Make Room For Santa 5K

On December 12, we participated in a local 5k run. The run was in Irvine and the course was made up of public streets and bike trails. It was a very brisk morning with bright morning sunshine. I wasn't particularly in the running spirit both because of the temperature and I had a couple of beers the night before. I ran the course in 23:44 which wasn't necessarily an outstanding time. I grabbed my complimentary sports drink and snacks and headed to the side lines to wait for Maria to finish. This event encourages runners to dress up like santas, elves, and the like. I was surprised to see a group dressed up like the manger scene (see photo). Maria ran in at 33:22 which was a great time considering she hadn't been consistenly running. Later that night I decided to check the race results--little did I know that I actually placed 3rd in my age group (30-34). The top 3 finishers in each division were awarded a pint glass with the run emblem. Maria was nice enough to pick it up for me during the week. This is the first time that I've actually won anything.

Beware of Your Surroundings

On one of our last trips to Costco we were stopped at the intersection waiting for the light to change. I was driving the Suby and Maria was with me in the passenger seat. Since it was a decent day we were cruising with the windows down.
While waiting we begun to hear this strange music and stranger singing. Maria and I looked at each other perplexed and we quickly noticed the music was coming from the vehicle to our right. The girl/lady had her windows rolled down and was belting along with her favorite song (woman singer with heavy duty guitar rifts). I try not to be critical of people but it was truly some awful singing that sounded like a cross between opera with some Emo edginess mixed in. Maria, who was eating an apple at the time nearly choked and started coughing. I on the other hand started laughing out loud and had to cover my mouth so she wouldn't hear me. Maria and I were both trying hard not to laugh so we had to look straight ahead and ignore her.
The poor girl obviously had no clue we heard her terrible singing. The light finally turned green and I was sooo embarrassed for her that I had to switch lanes so we wouldn't have to drive next to her.
I am often guilty of rocking out to my favorite songs while driving. But when this happens I am usually alone with my windows rolled all the way up.

Running

A week ago I participated in a 10K Turkey Trot at Bonelli Park (San Dimas). This was probably the toughest 10K run that I’ve run. The course was probably 75 % paved walkways and 25% trails. It had rained a few days prior to the event so the trail portions were pretty muddy. The course started on a hill and that was the sign that this was going to be a hilly course. There were several hills along the course and they sucked the life out of me. I still ran a decent time but I definitely coasted in to the finish line. It was a fun event but I was disappointed that they ran out of event t-shirts. It was a long sleeve t-shirt with the picture of a turkey--- it would have become my new Thanksgiving shirt. So to make up for no t-shirt I made sure to drink plenty of water, Clif Bar snacks, and took some extra energy drinks home with me.

We will be doing our last race of the year on Sunday. We’ve been doing some moderate amount of running so I think we’ll be okay for the 5k. We did this event last year and it was pretty fun. This year they’re going to include a Christmas ornament in the goody bag-- pretty cool.

Holiday Transition

Is it me or did we just stuff our mouths with Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all the trimmings. It always amazes me just how quickly it goes from Thanksgiving to Christmas. So fast, that it feels as though there is not enough time to rest and recover before it’s time to take out the Christmas decorations and start the shopping. I finally hung Christmas lights this year and I have to say that they don’t look too bad. Now our house looks like we finally have some Christmas spirit.

So far I’ve been good at work and I’ve been able to fight off the urge to eat the Holiday junk food. I normally gain around 10 pounds during the holidays but so far I’m still the same weight. The season is still young so I’ll probably have to indulge in a few delicious holiday treats, especially once Maria starts her baking.

These last few days have been pretty cold (for Californians) and it now feels like winter.

Veterans Day

I have the day off while Maria is slaving away at the office. One perk of working for the City is that we get every holiday off (minus Columbus Day). It is strange to be sitting home on a Tuesday but someone has to do it.

I'm doing my part to help honor the memory of those who have served in our military. I have been watching The History Channel and The Military Channel since around 11 am. There have been some pretty good shows especially Shootout on The History Channel.

In all seriousness I do appreciate those who help keep our country safe. For 8 years my pops served in the Army and during those years we spent lots of time on military bases. It's a tough life with lots of hazards and challenges.

Trail Running

Since we moved a couple of years ago I've haven't bothered to look for some nearby off-road running trails. So on Friday I did a yahoo search to locate local trail runs and I came across the website for a local running club. Sunday mornings they have a standing run at one of the Irvine trails. So this morning I showed up to see what this group was about. Unfortunately there weren't too many members b/c the day before they had a longer trail run. So Tom and I did a few laps around the trail loop which lasted less than an hour. Little did I know that he was going to take a photo of me to add it to their website. Check it out: http://www.octrailrunners.org/news.html

I guess this means that I'm now a member.

1st Week Back

This is the end of my first week back after being out of town most of October. Although it was a short work week for me, it was a tough transition back to the working world. On my first morning back I even blanked out on my morning routine and what time I had to be at work. Here's a quick summary of our time away.

First, we were in Hotlanta for a professional conference. ATL is an interesting urban city with a southern hospitality twist. There wasn't too much to do within the downtown area but we did manage to see some of the sites: Coke World, CNN building, The Olympic Park, and the ATL Aquarium. Our hotel was within walking distance of these attractions and on the first day I toured the city by myself as Maria had some meetings she had to attend. It rained on me and unfortunately I didn't have an umbrella or rain jacket. So as I was walking back to the hotel from the CNN building I was escorted by a local homeless man who was so kind as to put his umbrella over me. With a little hesitation I let him escort me the four blocks to the hotel. As we walked he asked me questions about where I was from and if I was religious. Little did I know that he was a religious homeless person that walked around with a mini-bible in his back pocket. As we were within a few feet of the hotel I thought I heard him mutter, "will you pay me," with which I replied that I would give him a couple of dollars. He then corrected me and asked again, "will you pray for me?" At that point I was a little stunned and I told him that I would gladly say a couple of words for him the next time I prayed. Instead he insisted that I pray for him at that very second, standing on the sidewalk, and right in front of the hotel lobby. With some hesitation I finally agreed to pray for him and then he proceeded to bow his head. I said a few words for him as cars passed us along the street. Let's just say it was a very interesting moment of my life.

For our vacation we headed to the Motherland (Mexico) to visit our families. It had been several years that both Maria and I had gone to visit. We first arrived in Guadalajara and from there we were able to visit my side of the family that lives in Leon and Lagos De Moreno. Although, most of our time was spent catching up with our aunts, uncles and cousins, we did manage to do some tourist activities. We were able to make it to historic Guanajuato with it's colonial charm, visit some museums and government buildings in Guadalajara, watch a lucha libre show (Mexican wrestling) and some round pyramids outside of Guadalajara. I did manage to hog down on some delicious Mexican sweets, pastries and cuisine. As with most hospitable Mexican families, most relatives prepared special meals to welcome us to their homes. In addition, we were able to eat some delicious street food such as tacos, tortas, churros and potato chips with hot sauce. Luckily I didn't gain 20 pounds while I was away.

Now that we're back it's time to catch up with work and start looking forward to the Holidays. Our next focus is to focus on my favorite holiday of the year--- Thanksgiving.