I'm back!

Hello Runners!!!!

I'm back (if anyone cares)


It has been quite a while, almost 8 years to be exact since I last posted a blog entry.  My goal with this series of blogs will be to help runners struggling with injuries to see the "right way" and the wrong way to recover from serious injuries.  I put the term "right way" in quotes because there are multiple right ways to recover but I will explain the way I used for recover this time as opposed to the last time.  I didn't put the term "wrong way" into quotes because if you are trying to "train" through a serious injury to stay fit you are doing it wrong, plain and simple.  (side note- I am talking about serious injuries, in my case a sacral stress fractures both times.  I am not talking about something like Achilles tendonitis/tendonapothy or runner's knee which do require special care and treatment but you could possibly still modify your training while treating.

Let's take a journey back to November 2013.  I had been running well that year with the "usual" tightness/soreness you get from long runs or hard workouts.  Then my life changed.  My wife and I lost our first child 6 months into pregnancy.  Needless to say nothing prepares you or feels as empty and hopeless as the loss of a child.  After a few days of being in a fog and not knowing if I could go on with life, I decided I needed to get some running therapy in and see if I maybe take my mind of the indescribable pain I was in.  When I got done with a 6 miler my body was killing me.  My left glute and lower back were so tight.  I took 4 days off.

For the next few months I suffered with the tightness in that region with some days being way worse then others.  And some days I didn't have any issues.  I did go see my general practitioner and see sent me to physical therapy.    I was told it was a tight piriformis and I needed to stretch more, work on my HORRIBLE lack of mobility, and heat/ice the area.

Even though I did what they told me it wasn't getting better.  Yet I kept running.  Until I couldn't.
In February I had an 30K and I could barely stand up straight and walk the next day which was Monday. Yet like an idiot who was training for a March marathon I went and attempted a 11 mile run on Tuesday.  I was in so much pain at the end I had to walk the last 3 miles back.

I took the full week off and tried to run a 21 miler that following Saturday. I made it 50 feet before I was in excruciating pain.  Back to the doctors and after an  MRI I was misdiagnosed and was told I could continue to walk and exercise if it didn't hurt.  After a month of trying that I got a second MRI and was told I had a stress fracture in my sacrum and waould be out for 3-4 month!  A freaking death sentence for a runner.

So that's my "back" story..HA HA get it back, sacrum, part of the back.... oh never mind.

Over the next few weeks I hope to let you know how I fucked up that recovery and turned a 3-4 month recovery into a 7-8 month recovery and how this current one is hopefully healed in 3 months because I  learned the hard way to recovery from an injury correctly.


Hope you enjoy it.

Summer Blog

After 11 weeks of not running, I finally got two runs in this week. I did a 5 miler on the trails of Griffith Park (uphills were easier on the back than the downhills) and then I did a 5 miler with Chris (@ChrisSchauble) Peter (@lamarathon) Liana (@FITtorrent) and Bob (@RCMCoach) http://twitpic.com/23bwtx . Today I feel great although my legs feel a little "dead" from the "new" activity I am introducing them to. When I run I am still super cautious (almost too much) and am constantly thinking "is this a dream?" Today is a swim only day and tomorrow I might do stairs or make it another swim day or aqua jog. I am going to slowly get back into this running thing, the last thing I need to do is get injured again rushing back to soon. the younger me would rush back, the older wise adult (?) is going to ease back into it.

I plan outlining my recovery plan later this week. I just wanted to tell everyone that I might be back and racing soon. I am actually signed up for a 5K Sunday at the annual Keep LA Running. I don't plan on racing it just having fun. It did feel good to get this tweet from @massayaka
"@cmoss23 tnx, dont mind finding it out 1st hand. r u gona Keep LA Running this wknd? u used 2 kill my AG. bet u still do... ". It is nice knowing that I "killed" my age group when I used to be able to race. That will motivate me to return to my racing pace.

Major News!

Major news on the home front. No BP didn't stop the oil spill. No America did not win their soccer match in the World Cup. And no I didn't lower my insurance using Geiko. It's BIGGER. I just ran 20 minutes on the t-mill without pain!!!!!!!! I know, I know it doesn't seem that important in the grand scheme of things but to me it means a lot.

