Ran Over Two Hours Yesterday Without Carrying Water...Don't Try This at Home

Yesterday morning I was up at 6:30 a.m. and decided to take my camera with me for an adventure run. It was still kind of cool out so I decided to down a bottle of water before the run thinking I would be out no more than an hour and a half. I don't like carrying water if I don't have to, especially when I'm holding a camera.

I decided to head down Sycamore Canyon and see where the Blue Canyon Trail would take me. Usually when I run down Sycamore Canyon I do a straight shot down to the beach. I don't get out enough to the great trails in the Boney Mountain State Wilderness area in Pt Mugu State Park and I'd never run the Blue Canyon Trail, part of the Backbone Trail, all the way through.

Blue Canyon Trail entry point adjacent to Danielson Multi-Use AreaTo get to the Blue Canyon Trail, you run the entire paved section of Big Sycamore Canyon Road to the Danielson Multi-Use Area in Malibu. Instead of heading down to PCH, you veer left. You can't miss it. It's where there's a house. I've always assumed a park ranger lives in that house but don't know for sure.

Danielson Multi-Use Area includes picnic tables and plenty of shade.About .8 mile takes you to a juncture where you can veer left up the Old Boney Trail, which gets you to the Danielson Monument. I continued

Juncture of Blue Canyon Trail/Backbone Trail with Old Boney TrailMoving on, you are treated to outstanding canyon views and views of the Tri Peaks above.

Another mile of twists and turns through single track trails gets you the Chamberlain Trail junction, which is also part of the Backbone Trail system.

This trail is tantalizing with its panoramic views to the ocean, the Oxnard Plain and Conejo Valley.

The Chamberlain Trail takes you up to the highest peaks in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Tri Peaks including Boney Peak and Sandstone Peak (the other one I don't know the name of), but alas, I had no water and was over an hour into my run...and my mouth was getting a bit dry.

So sadly, I turned around and headed back to civilization. There was not a soul to be found on these trails other than me. What a great place to run and explore. Total elapsed time of my waterless run was 2 hours, excluding the 5 minutes of stops to snap photos.

On a side note, I ran into a couple friends as I approached the Blue Canyon Trail trailhead. These deer were very large. I slowed to a halt but they weren't up to the task of smiling and saying "cheese" to me.

Conejo Valley Trail Runners is a New Local Area Running Group Kicking Off 1/13/13

Conejo Valley Trail Runners (CVTR) is a new local trail running club that will be hosting two weekly trail runs in the Conejo Valley and surrounding areas on Wednesday mornings and alternating Saturday and Sunday mornings.

CVTR invites everyone to join them on Sunday, January 13th at 7:30am Wildwood Park. We will be running 6 of the 17 miles offered in Wildwood Park...leaving runners wanting more. We simply ask folks to arrive a few minutes early to sign a waiver. CVTR founding members will be available after the run to answer any questions regarding membership fees and benefits. To learn more, click here.

Advice to Someone Looking to Run Their First Full Marathon in Less Than 2 Months

Crystal posted the following comment to another post covering marathon training tips: 

I'm running my first marathon ever, the full 26.2
I have less than 2 months to train for it.
I'm active but had a baby, and a few surgeries this past year...
All I need is someone to tell me I can do it. In such a small amount of time.

Well, Crystal, the quick and dirty answer to your comment is YES, you can COMPLETE the full 26.2 marathon in less than 2 months. Barring injury or illness, anyone can cover the full 26.2 mile distance in my opinion. But "how" you complete the full marathon is the real question.

Someone walking at a casual pace of 3 MPH can complete a full marathon, but it'll take you close to 9 hours to do it. I think most people can walk at that pace and cover close to the 26.2 mile distance without much training.

But for Crystal, I'm assuming that she has some running base on her, say 10 to 20 miles per week. Maybe her long run is 6 to 8 miles. With 2 months to go, I can see her possibly increasing her long run distance by 2 miles every other weekend, getting her theoretically up to 14 to 16 miles in 2 months.

