Longest Duration Training Run Ever Yesterday Due to My Bad Sense of Direction

Yesterday, three weeks and a day before the marathon I'm signed to run, I decided to explore a bit. A week ago I ran a solid 19.5 miler on the roads, my longest long training run in quite some time. Two weeks ago I ran a half marathon. So the question yesterday for me was, do I need to get another long run in before the LA Marathon on March 9th, or is it too late in the game for that. Would a 20 miler three weeks before marathon day prove detrimental?

I figured sure, why not. I've run plenty of marathons and have generally run my final long run in the 3 to 4 week time frame prior to the race. But since my training has been generally on the light side, I hedged my bets today and decided to try a trail, which would be a lot easier on my body.

One of 5 stream crossings on the Arroyo Conejo Trail in Newbury Park/Thousand Oaks.

The Arroyo Conejo Trail trailhead in Newbury Park is about four miles from my house. I ran to it with a bottle of water in one hand and a camera in the other. I'd never run this trail before. It was nicely maintained but, not having reviewed a map of the trail, I didn't know where it ended or much about it.

I ran at a nice easy pace and discovered this particular trail has not one, not two, but five stream crossings. I'm not a big fan of stream crossings because you have to slow down and usually stop to navigate how to get over them without getting your shoes soaked. I don't like running with shoes doused in water because I don't blisters on my feet. But nonetheless, they are kind of cool to do every now and then.

The first two crossings have little wood bridges on them that make it easy to get across. The next three took more effort as there were no little wood bridges...just strategically placed rocks. Not overly difficult or anything, but when you're not wearing hiking books...just lightweight, road-type training shoes, it's a bit more challenging. I stopped my watch each time I went over a crossing as I didn't want to include the rock navigation time in my training run.

Two of the stream crossings are a breeze with these wood bridges helping out.

It was either the 3rd or 4th crossing that for me was the most challenging. I stepped on a branch that I thought was solid, then my right foot dropped all-in to the water. Dammit. I didn't want that. So while navigating my right foot out of the water, my left foot slipped in too. Arrghh. Oh well. I mentally regrouped and found my way across the stream and thought positive thoughts, like, hey that cold water feels pretty good on my feet.

Soon enough I was at the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant "Wetlands" - probably not something one would want to jump into for a swim. Slightly stinky around there (as one may expect, though not overpowering. I ran a path around the Wetlands and found myself on trails taking me past Wildwood Park on the right to the Western Plateau section of Thousand Oaks. I figured I would run about an hour and 20 minutes, then loop around through Wildwood Park, for a total time of about 2 hours, 40 minutes.

But I got sidetracked with the numerous trails back there, a veritable runners/cyclists playground. I ran past a group of Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency volunteers working on some trails and made it to a fire road overlooking the Conejo Grade. I stopped several times to take pictures, making sure to stop the timer on my watch each time I stopped.

View of the Conejo Grade from the Western Plateau section of Thousand OaksI would have loved to continue running down the fire road towards the 101 to explore, but had a sparse amount of water in my bottle and was past the 1:20 mark of my run, so I turned back. My navigational skills while running are not very good. So after about 20 wrong turns and an extra 30 minutes of trail running, I decided I should find my way back to the trail that took me there.

Thankfully it was only about 70 degrees (tough winter) as I made it back to the stream crossings. My water was gone and I was getting a bit tired. The crossings were a lot easier for me going back down and my shoes and socks were pretty dried out at this point, as was my water bottle.

I made it to the trailhead at Rancho Conejo Playfields about 2 hours, 45 minutes into my run, with about 4 miles to go. I stopped at the park to refill my water bottle and take in a pack of GU. That was only my 2nd pack of GU of the day; the first one was before my run...basically my breakfast. The GU and water seemed to give me a bit of a second wind as I pushed my way home in a cumulative elapsed running time of 3 hours, 17 minutes.

This may actually have been my longest training run ever in terms of elapsed time. Three hours, 17 minutes at my typical long run training pace would be about a 25 to 26 mile run. But given a lot of my miles were on trails, with lots of stop and go, I'm going to credit myself with a 22 mile run, or only a 9 minute average pace.

Today, Sunday, I'm just slightly sore, but not too much. Time to eat some real food!

Optimism Following a Decent Performance at Yesterday's Ventura Habitat Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran my first half marathon in about 15 months, the Ventura Habitat Half Marathon. My last half was the Marla Runyan Half Marathon in October 2012.

