The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Today, or may be more accurately, this morning was another training session for the Los Angeles Marathon, under the LA Roadrunners schedule.

It was also a speedwork session; so, I set off for Santa Monica Airport for my improvised "track," which is really a lightly used street with some turns. Today was six runs of 500 meters ...a bit over 1/4 of a mile each.

So, I set off on # 1 and did alright. # 2 was faster. #3 I felt some soreness in my knee and slowed. #4 was slower still ... #5 ... even slower and knee much more of a bother. At this point I was thinking may be I should not be doing this; but, I also thought about what it means if I start slacking off on practices. So, ... off I went on the final one. It was slower than runs #1-3; but, it beat #4-5 significantly.

As a side note, it is interesting for me to see some of the business jets nearby; also, some Lamborghinis were outside in the open which surprised me.

The Ugly was my knee acting up.
The Bad was how I perceived my times.
The Good was that I still completed the schedule regardless.

Better was when I got home, I was checking some of the group emails and realized my worst run had actually been faster than suggested! Despite it all I had done relatively well I guess; but, the knee hopefully will get better. Now I have to make consistent runs (pace within five seconds of each).

Run Information
#1 2:24 for .28 miles for 8.24 pace
#2 2.04 for .28 for 8.11
#3 2.31 for .28 for 8.48
#4 2:36 for .28 for 9.21
#5 2:36 for .28 for 9.24
#6 2:33 for .28 for 8.58

On the way to work, my knee was sore. Still, I saw Temple Street and the Cathedral of Our Lady Queen of the Angels, and Dodger Stadium and felt the need to start seeing the positives instead of all the bad parts of the training. I want to be seeing those places March 21.