03/21/10 Los Angeles Marathon

I finally got around to doing the math for my LA Marathon split. This was the wrong race to aim for a negative split because there was no marker at all for the 13.1 mile halfway point, so I simply guessed (randomly picked) a spot that seemed about one tenth of a mile after the 13th mile marker. According to my completely unscientific approximation at that point, my first split was 1:44:37, which is EXACTLY an even split for a 3:29:14 finish time. Of course, if I guessed wrong, perhaps my first half was 1:44:38 and my second half was 1:44:36...? Who knows.
In case anyone is interested, here are my mile splits.
1) 7:42 (faster than I wanted)
2) 7:23 (woops, too fast again)
3) 7:22 (downhill, sorry!)
4) 8:10
5) 8:42 (uphill - the "Music Center Mountain")
6) 7:32
7) 7:52
8) 8:02
9) 8:01 (finally settled into the pace I wanted for first half)
10) 8:03
11) 8:12 (if I had a nickel for every SRLA kid that passed me at "Red Bull" speed...)
12) 8:02
13) 8:30 (uphill, and I used this as a "rest mile" to get ready to speed up the 2nd half)
14) 7:58
15) 7:54
16) 8:05 (trying to speed up, but I think planet Earth must be slowing down or something)
17) 8:05
18) 8:12 (my plan was to get the 2nd half pace around 7:45, but things not going as planned)
19) 7:59 (okay, getting warmer...)
20) 8:01 (oh for Pete's sake... Who the hell is Pete anyway? Peter Piper? Peter Pan?)
21) 8:28 (uphill, grrr... completely lost my sense of humor, everything is now anti-funny)
22) 8:13 (I've stopped caring and just want it to be over. Hello wall!)
23) 7:54 (and now that I couldn't care less, I'm obviously relaxed and running faster!)
24) 7:52 (then I got through the wall and started passing people, including some SRLA kids!)
25) 7:41 (I told myself that everyone else's legs hurt too, so stop being such a diva)
26) 7:36 (once I could see the finish line, I was really able to push hard despite the pain)
I didn't feel tired at all. In fact, I remember that my mouth was completely closed and I was breathing through my nose for the last five miles - that's something I'm usually able to do when I run at a comfortable "fresh" pace. The problem seemed to be that my quads really started to hurt at the halfway point - not cramps or anything, just heavy and sore, like they were bruised from being beaten with a hammer. I'm pleased that I was able to increase the pace, despite the pain, during the last four miles, but in reality it's not too impressive considering those miles were all downhill. I think I wasn't ready for any uphill at all. As you can see, even the slightest incline really affected my pace. But I'm glad to be back under 3:30 and hoping to get even faster this year! I think my 30th marathon will be San Diego Rock 'n Roll on June 6th.

05/23/09 Jesolo Night Marathon, ITALY

Italian Lesson One: "Dove Piazza San Marco?"
(Do-vay Pee-yaht-sah Sahn Marrr-ko? Roll the "RRR" in Marco)
Translation: Where is Saint Mark's Square?

After six months of Italian lessons, we arrived in Venice and immediately got lost.
But fortunately, the very first thing we learned was how to ask for directions to Saint Mark's Square in Venice. In my best Italian, I politely asked a man for directions.
He responsed with, "Es tut Mir Leid, aber Ich kann nicht Italianisch."
Which means "I can't speak Italian" IN GERMAN.
Lorenzo promptly stepped in and had a five minute conversation with the guy, IN GERMAN.

Good thing we spent all that time learning Italian.
And it was even better that Lorenzo mastered German back in high school...



The palace in Piazza San Marco.


Lorenzo at the Grand Canal in Venice.


I had to get in a little climbing!


It almost sounds edible in Italian, but it's still McDonalds.


Sun about to set before the start of the Night Marathon.


Seriously, this is NOT a postcard.


Lorenzo rented a bicycle towards the start and took some of these great pictures before the runners came along.


The pace car, a Lamborghini of course!


The lead pack coming down the street.


The first big wave of runners.


I started in the purple short sleeved shirt, but was sweating even before the start in 75 degree temperatures with about 80% humidity.


