Here's Mud In Your Run!

The rain held off long enough for me to hit the pavement for a quick run to the gym and then after a nice run.  Here in LA we are in the middle of a week of rain which the city and the folks seemed ill prepared for.  Rain is to LA what snow is to Washington, D.C.  Rain happens but we never learn how to drive or do anything when it does come.  Last night before heading to bed I checked the hour by hour forecast online and since the forecast was rain free for most of the morning I decided I'd run in the morning.  And since the @lamarathon twitter account was organizing a 3.1 run on the Westside at 6:30am I figured I'd go and run with my fellow twitter running folks'  But when I woke up it sounded like it was raining although I knew it was just rain runoff frome the apartment buildings roof.   I hit snooze and rolled over for a bit.  After a bit I finally woke up.  I rechecked the hour by hour forecast and decided I'd just run to the gym and after my workout I'd run a short run.  So I got up and headed to the gym.  The run to the gym started out at my apartment and I headed up to DeLoungpre and headed a few blocks west to avoid running on the narrow sidewalks of Fountain.  I ran the 1 block to Fairfax then running south on Fairfax to Santa Monica Blvd..  Since it was still pretty early the sidewalks were empty.  A bit wet with lots of debris from the storm so I was jumping over mud, branches and various crap.  I .  continued on SMB and headed a bit past the gym to San Vicente.  I then crossed over to the other side of SMB and ran the rest of the way to the gym.  Since the keyboard to my desktop is acting up I can't get my Nike+ to sync to the internet and can only view the very last run I can only go by my memory that the was was just shy of 3 miles at about 2.8 miles.

I hit the gym and did my usual routine which consists mostly of arms, chest and back.  I skipped doing any legs as I figured I'd be running in a bit afterwards.  The gym was like a ghost town.  The 24 Hour Fitness in West Hollywood is crazy busy from the lunch hour to when it closes at night but before that it's empty.  After I was done I headed out and started my 2nd run of the day.  Before I headed out I had to take a picture of this window dislplay near the gym.  The store is a fetish store so that is why the soccer dummy has both a soccer ball and a jockstrap in it's hand.  The window gave me a chuckle this morning.  A chuckle and maybe a bit of excitement.  But it was running time!

I ran west on Santa Monica Blvd and turned on Doheny Drive.  i ran south on Doheny and cross over on Burton Way.  Ran west on Burton to Maple Drive.  I just like running on Maple Drive as it is very quiet and I can say I'm "Doing Time on Maple Drive".  It was a tv movie a decade or two ago.  So I ran on Maple to Wilshire and then West on Wilshire.  I ran on Wilshire till Rodeo which I then ran on till Gregory Way.  I ran east on Gregory Way till Beverly.  I was going to do the Nike Run Club route but decided to turn north on Beverly.  I ran north on Beverly crossing past Wilshire.  I forgot that the sidewalk was closed so I had to quickly jaywalk/run.  But I did see this cute Hello Kitty Pez at a store.  Need to go back and get it.  Luckily for most of the run so far the sidewalks weren't so bad and I was trying to come up with a route that would avoid me running on the dirt path along Santa Monica.  I figured that would be a mud path after two days of rain.  So I continued on Beverly but right after crossing Santa Monica I didn't see a mud and debris patch and stumbled in my run.  I had to stop running and walk off the limp in my ankle.  While I did I snapped a photo of the sun trying to poke out at the Beverly Hills sign.  After a few tweets and laps up and down the back sidewalk I felt ready to run again. 

I started to run north on Beverly Drive towards Sunset.  Beverly is yet another street that is made for running.  Wide sidewalks!  It's just endless running!

I ran on Bevelry to the Will Rogers Park area where I realized these great sidewalks are great but there were no crosswalks(i snapped a picture which is posted below.)  Since it was the morning rush hour time it took a few moments of trying to time cars to get to the other side to get to a crosswalk I ran and made it alive.  Someone needs to rethink how people can get to the park from the  various streets that intersect at that point.  As I was able to make it to the park all in one piece I ran up to Crescent continuing north up to Lexington.  The little hill is getting easier and easier.  I run west down Lexington past Coldwater to Whittier Drive.  This is sorta the Nike route but with a bit of a change.  As I came out on Sunset I had to make a decision on the rest of my route.  I continued down Whittier till I got to Linden.  This was a new street for me so I was hoping my GPS wouldn't fail me. 

From Lindewn I headed east on Elevado.  I like running on this street as it also has wide sidewalks.  Even though I was running during rush hour most people in cars actually do stop at the stop signs and let you run.  This being LA that is not a common thing.  I feel sorta safe running on this street.  I continued east till I got to Maple Drive.  

Running on this area of Maple Drive is even nicer then the south part I ran on earlier.  The street has little car traffic even though it's smack dab in the middle of lots of traffic on Santa Monica and Sunset.  I ran on Maple to Carmelita.  By running these back streets I avoided the dirt running path along Santa Monica.  Normally I like the path as it has water fountains and shade for running on sunny days.  But today it wasn't hot and shade was given to me by the clouds in the sky.  It was almost a perfect morning to run.  Although my hands were a bit chilly.  Could have used running gloves. 

Once I was back on Santa Monica Blvd is was just time to finish up the run and head home.  I continued with very few redlights all the way to Fairfax.  Which was a nice change as I didn't have time to stop and feel tired.  I ran north on Fairfax to about 2 blocks from home.  I walked the rest of the way as my warm down.  According to my Nike+  Sportband this run was 11.55 miles in 1 hour and 46 minutes.  So 11.55 plus my earlier run of about 2.8 miles gave me a good run.  Minus the lack of calibration of my sportband and I'd estimate I did another 1/2 Marathon.  As soon as I get my keyboard working I'll sync with Nike+ with my Mac. 

I hope to meet up at the tweetup this Thursday as they'll be running a different portion of the LA Marathon.  I think they are doing loops of 3.1 miles or something like that.  I need to follow the twitter feed more carefully.  But at some point when they run in my hood I'll definatly join them!   60 Days To Go!