Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon

Before the Race Stuff
I was kind of under the weather starting Friday. Sucks to be sick on race weekend! Since Obama was in town, I decided to take the Metro to the expo at the LA Convention Center. I tell ya, there were colorful characters on the train. It took forever to get to the Pico Station. There was mechanical issues on the purple/red train at the Union Station.

Very few people on Friday

Unexpectedly Met Deena Kastor!

Chicrunner working the RunRacing Booth

I was fortunate to meet Deena Kastor just as I was considering signing up for the Arizona Marathon. She was really cool. She signed a poster and also my bib.

I've twice run the previous incarnation of this race when it was called the City of Angels half. I knew you had to take some of the free speed from the early downhills and save something for the hills near the end. The course has changed a bit, I think for the better. After looking at the elevation chart, the strategy still remained the same. This is not an easy course. If you're not going down then you're going up... very few flat areas.

Shirt and Bib

Race Day
Race morning, I felt the chills and was feeling very tired. I was hoping that everything will just work itself out once we start running. I drove over to the Sierra Madre Villa station and took the Metro to the shuttle bus pickup spot just outside of LA Live. Once we got dropped off, I headed over to the gear check area and used the portapotties just in front of my UPS truck. I headed over to corral 3 and it was a zoo trying to get there. I even had my bib partially ripped off my shirt. I had to re-pin the bib. Just as I got to the corral, they were taking a maniac photo so I quickly jumped in.

Maniacs!

Goal A: sub 1:50
Goal B: sub 1:55
Goal C: sub 2:00

My 1 salt cap was melting, so I took it right before the start. I started the race with one of my tri-friends. Man, she started fast. I followed her until the first aid station about 2 miles into the race. Mile one I saw Roger Craig. I felt like I was sleep-running this race. Just felt sicky. I was ready for the race to be over by 10k. It was nice to see my WorldVision friends cheering us on from an overhead bridge. My ankle again started to bother me around mile 8 and 9. There were some downhills to the finish, but all I could muster were 9:30ish miles. I knew the sub 1:50 went out the window since I was giving back 1 minute per mile. Then a short steep climb around 10 and 11 really slowed me down. My right Achilles tendon was feeling a little achy so I cruised it in. I gave myself a chance to finish sub 1:50, but the ankle was just too gimpy. They had laid down a red carpet at the finish line. Nice.
1: 7:43
2: 7:49
3: 7:45
4: 8:04
5-6: 16:59 (8:30 avg)
7: 8:37
8: 8:59
9: 9:08
10: 9:33
11: 10:00
12: 9:34
13: 9:33
13.1: 0:51
Finish: 1:54:33

Finisher's Medal

After the Race Stuff
I thought Competitor Group did a great job with this race. They kept much of the same course, but the changes they've made improved the race. I like having the race end at LA Live. Also having the expo at the LA Convention Center was much better. It's no wonder Competitor Group has been taking over so many races.

I met a few of my friends near the UPS trucks. I walked up to the 7th street/Metro Center station to take the red line back to my car. I kind of dozed off on the gold line. I drove over to the nearby Steer n' Ale to eat something. I had my consolation salad and a stockyard steak. The steak tasted beefy like it used to taste. Meat and potatoes are definitely my comfort food.

My consolation salad for whenever I run a less-than-stellar race

Mmmmmm... beefy!

Rock n Roll Denver Marathon

Day before the race
The Denver Rock n' Roll Marathon on 10-17-10 was my 50th overall. Truth be told, I was a bit tired and would rather have been running a local race like the Long Beach Marathon. But since everything had already been booked, I headed out to Denver on an early Saturday morning flight. I drove into downtown Denver in my rental car and checked into my hotel. Then I walked over to the Convention Center to attend the expo. Along the way, I stopped by the Civic Center Park to check out the starting area. They already had things pretty much setup and all laid out. Right before I got to the expo, I bumped into my friend Vixen who told me that the expo was rather ho hum. That was good news for me. I didn't need to spend anymore money. I went through the expo without buying anything and signing up for any races. I like the race shirt. I meet up with Dave and his friends at the expo. I picked up 2 Lara bars and ate them since I was kind of hungry. I then walked back to my hotel. I stopped by Kokoro, which was across the street from my hotel, to pick up lunch. I got a chicken and vegetable bowl. It was pretty much like Yoshinoya.

