2011 Grandma's [Almost] Marathon - Recap and Lessons Learned

So what's with the "Almost"? This is an "Almost" marathon recap because I almost finished. Grandma's watched me post my first ever DNF. I know it's bound to happen to all of us at some point. After a few weeks of reflection and some time away from running altogether, I'm ready to share the details about this very memorable race and the valuable lessons Grandma taught me along the way.

The Race

Hubby and I were staying at one of our BFF's parent's farm in Maple, WI. Just about a 45 minute drive from the place in Duluth, MN, where we would be catching a train with the other marathoners to the Start. We could have taken a bus I think, but spending 30 minutes on a good old fashioned train sounded like a great start to the day.

The race didn't start until 7:30am and we had to be out of the house by about 4am to make sure we would be in time to catch the train in Duluth. It was too early to eat so I just had a banana and a cup of coffee to get my system going. I planned to have a Gu just before the start of the race. Hubby had a little muffin with some peanut butter, but food was just not sounding good to me at all. I was going to stick with the Gu. I had plenty of fuel on me.

We boarded the train, dressed in humongous, thick commercial garbage bags to keep us warm and dry. The atmosphere inside the train was peaceful but definitely energized.

I was still feeling pretty tired but chalked it up to jet lag and lack of sleep. Then something really strange happened - I fell asleep for a good part of the train ride, waking up just as we were pulling into the Starting area. Me? Falling asleep before a race? Weird. I'm usually so amped up and nervous that I can barely contain myself. We step off the train; it's finally stopped raining. Wait. Do I see blue sky breaking through the clouds?

It's about 30 minutes from "go time" now. Time for a pre-race porta-potty stop!  No problem there. THIS is a well thought out Starting area - mass quantities of porta-pottys!! This is one of either 2 or 3 huge parking lot sized areas full of porta-potty's.

The line went relatively quick, but it's close to 7:20am now. Only 10 minutes to go! Just before parting to our separate corrals, a photographer snapped this great photo of hubs and I.

I find the 4:30 corral and before I know it, we're on the move and very close to the starting line. Here we go!

I was definitely feeling a little sluggish for the first few miles, but again, there was no doubt I was feeling tired. I've had training runs like this before where it takes a good 30-45 minutes to really feel like I'm "into the run" but thinking back, I can't recall having that feeling on race day. Having completely forgotten to have that Gu before crossing the Start line, my guess is I started out low on fuel. I didn't have my first Rocktane until about an hour in. Boy did that wake me up!  It's at mile 7 that I realize I haven't really been feeling "into it" until that point. No problem. I've recognized it. Now it's time to work with it. A little after mile 7, I'm feeling great. Despite feeling a little off for the first 7 miles of the race, I was still hitting my pace as planned for the most part. I let a few downhill segments speed me up by 15-20 sec/mile for a few miles early on, but nothing outrageous.

I distracted myself with the awesome sights and sounds around me. Lake Superior, outstanding and organized volunteers, the outpouring of community support and the beautiful course. Here are some of my favorite moments on the course:

The ever-popular fan-favorite motivational sign.

I thought this bridge was beautiful. This was a very peaceful part of the course.

I ran near this newlywed couple for several miles.
They were being congratulated by a lot of other runners passing by!

If this looks cold, it IS! We hit Lake Superior and a cold wind off the lake rode our shoulders for several miles. BRRR!!!

The sole official photo of me taken on the course

I remember my calves feeling a little sore around mile 10, but I put it right out of my head. I was running for a PR so I was expecting to feel a little challenged. Hitting mile 13 was awesome. This was the Start for the Half Marathoners so there were some decorations up and at least 25-30 porta pottys. I didn't really HAVE to go, but since there was no line I ditched the course for about 60 seconds hoping that would be the only stop I'd have to make.

At mile 16 is when I started picking up the pace a little. I'd planned on holding back for the first half and finishing the second half with a negative split. Here is how the first 15 miles went. I went out a little fast, but nothing too crazy. Miles 8-10 are a little quicker because it was a downhill section. Mile 13 is where I stopped to use the bathroom. Looks like I'm just clicking right along, doesn't it?

