What happens when the weather is nice?

The LA Marathon took over the streets of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica on Sunday, March 18.  The 27th running of the event found me lined up in corral B aiming for a sub-4 hour race in my fourth LA Marathon and 20th marathon overall.

Having a great time at Mile 18.  (photo by Miri Frankel)

If you have been keeping track the past few weeks, Sunday's weather forecast featured torrential rain, maybe some hail and a fair bit of wind.  And in fact, Saturday's Big 5K race had all but the hail.  Combined with last year's rainy marathon, my imagination needed no stoking to construct a picture of what I could expect.  In fact, I did not care too much if we got drenched during the run, but standing in the rain awaiting the start seemed miserable.

Yet expectations are not always realities.  And a cool day (perfect for marathon running) dawned on Sunday.  Not a drop of rain feel that I felt, and other than a windy run home on the beach after the marathon, I was comfortable, had a great time (literally and figuratively) and all around cruised.  (This past Sunday, we had all of the promised torrential rain, and I stayed happily dry inside.  The weather gurus had the right weather on the wrong day!)

Here are my results:
Time:  3:33:59 (1 minute faster than my best hoped for time)
Place:  996 out of 18,837 (Top 6%)
Male Place:   863 out of 11468 (Top 8%)
Males 40-45:  138 out of 1431 (top 10%)
Age rating (basically, how good did I do against the record for my age):  61% 
    (this is very good - 70% is the highest I have ever hit in any race)



Results Commentary
I aimed for 3:35 - 3:45, so I am psyched with my sub 3:34.  This is my 4th fastest marathon ever and fastest in 18 months.  It's also my 3rd marathon under 3:40 this year to go along with a 3:44 one.  I actually cramped in my calves just as a I crossed the finish line.  Someone from the staff came over to see if I was ok, but after 30 seconds, I was able to move, get my medal and pose for a photo.  5 minutes later I was running home the 4.2 miles to hit my 30 mile target for the day.

Race Commentary

LA Marathon Update 2: Rain or shine?

Hello all -

The big question I have received since sending out my marathon update earlier in the week has been about the weather.  After nearly a whole winter without rain, LA got hit this weekend with a storm.  As I type this, the sun is clearing around the Palisades even as dusk commences.  Does that bode well or ill?  The forecast still says "few showers" for tomorrow.  Scattered is an improvement on last year's "continuous" actuality.  (And of course, we just got a squall as I typed this paragraph.)  I don't mind the rain much when running, but the standing waiting in it is lousy.

I had a taste of the rainy run this morning of LA Big 5K - a 3.1 mile jaunt around the environs of Dodger Stadium as part of the marathon weekend.  I joined a group of runners running for the Alliance of Children's Rights.  I mentioned the group in my last email, and I'm excited to say that we've reached last year's $50,000 level.  Thanks in part to those of you who have donated this week based on my email, we are in a position to surpass 2011.  So, if you haven't had a chance or do not know which charity to support, please pick the Alliance for our final push.  https://www.justgive.org/registries/wishlist/donate/runlairdrun.


We had good representation today from the Activision quadrant.  My fellow running club friend, Miri, was in town from Minneapolis for business meetings and braved the lousy LA weather to take in her first LA race.  On a day when running around lake Minnetonka would have been more pleasant, she got to meet many people from the Alliance contingent and then get dumped on with rain when I picked up my bib for tomorrow's race.  Miri and her friends run for charities too.  Read more here  http://theracewithinus.blogspot.com/

I also had the pleasure to meet Mike whom I have only know via email and Facebook.  Mike is from Ohio and is best friends with Activision's SVP of North American Sales, Steve.  Steve connected us last year when Mike started his running career because he wanted to share some of my running adventures.  I am super appreciative, and today I got the chance to see both of them as they ran the 5K.  Mike, like me, is running for the Alliance and is also running the full marathon tomorrow.  So, we'll be hanging out prior to the event.

As I have written before, the LA marathon course is great.  Honestly, I was getting very excited during the 5K and then at the expo just thinking about it.  I have friends waving hi on the course, and I can already picture myself stepping (splashing?) through the 26 miles from Dodger Stadium to the beach.  My goal is then to add in 4 more miles running home for a total of 30.

My name on one of two pace cars.  I was in about the same spot last year too.

None of us can control the weather, so all that is left is to enjoy the rest no matter what happens.

Thanks again for your support.  The US charities page is here:  https://www.justgive.org/registries/wishlist/donate/runlairdrun, and the page for Rays of Sunshine in the UK is now as well:  http://www.justgiving.com/runlairdrun.

Look for a post race update tomorrow.  For those who want during the course action updates, you can follow me by registering here:  http://www.xacte.com/templates/lamarathon.  My bib number is 679.

