Endurance Turtle A journey through this turtles triathlon adventures

I had a hard time really getting into Halloween this year…so when my mom told me she was dressing up as a Star Trek person and came home with a costume…well…I borrowed it

Here I am in all my Star Trek glory, my father would be so proud!

I actually did some research and fixed what you see there, I pulled the flap up and centered the little symbol at the center of my belt. It’s not red, but I think it is supposed to be like these:

Eh, not like I am going to a convention!

My mom got it from a local costume shop called Glendale Costume Shop and you rent them for Halloween. It costs about the same as buying a cheap polyester one at the Halloween stores but this one is nicer!

Not to mention, I used to do plays with the owners so they take care of us. the costume shop also owns Glendale Centre Theatre and all the costumes are used for the plays they do.

Anyway, tomorrow is the Monster Dash 5k and I am looking forward to it. Got a little outfit for that one too I also get a Corner Bakery pumpkin upside down cake when I am done, SWEET!

Happy Halloween!

Oh, and the first Halloween costume was this:

George and i went to a zombie party and went as Mexican Zombies. I know…the creativity is overwhelming you right now.

I know you have been just waiting for this report, so I figured I would go ahead and write it (you can stop biting your nails now).

So bright and early after dinner, George and I headed over to the USC area and met up with a few people at a wine bar. The wine bar is called Bacaro Wine Bar, everything looked amazing! But George and I wanted to eat earlier than 9 so our bellies were already full. We also held off on the wine and just shared a (really good) beer because we were running later. George and I will definitely be going back there, the food looked and smelled amazing and we are always up for a good glass of wine.

We left there and drove closer to the start. We parked on a side street and decided to walk to the start line. Once we got to the main area it was PACKED, there were so many people…this was the first (and probably last) year of doing it and I could tell he wasn’t a happy camper. He much rather be in a huge group facing an ocean wearing a wet suit.

George and I were in the 11+ min pace area (because we don’t plant our selves in run paces we don’t belong in!). Here is a picture of all the people who were in front of us:

And here is a picture of George and I before we started running:

They kept playing music and had people talking, I really just wanted to start the run…at midnight the gun went off and we were…walking :-/ We basically shuffled until we got to the starting line…once we passed it everyone started jogging then it quickly stopped when we made the first left turn and everyone was acting STUPID! It was so ridiculous I can’t even begin to go into my frustrations. Since it was an out and back course, they had the other side blocked off for the returning runners. Well, everyone thought one side was for the 5k and the other side was for the 10k. So when the return runners started to come the police escorts had to practically run down the crowd!

The running was pretty slow and George and I weren’t sure if we would do the 5k or the 10k. Originally we were thinking the 5k but when we got to the turn around point for the 5k we just sort of kept on running. The race went up Figueroa, turned around, had a little arm on Washington, turned around and then there was even a smaller little turn around on Greek row. Now, George and I both spent some time at USC. He went there his freshman year of college and I went to the college 2 blocks north of USC.  So we both spent some quality time on Greek row and I thought it was cool that we would get to run down it. Well, turns out…we ran on Greek row for 2.5 seconds and then had to turn around. I really felt like they could have made it go longer especially because the race ended up being 6.02 miles and not 6.2. We made our way back to the finish and I sprinted through (Norman said I got up to 11 mph…cool). George tried to sprint, but he started cramping so I just stopped and waited for him at the finish. Once we were all done we walked through the finishing chute looking for water…we looked and looked and looked….we passed up the table with the medals because it was so crowded and we were still thirsty…then we came to the realization…there was no water Thanks Nike..

Overall this is a poorly run race. The website is miserable to navigate, there are SO many people…I like the shirt but it is a tad annoying that everyone is ultimately wearing the same thing and no water at the finish? That is a HUGE fail in my book! On the way back to the car we stopped at a gas station and got some water. By the time I got home I was so cold from my sweaty shirt and I cranked up the heater and snuggled into my bed by 2:30AM.

I think next year I will pass on this event….too big and it is not run well.

Dear Nike and Brightroom Photography,

Thank you for the race you put on, and thank you for only charging $25 since that is what it is worth. As with all of my races, I always go to the website of the company that takes pictures at the event. This year, that was you Brightroom. I go on and look under my name and find absolutely no pictures. I can understand why, it was Nike’s fault. So Nike, thank you for putting the bib number in the weirdest place EVER so that now we cannot identify any pictures. Now, the only way to look for me is to sift through the 15,000 pictures of everyone wearing THE SAME SHIRT. I must admit though, I have had a few chuckles and I will share with you what I came across as I have been looking for my pictures:

Really nice composition on this one

I especially like his shorts…he looks a little like Conan

This looks a little like what I tried to do at the finish line at the Nautica Malibu Tri

You would have thought he won…he didn’t

she looks like a great multitasker…wonder if she is looking for a job…

No words…really…none

So thank you Nike and Brightroom, I hope the gentleman in the last photo will be able to find his picture because I am sure he will want to frame it.

Sincerely,

Kristen

So, I got wind of a little race up in Santa Clarita on Saturday (Halloween) morning. I like little races like this, especially on holidays because everyone is just in a really good place mentally….like everyone realizes it is for fun….what a concept!

The whole race takes place on a ranch in Santa Clarita and part of the run even goes through a corn maze…as usual…George thinks I am crazy but I was going to dress up too and make it fun.

Here is the link for the details: http://lombardiranch.com/MonsterDash.html

Like I said…small race….not expecting much except for a fun time!

