So today was
the big one, the 23 mile “Celebration Run” through the cities of Burbank and
Glendale. The past few days had me preparing like crazy as I needed to replace
much of my running gear. My compression tights and underwear had developed
holes in them which made them largest worthless, and that’s even though it
allowed me to aptly describe them as “holy.” But when it comes to running, the
clothes that we wear can only be so blessed.
I finally
got a new watch with the interval timing at a Big 5 Sporting Goods store, and
it was the same make and model as the last one I got. I also went down to
several Sports Chalets in the Los Angeles area and got myself a new Fuel Belt
pocket for my water belt as the zipper on one of my previous pockets broke, and
this allowed me to jam pack it with all the energy gels I could stuff in there.
I was also looking for a new pair of compression tights, but I couldn’t find a
pair in my size. As a result I bought a pair of 2XU compression shorts and a
pair of 2XU compression performance socks as I felt that would be enough even
though it forced me to spend more money as a result. I did try on another pair
of compression tights from another brand which was cheaper, but they were more
for recovery than performance.
I had
trouble getting to sleep the night before as I had work to do, and I didn’t
fall asleep until after midnight. Part of this was because the nice couple
living next door to me was making love, and I couldn’t keep my endless sexual
frustration at bay. The alarm on my new watch did succeed in waking me up at 5 am
and I managed to get my ass out of bed a lot sooner than I usually do. I got
everything prepared and put a huge amount of Body Glide all over my body as I didn’t
not want to get any blisters or bloody nipples anytime soon. I also put on a
new arm band I bought to put my Android phone in, and it was a little tricky
strapping it on to where it didn’t fall off. I was afraid it would end up
feeling like some blood pressure sleeve if I strapped it on too tightly.
For once I
was not distracted by anything that was on television or on my computer, and I
made my way out to Griffith Park to meet up with my fellow Team to End AIDS
runners in good time. Of course, I had to go back to my car at one point as I
left my sunglasses in it. But even worse, I left my new interval watch at home.
Can you believe it? I spent $50 dollars on that watch (it was on sale) and I
couldn’t even remember to bring it! Geez…
This run
started off with us heading towards Forest Lawn Drive, but we turned around
long before we had a chance to travel down the most dangerous parts of it. We
have actually avoided running down it during this training session which is
just as well as there are so many blind corners where any of us could
accidently run over by a gas guzzling car SUV whose driver is talking on their
phone when they shouldn’t be.
At the start
of these runs, my calves are always burning up even before we start going up a
hill. It’s like they’re telling me, “Oh we’re running? Okay give us a second to
warm up.” This hesitation reminds me of when I drove my mom’s Chevrolet
Suburban so many years ago. When I took that Panzer Tank of a car onto the
highway, I had to slam my foot on the gas pedal to make it go anywhere, and it
was like it was telling me, “Oh you want to go faster?”
Throughout
the run I had John Carpenter’s “Obsidian” playing in my head non-stop. It’s off
his debut solo album Lost Themes, and
it was a record I couldn’t wait to buy. I’ve been a big fan of Carpenter’s
films throughout the years, and I’m an even bigger fan of his music. After he
declined to score his last film The Ward,
I figured that would be the last time we would ever compose music (listen
to the film’s commentary track to find out why). Then along comes this solo
album which he worked on with his son Cody and Dave Davies, and I have been
listening to it non-stop. “Vortex” and “Night” are my favorite tracks off the
album, but for some reason “Obsidian” seemed to stay with me the most on this
23 mile run.
On the
upside of things the weather cooled down for the first time in weeks. When we
learned that the average temperature on Saturday morning was going to be around
60 degrees, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was still unseasonably
warm, but not unbearably so and it was mostly overcast throughout. Of course,
the sun did make an appearance on the last few miles as if to say, “You thought
I forgot about you, didn’t you?” Fortunately we didn’t have to deal with the
heat too much.
I came into
this 23 mile run with a lot of confidence, and I didn’t have any alcohol
throughout the week as it was of the upmost importance to say hydrated with
water and Gatorade. What slipped my mind, however, was how this run is usually
harder than the actual marathon itself. Why I thought this run would be a piece
of cake is beyond me because I’ve been through this enough times to know
better.
Many of us
threatened to be deterred by those yummy advertisements on the windows of a
Carl’s Jr. restaurant. Okay not really, but looking at those ads made my mouth
water. Of course, it I ever bothered going into a Carl’s Jr. after one of these
runs, I’d find that the actual product is nowhere as delicious looking. Don’t
even get me started on their “All-Natural Burger” because you cannot convince
me that such a thing exists.
