NYRR Training Series 18M 2018

Friday 9/14
After work, I drove up to LAX to catch an evening flight out to NYC for my 8th NYRR race for the year. Once again I had pre-purchased parking at the Airport Center Express parking structure located next to the Crowne Plaza hotel. The first leg of my flight was on a small regional American Airlines plane out to Denver airport. Boarding those smaller planes are usually less stressful and much faster. We had to be bused out from terminal 5 to another part of the airport to board the plane.

After landing in Denver, I decided to grab a quick dinner at the McDonald's in concourse A. Apparently they had a limited late night menu from which I ordered a Quarter Pounder with cheese. It was a pretty pathetic looking burger and didn't taste all that fresh. Oh well, at least it was good enough to tide me over until the next day.

During the second leg from Denver into JFK, I used the Gogoinflight app to watch the Avengers: Infinity War on my tablet. It was a pretty entertaining movie to watch even for a second time. However I was pretty tired, so I was fading in and out near the end. After the movie, I was able to catch a few z's before landing in JFK.

Saturday 9/15
As soon as I got off of the plane, I made my way for the AirTrain. I took whichever train that would arrive first which was to the Jamaica Station. I took the usual E train into Manhattan and got off at 5th Ave. From there I walked over to my favorite spot for breakfast, Connolly's on W 45th. I got the usual coffee and their full Irish breakfast. I was able to catch part of the EPL match between the Spurs and Liverpool. Perhaps I should consider moving to the UK. :)

Full Irish breakfast

Spurs vs. Liverpool #COYS

After I was done with my meal and the first half of the match, I paid my bill and walked over to the NYRR RunCenter to pick up my race packet. The race premium for this race was a nice short sleeve shirt. I used their restroom before heading back out.

Shirt

From there I walked over to the AMC Empire 25 movie theater to catch a matinee. Unfortunately they didn't open until about 10:30 am, so I walked over to the nearby McDonald's to get a large iced hazelnut coffee with the mobile app. Once the movie theater opened, I used one of the kiosks to buy a ticket for Mission: Impossible - Fallout with my MoviePass. It was an action-packed and entertaining movie with a lot of plot twists and turns throughout. The story turned out to be much different from what the movie trailer would have you believe. Even though I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise, I was thoroughly entertained by this movie.

Iced hazelnut coffee

Finally seeing Mission: Impossible - Fallout

After the movie, I took the R train down to Whitehall St station which was just across the street from my hotel for the weekend, the Hilton Garden Inn. I was a bit early for check-in, so my room wasn't ready. Instead of having me wait, the guy at the front desk put me in another room. The room had a nicer view so it was considered a complimentary upgrade. From the room I could see most of the Staten Island Ferry terminal. I was able to catch part of the Dodgers games on TV.

Let's go Dodgers!

View from room

When evening rolled around, I went out to pick up some drinks and dinner. I first stopped in at the 7-Eleven on Fulton St to buy the usual Powerade and some water. Then I stopped in at the McDonald's on Broadway for food. I used the mobile app to order a Quarter Pounder with cheese for $2 and a cheeseburger for $1.79.

After the quick dinner, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race before getting ready for bed. The weather forecast was for a humid day, so I was not looking forward to running 18 hilly miles.

Flat runner

Sunday 9/16
The race was scheduled to start at 7 am, so I timed it to get there at about 6 am. The streets were actually really quiet as I made my way up to the Wall St subway station. I could've gone to a closer station, but I wanted to check out the fearless girl and charging bull statues at a time when they're not surrounded by so many people.

View from room at night

Fearless girl

Charging bull

I took the subway train up to the 103rd St station and walked over to the starting area near the North Meadow Fields. The temperature wasn't too hot, but the humidity was high. I was definitely not looking forward to running 3 hilly loops around Central Park.