(By the way, there isn't a lot of meaning to the bib numbers, but for some reason mine is very low for a normal runner.  I was super jazzed getting to go to the "1-1500" section of the race pick up area.)

Thanks,

Laird

PS If you actually can control the weather, please dial in a nice mid-50's cool day with minimal breezes.  Thanks in advance from all 20,000 LA Marathon runners.

Let the Fundraising Begin!

Dear friends and family,

Once more, the streets beckon to my feet, and once more I hope to dash through a number of marathons this spring.  Like last year's equinox fling, the big events kick off with the Honda LA Marathon on March 18.  Then, 5 weeks later, I'll be hitting the pavement in my short lived but thoroughly beloved expatriate home of London, England.  After that, I am heading to Fort Collins or Fargo (or both!) for more 26.2 mile jaunts.  My big goal for this year is to complete a 50 mile race.  Crazy? Sure!  But first things first.  (Yep, it's fundraising time! Here's the link for those wanting to skip the commentary: https://www.justgive.org/registries/wishlist/donate/runlairdrun)

The Awesome Stadium to Sea Course

Now, you may be wondering why LA again.  Well, of course geographically, I should run LA.  Yet more than that, I really have loved the past two years competing in the Stadium to the Sea Course that kicks off at Dodger Stadium, heads east to downtown and then back west through Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Westwood and Brentwood before ending in Santa Monica above the Pacific Ocean.  Heavy rain last year did not dissuade me from a third crack at this awesome route.  With Frank McCourt selling off both the Dodgers and the LA Marathon, no one has any idea how long this course will stay in place.  And even beyond those reasons, I like being proud of running in Los Angeles.  This is my hometown, and while I have lived in many places and liked them all, I should be loyal and supportive of LA's race - one of the oldest big city marathons.

This support of LA extends to one of the four charities I am backing again this year.  The Alliance for Children's Rights provides free legal and support services to children in the foster system here in LA.  They do amazing work with adoptions, child defense, reuniting siblings split by foster parents and creating programs to support kids moving into college and beyond.  They have mentor programs and take a very hands on approach to everything they do.  I am the co-chair again this year of their LA Marathon fund raising.  Last year we hit over $50,000, and the goal this year is much bigger.  We expect over 80 runners between the 5K and LA Marathon on March 17 and 18.  If you are in LA and want to run one of these, please let me know!  The team at the Alliance does a great job taking care of us runners, and they will be at mile 20 of the marathon to cheer us on.  This is also the 20th anniversary of the charity.  Rebecca's new medical practice is a sponsor of their efforts as well.  Learn more:  http://kids-alliance.org/

Later, 2012 finds the world descending on London for the Summery Olympic Games.  So, I wanted to run the Virgin London Marathon as my way of connecting to that amazing event in a place where we lived for about a year.  When I am in London, just walking through the streets makes me feel at home and relaxed.  The race is April 22 and follows a lovely course from Greenwich to near Buckingham Palace.  The 1908 London Marathon was the first to set a marathon distance at 26.2 miles (42.1 km), and so in many ways, it is part home of the marathon (along with Athens which hosted the first ever and Boston which has kept it alive for over 110 years).

To celebrate the London marathon, I'm running for Rays of Sunshine.  I met the Executive Director and her family on a flight to Morocco back in 2010 during my 7 continent quest.  She gave me the opportunity to run for her group, and I took advantage.  Rays of Sunshine provides wish fulfillment for children suffering form terminal and serious diseases.  They work throughout the UK and have been around for many years.  They are well known and moreover well respected.  I am proud to add them to the fold.  https://www.raysofsunshine.org.uk/

While I left Activision in December, I still believe strongly in the C.O.D.E. mission of providing training and jobs for our veterans.  C.O.D.E. has been gaining a lot of momentum and continues to establish new scholarships and job opportunities throughout the United States.  Whenever I post on the C.O.D.E. site about my running, I get a lot of positive support and affirmation.  http://www.callofdutyendowment.org/

Children International is another awesome group.  I was privileged to visit their Viña del Mar facility in Chile this past October.  In fact, I actually followed my 7th continent marathon with that excursion.  I'm so happy I did because it reminded me of the power of people helping others;  I spend a lot of time running by myself, and connecting my running to something much bigger than my mileage log is crucial to my fun.  In December, I visited the C.I. HQ in Kansas City.  Together, we brainstormed how the funds we raise could be used, and we agreed that all funds donated to the marathon efforts will go to their new kids sports program: Game On!  This program is designed to keep kids busy after school so they do not fall in with the wrong elements in their impoverished neighborhoods.   Soccer is the main activity, and that means a lot of running!  At some point this spring or summer, I will go back to KC and run a race with their staff for fun.  Learn more at www.children.org

Over the next few days, I'll provide some updates as the LA Marathon unfolds, and I gear up for London.  As always, if you want off the list, please just email me.  No worries at all.

