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June 30 The World's Best (and cheapest) Home Security SystemWant to protect your home? Follow these steps:
1. Go to Sears (or Target or Walmart) and buy 4 or 5 pairs of men's workboots in the biggest sizes you can find.
2. Put those boots on your front porch.
3. Tack a note on the front door that reads:
"Bubba, Junior and I went to get more ammunition. You and Lefty stay away from them dogs. They ain't been fed yet and you remember what happened last time. -Billy Joe-"
-B- A Message From the GymI have something I want to say to all of those fat, out-of-shape people I see meekly tiptoeing around the far corners of the gym. If I EVER see you in my gym again....
...smile. Be proud to be there. Don't run away when the "serious" weightlifters come around. So you're fat and out-of-shape - at least you're there at the gym working it. Keep at it. Come back tomorrow. Be smart about what you eat. Try to get some cardio at least 3-4 days a week. Stretch. Talk to a professional trainer. Get enough fluids. Keep coming to the gym. Pretty soon...you won't be fat and out-of-shape any more.
Don't be shy or ashamed to be there. O.k. you're out-of-shape and you've made some bad choices. But you're there DOING something about it. You're taking charge. Good for you! So what if you can't throw 225 on a bench and do a set? I couldn't always either. And, if you stick with it and it's something you want to do, someday you will too. Want some tips? Ask one of the trainers or ask me - I'll gladly share what little I know if you think it will help you.
Be proud of that sweat. You're working hard and you deserve to be there as much as any of us. See you tomorrow! (I hope)
-B- This and ThatGood Car/Health Tip: Adjust your rearview mirror slightly up. It'll make you sit up a little straighter in the car and have better posture.
Yogurt: I'm working on eating a little healthier and thought I might try eating more yogurt. How can you tell when yogurt goes bad? No bacteria in it?
Just Park it Already! At the grocery store today a lady in a big Honda SUV sat blocking an entire traffic lane for several minutes while cars stacked up behind her. Why? So she could get a parking space closer to the door. I was directly behind her. At one point I tooted my horn at her, in a friendly way, to get her to glance at her mirror and see that there were half a dozen or more cars waiting behind her. There were dozens of empty parking spaces in this lot, but she was going to sit there until the folks loading their Chrysler in the good parking space finished loading, took their cart back to the door, got in the car, fiddled with their seatbelts and radio, started the car...
I don't mind folks waiting for a good parking space when they aren't inconveniencing others, or if there had been no empty spaces, or if it had been a handicapped space and she needed that...but she kept a dozen people sitting anxiously in their cars with ice cream melting in their trunks just so she could have a space 50 feet closer to the door than the empty space further down the row.
As Long as I'm Ranting: If you're at a drive-thru and you're past the speaker where you place your order...don't be shy about pulling up. About once a month I find myself half a car length back from the speaker and unable to order because somebody two or three cars up has left a full empty car length between them and the car in front of them. Please pull up so folks behind you can pull up. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't rank up there with Thou Shalt Not Kill, but it's just a little courteous thing you can do.
-B- June 25 I'm Not Neutral on the Swiss BallI got a Swiss Ball a couple of weeks ago. For those of you not familiar, it's not the same thing as a Swedish Meatball, rather it's a very large rubber ball that you can use as part of an exercise routine. Honestly I've only used it a little for conventional exercise, mostly what I've done with it is use it as an office chair.
Most of the time when I'm sitting at my desk in my home office I sit on the Swiss Ball. As you can imagine the ball, being round, has a tendancy to want to roll. That means to sit on it successfully I have to balance myself carefully and maintain that balance. If I get off center just a bit the ball is going to try and roll away from me (or roll OVER me). What that means for me physiologically is that when I sit on it the muscles in my legs, back, abdomen and obliques have to constantly be firing and adjusting to keep me positioned just right.
And that means that sitting on the Swiss Ball actually makes for quite a nice little workout, without feeling much like a workout. In fact I barely even notice the effort...but I am starting to notice the results. My core is definitely looking more toned and feeling stronger. In conjunction with the rest of my fitness program I really think adding the Swiss Ball (which I think was about $19 at KMart) is going to make a considerable improvement in how I look and feel.
