An Improvement, A Palpable Improvement

For this past week, Coach JC gave us a homework assignment which had us taking pictures (aka selfies) of ourselves after we had completed our two weekly maintenance runs. This way, we could let him and the rest of the world know that we are taking our marathon training seriously. I did do my two maintenance runs, but I was unable to do any cardio workouts outside of that. Still, I felt like I was more prepared for this week’s Team to End AIDS run than I was the week before.

By the way, I want to thank my water boy Bubba Eeyore. He was a big help to me throughout the week.

I actually got up a lot earlier in the morning than I expected, something that usually pisses me off on any other day, so I even had time to take a shower before jumping into my car. Granted, taking a shower before a run in the blistering Los Angeles heat of October is somewhat pointless as I will come out of sweaty and smelling like a skunk on a day pass that does him no good, but I guess I wanted to look and smell cleaner than usual. Of course, this run would necessitate me having yet another shower afterwards which seems criminal as California is in the midst of an abysmal drought, but in my defense I did have to interview a couple of people like Keanu Reeves and Eli Roth right afterwards. You may have heard of them.

My radio was tuned into 100.3 The Sound while I was on my way to Griffith Park. It was a better to listen in to some classic rock instead of the “Mombasa” track from Hans Zimmer’s “Inception” soundtrack. Listening to that piece of film score had made me running a lot faster last week than I had any right to.

So at this point it looks like I am better off in the 13 minute pace group, and I went back to the 3:1 pace as it made more sense to me to run for three minutes instead of four. But as with the previous year, the 13 minute pace group still draws the biggest crowd. That’s right; it’s still the hip group to be in when you’re running with Team to End AIDS, and who doesn’t want to run with the cool kids?

This run was confined to the inside of Griffith Park as we ran past the Gene Autry Museum and the Los Angeles Zoo before turning around and heading back. But at the turn around point, we did need to keep going up the street a bit as the Bolivers were on hand to give us all the treats we needed. Those peanut butter and pickled covered Ritz crackers are still irresistible, and I don’t care what Coach JC says about pickles in general.

I felt a lot better this week even though I still trailed everyone by quite a bit. Could it be that I am carrying an extra load? By that, I mean could I stand to lose a few pounds? Wait, that’s a stupid question. Besides, I can’t make everyone buy into the bullshit that I’m pregnant. Of course, many buy into a lot of crazy ideas these days.

Because of work which involved me attending press screenings and junkets, I was unable to fit in any other cardio workouts. I’m always hoping to go to 24 Hour Fitness to swim a few laps in the pool, but making time to do that is a constant challenge, darn it. Perhaps I could get in a few rounds of Wii Sports boxing instead.

But overall I came out of this week’s T2EA run feeling a lot better than I did last week, and I’m positive it’s not just the endorphins talking. I feel like I’m hitting my stride now and that things can only get better from here. It’s nice to feel healthier than you usually do, and it’s a feeling I’m always desperate to hang onto. Some people say that it is better to look good than to feel good, but that makes as much sense as someone saying that behind every great man there must be a great behind… Wait a minute… that last one does make sense.

Coincidentally, I did neglect to mention something from last week’s run. As I was running through Burbank, I came to see that the Not a Burger Stand restaurant has now been shut down. I was shocked to see this as it was always a welcome on the T2EA runs as they always had these great signs outside which encouraged you to talk like a famous actor in order to get a discount.

A reporter friend of mine also said that their burgers were to die for, but I never got to eat one. It’s always a tragedy when we miss out on the taste of a good burger, so I do feel a real loss there even though my heart is thankful that I’m not overdoing it on the bad cholesterol front. Still, there’s always Five Guys, In-N-Out Burger, Fatburger, Fuddruckers and, if I’m desperate, Burger King. Then again, McDonald’s recently announced that they are going to start serving breakfast all day long, so that may very well be the death of me.

RIP Not a Burger Stand.

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I am now at 32%towards my fundraising goal of $1,100 for AIDS Project Los Angeles, havingraised $355 to date. If each of my Facebook friends would donate just $5, Iwould go way beyond that goal. Even the smallest donation goes a long way, soclick here to see how you can support my efforts (PLEASE!!!).

One Mile Too Many?

