L.A Marathon Pace Timing Again

I signed up for a second year to be a pace timer at the L.A. Marathon. You can read about my adventure in 2009 here. I hope I am able to get in to do it again. It was a great experience last year.

John Thum

Second Anniversary

Today marks the second anniversary of The Great Magnetic Field. This time last year I was contemplating whether to continue the blog and I decided to keep going, so I guess I will keep going for a third year. Being a new home and dog owner are taking up a lot more time than triathlon these days, but this has slowly become a more general interest blog anyway. I will post Triathlon related and other stuff here as it arises and you can always check out puppy progress at From Out Of The West...The Tales Of Rango.

I am looking forward to what 2010 brings.

John Thum

The New House

I have not been blogging much at The Great Magnetic Field primarily because The Great Magnetic Wife, our new dog, Rango, and I have moved. This takes a lot of time. This is a picture of our lovely new home in Sun Valley.

John Thum

New Dog, New Blog!

Last Saturday, November 21, 2009, The Great Magnetic Wife and I picked up our new dog, Rango, from a rescue organization call Noah's Bark. His mom is a Brittany mixed with a few other things and his dad is a ramblin' guy who almost certainly mostly a Labrador Retriever. His sisters looked like pure-bred Labs.

I started a new blog call From Out Of The West...The Tales Of Rango! to chart his growth. We picked him up at nine weeks and he is growing so fast that I want to document it. My goal is to post a new photo everyday. Enjoy.

John Thum

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is, perhaps, my favorite holiday. I think that it is wonderful that we, as a nation and as individuals, take time to give thanks. We all have much to be thankful for.

This year I am particularly thankful for Rango, our new dog, our new house, The Great Magnetic Wife, my family and friends and my health. Appreciating and being thankful for what one has is the key to happiness.

John Thum

One Year Anniversary Of Becoming An Ironman!

Today is the one year anniversary of becoming an Ironman. I was following the events of Ironman Arizona yesterday and got quite nostalgic. If you would like to read the race report, you can do so here.

John Thum

Ironman Arizona This Weekend

Ironman Arizona is this weekend and it is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I became an Ironman. I had wanted to go and volunteer at IMAZ and the sign up for 2010, but alas, life is getting in the way. The Great Magnetic Wife and I will be purchasing a house next week. It takes a lot of time and money. I just didn't feel I had the time to take of for Arizona this weekend or the money to sign up for the Ironman. There will be others. Good luck to all the participants!

John Thum

Ironman World Championships

I can just repeat my post from last year. Congratulations to Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington! Chrissie broke the course record for women which had been held for seventeen years!

John Thum

Nostalgia

Lately, I have been a bit nostalgic for the olden days. In general, I think things generally get better. Technology helps our lives. But the one area where it has hurt is in identifying crazy people in public. It used to be that when you saw someone on a street corner or in a grocery store who was ranting loudly to no one in particular, you stayed clear because that person was crazy. Now it seems that it is more likely to be a jerk with a Blue Tooth. I miss the old days.

John Thum

I Like My Hat!

A couple of weeks ago, while on vacation at Sea Island, Georgia, I almost lost my Ironman finisher's hat. We were on a boating excursion around the islands and the wind caught my hat and it went overboard. My immediate reaction was, "oh, well...it's just a hat." However, the captain turned the boat around and I was able to reach over the side and grab it. I was happy. For the rest of the boating trip I did not wear it, not wanting to lose it again. By the end of the trip I was thinking that I was really glad to have my hat back.

I earned that hat. It took me a year of training and almost 15 and a half hours to be handed my Ironman hat. I noticed yesterday that I have worn the hat almost everyday since the day I almost lost it. My life would have gone on without any hat related unhappiness if I did not get it back, but I am really happy that I have my hat back.

John Thum

Playing Catch Up

The designated mileage for running with the L.A. Leggers today was six miles. No problem. I ran with the twelve minute a mile pace group and we started running a little faster than that but not much., About a mile and a half in I had to use the restroom and didn't want to try and hold it for four and a half miles. I slipped out of the running pack and into the public restroom along our course.

I knew it was going to take me a mile or more to catch up, but I was feeling good and was confident I could. Approximately a mile after my pit stop I saw a group of L.A. Leggers running ahead of me. I assumed it was my group and picked up the pace to catch them. As I got within fifty yards of the group I realized it was the fourteen minute a mile pace group. No wonder I had such an easy time catching them. Oh well, I'll just keep going. However picking up the pace to catch up to the 14s tuckered me out a bit.

As I ran down the bridge to the Santa Monica Pier and to the beach I saw my group still more than a quarter of a mile ahead. I ran down the bridge and turned on the boardwalk and tried to pick up the pace. I was passing a few stragglers from the group who were unable to keep up. That is not so unusual as the miles start to increase. I kept running.

My Garmin indicated I was over 4 miles into this run and I was still not catching them. I was surprised because I was running under an eleven minute a mile pace. I was passing more and more people from the group who could not keep up.

The turn around point to go back was at four and a half miles and I was now about four and a third miles into this. The path curves a lot at this point and so I could not see very far ahead, but I was sure I had to be very close to the group. At about 4.4 miles a finally saw the group heading towards me. I was still about two tenths of a mile back. I could either cut off a bit of running and just join them, or go all the way to the turn around point. I decided to go to the turn around point and still try to catch up.

I picked up the pace considerably and looked down at my Garmin and saw that I was running under ten minute miles. I was going more than two minutes a mile faster than the pace group was going, why wasn't I catching up more quickly? I could now clearly see the group ahead of me. I knew I was going to catch them in a minute or two. When I finally did, I assumed I was going to fall back into a much slower pace, but I didn't. The group was doing about an eleven minute a mile pace. It suddenly all made sense. The reason I had so much trouble catching up, the reason there were so many stragglers who had to drop out was that the group was running way too fast.