I think 13 miles would even be enough. Here's a story from a previous post relating to someone that I helped to convince could run his first marathon 20 years ago:

I remember it well.  Barack (not his real name...but I do know of one Barack) started his marathon training at probably 240 lbs at a height of 6'.  Most of that weight was in Barack's belly.  Barack was a busy executive who didn't have a lot of time to train, but he took it seriously.  However, 2 months before the 1996 Los Angeles Marathon, he confided to me that his longest run was only 10 miles.

Barack was determined to run his first marathon.  I told him that if he could ramp up his long run to at least 13 miles (half the marathon distance), I think he could slog through the whole marathon.  I could have taken a harder stance and told him to do at least 16 miles, but I knew that wasn't possible for him at that point.  He would probably injure himself.  He needed the mental encouragement more than anything.  He could finish the marathon indeed...but he may have to walk/jog a good portion of it.

Sure enough, 2 months later Barack was ecstatic.  He finished his first marathon.  He was thrilled to earn that medal on his neck.  It took him 6 hours or so to finish the race, but he did it.  I don't think his peak mileage was more than 25 miles.

26.2 Tips to Run Your First Marathon

Interview with John Fedoroff of Thousand Oaks, Winner of 2012 Malibu Marathon

John Fedoroff of Thousand Oaks demolished the course record at the 4th Annual Malibu Marathon on Sunday, November 11th. His finishing time of 2 hours, 37 minutes placed him nearly 12 minutes before the 2nd place finisher and was almost 5 minutes faster than the previous course record.

I met John several years ago at The Oaks Mile in Thousand Oaks and was impressed by his speed. In 2011 he ran the Boston Marathon in a personal best time of 2:34:45. He had trained to run the New York Marathon on November 4th but the race was cancelled on the 2nd as a result of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

John is married, has 4 kids and at age 43 is running like he is in his twenties. I figured, why not ask him about his training as perhaps we can all benefit from whatever he's doing!

1. How do you feel about your performance at the Malibu Marathon? Were you happy with your time, given the challenging course?

I ran about what I expected I was capable of running. I didn't think the course was that challenging compared to what I was expecting in New York which would have been over 2x the elevation gain. The hills toward the end of the race were a bit challenging, but I was expecting them so I made sure I had enough left in the tank to finish well.

2. Were you expecting to win the race? At what point did you know you were going to win? Was there any point in the race where you felt any self doubt?

A couple of days before the race, I spoke with Blue Benadum (the Malibu Marathon race director who placed third in the Santa Barbara Marathon the day before in an impressive 2:28) who warned me that I would probably be running by myself. I wasn't necessarily looking forward to running by myself, but I just thought of it as a training run with aid stations. My goals were to win the race, run a course record and try to run as close to six-minute pace as possible. 

There was a point at about mile five where I thought I might not be able to finish because my hamstring started acting up. I thought, "Oh no, this would be embarrassing--dropping out of a marathon at mile six," but I was able to relax just a bit and the pain went away. Half the battle, as you well know, is getting to the start of the marathon in one piece.

I had several setbacks during the final weeks of this marathon build up. It started with a groin strain during a 20-miler I ran the day after running a cross country race with the kids I help coach. I learned it's not a good idea to run 20-milers the day after a race. As soon as I started getting over the injury I ended up catching a cold which set me back another couple of days. As soon as I was well enough to run I went out with the kids on a 10-miler and got hit by a car! I had to take a few days off of running to allow my knee to heal.

As soon as I was ready to get back to the marathon training I went out and bought some racing flats to try out on a 15-mile marathon pace run. The problem was that the shoes were a bit too small and I developed blisters on the ends of my big toes. Unfortunately, I developed a strep infection and had to take two different antibiotics to get over the infection and I had to have my toenails removed.

Thankfully, I still had about two weeks before the NYC Marathon so my toes had time to heal. After all of the travel to New York I returned home feeling exhausted, but still wanted to run a marathon so I decided to run one last tempo run. Unfortunately, I didn't warm up properly and felt a strain in my hamstring which took several days to recover from. As any master's runner knows, running at this age is mostly about managing injuries.

[Editor's Note: HOLY %^&*!! And I thought I had a lot of setbacks in my training! Wow!]

3. The marathon started over half an hour late this year. What goes through your mind when this happens and how do you deal with a change in plans like this, both mentally and physically?

