Running on Father's Day

I didn't grow up celebrating Father's Day. My dad passed away from heart disease, apparently caused by a virus, at the age of 39, when I was three years old. He was terminally ill for 5 years and my parents had not considered another child, so I feel pretty lucky I was born. When Father's Day came around every year, sometimes I would just wish my mom a "Happy Father's Day", since she took on both roles after my dad was gone.




Tim Russert's passing at the age of 58 on Friday was especially sad. Here was a guy that was named Father of the Year, over and over again by several organizations. A guy that, it seemed, no one had a disparaging word about. A guy who millions of people across the world considered the quintessential father and son. Not because of his work on Meet the Press, but because of "Big Russ & Me", the book he wrote about his relationship with his dad. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet.

I ran for 3 1/2 hours today, up and down steep hills, continuing to get ready for The San Francisco Marathon.




While I ran, thoughts of Father's Day, Tim Russert's death and especially of my father and his life and death drifted around inside my head. What if he hadn't died so young? What else would he have accomplished? What kind of middle-aged man would he have grown into? What would he have been like as an old man? Would he have been proud of me?


Happy Father's Day, dad!

Running Hills to Get Ready for The San Francisco Marathon

After walking around like Frankenstein's monster for two days from running the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, I was ready to start training for The San Francisco Marathon. The acceptance of Team Cathy into their Cause to Run program was my impetus to start walking in February and then running in March, with the goal of being in good enough shape to run their full marathon on August 3rd. This has been the second smartest decision I've ever made. The smartest was quitting smoking back in November. If you're trying to quit, check out my Quitter MySpace page for tons of free resources and inspiration.

I've watched the official course videos which I put up on the Team Cathy MySpace page and had a look at the elevation chart and it's a hilly course. It is San Francisco, after all. So I'm going to incorporate hills into all of my long runs and one or two of my weekday runs every week leading up to August 3rd.




I decided to start out by running to the top of San Marcos and back down. Sounded easy enough. Turns out the top of San Marcos is actually the highest point in North County San Diego at an elevation of 1,664 ft. I just looked it up -- I was unaware of that fact before just now. In fact, that part of San Marcos is in the Cerro de Las Posas Mountain Range. I had no idea we had a mountain range in San Marcos. I live at the bottom of San Marcos, which is 581 feet above sea level. I just looked that up too. Even though I had to stop running less than halfway up, I did have a really nice 3 or so mile hike and made two new acquaintances along the way. The view was beautiful and Chuck and Jim, my new hiking friends, were great company. I decided to walk down the opposite side, so they helped me find a road going down the other side that would get me safely get back to the bottom.




And back to civilization.




At least that's what they call it.

I finished up by running another 10 miles. It was a great run, mostly up and down some pretty steep hills. I ran faster, ran up and down more hills and paced myself better than ever before. The marathon last week was a real physical and mental breakthrough for me. I've never felt better.

Running My First 26.2: The San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon

I was nervous about running today. I had never trained for more than 17 miles. Driving down to San Diego I decided to take the 163, the freeway that I knew I'd be running on at some point along the course. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me that it would be closed. I ended up in an unfamiliar part of the city and drove around for about 45 minutes before finding my way to Balboa Park, the neighborhood where the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon would start.

After finding a parking spot I saw a guy wearing a race number. He and his girlfriend had driven down from San Francisco the night before and she was dropping him off as close to the starting line as you could get by vehicle. By now it was 6:20, ten minutes before the start, and we were a mile away from the starting line. The only way to make it on time was to run, so we did. I didn't know if running a 10 minute mile before my first marathon was such a good idea, especially since I hadn't stretched or even done much walking this morning. But he seemed to know where we needed to go and I was still lost, so I tagged along anyway.

The closer we got the more I could feel my heart beating harder and harder. Thousands of people were lined up along the route. I was almost out of breath, not from running but from nervousness. As soon as I was with all the other runners behind the starting line and we were all moving forward my nervousness went away.




The first mile was slow, we were packed in pretty tightly. It seemed like a good time to stop at one of the many Port-O-Potties along the route, but the lines were insanely long. Then I spotted a Starbucks. A Starbucks! Who else could possibly have that idea? Well, it seems I was wrong -- about 20 other runners were already waiting in line to use their facilities, but at least I got to enjoy the aroma of their delicious coffee for 15 minutes and the restroom was immaculate.




