Day of

Yes, it is 5:25am. Yes, I am up. Yes, I walked the dog. Yes, I am eating a bagel. And yes, I am ready to go!

The final hours...

I have been SO paranoid about getting sick. Honestly, its raining, people are sneezing around me. It's driving me nuts, Im like a crazy person. I actually tried to hold my breath for an entire metro stop, so as not to inhale the sneezes of someone near me. I also got poured on walking the last 3 blocks to the metro. So, yeah, I have 13 more hours to hang on to before I don't need to care.

I didn't do any runs yesterday, got some beers with Sujan and Steph. Nice ole time. Went to bed at 1am and managed an 845am wake up this morning. The real test will be this "so called" 10pm bedtime. That just sounds unheard of to me. But I will try.

The plan tomorrow is to wake up at 510am. Get showered, ready and dressed. Head out by 530 and pick John up at 540. We will then take the metro to the starting line and hopefully get there by 7ish for warmups, bag drop off and final what-have-yous.

It looks like the parents are gonna leave around 9am and head out to catch me at some place around my 17th mile. Then, everyone will move to the final spot for the finish. I still don't know the course, but I prefer to be surprised. Obviously, it's gonna be nice (perhaps not rainy) and I figure, better to not know what comes next and enjoy the unfolding drama of the run.

Not much else going on. Carboloading a bit. Lunch was Spaghetti Carbonara, tonight is chinese, pork w plum sauce on brown rice. Maybe some more Spaghetti before bed.

Bagel in the morning.

A bit nervous, but mainly about getting sick. I know its just silly, but the stakes are high enough to make me stress. BUT, next post will be the race wrapup!

See yall on the otherside...

Countdown time!

streaminSo, getting East has been a bit more laid back than anticipated. Few evening events, but the days have been spent at the house sans-car and without access to my own laptop (internet poker, streaming movies). Luckily I brought a few dvds.

TShirt arrived! So I have my official running gear locked and loaded!

Recently been doing the herculean task of shifting my sleep schedule back 10 hours in 5 days. Things are on track. I went to bed at 530am on Monday. Then 530 am(EASTERN TIME) on Tuesday, Wednesday was 3am, and yesterday I managed a fairly impressive 1:15am. All of this done with some calculated alarm clocking. I managed to limit my sleep just enough to get me tired earlier without totally depriving myself. Last night was the first 8 hour sleep in awhile and tonight I hope to be in bed before midnight. Jesus, a marathon can really mess a guys night plans up.

SUJAN AND STEPH! They are coming in today?! How awesome is that?! Sujan was manipulated into signing up for the same marathon, but fell prey to circumstance (and perhaps a bit of motivational issues, or perhaps not) could not train in time. He decided to come down anyway and cheer me on with his superawesome lady.

So now, there are rumors of upwards of a whole handful of supporters around. This is crazy, all my other races were done solo. I have sorta gotten used to getting up early, trekking out in the lonely morning, getting to some unfamiliar race, warming up, running, quietly passing the finish line, and then snagging bags of free energy drinks before driving home as my friends wake up.

This will clearly be a bit different. The details of getting to the race are still a bit sketchy. I think I will be doing a lot of walking at the early hours. Walking to my sisters house to meet up with John, then walking to the metro, then walking to the starting line. That I guess will be my warmup. Not sure how everyone plans on meeting up and spectating, but itll get figured out soon enough.

Yesterday, did my sorta final run. I took the dog out and we did a couple miles. Start and stop with Pushkin trying to find places to sniff and excuses not to run. She's a husky? You think shed be excited about a SHORT run. Nope, I dragged her the entire 15 minutes or so. I also sweated up a storm. The air here has managed to replace all the LA smog with water. Humidity. Not bad this time of year, but I was definitely pouring sweat after I stopped. Must make note to drink extra water.

Today I may do a mile. 10 minutes or so. Take Pushkin out. What have you. Also, I gotta go to Brookstone and buy those supernice earbuds for the race. Besides the basic oldschool headphones, these are the only ones that work. And they work, oh so well.

