Big Sur Race Report

I know that there have been scores of readers waiting with baited breath for this RR, so here it is, and what a doozy. On Friday, I got off of work early to go to the expo. I spent about an hour or so there; long enough to get my bib, tag, etc. I got a great deal on a new watch, swung by the RW booth where I got to briefly meet Tish Hamilton, Susan, and Bart Yasso. Forgot to get an autograph, whoops...

On Saturday, I got to take my last little shakedown run; 2.5 miles. It went really well, and then all H3!! broke loose. I get home and DW says that Boy#3 is congested and not feeling well. Boys #1 and 2 started getting sick, so between chasing/caring for kids, doing dinner, and so forth, I went to bed at midnight. Ugh.

I got up at 2:30am so I could get to Monterey and the bus (definately regretting the decision to not go for a hotel). The upshot to the drive was I got to listen to the Beatification Mass for John Paul II. JP2 was a big inspiration for me growing up, and I was very happy to listen to the ceremonies from Rome.

I eventually got on the bus, and was transported to the magical place that is Marathon Village. Yes, we were in a parking lot at 4am in Carmel. Let’s say that the most popular place was the Safeway near the staging area. I got to the official, sanctioned staging area soon enough, and munched my bagel and coffee.

We got the orders to go to the starting corrals, and I soon found myself at the back of Corral A. Since I had put down my ultimate goal of sub-4:00, I was in Corral A for possibly the only time in my running career. I chatted up a nice lady in the corral with me, and before we knew it we were off!

Mile 1: 10:10, a little slow, but a nice warmup. Up the first hill.

Miles 2-10: Magnificent. Up and down the hills of the Carmel Highlands, and out to Big Sur. it was clear, sunny, cool, just gorgeous! I even logged a 7:47 mile at one point. I was chatting with a few people, life was good. On pace for a 3:50ish finish.

Mile 11: Started to slow a bit, I took this a sign that I need to switch to an energy conservation mode, took GU, tucked in. (10:25)

Miles 12-13: not bad, but feeling tired. Hit the 13.1 turnaround mark at 1:57, still on pace for a sub four.

Miles 14-15: Not bad, feeling slower, but the miles are manageable 10:15, 10:26.

Miles 16-26.2: WALL! Noooooo! What is this thing??? I go to a walk to try to regroup. I started running again at mile 17, and did a run/walk mix to get to the finish.

Low point was at mile 23, in the middle of the Highlands; I stopped at a bridge, strectched my calves (they were like rocks), and leaned over the bridge. I decided that even though I felt horrible, I was going to finish this mess. I have done fence work on the ranch with a full pack on for six or seven miles, had trained for this race, and I was going to finish, even if I had to drag my inert carcass over the line. Resume the walk/jog.

Miles 24 and 25 were through Point Lobos State Reserve. if you are ever in the Monterey Bay Area, you must go there. It was just gorgeous, sunny, the water was sapphire blue and calm. It motivated me to run most of this stretch.

I got out of Pt. Lobos, and made it to the finish. The last 20 yards, I put my hands up in the air, closed my eyes, and went for it. Official time: 5:00:31. Dad was waiting for me at the finish line. Dad is not the most demonstrative person going, so hearing him say, “I’m proud of you,” made me very happy.

I went into his race with a few goals: I met two of them (finishing and beating my time of 5:27 from 2007). I did not beat the 3:59 of my friend, but I will have more chances. There is no point in going into some the mean, dark places my mind went for awhile. Mike probably would have smiled, told me not to worry, and ask if I wanted a beer. While I was on that bridge in the Highlands, I decided that this was not my last marathon. In fact, I want to do Big Sur agian next year. There are a couple of pikermis (half-marathons) in the area between now and then.

There are a couple of things that went wrong: 1) trying to do 26.2 miles on 2 hours sleep is not a good idea, 2) I should have gotten more than 1-17.5 miler as a long run, 3) I really need to drop about 20#. At any rate, it was a beautiful day on the Pacific Coast, and I will do better next time.

A couple of photos:
At about mile 8, don’t I look happy?


Finish line in sight, thank heavens!

Tomorrow is the day!

In less than 24 hours, I will toe the line at the Big Sur Marathon. I am confident that I will finish the course, and do well. I went to the Expo in Monterey yesterday after work, and picked up my bib (number), timing tag, and other paraphenalia. I was a good little Donald and only got a couple of small items: a new watch ($12-amazing deal) and a copy of Going Long, a compilation of long essays from Runner's World magazine. I also met Bart Yasso and Tish Hamilton, both writers for RW. Both are really nice folks. Can you believe that Tish is doing the Boston to Big Sur Challenge. She ran the Boston Marathon 13 days ago, and is running the BSIM tomorrow.

My training did not go exactly as planned. My longest run was a 17.5 miler two weeks ago, but the backbone of my training was a lot of 8-10 mile runs, and even more 4-6 milers. When I did the 17.5 miler, I knew that I could run at least 20, but I didn't want to push it only two weeks out.

The goals:
"A" goal: Sub 4 hours, you know why.
"B" goal: Beat my 2005 SF marathon PR of 4:27.
"C" goal: Beat my 2007 BSIM debacle of ~5:25.

I'll be sure to post a race report either tomorrow evening or Monday. I hope you all have a great weekend.

*tap, tap* Is this thing on?

