Category Archives: General
REVEL CANYON CITY HALF MARATHON: POST MORTEM
Hey Everyone,
REVEL bling!
So, the first leg of my crazy half marathon “trifecta” is in the books.
This morning I ran the inaugural REVEL Canyon City Half Marathon.
And I had a blast.
Meeting up with several of my running friends, we trekked down the San Gabriel Mountains in Angeles National Park on a beautiful fall morning.
I have to admit it was rather difficult to rein things in and not pick up my pace as I made my way down the mountain. I had planned to run an 11:30 pace, but came in at 11:00 min/mile (guess my tortoise pace had a little hare in it after all).
But I felt at ease and not tired at all as I crossed the finish line and grabbed a neat piece of race bling. Read the rest of this entry
BRING THE TORTOISE, LEAVE THE HARE…
Tortoise vs. Hare. One of Aesop’s classic fables about how slow and steady can indeed win the race.
Wanna race?
For a competitive guy like me (big surprise, I know), my default speed is “full tilt boogie.”
Mind you, when it comes to racing, my boogieing full tilt still means I’m finishing in the middle of the pack… but maybe just a little more to the front of the middle than normal.
I like to test myself, to see exactly what my limits are and find out how I can push beyond them.
So, obviously it can be a bit difficult to purposely take my foot off the gas… even when it is the wisest move. Read the rest of this entry
WINNER: THE BIG SQUEEZE STRIKES AGAIN
Hi Trippers!
Squeezy squeezy!
Thanks to everyone who entered “The Big Squeeze Strikes Again” contest. And whether you put your socks on left foot or right foot first (or for the life of you can’t remember) we all manage to get dressed eventually.
Drum roll please.
The winner of a FREE pair of PRO Compression marathons socks or calf sleeves:
Katie Gehrand
Congratulations and here’s wishing everyone comfy calves in their next race.
And for those of you who didn’t win, you can still score 40% off at the PRO Compression website. At checkout just enter the code: BLG14
And be sure to check in to Tripping The Kenyans later this week as I prepare for my journey to run 3 half marathons in 33 hours.
Run on!
CONTEST: THE BIG SQUEEZE STRIKES AGAIN
Hi Trippers!
Get your squeeze on!
I hope everyone had a good Halloween weekend and enjoyed that extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning (sometimes it’s nice just to “fall back”).
It’s time for another giveaway at Tripping The Kenyans and it’s a good one.
The fine folks at PRO Compression want to deck you out with a FREE pair of marathon compression socks or calf sleeves.
I started wearing PRO Compression calf sleeves during races and the marathon compression socks afterward for speedier recovery. And it’s really helped me bounce back quicker. Read the rest of this entry
YOU CAN LEARN A LOT IN 5 MILES…
Hey Trippers!
My smaller running group today… and I’m perfectly hidden in this photo.
Today was a short 5-mile run with the T2 gang. And attendance was a little light because a bunch of runners were off doing other races, including some of my friends running the New York City Marathon tomorrow (Good luck gang).
As a result, our pace group “Road Kill” was unusually small: only 5 people, instead of the normal 15-20, trekking today through Griffith Park during intermittent rain.
By all estimates, it should have been a very basic and forgettable run.
Not at all… it was a very memorable run. But not because of the run, but because of the conversation I had with a teammate.
I spent the majority of the run getting to know Jason (not a new T2 runner, but a new runner to our particular pace group) and his story is nothing short of awe inspiring. Read the rest of this entry
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.
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).
Tripping The Kenyans 