Fun with the number 10

In recognition of my back-to-back 10 mile runs and Katrina's 10th Half Marathon in 10 days, I figured I would have a little fun and come up with a list of things that never made it to 10:

1. Star Wars — 6 movies
There were the original trilogy (films 4-6) and the prequel trilogy (1-3) and you could event try to count the Holiday Special, but at most that would give you 7.

2. Michael Jordan — 6 championship rings
His Airness went three-peat twice with a two year hiatus playing baseball after the loss of his father.

3. Nirvana — 6 years
They recorded together for 6 years between 1988-1994 ending with the untimely death of lead singer Kurt Cobain from a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

4. Harry Potter— 7 books
There are a total 7 books to date and we can most likely rely on a seventh film (currently at 6).

5. Freddy Kruger — 8 movies
There were eight movies made between 1984 and 2003 (including Freddy vs. Jason). Note: They are remaking the original Nightmare starring Jackie Earle Haley.

6. George Foreman — 76-5
The man with his name on the grill only lost 5 fights between 1969 and 1997, losing his first fight to Muhammad Ali at the "Rumble in the Jungle." Overall he won 76 fights; with 68 by way of knock out.

7. The Tim Burton produced film: 9

8. Angelina Jolie — 6 children

Brad and Angelina have six children: Maddox , Zahara, Pax, Shiloh and their new set of twins; Knox Leon and Vivienne.

9. This list.

Running Nirvana

Decision made! I will be running the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon on Saturday, June 26, 2010. There is a price increase this Sunday, so if you are on the fence, now is the time to register. Here is a quick RUNdown about the event

Location: Seattle, WA

Start Line: At Village in Tukwila’s Gateway Corporate Center, you will find refreshments, sports drink, water, medical support and the Official Gear Check.

Finish Line: Finish outside of Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahwaks.

Finish Line Festival: After the race, reunite with family and friends in the Family Reunion area and relish in your post race accomplishment with refreshments and live music at the finish line stage. (Concert TBA)

Course: Both the marathon and ½ marathon start together at Gateway Corporate Center and run the same course for over 9 miles, culminating in an exciting side-by-side downtown finish outside Qwest Field. Keep your eyes and ears open as you run past some beautiful Seattle sites and hear the talents of local musicians on the entertainment stages. DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE COURSE MAP

Course Description: Both the full and half marathon start together on Interurban Ave in Tukwila, south of downtown Seattle. The course runs through Tukwila and makes its way to the scenic shores of Lake Washington for miles 4 through 9. Full marathoners only split off for 2 miles on the floating Lake Washington Bridge. Both courses merge together again, and all participants head toward downtown Seattle on Interstate 90, where the half marathon will split and finish downtown outside of Qwest Field.

The full marathon will continue north onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Hwy 99, with views of Elliott Bay, passing the Space Needle and Lake Union as the Alaskan Way Viaduct/Hwy 99 becomes Aurora. Runners will u-turn and head back toward downtown on the highway before finishing outside of Qwest Stadium downtown. There are some rolling hills in the latter half of the full marathon course.
Important note: There will be 2 different split points on the course for marathoners and half marathoners.  

Elevation Chart:
Over the next few months, I'll be including more information about this destination race. And for those that live in the area or ran the inaugural race last year, I'll be asking for course, weather and sight seeing insight. Hope to see you out there!

5th Half in 5 days

My continuing coverage of a friend of the blog's journey in running 13 half marathons in 13 days. Here is day 5:

I ended up starting the 5th half marathon a bit behind my normal running schedule. Totally not a great thing to do :) Waking up at 11AM isn't a normal routine for me (at all!!!!) — but I'm guessing it had more to do with the house being really empty and quiet — and less with my body being tired from yesterday's run. I hope :)

After walking around a bit to feel how my legs were — I decided that today would be a challenge — just because I was starting my longer run — late in the day. I will have to see how tomorrow's run (6th half marathon) goes, because I usually like to run early in the morning — so I have a full day of recovery for the next morning run. With me running really late today — I'm hoping it doesn't affect tomorrow.

