TCS New York City Marathon 2016

Friday 11/4
I took a late night red-eye flight with Virgin America. Ever since I got the free neck pillow from attending a Dodgers game, I've been able to sleep better on flights. However it was not the case for this flight. The girl sitting in the middle seat next to me used her jacket with reinforced shoulders as her blanket. She was quite the fidgety sleeper and kept hitting me with her jacket which would wake me up. After a while I gave up on trying to sleep and started watching the free satellite TV.

Saturday 11/5
I landed in Newark in the morning. After using the nearest restroom, I made my way over to the AirTrain. I took that over to the Newark Liberty International train station where I caught the Amtrak train over to New York Penn Station. From there it was a short walk over to the expo at the Javits Center. I arrived just a few minutes after the expo had opened. It wasn't too crowded yet, but it was already starting to fill up! With this being my 4th NYC Marathon, I had the whole packet pickup process down.

After picking up my bib, post race poncho wristband, and my race shirt, I made my way into the official merchandise area. I ended up buying two pairs of arm warmers as most of the merchandise were discounted with it being the last day of the expo. I then quickly visited all of the vendors before making my way over to the Runner's World booth area to take the green screen photo as well as to wait to meet Shalane Flanagan. She had tweeted that she would be there at 10 am for her book signing. It was located just across from the Abbott World Marathon Majors booth. I only have the London and Boston Marathons left to run to complete all 6!

Runner's World cover photo

It turned out that I was the first in line to be waiting for the book signing. It cost $24 for the book. Shalane saw my jacket and thought that I had run the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston. Even though I told her that I didn't run it, she said it was an accomplishment to qualify for the trials. I didn't want to correct her again, but I guess I do look thin enough to be in that kind of shape! When they were done signing my book and taking a quick photo, I made a comment that I was the only guy in line. Shalane replied that more men should be in the kitchen! :)

Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky

Before leaving the expo, I entered to win something in the sweepstakes at the United Airlines booth. I think it was for a chance to win a free flight. They gave me a free bandana for entering, so I felt like I had already won something. I talked to one of the representatives there for a little bit. I ended up encouraging him to run his first marathon and that since he lives in NYC, he should definitely run the NYC Marathon as his first!

I then made my way over to the 36 Hudson Hotel near the corner of W 36th St and 10th Ave. Since it was way too early for me to check-in, I asked them to store my bag. I then took my sling bag with me to carry a few necessary items as I made my way down to Battery Park to go visit Lady Liberty. I first stopped at the Castle Clinton Monument to pick up my Statue of Liberty ticket from Will Call.

My reserved time for going up to the crown was at 1 pm. I've visited the Statue of Liberty a couple of times, but I've never been up to the crown. I had no idea how long it would take to get through security and the boat ride so I got in line at about 11 am. Going through security was a hassle, but it's definitely a necessity in this day and age.

After docking at Liberty Island, I started doing the self-guided audio tour. I asked the ranger at the statue entrance when I should be there for my time. He said that I should get there at the earliest 15 minutes before. Since I had about an hour to pass, I decided to go find something to eat. I ended up eating the New Yorker burger with fries at the Statue of Liberty Crown Cafe. The prices weren't too outrageous. I found a standing table inside to eat my burger. The weather was nice enough that most people were eating at a table outside.

New Yorker burger with fries

I still had a little time to pass after eating my meal, so I continued on with the audio tour. I quickly realized that I was walking around the island in the wrong direction, but still a loop is a loop. I was supposed to have walked in a clockwise direction. Anyways, I got a good history lesson on the building and assembling of the statue and pedestal. I also got a good photo of the Statue of Liberty as well as a nice photo of lower Manhattan.

When it was finally my reserved time, I went back to the statue entrance. I got my crown access wristband after the ranger checked my photo ID. I then proceeded to the lockers to lock up my sling bag. Locker rental cost $2 for 2 hours, the machine only accepted dollar bills. When I was researching the procedures for going up to the crown, I was afraid that my regular backpack would be too large for the lockers which was why I brought my smaller sling bag on this trip. Having seen the lockers in person, my regular backpack would definitely have had no problem fitting.

