A "long" long run

This is my new long run training course. It's steep - 1800 ft!

Today was a "LONG" long run for me. 24.5 miles from the beach all the way up into the Santa Monica mountains and back. I was planning for 22ish today due to the big elevation change, but I suspect that my hill training over the past 2 weeks has already started to acclimate my legs to the incline, so I felt good enough to go a bit further. I ended up with 24.5 more or less by accident, since I turned around at a trail sign somewhere up high on the fire roads, and just headed on back afterwards.

I started out with the LA Running Club at 6AM; we were trying to beat the forecasted heat of 85F here in LA. I stayed with the group for the first 6 miles, although I did have to double back twice since I was getting quite far ahead on the initial climbs. The course we ran is starts with 3.5 miles of climbing through the Pacific Palisades community which is literally home to countless celebrities and star movie producers. It's a gorgeous community, with huge, wide roads, and spectacular views. After that, it transitions to a high mountain fire road, which will climb another 6-7 miles through undeveloped Southern California mountain terrain to the Santa Monica mountain ridge. There are usually a bunch of mountain bikers and a few hikers on the fire road, but the punishing grade really keeps things minimally busy, thankfully.

I broke away from the group at their 5 mile turnaround, and continued up the fire road. I got a bit carried away, and ended up running out toward another trail, which I followed for a few miles, before I realized that I'd have to double back, or run 26.2 total miles today! The relentless initial climb is really, really tough - it's every bit as steep as the chart above shows, with some sections so steep that I'm running 14 minute miles at a strong effort. The downhill is similarly relentless - it's very fast, but the need to expend energy braking due to the dirt footing makes it more difficult than expected. I expected to really hit the wall after about 3hrs 15min of running, but I was able to keep on going, with a fairly steady pace - although I definitely admit that after mile 18, I took 1 to 2 stops for water and some walking breaks to keep things moving.

One of the interesting things about the chart above, is that the little uphill blip in the very end of the run is actually a VERY significant hill, which is nearly 400 meters long, and would be considered a real bear if it were encountered on most marathon courses. It barely looks like a blip compared to the rest of the course!The total run took about 3hrs 50min, or about 9:15 min/mile. I'm hoping to ratchet that pace up over the upcoming year - I really like the idea of doing long runs for longer than my anticipated marathon finish time, since it gives me confidence that I'll be much better prepared to fight the recurrent late-game cramping that I seem to get.

It's still too early to see whether this approach will yield any tangible benefits in terms of marathoning, but I definitely have to say that I really love finding these new "minigoals" to strive for in training. When I first started marathoning, simply running 14,18, 20, then 22 miles was each a major milestone on its own right. Next after that was upping the weekly mileage and hitting faster and faster training paces. After a good year and a half of serious training, it's gotten progressively more difficult to find more milestones that aren't simply running a given distance faster, so it's always nice when you discover one.

This time around, my mini-milestone will be to see how far I can run in the mountains during training without wiping out my legs. Today, after the 24.5 mile hilly run, my legs feel pretty good, albeit a bit fatigued, but not to the point where I feel like I need a day off. If all goes well, I'll be able to put in a nice recovery-paced 6-8 miler tomorrow to keep things moving.

I still have yet to finalize a definite plan for the next 5 weeks prior to the SF marathon, but the rough sketch is:

- Endurance/lactate threshold training for 2 weeks with lots of hills and volume. 1 tempo run/wk
- Race preparation for 1-2 weeks Continue hilly long runs, but switch the midweek long run to a flatter course and run MP pace. VO2 workout for speed.
- 1 week taper. (2nd week out will be a lower-volume race-prep week)

It'll be neat to see how I fare with a homebrewed 8-wk crash course schedule to SF. I've never trained for less than 16 weeks for a marathon before, so this will definitely be a new experience.

Looking for punishment

Now that I'm back into full training mode, I've been literally looking for the most punishing runs I can find in my neck of the woods. Whether it be SoCal, or NorCal, I've been gravitating toward the biggest hills that I can conveniently access without spending driving time to get there.

My goal for the next few weeks is to gain a small burst of endurance training by running longer long runs while only slightly increasing my weekly mileage from 70 to possibly 75-80. I'm also planning to spend more time on my long runs, mainly by incorporating aggressive hills into my long runs. I've now successfully put up a 15, 20, and another 20 on some very hilly routes, and they're definitely taking a heavy toll on my training paces, which have worsened from 7:20-7:40/mi on the long runs down to 8:00-9:00/mile.

To add to the pain and suffering, summer heat has definitely kicked in here in LA, and I've been training in 75-88F temps for the past 2 weeks, which have also beaten down my times. My last tempo run was run 20 seconds / mile slower than compared to my usual pace in 55F.

And to top it all off, longer long runs for me means more water in my Camelbak, which is nearly full, at 2 litres capacity. That's a lot of water - my pack weighs in at 7 lbs pre-run, and you definitely feel the weight during the first 13 miles.

The interesting upside to all of this, is that after my race in San Diego, where I was felled by leg cramps in the final 2-3 miles, it has become crystal clear to me that training paces are not a great goal in and of themselves, as the 26.2 mile distance can change the game substantially, even for higher-mileage runners such as myself. As long as I'm putting the necessary beat-down on the legs to improve, it probably doesn't matter what kind of fast or slow paces I'm running, as long as I give adequate recovery time in between. I find myself definitely looking for those big hills now, whereas in the San Diego buildup, I avoided most of them, preferring to focus on leg turnover and faster training paces. I knew that I was aiming for lower volume and faster paces during that training cycle, and it served almost as "speed focus" training periodization, where I reduced mileage purposely (despite doing the entire recommended Pfitz 18/70 volume.) I was also recovering from some overtraining during that cycle, so I definitely wouldn't have changed my effort or volume in retrospect.

Now that I know that I'm back to full strength and health, I'm looking forward to putting in a few weeks of higher volume and high intensity workouts in the 5 weeks left before San Francisco. I don't expect to improve too much, but at the least, I'd like to start my endurance building in preparation for a re-assault on the 3:10 benchmark at the California International Marathon (CIM) in Sacramento in December, which is exactly 18 weeks after the San Francisco marathon. CIM is a downhill course, and I may put a star (*) by my race result after that one because I feel that the downhill assist is so significant, especially compared to courses such as San Francisco and Big Sur, but I'll still be really happy with a 3:10* result there later this year!

In terms of going hardcore on my training runs, I'm definitely trying not to over-do it, but I did attempt a seriously difficult 20-22 miler this past Saturday up in Palo Alto. Starting temps were 75F, and it got up to 85F not including the sun factor. By mile 18, I had drained all 90 oz of water in my pack. My pace slowed to a 8:30/mi on the flats, and on the uphills, I was literally trudging along at 9:00+ per mile. The aspect that made this run so incredibly difficult, was that I decided to take on the brutal 2 mile road climb to my GF's house for the final 2 miles of the run. I normally opt to take the longer, but less steep (but still really steep) trail approach, but this time, I went for the biggest, nastiest incline. Suffice to say, that hill nearly killed me! It climbs 1400 feet in 2 miles, or a nearly 10% average incline. I was forced to walk almost a third of it, and the sparse sections on which I was running, my Garmin logged me as hitting 14-15:00min/mile - just faster than a brisk walk. And even that was requiring a HR170+ effort. Definitely a good one for the "mental toughness" training - I loved every minute of it!

