However, I do want to share my last run, which was in Sedona, AZ of all places. My wife and I were invited by my friend who had his short film Dockweiler accepted to the Sedona Film Festival. He had a free room and two extra guest passes, so we figured why not?

Distance: 4.04 miles
Time: 38:34
Pace: 9:33 mile

It was a fairly tough run and though I’d been taking it easy, I didn’t think a 4 miler should be that hard. However, it wasn’t until later that I found out Sedona lies at 4500 feet. Much different than the sea level elevation of Santa Monica that I’ve been training in.

The weekend was a blast. I got to run in a new location, we were able to see some great films, and we spent some quality time with good friends. We’d been to Sedona once before, but clouds like these are special. Sedona really is one of the prettiest places I’ve seen in the US and if you ever get a chance, I suggest you go.

Sedona really is gorgeous. These photos don’t do it justice.
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So the marathon is only 17 days away! Crazy, right? My 27 weeks of training are nearing the end. I’m taking the time to rest, stretch, and get ready mentally for the race. As if posts haven’t been sporadic enough, they may become even rarer due to a lack of interesting things to write about and my life getting increasingly busier.

To my loyal readers (if you’re out there), I apologize! Many thanks to those who have continued to visit my site during these sparse weeks. And, if you don’t hear from me, I’d love to hear from you. Just send me an email at richardonthego(at)gmail.com.

Interstate 10, 5:50am.
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Downtown LA.
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Dodger Stadium off ramp.
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The full moon was absolutely gorgeous.
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Since this year’s marathon starts at Dodger Stadium, we got a sneak peek at the first mile or so of the race. The marathon begins as a lap around the stadium then heads out Elysian Park Dr. toward Sunset Blvd.

However, that route is only a mile, so with the Roadrunners, we added a few more loops and the LA Marathon 5K route to the training for a total of 6.4 miles.

Distance: 6.4 miles
Time: 53:07
Pace: 8:18 mile

Around Dodger Stadium.
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More loops.
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Hitting up Elysian Park.
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A beautiful route.
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Rod Dixon cheers us on.
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The final hill.
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Of course, 6.4 miles wasn’t enough! I could tell that everyone in our group wanted to do more. After all, our scheduled runs during the week are between 7-8 miles! A Saturday run of 6.4 miles wasn’t enough. So my friend and I decided to log six more miles around the stadium.

Distance: 6 miles
Time: 52:30
Pace: 8:45 mile

The route around the stadium has long, steep inclines, which are good for hill training. And it was a lot of fun to mix up the running paths. As pretty as the beach is, it’s nice to run a different part of LA.

Also, it was really beneficial to experience the beginning of the marathon. I think race day will be intimidating enough as it is—not having another thing to be nervous about is good.

The best part of yesterday’s run, though, was that they opened Dodger Stadium after the run! We got to go on the field and stretch. Definitely one of the most memorable stretching sessions I’ve been a part of.

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All in all, it was a great training day. Dodger Stadium, hill training, 12+ miles, great running routes, felt fantastic… What more could I say?

Well, I guess there’s one thing I should say. Despite all this love for Dodger Stadium…

Go Giants!

Born and raised in Northern California!
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Today was busy with work (not to mention it started raining again) and though I wish I could have run, I just didn’t have the time. Luckily, I woke up early to get in a workout of stretching, crunches, and push ups.

Tomorrow I plan on being back. I’ll probably do a light 6 or 8 miles.

Also: I wanted to share my new running anthem. It’s called “My Body’s A Zombie For You” by Dead Man’s Bones. Ryan Gosling is actually the front man for this band. The song came on while I was listening to the awesome KEXP “Music That Matters” podcast (more on that in the future) and I decided that running a marathon is very similar to becoming zombified. For one, when I run I’ve learned to basically put my body on autopilot and let my mind wander. Very zombi-like, if you ask me. Additionally, after a 20 mile run, my body’s so sore that I pretty much feel like a zombie, as well as walk like one, staggering around the house. Anyway, without trying to make zombies more trendy than they already are, I’m sharing this song with you. Enjoy!

