Rock n Roll St Louis Marathon 2011

Travel, expo, and stuff
I took an early flight out of LAX. Have I mentioned that I don't like flying with American Airlines out of LAX? The AA employees at LAX are horrible. The ones at Ontario are fine. They really need to fire these grumpy employees. Maybe it was just too early for them. :)

When I boarded the plane, I looked outside and it was dark and pretty foggy. As we got up into the air, I sort of missed having free alcohol with Southwest airlines. Coffee with Bailey's Irish Creme is really good early in the morning. But I love Dr. Pepper so everything was good.

Foggy morning at dark o'clock

I got into Lambert airport and took the Metro rail into Downtown St. Louis. I took it all the way to the Convention Center so it was very convenient. Walking to the expo, my right ankle was occasionally achy. It was a sporadic discomfort. But I could walk without a limp. I walked through the expo and decided to sign up for the San Antonio RnR Marathon to replace the New Year's Eve race. That way I would still qualify for the Rock Idol medal this year. I also picked up my Super Six medal or was it Stupid Six? :)

No boozing on AA

Lambert Airport Station

St Louis RnR Marathon Expo

I then walked over to my hotel which was a few blocks away. I must say that it is much nicer to stay at hotel with more stars. It's definitely worth the extra money. The only thing wrong with this place was that one of the buttons on the remote was sticky.

Later that evening, I met up with my Marathon Maniacs friends to head over to Lombardo's Trattoria for the pre-race meal. Since we were the first ones to get there, we had a little time to kill before everyone showed up. I had a Guinness while we waited. The dinner was very well organized. We had their flash fried spinach and toasted ravioli as appetizers. The spinach reminded me of eating dried seaweed. I wasn't impressed with the ravioli, but at least it was meaty. We also had a salad. For my entree, I had the Capellini Anthony. I must say that I'm not a big fan of Italian food. But it was fun meeting some more Maniacs.

Guinness

Flash fried spinach

Toasted ravioli

Inside of the toasted ravioli

Capellini Anthony

Marathon Maniacs

Race Day
I walked over to the starting area. I knew it was going to be a long day when the ankle was still achy. I stopped to stretch it out. It was kind of hard locating the pre-race water station. After I found it, I mixed my drink and headed over to the spot for the Marathon Maniacs photo. There was a lot of barricades as they were setting up the finishing chute. I missed the photo. They were finishing just as I got there. I checked my gear bag and stood in a portapotty line.

Goal: finish, preferably sub 7.

I was assigned to corral 3, but I knew my right ankle was jacked up, so I started at the back of corral 14. Power-walking or race-walking is not easy. The right ankle was not feeling it. I had more discomfort than I did at Portland. I wanted to keep most of the miles around 15 minutes per mile. It is quite a mental task to convince yourself that you're going to be walking all of the 26.2 miles.

Another guy starting jogging/walking with me a little after the halfway mark. We sort of helped each other get through the race. My ankle was toast. I think I would've been able to cover the distance quicker if I were by myself. But having someone to talk to made the mental part of it easier. I was definitely losing focus. The sag vehicles started to circle us like vultures when we were nearer to the finish. I was very tempted to climb into one of the vehicles.

I trotted down the finishing chute after crossing the mile 26 marker. The Penguin liked the fact that I took the entire allotted time to finish.
1: 12:18
2: 12:59
3: 13:48
4-5: 28:22 (14:11)
6: 13:51
7: 14:39
8: 15:36
9: 15:39
10: 15:42
11: 15:35
12: 16:47
13: 16:34
14: 17:30
15: 15:49
16: 16:43
17: 16:44
18: 17:03
19: 17:20
20: 17:52
21: 17:52
22: 18:22
23: 19:03
24: 18:30
25: 18:59
26: 18:30
26.2: 3:04
Finish: 7:05:10

Overall: 3351 out of 3354
Division: 339 out of 339
Gender: 1877 out of 1877

Post-race
That was a rough "race". I executed the plan, was off by 5 minutes or so, but man it was mentally tough. I don't think I aggravated or hurt the tendons any further since I could walk pretty much the same the next day. I just felt sore in different places than if I had ran. It was not easy coming in DFL in almost all of the categories. Only 3 women finished behind me.