Start line

I started the race feeling pretty good. That feeling lasted about 3 miles. After which I decided to take a walk break and give up on running any more "fast" miles. I really made sure to not overdo it after the horrible experience with the 15M training run a couple of weekends ago.
6M: 56:09

Once again the high humidity was really getting to me during loop 2. I had to take more frequent walk breaks than my usual training intervals. I was dumping water on my head at every aid station. As I was coming up to the end of the 2nd loop, I heard my friend shouting encouragements to me from the other side of the road. He had already finished his race and was cheering on those that were still running.
12M: 2:00:25

The third loop was a complete grind. They actually changed the race flag from green to yellow. I came into the race having a rough goal of finishing around 3 hrs. I knew that that goal was out the window as I was pretty much in survival mode. The last 3 miles were pretty horrible as my legs were cramping up. I really didn't want to walk across the finish line, so I had to suck it up and limp across with both legs on the verge of locking up.

Finish line

Finish: 3:20:28
Click here for my Garmin data.

Relive 'NYRR Training Series 18M'

Once again, I had a tough time running through Central Park. I think the struggles will help me in some of my upcoming races. I'll definitely be ready for any hilly course. I really had to work for this one and now I only have one more race to go before earning my spot for 2019.

1 more race to go!

After I finished eating the bagel and banana, I started heading for the subway back to my hotel. I had gotten on a local train, so it felt like it was taking forever. The train stopped and was held at Grand Central Station. While we were waiting, an express train rolled in. Since the final destination of the local train that I was on was only Brooklyn Bridge City Hall, I got off and hopped on the express train heading for Bowling Green.

After I got back to my room and got cleaned up, I took a nap. I woke up with a headache. That seemed to always be expected now whenever I run in high humidity. I spent a few hours just drinking water and laying down. When I felt a bit better, I went out to pick up a late lunch as well as to walk around a bit. I first picked up a McDouble for $1 and a cheeseburger for $1.79 at the usual McDonald's. Then on the way back to the hotel, I went over to check out the FDNY Memorial Wall on Greenwich St between Liberty St and Cedar St.

$1 McDouble, $1.79 cheeseburger

FDNY Memorial Wall

For dinner, I got the 20 pc Chicken McNuggets for $4.99. It was a pretty good deal, but I kind of didn't want nuggets. I didn't have much of a choice since I ran out of the normal deals that were available on the mobile app.

20 pc Chicken McNuggets for $4.99

Monday 9/17
I woke up kind of early. It was early enough that I decided take the usual walk down to McDonald's for a little breakfast. I used the mobile app to use the "buy one hotcakes, get one free" deal. It was $3.49 for an order of hotcakes. Not the best deal, but that was the only breakfast deal that was available to me.

BOGO free hotcakes

After checking out of my room, I took the 1 train from the South Ferry station up to Times Square to catch The Predator with my MoviePass. I wanted to watch A Simple Favor, but this was pretty much the only movie that I was allowed to watch with my pass. It was a pretty mindless sci-fi action movie, but it really wasn't all that bad. The casting and the humor was actually pretty good. Get to da choppa! :)

The Predator

After the movie, I walked down to the Go Go Curry on W 38th St for some lunch before heading over to the airport. I ordered the home run plate and added fukujinzuke. After the quick meal, I hoofed it over to Penn Station to catch a NJ Transit train over to Newark Airport. Each of the AirTrain cars were packed to the gills as many people were headed to the airport.

Home run add fukujinzuke

The first leg of my trip home took me from Newark over to Chicago O'Hare. Once I landed I stopped at the first McDonald's that I came across which was located between concourse H and K. I used the app to get the usual Quarter Pounder with cheese for $1.

McDonald's at ORD Concourse H/K

Eventually while waiting for my flight, the gate for my flight was moved over to concourse K. Along the way over to the new gate, I stopped by another McDonald's to buy a drink. With the mobile app, I was able to buy a large iced hazelnut coffee for $1. This McDonald's was bombarded with too many orders for them to keep up! I felt bad for the employees working here. I had to wait a bit before they got around to making my coffee.

