First Official 5K!

Distance:  3.2 miles
Time:  32:20
Location:  Mojave Narrows

Mission accomplished!  This morning I completed my first official 5K.  I was nowhere near ready for it, and my time would indicate that, but nonetheless it was an awesome experience.  In the two weeks before the race I literally ran only twice -- probably the worst race preparation ever.  But an ankle injury and a bad sunburn prevented me from training properly.  But none of that mattered when I woke up this morning and had no choice but to head to the race and jump in.

My friend Scott also participated in the 5K.  He spent the night last night and this morning, along with my wife, we headed to Mojave Narrows Regional Park in Victorville.  I felt pretty good, all things considered.  I didn't have any muscle pain or soreness (the stuff that was plaguing me a few weeks back when I was training hard), but I knew that what was going to be a struggle was simply my lack of stamina once the race got going.  As 7:30 approached we all lined up and soon enough we were off.  The first mile felt fine.  My pace was slow, but that was mainly due to the volume of people and the fact that the pathway narrowed making it difficult to get around people.  I was able to pass a few people when the opportunity allowed it, but for the most part I had to simply fall in line.  Right away I noted the pleasant scenery.  To our left was a marshy waterway, and most of the first mile was in the shade of thick trees.  At one point we entered a clearing where a bunch of cows were grazing.  I had never been to Mojave Narrows so this was a cool experience.  Finally after about 1.5 miles the pathway opened up and I was able to break away from the pack a little.  This whole time I was passing people about as frequently as people passed me.  I knew my pace was slow, but I also knew I wasn't in good shape and I didn't want to kill myself too soon.  It was humbling when I would get passed by an older man or a woman, but I had to remember my ankle wasn't 100% and my training took a nose dive the last two weeks.  It was humbling but also motivating to get myself more prepared for next time.  The one thing that I didn't like about this 5K was it didn't have mile markers.  By this point in the race (about 1.5 miles) I had no idea where I was and I thought I had barely covered a mile.  I wasn't able to adjust my pace because I had no way to gauge my distance.  When I got to about 2 miles I was really starting to struggle.  I had run right through the first water station, but when we got to the second one I needed something to give myself a boost, so I grabbed a water and just dumped it on my head.  I didn't stop once, and that at least was the one goal I was able to meet.  After the second water station came the most challenging part of the race.  As we ran around a small lake called Pelican Lake the trail turned into a soft, sandy pathway.  It was the most difficult stuff to run in.  Every step took twice as much effort with hardly any results.  It was like running in place almost.  This went on for about a 1/4 mile.  At this point in the run (about 2.5 miles) the group had spread out so that I was nearly running alone.  There was no way I was going to pass the person way ahead of me, and I had a good enough lead in front of the person behind me that I could relax a little.  We finally exited the soft sand and headed for the home stretch, except I didn't know it was the home stretch because, again, no markers.  As we finished up the third mile we came upon another picturesque scene.  Off to the left was a small river with horses all around, some actually wading through the water.  Then I spotted something drinking from the water that didn't look like a horse.  As it raised its head I realized it was a llama!  It was enough to distract me for a few moments.  Finally we got to the point where the 10K runners split from us.  Even though I felt like we had only gone about 2 miles, we had really reached the mile 3 marker and there was only a little more to go.  Soon I saw the finish line and I went for it.  I was able to kick it in, though it was far from a powerful kick.  And when I saw my final time of 32:20 I was sorely disappointed.  But then I thought about it and realized the circumstances and I got over it pretty quick.  It was the slowest I've run 3 miles, but it was also the least prepared I've been for a race.  I was 54th out of 79 runners.  I felt good when I was done.  My wife wanted to watch the kids run (they had a bunch of kids run one mile), so we stayed to see that.  Then we departed.  I was amped to do another one.  My time was so bad that I know there is nothing left to do but improve.  Hopefully I'll be able to make this a regular thing.  It was a blast today!  Despite my slow pace and my horrible time, I enjoyed every minute of it.  It's a feeling I'll be seeking again.