Vacation Part 2 – Cycling in Sonoma

Roads near Sonoma

We spent the next 2 days in Sonoma, CA. This is an area best known for its lush vineyards and pleasant climate, and was featured in the movie “Sideways” a few years ago. I’m not a wine buff at all,so the main reason I know this area is because I nearly ran the Napa Valley Marathon earlier this year. Its funny how that as a marathoner, I tend to primarily identify locales by the local marathon staged there. Thus, for me, Sonoma = Napa Valley marathon, Sacramento = California International Marathon, and so on. (Come on, you know you do that too!)

Sonoma, CA in the early AM. Yes, I was out running at this hour.

We spent 2 nights in the Sonoma Hotel, which is a historic old hotel from the late 1800s in the commercial center of Sonoma. This is a pleasant old hotel, but as a result, it's definitely short on any sort of modern amenities. In retrospect, I’d rather stay just outside Sonoma, and get a much cheaper room rate with more amenties. Lots of weddings go on here, so if you’re invited to one, keep this in mind, as this hotel and the others nearby are usually on the “A-list”, whereas the B-List hotels a few miles out are probably a better overall deal.

I got up early and put in a good 9 mile run on some local bike paths. I felt pretty good at first, and cranked up the pace to 7:05-7:10 per mile, but I definitely started to feel leg fatigue after 3-4 miles. There’s no doubt that for me at least, I decondition endurance-wise extremely rapidly, losing my top-end endurance in a matter of days with no training. My speed seemed intact for the most part, but my quads felt as if they were on mile 18 when I was only on mile 8. I’ll be putting in some serious long runs before San Fran in the next 6 weeks for sure!

Lovely roads and vineyards

We rented some hybrid bikes in the neaby town of Healsburg(sp?), and headed out on a 24 mile round trip bike ride along a vineyard road. My GF isn’t a cyclist, but she did run a marathon last year, so I was pretty sure she’d have no problems. I’m not a road cyclist, but I do a fair amount of recreational mountain biking on my non-running days, so I’m very comfortable on a bicycle. Temps were scorchingly hot, exceeding 85F with full sun, but we kept it mellow and slow, making for a pleasant, leisurely ride. If anything, this cycling experience has whetted my appetite to acquire a FAST road-bike so I can participate in some tris and duathlons in the future – I think my large quads will be particularly helpful on the bike (they definitely don’t help on the run.)

Yup, I rode the girls bike on this one - the GF took my bike since it had better gearing

Dinner was at the Girl and the Fig restaurant, which is a well-known French-influenced restaurant in the heart of Sonoma, right downstairs from our hotel, and probably the most famous of the restaurants in Sonoma. I had a lovely meal there, of a brilliantly prepared corn soup (who ever knew corn could taste so heavenly!) and exquisitely prepared quail. A lovely cap to a leisurely 2 days of civilized vacationing.

The Girl and the Fig / Sonoma Hotel

With the weekend still ahead, I planned to get in some good miles. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a scorchingly hot weekend, with continuous temps of 85F at NIGHT, and 95-100F during the day here in Palo Alto. Ouch. I set out this morning for my long run at 5:50AM, right before the sun came up, and was greeted with 75F right from the get-go. I was intending to take it easier today and go longer in terms of time, so I was dragging from the start. Add on top a completely full Camelbak, and conservative pacing due to a crushing 2-mile final climb of over 1100 feet at miles 19-20, and I was running by far the slowest paced long run I've done in the past 4 months, averaging no better than 8:50/mile on average. Quite an impressive dropoff compared to my premarathon 7:20s-7:40s. The good part however, was that my run ended up being 3hrs 10minutes long, or a good 20-30 minutes longer than my speedy long runs from the last Pfitz cycle.

For me at least, those 20+ milers seem to be the make or break factor, as my leg speed better than the marathon times I’ve been running. I’d characterize my Pfitz training as workouts aimed at allowing me to run a solid, brisk weekend long run which produces the bulk of my endurance benefits. I’ve tried cutting those 20 milers back to 15-17 on a higher mileage regimen in the past, with very unsuccessful results. I suspect that those with more natural endurance would do fine on such a plan, but I definitely need those long runs to offset my predominantly fast twitch muscle fiber composition. I'm planning some "overmileage" long runs where I'll shoot for 24 and 26 mile distances to help build that important endurance for the final few miles on race day and see how it pans out. Unfortunately for me, the better plan of doing more weekly miles (80-90+) on a more distributed schedule will be very difficult, as I'm back to my peak on-call radiology schedule, where I've got heavy weekend and overnight responsibilities so getting in Pfitz 18/70 again will be really tough on its own.

I'm still up in the air as to what my training plan will be for the next 6 weeks. After this vacation week is over, I'll give it more thought, although I'll likely combine 3 weeks of the lactate mesocycle with 2-3 weeks of the race prep mesocycle as a buildup to SF. We'll see!

Vacation Part 1 – Camping & Kayaking the Channel Islands

The CHANNEL ISLANDS off Ventura, CA
Anacapa island pictured above

The next two posts are going to be two running-free posts highlighting my vacation week, so feel free to skip on ahead if you're more interested in my buildup to the San Francisco marathon in less than 6 weeks (gulp!)

I had the pleasure of going up to the Channel Islands off the coast of Oxnard & Ventura in Southern California this past weekend. I did literally none of the organizing for this one – my GF did the entire thing from start to finish, and I just showed up for the ride, which was a nice change, (I normally make all our vacation arrangements.) The plan was for 2 nights of camping on Anacapa island, followed by a morning of guided sea kayaking around the island. I haven’t gone camping since I was 12 years old, and owned zero camping gear until this week. As for sea kayaking, well, I’ve gone paddling on a lake in the past, but never have gone out on ocean water, let alone sea caves.

I proceeded to spend a fortune at REI on camping gear this week. REI is pricey, but they have top-quality gear, which you can really rely upon even in the most extreme of conditions. Some of the big purchases I made was a 3-person Marmot tent (5 lbs packed), a Jetboil stove/fuel system, an REI waterproof breathable shell jacket (REI Taku), and an excellent mountaineering pack. Fortunately, I got these all on sale, but it was still a hefty chunk of change after you included all the small items. There is no running water on the island we were visiting, so we also brought along 4 gallons of bottled water as our sole water supply.

