Motivational Mondays (Feb. 15)

Throughout my weight-loss journey, I've really only been able to share my experiences with my friends and family, as well as my trusty blog readers. I'm not sure how wide of a net that casts, though I've talked to a lot of people about it.

Next week, though, I will have the chance to talk about my weight-loss journey as well as my marathon challenge to a whole new batch of people. On Sunday is the Loper Banquet, and I'm going to be one of the speakers on the evening.

That sound you just heard was a rock sinking to my stomach.

I got a preview of what I can expect during yesterday's meeting. All the first-time marathoners got up to talk about our experiences, and since my pace leader had asked me to bring in my bib, I got the chance to share that with everyone.

I wasn't expecting to talk so of course I had nothing prepared, and since I was one of the last people to give a talk I had plenty of time to get nervous about it. And I stammered my way through my talk (though I did get a loud round of applause when I read what I'd written on my bib) and got choked up on a couple of parts. I did tell everyone that I was talking at the banquet next week so I was going to save my good stuff for then, so I gave myself a bit of an out.

I suppose there's really only one way to go from here. My little talk yesterday was not great, so I can only improve upon that next week.

So I'll be spending the first couple of days this week to prepare for my speech. I want to get it done by Wednesday or Thursday so I can have time to practice it. The way I like to write a speech is to just kind of do it in outline form. I don't want to go up there and read something to people - I'd prefer to just keep it informal, or at least give the impression that it's informal. That's what I did when I gave the best man speech at my brother Danny's wedding and I felt comfortable then... well, not really, but the speech gave the impression that I was comfortable when I really wasn't.

I'll most likely be nervous during the speech, actually nervous during most of this week. I guess that's just how things are, right? Not everyone likes to stand in front of people and talk, and I certainly am not a fan of that. And then to talk about myself... I'm actually not one to talk about myself too much. Blog about myself, yeah, of course I can and do do that, but I'm more gifted with the written word, not so much the spoken word.

Still, one thing that always gets me motivated is to look at before-and-after pictures.

same hat, different people wearing it

One of the things too that will be part of my speech is a photo display. Somehow there are going to be pictures of myself on display during my speech. Not sure what it will look but one of the pictures I submitted was the ghastly picture on the left. And there are plenty more on there of the pink-clad marathoner on the right.

I suppose I do have a good tale to tell. After our talk on Sunday, one of the founding members of the Lopers (club has been around since '76) said that of all the people who had lost weight to join the Lopers and run a marathon, only one other person had lost more. There was some fellow before who had weighed about 360, I was told, who dropped the weight and joined the Lopers and ran a marathon. I was number two, since I wasn't quite at 360. I might have been on my way, but I was about 50 pounds short of that.

So there's a good story to tell here I suppose. I just have to dig deep, take out the best parts and organize it. And then I have to not stammer through my speech next Sunday in order to make sure the story is told properly.

Dentist Woes

A couple of blog buddies have had a rough go at it recently with tooth-related issues so I thought I'd take the time to write about my own previous experiences with the dentist.

First off, I hate going to the dentist. I just despise having all those tools and instruments so close to me. I mean, you can turn the other way when you go to the doctor for other procedures (I'm not a fan of needles at all, for instance, but I can look away, grin and bear the pain) but when you have fingers and drills and mirrors and that vacuum thing that sucks out the saliva from your mouth, what can you do then? You're trapped.

Now, I hardly ever went to the dentist growing up. We were poor growing up (we didn't have a phone until I was in the eighth grade and five of us slept in one room) and didn't have medical insurance. Trips to the doctor and dentist, then, were rare. So rare that I don't remember any trip to the dentist. At all. I remember my older brother going to the dentist a few times when we were young. Maybe I blocked those trips out of my mind, who knows? My parents went to the dentist, but they did it old school style - they would cruise down to Tijuana for dental work. That's old school Mexican-style right there, go down to TJ for medical/dental work and medicine. FDA regulations? Ha!

Anyway, when I got married then, I wasn't exactly in a hurry to go to the dentist. When you've never been, why bother going? Until one day I was driving home from work (back when I had a real day job, ugh) and noticed that there was a hole in a tooth of mine. Yeah, Mr. I Don't Need No Stinkin' Dentist had to have a root canal. That was my introduction to the dentist, and it was not a pleasant meeting. Actually, four meetings: the initial diagnosis, the drilling, the replacement cap and the crown. I actually had my replacement cap come clean off once (more than once actually) because I was eating Skittles or something, and it got stuck to whatever horrible crap I put in my mouth. Hey, there were many reasons why I used to weigh what I weighed, and candy was one of them.

I went on to have three root canals but luckily my years of tooth neglect only resulted in three. Even though they were painful, excruciating and miserable, I "only" had three root canals. And I do not want a fourth. I think the last one was in '05, not sure.

Still, hands down the worst tooth experience was when I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled. I didn't exactly realize that you probably should have them pulled more as a preventive measure, because to go through the pain I went through is not fun. That pain, that horrible and excruciating pain.

I believe it was around May of '01, and I'd just gotten to my parents' house. I was going to watch a soccer game with my dad and maybe throw back a few beers when all of the sudden I felt something. I felt a twinge coming from my molar region. It was a twinge at first, but rapidly and without warning it became a tsunami of pain. Unbearable, incomparable, relentless pain. I'd never felt physical pain like that before and I still have not. It was a jolt of needles, an ice pick jamming at my gums, a knife digging deep into the back of my mouth.

And it would not stop.

I cried. That's how much it hurt. I cried, although I think part of that was frustration, in that it would not go away. I left the house, screw the soccer game and beers. Mrs. LB was with me so she drove and we went to her parents house for something, I think to try and find some medicine. Aspirin was going to do nothing, but they didn't have anything. While Mrs. LB was inside looking for something, I paced around their driveway. It was at least 30 minutes now of constant horrible throbbing burning piercing pain, and I didn't know what to do.

We went to the emergency room finally as it was our best option, and I think I was given a shot of some pain reliever. It was a Sunday afternoon, so the next morning I was going to see the dentist. I had some Vicodin at home (we lived about 45 minutes away so I had to get attended to here in Riverside) so that night I popped a couple of those things. That wasn't great either because I broke out in cold sweats after awhile.

At this point, I didn't think it was my wisdom teeth. I'd just gone to the dentist recently and they didn't see anything really wrong with them, but did recommend I get them removed. But the next morning, they saw what was wrong with me. A fresh set of x-rays revealed nerve damage, though I can't recall if it was damage within the tooth or if the tooth was rubbing against a nerve. Regardless, it was tucked in far behind and out of sight.

They helped alleviate the pain but I was referred to an oral surgeon to have my wisdom teeth removed. My insurance then was such that I could only afford to have two teeth pulled at once - actually, let me rephrase that. I could have had all four teeth pulled without going under but to be knocked out during the procedure plus having my four wisdom teeth removed would have meant a lot of money out of my pocket. So I had two done then, and two more at a later time, as soon as the insurance cycle started over, or however that works. Anyway, it wasn't that much time.

I wasn't too scared of getting my teeth pulled and in fact was looking forward to it. I'd never been knocked out so I was anxious to feel what that was like. Plus the pain had subsided but wasn't completely gone. I remember feeling a tiny bit strange when the medicine started to take effect just before they took my teeth out, then asking for more since I was supposed to have been out by then. And then, all I remember was coming to, with a bunch of stuff in my mouth. My teeth were gone and I had some sort of material in my mouth to protect the wounds. Then, a week of jello, pudding and yogurt ensued and I constantly felt the void where my wisdom teeth had been with my tongue. It felt strange, like there was suddenly room there.

