Welcome to 2015…..
I started the New Year out with the Rose Parade Bandit Run, an unofficial sanction race. I did this last year and it was a lot of fun.
One of the floats
The Rose Parade Bandit Run starts around 4:30am in the morning. We run the parade route in reverse. The route out is about 5.5 miles to the floats. This gives us abut 30-45 minutes to look at the floats up close. Then we run back before the parade starts.
What makes this so much fun is all the people who have stayed over night on the parade route. Unfortunately, this year with the colder weather, there weren’t that many people sleeping, walking around, or just talking within their own groups. But regardless, it was still a lot of fun though a bit on the cold side.
Some of us stopped on the way back at a pub for some substance, be it beer and/or food. I opted for the food as I couldn’t quite stomach having a beer that early in the morning.
Patty, Chris and I ran back just before the parade got near the pub. I’m glad to say we did beat the floats and the bands as they came down the route or else, we would have been running on the sidewalk with all of the people waiting for the parade to reach them.
I opted not to register for any races prior to the LA Marathon. I wanted to be sure I stayed focused on my training for this, my first marathon.
View from Del Cerro Park
Overall, the training has gone well. I do worry that I am not getting the long miles in. The main reason is we are still running/walking mountains. Most of these runs are about 6-7 miles up a mountain which we try to run as much as possible then 6-7 miles running back down.
So I’m not feeling that ready yet. Though I have been reassured that all of this mountain running/walking is building my endurance that I will need to do the 26.2 miles.
I did do an extra mountain run/walk on January 19th with a group of SoleRunners up to Mount Lowe. In the early 1900s, a railroad and cable car transported people up to the hotel and tavern. There was also an observatory before fires and winds destroyed it all a few short years later.
Mount Lowe…Inspiration Point
This hike/ran was by far the most challenging of all the mountain “runs” I have done. We did a combination of hiking and running up Mount Lowe’s trails hugging the mountain side, stepping over old tracks, and chicken type of wire that prevented the rocks from slipping as we stepped on them. And we ran the majority of the way down, all the while, trying not to slip on the loose rocks and gravel on the trail or go over the side.
My leg muscles were certainly achy for a day or two after that hike. But I certainly felt like a badass as this hike took us about 5 1/2 hours to do 11 1/2 miles with an elevation climb of over 4500 feet along with our stops to enjoy the magnificent views of the LA Basin and beyond.
The fish at San Pedro’s pier.
I ended the last day of January with my longest run, 4 hours. And by far, the most miles I have ever run, 17! My feet and mainly three toes on my right foot hurt by the time I got done.
I must say I was surprised that by the end of the day after a nap, my body felt fine and even my three toes and both feet no longer hurt.
As we end this first month of 2015, are you on target for your goals? What are you doing that is keeping you focused? Or are you trying to get back on track?