Before the race, I did about a mile warm up with one of my running friends. Things began to heat up as the race began and we were off. As I started, I was a little worried that I was pushing a little too quick when I heard in front of me what must have been a coach to a cross country runner. Since school is out for most kids, there were plenty of high school athletes on this course. The coach said, “Look out for the rabbits. They will begin to drop back near the first turn. You will know who they are.” Yes, some runners take this series pretty seriously.

Sure enough, as we approached the first turn, bodies began falling back and slowing down. One race strategy that I have been recently implementing is a speed boost. The surge of speed helps me to pass runners and clear the area in front of me to make sharp turns or make a move on another runner after pacing with them. As we hit the turns, there were small ditches on the trail that required you to frequently adjust your gait.

On turn three, I heard a little motivation from behind me. A voice saying, “C’mon Paul. Let’s go” helped me for about a quarter of a mile before she turned it up and sliced through traffic. On the straightaway back to the finish line, I pushed pretty hard and noticed that I was beginning to run out of steam. Once I saw the finish line, I began to put it into overdrive.

This was another great 5k in the books and a better time than the last one. I appear to still be making improvements on my shorter distance races, which should help my mentality when attacking speed drills. I am not sure at which point I am no longer a “new” runner, but I am not sure if it is bad luck to talk about the standings. Let’s just say it is a close one in my age group. My strategy for the next race is to hunt down a couple of runners, pace them, then turn it up.

Overall, I am feeling pretty good and I have been able to remain injury free. For those of you that do not know, I had been plagued by injury for the majority of my first year of running. I have been able to remain without injury as a result of properly adjusting my weekly distance, watching my speed on easy days, stretching, warm ups and resistance training. I am looking forward to the next event. It will be a four-mile run on the Fourth of July. Until then, run safe and run strong.

Santa Fe Train Depot, San Diego, California

The first challenge was thanks to myself. I misread the start time, which hindered us to a late arrival. I ended up starting the race in the 13th or 14th corral when I was slotted for corral number two. I spent a good four miles weaving in and out of traffic, constantly adjusting my gait and my speed. Although I had some decent splits at the beginning of the race and was right around where I needed to be, it was really hard to maintain the pace that I needed. It was almost as if I was doing intervals for four miles instead of a steady state run. I will occasionally use bursts of energy during regular races but I usually reserve those for hills. The elevation was another challenge.

Before the race, I usually map my strategy out to the course elevation. Instead of using the Garmin elevation from the last time I ran the course, I used the elevation chart that was on the event’s website. A large part of me thinks that the elevation chart from the event’s website was from the prior year’s event. There was a freeway overpass that I do not recall being on the last race or remember seeing in the course video. I cruised along pretty good there but could have used that energy for later hills. There was nothing to crazy uphill but there were definitely rolling hills a plenty. One good thing that I do remember doing is holding back for a long decent at around mile six. I know I could have moved faster but I wanted to save my energy, which ended up paying off.

Those were probably the two biggest challenges for me during this race. While I feel that I could have better prepared, I am happy with my 13-minute improvement. The last time that I ran this course, my average pace was around 8:20 per mile whereas, the new pace was 7:27. I have had a couple times better than this performance but I feel that I was better prepared for those events. For those events two were truly flat and fast and the other was right in the middle of marathon training.

I could (and should) write another entire post regarding injury prevention, but did have something to share. Due to daily stretching and constant attention to my legs, I have been lucky enough to remain injury free. I had the normal soreness post-race and feel fine a day later. This has been a great year for me recovery wise and I think that it should be noted for newer runners that your body will need some time to normalize and get used to running. While I am sure my body would have adapted better at an earlier age, it probably took about a year for me to get my stride and form down so that I do not hurt myself. Injuries are part of the game so, do not get discouraged and remember to address the problems and listen to your body.

