2012 ING New York City Marathon on November 4th Has Been Cancelled

Today, Friday, November 2nd, it was announced that the 2012 New York City Marathon on Sunday, the 4th has been cancelled as a result of the impact of Hurricane Sandy. The announcement on the NYC Marathon website is below:

The City of New York and New York Road Runners announce that the 2012 ING NYC Marathon has been canceled. While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division. We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful as this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to help New York City recover from the storm. New York Road Runners will have additional information in the days ahead and we thank you for your dedication to the spirit of this race. The Expo will remain open tomorrow.

Not surprising to me given the devastation of Sandy. Many are criticizing the timing though as they indicated the race would go on a few days ago. To me this was a no-brainer. Either cancel the race or reschedule it. They did the right thing.

Long Run Gone Wrong Two Weeks Before Marathon

That is...if I actually can run the marathon now.  My plan this morning was to run an easy 18 miles this morning, two weeks prior to the Malibu Marathon.

Rarely have I run long two weeks out from a marathon, but I decided this time that it would make sense because my last long run was 3 weeks ago, 5 weeks pre-marathon. Generally my final long run before a marathon is 3 or 4 weeks out.

The reason for the change in plans is that I opted to do a 5K 2 weeks ago and a half marathon last week, to remind my body what it's like to run fast. It was probably a mistake running 2 races in successive weekends, but it felt fine at the time.

There was some lingering soreness in my lower left calf after the half marathon that finally subsided late in the week. So yesterday I felt fine to run long today, Sunday. The only complicating factor was that I was on my feet the entire day, from soccer games in the morning and afternoon, errands, a carnival and a kids' halloween event. I was on my feet from sunup to 9pm. My calves were aching.

But I was a good trooper and set out on my run at 7 a.m. this morning. Actually felt perfectly fine, pretty good in fact, through the halfway point in an easy hour and 7 minutes. Turned around on the out and back course to PCH, ran a mile, then, BOOM, the sharp pain in the lower left calf came out of nowhere. I changed my gait a bit to continue running without stressing the calves as much, but that only worked a mile or so.

Long story short, I had to walk roughly 5 miles back home. Arrghh! So frustrating.

Got home in total cumulative time of 2 hours, 54 minutes, so it took me 1 hour 47 minutes to walk/jog from PCH back to Newbury Park. Not bad I guess.

But now I'm a bit concerned about being able to recover in time for the marathon. I took 3 Advil as soon as I got home and have been icing the calf for over an hour. Might have to take several days off from running. Maybe longer.

Can't remember the last time I had to walk this far on a long run. Not good. But I had no choice. Will have to stay vigilant with the rest, ice and Advil.

Marla Runyan Half Marathon Today Indicates Possible Sub-3 Hour Marathon Time

The Inaugural Marla Runyan Half Marathon in Camarillo Sunday morning started off on time and as planned, behind the Target store. Great weather was on hand - overcast, low to mid 60s, minimal wind.

Marla Runyan is a legally blind runner who graduated Camarillo High School in 1987. Stargardt’s Disease caused her childhood macular degeneration that took away her eyesight. But she didn't let this stop her.

Runyan is a three-time national champion in the 5000 meters and won four gold medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. She is the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics, finishing 8th (top American) in the 1,500 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was the top American at the 2002 New York Marathon in 2 hours, 27 minutes with the second-fastest debut time ever by an American woman.

Quite an inspiration. And she was there at the start of the race, giving us a brief, yet memorable send-off.  The key words were "make sure to pace yourself." Solid advice.

My goal was to run a half marathon time of 1 hour, 25 minutes or less. Based on my 2.1 rule of thumb (projected marathon time = half marathon time x 2.1), a time of 1:25:43 or below equates to a sub-3 hour marathon time that has eluded me now for 8 years.  So I was thinking I'd be happy with a 1:24 to 1:25 run at a reasonable pace that wouldn't beat me up.

Cutting to the chase, I ran the race in 1:23:51, good for 4th overall and 1st in my age group. I just looked back and the last time I ran a half marathon was over 3 years ago on 9/19/09, in 1:23:53. So somehow I managed to cut 2 seconds off my time.

The words of Marla Runyan were penetrated my brain briefly but 1/4 mile into the race my body told me I was felt pretty light footed. So I pulled past 5 or 10 guys into 2nd place, within range of the 32 year old who ultimate won the race (and on that note, pretty much ALL of my personal best times were set at the age of 32).

To achieve a 1:24 marathon, all I needed to do was run a 6:25 pace the entire race. The first mile for me was 6:09 and my two mile time was 12:20. Five miles into the race I was under 31 minutes, around a 6:12 average pace. I had built up a minute cushion below my target time.

Then around mile 6 I started realizing that my body could not continue that 1:21-ish half marathon pace. While I was able to maintain the rate of my stride, my step became less bouncy and more labored. No breathing problems or anything, just muscles that started to show signs of fatigue. Not good!