The head mentor for the group and his top assistant were both gone this weekend. We had a mentor who apparently didn't watch his pace even though, I later learned, he was getting a lot of complaints about the pace and requests to slow down. When we finally finished and he looked at the average pace he said something like, it is good to push the pace. It makes you stronger. That is probably true, but he is supposed to be a mentor for a group that trains people for marathons who have often never done any kind real running before. I have the feeling that some of those people who had to abandon the group because they could not keep up may abandon the Leggers. Hopefully they joined slower groups as they came by, but you never know. I think our so called mentor did the group as a whole a great disservice.

John Thum

Ironman Race Report

For my Ironman Arizona race report click here or just keep scrolling down.

My Kindle Reading List

I have had my Kindle 2 for a little over five months now. I really like it. I have done more reading in the last five months since any time in my life with the exception of college... Although, when I really think about it, this may also include college.

The following is a list of books, in no particular order, I have read on my Kindle since I got it.

Consent To Kill by Vince Flynn

A fun read. Vince Flynn writes potboiler spy novels that follow his CIA super agent Mitch Rapp. It is nice to read novels where our intelligence services are highly competent and get things done and protect our freedom. The other thing I like about the Mitch Rapp series is that Mitch is a former winner of the Ironman world championships. Not just his age group, the whole thing. Now he's a spy and people want to kill him!

Driving Like Crazy by P.J. O'Rourke

This is an updated collection of some of P.J.'s best automotive writing. It is often hilarious. If you're a fan of P.J. O'Rourke you will like this book.

The American Patriot's Almanac by William J. Bennett and John Cribb

I have not read the whole thing because it is an almanac. I read one section a day. It highlights a significant historical event that took place on that day. A fun way to go through American history.

Christ The Lord: Out Of Egypt by Anne Rice

No vampires, but a very well-written, scholarly and well-researched novel on the early days of Jesus. It starts with the family leaving Egypt and returning to Nazareth. Jesus is not fully aware of who he is, but there are hints. It is consistent with the Gospels where it can be and goes in a very logical but sometimes surprising direction where there is no reference in the Gospels.

Dog On It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn

This was the first book I actually paid for on my Kindle. I didn't know anything about it, but read a description and decided to buy it. I have been telling anyone who will listen about it ever since. It is a mystery story that is narrated by a dog. Bernie is the detective, Chet is his faithful dog and together they make it work. If you enjoyed the dogs in the movie Up, you will enjoy this. This is amusingly told from the dog's point-of-view. Squirrel!

Checkmate by Karna Small Bodman

I heard the author on a radio talk show and thought that she was one of the most intelligent people I had ever heard call into a program. The host obviously thought so too because he started asking her about herself to find out about her background. She mentioned that she is currently a novelist and wrote political thrillers. I was intrigued enough to give her a shot. She was perhaps the best caller I have ever heard on a radio talk show, but she is not a good writer. I did manage to finish the book, but there were a few debates with myself as to weather I should. This was not well written and really just kind of lame. She has two more books out, but I do not plan on reading them. I wonder how many people, like me, bought her book after her appearance? It was a good way to sell books.

Memorial Day by Vince Flynn

Mitch Rapp saves Washington and New York from a nuclear attack by Muslim terrorists! He's one bad mother--

Shut your mouth!

But, I'm talkin' 'bout Rapp!

Born To Run by Christopher McDougall

I loved this book. I wrote a post about it that you can read here.

Executive Power by Vince Flynn

Hey, it's a Mitch Rapp thriller. He's manly and kills bad guys. What more do you want? The only down side is that his wife is starting to annoy me. He loves her, but she annoys me.

The Persian Night: Iran Under The Khomeinist Revolution by Amir Taheri

Read this book! It is especially relevant after the recent elections and protests in Iran.

Grave Sight by Charlain Harris

This is the same author who writes the Sookie Stackhouse stories on which HBO's True Blood is based. No vampires here, just a likable, but strange woman who feels vibes from dead people. She locates bodies and solves mysteries and kind of creeps people out. She and her eccentric brother are characters I liked spending time with. I will probably read the other books in the series eventually, but I didn't feel like jumping into them right away.

Separation of Power by Vince Flynn

Ironman Triathlete, super-spy and all around manly dude, Mitch Rapp is back killing bad guys, busting corrupt politicians and uncovering evil plots. Written before 9/11 and the Iraq war, you even have Saddam Hussein trying to acquire nuclear weapons.

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore

This was one of those "Amazon recommends for you" books and I decided I would give it a try. This is book that thinks it is a lot more hip and droll than I do. I imagine that the author thought he was being outrageously funny at every turn. I occasionally thought the book was mildly amusing. The plot is overly complicated and ultimately doesn't take you very far. I know Christopher Moore has his fans, I'm just not one of them.

The Third Option by Vince Flynn

Mitch Rapp kills more bad guys and saves the world and sometimes gets all mad about stuff. I like it.

Small Steps by Louis Sachar

This is a sequel of sorts to Holes, a truly wonderful book and movie. It follows X-Ray, a minor character in Holes, a couple of years after his time in the juvenile detention camp. It is okay young adult fare, but doesn't have the magic of Holes. The plot of Holes was somewhat improbable, but worked in the world that was created by the author, the plot of Small Steps is just improbable. However, the characters are likable enough that I cared what happened to them in this fairly short read.

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulson

This was offered as a free download on the Kindle and since the price was right, I went for it. It is a short novel that is written for pre-teens. I imagine that I would really have enjoyed it as a pre-teen. It is about a boy who inheirets a riding lawn mower and becomes a lawn mowing tycoon. Eventually bad guys are involved and they get their comeuppance. At least I read it. Most of the things that I download for free from Kindle I don't get past the first chapter.

