Category Archives: General
THE FORECAST IS FOR “FUN”
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene
Blame it on the Rain!
When I was little and after playing would come inside covered from head to toe in mud, my mother would look to the sky and say “Sometimes I wonder if you have the common sense to come in out of the rain.”
Well mom, 35 or so years later I can finally give you a definitive response to your query.
The answer is an unequivocal “No.”
In fact, as I’ve gotten older… and allegedly more mature… I actually am doing my damnedest to look for the rain (literal and figurative) and storm out into it like I’m reenacting the “Charge of the Light Brigade”…without quite as much artillery, mind you.
MY RUNNING FRATERNITY
Half Fanatics Unite!
In college I didn’t go Greek; rather I stayed in the dorms all four years serving as a Resident Assistant (in charge of 72 Freshman/Sophomore students). Sure it was hard work, but quite rewarding to help others. Oh, and I got free room, board and tuition… so Woo-Hoo!
So, while I was ecstatic to graduate without owing a penny in student loans, I always wondered what it would have been like to be in fraternity… to know that I could run into fellow brothers (or sisters) anywhere around the country or recognize someone wearing our emblem and have something in common.
Well, I did finally join a fraternity. It just took me twenty more years.
FINDING FRAZZ…
Run on Frazz!
It’s Sunday and I just got done reading the paper.
Yes, the Sunday paper.
While I have embraced digital delivery (most of my reading is done on my iPad and Kindle), there’s still something I love about picking up the LA Times off my doorstep each weekend and rifling through the sports section, Sunday circulars and a brief stop in the Books & Arts section to get my horoscope (hopefully the signs say it’ll be a good day). But to be honest, the biggest reason I still get the Sunday paper has to do with one colorful section that makes my inner 5-year-old smile each week.
The comics.
IT’S “TAPER” TIME!
“Thumbs up” to tapering.
Last week I did my largest training run in preparation for the 2014 LA Marathon. My T2 brothers/sisters and I pounded out 23 fun-filled miles. And today we got to hear the word that evokes joy and dread alike from runners.
Taper.
We are under two weeks away from “M-Day” (March 9th) and now it’s time to step off the gas and taper for the race. As we’ve been told time and again, we are ready for the marathon and nothing we do in the last two weeks will really prepare us any better for the race. But you can mess things up.
WARNING SIGNS OF A HAPPILY OBSESSED RUNNER…
WARNING SIGN #405
“PENCIL ME IN”
You have no idea what is on your social calendar for the rest of the week, yet you can recite the exact date and location of every single race you have planned (plus alternates) for the next 12 months.
Run on!
I think I have a race-free weekend in July.
FAST FACT: THE MARATHON MAN!
Here is the latest Fast Fact* about a runner who has earned more race bling than any of us.
Run on!
*Source: Wikipedia (so you know it has to be true). I double checked the facts on several German websites, but I don’t speak German so they could have been telling me about the latest trends in lederhosen.
BUY IN BULK…
Let me start by saying that I’m a fan of Costco. Cheap gas out front, decent selection in the store and I really dig the $1.50 hot dog/soda combo (be sure to ask for sauerkraut). And if you’ve got a family, you can buy a ton of stuff in bulk and save quite a bit of cash. It’s a very successful business model.
With sauerkraut please.
But it doesn’t work so well for a single guy like me. Sure I’d love to get a bag of salad, but there’s no way one lone dude can chow down 3-pounds of leafy stuff before it goes bad. Even Bugs Bunny would probably say “What the hell, Doc” as he tries to polish off a “Kirkland Brand-sized” (aka “mondo-gi-hugic”) bag of carrots.
For some people, shopping is actually more cost effective when you buy things in smaller quantities or one at a time.
Now what does this all have to do with running, you may ask?
FAST FACT: A WHOLE LOTTA RUNNERS…
Here’s the latest Fast Fact.*
Run on!
