News Flash: Training for the Inaugural Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon on June 5th!

Nothing better to get motivated to run a marathon than to commit to a race. Well I did last week. I'm running the inaugural Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon on Sunday, June 5th.

As many of you know, I compile local Ventura County area running events year round to help people find a local race quickly and easily. Most races are repeats from years past. Most races are 5Ks and 10Ks. So I was shocked to discover just a few weeks ago that a brand new full 26.2 mile marathon is planned in June.

The Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon (and Half Marathon) is the brainchild of Tom Taylor and Ben DeWitt, co-owners of eco-friendly local endurance event planning company, Complete Green. Both avid runners, they decided it would be great to organize local events that promote sustainability and environmental awareness.

I spoke with Ben about this new marathon and was impressed by his passion for creating something genuinely different for runners in Ventura County. Sounds like they have their act together and I decided it would be fun to run this inaugural event!

While I haven't been focused whatsoever in my training this year and in fact have not run a single race, at least I've been running consistently. I have base mileage of about 40 miles a week on my body. So why not, for fun, train for a marathon only 6 1/2 weeks away.

Motivated by the commitment, I went out last Thursday after work and ran my longest run since the Tucson Marathon last December, 15 miles. Then on Sunday, pleased to see cool temps and cloud cover above me, I slugged out an 18.7 miler over 2 hours, 21 minutes. So with a couple of 20 milers over the coming 3-4 weeks, I should be fine to run this marathon.

So I asked Ben what distinguishes the race in terms of being "green." Some interesting things were mentioned, such as awards made out of recycled materials, race shirts made out of recycled polystyrene (e.g. old water bottles), using a solar generator for finish line needs and salvaging old surfboards from Walden Surfboards for the mile markers.

This is a first year event and I don't expect a huge turnout, but I do expect it to be fun. Starts with a 10K loop in Ojai, then takes the bike path 10 miles, with a nice downhill grade, to the ocean, where it ends at the Ventura Pier. Starts early (6 a.m.), downhill and ends at the ocean. Sounds pretty good to me! The only negative (which for some is a positive) is that I suspect crowds will be very sparse.

So who's joining me? Or how about trying the half marathon (which starts/finishes near the Ventura Pier).  www.ojai2oceanmarathon.com

Got Me a Run Streak Going on Nearly 3 Months!

Of course now that I wrote this, my streak is bound to end. Which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Miraculously (knock on wood), I've survived all of 2011 so far with getting sick. My runner friends will be amazed by this because of my long string of medical malfunctions.

But even on an average of 6 hours' sleep, I've been able to stay healthy. So it dawned on me that I haven't taken a day completely off from running for a long time. Looking at my monstrous Excel running log, I've been running daily since 3 days after the Tucson Marathon, or December 15th.

I got me a running streak!  If I can keep this up until next Tuesday, I'll have a 3 month run streak! Yippee!!

The reality of it is that I'm not a big fan of running streaks because they aren't particularly healthy. It's nice to have goals and to be dedicated to running, or anything positive for that matter, but it is perfectly find and a good thing to take a day off now and then.

But...since running "gets me going" in the running and makes me feel good, if I'm not sick or injured, I go for a run. Mind you, some days I run more, some less. My average daily run so far in 2011 has been 5.9 miles. From time to time I'll run 2 to 3 easy miles as my "off" day.

Since I don't usually track running streaks, I'll have to look back in my running log to see what my longest running streak is over the last 17 years. For all I know I may be in the midst of it!

On that note, so far this year I have zero races under my belt and pretty much zero plans, other than I bought an entry into the Calabasas Classic 5K all the way in November (great race). My longest run of the year so far was this past Saturday, with roughly 14 miles. Time to start thinking about my plans...

Marathoning: It's All About the Mileage

Call me a purist, but for me and all of my competitive running friends, marathon training is ALL ABOUT THE MILEAGE!

