Just add H2O

0600

5x800 w/400 recoveries.  Garmin's battery died, so I went by feel.  It felt horrible.

1630

Ran with the new guy, Mike.  From work to the beach and back.  Raced the last mile back.

I need to re-learn how to use my Garmin.  I pressed the wrong button and it stopped tracking.

1130

Ran with a beautiful girl (inside and out). 

First of many father-daughter runs.

Hills with Leon.

11:56 pace.

Ran with a group along Hermosa and Manhattan Beaches and I couldn't hold my half marathon pace for more than 3 miles.  Should I blame the pot of rice and tom kai gai?  Maybe not, but I will anyway.

After-school special.  Running with Maddy.  I'll turn her into a daddy's girl, yet.

Maddy showed me her cross country 5k route.  I have to make her laugh in order to slow her down, so I can keep up.  Cheaters do win.

Most everyone at work went to a luncheon 30 miles away.  I figured with the bosses fighting 60 miles of LA traffic that we would have plenty of time to get a long run in.  And it did.  Mike and I ran from work to the beach and along the strand and back. The sky was blue and the ocean breeze was cool.  Running in Southern California beats the crap out of running in the Middle East.

Lunch time tempo with hills.

Mike was stuck in a meeting, but Wayne and Randy decided to join me.

Wayne didn't even breath hard.  And Randy took off at the end.

Damn kids.

Woke up late.  I stayed up 4 hours past my bedtime.  I had told a friend who was going through some stuff that we should grab a drink sometime.  I didn't mean on a week night.

Anyway, I overslept and only ran a mile before spin.

Easy run from Hermosa Pier down to Manhattan Beach with a group.  One of them was a journalist from Brazil.  She's addicted to Taco Bell of all things.  I need to introduce her better things to get addicted to...

Another lunch run.  Randy forgot to bring socks. 

We stopped at 8 and had the lunch special at a new place.  I wasn't impressed, but it sure did smell good when we passed by the first time.  I think I ate more calories than I ran too.  Oh well.  At least I remembered my socks.

My turn to be stuck in a meeting, so I ran by myself.  I wasn't able to push myself as hard without someone to chase. 

Looking forward to the weekend where I get to chase Maddy.

3 in the morning with Leon.  He's cut minutes off his mile pace.  Two to be exact.

Tempo with Maddy after school.  Slapstick makes her laugh, but only when she can see me.  She led for most of the run so I had to resort to singing Pussycat Dolls to slow her down. 

Baseline mile with Maddy.  We shouldn't have done it on an incline, but neither of us like running in circles.

Lunch run.  I've heard that El Segundo is the only US city where there is a hill on every street. 

I forgot my Garmin.  Randy got a new one, but we started running before it acquired the satellites.  None of us remembered where the turn around point was, but we managed.  Wayne didn't break a sweat. 

Administered a PT test for Leon this morning and ran the 1.5 with him.  He's lost 7 lbs since Oct and has gotten a lot faster. 

I think I found the 7 lbs and have not gotten a lot faster.

For lunch I had ten servings of 45 second sprints up a sand dune.  The noises Randy and Wayne made were reminiscent of the ones Joe and Antonio used to make during hill work.  They even had some of the same comments for me.  Why all the hate folks?

Maddy asked to do a longer run, so we did.  This was her longest run ever.  I don't think I ran more than 6 until I was in my 30's.

We worked on attacking the uphill slopes.  They were gentle.  We were not.

At lunch we drove down to the beach to avoid the hills and run at a good clip.  50% of our goals were met.  The hills were avoided. 

Garmin locked up at the beginning of the run and I forgot about it.  Totally forgot about it.  I didn't realize I was still wearing it until I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. 

Are Garmins waterproof like they say?  Yes my friend, they are.

Long time no speedwork.  Real inconsistent times, but really consistent pain.

6x400 w/ 200m recovery jogs

Fastest/slowest/ave = 1:17/1:30/1:23

Sunny, windy and cool

Lunch.

Not quite 6.  Not quite fast.  But yet quite satisfying.

Supper

1 mile with Leon after "Cindy"

0500

Will from the unit came.  Leon came too.

Started off with a PT test.

3 miles as fast as I could, then maxed out on pullups, pushups and situps.  Thankfully there's no pool at LA AFB.

Finished it off with "Murph", because why not.  Will had a pack with around 20 lbs and I wore a 19 lbs vest.  1 mile, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, 1 mile.  Broke down the cals into 20 rounds of 5/10/15.