The first part of the climb up were the easy wide steps up the stairwell to the pedestal level. You could even take an elevator. Most people only had access up to the pedestal. I went outside and walked once around the perimeter before going back inside. I then proceeded to the stairs leading up to the crown. I had to first turn in my audio guide and give the ranger my crown access wristband before proceeding. The spiral stairs were tiny and really tight. I'm a pretty slender guy at about 5'9" and 160 lbs and it was pretty tight for me.

Only 162 steps from the pedestal to the crown

The stairs!

Made it up to the crown

View of the tablet

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge off in the distance

The views from the crown were very unique and just plain cool. It was darn right cool seeing the tablet from this perspective. After admiring the views, snapping a few pictures, and talking to the two park rangers up there, I started making my way down the stairs. At no time did I ever feel rushed during my visit.

On the way out, I saw the cornerstone of the pedestal and read the inscription. Pretty cool! I then visited the museum which I had overlooked in my haste to climb up to the crown. It was full of interesting history and information about the Statue of Liberty. One could easily spend hours here unless you're tired and have a marathon to run tomorrow! :)

Cornerstone of the pedestal

Liberty torch

**If you're thinking about visiting the crown, I would suggest clicking here for a good webpage on what to expect on your visit up to the crown.**

I then got in line for the boat ride back to Manhattan. I was pretty tired and was going to make my way back to my hotel until my friends texted me to meet up with them at the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was close enough that I sucked it up and made my way over there. The bridge was a zoo. It was super crowded. We walked about halfway across the bridge and took some pictures before heading out. Since we were all headed to relatively the same location, we took the same subway line. I got off at an earlier station.

Marathon Maniacs on the Brooklyn Bridge!

I made the walk back to my hotel where I retrieved my bag and checked into my room. From what I saw, there were only 4 rooms per floor. The room that I got wasn't too spacious with the bed taking up most of the room, but it was clean and comfortable. After getting settled in, I took a much needed shower. Then I went through my expo haul before taking a quick nap.

Lovely view from my room

Expo haul

After waking up from my short nap, I went back out to get some food. Lately I've been catching a lot of flak for eating my regular pre-race carbo-load meal at a McDonald's, so I found myself at the nearby Tabata for some ramen. I ordered their tonkotsu ramen and some edamame to go with it. It was a nice tasting standard bowl of ramen. The broth was flavorful and wasn't overly greasy.

Edamame

Tonkotsu ramen

After dinner, I swung by a 7-Eleven to pick up some drinks. Prices weren't that great, but it was convenient. However something that detracted from this place was that there were vagrants hanging outside trying to get money from you for opening the door. I don't usually carry cash on me. I found that they sometimes will get a bit nasty if you don't give them anything.

Drinks

Once I got back to my hotel room, I laid out my race clothes and gear. This year I decided to wear my Ghostbusters shirt and go all black even though it was going to be pretty sunny and warm for the majority of the race.

Flat runner

Sunday 11/6
Thank goodness, daylight saving ended at 2 am, so I got an extra hour of sleep when the clock rolled back an hour. My friend was staying pretty close to where I was staying, so we picked a designated corner to meet up in the morning and walked over the New York Public Library for the bus ride to the start line. We got on one of the many buses at around 6:30 am. This was my first time taking the bus to the start and it had a minor hiccup. The ride there was fine, but our bus driver didn't know where to drop us off, so we were let off about a block too far where we then had to walk back.

Chrysler Building

New York Public Library

My friend was in the earlier wave, so we got into a portapotty potty line right away. Afterwards we tried to get one of those Dunkin' Donuts beanies, but we were told that they were all out. After I wished my friend a great race, I headed over to the blue village as I still had some time to pass. Along the way, I stopped by the pacers tent where I got to say hi to a couple of my New Yorker friends that were pacers this year. As I was headed to a spot closer to my starting corral, I was able to grab one of those beanies in the clothing discard bin. I didn't pick one up the first year and I don't remember if they were passing them out back then, but the last 2 times that I've run this race, I never had problems since I always get to the starting village very early.