I figured it would start late having read that it started late last year. I heard they were waiting for a bus to arrive from Santa Monica. When it comes to punctuality I do not have a very good track record, in fact I'm one of the worst. I joke around with my family that we should change our last name to Feder-late-than-never! I just kept doing my warmups and tried to stay warm. Also, I was happy that I had the chance to use the bathroom one last time.

4. Speaking of change in plans, where were you when Mayor Bloomberg cancelled the 2012 New York Marathon on Friday, November 2nd, what went through your mind, and how did you end up choosing Malibu?

I was in a toy store in Montclair, New Jersey with my family when I received a call from my friend telling me about the marathon being cancelled. It was a hard thing to hear and at first I didn't want to believe it was true. So much time and effort--not to mention the travel expense--goes into preparing for a marathon that it makes it hard to think about things rationally. My thinking was that since they ran the marathon after 9/11 that they would run this year as well. However, it was just too soon for a lot of people. It was a sad time to be in New York and we returned home sooner than we had planned. I still wanted to run a marathon, but found that all of the big races had filled up. After all of the travel I felt it was best to run a local race. I couldn't run Santa Barbara because of a conflict with high school cross country CIF prelims at Mt. SAC, so I decided to contact Blue to see if he could get me into Malibu.

5. You ran a fantastic time at Malibu. Can you give us mortals some training advice...how about the most important things you did in your training?

I try to follow the Jack Daniels approach to running which breaks up training into four phases. The first is the Foundation/Injury-Prevention (F/I) phase where you just build up your miles by running easy. The second phase, called Early Quality (EQ), involves short repetitions (200s/400s) at mile race pace with long rest to work on running economy. The third phase called Transition Quality (TQ) is the most difficult phase where you run longer intervals (1000s/1200s) at 5K race pace with equal rest based on time. Lastly, there's the Final Quality (FQ) phase which focuses on race-specific workouts which for marathon training involve a lot of tempo runs and marathon pace workouts. I try to get my miles up to about 70-80 miles per week during the F/I phase so that my body can handle the more demanding phases to come. Daniels says that it's important to know what the purpose is for every run. Before I read his book, Jack Daniels' Running Formula, I really didn't understand how to prepare for a marathon other than just go out and run. I don't always follow the plan exactly because of injuries or other interruptions, but I know how to get in the necessary work so that when I step on the line I am confident that I can run my goal pace for 26 miles. Probably, the most important aspect of marathon training can be distilled down to just one word...consistency.

6. Some specific training questions: What is your peak weekly mileage, how many long runs did you do prior to the marathon, do you do any speedwork, how often do you take rest days and how long was your taper for the marathon?

For this marathon build-up I think I got up to 90 miles once, but I usually just try to hit 70 miles per week. I always hope to do more, but injuries, etc. seem to get in the way. I got in about six long runs ranging from 16-20 miles in the final three months leading up to the race. I definitely try to get in speed work in preparation for the marathon. If you want to run fast you need to run faster than marathon pace in your workouts. It's not always fun especially when you are training by yourself, but if you can workout with some runners that are close to your ability it's much easier to finish the workouts. A typical week consists of a long run on Sunday followed by two or three rest days then an interval workout followed by another two or three easy days and then a long tempo or marathon pace workout. I'm not a big fan of the long taper because my immune system lets down when I back off the training, so I usually just taper for one week. However, I was forced to taper two weeks due to the cancellation of the NYC Marathon. I actually felt like I was ready for a faster race on less rest a week before Malibu.

7. You are a self-employed graphic artist with a wife and 4 kids - how do you balance your training with work and family?

The short answer would be I don't--if you have figured it out please let me know! Unfortunately, all of these other areas in my life take a hit because of my obsession with running and yet, running has helped keep my life moving forward. I can get down sometimes when the business isn't going well or a family relationship is strained, however the very act of just putting one foot in front of the other keeps up the forward momentum.

One of my favorite verses from the Bible is found in Philippians which says, "…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Probably the best thing that has come out of running is that it can be an inspiration to others.

