Reverse Goofy Challenge

1/31 Sunday - 3.4 miles in 28:06 at approx. 8:16 pace. 14:10 out, 13:56 in.
Legs felt fresh. Haven't felt this good in awhile. It was a tad colder today so I wore long sleeves. I started off slow, but decided mid run to try and match yesterday's run. This time I didn't feel winded coming up that last hill.

1/30 Saturday - 3.4 miles in 28:04 at approx. 8:15 pace. 13:58 out, 14:06 in.
It was a very foggy morning. It felt great to be running in somewhat cold weather with gloves on. I felt winded coming back up the last hill. Still no discomfort in my Achilles or any body part. Since I felt so good, I decided to sign up for the Disneyland and La Jolla Half Marathons. I would not miss Disneyland since I've ran it every year since the race came into existence. The La Jolla Half Marathon will be somewhat harder since I'll be running the Country Music Marathon the day before.

Carlsbad Marathon

Restaurant & Hotel
Sorry, no restaurant or hotel reviews since this was a "local" race. I still had to drive over an hour one way just to get to the expo and again for the race.

Before the Race
I had a bout with nasal allergies leading up to the race, but what was worse was coupling that with gastritis... probably from stress. Definitely not something you want to deal with when you plan to run a marathon. Needless to say, I had to visit the portapotties quite a bit before the race. The official race drink was Ultima. Um, yeah, no thanks. I'm glad that I always carry my own fluids and only take water from the aid stations. The night before the race, I carbo-loaded with Spam fried race... my comfort food. It seemed to have worked as the stomach calmed down. I got to the parking lot around 4:25am and it was cold. I bumped into my friend Louis, who also knew the best parking spot. I wished him a great race and advised him to run a sub 2 half marathon by running every mile at 9 min pace, which he did. I'll take credit for his sub 2 PR. :) While heading to the starting area, I ran into Gymgirl and later into James and his friend that he was pacing.

1st Half
Just like last year, the race started in the dark at 6am. But this year they gave the marathon their own separate start which really eased the congestion at the start. We did not get any light until about mile 2. I made sure to keep myself in check. Of course I wanted to run the first few miles harder, but I made sure to keep things slow since my weekly mileage leading up has been a whopping 3 miles a week and 19 total miles since the Vegas Marathon. Early on the 4hr pace group was in sight, but they slowly but surely crept away from me. Then the 4:15 group ran past me later and I had no interest in staying with them. The climb at miles 7 through 9 really drained me. The downhill at mile 11 though 12 was most welcomed. But I was exhausted. I completely bonked and smashed into the wall at mile 13! I was hoping to reach at least mile 18 before that happened.
1: 9:30
2: 8:50
3: 9:23
4: 9:32
5: 9:30
6: 9:35
7: 10:00
8: 9:42
9: 10:17
10: 10:28
11: 9:09
12: 9:50
13: 10:57

2nd Half
I started taking more frequent extended walk breaks. At this point, I was grabbing a GU whenever one was dangled before me. I tried to jog as much as I could, but my legs were dead. They had not seen this much action in awhile and they were protesting. Mile 18 was brutal to me this year as it was last year. It's not that steep of a climb, but once you're done with the climb you know that every step you take will be one step closer to the finish line. I took a much needed bathroom break at the end of mile 18. I tried to revive the legs a few times, but it just wasn't happening. If I ingest too much of anything, my GI would let me know. I did get to see NYCJoe heading out when I was around mile 20. The rest was just walking/jogging with the back of the pack half marathoners. They did rope off a lane to the right for the marathoners which was a nice change from last year. I attempted to run as I got close to the mile 26 marker, but I started to cramp up on the homestretch. I just kept moving because I knew that the long day was finally over with a banana waiting for me.
14: 12:00
15: 12:14
16: 12:33
17: 12:58
18: 16:26
19: 17:39
20: 13:22
21: 13:15
22: 13:54
23: 15:28
24: 14:32
25: 13:36
26: 14:51
26.2: 2:11
Finish: 5:11:57

After the Race
I headed over to Bobby's Hideaway Cafe to meet up with my RWOL friends. I caught them just as they're finishing up their meals. I warned them that I'd take my sweet time out there. As planned, I didn't eat anything. I rarely can stomach anything a few hours immediately after sucking down countless GUs and whatnot during a marathon. It was good seeing everybody. I'll see some of them again at Surf City.