At this point, I'm feeling really strong. I started picking up the pace at mile 16 as I'd planned, but I think it may have been too much too soon. In my head, holding a 10 min/mile for the last 10 miles did not seem unreasonable by any stretch of the imagination. I play this "10 in 100" (10 miles in 100 minutes) game with myself as a tempo run once every 6-8 weeks and have done so for about a year. So it was without hesitation that I sped up, excited to hit my 4:30 goal (10:18 average pace). The next 5 miles are feeling good. My calves are starting to really feel tired and "stretched". I down a packet of salt to ward off any potential cramping and have another Gu around mile 17 or 18. Coming into mile 20 was amazing! We're running through a town now. It seems like the entire community is out cheering everyone one. There's a local fraternity that hands out beer shots every year at this point and several runners are taking advantage of the free beer! The excitement and adrenaline boost from the supportive and festive environment got me through mile 20, but it was soon after that I really started unraveling - physically and mentally.

Here's how fast it all happened. Check out miles 21 and 22. Reminds me of an old Mary J. Blige song.... "I'm going down". As it turns out, I only had 4 miles of a 10 min/mile in me; 5 miles if you count the 10:22.

I had pushed through 21-22.5 miles in a lot of pain (only in my calves), fighting tears through the last half mile. I dropped my run/walk intervals from 3:1 to 2:1 to 1:1 to 0:30/0:30. I even stopped a couple of times in that final 1.5 miles and added extra walk breaks to see if I could recover.  I have an interval timer that vibrates at the end of each run and walk segment. By mile 22, I started getting pissed off that I wasn't able to start running when the timer started vibrating. I finally just shut the thing off. I'm telling you, I was going down physically and taking my mental state with me! Mile 22.5 is where I called it quits. I think it took me about 8 or 9 minutes to go that last half mile.

 A really nice man and his wife pass me and he yells out to me to keep going! I want to cry and tell him how hard I'm trying. My calves were almost completely seized and I could barely make it to the sidewalk at the water stop at 22.5 miles. A volunteer runs over to give me water but I don't take it. A Security Guard asks me if I need help and I said yes. Within minutes, I've got 2 Army guys with me who basically had to carry me to a nearby Army Medic truck. I am totally FREEZING in the truck so the boys turned the truck on to get the heater going. One of them is checking my heart rate and both are trying to get me to down some Powerade. Their Sergeant, who is an RN, comes to the back of the truck and asks if there's someone she can call for me. I knew our friend Dee would have already crossed the finish line since he ran the Half, but his wife Bridget (who is currently injured and wasn't able to run the race) was there also and she was my emergency contact. Hubby was likely an hour behind me. I managed to get Bridget's name out and repeat her phone number but I was feeling pretty out of it. [I didn't know it at the time, but the reason one of the Army guys stayed with me in the truck for a while was because my heart rate was irregular; going from a normal heart beat detection to it being very faint.] I knew I wasn't too far from the finish line but I didn't know how long it was going to take Bridget to get to me.  I don't know how they did it, but both Dee and B were right there with me in a very short time. Dee took this pic from outside. You can see Bridget sitting across from the bench in the truck where I was laying down. I love you guys!!!

I don't really have much more to say about the race because this was the end for me. I heard the last few miles were great - lots of cheering, support and a little entertainment. When Dee, B and I got back to the Finish line, I really wanted to see hubs cross the finish line, but when I tried to get out of the car, I could barely stand so I missed out on that moment too.

Here a couple of moments from his victory - shaving an HOUR off of his former PR time set in January 2010 at the Walt Disneyworld Marathon.

Way to go baby! You rocked it! I love you!

Reflections and Lessons Learned
Grandma's Marathon was the 3rd marathon I trained for - and I trained harder than I ever had in my life. For almost 2 years my physical progress was slowed by injuries. Thank goodness for the Galloway run/walk/run training programs. There's no better feeling than having the gift of being able to train and heal at the same time. After shaving over 30 minutes off of my marathon PR at the very hilly 2010 Santa Barbara Marathon after 9 months of moderate training, I set my aspirations high for Grandma's. I was attempting to shave another 27 minutes off my time using a new Jeff Galloway training program schedule I had not followed before - and it was a HUGE step up for me in terms of time and distance spent training.