Earlier this week my lovely (and can I say beautiful since I think she is still reading my blog) principal had 3 treadmills delivered to school. A necessity, no. A want for my running team, yes. And regardless if she is reading this, she is wonderful since she actually came through on her promise. When school started she said she would get me a few treadmills to help me evaluate my runner's gait so I could place them in proper shoes and we could use the t-mills on rainy days. True to her word we got the t-mills earlier this week. I was going to wait until Sunday to try my t-mill run but I said "what the hey, I am here and I should see how well they work", so I ran this morning. LOVED IT!


Now I am really starting to get encouraged and looking forward to my next stage in rehab, the long road back to running great. At least I know I can start incorporating more runs in while I am rehabbing to keep me sane.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Oh and if anyone knows of a gym who would like to donate old treadmills or cardio equipment we would love them and they would get a tax write-off. Win win for everyone.

Gym Dislikes!!

Let me start off by saying I hate the gym! I don’t hate working out/lifting weights or the benefits from working out with weights; I hate all the boneheads that make going to the gym a horrible experience. I love gyms like Jordan’s Virtual Fit Club. It is the size of a strip mall liquor store and is packed, PACKED with weights. It is like working out in your own private gym.
Since I have been relegated to rehabbing in the gym, I have noticed even more things I dislike. Jeff Bomberger touched on gym etiquette before, but this goes beyond his.

Dudes the shower wall is not a tissue!
Dudes that walk around naked in the locker room have been discussed, but do they really need to SHAVE naked? Come on man show a little respect!
Speaking of respect, what the hell is up with guys that don’t want to say thank you for holding the door that extra second for someone. I am not gay and hitting on you or I don’t think that you can’t open the door; it is a polite gesture that a civilized society respects. I don’t care how much muscle you have saying thank you doesn’t make you a pussy.
Speaking of guys thinking you are gay and hitting on them, that is NOT the case when I see you struggling with too heavy of a weight and I ask if you need a spot. It’s not that I don’t think you can lift it (you shouldn’t be lifting it if you are struggling so bad with poor form but that is another topic), it is that I don’t want to waste my time later filling out a report as to what I saw when you crushed your skull with a 95 lb. dumbbell.
Now for too heavy of weights; if you are using dumbbells you do not need to slam them on the ground for attention. If you are not strong enough to be able to control the weights back to your legs and stand up or control them enough to get them to the ground gently, you are not as strong as you think and should mix in a few stabilizer exercises once in a while.
Treadmill racer guy, I am rehabbing an injury I am not here to race you. Don’t look over at my t-mill and increase your pace to better mine. I am just here because I have to be and couldn’t care less how fast you think you are with your board shorts and Vans.
Other treadmill/stair master/elliptical dorks don’t jack up your pace or the incline so high that you hold on to the handles for dear life. That totally negates the effects of the workout.
OK- this one happened last week it is not BS. Dude, do not get in the pool/hot tube in your Hanes boxer briefs! Nasty!
Last one because I am busy- girls going to yoga classes that are late and rushing through the gym all stressed out they are late. Yoga is supposed to be relaxing and a de-stressor. You are completely missing the point if you are huffing and puffing at the lady that is slowly checking people into the gym because you will be 2 minutes late to yoga class. RELAX the class isn’t going anywhere.

Ahh. Feels better now I can go the gym and smile at all you boneheads.

Crushing my hopes

So after seeing my regular doctor 2 weeks ago, I finally received my referral request for a cortisone shot- DENIED!!!! Man I hate my insurance. So I stay fit my entire adult life, never ever see the doctor except once a year for an annual check-up, and when I finally need something, "nope, sorry it isn't going to happen". So what the hell am I paying for?

Sorry, had to get that rant out. Anyways, I guess that means more icing, more therapy, more Advil, and keep praying my hip gets better (unless some knows someone who can administer cortisone shots!).

Today, I am going to attempt to walk stairs. There is a flight of 300ish stairs in Stevenson's Ranch that I will walk up and down for 30-40 minutes. I know my quads and calves will get sore (in a good way) I just hope my hip/groin doesn't get hurt in the bad way.