My wife, Adriana has been running for about a year now. Also, our daughter Bella started running cross country at Oaks Christian High School this past season and made some really good friends along the way. Our oldest son, Nathan just finished his first season of cross country with the Newbury Park youth cross country team. He's really gotten into running this past year. For example, he had an assignment in his 5th grade class to write a famous person and he chose one of America's greatest marathoners. He was so excited when he received a handwritten full-page letter from Ryan Hall a couple of weeks later. Lastly, our boy Xander said the "R" in his name stands for "Runner" in a recent school project (hey, it's a start!) and our youngest boy, Christian considers himself the fastest runner in the family because he's beaten me in a couple of "races" down our street.

Thank you so much, John, for sharing such great advice and inspiration! I think any runner will find your advice quite useful. Keep us posted on your next big race!

Signed Up For Malibu Marathon, My Foot Hurts, My Butt Hurts, But It's All Good

With 4 long (over 16 mile) runs down the hatch over the last 6 weeks, I decided to bite the bullet yesterday, the day the $20 promo code discount expired, to sign up for the Malibu Marathon on November 11, 2012.

I hemmed and hawwed on this but decided to save $20 rather than wait until the last minute as previously discussed about 3 weeks ago. After running a progression over the previous weekends of 17 miles, 18.5 miles, 20 miles, a 5K and 10 miler, then back to 21 miles last Saturday, I feel my marathon endurance is there. Now it's a matter of, can I run at the pace that I'd like to run.

This upcoming weekend is a busy one, filled with kids' AYSO soccer games and my son's birthday party on Sunday morning. As a result, and I rarely do this, I decided to get up early this morning, Friday, before work, and get my long run out of the way for the weekend.

It was a perfect morning for a run, with cooler temps than we've had of late. Today I did another run down to PCH, touched PCH with my foot, then scrambled back up Sycamore Canyon. Total distance was about 18.5 miles.

Sycamore Cove Beach, across PCH at the bottom of Sycamore Canyon

I reached PCH in 1:09:30 and finished the 2nd, mostly uphill half of the out-and-back course in 1:15. That equates to about a 7:41 per mile pace, as compared to the 6:50 pace I'd like to maintain for the marathon to get below 3 hours. I've never tried to run my long runs at marathon pace, preferring to work on my endurance at about 45 seconds to a minute slower than race pace. No need to burn my body out on these long runs.

To get the body adjusted to marathon pace, my preference is to toss some races into the training mix - 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons. Between an occasional race and sometimes running "fartlek" (love that word) into a morning run (basically add some speed at periodic intervals during a run...also called "speedplay"), that's how I attempt to "tune up" for a marathon.

Would be even better for me to get out on a track once a week and run intervals, like 800 meter repeats, but with all that I have going on I just can't seem to make that commitment. So while I know I'm leaving something on the table with my training, I'm doing pretty much the best I can given my life's daily adventures.

This morning's run overall ended up being moderately miserable. Once again I had trouble with timing of my, ahem, bodily functions. Years ago at the advice of a friend I experimented with taking psyllium husk the night before a long run or marathon to ensure I wouldn't have this problem. It worked for awhile, then periodically didn't. So I stopped using it. Time to try it again. Psyllium is basically Metamucil. I'll leave you with that.

I also encountered a strange, new problem with the ball of my right foot. It started really hurting about 15 miles into the run, to the point that I had to stop to see if my socks were causing the problem. Kind of a sharp pain. I think perhaps I just bruised the ball of the foot. Time for some ice and Advil. For some reason, the pain was sharpest when running on a flat to slightly inclined surface. It wasn't as big of a problem when running up steep hills, for whatever that's worth.

So now, later in the day, my butt hurts. But (or butt), I think I'll be o.k. I believe I deserve a beer. In fact, there should be a rule. Running 16 or more miles on a weekday before work should be rewarded with one or two icy cold beers that night.

Newbury Park "Sole Runners" Training Group Starts Its Winter Program

The Sole Runners of Newbury Park starts its winter training program this month, with a kickoff party on October 9 at The Lab Brewing Company in Agoura and first official training day on Saturday, October 13th at 7:00 a.m. at The Boney Mountain Coffee in Dos Vientos. The group will meet there, leave to run to the trails in Sycamore Canyon and return for some yoga. On the 13th will be a Chi Running lesson to get everyone started with great running form and off to a good beginning. Our full group runs begin the following Saturday. Learn more about the group at www.solerunners.net.

