Category Archives: The Race “Experience”
RACE “STRATEGERY”
Hey Trippers,
This Sunday I’m lacing up my shoes to run the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach. It’s the site of my very first ever half marathon back in 2009 and this will be my third time pounding the pavement along this beautiful stretch of coast.
Last year I posted a 2:06:33, which was a PR for me at the time (I’d break it two months later at the Hollywood Half Marathon and then again at the REVEL Big Cottonwood Half). It’s a fun race with a great “surfboard” medal and a good calorie-deficit primer for all of the Super Bowl chowing to come later in the day.
If you asked me what my gameplan for the race would be six months ago, I’d say this was a no doubt “balls to the wall” PR race attempt. Read the rest of this entry
THE STAR WARS HALF MARATHON: POST MORTEM
Hi Everyone,
A fun time running the Star Wars Half Marathon yesterday.
Still sporting the remnants of a cold and vacation hangover, I knew I wasn’t 100% for this race. So instead of pushing things too hard, I just took my time and enjoyed the scenery. I even stopped for a Disney Photo or two on the course (not the norm for me). And a rock in the shoe had to be addressed, slowing me down a tad more.
Still, in the end I posted a Disney-best time for me and also ran a “negative split” (the sign of proper race management.
And here’s a few photos from the weekend:
Next race up is the Surf City Half Marathon in two weeks. Looking forward to adding a third “surfboard medal” to my collection.
Have a good day… and Run on!
STAR WARS HALF MARATHON review to be posted tomorrow morning.
AVENGERS SUPER HEROES & LAS VEGAS ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HALF MARATHONS: POST MORTEM
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in these post mortems. This past weekend was a blur of running and travel and it’s taken me just a bit to catch my breath… both figuratively and literally.
And I’ll be “blogging poetic” about this past weekend for the next week or two, as there are plenty of stories to tell.
It really was the craziest and most fun weekend of racing I’ve ever done.
I’ve already “post mortemed” about my first race of last weekend, the REVEL Canyon City Half Marathon; you can read about it here.
So, here are chapters 2 & 3 of my running trilogy. Read the rest of this entry
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
REVEL CANYON CITY HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: HANGING AT THE EXPO
Hey Trippers!
So, my crazy “3 half marathons in 33 hours” weekend has officially arrived.
Race outfits are laid out and ready to rock; bags are packed for Anaheim & Las Vegas; GPS and iPod shuffle are charged and primed. As am I.
First up is the inaugural REVEL Canyon City Half Marathon in Azusa, CA kicking off tomorrow morning at 7am.
But today, I was at the race expo in Monrovia. And not only did I pick up my race bib/shirt, but I also volunteered for a shift handing out tech shirts/swag bags to the racers. It was a lot of fun gabbing with the other runners and helping them get their race prep on.
Here’s some images from the expo:
Let’s get ready for the Canyon City Cha-Cha!
Run on!
COORDINATING CONUNDRUM…
When it comes to prepping for a race, I do have a bit of runner’s OCD… okay, heaps and heaps of OCD. Just ask my girlfriend.
Just packing a few items.
The night before a race my inner “Rainman” comes out as I make certain I have a place for everything and everything is in its place.
My clothing is strategically laid out (with my bib already attached) and all of my racing necessities are assembled like a running survival kit.
It’s quite a sight to behold… in a funny/mildly disturbing way. And from what I hear from my fellow running friends, I’m not alone in my race prep obsessiveness (crazy loves company).
With that in mind, this weekend’s festivities (3 races in 33 hours in 2 different states) should be something bordering on a Benny Hill skit (for those of you sadly not in the know of Benny Hill, you can insert the Three Stooges or Marx Brothers… please tell me you know them). 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
BRING ON THE CRAZY!
Let’s do it!
When I first planned out my races for 2014, I decided to undertake an incredibly ambitious schedule.
I was going to run 14 half/full marathons in 2014. “14 in 2014″… get it?
Well, as the races started adding up and falling into place schedule wise, I saw that one weekend in particular was going to be a tad challenging… perhaps even a wee bit insane.
On the weekend of Nov. 15th- 16th, I was going to be running not one, not two, but three half marathons. That’s 39.3 miles of racing in just 33 hours (and in two different states). Read the rest of this entry
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!
SANTA MONICA RUNFEST (10K): POST MORTEM
Sandwiched between last week’s Long Beach Half Marathon and next week’s LA Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon was today’s Santa Monica RunFEST 10K (formerly known as the Santa Monica 5000).
After my less than stellar showing at Long Beach, I was hoping to rebound during this 6.2 mile jaunt around Santa Monica.
Thumbs up in Santa Monica!
In short, I was quite happy with today’s race.
The weather was perfect and I got a chance to chat up a few people before the race.
Now I wasn’t feeling 100% before the race; my stomach felt a little rumbly and I didn’t get as much sleep as I would have liked the last two nights.
But once the horn went off and I cranked up the tunes, I managed to put my rumbly tummy out of my head.
Now while I was just hoping to have a fun run, I did have some time goals in the back of my head (damn that competitive side of me).
First off, I wanted to see if I could better my Santa Monica 5000 “best” time of 58:57. And in the deep recesses of my cabeza, I was thinking maybe I could even top my 10K PR (56:56) set at this year’s Peachtree Road Race… or perhaps even break the 9:00 min/mile mark for a 10K.
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).
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
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.
Tripping The Kenyans 