In addition to trying out this new Galloway schedule ("Boston: How To Qualify"), I also started a completely new Galloway Training Programs running/training group in Southern California. Balancing the two schedules would be challenging, but I laid out both schedules well in advance, being mindful of both mileage and pace. I was excited by all of it - a whole new group of runners to inspire and be inspired by, coupled with an aggressive but not intimidating personal training schedule. Ambitious? Yes. But this was my time. I was healed, confident and ready to achieve new milestones.

Between November 2010 and May 2011, my average monthly mileage crept up from just barely 90 miles a month to over 150 miles (+60% on average).

Monthly mileage

My weekly stats saw a similar progression as the long runs were getting longer and longer. Peak, recover, peak, recover.

Weekly mileage ("3" - mid Jan; "25" - the week of Grandma's marathon)

I diligently tracked my mileage, shoes, effort level, enjoyment, etc for the first several months. I was hitting milestone after milestone. Sure I had a twinge of pain here and there, but for the most part, I couldn't believe how well I'd transitioned from a 3-day a week runner to a 5-day a week runner. I also changed my long run shoe to the Asics GT-2160. I'd been practicing my midfoot/forefoot plant for quite some time and my old Kayano 15's were too narrow. The new Asics made my long runs SO much more tolerable - enjoyable is how I described them in my journal.

My first 20-miler hit in March. After that, I had one 20+ mile run every month leading into Gma's. The longest one was going to be 29 miles, four weeks before the marathon. The 20-miler went great. Better than I could have expected - and I was still months away from the race. I stuck to that schedule like glue for the most part, but did change up my run/walk intervals to include more walking and less running when I was feeling tired or like I needed more recovery time. On the flip side, I ran faster than I "should have" during the week sometimes.  I like to push myself when I'm feeling good. I know it. I have to keep an eye on it. As long as I wasn't getting hurt or entering an effort level of 10 on a 3 mile training run, I knew my body was doing just fine......  at least physically.

On May 1st, I was up to 26 miles for my LSD. I stuck my pace at 11:30 min/mile (my calculated LSD pace) and it felt great. Only 6 weeks to go.  Somewhere around this time frame, hubby and I decided we were ready to buy a house. We had [mistakenly] entered into a short sale that turned into an emotional train wreck involving a very shady real estate agent and escrow company, undisclosed tenant issues in the home, questionable ethics, thousands of our dollars at stake.... I could go on and on. It was a mess. Then we had a loss in the family [see A Different Kind of Heartbreak Hill]. All the while, I'm using running as my outlet but eventually, my body had had enough. I let the 29 miler slip a week because I just didn't have the energy or the motivation to get out and do it. In fact, I didn't run that weekend at all. I picked up my training again the following week. That coming weekend was Memorial Day and I decided to run my last LSD on Memorial Day itself. What's one week, right? And here's where my thinking went awry.

Never before have I consistently run 20+ mile runs on a monthly basis for any period of time. Not only that, I was running back-to-back medium long runs (10-15 miles) on a few weekends here and there just for the sake of time because I didn't have 5 hours to run in one day sometimes. People visit, you get sick or you're having an off day (or maybe an off week), things come up - we all have lives outside of training that make it impossible to train every day just like you planned. I made the adjustments I thought were the smartest for me at the time.

My compromise for missing the 29 mile run was to run 27 miles. Looking back, it wasn't really a compromise. I had a great day, it was gorgeous. I felt so alive and lucky to be healthy enough to be out there. I even blogged about it. I definitely took it just a tad too fast (avg pace - 11:10 min/mile) and I know I was testing myself a little. Twenty seconds faster per mile may not seem like a lot, but over 27 miles, that extra speed likely equated to the amount of physical work that a 29-miler would have taken out of me, maybe more..... and this was just 18 days before the race, 4 weeks after a 26.2 mile training run and 8 weeks after a 23 mile training run. Did I mention I had not run more than 22 miles prior to either of my other 2 marathons while I was training? I didn't even get past 20 miles for the 2010 Santa Barbara Marathon. In the 3 weeks following this 27 mile run, my attitude went to crap. I felt tired a lot. My legs were constantly heavy. I couldn't eat enough food - I was starving all the time.  The weekend after the 27 miler, I ran 3.5 miles of a planned 10 mile run with some mile repeats before I quit. It seemed so overwhelming. I scaled back on my mileage considerably, but I think the damage had been done by this point. The weekend before the race I was able to run an 8-miler with our Galloway training group but it was at a pace that is more than 3 minutes slower than my LSD pace.