Two guys passed me between miles 6 and 10 and one more nearly reeled me in at the end (in fact, I was surprised he didn't catch me but I gave it whatever I had to hold him off).

At mile 10 I was around 63 minutes or so, which translates translates to about a 6:46 pace for the final 5K, significantly slower than the 6:18 pace for the first 10 miles. I definitely struggled to keep my pace but I held it up through the finish....barely!

Lesson learned. If an OLYMPIC ATHLETE tells you to pace yourself before a race, well, dammit, LISTEN to him/her!

But it was fun making an attempt to keep it real with those 32 year olds. I'm 48, so you'd think at least I get to subtract a third of my time to even things out with them.

Would be interesting to run that exact same race again, but this time do the first 6 miles at the more appropriate 6:25. Perhaps I would have run negative splits and a faster overall time.  Next time...

Three weeks until the Malibu Marathon now. Considering one more slow paced 18 to 20 miler this coming weekend. I'll do it if I feel up to it.

Four Weeks Away From Marathon and 5K Time Equates to 3 Hour Marathon

Last Sunday I ran the 5th Annual Jason's Race for SIDS Awareness 5K in Westlake Village. This is a worthy local event hosted by Katie and Andy Lutz on behalf of their son Jason.

Jason was born on November 7, 2007, a healthy 8 pound, 5 ounces.  Jason was blue eyed, strong, healthy, full of energy and shared his smile with all around him. But on March 11, 2008, the Lutz family was devastated by the sudden passing of Jason during his morning nap.

The Lutz's and relative Kim Erwin set out to do whatever they could to memorialize Jason and raise awareness to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) through a 5K event. Conejo Valley Guide was in its early stages in 2008 when I met with them and saw their pain, yet felt their energy in putting together a 5K...something they had never done before. This past Sunday, Jason's Race reached its 5 year anniversary.

The inaugural Jason's Race was October 12, 2008. I ran that 5K and somehow managed to win the race overall in 18 minutes, 17 seconds. After a 3 year hiatus, I decided last minute to run the 5K again on Sunday. My long runs have been o.k. and with 4 weeks prior to the Malibu Marathon, my thinking was that I needed to work on my speed a bit.

Long story short, I finished the 5th Annual Jason's Race in first place overall again in 18 minutes, 19 seconds; 2 seconds slower than my time 5 years ago. Well ain't that cool! While I felt decent, my only slight disappointment is that I "felt" like I ran under 18 minutes for my effort. Oh well! At least I'm consistent...exactly 3 weeks prior I ran an 18:19 5K in Camarillo.

The Malibu Marathon is November 11th and I'm running another tune-up race this Sunday, the Marla Runyan Half Marathon in Camarillo. The day prior I ran 10 miles. That's not something I would normally do the day before a "competitive" 5K where I want to run refreshed and ready. I felt I needed to get some decent mileage in since my main goal is the marathon coming up.

A rule of thumb I use is to multiply 5K time by 2.1 to get an equivalent 10K time. So a 18:19 5K equals a 38:26 10K. Then I multiply 10K time by another rule of thumb, 4.7, to get an equivalent marathon time. That would be a 3 hour, 38 second marathon. So I'm in the ballpark of a sub-3 hour marathon.

Learn more about Jason's Race and the Jason Lutz SIDS Foundation at www.jasonsrace.com.

Signed Up For Malibu Marathon, My Foot Hurts, My Butt Hurts, But It's All Good

With 4 long (over 16 mile) runs down the hatch over the last 6 weeks, I decided to bite the bullet yesterday, the day the $20 promo code discount expired, to sign up for the Malibu Marathon on November 11, 2012.

I hemmed and hawwed on this but decided to save $20 rather than wait until the last minute as previously discussed about 3 weeks ago. After running a progression over the previous weekends of 17 miles, 18.5 miles, 20 miles, a 5K and 10 miler, then back to 21 miles last Saturday, I feel my marathon endurance is there. Now it's a matter of, can I run at the pace that I'd like to run.

This upcoming weekend is a busy one, filled with kids' AYSO soccer games and my son's birthday party on Sunday morning. As a result, and I rarely do this, I decided to get up early this morning, Friday, before work, and get my long run out of the way for the weekend.

It was a perfect morning for a run, with cooler temps than we've had of late. Today I did another run down to PCH, touched PCH with my foot, then scrambled back up Sycamore Canyon. Total distance was about 18.5 miles.

Sycamore Cove Beach, across PCH at the bottom of Sycamore Canyon

I reached PCH in 1:09:30 and finished the 2nd, mostly uphill half of the out-and-back course in 1:15. That equates to about a 7:41 per mile pace, as compared to the 6:50 pace I'd like to maintain for the marathon to get below 3 hours. I've never tried to run my long runs at marathon pace, preferring to work on my endurance at about 45 seconds to a minute slower than race pace. No need to burn my body out on these long runs.

