Item 1 - Run a marathon

He has no idea what's in store for him

I was going to run my first marathon last year. I had been practicing for almost a year prior to that; I had slowly ramped up my training, plugging away with good gains on both distance and time. The marathon I was running was in September. Then three days before my marathon I started to get sick. Up until the day before the event I still thought I could do it, but the sheer amount of crud that I was coughing up told a different story. I dropped out and spent the next few days in bed. It was a crappy end to an utterly crappy September.

So this year I planned to really get a marathon done, come sickness or shin-splints. I maintained a good training regimen and my health has been relatively good all year. Summer hit and the heat meant that I fell off on my distance a little bit, but nothing that I couldn't make up. A little over a month ago I realized that it was do or die time. I signed up for a marathon that was in a nearby town and started making plans.

In the days leading up to the marathon this year a lot of people asked me things along the lines of "Are you sure you can do a whole marathon?" or "How far are you running these days?" My answers were "Of course," and "Around 20 miles," respectively.

Here's my confession: the real answers to those questions were "God, I hope so" and "About 13 miles."

Okay, so saying I fell off a little bit is kind of like saying that "Pacific Rim" was a bit of a disappointment. I got downright lazy. But marathon season is almost over and if I had told people the truth they might have (rightfully) tried to talk me out of it. In my defense, I really wanted to do it (which is, of course, the greatest defense ever.) Also, I'd like to point out that the question "Are you sure you can run a whole marathon?" or any variation thereupon is one of the more belittling questions a person can ask, so maybe just don't do that.

The first 14 miles actually went pretty easily; the scenery was beautiful, I was keeping a good even pace, the terrain was easy but hilly enough to keep it interesting.

And then I hit the trails.

I'm an alright trail runner but I run in minimalist shoes, so I tend to do trails that are mostly dirt. These were gravel covered trails, with very large rocks. I managed to hit every single sharp rock I could over the next 10 miles. Add to this the fact that I bonked around mile 16 and you have a poor first showing for a marathon.

When I finally crossed the finish line I didn't feel the sense of accomplishment that I had envisioned. Mostly I felt sore and tired. And one thought kept occurring to me: I could have done better. And I will, next time.

One final note: the sense of accomplishment did come, but it was a bit later. In one day I doubled my most recent best distance. It wasn't pretty and I wasn't particularly fast, but I finished a goddamn marathon and not everyone can say that.

The very last bit of energy I had

Pioneer 5K Fun RunItem 20 - Run 6 0 5K's

I love doing this race; the money that is raised is donated to the local high school's athletic program. And this is a seriously underfunded school system. The town it takes place in is so pathologically afraid of raising taxes that they purchased a bunch of hideous modular classrooms rather than upgrade the elementary school because it was cheaper in the short run. Always a good idea: shortchange your children. That never backfires.

The other reason I love this run is because the primary sponsor is the best shoe store in eastern Oregon and they usually have a great swag bag. Hey, I don't always have to be altruistic. I wasn't able to get any good photos of the race this year, unfortunately.

I did get some bad ones, though.

See what I mean? Look how disappointed in me that lady on the right edge is.

I have no idea why I took this photo, even less idea why I'm posting it now.

I did get an okay picture of the swag though.

A pen, chap-stick, a polishing cloth for cell phone screens, a foot buffer, a reusable grocery bag, a t-shirt and a... what the hell?

Yes! That thing! What the hell is that?

Tough Rhino Mud Run Item 29 - Run an endurance/obstacle raceItem 20 - Run 6 1 5K Item 14 - Run a race in costume or in theme

As anyone that grew up with a steady diet of Nickelodeon will tell you, doing Double Dare would have been a dream come true as a child. Of course, you put those sorts of dreams away around the time you hit puberty and suddenly being the center of attention sounds like a punishment. In my case, I had completely forgotten about wanting to ever do the obstacle course style race until I found out that they do them for grown-ups too.