Before getting on the treadmill, I went about my normal routine of putting some IcyHot on the lower half of my legs (and the knee area) — really focusing on my calves — since they were pretty tender from the run the day before. Well...I ran out of my old IcyHot that I've had for a couple of years — and when I went to the store to get some more — the store was pretty wiped out of EVERYTHING. Not a shocker, since I live in a hub of many suburbs. Lots of people.

But, dude — how many people need Bengay and IcyHot?! Really???

I ended up buying two bins of IcyHot Balm. I've never used the "balm" version — I've only really known of the tube/cream sort. But for the price and the ounces — it was better to buy the "balm" then the small tubes of IcyHot (since it was all the store had of IcyHot)... so I bought it.

It's much more "solid" than the normal IcyHot — kind of like Chapstick — hard and waxy...so in order to get some out of the bottle you have to really "scrape" it out. Not the best for application — but it does smear well once you get it on your skin. However, I had compared ingredients of the balm vs. the cream while in the store — and according to the boxes, the IcyHot Balm was supposed to be a bit "less" intense.

Holy....MOLY....it SO wasn't. Either I had really "old" IcyHot cream before — or I put wayyyyyy too much of the IcyHot Balm on my legs; this stuff was INTENSE. So intense — that I thought my legs were on fire and that I was seriously going to have a burn on them.

Yeah. That bad. I ended up taking a paper towel with some water on it — and rubbing some of the excess IcyHot off my legs. It got a bit better — but I highly highly recommend to be very careful when applying IcyHot Balm to your sore muscles! Less is definitely more with the IcyHot Balm — word to the wise :)

After that — I hit the treadmill and finished my 5th half marathon in 5 days. I'm glad to say that it went REALLY really WELL! I'd say almost better than yesterday — except for the fact that it was pretty late in the day by the time I got done.

I iced and ate after I was done — and stretched my calves — but everything is feeling pretty darn good. I think I've found my gait now — and it's just going to be taking each day and each stride carefully and being aware what's going on with my body. Strange as that sounds — anyone who's a runner or who's been running a huge part of their life — knows that running and being self-aware of one's body — go hand in hand.

Only thing to note (besides the IcyHot Balm overload): my stomach has been a bit sensitive tonight after the run. Not in the Runner's Trots sense — but more in a food-overload sense. Because the run was so late in the day — my supper and quick meal after my run sort of *merged* as one — and this didn't settle very well for my runner's tummy. Usually I try to put a good hour or two between my run quick meal and a bigger meal (like supper) but tonight, I wasn't really able to do that. It's been a couple of hours now — and I feel much better — so that is just something to watch. Runner's tummy is a strange thing. Sometimes, I think I get it from the up/down jostling from running. Sometimes, I'm either really starving and hungry — or then just the opposite; thirsty and less hungry.

But another good half marathon — and now 65.5 miles stronger :) We'll see how tomorrow's run goes —with the short amount of time I have for a recovery. I am using a heating pad on my legs to help speed it up — so we'll hope for another run like today!!

* * * *

Great job Katirna. Thanks for sharing your icy balm experience. Always great to have insight into running treatments. 5 for 5, keep running strong Milly.

13 Half Marathons in 13 Days: Day 1 & 2

A facebook friend (and friend of the blog) Katrina, is aiming to complete 13 Half Marathon distances in 13 consecutive days. I've asked her if I can share her story as she writes daily about her 13.1 mile experiences. She attempted this earlier in the year and had to stop short due to a nagging injury and is giving it a second go around. Here is the kicker, she's doing these on a treadmill in her basement. (Inside joke, I'm calling her Milly.) Here is day one and two:

2/17: First 13.1+ down ... and a blown breaker ... or two!