Dunkin' Donuts beanie

I started in wave 3 out of corral D. It was a zoo inside the corral and the energy among the runners was electric. People from different parts of the world were all excited and ready to run through the 5 boroughs!

Corral D

Time to run!

First Half - Staten Island, Brooklyn:
Once the howitzer was shot, it was time! Nothing quite beats a race where the first 2 miles is running across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge! It turned out to be a good idea to wear my Ghostbusters t-shirt. Most people knew why I wore it. There was even a hot girl wearing a Ghostbusters jacket cheering in Brooklyn. She got all excited seeing my shirt. In hindsight, I probably should've pulled over and taken a few seconds to take a selfie with her. Oh well, I was actually running at that time and I don't like stopping. For the most part, I felt okay through the first 10 miles. Pretty much the entire first half of the race was run in Brooklyn until we crossed the Pulaski Bridge into Queens.

Second Half - Queens, Manhattan, Bronx:
Just like last year's race, I was dealing with leg cramps all throughout the second half of the race. It forced me to walk quite a bit on the Queensboro Bridge where we crossed into Manhattan. I hopped off to the side briefly to take a picture of Manhattan. After getting off of the bridge, I started heading north up 1st Ave starting from about E 60th St knowing full well that the Willis Ave Bridge into Bronx was north of E 124th St. That's 60 plus blocks to cover! The crowd was and has always been awesome during this stretch. They always pass out bananas. I grabbed and ate as many as I could possibly stomach. That helped with the cramps.

View from the Queensboro Bridge

At about mile 20, I crossed over the Willis Ave Bridge into Bronx. The course covered a little over 1 mile in this borough. The music here was very loud and the crowds were very energetic! During one of my many walk breaks, I talked to a guy that wore a shirt saying that he was going to be a first time dad. It was also his first marathon. He was also having leg issues. Since we were over 20 miles into the race, I congratulated him on his first marathon and his upcoming fatherhood. We would leapfrog each other for the next several miles.

Willis Ave Bridge

Then it was crossing the Madison Ave Bridge, the last bridge, back into Manhattan. From there it was a straight shot down 5th Ave from E 138th St with a detour around Marcus Garvey Park. The sun was beginning to set and it was starting to get a little bit chilly. It wasn't until E 90th St before I turned into Central Park. I've always found great crowd support during this stretch on 5th Ave with many clever signs and costumes!

Bitch Peas!

The section through Central Park was one of the more enjoyable final 5k to any marathon even though it was full of rollers. I was again managing my leg cramps. I just could not sustain running for any significant distance. However once I reached Columbus Circle, I knew that the finish line was within sniffing distance. It was time to suck it up and muster up a run to the finish!

Finish: 5:34:08
Click here for my Garmin data.

My goal was to just finish in about 5:30 and to have fun along the way. I was a tad slower than I'd like, but mission accomplished! However it was a personal worst for this race. I feel like I finally have a control over my injuries, but it'll take a lot of patience to build up the endurance again.

After getting one of the most coveted marathon medals, I then got a mylar blanket and a drawstring bag full of post race goodies. I then made the slow long walk out of Central Park. Even having the poncho wristband, the walk was still very long. Just like last year, it was a bit of madness as everyone pushed and shoved over to the table to grab one of those ponchos. I'm sure they will eventually come up with a solution, perhaps setting up several lines to receive a poncho. After getting a poncho, everybody spread out. Before heading out to catch a subway train back to my hotel, I stopped and took a picture of the church that Mr. Stay Puft had stepped on. :)

Nobody steps on a church in my town!

After getting back to my room, I was able to catch a rebroadcast of the marathon. It's always amazing and inspiring for me to see the professional run the marathon! Mary Keitany won NYC for the 3rd in a row and Molly Huddle came in 3rd for her marathon debut! Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, a 20 year old from Eritrea, became the youngest man to win the NYC Marathon!

