Before the holidays

I am trying to update my blog but its cold so my fingers aren't working very well. I am going to do a quick post about our last weekend before I flew home to New England.

First, on Friday I got in first socal bodyboard session for over two months. Its just not worth the traffic, the blown out waves, small surf, and polluted water. Sorry if that is kind of negative but believe me I grew up, and later traveled to, all kinds of places that have much much cleaner water. Fortunately, this time there were actual barrels. It was great to be able to just drop in and watch the lip pitch. I had a great time taking tons of waves since it was extremely uncrowded for once. It was one of those days where nobody talked about the swell and it kind of happened under the radar of the internet surfing scene. The downside was the next day unhappy staph infection showed up. I am still trying to deal with it and make it go away without taking antibiotics. Which in some ways are evil. If I had known all of this I wouldn't have moved here, but life takes its own path sometimes.

Saturday was a climbing day. Josh and I headed out to saddle peak. Since I got enough sleep and enough food, it was actually a good climbing day. Josh lead a couple of climbs, one which was brand new, and top roped a few others. Josh on the last climb of the day:

I somehow pretty easily flew up a climb I couldn't even do before and felt great climbing it. Too bad I can't do that more often. It felt good to actually use technique. Me starting a new climb we hadn't done before:

Belaying was cold even though hiking out was hot. By the end of the day, Josh decided to do a quick run of a fun 5.10. The only issue was it was getting dark and we had brilliantly agreed we wouldn't need headlamps when we started out in the morning. Josh lead and finished the climb but forgot his belay device so he couldn't clean it. Which mean I had to run to the top, rappel down, and get all the gear as the twilight was fading. After some unwelcome issues with getting the rope stuck, the gear and I made it back down to the ground. We packed as fast as we could and set off on the hike back to the car. As it turned out, we didn't need to rush. We have done so much night trail running that Josh and I were perfectly comfortable enjoying the hike back in the dark. There was enough moon/star/city light that we could make out the trail without getting lost, so we took our time on the return. The view was amazing...we could see the moon reflecting on the ocean west of Malibu. Sometimes, for certain things, headlamps are overrated.

Sunday, the LCPC orchestra performed at church so I was up at 6:15. A helicopter was flying overhead and police were blocking our street as I was leaving for rehearsal. Later I found out and escaped felon was somewhere in our neighborhood. Anyway, I am lucky to play in an orchestra and perform lots of Christmas songs! After church, I went over to Josh's house to celebrate and early Christmas with him and his mom. Yay for good food and gifts! It was a really nice way to spend my last day in Los Angeles before the holiday vacation. My last night in warm weather (for now) ended with Josh's mom driving us to the airport so I could fly home! :)

Thanksgiving

I'm sitting at the airport to fly home for Christmas, so I guess I better get my post about Thanksgiving done. :) Here it is, although a bit too late.

I took a whole week off for Thanksgiving. Its not very fun to fly across the country for only a weekend. I arrived Friday night. Saturday was a rest day but I did manage to get out into the clean air for a run along the rail trail with Mom. It was kind of a pre-Manchester Road Race run. We both had plantar faciitis although I am figuring out how to get rid of it. Sunday morning, Derek was running the Lil Rhody Runaround 8 mile trail race. I debated between church and the race...the race won out. Its kind of like going to church...sorta. I wore my five fingers which was interesting. My leg muscles aren't really used to that kind of running so halfway through I hit a not happy wall. Either way the scenery was beautiful and Derek ran a good second half. Derek's friend Allie, Derek, and I after the race (and after I had found my mom's car keys that I left on the roof of Derek's car, oops):

After the race we had true Rhode Island pizza...it was the only place open since its winter season now. Monday Mom was working (and so was Derek) so Dad and I went for a walk in the woods. It was beautiful out and fun to test out my five fingers hiking on leaves. We took a bunch of different trails, mostly to get enough sun since its winter!