Aside from recalling a nearly decade-old memory, I guess the point of this is to both sympathize with my blog buddies as they recover from their own oral procedures and to also let you know that wisdom teeth really, really suck, and that if you (or your children if they are of the appropriate age) have not gotten them pulled, do it now!

Friday Leftovers (Feb. 12)

The Leftovers...

Word Association

As always, play here.

1. Humbled :: Honored
2. Buns: Hamburger
3. Snowstorm :: Blizzard
4. Sweetheart :: Candy
5. Punch :: Drunk
6. Glass :: Water
7. Classical :: Music
8. Heels :: Tar
9. Twitter :: Account
10. Husband :: Wife

Pretty straightforward this week. Not a whole lot that needs 'splainin.

Groundhog Was Kind

I can never keep it straight. Is it, if the groundhog sees his shadow we get spring? I guess I never put much stock into it because our winters don't involve any of the white stuff.

Well, whatever the groundhog was supposed to see or not see in order for winter to end, he saw (or didn't see). But it's the West Coast version of the groundhog I'm referring to. Temperatures pretty much anywhere outside of the West are very low and snow and blizzards have hit other parts of the country pretty hard.

It's supposed to be 80 degrees here in Riverside on Sunday. For most of the next 10 days, the forecast is sunny and highs in the mid- to high-70s. I am definitely going to have to sneak in a run or three outside.

Of course, you take the good with the bad. In California on Thursday, there were 80 earthquakes that registered on the Richter scale. That's a high number but most of them were little. The highest was a 3.4 in Parkfield, and I'm not even sure where Parkfield is (quick check reveals its in the central part of the state, about 20 miles inland from where Cambria is).

Recovery

After a few days of hobbling, I'm finally recovered from the marathon. I had to ref a soccer game on Wednesday and it very well. I did get a recovery run on Tuesday, a 2-miler on the treadmill in my garage. That was not exactly painful but comfortable wouldn't describe it either. I felt better during that run towards the end, though, and I think that helped me do well during Wednesday's game.

I felt a bit more winded than usual while running around the turf field but I was fine. I sprinted a few times and that went well. I have a game today (my final one of the season - yay) so I'll run around during that, but Sunday will be my next run. We have a six-miler planned for that day.

Then, I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things with running. I haven't quite figured out a routine but I do want to run at least twice, maybe three times. It just depends on what the Lopers suggest.

But I feel great and my legs are free of any soreness or lingering nicks and bumps... mostly. I whacked my shin stepping into the shower on Tuesday and I have a nice bump there.

Disneyland!

I'm very excited for Monday. The girls and I will take advantage of the Presidents Day holiday and will head out to Disneyland first thing in the morning. The park opens at 8 a.m. and with any luck we will be there waiting for the tram at 7:30.

I went last year on this same day and it was slow in the morning but got filled up by the afternoon, so I probably won't stay all day but we'll take a few slow hours in the morning followed by some time at California Adventure, no problem.

The only bad thing is Mrs. LB has to work so it'll just be a three-person outing but we'll still have fun. It's tough for the four of us to go together which makes it more special when we do get the chance to go as a family.

LB's Song Of The Week

My weekly nod to children's music.

This song is rather popular around the LB house recently. The girls are into a show on Disney channel called Phineas and Ferb. They can watch the same episodes over and over again. I don't know, I'm not the biggest fan of that show. I prefer SpongeBob I guess because he doesn't often get on my nerves but that Phineas and Ferb show can get old for me.

Anyway, this is a song from one of the episodes. This song isn't my favorite but it's growing on me. Sort of. I didn't realize it was from the show until well after I'd first heard it.

Surf City Marathon Pictures!

It's just been an exciting week all around, from my marathon to basking in the accomplishment of running it to thinking about future marathons and races and signing up for a free 5K, and now this.

The official race pictures are up! Originally they were supposed to be up on Sunday but apparently the people with Brightroom are fast workers. I've been checking this all week, so when the option finally appeared to scour through pictures, I was instantly excited.

Let me present to you the official race pictures - most of them anyway.

still got all my Gu packets intact

This is somewhere around Mile 3. It was on a small incline and near an intersection. I believe right after this we all took a right turn on some street. I remember this picture because the guy in front of me wearing neon green (seriously, who would wear neon green for a race, jeez... says the guy who wore pink, j/k of course) was close to me but I let him get ahead just a bit so the photographer would have a clear shot of me. Yeah, I'm a ham sometimes, I admit.

Marilu and LB, first-time marathoners rockin' Surf City

This is Marilu, my awesome running partner. I'm not sure what mile this is in but I'm guessing around Mile 17 or 18.

the Pink Fish returns

Remember the Pink Fish? This guy:

separated at birth

Well, he's back. He made his appearance during Surf City. Seriously, I don't know why I do that with my mouth. It's not very sexy or manly. It looks like I'm floundering for air. Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze.... But I guess that's how you can tell that I'm laboring.

hitting the wall

I think this was around Mile 23. You can tell because I'm deep in thought. That was something else. I've thought about that moment, well, those moments I guess, where I was filled with doubt and emotion and frustration. That's something else. That was the most challenging part about the whole race, I believe. I knew physically I could do it. I trained for it and I put my faith in the Lopers so I knew the race was doable. But that wall is no joke. It will break you if you let it. It got to me a bit but I pushed it away and broke through it.

pain setting in

I went through stages of running during the marathon, from running to walking. This is one of the moments where you could say I was shuffling. I wans't motoring along at this point I don't think. I'd say this is somewhere around Mile 24 or 25, and the Fish looks like he's grimacing.

Ah, but everything paid off in spades at the end.

it's over!!!

who's the man?

My buddy Angie told me to smile, no matter how you feel, at the finish line. I'm sorry Angie that I did not heed your advice.

To be honest, when I approached the finish line I was so worn down and so exhausted that I had to think to myself "Okay, raise your arms in the air" and I thought about how Jephy's Mom had said it was like the Tour de France cyclists crossing the finish line. I don't think I had any energy to smile.

Still, I love that picture. All those pictures (here's a link to all of my race pics). And I'm excited to see them and to be able to show them to you!!

Next Challenge: A 5K

I had kinda-sorta made it a goal to run a 5K this year. I want to run one for a few reasons but didn't know if I'd get the chance to. I was looking for marathons and half-marathons to fill my calendar with, and I hoped that a 5K would fall out of nowhere for me.

Well, lucky me. One fell from out of nowhere and best of all - it's FREE!!!

The Arrowhead Regional Medical Center 5K Walk/Run is going to be held on March 13 in Colton, very close to my house. It's a free event and I've already registered for it.

Man, if all events were free I would fill out a fantastic race calendar that would see me run races all over the place :)

Anyway, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is a local hospital, and apparently this event is to help promote health and wellness. I'm all for promoting and supporting health and wellness, especially when it comes with a free 5K.

I seriously cannot contain my excitement!! I told Mrs. LB about it and she was totally nonplussed about it. That's okay, though. I probably won't have her come out for that since it's so close to my house and it won't be an all-day event or anything.

However, I have laid down the gauntlet and have challenged my brother Danny to the race. He said he's game if he is free on that day. Which means he has given himself an out in case he is not man enough to accept my challenge. Danny is faster and stronger and more physically gifted than me, which is going to make this race all the more fun for me since I'm going to wipe the floor with him that day. To be fair, he is a bit hobbled. He's not a runner as he prefers team sports but he was the one who got me into running by introducing the Mud Run to me and asking me if I wanted to sign up.