Mary Keitany wins her 3rd consecutive NYC Mararathon in 2:24:26!

Molly Huddle finished in 3rd in 2:28:13!

Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, 20 year old from Eritrea, youngest to win the NYC Marathon in 2:07:51

I thought about staying in and just eating the snacks from my post race bag for dinner, but eventually I dragged myself outside to go get dinner. I made my way over to Go! Go! Curry! Per the usual, I got the Gram Slam. I normally get this meal the next day for lunch, but I was definitely craving a lot of protein!

Post race goodies

Grand Slam!

Monday 11/7
After packing up and getting ready to head out, I checked out of my hotel and made my way over to the nearest Shake Shack for lunch. It was pretty packed inside when I got there. I got in line and ordered a Double Shack burger with fries. It was a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and Shack Sauce served in a potato bun. It was a good classic tasting cheeseburger. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that it was on the smaller side. I'm sure everything looks a bit smaller the day after running a marathon!

Double Shack burger with fries

Since I had some time before catching my Amtrak train to the airport, I hopped on a subway train and headed down to the Ghostbuster fire station. I actually walked past it as it was covered for renovations. Even though it wasn't currently in a good state for pictures, I thought it was cool that a few other tourists were there to check out the building.

Ghostbuster fire station

After I was done taking pictures, I hopped on a subway train up to the Penn Station. I sat in the waiting area until it was time to board my train. Once I arrived at the Newark Liberty International station, there was a crowd of people all headed to the airport. To the right there were a few tables and some transit cops randomly checking luggage. While waiting, I realize that I needed to see the booth attendant on the left side in order to get through the gates since I had an Amtrak ticket. Only NJ Transit tickets will open the gates. As I started making my way over, the cops ordered me back over to their table for my bags to be checked. There was nothing random about that, I'm sure I looked incredibly suspicious as if I was trying to avoid having my bags searched. After they were done, I made my way over to the attendant, who let me through the gates after I showed him my train ticket. Then everyone started cramming inside each of the AirTrain cars like sardines. Fortunately by the time I was headed to terminal A, the car was pretty much empty.

After getting through TSA, I went to first locate my gate. I then checked to see what was available for an early dinner. Nothing really looked good, so I ended up buying a bottle of water and just waiting by my gate. My friends showed up later as their flight was at a gate next to mine. They wanted to eat a lobster roll at Phillips Seafood. So I said, "sure, why not?" I've had lobster rolls in Maine and this one was about twice as expensive and not as good. Oh well, at least the waffle fries were good. I scarfed everything down right before boarding my flight.

Lobster roll and waffle fries

On the flight home, I tried to watch the Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks. It was a good exciting game, but I kept dozing off. I was just plain tuckered out from an action packed weekend!

Monday Night Football: Bills vs. Seahawks

I really hope to get in again for 2017. It is still my favorite marathon and it would be pretty cool to be able to run it 3 years in a row!

Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon 2016

Saturday 10/29
Looks like having the race expo at the same location as the Día de los Muertos event and the LA Comic Con was more traffic than DTLA could handle! They were gouging people with parking at about $30 for lots that normally were $15, so I was very glad that I took the Metro. The security team working the Comic Con had no clue where to go for the race expo. They kept pointing me in the wrong direction, so I decided to head over to the entrance near Staples Center which turned out to the be the entrance to the race expo.

Busy day at the expo

After picking up my race packet, I managed to make it through the expo without signing up for any races or buying anything. However I did sign up for a free buffet breakfast at the WorldMark, a Wyndham hotel, near Disneyland. I first spun a wheel where I "won" a free 7 night stay at one of their hotels. I had to put in a $20 deposit for the free meal which I will get back when I show up. Apparently I'll need to listen to 2 hrs worth of a sales pitch for their timeshare in order to get that 7 night stay voucher. I've been thinking about joining the Disney Vacation Club, so I supposed that this would be similar and would be good to see what's available out there.

