Malibu Marathon

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I almost had a tragic Benjamin Button moment. Out of everything that needed to happen for an accident to happen almost happened. I had planned the day before to leave the house around 8am so that I could get to Zuma Beach at around 9am right when the expo started. But that morning, I was feeling lazy so I changed my mind and left around 10am so I could hit the expo and then lunch. I usually take the 10 because the 60 is the worst freeway ever... EVER! So I was driving down the 60 freeway to connect to the 10. We were all zipping along around 80 when the cars in front of me broke rather suddenly. I engaged my brakes and stopped in plenty of time, but I heard a bunch of tire screeching. Looking in the rear-view mirror I see a small white Geo Metro type car with smoke coming from its tires. I thought, "oh crap, she's going to kill me!" Then at the very last second she swerved over to the next lane. Obviously she had not been paying attention. Man if she had slammed into me at that speed, I wouldn't have had to wrestle with the decision of whether to attempt the marathon with 1 bad Achilles. I'm pretty sure if I had left earlier, there would've been less cars on the freeway and the near accident would've never happened. After that near miss, the rest of the trip was boring. I guess I could've taken that as a sign that running the race on Sunday was a bad idea. But everything was paid for already and I was also going there to meet up with an old friend that I've known since grade school.

Expo
I got to Zuma Beach and parked at the Trancas parking lot. Apparently you can park along the side of the street, but I saw a cop car and a bunch of tow trucks towing several cars away. Turns out they were parked in a designated no parking anytime zone. The expo was very small. I picked up my race packet and started through the expo. I talked to my friend at the Worldvision table. Then I visited the Pasadena Marathon table. Then I checked out the DetermiNation program for the American Cancer Society. It would seem that almost every charity out there is getting into endurance sports. Then I talked to a lady at the EFX booth. She noticed that my calf looked really tight and of course it was my bad leg with the bad Achilles. She told me that the EFX was essentially an upgrade from the Power Balance. The inventor of the Power Balance had to jump ship and start a new line. We talked about Dick Beardsley, Alberto Salazar, the NYC Marathon, and she also recommended how I can take care of my Achilles. Apparently she's a fitness instructor. I told her that I would buy an EFX bracelet at the next expo when I have money.

The Last Meal
As I was walking back to my car, I noticed that the Achilles felt an awful a lot like it did before the Marine Corps Marathon. I drove up to my hotel in Calabassas. I passed by the entrance for Malibu Creek State Park... fun memories there. Before checking in, I stopped into Albertson's to buy my usually water and orange juice. Then I ate lunch at McDonald's. I have not eaten there in ages. I found that the menu has gotten rather complicated. Then I checked into a no-frills Good Nite Inn. It was ok, all I heard the entire time were very loud Harleys and the faint sound of cars driving along the nearby freeway.

The first thing I did when I got into my room was ice my Achilles while watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I ate dinner with my friend at a sushi restaurant next door. When I returned to my room I ended up finishing the book, Duel in the Sun. I really couldn't put that book down.

Pre-race
I started getting ready around 3am. I checked out at around 4:15am and drove down to Zuma Beach. I got there a little before 5am. I had to ask the girls at the tent for directions on where to park. I had to drive about another mile back where I came from just to enter the beach parking lots. I got my stuff together and boarded the bus. As the bus almost reached its capacity, I realized that I had forgotten my gels. So I scrambled off of the bus... went back to my car... picked up my gels and headed back for the bus. One of the volunteers told me that my bus was leaving. I said that's fine, I'll just take the next one. So I got on the next bus and headed for the back of the bus. I tried to take a little nap but this bus was too cold. When we got to the Camarillo airport, it was just after the crack of dawn. I saw Danica and her "Malibu Barbie" friends exiting the bus. Apparently we were on the same bus. It was rather chilly but I knew it would warm up later in the day. I saw a lot of Marathon Maniacs at the starting area. They all treat me as if I'm one of their own. But this day I was a solo purple Team in Training runner! The starting line felt almost like a big family reunion.

1st Half
I didn't have much out there from the very beginning. I started off slow and slowly sped up. I followed PasadenaRunner for about the first 3 miles and got dropped like a rock. My Achilles felt worse than it did at Marine Corps. So I slowed way down. I was jogging along between 10-10:30 pace and it felt hard! I wanted to drop out, but it didn't seem like it was possible since we were running through some farm land. So I tried to relax and run as comfortably as I could. I figured if the discomfort doesn't get any worse that would be a good sign. Eventually it felt tolerable. We ran by celery and manure... two things I would never put in my mouth. Apparently the farm land section was the easy part. Once we got on the PCH, we had to deal with the wind. Most of the time it was a very stiff headwind with lots of dust swirling around while trying to power up a hill with 1 very sore Achilles tendon. The cambered road did not help one bit. Please shoot me now.
1: 9:25
2: 9:04
3: 8:58
4: 10:05
5: 10:09
6: 10:24
7: 11:25
8: 10:42
9: 10:42
10: 10:47
11: 11:29
12: 11:58
13: 11:13

2nd Half
I mismanaged my fluids. I thought I had enough to last me until the next aid station. I did not. I ran about 2 miles without a sip of my Nuun laced water. So when I finally got to the next aid station and got filled up... I had to start taking extended walking breaks for the next several miles while chugging my nice tasting cola flavored Nuun water since I could feel the cramps starting to set in. Once I got through that bad patch, I could start jogging again. But every time I started back up, the Achilles would hurt. But walking it in would probably take me about 7 hours to finish, so I had to keep moving as fast as I could. Then there were these hills. The elevation chart showed 3 major climbs with the last one ending at mile 24. When I saw that the finish line was close, I had to open up my stride. It felt ok, but definitely not something I could hold together for more than a few hundred yards.
14: 11:12
15: 12:31
16: 11:06
17: 14:42
18: 16:02
19: 14:00
20: 14:29
21: 16:29
22: 17:20
23: 15:12
24: 14:33
25: 13:23
26: 13:20
26.2: 1:53
Finish: 5:22:44

Post-race
That was one horrific mind screw from start to finish. I wouldn't say that the course was super hard. But it definitely was not easy. Most of the time I was just focused on managing the pain in my Achilles and convincing myself that this was a good idea... anything to just get me to that finish line. Anyways I got my medal and went to say hi to Danica as she and her "Barbie" friends were being interviewed. Then I realized that I didn't return my J-chip so I headed back to the finish line. Then one of the volunteers took my chip and gave me a pretty cool lunch bag with a bunch of treats. But since I took my sweet ass time to finish, they had already ran out of the finisher's beach towels that they were handing out. I sat down at a nearby chair and ate a banana as I waited for some of my friends to finish. I had so much salt on my arms, I looked like a margarita glass... thank goodness for Nuun. I go through about 5 - 7 Nuun tablets each marathon just to prevent cramps.

From the way that I felt during this race, I am considering a scratch on the Las Vegas Marathon. I will definitely be there to eat my obligatory buffets, but I would very much like to rest my right Achilles and re-evaluate in January. The swelling hasn't gone down much yet but it doesn't hurt this time. It's just a little uncomfortable when I go up or down stairs. In all honesty I shouldn't have ran Long Beach, Marine Corps, New York, Fresno, or Malibu. That's 5 marathons' worth of gimping around. Thank goodness it felt good at New York until after the race. I couldn't believe that I completed Fresno and Malibu just so I would obtain a 4 star status with the Marathon Maniacs. I am so glad 2009 is finally coming to an end.