Author Archives: Scott D.
RUN DOWNHILL AND SAY “CHEESE”…
Hey Trippers!
My legs are finally feeling like legs again as I continue to recover for last weekend’s half marathon.
And the goodies keep rolling in from the REVEL Big Cottonwood race.
One of the great runner’s perks from the race is FREE photos. Instead of having shell out almost $30 for a single digital photo from races series like Disney and Rock ‘n’ Roll, the folks at REVEL want you to be able to display a whole slew of fun shots without the word “PROOF” forever tattooed across your torso.
Here are my candids from Salt Lake City.
Oh, and there’s still one more fantastic freebie to go as REVEL will be using my photos to cut together a personalized video summarizing the race experience. I’ll be sure to post that puppy when it’s available.
Have a great weekend everyone… and Run on!
SORE NO MORE… FINALLY!
Fun run on Saturday!
The REVEL Big Cottonwood race is a well-known downhill course that promises really fast times. Depending on your race choice (half or full marathon) participants can expect a decline in excess of 3000′- 4000′ during the race.
In the weeks leading up to the race, I checked out the race website to see if they had any pointers. And they did have a nice section on training specifically for a downhill race. You can check it out here (Big Cottonwood Training).
I took their advice about not worrying about the altitude; I made sure to hydrate properly and I even did a little hill work training to prep myself for the declines.
REVIEW: REVEL BIG COTTONWOOD HALF MARATHON
Big Cottonwood Bling
Ready to get back to nature and chase a PR at the same time? If so, then look no further than the REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon/Half Marathon. As the flagship race in the new REVEL series (also includes the REVEL Rockies and REVEL Canyon City races) this scenic downhill course is situated in the mountains just outside of Salt Lake City. Although a relatively new race, Big Cottonwood has already earned a reputation as a well-run event and also serves as a prime Boston qualifier. This year’s race sold out and drew in excess of 2500 runners for the half marathon and over 1500 participants for the full marathon. Read the rest of this entry
THE BIG COTTONWOOD HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: POST MORTEM
Hi Trippers,
Bib me!
Sorry for the daylong wait in me posting my race results. It’s been a pretty crazy past few days and I’m just now catching my breath.
One word sums up my experience at the REVEL Big Cottonwood Half Marathon… awesome.
From the second I boarded the plane in LA until the moment the wheels touched back down in the City of Angeles, I had an absolute blast (one of my best overall race experiences ever).
One of the reasons this race was so great had nothing to do with the run itself, but rather the people I ran it with. I met up with my friend Maria (aka “BustA Groove”) at LAX and flew to SLC with her and her friend (and now my friend too) Donielle.
THE REVEL BIG COTTONWOOD HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: GETTING SALTY
Hey Trippers!
“Go Big.”
Greetings from Utah and the REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon/Half Marathon.
It’s already been a blast of a day (that started pre-dawn) and we don’t even run until tomorrow.
After waking up at 3:45am and treking to LAX, I met up with my friends BustA Groove and Donielle for a fairly quick Southwest Airlines jaunt (about 90 minutes… enough time for some peanuts and a few games of Candy Crush Saga) to Salt Lake City.
Needless to say, Salt Lake City is a very pretty place and we were all pretty impressed with the scenic mountains in the distance… the very same mountains we’ll be running down tomorrow morning. Read the rest of this entry
A LITTLE BREATHER
Hi Trippers,
“Take 5” everybody.
TV programs have re-runs, do clip shows or go on hiatus.
Broadway and Vegas shows have their “dark” nights.
People take vacations and professionals at times take sabbaticals.
Even runners have their off-season or rest days.
After 9 months of near daily blogging (approximately 230 posts), I think my keyboard (and the fingers that pound it) could use a couple of days off.
So, TTK is going to take a breather for a week.
But don’t worry as I’ll be back next Friday reporting from Salt Lake City and the REVEL Big Cottonwood Half Marathon.
Catch you all next week… and Run on!
REVIEW: DISNEYLAND HALF MARATHON
“Hi Ho Hi Ho, it’s off to run we go!”
Disney bling!
Disney, the uber-company which owns Marvel, Lucasfilm (aka Star Wars), Pixar and is responsible for some great family films and wonderful theme parks, has also become quite the upcoming player in the marathon game. With numerous races each year at Walt Disney World in Orlando and at Disneyland in Anaheim, Mickey and Minnie Mouse seem to lace up their running shoes almost every other weekend.
This past Sunday (of Labor Day Weekend), Disney staged the 9th annual Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend (which also included a 10K, 5K and other family events). Amidst the heat and humidity of summer’s final “unofficial” weekend, over 15,000 runners donned their respective Disney costumes or mouse ears and lined up to “Let It Go” (yes, they played the song again and again) at the “Sweatiest place on earth.”
THE DISNEYLAND HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: POST MORTEM
The high point… I finished.
So I woke up this morning (or I should say last night, as it was 2:30am) and made the trek down to Anaheim without incident for the Disneyland Half Marathon.
Unfortunately, the race itself was not “incident free” for me. High heat and humidity (it was 70+ degrees at 5:00am) made for some rather hot racing conditions.
That said, the weather was the least of my problems.
One thing for certain, I was “off” from the get go. Some people would say it was “one of those races,” but I know I wasn’t firing on all cylinders when the gun went off and “Let it Go” started playing for the umpteenth time.
As I’ve mentioned, my running has been less than ideal the past few weeks and it definitely culminated in a heap of suck today.
While I knew I was off pace after mile 4 (my original game plan had me aiming for a 2:10- 2:15 time) I wasn’t horribly behind and since this was really supposed to be glorified “training run,” I wasn’t overly upset.