Once I got home, I went through the expo haul. At first I was trying to decide what to wear for my costume. I didn't feel like running as Superman again this year. Once I looked at my bib, it was pretty clear what I needed to wear. I had forgotten what name I put on my bib during registration. Time to dig out my Batman costume. :)

Expo haul

Flat runner

Sunday 10/30
I had originally planned to take the 4:04 am Gold Line train from the Citrus College Station, but I was there early enough to catch the 3:45 am train. I guess it's always better to be early rather than late. I took it all the way to Union Station where I transferred to the Red/Purple line. I then took that to 7th St/Metro Center where I then transferred to the Blue/Expo line. I got off at the Pico Station at a little after 5 am. Just as I was about to step out of the train, one of those huge flying cockroaches crossed my path. Yikes! I then made my way over to the starting area where it was eerily quiet. They were in the process of setting up the gear check area and the finish line.

Solutions tent

Downtown LA at dark o'clock

I walked around to pass time. I ended up at the starting line to take a picture where I happened to bump into one of my friends doing pretty much the same thing. She was dressed up as Captain America and I was Batman. It was a DC/Marvel cross over! After taking an obligatory picture, I parted ways to hit the portapotties before getting my stuff together and check-in my gear bag. When I went through my bag, I noticed that I had forgotten my visor. I think I could count on one hand the number of times that I had run without my visor during a race. It's practically my trademark. My friends had told me that the visor was how they recognized and spotted me in the crowds.

Starting line

It's Jen!

A couple of my friends and I started in corral 2 which was released about 10 minutes before 7 am. Per the usual, I went out a bit too hard on the first mile for my current level of fitness. It was just a tad under 8 minutes. I knew that I currently only had about a 5k's worth of racing in my legs. Sure enough, I was pretty worn out by the 4th mile after running the loop around the Coliseum. Shortly thereafter, I started taking extended walk breaks. When I did run, I tried to put out a good effort. This year's course was again different from the prior years and it had a lot of rollers. After running back into Downtown LA, we turned left on Wilshire Blvd where we headed towards Koreatown. There were a bunch of zombie walkers out! It was pretty cool to see my friends and other costumed runners on the out and back. I leapfrogged with Fernando, a guy that I see at a lot of races. It's hard to miss the guy, he always brings music with him to the races. He was dressed up as a viking and was having a lot of fun out there! The turnaround spot was a little before mile 10, right before reaching Western Ave. The humidity was high and I felt pretty fatigued and warm due to my not-so-runner-friendly outfit. I kept pouring water on myself to cool off a bit. During the last couple of miles my calves and feet were even cramping up. That usually only happens in a full marathon.

Robert found us!

During the final stretch, I barely had enough in my legs to jog, run, or trot across the finish line without walking. I tried to follow the Team Sparkle runners dressed up as fruits to the finish line, but the cramps slowed me down.

I'm slowly making progress, but I'm reminded that 13 miles is still a long distance to cover! I've lost a lot of endurance as I've have been trying to give my legs as much time off from running.

Finish: 2:18:00

Click here for my Garmin data.

Finish line

After getting a bunch of post race food and drinks, I made my way to the gear check area to get my bag. Then I decided to go meet up with my friend at the beer garden even though I had already given away my beer ticket. This year the beer garden was a bit harder to find and was a bit of walk to get there. It was located behind Staples Center on the top level of a parking structure. I didn't actually go into the beer garden as the line was insanely long. I just waited for my friend inside the tent where they had a very loud concert. Way too loud for my old senior ears! :)

Post race concert and beer garden on the roof

Loud concert

After meeting up with my friend, we both headed out. He headed over to check out the Comic Con and I headed back to the Pico Station to catch the rail home. At the station, I met a guy dressed up as Chewbacca! He must be a pretty good smuggler as I'm not sure how he ended up with two half marathon medals! Kudos to him as it must have been hot as hell running any distance in that onesie!

Chewy at the Pico Metro station!

