Jimmy Freeman 8th at Angeles Crest

My former Team in Training marathon coach, Jimmy Dean Freeman finished 8th at the Angeles Crest 100 Race. Very impressive performance, with Jimmy finishing in under 24 hours. This foot race is over and through the Angeles Crest National Forest. When it's not burning down, these mountains can be quite a beautiful place to visit and an exhausting spot to run a hundred miles across. Nevertheless, a well done performance kudos from a guy who can maybe walk two miles without some surgical injury or other acting up.
Image: Livestrong.com

Marathon Mom Finishes

Congrats to first-time marathoners Bernadette and daughter Hope (and friend Emily) for finishing the Pasadena Marathon. Good running weather—overcast, 50s, rain—but lousy for cheering.

I walked my 5k and finished in 41:18. That's about 13:17 a mile and landed me smack in the middle of my age group. (Had I run as well as I did at Santa Clarita last year I'd have placed third and taken home a coveted age group medal. My point being Santa Clarita has much faster old men.) Despite the pissy sky, I beat out a 79 year old man and a four-year old girl and challenged a woman pushing a stroller but she pulled away in the home stretch.

Who do I meet on the course but old Team in Training coaches Jimmy and Kate Freeman. (Jimmy was coaching a group completing their first 5k.) Kate was watching her hub work having just crossed the half-marathon finish line, third among women, strolling in at 1:29:03.

Anyway, fun to participate in a race again. Note that the 5k gave out finishers medals. It's like receiving an award for placing seventh in a Candyland tournament. But I accepted the medal on behalf of my knee. Congrats to all who ran in Pasadena today!

No Man is an Island—But Several Men are Peninsulas

For old times sake I'll be walking the Pasadena 5k tomorrow. Haven't actually run in two weeks because of a sore knee. And after my late May shoulder operation I won't be running or walking much for the next three months. So this will be a leisurely farewell stroll for the reminder of the summer. By fall, I'll weigh as much as the island of Crete. But there are racing categories for island-sized men and women. I intend to enter and beat the Greenland and New Guinea classes before taking on Long Island then aiming for either Catalina or Tonga. When I get down to Staten Island or Capri, I'll make a big deal out of it.

Runners Rock in Rainy Marathon

Way to go, LA Marathoners! On a stormy day with 2 inches of rain and winds gusting up to 20 mph, when, according to the LA Times, thousands of runners were checked for hypothermia and 26 hospitalized, you guys rocked it. Gail, Inez, Lindsey, Tiffany, Coach Chris and everyone else, outstanding job.

Special shout out to Kate Freeman for a 3:11:57. That's an average of 7:19 a mile for 26.2 miles. (The last time I ran 7:19 there were cops after me.) Out of 7,406 chick finishers, Kate was the 34th woman to cross the finish line.

Kate's speedy husband Jimmy waddled in at 2:56:38. That's 6:45 a mile, 100th dude overall out of 11,531 guy finishers. (I think it takes me almost 3 hours to get out of my robe.) Nice to see a pair of former TNT coaches get after it.

Outstanding job runners, especially Team in Training!

Those of you so inclined, have a beer on the person next to you.
(Image: AP via NBC Sports.)

Running and Robots

I made such a big deal out of running. Look at the Japanese! They've transcended actual marathons by inventing robots to do it for them. The robots are programmed to grow increasingly cranky from mile 20 onwards and to shuffle post-event for several days.
via Drudge Report

Run Around

My friend Bernadette mentioned she was training for May's Pasadena Marathon. I thought, 'Why don't I blog about running anymore?' I had me. I had me cold. Maybe it's because progress is only measurable in geologic time. Since December I've steadily run (or run and walked) three times a week. And while I've been mostly injury-free, I can only progress as fast as I'm able to assimilate the chi running form. Since a slight pain while training for a marathon in 2008, I've started and stopped walking and running numerous times, grown depressed, ate quite a bit, became a tubby man, then commenced the exercise process all over again. In addition, my training attempts have been periodically interrupted by a galaxy of necessary physical repairs. I've had: Knee surgery in 2009. Physical therapy for a knotted shoulder tendon in Feb. 2010. Skin cancer surgery in May 2010. Now that knotted tendon has become a partially torn shoulder muscle. I'll need...surgery! The mileage and times I used to post seem mythic. Another reminder of things past was yesterday encountering Coach Katie (pictured on the left). We ran together for two miles around the Rose Bowl, discussing matters old and new. Very nostalgic and reminded me of how I took my health for granted and what a blast I had with Team in Training. I'm not ungrateful for everything that has befallen me. (Worse things were always possible.) And I had good health care. But years of start-and-stop make for boring blogging. 'Quixotic' comes to mind regarding my ever running distance again. Why not let it slide? Clearly, I'm too old and fragile for the sport. But something says I've got another marathon left. Maybe two. I'm just not ready to concede.