Wildflower Long Course -- A Hot Hot Day!

I raced Wildflower Long Course on Saturday.  I had raced this three times before, but I would have to say, this was one of the toughest races I have ever done, here or anywhere else.

I knew it was going to be a hot day, anticipating something in the low 80s.  In preparation, I made sure I was hydrated well in the days coming up to the race.  On the day before the race, I drank about 40 ounces of sports drink.

This would be my fourth race on this course.  My fastest was two years ago in 7:04, and I figured that with my training I could take a couple minutes off my bike and seven or so minutes off the run time and finish around 6:55.  That would be under ideal weather conditions.  However, that said, I knew to alter my expectations if it would be a tough day.

SWIM
The swim was uneventful.  I swam alongside a few women in my wave who kept about the same pace. I finished in 41 minutes, which is my usualy time for a half-iron distance swim.

In transition, my left ankle timing chip and my wetsuit seemed to get into an argument and not want to separate.  Finally I wrenched the wetsuit off, grabbed the bike and left.

BIKE
It wasn't too hot yet.  The first climb out of the transition area is steep.  There was a topless woman with a sign that read, "My eyes are up here."  That was pretty funny. I had been practicing my long rides by using real food for nutrition, like bananas and a trail mix of cashews, cinnamon sugar almonds, and dried cranberries.  So, that was the majority of my nutrition on the bike and it served me well.  For hydration, I had three 20-oz bottles of Ultima Replenisher.  I use Ultima in my training because it is relatively low-calorie, about 30 calories per bottle -- I would rather eat my calories than drink them.

After the big climb out of transition that lasts a few miles, and takes us out of the park, we get some rollers.  I felt like I was on pace.  I made sure I was drinking enough, which meant at least one bottle per hour.  By the end of the second bottle, I craved water, because the taste of the electrolyte was getting to me. 

Then there were the flats and gentle rolling hills of Jolon Road.  Unfortunately, the road desperately need repair as it gets bumpy.  Now I was really starting to feel the heat, AND some 15+ mph crosswinds.  Wind makes the bike less steady, and contributes to fluid loss.  I would have liked a water bottle to squirt over my head to cool myself off.  BUT, the aid stations from about mile 30 onward ran out of water bottles!  If you wanted water around mile 35, you would have to actually stop, get off your bike, open your bottle and have it filled (typically you fly by on your bike and grab a bottle, no need to stop).  Worse yet, the aid stations after mile 35 didn't even have the luxury of poured water -- there was only Gatorade.   At the end of the aid stations some of the volunteers were offering up bottles of water -- unfortunately most of them were neglecting to mention that these were pre-used bottles that had been discarded by athletes who had already come through the aid station -- gross!

I would have loved to drink some water, but instead I took a bottle of lukewarm Gatorade.  I can't say I loved the taste of it, but it was okay.  I probably didn't drink as much because I was so sick of the artificial sweetness of electrolyte drinks by this point.

Around mile 42 on the bike is a hill called Nasty Grade.  Now, it's not a terribly steep hill, but when you've been on your bike for a few hours in a race, this is not the time you want to be climbing.  According to these stats, the hill is nearly 3 miles long and over 700 feet of climbing.  That's not terrible.  In a normal race, I'm used to seeing one or two people walking their bikes.  In today's race, there were at least a dozen.  And, I was struggling more than I ever recall to get up the hill.  This is when it hit me -- this is a tough day for all of us.  I swore that I would stay on my bike and grind the pedals to the top, which at the painfully slow pace of 3-4 miles per hour, I managed to accomplish.

By mile 50, I looked down at my watch, realized my time was off, and felt somewhat resigned.  But then I had to remind myself -- alter your goals to what the day gives you.  So I knew not to expect a great day, but I couldn't help but mentally beat myself up over the slow time.

As it turns out, my bike split was 3:57:58, less than five minutes slower than the last time I did the race two years ago.  That said, in 2011 there was a bit of wind but the temperatures were cooler.

RUN
A few things I didn't know at this point:  The temperature was up to 93 degrees outside, and many people behind me were struggling on the bike course.  Many people that day would miss the bike cut-off and end up disqualified as a result.

I felt okay starting the run.  Not great.  Mouth was dry.  I felt thirsty.  On my way out of transition, the table had cups and cups of cold water.  I was so grateful for just plain water!  I drank two and poured one over my head.

Even in the first mile, a lot of people were walking,  I was running, more of a jog.  I knew I could have gone faster, but knew I had a long ways to go in a lot of heat.  The aid stations had enthusiastic college kids cheering us on which made a hard day just a bit more pleasant.  They also had hoses.  I would get the attention of the person with the hose and have them spray me.  However, halfway through the run, I realized that the hoses were getting my shoes soaked and heavier, which was somewhat counterproductive.  So by the time my jersey was soaked with water, I stopped asking for the hoses to be aimed at me.

Mile 1 was about 10:30, mile 2 was 11 minutes, and mile 3 was something like that.  I told myself that I would walk when I needed to.  There's a long hill through mile 3 along a paved road through the campground, and I gave myself permission to walk when I got tired.  But I never tired out and was able to shuffle to the top.  Then by mile 4 I started to feel tired and discouraged.  My run/shuffle pace was more like 13-14 minutes per mile.  I walked up a steep hill at mile 5.  Then at the mile 6 marker I knew that the big trail hills were done.  I walked only through aid stations at this point because I knew that if I stopped to walk that it would be hard to run again.

As slow as I may have been shuffling/jogging/running, it was faster than any walk would be.

I had plenty of water, at least two cups at each aid station, a couple orange slices, a half a banana, and a Red Vine.  I was finally hydrated, but my stomach was sloshing as a result.

At mile 7, there were college kids serving bacon and bourbon.  Apparently they had vegan sausage but ran out.  Funny.

Around mile 8, I came upon a group with a beer bong.  Disappointed in my horrible run pace and overall crappy day, I was amused by the beer bong.  Now, I rarely drink alcohol, and I haven't partaken in a beer bong since college.  But, I figured, as awful as this race is, if I hit up the beer bong, at least I'll have a good story.  So, I took about an ounce of beer from the bong (it tasted awful!) and continued my run.

Miles 7-9 are through the campground and there are plenty of people to cheer us on.  That helps more than you would ever know.

Mile 9 is down a paved road.  Mile 10 is up that same hill again.  Most people were walking uphill.  I was jogging, about a 14-minute per mile pace.  Then I knew I was almost done, but it felt like forever.  I developed a side stitch and every step hurt.  I had to remind myself that a side stitch is not a real problem, and forced myself to run through the pain.  The last mile toward the finish was all downhill.  As much as I wanted to walk from the pain in my side, knowing the end was close, I made myself run.

Crossing the finish line, I could not have been more grateful to be done.

Run time: 2:36:38 -- Nearly fifteen minutes slower than my last.

Overall time:  7:27:52.  Not my best, not my worst, but far from what I wanted to do.

I ranked 44 out of 98 women in my age group who started the race.  From the results, it looks like only 72 of us finished, and the other 26 women were unable to finish the race, which is a very high proportion.  That said, I know a number of racers who didn't finish that day, so I think that might be accurate.

WHAT I LEARNED
I shouldn't be too disappointed.  Given the conditions, I had a reasonable finishing time for my relative abilities.  I hydrated reasonably well, though if there was water at the last few aid stations on the bike I probably would have been better hydrated for the run.