Not All Long Runs are Created Equal

Today I got back to my long run training with a 21 miler. Two weeks ago I ran the same out and back 20 mile course that I ran this morning, adding an extra mile at the halfway point. Ran down to Thornhill Broome Beach and back again, 1:18 down and 1:25 on the uphill coming back up Sycamore Canyon.

Today my stomach gave me a bit of grief. Every marathoner should be aware of their biggest single point of failure (SPOF) and figure out what to do about it. The biggest SPOF can be a number of things...a bad knee, getting dehydrated quickly, going out too hard, shin splints, etc. For me, if I don't watch what I eat the day before a run, I pay the price.

Honestly I don't know what caused my stomach ailment but I'm thinking I ate too much junk late last night. I wasn't in pain or anything. Mainly an annoyance that took my concentration off of my run. That said though, it wasn't a terrible day for me. I got another long run on the books.

I have been taking one refillable bottle and 4 gel packs on my runs. Today I used only 2 of my 4 gel packs over 21 miles. It wouldn't have hurt to suck the other 2 packs down, but I wasn't in the mood.

With little rest, I ran off to the AYSO soccer fields with the kids today and spend half the day out and about between games, came home and jumped in the pool. I survived the day and feel a bit like Superman. A tired Superman.

Waiting Until the Last Minute to Register for a Marathon This Fall

I'm biding my time right now. At the (hopefully) tail end of a heat spell that has brought record temperatures to the Southland, I have managed to slowly but surely ramp up the length of my long runs to the point I'm comfortable I can run a full marathon in a few months.

But what marathon do I run?

That I don't know. Yet.

So awhile back I signed up for the Bulldog 25K trail run on August 25th and had a reasonable performance for where I was at in my training. That was a nice mental boost. But still no marathon plans in my mind at that point.

A week later, after a 5 month wait, I finally retrieved my 2012 Boston Marathon shirt from my friend who picked it up for me since I couldn't run the race. Yes, this shirt cost me $150 (the price tag on the shirt actually says $30...but of course the $150 includes the cost of entry into the marathon).

So I'm thinking, what's next. I haven't run a marathon since December 2010 and am not signed up for anything at this point. Then I thought, it has been many years since I ran the Los Angeles Marathon and I've never run the latest "Stadium to the Sea" course.

The L.A. Marathon is March 17, 2013. There were nearly 19,000 finishers in the 2012 race. I've run L.A. a total of 9 times over the years, about 6 times "seriously" and 3 times as a "paid training run" for another marathon. My first L.A. Marathon in 1994 was my first ever marathon, in a wet, rainy 3 hours, 3 minutes. My last L.A. Marathon was a "training run" run/walk/jog in 3 hours, 13 minutes. In between those races, 6 of the other L.A. Marathons were under 3 hours.

Due to the size of the race, organizers have 4 start corrals after the "elite" athletes. I will run L.A. only if I can manage to get into the 1st corral, which requires a sub 3:01 time no earlier than 7/1/11. Gulp. I haven't run a sub 3:01 since my 2:48 in Long Beach in October 2004. However...since then, I've only run 4 marathons, none of them with all cylinders on.

So my predicament is that, I need to run a sub 3:01 marathon this fall if I want to run L.A. But I don't want to travel far for the race. And I still need to train. That brings me back to the Malibu Marathon on November 11th. A race that in 3 years of existence, has brought a measly 14 sub-3 hour performances.  My 2010 time was 3:05 but it was unseasonably warm and I cramped up due to lack of electrolytes. I feel I can run sub-3 at Malibu if 1) the weather is reasonable...no unseasonably warm temps and Santa Ana winds and 2), I can run a 1:24 or faster half marathon prior to then.

Huh? Why 1:24? Because I use a 2.1 multiple in deriving projected marathon time from a half marathon. In my book, a 1:24 half marathon equates to a 2:56 marathon, leaving enough cushion to pull it off.

