Van's Blog

Results of right knee arthroscopy surgery 8-17-11

2011-08-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday I had my arthroscopy surgery on my right knee to repair my torn meniscus. Surgery went well, but my doctor was not to encouraging as he said it was not the torn meniscus that was causing the pain but arthritis (the wear and tear of the joints). I will be on crutches for a while and doing a lot of icing and drugs to relieving the pain. So it was 7 weeks ago that I had the same surgery on the left knee. That knee is a little better but still in a little pain but not bad. I was not able to rehab much as the right knee was in so much pain it keep me from doing what I needed to do for rehab. The doctor is really trying to discourage me from running any more marathons. I could live with that if that’s how it turns out, but I will do the physical therapy they prescribe for me and just take what ever time it takes to get well. He said’s that if this doesn’t work I could go with a knee replacement. I miss not being out on the road doing my 10 miles runs every other day and I certainly miss my marathon friends. It got in my blood to do marathons, I enjoyed the challenge of starting the race and knowing to finish the race I had to go 26.2 miles. As Sheri and I travel from state to state we enjoy all the different cites we visited along the way and new friends we made. Well we can still travel even if I’m not running any more races but well just have to wait and see how these two old knees turn out. So I am going to work on a positive attitude what happen from there I’ll leave in the Lord’s hands. As of now I have done 60 marathons I have some good memories of all of them.

Results of right knee MRI 7-11-11

2011-07-11T15:36:00.001-07:00

Went to the orthopedic doctor today for the results of my MRI for my right knee. I have a meniscus tear and will have surgery to remove it. It has been less than two weeks since I had the surgery on the left knee to remove the torn meniscus in that knee. So here we go again. So it’s going to be a long time before I find out if I can run marathons again, I just have to be patient and wait till both knee’s are healed. My doctor’s don’t think I will be able to run any more marathons but I won’t give up until I at least give it one more try.

Update on the surgery 6-30-11

2011-06-30T13:59:00.001-07:00

Update on the knee. I had my arthroscopy surgery yesterday on my left knee to repairs the torn meniscus. My doctor said it was pretty bad in there with a lot of cartilage damage. He thinks my marathon day might be over, but we will just wait and see how it heals up. I had an MRI done on the right knee the day before so I’ll find out about what going on with that in a couple of weeks. I’m sure I will have surgery done on that one also. So I just have to wait and see, It’s been tough not being out there with all you guys since oct. But on the good side I’m still alive and well except for the knee’s.

Update on the knee's 6-12-11

2011-06-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well things haven’t gotten better, so I have decided to have the arthroscopy knee surgery to repair the meniscus tear. I’m waiting to hear when they will schedule the surgery I hear it could be up to 3 months, Meanwhile my right knee is hurting again about 3 months ago the doctor gave me a injection in the right knee and it work but know it’s hurting again. This last week I was walking 8 miles every other day and riding my bike 10 bike miles in between. I now have lost 22 pounds in the last 8 weeks and I am back to my old weight. The knee’s hurt so bad I can’t walk without pain so guess I will stop doing my long walk for now. It’s hard as I want to be my old self and start back with my marathons, but it is what it is and I will just have to wait and see if the surgery help any or this is just what it will be for now on. Stay tune

MRI Results May 12, 2011

2011-05-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

I went to see my orthopedic doctor today to find out what the MRI had to say about my knee. He said I had three things going, a tear in the meniscus, osteoarthritis, and a loose body part floating around the knee. So what do I do? He said if he operate on the knee to removed the meniscus because of the arthritis there would only be a 50 percent chance that it would be be fix and that it would be possible of no change or even be worst that before the operation. On my last visit to the doctor, he had me start taking a anti-inflammatory drug to reduces the swelling, stiffness in the knee joint. It seem to be working as I am not in so much pain anymore and I don’t walk with sure a noticeable limp. I been biking everyday for 10 miles and I bought a elliptical machine, which I been using 30 minutes twice a day and the knee seem to be getting stronger. After my work outs I ice down the knee. So I have decided to not go for the operation for now and see if things start getting better. I’m going to start walking and see how the knee responds and go from there. Hope that this will be the start of being back in marathon form. Since I haven’t work out very much last year I gain 20 pounds my blood pressure went up and so did my cholesterol. The work out’s I just told you about I have lost 16 pounds and have my blood pressure under control and when I have my physical next month I hope I have my cholesterol under control.

May 2, 2010

2011-05-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

After my last doctor visit he put be on physical therapy and told me to not go running or walking for a month and if it still hurt to come back. Well it did not get well after all that PT, so this last visit he decided to have me get an MRI, which I did the next day now I have to wait two weeks before I find out what the problem is. He think I have osteoarthritis. I know that something is not right to just go bad on me like this where I can't walk just a mile without pain. So I hope that the next update will be good news.

What's happen to me these last 4 months?

2011-02-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

I know all my blog friends have been wondering what happen to me these last 4 months. Sad to say my knee's just stop working and my doctor told me to stop running and walking for a few months and let them heal. Well after 3 months I try walking again and I just went 4 miles and my knees gave out on me again. My doctor ended up giving me injection in both knees. He told me I could start working out again but take it slow, which I did. The first two weeks they were a little sore but after icing them down I was OK. Then my son move into his first house and I was helping him move. After that my left knee hurts so bad I can't even walk a block with out being in much pain. Now I'm waiting to see my doctor again and see what the problem is this time. So it's been painful not to be out there every month with all my marathon friends I really enjoy the fellowship I have with them and am looking forward to being back out there again. I had some withdraw pain when the streak was broken, but there is time in my like to start a new streak when I heal up. Hope to see you guys out there soon. I put this video together just to keep my head in the game.

Yolanda Holder going for the world record

2010-10-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

Yolanda Holder, from my home town Corona, CA is going for the Guinness World Record of the most marathons by a women in one year 101. She will do this at the Rock n Roll Marathon Las Vegas on Dec. 5, 2010, then she will be going for the men's record of 105, she'a a machine. Here a little video I did to keep up the excitement for our of us who are following her.

Running with Sally Marathon 10-23-10

2010-10-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

Watch this video

Click here to watch the VIDEO

Labor Day Marathon September 6, 2010

2010-09-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Click here to see videoThis was my 50^th marathon. Again I had to walk this one, but this time I ran 20 seconds every 5 minutes. My knee felt ok for the whole race and my numbness didn’t affect me at all. This was the Labor Day Marathon, one of Charlie Alewine’s marathon, so he let us start early if we wanted to, we just wouldn’t be eligible for a trophy if we ended as a top 3 finisher. Since I was going to be walking I knew I didn’t have any chance of doing that. Sheri came with me and it was the course where we started at Sunset Beach and ran down to just pass Huntington Beach Pier and back twice. I wanted to start at 4:30am so Sheri just stayed in the car and slept until later in the morning. There was one other guy who started around 1:00am so I saw him when I was at mile 1 and he was at mile 12. It was a nice 57 degrees and a nice breeze blowing off the ocean. Besides seeing Joe, I didn’t run into anyone else until I was heading back from the pier. I did see the Lifeguard truck driving along the beach with their spot light on the ocean looking for a person who was missing for about a week. They found one of the bodies the day before, so that was sad. By the time I was heading back form the first loop people were starting to come to the beach. A lot of surfers were trying to catch the early waves. By the time I came to the start line which is now the half way point, all the other runners had already started. Charlie allows only 25 total people in the marathon, which includes both a half and full marathon. Of those 25, 12 were doing the whole marathon The second half started to get pretty crowded with beach goes, bikers, runners, and people out walking their dogs. I did get hit by a bike as I made a quick turn to the rest room and the gal on the bike was just able to stop as we collided, no was hurt, but I was going to be more careful the rest of the race. This was a very flat course that runs along the beach the whole way. It was very enjoyable, especially in the early morning where you just hear the surf pounding the sand. At mile 24, I ran into my daughters new in-laws riding their bikes along the paths. I finished with a time of 6:33:17 and kept my streak going of 34 months in a row. It’s been very hard to keep that going this year with my knee and now the numbness in the leg. In fact my doctor wants me to stop doing marathons until I get well. My MRI shows that I have Gluteal Tendonitis and I have started my physical therapy this week. If I don’t start getting better I will stop my work out and marathons until I’m well. Because of that I have not picked out what marathon I’ll be doing this coming month if any. All I can say is stay tuned and we’ll see how it goes.

Marine Oceanfront Marathon Aug. 21, 2010

2010-08-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

click here to watch the videoFor the last 2 months I haven’t done any running at all. I finally saw an Orthopedic doctor and he took x-rays of my left leg and decided to do an MRI of my leg and spine. I’ll see him this week to find out what’s going on. So it’s been 6 weeks since my last marathon. This is my second Charlie Alewine Marathon. He limits them to only 25 people, gives a trophy to the top 3 finishers, and a t-shirt to all the participants. He charges only $60. If you belong to Marathon Maniacs, he takes off 10%; if you don’t want a t-shirt, he takes $10 off; so I only paid $40. Most marathons are $100 or more now-a-days. I've been walking 10 miles, 5 days a week. So this race was in Long Beach and called the Marine Oceanfront Marathon. It’s a nice flat, 3 mile loop course, which we did 8 times. It started early, at 5:00am. We started at Will Rogers Park, ran (walked) around the Colorado Lagoon, then headed down Appian Way just past 2nd Street along side the Marine Stadium. We saw a lot of nice homes along the Alamitos Bay with their boats docked in their back yards. There were a lot of other runners out there with us because it’s such a beautiful place to run, especially in the morning. I was the last one to finish at 7:19:33. So that made 49 marathons and now 33 months in a row. So now I'm waiting to hear back from my doctor before I do my next race.