I woke up this morning and wasn't planning on starting my 13 half marathons 13 days in a row until after Saturday, maybe Sunday. H has to go on another training trip and leaves Saturday — so I was planning on just starting it after he left. BUT ... the minute I hit the treadmill, I knew it was going to be a good run, and that I might as well just start :)

At first, I thought the treadmill was running/going *slower* than it usually does — or maybe it was just me. I felt like the treadmill couldn't go fast enough! This is a pretty rare feeling for me — so I went with it and enjoyed it for as long as it lasted (throughout the whole run!)

I had no problems whatsoever during this first run — I drank water throughout it — and was glad my iPod didn't die! This picture is of my post-run first meal. Classic. I was thirsty, so I had a Fuji apple with yogurt. And some juice! But...

... Because I do run a small space heater while I am running (I'm in the basement — and when you're covered in sweat at about the 8th mile — you start to get a bit chilled ...) I did end up blowing the breaker ... TWICE. Talk about FRUSTRATING! And this is actually quite odd — because I run every day with the space heater (and I set it so that the heater does not kick off — and then back on - creating the surge to kick the breaker.) Not sure what was going on, but because of this — I had to restart the treadmill both times.

This is why my first day mileage is at 13.1+ because I am pretty sure I went over a half marathon mileage. I think I might have run 13.5 miles — I'm not sure — but I ended up rounding my mileage DOWN every time the treadmill shut down on me — so that I didn't cheat on my mileage :)

Overall thoughts: No pain — no calf pain, no feet/toe pain — a great first day run. However, the first day is ALWAYS a good day. I found this out on my first 13.1 for 13 days trial — AND — I found this out while running these past 10 years. No matter how many miles I ran on the weekend, my Monday (first day of the work week) mileage was always a good run. My Tuesday run — even if it was the same — was always ROUGH.

I think you can tell what my next run blog is going to be like

2/18: Day 2 Half marathon knocked out!

Today's run started a little rough — which I expected — but as I warmed up and shed my long-sleeved layers — I started to feel a bit better. I wasn't sore until the very end, the last few miles were a little rough. I also sweated a lot *more* this run, than I did yesterday. I ended up drinking my whole quart water bottle BEFORE I was even done with my run.

Yesterday's run - I barely drank half a bottle. So I'm guessing my tired-leg feeling came from being a bit dehydrated — and from yesterday's run, too. But it wasn't too bad. I expected today to be rough — because the second day — ALWAYS - is.

As far as injuries go — no foot pain/toe pain at all. Since my last trial at this — I've been watching my pinkie toes especially — but they are completely fine. It also helps that my Asics (3 pairs) for this trial are all broken in :) Hopefully this will pay off!

Tonight I did notice a bit of posterior shin pain — shin splits — nothing *too* bad — I don't feel it when I walk - but only when I actually *touch* my shins or the front of my legs. I didn't feel it at all when I got done running — but since I only started to feel the tenderness now — I have sat for about 2 hours with a heating pad on both shins — and it feels better.

I will probably heat them tomorrow before I run — or rub some Icy Hot on them to just massage/warm them up a bit — and then see how the run goes tomorrow. If I still feel the pain — I'll be sure to watch it — and ICE IT right after my run. Since I didn't feel the tenderness immediately after running — I didn't ice my legs - which would have reduced some inflammation. However, tomorrow — I am going to specifically check for this — and ice it if it happens. Should help nip it in the bud.

I'm also going to do some specific stretches aimed at my shins — along with the rest of the stretches that I've started doing quickly before I run (since my last 13.1 trial.) This usually consists of some calf stretches and thigh stretches - and then some lunges and jumps to get my legs stretched gently for impact.

Overall — a good, but harder, second half marathon! We'll see how tomorrow goes! I've now ran the mileage of a full 26.2 marathon over 2 days.