The course is run almost entirely on the Ventura River Trail from Ventura to Foster Park and back. My target was a time in the 1:27 range, a time that equates to a 3:03, or 7 minute per mile pace marathon. I managed to achieve a better than expected time of 1:24:12, good for 5th place overall and 1st master. I was particularly happy just to finish solidly, without any hamstring issues. Using my 2.1 rule of thumb (2.1 x half marathon time = projected marathon time), this time indicates potential for a 2:57 marathon...if I can get one or two 18 to 20 milers done in the next few weeks.

As with most races in recent years, I didn't take this one particularly seriously. But I did do one thing. I didn't run the day before. Yes, a mini taper. I take that back, slightly. I did run/jog/walk with the dog for 3 miles, but nothing intense.

The race started at 8 am. I set my alarm for 6 am and snoozed a bit more until 6:15. After readying myself for the cold I did a little warm up jog to help empty my system. I hopped in the car, stopped by the local donut shop for a warm blueberry muffin and cup of coffee. I figured a blueberry muffin is a step above a donut.

Josh Spiker of Vendurance Sports does a really nice job in his local races focusing on the things that really impact runners. He starts his races on time. His courses clearly marked, with clear mile markers. And he has plenty of porta-johns at the start of the race. As a highly competitive runner himself, he knows oh so well the things that really matter the most on race day. And it is well appreciated by folks like me that want to focus on running and not get sidetracked with logistics issues.

One thing Josh mentioned before the start of the race is that the 2nd half of the race should be roughly 20 seconds per mile faster than the 1st half, given the gentle climb to the halfway point. I took off at a pace that felt decent to me, which was roughly a 6:40 or so pace. It was cold out and I had gloves and a long sleeve shirt on, but after a mile I pulled off the gloves and later rolled up the sleeves on the shirt. And after scooting by a couple folks about a mile in, I ran alone the entire remainder of the race.

The beauty of an out and back course is that you get a better view of those in front of you and in back of you. It's a good way to measure how much distance you have on your competitors. I felt pretty confident at the halfway point that my placing in the race would be challenged, not that that would really matter, leaving me free to focus on how my body felt.

There was a song clearly in my head that kept me on pace the entire race. But a day later I can't remember it. It was an 80s song that I believe they were playing on the loudspeaker before the race. I felt my right lower shin twinge every now and then and I was afraid my right hamstring, problematic in recent years, would give out. That beat in my head kept me moving through my doubts.

I didn't track my splits during the race but the math in my head indicated I was somewhere in between 6 and 7 minute pace, well below 7 minute pace in fact, which gave me confidence that I was on track for a decent performance. It wasn't until mile 10, when my watch showed 1:05, clearly a 6:30 pace, that I felt clearly confident that, barring a sudden problem, I was having a good day.

In fact, the final 5K of the race I ran at a 6:12 pace and it didn't even feel that fast. I was starting to hurt while pushing it a bit over the last 2 miles, but with plenty of targets ahead (walkers start the race an hour before runners), I had something else to focus on.

Today is Monday I'm quite sore. Hoping with a bit of luck that my body will recover for a slow 20 miler this coming weekend, four weeks out from the LA Marathon.

Congratulations to overall winner, 30 year old Matthew Russell, who finished over 3 minutes before anyone else in 1:13:50. Yes, I could run that time at age 30. But not at age 50 :) Russell runs for Sketchers Go Run team and boy, he knows how to run. He actually wrote about the race himself at www.mattrusselltri.com. According to his profile, Matt is one of the top American athletes at the half ironman/Ironman distance. In 2011 he competed in his first Ironman World Championships as the third overall American in a time of 8:43. Six weeks later he competed at Ironman Arizona finishing as the first American in a personal best of 8:29 (subsequently improved to 8:19 in 2013).

The overall female was 42 year old Anissa Faulkner, who was right on my tail at 1:26:06.

2016 Women's and Men's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to Be Hosted by the City of Los Angeles on February 13, 2016

Today USA Track & Field, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and LA MARATHON LLC announced that the City of Los Angeles will host the Women’s and Men’s 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon.

The 2016 Olympic Trials will be held February 13, 2016. With separate starts, the men’s and women’s races both will be carried in their entirety on NBC. The 2016 Olympic Games will take place in Brazil.