Three days after the 8-miler (just 4 days prior to race day), I got on the treadmill for what would be my last run before the marathon. I had only been running in the Asics for my LSDs. I was running in my Lunar Glide +2 and Pearl Izumi Isotransitions during the week. Those 2 shoe models feel considerably lighter and form to my foot now much better than the Asics. My legs felt like dead weight in the Asics and they just wouldn't go. "Forget it" I told myself. "You didn't even run the entire week prior to the Disneyland Half Marathon last year and you still PR'd. Why push through this?"  I stepped off after less than 5 minutes and didn't try to run again until race day. THAT'S how exhausted my body was. And when the body is exhausted, the mind can play some dirty, rotten tricks on you. My brain believed I could push through anything. This was my race! The one I'd been training so hard for! Nothing is going to stop me!  But something did stop me - ME.

My bottom line is that I overtrained which completely wiped out any chance of me hitting my 4:30 goal. Yes I could have done better with my pre-race nutrition, but looking back at all my Garmin data and my training log, that age-old adage of "better to be undertrained than overtrained" just punched me in the gut. Trying to keep up with a heavy training schedule while dealing with heavy personal stressors was not a good decision. In fact, I don't think I can say I consciously made the decision. I had a schedule, I knew my goal... I might have been tired once in a while, but shit, Vera, suck it up and stick with the program. Do you want this or don't you?!?

Considering all the changes in my personal life that were going on in the last 6 or 7 weeks of my training program and how heavy and tired my legs felt in the week leading into the marathon, I should have modified my race day plan by starting much slower and picking up speed later IF I was feeling up to it. My advice:  Read your journal - and not just the good parts either. It's hard to look at entries where I have a tough run. Almost like I want to avoid them. I'm thankful I have this blog as an avenue to honestly evaluate my training.

In the end, I knew finishing wasn't worth getting hurt and I'm pretty sure that's where I was headed if I'd tried to continue. When finishing to get the medal and the shirt started being my motivator, I knew it was time to stop. While it took me a good part of the rest of the day to walk normally again, I was not sore or hurting anywhere the next day. Almost like I hadn't run at all the day before. So weird.

I will be back for you Grandma - hopefully a lot less tired and stressed, and whole lot wiser. Next year you ask? Yeah, probably. :-)

And while the marathon didn't go as planned for me, both hubs and Dee PR'd that day, as well as Bridget's Uncle, so there was much to celebrate! After all, this trip was about spending time with people we love who we don't get to see very often. The marathon was just one day. Love and friendship is for life.

Back row L-R: Bridget's Mom and Dad, and my hubby
Front row L-R: Dee, Bridget, me

Shoe Review: Pearl Izumi isoTransition (Women's)

I've posted 2 shoe reviews for this blog: the Women's Nike Lunar Glide +2 and the Women's Asics GT-2160.  I was not asked to review them as an official tester. I bought the shoes for myself and shared my experiences, opinions and advice. When I raised my virtual hand to be a tester for Pearl Izumi (by way of being a Dailymile team member), I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I wasn't familiar with hadn't even heard of Pearl Izumi prior to volunteering to be a tester. While some of our DM team members were sent the Pearl Izumi Streak II, a few of us (myself included) were sent the isoTransition, marketed for triathletes, due to shoe size availability for testing purposes. Oh great. Not only am I already questioning whether I'm even qualified to be a tester, now I'm asking myself  "Who the heck is going to care what a non-triathlete thinks of a triathlete shoe? Maybe I should back out". You know who cares now? Me. Because I love these shoes.

