There is an old saying about March:"In like a lion...out like a lamb,” meaning the weather is supposed to be, seasonable, like winter at the beginning and, 30 days later, drier and more like Spring. Well, March 7th was more like the Dog Days of Summer, with the temperature approaching 90 degrees out on the course of the LA Marathon. Gauging the heat and its probable affect, I told the group I had carpooled with, that I would try to make it to the finish in about 5-1/2 hours. I calculated that by walking for a couple of minutes every 1/2 mile, I could likely average around 12 minutes a mile.
I was looking for shade even before Randy Newman sang "I Love LA.” Muhammad Ali, Mayor Hahn, and the aging Champ sent us on our way for this tropical tour of the City of the Angels. As planned, within five minutes or so, I began my walking strategy. Moreover, I took a restroom break and drank a couple cupfuls of water. Others enthusiastically ran by me with some rapidity and, I believed, they would later regret their imprudent pace. As for me, I kind of regretted the whole affair.
I had also signed up for the Catalina Marathon the following week, but a snafu with accommodations on the isle "26 miles across the sea"...as well as the excitement of running with my visiting German marathoner friend, Bernd, influenced me to register for LA for the second consecutive year. It was nice trip to the Expo, bought a few mementos, and I tried to get geared up to attempt this classic distance. But, alas, my heart was not entirely in it. To run 26 miles with 53 year-old legs is hard enough...to do it in hellish conditions is even worse...and, I hate to admit it to my fellow runners, but I have a short attention span. I think all movies should end in two hours or less. When I surf, I hit the waves for about 2 hours...Now, if I were a 110 pound Kenyan rather than a chunky short Irishman, it would be no problem to tack on another 12 or 15 minutes to a 2 hour time. But 5 hours of trotting along on the asphalt in the heat, accompanied by other zombie-like, joggers is not my idea of a swell time.
Another problem is that I don't wear glasses when I run...They slip down my nose...or steam up...They just don't feel comfortable...So I can't see anything...Was I passing by interesting ethnic neighborhood? Were there celebs about? I don't know...it was a blur...a steamy blur...I kept thinking that on Catalina, I might see or smell (which is one of my most excellent senses!) a buffalo or other indigenous flora or fauna. But this was the city. Kind of like a big Long Beach, which is my steady diet of daily scenery. I just wasn't that thrilled to be doing it again a year later..
So, after being bored, hot, and increasingly tired, I decided that walking "for a little while" would do my body good. That "little while" during out to be about an hour or so, from miles 21 to 24. I looked around and hardly anyone was running anymore. We were all in "death march" mode...Then it happened, I suddenly experienced terrible pain in my entire left leg. I was groaning and, for a short time, was actually walking backwards, and trying to stretch out the leg. Walking backwards will certainly not hasten the end of a marathon. With just two miles to go, for the first time in my brief racing career, I was thinking about quitting. Quitting!!! It passed (told you I had a short attention span!) and I was inspired by one of the few people I recognized during the race. Colleen Shea jogged on by, after first inquiring and determining that I was all right. Both legs were feeling equally bad at this point and I wanted the thing to be over. I decided to try and jog it on in as I focused on keeping Colleen in sight. So I "hitched a ride" and within 20 or 25 minutes, the finishline was crossed. Coincidentally, I was almost on schedule. My time was 5 hours and 25 minutes, placing somewhere, on this slowest of all days, in the upper 3rd of finishers. Everyone suffered. There is another old saying "misery enjoys company", but I think with the marathon, it is more of an individual suffering. People who are good runners, with sub-4 times, slowed by almost an hour. The only exception was Bernd. He ran an outstanding 3:40 something time in that heat. I guess his body was just overjoyed to be out of that continental climate that it responded with an abundance of joy. My joy was that the LA Marathon was over. Hey, we all survived...Not a bad deal!
So, here's the status of the marathon-a-month club: Hats off or should I say "shoes off" to Todd Byers (He runs so many marathons, that I'm not so sure he knows he's in the club) for completing his January, February, and March marathons...all barefoot. Equally impressive is Suzanne Kairy, continuing to overcome a lingering cold to complete her March marathon! This was her third strong effort in a row, and good luck to her in the Hamburg Marathon on April 18th, where she will be hosted by AREC's good friend, Bernd Sello.
As for me, I'm heading to Boston. Yep, going to do the unthinkable...after dropping a few hundred dollars into the coffers of the Commonwealth, I am going to sip a few leftover cups of water, behind the real marathoners who qualified (go Elizabeth!), and celebrate Patriot's Day by jogging the Boston Marathon. I was told (and I want to believe) that Boston welcomes "bandits" and they are received favorably by the crowd. Gonna find out if its true. Now, I know that I won't get any AREC points for this run...but I'm counting it as my April marathon anyway because, as co-founder of the marathon-a-month club, I can make up the rules...In May, I might even shorten the length of the marathon to 13 miles and do the Palo Verdes Half...See you at the races!
Frankie Goes to Washington
Francis “Frankie” Veit, an AREC member of the past few years, moved this past month to Tacoma, Washington. Dennis Murphy submitted a favorite memory:
I had signed up for my first Jimmy Stewart race and was typically disorganized... After sipping coffee for quite a spell and pretending that the others were late, a young woman, Ms. Frankie, came up and rescued me...It was nice...No chastisement...Just a friendly, "You're running with AREC, aren't you?" ( I was new to the club)...
The thing that I remember most was her smile...She was smiling at 6 am on a Sunday morning! She rescued me with that smile...and her pleasant demeanor kicked off a magical day of racing and fun! I associate Frankie with good times, whether at races, hashes, or, most importantly AREC..
When my best friend, Vic, died of leukemia a few years ago, Frankie invited me to a TNT party on the peninsula..(I even won some wine as a door prize!).She gave me an opportunity to not only grieve for my friend, but to donate to a good cause..A year or so later, I ran with her TNT training group weeknights and on Saturday mornings as they got ready for the RockNRoll and Alaska marathons....Again, it was a pleasure to run with her and talk to her..She also helped organize an event for marathoners who were a little short of their fundraising goals..She is always there to help...and with a smile..
I've had a few emotional ups and downs over the past two years, she has remained a beacon of friendliness and good cheer. Frankie is one of those people who just makes you feel a little better when she's around. I'm truly sad that she won't be around Long Beach so much anymore. The people of Washington are very fortunate to have such a positive person moving to their state. She will be missed and I wish her all the best.