(p.s. - Rihanna and Lady Gaga sure do make that extra mile go easier! ;-)

****

Thank you for reading. I'll be sharing her write ups over the next 11 days. Feel free to leave comments below, advice, cheers, words of encouragement, etc. You can also leave them on my facebook page (link to the right). Go get em Milly! and thank you for sharing your story with us. :)

US Half and a Giant Race

US Half Marathon 2 "The Other Half"
Race Day: Sunday, April 11, 2010
Course: Hilly, includes out and back along the Golden Gate Bridge
Registration: $60 until March 1st
Coupon: "RUNLOCAL" $10 off, expires tomorrow, 2/19

Tid Bit: This race is normally held in November, but they are adding a Spring race. Same course, just in April. This will be the inaugural event. I ran this course back in 2008 and was planning to run in costume as the Incredible Hulk (it was being held the day after Halloween), but unfortunately it was raining on and off leading up to the race and I didn't want to run in a padded muscle suit in the rain, so I didn't go in costume. Nice course, but it includes my arch-nemesis: the Golden Gate Bridge. This will be my first Half Marathon for 2010 and 8th ever. See you out there?

Giant Race (Half Marathon and Plate to Plate 5k)
Race Day: Saturday, June 12, 2010
Course: Mostly flat, along the Embarcadero, finishes inside AT&T Park.
Registration: $90 for Half Marathon, $40 for 5k
Coupon: "stadium" $10 off, not sure of expiration date

Tid Bit: This is the first year that they have a half marathon as an option. Registration includes a FREE Giants Ticket (while supplies last) for the day before race day so you can watch a Giants game the day before and run the following morning. You finish crossing home plate INSIDE Giant stadium. I finished inside Candlestick Park a few year ago at the Stadium to Stadium 10k and it is quite an experience to be on the field. Unfortunately I won't be participating in this run this year, but I'd love to hear about it if you do. Enjoy.

50 for one of us

In a classroom, a 50 is a failing grade. In a glass, 50 can be half full or half empty. In miles, 50 is a number that separates endurance runners from the pack.

With the recent increase in participation in marathons, ultra marathons are becoming more popular as endurance runners look to push their limits on further distances. Combining a longer distance with an even more difficult course up mountains, down valleys and through hot or cold might sound 'crazy' to some, but just like that half full glass, to the rest of us that sounds like a challenge.

Unfortunately, I'm not ready for that challenge. Towards the end of last year, there were minor rumblings of training to tackle a 50 miler in April of 2010. I wasn't really sure if I would be ready a few months ago and wanted to see how Jan. and Feb. played out. With a marathon in mid Jan. and a 31 mile ultra in early Feb., 50 seemed like the next logical step. If I was already trained for 31, why step back? Keep training and kick it up another 20 miles on race day. LOL. That doesn't even sound right as I write it. Honestly, there were 3 of us in our training group that were considering 50. One of us in serious consideration.

Early in our ultra a few weeks ago, 2 of the 3 decided 50 wasn't in our near future. Me being the least ready for tackling 50, it wasn't a big deal to admit I wasn't ready, mentally and most importantly physically. I had to admit to myself that I am still working on conquering 26.2 and until I do that, 50 will have to wait.

But for the one, an extremely strong runner, 50 will become his focus for the next couple months. He will be attempting the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run, or AR50, in April. If he finishes in under 11 hours he will qualify for the Western States 100 (and that thought has crossed his mind). I have full confidence that he is capable of finishing. Although it will be an extreme test of his physical and mental strength, if there is one in our group that is ready, this is our guy. Like a city rooting for their local hometown hero, our training group will be deeply invested in this venture and experience it vicariously through "our chosen one." LOL. We got your back, Chris! (Dang, thought I could go the whole post without calling him by name. Almost made it.)

You're Gonna Do What Now?

I don't think that I am a competitive person — at least not competitive with other people. I am always challenging myself by attempting to reach the limits of what I think I am capable of doing. I'll even say that I am often trying to exceed what others may expect of me. But I know that I am not as fast as most runners out there (although I am trying to be) and I know that my speed is only impressive when compared to where I began. It's a steady process of improvement.

And here comes the BUT... If we are 25+ miles into a race and you tell me (read: our group of 4) as we politely pass you that (and I loosely quote): "I'm going to catch up to you guys and pass you." Well then sir, that sounds like a challenge (read: threat). At this point, I have been running through mud for 6.5+ hours, have less than 5 miles to go and you sir, are going to tell me that you are "going to pass us" as we are PASSING YOU!

