The TriathleteNut

Finally… the last week of December should be filled with good workouts. Thursday’s and Friday’s workouts were damn good.

Check my log for the week here: Dec 17 - Dec 23

Unfortunately, today I’m in bed with a migraine!

Steve sent me pictures that Mindy took during Race Day.

6:30 AM drop off at Griffith Park. It was cold.

25 meters away from finishing the race!

Just moments after the race.

Steve, me and two of his girls: Alyssa and Crystal.

In front of The Disney Concert Hall

iTunes purchases
Hurt by Christina Aguilera
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
Over My Head (Cable Car) by the Fray
Smack That (Dirty) by Akon
Buttons by The Pussycat Dools
Fergalicious by Fergie
Irreplaceable by Beyoncé
When You Were Young by The Killers
Boston by Augustana

Yesterday I got home and bought more music. It’s kinda a random purchase. I was only on the iTunes Store to buy Beyoncé’s, Irreplaceable, and ran across some others I wanted but always forget to buy. Especially, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. Then I came across Fergalicious and I was like, wow, that rocks!

Workout
I listened to my new ‘purchase mix’ during my workout at the gym right after I bought them. That workout was tough – at least the run portion. I nearly gave up after six minutes of running! I felt this sharp pain in my left knee. I haven’t run since the half mary on Sunday figuring I needed a rest. And maybe the rest made my joints stiffer than normal. I stopped running, kicked out my leg a few times, then started up again- really slow. From a walk to a jog, and by 10 minutes in I was running at a decent pace. I thought I’d quit at 20 minutes at a little less than 2 miles, but I trudged on for a 30 minute three mile run. I was thinking about doing another two miles but decided to back off and just do weights.

I was worried for a while. I don’t want to get any injuries due to carelessness, so if I experienced any more pain I would have stopped. But it worked its way out and I was good to go. Whew.

Oh, I had an awesome weight training session! AWESOME!

I can go on and on about things so I have to corral my thoughts and just get them down.

First off, remember that guy Ray that I met on the bus on the way to Venice Beach for the LA Tri (Sept 2006)? I never got to see him again except before the swim and as I passed him on the run. It’s a small world when, out of an estimated 5,000 people who ran the LA Half Marathon, I pass a guy at the mile 11 mark and it’s Ray. We were like, HEY!!! I KNOW YOU!!! I told him to email me. He said I zoomed by him on the bike and that was the last he saw me. And that was in September – three whole months ago. So that was a pleasant surprise.

Back to the day…

It started off with denial at around 2 AM… and every hour thereafter. I was thinking about not running. Calling Steve at 6 AM and tell him I’m not going. I got up at 5 AM, made coffee, got my running gear together and waited for Steve. Even at 6:30 I was thinking, if he doesn’t show then it’s a good enough excuse for me not to go. Well, Steve and Mindy showed up and Mindy dropped us off at Griffith Park.

We walked about a quarter of a mile to the staging area and we froze our butts off all the way there. It was still dark and it was cold! It was 41 degrees!

We did a little jog which didn’t help. We found groups of people huddled together so for a while, we jumped in. The body heat of the group actually helped!

I had decided to wear my long running pants, gloves, a short sleeve tech shirt, arm warmers and a fleece cap that covered my ears. And I was still freezing my ass off. I don’t know how Steve handled it just wearing running shorts, a tech shirt, a hat, and a hooded pullover. A majority of people were dressed for the weather, the rest were shivering while dressed for a run in the California sun.

We got in line for the port-o-potties but after 30 minutes and not even halfway there, we decided to head for the starting line. There were maybe forty port-o-potties! We figured we’d find one on the course and make a stop. The map indicated more than enough port-o-potties for the run.

So we bared the cold for an hour and finally, at 7:45 AM, the race started.

Two miles in and the sun was upon us and we set our sights on a no-line port-o-pottie! I quickly did my business, slipped off my jacket and arm warmers and I was good to go for the rest of the day. Steve had thrown his pullover somewhere off to the side between mile one and two. It would be a homeless wonderland if the homeless just followed the route and picked up the clothing that were thrown aside at the start of the race.

Other than the fact that the cold had really screwed with my joints, the first six miles were easy. But the cold had an obvious effect on my left knee and right ankle. They were stiff and sore and tight.

I started to ‘feel’ the run around mile seven – right after the Hyperion Bridge. We ran through Silver Lake and it seemed everything we came across was a hill. At mile 11 I ran into Ray, gave him my email addy and asked him to email me. The last few miles were going to be a struggle.

Running up Sunset was tough. First, we were tired. Second, all the restaurants were opening and we had to take in the smells of fresh tortilla, fried chicken, and even pizza! It was awesome and torturous at the same time!

And where were all the bands on the street that they promised? There was a church that had a drummer drumming to a CD or something which was nice, but there werent’t any other bands before that. And that was like late in the race!

At mile 12 there was a cool percussion set under the over-pass, which really got us movin’. Boy, the beat of the music sure helps sometimes!

And when we finally made that last turn for the finish I felt like I was dragging my feet. My legs were shot. My energy was there, my breathing was fine, but my legs were absolutely on their last… well… leg!

We crossed the finish line together with a feeling of accomplishment.

That race would have been absolute boredom if it weren’t for my pal, Steve!