So it has been a lot longer than I really like to pass between posts. I think that may be a theme for this blog. Apologies for those of you who still look at this from time to time. I think that all three of this blogs "followers" live within one mile of me.

At any rate, it is March in Cienega. The vineyard is being pruned, and as always, the mad rush to finish before budbreak is on. We have had a pretty mild and wet winter, but along the way, we have had the usual frost and a small snowfall.

The family is ok. Leo and Joseph are three (and ten months). Oliver will turn the big ONE this coming Friday. Sadly, that is the day we will lay Alie's grandfather to rest (see previous post).

Lent is here. This is the latest start to Lent in recent memory, with Easter coming on 24 April. I've given up Facebook, and am looking to read several books that have been on the shelf for far. I'm looking to re-read and finish Jesus of Nazareth, especially as Pope Benedict released the second installment (covering Holy Week) this past week. Perhaps the Holy Week book can be a Holy Week/Easter season read.

Running took a dive this week, especially with getting to watch the boys with Alie out of town.

I hope this is the beginning of more productive blogging, and that this finds all of you in the ether well.

Look below for a new Oliver photo (this one taken just before Christmas):

Prayer Request-URGENT

Please offer prayers for Alie's grandfather, Dr. Jack Blackmon. He has suffered a massive heart attack, and will likely not survive the week. Pray for Alie and her family.

St. Joseph, patron of fathers, pray for us.
St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, pray for us.

***UPDATE: Jack passed away around 3am on Thursday (3/10) morning. Rest in peace, Jack.

Marathon training starts tomorrow

My 16 weeks of fun starts tomorrow. Marathon training. I got in an interesting long run this afternoon. I ran from the church (Tres Pinots) to the San Benito River Bridge. Total: 9 miles, 1 hour, 25 min. Here we go!

Still here, folks!

So I was just looking at the blog, and I noticed that I have only put up four posts this year. Thanks to all four or five of you who actually look at this thing. I'll be posting some photos of some fun things that have happened recently, like Ollie's baptism, decorating the grottoes (coming this Saturday), the vineyard, and general Wirz-boy shenanigans.

A followup to the the last post about Mike Ross. I have signed up to run Big Sur in May. I've done it once before; it is a challenge to put it mildly. I've started running again, which is really good. Come 2 January, I start formally training (actually running set distances each week). I'm looking at the race in several ways: a tribute to Mike (running Big Sur was actually something that one of our housemates in SLO and I had talked about doing), getting back into shape, getting back into running (I need a fixed goal to get my butt on the road), and simply, I like to run.

At this point, I'm looking to run the whole race without injuring myself. When I ran in 2007, I hurt my hip at mile 15. I was on pace for a 3:45 finish, but ended up walk/running the last 11 miles. I finished in about 5:20. I'd like to PR (my best time is 4:27), Mike ran San Diego in 3:59, so my pie-in-the-sky goal would be to run in under 3:50. This works out to about 8:45/mile. I can do this. Of course, I'll keep you posted.

Christmas is coming. We'll get the tree this weekend, if it isn't too rainy.

Thoughts on Mike Ross (1978-2010)

I did something that gave me great pause a few weeks ago; I buried a brother. Mike Ross, whom I went to Cal Poly with, and lived with for a year, died in an airplane crash on Sept 7. He was flying with his father, Bob, also a pilot, over Arkansas when their plane crashed. They both died in the crash; Mike was 32.

I do not have a biological brother. I told my mother to take my youngest sister, Esther, back to the hospital when she was born. I was six, but I had always wanted a brother. By the time I finished my year at the Joe (St Joseph) House in 2002, I felt that I had gained three brothers and two sisters. I have stayed pretty close to one of the men and one of the women, but I had let my relationship with Mike slide pretty bad. I had not seen him in the flesh for at least two years, and had not spoke or emailed him in a long time. Now, the opportunity to talk or visit Mike this side of heaven is gone.

Mike was a man of action, while I am one of contemplation. I remember after praying the Rosary one night for house prayer night at the Joe House, he said he really did not enjoy praying the Rosary that much. On the other hand, he served. He was a regular fixture at the Newman Center’s turn at People’s Kitchen, where the homeless of San Luis Obispo were fed daily. He took part in nearly every single housebuilding trip to Tijuana. Now, after death, I found that he was working for La Mancha Media, a non-profit that created online videos for other non-profits. He was also doing housebuilding trips to Tijuana every month. Mike was a source of God’s love and light in the world.

Recently, the 100th birthday of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta came and passed. Her ethos was to follow the great command of Jesus in Luke 25. “Whatever you do to these, you do unto me,”. This, I believe, was Mike’s approach to living his faith and life ingeneral.

This makes me stop, think, and demands that I examine my life. I try to live an honorable and faithful life. I feel like the young rich man who tells Jesus that he follows the commandments and asks what he must do to gain eternal life. Jesus tells him that he must sell all that he owns, leave his family, and follow. The young man cannot do this. At today’s dual memorial for Bob and Mike, no one talked about the the business that Bob ran or the job that Mike had. They talked about the kind of men that they were; men of love, integrity, and service. What kind of man am I, what kind of man or woman are you?

Some of the photos at Mike’s reception showed him running the 2008 San Diego Marathon. I am plan on running the 2011 Big Sur Marathon. Maybe I will beat his PR and mine. Maybe I’ll run for La Mancha Media. What will you do to the least of God’s children?