Rockin The OC Marathon July 10, 2010

2010-07-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

5 Cities Coastal Marathon June 25, 2010

2010-06-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

It seems like it’s been a year since my last marathon last month in O.C. As many of you that follow my blog know my knee has been hurting this whole year. After O.C., I didn’t do any workouts for two weeks to try to let my knee heal. Then for two weeks I started to get back into shape, my knee was about 70 percent and then out of nowhere my left glute kept me from running. I didn’t do anything for a week.

This race started at 4:00am, yes you read that right, 4:00am. We started in Oceanside at the 101 Café on Pacific Coast Highway. There were 12 of us including Yolanda Holder who is going for the Guiness World Record of the most marathons in one year, 105 I think. I would say it was about 60 degrees at the start of the race. We stayed on PCH the whole way. Most of the group was walkers and I stayed with them for a few blocks then I decided to try out the leg and run for 20 seconds and walk for 40 seconds. The leg was feeling OK, the glute was hurting a little but my knee was feeling pretty good.

Since this was called the 5 Cities Coastal Marathon we ran thru five citie: Oceanside, Carlsbad, Leucadia, Encinitis and Cardiff. At about the first mile there was this guy on the other side of the street that yells at me asking if I had a cigarette, I got a laugh out of that. Since it was 4 in the morning there was no traffic for the first half of the race we had to stop for any red lights. It was really nice out there, prefect for running a marathon. At the turn around I saw that there were 4 people ahead of me usually I’m at the end of the group. I was doing about a 13 minute pace for the first half, but the second half started to take its toll as my glute was keeping me from running the 20 seconds. At mile 22 I decided to speed walk the rest of the way and by doing that I was not hurting but it slowed me down quite a bit. I finished with a time of 6:08:22 but I got my June marathon in and I’ll still walking. And I came in 5th, how about that?!? The guy who put this together, John Daley, whom I believe owns the 101 Café did a great job. He made wood medals and bibs for all of us. At the finish line, which was the café, ther was no one there to check us in, we just wrote in our time on a clip board he left for us. He also didn’t charge us anything for the race. I stayed and had breakfast at his place before I headed back home. You can watch the video by clicking on (watch the video here) below the pictures.

~~Watch the video here~~

OC Marathon May 2, 2010

2010-05-02T23:46:00.000-07:00

After two weeks of not running and letting my knee rest, I was ready to take on the OC Marathon. Now I did walk 10 miles 5 days a week and rode my bike a few times but no running as my doctor requested. This course travels through the beautiful coastal communities of Newport Beach, Irvine, and Costa Mesa. The first 10 miles of the course were along the Pacific Ocean and Newport Beach Back Bay. Then we ran pass John Wayne Airport and headed out to the South Coast Plaza. At mile 20 we got on the Santa Ana River Trail for 3 miles then turned and headed for the OC Fair Grounds running through Fairview Park and Costa Mesa Golf Course. The course is pretty much downhill in elevation from start to finish.

At the start of the race I got in the very back of the 15,000 runners. I did my run/walk doing a 20 second run and a 40 second walk for the whole race. During my 40 second walk break all these people would run pass me then during my 20 second run I would pass them, we would go back and forth for the first few miles. Being in the back of the pack, it’s not so crowed so I wasn’t shoulder to shoulder with everyone. People would ask me about my run/walk routine as they were running all the time but I was keeping up with them. I would tell about Jeff Galloway and that they should go to his website and check out his program. At mile 11, I caught up with Yolanda Holder who was the Maniac Marathoner of the year for the last two years. This year she going for the Guinness World Record of 101 marathons in one year and so far she has done 38. At mile 19, I was talking to two gals who were running their first marathon. I told them I could tell that this was their first marathon because they had their bibs on their backs. Rookies don’t realize that when pictures are taken of them throughout the course they won’t get to see them cause they’re posted by the bib numbers and if it’s on your back you lose out.

When I got to mile 20 my wife told me that one of the guys I ran with at Camp Pendleton was about 5 minutes ahead of me. So now I was on the Santa Ana River Trail and I was passing a lot of runners now because they were out of gas and I was still going the same pace for most of my race. At mile 22, I passed Joe, the guy from Camp Pendleton. The last two miles the wind was blowing in my face and slowed me down a little. As I came to the finish line I was all by myself so the public address announcer announced, “Van Barbre from Corona, California.” I crossed at 5:24:57 and came in 1222 overall and 8th in my age bracket. My knee is a little sore but now I have a lot of time to let it heal as I have no marathons scheduled for June because I was too late to sign up for San Diego marathon as they sold out for the first time. So this was marathon number 46 and 30 months in a row.

Watch the video

Camp Pendleton's Hard Corps Marathon 4-17-10

2010-04-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

After my last marathon in L.A., where I had to walk the whole way because of my knee I went to my doctor to find out what was happening with my knee. After examing the x-rays he said I had OSTEOARTHRITIS and that I needed to stop running until there was no more pain. So it looked as if my streak of 28 months of running a marathon was in jeopardy. The first two weeks I just biked 10 miles each day, and then the next week I started walking every other day. First I went 5 miles then built it up to 10 miles. With a week to go before Camp Pendleton, I had convince myself to miss this one and hence stopping the streak. My wife wanted to go to Camp Pendleton to check out the base because our son who is in the marines is going to be stationed there next month. By Wednesday I was feeling OK and thinking I could give it a try.

The Camp Pendleton folks sent me the bid and timing tag in the mail so I didn’t have to go there the day before to pick it up. I knew I could walk this if I had to but they had a 6 hr cut off so I was going to run 20 seconds and walk 40 seconds like I did in Jacksonville two months ago and that worked out for me.

So Saturday. I got up at 3:00 a.m. and started to get myself ready. We left at 4:00 because they said it was going to take time to go thru the main gate where I would have to show my ID and car registration and insurance before we could go on base. But when we showed up at the main gate they just waved us through. It was 17 miles from the main gate where the start of the race was. It was 5:30 and the race wasn’t going to start until 7:10, so I picked up my t-shirt and goody bag and went back to the car and got a sleep in before it was time to start.

There were about 325 runners at the start of the race so I got in the back of the pack and off we went. By the first half mile most of the runners were out of my sight and only a handful behind me. They had water stations every two miles where the marines were making sure we got our water or Gatorade and cheered us on. At times I didn’t see any one in front of me or behind me. At mile 8 the lead runner was coming back, it was mile 15 for him. At mile 9 I finally passed someone and then a few more as I came to the turn around at mile 12. From mile 13 to mile 21 I was with a few people as we kept each other company. One guy I was with had a stress facture foot and was walking with a foot cast and I could hardly keep up with him. He told me he was heading to Boston that night and running the Boston Marathon Monday. At mile 22, I had to walk that mile as we headed up hill and that's when not working out for two months was catching up with me. I was by myself again and I saw one guy ahead of me and no one behind me. I knew I was close to the 6 hour mark so when I got to mile 23 I started to do the run walk again for the rest of the way which was all up hill.

As I came to the finish line there weren’t too many people around but as I crossed the finish line there was a lot of marines cheering for me. I crossed at 5:52:46, I came in number 309 out of 315. So this made number 45 and 29 months in a row. I liked this course, it was nice scenery with the mountains and the Pacific Ocean. There were some hills, especially the last 4 miles. The marines were great as they took very good care of us. I will definitely do this marathon again. As far as my knee... it hurt some but I thingk it’s getting better. Check out my video at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk3KOCx1F3k

L.A. Marathon March 21, 2010

2010-03-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

If you’ve been following my blog, then you know I’ve been having a knee injury problem since the first of the year. After my last marathon down in Jacksonville, Florida my knee felt okay during and after the marathon, then I went to my physical therapist. He turned, twisted, and did all kinds of stress tests on it and by the time he was finished I could hardly walk on it for about three days. Two weeks before the L.A. marathon, I tried to run and I only got about half mile before I couldn’t run on it any longer. So I decided to stay off it until the marathon. I still rode my bike every day for ten miles and did some exercises on my total gym, but no running. In fact, I checked on my running log for this year and notice I have only ran 21 miles for the year not counting the three marathons. Normally I run 30 miles a week, so I was not in the condition I needed to be in for a marathon.

Three days before the L.A., my knee started to hurt. By Saturday morning it felt okay. Then we drove to L.A. for the Expo and what normally is an hour drive, took over two hours because of traffic. What makes this bad is that I drive a stick shift so my foot is engaging and disengaging the cultch which puts a lot of strain on my knee.

We finally got to the Dodger Stadium for the Expo. The Dodger Stadium is a pretty big place, but they made the area that the Expo was in very crowded and it was pretty hot, around 85 degrees. I just picked up my bid and got out of there. Next we drove the course, again the traffic was so bad it took almost 3 hours of driving and again I was engaging and disengaging the cultch. By the time we got to our hotel my knee was really sore and I decided not to do the marathon. But Sheri said I should give it a try and see how far I can go since we were already here. That night I woke up around two and couldn’t get back to sleep. As 4:30 came around, I got up and got ready to go. We left at five and we were only 15 miles from Dodger Stadium and were zipping along until we got to about two miles from Dodger Stadium and the traffic came to a stop. It took almost two hours to go the last two miles, it was crazy and it didn’t help out my knee any.