During the second leg of my trip home from Chicago O'Hare to LAX, I ended up watching the movie, Gringo. Most of it was okay with some humorous parts. I was more than willing to overlook some of the bad parts since I was mostly watching it for Charlize Theron as she is one of my favorite actresses.

Gringo

I landed at LAX just a few minutes past midnight. I was able to catch a Crowne Plaza shuttle fairly quickly. I've learned to just take the hotel shuttle if it shows up first instead of waiting exclusively for an Airport Center Express parking shuttle.

LaceUp Orange County Half Marathon 2018

Friday 9/7
I love to travel, but it's always nice to take a break every now and then. This weekend didn't involve any traveling. It was a local half marathon in the city of Irvine. The race packet pick-up was held at the Mike Ward Woodbridge Community Park located just North of Alton Parkway in between Lake Rd and Creek Rd. That was rather convenient, since it was only about 10 minutes from where I work. The whole process was very well organized. You could tell that they knew what they were doing. They even set up a couple of cornhole games in case you're not in a hurry to go anywhere. The race packet was pretty standard: race bib, race shirt, and tote bag.

Packet pick-up

Bib

Shirt

Tote bag

Saturday 9/8
Since the race was fairly small and was scheduled to start at 6:30 am, I planned to get there at about 5:30 am. I had to stop by the gas station first since my tank was pretty empty. The start and finish of the race was at the same location as the expo. The parking lot was just beginning to fill up as I rolled in. After I found a parking spot, I got my stuff ready and walked over to use one of the portapotties before it got too busy. They had the portapotties over on the grass and I hate walking on wet grass! After I was done, I milled around the starting area and it wasn't long before I bumped into somebody that I knew. I'm always racing and he's always pacing.

Start line

As the start of the race got closer, all of the runners pretty much just gathered near the starting line. The race announcer was saying a bunch of last minute reminders, but it was hard to hear her since the speakers weren't particularly loud. It also never registered to me that that was my friend who was the race announcer! I thought she was still in Europe having just recently completed the UTMB ultra-marathon!

I've run a few races in Irvine and I must say that this was one of my favorite courses. For the most part it was flat, but there were a bunch of rollers aka underpasses. The race started with us crossing the bridge over to the San Diego Creek Trail where we turned left. We ran along that trail until it became the Peters Canyon Trail. We got off at Warner Ave and headed East turning North on Harvard Ave. I was wearing an older pair of shoes and by around the 3rd mile, it was irritating the pinkie toe on my right foot. I'm sure a blister had formed as it was quite annoying and somewhat painful. At Deerfield Ave, we hopped onto the Harvard Side Path and then got on the Walnut Trail. We took that all the way to Jeffrey Rd followed by a left turn on Irvine Center Dr heading East. At about mile 7 or 1 hr into the race, the left glute was pretty tight as was the hamstring, so I knew I had to back off on the pass before it went all the way down to my foot. We then made a right turn onto Valley Oak Dr heading South. After crossing Barranca Parkway, we turned left onto the San Diego Creek Trail for an out-and-back that almost took us to the 133 Freeway. It was good to see the other runners out on the course during the out-and-back. After running past Valley Oak Dr, we headed over to Jeffrey Rd where we crossed over to the other side of the San Diego Creek for a short out-and-back. Then all that was left was pretty much the last mile back to where we started at the park.

Yea for free race photos!

Finish: 1:54:24
Click here for my Garmin data.

Relive 'Lace Up OC Half Marathon'

I thought I ran a very smart race with what my legs were able to give me. I think this time I was able to back off on the pace early enough that I could still run those 9 min miles and get in under 2 hrs. As I'm starting to feel much better, I have to be careful not to do too much too soon.