I have the best wife.

And you know what makes these pancakes better? Gluten-free, wheat-free. Oh, and chocolate chips. You better believe it.

Um, yes please.
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The dreaded and ominous 20 mile run was on today’s LA Roadrunner schedule. For months it has sat there on my calendar, staring me down, hanging like a guillotine ready to drop.

Since I’ve returned from Japan, my whole goal has been to not skip the first 20-miler. That gave me two weeks to get back into game shape and I made sure not to miss a single day of running. Additionally, I was mentally trying to prepare myself. “I can do this, I can do this.” But, in the back of my mind, I wasn’t so sure. This whole week I had been wondering whether or not I was ready. My longest run in over six weeks was only 14.5 miles and I had missed the Roadrunner runs of 16, 17, 18 and 19. Could I manage 20?

The answer is yes. And then my realization was this: nothing can prepare you for a 20+ mile run mentally. You just have to go out and do it.

Distance: 20.2 miles
Time: 173:23
Pace: 8:35 mile

It’s hard to see any detail in the route on this map, but even at this distance, you can see it was a daunting course. We started at Venice Boardwalk, went up through Santa Monica, through Rustic Canyon, back down the beach, then into Marina Del Rey. And it was absolutely gorgeous: post-rain blue skies with white clouds, damp and cool roads, misty air, and a dewy forest through Rustic Canyon.

I’m really bummed that I didn’t take my camera with me. I was figured it’d be too much to worry about on my first 20-miler and it was true: I wouldn’t have been able to focus on my running. But, I do want to share images of the run so I got creative and took some screen grabs from Google Maps and hit up Flickr. It’s hodgepodge, but it works.

Rustic Canyon from the Google Cam.
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Despite it’s hilly terrain, I could definitely find myself running through Rustic Canyon again.

After that portion of the course, we shot out onto the Pacific Coast Highway and crossed over to the beach to complete the middle miles 7-16. We went back through Venice and into Marina Del Rey and I found that part to be more challenging than the hills of Rustic Canyon. It was mainly due to the compact nature of the marina that made it so difficult. With 30+ runners trying to cram onto the narrow walkways and alleys of the boat docks, it’s hard to zone out because you’re constantly worried about hitting a fellow runner.

See the narrow docks? Marina Del Rey from Das Bobby via Flickr.
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I was feeling fine pretty much all the way until mile 18. Before this run, the my longest run ever was 15.xx miles so I was pretty happy with my legs at 18. But as we headed back for the final two miles, It Got Tough. My legs were so tired and tight. I was losing speed, even though my endurance was fine. I was keeping with the group, but it was a struggle. As I looked around, I could tell that the entire group was feeling the same thing. A few runners were tripping and one even fell—common occurrences with tired legs and uneven roads. Needless to say, we were exhausted but not nearly done.

Our pace leader kept encouraging us, yelling out the remaining distances and some morale boosters. “1.7 miles to go! You can do it!” “1.2 miles to go! You’ve got this!” That really helped mentally. I kept reminding myself that, “Hey, I’ve run 1.2 miles before! This is easy!” and surprisingly, that little mental trick did help. I was able to find some guts that I didn’t know I had remaining and eek out the final two miles, despite my legs. When our pace leader announced we had hit 20 miles, we all cheered, and when we finally crossed the finish line, we were all relieved.

There’s nothing quite like achieving something you never thought you could do, while also setting a personal standard. If you had asked me five months ago if I thought I could hang with a 20 mile run, I’d have said no. And even with five months of training, I still woke up this morning thinking to myself, “Well, if you can only do 17 or 18, that’s fine. Don’t push yourself.” But now, I can say I did it. I ran 20.2 miles and survived.

Now if only I can find a way to add 6 more miles, I’ll be set.

Full Steam Ahead!

