Blog Archives
NO MOUSE IN THE HOUSE…
That’s one expensive mouse.
Today I did something by doing nothing. Sounds zen, right?
Nothing quite so grand, I assure you.
Let’s just say that today I reallocated my running resources.
I decided not to run a race in order to run a race. Huh?
To put it bluntly, I said “no” to Mickey Mouse. It was hard, trust me.
Today marked the sign-up for the 10th annual Disneyland Half Marathon (September 6th). And I didn’t register. Read the rest of this entry
“THAT’S A WRAP” ON 2014!
Hi everyone!
…auld lang syne anyone?
I hope you all had a fun-filled Christmas and that Santa gave you mounds of great presents (perhaps some cool running gear or a new GPS watch).
As 2014 draws to a close and Baby New Year prepares to make his grand entrance, we all naturally take a look back… at the good and the not-so-good. The resolutions kept and the ones that fell by the wayside.
But before I finish the final chapter and close the book on 2014 (and start a new one for 2015) I wanted to give a recount of my running year that was.
And it was a doozy.
Here are some of my running “highs” and “lows.” Read the rest of this entry
REVIEW: DISNEYLAND HALF MARATHON
“Hi Ho Hi Ho, it’s off to run we go!”
Disney bling!
Disney, the uber-company which owns Marvel, Lucasfilm (aka Star Wars), Pixar and is responsible for some great family films and wonderful theme parks, has also become quite the upcoming player in the marathon game. With numerous races each year at Walt Disney World in Orlando and at Disneyland in Anaheim, Mickey and Minnie Mouse seem to lace up their running shoes almost every other weekend.
This past Sunday (of Labor Day Weekend), Disney staged the 9th annual Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend (which also included a 10K, 5K and other family events). Amidst the heat and humidity of summer’s final “unofficial” weekend, over 15,000 runners donned their respective Disney costumes or mouse ears and lined up to “Let It Go” (yes, they played the song again and again) at the “Sweatiest place on earth.”
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.
THE DISNEYLAND HALF MARATHON EXPERIENCE: UNEXPECTED EXPO
What’s the saying: “The best laid plans of mice and men…”
Kind of a fitting statement because my plans involved a mouse named Mickey.
Anyway, I had originally intended to spend my Saturday down in Anaheim with Lindy, staying at the Marriott near Disneyland. We’d hit the expo and then wander around downtown Disney this afternoon before I carbo-loaded tonight while watching some serious Badger football (and a few zzzs) in preparation for tomorrow’s pre-dawn start to the Disneyland Half Marathon.
Well, life got in the way and plans have shifted a bit.
So I made my way down to Disney yesterday to hit the expo and pick up my race stuff.
Now I’m back in LA taking care of business and combatting my runner’s OCD as I gather up my gear.
And I guess I’ll be getting up at “ass o’clock” tomorrow morning (aka 2:30 am-ish) in order to get down to the “Mouse House” for the race.
Have a good “football” Saturday everyone… and Run on!
LABOR DAY WEEKEND: TRADITION, TRANSITION… AND THE MOUSE.
Not much labor to be done this weekend.
Welcome everyone to Labor Day Weekend, the “symbolic” last weekend of summer (even though the calendar says we’ve got another 3 weeks o’ summer fun left).
I remember as a kid saying it seemed kind of funny that we celebrated this “Day of Labor” by relaxing, grilling out and generally goofing off. It was typically one of the least laborious weekends of the year.
Works for me… and yes, I’ll have another burger.
For those of you wondering, Labor Day first became a national holiday in 1894 and is a celebration “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers” (or at least so sayeth Wikipedia). Read the rest of this entry
TILTED RUNNING AND MOUSE PREP
Looks straight to me when I wear my running shoes.
I was honestly a little nervous before my long run this past Saturday.
As I’ve mentioned, my runs the last few weeks (check out my post on “The Week of Suck”) have been far from wondrous. In fact, several have been downright shitty.
My visit to the podiatrist on Thursday did help alleviate a lot of my worry. That finicky right foot of mine is just finicky… not injured. Some additional padding to my orthotic (changing my foot’s angle) and I am supposedly good to go.
But as I laced up my shoes at Griffith Park on Saturday I couldn’t help but wonder if this change might have additional consequences, such as rubbing, blisters or some other kind of unexpected pain.
Part of me was wondering if the new set-up to my shoes would make me feel like I was running at a slant… like a big clomping “Leaning tower of Pisa” (if the landmark ever decided to take up distance running, that is). Read the rest of this entry
BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE
“Lead, follow or get (the hell) out of the way.” –Thomas Paine
NOTE: Read all the way through for a very helpful race hint that you won’t find in any other book or guide!
It’s like this, but minus the cars.
Today I feel the need to bitch a little, specifically about something that a certain group of racers does. I don’t know if it’s out of naivety, ignorance or simply not caring about your fellow runner (I suspect a little of all of them).
I’m talking about the “walking wall.” This is not the wall you hit when you bonk in a race. This is far far more frustrating.
This is when 4, 5 or 6 racers (almost always walkers) create a massive wall right in the middle of the course and move along at a snail’s pace, forcing the entire race to go around them. It happens occasionally in full marathons, more often in half marathons but this plague is quickly reaching pandemic proportions at 10Ks.
Am I overreacting? I mean, how bad can it be?
Tripping The Kenyans 