Around mile 2 something happened to my left knee. My knees will usually start to burn somewhat on long runs, but never before 10 or 12 miles, and nothing like this. There was no way I wasn't going to finish though. There was plenty to keep me motivated: the excitement of the bands playing, the volunteers handing out cups of water every mile and who were always nice enough to pour a pitcher of water on my knee, going through neighborhoods where the residents had their sprinkles and hoses on full blast for us to run through and their kids handing out fresh cut orange slices, so many people running for charities, people along the route cheering for everyone -- I got 8 "Go Team Cathy"'s (Yes, I counted. The first one had me choking back tears for over a mile.) -- runners cheering for each other and the most fabulous cheerleaders you could imagine!




Over the next 24 miles I continued, limp-jogging along and walking down the hills. It took me 7 hours and 15 seconds to complete those 26.2 miles today. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. After quitting smoking 6 months ago, losing 27 lbs. and getting 7 inches off my waist so far, when I look back I know this will always be the marathon I'm most proud of.




Today was for you, mom. You taught me so many things with your quiet example; important lessons that I continue to carry with me, every day of my life. One of the most important ones was "never give up". I never will. Miss you, ma.

Running to Keep Your Mind and Body Fit; Just Watch Out For That Car

I wanted to run out to the beach again, but it was really hot and I knew I wasn't up for doing a 15 miler in the heat today. I decided to run around town here. It's so great just to be outside in the fresh air, away from the overstimulation of being at work, at home, or just about anywhere. Unfortunately, I think we have become so accustomed to it we expect it everywhere we go. We're living in an attention deficit, multitasking, overstimulated world. We even have televisions in our gas pumps now.




An article written by Walter Kirn, published in the November issue of Atlantic Monthly really got me thinking even more about the whole multitasking thing and what it's doing to all of use. I really wonder just how unhealthy it all really might be. Both in obvious, external ways, like causing accidents, and in less obvious, internal ways. What is it doing to our bodies and our brains? I've given that a great deal of thought and it's another reason why I get out and run.




When I run around town, I don't mind waiting at the occasional light. I am running, after all, in a city with 80,000 people and probably about the same number of vehicles. I'm always super vigilant about the cars around me, especially at intersections and driveways. I'm not interested in being right in these situations, I'm only interested in not getting run over. I assume that none of the drivers out there are paying attention so of course I'm never disappointed, and more importantly, I keep myself safe.




This guy was busy chatting away on his cell phone while simultaneously talking with the kid in the passenger seat. And, oh yeah, he was also driving.




He did have the courtesy to back up and let me continue running on the sidewalk, once he spotted me. Do we really need to eat meals, make telephone calls, send text messages, attend to our personal hygiene and read while we're driving our cars? Of course not, but people do it all the time anyway. Walkers, runners, cyclists - please be alert and stay safe out there!

Running to Gratefulness and a New Outlook

I was feeling great and had so much energy this morning, so I decided to run toward San Diego with no specific goal for miles.

I ran through San Marcos and through Escondido to Del Dios Highway, where I ran out of sidewalk. At least there was a bike lane on each side of the highway. I switched sides so I would be facing traffic. I wanted to make sure that I'd see any inattentive drivers, and believe me they were all out today, so I could quickly get out of the way.




Not surprisingly, I didn't see any other runners, and I don't think I'll be running this one again. It's really a terrible route for running. There were a lot of cyclists out though - it definitely seems like a fun, challenging route for cycling. I think I'll try riding through there someday soon.

Clearly, I made a poor choice in running along the highway. The traffic was unnerving, it was very windy out today and I was running mostly in dirt and gravel because I didn't really feel safe running in the bike lane, especially around the curves where drivers wouldn't see me until there were too close.




I decided to dial up a friend for a ride home. I was wimping out. While I was whining over the phone about the predicament I put myself in a big rig went past me and the force of the wind from it was so strong my call dropped, my hat blew off and I lost my balance and nearly feel down the embankment. I just about started crying. I started running again, but with no intention of going further than it would take to get another signal.

I came up to Lake Hodges. The lake looked beautiful. Just in front of it were the remains of burned out trees from last year's fires. It was a sobering reminder of the folks who lost their homes and their lives and the amazing way our community joined together and helped each other, which undoubtedly saved many other homes and lives. The collective anxiety throughout the county about the fires and the potential for more went on for weeks. It was a time that forced me to put things in perspective. To remember what is really important and how incredibly fortunate I've been in the life I've been living.