We left for the Channel Islands on Sunday morning. It’s only an hour’s drive from Santa Monica – very convenient. Once there, you take a 40 minute boat ride to get to the islands. We were blessed with incredible wildlife spotting out on the open sea. About 15 minutes into the ride, we ran straight into a pack of 1000+ dolphin, which were probably feeding on a school of smaller fish. The dolphin were seen all around our boat, leaping out of the water (I’m not sure why they do that, but they do it a lot) and playing in the V-shaped wake of our boat. Even a large sunfish was spotted, cruising by with its dorsal fin sticking straight out of the water. I’d never expected such a large school of dolphin to be so visible at the surface, so it was quite a spectacular treat.

Anacapa island is but one of the several islands comprising the Channel islands. It’s the smallest one, but also the one best known for its wildlife and terrain. When I’d heard that I’d be camping on an island, I’d assumed that there would be a small forest of island trees, and a beach of some sort, as well as some trails to hike/run. Well, I was wrong on all counts. As we approached the island by boat, I saw that the island was flanked on ALL sides with 400 foot sheer cliffs. No beaches whatsoever. Furthermore, the top was flat as a tabletop, with NO tree cover whatsoever. The tallest vegetation was probably no more than 2 feet high, due to high winds. And in terms of size, this was a small island – one mile long. This would be where I’d be spending the next 48 hrs?! I definitely wasn’t so sure this would be any fun!

Spectacular views all around

The boat pulled into the small man-made dock, and we unloaded our camping gear. About 30 other tourists got off the boat as well, but they were day trippers who would be picked up after 5 hours on the island, leaving my GF and I, and a park ranger as the sole human inhabitants of the 1-mile island. The sun was out in full force, and it was hot. To start off this rugged adventure, I had the joy of carrying my 40 lb pack + a 33 lbs second pack + 2 gallons of water up 158 steep stairs just to get to the island top. By the time I got to the top, I was really breathing hard – thank god for marathon legs!

Upon getting to the top, I was immediately greeted with the sounds of chirps and peeps. We had entered the home of the seagulls. Thousands upon thousands of seagulls nest on Anacapa island, and we had unexpectedly arrived during the peak hatching season. Since this island is a zone free of large predators (and most humans), the gulls had made nests along the entire small trail leading to the campsite. The small gull hatchlings were no more than an arm’s length away, and they were found literally everywhere you looked. Of course, they were absolutely adorable. My GF had a field day of oohs and aahs how cute they were – and I’ll admit that even I had to get in on it as I saw the little guys stumbling across the road. The only drawback was that Anacapa island should be more aptly renamed as AnaCRAPA island; bird crap landed on everywhere and everything – within moments of our arrival, we were dumped on by the local seagull welcoming committee. Gee, thanks!

Gulls and chicks EVERYWHERE

We set up our camp, and spent the rest of the day touring the small island after the tourists had left. It takes a long time to walk the 2 mile loop around the island, because you constantly get dive-bombed by angry screeching seagull mothers who try and intimidate you as you walk by their nests and their hatchlings. I thought that I’d get pretty bored after walking around the island once, but turns out that the island changes pretty dramatically as the sun goes down, with different moods and different animal behavior. I watched a gorgeous sunset with pelican fleets lifting off the adjacent islands, with not a soul to be seen. Amazing.

Seagull Dive-bombing

The first evening on the island was a bit scary for me, since the wind started to really blow. It started up at around 11PM, and by 2AM, there was a fierce, steady 30mph wind blasting across the island, with no cover to slow it. No wonder there were no trees up there! I’d staked my Marmot 3P tent solidly and reinforced the stakes with rocks, but I laid wide awake for most of the evening as my tent was blasted by the winds, and rocked and warped with each blast. Fortunately, the tent was up to the task, and not a single blast of wind ever made it through the wind-proofed nylon walls. (Note to others: don't buy your tent at Walmart!) It was a noisy evening, but inside the tent, it was incredibly comfortable, and even cozy with our trapped body heat making it nice and warm inside.

Catching up on daytime sleep in my Marmot 3p tent

The winds died down at around 4AM, but just as I was settling in for some shut-eye, the seagulls started up their cacophony of squaking to welcome the morning dawn. Imagine 10-20,000 seagulls all squaking together, and you’ll imagine how difficult it was to get sleep even after the winds! I even tried to make earplugs out of small bits of toilet paper, but they didn't work too well, and I managed to get one stuck in my ear for about 15 minutes, which I couldn't get out due to my sleepy daze.

By the time morning had rolled around, I’d gotten a few hours of sleep, and awoke to a gorgeous solitary sunny morning. Ironically enough, my GF slept straight through the evening, through the wind and gull chorus, and simply commented that she’d had a few dreams about seagulls.

No tourists ventured onto the island for the next 24 hours, so it was an entire day alone with the gulls. This day ended up being surprisingly fun, as we knew the nuances of the island by now, and could focus more on seeing the sights and animal behaviors versus worrying about our gear. I took a lot of naps that day, but also had a great time seeing the wildlife and flora again. And those seagull chicks never cease to entertain, no matter how many times you see them. Cooking with my fuel stove system was also a lot of fun, as I'd never used one before. My Jetboil system is really a 3-cup sized insulated cup which allows it to heat water really fast. Camping certainly becomes a lot more pleasant once you get some nice amenities such as warm coffee, soup, and some hot meals. It's actually remarkable how much stuff you can cook in a 3-cup container!

The final evening on the island was much better than the first. The wind was much milder this evening, and never bothered me once. Furthermore, there was a brilliant full moon in the sky, and I crept outside at 1AM just to see the island in the moonlight glory – spectacular. I’d gotten used to the cacophony of the seagulls as well, and could tune them out for the most part. We had another gorgeous morning, then broke down the camp in preparation for sea kayaking.

Good morning

A big boat carrying a load of daytrippers unloaded on the island just as we were preparing for our sea kayak adventure. Our guide “Justin” was a surfer dude with extensive watersports experience, and would be taking both my GF and myself for our own guided tour of the sea caves of Anacapa island.

My GF has a lot more paddling experience than I have. Ok, I have nearly ZERO paddling experience, but I always figure that my marathon training will prepare me well for whatever sports-related activities I’ve got coming my way (very logical reasoning, I know.) I lowered myself into the sea kayak, and followed the guide out into the ocean. And it was scary! Not only was I paddling out with no land whatsoever to land on (sheer cliff walls surrounded us), but there were WAVES to ride through. I was doing fine, but I was pretty worried about whether I’d bounce through these waves without wiping out our end up smashed against those sheer cliff walls. Furthermore, I was worried about my GF, who was just ahead of me. In my male-centric flawed mentality, I’d assumed automatically that she’d be far more frightened than I was, so I figured she wasn’t having any fun whatsoever. Turns out that she was totally in her element, was having a total blast while I was the worry-wart. Go figure!

