Pier to Pier

July 30, 2014March 5, 2015 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

A few weekends ago I signed up for the Dwight Crum Pier to Pier swim in Hermosa Beach, which is coming up this weekend. 2 mile swim from the Hermosa Beach Pier to the Manhattan Beach Pier. “Hmmm”, I hear you thinking, “the Manhattan Beach Pier sounds familiar…” And you’d be right. Because less than a month ago you probably heard about this.

Yes, that is what it looks like.

There was also the freak lightning strike that killed a person and injured 13 others in Venice last weekend. It’s been a busy summer at the beach.

The general consensus (definitely amongst swimmers) is that the shark attack was an isolated event caused by the fishermen on the pier (the shark was hooked on a fishing line for around half an hour and was totally freaking out…which, btw, is against the law in California. If you know you’ve hooked a shark you’re supposed to cut your line.)

I think anyone who has spent any time in the ocean has had to deal with shark issues. The concept is so terrifying it overrides the fact that the odds of it happening are lower than any number of other freakish ways to go. That being said, those waves of intense panic you experience when you see a shadow move under you and you’re 500 yards from shore are no joke. So you grasp onto any coping mechanism you have, no matter how ridiculous.

This time around, my solace comes in three parts: a good friend who is very smart and successful and will be in the water with me (because she surely has better judgement than I do); Olympian Rebecca Soni is swimming it as well (because if my friend doesn’t have better judgement an Olympian FOR SURE does…right Ryan Lochte?); the fact that over 1200 people are registered, at which point it just becomes a numbers game.

But really, I am excited about the swim. I’ve done many ocean swims in my life and sea creatures are just part of the deal. And from what I’ve heard, the bigger thing to be worried about is the start, which used to be a mass start but is now broken up into 3 waves. But that still means like 400 per wave.

mass start at hawaii 70.3, 2012

Big starts like this kind of freak me out, people get crazy.

Oasis

July 23, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

It’s been hot here. Best $12 ever spent at Target.

Trans Tahoe

July 20, 2014July 23, 2014 ~ meh ~ 1 Comment

6 swimmers. one boat. 11 miles across lake tahoe.

i love this event so much.

even the ride in is beautiful (ignoring the 3 hours of traffic you inevitably hit in sactown when you leave SF at 3:30 on a friday).

This swim is a little bit different than running relays I’ve done in the past in that each leg swims for a set amount of time (in this case, 30 minutes) as opposed to a distance. And you continue to rotate until you hit the finish line. Simple, and kind of beautiful in the fact that nobody can really tell how fast you’re going (unless you really gain or lose ground to another nearby boat, though the lake is to big and people get pretty spread out that it’s not usually like a neck-in-neck race until the end.)

proper nutrition. key for peak performance. oh 21st amendment, how i missed you.

6am boat pickup

early ride to the starting line

the starting line, sand harbor state park

waiting for our first swimmer

go time.

one of the many exchanges

we finished in 4 hours 10 minutes(ish). then we got to hang out in this for a while.

seriously. the water was just incredible.

it’s good to be back.

He’s baaaaaack…

July 16, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

Marsha’s in town. And guess who she brought with her.

Hey there cubetree, happy to see you again too.

An Evening Out

July 15, 2014July 16, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

LA. The City of Angels. But last week I left these two angels on their own and met some friends out for dinner.

At dinner we sat next to my first official LA celebrity (assuming we don’t count Kat or the fact that I am 99% sure I saw Jerry Ferrara driving a mini van out of Culver Studios last week).

It took a while for us to figure out who she was, but we did.

Then, on the way back to the car, a guy walking towards me started yelling, “You scared! You so scared! I can see it!”

I was busy trying to eat a cobbler that my friend had given me for Paul, with my fingers, out of a tupperware container, while holding a bag of leftovers and walking down the sidewalk (yes, that is as classy as it sounds), so at first I didn’t notice. Then I realized that he was yelling it at me. I looked up mid-cobbler bite.

“Yeah, you!! Girl, I see how scared you are! I see it in your eyes! But nah. Nah nah nah, don’t worry. You too poor for me, baby.”

Uh…thanks? F you?

Run, Run River

July 8, 2014July 9, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

run, run river
carry me
to my home in the ocean
carry me away

Friends, meet my new running partner. The majestic Ballona Creek, in all its glory.

Ballona Creek is not technically part of the LA river, but much like the LA river it “cut(s) for miles through the city, along the concrete rims of our iconic, man-made waterways.” And it is where I spend a lot of hot, hot afternoons.

Let me tell you what is awesome about Ballona Creek:

This. A completely uninterrupted bike path that runs somewhere between 7-8 miles from Culver City to the beach. You don’t have to cross a single road. And there is an onramp less than 3 blocks from our place.

This beautiful, undisturbed continuity does mean there are some underpasses (and by “some” I mean many) which force hill training into the mix…

…as well as fartleks since I usually sprint as fast as I can past the mini homeless camps when I go under them. Especially the 405.

And while the creek has its fair share of overturned shopping carts, sketchy characters, and apparently runs through gang territory (uhhhh), bike traffic is heavy enough that I have never felt seriously unsafe.

Plus the jungle sprouting up from the concrete, bright shades of green gunk lining the creek bed, murals on the onramps, views of the oil-derrick-spotted Baldwin Hills, and little alcoves of green along this exposed, parched path does carry its own sort of beauty.