This Time, He’s Going to Take a Run at It

Next year. Next year I am going to do this!

It’s been 2 1/2 years since I first stood along the curb at Mann’s Chinese Theatre watching the runners of the Los Angeles Marathon go by. I vowed to myself then that the next time the race’s starting gun sounded, I’d be among them.

When the next marathon came, in March 1998, I was there . . . standing again along the curb on Hollywood Boulevard, repeating that same vow:

Next year I am going to do this!

With the running of the 1999 race in March, I was ready. I got to the course far enough ahead of the runners that I had time for a cappuccino. In my usual spot. On the curb. In front of the Chinese Theatre.

I live just a few blocks from the Hollywood landmark. So it’s been easy to watch the early miles of the Sunday morning race on TV and then hurry down to the boulevard to catch the leaders flying by.

The first two years I stayed around just until the elite athletes passed. Then I headed back home to my couch and turned off the marathon after watching the finish.

This March, however, I returned to the route a few hours later. I got a lump in my throat as I watched the mass of runners bravely keeping their leaden legs shuffling down the street in the 18th mile of the 26.2-mile race.

The experience apparently stayed with me. In the last few months, the marathon crept back into my thoughts, and I began telling my wife that this year might just be the year.

So, on March 5, 2000, I am going to run the 15th annual L.A. Marathon.

Really. I’m committed this time.

I’m so committed that I’ve joined the marathon’s official training program, the L.A. Roadrunners. Since its inception in 1987, the program has trained more than 12,000 marathon participants. Of those who have stayed with the 28-week program, 99% have finished the race.

More than 1,400 people have signed up since Aug. 21, when training for the 2000 contest began. The coach, Pat Connelly, expects the number of registrants to hit 1,700 in the coming weeks. But, of those, he anticipates one in four will drop out before the race.

Will I drop out? I now wonder about that every day.

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I’ve enjoyed challenges like this before, but they’ve mostly been on a bicycle. Over the years, I’ve gotten myself in good enough shape to finish seven-day bike rides in the July heat and humidity of Iowa. And I’ve cycled 100 miles in a day several times. Just once have I entered an organized run--a 10K in 1991 that I ran in 48 minutes.

When these challenges were met, my exercise tended to drop off and the pounds piled back on. That’s where I am now.

Though the marathon was on my mind, it seriously became my goal in July, when I stepped on my new bathroom scale and watched the dial spin up to 215 pounds--the heaviest I’ve ever been. That’s 35 pounds more than I carried on my 6-foot frame 12 years ago, when a swing-shift job and life as a bachelor gave me the time to cycle 175 miles and run 10 miles a week.

Now, at 39, with the demands of a two-career marriage, a 4-year-old daughter, two dogs and a house, it’s hard to find time for consistent exercise. Seems there’s always something unexpected getting in the way. And my job on The Times’ Web site, which has me in front of my computer or in meetings most of the day, certainly doesn’t give me any physical exertion.

That’s why I figured I needed a goal. If I don’t have something to shoot for, I’ll just end up watching my waistline get thicker.

Sticking to the Roadrunners’ training program takes some discipline--like rolling out of bed at about 5:30 a.m. to get in my morning run. I’ve missed a few days here and there, but so far, I’ve been able to stay pretty close to the regimen Coach Connelly has laid out for us.

I jog on my own around Hollywood for 30 to 45 minutes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. In place of the program’s easy running day on Sundays, I’ve substituted a 90-minute urban hike with my dogs, which includes a steep climb to the top of Runyon Canyon park. Mondays and Fridays are rest days. On Saturdays at 7 a.m., I join the Roadrunners at Westminster Elementary School in Venice for a run along the Strand, either north into Santa Monica or south to Marina del Rey.

Connelly, a former L.A. Police Department sergeant who has coached countless runners over the years, including the UCLA and USC cross-country teams, has started us beginners slowly, having us do intervals of jogging and walking for an hour. In the coming weeks, we’ll drop the walking intervals and the runs will get longer.

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I’d have to say it’s these Saturday runs that are keeping me interested in the program. They are filled with such spirit and camaraderie that they keep me motivated through the week. Also on Saturdays, after each workout, Connelly and guest speakers give us tips on technique, training and race preparation.

Now, four weeks into the program, I am noticing results. I’m sleeping better. I have more endurance. My belt is getting looser. I’m also finding it easier to eat better, preferring fruits and vegetables over the usual burgers, pizzas and fries.

A free health screening offered by City of Angels Medical Center, one of the program’s sponsors, confirmed that I’m shaping up. I’m down to about 200 pounds, my body fat percentage is 15.7% (that’s good, but I’ve had it as low as 12%), my body-mass index is 27.5 (I’m moderately overweight), and my pulse is 56 beats per minute (pretty good).

“What you are more interested in is the change [in those numbers] over time,” Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam of City of Angels told me.

Toward the end of the Roadrunners program, I’ll go back to City of Angels for a follow-up screening that will tell me just how far I’ve progressed.

For now, Sabaratnam said, “You’re good to go.”

I’ll be checking in from time to time during my training, letting you know how it’s going. I’ve also set up a bulletin board on The Times’ Web site, at https://www.latimes.com/intraining, where you can share your experiences or questions about training for the L.A. Marathon.

Wish me luck.

How to Get Info on the L.A. Marathon

For more information on the L.A. Marathon training program, call (310) 444-5544 or go to the marathon’s Web site, https://www.lamarathon.com.

The program’s $85 cost includes the registration fee for the L.A. Marathon.