If you haven't "met" Danny before, let me introduce him to you.

LB and his lesser younger brother

He's the one in the white.

Dang, sorry, bad joke I know. I just couldn't resist.

Anyway, Danny's going down on March 13 if he's man enough to show his face.

Regardless, I am so excited about the race! I will get the chance to set a new PR!! My one and only 5K was back in June 2008, my first-ever race, and I ran 25:05. I'm certain that I can beat that time. I'm not going to shoot for finishing in under 20 minutes, come on now, but I do think I can shave off a couple of minutes from that time at least.

The fastest I've ever ran a mile in was 6:57, and that was because I was chasing Danny. We had an impromptu relay race on a track once, and we got in teams of four. My leg coincided with Danny's so we ran opposite one another. I believe we were the first runners for each of our teams. I tried to keep up with Danny and I did, for the entire mile. I was gassed by the end but he only beat me by a little bit.

So I hope to improve my 5K time because every time I read about a "5K pace" while reading about training programs and stuff, I instantly think that my "5K pace" is 8:04, which is fast for me, don't get me wrong, but I know I can run faster than that. I had an 8:06 pace for a 10K so it's not a stretch to think I can get a minute or two under 25:05.

I've longed to break that time, and now I'll have that chance. And best of all - it will be free!

What's Next?

Now that Surf City is done and I've completed a marathon, I can look ahead at the rest of the year in terms of races. I've been wanting to blog about this for a while but I promised Mrs. LB that I would wait until after the marathon to really consider the year, to let myself experience my first marathon without letting distractions get in the way.

That doesn't mean I didn't ponder other races, but rather I just did some harmless window shopping.

Now I feel like going on a shopping spree.

Next Marathon?

There will be a second marathon for me - you can take that to the bank. The only question is, will it be this year or next? I really want to run another one soon, mostly because I've already trained for and ran one, so I wouldn't have to start over from scratch with my training. A few long-distance runs would be all I'd need to maintain my mileage right now. Really, that's it.

Now, the LA Marathon would seem perfect. It's less than six weeks away and I'd really only have to run one 20-mile run. Now, I say "only" not because that's not challenging but because it's not daunting to run one versus having two or more on the schedule. And really, I could get away with not even running a 20-miler - look at Hal Higdon's six-weeks-between-marathons plan. That is very appealing.

But I'm going to have to pass on LA because it just seems too soon for me. Maybe I should just go for it but I'm going to play it cautiously on that one. Besides, the Lopers will probably go back to training for and running LA once our season starts again in July so I can run the LA Marathon in 2011.

The marathon I'm really salivating over is the OC Marathon. Now, Huntington Beach is in the OC, so wouldn't it be like running the same race again? Not exactly. The OC Marathon runs all over Orange County - Newport Beach, Irvine, Costa Mesa. Looking at the course map, it seems like you get a little taste of everything the OC has to offer... even Santa Ana. Yay for Santa Ana! Um... actually, Santa Ana is kind of a dumpy place but I have a lot of family that lives there and have lived there twice in my life so it's special to me. Dumpy, but special. And over off of Memory Lane, there are some very nice houses.

Anyway, that seems like it would be a bit away in that it would give me time to recover from Surf City, both physically and mentally, and give me enough time to really want to get out there and knock out another 26.2-miler.

If the OC Marathon doesn't happen, then I'm not sure about another marathon in twenty-ten. Any fall/winter marathon means long training runs in the summer months, and that's not exactly fun or healthy. That doesn't mean it's not doable, but just makes it a bit more challenging.

Half Marathons

I want to go for my sub-two-hour half in April and re-visit the sight of one of my first major running triumphs. I want to sign up for the Run Through Redlands Half Marathon, slated for April 18. This wouldn't interfere with the OC Marathon training but rather add to it. This would be two weeks to the day before that race and would send me into a taper on a high note.

Maybe a sub-two-hour half is too ambitious for this slow runner but I want to test myself again. If nothing else, I want to see what a knowledgeable LB can do in this race, and not the LB who ran it last year, undertrained and underinformed.

The Mission Inn Half Marathon is another one I'll probably run, but that's not until November. Another half I would love to run before then is the San Francisco Half Marathon. This might be a good getaway weekend for Mrs. LB and myself. We've never been to San Francisco together - I think I might have gone there when I was like 5 or 6 but not since. It would be relatively close and we could definitely make a weekend out of it. Plus, I'd get to run across the Golden Gate Bridge. How cool would that be?? I haven't completely ruled out the possibility of going for the full 26.2 there, but the last long run for that would be on July 4. It will be super hot and I might have to work on both July 3 and 4. Ha. Good luck with that.

Other Races

I'm signed up for Camp Pendleton Mud Run in June, so there's that. Reader Anne (formerly known as Tahoe Girl) will be in Camp Pendleton for that so I'm very excited for that day to come. Plus, I will train for it right this time and not only will I smash my time from last year but I will beat my brother Danny. That's right buddy, I'm calling you out right now. Dem's fightin' words.

We haven't discussed the Ragnar Relay yet but I would like to run the Ragnar Relay Las Vegas again. That one is on Oct. 23-24 I think and that was so much fun last year that we all expressed interest in running it again. Maybe if we can't get a full 12 runners again we might go for filling one van and hooking up with another van in order to run it. Ragnar is awesome and I had so much fun that I'd love to do it again.

***

So, there you have it, my short-term plans. They aren't complete and I might still consider other races in April, May and June but that's where I'm at right now.

I think right now I'm almost certain that I want to run the OC Marathon. I think I will just have to see how these next two weeks play out and see how badly I want it. Registration fees are 90 dollars now and won't go up to 100 dollars until March 31, so I have some time to decide.

If I run the Redlands half on April 18 and then the OC Marathon on May 2, that will be a fantastic roller coaster ride for sure.

Post-Surf City

I'm now a full day-plus removed from the marathon, and since I have so many thoughts floating around about the race, post-race and my thoughts on my running future, I figured I'd just dump them all here. Most of 'em anyway.

* Surf City attracted around 20,000 runners combined between the 5K, Half Marathon and Marathon. Also, there were an estimated 40,000 onlookers, this according to a local news report. So while Surf City isn't a big-city event like the LA Marathon, it's also not a small-time race.

* Wanna read some more race recaps? Angie wrote this up on Angie Eats Peace, and I was touched by it because she included some stuff in there on yours truly. She posted a really bad picture of me, one of my "before" shots (and I don't mean moments before the marathon), but it's all good. Angie ran the half marathon with another friend of hers who also had gone a significant weight loss/lifestyle change.

Lisa of Discovering the Meaning of Stonehenge (a runner's journey) wrote a detailed race report on her own marathon experience. Lisa ran her first marathon a couple of years ago and finished in 4:54, and made it a goal to improve on her time. Sunday, her third marathon, she rocked a 3:57!! Amazing. It gives me hope that I can improve my time. I'm not going to get under four hours like she did but it's encouraging to see her progress nonetheless.

* The official race photos won't be up until Sunday (hopefully sooner) but here is one more picture of yours truly during the race.

One of our pace leaders shot this probably around Mile 20 or 21.

along the course, heading towards the stretch

This is pre-wall, hence the smile. My Loper buddy Marilu is the small speck of pink on the right side. She finished ahead of me by the way, but we kept leap-frogging each other from this point forward.