THE DISNEYLAND HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: UNEXPECTED EXPO
What’s the saying: “The best laid plans of mice and men…”
Kind of a fitting statement because my plans involved a mouse named Mickey.
Anyway, I had originally intended to spend my Saturday down in Anaheim with Lindy, staying at the Marriott near Disneyland. We’d hit the expo and then wander around downtown Disney this afternoon before I carbo-loaded tonight while watching some serious Badger football (and a few zzzs) in preparation for tomorrow’s pre-dawn start to the Disneyland Half Marathon.
Well, life got in the way and plans have shifted a bit.
So I made my way down to Disney yesterday to hit the expo and pick up my race stuff.
Now I’m back in LA taking care of business and combatting my runner’s OCD as I gather up my gear.
And I guess I’ll be getting up at “ass o’clock” tomorrow morning (aka 2:30 am-ish) in order to get down to the “Mouse House” for the race.
Have a good “football” Saturday everyone… and Run on!
LABOR DAY WEEKEND: TRADITION, TRANSITION… AND THE MOUSE.
Not much labor to be done this weekend.
Welcome everyone to Labor Day Weekend, the “symbolic” last weekend of summer (even though the calendar says we’ve got another 3 weeks o’ summer fun left).
I remember as a kid saying it seemed kind of funny that we celebrated this “Day of Labor” by relaxing, grilling out and generally goofing off. It was typically one of the least laborious weekends of the year.
Works for me… and yes, I’ll have another burger.
For those of you wondering, Labor Day first became a national holiday in 1894 and is a celebration “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers” (or at least so sayeth Wikipedia). Read the rest of this entry
TILTED RUNNING AND MOUSE PREP
Looks straight to me when I wear my running shoes.
I was honestly a little nervous before my long run this past Saturday.
As I’ve mentioned, my runs the last few weeks (check out my post on “The Week of Suck”) have been far from wondrous. In fact, several have been downright shitty.
My visit to the podiatrist on Thursday did help alleviate a lot of my worry. That finicky right foot of mine is just finicky… not injured. Some additional padding to my orthotic (changing my foot’s angle) and I am supposedly good to go.
But as I laced up my shoes at Griffith Park on Saturday I couldn’t help but wonder if this change might have additional consequences, such as rubbing, blisters or some other kind of unexpected pain.
Part of me was wondering if the new set-up to my shoes would make me feel like I was running at a slant… like a big clomping “Leaning tower of Pisa” (if the landmark ever decided to take up distance running, that is). Read the rest of this entry
WINNER: “SALT LAKE CITY SHUFFLE”
Hi Trippers!
The shortest distance between two points…
A hearty thank you to all who entered the “Salt Lake City Shuffle” contest.
I’m looking forward to running Big Cottonwood and seeing which of you gets to join in the festivities… gratis.
So without further ado, the winner of a FREE entry into the REVEL Big Cottonwood Race is:
Ashley McDuffee
For those of you who didn’t win, you can still save some cash on the race. Each of you is eligible to save up to $10 on the REVEL Big Cottonwood Race (Sep. 13 in Salt Lake City) or the REVEL Canyon City Race (Nov. 15 near Los Angeles)
Just join “Team Tripping The Kenyans” for either race by clicking below and you automatically save $5 off of your entry (plus an additional $5 Facebook discount is available at checkout).
Team Tripping The Kenyans- REVEL Big Cottonwood (Sep. 13th)
or
Team Tripping The Kenyans- REVEL Canyon City (Nov. 15th)
Oh, and I’ll be giving away a FREE entry to the REVEL Canyon City Race in the weeks, so keep checking TTK
Have a great Friday… and Run on!
THE FREAKY FOOT CHRONICLES: GOOD TO GO?
“That’s the fact, Jack.”
Those readers who have been following Tripping The Kenyans since Day One know that my feet are far from perfect.
For newer readers, let me just say: My feet are sorta messed up… always have been, especially ole “righty.”
So messed up in fact that some of my earliest posts (dubbed by moi as “The Freaky Foot Chronicles”) highlighted some of their inherent nastiness.
You can flashback and check them out here if you’d like.
- The Freaky Foot Chronicles: Chapter 1 (Part 1)
- The Freaky Foot Chronicles: Chapter 1 (Part 2)
- The Freaky Foot Chronicles: Chapter 2
To summarize, I’ve been dealing with:
- Overlapping toes (which I handle using Injinji toe socks)
- Extremely high arches (which I battle with custom made orthotic inserts)
- Early stage arthritis in my right foot big toe (courtesy of dropping a cabana on it years ago)
CONTEST: “SALT LAKE CITY SHUFFLE”
Hi Trippers!
Salt Lake City Shuffle
The first race in the REVEL 2014 series is in the books. A hearty (and large) band of REVELers took to the Rocky Mountains outside of Denver on Sunday morning. PR’s were achieved, swag was earned and fun was had by all.
Next up in the series is the Big Cottonwood Marathon/Half Marathon outside of Salt Lake City, Utah on September 13th.
The Big Cottonwood marathon course drops over 4,000 feet and the half marathon course drops just shy of 3,000 feet.
It’s a beautiful, scenic downhill course that just screams PR… and it is a USATF certified course and “Boston qualifier.”
OVERCOMING THE WEEK OF SUCK
Welcome to the suck.
I was going to put an elegant or witty spin on things, but why not just come out and say it.
Exercise-wise… last week sucked.
I mean really sucked.
Like black hole sucking in all matter unfortunate enough to be near it sucked.
For some reason, I was just sort of “off” all last week.
I struggled on my maintenance runs (which almost never happens) and my planned 12-mile Saturday jaunt collapsed like a house of sweaty cards after a mere 7 miles.
I even skipped two of my cross-training workouts in favor of some extra zzz’s in case I was rundown.
Tripping The Kenyans 