Post race snacks and drinks

This year was my 7th consecutive time running this half marathon since it joined the line-up of Rock n' Roll races. As you can see, my finishing times have been all over the place. More often than not, I have shown up to this race injured. I had originally planned to continue running this race for at least 10 consecutive years. However now I really want to forego that plan and run the Marine Corps Marathon instead. The two races usually take place on the same weekend. I still have some time before I need to make a decision.

2016: 2:18:00
2015: 2:07:40
2014: 1:47:49
2013: 1:57:16
2012: 2:05:16
2011: 3:21:08
2010: 1:54:33

Long Beach Marathon 2016

Saturday 10/8
You know, I'm not sure why I find myself running this race every year. It's not among one of my favoirtes, but this year would be my 5th consecutive year running this marathon. I've also run it back in 2005, 2008, and 2009. I guess the biggest reason is that as a member of the Beach Bum Club, after 10 consecutive years, my name will be enshrined on a bench on the Long Beach Run of Fame Bench in Lighthouse Park. So I'll be halfway there after tomorrow's race.

I normally try to get to the race expo right when it opens at 9 am on Saturday. However they had the kids race around that time. So I ended up rolling into Long Beach a couple of hours later at about 11 am. I parked in the usual parking structure on 3rd St in between Long Beach Blvd and Pine Ave. Parking was free for the first two hours. From there, I walked a few blocks south to the convention center.

Expo

Picking up bibs and shirts was pretty easy at this expo. Their setup was the same as it has been in the last several years which was very similar to a Rock n' Roll event. The race shirts for this year was pretty ugly in my opinion and I wish that they would stop printing graphics around the belly area. Just more opportunities to cause chafing.

Bib pickup

Front side of race shirt

Back side of race shirt

After getting through the official merchandise area, I made my way into the general expo area with all of the vendor booths. I first went to the Beach Bum Club area to pick up my Beach Bum t-shirt before I forget. The shirt was the same as last year's. That was somewhat disappointing, although I really didn't need another shirt. I'm probably among the minority, but I'm fine with receiving something besides a t-shirt, perhaps something like the sticker that we put on our medals at the Surf City Marathon.

Beach Bum Club

Front of Beach Bum shirt

Back of Beach Bum shirt

The booths were pretty much the usual. I got my free samples from the Lärabar booth. I asked if they had any über bars. Unfortunately one of the reps informed me that they've discontinued those bars and will be replacing it with something similar. Bummer. Those were my favorite. I also picked up some Power Crunch samples.

I then made my way over to the runDisney booth. It's actually good to see them again at expos now that their races don't sell out within hours of registration being open. I saw that they had a $25 off registration for the Super Heroes half marathon or challenge. I thought that was a bit unfair for those that signed up on the first day of registration. I was wearing my Disneyland Paris half marathon shirt, so I started off by telling them that I had a fun time running the new race and that they did well for their first year over in France! I then expressed my displeasure for the discount for the Super Heroes weekend. I could tell that the rep that I talked to was fairly new as I've never seen him before. He told me that the discount was a last minute deal. As I was leaving, I could hear him relaying my message to the other reps.

WTF $25 off?!

As I was getting ready to leave, for some reason I decided to stop by the World Vision booth. I told them that I used to run for World Vision back when they first started. In fact, I was so easy to spot at the races with my orange World Vision shirt. Anyways, I ended up signing up with them to officially run the Los Angeles Marathon in support of their charity. For a while I was considering not running Los Angeles. I was really contemplating about doing something more worthwhile, perhaps volunteering instead. They gave me a t-shirt for joining the team. If you want to support me, you can donate by clicking here.

Front of Team World Vision shirt

Back of Team World Vision shirt

Later that night, I got my race gear ready for tomorrow's race. I laid out everything just to make sure that I didn't forget anything. I went with the usual margarita flavored Shot Bloks and my favorite flavor of Powerade, tropical mango.