Now Wayne's asking to run for lunch.  We'll see...

0600

4x400 at tempo pace with Leon.  It's cool to see how much he's improving.

1130

Speed pyramid with Randy, Wayne and Mike.

200, 400, 600, 800, 800, 600, 400, 200 with 400 rest jogs except for 200 rests after and before the 200 sprints.

1100

Some tempo work with the guys.  Dave joined us.  Randy wimped out.

The light rains have washed sand on a significant portion of the path. 

2x3200 with 1600 rest interval

Goal 7:07s, actual 7:13s

Rucked barefoot through sand with Maddy on my back while Amanda made me laugh.

0600

Up and down the Strand with Leon. 

0600

Tempo with the group. 

Goal:  Keep up with Todd

Actual: Kept up with Todd

Ave pace 7:16

0600

Hills with Leon

1130

Track work with the guys to prep for Happy Hour with the guys

10x400 with 400 rest intervals / Ave 1:30

The Dune for lunch

10 x 45 sec "sprints" with rest intervals consisting of open weeping.

Significant improvement from last time.  I think.  I honestly don't know, but it feels better to say that.

Randy and Mike came while David and Wayne %#$ed out.

1130

2x1600 w/ rest interval of 100 sit ups and 100 back extensions.

Not sure how fast or how slow I ran, but I'm sure that I was hurting.

0800

Paced Leon for his PT test.  In Oct he ran at a 10 min pace.  Today he ran 8:16s.

1130

No Garmin but I figured I ran 9:00 min miles for 90 minutes.

Celebrated St. Paddy's with an Irish-named workout.  Convinced friends from work to do it.  I may not have work friends any more...

"Murph" with a 19 lb vest: 32:40.

1100

Forgot my socks so I decided to run in my VFF on the sand.  I avoided the hard packed sand by the water so I wouldn't have to run on a slope.  However the sand on the flat part of the beach was so soft that it sucked the energy out of me, so I ran in the tracks made by the shore patrol trucks.

I had to take the VFFs off and run barefoot after 4 miles.  Sand had gotten in them and was rubbing me raw.

1100

Ray accompanied me.  Everyone else flaked out and went to Yogurtland.

6x800s with 1:30 rest interval

Ave 3:11s.  Slowed way down on the last 2.

During happy hour after work, a friend and I decided to bike the strand.

Later on a pier by myself in the cold dark rain I swore never to make plans with a drunk Irishman.

Dune with the guys.  Started late due to meetings and we were kicked out after our time expired so only seven out of the planned ten sprints were completed.

Afterwards a mile with Sanchez.  He had a few strokes in Nov and is recovering.  He was the one who dared me to run a marathon after knee surgery.  He was with me when I first ran over ten miles.  I think this is the first time I've run with him since the 07 Air Force Marathon. 

It won't be the last. 

0830

Running with a group along the strand.  Turns out one of the guys works 3 floors down from me.  Small world.

1800

A mile with Sanchez in my VFF. 

1300

Morning meeting overan and I had to run by my lonesome, so I ran nice and slow.

1100

20 minutes as many rounds as possible of 200 m sprints and 7 burpees.

Yuck.

1500

Ran with my favorite.

Maddy asked to do an easy hour.    I obliged.

1200

Another meeting has interrupted my midday run schedule and I had to run alone.  I have to put a stop to these somehow.

Ran hard but it really didn't show.

I signed up to run with Randy, but his wrist is in a cast. 

There were two sessions.  One in the morning and another in the afternoon.  Both went in waves.

The times for the morning session were much faster than the afternoon.  Maybe because it warmed up in the afternoon or the mud got muckier or there weren't as many volunteers to guide us.  I think the main factor is because beer hadn't been served yet. 

I don't know how I won the afternoon session, but maybe it's due to my strategic eating. 

Pre race dinner: All you can eat Korean BBQ (I started being vegetarian a month or so ago, but I'm a lousy vegetarian)

Breakfast:  Two Egg McMuffins without the ham.

Lunch: Longboard ale, falafel sandwich, fries smothered in spicy feta and loukoumades slathered with nutella.

We started off with a waist deep mud pit.  At least waist deep for me.  Probably knee deep for a normal person.  Then it was up a hill. 

The obstacles ranged from mud pits to low mud crawls to low walls and low ramps.  Nothing too creative or difficult.