Look closely - that's a nest of sea lions down there

Our guide pulled up to the first sea-cave, and checked it out. He said it was clear and open, and we could follow him through. When I’d heard about this “sea-cave” thing, I’d expected a big cave, about 30-50 feet high, and several hundred feet wide, with still water to leisurely float in. Instead, I was greeted with a 7 foot wide “crack” in a sheer cliff wall, with a decent-paced current passing through. And it was near pitch-black in some points. I figured now was probably as good a time as any to make like a gentleman, and I turned to my GF and said, “Ummm, ladiest first! I’ll pull up the rear to make sure you make it through ok.” I don’t think she was fooled for a sec, but she gladly forged on ahead and took off into the crack. With a deep breath, I looked ahead, said a few prayers, and sent myself through. The sea cave was really only a 30-40 foot passageway with tall ceilings. It was quite narrow, and I had to point my paddle straight ahead in most parts since it wouldn’t fit through the passageway. Fortunately, the slow current took me through most of it, and with much bouncing off the rock walls, I made it through without problems. Hey, that wasn’t so bad!

The rest of the caves and paddling went much better. We went through a few more small sea caves which were easier than the first one, and then pulled up in front of a nest of sea lions to watch them for awhile. By the time we were done, I was having a blast, and enjoying the lovely ocean breeze and staggeringly breathtaking views of the island walls. It was over too soon, but I was also glad to catch the ferry back to the mainland. One of the best parts of camping is that you REALLY appreciate the benefits of home once you’re back – that hot shower never felt so good!

I wish that I could have run at least a few miles over these past 3 days, but with all the dive-bombing seagull mothers, trail running was absolutely impossible on the island. I hope I haven’t lost a lot, but with the short 6-week buildup I’ve got until the SF marathon, every day counts, so I’ll be back on the training horse ASAP. On the bright side, this past Sunday before the trip, I put up a solid hilly 20 miler without problem, and logged a solid training week of nearly 60 miles.

Tomorrow will proceed with the 2^nd half of my vacation week, also organized by the GF, which will be a much more civilized affair with 2 days up in the Sonoma valley in Northern California, with a day of leisurely road biking through the vineyards. Should be fun – and hopefully I’ll get some runs in there as well!

Last note : Everyone knows that guys are total gear-heads, so here are a couple camping items that I found surprisingly and unexpectedly useful on the trip:

THERMOS – I didn’t want to bring this, but the GF insisted that we do it. I found that having a thermos is KEY for drinking warm beverages of any sort in the morning. With temps in the 50s, and some mild wind, your boiling hot drink will be stone-cold in less than a minute with a normal cup. Put in a thermos, and it’s good for nearly half an hour! This will definitely be on my must-pack lists from now on.

JETBOIL STOVE SYSTEM – This is a super-compact and lightweight large insulated cup with a fuel feed at the bottom. The insulated cup is what makes all the difference. It results in faster boiling, but even more importantly, it saves fuel since it wastes less heat, so you can stretch that small fuel canister out a lot longer. I had a lot of fun firing up my Jetboil stove system for several meals – with one small canister of fuel, I managed to boil over 7 cups of water for coffee, cook an entire box of linguini pasta, prepare pancakes, and boil more water for udon noodles with fuel still left over. I highly recommend it, and think the insulated cup is totally worth the extra cost. It took probably 2-3 minutes to boil 1-2 cups of water, and 4-5 minutes to boil 3 cups. I even cooked nearly a pound of pasta right in the cup, and it worked fine.

RAMEN NOODLES / UDON / SOUPS – With the speed of boiling water with Jetboil, these hot soup and noodle packs are amazingly satisfying on a cool morning or evening. I’ll definitely bring more of these on my next trip.

EARPLUGS - Dang I wished I'd had a pair of these. A little bit of wind can really cause a bother otherwise due to the flapping of the nylon tent walls.

Back to training in the Santa Monica Mountains

I'm in my 2nd postmarathon week now. I ran a grand total of 1 mile in the initial 5 days after the marathon, and I literally couldn't run any more because of a dull ache in my quads. Strangely, I was able to run 10 very easy (9:00 pace) miles on the 6th day, and the day following that, I felt good enough to put up a solid 14 mile run in the hilly Santa Monica mountains for my first real workout.

I really love training in the Santa Monica mountains. Here in Los Angeles, we're blessed with near-perfect weather year-round, and to top off the wonderful outdoor lifestyle, there is access to both beach and mountain terrain within 5 minutes of each other. I can start a run on the beaches of Santa Monica, and within 5 miles, be running on a steep fire road 1200+ feet into the Santa Monica mountains, and away from the urban lifestyle of Los Angeles. I avoided this locale for nearly 6 months mainly due to inability to run in this area in darkness (the trails are officially "closed" after dark) as well as fear of spraining my ankles off-road. Now that the sun is out later, I can get out here more often, and I've also found that the terrain on these fire roads is very flat, with minimal tricky footing to invite injury.

Perhaps the best aspect of these trails is that they begin with a steep ascent. This manages to keep the "riff-raff" of Los Angeles off the trails. No parades of families strewn across the path to get in your way, no stray pets roaming around, and no automobile traffic whatsoever. Running here is mostly a solitary experience, but every 20-30 minutes or so, I'll pass one or two hikers or mountain bikers - just enough to make me know that if I did run into trouble out there, I'd likely be found very quickly. There are over 30 miles of interconnected trails in this mountain region, and it's literally a 10 minute drive from my place. In my opinion, the Santa Monica mountains are probably the most under-utilized and under-appreciated gems of Los Angeles. It's easily my favorite aspect of Los Angeles, surpassing even my enjoyment of the legendary beaches of Souther California. Close, convenient, safe, and spectacular. And free! How can you beat that?

Lovely mountain mornings

In terms of training, I'm aiming to incorporate a weekend long run with most, if not all of the miles run through these mountains. I used this approach very successfully for last year's marathon training. The typical elevation is anywhere from 1200 to 1800 feet, which greatly exceeds most marathon course profiles (even the hilly ones), and I'll likely be doing multiple ascents/descents during my long runs. I'm hoping that the inclines and declines will strengthen my legs and improve endurance since my 20-22 milers will likely take approximately 3 hours to complete (versus 2:30-2:40 on flatland), which is much closer to my estimated marathon finish time. I'm anticipating that with regular longer long runs, I won't have any more late cramping issues on race day.

The other new news is that I'm officially registered for the San Francisco marathon! I was originally not planning on running this one, as it's only 8 weeks (now only 7) from the San Diego marathon, which leaves little significant time to really improve, but my girlfriend and her friend decided to run the half marathon recently, so I decided to go all in. This was actually an easy decision for me because I LOVE this race (see my race report from last year), as well as the fact that I'll definitely be running this one for fun rather than for a PR/BQ , as the hilly San Francisco course is not good for shooting for fast times (estimate add 5-7 minutes to finish times versus flat courses.) I highly doubt that even with perfect conditions and a great race, that I'd be able to throw down a sub 3:10 at SF, so I'm not feeling any pressure to go for the gold on this one. I'll pace out nice and easy, enjoy the scenery, and see what I've got left in the miles to run for the crowds. It should be a much more relaxed affair than the past 3 goal-driven races I've run.