They delayed the start because of the traffic because so many people were getting there late. The marathon was going to go around the stadium before heading to downtown L.A. They had the port-a-potties on the outside of the course that went around and as the marathon started people were running across the course trying to get to the start line and running into the people who were all ready on the course. It was a mess. I got in the back of the 27,000 so it was almost a half hour after the start before I got across the start line. I tried running the way I did in Jacksonville (run 20 seconds and walk 40 seconds) but after the first mile I decided I would have to walk the whole way. I told Sheri I was going to take it one mile at a time. One thing about being in the back of the pack is that it’s not very crowded at all. The course started at Dodger Stadium, went downtown, and then headed to Hollywood. From there we went to Beverly Hills, then headed down to the beach in Santa Monica. Because I was walking, by the time I was getting to where the bands were, they were packed up and gone. Some of the water stations just left the water on the table for us to grab as we went by. There were very few spectators, I don’t know if there were more for the people who were up front or not. There were a lot of hills also but it was all downhill the last three miles. I came across the finish line at 7:34 which broke my PW (personal worse) by an hour and 40 minutes. I still had to walk almost another two miles to meet up with Sheri because the traffic was so bad around the finish area which was at the Santa Monica Pier. I had only 20,544 people ahead of me and about a 1,000 behind me. By finishing this race, I now have completed 44 marathons and have run one a month for 28 months in a row. At this moment I think the streak is going to come to an end. I will see my doctor this Friday and see what he has to say. Stay tuned.

You can watch the videos I made here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhox2VxdR9A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EifkBN2ZPLU

26.2 with Donna Feb. 21, 2010

2010-02-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago I was running the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach running along the Pacific Coast, now I found myself running along the Atlantic Coast. This marathon almost got off on the wrong foot. The morning of the race we parked about one and a half miles from the start line. We were planning on walking to the start line, but saw shuttle buses so I walked over and asked if they were going to the start line and they said yes, so we hopped on. As we came to the start line, the bus kept on going, I jumped up and asked the bus driver to let us off but he just kept on driving. He went all the way to mile two because the people on the bus were all volunteers and that’s where they were going. I asked the bus driver to take me back to the start line, but he said he didn’t know where he was going next. He had a police officer on a motorbike escorting him so I told the police officer that I was on the wrong bus and the race was starting in 15 minutes and asked what he could do for me. He told the bus driver to follow him back to the start line so we got back just before the start of the race.

It was about 39 degrees at the start of the race with about 8,000 runners doing the full, half, and relay marathons. The race started at the Mayo Clinic, from there we ran down to the ocean. We ran on the beach for about 3 miles then along the streets next to the beach. I was overwhelmed by all the people who lived along the course that were out cheering us on. Now this was my 43rd marathon and 16th state that I have ran in, and I never had the locals out on the street like they were here in Jacksonville. Now because my knee is still not well, I was running an hour slower than I normally do, so I was in the back of the pack, but the residents were still out there cheering me on to the finish.

Jeff Galloway was at the Expo, he is the one that started the run-walk method and got me started on it back in Oct. of 2008. I told him about my knee problem and he said I should run 20 seconds and walk 40 seconds. I was not so sure about that but I told him I would give it a try. It worked out good for me as my knee never hurt and I ended up with a 5:24 which was ten minutes faster than I ran at Surf City two weeks ago doing a one minute run and one minute walk. Also I didn’t do any running during those two weeks to let my knee heal.

Also at the Expo, I met Donna Deegan who is the founder of the race. She had breast cancer and is now cured. One hundred percent of the proceeds are donated directly to cancer research and care. She also is the anchor lady on the local news in Jacksonville.

The next day we went to the Jacksonville Zoo and enjoyed our visit there. They had one of the nicer zoo’s we have visited in our travels. We had to fly back going to New York first and had a 5 hour layover there and then we sat on the tar mat for an hour before we took off on our 5 and a half hour flight back to Long Beach. So next I don’t have to go as far just to L.A., which is about 80 miles from my house. This made 29 months in a row that I have ran at least one marathon. I wasn’t too sure two weeks ago that I would still have the streak going but by the grace of God it goes on. Watch the two videos of the race on these links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdSuz2qDuI0 http://www.youtube.com/user/vbarbre

Surf City Marathon Jan. 7, 2010

2010-02-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

I thought before the race that this was going to be my slowest race to date. Last month my knee caused me to stop running at mile 15 and I had to walk the rest of the race. I tried to go running once since then and I was only able to get in one mile before my knee hurt so bad that I couldn’t run any further. So here I was one month later with only one mile of running between marathons. Even if my knee wouldn’t bother me, I knew I was way out of shape.

So here I was back in Huntington Beach where last year I ran a 4:35. It was a cold morning with the wind blowing off the Pacific Ocean making it even colder. It was forecast to rain but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The wind died down at the start line and the sun was starting to rise, it was a beautiful morning. There were about 2,500 people running the marathon and 15,000 running the half marathon. The race started at 6:30am for the marathon and 7:30am for the half marathon. I found my friend Jim Anderson at the start line but he was going to be running too fast for me to keep up, so I moved to the back of the pack. As we started off they were playing Surf City Here I Come and off we went. It was kind of nice to be in the back because it was not congested at all. The first 3 miles there was a nice view of the ocean. By mile 4 my knee was starting to hurt a lot. At that point I was thinking about walking the rest of the way. Normally I run 3 minutes and walk 1 minute but I knew I was going to have to slow it down a lot if I was going to be able to finish so I ran 1 minute and walked 1 minute all the way. I was doing about a 12:20 pace which was two minutes slower than I usually do. From miles 4 thru 6 we ran thru a park which had a pretty nice trail. At mile 9 we met up with the half marathon runners, so it got pretty crowded and they were running pretty fast, I had to discipline myself not to run faster. At mile 10, we turned onto Pacific Coast Highway. We ran 3 miles till we got to Warner Street, and then headed back to the Huntington Beach Pier. It was starting to warm up, I don’t know how hot it got, but nothing I couldn’t handle. When we got to mile 16 we were only two miles from the finish line but this is where we turned around and went down to the beach trail and headed back to Warner for five miles then turned around again at Warner and headed for the Pier. At the turn around I could see my home town San Pedro and it reminded me of the time I was in High School and President Kennedy challenged everyone to walk 5o miles, so I took him up on it and walked from San Pedro to Huntington Beach and back. I remember that I was sore for a week after that and my basketball coach wasn’t too happy that I did that.

I could also see Catalina Island, which is 26 miles across the sea. The ocean looked great and the breeze felt great. My knee was hurting but I kept on pushing myself until I crossed the finish line. I ended up with a 5:35 which was an hour slower than last year’s time, but I did finish. So that made number 42 and 27 months in a row that I have run a marathon. Next off to Jacksonville, Fl.

Check out my viedo on the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GevVg0sX5DY

P.F. Chang's Rock & Roll Marathon AZ Jan 17, 2010

2010-01-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

I had to really push myself to finish this race. Two weeks ago my knee started hurting, I’m not sure from what, though I think it had something to do with being on my knees installing tile floor and doing some work for my mother-in-law. I was only able to get in about three runs since my marathon last month, so I was way out of shape. As the race started, my knee was giving me problems right away. I tried not to run very fast (at least fast for me) and after about three miles it started to feel a little better, so I pushed on. At mile 15, I knew that I couldn’t push off on the knee any longer so I started to walk for the rest of the race (11miles). This is a pretty flat course, a few up hills but not too bad. We started in Phoenix, then Scottsdale, and finish in Tempe. They had a lot of bands and cheerleaders all throughout the course. Since I was way in the back, I was impressed with how they were still cheering and the bands were still playing. In my last race in Las Vegas, most of the bands were shut down and the cheerleaders were just standing there and I was an hour and half faster in that race. The weather was just right in the 60s and got as high as 71degrees. We stayed at the Hyatt Hotel which was right across from the Expo and about 10 blocks from the start of the race. At the end of the race we came back on the Light Rail so Sheri never had to drive around the town to cheer me on and it stopped a block from the hotel. Before the race started, I had my picture taken with Josh Cox (who is the record holder of the American 50K) and hung around where the elite runners were warming up. I was concerned that on the way back home we were going to have to drive in rain all the way home, but it was raining when we left Phoenix then from there it didn’t rain until we got into Riverside. Well now I have two weeks before the next race at Huntington Beach ( Surf City Marathon), hopefully the knee will get well. I couldn't upload my video so if you want to see it go to this link on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFl09ZdLsio

Rock n Roll Las Vegas Marathon 12-06-09

2009-12-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

This was the inaugural Rock 'n'' Roll Las Vegas Marathon. There were 27,000 runners for the half and full marathon. I wasn’t sure how I would do or if I would even finish the race because of a pinched nerve that was making my legs numb. I was also concerned if this was going to stop my streak of 24 months in a row that I have run a marathon. The race started in front of the Mandalay Bay and would finish there also. The temperature at the start was 34 degrees, yes it was cold. The first 10 miles we would run down the strip and start back before we would head away from the strip for 10 miles which was all an uphill grade. At mile 20 we did a turnaround and headed back to the strip which was all down hill.

As we ran along the strip there were a lot of spectators which I was surprise since it was around 6:30am. But I guess in Vegas no one goes to bed. It was pretty congested the first 10 miles even though we started with a wave start. But at the 10 mile point where we split from the half marathoners was pretty wide open from there on. I think the temperature got up to 40 by the time I came across the finish line.

Since this was a Rock 'n' Roll marathon, there were bands at every mile and cheerleaders. I didn’t care for much of the bands and the last 10 miles most of them stopped playing. The cheerleaders were not into it at all until they saw I was video taping them. Since this was the fifth rock n roll I have done this year, I know by far San Diego has the best bands and cheerleaders of all of them.

At the foot of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Las Vegas, they had a wedding ceremony for about 85 couples who stopped for the ceremony then went and finished their race.

I finish with a 4:47:54 and came in 3704 and 52nd in my age group. So this made number 40 and 25 months in a row. And my legs did ok, but they're still numb. Next up Rock 'n' Roll Arizona.

