Finish

I finished walking the LA Marathon route yesterday. Took me 8.5 hours. I'm too cheap to pay the $100+ entry fee but still wanted to challenge myself and I really don't need the zoo
of activity. This was also my little protest against the marathon's commercialism and it being moved from cool weather March to hotter May.

I had only done 26.2 once before about a year ago so wasn't sure I could do it. Stepped off at 6:21 a.m. Nice and overcast which lasted to mile 13 when the sun and heat hit. I hit my first wall at 16 and then another at mile 23. My pace slowed from my normal 120 steps/minute to about 80. It was a very boring course.

I was surprised when a hummingbird came out of nowhere near a USC dorm and banged full speed into my chest. We said, hi, then he flew off. Surprised there were so few food aromas to distract a bit...smelled bbq and Korean a couple of times and that was it. Korean kid reeking garlic from his pores was the strongest smell and I wondered if he dates and figured the Korean girl probably reeks too so they'd be a wash.

A few homeless/drunks passed out face down in dirt or sidewalk. Sorry to the dead-like guy with his feet wrapped in rags who I had to step over...nothing I could do for him anyhow and had to keep the body moving.

A couple interesting signs...."burning desirables", "best deer antler company", "my child says daddy", "twin trees 1922" on the front of a little house but no trees in sight, "my child says daddy" on a storefront for a parenting org.

Took the train there and home. My wife cooked a great spaghetti dinner with corn-on-the-cob for dinner when I got home. Yum. I got encouraging texts and kind words during the marathon from my family. It made the distance go by faster. My son was on his way to go hiking from about 6-10,000 feet on Mt. Baldy. Amazing feat of his own!!! Way to go, Scott...inspiring to me the way he's lost weight and worked himself into shape in the last few years...hiking, wilderness training, rock climbing, biking!!! The kind of hero a dad needs. Someone to set the bar high for me to strive for.

Then at 8:30pm went to county hospital to sit with an alone friend with kidney problems. Got to bed about 3am.

Not to babble philosophical, doing the 26.2 is likely my way of pushing back and not wanting to admit I'm getting older. I'm hoping getting into shape will help delay aging a bit and maybe position my body to be better prepared to fight if another heart attack hits. I also have seen in others that decline really begins with one's loss of mobility.

Not at all sure, but I'm thinking about whether I can make it to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite with Scott sometime.

Gonna Go For A Walk Now

Gonna go for a little walk tomorrow morning about 6. My anti-LA marathon...the day before since I didn't want to pay the $100 or whatever entry fee.

Though I've walked 26.2 miles once before, I want to see how far I can go again. After the last endurance test, I swore to myself never again. But, for now, I don't regret the thought. But tomorrow will likely be a different story.

Walking, especially distance walking, is a very solitary activity. I remember on an 8 mile training walk a few weeks ago, I was powering past stalled early morning traffic and total strangers in a car yelled, "Looking good". I was surprised how two words lifted me with a new burst of energy to make it the last mile.

Though I've told family and a few others and posted here and there my intentions and route link to the marathon site, I fully expect that no one will find me on the route, drive by and honk or yell an encouraging word. Hell, I can't even get anyone to drop me off at the starting point 20 minutes away. So, I'll catch the metro train and an hour later the challenge begins.
Oh well. Like I said. Solitary.

I'm walking to honor my family...my wife and kids who I put through a kinda hell via my heart attack. I'm walking to honor my Dad and late Mom for being great parents! I'm walking to honor my late brother, David. No finer brother and friend will there be. I'm walking to honor my family...brothers and sister who support me in all I do. I'm walking for the children of the world who are powerless over their dire circumstances be it famine, war, disease, abuse, poverty...and the list doesn't end.

26.2 - One More Time?

The first and last time I walked 26.2, I vowed never to do it again. I had already proved to myself I could do it.

The urge is returning.

The LA Marathon is at the end of May. Organizers just posted the route online and though I've been doing lots of cardio hiking, I'm thinking of expanding my distance walking in the next 5 weeks.

Though in no way a game, I'm toying with the idea of walking the marathon route the Sunday before the real marathon...kinda an anti-marathon. I've walked that distance once and it was tough. But I did it.

So, back to walking 18 miles and then 20 and finally 26 miles until that early morning in late May when I'll traverse the streets of LA in my attempt to accomplish another personal goal...one more time.