5K Smack Down

Several months ago, Pat and his graduate assistant, Steve, decided to compete against one another in a 5k as an incentive to get back into running shape. They agreed that Steve (since Steve is at least 15 years younger than Pat and only a year removed from collegiate competition)would give Pat 2 minutes on the race, and the winner would buy the loser breakfast. So, last Saturday, we drove up to Hermosa Beach (a new beach for us) for some exciting race action!

Here is the pre-race picture. Pat kept saying that he might not survive, which might explain his expression! It should be noted that both Pat and Steve claimed that they didn't train for the race and were pretty apprehensive. I can corroborate Pat's claim--he really only ran a few miles a few times a week in preparation.

Can you find Pat at the start of the race? Hint: he is on the right hand side.

When Steve came by me, he looked great and had a big smile on his face! He was 1:10 ahead of Pat. He finished the race in just under 17 minutes, but, alas, it wouldn't be enough to earn him a breakfast.

Often, Pat looks like he is in serious pain during a race but this time he looked really relaxed. At this point, he was only about 100 yards from the finish. He finished in about 18:25, which I consider amazing since he really doesn't exercise very much. I wish I could reel off a sub-19-minute 5k just like that!

Some of the runners from Pat's team came out to cheer the guys on. That's J-Rod on the right and Naveed on the left.

Anza Borrego Camping Trip

Over Easter weekend, Pat and I headed off to Anza Borrego State Park, which is the largest state park outside of the state of Alaska. It also happens to be the desert. When we arrived, we were very lucky to get the last tent site in the campground.

Since it was very windy, we decided not to set up our tent but to do some hiking right away. This sign greeted us at the trail head along with a disclaimer that "people have died of dehydration on this trail." We thought that was unlikely, since the entire trail was only 1.5 miles long!

It did look pretty dry though!

Despite the "dangers" we headed off.

After a mile and a half, we came to Lost Palms Oasis. It was very beautiful but there were about 100 people there, which made it less appealing.


It was shady and cool beneath the palms. Right after this picture was taken, Pat disturbed a rattlesnake, and it gave him a scary warning. I do have a picture but I don't have it with me. I will try to post it later.

We then left the maintained trail (and all those pesky people) behind and followed the creek along a series of small waterfalls.

Here is the view back down the canyon.


We kept coming upon more and more oases, as we went. They were lusher than I expected.

I always forget to get pictures of myself. So, here is one.


We rounded a bend and could see Mount Baldy far off in the distance.

More palm trees.



When we got back to our campsite, the wind was still howling. I had to cook dinner in the back of the car. Luckily, I am an old pro at this.

In the meantime, Pat had a heck of a time setting up the tent. Eventually, I went over to give him a hand. Once erected, the tent was a champ. It didn't blow around at all unlike several of our neighbors'.

One final story about this weekend (without pictures):

We got up early Sunday morning and were tickled to see that the Easter Bunny had visited the campside beside us, bringing two young girls huge baskets and stuffed animals. As I made some coffee, I heard someone come traipsing noisily through our campsite. Instinctively, I turned to see who/what it was. You can imagine my surprise when I saw a stout, younger guy (perhaps 20ish) in a red flannel shirt march by with a shotgun slung over one shoulder. Guess what was in his other hand? Yep, pretty obvious. A dead bunny rabbit. The guy shot the Easter Bunny! The woman next door looked at me and mouthed "is that legal?" I said "NO." She went to get the rangers while I watched to see where the guy was headed. About 45 minutes later, the rangers escorted him out of the park.

Balboa Island & Dana Point

The day after my mom and I went to San Diego, we headed back down the coast to Newport Beach to do another Volksmarch, this one on Balboa Island and Peninsula.

First, we walked over a bridge onto Balboa Island. Each house had a dock (usually with a nice boat) out front. I took this picture of mom on the "public dock," the only one that riffraff like us are allowed on!

And one lovely house had a dinosaur out front.

Then we took a ferry (for $1 each) across to Balboa Peninsula.

The ferry could hold three cars at a time.