Have a great day!

Weekend Update

True to my word and against better judgement, I decide to run 10 whole minutes on the treadmill on Sunday. I set the pace for a 10 min a mile so I would run an entire mile. Three shitty things: 1. 10 min/mile felt like a decent pace (fuck I can maintain sub 6's for 10Ks man how I have fallen. 2. 6 minutes in my hip hurt. 3. I got bored (not surprising but if I have to rehab for a few weeks on a t-mill I will hate it! After my "run" if you can call it that, I did my rehab exercises and stretched for 15 extra minutes. I then went home and iced a few times and did my rehab exercises again. I was really distraught throughout the day because of the discomfort.

Now the good. I swam 2500 meters on Saturday faster then I have ever swam in the past. Then I did a sick-ass chest/back/ab circuit on Sunday which killed me. And now for the best news (fingers crossed), my hip and legs feel great today! Maybe all the icing and extra stretching helped loosen things up? Who know but I feel good and will try and run on the t-mill again this Sunday.

Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend. You inspire me to race more often (when I get better) and make me jealous that you are out there racing while I watch TV on the couch.

Enjoy your Monday everyone.

Injuries Suck

I haven't run on land in 45 days due to tendonitis. I know the exact days because the first day of my injury was the first day of the BP oil disaster. Everything I read about tendonitis says that it should take 4-6 weeks to heal. I am no mathematician but 6 weeks x 7 days a week is 42 days. I should be feeling great. And I was feeling like I was getting better so I started aqua jogging. I did ten minutes one day. Then skipped 2 days and did 25 minutes. Then skipped 3 days and did 40 minutes. Never once did I feel any pain or discomfort while running or the next days that followed. I thought I would be on the treadmill by Sunday. Then yesterday happened. I was in so much pain, it was like the first day of my injury. WTF???!!!!!??!?!?!?! I am so upset and distraught I can't even begin to explain. I am almost at wits end and at that point in an athlete's 9I use that term lightly when talking about myself) life where I feel that if I am going to be in pain without running, I might as well run and then be hurt.

Oh well, hopefully someone, somewhere will come through for me and find someone who can administer a cortisone shot (or 2 or 3 like I really need) since my insurance company thinks everything is fine with me (they suck ass just like injuries)

Despite all of this, I WILL have a great weekend and I hope you all do too.

I am back

When I first started a blog, I wanted it to be about my training for upcoming races, my coaching experiences, and maybe be a little motivational with how hard I push myself. Then I got injured and felt blogging about rehab and not training would be boring. A friend told me that talking about what I am going through could be as motivational, if not more, for people who are dealing with injuries as well. So I guess I will start blogging again sooner than I had planned.

So where do I start? Mondays, which were usually 5 milers, are now 1-1/12 hours at therapy doing all kinds of stretches and leg exercises. They are getting easier and I am getting stronger so I guess it is helping. Tuesdays, which were usually 6-7 miles of hill repeats, are now swimming days. I try to get in 1500-2500 meters. Wednesday, which was usually a 6 miler, is a day on the bike. I try to do 1 hour on the trainer or 20 miles. Thursday and Friday are off days since I work two jobs and don't have time to get in any cardio. Saturdays, which were usually 6-10 miles, are swim days (same as Wednesday distances). And Sundays, usually 10-15 milers, is now another swim or bike day. Major differences.

On all these days I do my therapy twice a day and go to the gym for a 2-body part circuit. So I have been very active and have been watching what I have been eating to keep the weight off. So far it has worked.

Over the past 43 days without running (imagine not running for that long of time-SUCKS!!!!!!), I have learned a few things:

First-If I put in the effort I could actually be a decent swimmer
Two- I fucking HATE riding a bike!
Three- I should have listened to my therapist sooner.
Four- I really LOVE running and miss it so bad
Five- I will never take running for granted and think "Man I don't want to run my miles today"
Six- Most doctors are ignorant about running injuries and couldn't careless if you actually are diagnosed correctly.
Seven- As much as i should be more supportive, I hate going to races if I can not run them.
Eight- Seven leads to this one- I appreciate spectators and volunteers even more at races since I hate to be there and not run.
Nine- My wife is wonderful for helping deal through all this crap (actually- I didn't just learn this one but it made my beliefs even stronger)

So that's my life as of now. However, I did try and aqua jog this past weekend and felt great. I am going to try 40 minutes of it today and see how it goes. If I feel good I will try the dreaded treadmill this weekend.

