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Janet’s Gardena 5000 5K Race Report
Janet (Chi Beach Runner) with her AG medal and trophy
A little history
I’m actually a tennis player that happens to run for endurance. I’m not a fast runner, just your average middle of the pack plodder. Two years ago, I tore a muscle in my playing arm. I was sidelined, I couldn’t play, what was I going to do? I ran. So, I decided, why not take this running a little more seriously and started to enter in some long distance races. I didn’t become a ChiRunner till November of last year.
Okay, here’s the report
On Sunday, June 10th, while the 4 Beach Runners warriors did the Ultra marathon, I did a wimpy little 5K, the Gardena 5000. I’ve been running this race for years. I PR’d it once in my younger days. But, as time marched on, I was never able to match or break that time of 27:18. A torn synovial tissue in the ankle and knee surgery didn’t help matters either. I didn’t know what kind of running I was doing, I just ran. All I remembered was by the time I got to mile 2 I was tired. I had to walk, my knees hurt, and I struggled to get to the finish line. Even when I actually saw the finish line, I couldn’t muster any energy to get me there any faster. And I ached for days.
Now armed, or legged, with a couple of months of ChiRunning, I now know how to run efficiently. I went into this 5K race with no expectations, just wanted to finish in a decent time. I really didn’t train for this. I just did what was on our marathon training schedule, run on Tuesday, Thursday and the long run on Saturday.
And we’re off
With my meditation and body looseners done, I visualized what I wanted to do: finish under 30 minutes, do negative split around the mile and a half point.
So, with my plan and focused attention, I headed towards the start area and found my position in the middle somewhere. After the Boy Scout’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, we were off. With the crowd and congestion, and no where to go, I had to keep a slow pace.
By mile 1, I was able to get into my stride. I had to keep reminding myself to relax the shoulders (Gary’s tip) and to keep my posture up, no slouching (yes, Steve). Soooo much to think about, and that’s why I don’t wear my headphones anymore.
Heading into 1.5 mile mark, it was time to put my plan into action, do a negative split, our favorite words. I leaned a bit more, relaxed the hips and just felt my feet fly off the ground. What a sensation! I peeked at my Garmin and it showed that I was doing 7-8 minute miles. Wow, I only go that fast when I’m running downhill.
Home stretch
As I approach the last mile, I kept up with the pace and focused a lot on relaxing and letting gravity do its thing. I was actually passing other runners.
With only 10 feet to go, 2 runners, darn teenagers, don’t they respect their elders, passed me. Did I make it less than 30 minutes? Yes. But the biggest surprise is that I placed 2nd in my age division. I was so jazzed. My first trophy in running. I’m still smiling. Had I known 1st place was within ONE minute, I would have planted myself on the start line.
But, I’m totally happy with what I accomplished. Last year I placed 7th. So to come back this strong is really a great feeling plus I’m not sore like I was last year.
I did it even after running 8.5 miles the day before. It’s really a humbling experience.
All of this couldn’t have happened without the ChiRunning techniques and the coaching. As I mentioned before, I attended Steve and Gary’s retreat in Palos Verdes in November and again in April of this year. These retreats rock! If you are thinking about signing up for the retreats, do it. No, the coaches didn’t pay me to advertise for them. It really does help. It’s helped me in all of my half marathons; I’ve been shaving minutes off of each race I finish. Steve videotapes you and sits down with you and points out what improvement you need. I especially liked the wine, cheese and crackers afterwards.
Now, I’m an official Beach Runners, training for the Long Beach Marathon. This will be my first full marathon. I’ve met a lot of great people in this group, so supportive and upbeat. I am hoping to use all these experiences not only to finish the Long Beach marathon but to also finish the 2008 Goofy Race and Half challenge in Orlando. For those of you who are wondering what it is, it’s a half marathon on Saturday, and the full marathon on Sunday. I may be crazy enough to do the 5K on Friday also. I’ll really be goofy by then.
Janet, A humble Chi Beach Runners disciple
Ultramarathon Race Report with Gary
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
Muhammad Ali
The word courage comes from the old French word corage meaning what is in your heart. It has taken on a modern meaning of bravery or toughness, but its older meaning points to something more richer. That our courage sometimes is not brave, but very emotional, but its always a strong faith in our direction.
I took three runners up to the mountains on Sunday to run 33 miles in Big Bear at the Holcomb Valley Trail Run. 33 difficult miles in the mountains with 7200 feet elevation gain in altitude on challenging terrain that would be exhausting to hike let along run.
Beach Runners Sandy and Sindy both trained with us during the winter and ran the Catalina Marathon for their first marathon. This was an impressive athletic accomplishment because the Catalina Marathon is one of the hardest marathons in the United States: 18/26 miles are uphill with 4100 feet elevation gain. Both these strong women found that they loved running on the natural surfaces of trails.
So when I threw out the idea of training for an ultramarathon, these were the only two Beach Runners who had the courage to attempt something this difficult. Training would mean a significant commitment of trail running for hours and hours every weekend. And power yoga. And our secret nutrition plans.
We ended up spending many weekends together up in the hills of Palos Verdes. We even climbed a mountain (San Jacinto).
And in this time, we became really good friends. I now consider these two remarkable women two of my closest friends.
Coaching is still a learning process for me, and I did what I could to develop training routines, motivational messages, and nutritional guidelines. All the while these two with beautiful beginners minds, followed along to all my training suggestions with strong determination and discipline.
I signed Steve up for the ultramarathon despite his wishes. I knew deep down inside Steve needed a new challenge. He has overcome so much this year by self healing his back injury. Steve has a ton of courage, and has been doing lots of trail running and power yoga this year also, and with a 4:32 at Catalina, I figured he had the ability to do this ultra with no specific training due to his ChiRunning skills.
Overall, my fitness was excellent. I am in the best running shape of my life. My endurance base is off the charts. I’m strong from Power Yoga and hard trail running. Ate extremely well the week before the race. But unfortunately, did not get enough rest.