Tuesday was a surf day. Apparently I've forgotten what real barreling waves look like. Derek and I took off early in the morning. After some quick surf checking, we decided where to surf. This is where it became obvious I had not been surfing this kind of wave recently. I was freaking out cause it was sizeable and barreling while Derek was telling me that was the minimal size he even surfs. Finally I got it together and actually paddled out. It took a couple of waves to remember how to actually drop into perfect a-frames but once I did it was super super fun! Yay! It was the first time in a long time I really loved riding the waves. Figures its takes a 6mm wetsuit and cold water...but hey a good barrel is a good barrel. Everyone out spent the session happily dropping into perfect waves. I wanted to surf all day but was exhausted so I got out once the size dropped (booo high tide) and took some photos instead. Yaaaaay surf!

Wednesday was a rest day so I went on a walk with Dad and then with Mom before it got dark. Super short days make you appreciate the daylight more and sleeping in is not a good idea if you want to see the sun! It was nice to get out in the non-smoggy air and sleep where its actually dark. :) We also got ready for Thanksgiving Day. Food to cook and race numbers to organize!

Every Thanksgiving, our family runs the Manchester Road Race. This year, 14,000 people registered. Its an awesome festival with elite people at the front, a bunch of seeded people behind them, and the rest of the group following. Some people dress up in costumes, bands play along the course, and there are a ton of spectators. Plus, we get to visit with other running friends that we see every year. We made it to the start, saying hi to people we knew, and the race took off. Each year we try to beat previous year's times and keep our seed cards. This year, Derek ran a super fast race and qualified for the fastest seed group for next year. At the end of the race, he passed his high school teammate and they sprint raced to the finish. Dad and I were close but Dad edged me out to be the fastest person his age in the race. Mom and I were the fourth fastest people our age. It was a beautiful day and super fun. Afterwards, we went to our relatives house (they live in the same town as us) to join the rest of the family and eat tons of food. My great great aunt was visiting which was something nice and different. I love getting together to see everyone, sing lots of songs (its kind of like being in a real live musical sometimes), and to catch up on everyone's lives. Too bad I didn't get any photos.

Friday, we visited Mom's side of the family. Grandpa was happy to have Thanksgiving visitors (a day late) and another Thanksgiving dinner delivered. We also got to visit my great aunt who just had back surgery but looked like she was recovering really well.

Before I got on the plane on Saturday, Derek and I went on a trail run in the perfect running weather. It was windy so we had to keep watching to make sure branches wouldn't land of us, but this is the kind of thing we enjoy. Every so often, we'd stop to check out potentially climbable rocks. Ok my plane is boarding, gotta go. Yaaaaaay busy home visits! I am definitely not a california girl. ;-)

A Few Thoughts...

My goal is to post all the Thanksgiving stuff before I leave on Sunday.  Unfortunately, none of the photos are on this computer.  Maybe tomorrow...

For now, a couple of random thoughts:

Vibram Five Fingers running is going well.  I think Josh and I are both improving without really noticing it, until we look back at where we started.  For those who don't know, we abruptly and completely switched to wearing five fingers on all of our runs (ok I ran road races in my Asics Hyperspeeds cause my feet aren't used to pavement...in shoes or not).  We had a really good run last night and started talking about how now we can pretty much just run without worrying about feet hurting too much.  Our run was about 8 miles of rocks, a little pavement and cement, hard packed dirt, mud, soft dirt, sand, leaves, etc.  Every once in awhile one of us still steps on a rock but for the most part things are going well.  I also have tendonitis in my right foot but its pretty mild so I'm just going to wait it out (while still running of course).  One thing we both agree on: running in VFFs is super fun!  I love my natural stride!!  Barefoot would be even better but I'll work on this for now.  Check out Josh's review on his blog.

On the bodyboarding front: I haven't surfed in socal for over two months.  I guess I knew this would happen eventually.  Its just not the place for me when it comes to waves.  For many many reasons.  Especially when I went home, got good waves, and remembered what waves used to be like, even when I was first learning.  I just don't like getting sick from the ocean, having the majority of sessions never require a real drop, and the freeways to get there.  Sooo instead I watched the Eddie Aikau contest online.  This was a bad plan.  It reminded me of another kind of wave riding that I haven't seen in over two years.  It was just too surreal at the time.  Not waves as big as during the Eddie, but the same kind of people surfing waves closer to that category of surfing than HB.  Ah well its nice to have a reminder that the memories are real and not just me going insane which is how it seems sometimes.

