We're well-aware we took some liberties with which superheroes are actually in the League. The point we so cartoonishly were making was standing as a united front for our team, against evil, to #beatcancer.
After practice - and, for me, a wonderful lunch with fellow TNT Coach Pete - I headed back home to prepare for the New Year's Half Marathon in downtown LA at 9pm. Many of my friends were running the race, and since a few of us were not actually prepared to "race" it, we decided to reassemble as superheroes and spent 13.1 miles together for fun.
We took the eco-friendly route of taking the Metro downtown. LA is not known for it's public transportation, but this new Expo Line that runs across the southern part of the city is quite nice. It was timely, clean and cheap. I'm looking forward to venturing downtown more frequently.
The race itself was a TNT party on foot. There were so many alums from different programs and different seasons. I couldn't turn around without recognizing someone I knew or coached or that my friends had been teammates with. And that all these folks were so friendly was a really cool thing to see - I say it often, TNT attracts some really great folks.
Robin, Batman Wonder Woman, Captain America (sans outfit) ran the race together. Or rather, we ran most of the race, and walked a lot of those damn uphills. The course was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be ... wait, that's not true. I hadn't thought about the course at all - I was actually in denial I had to run a half marathon until about 4 miles into the race.
Nevertheless, it was great to see downtown LA at night and do a 6-mile tour de Dodger Stadium parking lot. The only downside to my race was that somewhere in the middle of it, I took a tumble and broke my fall with my left index finger. The middle joint popped out of place and I caught a glimpse of the grossness, but squeezed it quick back into place.
It hurt but not too bad. Today's a little worse, it's got a case of the chubs. Ironically, this is the same finger I got caught in a blender last spring! This poor digit never had a chance. Cool and gross pic of the blender aftermath here.
Temps were perfect, the costume and mask didn't chafe much, and our chatting along the way passed the time. Our costumes got a ton of cheers, some catcalls, and we were interviewed at the finish line. Equally awesome was our cheer squad of two, who took part in the fun and cheered until the last of our friends crossed the line.
It was cold and it was a late night, and a couple folks in our group dealt with stomach/GI/fainting issues, I think it's safe to say it was a fun and memorable race. After a train ride back, a long shower and some salad, I clocked out at 3am.
Woke up feeling great, sans the digit and logged a quick 30-min recovery run. Goofy on the horizon - more on that later this week - and I'm feeling pretty jazzed. Not sure that's a costume run for me - though it is for many folks. Just looking forward to the opportunity to do what I love for 41 miles. I come alive at 145 heartbeats per minute. I was alive all of yesterday, and look forward to more livin' this weekend. It's gonna be good times.
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