Give it a try, I think you'll like the results. It's cheap, easy and takes zero additional time (I have to sit anyhow).
-B- June 24 Automotive TipCheck your tire pressure regularly or have it done for you.
Proper tire pressure will prolong the life of your tires, reduce the chances of a blow-out or flat tire, and improve your gas mileage. Check your tire pressure once a month or before leaving on a long driving trip or ask the folks who do your oil changes to do it for you. They'll do it for free. If they don't...find someplace else to get your oil changed; lots of them will do it for free since it's easy to do.
If you want to check it yourself look at the markings on the side of the tire to determine what the pressure should be.
-B- June 07 My newest site...As if I don't have enough to do I just launched a new website. http://www.ocean-pointe.info which is intended to be a site where folks can go to find information, recommendations, forums, news and events about things in the Ewa and Ocean Pointe communities here in Hawaii.
Check it out if you get a chance.
-B- June 05 Travel HeadachesI'm stuck at LAX at the moment. Thanks to miserable L.A. traffic I showed up 25 minutes before my flight left but American Airlines won't let you check in less than 45 minutes ahead of your flight. So they bumped me and now I'm Stand-by for a flight that departs 2 hours later.
Oname wa nan des ka: Then I get to security and they won't let me thru, initially, because it turns out my driver's license expired last week. I didn't know. Somehow the security screeners at Honolulu didn't say anything about it - even though it expired a day or three before I left. One more thing for me to do when I get home. (if I get home). Finally, after being flagged for extra security screening, they let me thru. So here I am, waiting to see if I'm stuck here tonight or not.
Clothes Make the Man: Of course if I'm stuck here tonight, my luggage isn't. It's going on the flight I'm on stand-by for whether I get on or not. That seems like a bad idea from a security standpoint but whatever. My immediate concern is that I may have to stay overnight with no change of clothes or anything but what's in my briefcase. The saving grace is that if that happens at least I'll be able to go back to my parents' house which means I don't have to sleep in the airport.
Power: How is it that it's 2007 and I still have to spend 20 minutes wandering around the terminal like a vagabond trying to find an electrical outlet? Do airports not know that business travellers who have to wait for a flight want to plug in? Just about every airport has WiFi now (some of them for free) but it's still the rare airport that has enough power outlets -- and certainly that has power outlets next to seats. My butt is getting sore sitting on this floor 100 feet from my gate but it's the only available outlet I can find. Given the choice I'd rather have power than Internet access in a terminal.
Update 9PM: American Airlines could not get me on the 8:45 flight to HNL so I'm stuck in L.A. overnight. Next flight out is first thing tomorrow. And, of course, I have just the clothes on my back.
Update 6AM Wed: Back at the airport waiting for the 8AM flight. I'm standby again but they said I should be able to get on this one. At least I got a few hours sleep and a shower. (and another In-and-Out Burger) The power situation in terminal 4 is actually a little worse than I thought. Not only are outlets scarce but some of the outlets there are...don't work. Lucky I have my 4-outlet surge strip with me and the guy who was plugged into the only working outlet was fine with me inserting it so that we could share the working outlet.
-B- The Race Report: San Diego (Cont.)...Mmmmm...that was delicious. O.K., I'm back and ready to continue with the 2007 San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon race report that so many of you have been badgering me about since Sunday.
 Where was I? Oh, yes, we had just crossed the starting mat and we're off and running! The race starts in the middle of San Diego not far from downtown (I guess) and proceeds thru the city streets on a somewhat twisty course. I have to confess that I'm not that familiar with San Diego and by the second turn I gave up any pretense of knowing where we were or what direction we were facing. Still the course is pleasant and the crowd energy was VERY high. Spectators lined the course and soon we came upon our first rock band. They were jamming with the enthusiasm of a rock band that had only been playing for 10 minutes or so and still felt pretty good. (By mile 19 the bands seemed a little tired; not surprising since they'd been out there for 4 hours or so at that point).
