Jingle Bell Run

Glendale, Arizona

This was the last race of the year. If you beat Santa in this race then you get entered into a raffle for all kind of great prizes. This was a tough race for me. I had an upper respiratory thing going on which made it difficult to breathe normally. Try running a 5k at race pace when you can’t get enough oxygen and you will quickly learn that it is a painful experience. Christian took off at a 6:50 for the first mile. I know this because I stayed with him. I did not want to lose to him even though I was sick. Running a sub 7 minute first mile put me in a painful place. I had no choice but to back off at that point or my oxygen deprivation would red lined me into complete failure. I only backed off enough to prevent failure however. I held on to the hope that Christian was going to burn himself out by going out that fast. Unfortunately I have trained him too well. He is not the same runner as a year ago. He now has three half marathons under his belt and the stamina to match. Before I hit the second mile I could no longer see Christian. I still wanted to push it just in case he had a total meltdown, but I was happy for him. I knew he was on his way to a record time. I just wish I was up there to push him even faster. My next mental game was to ensure I stayed ahead of Santa so I could secure the raffle entry. During the last mile, many people, including children were passing me. I could not answer and it pissed me off. I forced one last surge as I neared the finish line. I don’t remember them taking the chip off my ankle. Christian caught me in the shoot and started asking me if I was ok. Apparently I was pretty white and not looking very good. I don’t know about that, but I wasn’t feeling very good that I know for sure. My leg muscles were threatening to cramp. I guess they had had enough of being forced to run without sufficient oxygen. I only ran a 00:25:02, which 2 minutes slower than my last 5k and normally nothing to be proud off. However today I was proud of that time. Despite my inability to breathe I gave it my all. I was close to passing out at the finish line. I did not give in or make excuses. I had plenty of them to choose from this week. I was sick. I had not run for an entire week, which s the first time that has happened in the last two years. I managed to average an 8:02 mile without sufficient oxygen and running at a disgusting holiday season weight of 240 pounds. Christian finished with a 00:23:21, his fastest ever. I will have to hear about for some time to come. I did manage to beat Santa. As we were driving to this race this morning, I was asking myself why we had bothered to finish off this year with such an anti climatic 5k race. As it turned out it was great way to end this year and head into the new year.

Age Group Championship Series

Phoenix, Arizona

Somehow this year I managed to win 2nd place in the Tri Family Racing’s Over-All Age Group Championship Series for this year in the age 40-44 age group. There was and award ceremony tonight at a restaurant in Phoenix. I had previously won a gift certificate to that restaurant when I made the over-all at the Seville race, so it was a free dinner for me and the kids. Too bad Lori was working, she loves Mexican food. 2nd place is a respectable accomplishment given the fact that the 40-44 age group is the most competitive men’s age group.

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12k's of Christmas

Gilbert, Arizona

This race was close to home and definitely in the holiday spirit. Besides, when do you ever get to race a 12k and get carolers at every kilometer? They give out Christmas socks and Santa Hats instead of shirts at this race. I signed my three year old little Vayden up for a 1.2K race. We bought her some running shoes and even did some training runs with her. She was jazzed to be out there with us. She wanted so bad to wear a race bib. She kept asking about it for days before the race. She did well. During this run, both Christian and I felt the half marathon we did 5 days prior to this. It hurt to run. I finally loosened up 6 miles into the race. I managed an 8:20 pace which is better than I felt.

Rock & Roll Half Marathon Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

I had been unable to run all week due to injury issues. My legs were plagued with problems and I am not sure why. I was worried about being able to run at all. I especially had a nagging ache in my right leg behind the knee that just wouldn’t go away. I felt it every day while walking around Vegas the two days we spent there before the race. We also signed up for this 24 hour buffet deal. For 24 hours you can eat at all the buffets for free. I ate to my limit in the 24 hours which ended up being from 2 pm on Friday to 2 pm on Saturday. So besides the leg issues I was also packing on weight and clogging my system with sugar, fat, grease and anything else I could get my hands on. Part of the reason we wanted to run in Vegas was to be in Vegas though. And how can you turn down a 24 hour all you can buffet deal like that. The buffets in Vegas are so good. They are not just buffets, They are the Buffets of Buffets. In fact that is what the deal was called. Not the best preparation for a race I know. This is especially true when I was already having leg issues.

Despite my issues and ill preparation, race day magic showed up and I ran fine. In fact my leg issues disappeared after the race. Running 13.1 miles actually cured me. I may never understand the physiology of my body and running.

This is the first year they have held the race at night. It was pretty cold. Christian and I warmed up in the hotel room and timed it so we would only be outside in the cold wind for a few minutes. Unknown to us though they pushed back the start of the race and we ended up freezing in the wind for over a half an hour. The good part of this race was the scenery. I can’t imagine a more interesting night venue than running the Las Vegas strip. I always thought the strip seemed longer. I have walked it many times and it seems like miles from one casino to the next walking out there amongst the masses. We started the race in front of the Mandalay Bay where we stayed. In no time it seemed we had run the strip and I was looking up at the Stratosphere hotel. As it turns out, it is only 4 miles from the Mandalay Bay to the Stratosphere. After passing the Stratosphere we spent some time winding around some downtown streets with little interest and headed back down the strip. This time it did not go by so fast. A mile or so into the race I latched on to a pace sign reading 1:52. I had no trouble staying with it, so I decided I would make that my goal. It gave me a pace and something to do. For the first eight miles I had no problem staying with it. At eight miles however my legs started to deteriorate and my pace slowed. I was really struggling. It is not that I couldn’t run, I had just lost the ability to run at any speed near my normal pace. I decided my new goal was going to be to keep it under two hours. As the miles wore on, that began to be more and more difficult. There was no specific hot spot of pain, but an over-all pain just set in and running became very unpleasant. I started to ask myself the questions, “why do I do this? What is the point? I am not fast. It doesn’t make me lose weight. What am I putting myself through this for? I was hurting and lashing out at myself. I even thought, “Who cares if I walk?” They will still give me a medal, I will just cross a few minutes later. Christian had dropped off at about 4 miles in and I knew he was somewhere behind me. I didn’t want for him to come across me walking. For all I knew he might not be that far behind me. As it turned out, he wasn’t. It was at this point dismissed the negative thoughts and said to myself, “You are right where you want to be. You do this to suffer and you are in the zone. Lap it up and quit feeling sorry for yourself.” So I did. In fact at 12 miles searched for a good song on my glasses and I forced myself to run at an 8:30 or better pace and really brought on the suffering. I was worried about making under 2 hours. My watch had been bumped 26 seconds into the race and I was running this race without my watch. Between my sun glasses and the darkness, I couldn’t really see it anyways. As it turned out, I made it. This is a great venue. This was my second Rock & Roll Marathon Series event for 2011.

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