After snapping a few obligatory photos, I headed up north to Costa Mesa to eat my ramen. Sometimes it's better to travel solo, as I was able to bypass the usual waiting list to sit at the counter. So I had my ramen and thus concluded the Carlsbad Marathon. I might have to change the title of my blog since I've definitely increased my ramen intake and made a significant cut back on the red meat.

Feeling Better!

1/16 Saturday - I ran my 3.4 mile route at a comfortable 8:15 pace in 28:04. 14:00 out, 14:04 in. There was no discomfort at all with the Achilles before, during or after. I even wore my cheap shoes to make sure I do not run too fast. Because I feel almost 100%, I will attempt to run the Carlsbad Marathon next weekend. At first I was thinking of downgrading the race to a half marathon or even a DNS. I know my endurance will be really lacking, but the Achilles needed the rest.

I won't run this coming week to give the Achilles even more rest. My plan to run Carlsbad will be to run an even 9 min pace from start to finish. That might be a bit hard since the course is full of rollers.

Too Much Too Soon!

12/29 Tuesday - My ailing Achilles had been feeling nearly 100% so I decided to take it out for a little spin. I ran my usual out and back 3.4 mile route at a relaxed 9 min pace. It felt really good to be out running again. But on my way back, I felt weakness in Achilles. The same feeling that I felt during the Vegas Marathon. I figured that I really should not be running just yet, but if I did, 3 miles is the limit.

1/1 Friday - There was no soreness after the 3 mile run, so I decided to run the Rose Parade route with a bunch of other runners. Overall it was a great experience. Everyone should do it at least once in their lifetime. Again I was very eager to run. The route was about 5 miles. We were suppose to run to the starting area of the parade to view the floats. Then run back before the parade starts. So the total would be about 10 miles. I started off at a slow 9:30 - 10 min pace to warm up. Then I took off with a couple of runners that were running between 8 - 8:30 pace. It felt good, but then about 3 miles into the run I started to feel weird sensations in the Achilles. It was as if some was giving me acupuncture. Anyways, I made it to floats. Somehow I lost my Power Balance bracelet when I took off my gloves. On the return run, I jogged back with my TNT friend. We ran at about 9:30 - 10 min pace. I felt a little bit demoralized, but was glad to have a friend to keep me company. 5 miles, let alone 10 miles was definitely too much too soon! It was a bit sore after I took a nap.

1/2 Saturday - Today I'm able to walk without a limp so that's a good sign. But I'm definitely laying off running. I will have to find another form of exercise. Anybody want to go bike shopping with me?

Rock n Roll Las Vegas Marathon

Buffet Mandatory, Marathon Optional
So the Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Marathon was the final marathon for the year. I always love going to Vegas to eat. I wanted to try out two sushi buffets, Sushi Mon and Hikari. Even though I kept telling myself that the marathon was optional, I knew that I wanted to run it to see the condition of my right Achilles. I had not run a step since the Malibu Marathon 3 weeks prior. I was even beginning to think that I had forgotten how to run. The Achilles was healing up really nicely. I had full range of motion and it was looking a lot more like the good left one. It was relatively pain/niggle free when I walk. Oddly enough just 2-3 days before the race, the Achilles was feeling a bit sore whenever I walked longer distances. In hindsight maybe it was telling me not to run the marathon. :)

Day 1 - Getting to the Expo
I decided last minute to take a personal day on Friday and headed out Friday morning. I was able to book a pretty nice place just off of the Strip for $50. I got into Primm in about 3 hours for my usual restroom break. Boy it was cold! Stupid me, I was wearing shorts. I got into Vegas shortly thereafter. I headed over to park at Luxor. I wanted to walk around a little bit to see how the Achilles felt. I got to the expo before it opened. I talked to one of the competitor group girls at the booth about the ultra with Dean Karnazes at the RnR Arizona. They were setting up outside of the convention hall and it looked quite hectic since it was not planned that way. There was a cowboy convention just next door to the marathon expo and that really added to the crowd. I met Meb Keflezghi, the winner of this year's NYC Marathon, at the Nissan booth. That was really cool. He was a very humble down-to-earth guy. He signed my bib and a postcard of him celebrating after the win at NYC.