In winning the bid, LA MARATHON LLC proposed a February race date that accommodates an NBC broadcast and ensures athletes optimal time to recover should they choose to run in the 2016 Olympic Trials for Track & Field in June.

Now for the other interesting news in the announcement...the LA Marathon will follow a day later, on February 14, 2016. For those of you who have followed the LA Marathon in the past, this should sound unusual to you. In the history of the LA Marathon going back to 1986, the LA Marathon has never been run (literally and figuratively) in February. In all years with the exception of 2009 (when the marathon took place in late May), the LA Marathon took place in March.

Start times and specifics on the criterium courses for both the men’s and women’s races will be determined in coming months

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country’s #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org.

LA MARATHON LLC is a leading U.S. running organization dedicated to inspiring the athlete in every runner and connecting communities through health and fitness.  The LA Marathon is among the largest marathons in the country with more than 25,000 participants, thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of spectators. The “Stadium to the Sea” course, starting at Dodger Stadium and finishing near the Santa Monica Pier, is one of the most scenic in the world, taking runners on a tour of Los Angeles past every major landmark. The race has been named Best Big City Race by Runner’s World.

In a Perfect World I'd Be Running a 20 Miler Six Weeks Before the Los Angeles Marathon

Potrero Road Westbound in Newbury Park

The Los Angeles Marathon is six weeks from today and in my younger days by now I'd have have run 3 to 5 20 milers at this point. But today I'm at zero 20 milers but got have some solid 14 to 17 milers in the bag. This includes a run through Hidden Valley via Potrero Road, a run down Sycamore Canyon to the beach and back and several road runs.

In my younger days I was family-free and could get to bed any time I wanted and wake up early without concernt Today I'm constrained by kids, the dog and other things that take the focus away. But that's ok. Life changes and priorities change. I just have to shift my mentality from running a P.R. marathon to running a solid marathon.

Next Sunday I'm running the Ventura Habitat Half Marathon to test my fitness level five weeks prior to the full marathon. Based on my most recent 5K time of 18:17 on Thanksgiving Day, I believe that I have the aerobic capacity to run about a 3 hour marathon. I think a 1:26 half marathon time next Sunday would prove that out using the rule of thumb, half marathon time x 2.1 equals projected marathon time.

Getting back to the long runs, since I'm doing a half marathon next Sunday, there will be no long run next weekend. That leaves basically one last opportunity to run a 20 miler, three weeks prior to the marathon. Assuming I don't injure my right hamstring again at the half marathon, that's what I'm hoping to accomplish.

Ran Half of the Camarillo Marathon This Past Sunday at a Training Run

On December 28th I ran one of my longest training runs of the year, at 14 miles. Then, having not partied on New Year's Eve, decided to do a 2 hour run up to Boney Peak and back.

The next few days my quads and calves were sore, but that didn't stop me from looking at the CVG Upcoming Races listing and thinking, why not sign up for the Camarillo Marathon this Sunday and use it as a training run. So, I signed up Thursday night and picked up my bib number on Saturday. My legs were still sore on Saturday.

Some local runners have bad memories from the well-publicized issues at the inaugural Camarillo Marathon in 2010, when there were issues with course logistics. I'm very pleased to say that the race was very well organized on Sunday. The race started at 7am and is a double-loop course now, with plenty of water/Gatorade stops and a reasonable number of porta-johns along the course. They did a nice job and I would recommend this course as a flat, very low key alternative to the larger courses. The beauty of race like this is that you can wake up not so early, drive over, park, run, finish and be home shortly thereafter.

In any case, I opted not to run two loops on Sunday. The legs were still a bit shot so I decided to run a just over 7 minute pace to not overexert myself. It was yet another day of sun and wind. It didn't get overly hot (mid to high 60s, maybe low 70s later on), but the Santa Anas were out in force and it was quite dry. It was one of those days where I drank at every single water stop but there was no sweat on my shirt to speak of as the wind immediately dried it up.

Had my only issue been sore legs, I might have continued to run the full 26.2. But of all things, my stomach wasn't feeling up to the task on Sunday. My fate was decided at a pit stop around mile 11, when I said to myself "it ain't worth it." Adding to my discomfort was the beginnings of chafing in the back armpit area (I wore a sleeved shirt, not a singlet, and the wind was wreaking some havoc). Having signed up not to race, but to train, I opted to keep it positive at the halfway point, bail out and head back home to hang with the kids. I paced myself to a 1:32ish 13.1 miles. Slow for me, but purposeful. I'm still a bit sore today.