The Start/Finish Line

City and County Building

Colorado State Capitol

Maniac Friends!

I ate lunch while watching TV for a little bit. Then I prepared my gear for Sunday's race. I was kind of worried about the race since my ankle was feeling weird from walking around town. I haven't ran a single mile since the Chicago Marathon so I really had nothing to go off on.

My seldom used race shirt :)

I drove out to Boulder to meet up with some RWOL friends for dinner at Pei Wei. While waiting for my friends, I was able to snap a nice sunset picture with my phone. The internet may be a great way to keep in touch with friends, but nothing beats interacting with friends face to face. One of them is Sam who was running his 50th marathon of this year for OperationJack to help raise funds for Train4Autism!

Boulder Sunset

Race morning
Following the parking instructions, I drove to the Metro State Campus to park for free. But when I got there I learned that they wanted $5 for parking. Nice. It was about a 1 mile walk to the starting line from the campus. If I knew I had to pay, I would've just walked from my hotel which was only a little bit further than 1 mile from the starting line. Oh well.

I had a hard time finding the gear check. I usually look for UPS trucks, but since it's a loop course there was no trucks. They made a terrible mistake in putting the gear check tables in front of a row of portapotties. The lines for the potties and gear check just caused a huge crowded mass of humanity in one little area. I bumped into my friend, Maniac Mitch who was running his 70th marathon. Since we were both starting out of corral 4, we made our way over to the corrals.

Goal A: 3:55
Goal B: 4:30
Goal C: sub 5

First Half
I almost always go out "hard" on my races. This race was no different. I started off too fast even for goal A. I eased off the gas, but eventually the thin air caught up to me. My right lung felt like it collapsed by around mile 4. I tried to maintain a 9 min mile pace, but the discomfort in the lung was rather annoying. And like clockwork, the right ankle started to hurt at mile 8. I backed off of the pace and had no choice but go to plan B and/or C. I got to the halfway mark slower than I had wanted, but slowing down finally got rid of the lung discomfort. I started taking an extra 1 minute walking break at mile 12.
1: 8:15
2: 8:38
3: 8:46
4: 9:30
5: 9:13
6: 9:07
7: 10:10
8: 9:34
9: 9:46
10: 10:36
11: 10:51
12: 11:13
13: 11:36
13.1: 2:08:45

Second Half
I stuck to taking a minute walk break every time I got to a mile marker. That worked pretty well for the rest of the race. Mile 24 was an out and back on a huge overpass which was equivalent to a big hill. Other than this climb, the course was pretty flat. I ran the last .2 and saw Dane cheering on runners at the last corner. It was a pleasant surprise to have someone cheer for you when you didn't know that they were going to be there.
14: 11:46
15: 13:36
16: 13:16
17: 13:38
18: 12:52
19: 12:19
20: 12:43
21: 13:11
22: 12:54
23: 12:20
24: 15:11
25: 12:59
26: 13:24
26.2: 1:47
Finish: 4:59:14

Finisher's Medal

Post race thoughts
Well, that's 50 marathons in the books. I'm definitely going to turn my focus towards running quality races instead of just quantity. I hope to run a BQ in 2012.

Competitor Group has been taking over a lot of marathons lately. It seems that the majority feel that this is a bad thing. I think they're doing a great job putting together a good race experience. But since they are creating a monopoly, higher registration fees are inevitably starting to show up for their races. Their prices aren't out of control yet, but it is definitely getting runners' attention.

Chicago Marathon 10-10-10

I flew from Ontario to Midway on Southwest. I hate flying Southwest. It's always a cattle call flying with them even with their current boarding system. From the airport, I took the L to the Roosevelt station to take a shuttle to the expo. The shuttles were actually yellow school buses with seats designed for youngsters.