* My BlackBerry let me down. It froze on me. Ugh. I had to do a battery pull right smack in the middle of the marathon. I had listened to the first playlist (I broke up my playlist into three separate ones) and was going to skip ahead to the third one. I hadn't listened to music at all until Mile 8 or 9, so I only had time for one more playlist. As soon as the first notes of Fight Fire With Fire began, the song quit on me. It took me a while to figure out that the phone had just quit on me, just froze. I ran like that for a couple of miles and then decided that I need to take the battery out and try and revive the phone. I needed it obviously not just for the music but for the phone calls. It worked fine after that.

* Mrs. LB called me four times during the race and each time it was a welcomed sound. It worked great and I would definitely recommened it if you have the capability of course. I probably wouldn't recommend holding a phone in your hand for the entire race but if you can keep it somewhere so that it does not get in the way, go for it. I'm lucky that mine fit in my arm carrier thing.

* The hat was awesome. Several people said "Go LB!" or just "LB!" Huntington Beach is close to Long Beach so maybe it was people cheering for Long Beach, but I pretended they were cheering for me :)

* Random cool moment: One of the people who congratulated me for my bib turned his head around once he got about 10 feet or so in front of me and said "Soak it all up!"

* Random cool moment, part two: Two others chatted with me briefly about their own experiences. One guy said he had lost 70 pounds, and the other said he'd lost 80, and each of them was also running marathon number one.

* Random cool moment, part three: I saw a runner wearing a white running shirt that said "Blind Runner" on the back, and next to her a runner wearing the same shirt except on his shirt read "Guide Dog."

* Random cool moment, part four: Our group very early on passed a runner, probably in his late 60s or early 70s, with a POW/MIA flag singing cadence. After I'd found my family and was recovering, I saw him finishing up his own 26.2-miler, still singing cadence.

* Random NOT cool moment: There were several bikers on the beach path, and while most of them were going slow and taking care to not run into anyone, not all of them were seemingly happy with sharing the beach path with marathoners.

* I have to go on a run today. Two miles. I really don't feel like going out there and running. It's not that I don't want to but my legs are still feeling the effects of Surf City. Mostly my quads are feeling it. I don't usually get sore in my quads after runs, so this is sorta new to me. We'll see how it goes. I'm definitely not going to worry about time or anything like that. I'm going to get out there and run to help me recover.

* What about Marathon No. 2? Have I decided on and if and when? Kinda, yeah... well, not decided on one but have a lot of thoughts on that. But you will have to wait for the next post for that one :)

Motivational Mondays (Feb. 8)

I'm back home now, recovering from my race and relishing my accomplishment.

Just thinking about the race gives me goosebumps!

If you haven't read the race report, scroll down or click here. I inadvertently left something out of my race report though, so I'll put it here and insert into the race report.

I left out what happened the moments after crossing the finish line.

...

...cruised into the final.

I raised my arms high above my head and tried to smile. I wasn't sure if that would make for a good picture, nor when exactly the camera would take the shot, so I held my pose for several seconds.

After my legs slowed down to a walk, it struck me.

I just ran a marathon.

I was walking around in a haze. My legs were suddenly screaming and I knew I had to start getting some fluids and food inside of me. I grabbed a banana and inhaled it, then got a bag of assorted goodies - an apple, bars, fig newton, water - and started to chow down. I had no phone signal for some reason so I couldn't call Mrs. LB to see where she and the girls were. It was quite a long walk until I was out from the finishing area, and two thoughts raced through my mind.

I ran a marathon.

This is something that nobody can ever take away from me.

****

I was tired and didn't realize until well after I published the post that I'd neglected to add that.

Anyway, on to today's post.

Running has been an eye-opening experience in more ways than one. It's something I do by myself obviously - nobody runs for me but me - but I don't do it alone. I run with a very supportive group of runners, and I run knowing that I have a supportive group of people out there as well, both my friends and family and my beloved blogging community.

There were several times during the race that I thought to myself "I can't not finish this race; I won't let anyone down."

I was so encouraged by everyone's well wishes in person, on here and on Facebook and elsewhere. I have a fantastic support group and I thank and cherish each and every one of you.

And I know when I run Marathon No. 2 - and there will be a Marathon No. 2, hopefully soon - I will have everyone's support once more.

And I promise, I won't let any of you down.

Surf City Marathon: Monumental Challenge Accomplished

After more than two years of running, nearly four years after making the choice to get fit and healthy, I have reached the pinnacle of my athletic life and have accomplished something I never thought possible.

I am a marathoner.

Here's how I became one:

A dream jarred me out of sleep early Sunday morning. As I came to, the dream quickly faded save for one final thought: it was after 4 a.m. I'd set my alarm to 4:53 a.m. so I was relieved that it was almost time to get up.

Except the actual time was 2:58 a.m. And I was wide awake. An hour-plus later, I decided sleep was not returning and got out of bed. Three slumbering females lay asleep in the nearly-dark room so I carefully and quietly got up, ate, changed, put my shoes on and gathered my stuff.

About 30 minutes later, I was around a lot of my Loper friends, taking pictures, having "I can't believe we're actually doing this" exchanges and eventually we made our way to the start line. A couple of the Lopers said congratulations about my bib message and it was instantly uplifting.

It was about 6:27 and we were several minutes away from starting, and I could not believe it. 26.2 miles then did not seem like a long run, merely a training run in a new setting. The gun went off and by the time our wave was finally out and about, I felt a surge of emotion. I was doing it. I was running a marathon.

The rain had pelted Huntington Beach all day on Saturday but we lucked out. While the sun was not quite out yet at the start, it was starting to peek through and by the time we were a little past Mile 2, the sun was out and shining. Still a bit chilly, I felt great in my gloves and long sleeve shirt.

We'd started up along Pacific Coast Highway but at about the Mile 3 marker, we hung a right and went a bit inland. That's when I suffered my first setback. I'd safety-pinned some Gu packets to my fuel belt, but one didn't make it. I glanced down at it around Mile 3 and it was there but when I went to Gu up, it was gone.

I skipped it then, and figured it would be best to take the remaining ones at Miles 8, 12, 16 and 20, instead of finishing them by Mile 16, and hoped that wouldn't come back to haunt me. We ran down a few different streets and came out into a park and eventually back out on a street that would eventually wind us back the wa we came, towards PCH. I felt great, as our Loper group was chatty, encouraging and strong.

One of the Lopers I started getting to know pretty good, Marilu, was running alongside me for a while, as normal. We chatted some about the week, the weather and kept pushing and encouraging each other. It seemed like she wanted to stretch her legs out a little and I was game. At about Mile 14, we got a little bit ahead of our group and eventually they fell behind.

At precisely 14.5, I was hit with a splendid scent. That unmistakable briny, salty ocean smell filled my senses, and since I'd been congestion all week, it was a welcomed scent. It came and went as my nose did not fully cooperate but when I was able to smell it, it was wonderful.

A little after Mile 16, we deviated away from Mile 16 and went onto a running path along the beach. We were going to run nearly all of the remaining race on this path. Marilu and I were still going strong, still checking in with each other about how we felt, if we could continue on our own, if we'd had enough water, and it made for a motivating experience.

Also rather motivating was my bib. Several runners early on passed me by and said "Good job man" or "That's incredible" or, as one guy put it "That's f___ing awesome!" I counted, and by the end of the race a full 31 people had congratulated me in some form or another.