Santa Clarita Marathon Nov. 08, 2009

2009-11-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

Long Beach Marathon Oct. 11. 2009

2009-10-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

This is the third time that I have run the Long Beach Marathon. My first two years running marathons, I ran it both times, then I waited until this year to run it again. I lived in Long Beach for 10 years and worked at the Post Office there for 12 years so I know the area very well. The race started off down by the Long Beach Convention Center. The first 6 miles we ran around the bay going by the Queen Mary then headed along the beach to Belmont Shores where Sheri and I lived when we first got married. As we ran pass the Long Beach Marine it reminded me of the time where I first learned how to water ski. From there we headed to California State University, Long Beach running pass Blair Field where the Los Angeles Rams used to practice at and I used to watch them when they would have open practices. As we ran through CSU, Long Beach, it reminded me of the days Sheri went to school there and I would meet her at some of her classes. Up to this point I was running at a pretty good clip time, but the hills around the school took their toll on me. This was at the 20 mile mark and I really slowed down for the last 6 miles. The last two miles were on Ocean Blvd., which is where Sheri and I liked to ride our bikes in those early days. The race ended back where we started and there was a lot of activity going on so I just kicked back and took it easy laying down on the lawn for about half an hour. Because I ran the Surf City and San Francisco Marathons, they gave me a special metal plus a jacket for doing all three in one year which is called the California Series. I finished with a time of 4:50:51 and was 2:15 at the half. This made 23 months in a row and number 38.

Pocatello Marathon Sept. 5, 2009

2009-09-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

This was a fun trip to Pocatello, ID. We flew out of Long Beach on Thursday into Salt Lake and from there we drove to Pocatello which was a two and half hour drive. We drove thru some beautiful country side. Once we got into town, we checked into our hotel then went out to lunch at one of the local restaurants. We bought a map of the city, then went and checked out the course. The course started out high up in the local mountain and for the first 13 miles it was pretty much down hill, quite different from my race two weeks ago in Green River, WY. which was up hill for the first half of the race. After we came down the mountain, the rest of the course was pretty much flat with a few hills. The course would end at a park where they had a zoo and water park.

Friday, we went to the package pickup at the Red Lion Hotel. We got there just when they opened up. They gave us a duffle bag and in it was our t-shirt and bib number (16), some goodies, and then they gave us a bag of Idaho potatoes. We asked if Sheri would be able to drive up to the start to drop me off and use the road down to watch me. They suggested that it would not be a good idea to do that, but suggested for her to drop me off at the Red Lion and I would take the shuttle bus to the start and for her to wait till I was down off the mountain because of how narrow the road is. From there we went to Blackfoot which was 20 miles up the road to check out the Potato Museum. We found out quite a bit about potatoes.

Saturday I got up at 4:30 and we got to the Red Lion at 5:05, missed the first bus but the second one left 15 minutes later. Sheri went back to our hotel and went to bed. On the way up the mountain the gal who sat next to me (Terri) was telling me this was her first marathon and she was hoping for a time under 5 hours. Well I think she ended up running a 4:30. It was still dark by the time the race started (6:15) and the air was nice and cool. I was running just under a 10 minute pace down the mountain. There were a lot of horses and beautiful country to see on the way down. I was still worried about my knee which had not totally healed yet. The down hill can really to a number on one's knee if you go too fast. So I was watching that and didn’t go as fast as I could. By the time I reached the bottom of the mountain, I had finished half of the marathon which I ran at 2:11. At this point, I was still feeling pretty good but I could tell I didn’t have the push off my legs any longer. At mile 20 there was a hill that totally took it out of me. I changed my run/walk from a 3 minute run and 1 minute walk to a one and one for the rest of the race. From mile 24 to 25 I ran with a girl from Farmington, Utah (Lori) and had a good chat with her. The last mile we were entering the park and there were a lot of people there to cheer us on to the finish line.

There was a lot of activity going on at the park with the kids run, 5k, and half and the full marathons. They had a full layout of food for us. Hot dogs, beef sandwiches, and of course Idaho baked potatos with all the goodies to put on them. They also had fruit, sweet bread and ice cream. It was like a big family picnic and then they gave out the rewards to all the winners. I was fifth in the 60-64 age groups. I finished with a time of 4:41:51 and came in 151 out of 230. This was 22 months in a row that I have run a marathon. 37 official marathons and 7 nonofficial, and 15 States.

On the way back to Salt Lake City we stopped at the Air Museum at Hill Air Force Base. If you are ever in that area you need to stop by and check it out. I highly recommend this marathon, its a great course, a friendly town, and you really get your bang for your buck. Next marathon Long Beach, CA.

Run wth the Horses Marathon Aug. 22, 2009

2009-08-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

The Run with the Horses Marathon is by far the most difficult marathon I have ever done. I have run in high altitude, hot weather, and some unpaved roads and hills, but never all of them together. This one started off in Green River for the first mile. Then for the next five, it was up hill. Not just a slight hill but a 1000 feet climb. Just about everyone was walking up the hill, and at 7500 feet it was hard to catch your breath. Then the sun came out and there was no shade to be found at the top of the mountain. It was going to get in the nineties by the time I would be coming to the finish line. When I was picking up my bib the day before, the director of the marathon told me to expect to run this one an hour slower. He said to take it easy going up the hill because it will kill you for the rest of the race if you don’t. You know what? He was right!

Going into this marathon I had hurt my knee two weeks before and every time I tried to run it started to hurt again, so I didn’t do any running the last week to let it heal. At the start of the race it felt ok but coming down the hill for the last 6 miles I could feel it aching up so I slowed down to make sure I would be able to run my next marathon in two weeks and it turned out ok after the marathon.

The day before we were going to leave I was trying to get my boarding pass and I found out I was not leaving until 7:30pm instead of 7:30am. This meant that we wouldn’t be getting into Green River until 2:00 am. Then when we got to the airport the plane was an hour late so we didn’t get to our hotel until 3:00 am. The hotel clerk was telling me about their breakfast they would be serving from 6:00 am until 9:00 am. I told him I wouldn’t be getting up until later which was true.

My wife and I went to where the pick-up trailer was parked in Expedition Island right next to the river where they were having their big summer River Festival so we walk around and checked out all the festivities that were going on. They had a Photo, Hulu Hoop and Watermelon contest, Water Balloon Toss, 3 Legged Sack Race, Egg Race, Dog Fetching Competition, Dog Show and Car Show.

We went and found a restaurant called Buckaroos, remember we were in Wyoming. After eating we drove up the mountain and checked out the course. After driving the course I knew I was in trouble. It was very peaceful at the top and there are wild horses running around, but we didn’t see any at that time but during the race I could see some way off in the distance. Looking down the mountain you could see Green River and Rock Springs which were next to highway 80. This was the first highway built from coast to coast. Also the transcontinental railroad and the Pony Express ran through the valley below us.

After checking out the course we went back to the River Festival and stayed there for awhile then went out for dinner at the Krazy Moose Restaurant. Remember we were in Wyoming. We went and found a grocery store and on the way back to the hotel I got pulled over because I was speeding (37 in a 30). The Officer let us off with a warning and the next morning she was working the traffic for us as we were running through town and I said “Hi” and “Thanks for the warning.”

During the marathon I talked to quite a few runners, most of them were Maniacs. The water stations were every two miles and you had to get your own water which was a first for me. As we made the turn around at mile 13.1 there was a slight breeze to cool us off. About mile 17, I could not see anyone in front of me or behind me. It was kind of lonely the last 8 miles. There were no spectators but my wife Sheri was able to see me at about five different locations along the course. No one crossed the finish line with me. I finished with a 5:49:00 which is my all time slowest and came in 72 out of 123 and 5th in my age group. There were a lot of refreshments for us and I had a good time talking with a lot of the folks. After resting for a while we looked at all the cars at the Car Show then headed back to the hotel for a cool shower, a nap, then out for dinner.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed back to Salt Lake City. On the way stopped at Fort Bridger for a tour then on to our hotel in Salt Lake. We flew home the next morning. Next race will be Pocatello, Id.

San Francisco Marathon July 26,2009

2009-07-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

This was my second trip to San Francisco and the weather was just like last year, cold. It was 100 degrees when we left Corona and 52 degrees when we got to San Francisco 8 hours later. Great weather for a marathon. These last two weeks I didn’t train as I usually do because we were having our floors installed (check it out at http://www.blogger.com/www.sheribarbre.blogspot.com%20) for those two weeks and I needed to stay at home while they were working so I was off my game a little.

On Saturday we went to the Expo and just before we left the hotel I thought I better check to see if the Expo was at the same place as last year. Well it was I good thing I did because it wasn’t at the same place so we would have been driving all over San Francisco looking for the place. At the expo it was very crowed and very difficult to maneuver around. I bought a new water bottle pack and that was it. So we drove around town for a while and check out Height street, Golden State Park, and the Golden State Bridge and then we ate. I like to eat early before the race no latter than 4:00. After eating we went back to the hotel.

Sunday I got up around 4:00, took a shower and started to get ready. Where I spend most of my time getting ready is working on my feet. First I clip all my toe tails then I tape two of my toes that rub on my shoes. I used Guild on the rest of my foot. Then I check my socks for any objects that might be in them. Then I do the same thing to my shoes, and then tie them tight.

The marathon started at 5:30. As last year they had us going in waves. I was in wave 7 which did not leave until 6:30. Right after I passed the start line we came to a stop as we bottled up for about 30 seconds. It was pretty congested the first 3 miles. I ran up on the sidewalks so I was not inhibited by the crowd of runners. At mile 4 we started to head up the hill to get to the entries to the Golden State Bridge. It’s two and half miles across then we turn around and head back. During this time going across the bridge, it was shoulder to shoulder you couldn’t make up any time unless you bump and push people out of your way, so you just had to go with the flow.

After we came off the bridge we headed to Golden State Park. So from mile 10 to 13 was one hill after other until we entered the park. The first mile at the park was down hill then the next five miles were up a hill and then down a hill until we exited the park at mile 19.