I was so excited to get my first pair of official tester shoes by the time they arrived. Other team members had already received their Streak's and were running in them! We all had an agreement not to discuss anything about the shoes until the Dailymile Team Review had been posted on both models so as to not bias each other. I also purposely did not do ANY research on the shoe or the company. In fact, I did not even go to the PI website, talk to other runners or look for retail prices until after the trial period was over. This is absolutely the least biased review I could possibly publish on this shoe.

This is what I typed out within 30 minutes of having these hot little shoes in my hands:

1. Couldn't even wait to get home to open the box. 
2. Ripping box open at a stoplight so I could see them (picked up at UPS just 2.5 miles from my house)
3. Ran in the house and upstairs to show the hubby
4. Threw one to (at?) him and pulled my shoes off so I could try out the Izumi's
5. They gave my feet a hug - slightly concerned I should have asked for an 8.5 when I stood up [I didn't know I wasn't supposed to wear socks with them until my 2nd time wearing them]
6. Love the laces - easy to use/figure out. SO nice not to have worry about laces.
7. Rolled up my jeans and jumped on the TM. Ran about 0.15 miles while gushing to my husband about how great and different they felt from my other shoes. 
8. Flatter than Lunar Glides in the heel and forefoot
9. Can DEFINITELY tell these are a flat shoe (heel toe drop is low)
10. Flexible forefoot allows for toe splaying; ease of toe-off due to design

With some concern around injuring myself before Grandma's marathon, I used the same transition plan with the isoTransitions as I did with the Lunar Glide +2. Baby steps at first - using them only 1 day a week. At the time I started bringing these shoes into rotation, I still had two 20+ mile LSDs and several 40+ mile weeks ahead of me. I will admit to running farther and longer than I did intitially with the LG +2. I felt safer taking bigger steps with the PIs since I was already adapted to the LG's. It wasn't as if I was trying move from my current LSD shoe (Asics 2160) down to the Isotransitions directly. I am more convinced than ever of the importance of maintaining discipline in the frequency of use of these shoes if you are not properly adapted. The risk of over-stressing your Achilles tendon, ankles, knees and hips is very high otherwise. Speeding up the transition could actually set you back in your training schedule so take it slow!

Testing Notes!

Day 1:  7 miles

I had some tempo work to do on this day. While I did have some numbness in my left toes, I found after a couple of weeks of use that this was probably due to a need for my feet to adapt to the shoes and vice versa. The seamless interior was new to me and it felt great! I couldn't believe that a shoe could conform so well to my foot. And with the loop in the back, it's an easy slip on/slip off shoe. I had more control of my feet and thus my legs in general. The shoes are so lightweight, I almost forgot they were even there.

About an hour after I'd finished this first longer distance test run (the day after the shoes were delivered), I felt the urge to scribble down some reflection thoughts that were running through my head. I grabbed the closest piece of scratch paper and pen, resulting in the following:

"I had this moment where I felt like my body just clicked into place. My hips narrowed, my legs aligned perfectly almost like they were being locked into the most anatomically efficient position. It was the closest thing to having an out of body experience I've had. Thinking "This is what great form feels like! This is what I've been trying to find for years!". I tried not to stay too aware of it for fear that focusing on it might somehow chase it away. I can't remember how long it lasted; came and went a couple of times. Definitely felt like I was running faster and more efficiently (more work with less effort - especially with the increase in foot turnover)."

Day 2:  6.75 miles 

I've been having L ITB pain since the mud run [I ran the Merrell Down and Dirty Mud Run 10K the day before my first 7-miler in these shoes]. Right ITB soreness is mostly gone. Took about 2 miles to feel loosened up. Had some weird knee pain on both sides but it dissolved. Couldn't run faster than 6.5 mph using 4:30 run/0:30 walk intervals. [This is my normal run/walk ratio for weekday training runs (with the exception of mile repeats) and for distances less than 15 miles.]

Got into a great stride spot again today. Is this in my head? Loosened up the laces and didn't have any toe-numbing issues. L shoe still feels a little small. Ran with no socks - shoes are much more comfortable that way (even though they were comfortable with socks). Love feeling the belt under my feet with minimal padding. 

