Running From an Angel

     This race was meant to keep me running through the holidays. I guess that it worked, at least a little. After running 54.8 miles the last week of October (causing knee pain) followed by pleurisy in November (1 week off and pain that finally went away in mid-December) with weak training in November (9 runs for 75.4 miles) and December (11 runs for 60.5 miles), having gained over 10 pounds, I hoped that I could meet my original goal of averaging 10-minute miles.     I had run 10-minute miles in my final weeks of training so I could figure out what my heart would be doing for 10 minute miles (without elevation change). My heart rate monitor was a bit wacky the first two miles (showing max HR as 220 and average HR as 180) but seemed pretty reliable after that. By the time it was all over, my average HR was 167 and the max that I saw was 186. My split time was 2:10:45 and the second half time was 2:05:05 - my first negative split! My official time was 4:15:49.94, 33rd overall out of 80, 4th or 5th in my division (it depends on whether the top runners overall stay in the division...) and I feel pretty good about the whole thing.
     I normally use Jeri Dawn's iPod, since it's smaller than mine, and I normally listen to my "Odio" playlist, or my "Exercise" playlist. I had debated whether or not to listen to my "Christmas" playlist, but didn't take the time to put it on her iPod. It turns out that she deleted whatever playlist I had added, so I ran to her "Mix" playlist. It was actually quite enjoyable to listen to a fresh lineup of music. Some songs I had never heard, during some songs I caught myself moving to the music (something that's actually quite difficult for someone with no rhythm) and often times I caught myself singing outloud (wasting precious energy - so I started lip syncing instead), but I enjoyed listening to my wife's music. This is the first time that I've ever run for more than four hours. I used to wonder what marathoners thought about while running for so long. Now that I've trained for and run three marathons, I still wonder what they think about... If it weren't for the music, I don't know what I'd do.     My brother Travis was supposed to run too, but apparently a torn meniscus causes the strongest man alive to succumb to his wife's desires and he hasn't run for a while. So I went down with my mom! We had a great time chatting, fretting (Darrin texted everyone saying he had syphilis - we didn't know the truth for a few hours) eating at Wolfgang Puck's at the Venetian again and staying at Nanna Emerson's (my mom's friend's mom.)     In spite of the crazy wind, the ups and downs, and the few specatators (my mom was the greatest) it was a great experience. Calico Racing puts on a great event, the aid stations were great, the food wonderful and the run was challenging. It is one I may go back to!