Weather: The conditions were nearly IDEAL. It was cool, crisp, overcast with just a slight refreshing breeze. Really couldn't have asked for better - it was perfect. The sun really didn't come out until around mile 20 and it never did get terribly hot.
The first 8 miles are so are all through the streets of the city proper and the crowds and bands were plentiful the whole way - really a very nice experience. There were some minor hills, which I expected, but I was waiting for the "big" hill at Mile 10.
Pacing: I had a range of paces in mind for myself - a "fast pace" and a "slow pace". Since my Garmin 305 is in the shop for repairs I just wore a regular digital running watch and kept mental track of my pace. It wasn't bad - since my fast pace was intended to be 13 minute miles I just had to calculate the mile number times 13. My slow pace was 14 minute miles. I had intended to keep reined in somewhat during the first 10 miles in anticipation of the "big" hill at mile 10 so I was quite pleased to see that I was almost EXACTLY at 28 minutes at the 2 mile mark. With the relatively thick crowd, the easy pace and just warming up I was right where I wanted to be. The ensuing miles however were a different story...in fact from mile 3 on I noticed that I was getting somewhat AHEAD of pace even though I was still keeping my effort quite relaxed. By mile 6 I was a couple of minutes AHEAD of my 13 minute mile ("fast") pace and though I was pleased I was also a little wary. I know well the dangers of going out too fast and that there were still 20 miles to go.
The San Diego Marathon does a really good job of support along the course. Water stations are much more plentiful than at Honolulu (which has them almost exactly every 2 miles). At San Diego the water stations were often a mere mile apart and there were quite a few medical aid stations handing out anti-blister stuff (Vasoline I'm guessing) and tending to grimacing runners. There are also quite a few PortaJohns along the course - seemingly every mile or so a bank of PortaJohns stood ready, along with the considerable line of waiting runners bouncing awkwardly in place. I sometimes couldn't tell if they were just bouncing to stay loose for the run, or if they really, really had to go and were squirming from trying to hold it.
At the bottom of the first loop (mile 5 or 6 I guess) we pass Petco Park and the Convention Center. The San Diego Padre macot "The Swinging Friar" was on-hand to wave and cheer. I guess the PortaJohns weren't quite plentiful enough, a few of the FEMALE runners took to squatting in the bushes near Petco -- a feat especially notable because the bushes are barely waist-high so it made for an unexpected spectacle.
Heard on the Course: (a female runner as we passed a Starbucks) "Aw man, I don't have any cash on me!"
Around mile 8 we emerge from the city and onto the freeway. This part of the course was especially challenging because 1) It's primarily concrete rather than asphalt (and any experienced road runner is well aware of the difference) and 2) there were some very serious road camber issues to deal with.
Road Camber: If you're considering doing San Diego Marathon you really need to be aware of this. Quite a bit of the course is on roads and quite a few of those roads are somewhat heavily slanted or crowned.
A "crown" is where the middle of the road is quite a bit higher than the outsides of the road (i.e. where the curbs are)
so that water will drain off the road more efficiently.
While you may not notice it much when you're driving, when you're running the severe slant of the roadway becomes very, often painfully, obvious. It can cause some pretty serious issues with ankles and knees. Try running on a surface that is canted 10 or 15 degrees to one side and you'll see what I mean. After just a few steps you can find yourself striding very awkwardly. The solution for me is on cambered roads to try and run down by the curve (i.e. at the bottom of the camber) or on the flattest area I can find. On a crowned road (where the high point is the middle and it slopes to either side) I try to just run right down the yellow stripes in the middle.
Once we're off on the freeways we climbed the hill to mile 10. The summit is actually just before the mile 10 marker and the hill really isn't that bad. You gain maybe 300 feet of elevation over the course of a mile and a half or so. Noticeable but not a heart-breaker. Along the way somebody who looked like (and might have been) San Diego Charger All-Pro Antonio Gates was standing out in the middle of the course giving VERY high-fives (since he is 6'4") to the passing runners.
