The Unknown Runner

This past weekend I got the chance to experience some serious physical endurance. I completed my first triathlon (A sprint with abysmal results, but who cares, I finished it) and I got the chance to check off the Nike Women's Run series off my running bucket list.

As I flew up to San Fran to meet up with a friend who was also running it, I heard women on the plane talking about it, women on the shuttle discussing nerves, and women carb loading in local Italian joints. I got the chance to meet a woman (my friend's friend) who was making this her first 1/2 marathon. It was exciting to talk about where to put the glide and how to avoid chafe. I remember waking up at 1 thinking "I forgot to tell her not to stop running if she gets tired or else she might cramp!" The waiting in the corral was impressive. I was surrounded by women cheering, dancing to "who runs the world." I saw a few good men there ready to get their run on for a Tiffany's necklace. It was an amazing energy. I felt really empowered as a woman.

I always break down my 1/2 marathons into 3 sections: just get to mile 6, then get to mile 10, then 3 more miles. It helps me mentally. After ascending and descending like a mad woman I turned the foggy corner that would lead me to the .1 of the whole 13.1 affair.  I saw that beautiful Tiffany blue finish. I was ready to do my crazy face finish for the cameras, however as I got closer I noticed something was off.

Something was out of place in that place of joy we call the finish line.

 I saw a man laying on the floor right before the finish. He was surrounded by paramedics, his friends and/or family, and a stretcher. As I got closer, I saw the awful sight of this runner getting chest compressions. I've read of runners collapsing, having heart attacks, but I've never been close to see the aftermath.

The joyful yells and exuberant faces were such a contrast to the look of worry on the face of the woman next to him. She was wrapped in a Mylar blanket, on the phone. Her face sticks out. It didn't make sense, the whole scene didn't make sense.

The finish of a race is a celebration of life and triumph. It's amazing and exhausting and to see the jarring sight of one of my running family down was hard.

I think about him.

Did he survive?  Did he pass away?

Did he make it? Is he recuperating in some hospital? If so, will he be able to run again?

I think about his family and friends. It was great having my mom meet me at the finish line and my friends giving me mad props on facebook. I think about this runner's family, who came to wish him luck and who had to face the possible horror of losing someone. I wonder if instead of celebrating a triumph they are grieving a loss.

I wonder about this unknown runner. If he passed away, did he pass away doing what he loved? I hope he did not suffer. Whenever I meet other runners I feel like we're in a secret insane club that few know about. To see a runner down is to see someone in our secret club down. It hits too close to home, because that could have been any one of us.

To the unknown runner: I hope your ok and you can keep feeling the burn and the shin splints. If you've moved passed this plane into the other, know that I'll think of you on my next run and say a prayer for your family and friends. I'll invent a new memory to replace the tragic one. I'll imagine a man with the fog in his face, getting that runner's high, planning for the next big race.

M.I.A.

Woah, it's April, screw that, it's actually May, this day is half way over. Let's just call today May already. Its been many months, 6 to be exact, since I last typed. I've had so many thoughts as to what direction to take this blog that I am so neglectful of. I was thinking of starting another one called "Paws and Pens" focusing on this new marital adventure I'm embarking, but then that would just be a 3rd blog I have started and would potentially fail to follow up on. So why flake out on a third when I can sporadically flake out on this one. Let's catch up with what I've been up to these past 6 months:

1) The Dude and The Lady get married: We had decided to stop living in sin and got hitched in December. It was a beautiful day! Let me tell you, I look back at the pictures and relive the excitement and utter stress that was planning this day. I have never been so happy to see my groom than when I saw him at the end of that aisle because it meant that the insanity of a year of half of planning was drawing to an end. We still haven't taken our honeymoon because my job sucks like that, so we'll see what the summer brings us.

