Warrior Dash 2010-So Cal

Warrior Dash 2010, A 3-Mile Obstacle Course, A Great Post-Race Party...Another Wake-Up Call

It was around an 1 1/2 hour drive to the race which was enough time to start getting cold feet. I hadn't been training, and again too much caffeine, too much beer, not eating right and not enough sleep. I was feeling like I was going to have similar results to the L.A. Marathon, except a lot faster as in a shorter race.



I knew I was in the right place, but was I ready?

In a word, no.

Skye who was visiting Cindy in Atlanta, reminded me to have fun not to worry about how fast I ran it. Simple stuff, the kind of stuff I would say to her were the roles reversed. I was very, very proud of her for her wisdom and with that I got ready to be a warrior.



Game On



It looked a lot like other races I'd run.



With a mud pit at the finish.



And a check-in tent in the shape of a Viking Helmet.

The Race That Is A Photo-OP




If you ignore the fence and then the houses in the background, you might think these Valkyries had just come down from Valhalla.



Although looked at from another angle, a little less idyllic.



That is one tough warrior chick.




"You really should rethink, the Rehab thing. Amy Winehouse is not the best of roll models"



Celtic Warrior, although to be really authentic, he'd have to lose the kilt.




Don't really understand the concept here but "Bat-jama" seems to be doing something right.




The two buff book-ends to the nerdy girl warriors were in my heat. I beat them at least.







There were a lot of "Cross-Fit" types.




This tribe seemed to be in it for the long haul, like they were on tour or something.




A Boulder Heave, now that is something I should be good at.



That's me tied for first place, misspelling and all.



The "kids" posing with the cops were the only other people I saw try the boulder toss.

The Warrior Dash
The Race Part
Another Wake-Up Call

The race itself was hot and dusty. I was already dehydrated before the race began. So even though it was only a three mile run, I knew it wasn't going to be fun. Again, I was a victim of my own demons; Too much caffeine, too much beer, not enough sleep, and not eating well. It was a race that was practically designed for me; a slight down hill on trails with a couple of steep hills to climb thrown in. The obstacles were all much smaller and easier than what appears on the website. I opted not to wear the knee pads I'd gotten which was a good decision. The tunnel was just a ten foot sono-tube not the corrugated monster shown in web pics. The balance beams were twice as wide and half as far across as the ones I'd fallen off of and onto in a Muddy Buddy a couple years back that gave me the biggest bruise of my life, which is saying something. The mudpit was not that muddy not too wet or deep and the "barbed wire" was strung up pretty high which is fine cause I don't really like that part of the race anyway. All in all it was a lot of fun, but frustrating because of how easy it should have been had I been in decent shape.

So with new vigor, I resolve to get back in shape....again.

As I type this out at 1:47 am knowing full well I need to be at Universal Props at 6 am.

When will I learn?

Lakers on cruise control

As promised, a little Laker update. I have not had time to do much more than check out headlines and such and then maybe catch up with highlights from the internet. But it is the begining of the season and there have been no epic games to speak of.

Artest is fitting in nicely, no craziness yet and with both Bynum and Gasol healthy, they are crushing teams like last night, Golden State; 130-97, even with Kobe having an "off-night". He only had 20 points, usually averaging 29, putting him second in the league. Which is where the Lakers are as well, right behind the Suns.

They play again tonight against the New Jersey Nets who are looking desperately for a win. Otherwise they will continue to be winless, this season giving them the not so honorable stat of worst beginning of a season ever. Something tells me that that bit of motivation won't be enough..

So there you have it. Now back to stories from the "farm".

Mont Ventoux

Montelimar to Mont Ventoux-STAGE 20
Mont Ventoux has been a feared/loved part of the Tour de France on several occasions, but today is going to be extra special. The race for the Yellow Jersey has all but been decided. Alberto Contador is minutes ahead, however the fight to get on the podium is fierce. A mere 1:28 separates 2-6 place.

Mont Ventoux is a treeless peak that looks like the surface of the moon and today is being hit by gale force winds. It is 13.2 miles at 7.6%. It is a climb that is termed Beyond Category.

You couldn't have written up a better script.

The youthful Schleck brothers against the back from retirement 38 year old Lance Armstrong and race leader Contador.

Last year's Tour winner has also vowed to take the stage. Lance has never been able to win on the peak inspite of winning the Tour 7 times.

As I am watching this battle play out I am more than amazed and in awe.

The Podium will look like

1st Alberto Contador
2cnd Andy Schleck
3rd Lance Armstrong

WOW!!!!

Tour de France, Stage 15 WOW!!!!!

What an amazing finish to the Tour de France today.

Alberto Contador destroyed the rest of the field with an amazing climb on the Verbier as the Tour heads into the Alps. He snatched away the Yellow jersey and put 1:37 between the second place rider and his teammate, Lance Armstrong, who in a post-race interview pretty much conceded that in Paris it would be Contador and not himself on the top of the podium.

Is the Texan playin' possum? Or has time caught up to the old man? We'll see how this plays out.

Tour de France 2009

WOW!!!

