Running Scared 5K

I am sorry that this blog entry is so late, but I have been extremely busy at work and training, that I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write it. Brittany and I ran a 5K in Long Beach on Saturday Oct. 27th. It was put on by the Long Beach Police Dept. and it was called “The Running Scared 5K.”

It was a beautiful morning and I picked Brit up at her dorm around 6:15 am. I really enjoy race mornings. I have never been a morning person since I spent a good portion of my life playing music and that usually meant staying up late at night rehearsing, playing gigs or “promoting” in clubs. Since I began running, and now doing triathlons, my internal clock has had to readjust to the morning training schedule. I have found it much easier to stay on schedule by doing my training in the mornings. Something always seem to come up in the afternoon and evenings that can derail even the best of plans. Not to mention being tired from the days stresses, or in my case, sessions with clients running long or mixes that need to get done. So, I train in the morning. I usually get up around 5:30, eat breakfast and I’m off. It is usually just around sunrise when I leave my house and it is really peaceful outside. I have really come to enjoy it.

Back to the 5K. I picked Brittany up at her dorm. We got a little lost on the way to Eldorado Park, where the race was held, but we eventually found it and got there around 7:15. The race started at 8:00. I generally like to get there a little earlier than that so we can relax, check in and get our race bibs and not have to rush to the starting line. But, today we were a bit behind. We got in line to get our race bibs and when we got to the front we were told we were not on the list. I registered us 2 days prior to the race, but apparently the Active headquarters that is based in San Diego had to evacuate due to the Southern California fires and the list that was at the race did not reflect our paid registration. The Lady who was handling the registration was fantastic and said that we were fine and go to the other line and we would be given our race bibs.

By now it was about 7:45 and we had our bags that needed to go back to the car. I like to do a warmup run before a race so I did a brisk run to the car and back with about 5 minutes to spare before the gun went off. When I say gun, I mean gun! Most races use an air horn to signal the start of the race. The Ironman uses a cannon, but this race used a gun! A very loud gun! It scared the crap out of most everyone. Maybe that’s why it is called “The Running Scared 5K”. I mean we were in Long Beach.

With that we were off and running. I asked Brittany what her goal time was. She said she didn’t want to say a time, I figured that she would come in under her previous PR of 31:00, but I had no idea how much under. She has been putting in a ton of miles, training for her Marathon in February. And one of the great advantages to that kind of volume is faster paces without much more perceived effort. I on the other hand have cut down on my running mileage due to training in three disciplines. Boy did this show in our finish times. Brittany absolutely rocked it. She finished in 26:50! I finished in 25:51. Man the numbers just don’t lie, and goes to show that you get out what you put in. The look on Brittany’s face when she saw the clock was priceless. I was VERY proud of her. I was disappointed in my time, but it is understandable considering my current training. I had a bit of a problem breathing during the race and felt like my lungs were on fire. I am guessing it was due to all the smoke in the air from the fires but I am not sure since Brittany didn’t have that problem. I have only felt that one time before and that was in Iceland, and that was due to the cold weather, (I think). Nonetheless, I better get some speed work in at least once a week or my Daughter is gonna smoke me. But that wouldn’t be so bad, it would just mean more pictures of me crossing the finish line, since she would get there first.

Man, I love it when a good plan comes together!

Paul

Swim for the iPhone

Becoming an athlete has changed my life. I have always been pretty motivated, but I have always been motivated in creative endeavors, which are hard to benchmark, and rely on other people to assess “value” or achievement. Being a Triathlete is not like that. I run my own race, for the most part, and I am always striving to beat my last PR. The amount of work that I do in training directly relates to my success. It is pretty scientific, you can see it in a graph, absolute. I like that. There are variables, but you define the variables and the constants and then experiment. There is not a lot left to chance. It is empowering and I wish more people were like that these days (If you ever wonder how many “victims” we have in our society, just take a look at how many lawsuits are clogging our court system, sad.) Most importantly, being an athlete is about setting a goal, working towards it and seeing tangible results from your efforts. Cause and effect. It is a constant reminder for me that I get back what I put in. I have learned this and this is what I want for my Daughters!