Also, this was perhaps an impromptu training for my summer "A" race, the Maccabiah Triathlon in Israel, which will be in the heat of the desert in the end of July.  If I can do a half iron distance tri on one of the hilliest courses there is in desert heat and wind, then I can defiinitely do a triathlon of half that distance in similar conditions.  If nothing else, I have a little more confidence.

Boston

I'm shocked.

Terrorism has directly impacted our sport, running.

I have friends who ran today, and they are fortunately safe.

Boston holds a special place for me.  As a runner, it hosts the ultimate marathon that many of us aspire to run.  But, Boston was home for me for a year, 2006-2007.  My circumstances for going there were less than ideal, having just gone through a divorce.

After dropping my belongings off at my new apartment, my family left.  I remember doing what I do anywhere unfamiliar -- I put on my running shoes.  I ran past the Boston Common, down Newbury Street, up Boylston Street, past the painted finish line of the famous marathon, and back home.  I vowed to make that year memorable, and I certainly did that.  I met some great people (Gideon, Maya, Carey aka Professor Douchebag, SDA who listened to my horrible HHL stories, amongst many others) who made great impressions on my life and I neglect to keep in touch as well with as I should.

I even got a number to run the 2007 Boston Marathon as a charity runner for CJP, Boston's Jewish Federation, but had to bow out due to iliotibial band issues.  On the day of the marathon in 2007, I left work a little early and came out to watch the runners in Brookline.  By the time I got out there, it was mostly the back-of-the-pack charity runners, but if anyone needed encouragement toward the finish line, it was them.

My heart goes out to the city of Boston, my former home, and everyone affected by today's tragedy.

Tomorrow I'll wear one of my race shirts as my show of solidarity for Boston, as many others will be doing.

And, while I've wanted to run Boston, now I want that more than ever.

Fat Vegan

A vegan diet does not guarantee a slender physique.

Nor does a vegan diet guarantee health.

A friend who went vegan nearly six months ago laments that she cannot lose weight.  For the record, my friend isn't fat, though she's probably carrying a few more pounds than what would be ideal for her health.  By following a vegan diet, though, she has seen her cholesterol numbers drop dramatically.

She and I went to dinner at the same Mexican restaurant.  Our experiences were different.

I planned ahead -- I looked at the menu online earlier in the day, decided on a salad, on which I would substitute black beans instead of chicken, eliminate the cheese and tortilla chips, and ask for the dressing on the side.

She pored over the menu looking for something "warm", and chose the vegetable fajitas.  While chatting with our friends, she snacked on chips.  Then she summoned over the waiter to place an order for guacamole.

She shared the guacamole with all of us, and since I had a fairly tough workout earlier in the day, I knew I had a little bit of wiggle room in my calories for the day.  So, I had about two tablespoons of the guacamole and a tortilla.  She had most of the rest of it, with chips.

My salad looked and tasted delicious.  I kept the dressing on the side since there was salsa on the salad which was delicious and gave the salad enough flavor.

When her fajitas came, she also got a plate of rice and beans to go along with them.

Over dinner, she talked about some great vegan finds -- Daiya cheese, and vegan pizza from Whole Foods.

And then, she lamented that as a vegan she hasn't lost any weight.  "It must be my metabolism."

Now, I'm not going to suggest that I'm perfect in my eating.  I'm not.  I struggle with my demons -- late night eating, sweets, the uncertainty of a meal at a restaurant and the lack of impulse control that can come with dining with friends.

My point is this -- just because you are a vegan does not mean that you will be slender.  You need to make wise food choices.  There are lots of calorie-laden, vegan choices -- guacamole, tortilla chips, energy bars that are loaded with sugar, vegan baked goods, restaurant dishes fried in oil, soda, candy bars, and on and on.

Rather than aiming for "vegan", look to whole, unprocessed or minimally-processed foods.  Look to fruits and vegetables to make up most of your diet.  Fill the rest in with whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and oats, and unprocessed sources of protein like beans and lentils, or minimally processed foods like tofu.

The Annual Passsover Seder Blog Post

I host a seder at my home every year.  I guess at this point I can call it every year because this is the third year in a row.

Passover seder was always a time for family to get together.  Growing up, seder was me, my brother, parents, and all four grandparents, and sometimes family friends or other relatives.  Mom would make food for at least one of the seders, and it was always a big production of amazing food, including her traditional cheesecakes.  Unfortunately, Mom and Dad still live in Michigan, so I took on the tradition of making seder in California.

Two years ago, I thought about having a seder for my family in California, namely my brother, sister-in-law, and my three nieces, and maybe a couple of other random friends who didn't have a seder to go to.  And I thought, a vegan seder is something pretty unique, I'm not sure people will want to do that.  That small seder became twenty people.  Last year, I had twenty-five.  This year, I bought an extra table to accommodate my twenty-eight guests -- I want everyone I know to have a seder to go to.  And, while a few of my guests are vegans like me, most are not, which presents the challenge of showing them a filling seder dinner that doesn't include any eggs or brisket.

We had a good time -- we told the story of Passover.  I'll admit we didn't do the second half, but I'm okay with that.  My niece Samantha read the four questions and helped to demonstrate the plagues.  

I prepared the majority of the food myself.  This year, everything was kitniyot-free.  It is traditional not only to not eat risen bread during Passover, but also not to eat items that in the old days could have been mistaken for bread, such as soy and rice.  (That said, during Passover, I do eat soy, but that's a whole different subject)

Appetizers were a mock chopped liver made from mushrooms, walnuts, and onions, and Sabra eggplant spread.

These are my matzah balls for the soup.  In the past, I've made the Post-Punk Kitchen matzo balls, which are a bit labor intensive, though delicious and fluffy, but also are made with tofu.  This year, I chose a recipe by Nava Atlas, a matzo ball made with quinoa flakes and matzo meal, and a little bit of oil.  Instead of dropping them in hot water, they are baked.  They taste amazing, and while they are not fluffy like your traditional egg-laden matzo ball, they hold up quite well in the soup and do not fall apart.

Spring salad -- most of the veggies in here are from the farmers' market.  Greens, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, mango, and cinnamon almonds.

Quinoa with cauliflower, pine nuts, and dried cranberries.  I made this last year and people enjoyed it, so I made it again.

Eggplant Casserole by Mayim Bialik.  Amy Farrah Fowler makes a helluva casserole.

Matzo farfel in butternut squash puree.  This is my own creation.  An Italian restaurant made me a pasta in a butternut squash puree. It was amazing, so creamy and yummy, that I assumed they must have slipped in some dairy or butter.  But they insisted, it was just pasta, pureed butternut squash, salt and pepper.  So I tried it at home and it worked with pasta, so I figured it must work with matzo too.  And it did!

The most popular dish, and unfortunately a kind of crappy picture of it.  Carrot apple sweet potato kugel.  The recipe suggests adding sugar.  I don't.  I also cut the margarine down to a third of what is called for in the recipe.

This is what my dinner plate looked like:

Dessert was an apple and date mouse and a chocolate truffle pie from Mayim Bialik's blog.  P.S. Mayim, thanks for the awesome recipes, if you ever read this.

My Summer Adventure!

I will be competing in the Maccabi Games this summer as part of the US Masters Triathlon Team.  In fact, I'm the team captain! 

Please click here and learn how you can support the games and help me reach my fundraising goal. 

Thanks!

Desert International Triathlon

My first triathlon of the season was this past weekend near Palm Desert. 

