To Run and Dine in L.A.

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From left to right: Abbie Fentress Swanson, Carolina Miranda and Maria Fellows. (Photo by Carolina Miranda) (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

Workout completed, we Lyfted it back to Carolina’s house and ate our tacos and burrito with gusto, sipping whiskey with freshly-squeezed orange and lemon juice. The run was perfect, we declared with endorphins raging. We should end every weekly training run at a restaurant “of the neighborhood” like El Atacor, all while traversing parts of LA on foot. We invited another friend to join in on this brilliant, slightly mad endeavor. Maria Fellows, a Pasadena family therapist specializing in transnational adoptions, didn’t need much persuading.

Though it’s no weight loss plan, our Hollywood Half Marathon training program has exceeded all expectations. We have logged 120 miles so far. Our routes have taken us past the edgy aluminum-glass walled home that Frank Gehry built in 1978 in Santa Monica and the witch’s house in Beverly Hills used on the “Hansel and Gretel” film set. A parade of bumping lowriders cheered us on at Mile 8 in Compton and flocks of parrots charted the way through fog on our early morning run in Pasadena. We ate smoky hand-pulled noodles in a bowling alley at China Tasty in the San Gabriel Valley, a tiger tail hot out of the fryer at Donut Man in Glendora and a sour cream-and-caviar omelette in the basement of the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Learn more about where we ran and dined in Carolina Miranda’s L.A. Times piece and follow us on Twitter @dearabbie and @cmonstah to see where we are headed next. In the meantime, read on for six terrific routes.

6 miles in Boyle Heights and Downtown LA

Our 6-mile run in Boyle Heights and Downtown LA ended with a torta de huevos divorciadas at La Mascota Bakery. Route highlights included the Art Deco Sears building at 2650 E. Olympic Blvd., running over the L.A. River and the Estrada Courts murals.

6.17 miles to La Moscota for una torta de huevos divorciadas
The 6.17 mile route to the torta de huevos divorciadas at La Mascota. Elevation: 221 feet.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
We paused to check out the Estrada Courts Orale Raza mural
One of the murals at the Estrada Courts painted in the 1970s. “Orale Raza!” (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
We ended the run with this monster: the torta de huevos divorciadas from La Moscota.
This monster awaited at the end of the run: divorced eggs stuffed into a torta at La Moscota. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

8 miles in Glendora

Our scenic Glendora run began and ended at Donut Man. The Donut Man is Jim Nakano, who has one seriously inspirational story. Route highlights: the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, running along stretches of Route 66, past the Glendora Country Club and through Angeles National Forest. After the run, we ate a tasty tiger tail hot out of the fryer and Carolina called the strawberry donut the “Sydney Opera House of donuts” — those are words she doesn’t use lightly.

8 miles to Donut Man for the tiger tail and stuffed strawberry donut.
The 8.01-mile route to Donut Man for the tiger tail and stuffed strawberry donut. Elevation: 404 feet.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
The tiger tail, strawberry, Bavarian cream and raspberry donuts from Donut Man.
The tiger tail wraps around strawberry, Bavarian cream and raspberry donuts. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

9.42 miles in Compton

Our Compton run began and ended at Bludso’s BBQ for rib tips, potato salad, collards and German chocolate cake. Route highlights: Abbey Memorial Park, the nearly 300-year old Eagle Tree, the old Skateland on South Central Avenue, a parade of lowriders bumping and cheering us on along Compton Boulevard, the modernist Dr. Martin Luther King “Mountaintop” memorial at the Civic Center.

9.42 miles to Bludso's for rib tips.
The 9.42-mile route to Bludso’s BBQ for rib tips, potato salad, greens and German chocolate cake. Elevation: 80 feet.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
Pausing to snap shots of the MLK Mountaintop memorial in Compton
Carolina snaps a shot of the modernist Martin Luther King “Mountaintop” memorial. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
A kind lady working the counter at Bludso's took this shot of us with the German chocolate cake we got to chase our post-run BBQ rib tips.
Shouldn’t every 9.4 mile run end with two pieces of German chocolate cake to go along with BBQ rib tips, greens and potato salad? (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

10.7 miles in Santa Monica and Venice

Our beach run took us through Santa Monica and Venice at dusk. The destination: The Galley for whiskey and steamed clams. Route highlights: the edgy 1978 aluminum-glass walled home that Frank Gehry built, the historic Santa Monica Pier, Jonathan Borofsky’s ballerina clown sculpture and the Binoculars Building in Venice.

10 miles in Santa Monica and Venice to The Galley for whiskey and steamed clams.
The 10.74-mile route to The Galley for whiskey and steamed clams. Elevation: 341 feet.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
Running the beach in Santa Monica just before sunset
Carolina and Maria run down the Santa Monica stairs to the beach just before sunset. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
Steamers at the Galley
Steamers at The Galley. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

11.25 miles in Beverly Hills

Our Beverly Hills loop started and ended a stone’s throw from The Beverly Hills Hotel. Route highlights: the Sunset Strip, running past Cedar-Sinai hospital where Madonna got her hernia operation, Rodeo Drive, the Church of the Good Shepherd where Frank Sinatra went and Carmen Miranda had her funeral, the witch’s house that was used on the “Hansel and Gretel” film set.

11.25 miles to the sour cream and caviar omelette at Fountain Coffee in the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The 11.25 mile-route to the sour cream-and-caviar omelette at Fountain Coffee shop. Elevation: 470 feet.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
We ran past the witch house used on the set of "Hansel and Gretel."
The witch’s house used on the film set of “Hansel and Gretel.” (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
The sour cream and caviar omelet at the Fountain Coffee Shop at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The fanciest eggs I’ve ever eaten: a sour cream-and-caviar omelet from Fountain Coffee Shop in the Beverly Hills Hotel. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

13 miles in Pasadena and San Marino

Our longest run was a foggy 13-mile loop that started at 5 a.m. at Lucky Boy and ended there with the famous breakfast burrito. Route highlights: the flocks of parrots flying overhead, skirting the grounds of The Huntington Library Art Collection and Botanical Gardens, climbing Shenandoah Road past the palatial homes of San Marino.

13.1 miles to the famous breakfast burrito at Lucky Boy
The 13.07-mile route to the famous breakfast burrito at Lucky Boy. Elevation: 440 feet.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)
The famous breakfast burrito at Lucky Boy is the size of a small baby.
Carolina said the $6.95 famous breakfast burrito with bacon was the size of a small baby and she wasn’t wrong. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

Listen to Carolina and Abbie talk to Madeleine Brand about their Hollywood Half Marathon training program on Press Play.