Starting to feel fat again!

Almost two weeks ago I ran the Boston Marathon, fighting through months of injuries to even get there let alone finish. I promised myself that I would take at least a month off of running after to allow my body to recover from all the injuries I have. Here it is,not even 2 weeks in, and I want to run this weekend so bad. I know I shouldn't but I am feeling so fat that I might cave in a run a few miles on Sunday.

I have been trying to get other forms of exercise in but it isn't the same. I have been using weights and doing circuit training to burn calories, but still not equal to running. I also made it back to the pool. I stopped swimming in January to focus more on running since my time is limited. I got in the pool twice and that is it. Hopefully I can get a swim in today, Saturday and Sunday. I was going to ride this weekend but I really do not enjoy riding.

One of the beautiful things about running is all you need is your shoes and a street or trail (there is a little more to it especially if you are a girl but you get the point). To swim I have to drive to s specific gym, to ride I need to lug all my crap to school, not as easy as running.

I hope to get in some swimming this weekend so I can avoid running at least one more week so I can rest my body longer, but if I do run, I hope my wife doesn't kill me.

Ragnar Relay

Boy am I tired. After leaving Boston and landing late Tuesday night, I woke up early on Wednesday and Thursday to teach and get ready for Ragnar Relay. Friday, I was up at 5:00 to get my 3 teams of runners to the starting line of the Ragnar Relay in Ventura by 8 am. I had no clue what was in store for us.

39 hours later, I finally got to sleep on Saturday night. In between was freaking amazing!!!!

All I knew about Ragnar was that we were supposed to have 12 runners per team and each runner would run 3 legs ranging from 4-9 miles per leg. At the end of the race, 200 miles would be completed with the finish line being in Dana Point. There were some safety rules we had to follow but that's all I really knew.

Our 3 teams of middle and high school runners started at 9 am on Friday morning. At the first exchange they were all dead even. Then things started happening. One girl from the second team went the wrong way and wound up running 1 mile in the wrong direction. We found her and didn't want to violate any rules so we made her run back to where she strayed off course. That put that team 16 minutes behind. the rest of Friday was spent driving a mile stopping and cheering then driving a mile and cheering as the runners would pass by.

Then night came. It is pitch black in some of the areas and thankfully we had 2 bikes to help illuminate the course and keep our runners safe. However, we only had 2 and needed a third bike for the 3rd team. Thank God we made it through the night without incident.

Saturday brought sunlight, heat and new cities we had never run through before. Finally, the 36th leg and we were almost done. We drove to the finish line to wait. After 200 miles, 2 of our teams were separated by only 10 seconds. AMAZING!!!!! Then we had to wait for 2 hours for our last team.

After talking to so many adults and learning that a lot of teams couldn't finish because they were tired, sore, or too slow, really made me proud to know that that was never an issue for us. We looked at 200 miles as a fun run and we knew we would finish. We just hoped for a decent time.

Looking back, I am absolutely amazed at how well a bunch of 13 and 14 year olds did. It was such a major accomplishment and I couldn't be prouder of all of them. Even though I didn't sleep for 39 hours, didn't eat very much, lived on coffee for an entire 2 days and still haven't recovered from the lack of sleep, I would do it again tomorrow if we could.

I can't wait until next year.

Thanks Ragnar Relay.

Boston Marathon Recap

Wow, where do I begin? I could go on for days and days about ever aspect of the race- from the overall atmosphere in Boston to the crowds along the course. The entire event was absolutely amazing and the second I stepped off the plane I realized why I, and so many others, work their butts off to get to Boston.