I didn't have high expectations.  I took two months off -- after my ultramarathon at the beginning of December, which had followed a DNF at the Santa Clarita Marathon, I needed some clarity.  I needed to workout on my own terms -- if I wanted to run, I ran.  If I wanted to ride my bike, I did, but not very often.  And when I decided that the pool and I needed to break up for about six weeks, I did that.

So, official training started on February 1.  Most of that initial training was for the Bandit 30k on February 18, a crazy hilly course with 3,700 feet change in elevation.  And that race went okay, given my lack of training.  But, going into Desert Tri, I had done a total of three brick (combined bike and run) workouts, all crammed into the two weeks before the race.

I did not feel ready at all.  That said, who is really ready for a triathlon at the beginning of March, so early in the season?  Me, apparently.  But, my thought process going into this was that this would be a good practice run, and a great day to compete with other teammates from Team Fortius.

This is what a triathlon looks like seconds before the gun goes off.  A bunch of black neoprene clones in identical caps.  I'm in that picture, if you look closely, and you'll see a sliver of my face.   I lined myself up in the middle, a bit closer to the front.  I'm not the fastest swimmer, but I've done enough triathlons to have the confidence to hold my own and not get scared by the mass of swimmers around me.

Off we went.  To the first buoy, there were a lot of bodies, but I wasn't feeling crowded.  After that turn, the remainder of the swim wasn't too bad.  There were a few aggressive swimmers from the wave start after us who passed, and a number of swimmers from the wave before us who I passed.  The 3/4 mile swim took me 24 minutes.

And that's me running out of the water.  Normally I step out of the wetsuit, but for some reason I actually sat down in the transition area to pull it off.

Reeeally far out shot of me on my bike

Then on to the bike.  Mr. Cervelo (my tri bike) and I just became reacquainted less than 2 weeks ago, so expectations weren't very high.  But I had something new -- race wheels.  I had tried them out at Malibu Tri in the fall, but hadn't noticed much difference, possibly because of the hilly course there.  But Desert Tri was flat -- like a desert!  I looked down at my bike computer -- I was cruising at 20 mph!  For me this is unheard of.  But, I went with it. 

Finally the run.  Normally, I have no probleml putting my bike down and running full force.  But, my legs felt heavy, heavy enough that I didn't even want to know my pace.  As it turns out, I was running 8:35/mile pace, which for me is pretty good, but for some reason, it felt slower because my legs were so uncomfortable.  I was grateful to have a friend out there who was not taking the race too seriously, who ran with me for the first five miles.  I have a strategy when running with someone faster than me -- make them talk.  Ask open-ended questions.  Hear stories.  That way, I can focus my energy on running, not on talking, and listening to them I can forget the discomfort that comes with running hard.

And there I am, racing for the finish.  Total time -- 2:34.  14th out of 36 women in my age group.

I am pleasantly surprised by my performance.  The swim was in a time I would expect, my bike was faster, and my run was about spot on.  This is a good start for my season, which will culminate with the Maccabiah Games at the end of July... more on that later!

And finally, a big thank you to my friend Anthony, who was kind enough to be my sherpa for the day, put air in my tires, and take iPhone pictures.

Cholesterol Too Low?

At a talk that I was giving, an audience member asked, "I was told by my doctor that my cholesterol was too low and I need to eat an egg a day."

My partner was reviewing a chart on a patient coming to see him, when he read the following sentence written by the patient's physician:  "Patient's LDL cholesterol is low, needs to eat more fried and fatty foods."

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

It's a little surprising the lack of knowledge about nutrution and cholesterol.

Unless you are in a state of severe malnourishment and illness, you do not need to worry about having too little LDL.  LDL, the low-density lipoprotein, is the so-called "bad cholesterol" that deposits cholesterol particles in the lining of the arteries and leads to increased plaque build-up that can in turn increase risk of heart attack and stroke.

Chloesterol is synthesized by the liver, and it comes from the food we eat.  While cholesterol is necessary for several functions of the body, our bodies make more than enough cholesterol that we do not need to eat foods to supplement those amounts.

In fact, there are people who have a mutation in the PCSK9 gene, and as a result they have LDL numbers as low as 15 (the recommended LDL cholesterol is less than 100).  These people do quite well, and in fact their risk of heart disease is much lower than that of the general public.

So, bottom line:  You do not need to worry about your LDL being too low.

Going Vegan!

In the past couple months, I've seen a few new vegans and the great results they've been seeing!

A friend emailed me yesterday:

"Wanted to share some good news with you! I’ve been Vegan for 2.5 mos and my cholesterol dropped 44 points!"

She's not the only one.  Other new vegans:

--One friend borrowed my copy of The China Study.  He gave up dairy, and shortly thereafter went vegan.  At a recent physical with his doctor, he found out that his previously high cholesterol is now normal.

--Another friend's partner underwent bypass surgery.  They both went vegan.  He says, "So far so good....love it...feel lighter and better overall ...."

It's not that hard... make the change today!

Vacation!!!

Greetings from beautiful Turks and Caicos!

I fully realize how negligent I have been in updating this blog. It has been a good new year so far. I am fortunate to be on vacation right now.

Vacation is a time to take a break. But it doesn't mean all good habits go by the wayside.

I don't have any grueling 4 hour team bike rides or 17 mile trail run.  But I did run barefoot on the sand for 30 minutes and took a boot camp class (which seriously pales in comparison to Barry's boot camp classes in LA)

And the buffet has lots of choices. I suppose one could load up with cheeseburgers and dessert, and I saw people doing that. My plate was mostly vegetables, some tofu, bean salad, and some spaghetti with tomato sauce. Though I did have a couple of mini Oreo cookies, it was still a healthy lunch.

There's an open bar too. The opportunity is there to be drunk all day. On my first day I had two cocktails. I will probably have one more today.

Vacation is not a time of pure decadence. It's about letting loose, but still maintaining some semblance of our healthy lifestyle.

Apps For Heart Health

I have finally joined the twenty-first century, by ditching my old Blackberry and acquiring an Iphone.

Here are a couple of my favorite fitness and heart-health related apps.  And they're all free.

MyFitnessPal -- www.myfitnesspal.com

Free application that allows you to track your weight, food intake, and exercise.  You can input your current weight, your goal weight, and you will see how many calories you can consume during the day to meet that goal.  The food database is extensive -- for example, the Bolani specialty products that I buy from the farmers' market every week are in there.  You can also scan a bar code for a packaged food, and the program will automatically pull up nutritional information.  In addition, you can add your own recipes, such as my usual green smoothie, so that I don't have to manually add almond milk, maca powder, half a banana, a cup of spinach, frozen mango, carrots, and celery every time I make the smoothie.

You can even have "friends" on MyFitnessPal, and can see their progress and encourage them in their efforts.

Striiv -- www.striiv.com

A free pedometer for your Iphone!   I like it more for curiousity than to force me to exercise, because I'm pretty self-motivated when it comes to that.  The app gives you various walking challenges to encourage you to walk more.

There are other great apps, I'm sure, but these are the two that I use for now.  I have a patient who uses his Iphone to monitor his pulse, but I'm not sure which app he uses.  Any recommendations?

My First (and probably last) Ultramarathon

I ran the Ridgecrest 50K race today.

This wasn't the race I planned to run, as I was signed up for North Face 50K.  But, hearing about the experiences that people had at North Face yesterday, sliding in the mud, no matter how okay people felt about pouring rain, I felt validated in my decision to run a different race.

This was a smaller race.  The kind of race that doesn't accept on-line registration, let alone have a chip that you wear to electronically register your time.  I'd say there were about 350 people there to race the 50k and 30k races.

