Final Four Flashback

In honor of UCLA’s appearance in the Final Four this weekend, I’d like to tell a story about the last time the Bruins made a run to the National Championship in 1995.

One of the stars on that ’95 team was a point guard named Tyus Edney, who single-handedly saved the season with a length-of-the-court drive to make the winning basket as time expired in a second-round game, giving UCLA a 1-point victory to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

I wasn’t friends with Tyus, but during the spring of 1993 he and I sat next to each other in an introductory speech class. We sat in the back of the room, and neither of us was exactly passionate about public speaking, or paying attention to others who were.

We killed time by reading books during class (I know, I know…it’s irresponsible and disrespectful, but believe me, this class was boooorrrrring.), and we noted with amusement one time that we were both reading the same book, Jurassic Park.

Seeing that I was further along than him, I broke the ice by asking if he had come to the part where the kids die yet (note: they never died, but he didn’t know that). That led to casual conversations before and after class each day.

Those led to another day when I leaned over and told him, “I find that whenever I have to make a game-winning shot, a running one-handed hook shot off the glass seems to work well for me.” Little did I know he would take my words to heart in the ’95 NCAA Tournament.

OK, I made up that last paragraph. But the rest of the story is true.

The funny thing is, I had forgotten all about Tyus Edney and most of the 1995 Bruins until just this month. Then UCLA makes the Final Four again and I remember all of these random, fleeting associations I had with the team, and it brings back fun memories of college in vivid detail - like it hasn't really been more than a decade since I was there.

It’s just one of the many things I love about sports. And it’s why I’ll be watching again this weekend. Go Bruins!

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Determination

Physical training only carries you so far in preparation for a race. Successful marathoning also requires the ability to overcome psychological obstacles at various stages of the race.

And while most of us have a pretty good idea of what our bodies are capable of, sometimes the psychological element looms like the great unknown. During the training process, it’s hard to be absolutely certain how you will respond to various types of adversity on race day.

This notion causes a great deal of anxiety among marathoners. From first-time marathoners just trying to finish the race, to runners looking to reach an ambitious goal time, we all have the same concerns about how we will react when the going gets tough.

That’s why workouts like this morning’s track session are so valuable.

I arrived at the track a few minutes early to start my warm up, and didn’t think anything of the fact that I was the only one there. Then the designated start time came and went, and I was still the only runner on the oval.

Finally I remembered that most of my training partners are racing a half-marathon this weekend, and realized they probably wouldn’t be coming out this morning.

My feelings about track workouts are best described as a love/hate relationship. I love the improvements they produce, and the satisfaction of finishing a tough session. But I hate – capital H, Hate – doing these workouts by myself.

And that was the very prospect I faced this morning. I had hoped to repeat the 8x1600m workout that I did last week, but that workout was greatly facilitated by my drafting off of others at times, and having the encouragement of the rest of the group working through the same challenge. That wouldn’t happen this morning.

At other times of the year, this is the point when I would modify the workout to do fewer repetitions, or shorter intervals, or a short tempo run. But this is the end of March, and the Big Sur Marathon is less than 5 weeks away.

So I put my game face on, took a deep breath, and ran the whole dang workout.

Needless to say, it seemed more difficult today than last week. My breathing was more labored, and I had to work much harder to stay on my target pace.

In the end, the intervals were all slower than last week – but not by a lot. They were only 5-10 seconds per mile off of last week's pace, and the times for all of them were within 4 seconds of each other.

It wasn’t the fastest workout I’ve done, but it may become one of the most important as race day approaches. Today’s session was more about the psychological challenge than the physical. It gave me a glimpse of what I’m capable of when I encounter unexpected difficulty.

The marathon is coming soon. And I know how I’ll respond.

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Rainbow Runners

A couple of administrative notes before today's post: First, thanks to everybody who commented on yesterday's post. There was some very funny stuff there that gave me a smile.

Second, please head over to Stronger's blog and drop her a note of encouragement or support. She is going through a horrible time right now, and perhaps some kind words might give her a bit of comfort.

On with today's post...


It’s been difficult for my son and me to consistently find time for his 5K training. We’ve had a Seattle-like string of consecutive rainy days – not continuous, but something every day, usually in the afternoons when we normally run after school.