Runner at the Beach - Picture in Hotel Hallway

I had an amazing time in San Diego and will probably be back to run this race again. I really enjoyed myself and enjoyed the run. I would like to extend special congratulations to my friends and all first time marathoners as well as all who finished the race. San Diego truly is a beautiful city and I am looking forward to being back. As a matter of fact, my next race will be the America’s Finest City Half Marathon held in San Diego, California.

I began the day with plenty of water in my system and I had been including electrolyte supplements in my daily vitamin routine for about a month and a half now. From time to time, I will start a race by sucking down a Gatorade Prime. For this event, I just stopped by the local coffee shop for a small cup of coffee. I read once that Ryan Hall would have a cup of coffee as part of his pre race routine. I later stumbled upon an article at Runners World in regards to the benefits of caffeine for runners.

Upon arrival, I ran into several of my local running friends. There were about six of us that decided to get on the course and go for a quick warm up. I used to doubt the effectiveness of a warm up until I began to notice that it was becoming harder for me to ramp up my speed while on long-distance workouts. A warm up is helpful in that it increases your blood flow, your heart rate and your breathing. It also helps you to avoid injury by loosening up your muscles.

Flashback

Here is a quick additional word about warm ups. For the 2011 Surf City Half Marathon, I was running just a little bit late. I ran with my gear bag, at a steady pace, to the gear check and then to the starting line. It was probably a little under a mile’s worth or running. I PR’d that race and have tried to warm up ever since.

Race Time

As the wave start began, the narrow course was a bit of a challenge as runners were elbow to elbow on the trail. Weaving in and out of traffic, I was able to keep my pace down to where I knew I was pushing myself but tried to be conservative for about the first half of the course. On the way back, I let up a little more for about a half mile before turning it up for the final one. Winded at the finish line, I was able to complete my fastest 5k to date. This race’s time beat any time that I had run in the military, when I thought that I was in the best shape of my life.

After the race, we all chatted with friends and other runners before running a mile cool down. Overall I was pleased with how I did for this race and was super excited to see that my friends did so well too. A wonderful race for my first race of the series and another run that I will not forget.

Those that know me well, know that I am a huge baseball fan. I stopped supporting and writing for two baseball blogs so that I can focus on my training. When I learned about the L.A. Marathon course, I said that if I were to do a full marathon that I would be my first. The course begins at Dodger Stadium and ends at the Santa Monica Pier. As a kid, I grew up going to Dodger games with my Father. My Dad grew up in Santa Monica, went to high school there and spent time playing beach volleyball around some pretty athletic types such as Jack LaLanne, Joe Gold and Gene Selznick. I remember trips to Douglas Park to watch the lawn bowlers and race little hand made boats, made from sticks, through the lake. I remember riding burlap sacks down the longest slide I remember being on. As a kid, it seemed much longer than it really was.

With all of the nostalgia surrounding the location for me, it only made sense to make the race in Los Angeles, my first marathon. It has added to my motivation and my will to work hard as I proceeded through my eighteen weeks of training. The thought of running that route was exciting, but I was still a little nervous about the event. It was not until I began conquering new achievements that the nerves went away. I can honestly say that now I am more anxious than anything and I am really looking forward to the race. Although I did put a fair amount of work into my training, I could not have done it on my own.

I began running as a solo event, so that I would be able to reflect for myself. It later turned into a more social event. Since then, local runners have inspired me to accomplish some pretty exhilarating feats that I would have never dreamed of a year ago. My advice to anyone that wants to stick to running would be to run with a group. I have met so many awesome runners that have provided such incredible advice and support that I can not believe that I ran on my own for so long. By running with others and incorporating their feedback into my training, I was able to cut some serious time off of my pace.

So, in a nutshell, that is how I got here and why I chose this race. I am very excited about this weekend but need to remain disciplined during my final taper week. The original goal that I have set for myself was just to be a finisher. I am now at a point where I can say that I would like to finish at around 3:30. I will be diligently studying the course and elevation before bed for the next few days and plan on following up with a summary once I have completed the marathon.

Thanks to all who have supported me, you know who you are and I promise to finish strong… well, the final two is a nice little downhill.