The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes

A detailed and very well-written history of the Great Depression. It certainly makes one question the wisdom of the New Deal.

The Babysitter's Code by Laura Lippman

This short story was also a free download on Kindle. It was worth every cent I paid for it. If it has been ten pages longer I don't think I would have bothered to finish it.

John Thum

Another Ironman In 2011?

At this time last year I was obsessing over competing in my first Ironman triathlon and training very hard six days a week. The weekends where very long days of training, usually eight to ten hours. The only break on the weekends was to go to church. On weekdays I got up early for at least an hour-long morning training session and then did a couple hours after work. This year, not so much. I have had a lot more time to do other things, but I have also put on about twenty pounds. I kind of miss having a great big goal. I am leaning more and more to doing Ironman Arizona again in 2011. As of today, the plan is to volunteer at this year's race and then sign up for next years. We are also trying to buy a house and other things, so I reserve the right to change my mind, but I definitely need more focus in my workouts.

John Thum

On The Horns Of A Dilemma

I was quite excited that the L.A. Marathon is being moved back to March and that the new route would take us from Dodger Stadium to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. However, I realized last week that the L.A. Marathon for 2010 is on March 21 and the Oceanside Half-Ironman triathlon, which I have already signed up for, is on March 27. It will be tough to run a marathon on a Sunday and come back the next Saturday for a Half Ironman. I guess we'll have to see.

John Thum

Running Barefoot...Sort Of.

Inspired by reading Born To Run, I have been doing more and more barefoot running. It has been mostly on the grass, about a mile to a mile an a half. I wanted to be less limited than running on the grass and so I took Barefoot Ted's advice and purchased some Vibram Fivefingers.

They are great. You really get the feel of running barefoot, but do not have to worry about glass and sharp rocks and other debris in the street. I can feel these things if I run over them, but there is no chance that they will cut my feet. Running barefoot really is a much better way to run. I am faster and less tired for the equivalent distances. Now when I say I'm faster, it means I improve from laughably slow to merely ridiculously slow, but still, I'm faster!

They are also an attention getter. I'm not sure this is always a good thing. After I bought my new Vibram Fivefingers, I walked out of the store wearing them and was immediately asked about them as I was getting into my car. Later in the week I walked into a gathering at a friend's house and the conversation immediately turned to my feet.

The longest I have run so far in them is three miles. I am building up to longer distances. When I ran four miles this weekend with the L.A. Leggers, I used conventional shoes. I'm going to take the mileage up slowly, but I expect I should be doing reasonably long runs, 10k and longer, in a month or two.

John Thum

New Season With The L.A. Leggers

I'm quite excited to start a new season with the L.A. Leggers. Two miles today, twenty six by February.

John Thum

L.A. Marathon Date Change

The Los Angeles City Council came to their senses and voted to change the date of the Los Angeles Marathon back to March. They also voted to change the course to a point to point route from Dodger Stadium to the ocean. It is now up to the Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills City councils to cooperate to approve a route. We can only hope.

John Thum

Born To Run

I just finished reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. Despite what you might think, it has absolutely nothing to do with Bruce Springsteen. Ultimately it is about the ture story of the author's quest to run pain free. This leads him to study the Tarahumara Indians, who are native to the Copper Canyon in Mexico. All kinds of colorful characters from both side of the border are introduced including Caballo Blanco and Barefoot Ted. It climaxes in an ultra-marathon on the Tarahumar's home turf that is quite exciting.

I was excited enough about the book that I ran about a mile of my Saturday run barefooted. Of course I did this on grass, I'm not actually nuts like some of the characters in the book. I recommend it highly. For those of us who run long distances, it is quite inspirational.

John Thum

Happy Birthday U.S.A!

Happy Independence Day!

John Thum

The Curse Of The Ironman?

It seems that ever since I finished Ironman Arizona last November, my training and racing efforts have been kind of cursed. Much of this is of my own doing, I simply do not have the motivation to train that I had while preparing for an Ironman, but part of it is just plain bad luck. I am fortunate that I did not encounter any major setbacks while training for the Ironman, the biggest was when I pulled my calf muscle, but that was almost a year out and I had plenty of time to recover. This season I have not actually completed even a sprint triathlon. I had a DNF (did not finish) in the Pasadena Triathlon due to mechanical problems on the bike and I had a DNS (did not start) for the Redondo Beach Triathlon on Sunday.

I was looking forward to participating in another triathlon. This is a sprint triathlon that I could probably have finished in about an hour and ten minutes. The swim is half a mile, the bike is six miles, the run is two miles. I picked up my racing package on Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening I was packing my gear for the next day. I was essentially done, but wanted to retrieve the water bottles off of my bike and fill them up. My bike was already in the car and so I went out to get the bottles. I open the front passenger side door and reached into the back to grab the bottles off of the bike and pulled. One was a little stuck and so I pulled harder and the bottle came free. I was in an awkward position and something in my back suddenly hurt as I got the bottle out.

I didn't think that much about it, but as I was walking back, it hurt more. As I climbed the stairs it was getting worse with each step. After I stepped in the front door I said to The Great Magnetic Wife, "I think did something to my back." I tried to stretch it out and this didn't seem to help, only hurt. I sat down. If I didn't move it was okay. The moment I did any kind of movement it hurt a lot.

I hoped that it was going to get better overnight. We set coffee for 5:00 am and went to bed. I was having trouble going to sleep because of the pain. I eventually got up and tried to sleep sitting up because this was less painful. Eventually 5:00 am came around and the back was in a lot of pain. I was not going to be doing a triathlon today.

I spent the day resting and moving as little as possible. By night time I had improved and even went for a walk. This morning I have a lot less pain. Is this the curse of the Ironman? Probably not. I am just thankful that I did not have these problems this time last year when I was training for the Ironman.