But let's talk about the race itself. Going in I had doubts, and those were compounded by the fact that on Saturday and Sunday, my lower back seized up so bad I couldn't stand up straight and had to stop every 10-20 feet to bend over and stretch out my back. I spent a lot of time on my hotel floor rolling out on tennis balls and lying flat on the floor with my legs up on the wall, perpendicular to the floor. My injuries leading up to the race, my under-trained racing legs, and the possibility of rain all were weighing on my mind.

Marathon Monday. I got up, it was cold 35-40 and windy. I went to athletes village to wait out in the open for 2 hours before the race. I was cold, my So Cal blood can't handle that crap. Anyways, I was mentally going over the race plan I had posted earlier. I really wanted to stick to it.

So the race finally starts and here I am, after 23 months of hard work and waiting for this day, I am scared to start. I am scared to let everyone down that is counting on me to do well. I am scared I will disappoint my wife whom traveled with me and was hoping I would happy with my time. As I get to the starting line (3:00 off the gun time) I slowly get into my slow run. I am going to stay with plan of starting easy for teh first 10 miles. Man did I feel like an ass. EVERYONE passed me! It is one thing to go easy at a marathon and have a few people pass you that you know are fools, but to be at THE Boston Marathon all these fast, fit people pass you like you are walking. But, I stuck to my plan. It just made me feel less like a runner and even a little out of place.

The first 10-11 miles were on pace and I almost felt bored going at that pace. Then mile 12. I get excited that Wellesley is approaching, just like everyone else. And that is just what I needed and planned. I get the boost I need from the girls and my legs and head feel better. I am followin my plan. I use the energy to get me to mile 15-16. Here I decided to put on my Ipod and hit the hills. I maintain my same pace up and over all the hills, which is really tough considering you are at mile 17, 18, 19 going up fairly steep hills.

After the peak of Heartbreak Hill, I am feeling good but tired. I know I can hang on for a respectable time. However, some quick math tells me that I could re-qualify for Boston if I picked the pace up and eliminate 5 minutes. I think about and realize that I am better to just keep a good pace then to run really hard and maybe blow up and not finish strong.

I keep on chugging along and I start to feel it at mile 24. I just need to hold on until mile 25 then I know that I can get it done. Sure enough I get to mile 25 and now I know I am home free. The legs are feeling lifted by the thousands of people out cheering. It is 10 deep on each side! It is so loud for the last mile you can't think- which takes away all the pain. Once I see the final right turn before the famous "left onto Boylston" I start to smile. Others are grimicing in pain and I am smiling my ass off. I see the Convention Center, make my left on Boylston and boom! there is the finish line all big and beautiful. 800 meter celebration run. Wave, smile, wave, smile... then cross the most historic and memorable finsih line in the history of our sport.

My final time- 3:22:25 . For all I had beenthrough I am blown away with my time. I couldn't be happier.

I actually ran a slight negative split for that course amazing!


5310
Moss, Craig
37
M
Castaic
CA
USA


Checkpoints
5k 0:24:06
10k 0:48:15
15k 1:12:18
20k 1:36:24
Half 1:41:41
25k 2:00:25
30k 2:24:31
35k 2:48:02
40k 3:11:43





Finish

3:22:25
5098
4440
2509

Last thoughts On Boston

Last night I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. My mind was on Boston and my prep leading up to it. I started doubting my training, yet I was thinking about a good time. Crazy how the mind works. My best ever Boston is 3:01. My worst is a 3:12. I probably won't get anywhere near either of those but I really would love to. But that would require a low 7 min/mile average and my training wasn't that great due to my injuries.

Noramally I would like to get in 3-4 long runs of over 18 miles, 2 of which wouldbe negative runs, meaning the second half of the run would be faster tha the first half so I could practice finishing strong. The only long runs I got in were a weak 15 miles, a decent 19 miles, and a great 21 miler.

Second I would like to have averaged at least 50-60 miles a week. I could only get in 30's at the most. This leads me to feel under-trained.


Finally, I would like to get in once a week mile repeats on a hilly trail. The injury would not even come close to allow me to run faster tempo type runs. The best I could do is get in weekly quality runs of close to race pace for 5-7 miles. Not ideal for me.