As I tried to see where the path meandered up ahead, I heard someone.

"LB?!?"

"Yeah!" I shouted back and as the runner who was heading in the opposite direction from me started to respond, I realized who it was.

"It's me Lisa from Discovering the meanin..." she trailed off.

"Hey!! How are you doing??" I shouted back. Almost as soon as those words left my mouth I wished I would have said something else. I wished I would have told her that she looked great, because she did. She was probably at Mile 21 or 22 at that point and she was kicking major butt (she went on to PR and break the four-hour mark!).

I smiled nonetheless and wondered if I'd see her again. I figured no, since she was going to finish a lot sooner than me.

We passed the turnaround point, around the 20-mile mark, and I was excited to be heading back towards the final push. About a mile later, I heard someone say something.

"Muddy Runner!"

I thought that's what I heard but I shook it off, thinking I probably didn't hear correctly. Then, a runner caught up to me and asked me if I was from the Muddy Runner blog. I smiled broadly and told her I was. She told me she reads my blog and I breathed out a "Thank you!" towards her. I felt like I was slowing down, and even saying a few words seemed a chore.

I passed the Mile 22 marker and was excited since this was now officially my longest run ever, and every step added to that. But that quickly faded. Maybe I wasn't in excruciating pain but Surf City was taking a toll on me.

An hour later I passed Mile 23, and Mile 26 seemed so long away. I hit the dreaded wall.

The phone rang.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Mrs. LB asked.

It took me a moment to compose myself.

"Mile 23. I'm not doing so well."

I had to hold back tears but she could hear it in my voice.

"You only have three miles left. You are doing so good. You've trained well and you can get through these last miles," she responded.

I didn't believe her. Not at that moment, but I told her thanks. She gave me her approximate location and I trudged forward. For about 10 minutes, I cursed myself. I questioned my decision to run a marathon, told myself that I didn't want to run another one, that I just wanted to get this done and over with.

A little after Mile 24, I'd pushed those negative thoughts out from my mind. I felt a little closer and I knew I had enough for two more miles. I didn't feel like I was running much faster than before, but I was passing up slower marathoners.

A short while later, I saw my cheering section. Mrs. LB and the girls had made signs supporting me, and the girls were jumping up and down. I tried to hold it together.

Trying, but not staying composed

I tried to keep my emotions in check but it was tough. I also tried to stay around the same speed (slow) and that wasn't so tough. I didn't want to crash and burn this late in the race.

Once I passed up my cheering section, I looked behind and saw the girls running after me. I'm not sure how long they ran but I'd gotten back out to PCH soon after passing them. Far off in the distance, I saw the Mile 26 marker. I couldn't believe it. I'd trained for so long, thought about this race for so long and now it was before me. The finish line was close.

I passed the sign, crossed the last intersection I needed to, and closed in on the end.

Part of me wanted to run faster but I was afraid that I would pay for it later. So I just cruised into the final.

The clock said roughly 4:45, The Garmin said about a minute slower buy my official time was:

LB's Marathon PR: 4:42:26.


I raised my arms high above my head and tried to smile. I wasn't sure if that would make for a good picture, nor when exactly the camera would take the shot, so I held my pose for several seconds.

After my legs slowed down to a walk, it struck me.

I just ran a marathon.

I was walking around in a haze. My legs were suddenly screaming and I knew I had to start getting some fluids and food inside of me. I grabbed a banana and inhaled it, then got a bag of assorted goodies - an apple, bars, fig newton, water - and started to chow down. I had no phone signal for some reason so I couldn't call Mrs. LB to see where she and the girls were. It was quite a long walk until I was out from the finishing area, and two thoughts raced through my mind.

I ran a marathon, and I can't believe it.

This is something that nobody can ever take away from me.

I ran into Angie of Angie Eats Peace, who ran the half marathon, and she was encouraging and happy about my race. I was hoping to run into more Lopers but it was a mass of humanity at the finish. I did see one of my pace leaders, shook his hand and received his congralations. It made me feel good that a marathoner who'd just run his 56th marathon took the time to find me and congratulate me.

I checked all of my fellow Loper's times, the ones from our group anyway, and they all did so well. It was encouraging to see so many of our group out there, rockin' that marathon.

Also, my uncle Jorge (who was a Desert Tortoise member) ran his first marathon and rocked a 3:47 finish! And another relative, my sister-in-law Jackie rocked a 3:52 in her first-ever marathon.

After about 30 minutes, maybe longer, I finally found my family.

"I Love Daddy" and "Run Hard"

Then came some celebratory pics.

faux-muscle man

point to the skies

And remember how I said I might have had some blood?

blood, next to my bib

I didn't feel much pain, didn't even realize it was bleeding, but the shirt told a different tale.

My feet were throbbing and I could barely walk around after the race. In the few hours after the race, I hadn't fully recovered quite yet. The bleeding stopped but the throbbing continued until well after.

But it was all worth it. Every last drop of sweat, of blood, of tears.

Because now, I am a marathoner. And that's the price of admission.

Its over. This long and winding 26.2 mile road is over. Lots of sweat, probably some blood, definitely some tears. But I did it! 4:45:00 or so. I am a marathoner.

Almost There

It's finally the weekend! In around 24 hours, I will be running my first marathon.

My. First. Marathon.

I'm so EXCITED!!! and nervous... but mostly excited. Well, maybe 50/50.

At this point, everything that needs to be taken care of has been taken care of. Bags are packed. Equipment has been readied. Body has been fueled and trained. The only thing I need to do is focus. I have to get a good night's sleep tonight, but I'll probably just lie in bed worried/anxious/excited about the race.

As far as race day goes, so you all know that I finished the race, I will probably post something really quickly after the race to let you all know that I finished the race. A full race report will be up whenever I get finished with it, either late Sunday or sometime Monday. There is no tracking thing that other races use so no automatic updates. I've toyed with the idea of mobile blogging, just something like "Mile 10" or "Mile 15" to let you know where I'm at. But the only sure thing is that after the race, probably soon after, I'll let you know that I did the deed.

I say it so matter-of-factly, that I'll finish the race and everything but it will be a tremendous challenge. I know it will be. It will be the hardest thing I'll do in my life.

But that's why I'm excited. I want to challenge myself. I want to test myself like I've never tested myself before.

I'm ready. Oh yeah, I'm ready.

Let's do this.

Let's run a marathon.

Carbo-Locked And Loaded

Late Friday night post for you here. Just had to share.

Carbo-loading has been great. I mentioned in today's earlier post that I made some Pasta, Pesto and Peas on Thursday. Tonight I made some meat sauce and tossed it over spaghetti. But not just any spaghetti:

Prince thin spaghetti

Blog buddy Christine of Marvelously Mundane sent me this along with a lot of other really awesome stuff. She drew my name in a gift exchange we had through another web site and I was blown away with the stuff she sent me (and the girls and Mrs. LB). Part of what she got me was this box of spaghetti, local to Boston (she lives in the Boston area). I'd wanted to save it for a special occasion and tonight fit the bill.

I make a simple meat sauce, with Italian sausage, red bell pepper, Anaheim pepper, mushrooms, garlic, red onion, black pepper and some seasonings:

yumness

... and then after it's all heated through, I add some marinara sauce...

more yumness

... and heat that up for a bit. Then, place it over some cooked spaghetti and...

mega yumness

... we have the meal that is going to help fuel me for the race.

One more thing that Christine sent me was a picture of the starting line of the Boston Marathon. It is really, really cool and I'm honored to have that picture.

