That's quite the vacation. You squeezed a lot into 3 days. The hills/mountains out west are no joke. As a life-long east coaster, it was really strange to have hills right by the beach. Sounds like the race went well for you & you had fun to boot.
Sounds like this whole thing went well - with the exception of the "lightning fast" cim marathon. But we all know those things are never quite as advertised. Glad you took time to take the mini-tour of the state and met some of the locals. Good to hear that running out here was way cool. Rest up and take it easy. A California winery tour would do the trick.
marathon pr - 3:16
700 miles, 11 hours of drive time over 3 days and a million yummy calories.
We definitely didn't do that much driving. We did 2 nights in Santa Monica (is the Weed Doctor still along Venice, that made me chuckle), then 2 nights in Hollywood before driving to Vegas. There were signs up for a half in LA while we were there. I felt sorry for the people running it, there were hills in downtown LA that were hard to walk up.
Thanks for sharing your entire California/race experience. As a life long California native, I really enjoyed it. You lucked out on the weather for your mini-California tour. It's 40/60, at best, to get those kind of views of the Golden Gate bridge.
Sorry the race was tough for you. I completely understand where you are coming form in trying to run a good race, but being unwilling to fully enter and dwell in the pain cave to grind out the very best time you can. I'm right there with you. Competing against yourself on an on-going basis starts to lose its charm after a time. Once you know you have given something your best -- and you know how bad that hurts -- it's hard to do it again. That's been my experience at least.
I feel a bit compelled to defend CIM as a PR course. Yes, there are hills, but they are mostly DOWNhills on this course Anyway, given that my previous marathons were the SF marathon and the Half Moon Bay marathon (which is part trail), this race felt like greased lightening to me. Maybe it's just a California thing, but this is a venerated event in my neck of the woods.
Glad you are still enjoying running.
Life is good.
Ha. No we wouldn't. We'd all run like a bat outta hell for 15 miles, then stagger through the last 5.
We never learn, do we?
Wow, you did stick to the coast overall. Tip...if you want to catch a dodger game sometime, I know a great winery right by the stadium.
Seriously, a ZERO calorie drink during a MARATHON? For shame.
Good thing you managed to take some gels this time. I've seen nuun at a few local races. The idea is that way runners can get electrolytes from the drink, but carbs separately for people who have issues with one brand or another. But it doesn't help if you have issues with the nuun.
I was pretty irritated the day before that I had to run the stupid thing, a fact that J and Z can attest to.
Yeah, starting Friday night you seemed like you were having serious second thoughts. Enough that when I saw you pre-race, I felt like I needed to say something reassuring. But race day morning, you didn't need it at all. You were in the zone.
To say it's been a bit of an adjustment mentally would be an understatement! But I am pretty much where I need to be moving forward in our sport without the headaches and pressure that comes with running absolute PRs. It was a race that endeared me to the sport in the first place, so I cannot envision not running them because my stupid times aren't what they once were.
Californians were/are awesome. I had a very peasant experience all around and am looking forward to my next trip out there, which will not include the San Francisco marathon. I have never seen streets like that in my life! I would fall if I had to walk on any of them and it would be insanity to try to run on them. No thanks!
CIM needs no defense, it's a venerable course that is revered by thousands. Indeed, people were flying by me like I was standing still so it was me who sucked, not the course. lol
I might take you up on that! Oh, and I did drive by The Oracle. That was cool.
You're always the one who makes sense. That's why they were calling it "electrolytes" at the stations, because that's literally what it was!
We did 2 nights in Santa Monica (is the Weed Doctor still along Venice, that made me chuckle)
I did not see that but there was a ton of wakey bakey going on. lmao
Quite simply - living the dream. Life is a collection of experiences - and this was a good one. Big thumbs up RT.
Quite simply - living the dream.
Life is a collection of experiences - and this was a good one.
Big thumbs up RT.
That is exactly how it felt!
That's some Morpheus meets Bhudda enlightenment of simplicity right there. You, sir, are the man. eta: Beer is good. Afternoon beer is better.
That's some Morpheus meets Bhudda enlightenment of simplicity right there. You, sir, are the man.
eta: Beer is good. Afternoon beer is better.
How about six hours worth of beer after a marathon? You would've been proud!
Congrats on your marathon. I like the idea of your Californian vacation, and running while you're at it, and getting to meet ric-g, zel and onemile. Sounds nice.
I am not much into finisher's medals, but when I saw the size of that thing as I dragged my ass through the chute I was like wow, that's BIG.
SOunds like a fun trip, with a marathon at the end. That's how I like to do them! Congrats!!
I now have three states under my belt. At this rate, I'll be 199 by the time I catch you. lol
George, They were much steeper than that.
Thanks Ginny and Scotty.
delicate flower
This sounds like a fun trip! Well, except for the last 10K of the marathon part, but isn't that usually the case? I don't think you've leveled off or started a decline though. You are at a point where a couple of serious injuries derailed your training. You were trending up before (I think it was your groin?) gave you problems. Seems like you were struggling for a year before you got that sorted out. But I digress...it sounds like you are at peace with where you are. Doesn't mean I have to like it though. You could still be cleaning up in your AG.
Nuun in a marathon (or any race) is stupid. They need to use something that is a lot more common for people who are actually training for a marathon (i.e. Gatorade, Hammer, Powerade). Who the hell uses Nuun?
Anyway, congratulations on the marathon finish, LRB! As you know, finishing them is hard and not something to be taken for granted.
<3
You are at a point where a couple of serious injuries derailed your training.
Yes, what we haven't celebrated enough in the dailies, since LRB was being all stealthy, was that he was able to get some solid mileage in this fall for the first time in a while, without falling to pieces.
Who the hell uses Nuun?
I think it might be a west coast thing. I've seen it fairly regularly.
And it was my second fastest marathon of five, imagine that. -_-
In the absence of positive race results, this year will still be viewed as a win because I was able to train at a pretty consistent volume without issue. Of particular note was an 18 miler a couple of weeks ago that pretty much had zero effect on my body and subsequent training. That was a first.
Yoga?