So I managed to get my two maintenance runs in this week which had me feeling fully prepared for this 5 mile run. Like the week before I was hoping to get more cardio workouts in, but I was kept from doing so as I had to work and make some money. I also had the opportunity to interview Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfeld about their new movie “The Keeping Room,” and that seemed like a good reason to avoid a workout.

Furthermore, I got to interview Eli Roth and Lorenza Izzo about their cannibal movie “The Green Inferno,” and watching that gave me a good enough reason to skip breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m hoping I lost a couple of pounds as a result.

After last week, Coach JC became increasingly concerned that many of us were not in the correct pace groups. Many of us in the 12 minute pace group came to realize that we were better off running in the 13 minute pace group instead, and to that effect we changed our pace from 3:1 to 4:1 which sounded like a good way to go.

This week’s run was the alumni run, so I felt compelled to bring Bubba Eeyore back as he did accompany me on my 23 mile run back in 2014. I was hoping to see a lot of friends from previous years, but that did not prove to be the case. Jessica and Annette, how could you two sleep in this Saturday morning? I hope you have good excuses!

The summer season has ended and fall has begun, but that doesn’t mean much when you live in Southern California because summer tends to extend its invitation all the way into November. If that doesn’t convince you that climate change is not fiction, then what the fuck will?!

I felt like I got off to a good start as I made my way towards the streets of Burbank with my fellow runners, but it didn’t take long for me to start lagging behind to where I found myself running by my lonesome. I started to feel like a water skier who was impatiently waiting for someone to throw him the tow rope so that he can rise from the water and race upon it. Or in other words, I just wanted someone to pull me so that I could keep up with everybody else.

You know, when a runner stops short of completing a run because he or she doesn’t feel up to it, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s smart because it means you’re looking out for yourself and not pushing yourself too hard. This was the first T2EA run ever where I felt like I should have stopped sooner, but there still exists a part deep down inside of me that is out to prove to the world I’m no quitter. Whether it was refusing to switch high schools because I was miserable Freshman year or refusing to quit the wrestling team because it was too much work, I still feel like giving up on something is an inescapable sign of failure. After all these years (never mind how many), it may be time to seriously rethink that perspective.

I did get saved momentarily by the Bolivers who were on hand to give us their usual display of running fuel, and those peanut butter and pickle covered Ritz crackers are always a lifesaver. They also had a cooler of ice cubes which I quickly shoved into my water bottles before taking off. But it was still a hot day so those ice cubes disintegrated in no time at all, and my water and grape Gatorade remained unrefreshingly warm.

I feel like I more or less limped to the finish line at Griffith Park, but I was happy to see that Coach JC and my fellow pace group runners were still there waiting for me to return. I told JC that I wasn’t sure why my running was off this week as I did do my two maintenance runs, and he admits that he is still trying to get all the runners into the right pace groups. The goal, he said, is to have everyone run at a pace which is comfortable for them to where they are not huffing and puffing for no good reason.

I told JC that my hope is to do cardio workouts outside of my two maintenance runs. Swimming comes to mind, and he liked that and encouraged me to do workouts that didn’t put too much strain on my legs. He also encouraged me to avoid stair masters as they can be especially hard on the joints. I haven’t been on one of those machines since I was in high school.

One of my fellow runners said he remembered when I ran with Bubba Eeyore a few years back and that seeing him always brought a smile to his face. Bubba later came up to him to say thank you, but that same runner started laughing hysterically to where Bubba felt offended. Oh well, Bubba does get strong responses from one person to the next.

So next week I need to keep up with those maintenance runs, and hopefully I’ll fit in some other cardio workouts as well. If only we had time to do all the things we needed to do…

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I have raised$150 to date for AIDS Project Los Angeles, and that puts me at 14% towards mygoal of $1,100. Let’s keep the momentum going! You can only donate $5? That’sperfectly fine. If all my Facebook friends could donate $5 each, I would be waypast my fundraising goal. Click here to see how you can help.

6th time's the charm, I hope

Once again, I am back at Griffith Park because it’s that time of year again; the time to start training for the Los Angeles Marathon. This marks the sixth year in a row that I will be doing it as well as the sixth year that I have been running it with Team to End AIDS, and I’m sure that makes it sound like I am certifiably insane. Well maybe I am, but this training program always seems to come around at a time when I really need it.

