Category Archives: General
“WIPEOUT” MEMORIES (PART 1): BEFORE THE BIG BALLS
It’s spring… time to Wipeout!
Nestled on my iPhone, right between Foursquare and Instagram is a little app I downloaded called “Timehop,” which basically looks at all of your past social media postings to remind you what you were doing on this date over the past few years. Well, Timehop showed me some pictures of what I was up to this week back in 2011. It made me smile, a tad nostalgic and I wanted to share the story with you… serial style (over the next few days).
Don’t worry, it’s not an overly mushy experience. In fact it’s quite funny and you get to read about me getting smashed in the face repeatedly, plunged into freezing water and flung head over heels into a giant mud puddle. Interested?
You see, I was a contestant on the gameshow “Wipeout.”
Yes, that Wipeout.
BLING FOR A GOOD CAUSE…
Hey Trippers!
Last week I posted two pieces about bling. One on the importance of finisher’s medals and one discussing the proliferation of “Challenge medals.”
“Pay it forward” with bling.
Given the responses from the community at large, finishers medals clearly have different meanings to all of us. For some of us it’s all about the bling, whereas for others the medals are a nice token reminder of a race but quickly forgotten.
Well, as an epilogue to those stories, I wanted to bring to your attention an option for those of you who are looking to “cull their bling herd” or have extra medals just collecting dust in a drawer. It’s a small gesture on your part, but it could mean so much more to a child.
AVENGING LAS VEGAS!
Warning: Crazy ahead!
“I may be crazy, but it keeps me from going insane.” -Waylon Jennings
When I lined up my race schedule for 2014, I decided to go way outside of my comfort zone and see just how far I could push myself.
I signed up for 14 halfs/fulls (twice as many long races as I’d ever done before in a single calendar year).
I challenged myself to PR in the marathon distance and break the 5-hour barrier. I PR’d at the LA Marathon, still working on the 5-hour barrier. My next chance is May 4th at the OC Marathon.
VERDICT: “CASE OF THE SACRED SHIRT”
The Verdict is in!
All rise! Runner’s Court is now back in session.
Yesterday we heard the “Case of the Sacred Shirt,” about whether or not the legacy shirt at the Hollywood Half Marathon was subject to the “Forbidden Shirt” protocol.
Evidence was presented, and solid arguments were made by both the prosecution and defense. Once closing arguments were read, the case was left in the hands of the jury… namely all of you… to decide the outcome.
I’ve tabulated the responses and a verdict has been reached. First let me say that the reader feedback was even better than I could have possibly hoped, with passionate pleas made by both sides that did indeed sway people’s opinions. Read the rest of this entry
RUNNER’S COURT: “CASE OF THE SACRED SHIRT”
Bang that gavel!
This past weekend I ran the Hollywood Half Marathon. I had a great time meeting up with friends before the race and I also PR’d, so a win/win for me.
And like I do with all races, I immerse myself in the whole atmosphere surrounding the event (hence my multiple “Experience” posts that I put up for each race). I came across something interesting before this year’s Hollywood Half Marathon that I think would make a great “beta test” for a hopefully recurring series on Tripping The Kenyans… “Runner’s Court.” This would be where I take a fun “controversial topic” and present it as a mock court case with me as presiding judge. And “No,” I haven’t gone out and bought a judge’s robe… as far as you know. Read the rest of this entry
REVIEW: HOLLYWOOD HALF MARATHON (4/5/14)
“Hollywood” and “Challenge” bling!
“Hooray for Hollywood!” This past Saturday morning saw a “premiere” like none other as over 10,000 racers lined up outside of the famed Chinese Theater to take part in the 3rd running of the Hollywood Half Marathon/10K/5K. Started back in 2012, this race happens just a few weeks after the Los Angeles Marathon and utilizes some of the same course. For those of us who pounded the pavement at the LA Marathon, this race serves as a nice follow-up and a second chance to hit the streets of Hollywood. The race raises money and awareness for local homeless youth shelters (a very worthwhile cause) and has a very positive vibe about. The Hollywood Half Marathon/10k/5K features a combined start for all three distances, meaning the beginning of the race has the feel of a bigger city event. In 2014, over 5700 entrants ran the half marathon (making it the most popular distance) while the 10K and 5K each had between 2100-2300 participants.
THE HOLLYWOOD HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: POST MORTEM
Damn, that’s a big medal.
When I laced up my shoes this morning for the Hollywood Half Marathon I realized that barring any last second additions, this was going to be my last half marathon until mid-August (my next two monthly races will be full marathons). I knew the outcome of this race was going to be bouncing around my mind for the next four months. My hope was to push it a bit and have a good race.
I didn’t have a good race….
I had a friggin’ awesome race.
One of my best ever.
I’ll leave discussions about the course and race for the full race review (coming tomorrow), but it really was a wonderful experience today. Read the rest of this entry
THE HOLLYWOOD HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: RACE MORNING (AKA “WORLD PREMIERE”)
Good Morning Trippers!
Up at 3:00am, dressed, caffeinated and out the door in time to catch the 4:35am Metro Rail at Universal City Station.
Number of runners for The Hollywood Half Marathon, 10K and 5K: Approximately 11,000
Temperature forecast for the start (6am): Approximately 51 degrees
First Song on My Running Mix: “A Light That Never Comes”- Linkin Park
Hooray For Hollywood and let’s do this…”Post Mortem” later today.
Run on!
THE HOLLYWOOD HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: EXPO AT LIGHTSPEED
Expo to the stars!
Hey Trippers!
It’s been an uber-busy week and between a major delivery of a project at work, some home projects, auditions and tax prep (April 15th is coming up quick), I’ve been pulled in a million directions… at least it gives me a good stretch. As a result, not only have I not been able to “Stop and smell the roses,” but I’ve barely had time to glance at them as run by “full tilt boogie.”