Last-Ditch Effort

Distance:  1 mile
Time:  ?
Location:  Yucca Loma Road

Well, one day till race time.  I pretty much ruined any chance of training and preparing properly for this 5K after a couple of unfortunate incidents during the last 2 weeks (see last entry).  But I had a good run on Wednesday and I decided to get one last run in today, though I knew not to overdo it the day before a race.  So I drove myself up to where Yucca Loma ends at the Mojave River and ran a half mile east, turned around and retraced my steps for an even mile.  It was about 1:30 in the afternoon and it was a scorcher (about 90 degrees).  And it was a struggle.  I ought to probably be more worried than I am right now.  I definitely don't have the proper amount of conditioning under my belt to tackle 3 miles comfortably right now.  The mile I ran today was a mixed bag -- on the one hand I started off feeling good and I ended feeling like I had hit a comfortable stride, but everything in between was a labored, difficult, very slow, jog.  My breathing was really bad.  I'm hoping a lot of this was due to the heat.  But more than likely tomorrow's race is going to be extremely challenging.  My prediction is that mile 1 will be okay, mile 2 will be a struggle, and mile 3 will be nearly impossible.  But who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself.

My next post will be a review of the run.  It ought to be interesting.

What Training?

Distance:  2 miles
Time:  ?
Location:  Apple Valley to Sitting Bull

In a perfect world, I'd be training hard every day and feeling 100% ready for Saturday's 5K.  In reality, my ankle still hurts from rolling it on June 15, I went almost 2 weeks without a run, and I'm nowhere near ready for the 5K in three days.  Eight weeks ago I signed up for the Mojave Narrows 5K, figuring it would be plenty of time to prepare.  And for the next 6 weeks things were going great.  I was running fairly regularly and I could detect my progress.  Then a couple of setbacks landed in my lap.  The first was actually preventable -- it was just a failure on my part to make time to run as I became overwhelmed with work and a week's worth of busy days.  I finally got a couple of runs in and I was actually feeling pretty good when the disaster of June 15 struck.  I rolled my ankle pretty bad during a trail run up in Lake Arrowhead.  It put me out of commission for almost two weeks.  I would have been able to bounce back sooner, but only a few days later, on June 21, I was at the beach and my feet got so sunburned that I could hardly walk on them.  Over the next couple of days my ankle that was already injured and swollen from rolling it, puffed up like a balloon because of the sunburn!  I was couch-ridden for the next few days.  A lot of ice and rest and finally, today, June 27, I felt confident enough to go for a run.  It's been a mess of a training session these last couple of weeks, but there's no turning back.  I've set my mind to running on Saturday, and even if I'm crawling over the finish line, I'm going for it!

Tonight's run was simply a tester.  I wanted to run lightly on it just to see how much my ankle could take.  I ran 2 miles, to Sitting Bull and back.  And I was pretty happy with how it went.  My ankle definitely is not 100%... I'd say maybe 75-80%.  But it didn't hinder me too much.  In fact, I was able to run harder than I intended.  I didn't bring my watch because I simply wanted to take it easy and test my foot out.  Even though I was able to run on my ankle, my stamina was another story.  That may be the biggest challenge Saturday, just being able to endure the run.  My breathing was bad and after 2 miles I was officially done -- I'm not sure I could have done another.  I'm basically out of time to train, so I have to hope adrenaline kicks in Saturday, or it's gonna be a long race.  Hopefully I can get one more training run in tomorrow.  Then it's nothing but fingers crossed.

Mountain Highs & Lows

Lake Arrowhead Runs:

Run #1 (June 14, 2012) - Distance: 2.58 miles / Time: ? / Location: Route 173 and various roads south of the lake.

Run #2 (June 14, 2012) - Distance: 0.85 miles / Time: ? / Location: Lake Arrowhead Village

Run #3 (June 15, 2012) - Distance: 0.69 miles / Time: ? / Location: Indian Rock Trail north of the lake.

