BANGLE

Such a good race. You keep getting better! You needed those drafting guys that they had in the sub2 race. Keep at it because I've already booked my trip to Atlanta and I'd love to cheer you on!

Nicely raced! Sub-20 is inevitable. And congrats on the first ever Loop use of 'hypotenuse'.

No relation. There are a few of us out there. Plus the Bradley Angle house.

After my trail marathon I did the usual rest and recovery - five days of no running and then some easy runs for a few weeks. Then just as I started my first tempo run in an attempt to get back to training, I hurt my foot. I don't remember turning my ankle, but suddenly my foot hurt just below the ankle bone. It was sore but I could run on it, so I kept going and figured it would go away. It did not. I managed four miles before deciding to cut my run short and limp home. I iced it and took ibuprofen. The pain seemed centered on one spot, so I worried about a stress fracture, but that didn't really make sense. The next day I saw a doctor and she said it was definitely NOT a bone problem. It was ligament damage. Take time off, blah, blah, blah... So I did. But I had two races already signed up for; the first one only 12 days away. The pain faded to a dull roar in 2 days, but then it just kind of stopped improving. I could walk with minimal pain. A jog would hurt a little. Not too bad. But not getting better. It reminded me of plantar fasciitis and other foot ligament problems I have had, all of which took over 6 months to heal. With those ailments, I ended up running through them eventually, as running did not seem to make it worse. So I'm guessing the same here - Loooong recovery period. Nagging pain. So I didn't run at all for the 12 days and then lined up for a 5K. This race was part of my annual golf weekend with my hometown buddies. We golfed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Palm Springs,, followed by massive eating and significant drinking. So I waddled to the 5K on Saturday EVENING with about 8 extra pounds in my belly, and weariness from 4 days in the sun. I was running with three other friends including my brother, and we figured to all be close to the same pace. Of course they had the same handicaps as me with the golfing and eating and drinking. My foot problem was a handy excuse but I can't say it really slowed me down. Normally I would hope to win this competition but with post marathon and injury downtime and no speed work for the last six weeks and a sore foot, I was lacking in confidence. The race was "Run with Los Muertos" in the tiny town of Coachella in the desert (home of the large concert event). It was tied with a Day of the Dead festival with a parade and concert and art fair. 95% of the people there were Hispanic and all the announcements were in Spanish - no English. It was fun to see all the little kids in costume and face paint. The race was about 300 people, and not too competitive. It started after sunset and they had lights on the route. It was kind of fun running in the dark. Strategy: Well, my warmup was OK. Felt like crap at the beginning but after a mile or so I felt about normal. The foot hurt a bit but I wasn't limping. The dry desert air was very noticeable so I drank a lot of water before and during. I hoped to run about 7 minute pace and see if that was workable and go from there. Also planned to run with my 3 buddies (and beat them) if possible. At the start my brother set the pace so I followed him to get into gear. Once the crowd cleared I saw we were right about 7 minute pace and it felt doable. The first mile I was working pretty hard, but it was a race after all. Pretty normal for a 5K. Right about a mile (which came in at exactly 7:00) I started to notice my breathing getting heavier. Brother started to pull in front and I couldn't stay with him. It was hard enough to just keep going. Then another friend rolled by. I hung on him for a few seconds but then he pulled ahead. Ugh. My pace was 7:15 in mile 2 and I was suffering. I tried to maintain for a while but then buddy #3 breezed by me, along with some other people. I was clearly not going to be able to beat any of these guys. So I downshifted. Eased off until it was more like tempo pace. Still working but at a pace I felt I could hold. Not dying. The towel was thrown. It was just about getting to the finish with something respectable at least. I hit mile 2 in 7:45, but my pace bottomed out just over 8:00. Once I got to within 1/2 mile of the finish I started to pick it up, since I now had some reserves. I caught a couple people and tried to finish respectably strong. Mile 3 was 7:34. The course was short (I had 2.98 miles) so my time of 22:10 was not even that good. On the plus side, my foot never got worse - it was just a nagging pain, and it wasn't any worse after the race either. So I just accepted the defeat and will use it to motivate me in the future. Now I am going to take another two weeks off (maybe?) and hope this improves. Then I'll do my usual and run through it. Because I already signed up for a Turkey Trot. And then I'll need to start getting ready for Atlanta... On the other hand, my golf game made huge improvements as I played the best golf of my life and got two huge PRs. I shot a 103 and didn't finish last every day, and can now reasonably consider breaking 100 for the first time. So that was nice. It was a fun weekend with the guys, and I also got to see Loopster Peg for a few hours so that was great. Life is good.

Way to push the chips in and go get that time! Loved the race report. So happy you get to experience NYC.

Nicely put into words. Right there with you. Finding no motivation to write lately. But happy for ten(!!!) years of Loopiness.