Stay tuned for one more post coming Saturday! Surf City Eve is tomorrow!

Friday Leftovers (Feb. 5)

It's Friday! That means it's almost Saturday!

But before we move on to the weekend... the Leftovers. By LB.

Ahem.

Word Association

Play here.

1. Furniture :: Chair
2. Beauty :: Beast
3. Sip :: A-Dee-Doo-Dah
4. Block :: Party
5. Forehead :: Sweat
6. Championship :: Trophy
7. Hurl :: Throw
8. Whip :: Crack
9. Destruction :: Eve
10. Leather :: Chains

Explanations: Nos. 2 and 3 are Disney-related of course, although 3 is really Zip-a-dee-doo-dah with a Z- in front of it. Not sure what's up with the cracking whips and leather and chains. Hey now.

More 'Splainin

Okay, so you may have noticed some strange songs on my Lala playlist. Let me explain.

Song 1 (That's How You Know) is because the girls like it... yeah, I can explain femme stuff like that, the girls like it. No, I did enjoy the movie that's from, Enchanted, quite a bit more than I used to.

The girls like Song 22 as well... no, actually one summer we spent down in Mexico with family and one of the things they had was a Beta tape of all of Wham's videos, so we watched that a lot.

Beta!! That's old school.

And the Into the Night song is just some more 80s cheese. What's up with that song? Is the guy really singing about a 16-year-old?

Freeze Or Not?

I made this recipe for dinner on Thursday. It's a Pasta, Pesto and Peas, and it is really good. Basically, I made some pesto, put it in a food processor with defrosted frozen chopped spinach, mayo, Parmesan cheese, then tossed that in some rotini and penne pasta, added peas and pine nuts and more Parm and !voila! dinner. It's served cold so I made it in the afternoon, which was nice.

My question to you is: do you think I can freeze the leftovers? It made so much of it that I'll have Pasta, Pesto and Peas overload pretty soon otherwise.

I did have a bit of a laugh when making it. The recipe is from Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, and she can be a bit of a food snob. Her recipe said "good olive oil" or "1 1/4 cups of good mayonaisse." Well, I kept saying "sorry Ina but LB's using the cheap sh*t he got at Costco."

Oscars

Have I mentioned before that I used to love going to the movies? That's the first thing that went out the window when we had Yvie, our ability to go to the movies whenever we wanted. Our movie-going experiences came to a screeching halt, but we knew that would be the case. Since Yvie's was a scheduled c-section delivery, we went out to the movies and dinner the night before, and I remember that night pretty well. The calm before the storm, for sure.

Anyway, since we used to go to the movies so often, the Academy Awards were actually awards I would get excited about. One year, we had seen all five Best Picture nominees and that was pretty rare since there's usually one movie from the bunch that is sort-of obscure. Usually though the nominees for the other major awards, we'd seen. Maybe not all of them, but many of them.

But after we stopped going to the movies so often, I stopped following the Academy Awards as closely as I used to. Most of the time now, I'm lucky if I've even heard of some of the movies that were nominated, let alone seen them.

This year, though, is a bit of an exception. Maybe because there are 10 movies up for Best Picture our odds increased but not only have I heard of some of the movies but we've actually seen some of them. This is amazing, really, since we go the movies so sparingly.

We saw Up, of course. That one we saw right when it came out, and we took the girls.

But we also have seen District 9 and Avatar. The latter I suppose is the highest-grossing movie in history now so us seeing it isn't really unique. But District 9 wasn't quite the big-budget blockbuster that Avatar was. District 9 was such a good movie, and one that I really didn't know a lot about before seeing it. I'd read a story in a magazine on it and read a few things online and from that I knew I wanted to see the movie because I figured it would be good, the way the movie was described. Mrs. LB and I had a chance to go to the movies so I picked District 9 since it was my turn to pick (to avoid arguments over movies, we take turns).

Pretty cool that two of the movies I picked to go see were up for Best Picture. I told you I'm picky. I remember one year it was my turn to pick and I went and seen Million Dollar Baby and that was nominated for Best Picture later on as well.

But some things, though, never change. I've never heard of An Education, The Hurt Locker or A Serious Man... or Precious, although Mrs. LB swears we had a conversation about Precious, but I don't remember.

You Can Say That Again

Actually, this is somewhat common:

Mrs. LB swears we had a conversation about ________, but I don't remember.

You can put pretty much most topics in the blank and that rings true.

LB's Song Of The Week

My weekly nod to children's music.

By the way, didn't I call it last week? I said that Ziggy Marley would win the Grammy for best Musical Album for Children, and he did. I don't know if he had the best album, the songs I've heard have been good, but I figured his name recognition would help him, and I'm guessing it did.

Anyway, this song here is pretty funny. It's about a backpack and how, for some kids, a lot of things go into the backpack but not a lot come out. Yvie's backpack isn't quite as bad but last night she had that thing stuffed to the gills with... crap - her jacket, three water bottles, her lunch box...

This is Bill Harely's Down in the Backpack. And like the description says on the YouTube page:

"With apologies to The Drifters:"

Race Plans

Well, it's three days from the big race. It's a bit strange to think that most everything I've done since July has pointed to this day, to Feb. 7, to Sunday. I know that strange sensation will only grow as we near closer to race day, and part of my preparation for the marathon will be to not let that affect me.

As I think about the race itself, I think it would be best to put my plans down here in print (not really print in the true sense of the word but you get the point). While I am not concerned with time, that doesn't mean I can just go out and run without keeping time in mind.

OUTFIT/GEAR

What I wore on my 22-miler is what I'll wear on Sunday; shoes, thick socks, awesome workout underwear, pocket-less shorts, long-sleeve black undershirt, pink Lopers shirt, sunglasses, LB hat, gloves. I'll also have my BlackBerry Bold and The Garmin with me as well. I'm taking five packets of Gu with me along with my four Fuel Belt bottles filled to the brim with Gatorade.

if it ain't broke, why fix it?

I am taping up the nips, probably on Saturday night. I think they'll be fine. That's one thing that I've sorta kinda gotten under control.

The other thing I might take with me is a garbage bag, in case it rains. And my bib of course.

GETTING TO START LINE

We're staying a few blocks down from the start line so my plan is to get up at about 5 in the morning, eat and get dressed. I'm going to eat a bagel and an energy bar along with some Gatorade.

RUNNING THE RACE

For a while, I'd pictured running the whole marathon by myself. I just figured that I would say hello to my Loper pals before the race and then we'd all go our separate ways. But after our 12-miler two weeks ago, one of our pace leaders said he would help pace us along if we wanted. It sounds like a great idea. Part of me thought (and thinks) that I should run this race by myself, to tackle the beast alone. But another part of me thinks that since I put in so much time with my running group I might as well see the race through with them.

Now, my pace leader offered to take us up to 20 miles or however long we needed him to. He's run 55 marathons so I think he knows what he's doing. I trust him and my initial plan is to stay with him and the group until about the 20-mile mark. If I get the urge to go alone sooner than that, I will. But I think it will be a great experience to run my first marathon with my Loper pals. There are four of us who will run our first marathons on Sunday and it will be great to accomplish the feat together, at least part of it.

MUSIC

Since I'll be with a group, that lessens the need for music. I am still going to have my awesome playlist with me, the entire 4.5-hour playlist but I split it up into three parts. I might tweak this a little but this is the third part of the playlist and the part that I'll probably listen to when I go solo after Mile 20.