At the park, the half marathoners who started with us at the start were finishing their race and the ones who were running the second half were starting their race and would run with us until the finish. Sheri was at mile 18 and that is the only spot we saw each other.

After we exited the park we came to Height Street. Height Street looks just like it did back in the 60’s. There were a few strange people out there but no pot smoking or free love going on. At about mile 21 we had a steep down hill which I ran going zigzag to take the pressure off my knees. The last four miles was pretty flat, a couple of hills not too bad. And the last two miles there were about four bands.

At mile 25 we ran around AT&T Park were the Giants play. By this time the sun had work its way out of the early morning fog and it was getting a little warm. The last half mile there were a lot of spectators there cheering us on to the finish. I came across at 4:40: After I found Sheri she was with a friend of ours whom she picked out of the crowd of runners. So we had a good time talking about the race as we walked with her and her family back to her hotel. Our hotel was out by the Airport which was 10 miles from downtown. The traffic was really bad and it took about an hour to get back to the hotel. After a shower and a nap we went out to dinner. The next day we drove back to Corona which took us about 10 hours, but it was a very nice drive along the coast line. Now it’s off to Green River, Wyoming for the Run with the Horses Marathon. And its now 20 months in a row and still going strong.

Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon June 27, 2009

2009-06-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

This was my 4th Rock n Roll marathon this year and I have one more in December in Las Vegas. My wife and I left Long Beach on Thursday at 7:30am and landed in Seattle at 9:35am. Coming into Seattle, the plane was bouncing around pretty bad due to the wind. As we landed, the plane was fishtailing which is the first time I’ve ever experience that. After we picked up our rental car, we headed straight to the expo at Qwest Event Center. At the same time as we were finding the expo, the Seattle Mariners were having an afternoon game. Being that the expo was next to Safeco Field, there was nowhere to park unless you wanted to pay $20.00. So we decided to check in at our hotel, go to lunch and try again later. We stayed at the Red Lion Hotel in Bellevue which was about 10 miles out of Seattle. After we checked in, we decided to check out the course. We got to the half way mark which is next to Qwest Field (where the Seahawks play) and were able to find a parking place about a mile from the Expo and it was free.

The Expo was almost exactly the same as all the other Rock n Roll Expo’s that I have attended this year. We picked up my bib and then checked out the rest of the expo. I needed to buy some energy gels and Sheri bought a pair of shoes. After shopping around at the expo we went back to Bellevue, found a restaurant (Red Robin) and headed back to the Hotel.

Friday we checked out the second half of the course and then found a nice place to eat in the Queen Anne section of Seattle. After checking out the course I knew I was in for a very hilly course. Also the weather report was for 77 degrees for race day.

Saturday I got up at 4:00am and started to get myself ready for the race. I started putting on my sun screen, petroleum jelly, taped my toes and checked all my gear. Sheri drove me to the start line in Tukwila, which was about 8 miles from downtown Seattle. There was no place for her to park so after dropping me off she went to the two mile marker and waited there for me to run by. That would be the only place she would be able to see me as it was very difficult to get around town. Then after driving around for 4 hours, she found a place to park by the finish line. Meanwhile, at the start line, it was very crowded with 25,000 people waiting for the start of the race. They started us off in waves about two minutes apart. I was in corral 24 so I didn’t get to start until 32 minutes after the lead runners took off.

Even with a wave start, it was very packed for the first 9 miles then the half marathoners took a different turn than we did. We ran across a bridge and back which took 3 miles and at that point we caught up with the half marathoners again and it was crowded again until we hit our 14 mile mark and they turned to the finish line and we headed out to Lake Union. Running from mile 4 to 9 it was very picturesque as we ran along Lake Washington. When we ran across the bridge over Lake Washington we could see Mount Rainier off in the distance. At mile 15, we could see Elliott Bay and Puget Sound. At mile16, we passed the Space Needle. At mile 19, we turned around at the bridge that went over Lake Union. From there we headed back to downtown Seattle. There was one hill after another all throughout the course. It took the wind out of a lot of runners who were out of gas by mile 20. Miles 24 to 25½ were all uphill, then the last half mile was down hill to the finish line which was at Qwest Field. I didn’t think too much of the bands or the cheerleaders. After mile 16 they were all worn out from the heat. I will say that San Diego Rock n Roll still has the best bands and cheerleaders of all the Rock n Roll Marathons.

I finished with a 4:45: 28 which I feel pretty good about considering all the hills and the warm weather. I ended coming in 3200 out of 5000 marathoners. The next day I was fully recovered and Sheri and I went to the Museum Of Flight which is the largest aviation museum in the West. We went on the first presidential jet (Air Force One) and the Concorde. Then Monday we flew back home and will get ready for the San Francisco Marathon on July 25.

San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon 5-31-09

2009-06-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon my wife and I headed down to San Diego. I live in Corona about 85 miles northeast of San Diego. When we left our house it was a little overcast but by the time we got down to San Diego it was raining lightly. My daughter lives in San Diego so we stayed with her for this marathon. After we arrived at her place, we headed on down to the expo. We spent a couple hours there. They have a pretty nice layout of venders and speakers. I like to eat early, no later than 4:00pm, so we went to Oggi's Pizza to eat.

The next morning I got up at 3:15 to get ready, then left the townhouse at 4:00am and got the trolley to the Washington exit. From there I took the shuttle bus to the start which is at Balboa Park. Waiting at the trolley stop I met some nice folks from D.C., Bakersfield, San Diego, and Memphis.

It was raining lightly at the start. I walked around and checked out all the things that were going on. The Marine Corp Band was playing for us and all the Elvises were getting their picture taken. I was next to the Kenya runners as they were warming up. I found my friend from Corona and talked with him for awhile. He was in corral 6 and I was in 14.

The gun went off at 6:30 and 25,000 of us took off. It took about 10 minutes to get to the start line, and it was very congested for the first 8 miles. The weather was great for running and the rain had stopped. This marathon being a Rock n Roll had one band at every mile and cheerleaders too. San Diego by far has the best bands and cheerleaders of all the Rock n Roll marathons. Now I should know this because I have run the Rock n Roll San Antonio, Rock n Roll Arizona, Country Music Nashville, Tn. and I will find out if Rock n Roll Seattle and Rock n Roll Las Vegas is as good as San Diego later this year.

I was running a pretty good race until mile 21. My legs just didn’t have anything left so I just walked the last 5 miles and got in with a time of 5:15. I used a new pair of shoes but I had ran 50 miles with them and I thought they would be OK but it didn’t work out that way. Sheri and Naomi were able to see me at miles 7, 12, 18 and the finish line. They took the trolley, and when we met at the finish line we took the trolley back to Naomi’s place. After a shower and some rest, we went out for dinner and then went back to her place. We watched the Lakers win and then headed home.

Palos Verdes Marathon May 2, 2009

2009-05-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

This is my second return to San Pedro for the Palos Verdes Marathon. The race starts and finishes in San Pedro. Being born and raised in San Pedro, this is like coming back home. San Pedro is located at the entrance to the Los Angels Harbor. This race runs along the coast line and it’s very picturesque over looking the ocean and very nice homes that look like hotels. This very hilly course is challenging. Last year it got up to 95 degrees but on this day it was overcast about 55 at the start, great for running a marathon. The only drawback was that it was very winding and blowing in our face for the first half of the race.

I live about 70 miles from San Pedro and I thought the race was going to start at 6:00 am so I got up at 3:00 and started to get ready. We left at 4:00 and got to San Pedro at 5:00 and there were only a few people there. So we went back to the car which was only 100 yards from the start line and tried to get a little sleep before the race really started at 7:00.

There were about 200 marathon runners and about 1000 half marathon runners. We started a half hour before the half marathoners. Just before the two mile mark we reached the killer hill. That hill really takes it out of you but it was at the beginning and when we came back it was a nice down hill with the wind to our back. Last week I was at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville and ended up with my slowest time ever. Well it was very hot that day, 86, and I was sick going into the race. This time I was still a little sick and hadn’t run since last week’s race in Nashville. The first half I ran a 2:16 but slowed down quite a bit the second half ending up with a 4:50 which was an hour faster than last week.

So I found out that I can run back to back marathons. This was number 32 and 18 months in a row, starting back in Dec. of 2007. I also have eight 27-mile long runs just by myself. So I know I can run a marathon week after week if I could afford to do it. I do enjoy running these marathons. I meet new people, see new places, just enjoy life and am very thankful that the Lord has given me the ability to run marathons. I finished 128 out of the 200. There were a lot of fast runners in this race. So my next race is not until the end of the month down in San Diego. I’ll try to get in maybe two long runs before then.

