Westside LA Team In Training - Winter 2009 Marathon & Half Marathon Team

Archive for the ‘photos’ Category

It has been a tradition started by a fellow Westside LA TNT Marathon alumni, Marcela Estrada a few seasons ago, to have a fun costume run on the final training run of the season before the last marathon. Why not, right? It continued this morning, with Zorro, a keg, a pumpkin, a banana, and more! Traci was Snookie from the Jersey Shore, Dash Nash even dressed up as Jon Terwilliger!

Check out the photos here!

On the Tuesday prior to the big event, we had a send-off dinner at Pitfire Pizza in Brentwood for the Honolulu teammates. Check out the photos here!

The Greater LA TNT for the most part left on a team flight for Hawaii on Friday December 11. Once they arrived, everyone settled into the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Just a mile away was the marathon health expo at the Convention Center where everyone picked up their race numbers, browsed through the vendor areas buying marathon gear, gifts, marathon DVDs, books, and more. The first day of a destination TNT Marathon leading up to the Inspiration Dinner the night before is usually free for anything you want, so most of us took a dip on the beach which was just a few steps away from the lobby. Some took a dip in the pool with a water slide, some rested in their rooms with a nice oceanfront view. We also explored the surrounding bars and restaurants.

Greater LA gathered around three tables at the inspiration dinner, where a speaker from the Ohio Chapter inspired us all with his story. Coach Karla from SGV TNT, and Elise the campaign manager from SB TNT gave us a few pointers before the race. Most of us slept early because the start time of the race was 5:00am! We met at 4:00am at the hotel lobby where we all prepped writing names on our arms, wore glowstick bracelets, took pictures, and hyped ourselves up for the big event. Most of us tried weaving in and out of the start line near the front of the crowd of 29,600. There were no corrals in this one, and no one seemed to pay attention to the estimated finish time markers, so we didn’t either. By the time some of us got to an acceptable area, the fireworks marking the start of the marathon began. It went on for a good 10 minutes, and I’m sure it was a good 5:00am alarm clock for the residents who lives there.

It was dark out when the race started, and luckily it did not rain. The weather was about a high 60 to low 70 at 5:00am, so we already knew a hot day was ahead of us. Once the sun came out, we all had to make sure to take in our liquids and salts. The course was pretty flat, except having to go up the Diamond Head area twice. For the most part, our team had some really good finishing times considering it was mostly their first marathon, and given the degree of difficulty of humidity, heat, and hills. Everyone crossed that finish line and that’s quite an accomplishment! Congrats to the honolulu marathoners! The season’s not over yet, so we would still like to see you at the AZ send-off dinner and reunion at the end of the season!

View photos from the Honolulu Weekend Here!

Here’s some photos from previous Sunday practices!

Week 16
Week 19

Congrats to all who finished the Santa Barbara Half Maraton last weekend! It was a fun, beautiful course along the beach with perfect running weather. Go TEAM!

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It was a cold and foggy morning in our Sunday Practice field trip to Palos Verdes. Unfortunately, the fog blocked the beautiful view of the coast, but fortunately, it was perfect running weather. The sun didn’t come out until the end, but we hoped you enjoyed a change in scenery!

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Sorry for the delay, but here’s a backlog of photos from the previous weeks. Thanks Jeff for some of the photos! Go TEAM!

• Week 7
• Week 9 (by Jeff Thieme)
• Week 10
• Week 11

The team was in good spirits on this 7-8 mile run heading north from the pier up to 26th st on San Vicente.

Follow some of your teammates on Twitter – here is what some of them said about this past Sunday:

Lori – LJ3000 “Really fun 8 miles with @westsidelatnt today …even in the heat!”

Mary – mcpuggle “At the Firehouse with @westsidelatnt. 8 miles in the sticky heat today, we are a smelly bunch.”

Candice – cowhateration: glad @westsidelatnt practice was in SaMo… those 8 miles didn’t feel too shabby (& fresh, non-camp-fire-ish air is nice too!)”

Amanda – CheckOutAmanda “Just finished running 8 miles w @westsidelatnt now going to eat @ieatatronis”

Don’t know what’s Twitter all about? Stay tuned this week and we’ll tell you. Then we’ll tell you how to use it taking advantage for your fundraising!

Last Sunday, we started the practice with Honored Teammate Nick Gardner telling us his story in this week’s Mission Moment and L.A. Sports Massage gave us a few tips on stretching and injury prevention as well. We ran 6 miles north of the pier in an unusual heat for Santa Monica, but in the later miles the breeze fortunately made it’s way to the course. Another week has gone by and I hope everyone is meeting someone new each week as this is a fairly huge team. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourselves, and have fun! For those who wanted it, L.A. Sports Massage also offered a complimentary post-practice massage. Thank you all again for coming out to practice! Go TEAM!

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The morning started off with SGV Coach Karla Becker with a Mission Moment, then gave her tips on the run/walk system. Coach Emily also talked about nutrition. This week we ran 5 miles north on Ocean Ave to 7th St off San Vicente. After the 5 miles, Fundraising Captain Erin Shulsinger and Fundraising Assistant Traci McMurray gave their tips on fundraising, from letter writing, corporate sponsorships, to fun events.

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Our team social at South in Santa Monica was a blast! Sorry I only took 19 photos, but was too busy socializing! It was fun meeting everyone! Be prepared for my stealth camera taking shots throughout the season!

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