John Thum

Fontana Half Marathon

The Fontana Half Marathon. I have been telling anyone who would listen for the last two years that this was a great race that almost guaranteed a personal record. I ran it two years ago and finished in 2:01:38. That is an average pace of 9:18/mile. For me, that is blazing fast. It is my PR by over twenty minutes. I have not been training particularly hard for the last couple of months, so I didn't expect to best my previous time, but I did expect relatively easy Half Marathon. Why does Fontana bill itself as, and live up to its reputation as the world's fastest half marathon? Because it is all down hill. In the 13.1 miles you lose over 3,000 feet in elevation. Most of that is in the first six miles, but the rest of the race is still a very subtle down hill. And yet there are no steep downhill sections. Gravity is your friend and helps you along. All that being said, this turned out to be a tough race.

The Great Magnetic Wife and I headed out Friday at about 1:00 to our hotel in Rancho Cucamonga. I took a half day off of work so that we could beat the traffic out to the Inland Empire. When we checked into the hotel, they were just bringing out the complementary chocolate chip cookies. Things were looking up. The hotel was next to the Ontario Mills Mall and that seemed to be our easiest and closest form of entertainment. I went the Nike Store and got some new running socks, and the we went to the theater and saw "Up" in 3D. Loved it, recommend highly.

We were in bed by nine and got up at 4:30 am to leave by 5:00. Checking in at the race site was easy and after a few pictures I got on a bus that took me up to the start. I sat next to John Montgomery, a guy who looked like a great runner and said he was going to try to average 6:30/mile. As he is sixty two years old I asked him if he usually wins his age group. He does. There is no time in my life that I could even come close to 6:30/mile pace, even downhill. As it turns out he also went to Julian Union High School in 1960 to 1962 when my grandfather, Ray Redding, was the principal. Small world.

We got up to the starting area about 6:45. This was enough time to go to the bathroom one last time and stretch a little before the start. There was a truck that collected any personal items that the runners brought to the start that they did not want to carry with them during the run. I had a long sleeve shirt and some sunscreen. I hung out by the truck because it was quite cold. Having gained over 3,000 feet in elevation from where we started in Fontana, the temperature had dropped and it was chilly. The plan was to wait until the last minute and take off my shirt, put it in my bag and give it to the guys on the truck. Then I heard that the start of the race was being delayed by a half an hour because they didn't have enough buses to get all of the runners to the starting line. It's funny. This was the 54th year of the race and it is a very small, generally well organized event. I'm surprised they made a mistake like that. However, the bottom line for me was that I did not want to spend an extra half an hour without my long sleeve shirt. I decided that I would sacrifice my shirt and keep warm a little longer. It was a shirt that I received for running the Redondo Beach 10k a few years ago. I have about 40 event t-shirts, I could certainly give one up. I waited until about a minute before the start of the race and took off the shirt and laid it down next to a pile of other clothes that had been sacrificed.

The race finally started and it was going well enough for the first mile or so and then I felt a little twitch in my left calf. Not a big deal, I get little muscle twitches all of the time. Then it came again and then CRAMP!!! Ow, that hurts. I stopped for a moment and stretched it out. Runners where passing and asking if I was okay. I seemed to get it out of my system and started walking a little. It felt okay and I started running again. Another mile or so went by and then CRAMP!!!. Oh, dad gum it. I stretched, I walked, I ran again. This time could feel a little pain every time I stepped with my left leg. I was in an okay rhythm, but it hurt when I ran. I didn't think I was injuring myself, so I kept on running. I looked down at my Garmin and it said I was going at a 10:30/mile pace. This was the biggest down hill part of the race. I should have been going at about 9:00/mile pace. This was not going to even come close to the 2:01:38 time I got two years ago.

Just then the wind started kicking up. I was running into a head wind and this seemed to be slowing me down also. Wind is always a major factor in riding a bike, but I don't usually run fast enough or run in windy enough conditions that it makes much difference when I run. I was running with a painful left calf into a headwind, but I was still running downhill. My Garmin said I was at a 11:00/mile pace. I usually run faster than that on an easy run around the neighborhood. That is an awful pace for a race. Oh well.

By this time, after stopping for cramps twice and running extra slowly the majority of the field had passed me by and I was clearly at the back of the pack with the stragglers. That is how it stayed for the rest of the race. After about mile 6 the downhill becomes much more subtle and there are even a few short and mild uphill sections. At this point I realized that I was not even going to get my second best time, which I got last October at the Long Beach Half Marathon. I trudged on. I've always said that I am not a good runner, I am not a fast runner, but I can keep on going. So I kept on going.

I had not quite reached mile 11 when I looked down at my watch and saw that I had exceeded my time from two years ago. I was a couple minutes over two hours into this thing. I had told The Great Magnetic Wife that I had hoped to finish in about two hours. At the rate I was going, I was probably 25 minutes away. I gave her a call and let her know that I was going to be a while.

Oddly enough, at this point I was actually passing a lot of people. Many had given up trying to run and where just walking. I trudged on past about fifteen to twenty people in the last couple of miles and no one passed me.

With about a mile to go I saw the the large green balloons that marked the finish line and tried to pick up the pace. I may have picked it up from a 12 minute mile to an 11:30 minute mile. It didn't hurt that a local business had a DJ station set up and was blasting techno music. I needed to pick up the pace just to get away from the noise.

I finally saw The Great Magnetic Wife just before the finish. She was taking pictures. She then ran to get a finish line picture. She could out run me a this point.

I was very happy to finish, but not so happy with my finishing time of 2:27:57

I saw John Montgomery, my race friend for the day. He had won his division with a time of 1:25:00 and achieved his goal of running at a 6:30 a mile pace. Amazing.

Checkout time at the hotel wasn't until noon, so we were able to go back and I took a shower. It was a very nice thing to do after a race.