To get the body adjusted to marathon pace, my preference is to toss some races into the training mix - 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons. Between an occasional race and sometimes running "fartlek" (love that word) into a morning run (basically add some speed at periodic intervals during a run...also called "speedplay"), that's how I attempt to "tune up" for a marathon.

Would be even better for me to get out on a track once a week and run intervals, like 800 meter repeats, but with all that I have going on I just can't seem to make that commitment. So while I know I'm leaving something on the table with my training, I'm doing pretty much the best I can given my life's daily adventures.

This morning's run overall ended up being moderately miserable. Once again I had trouble with timing of my, ahem, bodily functions. Years ago at the advice of a friend I experimented with taking psyllium husk the night before a long run or marathon to ensure I wouldn't have this problem. It worked for awhile, then periodically didn't. So I stopped using it. Time to try it again. Psyllium is basically Metamucil. I'll leave you with that.

I also encountered a strange, new problem with the ball of my right foot. It started really hurting about 15 miles into the run, to the point that I had to stop to see if my socks were causing the problem. Kind of a sharp pain. I think perhaps I just bruised the ball of the foot. Time for some ice and Advil. For some reason, the pain was sharpest when running on a flat to slightly inclined surface. It wasn't as big of a problem when running up steep hills, for whatever that's worth.

So now, later in the day, my butt hurts. But (or butt), I think I'll be o.k. I believe I deserve a beer. In fact, there should be a rule. Running 16 or more miles on a weekday before work should be rewarded with one or two icy cold beers that night.

Newbury Park "Sole Runners" Training Group Starts Its Winter Program

The Sole Runners of Newbury Park starts its winter training program this month, with a kickoff party on October 9 at The Lab Brewing Company in Agoura and first official training day on Saturday, October 13th at 7:00 a.m. at The Boney Mountain Coffee in Dos Vientos. The group will meet there, leave to run to the trails in Sycamore Canyon and return for some yoga. On the 13th will be a Chi Running lesson to get everyone started with great running form and off to a good beginning. Our full group runs begin the following Saturday. Learn more about the group at www.solerunners.net.

Not All Long Runs are Created Equal

Today I got back to my long run training with a 21 miler. Two weeks ago I ran the same out and back 20 mile course that I ran this morning, adding an extra mile at the halfway point. Ran down to Thornhill Broome Beach and back again, 1:18 down and 1:25 on the uphill coming back up Sycamore Canyon.

Today my stomach gave me a bit of grief. Every marathoner should be aware of their biggest single point of failure (SPOF) and figure out what to do about it. The biggest SPOF can be a number of things...a bad knee, getting dehydrated quickly, going out too hard, shin splints, etc. For me, if I don't watch what I eat the day before a run, I pay the price.

Honestly I don't know what caused my stomach ailment but I'm thinking I ate too much junk late last night. I wasn't in pain or anything. Mainly an annoyance that took my concentration off of my run. That said though, it wasn't a terrible day for me. I got another long run on the books.

I have been taking one refillable bottle and 4 gel packs on my runs. Today I used only 2 of my 4 gel packs over 21 miles. It wouldn't have hurt to suck the other 2 packs down, but I wasn't in the mood.

With little rest, I ran off to the AYSO soccer fields with the kids today and spend half the day out and about between games, came home and jumped in the pool. I survived the day and feel a bit like Superman. A tired Superman.

Cool Awards at the Local Camarillo Lions Club 5K and 10K Run Today

Two years ago I ran the Camarillo-Somis Pleasant Valley Lions Club 5K in 17:34 without any "speed" training. I managed to win the race that year (well, as I recall, after the guy right ahead of me took a wrong turn lol). Last year I wasn't running in September as a result of my vitrectomy surgery to correct a detached retina. After running 20 miles last Saturday, 18.5 miles a week prior to that preceded by a 17 miler on September 2nd, I figured it would be good to ditch the long run this weekend to work on a little speed with a 5K race.

This course is pretty much pancake flat. A nice, low-key local race run by really nice people at the Lions Club who also put on a pancake breakfast and have in my opinion an enormous number of raffle prizes for such a relatively small race. In fact, I won lunch for two at Ola's Mexican Restaurant in Camarillo in the raffle!

However, I did not treat this race particularly seriously. Yesterday I ran 10 miles around town, which I would not do the day before a "serious" competitive 5K. But I wanted to keep the mileage up.

Additionally, and for the first time ever in my 19 year running career, I worked out at the gym at 7:20 a.m. for 20 minutes, prior to the 8 a.m. start time of the race. My gym was literally across the street from the race and I wanted to get a workout in. I had planned to work out after the race, but figured, ah, what the heck, let's get this done now so I can get home to the kids sooner after the race. The workout was not particularly hard, but no doubt not something you should do immediately before a 5K.

