Interests:Volleyball, running, rollerhockey, playing drums and guitar, following the Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers, various board and card games, quality movies, origami, researching/cooking the perfect noodle dish, animation, learning improvisational comedy, digital photography, trivia, good design, checking out good music video directors' works, travel, concert performances Expertise:Applied mathematics and web development, I guess... Occupation:Computer related (Internet) Industry:Education/Research
I received e-mail news Monday afternoon from the L.A Marathon folks saying they will be moving the race date again from President's Day (Feb. 16) to Memorial Day (May 25). The reason they give? They want to give us runners a "world-class runner experience"
I've seen a lot of chatter on the running message boards I frequent, and not too many people are happy about it, considering that it rearranges training programs, interrupts vacation/travel plans, and hurts the potential contributions to the various marathon charities.
I had been looking forward to it, but with all these changes going on, I am not sure if I will go through another 3 months worth of training just to run in hotter weather conditions. At least L.A Marathon LLC is offering refunds, so I am toying with the idea of doing this half-marathon in February. I have already done multiple 14+ mile runs, so this shouldn't be too bad! Plus, I won't have to take a sick day the following Monday to recover!
We interrupt our (ir)regularly scheduled program to bring your this blog entry.
Unlike some of you readers out there, I am not a fan of adult contemporary musician Josh Groban. I find his vocals and performances to be too schmaltzy for my taste. But to his credit, I have to give him respect for his immense talent.
After watching a snippet from last night's Primetime Emmy broadcast, I can also appreciate that he has a good sense of humor. Who knew that he could mimic The Rembrandts, The South Park kids, and Inner Circle? Although he needs to work a little more on his Will Smith!
(Facebook Notes readers can go here to view the YouTube magic)
About 4 years ago as a relatively green runner, I accomplished my race goal to break 25 minutes in the 5K (8:03 mile pace). Around that time, I set another timed race goal to eventually run faster than 51 minutes in the 10K (8:12 mile pace). I kept a printout of that taped up on my bedroom wall, resolving to remove it only when I completed my task. Unfortunately, I just couldn't take down that "51:00" paper, which was frustrating. The closest that I ever came to it was 3 years ago during a fun Nike Run Hit race, and even then, I still was short by about 1.5 minutes! I started to ignore the paper after that, since I didn't want to ruin my hobby by trying for a difficult time goal. After all, I am not a professional!
But, you know how life throws you a pleasant surprise now and then? Well, I am happy to say that I finally removed that paper after completing the local Keep L.A Running 10K. Even though the results may say that I took 18 seconds over 51 minutes, my stopwatch (which did not begin until I crossed the starting line; no chip timing) said I had 3 valuable seconds to spare!
That unexpected encouragement and my pleasant training experiences with the Nike+ Human Race 10K convinced me to try the Los Angeles Marathon again. Last time, I cramped up at miles 18-19 and was just happy to finish (with a sick day the following Monday). I am training with a different group this year to see if I come out of it in better shape. I'm also going to adjust my workouts during the work week because I previously burned out from overtraining; too many anaerobic runs and too few aerobic ones. And yes, the mileage counter is back again!
There is still one question that remains (beside a funny one a Sunday school student posed last weekend, "Why do it? I think running for more than 10 miles is like a waste of time." ). Should I be bold enough to put up a race goal on my bedroom wall?
I haven't had the opportunity to hang out with my old rollerhockey friends Jesse and Alice since their April wedding. So, we found some time in our busy lives to attend last Saturday's Dodger game, which included post-game fireworks and my first opportunity to see our newest Japanese pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda in action.
Now my customary Dodger trip experience includes a Dodger Dog. But my friends suggested having dinner at a historical downtown L.A joint called Philippe's (home of the French dip sandwich), one of their Dodger game traditions. I found out that it is a favorite pre-game ritual for a lot of Blue Crew fans, as many patrons that were sitting and waiting in the long lines were dressed in Dodger gear!
From my various vacation trips, I learned that the best thing to order at a new place is the same thing "the regulars" like to eat; So I chose a double-dipped beef with a side of slaw. Pretty good, but the sandwich is definitely better when you add their famous house mustard, spicier than wasabi and addictive like Coke (the drink, not the drug!)
As for the game, we lost in extra innings. The Dodger bats are still not cutting it to help out on the good pitching. Our bad-to-the-bone closer Takashi Saito injured his right (throwing arm) elbow in the 9th, and it now appears he won't be available until late August. And while I usually save my boos for the visiting team, I joined in with the home crowd as our "prized" centerfielder Andruw Jones struck out swinging in all 5 of his at-bats! Besides the dinner experience, I think the fireworks (better than the Hollywood Bowl) and the conversation were the highlights of the evening.
I enjoyed my time with the newlyweds, but I felt bad about one thing. I had wanted to give them a wedding photograph I took in a picture frame, but I didn't have the opportunity to visit Diamond Bar over the 4th of July weekend to use our family photo printer. Now mind you, my photography skills of taking "people shots" are lackluster (which is why the "Pictures at an Exhibition" section has minimal photos of people!), but I think this one turned out OK because I captured a good moment!
My blog entries have become more scarce lately. And I must admit, that I am having a bad case of the blogger's block. However, I feel like I owe an entry to my friends who only know about my life through this medium. (You know who you are!).
So, I have updated my "Pictures at an Exhibition" section with 3 shots from my Sequoia National Monument trip and a video from my 4th of July Hollywood Bowl outing. Hope that will suffice for now.
Lifetime
). Should I be bold enough to put up a race goal on my bedroom wall?
