Monthly Archives: October 2014
DEFERMENT DILEMMA
Call it in the air!
When the coin is tossed before a football game, the team that wins the toss has to decide if they want to receive the opening kickoff and go right on offense. The other option is to “defer” and wait to get the ball to start the second half. Deferment is considered by many coaches as an effective game strategy.
And the same can hold true for running races.
Sometimes it’s a good idea to defer and run another day.
Obviously if you’re injured, taking the time off to heal is the right prescription every time.
But there are other reasons to defer a race.
And this fall I’ve deferred races. Not once, not twice, but thrice.
In August I deferred the Madison Half Marathon; in September it was the Ventura Half Marathon; and yesterday I deferred the Santa Barbara Half Marathon (technically I transferred SB to another racer, but it’s the same principle). Read the rest of this entry
REVIEW: LA ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HALF MARATHON ’14
RACE: Los Angeles Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon
DATE: October 26, 2014
LOCATION: Downtown Los Angeles
DISTANCES: Half Marathon/5K
START TIME: 7:00am
WEATHER AT START: 61°/ Partly Cloudy
FINISHERS: 7762 (Half Marathon)/ 1264 (5K)
This year marked the 5th running of the LA Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon as thousands of costume-clad Angelenos lined the streets near the Staples Center for a pre-Halloween romp through the city streets. Read the rest of this entry
WINNER: CANYON CITY CHA-CHA
Hi Trippers!
Less than three weeks away!
A big round of thanks to all of you who entered the “Canyon City Cha-Cha” contest.
I’m looking forward to running down the mountains near the Angeles National Forest and into the foothills of Azusa. And I can’t wait to see which of you gets to join the festivities “for free.”
So without further ado… okay, maybe just a little more ado. Ado. Ado. Enough?
The winner of a FREE entry into the REVEL Canyon City Marathon/Half Marathon is:
Christine Rodenbo
For those of you who didn’t win, you can still save some bills on registration. Each of you is eligible to save up to $10 on November 15th’s inaugural running of the REVEL Canyon City Marathon/Half Marathon.
LA ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: POST MORTEM
…and we’re off!
Just a beautiful morning for a run in downtown Los Angeles.
Over 9,000 runners (many clad in costumes) took to the streets for the LA Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon/5K.
I caught the Metrorail at Universal City in the wee hours this morning and rode it down to the Staples Center, chatting the whole way with several energetic (and sleep deprived) runners.
As my third race in as many weeks (Long Beach Half on Oct. 12 and Santa Monica RunFEST on Oct. 19), I wasn’t certain how I’d approach this one. I struggled at Long Beach and had a good run at Santa Monica.
And with an uber-busy running November just around the corner, I really just wanted to have a solid race and a fun time. Read the rest of this entry
LA ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: EXPO TO GO
Hi Trippers… or should I say “boo”!
Halloween may not be until next Friday, but I’ll be running scary (and wearing pumpkin orange…just the color, not actually dressing up as a pumpkin) this Sunday for the LA Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.
I spent Friday afternoon walking through the expo at the LA Convention Center gathering my bib, tech shirt (ugh, it’s a white shirt) and some various running swag. A fun time, as always.
Just a few photo highlights for you to peruse:
We’re looking at good running weather for Sunday morning… 60 degrees and partly cloudy as we all scamper past the Staples Center, loop around the Colosseum and run through the streets of downtown LA.
Have a great weekend and a “post mortem” will be coming on Sunday to let you know how things go.
Run on!
“I MISSED THE BIG 5-0!” (AKA SLAYING MY 51st DRAGON)
Yesterday I was doing some housekeeping work on Tripping The Kenyans.
I took a look at the page that listed my past races, starting with what I consider my first “official” race in this crazy campaign of mine (The Nike Human Race 10K on August 31st, 2008).
A quick glance at the numbers and I made a startling realization. Something I’d completely overlooked.
The first 50.
The Long Beach Half Marathon on October 12th was my 50th race.
I accidentally missed my “Big Five Oh.”
And as someone who likes to acknowledge milestones, I’m a little bummed I dropped the ball on that one.
I think of all of the “Golden anniversary” or “Over the hill” bad running jokes I could have made.
Bummer.
Consider yourselves lucky that you were spared the full brunt of my “puntastic” sense of humor. Read the rest of this entry
REVIEW: SANTA MONICA RUNFEST
RunFEST bling!
In the City of Angels, people are known for changing their name (aka “rebranding”) all of the time. Archibald Leach became Cary Grant. Sean Combs went from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy. And Prince became “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince” (yup, for a while his name was symbol) and then thankfully finally went back to Prince.
Well, having undergone an identity shift, the 8-year-old Santa Monica 5000 re-emerged this past Sunday as the newly christened Santa Monica RunFEST. I’m happy to say that even with the name change, the race retained its charm. With a myriad of distances to choose from: a 10K, 5K, untimed 5K “retro themed run,” and a family friendly 3K, around 2000 people laced up their running shoes for some seaside scampering. This year I ran the 10K for the third time and joined 545 other finishers for a fun 6.2 mile jaunt through Santa Monica.
REGISTRATION/PACKET PICK-UP
CONTEST: CANYON CITY CHA-CHA
Hi Trippers!
Inaugural Canyon City race is Nov. 15, 2014
I had a blast running the REVEL Big Cottonwood Half Marathon in Salt Lake City back in September.
It was an absolutely gorgeous downhill mountain course. And not only did I meet up with some good friends (and made some new ones) but like many other runners, I had a fantastic run and achieved a PR.
Ready for an encore?
The REVEL race series is preparing for the final race in its 2014 season and it’s going to be a fun one: The inaugural running of the REVEL Canyon City Marathon/Half Marathon on November 15th in Azusa, California.