This story does however begin a lot earlier. Allow me to backtrack — about 9 miles into our Ultra Marathon, we passed this gentleman (in his early to mid 20's) who looked like he was struggling a bit. Our group being very supportive and easy going, typically give a "good job" or a "keep it up, you look great" to people we come across. That's just the nice people we are out there. We are the "wavers." So as we passed him, he asked: "How far up the aid station was?" We guessed it was within 3 miles. When we got to the aid station, he wasn't too far behind us and caught up. We traded pleasantries and refilled our water bottles and continued on. Eventually he must have had a speed burst (or we slowed down) because he ended up catching up and passing us. It was a surprise to me because I felt like we were on a steady consistent pace, but cheers to him. Further down the race, we ended up coming across him again and passed him. It was like a little version of leap frog across muddy trails.

Here is where the story changes and where I was at earlier on: We were at the final aid station with less then 5 miles to go. We were again filling up our water bottles and grabbing our last fill of trail mix, etc. As we were beginning to move, we passed our friend again who seemed to be struggling with his lower extremities (knees, legs, I couldn't tell). We again gave our "cheers" and as we passed he says: (what I loosely quoted earlier): "I'm going to catch up to you guys and pass you." It was with a smile and in good nature and was meant in no way a negative thing, but something in my brain said: "Oh, hell no!"

We stayed on our normal speed, which for this course was about a 14 min. per mile pace. We came to a point where Chris' watch, Miriam, said it was time for a walk break. (yes, we took walk breaks. Moving on!) Chris' says: "Walking" and I respond with a (loose quote) "No! We are running this and not getting passed up, AGAIN." So we picked up the speed and the next mile and a half were run at a 10 min. pace. Yes, from mile 25.5 to mile 27, we clocked a 10 min. pace. That's a four to five min. per mile improvement on our avg. for the first 6.5+ hours! It was a downhill part of the section and yes, we were finally on some pavement and solid road where we didn't have to worry about the muddy slip and slide. But mostly, I didn't want this guy to beat us. Chris took off for the rest of the 5 miles because he is a stud and is super fast. Larry was next with me drafting him and pushing his pace. Lori, who is one of the strongest runners in our group and our coach, was coasting a few steps behind us. Larry kept turning his head to check on Lori, but I knew where she was and with very few words said (Larry's quote): "She's fine. Keep running." But Larry says it with a flurry, which I think is sort of an embellishment. Of course I was behind him giving him a hard time and telling him to run faster and I might have made a joke or two about him being slow (which is funny because he is a good 30 mins. faster than me in 26.2). LOL.

Looking back, those 15 mins. made the race for me. We finally hit a segment where we could stretch our legs and run as fast as we could 6.5+ hours into a race and be in the moment of running in the woods. The sky was clear, no mud, we had been up and over the mountains, I fell, we went crazy for awhile and for a small portion of the course, it was like we were alone on the side of a mountain cruising at our own pace.

We ended up breaking enough of a lead on our friend in those next 15 mins., that we were able to have a nice easy pace the last 2+ miles and cruise in comfortably. Although I kept checking behind us to make sure he was nowhere in sight and Lori kept laughing at me, I still think that was my favorite part of the entire race.

Ultra Marathon: Woodside 50k

What do you get when you mix a pavement runner with three amazing friends, a crazy hair cut, rain, mud, a tree root, a watch named Miriam and spread it out over 50k? An ultra experience that you'll never forget. Oh ya, and muddy gloves.

Let me start at the beginning. This past Saturday, myself and three friends decided to run another Ultra Marathon. The week before the event, rain was spotty, but the weather gods decided to give a good down pour the day before to make the course a little "extra ultra" and to keep it interesting, they also added in some more rain for the first 3 hours.

