The Past 2 Years

What have I done since my last update?

Life has been keeping me busy and out of trouble (for the most part). I have continued to train, raced in a number of races, hit some low points, high points, bonked, recovered, gained weight, lost weight, crashed (literally and figuratively), got up again, and eventually moved on. No matter what you do, no matter what goals you have, continued forward momentum is what will make you reach the finish line, it's what will make your dreams come true, it's what will make you, you. You will always have people who will despise you, despise your goals, try to knock you down a notch, and those who will come between you and the "finish line". I used to say that they do this because of jealousy... this may have some truth to it, but in all honesty, it doesn't really matter. Your goal is to minimize the associations with negative influences and maximize the positive.

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Will Rogers.

Ok, enough preaching....

What have I done? My last update was "Wildflower 2009" in May of 2009. Since then, here are the races that I have completed and my time:

• San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon (May 2009), 3:11
• Vineman Ironman Distance Triathlon (August 2009), 11:21
• Magic Mountainman, Half Ironman Distance Tri (October 2009), 5:49
• California International Marathon (December 2009), 3:13
• 13.1 LA Half Marathon (January 2010), 1:30
• LA Marathon (March 2010), 3:04
• Wildflower Long Half Ironman Distnace Tri (May 2010), 5:39
• San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon (May 2010), 3:09
• Vineman Ironman Distnace Triathlon (July 2010), 11:36
• Malibu Marathon (November 2010), 3:15

One of my lifelong goals was to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and I did, during 2010 LA Marathon. Training for speed was the key to accomplish this task. I could not have done it without the support from my family, and my best friends & training partners Alison Chavez, Angela Brunson, Kyla Faye, Lisa Fink, and Ankur Tarneja, who all have yelled at me many times when I started to slack off. Of course, my running coach, John Medina is the greatest. He has taught me patience, pacing, and re-ignited my passion for running. My triathlon coaches, Paul Ruggiero and Rad Hallman are two more people I am honored to have in my life. They have taught me pretty much how to swim, how to ride my bike, run, and to combine all of the above. Ankur's famous words, "stop dragging ass" is what keeps me going during the last 4 miles of pretty much all my events. Ankur, btw, is a 2:36 marathoner. Of course, Angela's "Do, or do not. There is no try." motto is what I keep reminding myself time and time again when I think about "trying" something. Angela has done the world's shortest races and the longest and most certainly, toughest. From a 1 mile fun runs, to having done 30 marathons, to having completed the world's toughest foot race, the Badwater 135 ultra marathon running 135 miles in 120+ degree heat. Kyla is my amazing celebrity superstar friend. She's definitely my most famous friend who was Miss Utah, in addition to being in Fear Factor, fitness competitions, modeling, and tons of other TV & print stuff. She's also a kick ass personal trainer, has qualified for Boston marathon numerous times, and ran Boston. Lisa Fink is my other speedy friend. Calling Lisa "fast" would be a HUGE understatement. She's not only fast, she's "I am going to win this thing" fast. The 2010 LA marathon was her PR with a time of 3:03. nearly 25,000 people ran the race and she won her age group. She has also won the 2009 Malibu Marathon, and came in 2nd in 2010. Alison Chavez is my best friend. She is among the most athletic and successful people I know with 10+ marathons, 3 Ironmans a really hard 50K utramarathon (with 8000 ft elevation gain), a 4.8 mile ultra swim race, many centuries, half ironmans, and tons of other stuff under her belt. When I don't feel like getting up in the mornings, I play the "what is Alison up to" game. So, name suggesting, I log onto facebook and see what Alison is up to at 5AM. She's either swimming, riding, running, taking a spin class, doing weights, boot camp, or any of the combinations thereof. Next thing I know, I am putting on my running shoes or my helmet. Should I mention that she does all this alongside working 10-16 hour days? There are so many other people who, for the sake of keeping this thing semi-short, I have not mentioned. However, I can write pages on every single one of my good friends, whom I would give my life for in a heartbeat.

Obviously, the point of this is to thank my friends. But even a bigger point is to emphasize the importance of positive attitudes. Sure, you can do things on your own, but it's just so much easier (and funner) to do it with others. So, whatever your goals are, get to know like-minded people, get your hands on quality how-to information (whether it's a coach or a reputable training plan) and just do it (remember, there is no 'try').

Let's see, what else is new? There is a wonderful new woman in my life with a nickname "Tough Cupcake". It was supposed to be tough cookie, but she likes cupcakes better. I mean, who doesn't? Cookies are soooooooooooo yesterday. I met her in Spring 2010, during our first date, which was a bike ride, our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Do you want to do an Ironman?"
Katherine (aka tough cupcake): "Sure, why not. Sounds fun".

From that point, she not only busted her butt and trained religiously, but she absolutely ROCKED Vineman Ironman Distance triathlon in July 2010 with a time of 13:13 and coming in 6th in her age division. I should mention that prior to Vineman, she had never done a marathon or a triathlon longer than a sprint. Her and I plan on running Comrades Marathon (56 mile foot race) in South Africa on May 2011.

As for my near-term goals, I will repeat 13.1 LA in January 2011, then attempt a PR at LA Marathon in March, then Boston Marathon in April, Comrades Marathon in May, and Challenge UK (Ironman distance Tri) in September 2011.