That said, I know after crashing in 4 out of 5 marathons I've run, that the marathon demands full respect, even if I'm just planning to run "for fun." In these next 7 weeks, I'll try and do some serious running at up to 70 miles per week, and fit in 3-4 long runs to get a small burst of improvement. I'll likely opt for a shorter 2-week taper for this one.

On the bright side, I've bounced back very quickly from San Diego. I was expecting to feel a lot worse after the race, but it seems that 9 days out, I've recovered all of my short-distance speed, and most of my endurance. I was bold enough to join the Los Angeles Running club for their weekly track workout, where I ran some hard mile repeats in 5:50 (2000m), 5:40 (1600m), and then an 800m at 5:15 pace, which were all accurately clocked on the track. I'm planning to go abot 50 miles total this week, and then bounce up to 65-70 next week to be back in full training swing. I'm definitely feeling the post-marathon/taper "turbo" which means that my 7-10 mile runs are going at MP pace without difficulty now, but I know that once the mileage and training ramps up, those long runs will slow back down to near 7:50-8:00/mile as recommended by the Mcmillan pace calculator for a 3:10-3:00 finish.

Enjoying some solitary moments

Post marathon week & training adjustments

Feeling good at the half

It's now 4 days after the San Diego Rock N Roll marathon, where I missed my BQ target (3:10) and came in at around 3:16:43 after walking most of the last 2.5 miles. My right leg still hasn't quite recovered from the beating I gave it in an effort to make it in on time, but I'm overall feeling good. And on the bright side - a 4 minute PR with all that walking isn't that bad!

In particularly, mentally, I'm eager to restart training, and not at all burned out from the last cycle. A lot of that could be the gorgeous weather and sun we've got on hand now, some of that could be relishing the idea of getting back those 6-8 minutes that I feel are still owed me by that 26.2 mile course, and some of that could be the fact that I didn't push myself to my limits during my past training cycle to avoid overtraining. Either way, I'm enjoying this period of no-running but definitely looking forward to another tough Pfitz cycle to really show what I've got.

Even though the 3:16 represents a 4 minute PR for me, I'm actually certain that I can knock 6-8 minutes off that time very easily. The 3:16 time is still substantially "off" compared to my half marathon and shorter distance race times, and any time you cramp in the final few miles, that's a formula for killing your time. In retrospect, it's surprising that I managed to PR with all that final mile walking, especially because I didn't aim to improve my time once the 3:10 mark was passed. I'm certain that I didn't get to use/demonstrate any of the recently gained fast leg speed that I've acquired during the San Diego marathon, and I'm certain that even with a small improvement in endurance, I'll receive a 6+ minute drop in time simply because of avoiding the walk. If I can manage to maintain a finishing kick, the time drop should be much more significant, and well under the 3:10 mark.

REVIEW OF THE LAST TRAINING CYCLE
I clearly made a few reasonable oversights in preparation for San Diego during my last training cycle. I still consider still consider my last training cycle a very successful one, in that I managed to bounce back from injuries, overtraining, and flu in Jan-Feb without serious fallout. Still, it's important to analyze mistakes made in the past so as not to repeat them again.

#1) Increase endurance-type training, likely with hillwork
This one's obvious, but it's the absolute clincher for my marathon performance, and probably the only limiting factor holding me back from a sub-3 marathon at this point, since my leg speed has been excellent in training. While I did every last long run that Pfitz prescribed, and ran pretty much 100% of the recommended training volume, I definitely avoided significant hillwork for the bulk of my "endurance" and "lactate threshold" mesocycles, and ran a lot of long workouts on a flat course in Sylmar near my alternate workplace. While I racked up some solid long runs and decent training paces, I strongly suspect that it left me just a few miles short on the moderately hilly course in slightly warmer temps that I encountered on Sunday. By the time the race preparation mesocycle rolled around, I was past the point of big endurance gains. As a result, on race day, despite barely entering effort levels which I would consider lactate threshold until mile 20 (most of it felt like a typical long paced workout for me), I conked out prematurely due to isolated leg cramps even before I got a chance to really demonstrate my ability to run in the lactate+ threshold range.

This will NOT be happening again. HELL, NO!

My solution to this will be the exact same strategy that worked well for me for my prior San Francisco marathon. Use the Pfitz 18/70mpw plan at overall faster paces, but incorporate a lot of sizable hills (over 800ft, if not 1200+ ft elevation) into my typical long runs. I ran a LOT of these monster hills last year, with a huge hit to my training paces, which were way off the Mcmillan recommended paces. However, when it came to race day at SF, I ended up dominating all the hills and the final 6 miles, with the full ability to run until my HR maxxed out through the final miles. I suspect that a lot of this has to do with the time spent on one's feet - with my recently improved fast LR paces, my typical 22 mile long run ended at a bit too early at around 2:40-2:45hrs (7:30ish pace). I'm willing to sacrifice that 7:30/mile pace, and take 8-9min/miles on hills (with same effort) to run closer to a 3:00hr long run, which would better approximate my desired finishing time of sub 3:10. I'll probably lose some leg speed due to overall fatigue on speed days with this approach, but I seem to be all-fast twitch fiber with rapid improvements from little speedwork training, so it's a worthwhile trade for my next marathon. This approach clearly is not for everyone, particularly for those who outperform at the marathon distance - those folks would probably benefit from a lot more speedwork, and even a dedicated 10k season.

Another possibility I considered was to run longer long runs (23-26 miles) and/or more overall miles; the main reason I'm not adopting this strategy is that it would be too risky to both incorporate big hills as well as increase volume simultaneously, and I feel that it's more important for me to get used to powering up and down hills than to run fast on flatter surfaces. Equally important though, is the fact that I've been really missing my trail runs lately, and it's time to get back in touch with that off-road element - positive mental energy is a definite factor not to be ignored in my regimen.

#2 Prepare a more specific race strategy inclusive of weather and course
I admit that I didn't prepare quite adequately in terms of aiming at the precise specifics of the Rock N Roll marathon. I looked at the elevation profile but was still surprised by the hills when I was actually running them. I didn't quite expect it to be so warm at the start (60F is toasty for a marathon!) and in the end due to the brutal sun conditions with no cover. Most importantly, I could have asked around a bit to find out from folks how tough those final 10k were going to be. While I don't think any race strategy would have allowed me to run a sub 3:10 on Sunday, there's no doubt that I could have had a much more pain-free finish in 3:12 or less. Still, I would have gone all-out for that 3:10 regardless, so I doubt I would have changed my pace strategy by much.

