Race on the Base 10K

This past Saturday Maria & I participated in a 10K run on the Los Alamitos Air Base. It's a cool run in that the course is flat and it takes place on the tarmac. This is a little deceptive in that during the entire time you're running you can see the finish line. It makes it tough because around every corner your mind starts to think that the finish line is sooo close and you start to run faster. Also, along the tarmac they have blackhawk helicopters on display which is pretty cool.

Not only is there a running race, but also a triathlon and skate event. The in-line skaters are pretty cool b/c they use each other to break the wind and they go pretty quickly. Luckily I don't think any of them fell on the course.

I ran the course somewhere around 37ish minutes. I'm still waiting for the results of the race but from what I can guesstimate I was somewhere around 37 minutes. This so far is my fastest 10k race time. I was pretty happy with myself considering the night before we were at the House of Blues in Anaheim watching the Dan Band. I did have one drink while there which is something that I don't do before a race. Maria ran in under 1 hour which was a great time for her-- she shaved off 18 minutes from the previous year. Her running has come a long way over the last few months and she's definitely put in extra effort to pick up her pace.

Good Timing

Saturday morning I went for a morning run. I met up with a couple of guys from the running group that I recently befriended. We drove to a local running trail which is only about 15 minutes from the house. We ran for about an hour and it was perfect running conditions. The temperature was cool, the air was fresh, and the running trail was damp from the rain. We ran and we didn't get rained on the time we were out. No sooner than I got back to my car and the rain started up again. It rained on and off the rest of the day.

Hot Dog Mobile

The other day I was driving home and I saw the Hot Dog On A Stick mobile. I'm assuming that this vehicle is similar to the IN-N-OUT catering truck, which makes hamburgers on the spot. I decided to take a photo with my phone as I was driving. It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I realized that I've never eaten at Hot Dog On A Stick. I remember sharing a lemonade with Maria a few years ago but never ordered food. I think I am going to make it a point to go to the mall during lunch to pick up a hot dog.

Obama

Tomorrow is the inauguration of our new president---- Barack Obama. This will be a momentous day and will hopefully be the start of a more positive political and economic environment. Today when i was looking through my email I noticed an add from Buy.com. I guess there's no better way to celebrate this new chapter of history than by purchasing a plate with Barack's portrait for only $9.99.

Here's the link in case you'd like to purchase one for your china cabinet: http://www.buy.com/prod/barack-obama-historic-victory-collectable-plate/q/loc/66357/210649409.html?adid=17070&dcaid=17070

Starting the New Year

Wow, the new year already seems to be zooming by. I haven't even had a chance to write a quick note about how things are going. Since this is the first post of 2009 I just want to share some thoughts. I normally start the year of with a list of things I want to accomplish or improve for the year. Aside from spending more time with friends and family, I want to do more: running, fishing, camping, and mountain biking. I need to start playing my guitar again but first I need to buy a new tuner (it broke). Besides exercising my body I need to exercise my mind more often. I finished last year on a positive note by reading a fair amount of books. We started going to the city library which happens to have a great selection of books. I've been alternating between reading fiction books and personal growth/career development. I'm staying away from the Twilight books so please don't suggest them.

I've been contemplating registering for a full marathon (26.2 Mi.) and even doing a triathlon (I don't swim very well). I'm hoping that by sharing this it'll help motivate me to finally sign up for some events. I'm not sure if running for 4 hours appeals to me and running that large amount of time really beats up your body. As for triathlons, I can do the running and the biking but I my swimming skills are pretty rudimentary. Swimming in open water is not something that I've done and I've heard that it's common to get kicked in the face when swimming in the pack.



I think the cold bug finally got us. I was able to avoid it during the holidays but I think it's finally made it's way to our household. It's hard to avoid it when half of your coworkers are walking around coughing and sneezing all over the place. So for now I've been loading up on vitamins, drinking hot teas, and trying to get some extra sleep. I think it's really going around because I was lucky enough to get the last vitamin C bottle at Trader Joes.

Weekend Wrap-up

Although we didn't do much shopping, we still had a pretty event filled weekend. On Friday we made our way up to the LBC to John and Joes Christmas cocktail party. It was a good time and we got to catch up with old friends.

Saturday we finished up with some Christmas errands and made our way to Irvine Lake for some fishing. Maria was finally able to break in the rod and reel that we bought about a month ago. Erick and Norma met us at the lake and we picked up some IN-N-OUT on our way there. After a delicious lunch we all set up our fishing gear and tried our luck. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting and I wasn't even lucky enough to catch a boot. There were some reeds in the water which we all kept getting our hooks caught on. Overall it was lots of fun but it would have been nice if someone would have left with a delicious fish.

Sunday afternoon we met up with Heather who is down in SoCal visiting. We met up at Claim Jumpers and finally got to meet baby Thomas who is such a cute kid. Thomas let Maria and I carry him and he wasn't fussy one bit. It was nice to catch up with Heather and to see how much of a caring mother she has become. BTW, I ordered the chicken pot pie and it was delicious but very filling. We also shared a red velvet cupcake for desert with a delicious cream cheese frosting on top.

Random Find

Last Saturday Maria and I went to pick up our 5k racing packets at the Chicks sporting goods store in Tustin. We grabbed our packets and t-shirt and were leaving the store when I overheard a lady tell a family that there was an Olympian at the AT&T store next door. My ear hustling sparked my curiosity so I convinced Maria to go in the store to get a look. Olympic gold track star Sanya Richards (400 relay gold and 400 bronze) was signing autographs and taking photographs with the customers. Even better was that there was only a couple of people in line. We took a photo with her and she gave us a signed photograph. She was really nice and seemed very down to earth. Better yet Jack FM (93.1) had a table inside the store. Maria and I were able to walk away with stickers and t-shirts too. Sweet!