It is now a couple of days later and my legs are very sore and I am limping around. My legs feel as if I ran a full marathon. I feel as if I have to go back and do this race again to redeem myself from this performance. I'll see you next year.

John Thum

No NYC Marathon For You!

I did not get into the New York City Marathon. I'll enter the lottery again next year. If I don't make it then, I'll get an automatic entry in 2011. I guess I could always qualify. No...That's not going to happen.

John Thum

Ironman California 70.3 - March 27, 2010

I just signed up for the Ironman California 70.3 (half ironman triathlon) on March 27, 2010. The price will go up $25.00 tomorrow, so I figured this was a good day to do it. 

I have not had a big goal this year and my training has definitely suffered as I have not had a huge scary event looming. Last year, I had to train because the L.A. Marathon and then the California Half Ironman and then, of course, Ironman Arizona and a few other big ones in between. Whenever I was inclined to take it easy, I had to remember what was coming. 

This year I am doing a bunch of half marathons and a few shorter triathlons, but nothing too demanding. I am at the fitness level that I can pull these things off without sticking to a very disciplined and regimented training schedule. I think I need that to really be motivated. 

I will find out in the next week or so if I get into the New York City Marathon in November. If so, I will have something big to train for. I had thought about a Ironman Austin 70.3 (half ironman) in October, but I don't think that's going to happen. I am thinking about Ironman Arizona in November 2010. One year of hard training/racing and then a year of taking it relatively easy sounds about right.

John Thum

L.A. Marathon Pace Timing - Way Cool!

A week or so ago an email arrived from the L.A. Tri Club asking for volunteers to be pace timers for the L.A. Marathon. They would need 52 of them. A pace timer is someone who rides a bicycle in front of the elite runners and at the miles markers calls in the split times for the top three runners to the media. Sounded good to me. We would get a very unique view of the marathon and have clear roads to ride on. I immediately signed up.   I got the word on Thursday that I would be participating. Surprisingly, they never got the 52 volunteers they were seeking, but enough of us volunteered that we had a good contingent. 

Not wanting to deal with traffic and parking for the marathon, I decided that I would ride my bike to the site. We were to meet about 200 yards in front of the starting line at 6:00 am. I knew it would take me about half an hour to get there, but as I am obsessed by time and hate to be late, I left about 4:50. It was nice because there was almost no traffic and and once I got onto the course all of the streets were closed to traffic. I got to the site plenty early and found that I was the first one there. A few minutes later I saw the the familiar L.A. Tri Club uniform on a cyclist in the distance. I waved and he came over. We all wore our L.A. Tri Club tops to identify ourselves to the race officials. The second guy there was Shiggy. We introduced ourselves and wondered where everybody was. Was this some kind of elaborate hoax? Eventually more and more folks showed up. As it turns out there was an email sent out that said we were to meet between 6:30 and 6:45. Neither Shiggy nor I received it. Still haven't.

Anna Wills who was in charge of this thing showed up and gave us our assignments. I was to ride in front of the elite men and fortuitously I was partnered with Shiggy. We were to go to miles 4, 11, 17 and 24 and call in the numbers and split times for the first three runners to the media. We could do that.

One of the riders was Monica Morant aka Iron Monica of I Just Want The Tattoo. She wrote one of the most detailed blogs documenting her training and her experience leading to her finishing Ironman Brazil last year. The only problem was that she stopped writing after her race report for the bike section of her Ironman. She said that today is the one year anniversary

of her Ironman and that she was going to finally finish her report. We'll see. The photo below is of Iron Monica and Shiggy.

We watched the start of the wheelchair race and then the hand cyclist race. The elite women went off next and all of the cyclists who were going to report their pace times took off as soon as the women did. The cyclists had about a two hundred yard head start and flew down Figueroa Blvd. From our perspective we watched as the women ran by.

The women get a 17 minute head start on the men. Their official time is how long it takes them to complete the marathon, but whoever actually crosses the finish line first, whether male or female gets a $100,000 bonus.  

As soon as the women ran by we got into our positions 200 yards in front of the starting line. When the airhorn blared, signaling the start of the race, we were to start our chronometers and take off for our positions. Since Shiggy and I didn't have to do any timing until mile 4, we had a little bit of time to see how the mile markers looked. Shiggy announced that he had to take a pee. I suggested he wait until after we called in our first time and then used the port-a-potty at the mile marker. 

We hadn't really figured our how we were going to do this. I suggested that I would call out the numbers and times and Shiggy would write them down. Sounded good to him. We got to mile four. There are large banners over each mile marker, so they are easy to spot, but the actual exact spot was a small green line spray painted near the curb. We found that waited. A couple of minutes later we saw the pace car and the media truck heading down the street. All of the runners were running in a pack, so the first three would essentially have the same time. I picked up their numbers and shouted to Shiggy. As they crossed the mile marker, I looked at my watch. I called out the time and Shiggy wrote it down. We hopped on our bikes and took off. About thirty seconds later,  Shiggy said, "Should we phone this in?" Oh yeah, that was the whole point of this. I'm glad he thought of it. He called it in to the media and then went in search of a port-a-potty. 

Very shortly after this, I caught up to the back of the group. A couple of other L.A. Tri Club pace timers were still in back and they informed me that the motorcycle cops who were trailing the elite runners wouldn't let us pass. The street had narrowed and we were going to have to wait until it opened up a bit. A few minutes later Shiggy rejoined us and we were all a happy little group. 

It seemed to me that we would be able to safely pass and I was starting to get a little nervous that we would miss our next timing spot. I asked the motorcycle cop when we could pass and he said soon. A couple of minutes later we turned a corner and the street widened and we passed by. The following video is of that segment.