Back in January, Apple announced the IPhone. Brittany, Jasmine and I were sitting around the table gawking at the video explaining all of it’s amazing features. We all wanted one. So I devised a plan. I told them that if they started running, I would pay them for their miles. I came up with a nice round number, 250 miles for the $500 iPhone. $2 dollars a mile. It sounded like a lot to them and it was, but I knew that if they stuck with it that long they would be hooked and learn a great lesson at the same time. So, I bought them each an IPod Nano and the Nike + IPod sports kit, which tracks your miles and pace. The “Run for the iPhone” challenge was born.

Brittany and Jasmine were off and running. The iPhone came out at the end of June. At that time I was the only one who had completed my miles but Brittany was not far behind. Jasmine developed pain in her hips, but more about that later. Brittany completed her 250 miles in August. She opted to not get the iPhone and instead take cash, which was an option. She spent her money on clothes. You know how women are. I am happy to report that she is now a “real runner.” She has close to 500 miles logged and is training for her first marathon in February ’08 having done several other races including 2, 1/2 marathons.

Jasmine was sidelined with hip problems, so we needed to figure out another challenge for her. Her Doctor said that swimming would be great therapy and it is a low impact sport. So, she is now “Swimming for the iPhone.” Based on the original challenge, I figured that they could comfortably run a 12:00 mile which is 5 miles an hour. So 250 miles would translate to 50 hours of running. Luckily for Jasmine, the iPhone price has come down to $400 for the 8 GiG model so she only needs to do 40 hours of swimming. I figure that she can work up to and swim 1 MPH comfortably. One mile in a 25 meter pool is roughly 32 laps. So, the math is, $10 an hour per 1 mile of swimming for a total of 40 miles. Or .31 cents a lap for 1280 laps. It sounds like a lot but we will be going 3 times a week for an hour a session so it should only take about 13 weeks. We started last night and we had a great time. Jasmine looks like a natural. She looks very comfortable in the water. She watched the “Total Immersion” DVD and did a few drills and swam a few laps.

Man, I love it when a good plan comes together!

Stay tuned for updates on Jasmine's progress.

Paul

Dirty Dealin’ on Sirius

I got a call from my friend Kevin this morning. Apparently when he was getting into his truck this morning, he saw Dirty Dealin’ on the scroll bar of his Sirius satellite radio. I guess they have our music over at “Hair Nation.” Even though we were a 90’s band, we did sound a little 80’s. Seeing as how 80’s music seems to be finding a new audience recently, it would be cool if these songs could find a new life.

If you have a moment and you like a particular Dirty Dealin’ song, then head over here and you can request it.

Hmm... with all of these bands doing reunions, you never know.

L.B. Half Marathon race results

What an awesome day! Brittany ROCKED! the 1/2 with a time of 2:21:34. But as great as that time was, it could have been better. She had to stop and go to the bathroom and got stuck in line for 7 minutes. So, if you were to take that into account, she really ran a 2:14. Amazing. Her last 1/2 was 2:30 so she pr’d by a good 16 minutes. Her training is really paying off. She also took a spill and scraped up her elbow and knees. She said a few people helped her up and she kept on running. Way to go! I couldn’t have been more proud.



Time: 2:21:34
overall 2935 out of 6076 48%
div 20-24 103 out of 228 45%
sex place 1271 out of 3449 36%

My Dad did great on the bike tour. He finished in 2:25. He only had to stop and pee once. And if you knew my Dad you would know how surprising that is. He is really stoked about cycling now and wants to do the Los Angeles bike tour that is held the day of the LA Marathon. I love it when a good plan comes together.

Jasel did great on her 5k. She didn’t look at the clock when she finished so we are waiting for the official results for her time.
*UPDATE*
Jasel finished in 29:57 which is a 9:39 pace! That’s a great time and she is joining cross country so it is bound to get even better. Congratulations!

I was ok with my time. I finished at 2 hours even. I haven’t been putting in nearly as many running miles as usual since I am training for the Ironman and my training time gets split up between 3 disciplines. So I can’t complain with 4 minutes slower than my PR. I was dealing with some stomach issues, which I usually don’t have. Brit and I had a rather large dinner and I think I had half of it still in my stomach for most of the race. The weather was great. It was a little chilly at the start, but of course once you get going it was perfect.



