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Re: L. A. Marathon

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:41 pm
by RickF
395guy wrote:
RickF wrote:The L.A. Marathon is only one month away. My running buddy and I did a 26 mile practice run today on the Santa Ana River bike trail. It was his first time running more than 10 miles, he did very well finisning in a little over 5 hours.


Hey Rick, all the best to you and your buddy on March 21 at LAM. I'll be there too. I had sworn off this marathon years ago (too much of a circus) but since it's under new management, I thought I'd give this new Stadium-to-the-Sea route a try. I hope it's cool and possibly overcast, but I don't want a strong on-shore breeze. :-) May all the miles seem downhill with a tailwind...


It was definitely a circus, but I enjoyed it. The course was good but the organizers need to improve the whole starting line staging area. My finish time was 4:19. I ran with three other friends from work the fastest runner of our group finished in 4:06. We all finished within a 22 minute window between 4:06 and 4:28.

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:37 pm
by Tonka
psycobill wrote:
Wastral wrote:Do that all the time. Works the ol' forarm muscles more though. One arm just doesn't swing as far as the other does. Besides if you trip, get get sometihng to "land on" erm... right

:D


Amen to having an extra cushion for falls... The trails around my house are littered with double fist sized rocks and I typically take 1-2 falls on long runs, and my Nathan water bottle has saved my mitts on several occasions


Just sounds kind of funny. Are you a clutz? I think I would have to stop running if I took a couple headers on all my long runs. Just teasing, I don't do much trail running and I can see how it could happen.

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:51 pm
by Haliku
Anyone running the Greenland race in CO on 1 May? I'm in for the 50k. Cheers!

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:01 pm
by RickF
The Dude,

Congratulations back to you!

I agree with you on the topic of the water stations. Especially in the last third of the course. Even when I didn't want to stop for water, the whole pack of runners would get jammed up at those bottlenecks. In the big picture, I don't think it really added to my overall time. If I had more energy after mile 20 I could have held my 9 minute pace longer.

The bigger challenge was at the starting line staging area. There were still shuttle buses and cars trying to get in to Dodger Stadium at 7:24 a.m., the target starting time. Then the 50 person-long lines for the porta-potties were backing-up into the course. And why was the starting line area so small? The starting line didn't come close to having enough room for 25,000 runners.

I really enjoyed it but I would like to share some constructive feedback with organizers.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:24 pm
by psycobill
Tonka wrote:
psycobill wrote:
Wastral wrote:Do that all the time. Works the ol' forarm muscles more though. One arm just doesn't swing as far as the other does. Besides if you trip, get get sometihng to "land on" erm... right

:D


Amen to having an extra cushion for falls... The trails around my house are littered with double fist sized rocks and I typically take 1-2 falls on long runs, and my Nathan water bottle has saved my mitts on several occasions


Just sounds kind of funny. Are you a clutz? I think I would have to stop running if I took a couple headers on all my long runs. Just teasing, I don't do much trail running and I can see how it could happen.


Haha! Well I hope I'm not a clutz, I try to tell myself I'm not anyways :) One thing I've noticed though while running is when I start thinking its been a while since I tripped or turned an ankle, it almost always happens soon after! Kinda like when you can't shake the thought of falling when climbing and then you fall

PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:15 pm
by Augie Medina
New course record for the Boston Marathon was just set: 2:05 something. The split on the mile that includes Heartbreak Hill was 4:37. Although the winner was, surprise-a Kenyan-American Ryan Hall was in the top 5. That's a big improvement for the Americans.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:44 pm
by Sierra Ledge Rat
I used to say that if I ever couldn't run, I would kill myself. Yeah, it's that important.

Then I blew out my knee 5 miles from the end of a trail ultra (Mosquito Marathon in Leadville). Running just hasn't been the same. It's more like run-walk now, depending on how much pain is in the knee.

Anyone here run trail ultras?

I long for the good old days when I was running a trail ultramarathon every weekend during the summer.

I remember one year going to run the Hermosa Trail in Durango. But it was a weekday and there was no road traffic. So I ran 8 miles from Purgatory to the Hermosa trailhead. Then I ran the 22-mile Hermosa Trail. It was another 4 miles from the trail's end to my car. Took me about 5-1/2 hours to cover 34 miles.

The old Mosquito Marathon was brutal. I thinks it's been absorbed into the Hard Rock 100 now or something else. The run used to start at an elevation of 10,250 feet, and peaked out at over 13,600 feet, with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain during the run. Simply brutal. I would have finished in under 6 hours, but because of my knee I finished in 7 hours, 5 minutes.

Anyone here ever do the Mosquito Marathon?

PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:43 pm
by Chris
Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:I used to say that if I ever couldn't run, I would kill myself. Yeah, it's that important.