The overall winner was 27 year old Amanda Phillips of Roseburg (I'm assuing Oregon), who blew away the entire field, women and men alike, in 2 hours, 52 minutes. I saw her on the first lap turnaround and she looked really smooth. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers were men who came in around 3:06 and 3:07. The race had only 122 finishers but I would run it again. www.camarillomarathon.com

Ran My Longest Long Run Since September 8th in Anticipation of L.A. Marathon

Training through the December holiday season is a bit of a challenge, among holiday festivities, shopping, parties, and, of course, colds. Yes, somehow I managed to catch two separate colds this month. Both of them were fairly short in duration, but as I age, I seem to encounter longer periods of chest congestion and coughiing after battling off the sore throat, runny nose and sneezing. I still wake up with a cough, but, I'm feeling pretty good at this point.

Speaking of catching colds, it was a specific Saturday lunchtime when the kids and I visited one of our favorite local restaurants, which I will leave unnamed as it is not important. The cashier, someone who I immediately recognized and said hello to from prior visits when he served the food, briefly turned away and looked like he was sneezing or wiping his nose. For a brief second I thought, this is not good. But I was in the middle of ordering and the kids were unwieldy. There was only one available table in the restaurant and it had plates on it. The cashier bussed the table. Then, minutes later, the same guy served our food.

Five days later...slight sore throat and lethargic. I KNEW that was a mistake but sometime's it's hard to steer clear of viruses. And when you're constantly getting inadequate sleep, you're more susceptable to catching a cold virus.

I digress. My training has been consistently light to moderate this month, even after I attempted to motivate myself to train more by signing up for the Los Angeles Marathon on March 9, 2014. So today, the last Saturday of 2013, I managed to get out there and run 14 miles on the roads in 1 hour, 45 minutes. Not a bad start to my training. I figure I have about 6 weeks of training before a 3 week taper. This is not an optimal amount of time, but I'm not taking this marathon particularly seriously.

I have fond memories of the LA Marathon in the mid-1990s, when I was a heck of a lot younger and able to train a lot harder in my pre-marriage, pre-kids state. My first sub-3 hour marathon was the 1995 LA Marathon in 2:48. The next year I ran my first sub-2:40 marathon at the 1996 LA Marathon. Then my PR marathon was the LA Marathon the next year in 2:35, back when the course was still a loop around Los Angeles. That was my 8th marathon. Now I've run 31 of them, with #32 hopefully happening next March.

Ran the Conejo Valley YMCA Turkey Day Dash Today in Thousand Oaks

Conejo Valley Guide helped get the word out about today's 9th Annual Conejo Valley YMCA Turkey Day Dash 5K and Kids Fun Run today and I heard the race had a PR of over 2,600 registrants. So as has been typical for me I chose to run the 5K today along with my son without having done any particular training for it. This is becoming the norm for me but it was fun.

On Veterans Day, November 11th, I decided to change up my 20 minute gym routine and work out in the morning instead of my normal early evening workout. Well, my lower back didn't agree with the change and decided to complain with a spasm. That spasm threw my back out for the entire week. With the help of my chiropractor, I was able to run again by the 16th.

The week prior to that I was fighting a head cold that led me to pull out of the Calabasas Classic 5K on the 10th.  Today I had no excuse of a head cold or back spasm but I certainly wasn't in great shape for a 5K. I gave it my best, labored effort and used my only gear...slow. With labored effort, I wheezed to an 18:17, good enough for 20th overall and 2nd in age.

Thanks to the Conejo Valley Y for making such a nice event happen on Thanksgiving Day each year. They really do a great job and I highly recommend this family-friendly event. 15 year old Logan Beteta of Newbury Park High School took the overall honors in 16:08. Nicely done, Logan! The top female was 20 year old Logan McNally of Simi Valley in 18:40, good for 25th overall.

Maybe, just maybe, one of these days, I'll be prepared for a 5K. But regardless, I had a great Thanksgiving Day and I hope all three of you reading this did too!

Beautiful Day For the 5th Annual Malibu Marathon Today That I Didn't Run

Today was a perfect day for running a marathon, or any race or a run of any type today. Yet another sunny, yet not overly hot November day in Southern California.