Time: 2:00:00
overall 1280 out of 6076 21%
div 40-44 142 out of 355 40%
sex place 878 out of 2627 33%

The race was really cool. The event was well organized and the volunteers were great. It was really cool not having to drive to the race and deal with parking, since I live right up the street. It was also a lot less stressful than doing a triathlon, since you only have to run.

My Mom was there cheering us on and said that “it was tiring just being a spectator”. Which brings up something that doesn’t get mentioned nearly enough. And that is how important it is too have people that love you enough and are willing to support this endeavor of ours. It is tiring going to a race and deal with all the traffic and the people. Getting up so early and, In the case of my Mother, making breakfast for everyone, washing race clothes and standing in the hot sun waiting for us to cross the finish line. So, thanks Mom and everyone that supports us.

What a great day!

Paul

L.B. Half Marathon eve

I say “Marathon eve” in reference to “Christmas eve” because, to me, they are much the same. When I was a kid, on Christmas eve, I found it close to impossible to sleep. I would lie awake in bed trying everything to fall asleep, but I was so excited for the events of the morning that the adrenaline in my body would barely allow it. So it is now, at 9:12 p.m. when I should be asleep since I have to get up at 5:00 am, that I sit here typing into my computer. I am very tired and should be able to fall asleep right away. But, I know how it goes and the minute my head hits the pillow, I will start to think about the race.

I LOVE RACES!

The fun starts the day before the race. The expo. The place where you pick up your race bib, timing chip and your t-shirt. The race coordinator usually requires you to pick these things up at the expo so you are forced to be exposed to all of the sponsors, or vendors, at the race. It makes perfect sense. I don’t mind in the least. I love gadgets and all things that have to do with the sport of running and triathlon. So I really enjoy the expo. After the expo we usually “Carb Load”. It doesn’t matter what the distance of the race is, we still “Carb Load”. Basically it has become a ritual to go out for a nice dinner the night before the race. We usually order some sort of pasta and always top it off with dessert. If you eat healthy the majority of the time, it is good to cheat once in awhile. And what better time then on “race eve”.

Brittany and I are running the half marathon tomorrow. 13.1 miles. It is my favorite distance. My fastest time for the half was in January in Phoenix. I ran it in 1:56:06. It was 1 month before my Marathon so I was putting in a lot of miles. Since I am training for the Ironman, I have more hours logged but not as many running miles. So, it will be interesting to see how I do. I would love to do 1:50:00.

Brittany ran a 2:30 back in February. She has logged a ton of miles in preparation for her marathon in February, so, I am looking for her to PR for sure!

My Dad is doing the bike tour. He has been riding consistently for the last month or so and has gotten up to :45 minutes per training session. The bike course is the same as the full marathon course for a total of 26.2 miles. It will be his longest ride so far. He is really looking forward to it and I know he is going to have a blast. My parents foster daughter Jasel is running her first 5k and is also very excited. She did a 6:50 minute mile in training the other day, not bad! We’’l see how she does with her pacing and the 5k distance.

I am so happy that our family is getting into fitness and racing. The rest of the family is coming out to watch and cheer us on. I have a feeling that as time goes on there will be more of us participating and less of us spectating. This stuff is contagious.

Well, I’m off to bed. Hopefully to sleep.

Paul

Heat, skateboards and dead legs

Wow, what a weekend!

I am going to start off with Friday. I did a :45 swim with some strength work. It was a pretty easy training day. Then I did a location gig at Sole Technologies, where they make and market Etnies shoes for skateboarders. They were having a skate contest and party at their facility in Lake Forrest. It was called “GvR” which means Goofy vs. Regulars, referencing “goofy footed” skaters vs. “regular footed” skaters. We were shooting a behind the scenes look at the event. We shot all day and night until around 10:30 p.m..

