Surf and Turf, San Diego Style

-

Part of my reintroduction to “real running” has been establishing a training schedule. But putting brackets around previously endless excuses is proving harder than expected. I blame August. Here I am just two weeks into my Reformation and already I’m missing scheduled runs because of late evenings with friends and misguided menus and “Olympics fatigue.”

Take yesterday. I planned to run 45 minutes before work, only I overslept due to the evening concert under the stars in La Jolla. I forgot to eat my two-egg breakfast, so I snuck leftover cheese and rolls at the office, only to discover a surprise breakfast for a departing coworker 30 minutes later. I couldn’t deny myself a big ol’ bagel but at least I didn’t load it up with cream cheese.

Then I went on a lunchtime walk with a coworker, passing another colleague out for his usual afternoon run. I felt not the least amount of guilt until I returned feeling famished and decided to eat a Cobb salad. Everyone else waited for a late lunch at the Terrace Clubhouse at the Del Mar racetrack, where I ordered myself tortilla chips and guacamole to compliment the bottle of chardonnay circulating among the table. Deciding after two glasses that the pairing was a bit off, I switched to double-dose margaritas and thanked my lucky stars I wasn’t driving.

You see where this is going, don’t you? Instead of resting up for this morning’s early run, I was watching the Olympics Men’s 20k Racewalk Championship at midnight and wishing my sour stomach away, knowing another early morning run would not happen. Speaking of the Olympics, is anyone else a bit baffled and disappointed with NBC’s primetime coverage? Is it me, or did some corporate conspiracy force us to endure endless beach volleyball when we’re widest awake and turn us into next-day zombies with eyelids propped up with toothpicks because the glamour events – swimming, gymnastics, some of the big track and field competitions – are relegated to the latest hours of coverage? This is not leaving me much hope that today’s (tonight’s? tomorrow’s?) women’s marathon will be shown in its entirety.

Here are a few more pictures from yesterday's races.


The horses make their way to the track.


We watched one marriage proposal that day on the Jumbotron.


We had a raging debate during the 6th race about whether the announcer had trademarked his signature "And they're off!" start. I finally called my mother, a horse race expert, to settle it.


"And their off!"

Popular posts from this blog

I Leave You With This

-
Image
There's this social media post some guy put up on Instagram. I almost scrolled past it, but I'm glad I didn't. It asked what question we should ask ourselves when we die. In retrospect, ChatGPT's response was basically pulling from Eastern philosophy, but, still, I couldn't stop thinking about it in the hours and days since I first heard it. Here's a partial transcript I cribbed using -- what else? -- AI. Some guy set up the prompt, which was long and convoluted. The following picks it up from there.  Some guy : I'm assuming most people would ask, 'Where am I going? What's next?' Something like that. Is that a good question?  ChatGPT : No, because they don't matter. Some guy : W hy don't they matter?  ChatGPT : If there's a heaven or hell or some next phase, you're likely already heading there. Asking won't change your destination. It's a wasted question.  Some guy : That's a good point. Um, what about 'Did I do en...
Read more

What's Your Slavery Footprint?

-
I just came across an app that immediately intrigued me because it brings awareness to something way too often overlooked in this country. It's called The Slavery Footprint , and I found out about it this morning courtesy of this post . Living in California, and traveling regularly through the Central Valley where a bulk of everyone's U.S.-bred fruits and nuts are produced, I became keenly aware of how poorly farmhands are treated in this country. I even blogged about it several years ago . Some of us tend to feel morally superior because of the foods and lifestyle choices we make. After taking this "test," perhaps that piety will recede a bit. After you take it, you can share your score if you wish. Personally, I'm embarrassed by mine.
Read more

Do Mom and Dad Make You Run?

-
I know of a lot of middle-aged running friends who are motivated by their parents to run. Their mother or father was in poor health for many years and it ultimately cost them their lives (or at least a higher quality of it), and so one reason they initially put on a pair of running shoes was to avoid the same fate. However, that's not the sort of parental connection outlined in a provacative post about the link between exercise and genetics in this morning's Daily Beast. It reflects a couple of scientific studies that show we may be genetically encoded to favor workouts. That means some of us will never enjoy exercising like others, nor will our children. If this is true, then those of us modeling good behaviors by eating well and exercising in moderation may merely be passing along the endorphin baton to those with our "exercise gene." And that might also explain why some parents who push their kids into sports end up disappointed that their child never "takes...
Read more