LB's heavy artillery

I will have at my disposal my awesome running songs (I do have to add Johnny Cash's Highwayman in there by the way, it was slated for the second part of the playlist). Also, I will have at my disposal the fantastic piece of technology to play this through, my awesome Bold, which doubles as a phone. I haven't decided yet how I want to handle that part, if I should have Mrs. LB (and anyone else I guess) hit me up on my run at certain times or whenever she can or whatever, you know?

POST-RACE

I haven't yet decided what kind of pose to do at the finish. I've actually put a lot of thought into this. It might be one of the four poses that follows:

stick LBs celebrating

I know it sounds (and looks) silly, to contemplate the final pose, but I think at some point down the final stretch this will be what helps drive me to the end. And I don't want to just feel so beaten down that I just crawl across the finish.

I will also have Mrs. LB bring me some stuff with her to finish line, notably sandals. My blog buddy Angie told me that I will want to get out of my shoes quickly once I finish the race so I'll make sure I have that option. Also, a camera (duh), maybe a dry shirt or something, some snacks, drinks, that kind of stuff as well. I know there will be stuff at the race too but I just want to be sure.

I don't know yet if Mrs. LB will be waiting for me at the finish or somewhere along the course near the finish. At my half-marathon, they were right near the finish, before the finish line, and it gave me a good jolt to finish strong. I might leave that up to Mrs. LB, though, where she wants to be at the end.

Anyway, those are my plans. I know there are many more that I didn't cover (food for the next few days, for instance) or that I didn't embellish on but I don't want to overwhelm me (or you) more than I already have.

Four Long Days Remaining

Is it Sunday yet?

This week is dragging by. It's Wednesday, four days away from Surf City and it seems like it's still weeks away.

Today was better than Tuesday, though. Kennedy is still sick and I still feel a bit off. Maybe it's because I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. That might have something to do with it. I did manage to sneak in an hour nap at around 10, so that sort of made up for getting up so stinking early.

I don't know if it's coincidence or what but two people I've talked to about Surf City, two fellow first-time marathoners, are having the same sorts of issues as me: slight cough, feeling run down, sniffles. Maybe it's common to get sick before your first marathon, not sure.

I did manage to get my second-to-last run in today. I ran a whopping two miles. I was encouraged though because I felt great. I could have run a lot more, but of course I wasn't going to. On Thursday I have a soccer doubleheader - a girls JV game followed by a girls Varsity game - so I'm counting that as my last workout. But I'm also planning on a one-mile run on Saturday, and by one mile I mean one mile. Not 1.01 or 1.32 but 1.000000000. We had a guest speaker two weeks ago at the Lopers meeting, a former track coach and LAPD officer by the name of Pat Connolly. That link is to a story written about him in 1999, and he'd run some 30 marathons by then, including LA, Boston and New York. He was a great speaker and I thoroughly enjoyed the two times he went and talked to us.

Anyway, Coach Connolly suggested we run on Saturday, the day before the marathon to, as he put it, "open up your arteries" and said he used to have his athletes do that before big races. Just one mile. And I know myself, and I know that if I don't run at all on Friday or Saturday I won't feel right come Saturday night and that could carry over into Sunday. So that will be that I suppose.

Also, the latest weather forecast calls for a partly cloudy day on Sunday! How awesome is that?? It's on both the AccuWeather and The Weather Channel forecasts... not that I've been checking a lot or anything. So a big thank you for all your rain dances/prayers to the running gods/warm thoughts/etc. Your trusty blog buddy appreciates it.

Lala-ing To My Tunes

One of my favorite presents to receive is an iTunes gift card. I just like to go on iTunes and buy me some music. Is that a bad thing? Well, it can be if the things I want are costly.

In general, I'm picky when it comes to songs I want to buy. Some groups I will buy their entire CD no matter what. I have all of the CDs for Rammstein, for instance, and I bought their latest CD - Liebe ist fur alle da - with only having heard one song. And the CD is pretty good, at least to me it is.

I recently came across a new music site, though, that might make me even more pickier with how to spend my money. Lala.com is like a Web-based version of iTunes. Their collection of music is vast - not as vast as iTunes', but pretty extensive. It's actually pretty easy to use. You sign up and you get 25 credits off the bat. For one credit, you add a song to your collection. Each credit costs 10 cents, so once you run out of the free credits you just need to replenish your account and you can start adding songs once more.

You can also buy the MP3s of songs or CDs, and many of them are 89 cents. If you add a song to your collection and want to buy it afterward, it costs 79 cents to buy.

Now, before I continue I want to disclose to you that I have no affiliation to Lala.com nor any other company, nor do I typically give free advertising to anyone but the Disneyland Resort. I just figure that it's a great thing that many people may not know about.

A lot of times, I'll listen to music while I write or blog or cook or whatever. And a lot of times I'm listening on my laptop. I can listen to the songs on Lala as long as I have an internet connection, which these days is pretty much anywhere.

I think I read somewhere that there might be some sort of Lala app for the iPhone but since I don't have an iPhone I'm not going to invest too much time into pursuing that bit of info (sorry!). There's actually some buzz about this whole Lala/iTunes deal as Apple snatched up Lala recently, just two months ago. Apparently either Apple is going to jazz up Lala and incorporate its benefits into iTunes or their iPhone or they are going to choke Lala's neck until Lala doesn't breathe anymore.

Whatever the case, the site is a pretty cool idea. There are songs I'd like to listen to whenever I wanted to - well, whenever I'm online and want to, anyway - but I don't want to pay 99 cents for (or 1.29 for). But I'd pay a dime for them.

And there are some songs that are way cheaper on Lala than on iTunes. Case in point: I like the Smashing Pumpkins, and a long time ago I taped some of their B sides off some radio show (back in the cassette tape days). There were about four or five songs that I really, really liked, but I lost track of the tape once I no longer had a tape player and eventually forgot about the songs altogether. But recently I was on Lala trying to figure out how to spend my credits when I did a search for the Pumpkins and came across their B sides CD, and all those songs were there. I checked on iTunes and each song is 1.29 but each song is only 89 cents on Lala - 79 now since I added them to my collection.

Wanna see my collection? I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

I can explain nos. 3 and 22

This is my playlist and it shows how many times I've listened to each song. Some of these songs I went ahead and bought on iTunes since I wanted to listen to them on my iPod/BlackBerry. I want to buy the Pumpkins songs I have on here and probably will once I get around to it. Just haven't gotten around to it.

Anyway, just wanted to spread the word. I have nothing invested in this other than it's a cool way to listen to music and maybe save a few cents here and there.

Nervous Energy

Is it Sunday yet? Seriously. It's only Tuesday afternoon and I can't wait for it to be Sunday already. Come on.

Sunday, of course, is my first marathon. I want it to be Sunday because I want to run the race (duh) but also because I can't stand this anguish of just waiting around. At this point, it feels like only bad things can happen, that I'm already prepared and have prepared enough so only bad things can threaten that preparation.

Anyway, to pass the time I made some carnitas for dinner, made some chocolate chocolate chip muffins and made some coffee all since about 1:45, so in about two hours. Also, I'm trying to avoid getting sick. I'm wearing gloves right now as I type because germs are attacking me (well, they're not but I'm just being overanxious I guess).

Well, I wanted to blog a bit about our trip to Disneyland on Saturday. Might as well do it now.

