CrossRoads Blog

Well we did it… We are now officially “Marathoners”! Kimberly and I completed our first (of which I am now sure, or at least hopeful, will be many) 26.2 mile full Marathon at the San Diego Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon. It was without a doubt everything it was ‘cracked up to be’, and worth every weekend morning training long run we did - which actually, was not that many. The reason being, we decided to do the race only a couple weeks before it took place.

Typical training logic dictates that you are suppose to train some 17-20 weeks prior to running a Marathon. You are supposed to have 15 weeks where you have at least one ‘long run’ (growing distances from about 12 miles each Saturday when you start to about 22 the couple weeks before the race. Plus, you are to do another 15-20 miles each week in addition. So…. it’s not that we do not buy into this logic, it’s just that we only had 3 weeks before the race when we decided to do it. In any event, we came out fine and had an amazing experience. I don’t think you could wipe the smiles off our faces (even if it looked like a painful grimace after 20 miles) the whole race.

The whole weekend was about perfect. We arrived in San Diego and the very first thing we did was hit lunch at Anthony’s Fish Grotto. The Fish and Chips there are the best we have ever had, and this week was no exception. It’s like our San Diego ritual, and it never disappoints. After lunch we checked into the Hotel and did our last little easy run before the race. A nice little 3-4 mile slow pace run along the (kind of) boardwalks and pathways around Seaport Village. It’s a great vibe running along the water, seeing all the people, the cool shops, and the unique vegetation of that area. After the run, we headed back to the hotel, and chilled for a bit before heading out toward the Gaslamp District for dinner.

We did what you do in the Gaslamp , you walk all around, and up and down 5th Street gazing at all the restaurant menus, before you decide which one to do. Wanting some sort of pasta dish of course, we settled on Trattoria La Strada. It was great. They even had a ‘Marathon special’ on the spaghetti with meatballs (made of beef tenderloin..yum..). Some more walking around on a perfect night with my lovely wife, a stop at Morton’s Steak for a glass of Vino at the bar, and we called it night.

The next day was all about the Expo, walking around Seaport village shops, and an easy pace. We picked up our bibs, and all the swag at the Expo and spent a good amount of time walking around all the booths. So many free samples stuff I don’t think we were that hungry for the Spaghetti Factory lunch. After the expo we walked over to Seaport and did some more walking around (getting the body good and tired so we could sleep early hopefully considering we had a 3:45 wake up!@). Late afternoon we hit up the local Ralph’s grocery for our dinner food which we could have back at the hotel (a big homemade sandwich with lots of bread and some baked chips). We pulled the drapes, laid out all our items we would need in the morning, and tried to hit the bed.

Considering all, we actually both got some decent sleep. I think we figured about 4 hours each. Which again, considering the nervous excitement of the day ahead and such an early rise was pretty good. Sleep is mooey-importanto when you are our age and have that long of run.

We had our breakfast of Oatmeal and bananas (thanks to the microwave in the room) and scooted off to the Start area which was about 4 miles away at Balboa Park. Luckily when we went downstairs there was another young lady headed that way too so we were able to split the cab. Unluckily, I think we had the only cabbie in town up that early that had no clue there was a race with 20,000 people that morning and a ton of the roads were closed! A little drama, but we did end up getting there with plenty of time to spare.

The morning was perfect, about 58-60 degrees, a slight mist even and a good marine layer cloud cover. In fact the whole race ended up being pretty nice at least until it warmed up late. We walked a bit with the other 20K people in the darkness as the light came up. Had a couple more bananas, me another cup of coffee, kiss the wife, hit the corrals, and before you knew it we were off.