*Source: Wikipedia (because they’re never wrong).
THE FREAKY FOOT CHRONICLES: CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 2: “GOLDEN ARCHES”
Not quite that high.
A few weeks ago I wrote the first installment of the “Freaky Foot Chronicles” where I talked about my mildly mutant “foot digits” (aka toes).
Well, time to wax nostalgic about yet another of my maladies (one that several other runners I know share). The downside is it sucks. The upside is it’s a manageable condition that won’t prevent me from being a running fool for the next 40-50 years.
I’ve got high arches… really high arches. Not quite the St. Louis Arch arches or “McDonald’s arches” arches, but certainly higher than is considered normal.
WARNING SIGNS OF A HAPPILY OBSESSED RUNNER…
WARNING SIGN #12290
“PICK A NUMBER”
Finding out your bib number for an upcoming race is cause for excessive celebration and yet another “running-related” Facebook post.
By the way, I just found out that my bib number for the 2014 Asics Los Angeles Marathon is #20838.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got something important to post on Facebook.
Run on!
Don’t Drool On Your Bib
RUN AND “CELEBRATE”
Roadkill selfie
So, my alarm (first one) went off this morning at 4:45am. No big deal because I had been awake since 4:00am in anticipation for today’s 23-mile “fun run.”
As I mentioned the other day, today was our “celebration run” for Team To End AIDS (T2). So our group of marathoners (and marathoners-to-be) met at “0 Dark Thirty” (okay 6am, but it was still dark out) in Griffith Park. Huddled in the glow of lanterns, we were given specially made “celebration run bibs” courtesy of our coach JC and a very nice touch.
So after a pep talk from Ashley and a breakdown of the route from JC (apparently we were running everywhere on planet Earth… with a hill to boot), my pace group “Team Roadkill” or “Team Road Kyll” (if you go with our funky spelling this year) gathered our forces, 19 of us today, for the trek.
RUN RUN RUDOLPH!
Just a fun little bonus and some food for the ego. I received an e-mail today from Run Racing premiering their new promo video for The Holiday Half Marathon in Pomona.
I happened to see a familiar face wearing reindeer antlers… and check out the :40 mark for some slow-motion goodness. Ho-Ho-Ho!
Run on!
“MARATHON ADJACENT”
This run is brought to you by the numbers “2” & “3.”
Tomorrow morning I’ve got a long run to do. A very long run. 23-miles to be exact or about 88% of a marathon.
But this isn’t your ordinary 23-mile run. Rather, it’s a celebration.
Back in October, I started training for the 2014 Los Angeles Marathon with my running group Team to End AIDS (T2). For 5 months now we’ve been meeting up every Saturday (rain or shine) at Griffith Park to pound pavement together and raise money for APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles). To date, our merry band of marathoners has raised over $130,000 to help those people in LA whose lives are impacted by HIV/AIDS.
And on Saturday we celebrate with our longest run of the season. Starting at 6am, we’ll spend the next 5 or so hours running through Griffith Park and along the streets of Burbank, Glendale and Toluca Lake.
THE “EX-FACTOR”…
Splitsville…population, you.
Valentine’s Day is this week, that wonderful day when we thank the special someone in our lives (and Hallmark, Godiva chocolates and florists nationwide make out like bandits). And for us avid runners, that means our appreciation for that significant other who supports our sport or pounds the pavement right alongside us.
Well, this year I’d like to give thanks to a forgotten group of people… or should I say those people we’d like to forget… the “exes.” These are those previously exceptional people whose appeal wore off over time to the point where we scratched our heads while wondering, “What the hell was I thinking.”
CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION…
Remember back in grade school when you’d receive a “certificate of participation” for finishing just about anything? Whether it was completing a science project, reading a certain number of books or just having good attendance, a certificate (featuring cool borders, formal sounding language and your name displayed in pretty text) made it seem “official.”
Tripping The Kenyans 