Okay back to work...(yay I have a cool job!)

Pasadena Tiger Run and Joshua Tree Trad Climbing

I will do a Thanksgiving post once I get the pictures. It was super super fun to go home but I will get to that later.

For now I am going to post about last weekend's trip to Joshua Tree. And running. And resting. Saturday morning, I knew I had skipped running on Friday so I decided to run the South Pasadena Tiger Run. There was a 5k and 10k option. Since I have done essentially zero speedwork, I thought the 10k was a slightly better option...but only slightly. Soooo I got up early, ran the 10k and then took off to Josh's house so we could leave for Joshua Tree. Since Josh wanted to go climbing ASAP, I skipped the award's ceremony. Plus, I ran 44-something which is not exactly a good time so I didn't think I'd get an award anyway. In the end though I won my age group so I have to find time to go pick up my award. Its not really about the awards though, but I do appreciate the effort the race directors put into them! The course was flat for the first 5k then a lot hillier than I expected.

As soon as I got to Josh's house we took off for Joshua Tree. The ocean was not cooperating surf-wise so I kind of gave up. Plus, when I went home for Thanksgiving Derek and I surfed the kinds of waves I used to surf and now I remember what waves should be like. I'd rather keep the memories than surf small, blown out waves. Anyway, Joshua Tree route climbing was our destination.

By the time we started climbing, I was already exhausted and it was around 12:30. Our only goal to start with was to climb Leap Year Flake since we hadn't been trad climbing or even sport climbing in a long time (its bouldering season). At first, Josh had some issues getting used to trad climbing again. Eventually he got sick of trying to trad climb and started actually trad climbing, at which point he sent the route super fast with not enough gear.

By the time I followed, the combination of cold weather and running a race (makes it harder for my body to stay warm even though I ate a ton of food to try to recover) meant I was freezing cold. Usually that is okay for climbing but this time my hands were so frozen they were dark purple and not pulling on the rock. I couldn't even feel if I was pulling on a hold or not, plus my legs were exhausted from the race. Apparently for most people this is obvious before they try to run a race and then climb on the same day but I didn't think of that. I made it up the route but it was much much harder than last time I did it. Josh and I finally met up at the belay where he quickly rappelled since he was starting to get cold too.

I cleaned the route, rapped down, and made it clear I had little interest in more route climbing. The race was just too much to do before climbing, on top of the rest of the insanity of my life. Instead we switched to a little bouldering as the sun set.

Due to the tired and coldness, we only did a quick bouldering session and didn't really get into it.

This time, we bought a year's pass to Joshua Tree. Its close enough to LA that we can easily drive there for a day trip, unlike Bishop. Last year we avoided it because it costs $15 for a day pass so this year we want more freedom to go ($30 for a year). Plus, Joshua Tree is beautiful:

By the time we got back to the car it was dark, but we decided to cook dinner in the parking lot instead of go out to eat (a good time to test Josh's "new" whisperlite stove). It was freezing cold (literally) but it was worth it. The night sky was awesomely clear so we could see the milky way all the starts we miss in LA. I love being connected to the sky like that...at Paranal the sky is so bright at night and you are so far above the rest of the earth that the sky seems closer than the earth. Joshua Tree's bright sky reminded me a little bit of the Atacama. While we were cooking dinner, the desert mice showed up to join us and had no fear of running right up to us. It was a beautiful night and I'm very glad we chose to cook instead of find a restaurant in town.

Staying awake during the car ride back to the city was almost impossible by this point. After Josh drove to his house I immediately when to mine so I could go to bed...sleep is a good thing! Sunday ended up being an extremely necessary rest day. I am just tired to surfing small waves so that wasn't much of an option, my legs weren't up to a run, so some quick climbing gym time was all I managed to fit in. Otherwise Josh and I hung out and relaxed before I went to church. I suppose we all have to do laundry and stop moving once in awhile...