Ok....now I know I'm a bit tired lately, but I just realized, even though I wrote this email a few days ago, I think I fell asleep on the couch and never sent it off. I had wanted to recap our last run at Dodger Stadium, and it was a great run, but now I'm kind of in between my weekend summary, and my coming up email.
So....regardless, we had 24 runners last weekend, and it was a great day for a hill run..started cool, and didn't get too warm since we had quite a bit of cool shade at times. We did a full 3 laps...coming in just at 10 miles, and even though I was trying to back off on the last two laps, we still came in with a pretty good sub 15min/mile avg. pace given all the hill work. This was meant to be our last hard workout, and I think we delivered on that goal. Some of the other groups slacked off after only two laps, but RW5 went the distance.
This feels great, because now we can taper off a bit and take it easy up to the race day. I would still recommend that you do some running during the week, but this is mainly for maintenance, keeping everything loose, and to keep the momentum, but the heavy work is done. This coming Sat, the suggested run is only 6 miles to California....but I kind of like the tradition of running to the Totem Pole one last time....just for good luck's sake. So I would suggest we all get there early as usual, 6:45 at the flagpoles, try to leave by 7am, and let's get to the Totem pole and we'll take a bunch of group pictures, so bring your cameras.
Afterwards is when you'll get your wristband, and this will be our last meeting before the Marathon...so please be there.
As far as this whole corral business, I'm going to talk it over with the coaches, and we'll come to some decision. The question raised was whether we would join all the rest of the Roadrunners in the front corrals, or we just do our own thing and line up with the general populace in the back corral. Either way, we'll all run the marathon like we've trained and it's just a detail about the start point.
After this Saturday's run, the other tradition is that all the Roadrunners meet for brunch at El Cholo restaurant in Santa Monica. We pretty much take over the entire upstairs floor and it's slightly informal, but we generally try and grab a few big tables and sit together as a RW5 group. Everyone pays for themselves, but it's a group gathering. The don't really serve a traditional breakfast, and so it's a pretty large meal, with entres going for about $11-$15. I've attached their menu. It's all very good food and we might even see a pitcher of margarita or two. They don't open till 11am, but we like to get there early to grab some tables for our group. El Cholo - 1025 Wilshire Boulevard Santa Monica, CA 90401 - Wilshire around 10th Street. They offer valet parking, and if you're lucky you might find street parking in the neighborhood. Just be aware of the permit parking signs...fairly strict about that.
I just got an email from the Marathon confirming my registration..but I found it in my spam folder. You will need your bib number, and if you didn't get this email, you can still find it on the marathon website. http://www.active.com/uploads_search.cfm?UPM_ID=3673&CHECKSSO=0 ; Be sure you write down your number and when you go to the Expo at Dodger Stadium on Friday or Sat. you will enter the big tent and all the tables will be layed out in numerical order. Find your number range, and by showing your ID, and the number, they will give you your race bib. Take 4 safety pins, and then go to another table to get your goodie bag and T-shirt.
It's best not to spend too much time at the Expo, since you want to stay off your feet if necessary. The other big rule is don't go trying every free sample of supplements and power drinks, because you don't know how your system will react to it. Go ahead and take the free samples, but save it for after the Marathon. Last year the big thing was coconut water....some people had reactions to it, and it wasn't the kind you want during a race...especially with the long portapottie lines.
I will try and keep giving tips as we get close, but the cardinal rule is never try or do something new that you've never done before on race day. The other one is you can never be too early. Everything that might go wrong probably will that morning. There have been horrible traffic delays on the freeways in the past, so the more time you allow the better. My final one is that you've done the best you can, and the big relief is there is no more you can do, so just show up and enjoy the run. The total time, the target avg. pace, these are not what make the marathon, it's just about you getting out there and putting out the effort, going the distance....that's all that matters.
We have gone this far, we've put in all this effort, we've all change our lives a bit by this endeavor, and the best part is yet to come. I can't guarantee that each of us will have some life changing epiphany during the run, or that you will reach some level of realization or a deeper understanding of yourself, it could happen, but that's not why we run this. We will go out there and perform to our best capabilities because we all had some kind of goal, some reason to try, and it may not have been very clear why we did this in the first place, but that does not matter much at this point. I think the real real purpose now is to just finish what we have started. There is no turning back, we will do what we have started, and we will all do just fine.....this is the RW5 way. We owe it to ourselves.....we deserve this.
see you all there,
Walt
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