This next time around, I plan on really adjusting my race-day paces based upon the actual ambient temperature. I should have followed Galloway's guidelines of slowing the pace 5-15 sec/mile due to 60F heat; that alone would have likely prevented the late-game crash. I'll also ask experienced folks how hard they found the courses I plan to run if shooting for an "A" performance; virtually everyone who's run San Diego would have seriously warned me about the final 10k, so it's really my own fault that I didn't slow in miles 15-20 in preparation for a tough finish. I definitely won't make that mistake again, and plan on doing the proper research for my next "A" race.

#3) Try salt caps
I'm still not a big believer in electrolyte replenishment for performance, but once you start dealing with warmish temps, the amount of salt lost can indeed be significant, even with GU shots along the way (I took 4.) I will try experimenting with salt caps in my next marathon (which likely will not be an "A" race for me) just to see how they work out. I honestly still am 90%+ sure that they will make no practical difference in performance relative to the much more significant effects of improved hill training based on what I've learned about muscle physiology from medical school and residency, but at this point, I'm willing to stay open-minded and will try these out since some strong runners do use them routinely. I'll be ordering these online and testing them out on those 3hr training runs.


THINGS I DID WELL FOR THIS RACE

Overall, I did consider my preparation for this race to be excellent. I avoided most of the errors that killed my race at Houston, and learned a lot from this lower-volume training cycle. I'll try and stipulate the most valuable things I learned about myself and training which I felt went very well this cycle.

#1) Stayed mentally fresh by running less
66 miles per week on average is a hefty volume of running for most folks, but it's actually substantially lower than my volume from late 2007, where I was hitting 80-100 routinely. I've found that due to my busy work schedule, 70mpw of hard training is really the upper limit of what I can reasonably do without suffering mental burnout. It's definitely far from my maximal volume of training, but I'm willing to give up that edge to stay fresh.

I also felt that I did a good job of coming back to running off injuries and setbacks in a gradual, controlled manner after some ugly starts. It took nearly 5 weeks before I even approached my old form, and probably didn't equal old form until 8-9 weeks into the training cycle, so to be able to run a PR off current training is a good sign. I definitely pushed a lot less in training for the first 12 weeks of the training cycle (rarely exceeded 145 bpm HR), and didn't really push until the last 2 weeks of race preparation mesocycle. I never felt overtrained, and while I felt pretty tired at many points, always bounced back within a day. I also had no injuries over this training cycle.

Still rockin' at mile 20

#2) Achieved strong speed in the race preparation mesocycle
My speedwork was excellent in the final stretch, easily hitting sub-3 training paces. Actually, ALL of my training runs were at sub-3 equivalent paces, including my 20-mile long runs, before taper. If I can simply maintain this leg speed for longer 22 mile hilly workouts, I should be able to achieve a substantial jump in ability. In particular, I felt that I did justice to those 100-200m sprints in the final 6-8 weeks, and there's no doubt that I significantly ramped up my VO2/speed with incorporation of these workouts. (My fastest tempo run was 6:00/mile x 6.7 miles - corresponding to a pace well under a 3:00hr marathon.)

#3) Peaked well
Peaking for the marathon is critical. I felt that despite my underperformance on race day, I peaked well for this race, with excellent leg speed, and endurance that was as strong as it would be given my flatland endurance training in March/April. If I can beef up the endurance component but do a similar taper, I should be all set for a sub 3:10.

#4) Had FUN!
For non-elite athletes such as myself, I do think that the fun factor needs to be greatly respected. Sure, you can measure yourself strictly by your PRs and race results, but in the greater scheme of things, if you're not having fun while doing it, it's likely that your running career will be cut short prematurely since you're not receiving professional or financial incentive to put forth such monumental efforts. I trained less this cycle, but had a LOT more fun than late 2007, where I was 100% performance driven. As a result, I think I've been able to put this subpar race into a much better perspective, and still see myself running hard for a long, long time. I'd honestly take years and years of non-BQ marathons any day over a one-and-done sub-3 BQ followed by long lapses of decreased fitness and non-running. I had a great time at the FE (forum encounters) with other forumites, enjoying the gorgeous locales, and just enjoying being outdoors and running on endorphins. I want more of that!

UPCOMING PLANS

It's still too early for me to settle on definite future races, but I'll prematurely toss out that I will likely go for my "A" race at the California International Marathon in December 2008. It's a net downhill course, and a cool one, which should nearly guarantee me a sub 3:10BQ. I'm also eyeing the imminent SF marathon (for fun, not to BQ), as well as the Long beach marathon in October as other options.

Strangely though, now that I feel that I'm literally sitting on top of the 3:10, I'm not as excited about running a fast downhill course! I've really enjoyed the struggle toward this difficult goal, and I'd like to really train so that I can really hammer it as opposed to just squeaking by. I still feel that the 3:10 is imminently within my grasp, possibly in my current fitness level on an easy course, but at this point, I'm honestly more interested in real improvement versus doing more of the same on an easier course. I know that many will read this statement and think that I'm just mentally justifying my 3:10 miss, but I really do believe that we learn the most from our mistakes, and there's no doubt that I will learn much more from this near miss than I would have if I had squeaked in at 3:10:59. I'm fully intending to take advantage of every last bit of information gained from this miss to make myself a much better runner in the upcoming year.

My right leg is still somewhat sore from the marathon, but I'll try running a measly 1-3 miles on it today to get the blood flowing. Plus, it's absolutely gorgeous outside, and I need an excuse to be outdoors in Socal.

Lastly, I'd like to thank all you online supporters who've been rooting for me along this ongoing journey. It's been more down than up to this point, but you all keep coming back to show the support, and I really, really appreciate it. Here's to you guys and gals who are part of the outstanding spirit of camaraderie which makes marathoning as special as it is for me - cheers!

San Diego Marathon - Not great, but not bad, either

Today was the running of the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon, which I've been training for since late Feb-March. Today I missed the 3:10 BQ mark once again, but I managed to run a 3:16PR, even with some very nasty leg cramps which took me down at mile 23.5. All in all, it was a fabulous weekend, and I really enjoyed being able to race a marathon again.


RACE SUMMARY
Here's the summarized version and splits:
Chip time: 3:16:47
Clock time: 3:17:03
Age: 33M
Age Grade: 63.5% (still disproportionately low)
Overall Place: 200/16373 (top 2%)
Division Place: M33-34 : 54 /1331 (top 4% - BQ range is usually sub-7% for age grouping!)


Garmin lap times (ran slightly faster than race clock times):
1 - 7:07 Wow, this was easy
2 - 7:01
3 - 6:58
4 - 6:38 (building GPS interference)
5 - 6:47
6 - 6:59
7 - 7:01
8 - 7:08
9 - 7:21 Still feeling really great
10 - 7:20
11 - 6:50
12 - 7:14
13 - 7:07 A bit nauseous, but went away
14 - 7:04
15 - 7:07 Starting to work now
16 - 7:11
17 - 7:00
18 - 6:59
19 - 7:11 No problems
20 - 7:11 No problems, optimistic for 3:08
21 - 7:29 Small climbs, still with a 2 min cushion
22 - 7:33 The Wall came out of nowhere at mile 22.5!
23 - 8:52 Needed 8min/mile for 3:10 from here, kept it up for 0.5mi
24 - 9:37 Tried hard, but gave up when I saw it was impossible.
25 - 8:58 Lots of walking
26 - 8:45 Ugly final hobble

THE SOCAL RUNNERS WORLD PRE-RACE DINNER
I've been active on the Southern California Runners World forums, and a large FE, or "forum encounter" dinner was set up by regulars going by the handles CharliePro, smd, shacky, and others. Nearly 40 of us met up at the Little Italy Spaghetteria restaurant in downtown San Diego for group carbo loading the day prior to the race. This was my first time to a big FE, and it turned out to be a fantastic experience.