I had to rush out of the ghost town of a finisher's chute to go get my gear bag. Hardly anybody was left except for those breaking down the event. My bag was one of few left on one table. The guy breaking down the gear bag area was watching the bags. It was very stressful being one of the last finishers.

Medals

As I was walking back to my hotel, I looked through the window at Hooters and I saw a guy wearing a Maniac jersey. It turned out to be my friend, Marathon Mitch. I hung out with him for a little bit. The waitress kept asking if I wanted to order food. I told her that I would be back for dinner and the baseball game.

I showered and relaxed in my room. Later I went back to Hooters for my recovery meal. I had 3 big daddy beers (25oz each), tater tots, and some wings. Their food wasn't bad at all. My waitress was the same one that served my friend. She kept stopping by my booth to watch the game with me. She blamed me for the Cardinals losing since I had stopped ordering more beer. But after 75oz, I was good... what ankle soreness? :) As for the wings, I prefer to eat them naked.

Goose Island Honker's Ale

Hooters - Lots of tots

Hooters - Breaded spicy garlic wings

Hooters - Naked spicy garlic wings

Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale

Goose Island Summertime

I tried to sleep in, but still woke up before sunrise. I watched the morning news and ESPN. Finally it was close to noon and time to check out. I grabbed my stuff and hiked up over to the Rooster for some lunch. I first stopped by a convenience store to buy some drinks since I was so thirsty. At Rooster, I ordered a crepe. The sausage was good, but I have to say that I don't like crepes. But it's always good to try new things.

Rooster - German sausage with spiced apple crepe

Since my flight was later in the evening, I hiked back to Kiener Plaza. I took a few pictures of the Old Courthouse and the Arch. The first few I took had the OccupySTL people in it, but it sort of ruined the picture. So I took more without them in it. After sitting on a bench in the plaza for a bit, I got up and hiked out to Busch Stadium.

Kiener Plaza, Old Courthouse, and the Arch

I took a few pictures and visited their souvenir store. I had thought about buying something, but wearing red would be a little weird for a Dodger fan. There was a Metro station right across the street from the stadium. So I took it to the airport for my flight home. I wish Los Angeles would hurry up and expand their rail system. I hate having to drive everywhere.

Busch Stadium

Busch Stadium

Jack Buck

Ozzie Smith

Portland Marathon 2011

Travel and stuff
I took another early flight out of LAX with Southwest. It's a good thing that I'm a morning person. It always sounds like a good idea when I'm booking the flight... it's cheaper and there's no traffic to the airport. Too bad the sun doesn't come up until you're boarding the plane! The flight had two legs with a stop at Oakland before landing in PDX. I finally remembered to bring my free booze tickets for being a frequent flyer. I had some coffee with Bailey's Irish Creme. It sure makes the flight a lot more enjoyable.

Coffee with Bailey's Irish Creme compliments of Southwest Airlines

When we landed in PDX, I grabbed my bag and headed for the light rail train. It was pretty easy to use. You pay $2.40 to ride into Downtown. But once you're in the Downtown area, it's a free-ride zone. I rode into Downtown and got off near the hotel where the expo was held. Before going in, a lady was handing out a coupon for a pair of free socks at a nearby running & walking store called Foot Traffic. The hotel was packed! The expo was on multiple levels. They might need to find another place for the expo. But the organization was very good. There was plenty of people wearing bright yellow jackets directing people where to go.

TriMet Map

TriMet Red Line

Expo at Hilton Portland & Executive Tower

After grabbing my bib and shirt, I went through the expo actually looking for an ankle brace. But there wasn't a single booth selling them. So I hiked over to the Foot Traffic store to pick up some free socks and see if I can find an ankle brace to possibly wear for the marathon. At this point, I wasn't 100% certain of even starting the race.

I got a free pair of black Asics socks. I bought a Pro-Tec Neoprene Ankle Wrap and wore it right there on the spot. I walked over to the light rail station and hopped on the train headed for my hotel. There's a station pretty much right in front of the hotel. I checked into my room and they gave me the usual DoubleTree cookie. :) This hotel uses soft water which was pretty nice.

DoubleTree

Room view#1

Room view#2

I ate the cookie and laid out the stuff that I picked up at the expo. Then I headed out to eat lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant, Koji Osakaya. I ordered the geso tempura and tonkotsu chashu ramen. Both were decent, but nothing special. I've had better elsewhere.