The whole time we were doing this, I kept thinking to myself, "how cool is this?" The answer, of course, is really very extremely totally cool. It was fun riding the streets with no traffic. It was great seeing the world-class runners up close. It was fun passing the other pace timers when they were at their stops. It was especially fun riding with Shiggy. He was taking photos of everyone and everything. Most of the photos on this report were taken by Shiggy. It was such a great time. From the time I heard about this, I was excited. But the reality of doing it were better then the expectations.

It is easy to keep up with world-class marathoners on a road bike, they average about twelve miles an hour, but you do have to move. You can't just be going for a leisurely ride. There were times when we had to sprint to catch up and get ahead of the runners. It is really amazing how fast these guys run over a twenty six mile race. I am not sure I could keep up with them for a hundred yards on fresh legs, and yet they usually run the second half of the race faster than the first. There was a time a little later in the race, after we had phoned in the time for the 11 mile split, when we had to pass the runners again. They were going down a little hill and it seemed to me that they were just moving unbelievably fast. I slowed slightly and rode even with them to see how fast they were actually going and the speedometer on my bike said 17 mph. Now, they were going downhill, but still, they were running 17 miles an hour more than 11 miles into a marathon.

My friend Monete Chew, with whom I attend church and Bible study, emailed me to let me know that she lived on the route and that she would probably be out washing her truck in the morning. As we went down her street, I saw her building and her truck. There she was. I stopped for a few moments and said hello. Her clothes were partially wet, but her truck looked great.

The Great Magnetic Wife and I were house sitting for some other friends from church quite near mile 17. That was our next stop, so I called her up and asked her to meet us. I was getting a little hungry and so I asked her to bring some bananas. There she was at mile 17 and so were Bill Lockton and Iron Monica Morant. The women had split up a little and they were waiting for the third place woman to pass to call in her time. The photo above is all of us at mile 17.

The third place woman arrived soon enough and they were on their way. A minute or so later the men came running by. They were still in a group and clearly getting very close to the women. We said goodbye to The Great Magnetic Wife and were on our way. It was only a mile or two later that we passed the leading female runner. She was by herself at this time. 

We got to mile 24, our last stop, and were greeted again by Monica and Bill. This time the wait was a little longer. When we saw the runners coming it was still the woman in the lead, but the top two men were about ten yards behind and gaining fast. They were about to pass. We had to wait a little while longer for the third male, but Bill And Monica were still waiting for the second and third female when we left. 

At this time we didn't really have to rush anywhere. We wanted to get to the finish line to watch the end of the race, but we had finished our assignment. We kind of casually rode behind the leading runners. There were a number of L.A. Tri pace timers all riding together at this point. About a mile and a half from the end we decided to surge ahead and get a good spot for the finish. It was a great deal of fun. About thirty of us, all dressed alike, were riding down the street. People were cheering us for reasons unknown, other than that they were ready to cheer something. 

About 200 yards before the finish we were taken off of the course and got a front row look at the finish. By this time the leading male, Wesley Korir, a Kenyan, was all by himself and running incredibly fast. He finished in 2:08:24, a course record.

All of the pace timers gathered for a photo and then headed for the finish line festival. I loaded up on free nuts, provided by a sponsor and headed to the beer garden. I had asked Bill Lockton, who is a past president of the L.A. Leggers, where the Legger aid station was located, as I did not notice it on the ride. He said he was headed that way and asked if I want to ride there with him.

It sounded like a good idea to me. We rode most of the way, but he stopped a few blocks away to go to his car and change. I went to the Legger aid station and saw number of familiar faces. I handed out water to Leggers and anyone else who asked. We loudly cheered on any Leggers who came by and generally had a great time. 

Another friend from church, Doug TenNaple, was running, or more precisely shuffling the marathon, you can see his race report here. I was hoping to see him, but after a while I gave up. As it turns out I had not missed him, I just was not patient enough. His race report is worth reading.

Overall, it was a great day. This is the best way one can possibly view a marathon. It was really a blessing to be so close to such world-class runners and really get a feel for how fast they go for so long. Just riding the streets of L.A. without having to worry about cars was really amazing. I remember saying to Shiggy as we were waiting for the runners at mile 24, that as a runner when you see the banner for mile 24, you think to yourself, "oh good, it's almost over!" I was having so much fun that when I saw the banner for mile 24, I thought to myself, "oh no, it's almost over." I would have gladly done it again right then and there.

I hope I have a chance to do this in the future.

John Thum 

Pasadena Marathon Discount

I just signed up for my first event for 2010. This weekend only! (May 8 to 10) The Pasadena Marathon is offering deep discounts for entry into the February 2010 race. $45.00 for the full and $37.50 for the half. If you can plan ahead this is a great deal. Click here for details.

I just signed up. My first event for 2010

John Thum

La Jolla Half Marathon

The Great Magnetic Wife and I got up and headed down to La Jolla early to avoid what is usually heavy Saturday traffic to San Diego. We stopped in Encinitas because The Great Magnetic Wife loves Encinitas and it was her birthday and she got to do whatever she wanted. I also wanted to go by Nytro, a great triathlon store to pick new bottles for my Fuel Belt.

From Encinitas we continued down PCH because we would meet up with the course of the La Jolla Half Marathon. I wanted to get a feel for it. I have ridden my bike along the route, but I just wanted to remind myself. There were going be some hills. 

After a quick stop at the parent's house we headed out to go to the La Jolla Recreation Center to the event expo to pick up my bib, timing chip and t-shirt. I have dozens of event t-shirts and I don't wear most of them, but somehow, I still have to pick up the t-shirt. The one event t-shirt I do wear regularly is my finisher's shirt from Ironman Arizona. There was a guy who was looking at my shirt and said that he had also done Ironman Arizona last November and so we got to reminisce about our pain and triumphs of completing an Ironman.

