An Unfortunate Turn of Events

After having an excellent week of training and a weekend packed with races, I am now feeling the aftermath of over racing.  I only ran a mile on the indoor track, then came back the next day with a 5k on the roads...  which was all too much for this ill-prepared marathon body.    

Indoor mile - I'm in the Orange (photo courteous of Liz Turner)

I have to admit - spiking up was a great feeling.  The nerves, anxiety, and quite-panicness that flows throughout your body could never be replicated unless you toe the line of a mondo track.  And once that gun echos off in your head, you're already instinctively rounding the bend with your eyes fixed on the spikes just inches from your shin.  Yes, it's a great feeling.  Every last bit of the lung scorching, and relatively slow 4:25 mile, felt as if I would benefit from it.  But once the day was over and Sunday came along, I felt a little "off".  I ran a hard and even paced 5k, but once I finished my IT-band had tightened up and I couldn't even walk, let alone cool down.  This was a bad sign, and one that I am too often familiar with, especially during the winters of an odd ending year.  (Example: 2009 - injured with a peroneal tendon issue, 2011 - Patellar tendinitis which took 5 agonizing months of NO RUNNING)  Now this!  

I can only hope the celestial plan of keeping me out of the 2013 Boston Marathon this year will be altered and I will control my own destiny of toeing the line in Hopkinton.  That fate lies in a few days off, some major massage sessions from Laura Bresson, icing, and blah blah blah, all the other things that come with being sidelined.  I shall report back soon.  Also, I'm not growing out this mustache for nothing!          

The Weeks That Where

Another week, and another weekly log posted.  But this time, I've resorted to an electronic log that I found from Jack Daniels PhD.  And since I'm obsessed with his training methods and philosophy, this adapted running log is perfect for me and my somewhat busy schedule.  So, to shorten things up and summarize the past two weeks and a half marathon race - things are going well!

Rock and Roll Arizona:

All and all, it was a good rustbuster.  I wanted to find out where my fitness was, and I did so at this race.  A 1:08:16 puts things in perspective and shows me that with more consistent weeks I'll be in a good place for Boston.  And with each passing day, I get more and more excited for the most historical marathon EVER!  So, to get back to the half marathon, I knew that I had to start off conservative and not do anything stupid over the 13 miles.  Yet, the race momentum dragged me along to a 5:05 first mile, and made me think that this could be a tough and disappointing half marathon.  Luckily, I rallied my fitness and fortitude and kept some even splits that were not slower than 5:20, or faster than my first mile.

After catching the idiots that took off blazing, I realized that I would finish strong and in a respectable time considering the amount of training I had.  To add to the excitement, my buddy Kris Houghton set the WORLD RECORD in the half marathon while pushing a baby stroller, with a baby in it!  Alma Rose Montoya-Houghton and Kris are World Record holders!  What other running club in America can say that- NO ONE!

Last Week:

So, after being sore from an all-out effort in Arizona, I decided to get back into the full swing of things are post some good training sessions.  A workout Wednesday was in order, followed by an 8 mile tempo run on Saturday, and then a Boston Simulation Long Run on Sunday.  Pretty solid, right?  Well, it was and it felt great!  Now, add in some mixed variation and things should go pretty well.  Oh, and one 50 mile long run to make things a little exciting.  This is another topic we can get into, but in a little more than one month, I will run 50 miles at once.  I know this isn't common to do before an important marathon like BOSTON, but as the late and great Herb Brooks once told the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team before they won the Gold Medal, "You can't be common, the common man goes nowhere; you have to be uncommon."     

2012 in Review

2012 was quite a year for me.  I can honestly say it was the most eventful year I have ever experienced, with many highs and very few lows...

To create a chronological reflection of the year 2012, I can first start from the biggest highlight of them all - the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston, Texas!  This was an experience of a lifetime, and one that I will never forget, ergo Alzheimer's.  I know I have the ability to compete with the best Americans in the marathon, and other events such as cross country, but facing the difficult recovery from Cal International 5 weeks before, I was plenty happy with the results from that race.  Again, as I've posted in the past, this race was pure carnage, and I loved it!  Only 3 more years until the next Trials, and you can count on that race being just as epic as the 2012 Trials.