The five days leading up to the race I did a hard trail run, power yoga, hatha yoga with my teacher, and trained Beach Runners including two yoga sessions. I cannot stress this enough to take it easy the week before race day. I didn’t follow this advice and it affected my race.
The Race
The race started with a five and a half mile climb to a mountain pass. Steve forged ahead of me suggesting I run with him. But I was torn. A dilemna I’ve been thinking about for days now. With me was Sandy, who I had done so many training sessions with, who I had done so much coaching. I reflected back to my prayers that morning with God and my prayer had finished with asking God for the opportunity to help another finish this ultramarathon rather than asking for a fast performance from myself.
Those of you that know me know how important that is for me to help others finish.
The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
Robert Cushing
So I chose to run with Sandy for a while. Enjoying her efficient pace on a very difficult, rocky, mountainous, and high altitude course, I took my time and conserved my energy. Steve was ahead somewhere and I figured he was taking it easy also. My plan was to run with Sandy to the high point of the course at mile 8 then run hard on the down hills and catch Steve.
I left Sandy at mile 8 after wishing her good luck and began running hard for the next 6 miles. When I passed mile 14, I began slowing down, bogging and couldn’t figure out why.
Then another runner, Lorraine came up behind me, and asked, “How are you doing?”
“Feeling a little tired.”
“Do you have a Goo? You need to eat right away. In fact, you should have been eating this whole course.”
I sucked down my only Goo, and began eating my Garden of Life bar. The fact was, I hadn’t been eating much for the first two hours of the run. Just nibbling at the rest stations. That was insufficient calories for the difficulty of the race I was doing. I needed to be eating every 30 minutes. I thought I could eat every hour. But not on a course this difficult.
So I bonked. Yes it does even happen to coaches. After eating my Goo and Garden of Life bar, I felt a little better and had the energy for a very challenging and rocky downhill section to mile 20. It took 100% concentration to not trip on all the rocks. I almost tripped numerous times, and the one time I did let my mind drift, I ate it, landed on my knee and rolled into a bush. Nothing too serious, brushed myself off, and kept running.
Miles 20-23 were a steep steep fireroad, and so I walked most of it. Lorraine who was faster than me on the uphills, caught up to me and we chatted. I was so amazed on that course that day because everyone I spoke to was the most incredible athlete. Lorraine had done over 70 ultramarathons and had qualified for Boston like 20 times in a row. This is one reason I like doing hard races, because I get to meet amazing athletes who motivate me to accomplish more than what I’m doing.
So Lorraine and I ran together for a while, swapping stories, laughing, enjoying this climb. After another rest station where I should have been eating more, I grinded out a long flat fireroad through the valley from miles 24-27.5. This fireroad seemed to go on forever and forever. I tuned into my metronome shifted into a ChiRunning 1st gear and found my focuses again. Thats the beauty of learning ChiRunning–even when you are tired, you can use your form to keep propelling yourself along.
At the last rest station, I ate one of Sandy’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and nibbled on some Pringles. And was relieved to hear that there were only 5.5 miles to go.
A little delirious, I forgot to fill the water bottles on my fuel belt. So was thirsty for the last section. After a two mile climb, the rest of the course was downhill. It was very rocky so I had to completely concentrate, but for me, like Steve and Sandy, it was the most enjoyable part of the course. Especially with this fantastic scenic view of Big Bear Lake.
I came up to the finish line to have Steve and Sindy (you’ll have to hear her story from her) cheering me on across the finish line.
I was passed by a runner the last 50 yards. I simply did not have the energy to race him. Afterwords, he said his race was slow because he had done a 100 mile bike race the day before!!!!! Yikes.
Other than him, I had passed many runners from mile 8 onwards, about 10-15 runners. And no runner had passed me other than my guardian angel Lorraine. So I run according to my plan of taking the first 8 miles easy, then running hard the remainder. That just was not enough to stay up with uber runner Steve that day.
My time: 7 hours 9 minutes. Steve came in 19 minutes ahead of me. So he had an awesome run. I am so proud of him.
About an hour after I came in, Sandy ran to the finish line smiling with tears in her eyes.
Sindy ran a courageous 21 miles but was unable to finish this day. I’ll let her tell her story. But all I want to say is that there is no failure in attempting to do anything as difficult as an ultramarathon, marathon, or half marathon. Less than 1% of the American public ever complete a marathon. So to train for an ultramarathon and run most of a very very difficult course up in the mountains earns my deepest deepest respect and admiration.
Some reflections…
Race Mindset: Not tough enough for me. I spent too much time running with Sandy trying to help her along when she didn’t need my help. I needed to let her run her own race. She was well prepared from my training program, and needed to let her go once the race started.
Also I spent too much time walking hills. Now if you are a first time marathoner or ultramarathoner, you should walk hills. But I had the fitness and the skills from ChiRunning to run many that day that I walked. Read Steve’s race report on how he ran most of the hills that I walked.
In addition, I cannot ever ever give Steve a head start. He is too good a runner to be caught from behind. Lesson learned for Baldy.
A bigger issue for me is to get more courage on race day, a competitive gear, to be able to run hard even when tired. I still need to get tougher. This is something I can work on during my training runs during the week. In fact, this last Tuesday night, I pushed myself hard up three tough PV hills and passed my training partner Matt despite my whole body being fatigued from the ultramarathon. I will need this ability to laser focus on my form even when tired for Baldy. I have the skills from ChiRunning. I have the breathing practice. I just need the mental toughness.
My ChiRunning was essential for finishing this race. I had a lot of speed on the down hills. Using my metronome and taking short strides was essential for keeping my momentum even when I bonked from lack of race day nutrition. I had no pain during the run from any part of my body, fatigue, yes, but no pain. I felt great after the run, walking around like normal. Thats the real benefit of ChiRunning: you can run a 33 mile ultramarathon in the mountains with no injuries, and no pain. As a competitor, I have to keep this in mind sometimes, what a miracle this running system is.