The course was less hilly, with close to 2,700 feet of elevation gain throughout the race.  That said, the biggest challenge of the day was wind, with reportedly gusts up to 40 miles per hour.

I didn't really have a race strategy.  I knew I had the training to finish 31 miles, and I can't say I had an expectation of how fast I would run them.  I knew there would be some walking.  I may have started a bit fast, because in miles 3-7 I was being passed a lot.

There were aid stations positioned every 3-4 miles, starting at mile 5.  These consisted of a table full of orange slices, bananas, jelly beans, potato chips, boiled and salted potatoes, pretzels, energy gels, Pepsi, Gatorade, water, and at a few stations, Guinness beer.  The stations were well-stocked, but I would recommend perhaps some sanitary measures, like spoons or small containers for the jelly beans so that people didn't stick their germy hands all over them.

Another suggestion that I have for the race:  port-o-potties.  There wasn't a single one on the course.  And this was a desert race.  So there weren't exactly many places where one could discreetly urinate, or god forbid, defecate if one had the "runners trots".  Most people aren't going to finish 31 miles of running without having to do their business, so to speak.

FINALLY, around mile 8.3, I saw a nice big rock suitable for squatting behind.  I discreetly ran behind the rock to see a man finishing up his business.  I said, because it was a bit awkward to encounter him there and not say anything, "I guess I'm not the only one thinking of this," at which point, this man stopped and wanted to engage me in conversation!  I said, "Please, just go, go, okay?"  He got the hint.  Were it a ladies room, with stalls, and he were a lady, perhaps we could have chatted.  But here... NO.

Onward I ran.  Felt good.  It was windy.  I was climbing from miles 7-10, but not a steep climb.  Ran most, walked a bit too.  And, for posterity, recorded some of the experience.  It's a little hard to hear because of the wind but here it is:



The wind only became more troublesome.  I continued to feel good for a little downhill through mile twelve.  My right hip was a bit sore, and I regretted not rolling on my foam roller a bit more over the past few weeks.

Then around mile 13, we had a steady uphill, with a very strong headwind.  Now, this wasn't a terribly steep climb.  But, when wind is blowing at you with this force, there's no point in trying to run.  So I power-walked uphill, with mile splits of 15-17 minutes apiece.  That said, just about everyone else around me was walking.

With the wind, one loses more sweat.  I have a bad habit of not drinking enough when I run.  So, as the wind pounded me, I drank as much water as I could.

I have to say, this really is one of the friendliest races even!  The volunteers were super nice, and helpful.  When my Camelbak ran out of water, a volunteer would take it and fill it for me while I stuffed my face with jelly beans and other fare at the aid station.

Miles 17-20 seemed to level off, with a steady climb from miles 20-23.  The wind continued to pound us.  And I decided I needed another video:



Around mile 25, the aid station had beer!  Now, I'm not a big beer drinker, but during a race, beer tastes good.  And, two of my best races, Long Beach Marathon 2009 and LA Marathon 2011, included drinking beer.  So for good luck, I had about an ounce of Guinness.

The rest of the course was downhill, fortunately.  My feet ached, I had the expected fatigue from being on my feet for hours, but overall I felt okay.   My miles were about 11-12 minutes apiece from here.

My friend and teammate Jason took this video at the end:



Done!  6 hours and 19 minutes.

Now, I had fun.  I can call myself an ultra-marathonner (I think I said "ultraman" in the second video clip, but the brain does funny things when you're running and talking, so I misspoke).  I'll put it in the header of my blog, because I am an ultra-marathonner, just like I'm an Ironman.  One and done.  Don't necessarily plan to do another.  But, if I did, I just might come back to Ridgecrest.  A small town race with a very friendly vibe.  Hopefully, the wind won't return for next year's racers.

Ultra Time!!

Weather has not seemed to want to cooperate with my race schedule.  First, Hurricane Sandy led to the eventual cancellation of the New York City Marathon.  Now, days of heavy rain are causing havoc on the North Face Endurance Challenge course, leading to last minute course changes and muddy trails.

I registered for the North Face Endurance Challenge months ago.  I planned to do the 50K race, about 31 miles of trails with 6800 feet or so of climbing, tomorrow.

Then I saw the weather forecast:

Now, I've run in rain.  I finished the 2011 Los Angeles Marathon, during which there were torrential downpours from just after the start, intensifying throughout the race to what could be considered monsoon conditions.  In spite of the weather, I had a pretty good race.  Two weeks ago, I ran four hours in the Santa Monica Mountains, slip-sliding in mud at times, covering nearly 19 miles.

This will be my first ultramarathon.  I will be out on the trails for over six hours.  I don't want to be miserable, cold, and wet.  And, I don't want to risk my safety and health running on a muddy and presumably slippery course.

So, I'm out -- I'm not running North Face.  Several of my teammates will be there, and I hope they have a good and safe race.

BUT, there's another ultramarathon this weekend!!!!  Ridgecrest 50k.  It seems like a low-key race. It's known as the friendliest ultramarathon.  I'm not sure what that means.  There are aid stations about every three miles.   The high will be 66 degrees with a 30% chance of rain.  And, while North Face 50k has about 6800 feet of climbing (though they are being forced to change their course due to the weather so it will be less), this race has less than half that amount, about 2,664 feet.

Yup!  I'm running this!

I'm looking forward to my first ultramarathon on Sunday, hopefully in sunny weather!

Can Endurance Sports Hurt Your Health?

Exercise is good for you.  But is there such a thing as too much exercise?

-At the end of marathons, runners have been shown to have elevated troponin levels, a markers of heart muscle damage.  They may also have elevated CPK levels, representing skeletal muscle damage.  The consequences of these abnormalities are not known.

-One study found that there was MRI evidence of dysfunction of the right ventricle of the heart.  This was a transient finding, and, again, the long-term consequences aren't known.

-Arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, are more common in endurance athletes.

-Athletes have died during Ironman distance triathlons.  That said, athletes have died during marathons, half marathons, and shorter distance triathlons, and the incidence of sudden deaths during the Ironman is no greater than any other distance race.

-Long-term marathon running increases the amount of calcium in the coronary arteries, which is a marker of coronary plaque.

-Blood markers of inflammation are higher during intense training.

Me -- on my way to becoming an IronMan!

So what about me?

I'm a triathlete, who has completed 13 marathons, an Ironman triathlon (Ironman Lake Placid 2010), countless other road and trail races and triathlons of other distances, and next weekend I will be running my first ultramarathon, a 50-k (31 mile) race.

I've had an arrhythmia -- AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia, a form of SVT (supraventricular tachycardia).  I underwent a successful ablation procedure in April 2009, and have had minimal palpitations since.  To my knowledge, AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia is not an arrhythmia that is encountered any more frequently in athletes than in non-athletes.

During my Ironman Lake Placid training, I did some blood work.  My cholesterol numbers rocked, my hemoglobin was well within the normal range, and electrolytes were good, but my high-sensitivity c-reactive protein level, a marker of inflammation, was quite elevated at 7.4, with normal being levels less than 2.

As I trained for Ironman Lake Placid, I was tired all the time.  I didn't feel good.  My run times dropped, and I slogged along on my long 15 to 20 mile practice runs at an 11 to 12 minute per mile pace.  I couldn't wait for my 6+ hour long bike rides on Pacific Coast Highway to be done.  And the swimming... I've never been a fan of long swims, so the day I had to swim two miles, thankfully my friend Ray was there to entertain us with the occasional group hug or joke, as we then doused our faces in the water and stroked on to the finish.

