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.

The Course of Course

Since the Los Angeles Marathon released information on the course for 2010, I have started paying closer attention to the relevant areas.

For example, this morning I went past Temple in downtown Los Angeles and the Cathedral of Our Lady Queen of the Angels. Thinking of it now much more in running terms I noticed it is will be uphill trek there. (Hence, the need for Roadrunners hill training!)

I also can not get Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." song out of my head, especially "Santa Monica Boulevard ... WE LOVE IT!" Maybe I can get Sheryl Crowe's "All I Wanna Do" with its reference to Santa Monica Boulevard as a mentally-playing alternate?

Oh well, the game continues ...

Weekly Training

One of the things the Roadrunners program strongly urges is training during the week. They are very good about providing detailed information by stage of running, when, and how much to do. (It does get a bit puzzling as it keeps changing!).

I think I can tell on the long runs who is not doing or only partially doing the training. Illness is one thing; but, I think, especially for beginners, you need to be committed and TRULY committed (perhaps to a mental hospital after for even starting ...).

With a new work schedule and some other obligations, it has been a bit of a struggle finding time; but, I have found a general time slot: pre-dawn, as in waking up (more or less) at 04:00. One thing at that time is the sidewalks and roads are much less crowded for some reason.

So, I ran Sunday and Monday ... and am a bit happy as my electronic conscience Garmin 305 says I was fairly consistent with a run of 2.55 miles (with some hillwork) in 30:24 on Sunday and 2.55 miles (with some hillwork) in 30:42 on Monday!

Now, with the course basically set I think it will be a bit more energizing as I can start to picture places. I am glad it will pass the Cathedral of Our Lady Queen of the Angels and may be La Placita as it goes through El Pueblo de Los Angeles. It will go past my old office building in Century City (oh, joy) and more.

This could be fun ...