Compression Calf Sleeves – I have a couple brands of the compression calf sleeves but my very favorite is Zensah. I like theirs because they a little more loose but tight enough so that you are still receiving the benefit of the compression. I also like that they come in different colors. I primarily wear the black ones but when I am feeling all “Matchy Matcherson” I have a couple other colors. I have worn the calf sleeves in the past during races to help keep my legs warm. I have since stopped doing that because I have noticed recurring issues with my IT band after doing that. I know primarily use them for post-run recovery. They work really well for that for me.

dailymile orange today?

Mini Recovery Bag – I have a small bag that I usually check with my gear at the end of the race. It holds a small towel, the compression calf sleeves, a light jacket and a couple dry shirts. I just like to get into a dry shirt in the event that the weather is cold out so that I do not run the risk of getting sick. I also like to have the compression sleeves ready so that I can put them on as close as possible to the end of the race.

It's a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one.

Gatorade G1 Prime – I use the Gatorade pre-game drink as I am heading to the start line of a race. When I first learned about the drink, I was a little skeptical, but thought that I noticed a difference the first time that I tried it. To this day, I remember my skin turning red as if I had a sun burn once I finished it. The second time taking it pre-race I ended up placing in that particular 5K. The one thing that you should be careful of is that you my notice a definite increase in energy. It is hard enough holding it back at the beginning of a long race, it is a little tougher after taking this stuff. You may have seen it in little pouches at the grocery store. There are two versions of these drinks; regular and pro. The pro version contains more B vitamins than it’s counterpart and has a complex carb blend for Glycogen loading.

G1 - Gatorade Prime

Garmin 405 – My Garmin has been one of my “coaches” throughout all of my training. I have rarely run without it because I want to be certain that I am sticking to my plan. The Garmin allows me to manage my pace more effectively than trying to hit timed splits while trying to keep tabs on the course clock. There have been many factors that have helped me to increase my speed on long races but the Garmin is definitely one of the most important to me and tracking my progress. One practice that I have begun getting into is taping my splits to the watch band. That way I can look at the goal splits on one side of my wrist and the current pace on the other. For me, my favorite display is miles left with current split pace.

Splits on the Garmin band

SPI Belt – I use the SPI belt to carry my ID, my car or room key and whatever nutrition items that I might have. After fastening, I actually move it to my lower back …yes, like a fanny pack. For me it is less noticeable back there and it does not move around too much.

Power Balance Band - Do they work? Back in July, I wrote a quick post on performance enhancing accessories. To this day, I still have no convincing data that it does work, but this one for me is more like a tradition or superstition. I have run without it, but have not run a race without it so I continue to wear it.

Clean Shave - This one my sound a little crazy and maybe its another superstition type thing, but I must be clean shaven for race day. I don’t know if it is the feel of the wind on my face or the fact that it may subconsciously signify putting my best foot forward. Some of my running friends joke around that if I have more facial hair on Friday than usual, there must be a race coming up. If anyone sees me the night before a race, please don’t take offense if I didn’t shave for you, I don’t shave for anyone until race day.

There you have it! This is my list… for the time being anyway. As I continue to learn more about running and fine tuning my performance, like I said before, I am sure that these items will change. It will be interesting to see where I am a year from now as far as what I must have with me for a race. What are some of the items that you can not race without?

Huntington Beach Pier

After picking up my packet at the expo, I headed to one of my favorite lunch spots in California, Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. While there, I actually ran into two runners from the Saturday morning running group that I run at in Arizona. Both girls will be doing the full marathon as I will be running the half. It was nice to see some familiar faces and it is really neat to see so many runners around the town. I am staying about a mile away from the start line and it is a pretty straight shot to the start from the room so that is always nice.

It has been a pretty full morning for me and I had been feeling a bit tired but I knew that I need to make sure that I sleep soundly throughout the night for the race. My sister came up to Huntington from Laguna Niguel to have dinner with me. We ate at a Sushi restaurant. I like to eat light the night before so that I have very little in my stomach for the duration of the run.