Here’s your chance to be there from the start and become a legacy runner.
The REVEL Canyon City Marathon/Half Marathon takes runners from the mountains of the Angeles National Forest down to the foothills of Azusa.
SANTA MONICA RUNFEST (10K): POST MORTEM
Sandwiched between last week’s Long Beach Half Marathon and next week’s LA Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon was today’s Santa Monica RunFEST 10K (formerly known as the Santa Monica 5000).
After my less than stellar showing at Long Beach, I was hoping to rebound during this 6.2 mile jaunt around Santa Monica.
Thumbs up in Santa Monica!
In short, I was quite happy with today’s race.
The weather was perfect and I got a chance to chat up a few people before the race.
Now I wasn’t feeling 100% before the race; my stomach felt a little rumbly and I didn’t get as much sleep as I would have liked the last two nights.
But once the horn went off and I cranked up the tunes, I managed to put my rumbly tummy out of my head.
Now while I was just hoping to have a fun run, I did have some time goals in the back of my head (damn that competitive side of me).
First off, I wanted to see if I could better my Santa Monica 5000 “best” time of 58:57. And in the deep recesses of my cabeza, I was thinking maybe I could even top my 10K PR (56:56) set at this year’s Peachtree Road Race… or perhaps even break the 9:00 min/mile mark for a 10K.
RUNNING FUNNY: BAD JOKE #7409 (AND BONUS)
Yup, not just one groaner this week but two (they’re kind of complimentary jokes).
Run funny… and Run on!
REVIEW: THE LONG BEACH HALF MARATHON
In 1984, Long Beach hosted its first marathon. In the three decades since, the race has become a popular annual event in southern California featuring almost 20,000 participants enjoying one of the many races they offer, including: the full marathon, half marathon, bike tour and 5K. This past Sunday the race celebrated its 30th anniversary and Long Beach was once again packed with energetic runners and cyclists ready to pound (and ride) the pavement of this seaside city. I ran the half marathon (my fourth time running the route) and will focus my review on that distance.
REGISTRATION/PACKET PICK-UP
Registration costs for the Long Beach Half Marathon are in keeping with standard half marathons. The key as always is to sign up sooner rather than later to avoid the higher fees. I registered for the race back about 6 months ago and paid around $80 for the half marathon. You can find occasional discounts online or at race expos.
Scallops… mmmm.
Packet pick-up for the race is on the Friday and Saturday before the marathon, located at the Long Beach Convention Center. Expo parking is $10, but street parking is available if you don’t mind parking a few blocks away. I ended up about a half mile from the convention center and meter parked for the cost of a few quarters. The pick-up process is pretty quick, but be sure to bring a copy of your signed release form (they e-mail you it ahead of time) as you need to have it in order to get your bib. And just to be safe, bring a blank one along with you as you’ll invariably find someone looking for a blank form (they don’t print ’em out for you). Fortunately, you can pick up the bib for a friend or family member, but again be sure to have their signed release form and a picture of their ID.
THE LONG BEACH HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: SHORT AND SWEET
Jeez, I’ve been swamped lately.
What, me sweat?
My inbox has overwhelmed my outbox, leaving me not nearly as much time as I’d like to visit here and wax poetic.
Feels like I barely have enough time to run, let alone write about it. Hopefully, I can find some time to catch up on things in the not too distant future. I’ve got a list of fun topics to write about. Just need to carve out some time for it.
So this past weekend I ran the Long Beach Half Marathon, my 11th race o’ the year and my 30th half marathon overall (fitting as the Long Beach Marathon was celebrating its 30th anniversary).
Bib and bling.
I hit the expo on Friday and planned to post a bunch of photos, except the battery on my iPhone 4S died just as I walked through the front door of the convention center.
So I’m only left with those mental images… what are they called? Oh yes, I remember now… memories.
I had a good time at the expo, running into some friends and familiar vendors. I picked up a few items and did my best to mask my utter disappointment at the race’s tech shirt (it was white, plain and pretty darn awful).
RUNNING FUNNY: BAD JOKE #52509
Have you had your coffee yet? Might want to get a little caffeinated before you read today’s installment.
I’m so sorry about this one.
Run funny… and Run on!
Source: Jokes4us.com
HILL REPEATS AND “LUCKY 7″…
There’s an often used idiom, “The calm before the storm,” that I think appropriately describes my immediate running future.
C’mon… lucky 7.
My previous race was the REVEL Big Cottonwood Half Marathon in mid-September.
For the last few weeks, ever since I pounded the mountain pavement in Salt Lake City, I’ve just been concentrating on having solid training runs and dealing with my troublesome orthotics. My right foot had been experiencing a sort of “blister fest” while I anxiously awaited the arrival of my new & improved orthotics.
Well, on Wednesday my new orthotics arrived and so far my right foot is “blister free.” Keeping my fingers crossed and a four-leaf clover handy.
Back to the idiom and the aforementioned pre-storm calm.
Starting next Sunday I enter my craziest running month ever.
TRAINING TUNES: “TOP OF THE WORLD”
SONG: “Top of the World”
GROUP: Greek Fire
ALBUM: “Lost” (EP Released 2014)
BACKGROUND:
Okay, honesty check here. Before this week, I hadn’t heard of the group “Greek Fire.” But then I clicked on a link for the newest trailer for the upcoming Disney “superhero” animated film BIG HERO 6. The prior trailer for the flick featured a Fall Out Boy song (so they’re in good company).
I gotta say, I’m really excited for this movie as it seems to have the elements necessary for a great film: action, humor and heart.
Watching this latest trailer, I immediately took notice of the background song “Top of the World.” It had cool lyrics, a proper cadence and sounded gooooood.
To put it bluntly, a great potential running song.
I had to have it.
Tripping The Kenyans 