It was completely dark by the time Lorenzo was able to work his way through the crowd and catch up to me. But it was still warm and humid, so the shirt had to come off.


Even in Italy, they have Super-Size French Fries.
Mi dispiace! (I'm sorry!)


For those of you who know him, you'll agree that this looks EXACTLY like Keith!


The road was lit with candles for much of the course making it the most romantic marathon that I have ever run!


After running Vancouver and Toronto, I'm starting to get the hang of this Kilometer thing.
Marathons are 26.2 miles which is 42 Kilometers, so the course marker in this photo means there is still an eternity left before the finish!


When "FINISH" is written in big bold letters across the course, it means the same thing in Italian as it does in English!


My shorts were so sweaty that I had to repeatedly grab the hem and wring them out as I ran! This was by far the sweatiest I have EVER been!


Smiling in the internet cafe when I saw the marathon results.


Tenth female, first American female!


After the marathon, it was a perfect opportunity to rent a scooter and enjoy some Italian countryside scenery. It looks like Lorenzo was enjoying the scenery... of himself!


This is my "Perfect Italian Photograph" - the scooter, the Adriatic Sea, and cappuccino!!



Italian port-o-potties are "jolly" in Italy!


Our gracious hosts and their family at the beach, thank you Ivan & Franchesca!



Every meal was amazing, especially when staying with local hosts who were related to the owner and the chef!


A kiss in Venice IS even more romantic. In fact, the captain of a ferry pulled over and waited for us to take this photo before boating behind us. Afterwards, he gave us the thumbs up, the universally recognized sign for "Vita e buona" (Life is good).

02/08/09 Melbourne Florida Marathon & Mom's Birthday!

The innaugural Melbourne Music Marathon was 2/8/09, and more importantly, so was my mom's birthday!

The course was made up of two laps around a 13.1 mile loop. It was mostly flat except for two bridges over the water, which each had to be done twice. Every few miles, we were treated to some musical entertainment.

It was so great to see Mom at the halfway point!

I can't remember if this was the first lap or the second... But it was so great to have Lorenzo keep me company and more importantly, he kept me smiling!


Mom and Grandma cheering at the finish made me feel like I could run the whole thing all over again!

I was shocked to see my results!

Due to the fact that this was the first year of this marathon, the organizers seemed a bit unorganized at the awards ceremony. We had to wait over an hour, but it was worth it to receive my first gold medal!

Marathon Results

The next day, we took our Couchsurfing host Rhonda to the rock climbing gym in Melbourne.

Then Lorenzo and I drove down to Key Largo.

John Pennekamp state park.

Feeding the tarpon.

Then it was back to Cocoa Beach to spend more time with Mom and Grandma. This is their "backyard" - the Atlantic Ocean.



Thanks to Grandma and Mom for all the homemade meatballs and lasagna!

11/02/08 Muddy Buddy!

I've always wondered if "friendly competition" actually exists. So Lorenzo and myself reunited as Team Run Zola Run to compete against our friends Kevin & Aaron in the Muddy Buddy Race.

This event requires teams of two people to trade off between running and riding a bicycle, just one bicycle per team. So if this is something that you are interested in doing, make sure you pick a team-mate whose seat height is within the same stratosphere as yours. After consulting with several other friends who have participated in this event, we were repeatedly warned that it would be difficult to find our bike in the transition areas so I decided to decorate it with a sparkly wrap (as in gift, not gangsta).

We were also repeatedly warned that we should expect to get quite muddy. The last portion of the event requires both team members to jointly cross a mud pit on hands and knees to the finish line. Fortunately for you, the reader, our "friends" Aaron & Kevin beat us quite handily so Aaron had plenty of time to capture these muddy moments. If you look closely, you can see a very large quantity of mud backfiring directly up my nose.

Keeping true to the "friendly" part of the competition, here is where I most humbly post Aaron's victory video.



L.A. Muddy Buddy - 2008 from Aaron Price on Vimeo.

Thanks to my "friends" for showing me that competition can be friendly and fun! We gladly toasted "Here's to no more mud in our eyes!"