Lots of fun (and fast) folks here

I met so many familiar faces from the forums that I can't even recall them all, but suffice to say that everyone I met was super friendly, very interesting, and had some great running stories to tell. I spent a lot of time with Charlie, 261 to 26.2, and Billyburger, all of whom I've been in close contact with in the past 6 months. Charlie in particular is quite the public speaker, in addition to dominating the local race scene at age 50, and he got us all 30-40 of us up on a small stage to award small gifts to "furthest traveled", "marathon trivia', and also to wish us well on our race. I felt that this dinner was one of the best outcomes of my participation on the online discussion boards as of late, and I'd recommend others to try it out if they have the chance.

I'm getting roasted by Charlie onstage about PACERS! LOL!

THE RACE

I joined up with the local LA Running Club for both hotel booking as well as transportation to the race, which worked out great. We got to the start line bright and early, and had plenty of time to get organized and to get into the corrals. I was a bit anxious at how warm it was, as I wasn't chilly at all at the start line at 6:30AM. Fortunately, the conditions were overcast, so it offset most of the early heat. I actually lined up the front of Corral #2 rather than Corral #1, because I didn't want to be too overzealous in the first few miles of decline.

5:30 AM with the runners

Miles 1-6 Feeling great and holding it back
I felt very, very good for most of the first half of the race. I completely focused on maintaining a pace that was equivalent to my recent long run training paces on the flats/uphills, and opening my stride up to pick up some time on the downhills. Overall, I felt that I paced out very appropriately for my ability. Even with the retrospectoscope of knowing about my later cramping in the final miles, I don't think running slower would have significantly helped; the 7:05 pace I was running felt very easy, and for at least 6 miles, did not even approach the intensity of my easy-paced long runs.

The race unfortunately starts off with a net 300 foot drop over 5-6 miles, so it's easy to take the pace out too fast. I definitely do not think that I over-burned these downhills, although my pace did drop to 6:40-6:50/mile on the steeper parts of these sections. I was getting passed by HORDES of people at that pace, and I started in corral #2 with the 3:15-3:30 marathoners, so I suspect lots and lots of people were running too fast (likely including myself!)

Miles 6-13 - Still feeling good on the climbs
There's an ensuing climb from miles 5-10 where you give back all the elevation loss that you started with, and climb back to the same height. This section also went well, although my effort was correspondingly increased. I was now running only a little bit faster than my long run training pace, and it still felt easy for the most part. I dutifully took a gel at minute 40 as per my plan of a gel every 40 minutes, and hydrated every 2 miles on the run. I did have a small scare at mile 11, where I felt a bit queasy from all the water and gel I had eaten, but fortunately that faded quickly. Due to the uphill, I started passing a fair number of people here, but I was still very surprised at the many hundreds of people who were ahead of me, given that less than 120 people had lined up in front of me in corral #1.

At this point, I met up with RT forumite "Giglenn" - we had met during warmup when I noticed his corral #1 bib. GI glenn runs 100+ miles per week routinely, and clocks sub 3:10 marathons routinely (he's older than I am), so I knew that I was in good company. We ran together for awhile, before he dropped back a bit at around mile 11 - then dropped me cold at mile 23.5 when I crashed.

Miles 13-18 - Right on track
I felt that I'd run the first half of the race as conservatively as I could given the goal of running 3:10. I hit the halfway mark with a 2 minute cushion, and very near my original target of 1:34 at the half. Furthermore, I felt very good up to now. Unfortunately, the adage that the marathon doesn't start until mile 20, is 100% true, as you'll see later. Mile 13 was nowhere near my half point. I was hoping now to actually begin my true race, and pick up the pace 5-10sec/mile, but with the brisk time I had gone through the halfway mark in, I decided that it would be more prudent to maintain the comfortable pace.

About mile 15 was when I started feeling the first sensations of possible difficulty. I was still feeling strong overall, and had definitely not hit "race intensity" yet, but the toll of the prior 13 miles were starting to be felt. My heartrate creeped up a bit for sure after mile 15. Also adding to the problem was the gradual thinning of the clouds and peeking sun, which I hadn't been considering, but which would become a definite factor later on the course.

When I hit mile 18, I was guardedly optimistic. I was wearing a 3:10 pace band that clearly showed that I was 2 minutes ahead of schedule, but I also knew that the race was starting to not go as planned. I was truly intending to run a significant negative split on the course, and should have been able to start a charge to the finish at mile 18. Although I still felt pretty good, and was still maintaining the 7:05-7:10 pace without significant HR creep, I felt that pushing it at this point would be very dangerous for my legs, as I started to feel the impact of the road slowing me some. Everything else was going great - HR, energy levels, and pace, but I knew that there would be some challenges ahead at this point.

Mile 18 - 22 - Crusing along right into the WALL
I decided that I'd try and maintain my pace until mile 22, and reassess at that point. I had not dropped off pace at all, and still had my 2 minute cushion from miles 18-21. I was passing a lot of people at this point, although there were a good number of people who were passing me as well. I still would not have considered my effort at this point in the race a hard effort; I've run much, much harder on most of my long runs in the final miles. I was still able to talk with ease (although I tried not to), and was holding rock solid steady on the pace. However, I was definitely unable to accelerate, and that was a very ominous sign for me, since I was still too far out to just "hang on."

I hit mile 22-23 feeling optimistic about a 3:09ish marathon, but out of nowhere, I was hit with some really nasty cramps in my quads, bilaterally. These really took me by surprise; I'd expected to at least feel significant fatigue or drop off in pace before the cramps hit, but I had virtually no warning before I was hit by them. Surprised, I immediately slowed to try and stave off worsening. I also tried to get a sense of how far I'd have to hold on. According to the race clock (not my Garmin), I still had a nearly 2 minute cushion at mile 23, and would only need 8 minute miles to run 3:10 and change. I'd hit the wall, and it was taunting me.

Miles 22-25 Survival mode, and not surviving
I knew that if there was any time in my racing career where I'd have to hang on for dear life, NOW was the time. No time for excuses, or what-ifs. I was hurting bad, stumbling along, but only needed to run 8 minute miles for another 3 miles or so to get that BQ.

