Holy Water and multiple blessings

Finally rain came to California, watering the plants and cleaning the air. Now it does feel like Fall and Thanksgiving week.

But I'd like to talk about other waters. Last week I returned to swimming training, after a month off, because of trips, marathon training and recovery, and cold nights. It was like a rebirth, or a baptism, if you like. Streaming through the swimming pool, I experienced the same joy I felt when I was able to swim 200 meters without stop for the first time. This is what I live for. That night I dreamt I was flying.

As expected, Brian did better than expected. He finished Ironman Arizona in 10:09:48 (overall 171/2300, age group 23/201). As I said before: this guy is living the dream! Congratulations!

Talking about heroes, Dean Karnazes has started his journey on The Last Desert, an ultramarathon in Antarctica, seeking to be the first to complete all four deserts in a year (Atacama, Gobi, Sahara and Antarctica).

Talking about blessings, I just bought a my first cycling computer. This is my first step to start flying on the bike. Last weekend I had my last ride without it, and of course I forgot my watch. During the same ride I had my first flat; I estimate I was back on the course in eight minutes, approximately.

Still talking about blessings, the controversy is on about swimming speedsuits. USA Swimming has proposed new swimsuit regulation, coming together to the concerns about technological "doping". This questions all world records achieved during last Olympics, and probably will turn them unreachable. It will be interesting to see what will be the final solution.

This is Thanksgiving Day, and here I register my humble gratitude for all the joy and happiness achieved this year. This weekend I will compete in the Turkey Tri, my fourth sprint triathlon. This year I became a triathlete, and through triathlon I was able to make a myriad of new friends, have multiple additional reasons to smile every day, and have found new goals in my life.

Thank God, this year has been a year of hard work, and that is why I play hard. Next week I am traveling to San Francisco, and I will take opportunity to run my first trail race, in The North Face Endurance Challenge. Because the trail course involves ascent of more than 900 feet, I will run the half-marathon, instead of the 50K or 50M courses. But do not worry: to extend my limits I have registered for the Big Cat Challenge 2008, a 12-hour ultramarathon.

Next races: Turkey Tri (11/30/08), The North Face Endurance Challenge Half-Marathon (12/06/08), Big Cat Challenge 12-hour Ultramaraton (12/27/08), Surf City USA Marathon (02/01/09), Vineman Ironman 70.3 (07/19/09).

Hero of the week: Brian Melekian. Every week he shows me new possibilities, new goals, new dreams.

Quote of the week: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Mahatma Gandhi.

Asthma Attack!

Just after posting about healthy thoughts and smoke, I come back reporting my first asthma attack in Los Angeles. The smoke created by the multiple wildfires over Southern California turned the air quality unhealthy, causing cancellation of the Pasadena Marathon, the cycling rides of most of the cycling clubs, and even the swimming workouts at the Southern California Aquatics (SCAQ), the Masters swimming program I attend. Unaware of everything happening around me, I woke up late and arrived 15 minutes before the start of the Run for Her 5K race (this one did not get cancelled), and just after running the first mile in 6:15min I felt something was wrong.

My lungs did not follow my legs during the second mile, and soon my legs did not follow my will. Still managed to complete mile 2 in 13:50, and then my race was against my body, trying to beat my PR of 22:36 achieved last year at the same race. Finished strong, and marked 22:42, six seconds above my PR! I soon started to blame the course change this year, the weak pre-race warm-up, bad nutrition, when I noticed my burning nostrils and the cough coming frequent over my fast breathing.
It was an old familiar feeling, and everything came together when someone told me the Pasadena Marathon got cancelled due to unhealthy air quality. I had taken my usual two puffs of Albuterol before the race, but those were not enough. And of course the pump was at home. After meeting my wife, I spent about fifteen minutes controlling my respiration and considering if I should go to the medical tent. Little by little, the cough became less frequent, and all the phlegm came out, assuring the beginning of recovery.

This was the first time California has failed me, and this was painful. In New York I needed daily use of long-acting beta-agonists to treat my asthma, most likely because of allergies to tree pollen during Spring, but since I came to Los Angeles, I never needed medications again. I was happy and free. Suddenly, I could not get outside my apartment, and came across limitations to my training. This was scary and sad. All the radio reports and images on the TV were describing people losing their homes, and wildfires devastated in hours, with firefighters not able to contain most of the fire. This has shortened my breath more than any asthma attack, with no fast-relieve medicines. Imagine Saturday night I thought the Moon looked beautiful bearing a dark orange brightness.


Today, the strong smell of smoke still in the air and all the newspapers remind me the same feeling I had during the race, when it did not matter how hard I tried, I could not move my body to my will.

Healthy thoughts

I just briefly mentioned on previous post another reason to dislike New York: the large amount of people smoking over you. Probably this is just an impression resultant of so many people crowding Manhattan, but the fact is I am not as exposed to cigarette smoking here in LA. Even worse: for the whole 26.2 miles of the New York City Marathon I had at least ten times smokers throwing their air pollutants over the runners; approximately at mile 25 there was a guy smoking cigars at the race course! Maybe I am being too sharp, but that came to me as a disrespect to all runners, not to mention public health.

Talking about health, the day before New York City Marathon I had a trauma to my right shin caused by my luggage, and that created a very painful shin splint, felt only after the race, until two days ago. For the first five days after the race I could not walk properly, and only now I have stretched enough and recovered my balance. A wonderful realization was to learn that exercise accelerated my recovery, through spinning and treadmill training, avoiding excessive load on the legs. It is always nice to see that my body takes better care of itself than I do.

