Los Angeles Marathon IV Finishers Medal from March 6, 1994My 7 year old brought home a huge trophy for his Pony League baseball season...to him it makes no difference if the team wins or loses, or how many hits he gets...no, to him, its all about having fun and all the "stuff" that he gets, least of which is the humongous, oversized trophy that all the kids receive at the end of the year. He just loves that trophy and the fact that it is bigger than his soccer trophy. He's proud.

So then I had the problem of appeasing my 4 year old, who doesn't have a nice big trophy like that (yet). He wanted something too. My quick thinking led me to the Mizuno shoebox in the garage that has become a repository for 16 years of race medals.  There must be over 200 medals in that box, with the ribbons all tangled.

Most of the medals I could easily part with, but I became possessive of my marathon medals. They have a different meaning than the local 5K/10K races.  I can go out and run a 5K anytime. But a marathon, run at a decent pace, takes months and months of dedication, persistence and grit. Running the marathon means sacrifice. It means getting out of bed at 5 a.m. to run for 3 hours while everyone else is sleeping in. It means braving the heat, leaving parties early, passing on the salsa the night before the run. It means hard work and focus!

All...for the glory of...running 26.2 miles...and a finisher medal.

My 4 year old seemed to intuitively understand this. I told him that some of the medals were "extra special" to me and I wanted to put those in a special box (or in my case shove them in a different drawer). He was amenable to that and got his medal fix with other medals.

So I was looking through the 25 or so marathon medals I've collected and most of them brought back distinct memories. (A handful of marathons I ran as "training runs" and interestingly I have very little recollection of those marathons.)

My very first marathon was the 9th Los Angeles Marathon on March 6, 1994. It was a wet day and I hadn't really trained in rain. In fact, I remember the day before wondering, what type of clothes should I wear in the rain. This first marathon was a surreal experience. After finishing 17 minutes faster than my expectation (I ran a 3:03), I was jubilant, yet, like the other finishers, the celebration was muted because of the rain pouring down on us.  I was sorer then hell for the next week and I already knew another marathon was in my future. I was hooked.

That 1994 L.A. Marathon medal is actually one of my most unique medals. It is the only one made out of glass as you can see from the picture. What a great memory that medal brings. It deserves a better home than a Mizuno shoe box in the garage.

So today I was determined to run for 2 hours. Two weeks ago I ran 1 hour, 39 minutes and a week ago 1 hour, 47 minutes (my 2 longest runs of the year). Without much fanfare I came in at 1 hour, 54 minutes, approximately 15 miles.  I ran a loop course and decided I didn't need to go out of my way for an extra 6 minutes.

3 weekends, 3 progressively longest runs of the year. I'm on track with my training.  Just have to keep dodging injuries as best I can.

Next weekend I'd be better off doing a tempo run or finding a local race to get some speed into my legs. We shall see.

That wouldn't have been so bad had I not had a plan to run long in the morning. But in my old age (soon to be 46), I've lost a bit of my self motivation when it comes to getting to bed on time. Hey, I'm a busy guy. I enjoy to many things and thus, my sleep takes a hit.

This is not healthy for sure and I'm probably taking years off my life with my miserable 5 to 6 hours a night of sleep. But I don't blame anyone but myself. In fact, it's 10 p.m right now and I should be in bed as I have an early morning flight out of LAX, but feel compelled to write this instead.

So in any case, in the back of my mind I was hoping for a continuation of the unusual weather pattern we've had all July....massive cloud cover in the morning here in Ventura County, lingering into the afternoon. Luckily this played out once again today.

I was up at 7:45 a.m. off of 5 hours sleep and decided I had to make a go of it. So within 5 minutes I had my hat, watch, beverages and gels ready to go. My pre-race consumption was half a bottle of water and one pack of gel. Yum. My goal was to go around 1 hour, 40 minutes, or about 10 minute longer than my previous long run of the year.

Mission accomplished. I plowed away, not particularly fast, but without any pain, aches or complaints. It actually felt good.  One hour, 39 minutes, about 14 miles. I could have run longer. I attribute the success of today's run to cloud cover and mid 60s temps for the duration of the run. Had I encountered full blown sun and 80 degree heat more expected for an 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. run mid-July, I don't think the run would have been so pleasurable.

So today I had my cake and ate it too. I stayed up way later than I should have and survived with a smile on my face my longest run since my last marathon on December 6, 2009. Rolling with the punches. Next long run I'm likely to encounter heat...so I'll definitely have to get to bed EARLIER so I can wake up and beat the heat.

I felt so good today that later in the day I stopped by the gym for one of my Conejo Joe Signature 20 Minute Workouts.  What a great day of fitness. Tomorrow unfortunately I'll be on an airplane for most of the day...which means an opportunity to catch up on my sleep!!