Everyone travels with one of these right?

Before I began to wind down, I made sure that I did some leg raises with the ankle weights and used the foam roller for a little bit.

Until tomorrow!

So, my adventures back to California did not start off so well. Super excited about the race, I left home pretty early forgetting to pack some items for the trip. On top of that, I have been experiencing some moderate pain in my right leg. The pain that started at my calf and worked its way up to the bottom portion of my knee, I can only attribute to running long distances in compression calf sleeves. For me, they end up making my calves tight which affects my IT band and creates pressure on the lower part of my knee. The cool thing is that I have been training long enough that I am able to properly diagnose and treat the injury pretty quickly. The bad thing is that things always seem to pop up close to race day.

I also forgot to pack personal clothing stuff… like stuff you should not forget to pack… Thank God I have another pair of AKA unmentionables in my gym bag, but it looks like I will be shopping this weekend. Seriously, I am surprised I remembered to bring my legs for this race. As I was leaving town, traffic was horrendous leaving Phoenix and I was beginning to get tired. I did not want to drive while I was drowsy so I decided to get a place to stay in Blythe. This really happening town will one day be the life blood of the California high desert economy. Okay, maybe not, but it was a neat little addition to my adventure.

Until tomorrow.

The Run

Overall the run was pretty challenging. There were plenty of rolling hills for the initial portion and the return back included a steady incline. Not knowing what to expect after feeling pretty good, I made the mistake of turning up the pace. Not familiar with the course and how much longer I had to go, it became tough to maintain a decent pace for the last couple of miles before the hard part.

So the first ten miles were tough, but the next three were brutal. After already climbing 500 feet, the group climbed another 600 as we approached the summit. Although that portion was the most challenging, it meant that the final five miles was primarily downhill. This was nice because it gave us the opportunity to make up some time. Overall, the run was great and the views were incredible.

Training Status

I am feeling pretty good for my next race. I do have one more race scheduled before the full marathon just to make sure that I am in the groove with my speed on long distances. Stretching and weights have helped my body to withstand much of the abuse as I have actually gained weight and become faster. I do not want to gain too much, but I feel that I am at an acceptable weight that I will be able to withstand the stress.

As for speed, it has come with the introduction of track workouts into my routine. Tempo runs and intervals have been a staple for the most part in my plans but throwing track workouts in there was definitely made me quicker on my feet. I honestly have not been doing as much plyometrics as I used to but am still focusing on my body’s core strength and balance.

I feel pretty good for L.A. I used to be a little nervous, but I am beginning to feel a little more confident and am looking forward to seeing how I do.

Later in the year, I had a friend recommend that I run without listening to music. They said that it was against the rules. Technically in 2008 the USA Track and Field amended the rule to make the banning of headphones up to the discretion of the event organizers for the safety of the runners. Regardless, their point was that I should be taking in the sights and sounds of the event rather than zoning out with my music. With their feedback in mind, I began to run without my music on only my speed drills and tempo runs. I immediately noticed a decent improvement with my times. I was no longer hitting a wall on my tempo runs because I was able to focus more on my breathing. I am sure that it might have also had something to do with the fact that I was not subconsciously syncing my pace to the beats per minute of any music. As time progressed, I would later run my long group runs without music and chat with some of the other group members.

December 5th, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada was my first actual event that I decided to leave my music in the room. I will admit that I did debate before I left whether or not to bring some tunes along. As the race began, I felt really good as I headed towards the beginning of the pack during the first few miles. It was not until about mile six that the traffic began thinning out. During all of that time, I was focusing on my breathing and trying to keep my pace below 8:00/ mi. To my surprise, I was already well below the goal pace and decided to just go with it. As the run became more difficult, I focused on my breathing and was able to pull out a pretty consistent pace for the last three miles. If someone were to tell me a year ago that I would cut 30 minutes off of my half-marathon time, I would have not believed them. While I can attribute the solid performance in Vagas to the hard training, I feel confident that running without music was also a large contributing factor.

