Huntington Beach Training

Huntington Beach Training

I am now in training for the upcoming Akron Road Runner marathon (Sept. 29)

Well, yesterday was supposed to be a 5 mile recovery pace training run on the marathon training schedule. Supposed to be. At the end of my work day I had been on duty 13 hours and 30 minutes, and although I had every intention to put in a 5 miler when I got to the hotel, when I laid down for a second, that second stretched into all night. In a blink.

So today, we didn't have to do any flying, just on standby while the plane is being prepped up for us, and we had to change hotels from where we were in Carson, CA (near Long Beach airport, over to Huntington Beach, CA. I got on www.runningmap.com to see if I could find something interesting to go see in my run...today was another 5 mile recovery run...Nothing popped out, but the beach was just over 5 miles away...hmmm...OK cowboy, 5 miles out (that does yesterdays run...) take a rest...5 miles back...all caught up. Well, that is not really how it works, and NOT what the book recommends, but I found it is what I wanted to do so.......

I didn't get released from standby duty until 6pm local here, and then was a little slow getting out, but hit the streets at about 7:15pm. This dashed my hopes of getting sunset photos on the beach because as I left the door I checked the sunset time on line and it was listed as 7:42. I can't do 5 miles in 27 minutes...not by a long shot. For me, these recovery runs seem to go best at about a 10 minute per mile pace, so that meant around 50-55 minutes to the ocean.

On the way OUT to the ocean, I only had to stop to pee twice. The first time was a convenience store called the "Extra Mile" and the second time was a McDonald's nearer the beach. I guess I am used to running in the woods and being able to pee whenever.

When I got out to the beach, there were TONS of young people around, mostly clustered around campfires with around 15-25 people at each fire. They were like little "pods" or cliques. I made my way past the groups and down to the water's edge. I would take my little meditative moment here to regroup and rest a touch before heading back to the hotel.

As I had sat down I had noticed this little "tent" with a couple underneath presumably groping and making the whoopee in one form or another. "Good for them" I thought. I can remember being a young person and having nowhere to go for such things....but it didn't stop me from snapping this picture, since they were undercover....

I did my sitting, watching the waves....watching what I thought of as the "anti-waves"...the water receding back down the shore, plunging under the next incoming wave. I was of course watching the people at the shore. Dipping their ankles in the water...goofing off.

I tried to close my eyes for a little while, but the waves were so loud, and I was sitting so close to the water, that I kept thinking a stronger wave would get my feet or butt wet. I would open my eyes only to see that they weren't as close as they sounded.

So, after a bit, I got up to head back to the hotel. As I walked past the "tent" the lovers were revealed....they were still kissing, but the blanket had slid back somewhat and I could see the faces....and the two very short crew cut haircuts. Buzz cuts in fact. Now, I am not so closed minded that I think a haircut necessarily assigns gender, but I am pretty sure I was having a "Josh Dillingham trail running experience (copyright)" right there. Don't anyone assume anything about Josh, that is a reference to something he saw while running trail in Cincy. I didn't have the callousness to snap a photo for the blog of that. It would have made me feel too much like the papparazzi.

While I am talking about Josh, I was thinking about how he did at the Howl at the Moon 8 hour today in Illinois. And I was also wondering how Gailanne did at her "Dirty Girl's" 6 hour run up in Canada. Josh, Gailanne? Any comments forthcoming? Funny thing is, I think they were both shooting for around 50k (31 miles.) As crappy as I was feeling on a mere 1o miles, I was wondering how Josh was doing. He didn't just run the measly little 65 miles I did last weekend, he ran the whole 100!

I stopped at the beaches edge to quickly empty my shoe, took another pee at the restroom, and headed back. On the way back I found a sign attached to a phone pole that simply stated, "Don't wish for it. Work for it." with a picture of someone crossing a finish line....nice motivation for me!

On the outbound leg, I had felt pretty good, but going back to the hotel, things quickly got to be more and more of a grind. My hip felt achey and my legs felt a little tight overall, so I took two walking breaks of 90 seconds, and when I had only about 1/2 mile to go to the hotel, I spied a frozen yogurt/Gelato place in a small strip mall. That just sounded TOO damn good, and I figured I earned a bit, so I stopped in. I was hoping for some frozen yogurt, but the flavors of yogurt all sounded gross. In Gelato they had Pineapple and Mango (amongst many others), so I got a cup with those two mixed. I tried to ascertain what Gelato was made of but the asian workers at the counter really couldn't tell me much, so I went crazy and just got it.

Now I have to research what it was I ate....haha. I walked while I ate the Gelato and then jogged the last little bit to the hotel.