Participant Shirt

Koji Osakaya - Geso Tempura

Koji Osakaya - Tonkotsu Chasu Ramen

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped by the DollarTree to pick up some drinks and water. After relaxing, taking a nap, and watching TV, I headed back out to eat an early dinner at McMenamins. My friend recommended that I go here for a Hammerhead. Yes, indeed it was good! I guess I love pub food as well. The burger was good and I love tater tots. My second beer was the Terminator stout. I love a good stout!

McMenamins - Hammerhead

McMenamins - flame grilled burger with tater tots

McMenamins - Terminator (I'll be back!)

Before going to sleep, I mixed my Cytomax for my handheld bottle. The official race drink was Ultima and I hate Ultima. It tastes really really bad.

Race Day
I decided not to wear the ankle wrap since I knew my issue was a tendon issue, so I went with only calf sleeves. I took the light rail to the starting area. Each car was very packed. I took a seat next to a transient. There was a reason that that seat was open... he was pretty stinky. I was assigned to the B corral, but there's no way I could start in that fast of a corral in my current condition. I first checked out the C corral and asked a runner his goal time. It was still too fast, so I made my way to the D corral. D corral was for people running mid 4 hr marathons. I thought I would see if my legs could handle a couple of 9 min miles. I hindsight, I should've started in the F or W (walking) corral.

While waiting in the corral, I heard a funny comment. There was a guy with sunglasses on his head. Another runner saw and said, "wow, sunglasses?! You're optimistic!" :)

Goal A: finish in 6 hrs
Goal B: finish in 6.5 hrs
Goal C: don't set a new personal worst (7:35:37) :)

The race
Well, from the very first step on the bad leg pretty much put a kibosh on running any part of this race. I still tried to jog during the first mile, but it was too painful. By mile 2 I was in full walking mode. There was still discomfort, but at least it wasn't painful. There was a couple of runners that thanked me for running for Autism. It was drizzling off and on for what seemed like the entire race. We were under cloud cover the entire time. I think by the halfway point, I was passed by all of the runners. I got there just under 3 hours. It was now just me and the race-walkers. Prior to the race I was warned about the hills at mile 17-18, so I was somewhat ready for it. But I didn't realize just how badly I would bonk while walking a marathon. I was having a lot of problems at mile 19. I had to just stop a few times. I even found a few places to sit down. I had to take in more salt and food for the extended hike. After which I recovered a little bit and tried to take it slower. But it happened again at mile 25. The legs just did not want to move. I managed to revive the legs for 1 final mile.
1: 11:59
2: 12:50
3: 13:55
4: 13:43
5: 12:59
6: 13:11
7: 13:25
8-9: 27:23 (13:42)
10: 14:15
11: 14:08
12: 15:20
13: 14:54
14: 15:11
15: 15:41
16: 16:11
17: 16:23
18: 18:58
19: 22:45
20: 16:50
21: 16:43
22: 16:27
23: 16:59
24: 18:29
25: 20:01
26: 16:56
26.2: 3:00
Finish: 6:48:35

Post race
I was so relieved to finish this race in one piece. Oregon brings my total to 16 states and 63 marathons overall. The finishing chute was very well organized even for a back of the packer. I was actually a little overwhelmed with everything being handed out. A finisher's medal, water, oranges, bananas, bagels, finisher's long sleeve shirt, finisher's coin, finisher's pendant, pomegranate juice, mylar blanket, a seedling, and a rose. I ran out of hands to hold everything. I gave the seedling away since I have no place to plant it and I didn't want any potential trouble with the TSA. Out of all the races that I've ran, the finishing chute for this race was the best. This race was definitely one of my favorites. I love the Pacific northwest. I carried a disposable rain poncho just in case there was heavy rain. But never once did I need to use it.

Finisher loot, front side: long sleeve shirt, coin, medal, pendant, rose

Finisher loot, back side: long sleeve shirt, coin, medal, pendant, rose

I took the light rail back to my hotel. I got some looks on the train as I was still wearing the mylar blanket like a cape. Somehow that post race runner look is normal to us runners, but I'm sure we look like clowns to the non-runners.