My two-day running retreat in Lake Arrowhead proved to be both rewarding and disastrous.  I met my friend Scott at my parents' cabin in Lake Arrowhead Thursday afternoon.  We unpacked and without delay began plotting our first run.  This was going to be a getaway purely for the sake of running.  Both Scott and I haven't been getting many runs in, and we have a 5K we're meant to be training for, so in many ways this trip to Arrowhead was a way to force us to train.  We decided for our first run to simply walk out the front door and get about 30 minutes of running in around the neighborhood.  We headed out on Shenandoah Drive, which quickly descends sharply, and then followed Chippewa and R Road out to the 173, which runs right alongside the lake.  We had wanted to run along the lake, but we didn't see any sort of trail that surrounded it.  So we had to settle for roads, which ended up not being a great idea.  The roads up in the mountains are narrow with no shoulders or sidewalks.  So running on them is a bit treacherous as cars speed by literally inches from you.  We ran along the 173 for awhile but soon got tired of avoiding close encounters with cars, so we headed up Kuffel Canyon Road.  And here's where the inclines began.  We slowly trudged up Kuffel Canyon until we decided to turn around and go back to the 173 in order to go back to R Road and retrace our steps back to the cabin.  By now all the uphill running had begun to exhaust us.  As we ran down Kuffel Canyon I misstepped and rolled my ankle.  It wasn't bad, just a quick roll, but it made me be more careful about my steps the rest of the run.  We finally made our way back to R and made our way up to Shenandoah.  It was almost purely uphill this whole time.  With one last surge of effort we made it back to the cabin.  We were pretty worn out, but mainly it was muscle fatigue from all the hills.  After a few minutes we realized we weren't that tired and we wanted to get more in!

After hanging out, eating dinner and watching the Oklahoma City Thunder tragically lose to the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, we decided to get one more run in for the day.  Scott had discovered that there actually was a running trail that paralleled the lake, but it started west of the village and it seemed to be private.  So we drove out there (it was around 9pm) and checked it out.  We found the trail and ran on it for about 50 feet but soon realized it wasn't going to work because there were no lights.  After already rolling my ankle earlier that day I didn't quite feel like doing it again.  So we came up with a plan B -- to run around the village itself.  It being after 9pm the place was pretty empty.  We made a big loop through all the shops and restaurants and right alongside the water -- it was a rather pleasant little run.  It turned out to be just under a mile, and it somewhat satisfied our urge to run.  I was feeling a little pain still from the ankle I had rolled, and also some muscle strain from a run I had gone on Wednesday night back home in Apple Valley.  But I ran through the pain.

The next day we decided to get a real trail run in  This is really what we had wanted to do when we came up to the mountains.  To find a desolate trail that led out to the remote and tranquil forests that surround Lake Arrowhead.  I remembered a trail I had hiked with my family ages ago (probably 2001 or 2002) that was north of the lake off of the 173 as it descended the mountain.  So Scott drove us out there and we were able to find it.  It's called the Indian Rock Trail because it leads to a site with a bunch of rocks with mortars dug into them created by the Serrano Indians to grind their acorns in.  It's a pretty awesome trail as it leads out to some clearings and meadows that are rather scenic.  I was excited to run this trail!  So we parked and off we went.  Everything was going great at first.  I was leading the way and enjoying the free feeling of running through the mountainous landscape.  Everything was beautiful and the conditions were great (though a little warm).  The one distraction was the flies.  They were relentless and all over us.  But I was able to ignore this as I took in the scenery around me.  And then, in an instant, everything came to a stop.  We were running down a slight descent when I suddenly twisted my ankle, the same one I rolled yesterday.  But this one wasn't a quick, minor roll.  It was a sharp twist that sent me almost tumbling down the hill.  I started falling forward but was able to keep my feet under me.  I ran for about 20 feet barely maintaining my balance before I finally came to a stop, all the while my ankle throbbing with intense pain!  There happened to be a wooden bench at the spot I stopped so I sat down to endure the pain and wait for it to pass.  It was a horrible feeling.  The pain was intense yet dull.  There was nothing I could do to make it better but grit my teeth and wait.  I sat on the bench rocking back and forth for a few minutes.  Scott was concerned.  He thought we should just head back and call it a day.  But I was too disappointed that we couldn't finish the run.  After the initial pain subsided I tried walking around on it, but it wasn't easy.  We started to walk back, but then in a sudden fit of stubbornness I decided we should try to run a little bit more, just at a slower pace.  I was able to lightly jog on it, but I had to watch my every step.  One more ankle roll and I'd be done for.  We went on like this for a short while, but I could tell Scott wasn't sure of it.  We made it to the site of the rock mortars and spent a short time checking them out.  But I finally had to concede.  Scott didn't want to risk me injuring my ankle again and making matters worse.  So we turned and headed back.  I was able to jog the whole way back, but again very slowly.  As soon as we began driving back to the cabin I could feel my ankle swelling and stiffening.  When I went home later that day I iced it for the remainder of the day.  But I could see it was pretty swollen and I could hardly walk on it.  I began to worry that I had ruined my plans to run the 5K in two weeks.  But the next day it felt a little better, and today (3 days later) it feels almost 100%.  I haven't run on it since it happened, but I'm feeling a little more hopeful that this won't hamper the 5K plan.  In a few more days I should be able to run again, which would give me just over a week left to train, which I think should be sufficient.