The Lucky 13
pace group started out with at least a dozen runners, but by the end there were
about 3 or 4 of us left. A number of runners had to drop out because of
injuries or that they weren’t feeling well. One lady, who ran a half-marathon
last weekend, was using this as a recovery run, and you have to give her credit
for having the balls to treat this as a recovery run. She ended up dropping out
as her feet were like, “ENOUGH ALREADY.”
I don’t know
how it is for other marathon training programs, but none of runners were chided
or berated for not running all 23 miles. In fact, Coach JC later commended them
for knowing when to stop:
“And for those who didn't quite make
the full distance today... remember that you were not training for the 23-mile
Celebration Run. And there is nothing quite as rewarding as seeing you've
developed the wisdom to accept (albeit reluctantly) that it was better for you
to stop than continue. I hope you are all even half as proud of yourselves as I
am for you.”
Truth be
told, it is very important for every runner to have that wisdom even though you
don’t want to come out of this training feeling disappointed or that you didn’t
do enough. The fact that we have gotten this far does say the world about what
we have accomplished.
As for
myself, I did pretty well although my feet started feeling the pain early on.
Seriously, it didn’t take long for them to tell me to go fuck myself and burn
in hell, and I eventually gave in and took another Aleve tablet. The bottle
says takes only one, but it also says to not take more than 2 in an 8 to 12
hour period. I figured screw it, another one won’t hurt. It certainly was a big
help in getting me to the finish line.
I tried my
best to be mindful of my running form throughout. There were a number of times
where I felt like I was leaning forward too much, and I kept thinking that I
needed to straighten myself up. Heck, there are times where I am not even sure
if I have the correct form of a runner. I keep waiting for someone to tell me
that my running form is all wrong and I have a lot of work to do in that area, but
I still hope to beat anyone who downgrades me like that to the punch.
We came up
to a train crossing where the gates kept going up and down even though no
Amtrak or Metrolink train was heading our way. While waiting for the gates to
rise, I started doing the limbo on one of them and discovered my back has no
patience for going that low. My ego on the other hand…
Running
through the Toluca Lake neighborhood was more fun than usual because we took
the time to marvel at how beautiful the houses were instead of complaining
about the fact that we can’t afford them. We also passed a number of the
neighborhood’s residents who were incredibly impressed at how far we were
running. Then again, if we were running just half that distance they would have
been impressed anyway.
Seeing this
reminded me of when I first attended an info session about marathon training
where the woman handling it told us we would be surprised as to how responsive
people would be when we told them we were training for a marathon. She was
right. I can be really modest about doing something like this, but we have all
earned bragging rights that others could only dream of having.
Of all the
Team to End AIDS runners to cross the finish line that day, I was the last of
the bunch. But that was okay because this can in no way be mistaken for a race,
and making it to the end was a huge relief. While I did hit that psychological
wall which kind of made me want to slow down long before I reached the end, I still
had a big smile on my face regardless. Despite having trained for the Los
Angeles Marathon for four years in a row, I’m still astonished at how grueling
it is to run 23 miles. While this is referred to as Team to End AIDS’ “Celebration
Run,” it feels more like a torturous one as our bodies threaten mutiny on us at
any given opportunity.
At the
finish line we were greeted with a feast that included cheese, roast beef and
turkey sandwiches which were incredibly delicious and not the kind I am able to
make back at my apartment. There was also a great pasta salad covered in
balsamic vinegar dressing, and tasting it immediately reminded of just how hopelessly
addicted I can get to any kind of pasta. There were lots of leftovers as the
celebration was coming to a close, and you can sure bet that I took away as
much food as I could. These days I am all about the free food as I’m trying to
save money any which way I can. It’s certainly more preferable than hunting for
food in Hancock Park with a bow and arrow.
Following
that incredibly difficult run, I drove back to my apartment and stopped along
the way at the Ralphs Supermarket on the corner of 3rd Street and La
Brea Avenue. Knowing that an ice bath was going to be mandatory, I splurged and
bought a 20 pound bag of ice as a 7 pound bag was not going to help me recover
from muscles that were infinitely sore and which would remain sore for an obscene
period of time.
So now I
have a few days to recover as my feet continue to tell me to go fuck myself,
and I have a lifetime to never forget the fact that these 23 mile runs are
harder to endure than the LA Marathon. Trust me when I say it will never slip
my mind again.
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