And moreover, thank you to those who have supported me in my 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 campaigns.  We've officially opened the 2012 donation page at: https://www.justgive.org/registries/wishlist/donate/runlairdrun.  This is for the US charities.  Another email will detail how to donate to Rays of Sunshine on a similar UK site.   For all donations made, we will match $10 per donation to the charity chosen.  So, giving anything nets more money to each charity.

Thank you in advance for considering any amount you see fit.  Also, if you prefer to write a check to any of these organizations, please let me know.  This saves on the processing fees and gets more money into the charities' programs.

Here's to hoping whatever endeavors are inspiring you are going amazingly!

Best,

Laird

PS Once again, thanks for reading and supporting.

A Year of Running in Review

Gee, I sure put on the miles in 2011.  Besides traveling all over the world to run (Antarctica, Washington, Chile, New York, Colorado amongst other locations for work travel), I happened to look up how much I had actually ran or cycled this year - my main two cardiovascular activities.  And the total is a staggering:  2014 total miles.  And this doesn't count a perhaps last run or bike ride this afternoon. (I'm posting this at 2:30 on Dec 31.)  That's up 300 miles from 2010!  All told, I ran or biked for 240 hours - basically a week and a half.  Over 1700 of those were running miles.

Statistics are an easy way to talk about one's main hobby, and I suspect they wrap up the package nicely into something digestible.  So, let me try to put some prose against this year and highlight my 11 favorite running moments from 2011.


11. Two glorious runs in Bellevue, WA

From the I-90 Bike Path looking North over Lake Washington

For the first time in years, I spent a number of days in the Seattle area.  I've gotten good at finding local trails by searching online (more on how to do this in a future post), and Bellevue revealed a wonderful "Lake to Lake" urban trial that treks between Lake Washington to Lake Sammamish.  This path connects a series of parks including some fairly wooded areas.  While you go on and off of city sidewalks, the overall effect is great.  I ran to both lakes on different occasions.

Gobbling Up the Miles

If you run, you probably get basted with options for Turkey Day trots.  Many cities, community groups and schools conduct some sort of 5 or 10k family jaunt either on Thanksgiving itself or this weekend.  I even found a few marathons offered as pre-turkey activities.  For those not traveling near and far, the turkey runs offer a nice start to  a day of sitting around watching football (or better yet playing Skylanders or Call of Duty) and then gorging on stuffing and pumpkin pie.  I call it banking the calories as a way to alleviate any gluttonous tendencies.

But for us, the runners of the world, we do not need an organized event to celebrate Thanksgiving and set up our bodies to absorb a massive meal.  In recent years, I have found that picking my own special course is far more rewarding and engenders many more feelings of thanks.  If you love those turkey trots, by all means, keep running them.    But if you are bored with those and the logistics, cost and travel time associated with participating in a planned event, read on.

The NYC Marathon as told through illustration

I wanted to share this nifty live twitter/sketch of the NYC Marathon last Sunday.   Here's the blurb from the post and then follow the link to see the whole thing:

Hot Buzz

New York Times Cartoonist Live-Draws The NYC Marathon While Running It

Christoph Niemann, a cartoonist from the New York Times (remember this), live-drew and tweeted his entire NYC marathon run. 

The First Entry.  Follow the Link for the Rest. It's worth it.  If you like bananas.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/new-york-times-cartoonist-live-draws-the-nyc-marat

Credit for finding this goes to fellow Antarctica and NYC Runner (3:01!) Larry I.  Thanks Larry and well done in NYC!

Success! And some pictures too.

Hello all -

My race bib and finisher medal

Today (Sunday, November 6), I competed in my 2nd NYC Marathon.  Somewhere around 45,000 other runners did so as well on an absolutely gorgeous, sunny, cool day.  In fact, the conditions were so good that the male winner, Geoffrey Mutai, shattered the course record by 2 minutes.   Mutai accomplished a similar feat in the Boston Marathon last April.  The Kenyan must be considered a favorite for the London Olympic race next year - if he makes the team given how strong Kenya is in this sport.

I didn't run anywhere that fast, but that didn't stop me from running my second sub-3:40 marathon in 3 weeks.  The official result shows as 3:37:44.  On the course to support me were my parents, my son Justin, his girlfriend Rachel and friend Michael A.  So, I got to enjoy the experience with them.  I thought I would share some mostly "pre-race" photos.  After they publish the race photos, I'll be sure to put those online too.