Aight, back to daytime tv. Perhaps throw in a little flick here. Biggest loser is downloading too...

Last longish run...$500!!!

So, today, after 3 days of sitting on my butt, I pulled one last "taper down" run. I figured I needed to do something that would turn my last three weeks into an official "taper" rather than a dead stop. Sure I have been doing a run every 2-3 days, but really that is quite a dramatic decline from even my standard week.

Thus, I hit the beach and did a nice run before hitting the East. Met up with Marina who said she was down for the 10 miles... heh, she lasted almost 3. But sure enough, Evan called me up while I was running (at a pace that easily allowed for phone conversation) and I headed over to his place from the beach and we did a nice run up North along the coast. It was a beautiful little loop with some hidden stairs that take you up and back towards the bluffs. The stairs were a bit fun (like 4 flights pretty straight up) and all in all, hit about 11.4 miles. Felt good, felt like I could definitely keep going without any problem. It was a nice reminder that I can still do this thing. The past week has been bad food, lots of sitting (editing, poker, movies) and just feeling gross - the lack of sleep all week didn't help either. So, good confidence booster.

Hitting the road back to East tomorrow in about 5 hours. Should probably get to bed. I have a couple little short short runs this week. But really, its all about flipping my sleep schedule almost exactly 12 hours and not getting sick.

Also - Donor UPGRADE!

We have some more pledged from a previous donor bringing our tally to an official

$500!!!

Wow. Amazing work guys! Let's see if we can't pentuple that by Sunday (ha!).

How's this for a nice headline

From CNN's front page:

3 Detroit marathon runners die

Posted: 02:44 PM ET

(CNN) — Three runners died Sunday during the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon in Detroit, Michigan, police told CNN.

All three deaths occurred between 9 and 9:20 a.m. ET, Second Deputy Chief John Roach said.

A man in his 60s fell and hit his head, Roach said. The cause of the fall was unknown. The man was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Two other men, aged 36 and 26, also collapsed during the race and were pronounced dead at the hospital, Roach said.

All three collapsed near the end of the race, he said.

The weather at the time was overcast, Roach said, with temperatures in the low 40s.

–CNN's Chuck Johnston contributed to this report.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/18/3-detroit-marathon-runners-die/

Fun times.

UKELILLI ON TOUR!!!

Ukelilli is coming home to start her East Coast Tour! Thursday, October 29th at 8pm, She'll be playing at Madam's Organ, an awesome blues club with tasty soul food in Adam's Morgan. Come and bring folks!

There's a $4 cover. Mention you're there to see Ukelilli! Don't know where Madam's Organ is? Check out this handy google maps link.

Wanna know MORE about Madam's Organ? Click here to go to their website.

Also

*Wednesday, November 4th at 8:30pm She'll be playing at 169 Bar (It was featured in the Flight of the Conchords, need I say more?) Come and bring folks!

$10 to get in. Mention you're there to see Ukelilli! (All proceeds will go directly to her plane ticket to England for the Ukelear Meltdown uke fest!)

Don't know where 169 Bar is? Check out this handy google maps link.

Wanna know MORE about 169 Bar? Click here to go to their website.

If you miss me there OR if you just can't get enough...

*Thursday, Novmber 5th at 8pm She'll be playing at Pianos, in the Upstairs Lounge

Free, and tell them you're there to see Ukelilli! Check out this map to find it, or click here to go to their website.

Where have I been?

So, where have I been these days? All in the family. Ukelilli's illustrious better half, John Ott, has been undertaking a serious challenge of a TWO WEEK FILM! A feature film shot and edited in TWO WEEKS. A lot of us have been donating our time and efforts to help him out and that is where I have been.

To get updates and watch the ENTIRE FILM! Which is FINISHED and actually really hilarious!