Overall, this was a fantastic weekend for me. I got to spend time with three people I really love. I met new friends. And I helped others finish the race by signing up Steve, and coaching Sandy and Sindy.
The course was beautiful. We saw mountains, valleys, meadows, songbirds, Big Bear Lake, with clean air, and friendly volunteers at every rest station that would even fill our water bottles. We want to think Pam and Gary Kalina for putting this race on for the 11th year in a row. Put your application in early for next year because it fills quickly.
Courage is the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all others.
Winston Churchill
Steve, Sandy, and Sindy are such amazing examples of courage to attempt a race as difficult as this one. All three were not afraid to fail. That’s the meaning of courage for me. They trust themselves, their coaches, ChiRunning, Yoga, and God. They know in their hearts that by just coming to the starting line of a hard race is a success.
I can’t wait to go running with them again. They are wonderful inspirational people that I’m lucky enough in this life to get to run with.
God Bless you,
Gary
The Beach Runners Ultra Team- Gary, Sindy, Steve, and Sandy
Sandy’s Ultra Marathon Race Report
Sandy enthusiastically tackles largest hill on 33 mile course
I started with Beach Runners last winter and I have been having the time of my life ever since. I’ll start by giving a brief history on my running. Like many other runners, I started running as a way to cope with life’s many challenges. I considered myself to be a walker and had no aspirations to run. It took a major heartbreak 3 years ago to get this lifetime walker to get out and run.
I started running on a treadmill and was only able to last 5 minutes before I had to stop and take a break. Mind you, I wasn’t even running very fast. Slowly, I progressed to 10 minutes, then 15 minutes and I was super stoked when I got up to 30 minutes. I know. I’m easily excited.
Fast forward. You may have already figured out that I am not a natural runner. With that said, instead of training for a 10k, I decided to go for the half marathon instead. I was training on my own using a training plan off the internet. I got up to 8 miles and found that my knees were way too sore and there was no way I was going to run the half marathon without some help.
I remembered reading about the Beach Runners and Chi-Running. The idea of running injury free seemed too good to be true. By this time, I had fallen in love with running and its many benefits, so I emailed Steve and here I am today. I started running with the group in the winter 2006 season and was running pain free within weeks. I read Danny Dreyer’s book religiously and practiced my form constantly. I was even focusing on my posture at work. I didn’t care that I looked like a dork leaning up against the copy machine, while waiting for my job to finish.
Long story short, I have finished two half marathons, a marathon and now my first ultra marathon. I can’t believe that this has all happened within 7 months of starting to train with the Beach Runners.
I felt a bit lost after the Catalina Marathon. I no longer had a race to train for. I’m not quite sure when I decided to do the Ultra Marathon, but next thing I know; Gary, Sindy and I were training again. I logged in many a miles with and without my training partners in the PV hills. The training I got from Gary when we did run together was priceless. I also took Gary’s Power Yoga class every chance I got. He truly did wonders for my mental preparation for this race.
I won’t go into too much detail about the ultra marathon course. Steve described it well in his race report. It was a lot tougher than I had imagined. Many parts of the course were rocky and super technical. Our PV trail runs were great training for this course. I trained hard and I was ready to accept whatever came my way.
I knew going into this race that it was going to be a mental run for me. There was a point on the course where I focused on just putting one foot in front of the other. Miles 21 to 25 were the toughest miles for me. That part of the course almost brought me to tears. I began to debate whether I wanted to continue the race.
I ate every half hour. I sipped on Cytomax and water every 10-15 minutes. I also made sure to grab a few bites at every aid station, even if I didn’t feel all that hungry. The elevation was a concern for me. Luckily, I had no serious reaction to the elevation. I did have some blurred vision at about mile 15. I made sure to hydrate as much as possible at the next aid station and my vision seemed to go back to normal.
I have found that my ability to body sense helped me to run a really fun and safe race. This is definitely one of my favorite aspects of Chi-Running. I ran with several things going on in my head at all times. I focused on having soft feet, relaxed legs, picking up my feet, not pulling and running with my heart out. I also focused on keeping my knees together while running, which helps me to keep my knees down. Thanks Gary for this invaluable tip.
I had a little tinge of pain in my right knee, but I kept my focus on picking up my feet. I have a strong tendency to power run once I get warmed up. I am happy to say that I finished the race strong and with no pain whatsoever. I ran the last 3 miles of downhill with a smile on my face. Chi-Running is the only reason that I was able to run the last three miles of a 33 mile course.
Thanks for letting me share my experience. This has been a spiritual journey for me in so many ways. Little did I know that joining the beach runners would change my life forever? I am thankful for Gary, Steve and all the Beach Runners. I have yet to run with someone in the group that did not have a smile on their face and an enthusiasm for a sport that has turned into an activity that I hope to be doing for the rest of my life.
Truly grateful beach runner,
Sandy
Sandy comes up on finish line filled with Joy
Steve’s First Ultra Marathon - Race Report
Laury, Sindy, Sandy, Steve, and Gary at Finish Line of Ultramarathon
The truth is that I really didn’t want to do this race. It wasn’t planned, going back to my 2007 race goals. Yet, Gary took the liberty of signing me up and what the heck, I could be spending a Sunday in the mountains or in LA; I’ll take the mountain chi.
I didn’t research the course by looking at maps and elevation gain charts. I tried not to think about it and “just show up.” I did know that it was a up and down 33-mile race, with over 7,000 ft of climbing at altitude. Sunday, I just showed up without expectations. I followed Coach Ilg’s pre-race meditation of remaining relaxed and empty, ready to experience.