The next morning, I was up at 6 am and off to the gym for a 2:15 session on the bike and :50 run. I knew I was gonna be tired the rest of the day as we shot late into the night again. The band “yeah yeah yeahs” played and we wrapped around 9 p.m..

Sunday morning I actually felt pretty good. I was up at 8 am and got to the gym at 9. I did :50 on the bike and then met up with my Daughter for a run. I was scheduled to do a 1:30 run, but, Brittany is training for the marathon in February so I have decided to do her long runs with her on Sundays. She was slated to do a 14 mile run.

Since my last marathon in June, the longest run has been 10 miles. So this 14 miler was substantially longer than the 10% increase that you are supposed to do. But hey no problem, I am a seasoned runner right? Hmm.... The heat certainly didn’t help. We ran outside and although it was cool with a nice breeze in the morning, it got pretty hot midway through our run. The first 10 or so miles felt great. I had a tough time keeping a steady pace since I have done a lot of my running on the treadmill lately. Brittany kept looking at me as if to say “are you going to pick a pace and stick with it?” Around mile 12 I finally settled into a pace.....slow.... Man were my legs dead. The last 2 miles were tough on both of us and the heat was brutal. Brittany said she thought she could finish in 2:45 and we did, for a 11:48 pace. Not bad, and it was her longest run so far. I told her that it won’t get much harder than that as I remember my first 14 miler as my hardest training run.

This week is a lighter training week with about 10 hours scheduled. I am going to take it easier on the runs, since we have the 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. I hope it is not hot!

Paul

No news is good news

I remember when I was young, I would hear people say “I can’t watch the news, it is so depressing.” It almost sounds strange to say or hear those words now. I mean how can we possibly stay away from the news?

For those of you who weren’t around back in the 70’s or early 80’s, there was a time when there were only about 7 channels to chose from on TV. They showed cartoons in the morning soap operas and game shows in the daytime and sitcoms or dramatic shows in the evening. The news was for the most part shown 2 times a day. At 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.. It was very easy to avoid watching the news, you simply didn’t turn on the TV to any news channels during those times.

Then came CNN. All news, all the time. It seems like it would have been a good idea. To keep people abreast of news and developments across the globe could only make us more informed and socially aware people, right?

Well, I have many thoughts on the subject. Where do I begin?

First of all, I am not so sure that we as humans are equipped to handle the BAD news that is fed to us on a daily basis. If you could transport yourself back to a time before there was no television or radio. The only way you heard about “news” was through word of mouth or perhaps a publication such as a newspaper. But if we go back even further when there weren’t any newspapers. The only way that you saw any disturbing images or experienced trauma or devastation, was seeing it or experiencing it first hand. I think God equipped us with certain mechanisms to protect us and to help process this stimuli in a way that is palatable to us and our own situations and environment. We are able to see a traumatic event and analyze it and relate it to the probability of it happening to us. So, in turn we can put it in perspective. When we see these images on “The news channels” (and I use that term loosely, more on that later) I believe that it has to have negative effects on our psyche. I believe that we as humans are put into a sort of fight or flight state. A state of panic or at the least on the edge of panic. We are sure that the big tornado or the devastating earthquake or the huge tsunami are just about to strike and rob us of our family, happiness or even worse our very life. How could we not think this, we see it constantly and it is happening all around us, to everyone around us. Or so we are lead to believe.

So, why are we shown bad news all of the time instead of good news? Well, I believe it is simple really. Human nature. We love dirt and dirt sells. Remember “All news all the time”. That is a lot of hours to fill and to keep a channel on the air costs a lot of money. How does a television station get money? They get it by “Sponsors”. “Sponsors” are companies that sell products. They buy time to air commercials that show their product to you in hopes that you buy them. Very simple. If you have a TV station, you can sell time on your broadcast. The price of that time is set based on the number of people who watch your show, or “ratings”. The higher your ratings the more money you can charge and the higher your profit. Again, very simple economics. I am not trying to demonize the media. When you look at this business model it is perfectly morale (in my opinion) when it is applied to a network that is airing sitcoms and game shows. But, remember I am talking about “news”. Well unfortunately these same rules, or this same business model, applies to our “News Channels”.

