Hello Old Friends

A couple days on a hotel treadmill, one day in the back bay done, I needed to be on my feet for an hour one day during the weekend to fill out my training plan. I opted to take some old friends out of my closet this morning. It was hot and humid out and I am in less than prime shape, so it was a struggle to finish. I’m still sweating like a pig and trying to cool down, so I’ll let the photos do the talking:

Hello old friends!

A *warm* welcome to Crystal Cove:

Hot and humid, but the views are still incredible

Down in the canyon. Now for the climb out:

Now I know how a dog feels:

Just Maybe?

Tomorrow will mark two weeks that I’ve stuck to “the plan”. The plan is pretty simple right now – it’s the Couch to 5K plan. I’ve got a couple years of inactivity to overcome, and my schedule isn’t going to allow any shenanigans like marathon training.

One thing for sure. I dislike running as much now as I did then. Sorry to all you running purists. Why do I put myself through this torture?

Bad:

• Time spent running could be spent watching Family Guy or Storage Wars reruns.
• Pace clock must be broken. Rarely goes below 13:00.
• Sweaty smelly clothes in my suitcase at the end of the week.

Good:

• Belt tightened up one notch this week.
• In a couple of weeks I might be able to add the word “dessert” to my vocabulary.
• Cost. Have I ever told you how cheap I am?

Wow. Looks like a tie. So why do I continue this madness?

An Ultimatum

With all of my business travel and my hobby, I don’t spend a lot of family time these days. So, last weekend, my wife gave me an ultimatum – “Spend some time with us this weekend!” So, knowing what is good for me, I capitulated to her wishes and we headed out for a family outing.

My wife had had an appointment in the L.A. Harbor area last week, and happened to drive past the U.S.S. Iowa. She was impressed enough to set her sights on getting us all down to the harbor. This actually sounded exciting! I am a native born Los Angeleno, but it had been at least 15 years since I was last in that area of town.

The first stop was for lunch at a great blue collar stop – Berth 55 Fish Market and Seafood Deli. I was careful to explain to the family that we would be stopping for lunch at a “seafood joint”. I cannot be held responsible if they interpreted the word “joint”  as “restaurant”:

If you live in the L.A. area and you haven’t been to Berth 55, you need to go NOW! This institution has been around for 40+ years, and will be closing in a few months so the city can build a new home for its fireboats.

(That last plate is your’s truly’s plate of yummy fried oysters).

Once we chowed down on gobs of the ocean’s harvest, we were off to our next stop, the U.S.S. Iowa:

Impressive. What’s even more impressive is to think that 3000 sailors used to live on this ship. Believe me folks, it isn’t *that* big.

The shells that come out of these guns weigh 2700 pounds and can be shot accurately 26 miles. That’s over the horizon folks.

I can’t imagine piloting the boat from this bridge. It’s even painted gas chamber green.

Tomahawk Cruise missile anyone?

If Naval strength is measured by “Projection of Power”, I don’t understand why these battleships aren’t still in active duty. All I know is that it made me proud to see that these ships were part of what made this country great, and that they will be preserved for all to enjoy.

If you are ever in the L.A./Long Beach Harbor area, I strongly recommend you plunk down your $18 and ooooh and aaaah at an incredibly impressive sight.