From there the course gets a little sparse. We're running on freeways for quite a while and the bands/cheerleading squads were a bit thin on the ground as they say. The race materials advertise 20-some bands and 40-some cheer squads (as I recall) and while there very well may have been close to 20 bands I don't think I saw more than two dozen cheer squads. Still...spectators and supporters are plentiful and great. Some of the bands were on break when we went by and in lieu of live music they had recorded music playing through their speakers. Can't really blame them, especially later on the course those bands had probably been out there for 2 or 3 hours by that point and that is a LONG time to play.
I stayed nicely ahead of my "fast" pace pretty much the whole way, even gaining 30 seconds or a minute occasionally. By mile 18 I was feeling great and very strong. But I had to remind myself that I *ALWAYS* feel very strong for the first 18 miles. At Honolulu the first year I was literally dancing at mile 18. Mile 22 is a different story. And, once again...that was true.
Speaking of pacing...Southwest Airlines had some "pacers" on the course. Folks who were going to try and run a certain time and were wearing signs that indicated that time "Scheduled Arrival: 5:00" or "Scheduled Arrival: 5:30" for instance, indicating 5 hour or 5.5 hour marathons. I'm not sure how many of them there were or how accurate they usually were. Back around mile 9 I passed a guy wearing a "4:30" sign who was already walking. He wasn't going to get anywhere near 4:30 I was sure. I don't think I ever saw him again and I finished well after 4:30 so... I also passed a couple of 5:00 and several 5:30 folk. Anyhow, take the pacers with a grain of salt. THey're good to have but remember they are humans and runners just like you which means they may not be able to manage their predicted time in every case.
At around mile 22 the sun had come out and my hamstrings started to tighten on me. My lungs felt great; feet felt o.k., wasn't having any trouble with the knees and my hip was holding up too. But the hamstrings started to tighten and nothing I could do seemed to want to loosen them. For the next 3 miles I was slowed, but not stopped, and started to give back some of the pace gains I had made earlier. Mile after mile I saw my pace slide rapidly back towards "normal". The only reason I wasn't concerned was that my only time goal for the race was that I'd be "very happy" to get under 6 hours and at this point I was virtually assured of a sub-6 hour race. So...the fact that I was losing a lot of time in those last miles, while it took a bit of the luster and enjoyment off the race, was not really that big a deal.
Seen on the Course: Two girls wearing shirts that read "In my mind I'm a Kenyan."
Mile 25 came and the terrain changed from somewhat ugly industrial back to parks and newer-urban. Also my legs started to loosen up a bit again and I was able to run a little more comfortably. By the time we made the turn into the park for the finish I was back to running fairly well, though not nearly as strongly as before. The last mile was good - my lower back started to cramp just a bit (uncomfortable but not debilitating) but otherwise I ran thru the cheering crowds (great crowd support at the finish!) with my fellow runners and finished with one fist triumphantly in the air -- 5:46:30.
The Finish Line: Like most marathons San Diego runs you under a big archway at the finish. There's a clock displaying your time (that's your "gun time" not your "chip time" which means it's the time since the race started, which may be several minutes LONGER than the time you actually ran the race, because it may have taken you several minutes to get from your "corral" to the actual start line). Also there are "misters" or hoses spraying cool water down that you can run under to cool off - a welcome relief.
At a couple of water stations along the way somebody was sitting on the curb with a hose spraying down the runners - I steered clear of these folks because I don't want to get my feet wet as I run. Wet shoes are heavier and wet socks can lead to problems with blisters. At the finish line I'm fine with it since I'm done running, but at mile 14 I don't want my shoes soaking wet for the next 12 miles.
After the misters you walk a bit further, we got medals (quite heavy) on ribbons draped over our necks by volunteers, we were handed bottles of water and then other volunteers came and cut off our timing chips. Further into the finish area were tables of fruit, energy bars and goody bags. All in all I'd say it was very well-run.
If there is one shortcoming of the San Diego Marathon finish area it's that there are very few shady places to sit (or collapse). Lots of folks plopped down on the ground in various places, but nearly all of them in full sun -- not a great way to recover. Finally, reinforced with fruit and water and carrying our goody bags, it's time to head out. A sign advertisers "Free Shuttles" but I'm not clear on where those shuttles are going (back to the hotels? To the parking? Starting line?) and my car is parked in the "adjacent" lot so I figured I'd just follow the signs to the parking lot and walk it. A river of other runners is doing the same. This is where I discover that their definition of "adjacent" isn't necessarily the same as mine.