With everything else going on the Tour de France started on Fourth of July, with Lance Armstrong entering as at best a long shot. He's on a ridiculously strong and loaded team with 3 other riders who could win, including odds on favorite and 2007 winner Alberto Contador.

First off was a time trial, where Lance finished a respectable 10th. On day 3, a little experience and little luck propelled him from 10th place to 3rd. And then today after Team Astana won an amazing team time trial he was 2/10th of a second from taking the Yellow Jersey.

F--king amazing!!!!!

Laker Madness

GO Lakers!!!!!!

Hurray the Lakers won the NBA Championship. On Wednesday there was a celebratory parade from Staples Center to the Coliseum. Now I usually wouldn't get caught up in that kind of thing. I'm a big fan and I am thrilled with them winning, but going downtown, trying to find parking and then hanging out with several thousand people to see the team go by and wave from the tops of double decker buses, is not my idea of fun.

Skye, however thought that it would be a great idea. So that was that and of we went.

No, wait.

First we had to run over to the Santa Monica Farmer's market to get some food for the little get together we were having later that evening. And I had to make sure I got several e-mails sent off . And get ready for the party and bunch of other stuff. No wonder I had woken up, all stressed out at 3 am. Well at least I got those e-mails out of the way. But I had a long day ahead of me.




I love the Farmer's Market. So much wonderful foods. Skye made some wonderfully yummy Roasted Carrots with Sage. I know its more of a Fall/Winter thing but tasty nonetheless. I ending up grilling peaches.

Heading Downtown to Celebrate

I loaded the bikes onto the car, so we wouldn't have to deal with parking, just trying to bicycle around downtown Los Angeles with an 11 year old and the traffic and crowds. I turned out to be a pretty good idea, although it stressed me out a bit.



A lot of people turned up. It was way too crowded near the coliseum, so we headed north where it was a little less crowded.




Less crowded? Yes this is less crowded.

Skye decided it would be a good idea for her to try to get closer on her own, so she'd have a better view. I was not thrilled with this idea but let her have a go.



Well, she did get closer. She ended up squished and couldn't see much. That's the top of her head under that guys armpit.




Here they come.



Lamar's up there some where.




Sasha getting the crowd going.




Ariza, Jordan Farmar

Where's Kobe?





Oh there he is or rather there he goes, holding the trophy for all to see.


And just like that it was done. A bit anit-climactic to say the least.

Then we raced back to cook and garden and clean and get ready for the little Salon Milagro we were hosting. But that is for another blog.

Lakers update

Last game of season--Play-off starts this Sunday

I'm not a basketball expert by any stretch or even a huge fan. I find the whole March madness thing disruptive. But I am a huge Lakers fan. I have been since I was a kid, the days of Magic Johnson and Kareem. And this looks to be their year. Yes the Cavaliers beat them out for best record by a game or so and Lebron will probably get MVP this year. But we just got back Andrew Bynum and he's playing well for being out so long. Not to mention Lakers beat the Cavaliers both times they played this year.

So for the next month I will be somewhat distracted watching way to much NBA playoff basketball.

It starts the Sunday. I'll definitely be watching.

Our Miracle Mile Run

Last weekend was another busy weekend. On Saturday Cindy and I attended a very interesting all day conference, 5D: The Future of Immersive Design presented by the Art Director's Guild. We arrived at 7:30 in the morning and didn't get out until around 8:30 in the evening. A lot of interesting ideas thrown around, mixed together with perhaps more than healthy amount of ego and bluster, but all in all a very informative day. Way too much to get into in this highlight reel of a blog. One of these days I'll add a little depth, but right now I'm lucky to just keep up.

Then on Sunday we all got up and at 'em for the Miracle Mile Run, down by the La Brea Tar Pits. It was Cindy's first race ever. Hurrah for Cinders. Skye's first run with a timing chip. And my shortest race to date. I had no idea about pacing so I took it easy cause I was just tired, from working and the conferance the day before and I haven't been training at all. 3/4 way through I realized I had a lot left so I turned it up. I came in at 7:01, almost broke 7 minutes.



Pic by Skye.




Skye bringing it home in the last quarter mile.




Family, chillin' by LACMA.



We treated ourself to a little take-away brunch at Campanile. Some celeb must have been at the restaurant for the paparazzi to be lurking about like this.




Yes we have video. Cindy heading out on her first race.



Skye's race 18 and under was filled primarily by the Fairfax Track team, a bit crazier than Cindy's start.

Tour de France; What the f---k is going on?

I was loving the Tour. I was finally getting it, understanding the points, the jerseys, the tactics, etc. I was cheering for Alexandre Vinokourov, who had a horrible crash and some 30 plus stitches in his knees and kept at it. I loved that Michael Rasmussen, "the little chicken" was stepping up to defend the Yellow jersey when he would have been happy with the king of the mountains jersey and then....

First Vino, the day after he won his second stage with no chance of winning the tour, he gets busted.

And then days away from winning the tour, also after winning the stage for the day, still in his yellow jersey, little chicken gets booted by one of his teams sponsors.

They better change something and quick, because as much as I love the Tour, this is getting ridiculous.