So going in I feel under trained and so I worry about my time. Hopefully all of this negativity will disipate before the start so I can enjoy my race and just be happy about being in Boston. Hell, this is my 6th and hopefully not my last, you can't always PR. I need to just have fun. Turn around thoughts!!!!

My Boston Marathon Game Plan

Today, after school, I have my final California pre-Boston Marathon training run. My next and final run will be Saturday, in Boston probably down the famous Paul Revere Trail to the Boston Commons or by the Charles River, either one is spectacular in the Spring. Then it is game time!

So here is my plan:
First, you take a bus out to Athlete's Village at Hopkington High School where you will sit under a massive tent or in the open on the grass. So my first plan is to take a small, fold up chair that I can discard before the race. I learned the hard way a few years ago that the ground can be very, very cold up there. I will also wear multiple layers of clothing to keep me warm for the few hours you must sit around and wait.

Once the race starts, I plan on being patient and go easy. Usually, I am really good to start slowly but at Boston it is so hard to hold back. You are starting on a downhill and everyone starts so fast that you almost get "caught up" in the moment and want to run fast too. I did it once and blew my race up!!! So I plan on doing my first 10K very slow.

After the first 10K, I will gradually pick up the pace ever so slightly. Still don't want to sabotage my race. The tough stuff is ahead.

At the half-way point I will pick it up again. This time it will be easy to get a little bit faster (almost too easy and can get you moving too fast again). The half-way point is at Wellesely College and the massive amounts of girls that come out to cheer is mind-boggling and ear shattering. My first time I was shocked and amazed that you could actually hear the cheers from a half-mile away! Once there the sheer thrill and excitement carry you through like you are floating on air.

After that it will be maintenance. I will maintain that new pace for the next 3-4 miles. Then we get to the hills of Newton. Here I will pan my attack. If I am feeling it, I plan on attacking the hills since hill running is one of my very few strengths. I will use a short stride with a quick turn-over and get up the hills fairly easily.

Once get past the top of Heartbreak Hill I will take it easy down the backside (fairly steep decline) into Cleveland Circle. Once on the flats, I will try and emulate what I did at LA and really pick up the pace. I hope I am feeling good from saving my legs early on and can "get up and go" at this point.

I can visualize the wall of people you run through on the way into downtown Boston. I can visualize the infamous Citgo sign telling you that you are almost there. I can visualize running down Commonwealth Ave, and I can visualize the most amazing turn in all sports, the turn onto Boylston Street. From here it will be a straight, half mile shot to the finish. I can see myself finishing.

Finally, I can visualize myself walking past the finish line, medal in hand, and seeing my wife on the side waiting for me. The best will be when I can give her a big hug and kiss and tell her in her ear "I DID IT!".

Ebb and Flow of Running

The ups and downs of running, that's what I am going through. Some weeks you feel great/the next like crap. Last week, I swear I though I would never run well again. Everything hurt, I couldn't get into that running "groove" no matter how fast or slow I ran. Everything was a struggle. This week, I feel great. Killed Saturday's run and then ran well Sunday and Monday.. Today is a rest day as part of my Boston Marathon taper. All that is left is Wednesday's 8-9 miler and a 4-5 miler Saturday. 2 runs left and then the big race. Wow it is really here.

I am so excited. I want it to come so bad. I go to sleep early every night so that the night will go by quicker which means Patriot's Day will be here quicker. My thoughts are consumed with the race, my game plan, my running outfit, my race morning routine, what to take, and visualizing the race (I remember most of it and try and see myself running effortlessly through each town).

Tomorrow or Thursday I will detail my race day game plan.

Enjoy your day

The Weekend Before The Boston Marathon

One week from today I will be sitting on a Jet Blue airplane heading towards Boston. So excited/nervous. This will be my last weekend of training, then it is a maintenance week next week. I am such a geek. I already started packing things for Boston. I am so excited to finally go back that the little things like starting to pack, getting my Heartbreak Hill play list ready, etc are keeping me sane.