I zipped through the rest of the expo with absolutely no intention of signing up for another race. I was however scouting for calf sleeves. All I saw were 2xu. Since I was getting hungry I decided that I would check those out the next day. Then I waited in the registration line to do a last minute sign-up for my friend. After I was done with that, I met up with my Bay Area friends, Cat and Aimee at the food court. I then bumped into Mae on my way to get my car to go check into my hotel and eat at Sushi Mon. I checked into my huge room at the Tuscany Suites. Then I finally headed out to eat a very late lunch or a very early supper at Sushi Mon. It was about 3pm and I was so hungry I could hardly think straight. I love almost all Japanese food and I stuffed myself to the point that I almost had to hurl. I then went back to my hotel to rest my stomach.

Day 2
I woke up the next day pretty early around 5am and read part of Dick Beardley's book, Staying the Course. I checked out at around 9:30ish and went back to the expo to look at the 2xu calf guards and meet up with a few other RWOL folks... Jake, James, Howard, Ingrid, and Marcia. I tried on the sleeves and they felt ok. I was told they were too tight for running by other runners, but I thought I'd give them a try. I bought a pair to use during the race. After saying goodbye to my friends, I stopped by a CVS to buy some sunflower kernels to snack on and OJ for race day. I then checked into the Bluegreen Club 36 resort. This was a really nice place with everything... a kitchen, washer and dryer, and a handicap access bathroom. I could actually sit down and take a shower. I swear the signs were all there. James and Howard joined me for sushi buffet number 2 at Hikari for dinner at 5pm. I tried not to eat too much. It was great eating with friends at Hikari versus eating solo at Sushi Mon. I wished them both a good race and headed back to my hotel. Back in my room, I popped in my Spirit of the Marathon dvd to get some motivation. I really did not want to run a marathon the next day. Jeanette stopped by to pick up her race packet. If you thought that I ran too many races... it's all kid's stuff compared to the amount she ran this year! Ever since I bumped into her at Montaña de Oro, I almost always expect to see her at every single marathon that I run. She's one of my maniac idols! :)

Pre-race
I got ready and checked out by 3:30am to park on the other side of the Strip. The instructions stated that the Strip was going to be closed at 4am. Lies! It was already closed. So I drove further south and was able to cut across onto the street that led to the Mandalay Bay and Luxor parking lots. I didn't want to deal with crowds so I headed for Luxor. I walked over to the Mandalay Bay and hung out at the food court eating my Powerbar. As it was getting close to the start, I headed over to exit and found Jeanette sitting in a corner. I hung out with her since we were in the same corral. Eventually we had to go out into the cold, check our bags, and run a marathon. I wore my Pearl Izumi visor, Worldvision shirt, Sugoi arm-warmers, Asics gloves, Mizuno shorts, 2xu calf sleeves, and Nike shoes. As you can see, no brand loyalty. Man it was cold... freeze warning cold! We hopped into our corral and after some fireworks we were off.

First Half
I started off very slow. When I eventually sped up, it was only up to about a 9:00 - 9:15 pace... a very comfortable pace. I even starting to think that maybe all is well and I would have a decent race. Well, that lasted all for about 3 miles. At that point I started to notice that I wasn't getting much of a push off of my right leg. It just got progressively weaker and weaker. As with my last several marathons, my left leg was again dragging the right leg. I eventually had to slow the pace way down just to avoid injuring my left good leg. The slower I went, the more miserable and demoralized I felt. The legs felt extremely heavy at mile 12 probably due to me not running for 3 weeks.
1: 8:51
2: 9:49
3: 9:01
4: 9:45
5: 8:55
6: 9:12
7: 9:43
8-9: 19:17
10: 10:32
11: 10:05
12: 12:07
13: 12:39

