Blog Archives
FAST FRIDAY…
Hi Everybody,
Just keep moving.
Been swamped the past few weeks. But real life can keep you running ragged (that’s a different type of marathon). So just time for a quick update today.
My Los Angeles Marathon training is going full tilt boogie as my running coach is doing his best to see if he can make my legs explode. Between speed work and hill training, I’m definitely putting my man gams through some serious workouts. Here’s hoping all of the hard work pays off.
I’ve got the Surf City Half Marathon next Sunday (my first race of 2017). Now I wasn’t originally planning on running Surf City this year, but my coach wants me to use this race as a gauge to see what I should realistically be shooting for with the LA Marathon. So he wants me to run Surf City… hard. Real hard. Hell yeah!
And tomorrow morning our T2 team will be gathering pre-dawn as we log 21 glorious miles running all over Burbank and Glendale. It’s the second longest training run of the season (the 23 mile monster is in 3 weeks) and should be a fun four-hour jaunt. Read the rest of this entry
2016 RESOLUTED…
Run run Rudolph!
A week ago I ran my last race of 2016, the Santa Monica-Venice Christmas Run 10K. Clad in holiday colors and matching reindeer antlers (of course), I lumbered through the streets of (you guessed it) Santa Monica and Venice. I had a really good time and also finished with a pretty good time (58:41), my fastest 10K for the year.
Now that I’ve placed my last piece of 2016 race bling upon the wall (time to get another medal hanger too), it’s time to take quick glance back at the running year that was.
Back in December of 2015 I stated that my overall plan for 2016 was to “take it as it comes.” Meaning simply that I wouldn’t obsess over obtaining goals, but rather just go forward and have fun. In hindsight, that plan seems to have worked out pretty well. Read the rest of this entry
…ONE LAST HURRAH!
In the fall of 2008, when I was at a particularly low point, I made the decision to push myself to do something I thought impossible… I was going to run a marathon.
Run on T2!
With very little running experience (just a smattering of 10Ks in my entire life) I had no real idea how I was going to make this crazy dream a reality. I needed someone to teach me how to run. I looked around at a bunch of LA running groups, but they were either expensive or located too far away for me to be confident I wouldn’t give up.
And then I saw a pamphlet for the AIDS Marathon Training Program (Team to End AIDS) and read how they’d train you to run the LA Marathon in exchange for you raising funds to help their charity APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles). Cool.
And they trained in Griffith Park, which was a 5-minute drive from my apartment. Super cool. Read the rest of this entry
LET THE “SEASON” BEGIN…
“We don’t need no education.”
As we sit here at the end of August, it’s clear that the “season” is upon us.
Now that season can mean different things to different people.
For my nieces, it’s means that “school season” is underway. And boy are they thrilled to be back in the classroom (cue the sarcasm). My oldest niece told me how exactly much she is digging working on a paper this weekend for her literature class. FYI, it’s not a lot.
Now, for the tens of millions of football fans around the country, college football season gets underway this week (technically it started on Friday with the game between Cal and Hawaii in Australia). And the NFL kicks off a week later. My Badgers are facing a ridiculously tough schedule this season, while my Seminoles are expected to compete for the ACC title and a spot in the playoffs.
As for my Packers (I can say “my” because I do own a share of the team)… they are one of the odds on favorites to represent in Super Bowl LI (let’s start calling it “Super Bowl Lithium”). Read the rest of this entry
NEW SHOES! NEW SHOES!
Ooh, what’s inside?
The celebratory shout to the heavens of “NEW SHOES” is uttered far more often by the ladies as opposed to the gents. And having seen the closets of several girlfriends throughout my adult life, it has shown me that you ladies do indeed love you some shoes… a whole lot of ’em. One might even go so far as to say an “excessive” amount of shoes.
I know I’m sailing into dangerous waters here.
As for me, while I do enjoy a nice pair of shoes, I would happily live my entire life in a pair of comfy sneakers or canvas shoes. They really aren’t a big deal to me at all.
With one notable exception: my running shoes.
Holy Shnikes! Do I obsess over running shoes. Read the rest of this entry
SOLO OCHO…
After a several day hiatus following the Los Angeles Marathon to let my sore muscles and equally sore ego heal, I finally hit the pavement this past Saturday.
Back at it!
No lofty goals, just a simple 8-miler (an “ocho”) to get my legs moving again and let my body know “we’re back.”
But the first run after the Los Angeles Marathon is always a bit of bittersweet experience.
Basically every weekend since September I’ve been running with the Team to End AIDS (T2) crew. And last weekend that number exploded as I was pounding the pavement alongside 24,999 other crazy marathoners trying to get from “point A” all the way to the ocean and “point B.”
This past Saturday, however, I was running alone. Just me, myself and I.
And while my iPod shuffle is great at playing music, it’s not much of a conversationalist or motivational running buddy. Read the rest of this entry
“EMBRACE THE SUCK.”
While running the 2016 Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday I caught sight of a very fitting sign.
Nobody walks in LA, but they do run.
It said: “Embrace the suck.”
That perfectly summed up my race.
Now I originally had some reason to be optimistic going into my 10th full marathon. I was in pretty good shape physically, having just completed a 23-mile training run 3 weeks prior. And mentally I was raring to pound the pavement with my fabulous charity group Team To End AIDS (T2). Also I had reached my fundraising goal just 3 days before the race, so that was an added boost.
