Run HelLA 2013 - my experience

The LA marathon is a pretty amazing race. Now, I won't let my biased for the city sway my opinion here. When traveling for a destination run, I look for several things. The course needs to be fun, the atmosphere needs to be lively, and finally, the hydration stations need to have quality products. LA hits all of these points. Before I get into these details, let's go back to race week. My approach this time was to get into the city during race week. My goal here is to get last minute workouts, get a solid eating and hydration plan, and most importantly, enough sleep before the run. Traditionally, I've flown in on Friday, then Saturday is full of running around for packet pickup and the obligatory visits around the city. By the time race day comes around, I haven't slept, eaten and hydrated well enough and my run suffers. This time, I flew in during the week and I was hoping to have a better run. The week was pretty uneventful. Work traveled with me, which is ok. I had my beach house on the boardwalk, and would work during the day, and hang out on Abbott Kinney at night. Friday is when things picked up. I decide to go get my packet at the convention center on Friday, this would leave me with the evening free to have dinner with great company that night. If you've ever been to Venice you know that parking near the boardwalk is not fun. So, I had a spot in a garage about 7 minutes from my house. I go walking into Santa Monica to get my car and travel the 30 minute treck into downtown for the convention center. For those familiar with LA, I parked at the renaissance center in Santa Monica. I'm about to reach the elevator and there's a spot of uneven pavement in my way. Wouldn't you know it, my left foot goes to step, and the uneven concrete claims another victim. My ankles rolls a bit, now, I've done this several times before. So, I immediately pull off of my foot to prevent a worse sprain, but my ankle joint is damaged, and it pops pretty loudly. After about 5 minutes of pretty amazing pain, I gather myself and start to think about what just happened. Being in this position before I knew that I needed to get a brace and keep the join loose in order to have any chance to run on Sunday. So, I get in the car, drop the top and head into the city. Once, I make it into downtown, park my car, and limp into the convention center, I encounter the typical marathon crowd. The first dude I run into is doing a typical FaceBook picture, where he's in front of his bib and the LA marathon signage. I stealthy traverse the sea of Facebook "posers" and make it to the bib pickup stand. This marathon does a good job with it's signage, it has a lot of places for photo ops at the expo. The first vendor group I come to is ASCIS, they were the largest corp sponsor and they had the larges area at the expo. They actually had some pretty sweet collectors edition running shoes made for the run. I had to purchase some, since I don't know how many more times I'll be running these events. At some point, I need to let my legs rest and I'll hang up my runners shoes and get all the surgeries my body desperately needs, but I digress.

After getting past the ASCIS area my main goal was to grab a compression sock and a non intrusive brace that would aid and not impede my running by changing my gait on Sunday. This proved to be pretty challenging, since at this point all of the people at the expo are either in full on "poser" mode or free sample hoarding mode. The only good thing is that I was able to keep my foot moving and this helped my ankle not become stiff. Finally, I find a place with braces and compression socks. I purchase one of each and I'm on my way. Now, it's back to the car and over back to West LA before traffic gets bad. Back in West LA, I get back home and prepare for my night out. The evening couldn't have been any better, we wind up at Hal's on Abbott Kinney, which has some pretty amazing food, just don't try to have a conversation while there. When i go there I feel like visiting Quaterbacks must feel like playing at QWEST field in Seattle. I can't even here myself think. Saturday the plan was to go do the LA thing. As I wake up Saturday morning, my first thought is "looks like another sunny day in Hell" Which is perfect we drive to West Hollywood in the x4 with the drop top down. We do all of the major landmarks in West Hollywood, walk of fame, beverly hills, and some how I get roped into visiting Dash... Now, I'm not really into pop culture, and I've heard of the Kardashian's I find the whole idea of their fame repulsive and idiocracy at it's finest. Nevertheless, I find my self at this establishment. I know, poor poor pitiful me, right? Now, me being the loveable asshole I am, my first questions is where's the shitter in this place? Probably not the question the workers of that terrible establishment hear quite often. Mercifully, we don't spend much time there, and we're off. The rest of the day was spent in West Hollywood, and finally we make it back to West LA. After that it's dinner, shower and bed time. During the day, I start to feel more confident in my ankle, there's no stiffness, and the pain has subsided. So, my plan is to wake up in the morning, go thru the motions and see how it all feels in the am. Sunday morning I wake up and it's feeling a little ginger, so I get in the shower and get ready to drive to dodger stadium. Once I arrive we walk over to the stadium and wait for it to be closer to run time. Sit down in a corner and watch the crowd of anxious people walk all over the place in anticipation. Knowing how these events play, I wait until closer to run time before I start to stretch. As the crowd disappears and start time inches closer, I begin to stretch. At this point there's not much soreness, and I start to really press on the joint to make sure it's stable and pain is minimal. I feel a little soreness, but nothing that's going to stop me at this point. My stretching becomes more intense, and I start to really press the joint for pain. Knowing my body, I can tell this will be a challenge, but not un-doable. Now, I'm ready to approach the finish line say my goodbye's and hit the pavement....