Then I blew out my knee 5 miles from the end of a trail ultra (Mosquito Marathon in Leadville). Running just hasn't been the same. It's more like run-walk now, depending on how much pain is in the knee.

Anyone here run trail ultras?

I long for the good old days when I was running a trail ultramarathon every weekend during the summer.


Yeah, I run quite a few of them. Sucks about your knee...sorry to hear that. I can't imagine the withdrawals I'd go through not being able to run.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:The old Mosquito Marathon was brutal. I thinks it's been absorbed into the Hard Rock 100 now or something else. The run used to start at an elevation of 10,250 feet, and peaked out at over 13,600 feet, with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain during the run. Simply brutal. I would have finished in under 6 hours, but because of my knee I finished in 7 hours, 5 minutes.

Anyone here ever do the Mosquito Marathon?


I think Mosquito Marathon was absorbed by the Leadville 100 folks. There's the Leadville Marathon now, that goes up Mosquito Pass. Maybe it's the same course? Here's the website:
http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/lt100races/LeadvilleTrailMarathon/overview.aspx

PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:42 pm
by RickF
Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:I used to say that if I ever couldn't run, I would kill myself. Yeah, it's that important.

Then I blew out my knee 5 miles from the end of a trail ultra (Mosquito Marathon in Leadville). Running just hasn't been the same. It's more like run-walk now, depending on how much pain is in the knee.

Anyone here run trail ultras?

I long for the good old days when I was running a trail ultramarathon every weekend during the summer.

I remember one year going to run the Hermosa Trail in Durango. But it was a weekday and there was no road traffic. So I ran 8 miles from Purgatory to the Hermosa trailhead. Then I ran the 22-mile Hermosa Trail. It was another 4 miles from the trail's end to my car. Took me about 5-1/2 hours to cover 34 miles.

The old Mosquito Marathon was brutal. I thinks it's been absorbed into the Hard Rock 100 now or something else. The run used to start at an elevation of 10,250 feet, and peaked out at over 13,600 feet, with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain during the run. Simply brutal. I would have finished in under 6 hours, but because of my knee I finished in 7 hours, 5 minutes.

Anyone here ever do the Mosquito Marathon?


I haven't ever run an ultra but I'm reading about the Leadville in the book "Born to Run" so far the book is pretty good. I never thought I'd run a traditional road marathon and this year I finished my second 26.2, L.A. A friend of mine wants to try the Death Valley marathon, maybe next year?

PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:54 pm
by Augie Medina
Nothing like ultras. So far, I've done nothing further than 50K (Ridgecrest Desert Ultra, Malibu Creek State Park, Mt. Baldy), but shooting to sample a 50 miler when my achilles tendon heals. My favorite training route in the San Gabriels is off limits right now so I'll have to find another training area.

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2010 12:26 am
by Sierra Ledge Rat
Chris wrote:I think Mosquito Marathon was absorbed by the Leadville 100 folks. There's the Leadville Marathon now, that goes up Mosquito Pass. Maybe it's the same course? Here's the website:
http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/lt100races/LeadvilleTrailMarathon/overview.aspx


Sounds right, but there's no map of the route.

The old Mosquito Marathon ran up the ridge past Mosquito Pass to over 13,600 feet. We had to use sharps rocks as "ice tools" to negotiate steep icy slopes.

And then there was that rappell over cornice at 13,600 feet to get off the ridge. Ever try a sitting glissade in running shorts?

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2010 4:29 am
by Chris
Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Ever try a sitting glissade in running shorts?


Yes. Once. :shock:

Here's the maps of the course:
http://www.leadvilletrail100.info/index_files/Marathon/Marathon.htm

The Leadville website sucks.

PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2010 12:30 am
by tigerlilly
Help.

I've been wearing the same brand/model sneaker for the past few years. I was introduced to them, by an expert salesman/runner at a little running store downtown. (DC to you out of towners). Paid a fortune for them ...but I loved them. I ran injury free and was happy.

Introduce Zappo.com - yesterday I found my sneakers online. I paid $50 less, got free shipping, and they arrived the next day. (gasp). Bravo!!

I'm giddy and guilt ridden at the same time. How will my little sneaker store, with the marathon-olympian-runner stay in business? :cry:

PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2010 5:00 pm
by Scott Wesemann
Hey Tiger, no need to feel guilty at all. They already made their money when you purchased the first pair of shoes. The smaller running stores are great for beginners and folks that want to get a good fit and need some expert advice, so yes you pay more, but they do provide you with some good service as well. There are plenty of folks that will continue to use them for the service they provide, and there is no reason for you to feel guilty now. Enjoy the shoes guilt free!

On a side note, are you planning on doing Gannett again this year?