As I said before, I had been reluctant to venture out in the rain with him for our running, because I didn’t want to risk having it become a negative experience for him. So last week we had two cancellations before finally getting in a workout, and we were rained out on Monday afternoon as well.

Knowing that the rest of my afternoons this week were booked, Tuesday was kind of a “now or never” day. And when I arrived home, it was raining again. We were both resigned to the sad plight of missing our workout for the week.

And then the sky cleared somewhat. I called to my son: “Get your shoes on – hurry up!”

We laced up our shoes, started out the front door…and the rain started falling again. My son became disappointed, and I grew more frustrated.

Finally, determination took over. I told my son to go and put on his baseball cap. When he asked me why, I told him it was to keep the rain off his face, because we were going running. With a look of surprise, he went into the house to retrieve it.

He climbed into the car wearing both his cap and his baseball glove. When I asked what was up with the glove, he replied, “It’s so I can catch the cats and dogs.”

I mean,...that’s funny, right? The kid’s seven years old, and he came up with that on his own. I couldn’t help but crack up.

So there we were, preparing to run, with my son making a cleverly sarcastic joke and complaining about the weather. And it occurred to me that maybe he does take after me in some ways after all.

We went running through the drizzly, fading sunlight, and saw about five different
rainbows as the clouds shifted and light danced off the hills of Carmel Valley. We talked about his school day, his after school chess club, and his “she’s-not-really-my-girlfriend” girlfriend with whom he has a play date on Wednesday.

It wasn’t a negative experience for him. As for me, it was easily the best half-hour of my day.


5K Kid workout: 3x800m jogging, with last 50m of each one fast. 200m walking after each interval. Total distance 3000m.

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Hypothetical Questions

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you’ve been assigned to work in a new office, sharing your space with two other people you don’t know, separated only by 4’ cubicle dividers.

Let’s say that when you asked to borrow a Sharpie, you were told to put in a requisition request so that you don’t drain money from someone else’s budget. Again, hypothetically.

Let’s say that you got a raised-eyebrow look when you dropped your discarded banana peel in your office mate’s trash can, since you hadn’t been assigned your own receptacle yet.

Let’s also say, hypothetically, that you are a runner who likes to exercise at lunch time.

How long should you respectfully wait until you start bringing a gym bag stuffed with sweaty, possibly smelly workout clothes back into the new office?

And finally, how long would you wait before playing the Fall Out Boy and Green Day files on your computer to combat the sound of billing collections being conducted over the telephone in the adjacent cubicle?

I’ve been wondering these things today.

(You know, hypothetically...)

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Sons of Westwood

I think I’ve mentioned here before that my wife and I are both UCLA alumni. So you can imagine what a nice day it was for me on Saturday afternoon, watching them scrap and claw their way into the Final Four this weekend.

To say the least, it wasn’t what you would call a pretty game. There were tons of fouls and missed shots and missed free throws and turnovers and absolutely no rhythm to the game. Both teams scored fewer points than the UCLA football team put up in several games last fall.

Our local newspaper called it the most boring game of the tournament. My friend sent me an e-mail that said, “UGH. Horribly played game. Neither team deserved to win. Ugly ugly ugly.”

Despite all of that, I thought the game was beautiful.

Although it seems strange, I’ve had lifelong affection for UCLA, and I’m very grateful for the years I spent there. Last fall I wrote an article about how UCLA basketball set me on my life’s path when I was still a child. It’s not a running-related article, but it’s a nice circle of life-type story you can read here if you want.

UCLA was the location of a lot of beginnings for me. It was where I found the girl who would become wy wife, established a foundation for my career, and matured (somewhat) into an independent adult. It was also the place where I first became a marathon runner (a story I'll tell another time), training for countless hours on the beautiful campus with some of the best friends I’ve ever had.

Needless to say, I have fond memories of my time there. Although I no longer live near Westwood, whenever the school sits in the national spotlight, I remember all of the good times I had and great things I learned. And when it comes to college basketball, seeing UCLA in the Final Four just feels natural, like it’s the way things should be.

So if you’re looking for somebody to cheer for this weekend…well, cheer for George Mason, because those guys are amazing. But if UCLA comes through and wins the whole deal, know that I’ll be watching at home with an enormous smile on my face, knowing that everything is right in the world. Go Bruins!