I will be putting my race report together for the Nike Human Race 10k that George and I did on Friday night/Saturday morning, just waiting for the professional pics. Let’s just say that this one is coming off of the list of races to do… :-/

Interviewer: Hi Kristen, how are you today?

Me: I am good, it’s really a really beautiful day here in L.A….how can I not be good [smiles]

Interviewer: So Kristen, I understand that you are running the Nike Human Race today.

Me: Yes I am, I am really excited about it. I have never run a race that I have never been SO unprepared for.

Interviewer: Now, I understand the race starts at 12 midnight.

Me: Yes, it does. I am not sure if L.A. has ever had a race at this time of night before, but it should be interesting. You see, since graduating college so many years ago, I really have not stayed up that late. I usually start wanting to fall asleep at 9:30PM, so I am really excited that instead of getting a peaceful nights rest, that I will be running in the middle of the ghetto at 12AM. I am also supposed to be doing the 10k, which means that it will take at least an hour and fifteen minutes and by the time I get home we are talking 2AM. I really can’t wait to feel that level of exhaustion.

Interviewer: I also understand that you participated in the Nike Human Race 10k last year.

Me: Yes, I did…that one started a lot earlier and I think was larger than the one tonight. You see, Nike actually invested money in that race, so we had a really cool thing that they call timing chips. This year they told everyone to wear their Nike + sensors and to track their time that way. I really like how they have gone all out this year even though it is a smaller race. I even think there will be a wonderful start line for us, the website said “meet by the big flame at the coliseum”.

Interviewer: Wow, that sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun. What has your training plan for this race been?

Me: I have had a very extensive training plan set up for this race. It mainly consisted of passing my bike on a daily basis, but not actually riding it. My running plan has been a 2 mile run 2 weeks ago. I have especially focused on my nutritional plan. This has ranged from sake bombs, pizza (lots of pizza), york peppermint patties, beer, french toast, churro’s, and of course…more pizza.

Interviewer: That is quite impressive, I wish I had that level of discipline to have that kind of diet.

Me: Well, it is hard to keep up…but I find a way to manage.

Interviewer: I also understand that you are doing this race with your fiancé.

Me: Yes, he at first did not want to do it. He pointed out that it was a late race that was not very well put together. I eventually convinced him to do it, so yes, he is doing it with me. Although, I am thinking I should have listened to him in the beginning and passed on this race…even if it was only for $25.

Interviewer: Well, it sounds like you two should have a lot of fun. Good luck to you both and we will see you at the finish.

Me: I really hope to be at the finish, I might just run to my car and go home after the first mile.

[Transition to paralympics coverage]

A few months ago I applied to become an ambassador for Omron and Active. They chose me, along with 100 other women across the country. My job was to put together a team of 5 people to walk their first 5k. We all received an Omron Pedometer, a t-shirt and a few race entry. Well, on Sunday was our official walk and it was awesome!

I had everyone meet there at 7AM so that we could get our packets and still have time to put the chip on, put our bib on, take the bags back to the cars and then do some stretching. The actual walk started at 8:30AM and we ended up being a tad early. Whenever I go to races, they are usually very crowded and it is best to just get there early. In this case, there were not too many people there so there were no lines and there were plenty of volunteers. Once everyone got there we made sure to go to the restroom and then do some stretches. I was very impressed by the race location, these were noooo porta potties!

They had an attendant, huge stalls, wash clothes to dry your hands, lotion and some sample perfume from the stores…and oh ya…NO LINE! I can deal with that. (sorry the pic is so blurry, I wanted to take it fast)

While we were outside, cookie monster walked by (a skinny one) so we took a picture:

I actually saw that guy in the costume running on the course, the Nesquik bunny was out there too and I cannot imagine how hot they were under those costumes…yuck! Also, would not like to be the person that rents that costume next!

We then wandered over to the start and saw some other Team Go Smart people, so we took another picture

Then a guy walked by and said they wanted everyone over at the stage, so we all walked over there to do a warm up led by another Team Go Smart ambassador!

Walking….

Warming up…

Melissa getting everyone pumped!

Once we were done with the warm up we went back to the start line and we stayed toward the back, here is everyone at the start line…what you see is basically everyone who did the race. A very small race if you ask me, but very well organized!

Then they shot off the gun and we were off and walking! I had my Garmin on and was able to tell my team how far we had went, our pace and how much we had to go. For the most part we all stayed together in one section and everyone did a great job! My mom was struggling a little bit, so we stopped so that she could drink some water and get her heart rate down. At one point I was ready to tell her we could cut through a section to shorten the distance, and she said “no, I want to do the whole course”…so i was like OK!

Here is everyone after we finished:

So proud of them!

And here are our results:

We all finished under an hour and kept a really good pace throughout.

After the race they had a little expo area, so we walked through 3 times and picked some things up. Here is my bounty that I collected:

Basically, they had these booths set up with all these giveaways that were being run by volunteers. There were not that many racers, but a TON of free stuff! So I took advantage of it…who wouldn’t?

Overall a really good race, I thought it was one of the most organized races that I have done. I will definitely do it next year and will probably run either the 5k or 10k, I also like it because it is so close to where I live. We also got really cool race shirts from Affliction, this is not your ordinary race shirt!

And there are some big wings on the back that I probably can live without…but still cool…

I am very proud of my team and I am glad that I could get them out walking! Being healthy is so important and I am glad that Omron and Active did this program this year, I had a great time!