Country Music Marathon April 25, 2009

2009-04-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

This was my 31st marathon and my slowest. Three days before we left for Nashville I came down with a cold. Add to that the temperature rose to 86 degrees for race day. The night before the race I took a lot of drugs hoping to feel OK by morning. I got up at four and felt some what better. We headed to the start and got there about an hour and a half before the start time of 7:00.
I was in the 19th corral. There were 35 altogether. They started us off in waves with each corral taking off five minutes apart. By the time my group was at the start, the race had been on for 35 minutes. It’s a good thing we were given timing chips so our time didn’t start until we went over the start line. The race started at Centennial Park across from Vanderbilt College with about 35,000 people doing the half and the full marathon.
We headed for down town, went by the Music Hall of Fame, then by the Music Row. From there we headed south for 3 miles then turned back towards downtown. At mile 11 the half marathoners headed towards LP Field for their finish. Up to that point it was very shoulder to shoulder. The marathoners went on Rosa Parks Blvd. made our turn at the 15 mile marker along the Cumberland River and headed back towards downtown again. From there we crossed the Cumberland River to Shelby Park and the last 3 miles to LP Field.
Nashville is a naturally hilly city. So, this was a very challenging course. I did OK the first 10 miles but then my cold, the hills and sun took their toll on me. At mile 19 I decided to walk the rest of the way. There were ambulances rushing to aid heat victims all over the course. There was one man who died just after he crossed the finish line. Also I have another marathon in 7 days.
I stayed at the Radisson Hotel where all the workers were wearing marathon t-shirts. One of the gals ran the half and she had a real good time. Everyone there was very friendly, and we enjoyed our stay with them.
After the race and after I had time to get cleaned up, Sheri and I drove 75 miles south to visit some friends. We enjoyed our visit with them . It was the highlight of our trip. They live in a house that was built in 1840 and General Sherman army camped in the front yard on his way through the south. They gave us a tour of their farm, and we had dinner with them.
The next day we visited the Belle Meade Mansion back in Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry.
This is my second Rock & Roll Marathon this year. I also did Arizona and I still have San Diego, Seattle, and Las Vegas which will give me five for the year. My time was 5:48:58. I came in 3436 out of the 4122 finishers. Let’s hope for a better race at Palo Verdes this weekend

Pasadena Marathon March 22, 2009

2009-03-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Arriving at the marathon at 6:30 in the morning reminded me of the mornings I was operating Rose Parade Floats on New Year’s day for 7 years. At one point we were running on Colorado Blvd. which had an orange line down the center of the street. This line is for the driver of the parade float to follow. The driver cannot see anything around him except for this line. Then we headed down Orangethorp Blvd. where the floats were parked before the parade started. That was the 6 mile mark of the race and just after we passed that point it started to rain cats and dogs for about two miles.
I didn’t get to the start until just before the gun went off. The traffic coming off the freeway was backed up. It took about a half an hour to go one mile. They need to work on that for next year’s race. This race was scheduled for November last year but the California fires forced the cancellation of the race on race day just 2 hours before it was going to start because of the heavy smoke and ash. It was rescheduled for March. The people who paid for the first race had to pay again but only $40 this time. I felt sorry for them.
It seemed that we were always climbing up a hill around every turn especially around the Rose Bowl. From mile 21 to 25 it was uphill, which took the gas out of most of us especially with the wind blowing in our face. For the first half I ran a 2:16 which wasn’t bad with the rain, wind and hills, but I just didn’t have enough for the second half which had more rain, wind and hills. We did run by a lot of nice homes, and the business districts, including Old Pasadena, and passed such landmarks as the Colorado Street Bridge, City Hall, Caltech, the Rose Bowl and the Tournament House. I had to stop at two intersections while the police let traffic go by. That was the first time that has happened to me. The rain did cool us off so that felt nice as well as when we weren’t going up hill.
There were about 9000 full and half -marathon runners, and cyclists. I ended up with a time of 4:48:36 and came in 793 out of 1486 marathon runners. At mile 21 we ran pass where the Rose Parade Floats were parked at the end of the parade on Sierra Madre Blvd. Since my last marathon at Surf City, I have run 3 long runs of 27 miles three weeks in a row along the Santa Ana River bed. I call them the Van’s Marathons, and I plan to run 3 more before my next marathon which will be in Nashville, Ten. on April 25. So far this year I have run seven marathons including Van‘s Marathons. At 64 I feel pretty good about doing what most guys at my age don’t do. .On to Nashville.

Surf City USA Mararthon Feb.1, 2009

2009-02-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

This marathon was at Huntington Beach, California. It was a great day for running the weather was at 45 degrees it was overcast and the course was pretty much flat. There was a little wind at the end but it was not to bad and cooled us off. We started at Huntington Beach Pier which brought back memories of when I was in high school and President Kennedy suggested that it would be a good for us to walk 50 miles. So one morning I took the challenge and walk from San Pedro to Huntington Beach and back, so here I am 46 years later back at the pier running my 29th marathon. Just last week Sheri and I were in Whistler Canada dogledding and tubing. So for 5 days I was wearing snow shoe all the time and didn’t get any running in at all. But I did well running a 4:35:01. At the start of the race my son Jeremiah was there but had to leave for Japan while I was running. He’s a Captain in the Marines. Next up the Pasadena Marathon.

Whistler Canada Jan. 2009

2009-02-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

A week after the P.F. Chang Marathon and a week before the Surf City Marathon Sheri and I went to Whistler Canada with our sons. They went there to go snow boarding, but we did dog sledding and tubing and site seeing. Had a great time but did not get any running in, so well see how Surf City goes.

P.F. Chang Marathon Jan. 2009

2009-02-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

This is the second P.F. Chang Marathon I have run in. Last year I started my goal of running a marathon a month for the whole year, which I did. So this year I have the same goal but I will run two a month every now and then. The weather was a cool 45 at the start and not a cloud in the sky. There were 25,000 running but only 3,500 doing the full marathon. The half marathoners ran a different route than we did and started about 20 minutes later also.
Two weeks ago I ran a 28 mile long run and during that run I turned my ankle and reinjured my leg. With that I didn’t know how well I would do in this race. I only ran one day this week on Monday 6 miles and my leg was still sore, but my ankle was feeling OK.
At the start of the race my leg was hurting right after we started so I knew I had to take it easy during the race or I wasn’t going to finish. There were cheerleaders every mile to cheer us on, and being a rock & roll marathon we had bands at every mile.. They were pretty good compared to the ones that were at San Antonio, and the cheerleaders were very good Through the whole race they were cheering enthusiastically. Sheri was able to get to about 5 different locations to cheer me along. There were a lot of spectators all through the race. Last month in Huntsville there might have been 200 spectators for the whole race while here they had thousands. Of course it was only 30 degrees in Huntsville and Phoenix got to the mid 70s.
I finish 3882 out of 6411 with a 4:42:01 43 in my age group. Not too bad with my turned ankle and sore leg. Now I’m off to Whistler Canada for five days in the snow then Surf City Marathon in two weeks.

Rocket City Marathon 12-13-08

2008-12-15T21:17:00.000-08:00

As I sit in my hotel room after finishing my race in Huntsville, Alabama, I think back to the beginning of the year when I set my goal to run a marathon each month. And now 12 months later, I have completed that goal by running my best marathon ever out of the 27. It was great to come back to Huntsville where back in 1965 I spent 5 months training to be an ammunition's expert before being sent to Vietnam.

When we were flying in on Thursday night, it was raining and light snow. The temperature was in the low 30s. This was the first time that we stayed at the host hotel (the Holiday Inn downtown). At the start of the race it was 30 degrees and everyone was inside the hotel 10 minutes before start time because it was so cold outside. The race started right on time (8:00am). I wore my long sleeved shirt with my race shirt over it and had a trash sack over that to try to keep warm. There were 1127 runners so it wasn’t too congested running through town. This was a flat course starting in down town Huntsville and then going through the residential part of town. There weren’t too many spectators to cheer us on, and I can’t blame them because it was so cold outside. I ran a 2:12 for the first half and was feeling pretty good. Sheri was able to see me at about 8 different locations to keep telling me I could break my PR. By mile 20 I knew I had a pretty good shot at it if I could just run a 10:30 pace. As I made my turn at the 26 mile mark I could see the finish line, and it was all down hill with a lot of people cheering me on. As I crossed the finish line they announced my name over the loud speakers with a 4:27:56. My old record was 4:29:50 so I smashed my old PR. I came in 761 out of the 1127 and 21 out of 64 in my age group.

The people here were really friendly. The expo was not big but nice, and the people who put all this together did a great job. This was the only marathon that I have run where everyone was thanking the police and volunteers along the course. At the end of the race they had a real nice lay out of food for us. Then the awards ceremony was held, and there must have been 500 people there for that.

That night we met with my son who came out to see his girlfriend graduate that morning from the University of Alabama. We had dinner with him, his girlfriend and her parents. It was a great day and night.

I am going to continue to run each month this next year and even do two a month a couple of times. I also signed up for the 50 states club because I have 11 states now under my belt, and you only need 10 to join the club. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

San Antonio Marathon 11-16-08

2008-11-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

This was the inaugural Rock & Roll Marathon for San Antonio. There were 30,000 runners which was the largest inaugural race in history with 20,000 running the half marathon. There were over 50 bands and 30 cheer squads lining the entire course to keep us entertained.

At the start of the race it was 35 degrees, pretty cold for a California guy and not a cloud in the sky. We were assigned corrals according to the time we hoped to finish the race. I was in corral 18. The corrals were started in waves with about 2 minutes between corral starts. So by the time my group was at the start line 32 minutes had gone by.

With the race start line about 2 miles from downtown we headed there first running pass the Alamo. Then we ran through some residential areas away from town for a few miles before heading back towards town where we could see the Tower of Americas. After we ran through downtown again, we headed for the road that would pass San Antonio’s other four missions. When we reached the end of the mission road (which was at the 17 mile marker) we turned around and headed for the Alamodome.

I was running pretty good for the first 13.1 miles (2:09). The last 4 miles were a little up hill and I slowed down quite a bit. I crossed the finish line with a 4:34:38 and came in 3565 out of the 10,000 marathon runners. This was my fourth best time out of my 27 marathons and my third best this year. After the marathon, we walked 4 miles back to where the car was parked (AT&T Center).

We enjoyed San Antonio, and of course we visited the Alamo, did the River Walk, visited the missions and went to the Texas Ranger Museum. On Monday we went to Austin and did a tour of the Capitol and while there I went to my old friend’s house for a visit but he was in Italy. I felt sad about that since I haven’t seen him for over 35 years. On the way back to San Antonio, we stopped to visit our former Pastor from Corona but no one was home either. So we ended up going to the Natural Bridge Cavern and took a tour for an hour and half. When we left the cavern the Pastor’s wife called and invited us for dinner, so we had a good time of fellowship with them.