It's been 3 months since I've posted on here. Since then I trained for a marathon. And I didn't get hurt. But it was summer (so, a little warmer than usual around here). And I wasn't really motivated. Because you see, it was a trail marathon. So when I didn't really get enough miles in, I shrugged and said, eh, no matter. It's just a fun run in the woods. Time will be ridiculously slow anyway, so, whatever. So I enjoyed running and didn't push it when it got hard, and (not coincidentally) stayed healthy and happy. I maxed out at 17.5 miles and 42 mile weeks. The race was the Skyline to the Sea Marathon. It starts at the top of the hills outside San Jose and runs mostly downhill to the ocean near Santa Cruz. It's all trails, mostly single track, and all shady and beautiful through a redwood forest. I'd been wanting to run this one for years, but needed the right motivation. It came when Mild Sauce agreed to meet me there and accompany me on this little run through the woods. So I found myself in another part of the world, and I found myself behind the wheel of a large automobile, and I found myself on a beautiful trail, with a beautiful girl, and I asked myself, well, how did I get here? It was a seven hour drive, that's how. Got to Santa Cruz Friday night and scouted the local establishments. Found one up to the Sauce's standards. So we had a couple beers Friday. Saturday was open so we explored the area with a long cliffside hike. Then of course we had to ride the circa 1924 Giant Dipper. A must for any Santa Cruz visit. Sunday was race day. We had to ride the bus over an hour to get to the start. The bus driver took the loooong way around and up the hill, but we managed to arrive in time to pee and get our bibs. Then the race director talked to us in the parking lot and pretty soon said 3-2-1-go! We were still a jumbled mass in the lot and casually headed over to the trail. There were only 130 people, but the race got to the trail in 50 yards so it was a little crowded, but amazingly most of the fast and slow people were in the right place so it worked out pretty well. It started out with a pretty steep downhill and I was full of energy so I may have gone out too fast. Saucy said so anyway. What do I know about trail running? I felt easy and was enjoying cruising along with a group at a pace that seemed effortless (about 9:00). But of course with an expected five hours ahead of us, I probably should have backed off. Same as it ever was. But it was fun. And beautiful! The course did not disappoint! Huge trees, narrow trails with rocks and roots, bubbling streams, water flowing underground... Here are some shots from the website. So I cruised along. Saucy stayed nearby and by the time we reached the first aid station at 6 miles we had separated from the others and were mostly just running alone, the two of us. The shade kept it cool, despite temps near 80 in the area. The next section was mostly uphill for 4 miles and we did lots of walking. Then it would be mostly down the rest of the way. But, boy, those downhills were getting to my quads! Not just the steady decline, but stepping down over roots and rocks constantly was even more jarring. Sauce led the way most of the rest of the way, and I was working to keep up. Although she stopped and walked whenever I asked, I still felt the pressure to keep going, because it was a race, after all! I had a goal to break 5 hours, because, why not? And it seemed like it would not be easy. Gotta keep pushing! We hit half way in right around 2.5 hours. But mostly downhill now, right? Well, yes, but, those quads... We got to an aid station at 15 and I was spent. And then there was more uphill... My God! What have I done! Well, no matter. It's just a fun day in the woods, right? We walked and talked. When we reached downhill I ran, but it was steep, and my legs were not functioning properly. I tripped about ten times but never went down. But the later it got, the more nervous I was about it, so I slowed over the hard steps, just putting more pressure on my quads. I was getting more tired and between the shadows and my bleary eyes I knew I was one step away from disaster. And there were some steep drop-offs close to the trails' edge! But I persisted. At one point about 17 I slipped on a rock and landed on my butt and felt dizzy, so Sauce gave me her stashed rice krispy bar. Apparently I wasn't fueling properly. Me! Shocking! I never eat enough. It helped. But after that there was even more walking. Oh well, walk in the park. Enjoyed the beauty. At about 20 we reached a wider trail that was groomed. Basically a dirt road. So I was able to settle into a shuffle that didn't tax my legs as much and we started making better progress. That lasted 3-4 miles until the last aid station where they said the last 2 miles were mostly uphill and sunny. Ugh. But we were going to make it. Had to walk the ups, but then we finally heard the finish line cheers, and cruised down a steep hill (OW!!) and to the finish at last. 5 hours and 15 minutes of fun. Would have been good for a 3rd place age-group medal last year, but only 5th this year. Darn ten-year categories. All the winners were at least 5 years younger than me. But the finisher medal and shirt were quite cool. The post-race spread was NOT impressive, sadly, but we went out later for pizza and beer to celebrate. My legs were thrashed, but I never fell, and I had a fun time with a buddy cruising through a beautiful place. I can check trail marathon off the list. Now I'm recovered and I have a 5K, a 3 mile turkey trot, and a 10K on the calendar in the next 4 months. Next long one is a half in Atlanta 3/1. No more marathons until next Fall (Chicago is the plan, lottery permitting). Meanwhile I'm going back to enjoying my runs with my local group and running for fun.

Just wow. Great pics. Glad you had so much fun.

That's a great job on a hilly course! And love the strong finish - I can never do that. Glad you enjoyed the beauty and the joys of marathoning.

It's gonna be great. Enjoy the experience!

I could have written those first two paragraphs. Verbatim. Still waiting for cooler weather here. You look ready for a good one. Should beat my trail marathon time by over an hour!

"Discipline is a muscle and mine was just as soft and flabby as my ass. " Awesome quote, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate. I hear ya. As I get older and sorer, it gets harder to get that good mojo going. But it does show up often enough. So far. Hope the good feelings keep lasting for ya.

You look ready for a good marathon! I'm getting an implant as well. But it's way in the back so I am just toothless for 4 months. Stupid aging.

1 out of 2 had me LOL. But, hey, nice work!

Yeah, this aging thing is getting old. (pun intended) Kudos for keeping Father Time at bay for another week. I'm way behind for an October marathon and pretty worried about ramping up quickly. But I will take life as it comes and keep expectations low - a good way to approach things at our age.