I actually felt pretty solid the entire race...no aches or pains..and ran a solid 18:19 for 3rd place overall. Similar to my last 5K on the 4th of July, the combined ages of the two guys ahead of me were less than my age...ha! I almost ran down the kid in front of me...woulda had him with another quarter of mile...he kept looking behind him, which told me he was starting to hurt).

Decent race conditions. Sunny, maybe 70 degrees, no wind, flat. My only beef is that I felt like I was easily running sub-18 minutes. The wind in my sails deflated slightly when I saw the 18:19 time, but all things considered, I'm happy. I cut 12 seconds off my last 5K time and averaged about 5:55 per mile. Decent enough for someone close to turning 50 who stupidly does a gym workout before a 5K.

As you can see from the unique awards imprinted on tiles above, the race organizers do a really nice jobb. That was a really nice touch.  Thanks again, Pleasant Valley Lions Club, for putting on such a runner-friendly local race! Learn more about the club at www.pvlions.org.

Waiting Until the Last Minute to Register for a Marathon This Fall

I'm biding my time right now. At the (hopefully) tail end of a heat spell that has brought record temperatures to the Southland, I have managed to slowly but surely ramp up the length of my long runs to the point I'm comfortable I can run a full marathon in a few months.

But what marathon do I run?

That I don't know. Yet.

So awhile back I signed up for the Bulldog 25K trail run on August 25th and had a reasonable performance for where I was at in my training. That was a nice mental boost. But still no marathon plans in my mind at that point.

A week later, after a 5 month wait, I finally retrieved my 2012 Boston Marathon shirt from my friend who picked it up for me since I couldn't run the race. Yes, this shirt cost me $150 (the price tag on the shirt actually says $30...but of course the $150 includes the cost of entry into the marathon).

So I'm thinking, what's next. I haven't run a marathon since December 2010 and am not signed up for anything at this point. Then I thought, it has been many years since I ran the Los Angeles Marathon and I've never run the latest "Stadium to the Sea" course.

The L.A. Marathon is March 17, 2013. There were nearly 19,000 finishers in the 2012 race. I've run L.A. a total of 9 times over the years, about 6 times "seriously" and 3 times as a "paid training run" for another marathon. My first L.A. Marathon in 1994 was my first ever marathon, in a wet, rainy 3 hours, 3 minutes. My last L.A. Marathon was a "training run" run/walk/jog in 3 hours, 13 minutes. In between those races, 6 of the other L.A. Marathons were under 3 hours.

Due to the size of the race, organizers have 4 start corrals after the "elite" athletes. I will run L.A. only if I can manage to get into the 1st corral, which requires a sub 3:01 time no earlier than 7/1/11. Gulp. I haven't run a sub 3:01 since my 2:48 in Long Beach in October 2004. However...since then, I've only run 4 marathons, none of them with all cylinders on.

So my predicament is that, I need to run a sub 3:01 marathon this fall if I want to run L.A. But I don't want to travel far for the race. And I still need to train. That brings me back to the Malibu Marathon on November 11th. A race that in 3 years of existence, has brought a measly 14 sub-3 hour performances.  My 2010 time was 3:05 but it was unseasonably warm and I cramped up due to lack of electrolytes. I feel I can run sub-3 at Malibu if 1) the weather is reasonable...no unseasonably warm temps and Santa Ana winds and 2), I can run a 1:24 or faster half marathon prior to then.

Huh? Why 1:24? Because I use a 2.1 multiple in deriving projected marathon time from a half marathon. In my book, a 1:24 half marathon equates to a 2:56 marathon, leaving enough cushion to pull it off.

Next step? Keep doing long runs, possibly a 5K/10K or two, and run the Inaugural Marla Runyan Half Marathon in Camarillo in October. And think happy, positive thoughts to keep illness and injury at bay. Then I'll decide what should be my Fall marathon...

Inaugural Marla Runyan Classic Half Marathon, 5K in Camarillo on October 21st

Cruised Through an 18 1/2 Mile Run This Morning Powered by GU

Armed with a single water bottle and 4 packets of GU, I managed to get a decent spur of the moment long run down the hatch this morning.

Sometimes just the thought of running a particular race provides the motivation I need. After passing on the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon next year, I thought, maybe it would be fun to try the Los Angeles Marathon. My marathon P.R. was set on the L.A. course many years ago but I haven't run L.A. in recent years. And the "Stadium to the Sea" route sounds like pretty interesting.

GU Energy Labs Gu Peanut Butter 24 Pack

When I looked at the L.A. Marathon website, I discovered they have 3 "bins" of people at the start of the race: Sub 3 hours, 3 to 4 hours and over 4 hours. I decided that the only way I would run L.A. is if I can qualify for the sub 3 hour bin.