Next week I will try and explain what Boston means to me and try and give you my perspective of the course/weekend. I will be busy getting ready for Boston, setting my classroom up for a substitute teacher while I am away, submitting my own classwork for my physics class so i don't fall too far behind while gone, and also trying to finalize/tie up any loose ends for the Ragnar Relay which is on the Friday of when I return. So I may not get around to it, but i will try.

Have a fantastic weekend. For anyone racing- GOOD LUCK!

Wow, yesterday's 7 miler went surprisingly well. No real pain, no real discomfort and I felt pretty smooth. Now 7 is nowhere near a marathon distance but it does give me hope that I can salvage a decent Boston Marathon. With only 7 more runs schedules, everyone matters to me at this point. Not so much for the fitness it provides but for the mental edge I need to have a decent marathon. I am off today from running but that didn't mean I would be resting. I still did weights for 45 minutes. My weight training is fairly hardcore and requires me to almost become anaerobic at points. Tomorrow is a 5 miler then Saturday off. Sunday I will try a 10 miler.
Hope all goes well.

OK I am back. For the 3 readers who enjoy my blog sorry, I was on a mental break while I tried to relax during Spring Break. Now I am back to blog about my upcoming Boston Marathon.

After feeling GREAT at the LA Marathon (and I mean GREAT I haven't felt that strong at a marathon in years) and how well I felt the next two days, I thought I could resume training lightly so I didn't lose too much fitness for Boston. That Wednesday after LA I jogged 30 minutes very easy on grass and stretched well after. I took Thursday off and ran 5 on Friday. I was feeling so good. Saturday, I woke up and it was really windy so I headed to a trail that is protected by a canyon. It wasn't windy there but the 6 miles of trails made me tired. Then to complicate matters I went out for a bachelor party that night and had a few drinks. All of this messed me up bad.

Since then I have been struggling to run well at any distance or pace. My hamstrings feel like there are locked up, my hip flexors feel weak, like they can't lift my legs, and to make matters worse, my old hip/groin injury has come back with vengeance. So I am not too happy with my running at this point (one semi-highlight was the 12 miles I managed to get in this past Sunday but that didn't even feel good).

So with 12 day until Boston, I am actually worried about my race. I am not worried about hitting a time goal, I am worried about even performing at a level acceptable for a Boston Qualifier. See, I feel that this is the "regular" person's championships and you should try and come with your "A" game. Pro's wouldn't go to the Olympics to just hope to finish, I shouldn't either. So I am under pressure from myself to perform.


I have a new round of therapy this week so maybe all of my worries will be alleviated with some massages and stretches.

Boston Marathon/post-La Marathon recovery day. It is so hard to balance recovery from one marathon while trying to maintain your current fitness levels for the next marathon a month away. I am always amazed by people who recovery quickly enough to run a race again the following week of a marathon. I am not that genetically gifted. I get sore and stay sore for at least 4-6 days after a race. I follow the advice of others who do run within a week to walk or do a light jog the first few days after a race, use a bike to get the blood flowing and do light stretching to help aide in the recovery process. Still it never helps. In fact the one time I really tried to get back to running by the next weekend, I hurt myself. So you can see my concern while I try and get back to running for Boston.

The plan today is a 30 minute light jog on my grassy field at school. I will try and do it tomorrow too. Then take Friday off. Hopefully by Saturday I can get in a 6 miler and the same Sunday.
Then next week it will be back to a decent amount of training. That's the plan in the head- hope the legs agree with the plan!

Have a great day.

Here I am 2 days removed from the fantastic LA Marathon and I am already looking forward to my next marathon. It just happens to be the Boston Marathon, so you can see why I am so excited. I have 27 days until I leave athletes village in Hopkington and head for downtown Boston. If you have been you know what I am talking about. If you haven't been there yet, as a runner you NEED to get there one day. If yo qualify you HAVE to go.

Unfortunately for me, that was almost not the case. In the Summer of 2008 I trained so hard to run the Long Beach International Marathon and qualify for my 6th Boston, I was crushed when I learned that due to the LA Marathon being moved to May, our SRLA qualifying race would be moved to the Boston Marathon weekend. So being the dedicated coach I try to be, I cancelled my trip to Boston so I could be there for my team as they tried to qualify for the LA Marathon.

