Blog Archives
“REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD.”
On March 15th of this year, the many members of Team To End AIDS, gathered before dawn at Dodger Stadium to brave the “Stadium to the Sea” course for the annual running of the LA Marathon. It was a wonderful time as our squad triumphantly traipsed through the streets of LA, Hollywood, WeHo, Westwood and finally Santa Monica in near record heat (yup, it was a hot one).
The 2015 T2 LA Marathon Team.
However, once we crossed the finish line, gathered our race bling and gave each other some sweaty congratulatory hugs, many of us went our separate ways. Read the rest of this entry
LOS ANGELES MARATHON… A BUSY WEEKEND!
Hi Trippers,
LA Marathon weekend!
Normally I give prologues/teases to the races I run, but this weekend was a bit extra crazy.
Why?
Well, it was also my B-day this weekend. So I’m just catching up now that the race is done and I’m an older/hopefully wiser individual.
So please forgive me if I give a little weekend wrap-up smushed all together here.
And please let slide any extra grammar slip-ups. I’m really tired. Read the rest of this entry
“I’M RUNNING FOR…”
Hi Trippers!
As the LA Marathon draws ever closer (Sunday is M-Day), my mind is already “racing.”
The LA Marathon celebrates 30 sweaty years!
Racing with thoughts about things like:
- Race strategy
- Weather (gonna be hot)
- Hydration/nutrition
- Getting enough rest beforehand
- Final fundraising
- Gear prep (yup, some stuff is already laid out)
- Transportation/parking
- How I’m going to reward myself afterward (it is the day after my B-day after all)
And about a million other little details.
I’m sure most of the 24,999 other LA Marathon participants are similarly pondering. We runners tend to be an OCD bunch. 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
MEMORIAL DAY MARATHON MEMORIES
When I woke up this morning I smiled because the biggest decision I have to make this Memorial Day is what time am I going to head to the cookout? Oh, and should I have one hamburger or two? My money is on two.
And then I remembered that 5 years ago I had a much different Memorial Day on tap.
You see May 25th, 2009 was the date of the LA Marathon… my very first marathon.
LA MARATHON… A LOOK BACK
Last Sunday I was busy traipsing along the streets from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica running the LA Marathon. Tomorrow, it’s back to business as I do my first long run (11 miles) since M-Day. Less than three weeks until the Hollywood Half Marathon and under two months until my next full Marathon (OC Marathon) and another crack at the 5-hour barrier.
But as I look ahead and start planning for my upcoming races, I wanted to share a photo gallery from last week’s fun race. Enjoy!
Run on!
THE DAY AFTER…
Roadkill… pretty much how I felt yesterday around mile 22.
Just a brief post today as I analyze, ponder and pontificate about yesterday’s LA Marathon. I’m thinking about what went right, what went wrong and how I’d do it differently if I had it to do all over again.
And still agonizing over that bloody heat.
I’m also going to do my best to avoid the “Post marathon blues” (it’s a real thing) as you come to grips with the fact that the event you’ve been training for and planning for months has now come and gone. The pictures are posted, and my newest race medal is up on the wall with his brothers and sisters.
The thing I’ll miss most now that the LA Marathon is over is not meeting up with my T2 family every Saturday morning for that week’s training session. I truly looked forward to seeing the gang from “Team Roadkill” and the rest of the T2 group as we hit the road together.
THE LA MARATHON EXPERIENCE: “CAUSE” TO RUN…
We are T2!
Okay, so my runner’s OCD started kicking in yesterday and I’m sure it will be ramping up exponentially until the race starts on Sunday.
So, I’ve already started my race prep… tapering/hydrating, laundry done, gathering gear, reading instructions, checking on the weather and starting on a 5-hour music mix.
I’m on the fence as to whether or not I’ll hit the expo this afternoon or go Saturday morning. I’d prefer today, but it depends on the old work schedule.
Tonight I have the “Triumph/Carbo-load” dinner at Maggiano’s with my running group Team To End AIDS (T2). More on that and photos to boot, later.
But I wanted to start my prep by throwing out a number (as I’ve been harping on numbers all week). And it’s by far the most impressive number I’ll mention.
$160,000
LEAPING FORWARD…
In 2013, The LA Marathon was run on St. Patrick’s Day, meaning I could go out and party after the race… in theory, anyway.
Four leafs would be better.
But as opposed to dancing around a tavern and waving my LA Marathon finisher’s medal screaming “Kiss me, I’m Irish [which I am] and I just ran a friggin’ marathon [which I did],” my St. Patrick’s Day afternoon and evening consisted of me icing my aching feet while sitting on the sofa cradling a McDonald’s “shamrock shake” (I do love those things) and sucking zzzzzs before 9pm.
Erin Go Bragh, indeed.
Also, my birthday falls on March 14th. So, last year my party was smack dab in the middle of taper time. Needless to say it was not an all-night bash involving strippers, clowns, stripper clowns, exploding chickens and various misdemeanors.
OCHO IN THE RAIN, SORT OF…
Left my Superman shirt at home.
Earlier this week I wrote a post in preparation for the inevitable deluge that was sure to turn our final pre-LA Marathon taper run into a swim or at the very least an 8-mile game of “dodge the puddles.”
And sure enough, it did pour in LA this week. Between Wednesday and today, the City of Angeles has been subject to the heavens repeatedly opening up and inundating us with sheets of pounding precipitation. Of course the rest of the country would describe the cataclysmic cloudbursts slightly different… it rained.
All kidding aside, we needed the rain to help the drought conditions. So while we did get a nice drink of water, Los Angeles is still quite thirsty.
Tripping The Kenyans 