It brought back a lot of memories going to the La Jolla Rec. Center. When I was in Junior High School there used to be Friday night dances at the rec center. My band regularly played those dances and when we weren't playing, I usually attended. I went into the auditorium and it seemed much smaller than I remembered it. It all came back, from the awkward times of trying to figure out girls to the mischief that went on outside. Always a lot of fun.

It was The Great Magnetic Wife's Birthday and so I took her out for lunch. We were planning on having dinner with my dad and my mom if she got home in time from her nursing school reunion up in Palo Alto. We went to Karl Strauss in La Jolla and had some fine beer and food. 

The race started at 7:30 in Del Mar. I wanted to be there by 7:00. It takes about ten minutes to get from my parent's house to the start point of the race at the Del Mar fairgrounds. I knew there were about 6,500 runners so there could be some traffic, but 6,500 people is nothing compared to a busy day at the Del Mar Fair or when the thourobreds are running. However about a mile away from the Via De La Valle exit, there was already a backup. We got in line and were glad that we left early and had plenty of time. After about a half and hour I said that I was seriously thinking about getting out and running to the start. I was going to give it fifteen more minutes. Fifteen minutes went by and we had inched closer, but were still aways away from getting off of the freeway. A few people had the same idea I did and were running along the freeway. The Great Magnetic Wife convinced me to wait five more minutes. 

We finally got off the freeway, but were stuck on Via De La Valle. I finally said, "I can't wait anymore, I have to get there." So I hopped out and headed for the race. About three minutes later I realized that I still had my long sleeve running shirt that I was going to take off before the race and hand to The Great Magnetic Wife. Oh well, I'll deal with it later.

I did manage to get to the starting line about fifteen minutes before the start of the race and had a change to stretch and relax a little. I decided I would start the race with my long sleeve shirt and take it off when I got hot and just wrap it around me. 

There were two waves at the start. I started at the back of the second wave because I am, after all, Slow John. It was a very wide starting place and as a result there was very little crowding. It probably also helped that a significant number of runners were not able to make it to the start on time because of the traffic back up. About three minutes into the run I was starting to get hot. My plan was to run the first mile and then walk for a minute before I started my usual routine of run for five minutes and walk for one minute. As it turns out The Great Magnetic Wife was able to park and was watching, but I didn't see her and she didn't see me. It would have been nice to give her my long sleeve shirt.

I made it to the first mile and took off the long sleeve shirt and wrapped it around my waist. That lasted about thirty seconds. The shirt is made of a very slippery wick-away materiel that does not hold very well when tied around your waist. Plan B. I stuck it in the back of my Fuel Belt and would just have a blue tail the whole run. That lasted about a minute. I finally had to knot it up multiple times on itself around the fuel belt. I remember having this same problem with the same shirt while I was running the marathon during the Ironman.   

The first part of the course has some mild hills, but nothing too hard. There is a section that goes from Del Mar down to Torrey Pines State Beach that is a long, sustained, not-too-steep down hill. At the top there was a big yellow traffic sign that said SLOW. I turn to some of the runners next to me and said, "I know I'm slow, but do that have to put up a sign?" It made them laugh. 

It was nice to run down hill, but in this race, what comes down must go up. At the section of Torrey Pines Road that climbs into La Jolla, we left the main road and went into Torrey Pines State Park. The road through the park is very winding and steep. Almost everyone stopped running and started to walk this part. I then looked up ahead and saw that the official race photographers were ahead. I couldn't have a race photo taken while I was walking, so I started running again and smiled as I went by the photographers. The moment I passed them I started walking and stopped smiling. This extremely steep section went on for over a mile. When I finally got to the top, it was still a mild uphill for another mile or so. I started running and got back to my 5 to 1 run/walk routine. As we were passing Torrey Pines Golf Course, I heard someone say, "do you think Tiger's playing there today?" I said, "probably."

At this point there were a few miles of relatively flat running as we went by the Salk Institute and UCSD. After that long uphill it was quite nice. We eventually turned onto La Jolla Shores Drive and after about a mile it goes downhill rather steeply. I like running downhill on moderate grade roads, but running down steep hills is not a lot of fun. I can go a lot faster than I can run on a flat, but to some extent I have to hold back to keep my balance and it is hard on the quads, the knees and is not very efficient. This was a steep downhill of about a mile. 

I finally made it to La Jolla Shores and ran along the boardwalk there. This was fun. I have run here a number of times before. We made our way around the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club and then up another steep hill to meet up with Torrey Pines Road again. This part of Torrey Pines road is a moderate uphill that I have run before, but over twelve miles into a half marathon it is tough. 

Finally we turned on Prospect Street and it went downhill again. Then we veered right onto Coast Boulevard towards La Jolla Cove. This was a scary steep downhill with very uneven road, I was moving fast, but I was careful with every step. 

Finally, I could see the finish line at La Jolla Cove Park. I ran as fast as I could for the last four hundred yards and finished in 2:36:16.  That time was actually almost two minutes faster than my last half marathon in Pasadena in March, also a very hilly affair. But the weather was beautiful for this run a awful for Pasadena. 

I met up with The Great Magnetic Wife and we had brunch at the Brockton Villa. We both enjoyed Meg's Eggs. 

The legs feel pretty good. A little sore, but considering all the downhill running I did, not bad at all.

John Thum 

A Bunyon At Runyon? No, A Whammy To My Hammy!

I went out for my last long run before the La Jolla Half Marathon next Sunday, April 26. I had planned to do eight to ten miles including a long uphill run at Runyon Canyon. About two miles in, just at the foot of Runyon Canyon, I jumped up off of the street, over the curb and on to the sidewalk. I felt something pop in my left hamstring. Uh oh! It wasn't too bad. I kept running. Then suddenly I could feel it. Every step came with a little pain in the hamstring. Dang! I stopped running. I started to walked home. I could walk fine with very little pain. A couple of times I tried to run again, but I could feel it when I did. Okay, I was going to have to walk the rest of the way home. I began to think whether or not I would be able to run next week. I think I can. I will let it rest for a couple of days and then try a run of about three miles or so on Monday or Tuesday. Wish me luck.