We also did a Volksmarch in Dana Point which is another beautiful area. First, we walked to an overlook of the harbour.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

The houses were stunning and the lawns manicured.


Eventually, we walked right on down to the ocean where we stopped for a rest before hiking the whole way back up to our car!

San Diego with Mom

When my mom visited last weekend, we went down to San Diego for the day. Boy, do I like that city. The weather was perfect. Of course, we did a 10k Volksmarch which started along the waterfront, went through Balboa park, past Petco park, through the convention center and back past the USS Midway. Here are the sights:

First, we went past the Star of India, the world's oldest active ship.

Here is a view of the city.

All along the waterfront are cool, cleverly named sculptures. This one was called Signs of Life (or something along those lines).

We saw some lawn bowlers in Balboa Park. I never had heard of this game until I moved to Long Beach, and I think of it as "Bocce for the snotty set."

We thought this was an old mission but it turned out to be the Museum of Man.

After a re-energizing lunch, we toured the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier. It was so cool--I can't imagine landing an F-16 on one of these things. It must take nerves of steel!

After poking around a bit on our own, we took a guided tour of "the island" which is where operations are carried out during maneuvers.

Headsets were included in the tour but mine just irritated me so I didn't really end of listening to much of the info.



This statue is right beside the Midway. It commemorates a famous WW II photo of a sailor kissing a nurse on VJ Day.

Malibu Hiking

Pat and I finally had a free weekend together so on Sunday, we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway past Malibu to Carillo State Park for a little leg stretcher.

I started taking pictures from the car as we passed through Malibu just because it was so pretty. Pat kept insisting that every person we saw on a motorcycle was either Brad Pitt or George Clooney!

If anyone ever wants to go to graduate school in a beautiful location, I suggest Pepperdine. The campus is right along the water and very beautiful. We will have to take this university off Pat's list of schools he might want to work at, since they just cut track and field.

Here is another highway shot of Malibu.

Our hike started at sea level and climbed 1,800 feet to Nicholas Flat.

Unfortunately, I discovered early on during this hike that I am a nothing but a slab of lard these days! The trail was really steep, and I was huffing and puffing the whole way up. Hopefully, it will be a motivation to get fit for the summer hiking season.

There were many beautiful ocean views to contemplate.

After about three miles, the open trail gave way to some small trees which provided some shade.

And then we came upon Nicholas Flat-a very interesting meadow. It felt really wild--it seemed as though there should have been water buffalo or some other exotic animal grazing.

The way back down was easier aerobically but my feet throbbed by the end.

The trail ended right by the beach so we took a minute to watch the surfers before heading back home.

PS-The sky was not actually pink during this excursion. I don't know what the deal is with my camera.

Sights of Seattle

Here are some pictures I took while hanging out in Seattle. Sorry I have been so remiss in getting these posted!

Of course, a bar was the very first place I headed upon my arrival in Seattle. Ivars, just West of the University and right on the water. Here is the view of downtown Seattle from our table.

The next day I went to check out the big indoor track meet. Indoor tracks are so weird--this place was like an airplane hanger. Finding a good place to watch the races was very difficult.

So, I decided to watch the pole vault instead. I've always had an obsession with the pole vault--it looks like so much fun. But, apparently, it is very difficult. One must be both fast and strong. After watching a bunch of athletes complete, I decided that it might not be the event for me--there were lots of painful looking landings and mishaps.

We went right from the track meet to the UW basketball game...


where after exactly two pictures, I was asked by the very kind security guard not to take anymore. Whoops...

The next morning, I tooled around Seattle on my own. I walked down to the Space Needle and bought, what else, a cup of coffee.

I also took a picture of the futuristic Science Fiction Museum.

Then I took the bus up to Husky Stadium where I met up with Audra for a tour of the campus.

This spot is called "the Fountain and the Mountain." Okay, I know, there is no mountain. Let's keep in mind that this is Seattle. We'll have to trust Audra that it is really there.

Upon closer inspection of the Fountain, we were surprised to discover an alligator. Or was it crocodile?

This area is called Red Square because of all

the bricks.

And here is the library. It was very beautiful.