As I've discovered over the last several years, you can't fool your body into running a fast marathon without doing the homework. Putting lots and lots of miles "in the bank" is the way to go.

Forget about speedwork. If you are stretched for time, get more miles in.

I started running in May 1993. I gradually built up my mileage and for the year 1996 through 1999 average 3,500 miles per year (yes, that is an average of 9.5 miles each and every day).

That was a LOT of work, but those were my best marathon years, when I ran a 2:37 in 1996, 2:35 Personal Best in 1997, 2:37 in 1998 and 2:36 in 1999.

Things kind of went downhill after my 2:35 because I didn't let my body recuperate long enough and injured myself doing speedwork and too many races. That led to groin pulls, hamstring ailments and other problems.

That was a long time ago and I'm a lot older now, not to mention tired, working a full-time job with a family and kids while I blab away about my training and other topics here on Conejo Valley Guide. But I'm just happy to be training, fit and healthy.

Last year's mileage for me was 2,092, slightly higher than my 2008/2009 total mileage. I've averaged roughly 2,000 miles per year over the last 3 years. That's quite a bit less than my peak mid-1990s mileage, but enough to enable me to run moderate marathon times in the low 3 hour range at my advanced age of 46.

I've been tracking my mileage on an Excel spreadsheet that has grown to over 6,500 rows since May 1993. It shows I've run 44,993 miles through December 2010. Maybe I do need to get an oil change or have my filter replaced at least!

I also track the number of minute run each day. As of 12/31/10, I had run 15,744 minutes in 2010, which equates to 262 hours. Damn, that's a lot of time! But worth it.

Stark Reminder of My Need to Start Training Harder at Bubba Gump in Long Beach

I'll make this one quick. I was at Aquarium of the Pacific this past Super Bowl Sunday morning with my kids. We thoroughly enjoyed the aquarium and then decided to go grab a bite to eat.

Adjacent to the parking lot is a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant and my 7 year old love shrimp. So we stopped in for lunch.

I've not missed a single day of running so far this year, which is good...though nothing to brag about. But my training has had zero direction. Just go out and run as much as my schedule allows. Well that's where I digress back to Bubba Gump's where we were treated to the following at the table:

Then there's another sign underneath that one that says "Stop Forrest Stop." Yes, I was reminded of my running while eating fried food in Long Beach.

Amazing, simply amazing, how Bubba Gump Shrimp was completely borne out of the movie Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump came out in 1994 and BGS first opened in 1996 and now has over 30 locations, including 3 in Japan.

But I digress again. It is now midnight and I best be getting to bed. I've got a running streak to tend to in the morning.

Quick New Year's Update - Tracking Mileage

At this time of year I usually update my annual mileage tally. I've been tracking my mileage since I started running on May 5, 1993. But I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Yes, times have changed. In my early days, I would carefully update my daily mileage in an Excel spreadsheet each day. Back then I would literally drive the course that I ran in order to log an accurate mileage count (this was back in the days before anyone could buy a mileage tracker like a Nike Plus). I had a hand-drawn map of the mileage for different courses in my neighborhood.

I updated that simple spreadsheet at one point to track both mileage as well as time spent running, then added a column to show a rolling 7 day and 10 day average. There is a "comments" section to the spreadsheet where I indicate if I was sick, injured, was travelling or ran a race.

This spreadsheet has become a monster, with over 6,000 rows. But I continue updating it. Not quite as regularly though...

The last time I updated this spreadsheet was at the end of last year. Yes, probably this coming Friday night I will be on the computer updating a year's worth of running escapades onto this spreadsheet. I obviously don't look at this spreadsheet often any more. But I do feel compelled to continue updating it as long as I'm alive and running.

There's an old fashioned side of me that has not given up use of a daily planner book. Every day I jot down the duration of my run and the estimate mileage. I no longer drive my courses. I have no need for that level of accuracy. I do have a Nike Plus somewhere in the house but I haven't seen or used it for several years. I feel no need to track mileage to that degree of precision (perhaps in 1993 I would be saying otherwise).