I enjoy that run up to the monument, a tribute to the rancher who, along with his family, farmed and ranched in Rancho Sierra Vista and later donated the land to the National Park Service. As I ascend up the hill toward the monument and burned down cabin (just a chimney remains), my mind starts to wander...how challenging that must have been to live up there.  Would take a long time to get to Trader Joe's from up on that mountain.

The trails are slightly overgrown this time of year, so I had to do my best to avert foliage for poison oak, ticks, etc. What I like about this run is the challenge of the uphill grind, nice views and then the much quicker descent back down into the canyon. Then more hills. This is a nice, strength building run.

I added extra mileage to the run to get to about 10 miles over 80 minutes. The next day, all set for a planned road trip to Vegas, out of the blue I was on my back with a stomach flu for 2 days. Two steps forward, 1 step back, as usual!

One week later, July 4th, I pondered running a 10K.  But I was up so late with the kids after the annual Moorpark 3rd of July Fireworks Show that I opted to sleep in. The good news is that we've been having some nice carryover of June Gloom weather into July. I started my 14 mile run at 8:45 a.m. and had marine layer sheltering me for nearly the entire 92 minute run. Cloud cover is a runner's best friend.

Last Saturday while picking up my 4 year old son my back spazzed out and my training was placed on hold for several days. My chiropractor in Camarillo, Dr Jensen, whipped me back into shape by Wednesday. I ran very slowly with a back brace on Tuesday after my initial adjustment on Monday, then after my 2nd appointment on Wednesday, felt pretty much back to normal by Thursday.  Nice!!

My last adjustment was at the end of December, so I had gone nearly 6 months without a visit. That was a no no. I'll be back to once a month adjustments to keep my back in order.

The 2 day layoff must have been good for me, because today I was able to run a 5K in Newbury Park and actually feel up to par. In fact, I actually won the entire race in a time of 17:27 (though later I discovered the course was actually about 3.06 miles (not the standard 3.1 for a 5K), so technically I ran closer to a 17:45 for my purist running friends.

In any case, I felt pretty good about being able to run under 18 minutes at age 46 without any type of speedwork, other than the 10K race I ran a few weeks back. Gives me more motivation to start training hard again...but I'd have to stop blogging or something so I'd be more rested for it :>

Since personally I'm not a big fan of interval work on the track, my goal will be to run more local races this year as I train for the Singapore Marathon in December. It felt great pushing my body today. Running  a hard 5K race is a good way to shock the body and lungs into a higher level of training!

This past Saturday started out as a lovely day. One week after my longest run of the year and a 10K race in successive days, a bit of muscle soreness the first few days of the week, I ran a decent hilly 8 miler on Saturday morning.

So at 10 a.m. I was excited to bring my boys to the Los Angeles Zoo and have some fun. 'Twas a beautiful day to be outdoors.

But my 4 year old was being a brat.  He was goofing around inside the minivan and just would NOT get into his seat. The little guy was messing with me. So I finally lost my patience and bent over to pick up him, when ....ZOWWWWW....an electric shock went off in my lower back.

IMMEDIATELY I knew as was done for. This was exactly the same painful sensation I first encountered in my froggy encounter on August 7, 2009. Deja vu. So as I winced in pain, I wondered if I could even make it to the zoo when I couldn't even stand up straight.

But as pissed off and sore as I was, I was determined to go to the zoo with my kids. So I found one of my back braces and we enjoyed the rest of the day. Of course, I had to walk like an old man and not bend over, but I got through the day.

Sunday and Monday training was shot. Advil temporarily helped but what I really needed was to start the chiropractic work right away. So I did. I felt it working right away.  I've been through this several times now and know the drill.

This morning it was still sore but I was able to sloooowwwwwly jog 30 minutes with a back brace on. Felt good to get out there again. Tomorrow I'll be back at the chiro's office.

Taking things in stride. But I do have to figure out how to eliminate this back spasm issue as it ain't fun.

I was beat. Sore, tired, done. Bathed the kids, read them books. Finally to bed at 11:30 p.m.

This morning I could barely drag myself out of bed. My bladder was awake at 6 a.m. but my body was still asleep. So back to bed.

I generally like to sign up for races ahead of time. Cheaper, easier and less stress on race day morning. But I had not done so for today's 17th Annual Senior Concerns Love Run 5K/10K in Westlake Village. Not exactly sure why other than procrastination and the fact that I've done zero focused training this year. Zero.

But the Love Run is a great local race that helps local seniors programs, so my intention was to go and support the race. And since my training has been so lackadaisical (I love that word...and that's the first time I've actually typed it), my plan was to run the 5K at 8 a.m. as that would be a good "speed" workout for me.

