Marathon #20

Sarasota Marathon (02/15/2009) was a fortuitous finding for a business trip. After a week in a conference, to take the opportunity to run my first marathon in Florida was an easy decision. Moreover, this was my eleventh state to run a Marathon, completing my qualification to join the 50 States Marathon Club. I had to do it, even with broken legs.

As usual, it could not be easy. Two weeks after Surf City USA Marathon, in midst of Triathlon training, with a jet lag of three hours. And I had to finish it fast, in order to be able to have time to take a shower and still catch my flight.

The plan was simple: to do run/walk/run, goal time 4:30, 4:40 at least. I knew it would be hard, with tired legs and mind.

It all started in the dark, and sunlight came just when most of the runners were at mile 5; but it was warm and humid: funny as it seems, everybody was drenched in sweat at mile 2.

It is for a reason they call Sarasota Marathon "A Run with a View". Everywhere we ran there was the beach town atmosphere, and most of the places the course interrupted long lines of cars going to beach. At mile 11 there was the hilly point, going over a bridge, to cross back again at mile 20. And that was exactly after mile 11 I knew it would be hard to achieve my goals.

The humid and hot weather made my tired legs feel heavier, and even the compression socks could not make things easier. Negative thoughts came then to my mind, and everything looked ugly. But I kept the pace at about 10min/mile, doing 3min run, 1min walk. It payed back at mile 19, when I saw myself strong and steady, still able to keep the pace.

It was hard to finish the last miles trying to stick to the pace, but that was the first time I noticed my legs were running on their own, just following the watch. I finished at 4:35:23, proud of my feat, limping to the car, from the car to the shower, from the shower to the airport.

Chinese Thigh Destroyer

One week after Surf City, I had a busy weekend on February 7-8, 2009. With the rainy forecast, it was exciting and exotic to have a Saturday bike ride followed by a Sunday 10K race in Chinatown.

I can tell I have learned my mature bike riding skills in group bike rides. After buying my bike in April/08, I only did long rides in fun crowded groups: City of Angels Fun Ride (35Miles) and LA River Ride (70 Miles). That was why Firecracker Fun Bike Ride 20 Miles was attractive, over a well-known course to me. I rode about 5.9 miles to the course and back home, increasing the total mileage.

Because of the wet previous night, just about sixty riders came to the start, but it never rained during the ride. It was a blast to run over wet and muddy streets, with police motorcycles closing the streets. At the finish I had my first Chinese post-race meal. I took the opportunity to get the race packet for the next day’s race.

That afternoon I slept extra two hours to ensure recovery.

Next morning I came to the start line with tired thighs and mildly sore hamstrings, and I knew it would be hard to achieve the goal time of less than 50 minutes. The course had a surprising uphill over the first two miles, for what I was not prepared. Total number of runners for the 5 and 10K was more than five thousand, mostly students, making this event a huge party with strong smell of tiger balm. It was drizzling, creating a cold start and a muddy course.

I can say I had the best views of Los Angeles, running on Elysian Park around the Dodgers Stadium. All runners should come at least once to have pictures, but be warned about the uphill. Afraid of creating an injury a week before Sarasota Marathon, I had to slow my pace in the ascent and descent.

Finish time was 53:05, not bad for all my concerns during the race.

That afternoon I slept extra three hours.

Pictures: I am getting better on the Iphone!

Honored to be part of SUGOI Brand Champions Team

It is an honor to have been selected as SUGOI Brand Champion; I have to say, one of the reasons I became interested in Triathlon was because of the looks of the SUGOI apparel.

You can follow my blog posts at Sugoi website at http://brandchampions.sugoi.com/.

The word SUGOI is a Japanese term for “Incredible”.

With my new apparel I will certainly be faster and look prettier in the pictures.

Fresh start for 2009

First marathon of 2009, overt triathlon training, my wife running the half-marathon, and completion of the California Dreamin‘ Series. Surf City USA Marathon (02/01/09) started with multiple commitments, and I was eager to face the challenge. To be able to continue my marathon addiction without interruption of my Half Ironman training, I decided to use the Galloway’s run-walk-run method for the first time in an official marathon. Actually, with my busy schedule I have Sarasota Marathon two weeks after Surf City.

It was still dark and cold (48 degrees F) when we got to the beach start, at 5:30AM. There was a lot of people, mostly running the half-marathon with wave starts about an hour and a half later. Because of all that, this was my very first car-in-the-parking-lot-start. About twenty minutes from the start I left the car and ran about a mile to the start line, just in time for the gun.

I ran straight for the first four miles, in order to warm-up, then able to remove gloves, arm warmers and headband. My run-walk-run technique was then to run for four minutes and walk for one, targeting pace between nine and ten minutes. My ambitious goal time for Surf City was 4:15, realistic 4:20 and acceptable 4:30. I tried to use the iPhone and iMapmyrun to get GPS documentation of the whole marathon, but the cell battery finished before the end, creating unreliable data.

The course plan was excellent, avoiding a crowded course diverging the half marathon start times. As promised, we had a glance of the ocean in more than 60% of the course. It was a nice pleasure to run again in Huntington Beach Central Park, where I did 21 laps last December 27 running the Big Cat Challenge. In fact once more I felt how comfortable it is trail running for me, running at the park and on dirt path at the beach.

Nutrition went well, with a gel every 30 minutes, and sports drink for most of the run. Usually I run marathons with a water bottle in my hand, so I have freedom of choice of when to drink, avoiding the crowds. I can say I never really hit the wall, but at mile 20 my pace was a little slower, mostly feeling the heat (72 degrees F) and I had to pick up a little over the last four miles. Finish time was 4:28:50, making up a pace of 10:16.

I got two medals this time, with the completion with the California Dreamin’ Series (San Francisco Marathon, Long Beach Marathon and Surf City), a nice running jacket, and reassured a new running technique.

Next day I was able to hit the bike trainer for a nice hour.