Next step? Keep doing long runs, possibly a 5K/10K or two, and run the Inaugural Marla Runyan Half Marathon in Camarillo in October. And think happy, positive thoughts to keep illness and injury at bay. Then I'll decide what should be my Fall marathon...

Inaugural Marla Runyan Classic Half Marathon, 5K in Camarillo on October 21st

Cruised Through an 18 1/2 Mile Run This Morning Powered by GU

Armed with a single water bottle and 4 packets of GU, I managed to get a decent spur of the moment long run down the hatch this morning.

Sometimes just the thought of running a particular race provides the motivation I need. After passing on the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon next year, I thought, maybe it would be fun to try the Los Angeles Marathon. My marathon P.R. was set on the L.A. course many years ago but I haven't run L.A. in recent years. And the "Stadium to the Sea" route sounds like pretty interesting.

GU Energy Labs Gu Peanut Butter 24 Pack

When I looked at the L.A. Marathon website, I discovered they have 3 "bins" of people at the start of the race: Sub 3 hours, 3 to 4 hours and over 4 hours. I decided that the only way I would run L.A. is if I can qualify for the sub 3 hour bin.

I've run 18 sub 3 hour marathons through the years, but the last time this happened was 8 years ago, at the 2004 Long Beach Marathon. My time that day was 2 hours, 48 minutes, good for 2nd master. I was actually on pace for a 2:42 marathon that day but had to pull back due to groin pain.

Since then, life has become more complicated! Kids, jobs, injuries, etc. have taken their toll on my training and, while the passage of the years has also slowed me down, I feel like I'm running nowhere near my full current potential.

While I don't expect to hit my full potential because I'm not doing the right things...in particular, getting adequate sleep, hard training and speedwork.

That said, with moderate, consistent, injury/illness free training, I still think I can run sub 3 hours on most marathon courses. So...I'm considering...not "committed" yet...but considering...signing up for the Malibu Marathon on November 11th.

What will determine if I sign up or not is how my training goes, and perhaps a few races over the next few months. I've signed up for a half marathon in Camarillo in mid-October. If I can run it in 1 hour, 22 minutes or less, I'll probably sign up for the Malibu Marathon. Why? I use an old rule of thumb; your potential marathon time equals 2.1 times your half marathon time. So a 1:22 half equates to about a 2:52 full marathon, leaving some cushion.

That said, even if I AM in decent shape for Malibu, there's definitely no guarantee of running sub 3 hours. The sub 3 hour time has been run on that course a measly14 times in the first 3 years of the event. The course is great, but quite hilly over the last 3 to 5 miles and there are significant headwinds over many sections of the route along PCH.

In any case, with this 18.5 mile under my belt this morning and a 17.5 miler last weekend, with some luck I think I can actually do this.

On a side note, I recently discovered the Peanut Butter GU flavor, which immediately became my favorite flavor. There are many sports energy gels out there but I still like GU best over all these years. They aren't as overly sweet as many seem to be.

Lulled In By the Bulldog 25K Trail Run Again This Year

The Bulldog 50K and 25K trail races are on Saturday, August 25th this year at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas.  Don't know what it is about this brutally tough race, but I'm signed up for the 25K again this year. Last year it was the hottest day of the year and I didn't fare too well, feeling dehydrated most of the race. Hoping we get an overcast morning.

Today I did my longest run so far of the year, a 2 hour run mostly on the trails in Sycamore Canyon. Ran up Danielson Road, turned up the Old Boney Trail (which gives some really nice views of Boney Mountain), down Fossil Trail down to the bottom of Sycamore Canyon. From there I ran a handful of other trails and road to achieve a total time of 2 hours.

Did something I would not recommend. Swigged down a bottle of water, put a couple candy bars in a fanny pack, and took off. Didn't carry any water with me this morning as I felt I was able to drink enough down to get my through a 2 hour run. I'm not a big fan of carrying water. Started the run at 7:20 a.m. and it was nice and cool. Temps only reached about 70 degrees. Worked out fine for me. My backup plan is that I knew of 3 water fountains on my path. Didn't need to stop for them though.

But I did stop briefly to take a few quick pics of the view!