Tech specs: (Zappos)

Ortholite® sockline

Seamless interior (no socks!!)

Heel/Toe offset: 19.0mm/10.0mm

Drainage holes in the midsole allow water and sweat to escape

Weight : 7 oz

Inner sole is mesh so water and sweat drain out

Ortholite liner with drainage holes

 I do recommend these shoes for:

1. Speedwork, tempo and steady state short-to-medium distances (5K, 10K, 15K, 10 mile races)
2. Midfoot/forefoot plantars
3. Medium arches
4. Runners looking to transition to minimalist shoes
5. Triathletes looking for a quick swim-to-bike and bike-to-road running transition shoe
6. Neutral foot type

I do not recommend these shoes for:

1. Heel strikers **Please read this EXCELLENT article on The barefoot running debate: Born to run, shoes & injury: the latest thinking just posted today (5/6/11) by Ross Tucker, Ph.D. 
2. Runners who need stability
3. Runners who need extra cushioning
4. Long distances UNLESS you are already running LSDs in minimalist shoes

Differences between the isoTransition and the Streak II
The loop in the back for easy slip on/slip off (shoes are intended for use when cycling as long as you don't have clip pedals), drainage holes, 360 laces in the Streak II to conform to foot as the bungie laces do. I ran through wet grass this past weekend in the isoTransitions. Both my feet and the shoes felt dry in less than 10 minutes. No blisters, no hot spots.

PI Streak II

PI markets both shoe models as Triathlete shoes, however, only the Streak II is marketed as a road shoe.  I can see the difference in the rubber at the toe of the shoe [the Streak II is a little thicker]. Interestingly, PI makes no mention of the distance you can expect to run in the isoTransitions but they do specifically state the Streak II can be worn for marathons. I suspect this is due to a slightly more padded Ortholite liner. 


My preference is the isoTransition because of the features that are not included in the Streak II. Then again, I don't plan on running a marathon in this type of shoe for at least 6-8 months. I haven't even run a marathon in the Lunar Glide +2 yet. Not that I think that is a prerequisite, but I want to make absolutely certain I'm not rushing into distances my legs aren't ready for yet.

In all, I've put about 60-65 miles on the isoTransitions. While I did have to scale back to using them 1 day a week after an over-zealous couple of weeks attempting to run in them twice a week, I will continue to use these for speedwork and shorter distances. If I find I need a little extra padding in the forefoot for LSDs in the future - you can be sure I'll be back for the Streak II or will it be III by then? ;-)

Looking for more reviews? Here are our Dailymile Team Reviews on the Men's and Women's PI Streak II and the Women's isoTransition.

At $110 retail, it is a pricey shoe. The cheapest I've been able to find them online is at Kelly's Running Warehouse ($98 for the isoTransition and $81 for the Streak II).


Happy Speed Training!!

Going Long On Memorial Day

The last long run before Grandma's marathon is done! I decided to run this last one at the beach since my last several long runs have been on hilly routes through city streets. I had intended to get started a little earlier than I actually did because it was Memorial Day. I knew that Santa Monica and the Venice boardwalk would be packed with people in the late morning hours.

Image credit

Hubby and I always begin our runs at the same beach park. And I ALWAYS have to use the restroom there because a) I have the world's tiniest bladder; and b) it takes about 30 minutes to drive to the park from our house.  This time, I was almost running from my car to get to the restroom - only to find for the very first time ever that the door was locked! Don't freak out Vera. Just get going and see if the next restroom stop (less than a mile from where I was) is open.  No luck.  I see 2 guys in a Beach Patrol truck in the parking lot pull up so I ask when the bathrooms are going to be open (it's almost 7:30am already!!).  One of them mutters something about maybe in 15 minutes. Moderately irritated, I asked if they knew if the bathrooms at the Santa Monica pier were going to be open.  "Oh I wouldn't know about the pier". I find that hard to believe since you all work the same beach patrol and the pier is 2 miles south of where we are, but whatever. I'm just wasting precious time here.....