Welcome to the expo!

The expo was excellent. I hope the LA Marathon was there taking notes. So many booths and I only bought arm warmers and a long sleeve 1/2 zip shirt. I did not sign up for any races. I'm still sticking to the plan to ride out the races and take a break.

Wall of marathoners

Took a while to find my name

After going through the expo, I took the bus to the Fairmont Hotel and walked over to my hotel on State and Lake. I stopped by a CVS to pick up some supplies. After checking in at theWit hotel and dropping off my stuff, I went back out to eat. On my way over to the Billy Goat Tavern, I bumped into Paul Frank Maniac Dave and his friends. We wished each other luck in the race tomorrow. I had a double cheezborger and a Coke. It was pretty quiet inside since I was there at an odd hour between lunch and dinner. Afterwards I went back to my room and relaxed while getting my gear ready.

Double cheezborger and Coke

2 weeks out from the race, I was unable to run more than a mile without excruciating pain in my neck/shoulder region. I didn't know then if I would be able to run the Chicago Marathon. But I was still planning to make the trip at the very least to be a spectator. My goal before I hurt myself was 3:55 or bust. Well I was able to recover enough to run about 12 miles without relative pain. So I resumed my goal of 3:55 with a backup goal of 4:30.

I left my room at about 6:15am to walk over to the starting area. It was a bit crowded and I missed the Marathon Maniac photo op. But I did see the few lingering maniacs which included Dave, #1, and #2. I was hoping to bump into irungirlSD from RWOL but I couldn't find her or her husband. So I went to use the portapotties and checked my gear bag.

They have lots of portapotties in the starting area but somehow I always end up in the slowest line. I dropped off my bag as soon as I got out and headed for the corral. The corral entrances were a little hectic near the start of the race. You can enter from the sides like the Marine Corps Marathon, but you can't really tell from the back. I eventually made it to the 9 min pace section of the open corral. It was a zoo inside the corral. I think NY does a better job at moving the masses because spectators aren't allowed at the starting area. But it's just tough to move that many people without it getting a little bit crazy.

First Half
I don't remember much of the race from the half marathon and on. The first 10k was fine. I was running by effort and I kept trying to slow myself down to a 9 min pace. For about 8 miles I ran with the 3:55 pace group. But I dropped off because my right ankle was bothering me. I knew it wasn't something I could push through. It has been hurting me in every race since I hurt it right before the Seattle RnR Marathon back in late June. When I got to the half way mark, I kind of knew it was going to be a 5 hr day. Then the weather just kept getting hotter and hotter. I switched to a strategy of "let's not pass out. Please finish in one piece."
1: 8:33
2: 8:39
3: 8:54
4: 9:12
5: 9:04
6: 8:49
7: 9:24
8: 9:17
9: 9:51
10: 10:14
11: 10:01
12: 10:19
13: 10:40
13.1: 2:04:01

Second Half
I started taking an increasing amount of walking breaks. Somewhere near mile 23.5... right before we made a turn on Michigan to head for the finish line, I saw two middle-aged women sitting at a bus bench. I was so pooped. I just sat down right between the two of them and asked when the bus is coming. They laughed and asked if I was alright. I said it's hot and I just needed to take a break.

As we took the final turn onto Columbus, boy that finish line was a sight for sore eyes, legs, ankle, etc. I tried to run as fast as I could which was not very fast. The guy on the PA was telling us not to sprint... to take it easy since the heat alert was at red.
14: 12:04
15: 11:59
16: 12:24
17: 12:30
18: 15:08
19: 14:20
20: 14:51
21: 15:56
22: 13:27
23: 14:18
24: 16:34
25: 15:50
26: 14:58
26.2: 2:07
Finish: 5:09:20

After the race I developed a really mean stomach ache. I just went straight back to my hotel room to rest. I couldn't eat or drink anything and just sat there. I've never had this sort of pain after a race. When the pain finally subsided, I took a shower and kind of zonked out watching TV. I think it was the Giants vs. Braves. My brain felt fried after the 26.2 mile romp in the heat. After a while I dragged myself out to eat something at Harry Caray's. I had a Caesar salad, a 23oz medium rare bone-in ribeye, and a Pepsi. Holy Cow! Good times.