Second Half Maniac No. 1382 asked me for my maniac number when we bumped into each other at around mile 15 and 16... right about when my race turned into a piss-a-thon. I kept getting the urge to pee. I tried to drink less, but then my legs started cramping. So I had to pick the lesser of the two evils and kept visiting the portapotties at almost every single mile. Even after the race I had to keep going. I saw James when he was around mile 21 and headed back while I was still heading out. He said he was having a bad day and he even turned around to walk with me a little. Apparently he had caught the flu. Later on when I stepped out of the potty of my many potty breaks somewhere around mile 22, I bumped into Jeanette. She had just ran a marathon the day before and she was in better condition than I was. She really helped me out at that point. But after hitting yet another potty, I ran pretty fast up the last hill just to catch her. But hills and a bad Achilles don't mix, so I had to let her go. Besides my legs were starting to lock up, so I couldn't even keep up if I wanted to go with her. I saw my friend Ingrid around mile 25. I think she said that I made her wait an extra hour. Once I saw the 26th mile marker, I just ran with whatever I had left to the finish line bad Achilles and all. I don't know why, but what always lights a fire under my butt for the last .2 is when I tell myself that it's only a short par 4 to the finish.
14: 12:00
15: 12:26
16: 15:56
17: 15:19
18: 15:07
19: 14:52
20: 12:35
21: 15:27
22: 13:50
23: 15:02
24: 13:30
25: 12:26
26: 14:30
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 5:15:05

Post-race
I met up with my RWOL friends (Joe, Cat, Kristy, Mae) and Aimee at the House of Blues. I must say that Guinness is my new favorite post race beer. My former go-to beer, Newcastle, did not taste good at all for some reason. I had the "Cobb salad of defeat" and boy did I feel defeated! I really finished out the year with a whimper.

The greatest strength of a typical marathon maniac is the "never quit" attitude. Sad to say, it is also the greatest weakness. A normal sane non-maniac with my injuries would've drop out at mile 3 or maybe even at the 10k mark. It would be safe to say that it takes quite a bit to bring down a maniac. It's literally the finish line or bust.

The 2xu calf guards felt great throughout the race. They did not feel too tight. I actually prefer the feel of 2xu over Zensah. They both work well though. The last few races that I've worn calf sleeves, the calves were never sore or were the first body part to recover.

In case you were wondering which sushi buffet was better... the quality of the sakana (fish) and food art was definitely better at Sushi Mon. Hikari was ok with a few other items on the menu, but the quality just wasn't as good. Sushi Mon wins my vote.

The Future
Obviously the Achilles did not pass the test. So I will not be signing up for anymore races in 2010. I will only run the races in which I've already paid. In fact, I'm seriously considering downgrading a few of the earlier races in 2010 to half marathons or skipping them altogether. Right now Carlsbad is pretty much a DNS. We'll see... I have about a month and a half to recover.

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.

Eye-Q Two Cities Marathon

The Morning Drive
After dropping off some clothes at the Goodwill bin, I took off for Fresno. I was making pretty good time despite seeing lots of Highway Patrol Cars. They caught most of the super reckless drivers. I kept it to 80 tops and usually hung with a pack of cars. I had a pit stop at a Starbucks in Bakersfield and I arrived at my hotel in about 4 hours. I had thought about taking the free event shuttle to the expo, but I wanted to buy supplies and go eat lunch somewhere after the expo so I decided to drive there.

The Expo and Stuff
I picked up my race packet and ticket for the pasta dinner. I then walked through the small expo and fortunately saw nothing to buy. I then waited to hear Dick Beardsley speak. I talked to him beforehand, had him sign my bib, and snapped a photo. He is a very good speaker. It was fun to listen to his stories about his life and running. He was signing autographs and selling stuff afterward. I bought both of his books (Duel in the Sun and Staying the Course: A Runner's Toughest Race) and a shirt. My marathon maniac friend, Mitch spotted me while I was listening to Dick. By coincidence we were both staying at the Holiday Inn Express, so we decided to meet up later and go to the pasta dinner together. Good thing because we would have a hard time finding the place.