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The Grind

From time to time I get questions about workouts, and what kind of training I do during my marathon buildup.

I’m not usually one to post details of specific workouts, but I know there are some “numbers” guys out there (like Rob or Jeff) who would like to know what I’m up to – you know, besides watching American Idol and complaining about the weather.

So today I’m throwing them a bone. One of the staples of my marathon training is a workout of 1-mile (road) or 1600m (track) intervals. Yesterday I had one of my better sessions, doing 8x1600m with a very slow recovery lap between each.

This season I’ve slightly changed my approach to this workout. In years past I ran each interval at about 90-95% of my top effort, for as long as I could hold consistent splits. Typically this meant 5 or 6 intervals in the 5:45-5:55 range, with 6:00 or greater being my “cease and desist” line.

Lately I’m trying to complete more intervals by dialing down the intensity one notch. I’ve found that just a small decrease in effort makes a huge difference in how long I can continue the workout. As an added bonus, I don’t feel quite so beat up afterwards.

Yesterday I warmed up with 1.5 miles, then got down to business. Here’s how the 1600m intervals played out:

Mile 1: 6:07 (nice, smooth, easy – no worries)
Mile 2: 6:02 (more of an effort, but still cruising)
Mile 3: 6:03 (OK…now we’ve got ourselves a workout)
Mile 4: 5:55 (too fast, and too stupid - I got sucked into keeping up with some of the big dogs, which may have been a mistake)
Mile 5: 5:59 (that’s more like it…but suddenly I’m not so comfortable anymore)
Mile 6: 5:59 (working very hard now, but under control…and no longer trying to keep up)
Mile 7: 6:01 (thought I would slow down a lot more, but my leg turnover stayed right on pace)
Mile 8: 6:00 (close to race effort, legs very heavy, fuel tank nearly empty)

I finished very exhausted but happy, and cooled down with another 1.5 miles. During the cooldown, my running partner said, “God, that workout was a grind.” It’s a pretty accurate description. The workout required a lot of mental focus as well as physical stamina. It’s the kind of workout that feels great to finish.

Overall, these track sessions have been going pretty well. But like everything else I do nowadays, I’ll withhold judgment on their effectiveness until May 1st - the day after Big Sur.

***

5K Kid training update: Monday’s workout: rained out, rescheduled for Tuesday. Tuesday’s workout: rained out, rescheduled for Thursday. (Note: sure, we could have run in the rain anyway, but my son wasn’t crazy about getting wet, and my main concern at this point isn’t to instill toughness, but to help him enjoy running. Besides, he doesn’t have any coolmax gear.)

Thursday’s workout: 800m jog, 200m walk, 800m jog, 200m walk, 400m jog w/ fast 100m at the end, 200m walk, 500m jog w/ fast 100m at the end. Total distance 3100m. More than halfway there!

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Lessons From Spring Break

Today’s post is an easy one, so I thought I’d take a minute to ponder something with you…

While watching The Amazing Race this season, I’ve considered how many million other people are tuned in at the same time. Specifically, there have to be way more fans of this show than for some sporting events like the WNBA or professional soccer, or (sadly) even running.

Here’s my thought: in most casinos, you can gamble on the aforementioned sports leagues (in Vegas, you can even bet on the Las Vegas Marathon). Has anyone thought to take wagers on questions like “In what episode will Eric and Jeremy hook up with the Pink girls?”, “What city will they be in when they first make out?”, or “Which girl will go with Eric, and which with Jeremy?”

It seems if there were some sports bookie that opened these lines, he would see a lot of action. There’s definitely a lot of money that could trade hands. Why not open the reality TV floodgates, and start laying odds on which girl will end up with The Bachelor, whether Lenny from The Apprentice will ever reveal a previous affiliation with the KGB, or set an over/under on how many times we’ll see Cirie’s pixellated breasts falling out of her swimsuit on Survivor this season.

Then again, maybe that’s just my quirky mind at work.

Anyway, on to today’s post…it’s a link to our Monterey Herald article from last week, about lessons learned from the 2006 Napa Valley Marathon. Give it a look here, then feel free to let me know what you think.

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