After getting my finisher's medal, I bumped into a couple of my friends. One of them was running the relay. After chatting for a little bit, I had to move on to grab some bananas and a bottle of water as my legs were starting to cramp up. I started walking to the post race celebration area while eating the bananas. Along the way I picked up a Kind peanut butter protein bar. I then picked up a Lexus water bottle. I was wondering why they had a water bottle tag on my bib.

Finisher medal

Water bottle and Kind bar

After that I got in line to see my race results. While in line, I ended up talking to a runner that was from New York because I recognized her shirt from having run so many NYRR races. If I remember correctly, she was originally from San Diego, but now lives in NY. We talked a little bit about doing the 9+1 program to get a guaranteed spot in the NYC Marathon. She applauded me for taking on that task from the West Coast and also told me that she has friends in New Jersey that wouldn't even drive over to do the 9+1. Before heading back to my car to go home, I gave away my beer ticket.

Jackson Hole Marathon 2018

Friday 8/31
Once again I prepaid via SpotHero for parking at the Airport Center Express parking structure next to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Since I had an early morning United Airlines flight, I rolled in at about 15 minutes before 3 am. When I arrived at the terminal, TSA wasn't opened yet. They were just barely starting to set things up. One of the female employees working there was downright mean and should not be working in any capacity dealing with customers. I was off to the side observing her interactions with customers. Everything that came out of mouth with filled with anger as if the customer wronged her. The day just started and you're already that cranky? Wow, please go eat a Snickers bar or something! Once they were open, it was a pretty easy process getting through TSA since they had the new self-replacing bin system in place. The conveyor belt would keep pushing empty bins along so there's never a need to wait for bins when they run out. I've only seen them when I was flying through Europe.

The first leg of my trip took me out to Denver. While waiting for my connection, I bought breakfast at McDonald's. I got the Sausage Egg McMuffin meal. It irks me that this McDonald's does not accept any of the deals on their mobile app.

McDonald's in the morning

The second leg was into Idaho Falls on a small regional jet. The plane arrived at the airport early, so I still had about an hour before the reservation time for the rental car. I asked the lady at the Avis counter if I could get my car early. Since the car was available, she had me sign the paperwork and I was on my way.

The drive over to Jackson, Wyoming was a pretty nice relaxing drive. For me, anything outside of Southern California would count as a relaxing drive. I didn't have any cars riding my ass for driving just the speed limit. The drive was also scenic so that it didn't feel like such a long drive. It took a little over 2 hours to reach my destination. The first thing I did was to check into my room at the Antler Inn. It was a pretty cozy motel with a rustic decor.

Antler Inn

After dropping off my bags in the room. I walked over to the nearby SpringHill Suites for the race packet pick-up. Besides the usual bib, goodie bag, and race shirt, I was also given a coupon for a free pair of socks over at the Skinny Skis store a few blocks North. So after I was done with the packet pick-up I walked over to pick up the socks.

Expo at SpringHill Suites by Marriott

Goodie bag

Race shirt

Back of race shirt

Free socks at Skinny Skis

I was a bit hungry, so after dropping off the race stuff in my room, I drove over to the McDonald's to pick up some food. I used the mobile app to score a Quarter pounder with cheese for $1. I ate it there before walking over to the Albertsons across the street to buy some drinks and some snacks. Along the way, I saw the sign for the Pony Express Motel. I almost stayed there solely because of the name and its proximity to a McDonald's. :)

Quarter Pounder with cheese for $1

Drinks and snacks

After I dropped off the drinks and chips in the car, I went back inside McDonald's to pick up more food for the evening. I bought a $1 cheeseburger and got a free medium french fries by using the mobile app. I took that back to my room to enjoy while watching TV. After I was done with my food, I laid out my flat runner to make sure I had packed everything for tomorrow's marathon.