Luckily, my BQ was good until this April. So I figured I would go this year. I made all the necessary arrangements and was looking forward to it until my wife got laid off in January. The plans might be scrapped again due to funding. My plan was to roll change, save as much as possible, and work a few extra shifts at TGI Fridays to make the trip happen; but it would still be a huge financial burden.

That will not be the case, I am going thanks to my team. At our annual end-of-the-season luncheon, I usually receive a gift from my team. I hate receiving anything because I do this for love not gifts, but it is still much appreciated. This year, they called me up and said that since I had to miss last year's race, they weren't going to let that happen again this year. They had raised over $500 to help send me to Boston. I was in tears! I couldn't hold back my emotion, and every time I think of it it makes me choke up. I plan on going back there, injury and all and giving it my best shot. I can't let me team down.

Wish me luck.

Whoa what a weekend, and running was the easy part! If you read my last blog, you know how busy I was leading up to the LA Marathon (if not take a peek and see what it takes to get 147 kids ready to run a marathon Mt Gleason Style). Things didn't stiop Saturday.

Sunday morning I was up at 2 am to eat breakfast and then pick up Chris Schauble (@chrisschauble) to go meet the kids at school at 3:45 so we could all be ready when our bus left at 4:30 am. Once we left it was 3 to a seat on school busses for a 30 minute ride to Dodger Stadium. Not an ideal way to stretch out before a race. We were so cramped up it sucked.

Then it is go sign in with Students Run LA, get visors for all the kids, get them in the bleachers, get them ready for a pre-race picture, then finally we can go to the starting line at 7 am. Finally, I can start to stretch and focus on running, but I still need to find all my sub-4 hour runners so we can stick together. Tough, tough stuff.

Finally the race. The pace was dead on for a 3:40 marathon through mile 11. Thne things started happening. The 9 of us who were running to gether started to splinter. So the ones that could stay on pace did (leaving 5 of my kids). We also cuaght Chris Schauble who managed to "sneak" away at the start (so packed couldn't find people 3 feet to your right or left). He was looking strong and confident. He stayed with us a few miles, until we started to pick up the pace. Then it was only Hayley and myslef at mile 15. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the kids and Chris were back there and I could see Chris and he still looked good (the best I have seen him in later stages of races). At 17 Hayley cramped and told me to go on. So I decided to get in some training . I had 3 more runners up in front of me so I dropped to 7:30 pace (from the 8:25-8:00 we were running) and caught KeKe. He stayed with me from 18 to 21. Thne he wanted to slow down. I dropped to 7:00 minute miles at this point and flew down San Vincente (freakin love that street!). Once on Ocean I cruised to mile 26 where our Mt Gleason parenst were and stopped. The clock said 3:31. I had really picked up the pace to go from a 3:40ish pace until mile 17 to get to a 3:33 pace.

Once there I stopped and waited, so I didn't finish yet. I was waiting for my two adorable seniors whom I train with every weekend. They slowed at mile 12 but shouldn't have been that far back since they are endurance beasts. We had talked about it and dreamed about crossing the line together since this would be their last marathon as Mt Gleason Runners. So I waited and waited and waited. I waited until the clock said 4:15ish and realized that I was getting so cold and stiff and I really needed to eat. I decided to jump back in with any of my team that ran by at that point. When I saw Michelle and Peanut I jumped in and finally finished. My final time was 4:23. That was 50 minutes of waiting. Oh well, my time didn't matter it was the team's times that were important.

When it was all said and done, 146 of the 147 runners finished. One kid had a severe asthma attack and had to be pulled from teh course at mile 11. As a coach I am so proud of the team. I am also super proud of Chris for his new attitude about enjoying the experience even if you don't get a PR. And I am really proud of Bob Frein for his first marathon finish in 5:14.

Now it is time to focus on the Boston Marathon. Today is not a rest day. I will jump on the trainer for 30 minutes so I can get the blood flowing and stretch. Then it will be a light jog on Tuesday.

Hope everyone loved the race as much as I did. The course, the activities, the support, and the runners were all so amazing. I can't wait until next year.