Two kids passed me on the first hill, and we yo-yoed between 1st, 2nd and 3rd throughout the race.  They passed me for all the straight running, but I was able to catch up with them on the obstacles.  They actually beat me by 15 seconds or so, but they were in the team category. 

If you factor in the morning, then I got 1st in my AG out of 93 and 38th Overall out of 1638.  However, let's not factor in the morning times and let me live in glory.  Mornings are for sissies anyway.

Speedwork resulted in a muscle strain.  I suppose it's time for another break...

No running yet, but I'm prepping for the Tough Mudder Mullet competition by growing out my hair. 

I'm in it to win it.

Two easy miles that weren't too easy.  My calf tightened up and told me to rest.  I decided to listen.

We'll try again tomorrow.

Apparently I can only run easy.  I tried keeping up with the group, but my legs wouldn't go.  I'll keep plugging away.

Truckin'

Hills to the beach and back.  No tightness in my calf nor any pain in my knee. 

1100

All dry sand with Ray.  Between 4.5 and 5 miles.  Prepping for the Tough Mudder.  We have been agruing about cross-dressing.  Ray has been against going in drag.  Ray thinks he won by agreeing to dress like Richard Simmons.  Actually we all win.

1100

Easy miles with VFF around the base with Dave.

1100

Ran to the gym and back.

After work went to the downtown LA art walk and bought some cards for the girls.  Passed out on the train back home.  Ended up in Long Beach after midnight and more importantly after the return trains stopped operating for the night.  Hitched a ride with a kindly Nigerian security guard through Compton to a Metro station.  By that time I was sober enough to make it home.

1200

Work to the Strand and back. 

5ish miles.  No Garmin. Legs are dead from Tues.

Average temps of 35 F at the base and 60 mph gusts of wind chill bringing temps below 10 degrees at the summit. 7000+ elevation.  Tons of water obstacles.  37% opted for a DNF. 

How did we prepare for this?  Well first it was a trip to the Juniors dept.  Then Michael's for some fabric paint and spray glitter.

For our interview, I was chosen as the spokesman, er spokesperson for our team.

Random folks stopped us to have their pictures taken with yours truly and his backup dancers.

We were greeted by hail at the finish.

Overall we came in second in the only division that really counts.  The costume division.

Easy run after work. My toes hurt from all the downhill running or stumbling from the race.

We're having a biggest loser competition at work.  We started on the 1st.  It's the 6th and I've gained two pounds.  This was a pre-emptive strike on the weekend.  Free beer and filipino food did me in. 

Light ruck through Griffith Park.  I have no idea how much weight I put in my ruck.  I do know I had clean underwear.

The other day someone asked if I was wearing makeup.  Maybe I should start wearing sunblock on my runs.  Apparently, my sunburnt cheeks make me look like a tranny.

Murph - 33:51; PR'ed by nine seconds :)

50 lbs ruck

40 lbs ruck.

Convinced my cousin to hike with me.  We were 30 minutes late so we missed the group hike with the guide.

Figured we hike uphill 2.5 miles and come the same way back.  I missed a turn or three and the return trip was 4.39 miles.  My cousin still loves me though.  I think.

For an easy run that wasn't as easy as I would have liked it. 

Mid month biggest loser challenge update:  Gained half a pound.

Easy with Ray. 

Up 4 lbs for the Biggest Loser.  Looks like I'm going to be the Biggest Winner.

First tempo run since Apr.  I hadn't realized I had been slacking off that much...

Everyone got a tee shirt and a watermelon.  Except for those that didn't get a watermelon, because they ran out of watermelons.

Easy run along the Strand.

Last month our friendly work challenge was to lose weight.  My goal was 12 lbs.  I made weight, not by eating healthy and exercising, but by not drinking or eating for 24 hours, sleeping in a sleeping bag with a beanie and a jacket and 3 sessions in the dry sauna.  There were no winners, because all we could think of was punishment for the losers.  Needless to say the punishment would have been worse than dehydrating myself.  Much worse. 

This month we actually have a performance goal.  We ran a baseline six mile run today and by the end of the month we have to improve our time by 5%. 

My baseline was about 3 minutes slower than my PR.  And no I didn't sandbag.  I could only hold my 10k pr pace for a mile and a half before I had to adjust.  I just got out of shape. 

1115

5x800s with 400 recovery jogs.

I've done better and felt worse.  I've also done worse and felt better.