Needless to say the course was muddy. When I say muddy, read: covered in puddles of mud that cause you to get the same feeling as when you are on ice skates and have that second of sliding where you think you are going to fall. Yes, 30+ miles of that. I don't know what we were expecting considering it's a dirt trail and it's raining, but there were an abundant amount of areas where we decided to carefully maneuver through ankle deep mud. A couple times mud decided to try to steal my shoe unsuccessfully. Oh ya, you know the running shoes that have "breathable" sections for air to flow? Mud and water flow just as easy to your socks and feet through there, too. I have trail running shoes and didn't wear them, but it's a long story and now is not the time to discuss.

The first four miles were horrible. Not because of the conditions or terrain or company, I just wasn't feeling it. It was one of those days where I felt like I was never going to get into a comfortable stride. So what do you do when you feel like you don't have it at mile 4 of an almost 31 mile run? Keep going, duh. Luckily around mile six I found my stride and started feeling at ease. Running with my three friends (Chris, Lori and Larry) definitely helped.

Shortly after that, I decided: It's muddy, I don't care, I'm just going to run through it. Screw you mud, I'm doing this! And I probably don't have to tell you what happened next, but I will anyways. BAM! Foot hits a tree root and I am three inches from my face in the mud. Luckily it was early on in the event, so my reflexes were still active — I ended up landing in a push up position. This could have been much worse than only having muddy gloves and a bruised ego. If I didn't stop myself from falling, I would have been covered in mud from head to toe on the front of my body with over 20 miles left to go... not pretty, but that's what I get for disrespecting the mud, take note, don't disrespect the course. If you'd like to know how hard I bit it, someone in front of our group made a comment (which I heard about later, but can't remember). That's right, someone (loose guess) 75-100 feet in front of us heard me fall and commented aloud.

The hills (read mountains) were challenging and we walked a good portion of them. Delirium and hilarity started to creep into our group around mile 12, it may have been sooner, and never left. It was a really good bonding experience between the four of us. We would just break out into laughter over the most random things. Here are a few that will make little sense without context, but this may give you a taste of what our mind frame was:

• Chris' Garmin watch is named Miriam (for reason's I can't share)
  
• Larry and I are not running 50 miles in April — that idea has been thrown away and stomped on.
  
• The sixty plus year old man, called us kids and said we were difficult to pass. Is that funny, inspiring or sad?
  
• I said limpy, but Lori thought gimpy was better.
  
• Lori is fast and is doing fine, keep running Larry.
  

I will continue to elaborate about certain things throughout this week (especially the last 10k), but together we conquered a tough course through difficult conditions and are closer as friends for it. When you are climbing 4,530 feet, over 50k in the rain through the mud for 7+ hours, you share an experience that you will always remember.

When we finished, I said that I was retiring from Ultra's for awhile, most likely the rest of the year. I've done two in the last six months and would like to focus on getting faster in the Marathon distance and although (really) long slow runs can help, I think I'll focus on tempo runs, track work and 20+ distances. Sounds good, right? Well, not more than 2 days after my so called "retirement," I get an email from Lori about another PCTR Ultra event in mid-April. There is a marathon distance and a 50k called Skyline to the Sea. She is interested in doing the marathon distance... and guess how I responded? Here is my reply e-mail copied word for word:

"Didn't we just say we are done like 2 days ago? LOL. I'm leaving my calendar open for a couple weeks to decide what I'm going to do... but keep me posted. I'm sure I can be talked into running anything (except 50 miles). And if we do it, might as well tack on the extra flippin' 5 miles. :) Did I just say that? I told Chris I was retiring from Ultra's for awhile....  oh well."

Yep, some things never change.

Ultra Preview

With my second Ultra Marathon, Woodside Trail Run with Pacific Coast Trail Runs, a day away, here is a quick rundown of what is on the horizon.

Normal workday scheduled for Friday, 9-5, followed by having dinner and staying the night at a friend's house (who is also our training coach). After a pasta dinner and an early bed time we will wake up in the morning for our normal event morning routine — for me it is a light stretch and a bowl of cheerios. Then we'll hop in the car, pick up 2 other runners and make the drive to Woodside for an 8:30 a.m. start. The event is sold out with 475 runners total and 125 doing the 50k.