I've run 18 sub 3 hour marathons through the years, but the last time this happened was 8 years ago, at the 2004 Long Beach Marathon. My time that day was 2 hours, 48 minutes, good for 2nd master. I was actually on pace for a 2:42 marathon that day but had to pull back due to groin pain.

Since then, life has become more complicated! Kids, jobs, injuries, etc. have taken their toll on my training and, while the passage of the years has also slowed me down, I feel like I'm running nowhere near my full current potential.

While I don't expect to hit my full potential because I'm not doing the right things...in particular, getting adequate sleep, hard training and speedwork.

That said, with moderate, consistent, injury/illness free training, I still think I can run sub 3 hours on most marathon courses. So...I'm considering...not "committed" yet...but considering...signing up for the Malibu Marathon on November 11th.

What will determine if I sign up or not is how my training goes, and perhaps a few races over the next few months. I've signed up for a half marathon in Camarillo in mid-October. If I can run it in 1 hour, 22 minutes or less, I'll probably sign up for the Malibu Marathon. Why? I use an old rule of thumb; your potential marathon time equals 2.1 times your half marathon time. So a 1:22 half equates to about a 2:52 full marathon, leaving some cushion.

That said, even if I AM in decent shape for Malibu, there's definitely no guarantee of running sub 3 hours. The sub 3 hour time has been run on that course a measly14 times in the first 3 years of the event. The course is great, but quite hilly over the last 3 to 5 miles and there are significant headwinds over many sections of the route along PCH.

In any case, with this 18.5 mile under my belt this morning and a 17.5 miler last weekend, with some luck I think I can actually do this.

On a side note, I recently discovered the Peanut Butter GU flavor, which immediately became my favorite flavor. There are many sports energy gels out there but I still like GU best over all these years. They aren't as overly sweet as many seem to be.

Paul Ryan is Not the Fastest Marathon Running Candidate for High Office After All

This is not a politics blog but if someone running for office has run a marathon, my ears perk up. I'm a moderate, in fact, I'm so moderate that I'm thinking of founding a new political party called the Moderate Party. Some issues I side with the Republicans, others with the Democrats. I think the far right and far left are a bunch of ignoramouses. If I highlighted where I stand on fiscal, social and geopolitical issues, I think I would have the silent majority of the U.S. electorate supporting me. Conejo Joe for Emperor!

But I digress.

Even if I think a politician is a complete nincompoop (God I love that word), if they can run a solid marathon time, I give them respect, or at least some respect.

Case in point, Sarah Palin. While the thought of Sarah a heartbeat away from the Presidency scared the living daylights out of me, I was impressed that she was able to run a sub-4 hour marathon in 1995.

Which brings me to Paul Ryan. He recently claimed in an interview that he ran a sub-3 hour marathon. To quote him in his phone interview with Hugh Hewitt: "Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something." That would, to my knowledge, handily make him the fastest marathoner to run for high office in this country.

Well Runner's World confirmed that the only marathon Ryan has run was in 4:01:25 at age 20 at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. That puts him 2 minutes behind Sarah Palin, 17 minutes behind George W. Bush's Houston Marathon at age 47 and 3 minutes Eliot Spitzer's 1983 NY Marathon at age 24.

I get it if someone can't remember their exact times from a marathon, half marathon or 10K. But to actually say 2 hours, 50 something when it was actually 4 hours is almost sacrilegious. 

Read more in this LA Times article.

All this said, running a fast marathon does not guarantee you will become POTUS. Michael Dukakis ran the 1951 Boston Marathon in 3 hours, 31 minutes.

Barack Obama to my knowledge has never run a marathon, yet there is this, um, interesting YouTube video of him running the 2008 Seattle Marathon. :>

Slow But Steady Paid Off on Saturday at the Bulldog 25K Trail Run

I've talked about the Bulldog 25K/50K Trail Runs a number of times in this blog. But in summary, it is a challenging loop/double-loop course run entirely within Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas, with each loop having a total elevation climb of nearly 4,000 feet, including the climb up 2,528 foot Bulldog Mountain.

Since coming back from my post eye-surgery 5 1/2 week hiatus 5 months ago, my training got off to a rusty start and has been steady, but not memorable. I did get in several 10 mile runs as well as a slow 2 hour run that I counted for 14 miles back on July 28th. I also ran up Boney Mountain very slowly on July 6th. But nothing intense that would fully prepare for the hammering that took place this past Saturday on the Bulldog 25K course.

So cutting to the chase, I ran the 25K race on Saturday without incident in a reasonable 2 hours, 6 minutes, good for 2nd Male Master overall, 1 minute away from the first place master.