Go to:

www.makingthemovie.info

or

www.tastesfunny.net

Fer reals. Definitely worth the 65 minutes of your time (think, an episode of network TV!... plus 20 min)

So yeah, as the resident night-owl, I have been doing mostly editing work. Coming in Wed-Fri midnight-noon on somedays. Now completely nocturnal. Not been sleeping much either, cause it decided to get RIDICULOUSLY hot during the days.

But who is a running MANIAC? So, on Wednesday, I hit the late night gym up for a nice run after another day off. I have been doing the day on, day off thing but I wanted to get at least a couple back to back days in there. Just so I don't lose what I have. What a tough week for that.

So at the gym, and maybe it was the 4 hours of sleep the night before, but at 11pm on the treadmill, I just was exhausted. Muscles were rockin, but clearly my energy was not. So I ended early (I am no martyr) and logged a 30min run. about 5 miles.

Then after not getting more than 5 hours the next day. I show up at Jott's for editing with the plan of being there for a screening and then a gym before bed. Ha! 1am rolls around and we finally catch a break. Lots to do in the Avid rooms. So, he goes home to change, and I suit up and do a 1am run around Burbank on a Thursday night. It was a beautiful night, cool, calm, quiet. Running past the studios all dark with just the nightwatchmen. Leaping to touch lowhanging flags in front of closed stationary shops and running past the other night owls sitting at redlights on deserted Burbank thoroughfairs. Got back at 2am and did a solid 50 minutes at a nice clip. Avg 7m30sec mile throughout.

The book says to cut back the miles, but not the routine, so I have been making sure to do my full fast runs each time I go out (unless I wimp out on the treadmill at 30 min). Not to compromise on my runs, just cut down on weekly miles and the long runs. So, thats what im doin. Today, still not a full night sleep, but takin a day off. I will pull a 12 miler on Sunday then basically call it quits on the long runs. Maybe 9-10 miles a couple days later, but prolly not.

Dinner tonight of PORK BELLY!!!! Best. Meat. Ever.

Flying home soon to start prepping for the big race. I have my Ukelilli Limited Edition (1) Custom Marathon Shirt in the mail at home waiting for the big race!

Day off Day on

So I read in my marathon book about the last 3 weeks and apparently it is not uncommon for marathon runners to go ABSOLUTELY CRAZY the last couple weeks (at least in a running sense). And yes, it is true. On Saturday, after two days off after the long run. I was at my friend Greg's and just as I had gotten all in gear to finally go running, they had decided to all go out for dinner. PANIC. I MUST GET MY RUN IN! So, what happened? I ran along the highways to the restaurant (beating them) and then circled the parking lot for another 20 minutes. Sure I need to cut back, but I was feeling so anxious to get a run in, I couldn't imagine not doing it somehow.

So yeah, I took yesterday off, but felt good about it cause I helped Jott with his final day of shooting. We got to hike up a mountain and jog along paths as he acted all the serial killer. The exercise was good, but definitely not enough to satisfy. Nonetheless, I opted out of a late night run and instead watched a nice handful of movies (all repeat viewings). The Killing, All the President's Men, and Mystery Train all made it on the slate. Solid stuff.

Today, I hit the gym and I felt like an ANIMAL. Oh MAN. The treadmill got stuck at 8.2 (7m25sec mile) and I just coasted along at that pace... Kinda frustrated that I couldn't pump it faster. After my 6 and a half miles, I felt ready to sprint another 6. But, thats good, if I can keep this spring coiled, man, what a nice race itll be in a couple weeks.

So yeah, back at Greg's, gonna have me a nice meal. Tomorrow maybe a run on the beach, maybe not. But, I have at least one more leisurely 12 mile run left to do. Man, that seems so short now... Crazy talk.

New tally on Donors:

Donors:

Elio Nataniel Baskir Freedman

Salli Parker

Sam Smith

Jonathan Chang

Annie Parker

Ted Parker

Marna Tucker

Lawrence Baskir

Cecily Baskir

John Freedman

Kathleen Godfrey

Liam O'Malley

Yfke van Berckelaer

W. John McMath
David Brundige
Germain Lussier

...And YOU!

