A year to forget!

So far this year has turned out to be a year to forget! I entered the year dealing with Achilles tendinitis. Just as I thought things were headed in the right direction when I ran a comfortable 4:30 at the San Diego RnR Marathon, I took a bad step on a training run and the right ankle has been pretty gimpy ever since. I have been taking things very easy. Resting 5 days a week and running only on the weekends. Instead I have been doing sit-ups, dips, and bent over row exercises. But this past week, I aggravated an old upper back/right shoulder injury. I cannot turn or tilt my head without being in serious pain. I tried to do my regular run this Saturday morning and the pain became just unbearable a little past 1 mile into the run. I stopped dead in my tracks. Turned around and walked back home. Talk about confidence killer less than 2 weeks away from the Chicago Marathon. Looks like I'll need to revise my goals.

Even though I was in some pretty good pain, I managed to drag my invalid body out to eat endless shrimp with my friend for his upcoming birthday. I actually felt a little bit better stuffing myself with shrimp.

Red Lobster's endless shrimp - garlic grilled

Whenever I eat a buffet I usually skip the next meal, so I skipped dinner. It hurts to lay down, but I took a nap and woke up at around 11:30pm to watch the Berlin Marathon. It took a while to find a live feed of the race. There was one point last year where I was planning to run this race. Good thing I didn't. Too many setbacks this year. Also I don't want to run a big city marathon until I stop being a marathon maniac and let my body heal up. Running races while injured is not entirely fun. Anyways well... not too many people can say this, but I really enjoy watching the elites race the marathon. I can stay glued to the action from start to finish. It was a rainy race and Patrick Makau won the race in 2:05:08. It was pretty insane that the top 3 all ran a sub 2:06. The Boston Marathon winner this year finished sub 2:06. Looks like there's a new standard for the men.

This Sunday morning, still in pain I woke up to watch the 5th Avenue mile race. There are some pretty nice races in New York. I might go out there for a half marathon one of these years. I still kind of wish that I was running the NYC Marathon this year. I'll get to run it by 2013, hopefully sooner.

Chicago Marathon preview

Ever since my gimpy PB (1:52:28) at the Disneyland half marathon, I feel as if I've lost my running mojo again. I was kind of blue because I knew if I had 2 good legs, I would've easily made it under 1:50. A week later I was in Kansas running the Patriots' Run Marathon. It was a very cool patriotic event, but my legs were gone and the heat really made it tough. Running 26 1 mile laps in a mall parking lot really taxed the mind.

Right now the legs are feeling better. But there's still discomfort in the right ankle. When it starts to hurt, I tend to slow down which alters my normal running gait. It then leads to hip pain and lower back pain. During my last ~11.6 mile run, I focused on maintaining my form which helped. One good thing is that the bump on my anterior tibial tendon is finally gone. I might ramp up my weekly mileage a little in the next couple of weeks just so I would have some sort of fitness to complete the Chicago Marathon without it hurting too much.

Goal A: 4:00
Goal B: 4:30
Goal C: finish

While the mojo may be gone, I am quite excited to be visiting Chicago again. One thing I'm looking forward to besides the marathon is the food! I'm planning on eating at the following places while I'm in Chicago. Feel free to give me some suggestions.

• Billy Goat Tavern
• Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse

This weekend, I ate a bone-in ribeye at Cask n' Cleaver. Good stuff, but nowhere near as good as the one that I had in Kansas.

Cask n' Cleaver - The Cleaver, bone-in ribeye

Patriots' Run on 9/11

Pre-Race Stuff
I flew into Kansas City International airport on Friday. I've been to Missouri before, but this was my first time venturing into Kansas. It was hot, sunny, and pretty humid. I hopped into my rental car and drove down to Olathe. I stopped by a Target to buy some snacks and drinks. Then I ate dinner at LongHorn Steakhouse. I ordered the Wild West Shrimp appetizer and the Outlaw Ribeye Steak with fries. The shrimp was good and the steak was excellent. The steak was better than practically all of the steaks I've eaten in California. One thing was for sure, they knew how to cook a steak medium rare. The only other place I've been to that also knew how to do medium rare was Stockyard in Nashville.

Look at the bad boy hanging out at the top of the bar!

The 18oz Outlaw Ribeye Steak

After dinner, I stopped by the Holiday Inn to pick up my race packet. As I was driving to my hotel you could tell a storm was coming. Since I knew I was going to eat a steak on this trip, I booked a room at a really cheap 2-star hotel. It was actually kind of creepy since the building next to it was abandoned and overgrown with weeds. It was a Microtel hotel. They're very similar to Motel 6. Shortly after getting to my room, it was storming outside. It was definitely not one of those sissy Californian storms. It was a pretty big thunderstorm. The lightning was so bright and the thunder so loud, you would've thought that the lightning was hitting just outside my window.

Race Day
The next day I just hung out in my room until it was time for the race. The race started at noon. I drank some juice and ate a Clif bar. I drove across the street to the starting area which was a parking lot at the Great Mall of the Great Plains. As I milled around, Sam shows up. If you don't already know, he's that guy running only 61 marathons this year in what he named OperationJack in support of Train4Autism. We shoot the breeze for awhile. After some announcements and the Star Spangled Banner x2, we were off. It was about 80 degrees, high humidity, and no shade. Let the BBQ begin!