And that “Hurry, hurry, hurry” mentality has even spilled into my race prep. On the way to the expo for the Hollywood Half Marathon yesterday, I got a call that there was a “hiccup” at work (or maybe it was a belch, I’m not sure what qualifies as what) and they needed me over in West LA ASAP. I normally like to take my time and enjoy the “Expo experience” but yesterday ended up being a lesson in “Get in and get out.” Read the rest of this entry
BONUS BLING!
Hey Trippers!
Am I “blue”?
Yesterday I got all nostalgic talking about the importance of the “finisher’s medal.” Well, today I’m going to bring up a more recent development concerning “all things bling.”
Like I said before, on Saturday I’ll be running the Hollywood Half Marathon and my pavement pounding efforts will earn me a cool blue star-shaped “finisher’s medal.”
What I forgot to mention yesterday was the “other” medal I’ll also get on Saturday.
Wait. What other medal?
Note: Objects in picture may be much much much bigger than they seem.
Oh yes, I’ll be walking away from that race with a pair of medals, the aforementioned star medal AND the “Best of LA Challenge” medal. And let me tell you, this thing is massive, the kind of medal that would make Flavor Flav blush. If anyone ever wants to get uppity with me about the silliness of race medals, I could “literally” knock some sense into them with this bad boy… or at least cause a concussion.
Obviously to earn this “behemoth of bling” you must be required to do something tremendous, like run the half marathon backward and blind-folded with a pair of rabid badgers stuffed down your running shorts all the while juggling flaming chainsaws. Read the rest of this entry
“DON’T MEAN A THING IF YOU AIN’T GOT THAT BLING.”
This year’s model will be wearing “blue.”
I had a non-running friend recently tell me that they thought “finisher’s medals” were getting out of hand and did we even really need ’em in the first place?
I tried not to get huffy. After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Of course if I had had a finisher’s medal handy I might have clubbed them to death with it (some of them are rather large).
But I wanted to give their opinion some thought.
Saturday morning I’ll be pounding the pavement for 13.1 miles down and back along the “Avenue of the Stars” at the Hollywood Half Marathon. And once I cross the finish line and stop my GPS, one of the wonderful race volunteers will hang a blue star-shaped medal around my neck. Read the rest of this entry
REQUIEM FOR RUNNING SHOES
Thanks to “Lefty” and “Righty.”
On Saturday morning I went for a run with my “Team Roadkill” buddies, as we’ve done so many times before. While it was a fun time, there was also something a little bittersweet about it.
For one of us, it was going to be their last run. Well, not a person per se.
This was the last run for my current running shoes.
My New Balance 940v2 shoes (size 11.5 EE… yeah, I’ve got wide feet) reached the end of the line and this was the final occasion for me to lace them up. The time had come for them to retire. Read the rest of this entry
“MUSICAL CHAIRS” KARMA
Big chair… but not “the” chair in question.
Sunday afternoon I was wondering what the exchange rate is from karma to dollars.
Let me explain.
I often talk about “Cosmic Karma” and how the universe keeps track of your kind words and selfless actions, sort of like a bank trading in the currency of good deeds.
Yes, I just made a financial institutional analogy to “You reap what you sow.”
But like Bank of America, I feel I often do nothing but make deposits at the galactic ATM and get charged stupid fees if I want to make any kind of withdrawal. And let’s not even talk about interest.
So, let me talk briefly about my latest deposit. Read the rest of this entry
“CAPPING IT OFF”
Running with Bucky emblazoned on my noggin.
I have a recurring problem… okay several (Ha Ha), but this one I’m willing to talk about openly.
It’s hats… in particular, baseball hats. Yup, I’m addicted to those wonderfully brimmed beauties that keep the sun and sweat out of our eyes while simultaneously professing our love of a particular team, product or place.
I equate my love of ball caps to that of ladies’ obsession with shoes. I mean how many pairs of black heels can you own? Apparently a boatload. I can certainly relate.
Tokyo Giants… play ball!
As a little kid I loved to wear the ball caps of my favorite professional teams or whatever little league team I was playing on. And when my dad would go to Asia on business he would bring me back ball caps of Japanese baseball teams (my favorite was the Tokyo Giants). Fortunately, by the time I hit my teens I kind of grew out of them and showed the world my blonde locks uncluttered by headwear.
Then came college.
As a student at the University of Wisconsin (yes, those “Final Four” bound Badgers… woo hoo), my baseball cap addiction reappeared with a vengeance as I started collecting oodles of Wisconsin ball caps. Then when I went onto grad school at Florida State, the collection only got bigger with the addition of FSU hats to my already massive collection of UW hats.
Oh, it gets worse.
“PLEASE SIR, I’D LIKE (TO RUN) SOME MORE”
Like this, but with running.
Good afternoon Trippers. Just a quick post today as I’m off to cheer on my Wisconsin Badgers who have made it to the “Elite Eight” and square off tonight against Arizona for a spot in the “Final Four.”
So, this morning’s long run was doing double duty, as both a taper run for next Saturday’s Hollywood Half Marathon and a recovery run from last week’s 18-mile jaunt (preparing for the OC Marathon in May).
On the upside, instead of pounding pavement solo like last week, I did my run today with a trio from Team Roadkill. Jim, Jeff, Soozie and I met up at the parking lot for the LA Zoo in Griffith Park (in the “Camel” parking section or “Camel Toe,” as we lovingly refer to it). They too are prepping for the H’wood Half and also needed to “exorcise the demons” from the LA Marathon.
Tripping The Kenyans 