Going in all I knew it was going to be a long day, in fact the longest day of racing I have ever put in. Armed with this knowledge I decided to use a different strategy, go easy on the uphills, fly downhill and race the first 20 miles pretty hard. I figured when I hit the wall I could at least walk it home and still be able to add an Ultra Marathon to my resume.
Since I’ll be editing a Runumentry – RunCast this week, I’ll keep this short and you can watch the movie.
This race was technical trail running, rocks everywhere. I almost went down numerous times. This race was absolutely beautiful, pine trees, lakes, mountain meadows and scenic views toward the desert. You get to see a lot over the course of 33 miles. Ultra marathoners are a cool group of friendly people, the volunteers were awesome and race was well organized.
6:50 hours went by at a decent pace. I worked on picking my spots to attack this course. I took a long time at the aid stations, like I would in a century bike ride. I ate about 250 calories an hour along with Enduralytes®. Our MaraYoga training system was key. I used every ChiRunning® technique I teach. I used my metronome most of the day, especially during those miles between 21-27. The last 6 miles were tough and I had a difficult time maintaining even an 85 cadence. Miles 30-33 were harder than I expected, even being downhill. Crossing the finish line felt like a real accomplishment. I ran well enough to finish ahead of Gary, which I didn’t think was possible. Learning to train easy on easy days and harder on hard days this year paid off. And, my base training this year (the best of my life) carried me through without the normal specific training for a race like this. My fitness is strong and I was able to run most of the 33 miles. I figured I only walked about 4 miles total.
The Mental Race
I stayed in the moment as well as I ever have in a race. I didn’t look too far ahead, just step by step over the technical terrain. I thought of almost everyone in my life, carried them with me and received their support. In this Ultra I ended up running miles with no one in sight or to be heard. It truly was my church, alone in nature with God. I prayed, and gave thanks for all the gifts in my life. I ran my race without expectation. I didn’t even wear a watch. Most of the time I had no idea of how long I’d been out or how far I had run. I ran with an attitude of gratitude. I ran with a smile. I ran with an open heart and I ran one of the best races in my life.
No rush to get my next one in. I’ll (in)joy the summer training with the Beach Runners and my friends. Look out Mt. Baldy, I’m feeling good.
Thank all of you for all your kind thoughts.
Namaste and Train Focused, Steve Mackel – Beach Runners Head Coach
Catalina Marathon Race Report - Special Wedding Proposal Edition
Doug proposing to Mina at mile 23 of the Catalina Marathon
March 17th 2007, St Patrick’s Day, the Catalina Marathon. Sounds like enough for one day, doesn’t it? When I woke up at 4AM to catch the ferry that would take me to the start line of the Catalina Marathon, I had no idea how much more meaningful this day would become.
When my boyfriend and fellow Beach Runner proposed that we run the Catalina Marathon, I thought he was crazy. 26 miles of grueling trail with 4,300 feet total elevation gain?!? But after doing several runs through the mountains of Palos Verdes with the Beach Runners, I actually got kind of excited for the beautiful scenery and the chance of running into a buffalo during my race.
4 AM is very, very early in the morning. But seeing friends and sharing the excitement and anticipation of the race motivated me to shake off the morning grogginess. The ferry left Avalon at 5AM and took us to the start line at Two Harbors. It was still so dark as we waited in the long lines for the bathroom. We were actually lucky enough to have a little surprise at the start line. A big, brown buffalo was grazing near the start line to wish us all good luck. Then a few minutes later, I heard a little ruckus behind me and saw the buffalo charging across the path toward some runners. Wouldn’t you know it was Steve that was right in the middle of the trouble! (I still wonder what he did to provoke the peaceful creature!)
The race was just as beautiful as I envisioned it would be. It was overcast for a good part of the morning which actually made some of the steep uphills a little easier since you could never really see how much further you still had to ascend. It was amazing to feel like you were running deep into the clouds above you. I saw runner after runner ahead of me disappear into the thick white haze.
After reaching the top of the first peak and back down to sea level, the slow ascent to the final peak was a challenge. A long 15 mile, 1600 foot uphill challenge. But luckily, I still had my Doug (and another good friend Tucker) by my side to keep my spirits up and make me giggle as we pushed onward and upward. As we started approaching the highest peak, the clouds began to clear and show us a view that made you forget the fatigue, tired muscles, and leg cramps. At Mile 23, we had reached the highest point of the marathon. What a feeling of accomplishment to look out from the top of the mountain and see the boats of Avalon Bay and the ever expansive Pacific Ocean. And in the far distance, I could see the Casino, a beautiful historic ballroom from the 1920’s, which meant the end was in sight. The finish line was still teeny from my vantage point, but so much closer than where we were hours ago.
As Doug and I enjoyed the view from the top of our conquered mountain, we decided to take a picture. My friend Tucker was ready for the heroic shot. Off comes Doug’s hat, his Halo headband, and even the Fuel Belt! Wondering why he cared to look nice for a picture in the middle of a marathon, I also shed the Fuel Belt and smiled for the camera. Then the next thing I see is Doug down on one knee, saying something to me, and holding something in his hand. I couldn’t understand his words, all I could do was cry. And cry, and cry. And apparently, I ran away a little too. (I blame it on dehydration and delirium from the preceding 23 miles!) Eventually, Doug caught up to me, got back down on his knee again, and proposed a second time. I still didn’t understand the words that were coming out of his mouth, but I didn’t run away this time. As he put the ring on my finger, it all suddenly became clear. I was at Mile 23, in the middle of the Catalina Marathon, with a view of the vast blue ocean behind me, and the love of my life is asking me to marry him. It was surreal. And I even had an audience of runners that stopped and cheered and shared their joy for us.