Flat runner

Sunday 10/9
I woke up super early and arrived at the parking lot at the end of Seaside Way at Linden Dr at about 4:30 am. This year, I took the 710 and exited at Shoreline Dr. I got onto Broadway and turned right on Pine Ave before turning left on Seaside Way. Parking was again $10 cash for this parking lot. I met up with my friend and we went over to pick up her race packet. I wasn't aware that they had available race day pick-up. The full marathon started at 6 am, so we went back to our cars to get ready. We gathered in the starting corral after using the nearby portapotties one last time. In the corral we bumped into some Marathon Maniacs and other familiar faces.

Marathon Maniacs!

The usual suspects!

Things felt pretty good during the first mile. It felt good to be able to run a bit faster. I made sure not to overdo it and progressively backed off on the pace in the next couple of miles. I still wanted to get used to moving faster. I eventually settled into about a 9 min mile while taking my usual walk break every 30 minutes to take my salt cap. At about mile 4.5 while running on Ocean Blvd, I spotted an old friend from the Runner's World forums. She was out cheering on the runners at her usual spot right before we made the right turn on Queens Way. The next section was one of my favorite sections of the course where it took us around the lighthouse at Shoreline Aquatic Park and the Rainbow Harbor. After making it back on Shoreline Dr, I was already fatigued. As I made the right turn onto Shoreline Village Dr, an old friend came up to me. We used to run around the same marathon times many years ago, but he has since improved quite a bit where he has qualified a couple of times for the Boston Marathon. Shortly after that, my friend who was pacing the 4 hr group came up to me. I ran a little bit with her and her group, but I really needed to take a break especially with the beach path coming up.

My awesome friend pacing the 4 hr group

My friend caught up to me on the beach path at about mile 8. She pulled ahead, but I guess she was struggling with the concrete as well as I eventually caught up to her. We decided to keep each other company for a while. It's always a big relief for me when I finally got off of the concrete path at about mile 10. As the course curved left into Nieto Ave from Livingston Dr, my friend stopped to take a potty break. I jogged on ahead. She would catch up to me at the end of the out and back on Paoli Way where we made it to the halfway point at about 2:10.

I was definitely the slower one especially as the day wore on and the weather got quite toasty. I was almost looking for any excuse to take another walk break. I even stopped to take a picture of the Skittles that was being handed out on the course. :)

Wait! Let me take a picture of the Skittles!

As we approached mile 17, we made a right turn onto the campus of Cal State Long Beach. My legs were starting to cramp up pretty badly at this point. It didn't help that it was pretty much a steady climb to the aid station at mile 18 where I filled up my bottle. There was a big downhill section where I really could not run. My legs were not cooperating. My friend needed to use the portapotties again so she took advantage of the downhill and ran ahead. I hobbled on as I watched her disappear into the distance. As I approached mile 19 on Palo Verde Ave, I saw my friend up ahead as she exited the portapotty. That would be the last time that I saw my friend until the beer garden. The leg cramps would get worse before they eventually got better. I ate a whole banana around mile 20 which helped with the cramps. I then ran into one of my friends running around in his flip flops when I got to the mile 21 marker. He kept me company as I walked and jogged as much as the cramps would allow. It was pretty cool literally to get an Otter Pop at about mile 23. He stayed with me until we reached mile 24. Since I took the last two miles really slow, the cramps finally subsided enough for me to rally a bit for the last two miles as I navigated through and around the back of the pack half marathoners.

Finish line

Finish: 5:21:07

Click here for my Garmin data.

My only goal for the race was to finish at around 5:30, so I did accomplish what I wanted. After getting my medal, my post race bag of goodies, and some drinks, I started heading over to the beer garden to meet up with my friends. Along the way, I bumped into my friend who paced the 4 hr group. We walked over to the beer garden together. We got into the first line to get our beer bracelet. Then we parted ways as I went to the exclusive Beach Bum section where they served Shock Top. I was there only to see my friends as I had just recently quit drinking. I tried to give away my free beer, but I had no takers. Oh well.

