Surf City Half Marathon 2014

This is a blast from the past. It was originally posted on the Loop at Runners World back in February of 2014. But now that the Loop no longer exists it is gone forever. WAIT! No it's not! Here it is!

Here's a little back story. I bonked the Surf City Half Marathon in 2013. I had just gotten over a cold and I wasn't up to my peak performance. I vowed revenge. I vowed to return. Here it is...

Timex Ironman watch quick fix!

My 13 year old Timex Ironman watch suffered a little setback yesterday when the holder or keeper on the strap broke off. Instead of buying a new strap I taped it back together with some electrical tape but it wasn't holding too well.

I ran into the garage to see if I could find something I could rig-up to fix it. I did. A zip-tie. It works and It's also comfortable. 

Also last week I contacted Timex about getting a bezel for my watch face. I was told that they do not carry parts for watches that old.

With a piece missing from the bezel I'm a little worried about wearing the watch in a pool. 😱

RIP Dolores O'Riordan

Hi Runners!
Hope all is well. I heard yesterday that the lead singer of the group The Cranberries, Dolores O'Riordan passed away. She was 47. The Cranberries had a few songs that I liked and they also had a song called Zombie, which I consider my theme song. I don't run while listening to music and I don't recommend it for safety reasons. But this song is worth listening to.

Happy New Year 2018!

     Happy New Year Runners! I hope you reached all of your running goals from last year and are setting some new goals for this year.
     Today I was doing some maintenance on my watch. This year will be the 13th year I had this Timex IronMan watch. Remember the old Timex motto, "It's takes a licking and keeps on ticking"? It's true!
     I purchased the watch in 2005. So far it's on its second band and fifth battery. I use this watch for running, biking, swimming, hiking and sometimes just to time myself at doing certain tasks. I know when it's time to replace the battery because the numbers get faint and at certain angles with the light on I can't even see them.
     I replace the battery myself. I was told as long as the gasket is still in one piece after the back cover is removed, the watch is still good. Replacing the battery is easy. Putting the band back on is a lot harder.
     There is a broken piece on the face of the watch. I'm not sure if this will effect it when I'm in the water. I guess I'm going to take that chance. If or when this dies I'll buy another Timex.

   

Trail running in Los Angeles

Hi,
     When I started this blog I wanted to post once a week. So here it is.
     I know a lot of you are training for upcoming races. A perfect part of training is going on trail runs. They are a little bit more interesting and break up the monotony of everyday runs. You have to be careful on trails that you don't fall or trip. the terrain is uneven and bumpy. 
     Here in Los Angeles everyday is a trail running day because of the horrible condition of the city's sidewalks.

     It's not that there's a lot of earthquakes everyday shattering the sidewalks, it's just years of neglect. Some parts of the city have little make-shift memorials near a broken sidewalk in honor of a skateboarder who met his or her demise there.

The crazy part is if I go running in the early morning or in the evening there isn't enough lighting on the streets to see these hazards.
There has been some repairs made but it's going to take a long time to repair all of the damage.

Happy training!

Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation 5K/10K Run

Hello!
     Well it's been a while since I entered a race so when I received a discount code for the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation 5K/10K run I jumped on it. The Dodgers are red hot this season and part of the race entry was a Dodgers T-shirt. The race took place at Dodger Stadium on Sunday October 1st. I ran the 10K.
     The run was sponsored by New Balance and the Dodgers Foundation. The Dodgers Foundation was formed in 1995 to serve the education and athletic needs of Los Angeles residents.
     Packet pick-up was at Dodger Stadium the day before the race and on race day. To avoid any crowds I went the day before. Also there were discounts offered on select Dodgers gear in their gift shop and concessions were open so you could carbo load on Dodger Dogs. I have to say that the baseball shaped bib numbers were probably the best I've ever seen.
      I was up at 4:30 AM on race day and hit the road at 5:30 AM. No traffic on the freeway so I flew there fast, getting to the stadium at 5:50 AM I was turned away by security. I was told I was "way too early" for the race. My race was starting at 7:00 AM and I was 70 minutes early. So I pulled into a dirt lot next to the entrance and parked next to some other runners. At 6 AM the stadium gates opened and everyone was allowed to park. Everyone drove up to the gate at the same time creating a massive traffic jam. Suddenly it dawned on me...

In Los Angeles if there isn't a traffic jam, damn it, they'll create one!

     Parked my car and headed in to the start area. I had plenty of time to loosen up.
I was wearing a new pair of an old shoe, the Brooks Ghost 9. The Ghost 10 is out now so the price of the 9 was reduced. I got them in zombie green. They are very comfortable and I really like the large toe-box.

The run started at 7:AM. If you are familiar with the Dodger Stadium area you'll know that it is built in a very hilly area of the city. That's why there are beautiful views from the stadium.

It was overcast, about 65 degrees. Perfect weather for running. The course ran through the parking lot and then out of the parking lot around Elysian Park and the Los Angeles Police Academy. The course was very similar to another run that the Dodgers sponsored back in the late 80's through the 90's called The Dodgers Home Run.

The entire run was uphill and then downhill. A lot of the runners were Dodgers fans wearing Dodgers hats and shirts. I finished the run in 51:14. Crossing the finish line former Dodger Kenny Landreaux slapped me a high-five. Definitely not my best run but on this course I don't think anyone did their best. After I finished I got a bottle of water and a banana and sat at down next to George Costanza's parking spot at the stadium. I guess he's no longer working for the Yankees.

I thought part of the course would include a run through the stadium but since the Dodgers are now in the playoffs they may have changed it. But they did let everyone walk inside the stadium around the warning track.

The finishing medal was cool. The weather was cool. A cool time was had by all.

Go Dodgers!

WTF RUNNERS WORLD!

I used to blog at Runners World Magazine online at The Loop. I would review races that I had been in and and give some antidotes and advice. I haven't been there in a while because I haven't been entered in much runs lately, until last Sunday. Now I just found out that The Loop is no longer there. Runners World Magazine has no time for the Loopsters, they'd rather publish stories about a guy masturbating in the middle of a half marathon or a guy whose 'junk' was exposed while running a marathon.
This is very sad because I did get to meet a lot of cool runners from around the world and even meet up with some for races. So I'm starting my own running blog, Zombie Kid's running blog. I would blog at The Loop as the notorious Zombie Kid from this viral video.  I'm not really that kid but I do believe he is the modern day version of the kid that said, "The Emperor is naked." And as long as the emperor wasn't exposing himself in the middle of a half marathon or sprinting into the finish of a marathon all is well.
So rest in peace Loop. Just remember, I'm a zombie and zombie's refuse to die!
Cheers!