2012: The Year in Running

I say this over and over again, but I have been terrible about updating this blog. I don't do resolutions, but if I did one of them would be to write more. There have been some developments in my running that will hopefully prompt me to do so. But right now let's take a look back at 2012, the year that was.

The big thing in 2012 was my 12 for '12 project: 12 races, one a month, half marathon or more. It was a success in that I was able to accomnplish the goal, but it was a failure in the sense that I thought that doing so many races would force me to train better and improve my times. Neither happened. I trained haphazardly and in some cases the races themselves were the training runs. As a result no personal bests were recorded. I was nowhere near my best. My fastest time was a 1:46 in Ventura in June, which was about 40 seconds faster than the Pasadena Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in February. The slowest half marathon was August's America's Finest City in San Diego. The culprit there was a hot day. I was burning up by mile 4. I managed to get in at 2:00 flat. My official chip time was 2:00:00, which is kind of cool. The rest of the races ranged from a 1:48 in the last race, December's Santa to the Sea Half Marathon to a 1:55 in May's Pasadena Half Marathon.

Here are the 12 for '12 races:

January: Rose Bowl Half Marathon - 1:52:16
February: Pasadena Rock n' Roll Half Marathon - 1:46:52
March: Los Angeles Marathon - 4:05:41
April: Hollywood Half Marathon - 1:51:57
May: Pasadena Half Marathon - 1:55:21
June: Ventura Beachfront Half Marathon - 1:46:11
July: San Francisco Half Marathon - 1:54:29
August: America's Finest City Half Marathon - 2:00:00
September: Montreal Rock n' Roll Half Marathon - 1:50:18
October: Long Beach Half Marathon - 1:53:55
November: Santa Clarita Half Marathon - 1:53:36
Decemebr: Santa to the Sea Half Marathon - 1:48:38

It turned out to be a very fun endeavor. I got to run my first international race in Montreal, ran in San Francisco again, and ran in several smaller races that turned out to be well-organized and extremely convenient. Ventura's post-race snacks inlcuded tuna wraps. Enough said.

While the races above are the official 12 for '12 races, I actually ran a couple of other races for one reason or another. In October I ran--well, mostly walked--the Los Angeles Rock n' Roll Half Marathon with a friend. I actually used another friend's bib so it wasn't officially my race. Since Audrey had not trained for this race, it actually took us 3 hours to complete the race. I can tell you that I was probably more sore from this race than any other just because of the amount of time I was on my feet. I also ran the Paramount Ranch Half Marathon in December, which made it my final race for the year. This was a trail race, part of my training for the Leona Divide 50 Mile Trail Race in April 2013. The time for this race was 2:15 which is my slowest half ever. Since it was on single track trails, it was difficult to pass people along the way. In addition to these half marathons, I once again took part in the LA Frontrunners Pride Run in June as part of the West Hollywood Pride festivities. I did the ultra again--both the 5K and 10K--but my times were nothing to brag about. No PR's but the times were respectable.

Now, looking to 2013, as I mentioned I am training for Leona Divide. This will be my first ultra marathon and I am once again training with Team in Training. I'm still a little apprehensive about the whole thing. Running 10 miles is hard enough but 50 just sounds crazy. I figure with training I should be able to accomplish this, but I've been a bit lazy so far. Much like my writing.

So, in 2013, expect to see a littl more writing from me but a lot of the subjects will probably be dominated by my ultra marathon training. It's a new thing and I'm excited.

That's it for now. I have other things to wrap in 2012, but for now this is about running. I'll see you all in 2013 with more pieces about my ultra marathon training.

Happy New Year!

Announcing 12 for '12 and 2011 in Review

To motivate myself in 2012 to keep running I've decided to commit myself to running twelve races in 2012--12 for '12--catchy, huh? The rules are simple: one race (half marathon or greater) a month. Davey broached the idea one night and I think he's committed too. Right now I'm booked for the first three months. I have the Rose Bowl Half Marathon in a couple of weeks, the Inaugural Pasadena Rock N' Roll Half Marathon next month, and the L.A. Marathon in March. The rest of the year is still open, but I did apply for a spot in the New York City Marathon in November. I'll probably stick a lot of cheaper, local races since this could cost me a pretty penny if I tackle too many big, out-of-town races.

It's sort of an experiment, too, really. I know the idea is to run fewer races and train more, but lately I find myself lazy about running unless there's something I'm training for. Not to brag, but I think I've taken running half marathons and marathons for granted since I know I can do them. For the LA Marathon in 2011 I started training in January. It's turning out the same this year. At least if I commit myself to a race a month I will (hopefully) consistently run. Maybe it will mean I'll finally lose the weight I've been trying to lose for so long. Nutrition should really be a part of my training, but I love to eat too much. I'll tackle that some other time.

As for 2011, it was a slow year. As mentioned I ran the Los Angeles Marathon. It was a memorable one to be sure with the crazy weather. I still managed to run a respectable time of 3:53 but a new PR has eluded me once again. That's a continuing goal this year. 3:45! I also ran the Los Angeles Rock N' Roll Half Marathon this year with little to no training and it showed in my finish time of 1:50. I also ran another Ragnar Relay this year, and that was a blast. As much work as it is and as uncomfortable riding around a van for a day may be, these Ragnar races are just fun. I'm thinking I may take a break from relay races this year, but I'm not making any promises. If someone plans it all out and all I have to do is show up, then count me in.

To start off the year, here's a picture of me and some of my regular running gang who help inspire me to wake up early on Saturday/Sunday mornings. We ran the Rose Parade route early on Monday morning and--as usual--had a great time.