Run DMZ

Here’s the thing about running through the decades: The injuries pile up. In the early years, it’s from being too ambitious and overtraining. In the latter years, it’s from being too ambitious and tripping. And with either age group, freak accidents seem to happen only after officially signing up for a race. I’d no sooner accepted the online waiver and punched in my credit card data when I was felled by a wayward bougainvillea stalk. These beautiful plants (ours is the size and shape of a tree, but I think they are technically a shrub) need to be periodically trimmed, and sometimes the landscapers you hire don’t pick up every stalk. And these stalks have “prickers” – big ones, too. And one such thorn stuck in my foot after I stepped on it because I wasn’t paying close attention to my surroundings. I didn’t think anything of it, other than “ouch.” I was wearing thin summer flats and the plant pierced the pleather and lodged into the outside of my left foot. I pulled it ...

A SDSU basketball game halftime performance by Heartlight, the intra-city dance program my nephew did last year. Hi mom was with us in the audience, just so you know things do get better with time. It’s been a year exactly since I walked into a fifth-grade class, outwardly smiling and inwardly tormented. I was there to drop off the new student, my nephew whom I would now be raising. I knew right away he did not belong here, this child who had been orphaned and who could neither read nor write. His poor speech and facial birth defects let everyone know immediately he was different. We’d arrived in San Diego just a week prior after an Oregon family court judge finally took up my petition to move back to California. That request was challenged by his birth mother, who also happens to be my youngest sister. I always thought of myself as an upstanding citizen, but that day in court I realized that my inexperience with legal proceedings handicapped me. My sister knew how to gain t...

It says everything that when I told people I was attending this year’s Comic-Con, they responded with something along the lines of “Oh, San Diego has one too?!” My response was always, “Actually, San Diego is where it all began. All the others are knock-offs.” That’s not to say that the other Comic-Cons aren’t excellent events in their own rights, but they aren’t like the one that’s descended on downtown San Diego for 50 years now. Comic-Con is huge, not just for comics and pop culture fans, but for the entire region’s economy. It draws 135,000 people from 80 countries who spend $88 million directly and $149 million altogether. It’s such a financial force that we’ve had voter drives to start referendums on a San Diego Convention Center expansion solely to keep the conference from moving north.  One look at downtown last week, and it is easy to see why a bigger venue might do. But we San Diegans are grateful to the founders and organization leaders for keeping Comic-Co...

Big Bear Lake from Cougar Crest Trail/PCT I lost more than a few hours’ sleep earlier this week, trying to reconcile a wide range of trail reviews on the AllTrails app. Some claimed two of our planned trails were tough; some said they were rather easy. Some made it sound like we’d be bouldering to the top. Some failed to mention the true pitch to one peak. No matter. My friend Trish from Cape Cod and I had a glorious time gaining ground on either side of the mountains surrounding Southern California’s  Big Bear Lake . We even got a taste of the Pacific Coast Trail. Big Bear Lake is located about 2 hours from Los Angeles and 2.5 from San Diego, unless you hit a lot of traffic, which we did until turning off the freeways and onto the picturesque Rim of the World Highway into town. This area is better known as a winter resort town and a weekend getaway. Yet it was still a surprise to find thin traffic, ample parking and sparsely populated village sidewalks and restaurant...

Post-race party in the park I bought those bright red running shorts exactly 20 years ago at a City Sports in Boston’s Downtown Crossing. They were on sale and fit—the only pair among the discount racks that day to meet my running-purchase criteria. I wore them often in the summers and early falls and then put them away come winter to get a little more life out of them. That strategy worked well until this morning, when I grabbed them to wear for the annual Scripps Ranch 4 th of July race and saw the elastic waistband was shot.  This should have been my cue to toss them, but we were in a hurry and I wanted to get one more race out of them, if only for sentimental sakes. This is my favorite summer fun run, where many former running friends and neighbors toe the line for the 10k or equally popular 2-mile fun run. And far as I remember, I’d always worn those red shorts to this race. I had lost my running shorts during the New York City Marathon , creating endl...

San Diegans tend to stick close to home on the weekends. Which is why driving down to South Bay to hike Mother Miguel Mountain this morning was a bit of a big deal. There just aren’t that many opportunities for a substantial hike in or around Chula Vista. And the Rock House Trail is probably the most popular and certainly best known. [Do not confuse it with nearby Mt. Miguel, which is no longer accessible.] Until yesterday, I thought we had a local guide. My friend Happy was going to join us and show us the way to get around. But an 8 a.m. plumber visit nixed that plan. That’s when I started doing some digging into where to go and how to get to the rockpile holding up two flags that mark the summit. And here’s where I was reminded to closely examine reviews before drawing assumptions. Most called the trail steep and many recommended hiking shoes and poles, particularly going back down. And everyone seemed to remark about the signage, or lack thereof. But degree of difficult...

How can you not like a race in which you begin on level ground, knock off a hill or two and finish with vendors from 450 booths cheering you on as you move toward a finish that includes a giant medal and equally large, fresh strawberries? Sunday was actually my second time doing this annual Memorial Day weekend running event in North County. A couple of years ago I did the 10k race with a friend and finished strong. I forgot my time or place among my age group, but the race results for that year were down last time I checked. This time I was introducing my nephew, whom I’m now raising, to San Diego running. He’d shown an affinity for it during his school’s recent jogathon. He just turned 11, is quite small for his age and intellectually disabled. No way would I foist a 10k on him, so we signed up for the 5k, which actually is the bigger draw most years. The 10k runners go first, at 6:45 a.m. which means by the time we pulled into Vista Village around 6:30, parking wa...