This time it is called the Skechers Los Angeles Marathon. Many wondered why ASICS isn’t sponsoring the event this year, and in the end it all comes down to who ponies up the most money for sponsorship. It certainly does bring attention to your product line.

There are various reasons why I keep coming back to this: I’ve rediscovered my love of running (and it’s a love no one else in my family shares), I am desperately trying to lose weight because I’m sick of my belly hanging out over my shorts, I was in a deep depression and needed to escape from the emotional black hole I was being sucked into, or maybe I just want to see if I can set another personal record for myself. For me, this year is all about getting into shape, losing all that belly fat and staying away from the social elixir known as alcohol a little more often during the week. It certainly loosens me up, but it can also rob me of my ambition to do the things I love and get work done.

Even though it’s September, the last few weeks have unbearably hot to where my apartment feels like a makeshift sauna more than anything else. The heat made it almost impossible for me to get to sleep the night before, and I astonished myself for getting out of bed so quickly when my alarm went off at 6 am. I left myself plenty of time to get ready and drive to Griffith Park with time to spare, but then I remembered that I parked my car several blocks away from my apartment. Oh well, at least I got a good warm walk up as I made my way to my automobile.

It was already hovering around 80 degrees when Coach JC Fernandez greeted everyone loudly by shouting out, “GOOD MORNING T2!!!” If he appeared shy before, he certainly doesn’t now. He also told everyone that the JC stands for Juan Carlos and then went on to give us his full name which is beautiful. I say it’s beautiful because, like all beautiful names, I can’t pronounce it. It’ll probably take me a few months before I am able to.

Coach JC started off with the usual address to the marathon troops such as getting a good pair of running shoes from somewhere other than Foot Locker or Sports Chalet. As always we need to get our shoes from a store which employs runners who know what they are talking about (ARunner’s Circle). He also talked about not wearing headphones, that we would be running against traffic and that we needed to run more on the asphalt than on the concrete as the asphalt would provide more cushioning on our joints. And when the day of the marathon comes, we will be spending more time running on the asphalt than not, so this is our opportunity to get used to running on it.

But the most memorable advice from JC came when he told us not to wear cotton clothing while running as it absorbs moisture instead of wicking it away. He also presented us with an equation that I would have loved to have seen in a math class:

COTTON + MOISTURE = OUCH!

Today’s run gave us the option of running either a timed two miles, and that was mostly for newbies who had yet to see which pace group they would be most comfortable running in, or five miles for alumni. I was aiming to run five, but I knew that desire would be short-lived because I only did one maintenance run this past week. Despite having trained for the LA Marathon for the past few years, it always feels like I’m starting over again when the first week of training comes around.

I caught up with my fellow marathon veterans John, Floyd, Virginia and a few others whose names I should have learned a long time ago. Floyd admitted that he didn’t do any maintenance runs this past and decided not to run as a result. As for everyone else, they decided to run just three miles which sounded just right to me. But even with a short run, the heat still got to me as the summer weather still sears our bodies like we’re shish kabobs on a hibachi grill, and that’s even though Labor Day 2015 has already passed us by. It’s like the sun was telling us, “I AIN’T DONE WITH YOU YET!” It doesn’t matter that we ran the 2015 LA Marathon in the same unbearable heat because the sun, unlike humans, does not discriminate.

I’m still trying to remain conscious of my form while running because sometimes it feels like I’m slouching or hunching forward when I should be. It’s moments like that which make me miss going to the chiropractor twice a week.

After finishing the run, John came up to me and asked if Tilda Swinton was as cool in person as she is on the big screen. I said she was even cooler. Why this question? Check out the video below:

Regardless, I got off to a pretty good start and there’s nowhere to go from here but up. I just need to get as much cardio workouts into my schedule as possible as well as do those two maintenance runs during the week. I congratulated myself by stopping at Costco and buying gasoline for $2.85 a gallon (I remembered when that used to seem expensive) and having two Sausage McMuffins with Egg at McDonald’s. As a result, I REALLY need to get those cardio workouts in more than ever. If the heat doesn’t get me, the cholesterol will!

WRITER’S NOTE: I am once againrunning this marathon in support of AIDS Project Los Angeles and have set afundraising goal of $1,100. So far I have raised $100 which puts me at 9% togoal. I encourage you to donate to this non-profit organization which has doneso much to help those afflicted by AIDS as scientists continue to search for acure. Click here to find out how you can help.