Join Me In LA....

Gone are the days when I could waste away my weekends watching sports or some crappy crime drama show. Last week was a perfect example of this "new normal". After traveling to the bitterly cold east coast on business and working an insane number of hours. I made it back to Texas on Friday morning @ 12 am. These days, when I travel somewhere I park carmelita at the airport. It makes it easier to pay for parking and have my car accessible when I land at DFW. So, I'd been working on a particularly tricky engineering issue. To protect the innocent, I won't divulge details of this issue. Let's just say it was brain teaser. Finally, after putting that issue to bed and saving the day I put up my super nerd cape, and donned my best frock, and headed home. Upon landing I walk out to the parking garage to look for my car. To much of my chagrin, I couldn't seem to find my car. At this point, I've worked about 50 hours in a span of 72 hours. My brain is probably resembling humus, at this point. I search all four levels of the parking garage, and nothing. So, I ask the valet guy, and he proceeds to say, well sir, you can call parking customer service. My response, "Well, do you have a number?" No, there's a number on the side of their marked cars.. Where do I find this magical vehicle, I ask? There's one at the lower level. So, I drag my large suite case downstairs. Finally, I locate this magical vehicle, and there's no number to be found. I finally locate another airport employee, and he was helpful. He gives me a correct number, and I make contact with the parking agents. A few minutes later, I run into a familiar face. She reminds me of Cobie Smulders, so, we'll call her Robin. This way we can pay homage to Cobie's character on "How I Met Your Mother" Robin, and I have become good friends. We started off as potential mates, we decided that friends would be best for both of us. It's an interesting relationship, since we've run into each other in different states. After a few minutes of catching up. We find my car, which was on the second level on the other side of the garage. This pretty much ended my night, or morning. The next 2 days were packed with more work, and appointments. With no proper sleep, and nutrition, and more work shenanigans, I had to skip the CowTown run. This was pretty disappointing, but there's really no reason to fret about this. In three weeks, I'll be in LA getting ready to run the LA Marathon. Not sleeping, and being up late with work on Saturday night would have spelled disaster for Sunday (Race day). Making time for running and lifting along with my jam packed work schedule doesn't leave much time for anything else. I've also become a home owner recently, and I'll be moving into my new abode 1 week before flying to LA. Lots of exciting things going on right now. I rarely have time to write entries anymore. I'm going into the LA run, fully healthy, and working my tail off trying to get in endurance shape. Since the LA run presents a certain set of challenges. I'll be ready, I always am. So, my next entry will come from intelligentsia coffee shop on Abbott Kinney. I'll be the dude NOT wearing skinny jeans...

FZ

Here I go again...