By now, the sun was out in full swing. Although the temps outside were not blazingly hot (low 70s), the sun was a real life-sucking orb on the coverless course. To add insult to injury, the "flat" finish elevation profile as seen on the map, was definitely NOT flat. I had been warned about some small but significant inclines in the final miles, and these inclines had become literal monsters to my cramping quads. I gritted my teeth, and hobbled along for about 3/4 mile, when I saw that my pace was only 8:30/mi at best, and worsening. I basically ran until I was physically unable to anymore, and then slowed to a walk.

At this point, I "gave up." In my frustration at just missing the BQ mark, I'd forgotten that I was still clearly in PR range. I slowed to a walk, and was so angry that I couldn't continue that I would have cursed aloud, had it not been for all the small children nearby. Furthermore, aside from my quads, I felt pretty great! My energy levels were tanked up, and revving to go for a 10k flying finish. I could tell that even my fast-twich hip flexors were also rearing to deliver that finishing kick. However, the weak link of several quadricep fibres gone haywire were enough to deliver the death blow to the 3:10 goal.

As can be expected, I got passed by hordes of people at this point. It's amazing that even with all my miles, training, and even marathon experience, that I can still feel like a complete rookie out on the course. I actually took miles 24-25 pretty easy, and walked huge portions of them. I was just planning to finish at this point, and couldn't care less what my finishing time was.

Mile 25-26.2 - It's an ugly finish!
This mile started off ugly enough, with a walk-run combination. (I'm actually well-familiar with this routine now...unfortunately.) At about mile 25.5, I was passed by a familiar-looking guy who shouted out my name - it was forumite "A-Muse" from the SoCal forums; he had been aiming for a very ambitious sub-3 first marathon, but he too was having a bit of difficulty with cramping on the course. He rallied me a bit as we hit the final 0.6 miles onto the military base finish, and I decided that I should at least put in true race effort for the final segment of the race.

I picked up my pace, and it felt pretty good - for about 0.25 miles. I really fell apart at this point, and just as I hit the finishing home stretch with the grandstand rafters. But man, those people can really cheer you on. There were thousands of them out in the stands along the final straightaway, and they were going nuts. I was really, really bummed that I couldn't do a celebratory high-five victory lap along the finish, but at the least, I could show them what guts with no glory - the stuff that is the essence of marathoners in my opinion - is about.

I threw caution and pain to the winds, and decided to barrel down that chute as hard as I could, cramps and all. And it really, really hurt. I definitely didn't expect it to hurt as much as it did, and I'm glad I was wearing sunglasses because I couldn't even open my eyes since my quads were hurting so badly. In the final 50 feet, I couldn't even use my right leg anymore! I did a demented hop-skip to make it to the finish, and had to lean on someone for a bit after I was done to keep moving out of the finishing area.

Fortunately, my legs got back into walking shape fairly quickly afterwards. Right now, my legs still hurt from the cramping, but they're functional - I suspect that stairs will definitely be an issue tomorrow, though!

REFLECTIONS ON THE RACE
When I crossed that finish line immediately after the race, I was very disappointed. I really felt that I was in great shape for a strong 3:10 shot, even in heat, and I just couldn't deliver it today. Fortunately, misery loves company, and post-race, I ran into the other SoCal Forumites from Corral #1 - 261 to 26.2, runnerinparadise, and A-muse. Turns out that the heat and elevation got all of us - we all finished 6-8+ minutes slower than our projections. Also, when I finally sat down after the race in the finishing area, I realized how hot it had become in the sun - I was literally baking out there, and had to immediately find shade.

Now, with a few hours between my finish and this post, I'm satisfied with this result. It's still disappointing to miss the 3:10 mark, but running a 4 minute PR on a warm day on a hilly course with a conservative overall effort is pretty good for me, especially considering that my PR at San Francisco '07 was the absolute, best race of my life. Furthermore, I'm encouraged in that the 7:00/mile pace was never a problem for me (until mile 23.5, of course!), and in fact, felt in general, easier than my typical long run efforts . Unfortunately for me, the marathon emphasizes pure endurance over everything else, and I need to beef up that endurance bit to last the final miles. I would have to characterize today's race as an "off" day for myself, in that I don't feel that I got to really demonstrate my true ability - the weaker endurance link cut the whole affair short prematurely, especially since I started at a conservative pace given my leg speed.

I hate making excuses for underperforming in races, and I definitely don't think I had it in me to run a 3:10 given today's course and conditions regardless of strategy and pre-race fueling, but to put my performance in a bit more perspective as well, I finished in the top 2% of all marathoners today and top 4% of M30-35, which in the overall arch of BQ statistics, places me well into BQ-ability range (Jim2's BQ statistics gives shows that in general, a sub3:10BQ marathon corresponds to 7% of all M30-34 marathoners.) I would have had to finish in the top 1% to achieve a 3:10 today, or in the top 2.5% of all M30-34 finishers. That's definitely out of my current ability range, so that puts things in perspective.

WHERE TO IMPROVE
Obviously, late-game cramping is the problem to overcome. I did expect this to be my single biggest enemy in this race, as my VO2, lactate, and anaerobic training and performance were well-beyond 3:10 standards for this race. The simplest solution would be to maintain my leg speed, and just repeat the 18/70, with the significantly accelerated paces. Alternatives are to try longer long runs (more 22s, and a few 22-24s) or hilly long run routes. Hilly routes, in particularly, will likely make a big difference on my long runs - I'm actually fairly certain that my relatively hill-free training period in March-April, while great for leg turnover, left me unable to fully deal with moderate hills on top of the 26.2 mile distance; I won't make that error again, and will exceed the elevation profiles of my anticipate race courses in long run training. I used this approach successfully for the San Francisco marathon without fully appreciating it (I did some monster climbs on 20-22 milers), and it has worked very well for me.

I do think that on an "ideal" cool day and course, I could go out and run a 3:08-3:10 with my current physical conditioning. I'm not planning on anything definite in the next few weeks, but if my legs bounce back quickly, I will consider another go at the 3:10 effort sooner rather than later. Still, if I break 3:10, I'd like to do it convincingly, and not "by the skin of my teeth." It's clear to me now, marathon performances can be very variable since small differences in weather, course layout, and physical conditioning, are dramatically accentuated over the 26.2 mile distance. I'd love to be able to break 3:10 on a variety of courses, but this will likely require me to be in low-3 hour marathon ability range.

IN SUMMARY
Overall a successful race, 3 minute PR, and a very fun weekend! I did learn a lot about my abilities from this race, and I've now got a more concrete direction in terms of where to take things. I still think the Pfitz training program is an outstanding one, and I do think that sticking with it at my upgraded training paces will net me an eventual mid to low 3 hour marathon, even with no changes in training volume. In the meanwhile, I'll be taking a bit of down-time from running as my legs recover from the beating I laid on them today, but am really looking forward to some faster overall training paces this next go-around.

Congrats to all the other marathoners who finished today!

Good times to be had by all - yesterday, today, and in the future