I finished Ironman Lake Placid in 14 hours and 45 minutes.  I see my friends and teammates who have done multiple Ironman races.  I contemplate how on a flat course and the right training I could finish in under 13 hours.  Because I could achieve that.  I even thought about signing up for Ironman Arizona 2013.  Fortunately, when the race went on sale last Monday morning at 11 AM, I was busy with patients and wasn't bored at my computer to repeatedly hit the "refresh" button.

But, if I were honest with myself, I don't want to do another Ironman.  I will do an ultramarathon for the same reason I became an Ironman -- to say I've achieved that distance.

I'm not going to be an endurance athlete forever.  I'll always be physically active, and I hope that during the length of my "career" as an endurance athlete that I can take away the health benefits and not be left with the possible consequences.

Over It

I DNF'ed a marathon.  It's not the end of the world.

I'll chalk it up to burnout and mental distraction, and starting the race too fast, not accounting for the 80 degree weather expected later in the day.  As I prepared for NYC, my sole focus was breaking four hours.  That was my goal, and I should have been more flexible.

On my only other DNF ever, which was the Surf City Marathon in 2009, I scrambled to find another marathon to redeem myself.  And I did.  I posted my best time ever at the time, in my fourth marathon.  That said, I was a nervous wreck, having put so much pressure on myself to finish well so soon after a bad race.

In the first couple days after my most recent DNF, I was a bit sad.  But honestly, I think I'm over it.  I've run 13 marathons.  So what if my attempt at number 14 is a bust?

I've had to refocus -- I've had some great races this season.  Yet, I seem to perseverate on where I've failed, when I've actually had some awesome successes -- I took fourteen minutes off of my Santa Barbara Long Course race at the end of August, had a great day at Age Group Nationals, and qualified for Age Group Nationals for the second year in a row by placing in the top ten percent of my age group at the Malibu Classic race in September.

I didn't blog about those accomplishments.  Yet I am not hesitant to overanalyze where I've screwed up.

Next up is the North Face 50K on December 1.  That will be my first ultramarathon, at just over 31 miles. 

 Me and teammates Evan, Ray, and Alex, at Westridge Trail on Sunday morning

Yes it's more running.  But, trails are so different from roads.  I ran 27 miles of trails this weekend, and I'm not sore.  If' I'd done that on roads, I'd feel quite differently.  And, an ultramarathon, while longer than a marathon, has less pressure.  Or at least I put less pressure on myself.  My goal is to finish so I can call myself an ultramarathoner.

After North Face, I am taking a much-needed hiatus.  It might be a month, it might be longer.  While I do not plan on sinking into my couch and scarfing down vegan bon-bons, I will exercise when I feel like it, without a schedule, without a coach to report to, for the first time in about two years.

And, after my hiatus, I'll come back and figure out what I want to accomplish as an athlete next year.

DNF at Santa Clarita

I was supposed to run the NYC Marathon.  You know that if you've read my last 2 posts.  Instead, I signed up to run the local Santa Clarita Marathon.

I started at a good pace, 9:10-9:15 per mile.  My heart rate was a little high, but I felt okay.  I kept that up, give or take a couple minutes, through mile 13.  Then it all fell apart.  I can't say there was anything that specifically hurt.  I felt tired.  I just couldn't keep up the pace.  It was a bit hot out too.  Any attempt to run had my heart rate around 180.  Around mile 14 I starter walking some intervals.  Then I found myself walking more.

Just after Mile 18, I was at Magic Mountain Parkway, and knew the finish line geographically was only a mile away.  I took off my race bib and walked to the finish area, grabbed my gear, and left.

Sure, I could have finished.  I would have walked and run, and I would have finished in 5 hours or maybe a little longer.  But I didn't come to just *finish* a marathon.  I came to finish a marathon well.  And if I had schlepped another 8 miles to the finish line, I would be sore and fatigued for several more days.  By cutting my losses at mile 18, I know I'll be recovered sooner.

Training was spot-on.  I did all my workouts.  I even did my yoga.  I think this is all mental.  It's been a stressful week in all manners, particularly trying to decided whether to go to NYC, and then of course personal issue.

I'm not sure what to do next.  My next race is December 1, the North Face 50k.  I want to complete an ultramarathon, but I'm not excited about a terrible marathon performance hanging over my head.  There's the CIM Marathon in Sacramento and the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Marathon, both on December 2.  I could run either of those, and the Las Vegas race is even offering a 20% discount to those of us who were registered to run NYC this year.

All I know is today was not my day.

My Day On Radio and TV

It's been an interesting couple of days, in deciding whether or not to run the New York City Marathon, which ultimately was cancelled as of today.

On Wednesday, I was revved up and ready to go, come hell or high water.  My friend, a reporter at local NPR affiliate KPCC interviewed me for a piece she was doing on the race.  Then, the following day, before her story aired on the radio, I decided not to do the race.  Nonetheless, I'm still featured in the story and she made it work.

Click here to hear the interview, which aired on the radio this morning.  The audio link is on the left side of the page.

Then, later in the morning, I was contacted by a reporter from our local CBS affiliate, and I was featured on the evening news, along with teammate Dolores Schutzman.



Tomorrow, I will be waking up early to get to the Santa Clarita Marathon race expo and sign up, just in case I'm not the only person who was shut out of the NYC Marathon who will want to race at the last minute.

Finally -- I've donated to the Red Cross to help support recovery efforts from Sandy.

NYC Marathon -- I'm OUT!

I've been training for the NYC Marathon.  I've been so excited to run through all 5 boroughs and be cheered on by the loud crowds of spectators.

Then came Sandy the Superstorm.

Initially, I thought, it'll be cleaned up by Sunday.  New Yorkers are resilient.  My flight is still on.  My hotel hasn't cancelled my reservation.  It's going to be a sunny day according to the weather.

Then reality set in:  My hotel has no electricity, heat, or hot water, nor do many other hotels in NYC.  Many businesses are closed.  Public transportation isn't fully functional.  Where would I stay?  How would I get to the start line?  How would I get to the Javitz Center to pick up my race packet?  And what about the course?  Will there be changes to our route?

It was a tough decision.  Coach Gerardo gave me some clarity and made the decision much easier:  I take this stuff seriously.  My reason for running this race is primarily to have a sub-4 hour marathon.  I love visiting NYC, but that is secondary.  If I go to NY, I'm not going to have my best race given the conditions of the city and the race.  So, I shouldn't race.

Someone posted this on my Facebook wall.  The deadline to defer to next year has been postponed to Saturday at midnight, the night before the race.  While we won't get our money back, we do get a guaranteed spot in the 2013 marathon.

JetBlue was kind enough to refund my airline ticket, and fortunately the hotel that I booked at didn't require a deposit, so I lost no money there either.

THIS is my race on Sunday:

Fortunately, there is a local marathon on Sunday to take the place of the NYC Marathon for me.  Ironically, it's the marathon that I was supposed to run last year that I skipped because I was sick.

Sandy was a terrible natural disaster.  I'll run NYC next year.  Right now, the east coast's recovery is more important than my silly little marathon.

I Don't Love Yoga...

....but I've come to accept its role in my training.

Many yoga classes have made me feel self-conscious about my lack of balance and coordination.  I'm the one who tries to get into Tree Pose and then falls over.  And, while once in my life I was the girl on the high school cheerleading squad who could jump into the splits, I lack that flexibility as an adult triathlete.

