On the Edge

Well, it is rapidly coming to the close of the year.

It has been a very, very, very hard year; but, I have survived somehow.

Now, I wonder how my knee will fare and can it make it through to March 21 to do the Los Angeles Marathon. I wonder how I will cope doing the LA Roadrunners program. I have already done 16 miles; can I get to the end? Can I stay with my current group? How will it go Saturday since I have not run since the struggles of last Saturday?

It is a lot of uncertainty; but, I resolve to do my best to make it somehow, someway. Adelante.

It Is Better to Give Than Receive

The last few weeks I have been more on the receiving end of running, as in receiving pain and worry about my knee. It has been neither fun nor inspiring; so, I have decided to try and make a positive.

In earlier Roadrunner training weeks, they had some presentations by charities and being involved in the dreaded and much feared "church stuff" I know of MANY, MANY, MANY more causes and problems. So, I decided to combine the two and build on what the Roadrunners had mentioned as a possible motivational force to run the Los Angeles Marathon.

Realistically, I am not sure I can raise some of the large sums some of the groups, worthy as they are, were seeking. I also wanted some sort of personal ties; if I am going to be pounding cement for 26.2 miles, I want it to also matter to me!

I also know there are literally thousands of worthy causes and it is hard to say which is best or to say well, Heifer International or Catholic Relief Services are less worthy than a local group for example. I decided to come up with three options.

1) ThinkCure! This is a charity championed by my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers which works to support cancer research in the Los Angeles area. I even got to make a page!
http://www.firstgiving.com/michaelward

2) St. Anne Church and Shrine Youth Program and CCD in Santa Monica: I do a LOT of volunteer work there and we are working to raise money to get a Powerpoint projector and a computer so we can make better presentations for the kids and teens.

3) St. John the Baptist Church Social Services which works to help the poor and struggling in Baldwin Park and the region. http://sjbsocialservices.blogspot.com/

Anyways, if anyone wants to sponsor a quixotic effort at running the Los Angeles Marathon 2010, it would be greatly welcome and appreciated. I think all three of these causes are worthy and they will be on my mind March 21.

Day Off ...

Well, today normally would be a running day (I tend to go on Monday and take Tuesday as the day off in the LA Roadrunners schedule).

After Saturday's long run and yesterday's not-so-speedy walk, I decided this will not be a running week, well until Saturday. I am going for a bit of rest. I may do some walking as well (well, besides normal amount in job and commuting). Hopefully, the knee will respond to the rest, the brace, and the ice. I may give it a second week off next week.

It does feel weird not to have been and I feel rather guilty. It did give me a bit extra sleep, which hopefully will help me finish off a cold and some general tiredness.

I guess right now it is trying to balance pain vs. soreness, recklessness vs. tough it out, pride vs. practical, and more ...

What to do?

Today was a post-long run day and the LA Roadrunners schedule called for a 30 minute run at aerobic pace (a.k.a. the slow one). The Group 7 senior pace leader last week had even said he thought we could not run at all on Sunday in lieu of resting the legs.

I decided to modify the plan following yesterday's results. I opted to walk ... My knee still had some awkward moments; but, the problems were not like while running. I walked to the Santa Monica Airport area and Clover Park and around for a spell. I was not speedwalking; but, I was also not just edging along the sidewalk.

I managed 53:13 of walking for 2:51 miles and a whopping 21:13 pace. Oops. Still, I felt it better to do something than nothing. A positive was my calves were not sore at all.

I am still not sure about this week; I am edging towards a week of rest and ice packs. It is just so frustrating.

Week 16: Boxing Day Run

Today was another long run for the LA Roadrunners, just today was different ... there was no LA Roadrunners officially as the school, used as a base was closed.

So, I opted to go for the long run form my parents' house in Orange County. It started later than normal due to an early morning trip to John Wayne Airport.

I set out and felt so-so with my knee and also just a lack of energy from Christmas and all.

I did get in some hillwork and the scenery was a nice change. Not often I see horses or heck houses with decent yards on my Santa Monica runs.

I decided to head down and back some residential streets and then to a larger street towards eastern Anaheim. Upon finding an open gate, I went into Esperanza High School, the nearest public high shcool and looked for their track. I thought the track may be a good option to ease the pounding on my knee.

