Half Fanatic: PV, Portland, and Laguna Hills

3 Half Marathons the last 2 weekends...  in addition to 100 mile bike ride along PCH between Santa Monica and Camarillo and Tower 26 ocean swims...definitely has kept me busy.
Running is going well.  I feel fast although legs do feel a bit tired from all the Ironman training.  My cycling is not to the level I want to be at, but I still have a few months until my main event at Ironman Canada.  ( of course, I will also compete at Ironman Coeur D'Alene in 3 weeks, but that will be just another long training day.)
Swim is good.  I feel comfortable in open water, even in the ocean and dealing with waves...However, I am not a fast swimmer, but I know I can get by.  My focus during the swim will be to get from the swim start to the swim finish at a sustainable pace that will preserve energy for the 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run.

My Post ACL reconstructed right knee is a bit sore from all the running.  Palos Verdes was hilly, Portland was very hilly, and Laguna Hills had some hills as well.  Throw in the Big Sur Marathon last month and I guess knee soreness is to be expected.  I've even had to take some NSAIDs and also Glucosamine and Chondroitin. I am also a big proponent of massage and that definitely helps with recovery after these tough races and workouts.

As for the 3 races, PV is my home course.  I love the ocean views and the beautiful homes; one of them is mine!  In fact, I ran to and from home to the race start/ finish at Terranea resort.  I ended up running 17 miles, jumping in the shower, and going to the airport for my flight to Portland.  Portland was nice.  I enjoy the city and the people.  It reminds me a lot of San Francisco, my old "hometown".  I ran Portland Half on Sunday morning and had Dim-Sum and shopped at Powell bookstore and visited the Chinese garden before returning to LA.  The Portland course was hilly.  It rained towards the latter part of the race, but at least the temp was cool and very comfortable for running.  I enjoyed it and missed a PR by about a minute.  Perhaps if I didn't run PV the day before, I would have set a PR.  Finally this past Memorial Day, I ran Laguna Hills.  The race raises funds for the Marine Corps Dark Horse Battalion and their 3/5 Battalion Support Committee.  People carried American flags.  There were plenty of Marines and their family members running the race.  It was a race that made me proud to be an American, running in the "Land of the Free".  I was about 2 minutes slower than Portland, but not bad considering that I biked 100 miles on Saturday.

This coming Sunday I will be running Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon, site of my first marathon and also site of my 3rd Place marathon relay finish in the Men's division.

Big Sur International Marathon Relay: 2nd Place Corporate Division

Big Sur is amazing.  Still my favorite marathon.  Yes, I ran the whole 26.2 miles again.  What's 26.2 miles when you're spending it in paradise.  Big Sur 2007 was one of the first few marathons I ever ran, #5. At that time, I had an out-of-this-world experience due to the beauty and majesty of this place.  I came within a minute of setting my PR at that time.  In 2009, I completed the last quarter mile of the relay in a knee brace due to a torn ACL and MCL.  This year, I ran the first leg at 7 min-mile pace and then continued on to complete the whole marathon.  Our relay team came in 2nd Place in the Corporate Division!  Here are the pics from a great weekend.