23oz of beefy goodness

This course was extremely flat. This was definitely a PR course if the conditions were favorable. I would really love to come back and run this race when I'm healthy. I rank this race just below the Marine Corps Marathon on my short list of favorites:

1. New York City
2. Honolulu
3. Marine Corps
4. Chicago
5. San Diego

Monday morning, I checked out of the hotel and headed down the Magnificent Mile to Niketown to buy a finisher's shirt. The store wasn't open until 9am, so I bought the Chicago Tribune from a CVS and walked up to the Hancock Observatory. They weren't open until 9am and it costs $15 to go to the top, so I went back out to take some pictures of buildings. They have some very nice buildings in Chicago. I ended up buying a long sleeve finisher's shirt with a map of the course on the front. Too bad I left it on the train when I went to the airport. I had already left the station when I realized what had happened. Someone out there has a nice finisher's shirt.

Chicago Theater

Marina City "Corn Cob"

Chicago River

Chicago Tribune

Water Tower & Hancock Observatory

A year to forget!

So far this year has turned out to be a year to forget! I entered the year dealing with Achilles tendinitis. Just as I thought things were headed in the right direction when I ran a comfortable 4:30 at the San Diego RnR Marathon, I took a bad step on a training run and the right ankle has been pretty gimpy ever since. I have been taking things very easy. Resting 5 days a week and running only on the weekends. Instead I have been doing sit-ups, dips, and bent over row exercises. But this past week, I aggravated an old upper back/right shoulder injury. I cannot turn or tilt my head without being in serious pain. I tried to do my regular run this Saturday morning and the pain became just unbearable a little past 1 mile into the run. I stopped dead in my tracks. Turned around and walked back home. Talk about confidence killer less than 2 weeks away from the Chicago Marathon. Looks like I'll need to revise my goals.

Even though I was in some pretty good pain, I managed to drag my invalid body out to eat endless shrimp with my friend for his upcoming birthday. I actually felt a little bit better stuffing myself with shrimp.

Red Lobster's endless shrimp - garlic grilled

Whenever I eat a buffet I usually skip the next meal, so I skipped dinner. It hurts to lay down, but I took a nap and woke up at around 11:30pm to watch the Berlin Marathon. It took a while to find a live feed of the race. There was one point last year where I was planning to run this race. Good thing I didn't. Too many setbacks this year. Also I don't want to run a big city marathon until I stop being a marathon maniac and let my body heal up. Running races while injured is not entirely fun. Anyways well... not too many people can say this, but I really enjoy watching the elites race the marathon. I can stay glued to the action from start to finish. It was a rainy race and Patrick Makau won the race in 2:05:08. It was pretty insane that the top 3 all ran a sub 2:06. The Boston Marathon winner this year finished sub 2:06. Looks like there's a new standard for the men.

This Sunday morning, still in pain I woke up to watch the 5th Avenue mile race. There are some pretty nice races in New York. I might go out there for a half marathon one of these years. I still kind of wish that I was running the NYC Marathon this year. I'll get to run it by 2013, hopefully sooner.

Chicago Marathon preview

Ever since my gimpy PB (1:52:28) at the Disneyland half marathon, I feel as if I've lost my running mojo again. I was kind of blue because I knew if I had 2 good legs, I would've easily made it under 1:50. A week later I was in Kansas running the Patriots' Run Marathon. It was a very cool patriotic event, but my legs were gone and the heat really made it tough. Running 26 1 mile laps in a mall parking lot really taxed the mind.