What you are watching is not “News”. It is entertainment. For the most part, there is no more journalism, only sensationalism. No more restraint, only “the end justifies the means”. No more class, only news about Britney Spears. Again, I am not actually blaming the media. They are a business and businesses have to make a profit. I am just sad that they do it at any cost, but I don’t expect the world or the people in it to change any time soon.

So what CAN you do about it? Simply turn it off! Don’t watch it. Seriously, do everything you can to avoid it. It will be hard. You will notice right away, It is EVERYWHERE! But you can ignore it. I started about a month ago and I have already noticed a huge change in my state of mind (hey, there has to be a reason so many people are on antidepressants). Trust me, you can survive without knowing the latest on so and so’s rehab stint or this and that’s custody battle. It is so refreshing. I have quite a disdain for pop culture in general. So, to not have to be constantly kept abreast of all the “celebrities” that we worship, hearing their names day in and day out. That, In and of itself has made a happier person.

Paul

Passion and Erasers

“I admire passionate people, they are dedicated and willing to make sacrifices. They are hard workers who aren’t afraid of pain or exhaustion to reach their goals. They’re decisive and purpose driven. Passionate people understand trade offs and risks. They operate within a sphere of self improvement with an altruistic wish to share what they have learned. Passionate people absorb and process advice and and return it to others complete with their own experiences. I admire passionate people a lot. You can see it in their eyes, you can tell by the words they use. People with passion wake up everyday with a deeper appreciation for life. There are never enough hours in the day or days in the week for a person with passion.”

Steve “Runner” Phedippidations

I heard Steve say this today on one of my favorite podcasts “Phedippidations” I thought it was said very eloquently and I was very inspired. I thought I would share it in the hopes that we can all find our passion in life, whatever it may be, and live life to it’s fullest.

“My running shoes have become giant erasers on my feet. Every foot strike rubs away some memory of a previous indiscretion with food or smoke or drink. Every successful mile releases me from the grip of the demons of failure. Every starting line is another chance to prove that my past will not determine my future.”

John “The Penguin” Bingham

Running is one of my many passions. And the above quote expresses beautifully how I feel when I run. My passion for running has only made my passions for the other facets of my life that much stronger. I pray that I will never lose my passion for life and that I will somehow inspire others to find and celebrate their passions as well.

Paul

Change of plans

After careful consideration I have decided not to run the full marathon, and go back to my original plan of running the 1/2 marathon at the Surf City Marathon in February. I was getting bummed out whenever I looked at my run log and the weekly mileage was about 1/2 of what I am used to running. Although I could probably add the extra miles into the already high weekly training schedule. The real problem would arise after the marathon and the ensuing recovery process. It takes a good 3-4 weeks of recovery to get back to normal after a full marathon and that would completely screw up my Ironman training at it’s most crucial time.

So, after some great advice from some of the people over at Cool Running. I have decided to do the 1/2 then meet up with Brittany for the last 5 miles or so when she'll need me the most. I think it will be the best of both worlds.

It is funny how we, as flawed humans, can hear really good advice and know it is the thing to do. But, somehow rationalize things in our own head and formulate an opposing plan. I tell people not to do this all the time, then find myself doing that very thing. Life is a continual learning process. Just when you think you have everything figured out ........

Todays training went really well. I was feeling very tired yesterday after a long training session on Sunday. I didn’t have a lot of work yesterday so, I was able to get some much needed rest.
I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and did 1:10 on the bike and :40 run.

Tomorrows plan is a :45 swim, :50 bike and about an hour of strength training (weights). I have enjoyed lifting again. I had stopped for awhile while I was mainly running. But, now I have made it an integral part of my training plan. Three times a week, full body exercises. I don’t look as scrawny in my upper body area. I am sure swimming is helping too. When you are running so many miles a week, it is easy to neglect your weight training. But, it is VERY important since a lot of your power comes from your core.

On a completely different note. I am having so much fun with my iPhone. If you look on my home page you’ll see pictures with a caption that says “image of the day”. I am able to snap pictures from my iPhone, then send them to my webgallery and they automatically update on my site. Amazing!

That’s it for now.

Paul