John Thum

Pasadena Half-Marathon 2:38:44

I have declared this the year of half-marathons and so Pasadena was the second of at least four this year. Last November,  a week before I did the Ironman Arizona, I decided at the very last minute to do the Pasadena Marathon (actually the half-marathon) as my last long run before the big event. I went online to sign up and found to my disappointment that the half-marathon had sold out. As it turns out, that was lucky as the event was cancelled at the last minute because of too much smoke because of massive wild fires. There are many reasons I wanted to run Pasadena. This being the inaugural event, I could be a legacy runner. Even though I have never lived in Pasadena, I do have strong family ties there. Both my father and grandfather were born there. My great-grand father was the mayor. I have always liked the city and The Great Magnetic Wife and I spent many early dates there. For all of these reasons I was excited to run the Pasadena Half-Marathon.

On Saturday I went to the expo to pick up my stuff and who did I see there talking on the microphone and keeping us all informed, but Tim Bomba, my Ironman Arizona sometime training partner and roommate for Ironman week. He is embarking on a new career as a race announcer and got the gig for the Pasadena Marathon.

I keep telling The Great Magnetic Wife that she is under no obligation to go to my various events and I think that finally the thought of getting up at 4:00 am to go to Pasadena in what was predicted to be a rainy morning didn't sound that appealing. She decided to sleep in. It was probably a good thing she did because the rain did come. The rain was coming down fairly lightly on the way there, but just before the start, while we were lining up it came down hard. Well, at least it wouldn't be to hot. 

We took off and got a pretty good tour of Pasadena. We started in front of Pasadena City College and were soon going through some very scenic neighborhoods full of craftsmen houses and lush gardens. The houses were getting bigger and bigger in the first few miles until we were going down Orange Grove and past the old-time stately Pasadena Mansions. This included the Tournament of Roses Mansion. We went by Cal Tech and the Fuller Theological Seminary and a lot of very pretty churches.

Soon we were running down Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena, the sight of so many of those early dates with The Great Magnetic Wife.

Eventually we went by city hall which is a grand old California building. Probably my favorite city hall anywhere. Approaching city hall is something I have never seen before, although it has been a number of years since I have been in that area. There are two very large busts, at least seven feet high. One is of Jackie Robinson, a native of Pasadena and the other isn't. I didn't really want to stop to read the plaque to see who the other guy is, so I guess I'll have to go back.

We went back into a very nice neighborhood on the edge of the Arroyo. The skies again opened up and it started raining very hard. It was getting colder and I think I was running a little slower to make sure my footing was good. There were a couple barefoot runners in this race. If people want to run a marathon barefoot, well God bless 'em. But in the cold and rain on asphalt and concrete. Man those guys are nuts.

Overall, this is a well organized event. The route is clearly marked. The water stations were well manned. The only complaint I have is that they did not have enough port-o-potties on the route. Every water station had one or two port-o-potties, but there was always a line of fifteen to twenty people. It would take a long time to wait that out. I started feeling that I had to use the restroom about three miles into the run, but kept running by the facilities because of the lines. I knew that once we got into the vicinity of the Rose Bowl there were be more rest rooms at the park. I could see the Colorado Street Bridge and knew we were close to the Rose Bowl. There is a decent down there and gravity helped me run faster. As we approached I went off course about 500 feet to go to the rest room. There was one other guy in there that I had to wait for, but that is a lot better than waiting for fifteen or twenty others. The whole thing took about five minutes.

We went part of the way around the road that circles the Rose Bowl. I ran this same road last week at the Pasadena Triathlon. This was the first split for the Marathon and Half Marathon runners. Those of us doing the Half turned around and the ran to a street that took us into north Pasadena. This was the start of a sustained uphill part of the course. It wasn't a steep hill, but it kept going for a couple of miles. When we finally got to the top we were in the 'hood. When I think of Pasadena, I think mostly of craftsmen style houses and stately mansions, but there is a wrong side of the track in this town too. Not that it is an awful, fear-for-your-life kind of a 'hood, but it is decidedly down scale compared to the rest of the town. 

The L.A. Leggers had a support tent along the route and so I stopped in to get some Clif Shot Bloks. I hadn't finished the ones I brought with me and we getting within a couple miles of the end, but I could always use them later.

At this point the rest of the route was down-hill. It started raining again, which slowed me down a little, but I was anxious to finish and get out of the rain. I passed the 12 mile sign. One more mile to go. I could hear the commotion at the finish line. I could see the finishing chute. I was running down the chute when I heard Tim Bomba say, "here comes John Thum, a first time Ironman Triathlon finisher last November! If you need a place to stay in Tempe, go see John, he has a great place for you!"  It was nice to be brought home that way. I finished, got my medal and some water and then I saw what I really wanted. Nesquik was handing out chocolate milk. That was the best post-race drink ever! 

I finished in 2:38:44. Not a very good time, in fact my slowest half-marathon ever. 37 minutes slower than my personal best. I didn't expect a great time, this was a pretty hilly course and the rain definitely slowed me down. Plus, I have run more than six miles since my last half-marathon at the beginning of February. Oh well, it was fun.

About a minute after I finished, it started raining hard again. I went over to the L.A. Leggers tent to try and stay dry, but it was pretty crowed with others doing the same thing. I listened to Tim for a little while. He does have the gift of gab and is quite good at being a race announcer. I hope he gets a lot more gigs doing it.

I didn't want to just hang out in the rain, so I headed for my car. The plan was to go to my gym in Glendale, take a shower, change clothes and go to church. I must admit, with getting up at 4:00 and running a half-marathon I was pretty tired and nodded off a few times during the sermon.

John Thum