It turns out that the Airport Authority parking lot is adjacent to the finish area the same way that Portland is adjacent to San Francisco. The states may border each other, but there is a LOT of terrain in between. After 10 minutes of walking one of the other runners nearby can be heard to quip "I'm looking for an aid station!" Ironically...there IS one. Halfway out a tent appears where they are selling water and soda. We trudge past; I don't have any cash on me anyhow and I just want to get to the car without further delay. A little ways later another runner nearby quips "They should have a finisher's t-shirt for making it to the car!". Sure enough. It feels like a good mile and a half walk from the finish area to the parking lot. Note to self: Next year take the free shuttle.
I found my car without too much difficulty, managed the somewhat awkward traffic pattern to get back on the 5 Freeway and made a beeline for In-and-Out Burger which I had been denying myself (in the name of training) until after the race.
So...that's the story. All in all a very good race. I would have liked to have been stronger at the end, but I was very encouraged with the way it went in general and felt good about my time. For an old fat guy who is not a great endurance athlete, 5:46 is respectable. Next year maybe 5:30.
Concert: That evening the Marathon folks hosted a concert for us at Cox Arena. Headlining: Seal. Excellent performance, really enjoyed his energy and he sounds great in concert. No sign of Heidi.
Acknowledgements and final questions:
-B- The Race Report: San DiegoO.K., O.K., I'll write a more detailed race report. :) By surprisingly popular demand....
The 2007 San Diego Marathon
When last we left our hero he was foolish...err...brave enough to sign up for the 2007 Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego....
Saturday afternoon I called down to leave a wake-up call at the hotel:
"Hello Mr. Schorr, what time would you like to wake up?"
"Well, I'd like to wake up at 10:30, but unfortunately I need to wake up at 3:45AM."
<she laughs, disarmingly> "O.K., Mr. Schorr, we'll give you a 3:45AM wake-up call." <she says, alarmingly>
I was asleep by 9PM and though I woke up a couple of times during the night I generally slept pretty well. Kudos to the nice bedding at the Sheraton. At 3:45 the phone rang and I sprang (o.k. rolled) out of bed. I had laid out my gear the night before (picture attached) so it was a surprisingly trivial matter to gather my stuff, get dressed and get out the door right at the appointed hour of 4:15AM.
The race packet materials suggested that if we wanted to drive ourselves to the race that we could park at the Airport Authority parking lot which was "adjacent" (remember that word, it becomes important later) to the finish line at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Following the directions in the packet I drove directly there and had no difficulty whatsoever finding the lot and getting parked. Definite kudos to the race folks for taking care of that element well.
Snag #1: As I was standing next to the car in the darkness putting on my various acoutrements and getting ready for the shuttle I grabbed my MP3 player (which I had fully charged and loaded with assorted sounds the day before) then noticed something missing...
...headphones.
 I'm suddenly flashing back to a training run I did some weeks back where I forgot to bring my headphones and thus ran in bored silence for a couple of hours. Two searches of the car yield nothing. Just as I'm about to resign myself to hoping there really are 20-something bands along the course I spot something on the ground next to my open door. I reach down and...MY HEADPHONES! Whew! They must've been in my lap or something and fallen out when I got out of the car. It's amazing that I spotted the black headphones on the ground in the darkness, but greatly relieved I grab the rest of my stuff, lock the car and head for the trolleys just a hundred yards or so away. Seated on the trolley along with a couple of dozen other marathoners I strike up a conversation with "Gene", an insurance salesman from not far away who is aiming for sub-4 hours in his first full marathon. He's a very nice fellow and we continue our chat after we exit the trolley at the start line. The one downside to this morning's plan is that it has been TOO efficient. The race starts at 6:30AM and we're already sitting in the grass near the start line at 5:00. It's too early to do much stretching and we've already availed ourselves of the thus-far empty PortaJohns. Lucky thing too, if there are three things that the San Diego Marathon is renowned for, two of them are epic lines at the PortaJohns.