Coach Gerardo typically puts yoga on my training schedule once a week.  At the studio that I attend, Black Dog Yoga, I've found three yoga classes that I can appreciate:

Restorative Yoga -- I like to think of this class as "Glorified Nap Time".  This is an hour and a half of chill music and poses held for several minutes at a time while supported by bolsters and blocks.  It's incredibly relaxing, and is great stretching after a weekend of long, challenging workouts.  The only down-side of the class is the jazz-skat version of "Smoke on the Water" that makes me want to slit my wrists.  But, at the end of this class, I feel refreshed, relaxed, and less sore than I did walking in.

Deep Stretch Yoga -- Various stretches, often uncomfortable, especially after a long week of training.  The Friday evening class definitely helps recovery.  I'm always in awe and amused to see the instructor twist herself into a pretzel while I'm definitely struggling doing just a quarter of the given stretch.

Basic Flow -- A beginner class that caters to all levels.  Monday evening tends to be a good time to recover from the weekend's workouts.  I like the spin that the instructor takes on the poses, her stories, and the level of comfort that she provides to those of us who aren't yogis.  I never feel self conscious here.

But yoga does something else cool.  It can take me out of my head.  Now, I don't mean this in some sort of crazy supernatural sense.  I'm rather type A (cardiologist, triathlete, vegan... no, really?).  I have my lists.  I have plenty of internal chatter in my head, things to do, issues to solve.  Sometimes, yoga helps turn that chatter off.  And, with that peace, every so often, something that was previously burdening me becomes clear.

That happened to me yesterday evening in my Basic Flow class.  Even while on call, with my cell phone clandestinely in silent mode poking out from under my mat, I felt a certain clarity.  That clarity helped me make a decision today, and with that I am relieved of a stressor that was burdening my mind.

I will never be a yogi.  I will never love yoga.  But, I've come to recognize what it can do for me as an athlete.

Hazards of the Sport

All sports have risks.

I've had a few mishaps in the past couple years.  I've been bitten by a dog while running.  I've done my share of tripping and falling on trails, and I have the scars on my knees to prove it.  And I've been nailed by some serious waves in the ocean that have slammed me to the ocean floor and sprained my shoulder, leaving me with ears full of sand and a new fear and respect for the ocean.

But, a recent incident has made me think pretty hard about the dangers that triathlon training poses.

On Saturday, a 36 year-old woman was killed while riding her bike on PCH in Malibu.  The full story is here.

She was reportedly out for a training ride on Saturday afternoon on PCH at Puerco Canyon Road, which is near Pepperdine University.  She was passed by some trucks, caught her handlebar on a parked car, which led her to veer into a bus.  She was then dragged under the bus.

Now, this wasn't a particularly treacherous stretch of PCH.  It's a piece of PCH that I have ridden dozens of times, never feeling particularly unsafe.

What to do..... do we stop riding completely and resort to a life of spin classes and sitting on the bike trainer?  Stick with riding on PCH to the west of Trancas Road, where there is far less traffic?  Or just recognize there are hazards and do our best to be cautious?

I don't know.  Even though I didn't know her, the triathlon community is small enough that one of my teammates was a friend of hers.  This definitely hits home and I know this easily could have been me.

 

White Coat Hypertension Tip

White Coat Hypertension is the phenomenon by which some people have an elevated blood pressure when visiting their physician.  These patients do not need treatment for hypertension, whereas people who have elevated blood pressure whether they are in or out of the doctors office need to be treated to lower their blood pressure to normal levels in order to reduce risk of heart attack and stroke.

The instructor of the Restorative Yoga class that I attend gave an interesting tip.  She has white coat hypertension.  She comes to her doctors' appointments early and will meditate in the waiting room.  This way, by the time she is called back to see the doctor, she is relaxed, and when she does this she typically will have a normal blood pressure.

When she told the story initially, she relayed it as if a doctor wouldn't like that she does this.  I think it's a terrific idea, and so I'm sharing it!

Conquering Mount Baldy

I didn't have any race plans for this weekend, until Coach Gerardo suggested the Mount Baldy Run to the Top race.  Five of us from Fortius Racing Team took on the challenge.

At 10,068 feet, Mount Baldy is the tallest point in Los Angeles County.  During the winter, while the ground may be clear in the valley and the city, you can see snow-capped Mount Baldy from far away.

I climbed this today.  Picture from wikipedia.com

We started from about 6,000 feet, climbing all the way to just over 10,000 feet, over the course of 7 miles of trails.

I hadn't planned to enter this race.  So my approach was conservative.  I thought I'd walk/run it.  I ran the first half mile downhill, but held back because I had an idea of what was ahead.  Then I ran the next half of a mile.  Then, as the hill became steeper, running just wasn't a possibility, so I was briskly walking, with an occasional very short jog.

Photo courtesy of Gerardo Barrios

Then around mile 4, it got steeper.  Then around mile 5 we were on single track.  And it got steeper.  My brisk walk became more of a mountain climb.  My calves ached.  My hamstrings were sore.  And with a mile to go, at nearly 10,000 feet of elevation, I felt stuporous at best, lightheaded and just trying to get one foot in front of the other.

I made it to the top in 2 hours and 14 minutes.  That must be the slowest 7 miles ever, but one of the most challenging feats I've ever accomplished.

After all that climbing, we had to descend 3.5 miles to get to the ski lift to get back to the bottom of the mountain.  Coming down may have been just as tough as climbing, because it was a challenge just to maintain our footing and not slip on all the rocks!

This was a tough challenge, and I'm glad I took this on.  However, I know tomorrow I'm going to be very sore.

It's been an interesting trip.....

I posted this photo on Facebook, of me doing my first triathlon, the Finger Lakes Sprint Triathlon in September 2005.  It's gotten some interesting reactions, maybe because I look different now.  I am a much better athlete, and have had many new life experiences, compared to when this picture was taken.

I'm racing at the USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals on Saturday in Burlington, Vermont.  If you'd asked me nearly seven years ago, I don't think I would have ever thought this would be possible.

It's been an interesting road since that first race.  After a foot injury had derailed me from running for nearly a year and a half, I took up cycling.  I pulled my decrepit Toys R Us mountain bike out of the back of the garage, walked into the bike shop in upstate New York hoping not to get laughed at.  They were kind enough to get this clunker into riding shape.  I rode with the local womens' cycling group, hauling ass just to keep up with these women, most older than me, but on much nicer road bikes.

Then I started swimming on my own, and then with a local masters' group.  I swam in the slow lane, forced to learn to breathe on both sides.

Eventually, after months in and out of an orthopedic boot, and finally in a pair of orthotics, my injured foot healed and I started to run again.  I ran a local 5k in about 32 minutes.

That's me at the end of the 5k.  I was excited to be running again.  But I knew that running with no cross-training was a problem and would lead me to become injured again.

Shortly thereafter, in Mary Eggers' spin class, I asked her -- "Can you coach me to a triathlon?"  She was a local triathlete and coach of Team Train-This! .

I spent that entire summer training for my first triathlon, the Finger Lakes Sprint Triathlon.  I followed her program, which had me training about 7-8 hours per week.  I found it tough to fit in the workouts, but I got most of them done.

And there I am, finishing Finger Lakes Tri.  I wasn't last, but I was far from first.

I had so much fun racing that day that I wanted to do even more triathlons!  But I decided I wanted to do them well.  Circumstances in my life were difficult around that time.  A few months after that first triathlon, I went through a divorce.  It was about as amicable as something like that can be, but when you lose someone that important in your life, it leaves a hole.

