This and That...

It's been a while since I last posted here, things have been a bit crazy with work and home life. So here is a recap of the last few weeks.

I ran the Say No to Drugs 10K last week and set a new PR in the 10K, 50:40 (7:55/mile). I shaved 7:01 off of my previous 10K time. The race was a double loop through Griffith Park here in Los Angeles and we had many of our regulars from the running group in the race. Our running store was even a sponsor and 2 of their Elite women took 1st place in both the 5K and 10K.

The race started late due to lack of organization and people picking up their bibs. Once started, everyone seemed to be having a good time. After the race there was a pancake breakfast and mini expo going on. They ran out of medals, but they did say if you wanted one, they would mail it to you. All in all, I was very pleased with my time.

Last Saturday, I went out for an easy 6 mile run. About 3 miles in, I started noticing some pain coming from the outer side of my left knee. I walked for a bit and continued the run. I finished up and the pain was pretty great at that point. I took a shower and sat down for a while, the pain seemed to go away, so I ran some errands. When I returned, the pain was even greater than during the run. At one point, I thought I was going to fall over. I was able to see the doctor today and it turns out that it is exactly what I thought...IT Band Syndrome. No running for 2 weeks, daily doses of Advil and some stretching. Man am I bummed...no running...I am going to follow his advice and use the time to rest and heal. I am running the Surf City half marathon on Feb 1, so I really need to heal...quickly.

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season!

Mount Baldy Hike

Last weekend, my friend Fred and I embarked on a journey to hike to the summit of Mt. Baldy. We met early in the morning for the drive out to the trail head. We we got there, it was a bit on the chilly side and the wind was blowing about 40 miles per hour. We headed off on our 8 mile round trip journey to the top and back. The first mile was on a paved road and then a dirt/gravel road with very little incline. Mile 2 was more of a hike and we were now on a trail. We seemed to be moving at a pretty good pace, probably a bit faster than we should but we were comfortable with the pace. We arrived at "The Hut" which is about the half way point in the trip. We stopped to refuel and get some more water before making our way to the summit.











Mile 3 was a bit more challenging as the grade became steeper and we were now moving along switchback trails. Our pace slowed a bit, but we were still ahead of schedule. We stopped for a quick GU gel and water and made our way up the last 3/4 mile to the summit. Once on the summit we sat behind some rock shelters and had a bite to eat. The wind was blowing about 50+ miles per hour on the top. After lunch we took a few pictures and decided to head down.



Going down is a lot easier than going up. We made record time getting back to the hut, where we stopped and had a cup of tea provided to us by the host from the Sierra Club. We then made our way down the last 2 miles to the car. Total time to hike 8 miles with 4,000 feet of elevation gain was 5:15...pretty fast by some standards. All in all, it was a great trip and look forward to doing it again in the spring. You can see all of the pictures here.

My New Bike Trainer

A few weeks ago I ordered a bike trainer from Bike Nashbar when they had a sale and I had a coupon for 15% off. I decided to get a trainer as the only time I have to ride is either in the early morning or in the evenings and I am not really comfortable riding in traffic.

So I chose a Ascent Magnetic trainer with 3 levels of resistance and it arrived a few weeks ago. Last night I set it up and put the skewer that comes with it on my bike and got the bike on the trainer. I set up in the garage in front of the TV I have out there and aimed the fan right at the bike. I had the forethought to post a message over at the Runner's World Forums to get some help of what kind of intervals I should be doing. Another user posted an interval workout that he currently uses, so I thought I would give it a try.

1. Pedal easy for 10'
2. Drop a gear, maintain cadence for 2'
3. Go up a gear, Pedal easy 1'
4. Drop 2 gears, maintain cadence for 2'
5. Go up 2 gears, pedal easy 1'
6. Drop 3 gears, maintain cadence for 2'
7. Go up 3 gears, pedal easy 1'
I then repeat 2-7 maybe 3 or 4 times, then cool down for about 10'.

I did it twice on the lowest level of resistance and it was a good workout. The only problem was that my rear was getting a bit sore. I wore my good bike shorts, the ones with lots of padding, but I was still uncomfortable for the last 10 minutes or so. I am hoping that more seat time will cure the soreness. I am hoping to incorporate the trainer into my training regimen at least twice a week.

Santa Clarita Half Marathon Race Report

I have been looking forward to running this race for some time. I had my wife attend the expo and pick up my bib and chip as I had to work for a few hours on Saturday. Those few hours turned into 10 hours, but that is another story. Needless to say, after a bowl of pasta, I set the alarm and headed off to bed.