I wore a headband for the first time.  It is traffic-cone orange and I didn't have to wipe sunblock-drenched sweat from my eyes.  Two pros and no cons.

0700

Dead legs, but I went nice and easy. 

Murph for Mike's (not me) going away workout.

3 and a half minutes slower than my PR.  And my Garmin crapped out.  And there was a bomb threat at work.  And I'm having a bad hair day.

Tempo run after finishing everyone's leftovers. 

Easy track run with Rachel and Maddy.

Long run while everyone slept.

I was gonna do intervals, but I was like nah.

6x800s sluggish with Filipino food.  Rachel and Maddy kept me company.

Twelvish.  The new improved forerunner sucks.  At least for me.  It probably doesn't suck for people whose wrists don't bend and accidently stop the timer.  Or for people who are precise and can lock the bezel without stopping the timer.  But for clumsy fat-fingered klutzes, it sucks.  I can't wait until I win the lottery and throw this piece of crap away and get the old reliable 305 off ebay or some antique store.

Sixish during lunch.   Warm with a cool breeze topped off with dead legs.

1845

Tempo with Chris and Dan.  I showed up late and took off without them.  Rude, I know.  I wonder how karma's gonna punish me.

Not quite sixish with Maddy.  Rachel biked with us.  Rachel and I switched the last quarter mile. 

Sanchez asked me to work out with him, so I showed up in my workout shoes.  Now my tendons hurt from those @#$8ing five fingers.

Intermittent sprints from 9am-4pm with pelting.  I'm crappy at paintball.

Easy run with Sanchez along the bluffs overlooking the ocean.

Wayne ran me into the ground going from work to the Strand and back.  Neither one of us had a watch.  One of us was panting and cursing.

Baseline mile.  Gonna start training hard.  At least that's what I tell myself...

Murph for Wayne's going away.  Wayne got a DNF with only 800m to go.  He won't live this down for the rest of his life.

We'll try again tomorrow.

Wayne's last day.  Easy run along the Strand.

Ran around getting shot for a few hours.  This time I remembered long sleeves.  Unfortunately my nephew didn't and wore mine.  I look like I have small pox.  Next time I'll bring every long sleeve shirt I own.

Did all my warm ups and cool downs on a bike. 

1 mile fast with Sanchez on base.

5 fast with John or Jon down the Strand. I don't know him well enough to spell his name right.

I spend a significantly more time on my warmups and cooldowns today, but I saved a buttload on gas.  Almost 4 dollars!

Ray's staying at a local hotel for a class, so instead of commuting for two hours in the morning he wanted to go for a run. He wanted easy. I suggested an out and back to the beach which would be a slight uphill run on the way back, but he wanted easier and requested we turn into the El Segundo neighborhood streets. I did not tell him that every street has a hill. Poor Ray. And poor me.

Easy run with Chris trying to rid myself of the previous night's beer pong calories.  I probably should have run a lot longer...

Rode to Hermosa in around 30 something (lots of downhill).

Ran with the group.  Planned on doing intervals, but just kept it fast enough to suck.

Rode home in 40 something (lots of uphill).

Easy along the Strand.

Tried to run up and down Mt Otay (yes it was discovered by a Lil' Rascal), but ended up walking a lot.  Albeit speedwalking.

From the summit we could see Tijuana.  Along the service road we saw a lot of Border Patrol Agents.

Went with Randy and a retired SEAL.  I hope I'm in that kind of shape when I'm 52.

Went to see Steve for his birthday.  Haven't seen him in 4 years or so.  I didn't think Monterey was that far away.  I was wrong, but it was good to catch up with him and his family. 

Ran with Randy on the Strand.  Plan was to run 30 minutes out then run back and see how far we could get in an hour.  I couldn't keep up with him.  I started walking after 25 minutes.  I felt my hands and feet swell.  It was hard to keep my eyes open, because my face started puffing up.  I walked to the life guard and he called the paramedics.  They insisted on taking me to the hospital.  They wouldn't take me to my parked car.  I was Randy's ride to the bus stop.  I left my keys with the lifeguard, told him where I parked, described what Randy looked liked and went to the emergency room.  They stopped the swelling with an IV.  It also knocked me out.  I left my phone in the car.  I didn't know anyone's phone number by heart. At least not anyone who lived close.  Good thing the lifeguard told Randy to call me at the hospital. 

Turns out I'm allergic to crab and that I'll need to carry an epinephrine shot with me from now on.