I found the track and frankly it was in terrible condition as was their field, which was a surprise. Still, I was two miles in and surviving; so, I began going old-school ... laps of the track.

I kept going but I was struggling. I was definitely not on LT target pace; but, felt some miles was better than no miles. So, round and round I went, remembering why I normally do not do track laps unless I am racing! It was so dull, especially as it is not my high school. I tried to think about other things that have been causing issues lately; but, no good today. I did see some aircraft headed into John Wayne Airport; so, that was a welcome change.

I kept going round and round with brief stops for Powerade (yeah!) and back at it until hitting 6.6 miles. I then began heading for my parents' house, which meant even more hillwork, passing a tractor on a strawberrry patch and other odd sights.

I got home ... knee was sore, time was bad; but, I made it. I did not make the target time; but, I did make the miles at least. I also got concerned about the battle damage and am thinking I may need a break this week.

I ran for 1:33 for 8:08 miles at 11:35 pace vs. my target of 10:30; so, disappointing to say the least.

I will have to see how it goes this week, if I do go and not rest my knee. May be I will go back to Group 8? At least next week is a mere five miles; so, I think I can manage. I guess the frustration is I am really trying and right now the results are not as good as I want. It is still better than I could do in May; but, hobbling around is a bit demoralizing.

New Place ... New Time

Well, Thursday is not only Christmas Eve, it is another running day, scheduled for 45 minutes of LA Roadrunners training.

This time it was a new environment, Baldwin Park, coupled with LIGHT and eating some left over Pan Dulce from a Posada, so some new variables.

I set out and got a good pace going, though some twinges in the knee. I got settled in though which was good and weather was really nice.

I took a totally unplanned route and just went by instinct. Some streets were free of lights; others I was stopping every block. I was in residential and commercial areas. I even managed to get chased by some little dog; but, it backed off as soon as I stopped and looked at it! :-) There were some less amiable dogs though trying to get over fences for a run at me.

I was doing pretty well and my knee got better as the run continued. I think some of the stops helped as well. It was a bit sore; but, it was tolerable and not as bad as the last long run.

Put up a respectable 4.34 miles in 45:35, which was decent.

In the end I am pretty happy the knee held up and while not perfect by far survived ... plus first run at LT target pace! 10:30 to the dot! Yeah! By old standards that is slow; but, by new survival mode standards, I will take that gratefully.

Feliz Navidad a Todos. Happy Christmas!

Go Speed Racer?

The teens at church last year were talking about some Speed Racer movie; somehow that got in my head this morning as I headed out dark and even earlier than normal for some "speedplay" as the LA Roadrunners call it. I can not get to a proper track; so, I use an improvised path down a very quiet street by Santa Monica Airport for 8 x 500m.

My knee was a bit tender on the walk over; so, I felt a bit nervous. I also had a windbreaker on due to the weather, which was a bit windy.

I got to the start and took off on one run and actually felt a bit unsure with the knee. It was also a bit odd as there was no headwind or tailwind; it seemed to be swirling! It was a weird feeling having wind coming in multiple directions. My time was decent; but, a bit off the target of 9:30.

I kept going and began feeling a bit better knee-wise; but, I also felt a bit dehydrated for some reason. I think one ongoing issue is I have to run early; so, I am not eating and drinking much prior to the mid-week work versus the long runs Saturday when I have eaten breakfast and filled the water tank.

I like the speedplay and the semi-sprinting; but, I still need to get consistent. With these runs I can not yet "sense" speed and I am not doing the goal of being within five second each time.

Still, they went pretty well and knee held up for another day.

#1 2:13 for .25 miles for 8:53 pace
#2 2:12 for .26 miles for 8:31 pace
#3 2:12 for .26 miles for 8:39 pace
#4 2:22 for .27 miles for 8:57 pace
#5 2:20 for .26 miles for 9:01 pace
#6 2:30 for .27 miles for 9:11 pace
#7 2:17 for .26 miles for 8:47 pace
#8 2:20 for .26 miles for 8:50 pace

Not quite a model of consistency; but, they are faster than I thought I could do on the way. Right now, I will settle for it.

On a side note, the Santa Monica page for Facebook was promoting some events coming soon ... one was something called "The Los Angeles Marathon." Sounds familiar for some reason ... Wonder if I should "Like" it?