Day 5 of 2012 LA Marathon Training

This edition of my LA Marathon training blog comes to you from Gualala, California where I am with my parents for Thanksgiving. It was a bit subdued this year as my brother and his family couldn’t come up as they were busy working, but I didn’t want t my parents to be on their own. Plus, those familiar with the place known as Sea Ranch can attest that it is one of the best places on Earth to avoid the ridiculous madness of Black Friday. That day always seems to bring out the worst in everyone. Why don’t people shop online instead?

Anyway, whenever I’m in Sea Ranch my dad insists on taking me to the gym that’s there so we can work out together. He lost 90 pounds in the last two years without Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, so he’s clearly in better shape than I am. But instead of trying to compete with him for six pack abs, I was determined to run the 8 miles I needed to on the treadmill.

Now granted, there are a number of trails in Sea Ranch to run around, but the weather up here recently has been furiously windy and rainy. You know, just like during the 2011 LA Marathon. I do hope this isn’t an omen of things to come in 2012!

The particular gym my dad and I go to is a small one, and when we got there I saw that all three treadmills were occupied. Should have known people would flock over here the day after Thanksgiving! Then again I should talk. I had a fantastic dinner of turkey, yams, creamed corn which is to die for, and brussel sprouts which I would otherwise not bother to eat. It would have been a perfect dinner were it not for the heartburn and indigestion which wreaked unrelenting havoc on my body at the evening’s end. Thank goodness for baking soda mixed in water!

One guy who was doing these unusual exercises on the treadmill of running backwards and side to side saw me waiting and invited me to jump on and take over. When this happens, I usually go through that thing of saying “are you sure?” As much as I wanted him to get off, I didn’t want to be overly selfish or greedy about it. It can be hard to tell if you’re being nice or a dick when you’re in this situation sometimes.

This is the first time in ages I’ve bothered running on a treadmill, and everyone seems to equate that with sheer boredom. I started to wonder if would be like watching paint dry. Fortunately a high definition television was nearby where CNN was bringing us up to date news. The sound was off, but the headlines running on the bottom of the screen spoke louder than anything we could have heard.

Presidential Michelle Bachman was said to have called Newt Gingrich the most liberal of the GOP candidates which reeks of utter desperation on her part. Newt and liberal are not things which go together if at all, you know? Then there’s all the craziness generated by Black Friday which made me glad I stayed far away from Best Buy among other places. One report said a customer used pepper spray on others to protect what must have been a bargain of a lifetime for her. There were other reports of people getting robbed as they were going in and out of a Wal Mart, one of the last places you will ever see me going into. The greed that consumes Americans in general is just disgusting! It made me appreciate running on the treadmill a lot more in retrospect.

Of course then came the kicker; a Pakistani woman whose husband had been abusive to her ended up killing and cooking him. It sounds like someone has serious anger management issues which need to be worked out! After that, I was in no hurry to consume any turkey leftovers and I can still hold off on that Pecan Pie which I had no room for at the end of Thanksgiving.

I had a good run and kept up with the interval training of 3 minutes running and 1 minute walking. I was conscious of my form throughout and never once landed on my heel. But I did keep thinking some smartass would come from around the corner telling me I was doing everything wrong. You know, some person (usually a guy) who is trying to be helpful but looks at you like you have no brain. Their ego has them believing they are God’s gift to exercising, and they can’t stand it when others are screwing up their workout. They just make you question everything you do, and it always pisses me off when they feel the need to butt in. Maybe they’re just jealous of my somewhat flabby body…

In terms of pace, I was running a 12 minute mile. Granted, the pace group I’m in (Twisted Blisters) is supposed to be running at a pace of 13 minutes and 30 seconds, but I wanted to speed up in case the treadmills got occupied again which would force me to get off sooner than I wanted. Those signs you see in every gym of how cardio activity needs to be limited to 30 minutes if people are waiting were unsurprisingly on display. In the back of your mind, you always hope no one notices the signs so that you can remain undisturbed in your quest of reaching your goal, whatever it may be. Fortunately, the number of people in the gym dwindled down to a few, and I didn’t have to surrender the treadmill to anyone.

For the record, I ran just over 5 miles. I wanted to do 8, but I had to leave the gym when my dad finished his workout as he was my ride. I do plan to run the other 3 miles and then some when I go back to the gym on Sunday. Never let it be said that I don’t take my training seriously! After that, the two of us went to the nearby Trinks cafe where we had a snack and coffee. Well, he had a coffee but I instead consumed a raspberry Italian soda along with a chocolate chip cookie and another which had peanut butter M&M’s in them. My dad thought I was nuts, but I told him that we always load up on calories after a run (he said rubbish to that).

On our way back on Highway 1, we saw a traffic sign which said:

“ABALONE SEASON CLOSED”

This had me thinking of a song called “Wet Dream” by Kip Addotta, and I said out loud:

“Abalone! They’re just being shellfish!”

My dad thought that was brilliant, but of course I wouldn’t take credit for it. But I didn’t just say it for the halibut!

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I now have raised $295 which is 30% of my goal of raising $1,000 for AIDS Project Los Angeles. Trust me when I saw this is the tax deductible donation you have been waiting to make. Please click here to learn more.

Click down below to read the other days of my 2012 LA Marathon Training:

Day 1, 2, 3, and 4


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