Thanks to everyone who sent those wonderful messages and encouragement posts throughout the past few days.

A beautiful sunrise at JFK when I landed on Friday morning.

The NYC Marathon - 1 day to go

I was looking at the NYC Marathon app on my iPhone, and I saw it roll over from 1 day to go to 24:59:59 to go.  And I thought - wow, that's a weird bug.  25 hours to go.  But then I realized that indeed there are 25 hours since tonight we get that hour sleep back from the spring.  Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 AM.

And that's great, because Sunday at 6 AM, I will be aboard the Staten Island Ferry to shuttle across NY Harbor to the start of my 2nd NYC Marathon.  The race traverses across all five boroughs ending in Central Park in Manhattan.

Full course map:  http://www.nycmarathon.com/documents/INGNYCM11_Course_Map_ForWeb.pdf

When I was young, I remember seeing all those people starting the race on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Today you can watch it online at Universal Sports.  But, that's nothing compared to standing there - the helicopters circling above, the fireboats spouting plumes of water into the air.  And then Frank sings "New York, New York" and you are off.  The bridge shakes as the runners storm across the upper and lower decks.  Then you hit an amazing crowd of spectators in Brooklyn.  Tremendous!

From Shoes to Tunes

Hi all -

My friend, Ron Longo, and I return to the Podcast microphones to chat about the magical film music from John Williams.  Lito Velsaco joins us to talk Williams, Indiana Jones and scary movies in our Halloween special.

Please take a listen.

http://theindycast.com/john-williams-special-6-halloween-edition/

Also available via iTunes.  Search on IndyCast or The ForceCast.

CrossFIT and why you should try it

Just a quick post to end the weekend inspired by being the subject of a blog entry by my CrossFIT Malibu gym this past week.  Here's the link: http://runl.me/nW770l.

A bunch of CF regulars this past September

If you do not know what CrossFIT entails, then I urge you to research your area and try the entry level course.  In short, CF focuses on total fitness.  Core, strength, flexibility, stamina, burst power and sustainable energy.  Think of the most well rounded athlete you know, and you have the idea.

I'm fairly fit, but frankly mostly in one dimension - I do massive amounts of cardio work.  Ultimately, marathon running is intense aerobic activity.  You try to find a comfort zone.  When I'm comfortable doing a CF workout, something is wrong.

For over two years, I've been endeavoring to attend CF at least once per week.  This falls off during marathon races, but I try to get there twice per week during standard training.  We do everything from the obvious like pull ups and push ups to lifting, sprints, rowing, rope climbing, burpees, wall balls and more.  The workout typically covers about 30 minutes of technique or warm up or setting a PR for some activity.  Then a timed workout follows covering 3 to 4 different exercises.  The routines change daily.

Mike Anderson, who I have known for 3 years, opened CrossFit Malibu in September 2009.  It's a family/friendly affair with the focus on community and mutual support.  http://crossfitmalibu.blogspot.com/ for more info.  And if you don't live in this area, I am sure you will find a gym near where you reside.

Continent 7: The LA Marathon (South American Version)

(Click here to start at the beginning of this series)

Los Ángeles, Chile, October 16, 2011
The organizers, Olimpo.cl, do not actually call their mid-October running festival the LA Marathon.  But oh I wish they did.  Because how better to end my quest for 7 continents by running a LA Marathon having run the California version for my first marathon (and thus initial continent).

No, instead they label it based on the river that bisects the central growing region from the lake district.  The Rio Bío Bío lends its name to the Marathón del Bío Bío running festival.  Or as the director Rodrigo Salas stressed at the briefing and pasta dinner:  The INTERNATIONAL Marathón del Bío Bío for a handful of us were competitors from outside of Chile.  They even interviewed me twice for their video of the event and wanted to know why I had come all the way to LA Chile.

Continent 6: Antarctica: Return Doubtful?

(Click here to begin at the start of this 7 days to 7 continent series.)

King George Island, Antarctica, February 2011
What motivated me to start this blog?  Last month, 500 pages were viewed.  Certainly, the Google engineers do not sweat when I post a new entry.  Yet, capturing my thoughts and feelings, and hopefully entertaining and inspiring others, draws me onward.

I actually tried to start a training blog a few years ago, but I found neither the interest nor the time.  As I approached continent 6 - Antarctica - this past February, I knew I must start again.  My friends over at the www.indyintheclassroom.com invited me to write about the journey as well as be their inaugural adventure log contributor.  So, I already had a commitment to capture some amount of what I saw and experienced in words.  Armed additionally with my trusty Nikon, I ensured that I would go to Antarctica and try to bring back some part of that adventure.