A rain jacket wouldn’t have even helped.
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There was no way I was going to run today. As fortune would have it, it was a scheduled day off.

However, I was able to get a run in yesterday just before the storm returned.

Distance: 4.22 miles
Time: 34:35
Pace: 8:12 mile

I’ve been feeling good these past couple days, which is good news since we’ve got our first scheduled 20-miler tomorrow!

As for my running these past four weeks, I took two weeks off while my wife and I traveled to Japan. Well, I was actually able to get in a five mile run on the Kamo River one morning before we headed off to roam the streets of Kyoto. The river is actually very accessible to runners and bikers and I was one of many runners out there that morning. It was pretty exhilarating to run “internationally.” I never thought any of my vacations would include my running shoes.

Kamo River, Kyoto, Japan
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The Kamo River is quite beautiful, actually, as is the rest of Kyoto. Kyoto’s main draw are it’s many temples and being there over the New Year was a unique experience. All the temples have celebrations to ring in the New Year and we had a great time being a part of the festivities.

I’ll have more photos of Japan on my other website up shortly and I’ll post a link when I do.

As for running once I got back, it took me about a week to get back to where I was before I left. Taking two weeks off didn’t ruin everything I had built up, though my first couples runs were harder than I remembered. It wasn’t necessarily my endurance that had gone, it was more my muscles. They were screaming, “We just took two weeks off! What are you doing to us!” I had lost about ten seconds off my pace and my muscles were sore everyday after every run, even the 4 miler. How sad!

But, I’m finally back into game shape. It feels good. With the marathon two months away, I’m getting excited and I feel ready.

Here are my runs from the past two weeks. It took me about a week to get my pace back:

1/10/10 – 4.29 miles @ 8:38 pace, 37:03
1/11/10 – 6.26 miles @ 8:43 pace, 54:37
1/12/10 – 4.29 miles @ 8:34 pace, 36:47
1/13/10 – Elliptical x-train workout, 45:00
1/14/10 – 8.31 miles @ 8:35 pace, 71:22
1/15/10 – Off day
1/16/10 – 14.37 miles @ 8:27 pace, 121:28
1/17/09 – 4.06 miles @ 9:51 pace, 40:00 (recovery)
1/18/10 – Elliptical x-train workout, 20:00
1/19/10 – 6.33 miles @ 8:02 pace, 50:50
1/20/10 – 5.22 miles @ 8:26 pace, 44:00

I doubt I’ll be able to post, even though I’m considering finding some running routes. Tokyo seems pretty easy to run, but the other cities not so much.

Luckily, I’ve run pretty consistently here while visiting my parents and logged runs of 5.15 miles, 10.92 miles, and 5.15 miles all around the 8 minute pace. I’m pretty happy with the results and I’m hoping I don’t lose too much if I’m unable to get in a run.

In any case, I’ll post again in the new year. Happy new year to everyone and best wishes for 2010!

Modesto canals.
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This route is electric!
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The day after Lafayette we returned to Modesto and I was determined to get out and run. I needed to get my mojo back. Despite the solitary, non-competitive nature of training, I still enjoy the challenge of recording my times. I use it as motivation to track my progress, while also adding an element of competition. So, in my weird and obsessive way, I felt that Lafayette had “beaten” me and I wanted to get back to it.

I picked a route that I had done back in November. It was a safe, flat trail that I was familiar with and all I needed was a decent time to feel good about my running again Luckily, I hit my goal and, using my disappointment from Lafayette as fuel, made a good time that I’m happy with.

Distance: 5.15 miles
Time: 41:00
Pace: 7:58 mile

So the run went well and I’ve got my confidence back. I can take solace in the fact that Lafayette was bad because of the unending, terrible hills. One day, I’m going to go back to Lafayette and run all over that trail with an iron foot. Hi-yah!

(Much to the chagrin of my friend Karen, who has been pushing me to run in the rain, it started pouring five minutes after I returned from the run. Like I tweeted to Karen, I’m not avoiding the rain, I promise!)