I gave it my best shot. My fitness level is back to I'd say about 75% of where it used to be. I still don't have the speed I used to have, so I gave up a lot of ground in the early going of this race. And my timing was a bit off so I had to make an unscheduled pit stop on behalf of my bladder. But hey, we were running in the wilderness so no big deal :>

The uphills of Bulldog are brutal, just brutal. Relentless. You start thinking, about halfway up: "Why am I here? I could be sleeping right now. What did I do to deserve this? Are we there yet? How much further?" as you start the long, steady, climb up the mountain. For the most part, the surfaces are ok, but there are some sections at the top where you're running downhill on the rock face of the mountain.

With age and experience comes the wisdom to conserve your energy running uphill on a course like this because, having run the race now 5 or 6 times....once your mojo is gone, you're toast. And I saw this happen to someone on Saturday. The guy with the knee high black socks.

There was a guy that looked like he was 10 years my junior that reminded me of me last year. I passed him at some point, maybe the 6 or 7 mile mark, on an uphill. He was walking. Looked like maybe he blew a gasket...like I did last year. Then came a downhill and he just hammered it past me. I thought, if the rest of the course is downhill, he's got me. But I knew there was plenty of uphill to go.

Sure enough, the next uphill he walked as I slowly but steadily dug in. Nothing fast, nothing fancy. Just shortened the stride, kept the pace even and kept the forward progression up the hill. Then he blew by me again on the downhill. This happened 4 or 5 times until finally he didn't appear at the the next downhill. It was actually kind of fun for me and it kept my mind off the soreness in my calves and quads. But I was now alone....for a bit.

And then the most extreme of the downhills came. You think downhills are easy, but this one is like dropping from a plane. I'm sitting here Monday night at the computer and my shins are still sore from the pounding.  Yet another young buck flew by me on this section of the race to my surprise. I was able to keep him in my sights for awhile, while grimacing through the steepest of the downhills, but ultimately he got away.

Bulldog doesn't end when you hit the bottom. There are some more tricky, hilly, twists and turns until you hit the flats...then there's about a mile of running until the finish...of the 25K (the 50Kers of course run another lap).

I was in pain at the end, but a good pain. Yet again, the Bulldog 25K chewed me up and spit me out, leaving me itching to train harder next year and drop below 2 hours.

By the way, the support along this course is fantastic. They go out of their way to take care of you, both 25K and 50K. They required us to carry at least 20 oz of fluids during this year's race after the extreme heat of last year's Bulldog. They refilled my bottle with icy cold water. I was quite impressed!

Going With the Flow When Things Go Wrong in a Local 5K/10K Race

My very first 5K race was on June 6, 1993 (yes, I know the date because I've updated an Excel spreadsheet of my running mileage and races going back to my first "official" day of running on May 5, 1993) and for years I was pretty serious about most of my races.

If you pay your $30 for a local race, you're usually supporting a local charity or cause, but with that there's some expectation that 1) the course will be accurately measured, 2) your time and place will be accurately reported and 3) there's a reasonable level of logistical effort placed into the race, including adequate course supervision, signage, available fluids, etc.

In the early days of my running, all this stuff was a really big deal. I'd be royally annoyed, particularly if the course was not accurate. Actually, I still get annoyed at that. No one should be hosting a race if they can't measure the course correctly as most of like to compare the time on the course to previous races.

But overall, today it isn't quite as big of a deal for me if something goes wrong at a local 5K/10K race. I'm not as serious about my training and racing, so when things go awry, I don't cry :> Case in point was this morning's 10K at Balboa Park in the San Fernando Valley. A friend of mine asked me this week if I wanted to run the race to support a breast cancer screening facility. My family being out of town, I said sure, knowing full well I'm not well trained to run a fast 10K.

There was a 5K and 10K, with the 5K starting 10 minutes before the 10K. I found it odd that our race bib numbers did not distinguish which distance we were running. It was basically left up to the timekeeping system to track who started the 5K at 8 a.m. and who started the 10K at 8:10 a.m.

Boy it was a hot day today. Low 80s at the start of the race. Today I was running for survival, not for speed. Heat is not my friend. 'Twas a sweatfest indeed out there. But it was fun...finishing! My time was 40:30, about a 6 1/2 minute per mile pace, which is exactly what I expected to run. The course was almost pancake flat but with the high temps I knew breaking under 40 minutes would be a challenge. The last time I ran the 10K distance was over 2 years ago, in just over 39 minutes.

So I was happy with my time, and, surprisingly, I finished 2nd place overall. There were 2 guys in front of me for a long time, but apparently the first place guy took a wrong turn somewhere. Thanks dude! I finished 3 1/2 minutes behind the winner, who lives in Palmdale (heck he must be used to temps in the 90s and 100s!) and is 17 years my junior.

But back to my original point...things can and do go wrong. Sure enough, they posted the results of the 10K and I was nowhere to be found. Others who also knew they placed well were also not on the list. Sure enough, many 10Kers were timed as if we ran the 5K. So instead of a 40 minute 10K, I was on the 5K results with a time of 52 minutes.

