Caretaker/Overlook Hotel
Ya know Mean Gene, I knew this was gonna be a battle for the ages! But the Hulkster had the backing of all his RABBid (get it?) Hulkamaniacs behind him & knew he could bring it home brother!
So I head on down to LAX (yup, Los Angeles Int'l airport) as this is literally at the end of the runway. Jet to Jetty is a 5K/10K/1 mile & bike race put on by a promotion co. It's near the beach which is about the only place I'd run in the middle of August!!! I ran this race a couple years ago and we actually ran it *next* to the airport to my surprise. (I thought it was gonna be a "beach" race but no beach in sight) So I vowed that if they ever ran it at the beach again, I'd run it again. Enter 2013.........
So as we're getting off the freeway (yup DW & DD's got up at 5am to go with) I notice a horrible sound coming from the right rear of the car......
ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING ME??
So, I'm before I even GET to the race I'm out there pulling out the spare, changing a tire on the side of the road next to LAX.
Then, after a mess of directions to the race, ALL of which were blocked, we (myself and about a dozen other vehicles) finally got the ok to go thru one of the barricades to get to the beach parking lots where we were supposed to be.
Anyway.......my warmup was literally running about 1/4 mile to the registration tent, then making my way up the road to the start w/ maybe another 1/8 mile stint before the gun went off. (ugh) Sooooo......
MILE 1-----> 7:31 (and it didn't feel horrible in the slightest)
I see what the Garmin says & try to battle with whether I should slow down, hang on, etc......all while not trying to be overwhelmed. I'm pretty sure my training hasn't gone THAT well, but I decide to just tuck in at this pace & see if it sticks.
Mile 2 ------ 7:48 (I use this as an indicator that 7:31 is a little fast so I back off the throttle a bit going to mile 3)
Mile 3 ------ 8:02 (I'm only smiling because I'm looking at DW & DD's, otherwise, lungs are already starting to burn a bit)
Mile 4 ------ 8:12 (this was right at a turnaround & may have contributed to the slower time or I may have simply slowed down that much but I knew at this point I had a chance for sub 50) Ohhhh.....also, this is me trying to "TAKE A NAP" while running!
Mile 5 ----- 8:02 (back to mile 3 time. I'm under 40 for 5 miles and I know I've got at least sub 50 in the bag now)
Mile 6 ----- 7:44 (I wouldn't have expected this but now I've pyramided my splits. That's fine, I'll take it!)
Mile 6.2 ---- 1:37 (I cross the chute chasing sub 49 and nail it!! ------> 48:57 <-------)
2 months ago I laid out a plan. I executed the plan to the best of my humbled ability & did better than I thought I would. I'm pleased, for sure!! Looooong morning followed by a Denver omelette, stack of pancakes & getting the tire fixed.
Amid the chaos, there is a PR!!
Randy
Nice way to pull a PR out of a flat flippin' tire pre-race! Man I could not imagine the angst of that!
Good stuff, you trained hard and it showed knocking 4 minutes off your time in only two months!
uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
What a classic RR!! Mean Gene, the Hulkster, a flat tire, AND a PR!! Next time you need to mention JYD and Roddy Piper. Well done, redrum! Man, this was a good one! Jeesh, if I knew about this, I would have run it with you, brother!
Denver omelete, and stack of pancakes were well-earned. Most folks would probably have had their race mojo in a tizzy with that flat tire en route to the race. Good job on the PR!
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot
Congrats on the new PR! You worked very hard for it and you deserve to feel the accomplishment that comes with that. Great job!
Damaris
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Hip Redux
Maybe that flat tire brought you some good luck? Or wait... maybe you just kick ass.
Great job on that PR!
Awesome RR and PR! Well done, redrum! And those are great pictures.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
I swear if I got a flat tire on the way to a race, I'd just call it a day right then. Love that you took a picture of the flat to include in the race report. Way to overcome obstacles!
Uffda
Great job getting a new PR! I enjoyed reading your RR.
- Andrew
Wow, so George The Animal Steele gnawed on your tire, you changed it, defeated LA traffic, and ran a PR like nothing had happened.
Congrats Hulkster!
LMAO!!! I thought King Kong Bundy was the culprit!
Wow, so George The Animal Steele gnawed on your tire, you changed it, defeated LA traffic, and ran a PR like nothing had happened. Congrats Hulkster!
Thanks gang! I don't know if D remembers but a couple years ago I used to use her 51:00 PR for motivation (I think I recall she had a 49 on the treadmill) and just didn't know if I'd ever get there. Between then and now motivation waned BUT out of nowhere I've felt revitalized in the last few months.
I can testify now that motivation is an amazing catalyst! My real goal was 49:59 and I wasn't sure I'd even get THAT, much less sub 49.
And, yes, when the tire happened (tho glad it happened OFF the freeway, not on) I was just about ready to gnaw on that tire myself. (Credit to DD for taking the flat pic)
I did put in 3 easy miles this morning but legs are definitely sore from yesterday. Hopefully they'll loosen up in the next couple days. Gonna get some pizza this afternoon which I avoided for the last 2 months also.
Barking Mad To Run
That was quite an adventure just getting to the race. You really earned that PR! Congrats!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
delicate flower
Redrun, congrats on the PR! Great job. You should have been interviewed on Piper's Pit after the race. Roddy Piper could have talked to you about it and then beat the shit out of you.
<3
Rungry!
Congrats on the PR Redrum! You handled the morning's obstacles like a champ. Good race and a great RR (loved all the pics).
Jen