Category Archives: General
RUNNING NUGGET: SAVED FROM SWEAT…
A dab will do ya.
Famed football coach Lou Holtz was quoted as saying that “no one has ever drowned in sweat.” Although I think I’ve come close. You see when I exercise I’m a bit of a sweater… okay, calling me a bit of a sweater is like calling the shark from Jaws a “bit of a fish.”
After a race or a training run I look like I just jumped into a pool with my clothes on. My buddies have joked that sweat is “fat crying.” If that’s the case, when I run it seems like my fat is having a full-on nervous breakdown.
T-MINUS: 1 MONTH & COUNTING…
2010 LA Marathon- I survived.
Today’s date, February 9th, 2014, is exactly one month until the Los Angeles Marathon. In just 28 days I’ll be pounding the pavement with 25,000 other leggers on the “stadium to the sea” course.
And I’m a little nervous.
Last week I ran my 25th half marathon (Surf City) and posted my best race time ever. While 13.1 miles is certainly nothing to sneeze at, I feel confident in my abilities when it comes to completing the half marathon. At this point, I’m working on increasing my pace in the hopes of breaking the 2-hour mark sometime this year. The half marathon doesn’t scare me anymore like it did the first time I laced up my shoes.
Not so with the marathon.
WEAR IT AND BE GRATEFUL…
Last month I wrote about a tragic event, where Meg Cross Menzies was hit and killed by a drunk driver while she was on her morning training run.
It was something that rocked the running community. Out of extreme sorrow, however, came unity as runners everywhere (over 36,000) dedicated their runs to her memory…and they keep running. I don’t know how many miles they’ve tallied so far (well over 100,000) but the number keeps climbing. I hope it never stops.
In addition to the dedication of their miles, runners have also done their part to help Meg’s family by purchasing shirts in her memory.
Mine came last night and I’m honored to wear it.
For Meg… run on!
For Meg…
WARNING SIGNS OF A HAPPILY OBSESSED RUNNER…
WARNING SIGN #4348
“NAME THAT TUNE”
When you hear a brand new song, the first thought that goes through your mind isn’t “Hey, great melody” or “Cool lyrics.”
Instead, you think to yourself, “Would I want this on my running mix”?
Run on!
Play that funky music.
RUNNING NUGGET: THE FORBIDDEN SHIRT
Hope you’ve got the right shirt on.
This past Sunday almost 20,000 runners tore it up along Pacific Coast Highway as they ran the Surf City Half & Full Marathon. And I couldn’t help but notice as I motored along with my running brothers and sisters that literally thousands of them were committing a huge fashion faux pas.
They were wearing the 2014 Surf City Marathon tech shirts given to them for the race.
That’s a no-no!
Now, the Surf City shirts were pretty sweet this year… yellow for the guys and pink for the ladies. That said, those are the only two shirts in the world that should NOT have been worn during the race.
You may think I’m crazy and wondering “Why shouldn’t someone wear the shirt given to them specifically for that race?”
Because.
RACE REVIEW: SURF CITY HALF MARATHON (2/2/14)
Surf Bling!
It’s Super Bowl Sunday football fans and you know what that means… yup, time to race. As part of another annual tradition, The Surf City Marathon and Half Marathon kicked off another chapter of their seaside scramble. And unlike the blowout “big game” between Seattle and Denver yesterday, the Surf City Marathon and Half Marathon was an exciting time from start to finish. Around 18,000 runners (2332 Marathon finishers/ 15447 Half Marathon finishers) lined up yesterday along PCH at Sunrise in preparation for the race and to gain a 2,000 calorie deficit before heading off to their respective SB parties. Let the game begin…
Read the rest of this entry
THE SURF CITY EXPERIENCE: “POST MORTEM”
I came, I saw, I surfed.
The race is run and the day is done.
Surf City was the site of my very first half marathon back in ‘09 and today’s race was my 25th half marathon overall. It seemed fitting that I ran my silver anniversary race back where it all began.
I had a good run, going out with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. One of my goals is always to run a “negative split” (second half faster than my first half). It turned out that both halves ended up being equal. I think I was slowed a little bit in the second half by the headwinds that kicked up in the last five miles and a bunching of runners near the end. I also went out of the starting gate a wee too fast, burning up my energy a little too rapidly early on and thus preventing me from quickening my pace in the last few miles.