Just then someone started honking at me. It was a friendly "beep, beep, beep", I looked over and there was a women driving by, all smiles and giving me a thumbs up. So cool! Completely changed my outlook. I almost started crying again. I kept going with a renewed feeling of optimism and excitement, I knew I could run all the way through that darn parkway. Well, I did and I kept on going afterwards. I got in another 17 miler today, and loved it. Almost every bit of it.

Runner, Heal Thyself

Today's run was a hard one for me. I'm either sick or just plain run down. Hey, it happens to all of us from time to time, right? Well, I gave it my best. I used the last of the energy I had and managed to get in seven miles. I walked the last two miles. Not exactly a "long" run, but I got up and went out there and ran as far as I could. I always want to give it my best, and as long as I have some energy I will.




It was in the mid 60's today, which is great weather for long distance running. I was really looking forward to a being out in it for a few hours.

I thought it would give me some energy, and maybe if I had gone for an early run instead of an evening run it would have. I do feel better though, and my head isn't a bit cloudy anymore. I find that running, and any exercise in general, helps not only with my mood and energy level, but even helps me heal faster. It just makes me feel so much better, even if I have to really push myself to do it.




In December I had minor surgery, called septoplasty, to correct my septum (the bone and cartilage that separates your two nostrils), which is supposed to be straight but since mine zigzagged it caused a significant air blockage on both sides. It's a fairly common surgery. You can read more about it at WebMD .

I had something going on after my surgery, and without getting into details I'll just say I was hacking up stuff all day, every day. A lot of stuff. I was convinced it was an infection. My doctor disagreed with me, and two rounds of antibiotics did nothing.

The first round I prescribed myself. I found some expired Amoxitabs at home in the medicine cabinet. For those of you not in the know, Amoxitabs are an antibiotic used in veterinary medicine for dogs and cats. These were extra ones for my pooch, Duchess, who ended up not needing them. I saved them just in case and, before you say "well no wonder it didn't work, you took expired pet medicine you doofus, whadya expect?", they worked for me with a previous sinus infection. And on the expiration date - in veterinary and human medications they can vary from a few months to a year, depending on the medication. Literally, the expiration date on medication is the date it can no longer be sold or dispensed after, not when it becomes ineffective.

My doctor gave in, since I wasn't getting any better, and prescribed a round of people antibiotics (not expired), which also did nothing to make me better. I didn't know what else to do. In February when I started running I noticed the first five days or so that it would get much worse when I ran. Then gradually over the next two weeks it kept getting better every day until it stopped.




I attribute this to finally getting out and getting some real exercise. You'd have a hard time convincing me of anything else.

Running Through the Hills and into the Sand on Sore Knees

I headed out to Carlsbad today. It was great - I ran about 12 miles before I ran out of sidewalk, at about a 1/4 mile away from the beach. That's the longest distance I've ever been able to run completely on a sidewalk. I'm definitely going to do this route again. Don't get me wrong - I love running on trails, that is real running trails, not alongside traffic on the shoulder of a road loaded with gravel, discarded junk and garbage.

The only thing about running out to the beach from any of the inland cites here is it's quite a hilly trip. Driving it you don't really notice as much, but when you have to put one foot in front of the other the whole way out, you feel every one of those hills.




There are different ideas out there on whether hill running is good for building up leg and knee strength or whether running hills will cause injuries. I agree with both. By training any part of your body you are going to make it stronger, but you can also injure yourself if you try to do too much too fast, or if your body is just not ready for it. These days I am in the habit of just walking down steep hills. If I don't, after a few hills my knees will burn with intense pain that lasts into the next day. Jogging up steep hills doesn't cause me any major pain. The impact to your knees is far greater going downhill than uphill because going downhill you have the impact of all your weight bearing down on your knee with every step you take.

I've been enjoying running more and more with each week that goes by. I feel healthier and continually have more energy. I've been getting out and enjoying walking more lately too. It just feels so good to leave the car at home and take care of close-by errands by foot. Of course, lately I've found another reason to keep the car parked in the driveway.




The temperature was pleasant, somewhere in the high seventies at the beach, so I figured I run a few miles on the beach into Leucadia; I managed to get in 15 miles in total today. Running in the sand does slow me down and if I go for a few miles in it my shins will start hurting, but it's just so much fun I don't let it bother me.




For lots of reasons, the beach is quickly becoming my favorite place to run.