But to every yin, there has to be some yang.
On the downside I had been dealing with some issues with my right foot. A lingering blood blister on my arch kinda sucked. As did the growing callus on my right small toe. I also had developed a cough and headache in the days leading up to the race. Was it allergies, the start of a cold or just my nerves getting the better of me?
I guess we’d find out. Read the rest of this entry
DOUBLE DIGITS…
Woo hoo!
I remember way back when I was 9 years old (you know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth) and my 10th birthday was just around the corner.
I felt that reaching “double digits” was going to be a monumental feat. I had finally earned that “big boy” status. And I got to eat a stupid amount of birthday cake to celebrate that milestone.
This Sunday I will hit the double digits in a different way. This Sunday at the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon I will run my 10th full marathon.
Now to many of my running “brethren” and “sistren” (okay I know it’s not a word, but you still understood it), 10 full marathons is just a drop in the racing bucket. I’ve got personal friends of mine who have run dozens, even hundreds of full marathons (they impress the hell out of me). However, that 26.2 mile trek still humbles this boy. Read the rest of this entry
TWENTY WAS PLENTY…
This past Saturday I did my first proper run of 2016… and it was a bit of a doozie.
20 miles or 20 meters? Not much difference, right?
Let me backtrack for a minute first. For the past two and half weeks, I was out of town with Lindy for an extended Christmas/New Years holiday.
We spent time visiting my family in Atlanta and then drove up to Nashville for a week visiting friends of hers and checking out the sights.
During our time in the South we were alternating between lounging around, hanging out with friends and running around like crazy checking out museums and live music. Good stuff.
Both types of activities resulted in me placing my normal dietary considerations on hold… okay, more like tying up my considerations with a rope and throwing them off a cliff screaming… but why split hairs. Read the rest of this entry
RUNNING COMFY…
Now some of you seeing the title above might might think this post is about running in cozy shoes.
These are the jammies you’re looking for.
Or perhaps pounding the pavement whilst (I love the word “whilst”…thanks Britain) wearing your favorite winter “jammies.”
You’d be mistaken.
NOTE: For the record, wearing jammies on a run would probably chafe something fierce in the nether regions.
Actually this brief tidbit is just about running in an environment that is both familiar and fun. The kind of run that gives you the “warm fuzzies.”
And for me, no running environment is more friendly or soothing to my sweaty soul than lacing ’em up and running with my running family: the gang at TEAM TO END AIDS (T2).
This week I did my first Saturday run of the season with T2, as we begin training for the 2016 Los Angeles Marathon (on Valentine’s Day). This will be my 7th time running LA with them.
As I hopped out of my car at Griffith Park at 7:00am, I smiled as I saw our T2 banners waving in the wind (at least they would have waved if there was any wind) and a sea of red shirts gathering by our regular meeting place. Read the rest of this entry
TIME TO TEAM UP WITH T2…
Yesterday we bid August adieu and it’s now time to flip the page on your kitten calendars to September.
Run on T2!
Labor Day Weekend is just around the corner, along with the start of the college and pro football seasons (get those fantasy drafts ready).
And today, September 1st, also marks the start of registration for the 2016 LA Marathon.
However, the 31st running of the Los Angeles Marathon is going to be rather unique.
How come?
For starters, the race is a month earlier that usual. Instead of lacing up our shoes around St. Patty’s Day, we’ll be pounding the pavement on Valentine’s Day (trade in your leprechaun and shamrock for a bow & arrow-wielding Cupid).
And why would they possibly do that? Read the rest of this entry
I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS…
Hey Everyone!
“It’s raining Mir.”
Last week I wrote about “Scott and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Run.”
Just about everything that could have gone wrong did. On the upside, I didn’t get hit with any space debris re-entering the atmosphere. So, there’s that.
Needless to say, I was anxious to get back to it this week. And to be honest, a little apprehensive. Especially since I was planning on running alone.
Now while there are plenty of upsides to pounding pavement solo (flexible start time, ability to improvise on your route, zone out and jam to tunes), one of the downsides to running without company is that the voice of doubt gets your undivided attention.
Matthew Inman, mastermind behind “The Oatmeal” (a stupendously funny website) created a perfect personification of this self-doubt. He named it “The Blerch.”
“The Blerch”… aka a real bastard.
The Blerch is a lazy and bloated cherub who hovers just outside of you peripheral vision, tempting you to abandon any and all workouts in exchange for extended. couch time (usually combined with a multitude of snacks).
Click here to learn about The Blerch.
The Blerch really is a little bastard.
As of late my personal Blerch has been trying extra hard to worm his way into my head and subconscious. And sadly, he’s been a little more effective than I’d like to admit.
Fortunately, I found an alternative to listening to this little bugger chatter in my ear non-stop for today’s 10-miler. Run with friends! Read the rest of this entry
“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 LOVE LA (MARATHON)…
Hi Trippers!
Nobody walks in LA!
This Sunday myself and 24,999 other runners will line up for the 30th Anniversary Los Angeles Marathon.
Say what you will about the “City of Angels”: stupid bad traffic, crazy real estate prices, the insanity that is the “biz”, earthquakes, smog, etc…
But when it comes to putting on a marathon, singer Randy Newman got it right. “I love LA!” Read the rest of this entry
Tripping The Kenyans 