The course for the most part heads around Balboa Park (where the Zoo and a ton of Museums are) then heads back toward downtown, through the Gaslamp, around by the harbor, back up toward Balboa, onto the freeway for awhile (way cool running on a freeway with no cars – except for the slant of the road which was tough), and then does a full loop around the Bay before you finish on a Marine base. The whole course is really a tour through San Diego and all its areas. The crowd support was incredible. Aside from a stretch on the freeway, it seemed that people lined every street and cheered the whole time. There must have been 40 bands playing along the way, a ton of aid stations and spectators galore. It really makes you feel like a rock star when you pass cheering people and you are really the only one around – hey – they are cheering for me! What a cool feeling. Kimberly even got an ‘Otter Pop’ along the way from one of the crowd and supporters. In one neighborhood there was even a group of 20 guys dressed up as cheerleaders doing cheers as you passed. Gotta’ love that one.

As happy as I was crossing the finish line, and trust me, I WAS HAPPY TO DO IT, there was a part that still wanted to be out there cruising around. I got my Bling (runner talk for the finisher’s medal), pounded some more water, ate a banana, and found a good spot in the bleachers to watch my woman run down that finishing shoot with the crowd cheering. It was another one of those ‘never forget moments’ in life watching and cheering Kimberly as she sprinted toward the finish and crossed the line beating her goal time. A proud man I was seeing that Grandma rock 26.2!

We took a few pictures that weekend, not too many but they are HERE in our race folder. We both were also real happy with our times considering it was out first Marathon. I came in at 3:41:05 which was in the top 10% overall and Kimberly hit 4:58:31 which was better than goal and in the upper 50% of age, gender and overall – beating more than half the men even.

Now…back to real training and the next planned race (a crazy Race in 110 degree temperatures and up and down hills, some that are over a mile each!). Life is good…

Did we mention that it gets hot in Phoenix? It may only be mid May but it’s been a hot one here in the Valley of the Sun. We are not complaining, heck the weather is one of the main reasons we live here. That said, there is a couple of times the heat is not so convenient. When you are planning on running n a Marathon in a few weeks and need to do a training run of 20 plus miles being one of them. We have braved the heat for the last couple of week’s runs, but afterward were just dragging big time. Wanting to get in a good Long Run (the term ‘Long Run’ is used in Running as the typically once a week longest run you do when training for Marathon’s or Half’s, normally done on a Saturday morning) and do so with a good effort, we decided to hit the road for a cooler local, so off to Sedona it was.

While we were only going to be there one night and one morning, we still wanted to take advantage of being in one of the most amazing places on the planet. I wrapped up work early and by midday Friday we were off to the Red Rocks. Upon arrival we went over to the area around Boynton Canyon where we planned to run. After a quick drive up and down the area we figured that would not work out too well. While I wasn’t too excited about the space on the side of the road, it was the brutal hills that put the whammy on running 3 hours in this area. Long story short with no time to really look for better spots, we ended up settling on Bell Rock Trail (plus connected loops). While it would still be lots of hills and elevation changes, it was off the road and would be a gorgeous place to run.

We spent a the rest of the day doing the obligatory Sedona walk around – this time Tlaquepaque Shops and galleries, then called it an early night and headed back to the Hotel. We had packed our normal Friday night homemade pizza dinner (better to eat good when you have to get up early and run) in the cooler along with some salad. We enjoyed the pizza, put on a movie and tried to get to sleep a little early.

We were on the trail by 7:00 am (pretty much first light). The trailhead is just off 89A and West of Bell Road about 2-3 Miles as the crow flies. It turned out to be a great place to run. Not only was the view just incredible all morning – I mean how do you beat Bell Road, Cathedral Rock, Pine, Mesquite, Junipine, Birds, Rabbits, etc being your morning views – but the trail was not too rocky at all in most places. With views like that Kimberly and I kept smiles plastered on our faces the whole time… well maybe except the big climb back toward Bell Rock the second time out and back. We ended up running for 3 hours total. The weather was still very hot by the way, even if it was less than in Phoenix. But this run was the one that let us know that we would be good (enough) to go for our first Marathon upcoming in a couple of weeks in San Diego.

After the run we headed back to the Hotel, had a nice breakfast and hoofed it back to the Valley. We were going to need a nap as that night we had tickets for Miss Saigon at the Arizona Broadway Theater, and it was with the whole Bellydance cast of characters (so who knew what evil may happen afterward)