We talked most of the way through. We were reminiscent of the past. It’s funny, Steve said, “Just think, when we’re like 80 we’ll look back and say, ‘remember the day we ran the half mary?’” And here we are, close to 40 and saying, “Remember when we were like the first to ever get online with our Commodore 64s and post at a local Bulletin Board?”

That was 25 years ago!

Steve and I have gone our separate ways as we left high school. But something or another always brings us together: Martial Arts, paintball, and now running.

Steve was there, a year ago, when I ran my very first 5K race. He had one race under his belt and I agreed to do a 5K after only 2 weeks of training. He was there, again, with me on my first half mary. Again, he already had a half mary under his belt which he did in a little over two hours (2:05 I believe). And here he is, hangin’ there with me through two hours and twenty four minutes of a life changing, future life reminiscing event – until the very end. He could have done it faster but… he did it with me: a metaphor to our life as friends. Friends can go separate ways, never to ever reconnect, one leaving the other behind and just finish life on their own. It seems no matter what, Steve and I will always be starting things and most likely finishing things up together. Just like the race.

Steve, happy that it’s getting warmer, and me on the right…

Anyway, here are our splits:
Mile 1: 0:10:49
Mile 2: 0:11:33 (port-o-pottie break)
Mile 3: 0:09:46
Mile 4: 0:10:38
Mile 5: 0:10:12
Mile 6: 0:10:47
Mile 7: 0:10:50 (Hyperion Bridge)
Mile 8: 0:10:43
Mile 9: 0:10:59
Mile 10: 0:11:12 (running into Ray at the end of mile 10!)
Mile 11: 0:11:27 (the torture of food upon us)
Mile 12: 0:11:00 (running to the beat of drums)
Mile 13: 0:10:22
Mile 13.58: 0:04:25 (a blistering 7:45 per mile pace!)
FINAL: 2:24:43 for a 10:39 min/mile average pace.

OFFICIAL CHIP TIME: 2:24:44 (My garmin was off by -.01 seconds!)

There were 5,000 scheduled to race. Only 3648 crossed the finish line.

We actually ran 13.58 miles and not the 13.1 miles a Half Mary is supposed to be. I can’t even imagine having to do it again to make it a full marathon.

Yet…

LA MARATHON… HERE WE COME!

Official Results:
City of Angels Half Marathon - Half Marathon
Place Overall: 2320 out of 3648
Men: 1407 out of 1839
M 35-39: 227 out of 290
AgeGrade: 41.91% Place: 2781
FINISH: 2:24:44 pace: 11:03
10K: 1:08:03 pace: 10:58
Chip Time: 2:24:44

Saturday
4:15 AM: Wake up, make coffee, and by 4:35 my dad and I are on the way to LAX. His flight left at 7:00 AM.

5:45 AM: Back home, Bella wake’s up and she gets in bed with me. It takes about 30 minutes but she falls asleep. I’m wide a wake from my coffee.

7:00 AM: I roll Bella off my chest. Jake is with Grandma watching TV. Donna calls, she’s off work. I take a shower, get dressed and go to meet Donna at the Galleria. It opened at 6:00 AM.

7:30 AM: We meet in the parking lot and walk into an empty mall. It was awesome. All Christmas shopping could, or should, be done with out hassle at 7:30 AM! I went to the Apple Store to get some sport-like headphones for running. Mine conked out on me just recently. So I bought these:

Nike Vapor Sport Bud Headphones: $29.95
Ultra lightweight headphones are 3-way adjustable to fit any ear. Supports all iPod models.

I’m apprehensive of these wrap around the ear types as they’ve never been comfy. They have a 14 day return policy but I tried them on and they were more comfortable than I thought they would be.

Donna got some deals at Baby Gap then a stop at Cinnabon and we’re on our way back home.

The roll that made us famous! Warm dough, filled with our legendary Makara® Cinnamon, topped with freshly made cream cheese frosting.

10:00 AM: Grandma and Bella go to church. Jake and I get past a level of Lego Star Wars II then head to Barnes and Noble to buy a Christmas gift for his classmate, Maxwell.

11:00 AM: Jake and I get back home and we have an early lunch.

12:30 PM: Steve comes by and the three of us go to the LA Marriott for the Runner’s Expo to pick up our race packets for tomorrow’s Half Marathon:

The City of Angeles Half Marathon

1:45 PM: Back just in time to watch the USC vs UCLA game.

4:55 PM: UCLA WINS!!! 13-9. YEAH, BABY!!! (Sorry Sharon)

5:30 PM: I pick up dinner at CPK.
Chicken Tequila Fettuccine for me!

The original! Spinach fettuccine with chicken, red and yellow peppers, red onions and fresh cilantro in a tequila-lime and jalapeño cream sauce.

7:00 PM: Finish up setting up my timing chip, laying out my running clothes, and by 7:25 the kids are in bed and I’m in front of my computer watching the Laker Game.

It is 7:40 PM right now.

(pause)

My aunt just called to ask what “ragamuffin” meant.
rag•a•muf•fin [rag-uh-muhf-in]
–noun
1. a ragged, disreputable person; tatterdemalion.
2. a child in ragged, ill-fitting, dirty clothes.

Jump forward to Sunday morning:

5:00 AM: Wake up, make coffee, get dressed, have something to eat and wait for Steve and Mindy to pick my up for the race.

7:30 AM: I start to run with 5,000 other Half Marathoners.

10:00 AM: Cross the finish line with a couple of blisters and a smile.