While I wasn't at today's Malibu Marathon as I was last year, photographer Suzy Demeter was and she captured this colorful wave of half marathoners running on PCH between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Today a course record was set by 34 year old George Kitonga in 2:35:10. A web search for Kitonga turns up he is originally from Kenya and has a marathon best time of 2:21:23 in winning the 2006 Memphis Marathon. The top 3 was rounded out by Ricardo Ramirez-Pacheco (age 42) in 2:37:01 and Shaun Maguire (age 27) in 2:37:50.

Jessica Stern (age 24) topped the women's field in 3:02:03, followed by Tammara Francis (age 31) in 3:11:00 and Stephanie Wurtz (age 31) in 3:12:29.

As for me, I've been battling a head cold that finally migrated to my chest, just in time for today's Calabasas Classic 5K that I signed up for like 10 months ago. While I actually feel fine, there's stuff in my chest that told me to back off 1 mile into the race. I was struggling to breathe so it just wasn't worth pushing through.

However, I didn't mind, as my son was running his 3rd 5K and I backed off my pace to see him run the final mile at a blistering pace to win his age group and set a personal best. My best race in the last 10 years!

Results From the 2nd Annual Marla Runyan Half Marathon on Sunday, October 20th

The 2nd Annual Marla Runyan Half Marathon took place on Sunday, October 20th. I ran the inaugural race last year and would have loved to run it again this year had my kids' activities not precluded me from doing so.

There were 243 finished in this year's event and top placing male finishers were Bradley Jones (36) of Camarillo in 1:19:45, Jose Lastre (29) of Oxnard in 1:23:46 and Greg Wondra (35) of Camarillo in 1:26:05. My 1:23:51 in last year's race got me 4th place last year but would theoretically have landed me one place higher in the 2nd annual event.

Top women finishers were Schatzi Sovich (46) of Ventura in 1:36:58, Rikako Takei (51) of Gardena in 1:37:31 and Jenny Loppnow (43) of Camarillo in 1:38:24. Wow, impressive showing by masters' runners in the women's race!

The oldest finisher in the half marathon was Ted Price Sr of Oxnard, who crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 30 minutes, 39 seconds. Nice job, Ted!

There was also a 5K event, where 37 year old Jesus Perez took top honors in 17:18. Not far behind was top femal finisher, Melissa Hernandez of Oxnard in 18:42 - that time got her 4th place overall in the race. A total of 220 runners and walkers completed the 5K.

Not a bad showing for this 2nd annual event, which benefits the Boy & Girls Club of Camarillo at www.bgccam.org. Hopefully we'll see a 3rd annual Marla Runyan Half Marathon in 2014 at www.camarillohalf.org.

Author Malcolm Gladwell Holds the Canadian 1500 Meter 13 Year Old Age Group Record

First, an update on the dangling toenail. It was about two weeks ago that I first discovered a toenail with days that were numbered. Today was its final day. The toenail is gone, though I don't know where it went...which is ok I guess, as there's new toenail in its place.

The September Runner's World had an interesting conversation with Malcolm Gladwell. I'm a fan of his work, like The Tipping Point and Blink, and he has new book out called David and Goliath. Something I never knew about him is that he is an avid runner. And quite an accomplished one at that.

Gladwell holds the Canadian 1500 meter 13 year old age group record, with a 4:14, then ran a 4:05 at age 14. And he beat Dave Reid, who subsequently became the Canadian 1500 meter record holder.  When asked about that, he responds analytically:

"Age-class running, as you know, is completely unreliable. It’s based on this artificial thing, which is that people who are the same age have the same level of physical maturity. Which just isn’t true. And I always suspected, when I was an age-class runner, that I was just maturing faster than my peers. At 13 I would go to the line at a race and I would be the tallest guy in the race. Now, I’m not a tall person. I realized I was just maturing faster. And if you’re improving in those years, you’re improving your 1500 time by seven or eight seconds a year. If you have six months of maturity on someone, that’s four seconds! These races, these results, mean nothing at that age. All they tell you is that someone has a reasonable degree of promise."

So true. Age groups are an artificial means of grouping runners competitively. But then again, I can't think of a better way, short of "handicapping" runners based on past performances, regardless of age. As I approach age 50, however, I'm liking this age group approach more and more though. Survival of the fittest.