Free medium french fries with $1 cheeseburger 

Fly casual

Flat runner

Saturday 9/1
The marathon was scheduled to start at 7 am right over at the Town Square at the intersection of E Deloney Ave and Center St. It was only about 1 block away, so I timed it so that I would get there at about 6:30 am. It was a fairly small field so that was plenty of time to take some obligatory pre-race photos and get settled into the starting corral. One of the race participants actually sang the national anthem. He had a really nice voice!

My friend finishing her 50th State!

Friends from Seattle

Start line

Knowing that the elevation was above 6k feet and that I didn't have time to acclimate, I made sure not to go out too hard during that first mile. I went out at what felt comfortable which was about a 9 min mile. The legs felt great, but the lungs felt like I was trying to run 7 min miles. The course started off with a left turn onto Broadway Ave before heading South on Nelson Dr over to Hansen Ave. We headed West until Willow St where we turned South. Then we turned onto Snow King Ave heading West. We would then zig zag on Scott Ln, Maple Way, and Elk Run Ln before hopping on the Jackson Hole Community Pathway System. That pathway would have us running parallel to the US Highway 191, S Park Loop Rd, and Teton Pass Highway.

Near mile 12 heading North on S Park Loop Rd.

Near mile 17 crossing Snake River

We then looped around Wilson Elementary School heading East until we start heading North parallel to Moose Wilson Rd. This stretch along Moose Wilson Rd would span about the final 10k of the race. It would ultimately take us to the final left turn on Teton Village Rd to head for the finish line. We crossed the road at McCollister and run up the grassy field to the finish line with the beautiful slopes in the background. My goal for the race was to just finish under 5 hrs, so I was happy with my finishing time.

Almost mile 19 just past Wilson Elementary School

About a couple of miles to go

Finish line

Finish: 4:43:35
Click here for my Garmin data.

Relive 'Jackson Hole Marathon'

After crossing the finish line, getting my medal, and catching my breath, I waited with my friend for our other friends to finish. After taking some finish line photos, I moseyed on over to the post race food and drink table to get a food box, a bottle of water, and a bus ticket. They were also giving out cans of beer, but I passed, opting for good ol' water.

Finisher medal and post race food box

Post race food box contents

It was pretty cool to check out the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort as I waited for my friend to finish. Maybe one day I'll return in the winter for some skiing. For my friend, it was a celebration/victory lap for her as different members of her family got to run portions of the marathon with her. It was pretty awesome that another larger group of strangers that was there for another runner also finishing the 50 States, stuck around to welcome our friend to the finish line!

Silly bear!

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

After taking pictures, I forego the bus ride and caught a ride with my friends back to their AirBnB place in Jackson. My friend's husband surprised her with a video montage of congratulations from all of her friends. That was pretty cool! It even included a message from the ever so humble marathon champion, Meb Keflezighi!

After watching that cool video, a small group of us made our way into town square to eat at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. The fancier steakhouse didn't open until 5:30 pm, so we settled for food from their grill. I got the elk burger with fries. The flavor was good, but it was way leaner than the juicier beef burger that I normally eat. While we were there, it got kind of uncomfortable as the Mongols biker gang sort of took over the bar. As we were exiting, we saw that a few of the cops had shown up. I hope nothing happened as there was a lot more of them than there were cops. I had to excuse myself from the group as I was pretty wiped out and had an early flight to catch tomorrow morning. #GettingOld :)

Elk burger and fries

Sunday 9/2
When I originally booked my trip, the flight home was supposed to be at 10 am. However it got moved up to about 7:30 am. That meant I had to leave pretty early for the drive back over to Idaho Falls. The drive was dark and there were many signs warning of wildlife crossing. My eyes were definitely peeled! While on highway 20, I exited at N Holmes Ave to gas up the rental car at the Exxon on E Iona Rd.

It would turn out that I didn't have to get there that early as the flight was delayed about 2 hrs due to mechanical issues aka the plane was leaking fuel. Eventually they were able to patch up the leak and we were on our way. Thankfully I still had plenty of time to catch my connecting flight in Denver.