New Tally:

$400!!!

GERMAIN LUSSIER - WELCOME TO THE PARTAY!

That rhymes! sorta.

Thank's G! Reachin out from NYC. We are inchin forward... Even though, I didn't run at all yesterday. But the money is climbin up and you all are being super-incredibly supportive of Ukelils and her journey!

Another new pledge!!

Everyone welcome DAVID BRUNDIGE to the group! He was made famous in the Dodger game post, and now he is one of the Ukelilli team!

Inching closer...

Welcome John McMath!

He DID pledge before, but I was lame and forgot to include him which gives him a special post and a sincere apology. So add one more to the list!!!

Donors:

Elio Nataniel Baskir Freedman

Salli Parker

Sam Smith

Jonathan Chang

Annie Parker

Ted Parker

Marna Tucker

Lawrence Baskir

Cecily Baskir

John Freedman

Kathleen Godfrey

Liam O'Malley

Yfke van Berckelaer

W. JOHN MCMATH

...And YOU!

Day off! And WHAT A DAY!

So after my massive 20 miler, I took the day off. And oh what a day it was.

Joining my boy Davey B for the second game of the Dodgers Playoff series was quite an awesome day at the park.

We did Batting practice first. I am still in flip flops from my operation (and newly blackened other toenail), and since it was a lot of grown men running into each other to catch fly balls. I looked alert, stayed focused, and prayed a ball would come for me and no one would trample my feet.

The latter didn't happen, in fact, the only thing that happened was I stayed alert and focused. No ball came my way, nor did my feet get trampled(running in flipflops = bad).

But DAVID - the badass Mc.Badass of baseball, loves diving right into the crowd and within 15 minutes plucked a ball from the sky. It was a great catch and a good omen. As a superfriend, he donated the ball to the Uke Cause aka, with this ball she gets good spirits, and I get to keep the ball! Well actually he was just really a nice guy and gave me the ball. Sorry Ukelilli...

The game was solid, decent game, no stories. But by the 8th inning, things were looking mighty dim. David gets really into the Dodgers. I mean, he loves baseball, he loves sports, he loves LA, and the dodgers represent everything to him (in a way). He even said, he would trade moviemaking for ever to own the Dodgers. So, watching them get NO traction for 8 innings, and just give up the ghost at Dodger stadium - literally made him sick to his stomach.

My mind was going through all sorts of scenarios of how a bad movie would end. But imagining how everyone around me would change their attitudes. Cause it was so unhappy in the Left Field bleachers. What if? Man people would go nuts...

9th inning rolls around - the two big hitters - Ramirez and Ethier barely register an at bat bringing things to Bottom of the 9th, 2 outs and... a line drive BOBBLED! People WENT CRAZY! High Fives, Man Hugs galore. I felt like I was in England at one of the great soccer matches in Fever Pitch.

This was just a taste of excitement for the first time since like the 2nd inning. So, tying run on second and literally Casey at the bat.

My mind was playing through all sorts of scenarios for how the game would end. Mighty Casey strikes out, flies out, who knows. But they can't mess up. All through the game, any bit of action happened on the 2nd out - no room for error. Casey takes a called strike for 1 and 2. I just see that big whiff a mile away. But he keeps fouling it off, staying alive and DRAWS a WALK!

So thats great, but also a mixed blessing in my book, cause now there is a force out on every base. Which means, single or bust.

SINGLE BABY! All tied up! We are goin to the 10th... or maybe, just maybe... They will load the bases and the bottom of the lineup, Loretta, would face a pitcher he is 0-15 against. SECOND PITCH 0-1, BOOM taps it out there and the DODGERS WIN BABY!

What a game! What a GAME! Man, I have NEVER seen so much jubilation in my life. Wow, Everyone is going nuts, hugs, slaps, any thing you can do to celebrate.

David's stomach ache also disappeared.

So that was my day off, went to an expensive Burlesque show. Pretty costumes, but a bit pricey and WAY too many intermissions for my taste. It felt like Cirque Berzerk but not nearly as many cool circus things. But nice company, good food, a couple drinks.