True to its name there is a lot of music in evidence at the Rock and Roll Marathon. From the time we arrive (around 5AM) there is near constant music on the loudspeakers, a Marine Corps band marches by to hearty applause and a squadron of running Elvises (Elvi?) are posing for photo ops.
Starting Time...The San Diego Marathon lines the runners up in "corrals" which is a technique I'd like to see more races adopt. The corrals are organized by predicted finishing time -- the fastest people (i.e. Kenyans) are in Corral 1 and it goes back from there through about 23 corrals. The race packet implies that the corrals would be strictly enforced (i.e. if you're a Corral 15 person you can't line up in Corral 12 for instance) though honestly I saw little evidence of that. Still...having the corrals did seem to work. At other races I've seen walkers and folks pushing strollers lining up right behind the elite runners, forcing the runners behind to weave and pick their way thru the slower folks ahead once the race begins. At San Diego I didn't see too much of that, which was nice.
So...taking my place in my designated corral I started chatting with some of my fellow runners; pleasant folks all and first time Marathoners most. A lot of them were there for Team in Training which raises money to battle Leukemia. It looked like fully 1/3 of the crowd could have been Team in Training participants (Team in Training wisely chooses the acronym "TNT" rather than the one that seems more obvious...).
We enjoyed an excellent rendition of the national anthem and then they got us started. I didn't hear any obvious starting gun or horn, but the crowd began to surge forward and we found ourselves walking, in a herd, towards the starting line. The Rock and Roll Marathon is a chip-timed race so it doesn't really matter when you cross the start line. We wear a chip attached to one shoe and as soon as you cross the timing mat your personal clock starts....
...we interrupt this blog entry to bring you a very important cheeseburger. O.K., I need to take a break and go get lunch. Mom and I are headed for In-and-Out Burger (naturally) and I'll continue when I return. In the meantime please talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic. The peanut is neither a pea, nor a nut, discuss.
-B- June 03 O.K., I ran your damned race......now give me a cheeseburger or somebody's going to get hurt.
I'll write more soon - but the race is done and it went pretty well. 5:46:30 was my time; I was shooting for around or under 6 hours so I feel good about that. First 22 miles were VERY strong, my hamstrings tightened up on me around 22 so that slowed, but didn't stop, me for the last 4. Finished fairly strong.
I'll write more soon...right now I need a shower and a dip in the Jacuzzi. Then a nap followed by more food probably.
I do want to thank everybody who reached out for their support. When I woke up this morning my phone was nearly overflowing with text messages from friends wishing me well in the race. I think I've managed to respond to all of you by now but let me just say you guys are awesome and I hope I made you proud today!
-B- June 02 Marathon Countdown: The Night Before...O.K., I'm in San Diego at the Sheraton. It's been an interesting and unexpected day in every respect. The drive down was supposed to be a casual 2.5 hour drive and I figured I'd get in just after lunchtime. Well, due to traffic and general slowdowns it took most of the day - I got to the convention center for the expo sometime after 3PM.
A few random thoughts:
For the rest of tonight...a quick trip to the hotel jacuzzi, a handful of Rold Gold pretzels for dinner, a shower, lay out my gear and an early bedtime. I have a 3:45AM wakeup call so I can get on the road by 4:15AM. That's a tad early, and I figure I'll have a lot of downtime for stretching and breathing. Should be a great race...my plan is just to relax, breathe, be efficient, stay hydrated, enjoy the spectacle and the sights and just run my race. If I can just avoid injury it should all work out just fine. Last time for pre-race questions and acknowledgements:
-B- June 01 Marathon Countdown: T-40 hours?O.K., I'm in L.A. The flight over was pretty uneventful except for the absolutely adorable little girl sitting in the row in front of me who would cry for about 2 minutes every hour. Saw two movies on the flight: Music and Lyrics and The Holiday. Both sort of cute little romantic comedies that made for an entertaining diversion during the flight. I have to confess I found myself identifying a bit with the Kate Winslet character in The Holiday and I'm hoping I have a similar outcome (though not with Jack Black).