I estimate my mileage based on how fast or slow I feel I ran that day. Having logged over 45,000 miles since 1993, I now have a pretty good feel for my pacing, be it a 7 minute, 7 1/2 minute or 6 1/2 minute pace. It takes me just a quick moment to jot down my time and my estimated mileage each day. No worries if it is off by two tenths of a mile. It is close enough.

Yes, times have indeed changed. But I still have to update that darn spreadsheet. May have to take my body to Jiffy Lube at 50,000 miles. At 100,000, I may need an engine replacement.

22 Miler Today - Training for the Malibu Marathon in 9 Weeks

Today I nailed another 22 miler in 2 hours and 45 minutes. It was easily my best long run of the year as it consumed very little effort on my part. The long distance training is starting to pay off.

Last week after my little 1 mile fun downhill race on Saturday, I was unable to muster up much energy the next day for a long run. Good enough. I had run a 22 miler the week before.

Yesterday I wasn't terribly thrilled at the prospect of waking up early for a long run, but the weather was my savior. Without an alarm, I got up at 6:30 a.m. and was out the door 15 minutes later under early morning cloud cover that stuck with my for about 80% of my run. It was a nice, cool morning run that I was able to really enjoy.

My marathon training started 3 months ago when I committed to run the Singapore Marathon in early December. But my friend may or may not run the marathon now due to work demands, so I used that as a cue to bail out (thus saving me about $3,000 in travel expense!) and find a more local race.

My local options are the Santa Barbara Marathon that I ran last year, the inaugural Camarillo Marathon next month or the Malibu Marathon on November 14th. I opted to try something new, leaving Santa Barbara out of the running. Camarillo sounds like a nice flat course but is too soon for me. So I'm doing Malibu!

The Malibu Marathon starts at the Camarillo Airport and heads down past Naval Base Ventura County to PCH, where it runs some hills along the ocean to Zuma. It does not appear to be a particularly fast course and there appears to be about a 200 foot climb from mile 18 to 24, but its all downhill after that. I'm not looking to do a personal best...my goal is to just go under 3 hours and have some fun.

Malibu International Marathon Elevation Chart

So now that I have a new marathon in the works that is only 9 weeks away, I've got about 6 more weeks of training left before a 3 week taper. Working within the bounds of my son's Saturday soccer games, birthday parties and other activities, I used the CVG listing of running events to map out a schedule that intertwines long runs with races.

So my current weekend long run and race schedule is:

Sept 19th: 5K Race in Camarillo - To start developing some speed; a 10K would have been better but a local one wasn't available.

Sept 26th: Long run (20+)

Oct 3rd - Camarillo Half Marathon - Goal is to run at a pace that translates into a 2:58 or better marathon. My rule of thumb is that a half marathon times 2.1 = projected marathon time. For me this means I'll target running the half in less than 1 hour, 25 minutes (2:58 = 178 minutes, divided by 2.1 = 85 minutes).

Oct 10th - Long run (20+)

Oct 17th - 5K Race in Westlake Village - Again, would be nice to do a 10K but I want to stay local.

Oct 24th - This is only 3 week pre-marathon, which is getting pretty close. I'll probably run 16 but I'll see how I feel.  Doing a 22 miler today in my opinion and experience WILL NOT help my marathon performance at this point but some may disagree.

Oct 31st - Not aware of any local races this weekend so I will probably opt to do 10 to 12 miles at marathon pace.

Nov 7th - We're gaining an hour of sleep this day (YAY, my favorite day of the year!) and I'll do at most 8 miles. Nothing too strenuous.

Nov 14th - Malibu Marathon

Singapore Marathon Here I Come...I Think!

A few months ago a close friend who grew up in Glendale but has lived in the Far East for a number of years asked me about how I trained for a marathon. That prompted me to write this summary "26.2 Training Tips For Your First Marathon." But he hadn't committed to a particular marathon at that point.

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....