You've got to admit, that looks pretty awesome

I figured I'd knock a couple items off the list at once after a discussion with a friend about how much fun it would be to run a mud run in a white shirt and pants. I decided to go a little further and went with a whole suit. The only item I had to pay for was the jacket, which I got for $3 at Goodwill, everything else I had in my closet and was damaged.

That thing about not liking to be the center of attention doesn't just apply to surly teenagers: it also applies to a moderately well-adjusted twenty-nine year old. I figured there'd be a lot of people running in costumes or themes. Not so much. I spotted two girls in tutus, and a couple groups in matching t-shirts and that was about it. I got a lot of stares and a lot of questions. Actually, just two questions: "Are you really running in that suit?" and "Why are you running in that suit?" And a few times on the run I heard my favorite thing "Oh man, the guy in the suit is beating us!"

I took all that attention in stride, especially that last one. What I will say is that if I ever run in a costume or theme again, I'm going to make sure it's lighter. I must have carried an extra 15 pounds of water over the finish line, not to mention how hot that jacket got. I'm a guy that sweats a fair amount and it was about 80 degrees by the time I finished. So, less is definitely better, at least when running in the summer.

I wonder if I can find one of those tutus in my size.

YMCA Corporate Cup 5K Item 20 - Run 6 2 5K's

Think I've found my new profile pic

I started running races last year, before that I'd always just run against myself. The YMCA Corporate Cup was the first 5K that I'd ever run in, so it has a special place in my heart. I also was in charge of organizing my companies involvement in the Corporate Cup this year, helping to organize it with the YMCA and getting people involved. So it felt a little extra special this year.

As last year, it was well organized and well attended. The race runs a course that's fairly flat and has nice scenery, so it's good for all skill levels. I paced with a co-worker for the most part, but when we were getting close to the end I told him to try to take second if he thought he could. He gave it his all and ended in third, I was in fourth. I'm going to blame my poorer performance on the fact that he's eight years younger than me, but I'm also going to be stepping up my training a bit more. Can't let these whippersnappers get the best of us old fogies.

I promise, that's not a heel-strike. It just kind of looks like it is

Walla Walla Dirty Duathlon and Trilogy Run for Recovery Item 20 - Run 6 3 5K's

I'm counting these two races as two 5K's because the duathlon was more than 5 kilometers (5.4 miles, to be exact) and the R4R was only 4 kilometers. But I'll get to all of that in a moment.

This was the first year for the duathlon and I was drafted into it by my boss. Her son wanted to do the nike ride portion but couldn't run because of a leg injury, so he needed a substitute. My boss knows that I love to run and that I'm a soft touch. It seemed like a good idea.

It was not.

The race was set up so that the first lap was a trail run of 2.7 miles followed by 14.8 miles of biking and then finished with another 2.7 miles of running. Next to a lake. On a windy day with temperatures just above freezing. If you can see the problem with this you are more in tune than the organizers.

The problem of course isn't for anybody that does the whole thing themselves, the problem is for anybody that only does the running portion. 5.4 miles isn't a big run at all, but when you break it up and have an hour between halves and nothing to do, it causes problems. Your body doesn't like to do things like that.

Must keep moving, pretending like having fun, ignoring pronouns

The elation that I felt when I crossed the finish line wasn't the usual type I felt when running races: not the joy of having accomplished something, of pushing myself in a sport that I love. No, this was the happiness you feel when you are at a party that you hate and you realize that you get to go home.

Yes, that's horse shit, it's eastern Washington, of course there's horse shit

There's my car! See you later!

I'm sorry if I sound negative about this, but hopefully if the organizers do this again next year they will consider the participants that split out the duties when they break it up.

Ok, now that I got the bitching out of the way I'll talk about a race that I love. The Run for Recovery benefits a local addiction counselling center and is one of my favorite races in the Walla Walla valley. Not just because the race is in a beautiful area and along a lovely route, nor because it's for a good cause. I also love it because I adore irony.


Both from the swag bag

 Usually, this race is a four miler, but apparently this year someone forgot to switch the measuring device from kilometers to miles. You've never seen so many smiling faces as when a bunch of runners finish four miles in less than 20 minutes.