Catchy tone? Maybe, but I've finally healed the small little ailments from last year. The ankle has been pretty solid. I've just now started to run gasers, and really testing that joint. My PT decided to work on lower leg strength. For what it's worth, calves are really hard to workout. Tiring that muscle is incredibly difficult since that muscle is used daily and supports all of your weight. Enough with the anatomy lesson. The other injury I had was a strain in my groin. I couldn't squat very heavy weight as a result which caused me to lose size and strength. So, on to today. I've been rehabbing my ass off and hitting the weights with care, and focus. My lifting is finally getting back to were I was pre injury, and I've been doing some controlled sprints with the focus on making sure the ankle is solid. So, I've decided on the first set of runs for this year. The Cowtown marathon is first up. This is going to take place in Feb 2013. Next up is the LA Marathon in March. This is the one I'm looking forward to. The race is amazing, the course is challenging, and well, it's LA. This summer, I'll be in San Francisco for the SF marathon. This is another challenging course, and it can kick your but. The hill are incredible, and well if you're not in tip top shape you won't make it. Finally, the last one I've confirmed is the LA triathlon. The goal for this year is to stay in the best aerobic shape. I do enjoy carrying more muscle, but I don't think it's sustainable for distance running. That's always the toughest part of these adventures. I want to maintain muscle mass, but want to maintain the 4-6 speed I barely have now after ACL surgery. 2013 is shaping up to be a great year. Lots of adventures planned.

Till I have time to write again,
FZ

Here I go again......

Not only are those lyrics from everyones favorite 80's power ballad, but it totally describes the feeling today. After Malibu I had a few small ailments, nothing to be too concerned about, just the miles I've put on this old body. My training has been slow, but consistent. Which leads me to believe that tomorrow is going to be rough. The lovely weather here in Dallas has been great all week long, but alas. Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be @ a balmy 36 degrees in the morning. Since the good people at the event informed me to be weary about parking tomorrow. That means I will have to leave my abode early just in case I have an issue finding a place to park in downtown Dallas. That's not the icing on the cake, today, I was supposed to go to a high school football game (which is all the craze in Texas). Gridlock traffic in downtown Dallas caused me to run extremely late, and miss the game. These expo events are interesting to go to in different cities. They all have different vibes, and they attract different people. Today's crowd consisted of the first timers which you can spot pretty quickly because they are taking pictures of themselves at every landmark in the expo. These are also the people that on race day show up in tutu's and pose for every camera man along the course. These are the people that will delay the start time of every run because they want to make sure they get the full "race experience".  Then you have the hipster runners. These are the people that know each other at every booth. They walk around in runner clothes and talk to people about the crappy products they are shilling. The hipster runners are harmless, and can be full of useful information. Finally, you have people like me. We are looking to pick up our packets, grab our race shirts, maybe bye some chews and leave. I'm part of those people who can't wait for the large crowd of runners to break up during the race. Race time is tomorrow at 8 am for the full, I fully expect to not get started till after 8:30... Thanks first timers.... With all that being said, running these races are fun. It's also great that the first timers, the hipsters, and the serious runners get out, raise money, and most importantly run. So, if you'll be running tomorrow be safe, and stay hydrated.

F

Fight On! Post Malibu Thoughts...