Proud to be an American!

The marathon had a separate starting line from those running laps. We had to complete a small .2 mile lap before joining everyone else in running the 1 mile loop. The first 2 laps felt rather ok. I originally thought that I would finish around 4.5 - 5hrs. But once I started on the 3rd lap, I knew it was going to be a long day. I kept slowing down because I was overheating. I kept dumping water on my head at the 1 aid station. Before I even got to the halfway point, my right ankle was bothering me. Eventually it led to right hip discomfort. I started taking my walk breaks earlier than usual to keep the discomfort at a minimum. It was kind of fun to see the same people over and over and over and over again. :) After a few loops, you get really familiar with every inch of the course. The crowd support was awesome. There were a few people out there tailgating and barbecuing... smells good. I was taking a salt cap every half hour, but I was having trouble taking my gels. The heat was making me want to puke every time I took a gel. I switched to oranges, pretzels, and Gatorade at the aid station which helped a little. Most of the 2nd half was running the laps exactly the same way... (walk through the aid station. Jog up to the corner. Walk the slight incline. Jog a little. Walk and wave to the guy carrying the flag. Run on through the timing mat. Repeat).
.2: 1:43
1: 8:21
2: 8:35
3: 9:10
4: 9:47
5: 9:41
6: 9:43
7: 10:22
8: 9:42
9: 10:11
10: 11:18
11: 10:47
12: 13:16
13: 14:17
14: 12:58
15: 12:23
16: 16:33
17: 15:01
18: 15:35
19: 18:08
20: 17:29
21: 16:23
22: 14:18
23: 13:23
24: 13:33
25: 14:16
26: 12:55
Finish: 5:29:47

Post Race Stuff
My brain was so cooked by the time that I was done. I stuck around for a short while, but left to crash in my room. I ate a tube of salt & vinegar Pringles while watching Aladdin. Then I was knocked out due to an early flight out the next day.

This event was a very patriotic event. It just couldn't be any more American. Even though running laps around a parking lot wasn't really my idea of fun, the reason for running on 9/11 trumps everything. I just might come back next year.

Disneyland Half Marathon 5th year edition

I look forward to this race each year. But I have no idea how well I would do this year. I've been dealing with injuries and niggles since October of last year. Things were getting better by June until I hurt myself on a training run. I've been resting and taking it easy. But since I've committed to running my paid races, I still run here and there to have some sort of fitness to complete these races.

I left work early on Friday to attend the expo. It was pretty painless. I bought a red tech shirt and 2 Disney pins to commemorate 5 years of running. I'm such a sucker for Disney products.

Race Day
I got to the parking lot at about 3:40am. There were huge lines. Instructions said that the lot would be open at 3:30 so I think they were having some sort of technical difficulty. This year parking was $15! I think back in 2006, it was $8 or $9. I relaxed in my car until 4:15 listening to my boy band music on my iPod. I walked over to the pre-race staging area. I bumped into a former coworker who will be running a marathon with Team in Training later in the year. Later I spot another Team in Training friend. I hung out with him for a little bit. Then I headed over to corral A. While waiting in the corral, I bumped into a couple of my maniac friends.

Goal A: sub 1:50:00
Goal B: sub 1:55:00
Goal C: sub 2:00:00

I started near the back of corral A. So for most of the first mile, I was trapped behind slower runners. For me, it was a good thing since my right ankle has been gimpy. But I got antsy and started following the flag runner. He's a pretty big guy and runs his half marathons in the 1:40s. So I let him clear the way. I stuck to my usual plan of walking 1 minute for every 30 minutes running. By the 10k mark, I started to feel discomfort in the right ankle. I knew my sub 1:50 wasn't going to happen today. The 1:50 pace group ran past me shortly. I gradually slowed down because the right foot started to hurt. I took a salt cap and a gel at about the 1 hr mark. I tried to concentrate on my form and sped up a little to see if I could improve on my personal best for a half marathon. It was fun running on the warning track at Angels stadium. The right ankle/foot was no bueno during miles 11 - 12. I started doing calculations when I reached mile 12. I knew I had a new personal best in the bag. It was a soft PB, but at least I'm headed in the right direction again.
1: 8:13
2-3: 15:11 (7:35)
4: 8:41
5-6: 16:48 (8:24)
7: 8:49
8: 9:04
9: 8:43
10: 8:36
11-12: 18:48 (9:24)
13: 8:50
13.1: 0:45
Finish: 1:52:28

Previous years:
2009: 1:54:40
2008: 1:55:07
2007: 2:06:38
2006: 2:02:37

Post Race Thoughts
Except for the extremely hot year in 2007, I've run faster each year. I think you have to be a pretty die-hard Disney fan to be a legacy runner.

5th year medal with the legacy lanyard

The first 6 miles felt great with a couple of sub 8 miles, but the right ankle was just not 100%. Seeing how I practically jogged the last 7 miles in this race and still set a personal best... I'll most likely go faster at the next half marathon, the Los Angeles RnR Half Marathon in late October. After the race, I ate at the Original Pancake House with a couple of friends. That place was packed. I had the Irish Omelette which included 3 pancakes. The omelette was pretty good with corned beef.