Tomorrow my wife and I will head to Newport Beach to spend a few days with my family.  I'm hoping to get at least one run in while there.  Last year while in Newport I ran my coolest run of the summer, a 4-miler along the beach, barefoot, from Crystal Cove to Abalone Point.  It was a dream run.  Hopefully I can do it again!

5K Mountain Prep

Time:  30 minutes
Distance:  3.02 miles
Location:  Yucca Loma to Rincon

Well, it's been too long.  I last ran on June 4th.  Last week was busy because it was the last week of school and I was preoccupied with wrapping things up with my classes.  Plus I volunteered to chaperone grad night, which meant losing a whole night of sleep Thursday night.  It took me a few days to recover from that, but once I did I got lazy and missed a couple of good opportunities to run.  Tonight, though, I could not afford to miss.  Tomorrow I am heading up to Lake Arrowhead to meet Scott and spend a couple of days getting some high-altitude runs in.  Those runs are going to be tough and I didn't want to go up there without preparing at all.  So tonight I forced myself out on a run.  I also pushed myself to do 30 minutes instead of the usual 20-25 minutes.  I decided to do the Yucca Loma run since it has a nice hill to climb (good training for the mountains).  And I went all the way to Rincon, since lately I've been turning back sooner than that.  But I used to be able to run out to Rincon and back to our house in under 30 minutes.  It was not so today.  I made it almost all the way.  30 minutes was up right as I was heading back down Coachella.  But when I mapped out the route I was surprised to see that I actually hit the 3 mile mark (3.02 to be exact).  3 miles in 30 minutes is not exactly stellar, but I at least felt pretty good on the run.  I was worried about that since it had been 9 days since my last run.  But as soon as I set out my body felt great.  That good feeling lasted me almost the entire run, until the very end.  For some reason, as I ran the last stretch of the route my left calf muscle started tightening up, almost like I was pulling it.  It forced me to slow down and adjust my form.  Luckily after I stopped running the pain went away, but it was worrisome all the same.  I hope it doesn't happen again tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to my next two runs.  Our goal in Arrowhead is to get in some trail running.  Hopefully that elevation will help to strengthen our lungs and increase our endurance.  We only have just over 2 weeks to go until the 5k after all!

Full Moon Warm Up

Time:  25 minutes
Distance:  2.55 miles
Location:  Apple Valley to Sitting Bull Academy

I guess maybe the secret is lots of rest.  I think we're wired to think more is always better -- the more I run the better I'll get.  That principle is true in general, but when just starting, running every day (as I've just learned) can have adverse effects.  All the aches and pains I was experiencing a couple weeks back are all but gone.  My last run, last week on Wednesday, was great.  I felt strong for the whole run with almost no leg pain.  I took the next four days off (probably a couple too many), and my run tonight felt just as good, if not better! 

Before going out on my run, to my delight, my wife decided to get a mile in tonight.  So we ran/walked a mile around our neighborhood, which I used as a good warm-up.  After this I headed out to get 25 minutes.  I knew I needed at least 25 minutes because of all the time I took off.  I took off on my typical route, down Apple Valley to Sitting Bull, and then headed east to Sitting Bull Academy, and then back.  Last time I ran this route I got in 2.39 miles (May 18th).  Today I got in 2.55.  A big improvement actually.  I felt strong the whole run.  There was some wind to contend with, but it wasn't too bad.  The moon was out and huge.  It made the run less dark, which was nice because I got kind of a late start. 

I'm not sure if I should continue to take this many rest days, or if maybe I've built my stamina up enough to be able to handle consecutive days again.  I'll play it by ear.  But at least the last two runs have been confidence-builders.  I'm now not feeling quite so unsure about the 5K in 4 weeks.