David and I are both in our mid 40s and he never really ran, though in recent years he took up cycling and started committing himself to the sport, waking up at 4 a.m. for long rides, shedding pounds, etc. Reminded me of ME in 1993 when I started running.

So I blurted in my reply email to David that if he commits (notice that word is a recurring theme), then I'll join him.  What the heck. Would be fun to support him in his first marathon while finding motivation to run it too.

Two weeks ago he emails me his registration form to the Singapore Marathon on December 5th. Discount early bird pricing if registered by June 4th. After obtaining spousal approval, without much more thinking...I SIGNED UP!

Here we are just 2 weeks later and race organizers say the marathon is completely full. Whew, glad I made the decision to sign up quickly!

I'm now signed up. But now I have to do the REAL work...TRAIN. I've been running at a base level of 30 to 35 miles per week this year. So today I went out for a 1 1/4 hour run and felt good...though my left knee problem is still there. Hmm, I'll have to work on that.

All for now....

Tonight I had a damn good run. One of those rare runs when I had absolutely NOTHING to complain about.

Because of my own bad habits, my morning runs have generally been miserable. I don't get to sleep until 1 a.m. and when I wake up at 6:30 a.m. I'm cranky and just not enjoying my morning runs.

Tonight I felt peppy and perky. The air temperature was 57 degrees, no wind. My legs felt light.  I smiled when I ran. I ran alone. There were very few cars and people on the road. I could have run all night.

There was a spring in my step tonight. Maybe because Spring began 4 days ago. Or perhaps because my body seems to finally be adjusting to the Daylight Saving Time 1 hour "spring forward" 10 days ago.

I enjoyed the smells in the air. I could smell jasmine all around. It was great. I thoroughly appreciated the absence of wood burning fireplace smoke that clog my lungs and make me cough and wheeze during winter nighttime runs. Heck, not a single lighted cigarette was apparent tonight. That made me happy.

Why were there no cars on the roads tonight? I was alone and loving it. No speeding race cars on the roads. No worries. It was a peaceful, easy feeling tonight (to quote one of my favorite Eagles songs).  Perhaps American Idol kept people in their houses this wonderful Wednesday night.

Tonight was a night when my running felt so effortless that I pondered what should be my next big race to train for. It has been 3 1/2 months since my last race, the Santa Barbara Marathon. I had intended to run the Great Race of Agoura half marathon this coming Saturday but family plans prevent that.

Yes, I will be looking for my next race now. My body feels good, rested and ready for the challenge of gearing up again for competition. I've been doing an easy 30 miles per week, so its not like I've been sitting around eating bon bons or something.

It is nights like this that keep me motivated, after 17 years of running, to train.

It is nights like this that I'm reminded that running is not only great exercise, but enjoyable. I've been in kind of a running "rut" for 3 months. But...I'll be back. Soon.

Perhaps coincidentally (to the fact that a new roof is going up across the street), I discovered a roofing nail in my car tire yesterday. The tire remained inflated overnight so I decided to drive the car to a local tire shop where I found more guys who had to work on this fine holiday. Twenty minutes and $20 later I was off to the gym for my standard 20 minute workout.

At this point I was about an hour into my "quick" errand to fix the flat tire but I wanted to slip a quick run in while I could without my wife knowing (shhh....don't tell her...she doesn't read this blog as she hates the fact that I run).  But I figured I could get away with a 40 minute run and quickly slip in for a shower before she shes me.

So I took off on my run, with no plan in mind. These are usually my best runs, the ones where I have no idea where I'm going. So I head south from my gym and decide to figure it out as I go. About 10 minutes into the run, it dawned on me that it had been probably 10 years since I ran up a particular hill in Newbury Park.  This was the perfect opportunity to do so.

In Google Maps this area is called the Potrero Open Space, accessible at the crest of Wendy Drive (there is parking available). I accessed the trails from Reino Road and found a trail that took me to the top of the hill and back down towards Wendy Drive. There were some challenging, rocky hills that I had to walk up but once I made it to the top of the hill, I was rewarded with panoramic views of Newbury Park.  Instant gratification!

I do plan to do this trail again very soon, now that I'm reminded how cool the view is at the top! But next time I'll have to bring the video cam!

All told, I ran about 46 minutes, got a nice hill/trail workout in and was able to slip in to the shower without my wife noticing the sweat and dust on my legs.  I rewarded myself (and my wife) by taking the kids out the rest of the day.

On a side note, still no races on the calendar for me, but I'm doing about 35 miles per week. Just enjoying running for the sake of running at the moment!