Little did I know I had another surprise waiting for me a little further down the mountain. A Beach Runners cheering squad at Mile 24! Kristin, Alexis, Lani, and John (who all had run the 10K race) hiked up the mountain to share their hugs and congratulations. (Apparently, I was the last to know about Doug’s special plans…)
The last three miles were all downhill—very fast, even faster for me since I had a renewed burst of energy from the shiny bling on my finger! Finally, I could see the glorious vision that I waited 26 miles to see. The big banner that bears the words ‘Finish Line’. As I inched nearer and nearer, I heard Steve yelling from the crowd, “Are you engaged?” So excited to be able to share my happy news again, I ran toward Steve and Gary, yelling “Yes! Yes!” while pointing at the ring. Onlookers and fans waiting at the finish line must have caught onto the engagement news because I felt like the crowd erupted into joyful Congratulations! What an unbelievable feeling! Hand in hand with my new fiancée, I triumphantly crossed the Finish Line. No more tears—just a big smile.
The rest of the day was one big party. All day, I had random people hug me and tell me that they ran by me during the proposal and were so excited for us. It was like a whole island of people that were happy to be part of my special moment. The after-race partying began with burritos with Lani, Kristin, and John. Then another burrito (and tequila shots!) with my friends Tucker and Elizabeth. Then over to Steve and Gary’s house for champagne (and gossip!) with Beach Runners Sandy, AJ, Sindy, and Sindy’s fabulous daughter. I never would have thought that after a marathon, I would be out until 1:30 AM, but our Beach Runners group had such a close family feeling to it, that it felt so natural to be sharing my engagement evening with these happy faces. We did a mini bar crawl (Sandy’s first!) complete with kamakazi shots, green beer (St Patrick’s Day, remember?), and dancing until the wee hours of the morning.
I will admit that for months, I was secretly frightened that the mountains of Catalina would kick my butt and that I would suffer through every uphill step of the 26 mile course. But truthfully, we were all so well trained (especially for the downhills!) that the marathon was not nearly as painful as I had originally feared. When I look back on March 17th 2007, I don’t think about the calf cramps, sweat, and sore toes. I remember my friends at Mile 24, Steve and Gary at the finish line, giggling about territorial garibaldi fish, laughing at Steve leaping into every picture, and dancing at the Chi Chi Club until my quads burned. And of course, I remember an extraordinary man kneeling on bended knee with a ring in his hand, wanting to spend the rest of his life with me.
Mina Oh, Beach Runner
Catalina Marathon Results
(First time marathoner Sindy powers her way to the finish.
Notice the smile.)
Tremendous Beach Runner success stories at Catalina Marathon.
Gary goes under 4 hours (3:56). WOW. 7th in Age Group (35-39), 2nd in The American Trail Championship for age (Buffalo Half Marathon and Catalina Marathon combined), 12th place OVERALL in trail championship, and has best race of life. “I trained hard for this race, and peaked at just the right time. The Power Yoga practice has made me much much stronger for races. ”
Steve makes remarkable comeback from back injury, does a 4:32, 7th in American Trail Championship (age group 40-44), and has best marathon of his life. Steve has his running mojo working again.
Doug and Mina come in with impressive times of 5:07, but more importantly, get engaged on the course at mile 23 
Mina has a gorgeous ring which many runners got to enjoy the last the three miles. Our first Beach Runners engagement and we wish them the very best for their future.
Sandy finishes her first marathon ever with an impressive 5:16. Made huge strides in hill running, downhill running, and trail speed. Just ran her first half marathon this year so has a bright bright running future ahead.
SoCalRunning.com member Mark overcomes a rough start to finish with a 5:34. Already run three marathons this year including Miami, Los Angeles, and Catalina. Mark is like the energizer bunny.
Keith completes his 26th marathon with a strong comeback time of 5:35. First trail marathon. Keith had given up marathoning due to injuries but has returned in strong form with the help of ChiRunning and yoga.
Bill finishes with a 5:54 (Age group 60-64). Loved the course and views but got a little beaten up on the downhills. Still, I’m so impressed with guys his age running courses this hard. He said he would finish under 6 hours and thats what he did. Two watches help.
Sindy finishes her first marathon with a time of 6:12. Sindy had the support of her daughter and best friend at the finish. Sindy has been such a big believer in the Beach Runner training program, is so supportive of everyone, has so much youthful energy and passion for yoga and running. We love you so much Sindy.
Long time Beach Runner Rubi has a smile across her face loving the course, the training, the coaching, everything with a time of 6:17. Rubi always has the best attitude and smile every time I speak to her about running. She has now completed four marathons.
A.J comes strong to the finish line with a 7:19. Got to really talk to A.J. for the first time and adored your humor, your toughness, and determination. You ran that last mile with amazing gusto.
I want to congratulate Kristin for reaching the podium on the 10K. Thanks to Loni, John, Dave, Caroline, Laura for coming out to do the 10K and support us. It made a big difference for us out on the course.
Thank you Beach Runners for making this weekend one of the best times of my life. I’m so proud of all of you. This was a true pleasure to coach you on the trails of Palos Verdes/San Pedro in our training. Thanks for believing in yourselves enough to sign up for this difficult marathon. Now you’ve done it, you see why we were so excited about this race. I think this marathon was a life changing experience for you like it was for me last year.
The best part of the marathon was making a whole weekend of it. Like hanging out with everyone the night before, watching everyone cross the finish line, celebrating at our house, celebrating out on the town, going dancing. We did a lot. That was so much fun.
Catalina might be the best marathon and certainly one of the toughest in the United States. To finish that marathon was quite the accomplishment. I’m so proud of everyone.
Now you see why Steve and I love doing this type of race.
“Hard Races in Beautiful places.” We want to make this our race philosophy.
I’ll post my full race report up later this week. Sorry but no Runcast from me about the marathon. I was in full race mode that day. So didn’t have the time to mess around with a camera. I was aiming for a fast time, which I did accomplish…to finish under four hours at Catalina is a gratifying running accomplishment. I’m proud of myself for taking this race so seriously.
Steve is busy editing his first RunCast. So you will all see the first Steve Mackel RunCast in the next few days. We’re hoping for many other run reports from everyone that ran.