Now it’s on to my last race of the year, The Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama. I almost forgot, I now have run in 10 states which qualifies me for the 50 State Club.

Chicago Marathon 10-12-08

2008-10-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

I have waited 3 yrs. to run in the Chicago Marathon, and it was worth the wait. Sheri and I left Friday from Long Beach on Jet Blue for Chicago. On the flight there were a lot of marathon runners and I had a fun time telling them about all the marathons I have run this year. Then when we arrived in Chicago I met more runners at our hotel.

We went to downtown Chicago that night on the “L” train then caught a bus to the Expo. It was one of the best Expo’s I have been to. There were a lot of vendors and a lot of walking room, and everyone was quite nice.

The day before the race we did some site seeing around Chicago. We checked out where the race was going to start and how long it was going to take to get there from our hotel the next day. The weather was in the low eighties and they were talking about it getting up to the low nineties for race day.

At the race there were a lot of runners, about 30,000, and it was reported that there were 10,000 no shows. The no shows were probably concerned about the weather since last year the race was stopped because it got up to 100 degrees. The street was filled with runners shoulder to shoulder with no room to move at the start. In most marathons it thins out by mile 8 but this race was packed with runners the whole 26.2 miles. Also this race had the most spectators of any of my 25 marathons; they were lined up next to the route the whole race. Even though it was getting hotter by the minute I was doing OK. The course was flat the whole way as we ran though the city of Chicago.
My GPS watch was not working because of all the tall buildings, so I never knew how I was doing as far as my time went. They had a lot of volunteers giving out water and gatorade and cheering us on. One bank where they had the temperature showing said 98. Sheri got around town by taking the train and buses to see me run by and cheer me on. She also took a bad fall and hurt her hand as she broke her fall. At the end of the race I needed to get ice for her as her hand had swollen up. I ended up with a 4:48:59 and finished 16,867.

We stayed in Chicago the next two days and did site seeing around town. All I need now is to do one more state and I could join the fifty state club. You have to have 10 states to be in the club. Next month San Antonio, Texas.

Big Bear Marathon 9-06-08

2008-09-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

This marathon was the most difficult of all my 25 that I have run. It was very hilly and the altitude was just less than 7,000 feet. The temperature got up to 85 by the end of the race. The temperature at the start of the race was 47. This was Big Bear’s first marathon so there weren’t too many runners, only 267. I drove up the day before hoping to get use to the altitude and to check out the course. After driving the course I knew I was going to have trouble with this race.

The race started in the Village of down town Big Bear at about 6:50 am. By mile two I was all out of breath and was wondering if I was going to be able to finish this race. It was a beautiful day. The course went around the lake for the first 14 miles, and then we headed back to Big Bear running up in the hills outside of town. This is where I started to break down. I think a combination of heat, altitude, and the hills broke me down to a snail’s pace for the last 7 miles. Their water stations were every two miles which didn’t concern me since I carry a water bottle. When I would stop to have them fill it up they would use there cups which would take a longer time than using the big gallon water bottle.

The people of the town were very friendly and were good hosts. The scenery was breath taking. I ended up finishing with a 4:55:28. I came in 159 out of 267 but did come in third in my age group. I did the first half in 2:16:28 not bad but the second half in 2:39. I am looking forward to redeeming myself next month at the Chicago Marathon which is a fast course.

San Francisco Marathon 8-03-08

2008-08-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

This marathon was a challenge with all its hills but it was a very picturesque route. Back home the weather was in the 90s on this August day, but in San Francisco it was 57 at the start of the race with a high of about 65 and cloud cover for the whole race. Perfect for a marathon.
The race started at 5:30 for the first group. They sent us off in waves. Each group left 10 minutes apart. I was in the eighth and last group and we started at 6:25. The race started at the Old Ferry Building next to the Bay Bridge. For the first five miles we ran along the bay passing Fishman’s Wharf. From there we could see Telegraph Hill, the Transamerica Building and the Coit Tower and to our right out in the bay was Alcatraz Island. At the five mile mark we entered the Golden Gate Bridge. It took 5 miles to go across and back. There was one lane going each way set aside for the runners. It was very congested and we just had to go with the flow of the group, which wasn’t very fast. After we came back across the bridge we ran through the neighborhoods of San Francisco. The houses were all built next to each other, like wall to wall, next to each other.

By mile 12 we entered Golden Gate Park. The park had a lot of lakes and even bison roaming around. The first half marathoners were finishing their race in the park while the second half marathoners were starting their race joining us to the finish line.

I did the half in 2:15. Not bad with the hills and the congestion of the first half of the race. It seems like it took forever to get out of the park. It was a total of 6 miles and took an hour before we came out of the park and ran on to Haight St. Then we passed Haight/Ashbury where back in the sixties it was quite the happening place.

On mile 25 we were running by AT&T Park next to Willie McCovey Cove. As we ran pass the park I could see the Bay Bridge and after running under it I had a half of a mile to go. I finished with a 4:34:04. I came in 2359 out of 4338. In my age group I came in 34 out of 75. My pace was 10:28, so not bad. I felt good after the race and enjoyed the sights and sounds of San Francisco. Sheri was able to see me at a couple of places by using the bus system. Next up, the Big Bear Marathon, Sept.6. Eight down and four to go to complete my goal for this year of one marathon a month.

Missoula Marathon 7-13-08

2008-07-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

Sheri and I left at 7:00am Friday from Long Beach on Jet Blue for Salt Lake City. When we arrived at Salt Lake we rented a car and took an 8 hr. drive to Missoula, Montana. It was a beautiful drive going through Utah, Idaho, and Montana. This was Missoula’s second marathon. I picked this marathon to help meet my goal of running a marathon a month. There aren’t too many marathons in the month of July. On the 4th of July I did something to my knee at the parade I was in. So I didn’t work out for the week and was trying to get it well before the marathon. By race day it was feeling pretty good and the knee never bothered me.

The race started off in Frenchtown about 15 miles out of town. They used a canon to start the race. It was pretty cool. There were 406 of us who were running the marathon, and the race started at 6:00 am and the temperature was 56 degrees. For the first 17 miles we were running through country side with farm houses, beautiful scenery and horses watching as we passed by. Then we ran over a river and at 13 miles we had our only hill of the race which wasn’t too bad. At 17 miles we ran over a bridge which was quite a site. Then we finally entered Missoula and started running by the homes along the way. There were not too many people out watching the race. I guess they were all at church. It was starting to get a little warm, maybe in the low 80s. The route they had set up this year had us running through neighborhoods with a lot of trees that kept the sun off of us.

At the half my time was 2:08:07. I knew I would be slowing down. But when I got to 20 miles I knew I could beat my personal best time of 4:30 which I set on my second marathon eight years ago. I just needed to keep running under 11 minutes for the last 6 miles. At mile 25 I needed to run under 12 minutes to do it and my legs were getting pretty tired but I kept pushing myself. When I saw the finish line I knew I was going to make it, and I did with a 4:29:03. I came in 266 out of the 406 and 4th in my age group. The people that ran the marathon were very friendly and the town of Missoula was a very good host. On the way home we went to Yellowstone Park and saw Old Faithful.

It was a great trip and I feel good that I was able to break my old PR. As I’m getting older and running with walk breaks I seem to be able to run every month and run faster. Now it’s on to San Francisco.

Rock & Roll Marathon San Diego 6-1-08

2008-06-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

This was my 7th marathon in the last 7 months. It was just two weeks ago that I ran the Palos Verdes Marathon. So I wasn’t sure how I would do with just two weeks between marathons but I ended up running my best time since about five years ago at 4:39:19.

The San Diego course is a beautiful course. It starts off at Balboa Park then goes around the Zoo then to downtown, running by Petco Park and Seaport Village. It heads on to highway 163. For about 3 miles it’s uphill then goes down hill for about 2 miles and from there it levels out for the rest of the race. From mile 14 through mile 23 we go around Mission Bay and pass Sea World. The last mile, we go into the Marine Corp Recruit Depot where there are thousands of spectators cheering us on to the finish line. Because this is called the Rock & Roll Marathon there is a band at every mile to entertain us. Also there are cheerleaders at every mile doing their yells for us. The Marines at the depot go all out to take care of us. They did a great job, and I try to tell as many of them as I can thanks for their service to our country.

The weather was great, it started out being a little cloudy for the first few hours then the sun came out for the rest of the race. I believe that this race had the most spectators than any other marathon that I have run in, and I have run in 11 different marathons and 21 in all. My wife and daughter were at mile 6, 12, 18 and the finish line to cheer me on. I came in 6570 out of 17,828 and 46 out of 182 in my age group. At the half I had a time of 2:12:46 and a pace for the race of 10:40. Not bad for a 63 yr. old.

Palos Verdes Marathon 5-17-08

2008-05-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

This was the 42nd Palos Verdes Marathon which is one of the longest continuously ran marathons in the country, second only to Boston and my 20th marathon. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. You could see Catalina Island 26 miles away. The race started at Point Fermin in San Pedro. I was born and raised in San Pedro so I know the area like the back of my hand.
The day before I drove around checking out the places where I lived and went to school. There were only 288 marathoners and 1383 half marathoners. So this was a very small group of runners. The race started at 7:00 AM but I wish it would have started at 5:00 AM because this turned out to be the hottest May 17th in San Pedro’s history, getting up to the 90s.
After two miles, there was a killer hill that was not for the weak. From there on it was rolling to hilly. It was a real challenge for this 63 year old man. I did real well for the first half running a 2:16. After making the turn around the course became steeper, and it was getting hotter by the mile. There were only a few spectators and no entertainment as in L.A., Phoenix, and Salt Lake, but it was the most breath taking view of the coastline and beautiful homes along the cliffs.
Coming to the finish line my wife (Sheri), son (Brian) and daughter (Naomi) were there to cheer me on to the end. I was tired and hot but felt Ok. I finished with a time of 4:53:35. Out of the 288 runners I came in 185 and 6th in my age group. That was pretty good with a hilly course and temperatures in the 90s. So this makes 6 months in a row that I have run a marathon and 7 more to go to reach my goal of one a month for the year. Now, on to San Diego in two weeks.

