Motivational Mondays (March 22)

Sunday was a big day for the Lopers.

It wasn't exactly memorable out at Loma Linda. I ran 12 miles with a couple who take turns pushing their one-year-old along on a stroller. It seems tough, at least the uphill parts, but I'll never know because there won't be any more babies here to plan my schedule around (this is a good thing, trust me).

Anyway, few Lopers showed up at Loma Linda on Sunday. But that's because many of them were out in Los Angeles for the LA Marathon.

As I'd written earlier, I wasn't exactly feeling regret about the race, but I will be excited to run the LA Marathon in 2011. I believe that's the marathon the Lopers will train for in the 2010-11 season, and I'm not complaining. With any luck, that will be my third or fourth marathon!

Although I had many friends out there, the two people I was keeping tabs on the most were my blog buddy Angie and my uncle Jorge. I did receive text messages along the course of their progress and was able to figure some things out on their respective FB accounts but I haven't talked to them about their experience.

In short...

Angie set a new PR! She'd wanted to finish in under 4:30 but did not meet that goal. However, she finished in 4:33:57, which is faster than her Long Beach time.

I was worried at first because the first update I got from her was late, and at the 10K mark her projected time was more than five hours. I knew what her goal was and how she'd been training so I wondered if something had happened.

Still not sure what happened at the start but I do know she rocked the finish. The LA Marathon web site breaks down some info, and according to their system she passed 1,412 runners over the last 4.5 miles. So she certainly finished strong.

Jorge, meanwhile, finished in 3:53:03! His time in Surf City was faster but to run your first two marathons in a span of six weeks and to finish both in under four hours is amazing. Jorge battled a cold too and ran the marathon in less than his prime condition.

Jorge's early time was great, an 8:12 pace through 20K but I'm not sure if it was the head cold or just the intensity of the marathon as his pace slowed in the last half. Still, that's nitpicking. There's no denying him his moment of glory and his second marathon.

I had many other friends race in LA and more blog buddies race across the country, and it is very motivational to see all these races come to fruition on the same weekend.

Particularly, however, seeing Angie set her fourth PR in her fourth consecutive marathon, and to see Jorge face another 26.2 in the face and live to tell about it is a great driving force for anybody's ambitions.