So check back the next few days. For more good Catalina reports, pictures, movies…
you know how we roll around here.
Gary
Randy’s LA Marathon Race Report
Randy and Tonya With Their Finisher’s Medals
This wasn’t my first LA Marathon and I’ve run it through warm, hot (and I mean hot) and very wet weather. I’ve trained for it with different running groups and on my own. What made this one, my 9th LA Marathon, so memorable and such a great experience was all the Beach Runners that were out there that day.
I’ve previously trained with a large running group, the LA Leggers. A great group of people and I’ve made some wonderful friends from those days. But, I think we seem like such a close knit group, as we are a smaller unit with great mentors and with Gary and Steve to lead us on.
The LA Marathon morning started off with Chris and her boyfriend, Ted, picking up Tonya and myself around 5:45 am (the South Bay Beach Runners). Ted dropped us off at the Metro station downtown and we zipped up to the starting area around 7 am. Thanks again to Chris and Ted for making transportation up there so easy! We were there early enough to wait in the portapotty line for about 40 minutes. While in line, we talked to some racewalkers, who planned to do the marathon in 4 1/2 hours. Some of those guys are fast! I think one of those two did place in the top 5!
Finally around 7:45, we connected with all of the Beach Runners who were finishing up the body looseners. However, most important of all, we made it in time for the group photo. We then marched on down to the start line, to wait with some 20,000+ runners.
One thing that made this marathon different at the beginning is that you couldn’t hear anything. Didn’t hear the national anthem or the starting gun. When we finally approached the start line, could hear a bit of the Randy Newman “I Love LA” song, but not like when it starts downtown.
During the first few miles there were quite a group of us together. However, around the Hollywood Bowl, I saw Lani, John and Kristin zip ahead of most of us. By the way, once we started never did see Chris again! Where did you go?
From there until mile 10, Uncle Sam kept a group of us together: myself, Ashley, Kate and Michael (forgive me if I forgot someone or got your name wrong). While running together, we said hello to former Beach Runner Earl. As I was relying on the water stations for refueling, Uncle Sam kept on eye on me to make sure I would catch up. We even all stopped at the portapotty together around mile 9. I think you have the makings of a mentor in Uncle Sam!
I’ll confess right now, I don’t do well in heat and as I was starting to feel it effects, I dropped back and let Uncle Sam and company go ahead. My tendency from them on was to slow down or walk when the sun was out, then pick it up when there was shade. The last time I wanted to do was pass out that day.
A few miles later, I walked with Tonya for a while. Then Erin for awhile and we shared some pain gel for some aches and pains as she was not feeling great at that point. But she must have recovered as she passed our little group at the end. Steve ran with me briefly a couple times during the race. And somewhere during the marathon, I saw Huell Howser on the sidewalk watching us all run by (or was he a delusion due to the heat?)
Then, out of nowhere, Gary appeared and ran/walked with me for a while. Had a nice chat for him about running, traveling, yoga, etc. I left him in line at one of those lovely portapotties and I went on ahead. It was around mile 20 or 21, at this point I thought I was facing a lonely finish. However, somewhere around mile 22/23, I found 3 Beach Runners I hadn’t seen since the start: Larry, Beth and Roxanne. Larry kept us going, doing a run/walk routine (flashback to my Legger days!). Dave caught up to us around this time and went ahead. Then Erin passed us also. Somewhere around mile 24/25, Larry blurts out: I want a f$%$%g bacon cheeseburger! I think that was our motivation to finish. Anyway, it must have been the last half-mile or so and Larry made us all run in to the finish line. Thanks again, Larry, Beth and Roxanne. You helped me make a strong finish. We got our medals and Steve was there to congratulate us. Shortly after, Tony finished and then after we dropped her off, I stopped off at Jack in the Box for a f$%$%g bacon cheeseburger.
I’m not sure how many Beach Runners were out there that day, but I think I counted I was able to run with about 15 of you during some part of the race that day. Everyone was so supportive, whether it was coordinating transportation, calling each other on cell phones to see how we were doing or helping one another on the course. Congratulations to all of you that completed the marathon and thanks again for making this a great experience.
Randy, Beach Runner, SoCalRunning.com Member
Erin’s Moving LA Marathon Race Report
Erin Kisses Her Deserved Finisher’s Medal
Well, my first marathon went off without any major problems. The only real setback was the heat. At the starting line all I could think was “Gosh, I’m so nervous. I hope I make it through this!” Then I thought of the advice given to me just a couple of days before by my aunt (a 25-time marathoner who has finished in the top 100 women in Boston). She told me “My advice to you as a first-timer: just have fun!”
Before I knew it, I was at mile 3 and my roommate was waiting on me with a Cliff bar. Then at mile 4 I developed side stitches. I thought “Great. This is going to be a loooooong day if I’m already experiencing pain”. I stopped and walked for a few minutes until the aches subsided.
I saw Tonya at mile 12 and I had to stop and get rid of a pebble that had somehow made its way into my shoe. She shared some of those frozen orange slices with me. By mile 13 I realized that I wasn’t going to finish in the time that I wanted but the frustration didn’t last too long. I just remembered my aunt’s advice.
Miles 14-20 were pretty much a blur. I took advantage of that pain-relieving spray at mile 19! My left calf kept feeling like it wanted to cramp. With the heat being as intense as it was I didn’t take chances. I walked when I needed to and jogged when I felt strong enough. I think it was at mile 20 that I saw Larry and jogged with him for a little bit until I had to walk again.
Between mile 21 and 22 I walked. I saw a young woman laid out on the sidewalk receiving medical attention. At this point I’m thinking “Am I going to make it?” Despite all of the water, Gatorade and Gu I had consumed I felt zapped of all my energy. I heard someone call my name from behind but thought I was just delirious from the heat, but it was Gary! I was being hard on myself and he said “Look behind you! You’re ahead of a lot of people.”
