Boston Marathon Update

Our San Gabriel Valley coaches ran the 110th Boston Marathon today.

Jimmy: 3:17:34 (7:32 pace)

Kate: 3:30:54 (8:03 pace)

Katie: 3:26:50 (7:54 pace)
The United States made its best showing in years. And while 1st and 2nd place fell to Kenyans, U.S. Men grabbed 3,4 & 5, claiming five of the top ten finishes.

A new course record of 2:07:14 was set today.

In the Women's Division, no daughters of Uncle Sam finished in the top ten. A Kenyan won here as well. Eastern European and Japanese women perch atop female marathoning, but Kenyan women dominate Boston, sweeping three in a row and six of the last seven. Today's race was a nailbiter with the Kenyan surging for the win, holding off a late charge from a Latvian who finished 10 seconds behind.

I'm not sure who won the wheelchair division.

Or the couch-bed division.

But someone did.

Injured Runner Blues

My arms felt so tired this morning I wanted to stay in bed. This cast/crutches stuff is real, whether I like it or not. And today, I don't like it. I'm sore, sluggish, every movement a chore. My ankle bone hurts from rubbing against the inside of the cast.

This morning TNT was out doing 16 miles. Our coaches, the Kates, and my winter team coach, Jimmy, are all in Boston, running the big marathon on Monday.

Last night, our fundraising captain, Dave, emailed me that I'd won a TNT sweatshirt for suggesting blogs as a supplement to our individual TNT websites. Blogs are indeed a dandy way to update folks on your training progress — or, in my case, temporary lack thereof. In any event, winning said sweatshirt was a spot of color in an otherwise drab day.

I have a script due early next week. It's for a joint BBC /Australian TV production that will probably air on PBS. The client ordered episodes before the creative team figured out all the characters and situations. It's a bit like launching an unfinished boat and attempting to build the hull at sea.

You might make it.

Broken Bone Notes

A friend who suffered broken legs playing tennis and baseball said my "crutch form" needed work. I shouldn't be resting heavily on the top part. I should lean — as in running — and use gravity to propel me forward.

If you are not wide awake when you go to the bathroom at night, you will be by the time you return to bed.

The doctor who set my cast was peevish and bitter. He pretty much said he'd seen one broken foot bone too many. I wanted to tell him to quit that day and go chase his dream: design fighter aircraft or cathedrals; paint bridges; be a mime, whatever.

But I'm glad I didn't speak.

He was enjoying his misery too much.

Broke At Santa Anita

After three days, my underarms are tender. I've put pillows over the top of the crutches for cushioning. I wear a satchel around my neck so I can cart books, etc. from one room to the next. Stairs are a pain, but I'm learning.

My 5th metatarsal, the long bone on the outside of the foot, sustained a fracture on Saturday. A cast for at least three weeks, then, perhaps, a walking cast. No running for two months. So long San Diego Marathon.

This sucks large. But there's nothing to be done but get better and try again.

To those readers who planned to donate, please do so. I understand I can slide your donations forward to another TNT event. (I'm thinking Long Beach in the fall or Arizona in January 2007.) The money still goes to fight blood cancers, but it will be credited to an event I'll actually be running in. (God willing.)

In any case, having a broken foot has improved my writing. I'm no longer in a position to wander away from the computer when I should be cranking out an assignment.

I'll keep posting on the fortunes of the San Gabriel Summer 2006 TNTers.

And I'll head down to San Diego in June to cheer them on.

I should be walking just fine by then.

Injured In A New Exciting Way

Approaching Mile One at yesterday's Santa Anita 5K. I'm running as planned, eight-minute pace. The course turns off Baldwin Avenue into the LA Arboretum. As I follow the other runners, my right foot hits a hole and twists inward. Ouch!

I go from running to run-limp-to limping. I limp through the Arboretum into the hay district of Santa Anita race track. Bales and bales of hay lay stacked up in large open "barns." I follow the course as it flows through a tunnel that emerges up in the infield. From there I turn onto the race track: loose sand chewed up by previous runners. I run-limp across the finish line.

Doctor's tomorrow for x-rays.

After fighting back from a knee/tendon injury in February at Pacific Shoreline I figured I'd used up my damage quota for this marathon. But there are no guarantees in running or life.

I guess I'm lucky not to be a horse.

Team in Training would have to shoot me.

Running Shoe Annoyances

As we enter intense training, I realize I need another pair of runnning shoes. Two pair, actually. One to break-in for the marathon and one to rotate with my current shoes. I'm partial to Brooks. They're a comfortable fit. Naturally, Brooks has stopped making my brand.

This really frosts me. I'm not interested in shoe shopping all over again.

Now I must.

What swine these shoe people are!

A Wet Fourteen Miles

TNT mileage increases. Yesterday we covered 14 muddy miles in and around the Rose Bowl. As I drove to practice, I saw other groups coping with the morning's downpour. The Korean-American Running Club — most noted for their lime, day-glo jerseys that can be seen from outer space — today wore fifty-five gallon trash bags. A most disposable rain coat. They looked like giant, jogging plums.

Trails were a mess, churned up by other runners and hikers. One of our mile markers is a support post under the 210 Freeway. Someone graffittied, "TNT. Go Team! 2006." A childish frame-up. Obviously, no real TNTer spray-painted that. If so, there would've been a URL or address where you could send money.

The deluge stopped, leaving a cool pleasant day — perfect distance-running weather. The various pace groups ran, walked, slipped and splashed our way up past JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories: they send things into space to photograph Mars and the Korean-American Running Club), into the Angeles National Forest, up to the Elmer Fudd Bridge (it's Elmer Smith but "Fudd" resonates), then back down the trail to the Finish Line in Parking Lot K of the Rose Bowl.

Next week is another 3.1 mile race ala Emerald Nuts. Saturday we'll be at the Santa Anita Derby Days 5K. In keeping with the race track theme, several of our faster runners will wear weights and at least two must carry small men on their backs.

More as details unfold.