Thanks for reading this, friends. As my all time fitness mentor, Tom Venuto says, "Train Hard and Expect Success".

Be Well,

Arkady

Carlsbad Marathon 2009

I've received numerous emails to do a post-race review of the 2009 Carlsbad Marathon I completed recently. Honestly, the highlights of the race were minimal. It was, what I call a JAM (just another marathon). However, I will try to recap the day's events and offer a few suggestions:

My ultimate goal for doing the Carlsbad marathon was to qualify for the upcoming Boston Marathon. Honestly, I don't really care about actually running Boston, just qualifying for it is succinct for me. The marathon started at 6AM and my hotel was approximately 1 mile from the race start. Purposely, I woke up extra early and decided to jog to the marathon start so that I am warmed up and don't waste any energy in the beginning of the race. I started jogging, only to found out that I was going in the wrong direction. After running for about 10 minutes, I see no cars, no crowds, and no fellow joggers. I became slightly alarmed and decided to walk into a 7-11 to find out where the Westfield Shopping Center was (race start and finish). I was informed that I went completely the wrong direction. If I was slightly nervous then, I became very nervous upon hearing this. With only about 20 minutes to the race start and being about 3 miles away, I literally sprinted those three miles. While I was running at a good pace, I actually felt pretty strong throughout my journey to the start line. I got there a little after 6 and was really glad to hear that the race is being delayed for 15 minutes due to technical difficulties.

I met a few runners, made some friends, and as soon as the clock hit 6:13 AM, the gun went off and the 2009 Carlsbad Marathon had officially begun. The first 6 miles went really well. I was at about 6:30 average pace, with a faster sub-6 on the downhills and slower on the inclines. Feeling great, I decided to step it up a notch. For the next few miles, I was going at about 6:15 pace. At about mile 9, there was a long incline, which lasted for a couple of miles. Wanting to conserve some energy for the flats and the downhills, I decided to tackle this hill quite slowly. Could've gone much faster, but I dropped my pace down to 9-10 minutes per mile for the next 2-3 miles. As soon as the hill was over, I picked up the pace again to average about 7-7:30 pace for the next several miles. The only highlight between mile 10 and 16 is when the half marathon pros zoomed by me at about 4 min/mile pace. It was an incredible thing to watch as the motorcade passed me along with two black runners (possibly from Ethiopia or Kenya).

Starting at mile 17, I started to become fatigued but still kept a decent pace of about 7:30 a mile. I was about 10 minutes ahead of my goal for doing a Boston Qualifier. Realizing that I can probably do a sub-3 marathon, I picked up my pace again (even though the fatigue was setting in and my knees and ankles were beginning to ache). I crown my decision to keep faster speed even though my body didn't want to, the dumbest decision of the day. Around mile 21, I developed a twitch in my left hamstring. It became increasingly painful as the miles progressed. This, in addition to achy joints, made me realize that I am in for a very painful 5 miles. However, I was still able to run the following 2 miles, although not very fast. Starting just over mile 23, my hamstring twitch made me stop running. I physically could not!! Every time I tried to take a step with my left leg, my hamstring would contract rapidly, which made me lose my balance. These last 2-3 miles were probably one of the more painful marathon experiences in my life. It took me nearly 40 minutes to cover the last two miles, shattering my goal of qualifying for Boston.

Even though I tried to stay hydrated throughout the race, I realized that the lack of electrolytes may have caused the cramps in my hamstring. Most liquid I drank on course was plain water. However, I think that the biggest mistake I made was going out too fast, too hard. That may have worked as I got a boost of confidence knowing that I am ahead of my goal. However, it was a short-lived hope. As the saying goes, "Slow and Steady wins the Race". I will try this on my next marathon.

Speaking of next marathon, I will be running the Napa Valley Marathon on March 1, 2009. I will take everything I learned from Carlsbad and applying to Napa.

Before I conclude, I would like to thank a few people... My running partner and good friend, Angela Brunson. If it wasn't for her, I would've never done this marathon. Having run 25 marathons and numerous ultramarathons (including the world-famous Badwater), she knows exactly what she's doing, both in terms of training AND injury prevention. In fact, her softball trick is what really helped me to get over my IT Band Syndrome two weeks before the race. In addition to running, she has also inspired me to take up rock climbing, ice skating, adventure racing, and even learning how to ride a motorcycle. So, Thank You Angela.

Next... My Brother, Harout. Harout recently moved in to Los Angeles to live with me. Being fairly inactive and a smoker, as soon as he moved to Los Angeles, he began his path to healthier him. In the first two weeks of being in Los Angeles, Harout has taken up Aikido & Jujitsu, Ice Skating, and he is training for his first ever Marathon with Team in Training. Way to go Bro!!

Last but certainly not least, my girlfriend and my best friend, Cynthia. She has been very supportive of me throughout my weight loss, Ironman training, and overall understanding. If it wasn't for her, I would've never started running, which means I would've never been doing a review of Carlsbad Marathon nor would I have become an Ironman. I am in the best physical shape of my life and I owe majority of my success to Cynthia. Thank you Love!!!