I first drove to a Walgreens to buy some water and orange juice. I then drove to a Japanese restaurant on Ness called Sakura Chaya. I ate their lunch special which had California rolls, tempura, chicken terikyaki, and unagi don. It was okay but very Americanized, but that's to be expected since I was in Fresno. I then headed back to my hotel to rest. I watched a little bit of Underworld 2 and surfed the web on my ancient laptop with the free hotel internet. Then it was time to go to the pasta dinner. Mitch and I took the shuttle back to the expo. Along with a bunch of other people, we all had a hard time finding the location. Well we finally found it and ate the somewhat mediocre pasta. They didn't even have spaghetti. All they had was penne, one of my least favorite pasta. But it was still worth it since we got to listen to Dick Beardsley speak again. They showed a clip of the 1982 Boston Marathon, the duel in the sun between him and Alberto Salazar. After all of that was over, we hopped on the shuttle back to our hotel. When I got to my room, I had started to watch The Spirit of the Marathon dvd but fell asleep sometime around 7:30. I had originally planned on watching The Dark Knight on HBO but I was knocked-out.

Pre Race
I got up at around 4am to get ready. Ate my Powerbar and drank my juice. I packed up all of my stuff and put them in my car. When it was time to go, I checked out and met up with Mitch in the hotel's free breakfast area. We took the shuttle for a quick ride over to the starting area. We waited around and watched the half marathoners take off at 7am. Mitch went to check his bag at the Cintas trucks while I went to use the potty. As I jogged over to the Cintas trucks to meet up with Mitch, I knew it was going to be a difficult day. The right Achilles was tight. It did not hurt or give me trouble when I walked so I figured I'll give it shot. Worse thing I'll do is drop out at the first relay station. We proceeded to our starting corral... corral C.

1st Half
I started off slow. Mitch was going to run with the 4 hour pace group so I made sure I never got close to him. I could not find a comfortable gait/pace until about 2 miles in. The course took us on the Clovis Old Town Trail. At around mile 5 I was actually starting to feel pretty good and I started closing in on the 4 hour pace group. I think the pacer was a little bit slow but still I made sure I did not catch the group. Mile 10 was a pain having to run into a headwind. Coming back up the Clovis Old Town Trail was really hurting my Achilles from having to go down and up through several underpass tunnels. I was struggling on each uphill part. One thought kept running through my head: I cannot believe that I was attempting to finish this race just for a nice finisher's sweatshirt. I was ready for the race to be over when I reached the halfway mark. I was thinking how great it would have been to be a relay runner and just have someone else finish the race.
1: 9:35
2: 9:04
3: 9:11
4: 9:26
5: 8:50
6: 9:03
7: 9:53
8: 9:24
9: 9:16
10: 10:10
11: 10:38
12: 10:23
13: 10:59
13.1: 2:07:05

2nd Half
Mile 15 was more pain running into more headwind. I was really tired at around mile 18, so I started taking longer walking breaks. There was somewhat of a climb at around mile 23 so I had to walk a bit to rest the Achilles. Because I wanted the race to be over sooner rather than later, I managed a decent stride and ran most of the final mile passing some of the people that I had been leapfrogging for the past 20 or so miles. The announcer, whom I had met at the expo, gave me a shout out. He told the crowd that this was my 3rd marathon in 3 weeks and that it was my 17th this year. I heard a comment from one of the volunteers, "woah, that's crazy!"
14: 10:09
15: 11:05
16: 12:04
17: 11:27
18: 12:08
19: 16:11
20: 16:48
21: 12:57
22: 11:40
23: 14:26
24: 13:57
25: 13:54
26: 12:43
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 4:57:30

Post Race
I walked over to pick up my medal and the nice zippered sweatshirt. I had to work quite hard for it. I then picked up a plate of breakfast: some scrambled eggs, spicy potatoes, and sausages. They were really good. I thought about getting seconds, but that will slow me down on my quest to reach 130. Then I made my way to the beer garden to look for my friend Mitch. He was there with his mom listening to the band. The band was pretty good. I gave one of my two beers to Mitch since I was going to be driving home soon. I said goodbye to Mitch and went to find a shuttle back to the hotel to pick up my car. Most likely I will see him again in Malibu since maniacs run every weekend.

Just as with the NYC Marathon, my Achilles felt fine for the rest of the day after the race. But it swelled up overnight and it's now rather uncomfortable walking up or down stairs. But it is no worse today than it was the day after MCM or NYC. The trip would've been worth it just to meet Dick Beardsley. This race was one of the best managed races that I've run in. I would recommend this race to anyone looking for a small town cozy marathon where they treat their runners really well. I just might be back in the future to see how I'd do with 2 working Achilles.