I filled that emptiness by striving to be a stronger athlete.  During the winter in icy Rochester, NY, I would get on my treadmill in my bedroom and do "Soccer Workouts".  To this day, I don't know why that is their name, but they are mile repeats at progressively faster paces.  When I finally broke a ten minute mile, I rejoyced!  I continued to swim, bike, and run, planning on races that spring in Rochester and then for the upcoming summer and fall as I plotted my uncertain future alone in Boston, where I would be moving for my interventional cardiology fellowship.

I achieved a long-time goal that spring, to run a 5k faster than 29 minutes.

I moved to Los Angeles a year later to begin my career as an interventional cardiologist.  Triathlon has continued to be a big part of my life -- it's been my hobby, a way to meet great friends, and a terrific outlet for stress.  Through hard work and excellent coaches, currently Gerardo Barrios of Fortius Racing Team, I've continued to become a stronger athlete.

In the meantime, I've achieved and surpassed several goals that I've set for myself -- finished an Ironman, gotten my marathon time down to 4:05, ran several 5k's in under 25 minutes, and many others. 

This weekend's race is much the culmination of all of that.  While I won't be winning any medals this weekend, or qualifying for Team USA for the ITU Worlds race, I can celebrate all my hard work, and I'll be happy and honored to be able to race amongst such talented athletes.

My "C" Race

We're supposed to prioritize our races.

"A" races are the ones we really train for, that we want to do well at.

"B" races are ones we want to do well at, but know that these aren't our top priority.

"C" races are the ones where we know we're not going to do great, and we race for the experience.

I raced at the He Tried She Tried olympic distance triathlon.  It's a neat concept -- you are paired up with another person to race, and based on your combined ages and race times, this determines your award for the race.

Did I mention this race is in Michigan?  I thought it would be fun to do a race while visiting my parents.  And I was so grateful to have my parents cheering me on.  They hadn't been at any of my races since Ironman Lake Placid in 2010, where my Dad was convinced that every passing ambulance had me in the back of it.

I was jetlagged, having arrived in Michigan from California at 3 am just two days earlier.  I never quite got onto Michigan time and only had 4 hours of sleep the night before the race.  Since I didn't travel with my bike, I borrowed a bike.  It was a tri bike and the right size frame, and I am so grateful for being able to use it, but it is a lot heavier than Mr. Cervelo, my trusty grey speedy machine.

I think the swim went okay.  We swam in a nice warm inland lake that was 82 degrees, so no wetsuit was needed.  I practiced drafting and found a guy whose hip I drafted off of for the first quarter of the race.  It's a skill that my team has been working on in our open-water simulated practices.  An olympic distance race swim is supposed to be 0.9 miles -- this one was significantly longer, well over a mile, but that's ok.

I anticipated a really bad bike ride.  And, it was a tougher ride, with a heavier bike, that wasn't fit to me.  But somehow I averaged 17.5 miles per hour, which is only a mile per hour slower than I usually ride.

Unfortunately, on the run, I could feel my very tired legs.  The run had a lot of hills and some trails at the end. My 10k time was an hour and two minutes.  WHAT?!?!?!  Keep in mind I did the 10k run at San Diego ITU just a few months earlier in just over 51 minutes.  My legs were so heavy, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get them to go faster.

My finishing time was terrible.

Cool looking finishers medal.

Interestingly, though, my partner, who I met on race day, and I managed to place first out of three female teams with combined ages of 80-89.  I guess that's a cool accomplishment.

I think there's something to be learned even from the worst races.   I don't travel this far to most races, and now I know for USAT Age Group Nationals in Burlington, Vermont next month that I need to get my rest and get used to the time zone.  I'm also glad that I decided to have my own bike transported to Vermont and not try to ride someone else's bike.

On another note, I really think Epic Races did an amazing job with this race.  It was so organized at registration, the course was incredibly well marked with volunteers at all of the important points, and aid stations on the run were well stocked with water, electrolyte solution (even though I think Heed tastes horrible), and Hammer gels.  And, at the end of the race, the selection of food was fabulous -- bagels, hummus (mmm I love hummus!), watermelon, pineapple, oranges, and cookies.  The finishing medal was pretty cool too.

Super fast dinner

This dinner took me less than ten minutes to put together.

Below is a squash salad, with zucchini and yellow squash grown in my garden, red pepper, tofu, and sweet and sour carrot sauce from Bolani that I bought at the farmers market today.

Then I made a lentil soup.  In the blender, I added veggie broth, lentils, a few leaves of kale, two tomatoes, and a couple leaves of basil.  I pressed the "Hot Soup" button, let the Vitamix work for about three minutes, and then I had soup!

Before:

After!!!

I had a half of a sweet potato with this, and a peach for dessert, both from the farmers market.

Where I'm at... and it isn't blogging!

I've slacked terribly in updating this blog lately.....

But, life as a multisport athlete has been exciting.  I just found out that I made the US Womens Masters Triathlon Team for the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2013.  It's one of those things I would not have imagined happening when I did my first triathlon seven years ago.

I have two races this month, a sprint and then an olympic distance race.  But, my big races are in August -- USAT Age Group Nationals in Burlington, Vermont, followed by Bulldog 50K, my first ultra-marathon.

My next blog post will be of substance, I promise.  Here's a few topics I'm mulling:
-Is endurance sport training bad for the heart?  Oooh there's lots of good stuff here...
-I signed up for a 50 mile trail run.  Am I out of my mind?
-Or, what do you want to hear about?

Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon

The concept behind this marathon was cool:  Fast, downhill course, beautiful scenery, small race limited to 1000 participants.

In practice, there were a few things that could be tweaked to make the race better.

I came into this race in a rut.  My last half dozen marathons have all been between 4:11-4:18.  My LA Marathon in March was 4:11, but I felt like I had the training to do better.  Today was the day to prove it.

Race started at the awful early hour of 6 am.  I took a 4:15 am shuttle to the start line, where we sat in pitch darkness, while a couple of pickup trucks parked with their lights on to set up the start line.  It was quite eerie at that hour sitting by the side of the road, as there was no indoor shelter for us, and it was a chilly morning.

I must say, I was amused by the placement of the port-o-potties.  With my small bladder, I'm always observant of where they are set up.  Just off to the side of the start line was a row of five port-o-potties.  So, as racers lined up for the race, there were lines of port-o-potty users intersecting with the race start.  It was very interesting trying to discern who was in line for the port-o-potty and who was trying to gun it to the front of the starting pack.

Gun went off a little after 6 am.  The first three miles were downhill.  Then the next three were back uphill to the start, as we did a short six mile loop.  As always, a lot of people passed me at the beginning -- and I remember, they're either faster than me, or I'll pass them during the second half of the race.

In my LA Marathon race report, I talk about all the friends I had on the course.  Here at Ojai, there were only a couple people on the course from Fortius or LA Tri, and none of them were around my pace, and there were no familiar spectators, so I was solo.

Around Mile 4, I found a woman who was about my pace.  We started talking, and she and I ran together for the next 12 miles.  Stephanie, as it turns out, is my age, has run a few more marathons than I have, and is aiming for a similar goal pace.  So, we stick together and chat about everything from work and dating to silly things people do and wear in races, like a racer with his running number on his back, or a woman wearing a running skirt so low-cut that her butt crack was showing.

We also encountered another runner named Tim, who apparently eats Cup O Noodles before every marathon.  He seemed to have boundless energy, joking around with people, dashing ahead, falling back, and just having a good time.  For some reason, I decided that every time I encountered him during the race I would refer to him as "Ramen" (noodles, right?).  He cheered us on and kept us smiling.

