The Return of Tron John

He's been spotted again! During the Hollywood Half Marathon on Saturday April 7th 2012, Tron John ran his second half marathon in full light up costume. Well, version two I should say. I had to remove some segments that were damaged in my debut at the 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon, and this one was modified for cold weather with full fingered gloves and a light up beanie. Of course the light up Tron Disc on my back also returned. It was cool to hear the comments from racers and spectators as I ran by.

The race suffered from some first time planning issues, but overall was a great experience with a great start and very challenging finish; over a mile of hillwork right at the end of it. Our program members (www.vcgalloway.com) all completed successfully, many in AWESOME costumes. The race director promises some changes for next year's race, including possibly removing the hill. In any case I'm sure I will be running it again. I now have to maintain my "legacy" runners status since I've completed the inaugural race. :-)

I was supposed to run this race with a coworker that has become a running partner and friend over the past few months, however we missed each other at the start. Luckily, around mile 5 I found Kevin and we completed the race together. Once again, Jeff Galloway's methods worked giving Kevin a great race experience based on a pretty limited training schedule. He's already giving me his ideas on how he could improve his next race effort. Looks like we have to find another goal race quick!

It's already been quite an eventful year, but my personal training is just about to start. I now have to ramp up for my return to Grandma's Marathon, where I will attempt to shave off at least 15 minutes, and continue adding distance for the 51k around Area 51 in August. Vera just registered both of us for "Goofy's Challenge" in January of 2013, which is a half marathon one day and a full marathon the next! Whew.. I kind of feel like asking "can I really do this" but.. I already know the answer to that. It's just a matter of the right planning, work, and patience.

I also wanted to give a quick shout out to my nephew, who was the youngest runner in this years Oakland Marathon (GO JON GO!), and had this very insightful article written about his experience for the Pleasanton Weekly. Congratulations to his Step Dad Chris and Jon on a huge personal and family accomplishment! Enjoy getting your wheels back Jon!

Happy Running Everyone!

Rebooting

Where is he? Did he just start a blog and fall off the face of the earth? We've heard this story before..

Hi! I'm still here and ready to continue our chat. Sorry I've been away for a while. Both myself and our running group took on some major challenges over the past few months and we've both grown a lot for it. Congratulations to my sister Erika on completing her first FULL marathon (less than 18 months into her running career). I stuck by her side for the entire LA Marathon, and we had a really special moment that I will never forget once we crossed that finish line. We had both worked very hard to make that race happen, and seeing it executed was simply magical.

Of course, several of our program members also did the same; amazing and inspiring me yet again. Way to go Kat, Rachel and Tracy (go Team Sibling!), Mr. Casanova, Robb and Cassie, and everyone else from VCGP. WE DID IT! I also want to congratulate my wife Vera on completing her first marathon training program. You did it baby!

JOHN TRON runs LA 2012!

Outside of all that, I've landed a dream job continuing with Cirque Du Soleil's IRIS, and just finished writing my first television pilot script while continuing my college career reboot. Not too shabby! I look forward to sharing more details soon. Also coming soon, a new article on the power of archways, and a BIG personal challenge for me.. the 51k. :-)

Keep those legs moving!
-John