Yes, I basically always wear the same thing when running

In spite of that small hiccup it was still a really fantastic run. The organizers always make it fun and obviously enjoy doing it as much as those of us running it like participating.

5K In the East Bay: Lake Merritt Fun Run Item 20 - Run 6 5 5K's

I've been running since high school, off and on. Like most people that say that exact phrase it's been more off than on since high school. For the last six years, however, I've been trying to be more serious about running. I spent a good part of last year training for a marathon that I never ran (more on that in a later post) which was sort of the culmination of my first year of ever running competitive races. I ran three 5K's last year and decided to double it this year (it doesn't hurt that six 5K's equals that magic number 30). As far as inaugural races for this project go, I could have done much worse than the Lake Merritt fun run but they probably could have done a bit better.

My understanding is that this was the first 5K that this group has organized and I'm sorry to say that it kind of showed. They did some really nice things, but they were all tempered by the issues that also came along with them. From the start, the directions said that the race would be starting at the pavilion. I lived for a time near Lake Merritt before I moved back to Washington, and my sister lived there even longer, the first thing that came to mind for both of us (and the first result that Google Images returns when you search for "Lake Merritt Pavilion") is this building:

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But what they meant was this building:

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This was our fault, the directions do give the cross streets; but still not off to a great start. Luckily, we came to the park early so that my niece could run in the Lolly Pop Dash before the 5K. Unfortunately, this leads us nicely into the second complaint that I had: the timeline was seriously weird. Registration started at 8 a.m. (but the initial email seemed to indicate that that was when the race itself started), the Lolly Pop Dash (a free race for the kids that came along with their parents) started at 9:30 and the 5K itself started at 10:30. The Lolly Pop Dash lasted no more than five minutes. FInally, the raffle for prizes was held at about noon. That's about a three hour commitment for 5K.

Look at that chump, he has no idea what kind of wait is in store for him

The raffle brings us to a final point: the gifts. This race was for charity, so I'm willing to make allowances, but it also cost $35. I've run other charity races that cost $15 and came with a swag bag that had a t-shirt and snack. The swag bag this time had some advertisements and a coupon for free shipping on a Road ID (a $1.49 value!).

The bag didn't even have the organization name on it

It might sound like I didn't have a good time, and that would be wrong. I loved running at Lake Merritt, the organizers were really nice and obviously excited about putting it on. And despite getting lost twice during the race (I should point out that the course consisted of running around the lake, so I might be an idiot) I still had the second fastest time, which is a nice ego boost. I really loved doing this race and am happy that it went to such a good cause. I hope that the next one that they organize works out the little kinks from this one, because I have a feeling they could do a really fantastic race.

Review of "Anatomy for Runners" by Jay Dicharry Item 16 - Finish 30 20 books

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The classic wisdom is that every runner gets an injury at some point, the ones who never hurt themselves just stopped running. Before I switched to minimalist footwear I'd had a few instances of tendonitis and bursitis, after making the switch I had no injuries for a long time. That caught up with me eventually, this last year I've hobbled along between minor pains, most of which didn't last very long and that I just put down to getting old.

That was all fine until about six months ago when I noticed that I would get a pain in my knee and hip after I finished longer runs. The pain wasn't constant but would show up again every time and would stick around longer than I liked. My doctor, who is also a runner, diagnosed it as being an issue with my form and suggested going to a sports medicine doctor to have an assessment. When I explained that my budget ran more towards Excedrin than experts he recommended this book as an alternative.

Much like my own doctor, Dicharry tends to focus on form. It makes sense, if you aren't running correctly you are going to hurt yourself. The problem I had with this is that he tends to repeat a lot of the same information, alluding to advice that he will give later. The advice is there and is useful, but when you diagnose what your actual issue is, it's hard to not just rush straight to the solution. The result is that with so much repetition that solution can often get confused.

It really is a great resource, but I would never recommend reading it straight through. Better to find your particular problem and then read the exercises he suggests to help with it. If you are intent on reading straight through as I was, go the Marshall McLuhan route and read every other page, at least until you get to the exercises. You likely won't miss any information and you will save yourself the time.