Salt Lake City Marathon 4-19-08

2008-04-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well it seems like a long time since my last marathon in March. Sheri and I left Corona Wednesday night at 10:30 and arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday night at 7:00. We slept at a rest stop for a couple of hours and went to Zion Nation Park and Bryce Canyon on the way up. Friday morning we went to the Expo. We arrived early before they were opened up, so we watched a news press report as they were introducing the elite runners. I got Sheri to take a picture of me with them. I told them this would be the closest I would be to them tomorrow; they got a laugh out of that. I talked with one of the runners that just arrived here the day before from Kenya. I ask him why his country men dominate this sport. He said that he belongs to a running tribe. They run everywhere they go. School was 10 miles away and they would run to school and back. When their mom would say go to the store and get something, they would run there and back. As a hunting tribe, they would run after the animals.

This race had 2,000 running the marathon and 4,000 running the half marathon. It was a real windy day. The temperature was 56 at the start of the race. Once the gun sounded it didn’t take long to warm up. The first 6 miles of the race were down hill, and then from 6 to 13 it was slightly up hill with a strong wind in my face. From the 13 to 18, it was down hill again with the wind to my back. For the rest of the race it was flat. Sometimes the wind would be in my face and sometimes at my back.

I was running a 10 minute pace for the first part of the race and then a little slower for the last 7 miles. I ended up with a 10:59 pace over all and finished with a 4:43:14 time. Out of the two thousand runners I came in 832. Not bad for an old guy. I had a good month of training, didn’t miss any days and picked up my time a little. This race didn’t have very many spectators except for the last tenth of a mile. As I was coming to the finish line they announced over the loud speakers “Here comes Van Barbre from Corona California.” I felt pretty good after the race like I could go out dancing. On to the Palos Verdes Marathon May 17th.

Training Run 3-17-08 22miles

2008-03-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

L.A. Marathon 2008

2008-03-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

What a different two weeks makes. Two weeks ago there were 58 marathon runners in the Buzz Marathon. This week at the L.A. Marathon there were over 26,000 runners. The L.A. Marathon is the largest marathon held in California, the fourth largest in the country and the seventh in the world. This was the second year in a row that L.A. did a point-to-point course. We started at Universal Studios Hollywood, then past the Hollywood Bowl; ran Hollywood Blvd.; through Koreatown, Exposition Park; past the Coliseum, Convention Center and Staples Center; into East Los Angeles before crossing the 6th street Bridge with a dramatic view of downtown skyscrapers, the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory before ending in the corridor of high rises in the downtown business district. They say that there were more than a million spectators lining the course and 12,000 volunteers.

I ran with my friend Jim Anderson. He had qualified for Boston Marathon at the Las Vegas Marathon in Dec. with a time of 3:30. It was just the time he needed to qualify for Boston. He wanted to have a nice easy race today, so he ran with me. Boston is next month. Sheri stayed home for this race, so I didn’t have a personal photographer or cheerleader this time. I ran a 5:08 and finished 6,709 out of 26,000 runners. Jim stayed with me until mile 23 where I ran out of gas and slowed down. He finished with a 4:57. It was a nice sunny day, about 73 and no wind. I enjoyed Jim’s company. After the race we stopped at McDonald’s for a bite to eat before heading home. At home I used my new whirlpool tub I just installed for the first time, and it was great. I don’t know if the two weeks between races or the cold I had just before the race took its toll on me. Now I have a month and a half before Salt Lake City. I should be in pretty good shape by then.

Buzz Marathon Feb. 16, 2008

2008-02-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

Just got back from running the Buzz Marathon this Saturday. The course is on the grounds of Camp Roberts, just north of San Miguel. This is an out-back course on paved road with dirt and packed gravel shoulders. This was the most challenging marathon I have ever run. The first mile started off flat then for the next 6 miles it was all up hill. From there it was gentle rolling hills, with breathtaking views of oak-studded hillsides and abundant Central Coast wildlife with rivers and lakes. I saw deer, rabbits, a bobcat, a fox, and cattle. Camp Roberts is an old Army Camp during the World War Two days now it is a National Guard Camp. Most of the barracks are run down but it brought back memories of when I was in the Army. Most of the marathons that I have been in have 15,000 to 30,000 runners. This one had only 58 marathon runners, I came in 52th. My time was 4:56 which was very good for how challenging this race was. Also in other races there are thousands of spectators along the route. This race Sheri was the only one who was out there the whole marathon cheering me on and taking pictures. At times I couldn’t see the runner in front of me or the one in back of me. From mile 10 on I didn’t pass one runner until mile 24. At the end of the race there were about ten people who cheered me on as I crossed the finish line. All the runners were in a building having the post-race lunch and waiting for the awards for the top runners. This was very different from any other race I have been in because everybody who wins are long gone by the time I get in. It was a very warm day which made the last few miles more difficult on the body but I pushed on and now I have only two weeks before the L.A. Marathon so I will see how well I will bounce back from this race.

Marathons for 2008

2008-02-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

Well I have sign up for my next 4 marathons. They are L.A. on 3-2-08, Salt Lake City on 4-19-08, Palos Verdes on 5-19-08, and San Diego on 6-1-08. This is commitment because there are no refunds. The marathons I’m looking into for the next six months are Missoula in July, San Francisco in Aug., Lake Tahoe in Sept., Chicago in Oct., San Clarita in Nov. and Rocket City (Alabama) in Dec. Last year I ran four marathons and that was the most I ever ran in one year. So far my body is hanging in there since I have ran 3 marathons in the last four months. The Palos Verdes Marathon starts off in San Pedro which is where I grew up so I’m looking forwarded to going back home. The Rocket City Marathon is in Huntsville Alabama which is where I spent 4 months training on how to blow up things during my Army days before I went to Vietnam. So if all goes as plan, I’ll run in 5 states this year, which will give me 10.

Coming in February

2008-01-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

I bet everyone has been on pins and needles wanting to know where I will be running my next marathon. If I had the money I would do one in a different state each month, but I don’t. So I need to stay in California as much as I can in order to save for my out of state runs. For February I am doing the Buzz Marathon on the 16th at Camp Roberts in San Miguel. San Miguel is halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, in the Paso Robles wine country north of San Luis Obispo. There will only be about 100 people running in this one. No expo the day before to give us our bib number and no timing chip. After the last race in Phoenix where there were 20,000 runners and thousands of people cheering us on during the race, Sheri might be the only one out there cheering this time. www.BuzzMarathon.org

The Phoenix Marathon (The Race)

2008-01-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

I got up at 5:30 because I was awake from 2 am. I started getting ready for the race. First I put lubricant on my feet and taped my toes so I wouldn’t blister. I then put on sunscreen and got dressed. I put on my waist belt which holds my water and power bar gels which I take every four miles to refuel my body during the race. Also, I have my cell phone so I can keep in touch with Sheri. That way she knows where I am on the course to take pictures of me as I go flying by. We arrived about 40 minutes before the start of the race. There were 27,000 runners with 7,000 running the full marathon and 20,000 running the half marathon. The weather was a cool 43 degrees at the start of the race. The sky was clear. The gun sounded, and we were off. Sheri gave me an MP3 player for Christmas. I down loaded about 50 songs which kept me rock ‘n rolling throughout the race. There was a rock ‘n roll band at every mile marker playing the oldies but goodies of the 60s. I felt like a rock running star as 2,000 local high school cheerleaders and local dance teams chanted, cheered and motivated us runners all the way to the finish line. I talked to some of the runners along the way. Some were from New York, Chicago, Indiana, Iowa, Canada and Florida. I was running strong up to mile 24. Then I had to push myself the last 2 miles. My time was 4:50:18. I was the 4190th runner to cross the finish line. I made my goal of doing a sub five without injury. After the race, we went back to the hotel and I went swimming. We went out to dinner with a buddy from the my Army days who now lives in Phoenix. I enjoyed visiting with him and his wife. We drove home on Monday. I am now preparing for my next race in February.

Phoenix Marathon

2008-01-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

Well today is Thursday and I'm getting ready to leave for Phoenix for the P.F. Chang Rock 'N' Roll Arizona Marathon tomorrow. This will be my 16th marathon. Our first stop will be at the Marathon Expo where I will pick up my race number (9509) and timing chip. The timing chip goes on my shoe. That way my official time will begin as I cross the start, stop when I cross the finish line. After they shoot the starting gun it could take 10 minutes before I get to the starting line because of all the people running in the race and that's why we wear the timing chip. I hope to run the marathon in five hours or less, that's 11:30 minutes per mile pace. I run 3 minutes then walk 1 minute. I do the walk breaks to keep from using up my resources early. Also the walk break reduces the damage to the muscle dramatically, allowing me to carry on my life activities even after the marathon. I run the same time I did before I started doing the walk breaks, and I'm able to go dancing after the race. So I feel ready for the race. The race starts off in Phoenix then Scottsdale and ends in Tempe.

Marathons are 26.2 miles. When the first modern Olympics started in 1896 the marathon was 25 miles. Then in 1908 at the London Olympics the 25 mile course had been measured and marked when the queen asked if she might be able to watch the start from the palace. The course was extended by 1.2 miles to accommodate the royal request, and the new distance became official. A tradition among veteran marathoners when passing the original finish distance at 25 miles is to say "God save the Queen" or something like that. Well that's the history lesson for today. Let's roll.