That's a wrap- Racing 2010

Today was my last race of the year- a fun 5k in the rain!

2010 was a good year (despite the stress fracture and 3 month break/ recovery).

I raced 1 full marathon (LA) and 2 half marathons (sb & Oxnard)

Ran a 4-miler the turkey trot and 6 5ks (McConnell's, gaucho gallop, night moves, Guadalupe, Avila Beach & Santa Run)

I am most thankful for each of these races and each run in between. Onward to bigger and better for 2011. Best wishes for you and your running in the coming year!

LA Marathon- 3/21/2010

The 25th LA marathon was great. (only my 2nd). I had a fun time and the weather was perfect. My time however, not so much, in fact I finished 8 seconds slower than my first marathon. Despite the time, I enjoyed the race greatly. Volunteers and public were great. I ate much more than ever before on a race & drank a good amount of water. For most of the course it was slightly foggy, which means there wasn't that direct sun, or heat that I was expecting.

As far as time, I am a bit surprised I didn't improve significantly, especially given the different type of training. I will look in to all the specifics in regard to numbers but here are the raw figures- To a degree, I considered one difference from training to racing is the style in which you run. Either focused and in a straight line, or as is the case with the race scenerio, dodging people, running from side to side to find a gap, and expending small bursts of energy running through gaps of runners. Whatever the factors are, I need to find a way to do better for the next full, which I am thinking I will do in Santa Barbara, my hometown. It'll be cheap and hopefully I will be able to train even better.


*Looking at the numbers now, I realized I hit 30k a little less (2k) than 20 miles at 3:55- at that point I only had a 10 k left (6.2) miles. If I would've run that 10k like the first 10k -which happened to be average of my two race 10ks-I would've come in at 5:10, 5:15ish...but it just got worse from there.-- more numbers to come.

And here were some of the highlights:

The Starting Line! This is what it's all about
The excitement is palpable.
(of course once the bus got there a little past the original start time for the masses)

Making your way past mile 1.
No problem piece of cake (repeat 25 more times)

Some good entertainment here and there...run, run, run...

Legacy Runners
These individuals with marked bibs, have run each of the 25 LA Marathons
wow
Capitol Record
A recognizable landmark

Temptation at Mile 12
Yes, In & Out! Can't stop...bummer

Two more landmarks The Kodak Theater and El Capitan
While the movie at El Cap seems irrelevant, yrs from now, it will stand as a mark in time.

Beverly Hills, they even made their own sign before the mile mark
Running on Rodeo drive was beautiful!

And there it is, in the distance that makes 26.2- finally
and if I hurry back to the hotel, I might make the check out time at 2:00pm

Heading to LA shortly

1 day away, the LA Marathon website reports. I have made a checklist of things to take with me (which is funny given my relationship to them.)

I have a folder filled with confirmations of entry, shuttle, and what have you. I have updated my running playlist (not a quick thing to do), and synced my ipod & iphone. (music plan A and plan B).

I am shortly heading to LA with my honorary "coach" - my mom :)

I have shared a link with my family to track my race on race day.

This should a great weekend, and with a little luck, the temperature will be just perfect- I think it will be. Also, since my phone problem- I have an iphone, the menu button doesn't work, so to change function I have to turn it off & on again, not good for quick stuff you can imagine-I have signed up for text blogging, which can include pictures, and then synced this blog to google notes, so I should in theory be able to share anything worthwhile fairly simply without a computer.

That which he thinks and dreams about is that which he will become

I'm not sure where I first read this-it might have been one of those odd English translations from a Chinese saying- but I liked it and I find that I often keep reminders of an end goal with me in the process of getting there. This image was the postcard, that first got me to thinking about running the LA Marathon. I used it as a bookmark in running books I have read this year. Today I have 3 miles and 6x100s. Unfortunately, my POLAR heart rate monitor that has been with me for the last 5 years decided to be done now. I got it two batteries, but have concluded, the batteries aren't the problem. So I am off to finding a new HR monitor...boo.

LA Marathon is only 5 miles and 6 x 100s away

Since Jan 1st I have logged 287 miles in training for LA marathon which is only 5 miles and 6 x 100s away, or 4 days away. I have closely followed twitter updates and images like this are super exciting.


The "realistic" goal for this race is 4:48:00 (an 11 minute pace). The hopeful goal is 4:30:00 (10:18 pace) provided it is not too hot or anything goes wrong. But usually there are surprises. Part of the goal of this race is to redeem the marathon experience from the Huntington one. In retrospect, I'm surprised I even finished that one in the rain, cold and wind (5:44:39). This race should be far more fun, I've trained much better and I expect to do well.

LA Marathon Training has begun

Awesome picture! I found it online, look how far ahead Bolt is. Anyhow, tomorrow, I am running my first set of 5 x 100 meters for my LA Marathon training. I have come up with a whole schedule based on the Runner's World Guide to Road Racing (pg62-65). It includes the regular downtown 3.6 loop on Mondays, Treadmill Tempo Tuesdays, Track Wednesdays, Time Run Thursdays, Easy Fridays and Long Run Saturdays.

Countdown for LA Marathon is 73 days.