Luckily, the city has been completely remodeling all of the public restroom facilities between Will Rogers State Beach and Venice along the bike/pedestrian path. I say luckily because it meant that there were porta-potty's everywhere. I had completely forgotten about this (thanks for the reminder Beach Patrol guys). I thought I might have been hallucinating a porta-potty oasis when the first set came into eyesight. What a relief! Literally!

The path was eerily void of the usual early morning runners and cycling clubs. The Santa Monica pier was close to being a ghost town. Aside from some activity at Muscle Beach where it looked like there was going to be a competition later on, foot traffic on the Venice boardwalk was almost non-existent. I continued on, veering off into the streets of Venice and Marina Del Rey, through Playa Del Rey to El Segundo.  I have never run that far out before. By the time I got out towards my turn around point, the sun was feeling much warmer. The path is completely exposed and most of it is surrounded by sand. Hot, sun and heat-reflecting sand. This part was much nicer..... a nice cool breeze through the bay.

Running around the marina out to El Segundo. This is a great path!!

View of the bay from the path

Even though the temps are heating up, I am still feeling really strong.  I had gone out a little too fast but I was feeling really good. I was enjoying running by families who were claiming their spots on the sand and the parking lot with blankets, towels, sun umbrellas and BBQs. Inspired by the day, I decided right then that today was going to be the day I run the longest distance I've ever run, even if it was only half a mile, but a mile would be awesome! Okay Vera, let's not get ahead of ourselves here, you're training for a marathon, not an Ultra. Slow down and chill out.

I turned around at 13.37 miles, just as I hit El Segundo beach. That was surreal. It probably took me the same amount of time to run there as it would have been to drive the same distance in traffic. Crazy! The beaches and the bike/ped path were really jumpin' now that it's close to 10:30am. By the time I make it back to Venice, the path is a zoo of people and animals alike. I decided to stick with the bike path and risk being run over by tourist on a cruiser than weaving in and out of stationary humans (especially the ones who have dogs on barely visible leashes who let them run back and forth across the path!!!). I literally almost fell on my face when I tripped over a woman's invisible dog leash. I kind of laughed it off with her but I'll admit to a fleeting thought of sharing with her my feelings about her complete disregard to anyone or anything around her.

View of the Marina Del Rey Marina from Playa

Sticking with the bike path adds extra mileage as it curves in and out behind the boardwalk, closer to the water. The pedestrian path is a straight shot. I hoped this would add just enough mileage to get me to 27 miles total. The paths become one in Santa Monica but there are less people milling around and I'm able to get through the pier pretty easily.

The last few miles on the path were tough. I wore compression socks (CEP) for the first time on a long run. I could definitely tell my feet and calves weren't nearly as swollen and achy as they have been in the past towards the end. I wasn't sure how close I'd come to hitting 27 miles when I got back to the park where I started because I reset my Garmin at the turnaround point. My final mileage was 26.81 (4:59), Not 27, but still my farthest run to date by half a mile. Despite the rising temps and floods of people and bikes to weave through on the way back, I managed to hold an 11:13 pace. My average pace for the first half was 11:05.  I actually ran the marathon distance faster my current marathon PR - but that was on a very hilly course and I've stepped up my training tremendously since then.

Promotion for the new X-Men movie. There were X-Men clouds all over Santa Monica! :-)

I have a really hard time (mostly mental I think) between mile 23-24 for some reason. A mental block of sorts that I just became aware of Monday afternoon as I was thinking back on my run. I realized this has happened on the last couple of long runs. I'm so glad I recognized it before race day. I know if I can just push through that 1 mile I'll feel much better and ready to finish strong!


Garmin data
First half: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89232741
Second half: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89232732


I downed 20 ounces of Endurox on the drive home. I came armed with recovery sustenance knowing I'd be sitting in THIS on the Pacific Coast Highway with all the other crazies in Memorial Day traffic:

Sitting in traffic on the PCH.

Needless to say, after a 50 minute drive home, my legs and core were whining and my stomach was growling big time!! I'll take the Brontosaurus ribs with 5 baked potatoes and a 64 oz amber ale - whatever you've got on tap.

The taper begins.....