I would like to add that all of these were new to me as of this race. Honestly, I have been told about some of these items or they have been recommended that I do them but I have either been too stubborn or too proud to get out there and actually do it. I think that should be a testament to how much I still have to learn about running. Some of you see me talking about running all of the time. It is a very large part of my life, but the training time for the Los Angeles Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon has has really made me realize that I have so much more to learn still.

So, here are the items and a glimpse at how I used them for the first time and how they helped me out. Thirteen new practices from a not-so-new runner.

13. Group Runs

Running with friends rocks! The last time that I was in a group run, I was calling cadence in the U.S. Marine Corps so, it has been a while. I am so used to training on my own and running solo that I have pretty much just become pretty used to it. I finally decided to break down and venture out to a local shoe store to do a group run without really knowing anyone there. As it turned out, the group leader was someone that I happened to know through DailyMile. While that made it easier, it also became easy for me to be able to connect with people with a like interest in running. Week to week, I would meet more people and it became fun to see everybody and to catch up.

One benefit that I gained from group runs that I completely did not take into consideration is the talking. In the Marines we sung cadence while running to improve our oxygen efficiency and stamina. Being able to hold a conversation on a group run should tell you that you are doing a good job with your breathing. For me, it was a great opportunity to practice my breathing as well while chatting up a storm and hoping to motivate some people along the route.

12. Compression Sleeves

A massage for your calves for after a long run. I feel the tightness in my calves going away right now as I am typing… and I have not run since last night. I just look forward to putting them on. That’s how awesome they are. If you have never tried them, do it! It is a small investment, but well worth it. I used to see runners during and after races with them on and when I finally tried on a pair, I was hooked. So hooked, I want another pair.

11. Treadmill

Remember me talking trash about the treadmill? Well, all it took was a disaster of a run in New Jersey for me to appreciate them. My new found fondness of the treadmill should help me out next summer when the temperatures hit triple digits in Phoenix once again… because they will … I promise.

10. Ice

While I have used ice before on nagging injuries, I have never used it as such an integral part of the training routine. At first it might sound like I am always getting injured, but I am finally at a point where I am not feeling any of the effects that I have felt in the past that have made me so uncomfortable during the runs. I have not really disclosed all of these, but Scottsdale was the achilles, AZ RnR was an IT band, Orange County was the adductor and San Diego was my lower back. Running in pain sucks. For this race, thanks to ice and taking my own advice, I have been addressing issues at the first sign and have been able to run injury free.

9. Gatorade Prime

Meet Gatorade Prime. Prime, might as well be called Optimus Prime, is the baby brother of regular old Gatorade. Okay, not really, but believe the hype on this stuff. My first experience with Prime included a drink before a training session where my skin immediately looked as if I were sun burned. Potassium and B vitamins will push blood to your extremities which clued me in that this stuff was working. That morning I ran my fastest 8 mile run ever. Fast Forward to the random 5k where I took one before running and ended up placing.

8. Random 5k

The random 5k? Yes, I did one mid training and will never do it again. Yes, I did place in my age group. And, yes it was the fastest three miles that I have run since the military. However, I decided that the risk of getting hurt after all of the time spent training for a bigger race, was just not worth it. I pretended that it was a tempo run or a speed workout at first so I was kind of okay with it until mile two where I nearly twisted my ankle. If a race is in-line with the training and falls on the same exact day and the “running stars and planets” align then maybe… just maybe, I will consider running that race.

7. Tapering

I just like to see how hard and fast I can go. When I was a couple weeks away from my run, I noticed that the plan had me slowing down once again. Feeling the need to show improvement, I swallowed my pride and continued to follow my training plan. I was still getting my mileage in but I was resting my body by having some less intense workouts in there. Come race day, I felt nice and rested and was able to do more than 13.1. As a matter of fact, my last 10 mile run, before the race, was the easiest that I had ever done.