I woke up at 4:30am, at a Clif Bar and some peanut butter, took a shower and got dressed. There was a chance of rain but since it cam on Saturday afternoon, I figured it was slim at best. I walked outside to check the temperature and it was drizzling, OK I can deal with that. I grab a trash bag and cut a few holes in it and headed out the door. On my 25 minute drive to the race, the drizzle turned to rain...crap...I didn't want to deal with rain. I pulled into the parking structure and parked. I got out and looked down on the finish line area and there were a few people mulling around. I went back to the car and just sat for a while. While I was sitting there, the guy next to me got out of his car and headed to the start line, funny thing was he was wearing flip flops. After a few minutes, I noticed the dome light was on in his car. I decided to grab my stuff and head down to the starting line and see if I can find this guy and tell. As I was making my way to the starting area, I saw that gentleman and I stopped him to let him know his dome light was still on. (I'm a big believer in Karma) He thanked me and ran off to the parking structure. By now the rain had stopped and I could see some breaks in the clouds. I tossed my garbage bag and hit the porta-potty one last time.

After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, the starter's gun went off. The marathon, half marathon and 5 K all started at the same time. The first mile was uphill and other than being a bit crowded, everything was going well. My plan was to try to keep a 9:00/mile pace throughout and hit the downhill sections a bit faster so if I had to slow up a bit on the uphill parts, I would still be able to come in under 2 hours. Miles 3-6 took us through and industrial park and then on to the trail that runs along the dry riverbed. The trail had a slight incline all the way to mile 9 where we crossed over to the other side of the riverbed and headed down the trail. There were a couple of bands playing through miles 10 and 11. Around mile 10, I looked at my garmin and did the math in my head and thought there is no way I am going to make it in under 2 hours. At that point, I got discouraged and took a walk break. I figured if I could come in under 2:05:00, I would be happy, so I tried to get back to my 9:00/mile pace. At mile 11 I took my last Gu pack and some water and kept plugging along. As I passed the last water station at mile 12, I looked at my garmin again and re-did the math and figured if I could push myself, I think I can come in just under 2 hours. I was running along the riverbed and hit turn off for the half marathon to head to the finish line. I looked out ahead of me and I saw 2 paseos ( paths that cross over streets) that I would have to cross to get to the finish line...both were uphill. I got over the first one Ok and I could see the turn for the finish area. I got almost to the top of the second one and had to walk to the top, once I hit the top it was all down hill to the finish. I kicked had the last 200 yards with an all out spring the last 100 yards to cross the line. I grabbed my finishers medal and looked at my garmin...1:59:40 woo hoo...I made it under 2 hours. I grabbed a bagel and some water and walked around the finish line for a while. I headed home, took a shower and went for a massage, which as I write this, I feel it was great for recovery. Later that evening when the official results were posted, I got the added surprise of my official time: 1:59:30

All in all it was a great race and I will definitely put this one on next years calendar. The volunteers were fantastic and enthusiastic, many of which were kids. There were 2 downsides to the race, one is that I always forget to put vaseline on my nipples and boy did I feel it today in the shower. The second would be about setting the goal of coming in under 2 hours. That was always in the back of my mind and that is all I thought about, in a way, it kept me from enjoying the race. Maybe it was Karma that helped bring me in under 2 hours, who knows.

Here is a link to the data from my garmin 305:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/dashboard.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7082278

1:59:30...Woo Hoo

Official Results: Santa Clarita Half marathon: 1:59:30

Race Report coming later.

Getting Ready for the Santa Clarita Half Marathon

I will be running the Santa Clarita Half Marathon on Sunday. This will be my 3rd HM that I have run and I will be making an attempt to break the 2 hour mark. Is it possible? I would like to think so, after all, I just need to run 9:16/miles, which is a pace I can run very easily. Last weekend I did 2 runs (6.2 miles and 5.25 miles) both run at a 9:00/mile pace. Felt good after both runs and feel that I will be able to sustain that pace for 13.1 miles. There is a slight incline at mile 1 and then again from mile 6-9, but mile 9-12 has a slight decline. I may have to slow up a bit going uphill and make it up on the downhill. I am going to start out carrying my own bottle of gatorade so I can bypass the first 3-4 water stops. I used that strategy in the Disneyland Half and it worked well by avoiding those early, overcrowded water stations.

This week I have kept the mileage to just over 3 miles per day and will make my last run on Friday morning. I will have a race report on Sunday or Monday...my goal 1:59:59.

A Walk Through The Valley Death

A few weeks ago there was an article in the paper about a guy who walked solo, 225 miles, through Death Valley, here in California. After reading the article, it peaked my interest and I wanted to hear more about this trip. Fortunately, Roger Homrich, the gentleman who made the trek, was going to be speaking about his journey, "A Walk Through The Valley Death", at my local REI store. Tuesday night, I found my way to the back of the store to find about 6 people sitting in front of a projector screen waiting for the talk to begin. Roger Homrich started on time and discussed his adventure from the planning stages, to the final steps he took and everything in between. He is a photographer by trade and had many beautiful photos. He discussed his route via maps and photos but the experience is what really came through. After about 90 minutes of his fascinating description of his journey, he did about 30 minutes of Q and A. There were about 15 people in the group by the end of the discussion and there were some really good questions.
Although this is not a trip that I would ever take, it was interesting to hear one man's account of being in one of the harshest climates in the United States, all alone for 15 days and hearing about what was probably one of the greatest adventures of his life.

Check out some of his photos here.