The Accidental Birth of a Marathon Maniac

How I ended up on the Maniac Bus
I have been hampered by a bad right hip, chronic lower back aches, and occasionally ITBS. They were mostly aches and pains that I got from playing tennis and skiing. After I got my body well enough to finally run my first sub 5 hours marathon in San Diego, I wanted to start training and improving so that I can qualify for the Boston Marathon. But first I thought maybe it would be a good idea to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs. So I decided to qualify at the lowest level by running Long Beach, Pasadena, and Honolulu. I got destroyed in Long Beach (see last year's post below) and Pasadena was canceled due to poor air quality caused by nearby fires. That delayed my plan. I finished Honolulu with a then PR but had to deal with lower back aches all week leading up to the race. Then I figured I would qualify for MM by running the Carlsbad Marathon and the Surf City Marathon on back to back weekends.

Step 1: Back to back marathons
So my first race for the new year was the Carlsbad Marathon. I wanted to improve to a 4:15 marathon, so I ran with the pace group. It was surprisingly more difficult to run at a 9:40 pace vs a 8:40 pace. The right leg quit on me before I even got to the half. I struggled to a 4:59 finish. Around mile 15 of that race, I really wanted to quit running marathons for good. But a lot happens during 11 miles of suffering. I got the idea that quitting is not good. So I decided to abandon my plan of running quality marathons. I decided to go for quantity instead and see if I could stay relatively healthy while running 3 marathons in 1 month.

The following weekend I ran Surf City. I didn't want to repeat what happened in Carlsbad, so I ran with the 4:30 pace group. I ditched the pace group very early and just ran at whatever pace my body felt like running. My legs seemed to like that better. I finished in 4:38. Was actually on pace for about 4:20 until I started cramping late in the race. I was surprised that I actually ran faster. It was at the race expo that I met Dane Rauschenberg where I bought his book documenting his quest/adventure of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks.

Step 2: Filling in the gaps with marathons
So I had ran a marathon in December, January, and February. Pasadena was rescheduled to March which I ran a PR in 4:21. My goal for 3 marathons in 1 month was in May. So I needed a marathon in April to keep the streak going. Here's where I got the idea to run at least 1 marathon per month for the rest of 2009 hopefully all of them at sub 5 hours.

Step 3: 3 marathons in 1 month
I ran Palos Verdes in 4:51 while suffering severe cramps. I went out to destroy the PR that I got in Pasadena, but it was too hot and I hadn't figured out my electrolyte problem yet. I then ran Los Angeles in 4:24 feeling pretty super. The following weekend I ran San Diego in 4:27 wondering how my body is holding up. I still remembered when I could not for the life of me finish a marathon under 5 hours.

Step 4: Continuing the streak while gaining weight
I gained about 15 pounds because of overeating and lifting weights. I overate because of stress and I lifted weights because I couldn't run as much as I would like. In June I ran Seattle in 4:50. It was fun but I had a hard time dealing with the heat. In July I ran San Francisco in 4:55. I had too much beer with friends the night before and was surprised I even broke 5 hours. Then the lack of discipline caught up to me when I ran the difficult but fun ET Midnight Marathon in 5:28. I was becoming more and more out of running shape since I was in the weight room more than I was running.

Step 5: Sign up for a hard 50k
I was not ready for the Montaña de Oro 50k. It was about a week before my birthday and I thought I could just hike it if I was tired. Boy I underestimated the distance and the course. I DNF'd while only covering 33k. About 5k of that was just getting my useless body off of the mountain when I reached a point where I could not continue. This was sort of the wake up call that I needed to get back on track in preparing myself to become a Boston qualifier. I had to give up my distractions: bowling, lifting weights for upper body mass, succumbing to work/life stress. I will be back to MdO next year to have my revenge!

Step 6: Let's go for some altitude training!
Since my streak of sub 5 hours was broken, I thought I'd go run a fun marathon in Big Bear. I was sort of traumatized by MdO in that I couldn't run this race the way that I normally do. Anyways I was destroyed by the hot weather, altitude, and poor electrolyte replacement. I didn't bring enough salt caps. I cramped my way to a 5:53.

Step 7: 3 in 3 consecutive weekends
I was really unhappy with myself at the Big Bear race which led me to sign up for the Lake Tahoe Marathon at almost the very last minute. I brought more salt caps this time and I ran as hard as my legs would let me. The views were definitely worth the long drive, but next time I'll be flying. I finished in 5:08.

I could feel the difference in the elevation when I ran the Sacramento Cowtown Marathon. 8:20 pace was feeling like 9:30 pace from last weekend. This was the first time trying out Nuun. I got really sick when I ran out of Nuun/water late in the race, but I was able to recover and finish in 4:48. Nothing new on race day is still the smart thing to do! Kind of hurt my ankle in this race.

My ankle/AT was sore going into the Long Beach Marathon... my dreaded nemesis. Truth be told, I always go out at a pace that would get me a sub 4. By the 10k mark, I make my adjustment and again at the half way mark. In this race, I considered a DNF when I reached 10k. My ankle/AT was just not feeling good at all. I had to jog/walk the 2nd half and finished to 4:49. Using Nuun during a road race was quite hectic.

Step 8: 4 in 4 consecutive weekends
Now comes my final challenge for the year. I'll be running the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, followed by the New York City Marathon, followed by the Fresno Marathon, and ending with the Malibu Marathon.

Step 9: 5 in 5 consecutive weekends???
I might run the Santa Monica Mountains 50k. I should be fine now that I've started using Nuun. But first I will need to get past step 8.

Hopefully I will be physically able to enjoy the Las Vegas Marathon in December!

I will end the year with about 20 marathons. I still marvel at the fact that Dane finished his 52 uninjured while holding a full time job with nobody sponsoring him!