Kitty Favors that we gave our Guests (Left: Dr. Unagi Righ: Disco)

2) I ran the LA marathon again: And I PR'd that shit! I shaved 30 minutes of my time. With everything that happened in Boston, I wish I could qualify so I could run next year in solidarity, but alas, I'm supah slow.

3) I passed one of two state exams: I'm trying to get licensed in California to remove the I from the MFTI I constantly have to sign. Last year I failed this test by 1 point. 1 POINT!!! Needless to say I drowned my sorrows in tears and fried macaroni balls from Cheesecake factory. When I passed I went back to the Cheesecake and ate those macaroni balls with the taste of victory in my mouth. TAKE THAT BBS! I can't get too cocky though, I have to pass my next exam.

4) Dr. Unagi gets asthma: When I heard her awful coughs The Hubs (i.e. The Dude) and I thougt the worse. We thought for sure this big fat tuxedo cat would have some congenital heart disease. We took her to the vet and turns out she and I have something else in common other than our love for belly rubs and catnip. Dr. Unagi has allergies which triggers asthma attacks and some pretty bad dandruff. We now have to give her this disgusting medicine that makes her puke, but will keep the asthma and dermititis at bay.

What are my plans for 2013, well I'm not promising anything, except reflections on running (like I was doing before) and incorporating more musings regarding therapy and mental health issues.  Oh, and cats, more blogging about cats, because cats are great!

Dre-Dog out!

Women should run? What the what?

I ran across this article on my facebook feed and my head nearly exploded. EXPLODED!!!! I just can't....I just can't. Why (most) women shouldn't run.

I mean honestly, c'mon, women shoudn't run. Like ever? What if wild beast was chasing me? May my massive hips just screw me? Running can be hard on your knees, don't get me wrong, but that goes for men and women. Loosing a few pounds helped me reduce my knee pain, and now I don't have any problems.  But according to the article by Michael Boyle we can't because: titties

There was a time when women straight up couldn't run, and by 'there was a time' I'm talking about recent. Like before 1970's recent. The olympic marathon did not allow women, because they thought it was too strenous for us, and we couldn't hang.

Here's a gem quote for you " Women with larger breasts and wider hips don’t make good runners"

Well, after they found out our uterus' wouldn't fall out if we ran a few miles, it was all good!  We have had women like Katherine Switzer sneak into the Boston Marathon because back in the good ol days we were seen unfit.


C'mon man

The blogger didn't write this article, but what gets me is that, as a female athlete, why would she even offer this as advice to other females who run. I mean, most women I know that run don't do it to look like elite runners, they do it because it can help cope with the insanity of life. As a women, let's not encourage this way of thinking that tries to limit women to 'more safe' activities.

Anywho, for all you non-elite runners out there (which is most of us), I hope you ignore this drivel, strap those double D's in to your moving comfort bra (which are the shit), and get running, because women could and SHOULD run.


YOS: LA Marathon is BACK!

LA Marathon training is fast approaching. If at any point you thought: “I’d like to do a marathon some day” this is your chance!
Let me answer some of your pressing questions:

But Dre-Dog, I can’t even run a mile, how can I run 26?

26.2 Silly unicorn! 26.2! That’s ok, because guess what no one is asking you to run 26.2 miles right now. I mean you will eventually have to, but not like, right now.

Bitchez be trippin

Ah, but Ms Saavedra (if your nasty), I can’t run because (insert reason here), how can you expect me to run 26. 2?

-nuff said.

he makes us all look bad

P.S. There are run walk training programs for marathons.

I see you’ve shamed me into maybe slightly considering running a marathon, what is this training program you speak of?

 I will swear by LA Roadrunners program. It is very thorough and you get a chance to run/walk with people whom you can keep up with. It can be intimidating at first when you think “there is no way I can keep up with them” until you realize that they are just as slow or fast as you are. And you’re all working towards the same goal.

Click for more info

I don't think you'll come across a lot of people who wills they regret running a marathon. They'll regret singing up for it, training for it, and right at mile 20, but when they're done they wont say "hey I wish I had never done that."