6. Extreme Heat

I honestly do not even remember training in the summer of 2009… at all, but by braving the triple digit temperature, properly hydrating and staying focused, I was able to get up early and stay up late to get some runs in while the temperature cooled down a bit. Why would I be so crazy as to do this might you ask? Those of us that are able to keep our bodies cool during extreme conditions are able to keep it that much cooler in ideal conditions. Basically, when we are fast in extreme heat, we are blazing fast in cold weather. Some of my fastest times came while the air was cooler and the air seemed thicker. My body was able to maintain a comfortable temperature and it became more easy for me to run long.

5. Speed Work

As I continue to train for consecutive races, I am always  looking for ways to improve my speed and my overall times. One of the most obvious ways of achieving this is by integrating more speed work into my training plans. Ever since I have introduced tempo runs and intervals into my training, my time has come down substantially. For those that do not have any type of speed work involved in their plans, I highly recommend making sure that there is something present. You will definitely see improvements made on a week-by-week basis.

4.Negative Splits

While some of you will not believe me here, I had to look up negative splits in September. Not sure what it even meant, I think that I might have had one or two but I became more familiar with negative splits while planning my pace for the half-marathon. In a effort to conserve energy out of the gate, I stumbled upon a plan of attack that is solely based on negative splits. As I became more familiar with the concept, I became more disciplined with my pace, earning negative splits on a more frequent basis.

3. Visualization

Visualization is a technique that is often used by professionals is almost always used by professional athletes. So, why not use it as a runner? Having little familiarity with the course. I made a video that I downloaded to my iPhone that I would watch before I went to bed and throughout the day. It was a sped up version of the 13.1 mile course but it helped me to become familiar with the turns and the distance with landmarks and such. On race day, I was able to anticipate turns and have a rough idea of where I was on the course which helped immensely. The only downside was that the true increase in elevation was not as apparent on the video. For elevation, I recommend reviewing the elevation chart before the race.

2. Training Plan

I can not say enough about being on a training plan. If you decide to run a half-marathon for the first time without one, I would even advise that you use it, even then. I did not but, one of the things that I learned is that it really helps you to stay injury free. If, at first, the plan looks like it might be a bit easy it is because you should be working on your form and managing your energy. When you get to your speed work and your tempo runs, the form and energy management really comes into play. After plateauing in my previous two runs, I decided that I needed to do something different. My answer to this was the training plan. The plan helped me to cut over seven minutes off of my previous time.

1. Runners

From all of my running friends to Mike the stranger at the start line, all you runners helped me to stay focused and motivated. Any of you reading this that are on Dailymile or Facebook and follow my training, I can not thank you enough. All of your words of encouragement and support during and after training continue to mean a lot to me. The group runs have been really helpful in the fact that I learned so many more strategies to help me to perform better as a runner. There are two runners in particular that I would like to thank.

Chris – He is a high school cross country coach and is currently the number one triathlete in Arizona. Chris would be around after the group runs and make suggestions on my form, help me with recovery and nutrition tips. As I made constant improvements, he was always around when I finished to give me more words of encouragement and advice. Without knowing, he has played a very large role in my development over the last race.

Mike – On race day, I was speaking to the guy next to me in the start corral named Mike. Mike asked what my goal pace was and it was his too. As we began the race, I told him that I would see him at the finish line. For almost the entire race, he was at my side or very close by. Mike was a pretty good runner and there is not a doubt in my mind that he could have done better. After all, he was texting and taking pictures during the race and even caught back up after taking a bathroom break. He must have felt pretty good. at mile six I coached him up the first long hill and we exchanged high fives at the top. On mile 12, I needed the encouragement on the last hill of the race. After telling him that he can go ahead, he told me that I got this. I made it to the top and had a speedy 7:20 pace on mile 13 which is unheard of for me on the last mile of a long run. After seeing the finish line photos, he finished right at my side. Not sure if I will ever see Mike again but he really helped me and I am not sure that he realizes it.

Happy running gang. Keep up all of the hard work and determination and I promise to do the same.