Today, back to the Runnin (well a short one at least...).

20 MILES! 16 Days Left!

So I should back track and give you all a nice blow by blow detail of how things have been going on my training.

But first let me take this post space to talk about my crazy longest run to date. First off, couple facts:

8m54sec average pace. Which was up from a couple weeks ago (9m14sec pace for my 17 mile run).

Burned somewhere along the lines of 2300 calories. Came in at 20.5 miles which took me 3 hours and 4 minutes.

All of these facts are courtesy of nikeplus ipod dongle thingy that has been a godsend and the best $30 I've spent since that $30 I spent on something way better. But yeah, nikeplus is a great help on these long runs.

20 miles. Man, that was a journey. It was not as crazy as some of my earlier jaunts through the streets of LA. My first long run through the city had my run past a bankrobbery...

The route I took was a giant loop through most of the trendy sections of LA and Hollywood. I started out at my apartment in Miracle Mile and proceeded east towards Downtown. Zigzagging my way up along Olympic Blvd then Wilshire then ultimately Beverly Blvd. I ran past Zak's famous Jollibee and onto Virgil. There I ran through the outskirts of Silverlake. Something kept me from going the one block over to Sunset and actually entering Silverlake, oh yeah, I remember, I STARTED on Silver Lake Blvd and as the hills became super intense, I doubled back to Virgil and avoided entering Silverlake...

So hitting Sunset Blvd while going north on Virgil, I began the trek to Los Feliz. I circled back to Vermont Ave and took that north to Griffith Park. Vermont was a nice HUGE hill. Man oh man. That was intense. Upon arriving at the base of Griffith Park, I opted to run along Los Feliz Blvd and connect to Franklin, rather than go into the park. This took me past the UCB theatre area and eventually a bit south to Hollywood Blvd.

I ran along the walk of fame, dodging tourists, bacon-wrapped hotdog smells, and costumed superbeggars. Passing my gym, I ran up three flights of stairs to refill my waterbottle (mile 13.65 for those counting). I then ran along Sunset Blvd into WeHo and began my descent around Crescent Heights. I basically took Crescent back home to San Vicente...

WHEW.

That was more tiring than running it. Anyone still with me? So yeah, the 20 mile run was actually less difficult than my 17 mile run a few days ago. I think, my body has gotten past the toe operation and 3 weeks of utter laziness. Although, one of my toenails has clearly buckled under the pressure. I kept hearing rumors, but I said to myself "that will never happen to me."

That night I celebrated with some bacon and sausage. I also managed to make a little cash by coming in second at the poker game. At that point I was ravenous, so I buckled and basically destroyed McDonalds - 10 piece nuggets, double cheese burger, and a large fries. Yeah, that trend continued today at the Dodgers game with a Dodger-dog, In-n-Out Burger and milkshake...

Where do we go from here? I have a couple smaller runs - 13 miles maybe at most. Who knows exactly? But really, it is time to settle down and rebuild my knees, nails, and muscles.

Hows that for "Too Much Information"?

So yeah, DONATE DONATE DONATE. Don't let me eat all that crappy fast food for nothing!

(This post brought to you by 4:30am...)

Welcome Everyone!

Thank you all to everyone who has pledged or donated! We have hit that inaugural FIRST TEN donators! So thank you all for jumping on the bandwagon so fast.

I will be listing the donors and the total we have raised so far! If you don't want to be publicly thanked, just drop me an email and I will remove your name.

If you want to be added to the list, just pledge a donation amount and we will be on our way!

Donors:

Elio Nataniel Baskir Freedman

Salli Parker

Sam Smith

Jonathan Chang

Annie Parker

Ted Parker

Marna Tucker

Lawrence Baskir

Cecily Baskir

John Freedman

Kathleen Godfrey

Liam O'Malley

Yfke van Berckelaer

...And YOU!

Total Donation: $325 of $2500!