Insert Arlene Espinoza into my life and the year 2012 could have been capped off right then and there.  Finding the love of my life and the spice that has been animated from her has been everything I've dreamed of.  We've shared a many of adventures together, and I can only reverie that there'll be many more upon the horizon for the two of us.  Thank you Arlene for entering my life and fulling the void that was much needed for this lonely of lonely distance runner!  To enter some of the adventures we've concocted over the past 11 months are as follows: we had 5 weddings of attendance from February until August, one marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, 2 road trips to California(one of which was for a wedding), countless running and driving miles shared together in New Mexico, a pleasant trip to the Big Apple (New York), hundreds of baked goods created and eaten, holidays spent with family, and a grand New Years Eve Party!  I'm sure there are more, but I'll conclude that chapter of 2012 as it is.

As the spring approached, I decided to enjoy the free time I had and hit the road racing circuit with a few trips and attempts at some prestige road races - Gate River USA 15k Championships, Crescent City Classic, Bloomsday, and the USA 25k Championships where I finally cracked into the top 10 at a USA Road Championship race.  Once those races were over Arlene and I traveled to Duluth to race in the Grandma's Marathon along with Dana and Lauren Patton.  With great preparation I was hoping for a pr, but the warm weather didn't help and I ran a decent time of 2:22 and change.  Arlene however, ran a great pr, and Lauren Patton finished her first marathon ever!  All-in-all, it was a great race and it was nice to see the Heitzman's in their hometown.

As the summer came, everyone enjoyed the extremely hot weather with bbq's and sweaty long runs throughout Albuquerque, and on occasion a camping trip here or there, and one epic journey to Silverton, Colorado as my roommate Loren Wohletz completed his epic 100 mile endurance race called; Hardrock 100.  This was a grand adventure, and after having the opportunity to pace a small section of the race, I got hooked and wanted to complete my very own ultramarathon.  Although, I knew I couldn't finish a 100 miler, or even a 50 miler, I would hone in my sights on a local and new 50k ultra called the Mt. Taylor 50k.  This new avenue of trail racing was exciting and challenging, so that was on the horizon for me, but before that September race, I had a few more chapters to add.

In August, I was still on the hunt for a teaching job, and could only muster 3 interviews throughout the entire summer.  But at the last minute I was called to interview in Los Lunas and was offered a 3rd grade teaching position, which in fact would turn into a 3rd grade sentence-ship.  Nevertheless, it's a job and I'm doing the best I can to stay afloat.  Also, in August we were forced to move out of the Dukes House and rent an apartment up in the foothills.  And... since I had such a long commute to work, and my 4runner wasn't the most ideal car of gas efficiency, I decided to trade it in and buy a brand new Honda Civic.  Ghesh, too many grown up things happening all at once.  It was a bit stressful, and overwhelming, but it is what it is...

Come the fall, and all is brisk and calm, except for Hurricane Sandy and the fact that the New York Marathon would still go on... wait, no it's cancelled.  The chaos that occurred in New York was too much to handle; so instead, Arlene, Allen and I had a great time touring what was left of the aftermath of Sandy and enjoying ourselves in a new city I've never been to!  It was a grand ole time.

So, as the year finally ends, with a last minute marathon in Las Vegas, which turned out to be as disastrous as hurricane Sandy, and can look back in review and reflection upon the many events that happened with a smile and happiness.  If only one event was altered, I'm sure I would still be here writing about it and thinking how it effected the entire year, but in reality, I think it was all the little things that were not mentioned.  All the moments spent with friends and family that make you laugh and cry with one another.  Even all the missed opportunities that flew by, all the "adventures" we wanted to take, but were too busy to take them.  Well, being too busy might have been the right thing to do, because we really only remember the times when chaos confronts us in the face, and how adverse we are in overcoming them.  Without all the chaos, the year would really just fly by, and before we now it, it'll be 2022.  I don't agree with all the other people that claim the year went by very fast...  it's only because we look back upon a few moments, not the everyday moments.  So this year, I'll be looking forward to just one day at a time and enjoying each day, as it presents itself.

