Fitness Files: More marathon challenges await

Leaving Orange County on the 405 Freeway, the GPS indicated 26 miles to our Los Angeles exit.

“Curses,” I told my husband. “In January, I’m going to run the equivalent of Orange County to L.A.!”

I recently signed up for the Carlsbad Marathon.

True, I look forward to the thrill of the marathon start. Horn sounding, feet pounding, focusing on the confounding mix of conserving energy verses all-out forward momentum.

But my current workout pace is a crawl — 12- to 13-minute miles to be specific. Strangers on the trail ask me if I’m ailing because I’m favoring a creaky left knee. The knee rarely hurts, but an occasional stab makes me run with a limp, unconsciously protecting the joint.

I would not have signed up for a marathon except I can’t say no to Evelyne Huegi. In past years, she conquered downhill skiing, ariel silk and erg competitive rowing. Now it’s the marathon. “Sign up,” she tells me. “Carlsbad sells out.”

Today she ran 19 miles. I stayed home to write.

Last November, I wrote about Evelyne’s daughter-in-law’s heroic rescue of a gravely injured hiker. Cristina will run the marathon with us. Besides being a backcountry ranger, Cristina is a herpetologist. Time on the trail passes fast with stories of yearly rattlesnake round-ups, during which a swipe of fingernail polish across a rattle marks a year’s growth.

As I said, I can’t resist Evelyne. I can’t resist Cristina either.

Evelyne handed me a book, “Run Less Run Faster,” with more numerical tables than I care to digest. The authors, health science professors, provide research supporting marathon preparation. Runners pick up the pace but reduce mileage.

My former marathon coach believed in 50-mile weeks. I’m jubilant about leaving hours on the road behind.

However the “Run Less” authors advocate multiple, rapid track workouts with short rests between. I find hard track workouts irresistible, but twice, after repeated track drills, I’ve been injured to the point of sitting out marathons.

Life is a series of conflicts. How will I approach the gimpy left knee with the desire to pick up the pace? I have an appointment with a legendary physical therapist who’s helped a half-dozen of my hiking friends. I’ll ask him to tell me how to become stronger while not concentrating on what’s wrong with me.

I have a history of getting over injuries by not naming them. Resting is the best medicine, but by signing up for Carlsbad, I’ve eliminated that option.

I can finish a marathon. My friend Murph had little time to prepare for the St. George Marathon, so he joined a 12-minute-mile pace group. He emailed jokingly that he might finish by the next day. Turned out he had fun making new friends into old friends after spending more than 5 hours running side by side.

Perhaps I’ll run a 5 1/2-hour marathon, but I won’t be happy. I compete with my past times — 4 1/2 hours in cool weather. I do not race against my running friends, all 10 to 20 years younger. I joke about leaving gray-haired ladies in the dust. It’s true I’m motivated to pass females who may be in my age group, but what I really compete against is the longing to give up.

I bury my negativity, beat my lazy nature, banish defeatist thoughts.

My last two first places in the LA Marathon are happy circumstances, but in 2013, the joy of winning was overshadowed by a forced walk through the finish line. Heat and leg cramps defeated me.

In 2014, despite being 12 minutes slower than the previous year, I felt the absolute joy of pulling out reserve energy to run past the finish line. No leg cramps! I mastered a hot marathon and got another age-group first place.

So, the Carlsbad Marathon in January is an open question. As the authors of “Run Less Run Faster” say, “With the marathon, [outcome] is a mystery. Even during the race … at mile 20-24, you won’t know what is going to happen next.”

In 2013 and 2014, I described my training to Independent and Pilot readers, a year of folly and fortitude. Today I invite you into the torture/triumph trying my mettle again. Wish me an injury-free experience and a cool breeze.

Newport Beach resident CARRIE LUGER SLAYBACK is a retired teacher who, since turning 70, has ran the Los Angeles Marathon, placing first in her age group twice.