California, the land of reptiles

I spent last week in California and have been a bit too busy to update the blog with the running I did there. But here I am and here I go.

Tuesday I ran along Santa Monica shoreline, not long after arriving via aeroplane and consuming fried fish and french fried potatoes. Thus, I wasn't feeling splendid, but I put in a good 10 mile run... 3 miles at 5:45 pace, 4 miles at 6:45 pace, 3 miles at 5:45 pace. Sort of like an oreo sandwich... the rougher chocolate cookies (fast parts) surrounding a nice, creamy cream center thing (6:45 pace). I liked the run, despite multiple cramps at the beginning. I was running faster than the beach cruisers and rollerbladers out there.

Wednesday was the run of the week... a mountain run through Griffith Park to the Hollywood sign and back. Totalling around 8.5 tough miles, I made it to the D in the Hollywood sign. I saw a rattlesnake along the way, we looked at each other but I won the staring contest, because it slithered away. I had some competition out there, in the form of skinks. They're fast and agile. I stood no chance. I scaled some steep grades, one 50+ degree grade and a longer, 20 degree or so grade. It was fun. I'd do it again.

Saturday I helped Andrew warm up for his marathon in San Diego that I was to run part of with him. Totalled about 5 miles. Nothing special.

Sunday was the San Diego Marathon. I met up with Andrew at mile 10 after a 2.5 mile warmup to FIND the mile 10 marker. After about 6 miles however, my bowels cried out for a toilet. I complied, telling Andrew I'd catch up to him. I took my time on the toilet and set back out. But Andrew got far away. So I kicked it into high gear and pulled off 3 5:30 miles to catch up to him, much to the shock and fear of other competitors and spectators. I had to catch Andrew, after all. When I got to him, he was slowing down... he wasn't able to keep the 3 hour pace. The goal became to finish the race. We got to the finish and I got sunburned. Runningwise, I got in a total of 18.5 miles, averaging about 6:45-7:00/ mile for 15.5 miles and 5:30 for 3 miles.

I met another lizard there, too. A big gecko.

A good trip, wish I ran more but the mountain run hurt my buttocks. Anyway, I was ready to get back to Maryland. I missed my bike and the pool dearly. It was also my last "recovery" week for a while... from now on it's brutal training on the bike and run. I'm looking forward to it.