I relaxed a bit, hit the shower, and relaxed some more before heading out later for an early dinner back at McMenamins. I could've tried some other place, but I'm such a creature of habit and there were other beers that I wanted to try. I had their Thundercone fresh hop ale which was a fall seasonal beer. It was nice and refreshing. I ordered a Stormin' Norman sandwich. It had grilled Canadian bacon and some secret sauce on a French roll. I don't know what sauce they used, but it was a very good sandwich and of course I had tater tots with it. I love tater tots! I also love a good porter. The nitro porter was very good.

McMenamins - Thundercone fresh hop ale

McMenamins - Stormin' Norman with tater tots

McMenamins - nitro porter

The next day, I hung out in my room until it was time to check out. The right leg was extra gimpy and it was pretty uncomfortable to even shuffle around. There was also a light rain. But I walked all the way back to the same Japanese restaurant to try something different on their menu. I ordered their spicy chicken katsu curry. It came with a small salad. The curry was pretty good. I would prefer their curry over their ramen.

Koji Osakaya - salad

Koji Osakaya - spicy chicken katsu curry

I then hobbled over to the Lloyd Center Cinema 10 a few blocks over. I bought a ticket for Ides of March, but had to wait about 2 hours for the movie. But I had an evening flight home so that wasn't a problem.

Footloose - I want to see this new remake

Well if you weren't already cynical towards politics, you would be after Ides of March. This was my kind of a movie, one that engages the brain. But if you're an ultra-conservative right wing Republican then you probably won't like this movie. Also if you're looking for a blow 'em up shoot 'em up movie, this one will probably bore you to tears.

After the movie, I hobbled over to the train station to catch a train to the airport. Along the way, it mostly drizzled. I bought a ticket and waited for my train. I must appear to know what I was doing since a couple of people asked me how to get to their destination. Little do they know that this was my first time in Portland.

At the airport, the screen showed that my flight was going to be delayed for 30 minutes, so I headed over to the other terminal to eat dinner at the Rogue Ales Public House. I've heard a lot of good things about their beer and they were indeed very good. The Shakespeare Stout nitro was very good. I also had the Dead Guy Ale because it's their most popular beer. Good stuff. I ordered their 1/2 pound Kobe burger with Oregon Bleu Cheese. The wasabi mayonnaise was really good and it was good with the fries as well.

Rogue - Shakespeare Stout Nitro

Rogue - 1/2 pound Kobe burger with Oregon bleu cheese

Rogue - Dead Guy Ale

Well, that's it for walking, eating, and drinking my way through Portland! Now I have to see if I can recover enough to tackle the St. Louis Rock n' Roll Marathon. My plan still remains the same. The number of marathons will significantly dropped by mid 2012. Then in 2013, if everything goes well I will train for a BQ. Nothing has changed.

Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon 2011

Travel and Expo
Well, I ended up hurting myself a week before the race during a training run. My ankle had been sore, but I decided to run anyways. I ended up limping for the next several days, but eventually I was able to lose the limp. So I flew on an early flight on Southwest out of Ontario to San Jose. It was a short flight and I ended up sitting in the first row. It was the first time I got to be the first person to get off of the plane. The San Jose airport was really nice. I took the #10 bus to the metro light rail station. I took the rail over to the Convention Center and walked over to the expo. The rail system was very convenient.

The Expo

I went through all of the expo with no races to register and nothing to buy. I stopped by the Nutrilite trailer to see if I can pick up some endurance cubes, but they had already ran out. I sampled their energy bar. It was a bit chewy for my taste. Upon entering the van, I was greeted by a video of Kara Goucher endorsing Nutrilite products.

Kara Goucher hocking the Nutrilite products :)

After I was done with the expo, I walked over a few blocks to my hotel, the Ramada. I got a very nice corner room, but it was on the 3rd floor. I knew that being on the 3rd floor would be a problem after the race.

Ramada

Race goodies

I relaxed while watching some TV. Then as lunch time approached, I took the rail up to Japantown to eat some ramen. There was a fair being held there which was pretty neat. I ate at Kumako Ramen where I ordered the tonkotsu shoyu ramen with egg. It was decent, but nowhere near the best.