New Year on the Horizon

Well, as the new year approaches, I've been starting to hear a lot of people make affirmations that things are going to change once the clock strikes midnight.  I feel almost the same way as I sit here with a bout of sickness and lack of mileage being tallied away on the scoreboards.  But I do know, that after the last marathon I experienced and the minimal training that took place once I found out that I wouldn't be racing in New York City occurred; I should be stepping up my game and producing more miles.

I don't feel that there is a motivational factor going on, I feel there is a draining factor that sucks the life out of me.  Something sucking my will to live...  And of course it's stemmed to those ungrateful kids I teach...  I hate to type it, but I am exhausted after a day with them, and if I somehow knew how these kids were, I would have never taken that position.  It's a bad thing to say, but I can't comprehend how evil 9 year olds can be to one another.  I know I am the teacher, and I'm suppose to teach them right from wrong; which is why my soul gets sucked from my barely standing body each day I pry two children away from each other as they torment their lives just to make themselves feel better...

Well, I will try not to complain publicly anymore and express that the good news is that with the new year, I am halfway done with teaching, and fully aware of the problems parents have on their hands, or lack of parenting.  I just need to find a way to not be as drained from work, and run more!  Now that problem, seems to be a problem in itself...   Do I start to care less?  Do I just quit, as many staff members have this year?  Or, the one solution I've been missing - run in the mornings and evenings!  Run even when I'm tired, because it's only going to make things better!  My new plan of action will be to just run as much and as often as possible, and before I know it, Spring will be here and Freedom will be upon the Horizon

New Olympic Trials Marathon Standards

How do I start this post:

A) So, the new Standards are out, and many people are a bit discouraged with the bar being raised once again.

B) Why does the usatf want to cripple our sport when the options are right in front of their face to improve our fan base and public interest?  Does running a 2:18/2:43 really make those that are seeking participation and interest in our sport increase their efforts and rise to those new standards?  As if, because having an "easier" time standard will automatically make runners only run what's expected of them.  I don't think so.

C)  Bring it on!!!  Keep raising that bar, and just try to keep me out!  Cause, I ain't backing down and would love to hit that "A" standard to run another great race all on your dime usatf!  (Actually, it's the host city that pays for it, the usatf doesn't do jack shit for the runners, except tell us what to wear in the race).

D) WTF?!?!  Why excluded all those potential runners, families, and fans?!?!  Let's close down an entire city, block off all the streets and let 50 runners occupy it, because they felt that in the last 4 years all they wanted to do was have a chance to make the Olympic Team and represent their country!

E) All of the above wrapped and warped into one giant post.

Well, either way, all the talking and posting on Letsrun or tweets (I don't tweet) isn't going to change the time standards.  And, in a selfish kind of way, I don't feel impeded by the new standards.  I do feel disappointed though.  I knew this was coming, and knew the idiotic thought process behind the usatf and their perception of squeezing down on the lifeline that feeds them - the runner.  They (usatf) feel that by increasing the time standards, they are raising the bar, when in fact they are just pulling down the shades and blocking out the light!  The more they keep excluding runners, jumpers, and throwers, the less and less people will care about them and move onto more inclusive activities.  There is no need to push away all those talented runners.  And in my opinion, I'd rather see a bad runner have the opportunity to race in the trials, than a good runner out on the sidelines.

The new times are:

A Standard: 2:15 Men / 2:37 Women

B Standard: 2:18 Men / 2:43 Women

Alt. B Standard 1:05 half marathon Men / 1:15 half marathon Women

All I know, is that a lot of good runners will be left out, and I'm not going to wait until the last minute, or in my case, the last week to qualify.  My goal is also the "A" Standard.  So, when the window opens on August, 1st, there'll be a surge of runners going after it!  Good Luck to us all, and hope to hear that you're training hard and ready to race!