It is an amazing sense of accomplishment that I will be participating again soon.

ALSO if you say you still can't run the full, I think they have the relay option again this year. This option allows you to run a portion of the full (1/2 of it to be exact) and still earn the medal. 

YOS: Running away the Crazy

A recent article from England's University of Bristol said that exercise doesn't reduce any symptoms of depression. I call bullshit. Having had depressive episodes in my life (3 to be exact), I have found that running has helped me tremendously in keeping any new depressive episodes from popping up. 

I haven't worked out in a week and I feel like crap tonight. Filled with more self-doubt then I'd like to be and more cognitive distortions than are probably healthy. I wont let it last, I'll be working out again on Sunday (for some reason I can't seem to start on a Saturday. I think it's because my Weight Watchers points start on Sunday- oh well).  

Running allows me to focus in on what matters, because you can't focus on anything but avoiding pain or discomfort. Running (or whatever your exercise of choice is) allows all the superfluous crap in your life fades away in the background and you get solutions. You get clarity. The moment you find an exercise that allows that for you DON'T STOP DOING IT. 

I'm going to allow my pity party of one today (although I'm pretty miserable to be around when I'm in this state). 

Year of the Sneaker: Respect the Run

The new season of running is coming upon me (us- if your reading this blog). It starts with my 1st 1/2 marathon this Labor Day weekend. It's the Disney 1/2 and I'm hoping I can break my P.R. Considering my current long run time, this may be possible, but you can't cocky.

I want on an 11 mile run yesterday, my goal was to finish it in an 1:50, but 1:51 isn't so bad! average 10:06 min pace, which means I could beat my time. It was a very difficult run, with 1/2 of it being up hill (the green is the elevation)

As I was running and kicking some butt I kept thinking," I can beat my PR, totally." But you have to respect the race. I remember going into a run once, having done multiple 1/2 at that point, and thinking "I've got this." well needless to say, I didn't. I got my ass handed to me, it was hot, I was sore, my knee hurt, it just was NOT pleasant.

I'm pretty excited to see what new goals Disney 1/2 will bring me

Year of the Sneaker: LA marathon

It's over, all said and done! My day started at 4:10 am and finally crossed the start line almost 12 hours ago. 5:28 hour later (longer than originally anticipated) I was done. We were incredibly blessed that the majority of the storm that was anticipated to hit us all weekend, only did the day before. I did slower than I would have liked, but considering it was my first marathon, I'm just happy I finished. I initially was paying attention to the music I was listening so I could write my power songs on my blog, but after mile 20 it was all a blur. So let me break down my experience for you as best as I can. 

Mile 1-6: Downtown L.A.  I actually tripped on mile 2 and I thought "Ok, so I get injured after 6 months of training 2 miles into this thing?!" Luckily I was fine. Around mile 5 I actually took off one of my shirts, it was quite and ordeal. I didn't even think of the marathon at this point, because I was only 6 miles in. At the top of a very steep Bunker Hill: Vomit. I saw that as an omen. 

Funny things I heard or Saw: 

* A guy yelling "Who needs a thighmaster!"

* sign saying "26.2 to your vacation." (I wish)

* Coolness: Chinese dragon's 'dancing' as we ran through  

Miles 7-13- Somewhere in L.A. I was looking forward to the 1/2 mark, because we had a support tent at mile 17. I figured by then I could break down the remainder of the marathon by 3 mile increments. Scott hit the wall at mile 12, which I know really upset him. By mile 14 he started getting muscle fatigue and pretty sever cramps.

Miles 13-20- Hollywood/Rodeo Drive- I had to pee at mile 19. I had been holding it since mile 1, chalking it up to nerves at that point.  Scott and I parted ways at mile 20 after a pinky swear and a kiss saying "I wont hold this against you." I forged ahead thinking, it's only 6 more miles. Scott's Dad and sister had started following us on bikes, cheering us on. This was sooo amazing, you need support. 