Right now the legs are feeling better. But there's still discomfort in the right ankle. When it starts to hurt, I tend to slow down which alters my normal running gait. It then leads to hip pain and lower back pain. During my last ~11.6 mile run, I focused on maintaining my form which helped. One good thing is that the bump on my anterior tibial tendon is finally gone. I might ramp up my weekly mileage a little in the next couple of weeks just so I would have some sort of fitness to complete the Chicago Marathon without it hurting too much.

Goal A: 4:00
Goal B: 4:30
Goal C: finish

While the mojo may be gone, I am quite excited to be visiting Chicago again. One thing I'm looking forward to besides the marathon is the food! I'm planning on eating at the following places while I'm in Chicago. Feel free to give me some suggestions.

• Billy Goat Tavern
• Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse

This weekend, I ate a bone-in ribeye at Cask n' Cleaver. Good stuff, but nowhere near as good as the one that I had in Kansas.

Cask n' Cleaver - The Cleaver, bone-in ribeye

Patriots' Run on 9/11

Pre-Race Stuff
I flew into Kansas City International airport on Friday. I've been to Missouri before, but this was my first time venturing into Kansas. It was hot, sunny, and pretty humid. I hopped into my rental car and drove down to Olathe. I stopped by a Target to buy some snacks and drinks. Then I ate dinner at LongHorn Steakhouse. I ordered the Wild West Shrimp appetizer and the Outlaw Ribeye Steak with fries. The shrimp was good and the steak was excellent. The steak was better than practically all of the steaks I've eaten in California. One thing was for sure, they knew how to cook a steak medium rare. The only other place I've been to that also knew how to do medium rare was Stockyard in Nashville.

Look at the bad boy hanging out at the top of the bar!

The 18oz Outlaw Ribeye Steak

After dinner, I stopped by the Holiday Inn to pick up my race packet. As I was driving to my hotel you could tell a storm was coming. Since I knew I was going to eat a steak on this trip, I booked a room at a really cheap 2-star hotel. It was actually kind of creepy since the building next to it was abandoned and overgrown with weeds. It was a Microtel hotel. They're very similar to Motel 6. Shortly after getting to my room, it was storming outside. It was definitely not one of those sissy Californian storms. It was a pretty big thunderstorm. The lightning was so bright and the thunder so loud, you would've thought that the lightning was hitting just outside my window.

Race Day
The next day I just hung out in my room until it was time for the race. The race started at noon. I drank some juice and ate a Clif bar. I drove across the street to the starting area which was a parking lot at the Great Mall of the Great Plains. As I milled around, Sam shows up. If you don't already know, he's that guy running only 61 marathons this year in what he named OperationJack in support of Train4Autism. We shoot the breeze for awhile. After some announcements and the Star Spangled Banner x2, we were off. It was about 80 degrees, high humidity, and no shade. Let the BBQ begin!

Proud to be an American!

The marathon had a separate starting line from those running laps. We had to complete a small .2 mile lap before joining everyone else in running the 1 mile loop. The first 2 laps felt rather ok. I originally thought that I would finish around 4.5 - 5hrs. But once I started on the 3rd lap, I knew it was going to be a long day. I kept slowing down because I was overheating. I kept dumping water on my head at the 1 aid station. Before I even got to the halfway point, my right ankle was bothering me. Eventually it led to right hip discomfort. I started taking my walk breaks earlier than usual to keep the discomfort at a minimum. It was kind of fun to see the same people over and over and over and over again. :) After a few loops, you get really familiar with every inch of the course. The crowd support was awesome. There were a few people out there tailgating and barbecuing... smells good. I was taking a salt cap every half hour, but I was having trouble taking my gels. The heat was making me want to puke every time I took a gel. I switched to oranges, pretzels, and Gatorade at the aid station which helped a little. Most of the 2nd half was running the laps exactly the same way... (walk through the aid station. Jog up to the corner. Walk the slight incline. Jog a little. Walk and wave to the guy carrying the flag. Run on through the timing mat. Repeat).
.2: 1:43
1: 8:21
2: 8:35
3: 9:10
4: 9:47
5: 9:41
6: 9:43
7: 10:22
8: 9:42
9: 10:11
10: 11:18
11: 10:47
12: 13:16
13: 14:17
14: 12:58
15: 12:23
16: 16:33
17: 15:01
18: 15:35
19: 18:08
20: 17:29
21: 16:23
22: 14:18
23: 13:23
24: 13:33
25: 14:16
26: 12:55
Finish: 5:29:47