Randy was not happy he was stranded.  He can't drive stick.  He was happy that he ran faster and farther than me.  He's telling everyone that I had to go to the hospital after trying to keep up with him. 

His sense of humor is the reason we're friends.

Ran with Uncle Mark while everyone slept.  He took me on a trail run in the dark.  He was wearing a white shirt, but my plan to follow him was thwarted by his gas. 

Easy loop around Uncle Mark's neighborhood working off a fraction of last night's hard cider.

Run along some river in Portland.  Loads of difference running it in daylight.

Easy run with Uncle Mark.  First run as a 38 year old.

Hiked with a new friend, ran with an old friend.

Rucked (35ish lbs) 12.5 miles up and down Mt Miguel with Sam in the morning. 

Sanchez wanted to do a 2 mile tempo later on in the day, so I obliged.

Thought about running.  Thought real hard.

Practice PFT with Sanchez.  He's a little ambititous, but that's not a bad thing.  He went balls out for the warmup, but we'll fix that before his test next week.

0500

6x800s w/400 recoveries with Will and Shaun

Fastest: 3:07; Slowest: 3:18; Ave: 3:11

2000

Decided to run a half.  Took it easy and did a night run down to the beach and back.  I ran down the pier since it was pretty deserted.  I think I'm going to do that more often.  Crowded or not.

1840

Tempo @ 7:28

Biked a half hour to the run and another half hour home.  I need to bring a sweater next time.  And I need to get a light for my bike.  The last one was crushed when I drove into a parking garage.  The parking garage designers were inconsiderate to those of us with bike racks on the tops of our cars.

1840

Same stuff as Tues except ran easy.  Biked easy too.  So not the same stuff at all.  Well, it was the same route.  So I really don't know what I'm talking about.

0700

Same hike as two weeks ago.

I ran ahead and due to pride and/or karma, I got lost. 

The fog didn't help.  I also have the sense of direction of a deaf bat, so no help there either.

0530

3x800

First two in 3:15 and the last in 3:19. 

0800

I'm no longer acclimated to warm weather.  Damn you Southern Califormia for making me soft!

3 mile PT test had me gasping for air and I passed by the skin of my teeth. 

Pushups, situps, pullups all need work but I passed.

Swim was okay, but I passed.

Nothing to write home about.  Probably not blog-worthy either. 

1100

The plan was to run for an hour in the sand and turn back and run in the sand.

What happened was we got tired after 5 miles and wogged back on the sidewalk.

Then we drank all the beer I had brewed a month or two ago.  Homebrew is probably the best post-workout drink ever.  At the very least it's my favorite post-workout drink.

1630

Easy five.  10:14 pace. 

1840

Tempo with Randy, Jon and Jeremy.

7:29 pace including the minute I was standing still fumbling to stop the timer.  You do the math only because I suck at word problems.

1130

8x400 w/ 400 jogs at the track.  Roughing it without sunblock or an Ipod.  Not on purpose though.

Goal 1:37s

Ave 1:36s

93 F

1840

Easy run down the Strand.  Red tide is in and the plankton are bioluminescent when disturbed.  The crashing waves glowed blue.  After my run, I walked down the pier.  You could see the fish make glowing contrails beneath the surface.  I never knew how fast or erratic fish swam.  It was like watching fireworks in the ocean.

0700

One step forward:  2 hour hike with 2000' evalation gain and 1.5 hour pool session.

Two steps back:  Carne asada/french fry burrito and everyone's leftovers.

A friend asked me to support a fundraising walk, so I did. 

It wasn't a run, but I've been taking it easy for a while...

It was a 5k, but we spent too much time getting tee shirts and trinkets at the booths that by the time we started, the 5k was over and the 2k leisure walk was on.

I had planned on being done by 1 or 2, but we carpooled.  I left my car at a friend's place  at 0730 and I just had to go with the flow. 

I hadn't been to Mass since the late 80s or early 90s.  That's where they decided to go before lunch.  The 1245 Mass.  I was starving.  We didn't get lunch until 3 and I didn't make it back home until 6.

We did help raise a buttload for Women's Cancers.  And I didn't die of starvation.

800s with Randy after work.

It's been so long since I've run that my computer refuses to talk to my Garmin.  Hell hath no fury like a laptop scorned.

I struggled with 5. 

Lunch:

Murph: 34:53.  Introduced Randy to Pukey.  And got reaquainted with Pukey myself.

Dinner:

Easy 4.85 with Chris and Jeremy