* Funny signs: "You training lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's Marriage." I also really enjoyed the drag queen cheerleaders in West Hollywood!

Mile: 20-23-  Brentwood- I started walking a couple of hills

Mile 23-26.2- Santa Monica -This had to be the longest stretch for me. My toes wouldn't crack. If I stopped I got butt and foot cramps. Mile 25 I almost started crying, and had to tell myself to "MAN THE FUCK UP." I zoned out the pain until I saw that beautiful orange sign at 26.2 ahead, and I just kept saying "just a little more, just a little more" I don't even remember what song brought me in. 

* Chick holding a sign: "Make that wall your Bitch" was motivating. About mile 23 I heard "I love L.A." on my ipod (that sentiment was kind of questionable by this point)

After I crossed the finish line I was in a daze, and wrapped in foil like a baked potato (Those suckers do wonders!). I felt bad for having left Scott, but I know he was running for my sake when he was really in pain. It was magical to finally meet up with him and give him a great big hug. His words "It's so good to see you."

So here I am, my feet killing me. I probably did some damage to the outside part of my foot, and I know that this soreness will reek havoc on my body tomorrow morning. I feel like a badass. Scott said that what fucked him over was his mind on mile 12 which shows that running a marathon requires a great deal on mental endurance. You have to run in pain and numbness trying to convince your brain to keep going. 

Although it probably wont be my last, right now I'll just be happy walking to the mail box. 

Year of the Sneaker: LA Marathon – 2 days to go and very much counting.

So it’s finally here. After 6 months of training and what seemed like a good idea 6 months ago is finally here: The L.A. Marathon! (Heads up, never sign up for anything after finishing a race. Those runners highs make everything seem like a good idea.) I got sick earlier this week, which was not bueno, and had me a feeling a little nervous. But, it seems I’m very much on the mend! (thanks to all my concerned friends for checking up on me J).

Training for a marathon is no joke. It requires dedication probably more than stamina. I have to say that the training and running is 90% mental 10% physical. There were many times when my body was saying “eff you, we’re done” and I was like “uh no we’re not.”

For those of you who say “I can’t run a mile.” It isn’t about what you can and can’t run, it’s about if you believe you’re capable of it.  I know, sounds cheesy, but believing in your capability to train and dedicate is what’s going to pull you through running in the rain, heat, and up hills.  You will learn a lot about yourself as you train. I learned that I can actually convince my body to keep pushing forward and how incredibly important it is to have personal cheerleaders along the way.

Things I’ve learned in training:

1) Don’t layer too much. There is nothing worse than over heating. Yeah you feel cold now, but trust me, you’ll get warm.

2) If you think you wont chafe, you will. I would love to show you my permanent scars under my boobs and on my shoulders. Lube up before you run!

3) Never join a marathon or ½ marathon because 1) it sounds like fun 2) you’re doing it to make someone else happy 3) you want to loose weight.

            - it isn’t always fun, and you will have serious moments of “FUCK THIS SHIT”

- Running is a personal thing,  and doing it for someone else may end up making you miserable in the long run (no pun intended)

            - I’ve gained 10 lbs since running. Part muscle, part voracious appetite!

4) Pushing yourself is important- both for physical and mental endurance

5) Everything tastes magical after a long run

6) Buy a Garmin forerunner. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to get mine! This thing is awesome and great for continued speed training.

7.) Watch what you eat. You don’t want to embarrass yourself because you decided to eat beans the night before.

 8.) Sports bras should keep you nice and compact and prevent jiggling

9) Shin splints will make you bruise from the inside out

10) I never thought there would be a time when I would be more excited about buying running shoes and clothes than regular clothes.

I don’t intend on this being my last marathon, but instead the 1^st  of many. I hope my future will hold some Ragnar events, triathlon, and maybe someday, qualifying for Boston.