Mental health was another issue this week. The concerns of being injured, together with pain at every step lasting more than three days threatened my sanity. My plans on running Pasadena Marathon this weekend were put aside, even because the race was sold out while I waited to register after my recovery was evident. The urge to sit and plan my next year schedule has started to cause me nightmares, and this probably will make me busy next weekend. Only the idea of a new sprint triathlon in two weeks (the Turkey Tri) and Vineman Ironman 70.3 on next July can make me forget my current frustrations and push me forward.

Talking about happiness, the current streak of victories of the Trojans and the NY Giants have an important role, but what fills my soul and blows my mind is Brian Melekian and his journey to Ironman Arizona. To read the posts on his blog is always inspiring, even though his numbers show me I still have a lot of work to do. Now he just launched his online coaching website. It is an honor to know he reads my blog. For all these next days and during the race on November 23rd you can bet all my good thoughts and strong energy will be with him.

Feeling well again comes together with the joys of the Holidays, and the hope of an even better year. Tomorrow I will participate for the second time in Run for Her, a 5K race to raise awareness and funds to support ovarian cancer research, as part of my sprint triathlon training. I have started again to be able to plan ahead and project goals, and this is my healthiest state of mind.

Next races: Run for Her 5K (11/16/08), Turkey Tri (11/30/08), Surf City USA Marathon (02/01/09), Vineman Ironman 70.3 (07/19/09).

Hero of the week: Lance Armstrong. He is the inevitable hero; well-accomplished, gifted and well-spoken. Above any criticism and all the media, he is able to catch the public attention to important issues and his cause. He managed to be a landmark to whom athletes compare themselves, for better or worse...

Quote of the week: “If you leave the smallest corner of your head vacant for a moment, other people's opinions will rush in from all quarters”

George Bernard Shaw.

New Marathon PR!

After a rushed weekend I have the pleasure to tell I have achieved a new marathon PR: 4:22:15. This and the fact that I ran NYC Marathon for three times probably may turn it into my favorite marathon, but it is still debatable.

I had forgotten how rough New York is, and that was for sure reminded in a three-day-stay. It all started with a crowded train from Newark to NYC, and people kicking your bag and pushing you to the side at Penn Station. At the marathon expo, rushed people trying to conquer space on narrow walkways and expensive merchandise and food were additional slaps on the face of a tired jet lag sufferer. At the hotel, twenty minutes of waiting at the front desk, staff people screaming at the corridors and windows facing brick walls.

Do not get me wrong: New York has its own charm; the abundance of convenience stores and Starbucks on almost every corner, the exotic foods from all over the world, the Central Park, and the lights of Times Square. But to appreciate all of that requires to overlook ugly people on dark clothes, avoid hundreds of smokers on the sidewalks and forget people stepping on your neck to run the blocks.

Getting to the Expo on Friday, left Saturday for rest, and we took opportunity to watch Run for your life, a documentary about New York City Marathon and its greatest architect, Fred Lebow. It was a very inspiring movie, perfect for few tears and fueling for the race. The pasta dinner was another perfect New York postcard, with a long line, rushed people and crowded tables, but the best was to eat and leave early.

For about a week I was dreaming with the race, but the two nights before the marathon I was so tired I slept deeply straight. Buses took us to Staten Island for the start and then the real marathon began. The morning was cold and windy, about 38 degrees Fahrenheit, with people squeezing together under tents for about four hours and a half, wearing plastic bags and trying to relax. Unnecessary to say that Port-a-potties ran out of paper.

The NYC Marathon will always be a wonderful spectacle because of the crowds of spectators and its course. The weather was warmer from the start, and the organization in corrals made possible to run your own pace in middle of a sea of runners. Once again my compression socks helped my stride, and the right combination of gels, energy bar, Gatorade and water made possible my journey without hitting the wall. I crossed the half point at 2:05:10, but started to slow my pace. About mile 18 I thought I would just be able to break my NYC Marathon PR (4:28:13), and stopped looking at my watch. When I crossed mile 25 at 4:12 it gave me new life, and finished strong summing up a pace of exact 10 min/mile, achieving a new Marathon PR.

Of course, New York still had to give its message: it took me an hour just to get out of Central Park, and when I got to the hotel I barely had time to take a shower before being expelled from the room by the manager in order to get future guests. After I met my wife, who also ran the marathon, it took from us twenty minutes and a walk for four blocks until we could get a taxi cab to JFK Airport to come back home.

Today I have just passed the usual tiredness and post-marathon depression, still treating a very painful shin splint. Inspired by my recent achievement, I have registered for Vineman Ironman 70.3, in July 19th, 2009. Now things are getting faster and more exciting. Just when I started thinking I was becoming too old for new records...

Talking about achievements, Dean Karnazes has finished the Sahara Race in second place. His feats always give me inspiration and strength.

Next races: Turkey Tri (11/30/08), Vineman Ironman 70.3 (07/19/09).

Hero of the week: My wife. She is my strength and my comfort. Without her I would never have the confidence and the boldness to face all these challenges. She is the one who allows me to throw myself in uncountable hours of training and racing, and hears all my complaints about hunger, soreness and race results. Without proper training, she went ahead and ran her second NYC Marathon with me, not able to enjoy New York the way she likes, going on shopping and dinning. And even after all of that, she had to take the flight back to LA without a shower, due to the hotel problems and the departure time.

Quote of the week: "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." Michelangelo