Beach Bums get Shock Top

Medal

After my friends were done with their beers, we went back to our cars to drop off our stuff before meeting back up at Tequila Jack's for a post race meal. It was a short wait before we were seated. It was pretty crowded inside as there were several NFL games on. I ordered an iced tea and their cilantro lime salad with shrimp. Not only have I quit drinking, I've also made it a point to stop eating so much red meat as part of my post race meal. It was a little bit funny as the server kept trying to give the salad to my friend, who was the only female at the table as well as the check for the salad when it came time to pay. :)

Cilantro lime salad with shrimp

LA Dodgers Foundation 10k 2016

Sunday 10/2
Originally I was going to stop by Dodger Stadium on Saturday to pick up my race packet as well as to catch the game versus the Giants on DodgerVision where Kershaw would be pitching. Stuff came up, so I didn't go.

I arrived at the Downtown Gate off of the 110 just a little before 6 am. There was already a pretty long line of cars there. Once the clock hit 6, they opened up the gates for us to drive in and park. We were directed to park near the 1st base side almost up to the parking lot across from the top deck. Once parked, I walked over to the parking lot area just outside of the center field bleachers to pick up my race packet. If you have your bib number already from their email, everything goes really quickly. After I picked up my bib and shirt, I stopped by the restroom before heading back to my car to change.

The 10k race started at 7 am, so there wasn't really that much time to waste. I'm guessing that most participants were there for the 5k which started at 9 am. Before heading into the starting area, I bumped into my friend. I had no idea that she was running this race as well. I had just seen her at the Disneyland Paris races. We positioned ourselves in front of the announcer stage. After some last minute pre-race encouragements from a few former Dodgers, it was time to run a 10k.

Matt Luke, Ron Cey, and Dennis Powell

I started the race off feeling pretty good. The course remained pretty much identical to last year's course. If anything changed, I didn't notice. The first half mile was a gradual incline all the way up to the top deck. My legs felt like rubber getting to the top. Thankfully it followed with some downhill as we headed for the Academy Gate. Once on Academy Rd, I had to pull over to the side to take a walk break. That was the first of a total of 11 walk breaks that I took for this race. I basically walked whenever I felt like I was overheating. I didn't want a repeat of last year where I was suffering from heat exhaustion. The course then took me to Stadium Way where I ran up to Elysian Park Dr before looping back onto Academy Dr and headed back to the Stadium. After covering a lot of the final miles in the parking lot with a short portion on dirt roads, it was then a quick downhill run to the finish line.

Finish: 57:01 (9:12)

Click here for my Garmin data.

My goal for this race was to run at a hard effort to see how close I could get to 50 minutes, which is about an 8 min per mile pace. While I didn't get the time that I was looking for, all in all, the race was a good sign that my legs are finally getting better. The same body parts gave me trouble, but not as much. The left foot still got sore as well as the right hip, but I was definitely getting more power out of each leg. I was able to run at a hard effort on the downhills without the fear that my foot would fall off.

After getting my medal, I was then given a large bottle of Hawaiian Spring water, a can of coconut water, a kiwi, and a plastic knife/spoon utensil to eat the kiwi. I can say that that was the first time that I've ever been given a kiwi after a race. I was also given some stickers of kiwi playing soccer and a pair of sunglasses. I had thought about giving some of my swag to a random kid, but most of them were getting ready to run or walk the 5k or kids fun run.

Post race drinks, snack, and swag

After eating my kiwi, I made my way over to the warning track where we were allowed to walk a cool down lap. For me, this part was the best part of the race. I really don't want to run on it during a race, but to take my time and to be able to see the ballpark from the field. Keep in mind that they have grounds crew people watching the field. They don't want you on the grass or even carrying anything besides water when you go inside.

Taking my cool down lap

Back of the medal

After my lap around the warning track, I made my way back to my car and headed on home. I was directed to exit out of the Sunset Gate which took me out to Vin Scully Ave. I turned left on Stadium Way to hop on the 110 South. There was hardly any traffic. It's never this easy getting out of Dodger Stadium after a game! :)

This was my third consecutive year running at this event. I kind of wish that they have a half marathon option, but I'm starting to enjoy running 5k's and 10k's. They're quite challenging to race especially when it's a hilly course. I hope to keep returning each year to support the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.