Soon he left and I was alone again. I almost wanted to cry, call my friend Amy and tell her that I was ready to quit. Right before mile 22 I had a bad thought. As some of you may know, I’ve lost a signifcant amount of weight since joining the Beach Runners in May of 2006. Some evil little voice was telling me “Just because you lost weight doesn’t mean you can finish a marathon.”
As soon as I thought that then something else hit me. The thought soon turned into “Look at how far you’ve come already! You’re doing something that only a small percentage of the population will even attempt. Your mother (R.I.P.) would be so proud of you!”
That’s really all it took because I was suddenly able to run steadily from mile 22 all the way to 25 when I passed the drummers. That last mile was eerily quiet. There was a good crowd but only a few continued to cheer. I saw Larry and Beth up ahead, mustered what little energy I had left and yelled “Laaaaaaarrrrryyy!” He turned around and in typical Larry fashion yells “Come on, girl! Aim for my butt!” I did and I ended up passing him.
I saw the mile 26 sign and it was so close yet so far away. I walked fast then jogged and repeated the cycle. When I rounded the corner and saw the finish line I pictured my mom cheering me on and I cried like a baby. I cried so hard that when I finished, the volunteers thought I needed medical attention. Then another volunteer asked “Do you just need a hug?” to which I replied “YES!!”.
My time was 5:59:38. Today (March 9th) my mother would have turned 50 years old. Finishing this race was my gift to her and to myself. If someone had asked me Sunday or Monday if I wanted to run another marathon, the answer would have been NO! Now that I can walk without a limp I’m thinking “Hmm. I have to beat this time!”
Erin, Beach Runner and SoCalRunning.com Member
Steve’s LA Marathon Report
Most of the Beach Runners and SoCalRunning.com Members Before the Start of the 2007 LA Marathon
Within a week, hopefully, you will see my LA Marathon experience on a SoCalRunning.com RunCast. Until then, here’s my report.
The day started at Universal City, actually Ventura Blvd. We showed up over an hour early for the start. With about a half hour to go before the scheduled start time we did the ChiRunning® Body Looseners. Total strangers jumped in and joined us. Let’s face it they look fun. Why not join us? I gave the group a quick pre-race talk. They didn’t need much; they had read Gary’s inspirational story and my tips on SoCalRunning.com earlier in the week. Everyone knew what to do. The x-factor would be the heat.
We started as a group and within a half mile some of the faster runners took off. I stayed back with the slower group. Why not, it was so crowded I wasn’t going to go much faster anyway. It was downhill after the 1.5-mile marker. I wanted to go faster and I had only planned on running 18 to 20 miles, yet the group was why I was there, so I kept the downhill slow.
The Beach Runners hung together in a couple little groups. We took the first half slow and steady. About mile 10 I heard my name called. It was ChiRunner and SoCalRunning.com member, Al. I worked with him about a year-and-a-half ago. We would run together for the next 6 miles. It was great running with him. Of course, all the time I was meeting new people. We ran past a church that was on the marathon route. A priest and nun were out cheering on the runners, so I asked the priest to forgive me for missing mass. It looked like all morning masses were cancelled. When the LA Marathon runs through your neighborhood, you are stuck.
I was going to jump out at mile 8 yet the day was too pretty. When I was driving to the start of the race the basin was so clear and beautiful my love for LA was renewed. I decided to stick in the race until mile 13 then hitch a ride with Jorge. When I got to mile 13 I forgot to look for Jorge. At that point I figured I needed to get at least a good 3 hours in. I kept running.
I had a backpack on with 10 pounds of cameras, phones, food, pain killers, bandages and Body Glide. Around mile 15 a lady ran up to me and asked if I had something in my pack for a blister. Of course I did, so her friends and I pulled over to the curb and I bandaged her up.
From mile 16 to 20 I ran with Bobby and his girlfriend Anna. We met all sorts of people like Estaban from Belize, the Dharma girl and a couple of City of Hope runners during this stretch. At mile 20 Coach Gary calls out my name and really topped off my day. He ran 3 hours the day before and was recovering from a cold. I told the group not to expect seeing him. He carried my backpack for a couple miles, then gave it back to me so he could go back find other Beach Runners.
Armand and Steve Jamming at Mile 21 with Core
At mile 21 I heard a cool band. I went over to them to cheer them on when I recognized the percussionist, Armand. Suddenly I realized it was Core, LA’s premier jam band. I was a member of Core a couple of years ago. I jumped up on stage and started jamming with them. After a few minutes it was time to get back to running. I picked up the speed and caught Bobby, Michael and Carol.
It was at mile 22 I started to tire. I pulled out the video camera and talked to more people. Marina was there in her Beach Runner shirt cheering us on. I got a hug and was back on course. Kate caught me at this point so I started running with her. Next, we would find Mark then John. Kate went on and the three guys walked.
I bought a couple of fruit ice cream bars for Mark and I at mile 24 and kept walking. Mark finished his bar and ran ahead. John soon left, so I pulled overat mile 25 and waited for the next Beach Runner to come along. Who would be the next to show?
As fate had it, it was Vern, the perfect person to run in with. Vern and I ran together quite a bit this winter. We took it easy until the last half-mile. Just before the final turn home we saw Barb, Kristy and Sandy. I got my hugs, caught Vern and we crossed the finish line together.
In the end I ran around a 5:20, my slowest marathon ever, yet my most enjoyable. The heat really didn’t affect me. I ate better than any other marathon I had run before and made sure I was drinking at least 8 ozs. of water an/or sports drink every aid station. I was loaded up on Bio-Builde and enjoyed a fun after marathon party on the lobby bar floor of the Bonaventure Hotel with some other Beach Runners.
Thanks to all the runners, their families, friends and the LA communities that supported us for 26.2 awesome miles. Look for the RunCast soon.
A special thanks to Jorge and Core for the pictures.