Fortunately the timers were receptive to resolving the issue and made sure to make appropriate corrections. But it didn't happen until after the event MC announced the incorrect race results. Knowing that the 10K results were way off, I approached him and very nicely let him know they the results were quite wrong and that the timers were making corrections. He pretty much ignored me and said this (the sheet he was holding) is what was given to him. Would have been nice for him to at least ask someone, but he went on and announced the "winners" and handed out the awards to many of the wrong people.

In my younger days I would have complained and bitched and moaned. Today I just laughed about it. There were others that were kind of annoyed about things, like why they only give medals to the top 3 in each age group (she thought it was top 5), etc. But it was so hot out there that most people moved on to the rest of their day.

Bottom line: Most of us run local races for fun and camaraderie. So when things go a bit wrong, as things quite often do in these local races, stay cool!

Lulled In By the Bulldog 25K Trail Run Again This Year

The Bulldog 50K and 25K trail races are on Saturday, August 25th this year at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas.  Don't know what it is about this brutally tough race, but I'm signed up for the 25K again this year. Last year it was the hottest day of the year and I didn't fare too well, feeling dehydrated most of the race. Hoping we get an overcast morning.

Today I did my longest run so far of the year, a 2 hour run mostly on the trails in Sycamore Canyon. Ran up Danielson Road, turned up the Old Boney Trail (which gives some really nice views of Boney Mountain), down Fossil Trail down to the bottom of Sycamore Canyon. From there I ran a handful of other trails and road to achieve a total time of 2 hours.

Did something I would not recommend. Swigged down a bottle of water, put a couple candy bars in a fanny pack, and took off. Didn't carry any water with me this morning as I felt I was able to drink enough down to get my through a 2 hour run. I'm not a big fan of carrying water. Started the run at 7:20 a.m. and it was nice and cool. Temps only reached about 70 degrees. Worked out fine for me. My backup plan is that I knew of 3 water fountains on my path. Didn't need to stop for them though.

But I did stop briefly to take a few quick pics of the view!

Australian Hurdler Michelle Jenneke's Warmup Dance; You Can Get Away With This if You're Good at What You Do!

After sucking in some oxygen, I thought, is this too overtly sexualization of sports? But I paced myself, watched the whole video...29 times...and though, heck no. This 19 year old Aussie Michelle Jenneke demolished the competition so if she wants to do a little dance show to warm up, by golly, let her!

While she won't be at the Olympics in London next month, perhaps we will see her smiling face and wiggly, jiggly moves at the 2016 Olympics in Spain.

More at www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/michelle-jenneke-dancing-australian-hurdler-video_n_1686230.html.

Video Footage of June 28th U.S. Men's 5,000 Meter Olympic Trials in Oregon

On June 28, 2012, 26 year old Galen Rupp of Portland, Oregon broke Steve Prefontaine's 1972 5000m trials record, running the race in 13:22.67. Galen's career best time in the distance was set earlier that month on June 2 at the Prefontaine Classic in 12:58.90, where he finished in 3rd place. This will be Rupp's 2nd appearance in the Olympics, finishing 13th in the 10,000 meters in Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.

Rupp will be joined by 38 year old (ancient by 5,000 meter standards) Bernard Lagat, who finished 15/100ths of a second behind Rupp, and 3rd place finisher Lopez Lomong. This is a great finish in what was a very tactical race. Looking forward to seeing these guys compete in London next month.

Waking Up My Body Once Again With a Local 5K Race on the 4th of July

With no particular race plans and no real focus to my running these days, I don't have a lot of motivation to run fast. It has been 3 1/2 months since I started back with my running after 5 1/2 week hiatus. I've been running consistently, but not spectacularly.

Part of my problem continues to be lack of adequate sleep...getting to bed too late. I'll have to work on cloning myself. Too tired in the morning, my daily runs have been slow. My long runs in the 8 to 9 mile range over the last 3 to 4 weeks.

In any case, I thought it would be fun to do the local Miller Family YMCA 5K in Newbury Park on the 4th of July to give my body some shock treatment again. When you don't do speedwork on the track or in your training in general, I'm a fan of running a periodic 5K to force a little speed with peer pressure surrounding you in a fun environment.

There were over 400 runners on hand for the 5K. The weather was overcast, the course was semi-challenging. I felt decent. Not speedy, but not bad.

As usual for pretty much any local 5K/10K, there were dozens and dozens of teenagers toeing the line. Although I know most of them will be out of the gate like a sprinter, then fizzle out before the first miler marker, I don't bother trying to squeeze into the front where I know I belong (I did, even at my advanced age of 47, still manage to finish 9th overall). I chose standing in the 2nd/3rd row and relaxing, though slightly annoyed, to jostling with a pimply 16 year old for a spot.