We renewed the passes (awesome!!) and, with parking, it cost us more than $600 (gasp). It's okay, though - we'd set that money aside a while ago. The girls' passes had already been renewed, so that's just for two passes right there. Yeah, we'll be going often enough to get our money's worth. I think it costs about 70, maybe a little less, for a one-park admission, about 30 more to get into both parks, and that's just for one day. Between November of 07 and last October we went more than 40 times, maybe closer to 50, and it might even have been more. Not sure. That's a lot. I won't go as much this year because Yvie's in school but we'll be getting out there often enough. We went for the Deluxe (315 available days), which is the second-highest option. The highest option (more than $400 a pop) lets you go any day of the year - no blackout days. We're blacked out most Saturdays from April to August and major holidays (can't go Feb. 13-14 for instance) but that's about it.

We actually didn't end up going into Disneyland but just spent the day at California Adventure. It was not crowded at all. As we were lining up for the trams, busloads of band students, probably around middle-school age, got out and filled up the trams and they were all going to Disneyland. So we opted for DCA.

hide from the sun, Kenna

This is in front of the Grizzly River Run. It wasn't bone-chilling cold or anything but it wasn't a summer day either. Thus, this ride had virtually no line. You are guaranteed to get wet going on this ride. I asked the girls if they wanted to get on, and they said no.

watch out Yvie! there's a big dragon behind you!

Mrs. LB and the girls got to take their picture with Mulan! I'd not seen Mulan out. The girls have had their pictures taken with pretty much all the other princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Jasmine, Ariel, Pocahantas) but not Mulan so that was pretty cool.

smile... or something

In line for the Jumpin' Jellyfish ride, which is okay if you're seven and under. I had to get on because the girls can't go by themselves. Kennedy didn't feel like smiling apparently.

Here's a great tip if you are going to Disneyland Resort. Get there early! If you get to the park before it opens, you can get in. DCA wasn't supposed to open until 10 but they always let people in before then. We walked into the park at 9:30-something and went to Soaring Over California. That ride was already up and running, so we got on it, rode it, and were off to our next destination all by about 10:10. The first hour at Disneyland, no matter what day you, you can guarantee that the lines will be small and you can ride a lot of different rides with virtually no waiting. Peter Pan usually fills up quickly, as does the Finding Nemo Submarines, but even then the lines will only get longer for those rides. At DCA, Soaring always has a long line and so does Toy Story Mania. We got onto Toy Story, had to wait about 25 minutes but the line was about 40-45 minutes when we were done with the ride.

Anyway, maybe I'll get to pursuing this little idea I had about Disneyland Resort, about blogging about tips and stuff. I thought about doing a series of posts but just didn't know about the time involved (because it's pretty involved) but also because I was bummed because our passes had expired. Now that we've got our new passes (which don't expire until 1-30-11!) I might just get around to that.

With all this nervous energy I have right now, I could probably get a lot of that accomplished in the next couple of days.

More Challenges

These challenges for the marathon just keep coming.

I've been worried about the weather of course but I think I've come to grips with that. I heard a weather report on Monday that said if we get rain, it will be light and not the storm that pelted us a couple of weeks ago. Light rain, off and on, I can deal with. A steady downpour is a different thing, but that's not what we're going to get apparently. And even if it does rain a ton, I'll deal with it.

But now there's something else threatening to derail my hopes. The girls have been sick. In fact, Kennedy's sick today and is not going to school. About the only good thing about that is that I don't have to do my soccer game now, which means less wear on my legs and more rest for my legs and my mind. But Kennedy had a fever of 102.7 last night at one point. She woke up with 101, so no school. I don't have a surgical mask but I would wear one if I could. I've been wearing a handkerchief around my mouth a bit, but that only serves to make my face really warm so it's not working.

I actually think I caught a little bit of it, but that may be my head playing tricks on me instead. I've had no fever but I felt a headache and some coughing, and the faintest twinge of a sore throat. But that might be some sort of phantom illness my mind is using to play tricks on me.

Which reminds me... I heard of some sort of sympathy illness soon-to-be-fathers feel when their wives/spouse/girlfriend/whatever is pregnant. I got sick once, early in Mrs. LB's first pregnancy, like really sick. A fever, coughing... and it came from out of nowhere. One night, I'm fine and the next morning I'm burning up. And then it was gone, by the middle of the day. I don't know if it's an old wives tale or what, but whatever it was, it got me.

So, aside from any potential psychosematic illness I might face, I am feeling a bit sluggish. I think it comes from the lack of running. I was, after all, running quite a few times during the week all month, until last week. This week I'm limiting myself to one run, maybe two, but they will both be short.

And as far as the weather... latest forecast for HB is:

AccuWeather: Race Day, Partly sunny and cool, high of 62, low of 50

The Weather Channel: Race Day, Few showers, high of 63, low of 44.

Motivational Mondays (Feb. 1)

I'm not sure what I was doing on Feb. 7, 2006. I was probably eating too much food, definitely sitting around doing nothing. Running was the furthest thing from my mind. A marathon? That was for crazy people. I mean, who would ever want to run for four straight hours? Five straight hours? Insanity.

Life has a way of putting you in situations you never thought you'd find yourself, however.

Surf City is definitely one of those for me.

I weighed more than 300 pounds on Feb. 7, 2006. I'm guessing I was closer to 315 or maybe even pushing 320. But that month, I started to eat less and less, in anticipation of the personal trainer Mrs. LB had convinced me to sign up for. So I dropped down some before my official weigh-in, which was 308.6.

I never thought I'd run a marathon then. My trainer asked me what my goal was, and I thought he'd have some sort of you've-gotta-be-effing-kidding-me response when I told him my goal: I wanted to have a 1- in front of my weight. I didn't say that I wanted to run a marathon, because I didn't. I didnt' say that I wanted to run, because I didn't. I just wanted to not be fat. I was tired of being the fattest guy in the room wherever I went. I'd had enough. So I put my trust in my trainer, and off we went.

Six months later, I was down to 260 or so, then had gone down to 250 by the end of the year. In 2007, I lost 60 pounds all by myself - I'd stopped seeing my trainer in October of '06. It wasn't until after I'd reached my first-ever goal, to have a 1- in front of my weight, did I get into running. I went from 198 to 188 like (snaps fingers) that just by running; intervals, mostly.

Even then, I did not think of running a marathon.

I signed up for a 10K in 2008, with the help of my brother. The Camp Pendleton Mud Run was the first race I'd signed up for but I ran a 5K in June of that year. I never thought during my training for the Mud Run - which was really when I realized that I loved to run - that I would want to run a marathon.

But here I am, counting down the days until my first marathon. On Feb. 7, 2010 I will run my first marathon.

I know a lot of things in life seem impossible. I thought it was impossible to lose weight. I thought my only weight-loss option was to have some sort of surgery. I was as out of shape as you can get, as unhealthy as you could be, destined for diabetes, a good candidate for some sort of health-related illness, morbidly obese, zero self-esteem, felt disgusted with myself... and yet here I am now. I proved everyone, including myself, wrong.

I'm not trying to boast, trying to sound like I did something great that nobody else can. On the contrary, if I can lose 120 pounds, trust me, a lot of people can.

To sort of bring my two toughest challenges together - losing weight and running a marathon - I wrote this on the back of an old race bib and I will pin it to my back on Sunday.


Maybe fellow runners will see it and give me some encouragement - Lord knows I'll need it during the race. Or maybe that will give someone a jolt at the end of their own marathon challenge.

Whatever the case, I firmly believe what I proved to myself once, what I will prove to myself once more, and what I scribbled on the bib.

Nothing is impossible.