Post Race Stuff
My brain was so cooked by the time that I was done. I stuck around for a short while, but left to crash in my room. I ate a tube of salt & vinegar Pringles while watching Aladdin. Then I was knocked out due to an early flight out the next day.

This event was a very patriotic event. It just couldn't be any more American. Even though running laps around a parking lot wasn't really my idea of fun, the reason for running on 9/11 trumps everything. I just might come back next year.

Disneyland Half Marathon 5th year edition

I look forward to this race each year. But I have no idea how well I would do this year. I've been dealing with injuries and niggles since October of last year. Things were getting better by June until I hurt myself on a training run. I've been resting and taking it easy. But since I've committed to running my paid races, I still run here and there to have some sort of fitness to complete these races.

I left work early on Friday to attend the expo. It was pretty painless. I bought a red tech shirt and 2 Disney pins to commemorate 5 years of running. I'm such a sucker for Disney products.

Race Day
I got to the parking lot at about 3:40am. There were huge lines. Instructions said that the lot would be open at 3:30 so I think they were having some sort of technical difficulty. This year parking was $15! I think back in 2006, it was $8 or $9. I relaxed in my car until 4:15 listening to my boy band music on my iPod. I walked over to the pre-race staging area. I bumped into a former coworker who will be running a marathon with Team in Training later in the year. Later I spot another Team in Training friend. I hung out with him for a little bit. Then I headed over to corral A. While waiting in the corral, I bumped into a couple of my maniac friends.

Goal A: sub 1:50:00
Goal B: sub 1:55:00
Goal C: sub 2:00:00

I started near the back of corral A. So for most of the first mile, I was trapped behind slower runners. For me, it was a good thing since my right ankle has been gimpy. But I got antsy and started following the flag runner. He's a pretty big guy and runs his half marathons in the 1:40s. So I let him clear the way. I stuck to my usual plan of walking 1 minute for every 30 minutes running. By the 10k mark, I started to feel discomfort in the right ankle. I knew my sub 1:50 wasn't going to happen today. The 1:50 pace group ran past me shortly. I gradually slowed down because the right foot started to hurt. I took a salt cap and a gel at about the 1 hr mark. I tried to concentrate on my form and sped up a little to see if I could improve on my personal best for a half marathon. It was fun running on the warning track at Angels stadium. The right ankle/foot was no bueno during miles 11 - 12. I started doing calculations when I reached mile 12. I knew I had a new personal best in the bag. It was a soft PB, but at least I'm headed in the right direction again.
1: 8:13
2-3: 15:11 (7:35)
4: 8:41
5-6: 16:48 (8:24)
7: 8:49
8: 9:04
9: 8:43
10: 8:36
11-12: 18:48 (9:24)
13: 8:50
13.1: 0:45
Finish: 1:52:28

Previous years:
2009: 1:54:40
2008: 1:55:07
2007: 2:06:38
2006: 2:02:37

Post Race Thoughts
Except for the extremely hot year in 2007, I've run faster each year. I think you have to be a pretty die-hard Disney fan to be a legacy runner.

5th year medal with the legacy lanyard

The first 6 miles felt great with a couple of sub 8 miles, but the right ankle was just not 100%. Seeing how I practically jogged the last 7 miles in this race and still set a personal best... I'll most likely go faster at the next half marathon, the Los Angeles RnR Half Marathon in late October. After the race, I ate at the Original Pancake House with a couple of friends. That place was packed. I had the Irish Omelette which included 3 pancakes. The omelette was pretty good with corned beef.