The race starts and, sure enough, 50 people bolt out ahead of me as I work my way into it. But within 1/2 mile most of these folks are behind me as I slowly but surely reel them in. At that point I was pretty much in the spot I'd end up at at the finish line.

While the speed that carried me to 17 1/2 minute 5K times 2 years ago was not there, I felt more competitive than the 10K I ran 2 1/2 months ago. So I was able to keep a couple teenagers on their toes most of the race, trading positions with them a few times. At the end, they were able to accelerate while I stayed in 2nd gear, and they beat me 8 seconds.

The results show me in 9th place in 18:31, roughly 5:59 per mile. The first mile was uphill, which forced me into negative splits, which is a good thing. The two kids in front of me were 14 and 16. The 10th place finisher, 25 seconds behind me, was 15. WTH?? I'm older than the combined ages of these 3 guys. Too much fun!

With 2012 Men's Olympic Marathon Around the Corner, the 1968 Event Comes to Mind

One of the most memorable scenes from any recent Olympics marathon came not from the winners' finish but from the last placing marathoner's finish at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

74 runners were entered in the event and 57 finished, with winner Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia finishing over 3 minutes in front of the next closest runner.

But the story that filmmaker Bud Greenspan brought a lump to our throats was about the last place finisher, John Steven Akhwari of Tanzania, who limped to the finish in 3 hours, 25 minutes, over an hour after the winners crossed the line.

Mexico City sits at an altitude of over 7,000 feet. If you haven't trained at that kind of altitude, running a marathon can do a number on you. Before the halfway point of the race, Akhwari was jostled by other runners and fell, injuring his knee and slamming into the pavement. Most would have stopped at that point, but he decided to keep running.

Interviewed at the end of the race he said something along the lines of "My country didn't send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish it." Truly inspirational.

Novel Approach For Eliminating the Dreaded Nip Chafing Issue While Running a Marathon

A good friend of mine recently finished his first full, official marathon, the Taipei Expressway Marathon in Taiwan. If running an entire marathon on a highway ain't bad enough (sounds dreadful to me), it was over 80 degrees and humid. Call me a wimp but I'm not flying over to Taiwan anytime soon to run a marathon (though truth be told, I signed up to run the Singapore Marathon, which I ended up not going to).

In any case, one of the photos my friend shared was the one below. The dude with his arms in the air while reaching the finish line is wearing a shirt that could (theoretically) be the solution to runners' chafing of the nipples. Simply cut out those sections of the shirt and, wallah!! No more chafing issues, no more bleeding, no need for bandaids on the nips or other strategies for addressing this particular issue!

My thinking is, perhaps women should first try it to see if it catches on. I'm sure at least 3 of the 7 people reading this are women. Try it out and let me know. And send pictures :>

2nd Annual Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon and Half Marathon Proves to Be a Hit!

The 2nd Annual Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon took place this past Sunday, June 3rd, under mostly overcast skies...perfect marathon weather. 

The marathon course starts near Nordhoff High School in Ojai and has a net downhill of 700 feet as it takes runners through a scenic bike path to the Ventura waterfront. My friends that ran it said it is a really nice course and that they would run it again. One friend who was targeting a 3:30 had some solid training and blew through the course in 3:10.

Both the marathon and half marathon races sold out, with 809 finishers in the marathon and 877 in the half marathon.  My friend indicated there is talk that they make some change next year to allow for a larger number of participants, given the race's popularity.

Indicative of the steady downhill, there were 24 marathoner that finished the race in under 3 hours. That is fully 3% of all finishers, which is quite impressive. Contrast that with this past year's Los Angeles Marathon, where 116 finishers out of 18,729, or just .6% finished in under 3 hours. That is a factor of five difference!

Of course, the large proportion of speedy marathons could also be in part to course organizers' reaching out to faster runners. On its website, they indicate they will give a free entry to any men and women that have recent times under 2:45 and 3 hours, respectively.  And they give 50% of the cost of an entry to men and women with recent times under 3 hours and 3:20, respectively. Nice!

The top 2 men in the race were only 37 seconds apart. Overall winner Jay Thomson of Santa Cruz finished in 2:30:16 while Clyde Behunin of St. George, Utah (also known for one of the most downhill courses in the United States) was 2nd. Blue Benadum of Malibu finished 3rd in 2:35.

Julie Brekke of San Diego won the woman's race in 2:59, followed by Shauna Rountree of Bakersfield in 3:00:16 and Amy Laughter of Ogden, Utah in 3:00:41. Pretty close race!

Top Ventura County finishers were Aaron Torres of Ventura, 6th place overall in 2:48:46 and Melissa Hernandez of Oxnard in 3:08:39.

Ojai 2 Ocean is one of only 2 full marathon courses that are run completely in Ventura County, the Camarillo Marathon being the other one. Prior to 2009, there were no Ventura County based marathons. Keep up the great work in bringing 26.2 mile races to our local area!