Japantown Fair

Kumako Ramen

Kumako Ramen - tonkotsu shoyu ramen with egg

After eating ramen, I stopped by Nijiya to buy some snacks. After buying the snacks, I stopped by the bonsai exhibition. Very cool exhibits.

Nijiya - snacks

Bonsai

Bonsai

Bonsai

Bonsai

Bonsai

Since my room had a fridge, I bought an Odwalla drink at The Market on my way back to my hotel. I ate my snacks while watching the baseball game on TV. Then eventually it was time for dinner and I hopped on the rail again for Japantown. This time, I ate at Gombei. I had their combo which was pretty good and the price was also very reasonable at only $10. It came with miso soup, mackerel, katsu, and salad.

Gombei - Gombei combo

Race Day
I woke up pretty earlier to get ready. I always like to take my time. I never like to feel rushed. I walked over to the starting area. I hung out at the steps near the volunteer check in area and mixed my electrolyte drink. I then found a bench to sit down which was only a few yards for the gear check area. When I was ready to go check my gear, I bumped into my half fanatic friends. We took a picture and I left to get ready for the race.

Half Fanatics

As I was headed for my corral, I bumped into my bay area friends, Jen and Johannes. We walked over to our corrals. I saw Ben while we waited in the corral. After a short wait, we were off. Even though we were in separate corrals, once the gun fired, everyone was released.

The only goal for the race was to just finish the race with as little pain as possible even if I have to walk it.

The Race
The first mile felt very comfortable until about 3/4 of a mile. I started to feel discomfort in the right ankle so I slowed down a bit. I could not hold it together in mile 2. I had to walk and jog. By mile 3, I was ready to drop out. But I decided to stick with the plan and turn it into a walk-a-thon. Around mile 5, I saw Meb Keflezighi in first place headed for the finish line. Then later near mile 6, I saw Deena Kastor as the first place woman headed for the finish. Not that far behind her was my friend, Gundy. He was hauling butt. Other than that it was a very long uncomfortable walk and jog to the finish line.
1: 8:03
2: 10:04
3: 13:28
4: 14:55
5: 13:46
6: 14:57
7: 15:35
8: 16:11
9: 16:41
10: 17:24
11: 16:01
12: 16:30
13: 14:50
13.1: 1:22

Finish: 3:09:47

Post Race
After finishing, I hurried through the finisher's area to go pick up my gear bag so I could check out of my hotel. I bumped into the fanatics on my way out. Looks like I was the last to finish. I limped back to my hotel. It was not fun walking up to the 3rd floor. I took a quick shower, packed up and checked out right at 12pm.

I would like to run this race again someday when I'm healthy. The course was definitely a PR course. There are also some other restaurants that I'd like to try out. One is Orenchi Ramen. But I would need to take a long bus ride or bring my car.

Finisher's medal

For lunch, I walked over to the Tandoori Oven. I had their Tandoori chicken salad. It was pretty good stuff. I would seem that I prefer eating a salad after races.

Tandoori Oven - Tandoori chicken salad

I then walked over to, Camera 12 Cinema, the movie theater next door to watch a movie. I bought a ticket for 50/50, but it didn't start for another hour or so. I first waited outside of a nearby Starbucks, but I left when a couple of guys started smoking cigars. I ended up waiting in the theater lobby. The movie was pretty good. It was very humorously done with some very emotional scenes. It got me kind of misty-eyed... which wasn't too hard especially after just walking a half marathon for Team in Training. Even though it was just a movie, cancer really does suck.

After the movie, I walked over to Smoke Eaters to watch some sports and eat some of their famous wings. I ordered 10 traditional wingers with bleu cheese. There was no way I would attempt the Hellfire Challenge. Their wings were pretty good, but really can you even mess up buffalo wings?

Smoke Eaters

Smoke Eaters

Smoke Eaters - 10 traditional wingers with bleu cheese

After watching a little bit of TV, I took the rail and headed for the airport. I tried to get on the earlier flight, but it was a pretty full flight and they would have to charge me for the fare difference unless my flight was at least 15 minutes late. It was only 10 minutes late. Oh well, since I had some time to kill I headed for the bar at The Brit. I had a Guinness and a Sam Adams. A couple of drinks always makes a flight in coach a lot more tolerable. :)

The Brit - Guinness

The Brit - Samuel Adams