Still, a great race and a helluva lot of fun. Can’t wait to run it again in 2015.
CHIP TIME: 2:06:33 (New PR)
PACE: 9:40 min/mile
PLACE: 4761 out of 15,447
And now it is time to sleep.
Good night… and run on!
THE SURF CITY EXPERIENCE: “THE MORNING”
Cowabunga!
Race morning. Up at 3:30am.
Number of runners for The Surf City Half Marathon and Full Marathon: Approximately 20,000
Temperature at the start: Approximately 46 degrees
First Song on My Running Mix: “I Can’t Stop Loving You”- Van Halen
Let’s do this.
Run on!
THE SURF CITY EXPERIENCE: “THE CALM BEFORE…”
The night before the race.
Always a fun (and OCD filled) time for me as I check, double check and triple check my stuff in preparation for tomorrow. I sit at the desk, look over the course and plan my race strategy.
Sit & Think
Of course it’s always a little different being on the road and tonight I’m lounging out at the Double Tree Club Hotel. I live close enough to Surf City (about 50 miles away) that I could have driven down in the morning (early early in the morning, mind you).
But given the parking/traffic headache (20,000 people cramming into this oceanside town) coupled with the 405 freeway being shut down overnight in Orange County (detour, anyone), I decided to pony up for a room, get an extra hour of sleep and use the hotel shuttle to get me to and form the start line. All good.
THE SURF CITY EXPERIENCE: “BIBS & SWAG”
Greetings from Huntington Beach and The Surf City Half Marathon 2014.
Spent some time at the Expo today getting my bib and a few goodies along the way.
Bibs and goodies await.
THE SURF CITY EXPERIENCE: “ON THE ROAD”
They always say the most important night of sleep before a race is two days before. So, today should have been my day to sleep in. Apparently someone forget to tell my brain that little tidbit as I woke up on my own at 5:00am. Of course I’m typically up this early on Saturday to run anyway, so no biggie…
Let’s get up and at ‘em. Time to head down to Huntington Beach and brave The Surf City Expo.
So bags are packed, hydration continues and it’s time to tally ho, sally forth and all that jazz.
More to come…
Run on!
WARNING SIGNS OF A HAPPILY OBSESSED RUNNER…
WARNING SIGN #14431
“RISE AND SHINE”
The obsessed runner will strategically place numerous alarm clocks around the room guaranteeing they won’t oversleep for a race.
Wake up!
I said, WAKE UP!
THE SURF CITY “EXPERIENCE”
Today marks the 1-month anniversary of the launch of “Tripping The Kenyans.” Thanks to all of you who have stopped by to give it a gander (and be sure to tell all of your friends). I hope you’ve had as much reading about my hobby, sport, obsession as I have had writing it. And please keep your comments and suggestions coming.
And now for a new ongoing feature as I will give updates for each race I run, chronicling the days up to and including the race, culminating with a “Post Mortem” and a formal review.
First up: Surf City, the site of my very first half marathon (back in ’09).
So, I’ll catch all of you tomorrow as I head down to Huntington Beach and some fun in the sun.
Until then… run on!
RUNNING NUGGET: BRING ON THE BRRRR…
On Saturday I wrote a “Running Nugget” about re-using a Mylar blanket as a way to stay warm before a race. Given last week’s winter storm that blanketed a good portion of the country (and the deep freeze this week that stopped the South in its tracks), I realized there’s plenty more to cover on the subject of dealing with cold weather (before and during a race). So I decided to quickly re-visit the subject. This is a bit of a follow-up or epilogue to the “Friend of Foil” post.
Not so photogenic that day.
Back on Thanksgiving Day I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon (earning my Turkey). Unfortunately, the weather in the Big Peach can be a crapshoot that time of year. In 2012, I ran the race in shorts and a T-shirt as the temperature was well into the 60s.
For 2013, winter decided to come early to the South. Predictions for race morning were for 20 degrees with a wind chill in the low teens. It would be the coldest race I had ever run (previous coldest for me was the Chicago Marathon in 2009 when the weather was a “tropical” 28 degrees).
So, how do you deal with the cold weather on race day?
Every person has their own tolerance for cold conditions and having grown up on the East Coast and Midwest (Wisconsin winters can be brutal) I’m no stranger to frigid conditions. You need to decide (probably through trial and error) what your limits truly are.
Tripping The Kenyans 