Four out of our five will be aiming at completing the 50k and the fifth will be embarking on a 10k. For me, I have no goal time other than to hopefully finish around 6-6.5 hours and injury free. But if it takes longer (or shorter), I'm O.K. with that. I'm simply approaching this as a very long training run. Right? Running over 31 miles should make running 26.2 easier... well, that's what I keep telling myself.

Course Description: Experience the towering redwoods, lush ferns, and beautiful trails through Huddart Park, King's Mountain, Bear Gulch, and Wunderlich Park.

We are looking at rain. Yes, rain. And since it is a trail run in the mountains, that most likely means mud. I've never run in the mud or done a mud run, so it should be interesting. If I slide down the hills on my belly, is that considered cheating or strategy? With a 4,530' elevation gain, there could be plenty of opportunities to take advantage of said strategy. Here is what the course map looks like, if you can make sense of it. I'll be relying on the course ribbons and hoping not to get lost.

Oh ya, before I go... check this out! Since this will be my second 50k ever, and my third marathon distance in 9 weeks, I decided to rock the RUN HAWK! I made that up. It's a mini mo hawk I guess. I always have my head shaved, not razor blade shaved, but short none the less and decided to grow it out for a couple weeks and make a run hawk. I'm hoping it gives me some extra strength and makes me look bad ass on the trails. Let me know what you think — more photos to come, I'm sure.

TV's LOST and Running

With tonight's final season premiere of LOST, I felt it would be fun to compare one of my favorite TV shows with my favorite activity: Running.

This is going to be a very surface comparison and mostly for fun, but if you are looking for in depth analysis about LOST, then you must visit my friend's site: Get LOST with JOpinionated. She recently returned from watching this season's premiere on the beach of Oahu with fans and the cast. Her site is amazing and her analysis second to none.

Relationships with People
LOST relies on the relationships of the characters to drive the story. Whether it is the struggle between Locke and Jack or the love between Jin and Sun... in running we must do the same by building and maintaining relationships with other runners. We help drive and motivate one another to reach our goals. They depend on each other to get off (or back on) the island and we must do the same to reach the finish line. Fate, destiny, purpose, determination... we must rely on all of it.

Relationships with the Island
The island obviously has a special effect on the people and the same is true for the distance having an effect on us. I can attest to this with every race. There is something about 26.2 that puts an extra pep in your step not only on race day, but leading up to it. I feel anxious days before and look forward to being out there at the start striving to get to the finish. Whether it is a marathon, half, ultra, 10k or fun run we build a bond with that distance. If we are the people, then the distance is our "island." 

The Numbers
For LOST they are 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. For us it's a lot more difficult. There is our pace per mile, chip time, negative splits, 10k pace, race pace and that is just the timing. Then there are the distances: 26.2, 13.1, 5k, 10k, 50k, and the list goes on. Each having their own special qualities and their own "abilities." If someone says let's run a 10k pace compared to let's run marathon race pace, there is a difference. Numbers can be funny and just like they do for Hurley, they can definitely affect our daily lives. 

Time Travel
This sort of became more of a relevant issue last season, but it has always been hinted at in previous seasons (or at least been a theory). In an event we definitely don't time travel, well, at least I haven't. But I do find certain miles disappearing when I try to think back post run about the race. It's typically miles 18-22 that disappear for me, but not always. Sometimes when I'm writing about an event I'll forget what I was thinking about or what was going through my mind for 2-3 miles. I know I was there. I know my pace and where I was on the course, but those 20-30 minutes of running just sort of happened with nothing standing out. Maybe we do time travel and our bodies just continue through muscle memory.

If you don't watch LOST then hopefully you can relate to the above and you weren't bored with my post. For those of you that do watch, sorry my analysis was shallow at best, but I feel I have redeemed myself by
supplying a more in depth site for you to enjoy: Get LOST with JOpionionated.

LOST premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.