Aid stations were spread out, probably about 3 miles apart from one another.  The first few aid stations had only water and no electrolyte solution (ie Gatorade).  I do all my long runs with some sort of electrolyte, so I was concerned, but kept going.

Mile 11 -- port-o-potty stop.  Quickest pit stop ever, fortunately before one of the steepest downhills, so got out of the port-o-potty and made up time within a couple of minutes.

Mile 13 -- 1:58 split for the halfway point..  Making good time, feeling good, heart rate where it should be in the high 160's.

Mile 15 -- the worst smell of my life.  I think we were running through a sewage treatment plant.  The scenery along this path was horrible.  Oil wells.  Factories.  Yuck.

Mile 16 -- still keeping about a 9:15/mile pace.  Other than a mild aching in my feet, feeling good.

Mile 20 -- surprised that I was still keeping a 9:15 pace!  A little tired out perhaps, as we turn on to the beach path.

Mile 21 -- I see the finish line.  But we have to keep running all the way down the beach and loop back around to the finish line.  Dammit!!!

Mile 22.5 -- Side stitch!  The pain was terrible.  I slowed to a walk.  While I ran a bit ahead of Stephanie a couple of miles earlier, she caught up with me, and I forced myself to run.... briefly.  That didn't last, and I was again walking, doubled over in pain.

Mile 23 -- Aid station.  I figured my side stitch may have to do with being electrolyte depleted or dehydrated.  I grabbed two cups of Fluid (the electrolyte solution) and a cup of water.  I started trotting, jogging slowly, and within a minute I felt better.

Mile 24-26 -- through neighborhood and then along the beach.  Getting it done.  Pace a little slower, about 9:45/mile, but not terrible.

Mile 26.2 -- Finally!!!  4 hours, 5 minutes, 17 seconds.  A personal best by 6 minutes, accomplishing my goal for the day.  Were it not for my side stitch issues, I think I could have finished a couple minutes faster, but I'm still pleased.

Suggestions for Race Organizers:
--I love the Ojai 2 Ocean concept.  But how about a more scenic course?  I understand the convenience of a bike path, but Ojai is so much more beautiful than what we ran, I think.

--Better positioning of port-o-potties.  Not next to the start line.  Not good to mix up your start line and your port-o-potty line.

--Shelter at the start.  It was very cold at 4:30 am sitting on the road by the high school.  How about a couple tents?  Or let us into the high school gym to wait?

--Electrolyte solution at the first few aid stations, please!!!  Water only until mile 11 was not cool.

--I do love the green concept of the race.  Love the recycled steel medals that apparently double as beer bottle openers, and I do love the fact that I didn't get a plastic bag full of paper coupons that would have landed in my recycling bin.  Thanks for keeping it eco-friendly.

Soft- versus Hard-Sell

We know the facts -- a plant-based diet is so beneficial -- it's kinder and healthier.

So why isn't everyone a vegan?

When someone reluctantly admits he eats meat, we may think, he needs the facts.... NOW!  Tell him about how meat clogs the arteries, and plant-based diets reverse coronary artery disease.  Show him pictures of chickens crammed in wire cages, pigs in gestation crates, and cows hanging at the slaughter. And get him to a screening of Forks Over Knives..... STAT!!!

But, that approach can seem overzealous.  Overwhelming people with facts will not lead them to change.

I'm more in favor of the "soft sell" approach.

In my daily life as a cardiologist, I advocate a plant-based diet as a way to prevent and reverse cardiovascular disease in all of its forms -- to lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, stabilize or reverse coronary plaque, reduce risk of diabetes, and so forth.  However, I recognize that not every patient who walks in my office is going to walk out a vegan.  In fact, most won't.

When I start talking to patients about diet, a reaction I often get is, "I'll never become a vegetarian."  And expecting a person who eats meat, butter, and cheese for three meals a day to give it all up isn't realistic.  But, I believe we can meet somewhere in the middle.

We can agree that this patient's diet and lifestyle habits have gotten him to the point where he is with his health, that years of animal products, fast food, junk food, lack of exercise, and smoking led him to his present disease.  We can also agree that in order to do better that some of those habits need to change.

Eat more fruits and vegetables.  Eat less meat and dairy.  Walk for a few minutes every day.  True, a plant-based diet is ideal, but let's start somewhere with attainable goals.  Maybe at the next visit we'll talk about taking it one step further.

I'm not going to say I haven't had patients go full-on plant-based at the drop of a hat.  Because I've seen it happen and I've seen the great results that come with it.  But most patients aren't going to do that, and we need to start somewhere.

San Diego ITU Worlds

I raced this weekend at San Diego ITU Worlds in the Olympic distance race -- 0.9 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6.2 mile run.

The week leading up to the race was less than ideal -- the race was on Saturday morning, and at 2 am on Thursday morning, I was doing emergency angioplasty.  So, needless to say, I wasn't well rested before the race.  Then again, patient care always comes first.

This race was the triathlon club national race.  So, this wasn't a small race, and a lot of tough athletes showed up to compete.

Swim
My group, women 35-39, were the third to last wave of competitors.  Behind us were two waves of men in their 30's.  In other words, men to clobber us on the swim, so I was anticipating having rather aggressive men trying to get around me on the swim.

I started near the back of the pack on the swim.  I should have started toward the middle, but since I waited until the absolute last minute to warm up in the water, I was one of the last women in my wave start to gather, and I didn't want to push people to get toward the front.  So, as the gun went off, I ran past a few women into the water and swam around several of them until I got to the right position.

The swim was a bit choppy, and there were some currents, and with the men starting just a few minutes after us, I constantly felt like people were swimming very close to me and past me.

Swim time:  34 minutes.  Slower than my usual time which is closer to 30 minutes.  I blame the currents.


Coming out of the water....

Bike
Toughest bike course of any sprint or olympic distance race.  The road conditions were less than ideal with plenty of potholes and cracks in the road.  We rode two loops up Mount Soledad (I think that's what it's called)!  It's a long hill with some really steep points.  I saw one woman climbing the hill on her bike topple over as she hit one of the cones on the side of the road.  I heard of a couple other bike accidents on the course also.

Most of my pictures on the bike were of me sitting upright, not on my aerobars, because I wouldn't want to topple over from hitting a pothole the wrong way.

Here, I think I saw the cameras, so I got onto my aerobars intentionally for the picture :)

Bike time:  1 hour 31 minutes.  Not so great.  Reflects the hilly course, and my general lack of focus on cycling this season.

Run!!!

My favorite part of a short race.  There were a few women in my age group who I was going back and forth with on the bike.  And on the run, I passed them for good within the first 2 miles.

This is my running game face.  It doesn't look very convincing.

And this is the fun picture:

I was working hard on the run, but I had a good time.  The run course was around Mission Bay.  We saw the residents in their beachfront homes drinking mimosas as we ran by.  I ran by one woman I knew, but didn't recognize until she yelled, "Shenkman stop looking at your watch and run!" and left me laughing for the next couple of minutes.  A crew of my team members were on the course near the finish line cheering us on, which is always awesome too.

Run time:  51:38 -- my fastest 10k EVER!

Overall time:  3 hours, 11 minutes.

30th place out of 66 in my age group.

The race reflected my relative efforts over the past several months.  Excellent run, decent swim, and not-so-fabulous bike.  Great race, tough competitors, and beautiful scenery.