathons at at the end of each one I’m exhausted and think to myself, "This isn’t getting any easier, how the heck am I going to run 52.4 miles".

I have never run further than 26.2 miles, so today as I started out on my scheduled 26 mile run I felt pretty good and thought I would try to go further.  I settled on a turn a round point of 17 miles which would give me a 34 mile run.

This vide is my first attempt at filming with a cell phone.   I didn’t think I’d make a movie today, but then again I didn’t think I’d run 34 miles either!

Originally I had planned to start running at 4 AM so I could be finished at a reasonable time like 9AM.   I guess the pier swim yesterday wiped me out more than expected.  I hit the snooze button and didn’t move until 8 AM.

Luckily the weather was cool when I started out at 1:30 PM and there was a nice breeze.   My right foot has been bothering me, but it seems mostly healed.  It did hurt a bit with each foot fall, but my mile 7 it went numb, so no pain….I just kept running.

My running time was 6 hrs. 38 minutes.  Total elapsed time was 7 hours 15 minutes.  My Garmin watch stops counting when I stop.  I counts when I walk, but at stop lights, rest stops, whatever, the time stops ticking.   Today the elapsed time is so different because of the 3 phone calls wishing me Happy Fathers day from friends and family, so these were pleasant stops, my short breaks and the time I stopped to my Gatorade because I had drank the full 0 oz. of fluids in my Camelbak by mile 20!

I finished strong.  I ran all the way except for the occasional stop at mile stone goal points I set for myself.  Run to the bridge, for example. 

I could have kept going, but I must admit I was pretty wiped out at the end.  

I’ve got exactly 90 days to prepare for the 52.4 mile run - that will be 18 miles further than today…..WOW!   That will be a long day!

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I was doing great in my preparation for the San Diego Marathon.  I’d run a 50 mile week and followed it up with a 40+ mile week, but that mountain run up Mt. Wilson the Sunday before the race caused my legs to be as sore as if I had run a Marathon!

I had originally planned to keep up the pace and make the Marathon week another 50+ mile week.  Instead, I spent the week recovering.  I ran only 4 miles on Saturday May 31, the day before the race.  So my "no Taper" into the Marathon plan didn’t quite work out.

Regardless, I felt great during the race.  I did take an Aleve (pain pill) before the race so I could help ignore the pain I know could slow me down. Not sure if it helped or not.

This was a fun run and I tried to just enjoy it as much as possible.  Most races start off very fast and you get caught up in the excitement of the event.  This results in the first several miles much faster than my planned pace time, but for this race of 20,000 runners the pace started off quite slow….11 minutes per mile for the first 2-3 miles. so I just stayed with the pack and took it easy.

This was a Rock-n-Roll Marathon with lots of bands.  I had my video camera in tow so I stopped often to film the runner and the bands.

I felt strong all the way until the last 2-3 miles, and I stopped filming the bands….how many bands do we need to see anyway!

The time on my Garmin Forerunner 305 showed 4 hours 51 minutes(4:51:26), but the timer on the Garmin stops every time I stop moving so my official time is a bit slower.  Results are posted, but I can’t find my results!  They forgot me!…maybe I’ll check tomorrow.  At least I know I was under 5 hours and this was not an effort for a personal best time.

The good news is that my legs aren’t very sore at all, I should be running again tomorrow.  Maybe I can thank that mountain run after all!   I should b e back to my training schedule and have a 50 mile week this week….at least I’ll try!

I know that if I really want to run 52.4 miles in September, I need to keep up the training.  It’s not really any easier to complete 26.2 than it was last October, so at this point I have absolutely no idea how I can complete the 52.4 miles with out walking 26 miles of it!  Yikes!

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