It's been several days after running the Malibu International Marathon  and I have several opinions about the runs. For those that are debating if this is a good race. First, the idea of pre paying for parking is brilliant. For all the native Angelenos this is a plus. The general idea is to have parking paid early, so that when you show up you can hand the parking crew your ticket, and viola you're in. So, I arrive 30 minutes early to Zuma Beach where we were instructed to go. Instantly, you're greeted by a large traffic jam. So, pre-paying was a zero sum gain here. This caused the entire event to run late, so this was a huge pain in the ass. Aside from this it was a rare cold day in LA. The temps were in the 40's and the natives were dressed in full ski gear. After the entire pool of runners assembled and the race was under way the course was amazing. Malibu is such a beautiful place to run. I called it The Blues in Malibu. Some of the views were just amazing. The water was blue, and there were very attractive women walking around in the beach. The actual course was great, plenty of challenging hills, and the traffic on the PCH was managed well. You're treated to views like Pepperdine University, and running along the PCH. The fuel stations were great, they all had fuel, water, and endurance mix. As well as Vaseline for any chaffing you may have encountered. The other downside was that the parking was about a mile away from the finish line. So, after 26 miles of running you have to walk to the parking area. The other plus is that there's an exhibit, live music, and organic post workout fruit, bars, and protein. All in all I would run this race again, and I would recommend this to anyone. I was able to finish the run without any further injuries except for being slapped by a cactus along the route. So, I had to finish the last 4 miles with cactus needles in my right pinkie toe. This is more painful that it seems. The last 4 miles did suck. Overall, I would say this run was a success, after the run I do my usual, eat at Fat Burger, then go straight to 24 hour fitness for a 60% to 80% leg workout situation. You're only as good as your training regiment. Now, it's time to go and hit the training tracks again for number 6 and 7 before 2012 is done.

Rome is clearly burning....

Typically at the 2 week period before a run I'm finalizing preparation. What does this entail you ask? Well, silly little things like drinking enough water to nearly cause my kidneys to fail, eating the right foods since my food intolerances suck. Attempting and failing to cut down on the Starbuck trips... Things like thins are important, and key for runs. I have most of this down pretty well. This trip to the a run is following the same pattern as life right about now. Seems that busy schedules have been the trending topic in my life here lately. So, I'll be in Seattle for the Pass Summit the week before the run. Then I get to hope on a plane and head for sunny helLA. So, sleeping, eating, and final workouts are going to be tough, but manageable. It seems when I'm on the left coast my schedule becomes easier to deal with. Nonetheless, the biggest obstacle is my groin right now. It's more sore today than it's been. Now, I'm not one for pity parties, but I threw myself one tonight and indulged in some tasty, heart clogging fast food. I had the worst workout that I've had in a long while. It was annoying, frustrating wrapped in anger. It's not the pain of this little injury, it's the effect it has on my nightly goals. Chalk it up to the other small ailments that I will have to deal with at one point or another. I'm also dangerously teetering with not having shoulder surgery in December. My shoulder has been feel better after rehabbing it. So, tomorrow, I'll re focus and push other parts of my body to the limit. I'm still a little nervous about how the groin will hold up in Malibu. I'm going to let it rest, and see how things feel later on this week. Running is fun, and it's certainly a fickle mistress. I do plan of trying to get past the runs I have for this year and taking some time off next year to let my body heal. Now, that doesn't mean I won't hit the gym, let's not be ridiculous.... It does mean that maybe the traveling will be for fun and sight seeing and not to go and run. I plan on having one more blog before my actual run, but in case that doesn't happen. Let's hope that I finish Malibu somewhat healthy.

Boys don't cry!

With three weeks til Malibu I have to say. My body has decided at this point to start falling apart at an accelerated rate. Many small ailments are starting to pop up. It could be my intense training, and lack of sleep. None the less, as I always do. I've soldiered on and continued to move forward. Nowadays, my days consists of a mix of work, eating, training, more work, and some sleep sprinkled in. Saying that my schedule is chaotic is an understatement. I've not blogged much because of that fact. So, as of today I'm dealing with a sore groin from running and heavy lifting. My right ankle which I have to have surgery on has been tender for a few weeks now. I know that it's begging for some work to be done on it, but at this point I have to compartmentalize the pain and move on. Over all the pain isn't that big of a deal, it's more nagging than anything else. So, much like in the middle of a football season you're never really healthy, you're just dealing with it. I can't really complain, work and business have been great, but with all of that time invested in my carrer other things suffer. It's a personal choice, I know once I get past these few runs things will get better. Until then here's a video to help motivate you during these grind out sessions before a run.

How bad do you want it?

Oh, and one other thing I'm running for a purpose. Please consider donating.

Help me fight cancer

On the stretch run for Malibu.... Can't wait to see LA.