I got to chat with two servicemen on the flight: one Army, one Navy. The soldier, in full uniform, boarded immediately before me. The lady taking the boarding passes asked if he was on his way to Iraq. "Yes, ma'am" he soberly replied. She patted him on the shoulder reassuringly as he passed and she took my boarding pass. On the jetway I had a chance to chat with him a bit. "First time to Iraq?" I asked. "Third" he said quietly. The flight crew upgraded him to a better seat - well deserved. Once in my seat I got to chat with the sailor - a 13 year vet who was on his way to his new assignment in the southeast. He's been to Iraq three times too - with his (former) ship.
LAX is a mess. The plane landed at 11PM and it was nearly 12:45AM before we got out of the airport. First it took about 45 minutes for American Airlines to get our bags out. Then after we got in the car we sat in an ugly traffic jam (Welcome to L.A.!) in the parking garage for at least half an hour.
You Know You're In L.A.: I think I saw Danny Devito sitting on a bench at baggage claim at LAX chatting with some other fellow.
It's nice to see my folks again. Their townhouse is beautifully landscaped (picture attached) and very comfortable. In addition to pretty flora they even have some fauna...on the way out to the Jacuzzi I saw several squirrels scurrying about the grounds.
Car Talk: My dad's Honda Civic Hybrid got smashed into while it was parked the other day so it's in the body shop and he rented a Chevy Aveo from Enterprise. This is a tiny little tea sandwich of a car with...get this...actual roll up windows and no power door locks! How very 1983! But he seems happy with it and I'm sure it's cheap so...
Marathon is looming large. After sleeping in this morning and spending time on the phone with my grandparents and my uncle Mick I finally made it out to the Jacuzzi here. Ahhhhhh. Just stretching lightly in the Jacuzzi is very theraputic. I plan to go again tonight before bed. I will definitely be getting one when I move into my new place later this year.
Where's the Beef? One thing I'm looking forward to after Marathon is getting off this pasta/bread/water/chicken diet. At the moment I'm all about lean carbs and very efficient foods. Healthy, no doubt, but not very satisfying for EVERY meal. I guarantee you the sun will not set on Sunday before I've finally enjoyed an In-and-Out Double-Double.
Do As We Say, Not As We Do: The sign at the Jacuzzi advises against staying in the water for more than 10 minutes. The timer on the Jacuzzi goes to 15 minutes.
Next Stop - the Greater Flagstaff Concert Hall and Tire Center: Those of you waiting for Survivor to start their next tour can breathe easy -- they're playing at the Warner Center Concerts in the Park across the street from where my folks live in a week or two. Jonesing for a little "Eye of the Tiger"? Come on out, bring your own lawn chair.
So this evening I'm just relaxing at home and doing some writing.
So...on to today's questions and acknowledgements:
Karen: My goals for this marathon are pretty simple, actually - I just want to see improvement. I want to run well, feel strong, and finish comfortably. I'm not a long-legged running nymph like some people who is going to miss the Boston Marathon qualifying time by just 15 minutes in one of the toughest marathons in America. No, for all of my improved fitness (and newly re-emerging abs), I'm still a 210 pound guy who is really built more for knocking down linebackers than gliding across miles of terrain. So I just want to run comfortably and feel like I'm making progress and becomming a better marathoner.
JL: Yes, I am thinking about doing the Los Angeles Marathon next year. :) And probably San Diego again too (unless I hate it).
NS: Yes, I am planning to go to the Sunday night concert - the headline act is Seal whom I really enjoy. Seems like it should be fun! Hopefully there will be seats - don't think I'll feel much like standing thru a concert after running a marathon. :)
BF: Thanks for your kind words of support! I'm sure you don't want a San Diego newspaper, but I still have papers from Stockholm, Paris and Amsterdam for you...
JC: Thanks for your support too. Sorry I've been quiet lately, but I am thinking of you and I'm sure you'll be on the course with me.
I guess that's enough for now. Gotta get back to the kind of writing I get paid for, then a light dinner with Mom, one last trip to the Jacuzzi for tonight and then off to bed...
-B-
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