Train Focused, Steve Mackel – SoCalRunning.com Co-Founder, Beach Runners Head Coach
Steve and Vern Approach the Finish Line in Great ChiRunning® Form
John’s LA Marathon Report
John’s Happy Ending
Report from the slowest of the three “Rebel Runners” from the LA Marathon.
The last few weeks I have been running with fellow Beach Runners Kristin and Lani (a.k.a. Rebel Runners). We branded ourselves rebels for doing some things differently, like driving most of the LA Marathon course last week to help us prepare. We stuck together for most of our training runs. Sometimes I was a little faster. On Sunday, when it (in theory) mattered most, I was the one to fall back.
There’s one aspect of my running that I’m not happy about. Maybe I don’t look it, but I am officially a “Master Buffalo” (go to the Catalina Marathon website for the definition). I am male, over 40 years old, and (ugh) over 200 pounds. Of course, I can‚t do anything about being male or older, but my weight could come down a bit.
One thing I learned on Sunday: buffaloes run better when it is 30 degrees than when it is 80 degrees. In my case, nearly 1 hour better.
I already knew I would run the LA Marathon slower than my last one in January. First, a ligament in my left ankle had been tender for a couple of weeks, and I needed to avoid injury. Second, weather reports warned us of a hot marathon, which would slow us down. Third, Beach Runner Mentor, Jesus told me that a 7-week break between marathons was extra challenging. He explained that a short break between his marathons affected him at Pacific Shoreline, where he “bonked” and couldn’t match his blistering 3:19 Las Vegas Marathon time.
I was tempted to think that lesson was: Jesus should stop running sub-3:20 marathons and be more like the rest of us. Instead, I took his advice and prepared myself for a slow run.
The start was incredible, with Coach Steve and about 20 Beach Runners all bunched together, raring to go, and watching 20,000 people ahead of us slowly get across the start line. Steve gave numerous people leg massages. He gave a banana to Kristin when her pre-race banana got victimized by a wayward trickle of pee, courtesy of somebody who couldn‚t wait in line for 30+ minutes to use a porta-potty.
After a couple of miles with the big group, Lani, Kristin and I rebelled and ran a bit faster together for about the first 16 miles, probably averaging about 10:30s. It was around that time that “body sensing” started telling me that I was going to have to go slower. I wasn’t suffering any injuries or pain; my left ankle was holding up really well. Instead, my heart was pounding and focusing on breathing well wasn’t getting the heart rate down.
So, I knew from experience the heat was getting to me. This happened at times last summer in our Beach Runner training. I used to run in extreme heat long ago when I ran in high school in the summers in Arizona, 25 years and many pounds ago. My body was telling me to slow down or it might shut down on me.
I still managed to keep Kristin and Lani within sight. At mile 18 we stopped for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other goodies, courtesy of Kristin’s boyfriend/Beach Runners Helper Wade and Lani’s (ha-ha) fiancé/Beach Runners Helper John. (Ask Lani sometime about the ha-ha part.) I decided that survival was more important than speed. I munched down food and water like a buffalo grazing at the beginning of springtime. Then, we, along with Mentor Chris who caught up with our group, ran off.
Or more accurately, they ran off. For the first time in a marathon, I started walking. My body told me to treat the last 1/3 of the marathon more like a walking buffet than a run.
Walking gives you a different perspective on a marathon, when many people are passing you instead of the other way around. I admired how so many runners were obviously burned out like me with more than a 10K to go, and yet they were walking or shuffling along determined to finish the race. I saw many who were not very “chi” in their running but were nonetheless passing me up. I admired those who had running form issues and yet could finish marathons.
I was so happy that even though I was so obviously having a bad race, I didn‚t care just as long as I avoided hyperthermia and finished. Maybe I would have been upset if this was my first marathon, or I had hoped to PR in the race. Instead, I knew there would be more marathons ahead. In fact, I am hoping to run a sub-4:00 marathon one of these days. To do that, I know it would be best not to injure myself or pass out in this race. And, of course, drop some lbs. in the future.
Around mile 20 I walked with Coach Gary and we chatted generally about the joy of running even when you’re walking.
Gary then went backwards to find other Beach Runners. I then employed my new version of ChiRunning®: walk up the hills; trot down the hills; and do something in between on flat lands. And, chug down liquid at each water station like a buffalo who just completed a trek through the Sahara Desert. I was gulping down 3 or 4 waters/Gatorades every time, in addition to what I had left on my fuel belt.
Around mile 24 Coach Steve and Beach Runner Mark caught up with me. They were slow because they are running the Catalina Marathon in 2 weeks. Slow … and insane is all I could think at that moment. Then another Beach Runner caught up; the heat fazed her so much, she described how she felt dizzy during a rest stop. I thought, “Man, we are all insane to be going through this stupid race.”
A wave of insanity (as well as shade from the clouds and tall buildings) hit me at mile 25 and I ran as fast as I could to the finish line. A few Beach Runners (including Barbara and Kristi) cheered me on as I made the last turn to the finish. Per Garmin, I finished at 5:15, crushing my “negative” PR time by 33 minutes. I was a happy buffalo.
I caught up with rebels Kristin and Lani and learned the heat eventually slowed them down. But they came in about 15 minutes faster than me. One of them (I won’t say who), was rather woozy from the whole experience.
I then found my wife/Beach Runner Helper Laura, who hugged me and fed me more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
As I send this off to Coach Steve on Wednesday, I am feeling less sore than I was after my prior marathons. My tender left ankle held up well, and everything else feels pretty good. Everything that comes with the Beach Runners (ChiRunning®, Power Yoga, great running buddies especially the Rebels) did their job again.
The LA Times reports that Fred Mogaka won the marathon with the slowest time in its history. When asked if he liked his time, Fred said: “I was very happy with my time because I win.”
If you finished this marathon, you win, so be happy.
Beach Runner and SoCalRunning.com Member, John
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