The past few
days have had California drenched in massive rainstorms to where even tornados
were reported in South Los Angeles. The winds were blow and the rain came
pouring down in a way we’ve been waiting for it too. And yet, when the heavy
clouds went away and the sun slowly started to peak its way out of the clouds,
none of this was enough to end California’s most serious drought in years! What
gives anyway?!
Well, by the
time Saturday, December 13, 2014 (12/13/14) came around, the clouds were
nowhere as heavy as they were before, and the Team to End AIDS runners ended up
having a rain-free day as they did their 5 mile run through the streets of Burbank.
I ended up
having a lot of trouble getting to sleep the night before and couldn’t get
myself to fall into a deep slumber before 1 a.m. which sucked because I had to
get up at 6. Now this may have had to do with me going to Pink’s in Hollywood
last night and having The Hollywood Walk of Fame Dog, a 9 inch stretch dog
topped with coleslaw and chopped tomatoes. On yeah, I also had that with a side
order of onion rings and a Mexican Coca-Cola. I don’t know, I guess I was
feeling a big naughty last night and felt the need to eat at a historic
Hollywood landmark. Plus, the line at Pink’s was a lot shorter than usual.
Look on the
bright side; my hot dog was covered with diced tomatoes.
The other
thing was that I had just seen Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice and was still trying to figure what the hell it was all
about. The movie was so densely layered and had so many things on its mind that
it became impossible to keep up with all that was going on. The acting was
great and Anderson has not lost any of his ability as a filmmaker, but I could
never get on the same wavelength with his latest movie and I desperately wanted
to.
So Inherent Vice was still playing in my
head as I tried to get some shut-eye, but my mind was still racing to where my
body kept saying, “No let’s stay up a little while longer.” Then my next door
neighbors started making out, and hearing them climax at the same time made
more envious than usual. As a result, Rod Stewart’s “Some Guys Have All The
Luck” started playing in my head, a reminder of how much luck I have with women
these days (which is to say, none).
Anyway, my
alarm did wake me up at the tender hour of 6 a.m. and I hauled my ass out of
bed for another day of marathon training. But of course, I did get seduced by
cable TV which was showing John Carpenter’s Big
Trouble in Little China, one of the most entertaining movies ever made. If
you can, see it with an audience as few experiences in a movie theater will be anywhere
as much fun as that one is.
The Team to
End AIDS runners meet in Griffith Park at 7 a.m., but we typically don’t start
running until about 7:20 or 7:30. As I was running a bit behind, I figured I
would arrive just as everyone was heading over to the starting line. But once I
got there, I discovered that everyone had already left which led to me kicking
myself literally and figuratively speaking. How dare I get to Griffith Park
after everyone has left! Who do I think I am anyway? I’d tell you who, but that
would require me naming a manager I once had who I really need to stop thinking
about altogether.
But
fortunately Coach JC was there and offered to give me ride to where the Lucky
13 pace group was at in their run. Meanwhile, Coach Dene was keeping a close
eye on the key bucket which everyone leaves their car keys in. Heaven forbid we
put them in our pockets during our run and end up losing them in the process. That
bucket is there to ensure that such a tragedy never happens. But with the way
Dene was looking at those keys, both JC and I couldn’t help but wonder if she
was going to trade in a car for one of ours.
Fortunately,
the Lucky 13 pace group (which remains the largest of all the T2EA pace groups)
was only a few yards away, so we didn’t have to travel far after all. JC
assured me that I would still be doing a 5 mile run as he realized that the run
actually measured out to 5.1 miles. Well, that was still good to know.
I figured my
fellow runners would give me a hard time about being late, but for the most
part they were glad to see me. One of them said I was getting special treatment
with Coach JC driving me to them. I’m not sure I deserve special treatment, so
I was a little modest about that. I also informed everyone that I did make my
interviews with the cast and director of Predestination
and that Ethan Hawke was a lot of fun to talk to.
It turns out
that everyone left for their run earlier than usual because it was really cold. That’s right, colder
temperatures have finally arrived in Southern California after a rather lengthy
delay and just in time for Christmas. As I was getting out of my car, I kept
wondering if I should put on my black Nike jacket or not. It’s a good thing I
decided to wear it as even the first mile or so of this run did not warm up as
quickly other training runs have. If nothing else, this is a clear sign that
winter will be here before we know it.
I’ve been
noticing how the muscles in my lower legs keep getting this burning sensation,
and it makes me wonder if I’m doing something wrong. The sensation does go
away, but it feels a little more painful than it should. Maybe I should have
someone look into it more.
For us, the
big thing to look out for was all the wet leaves and broken tree branches
strewn all over the road. The leaves may be dead, but they are still very easy
to slip on. As for the tree branches, they were just sitting there on the road
as if to tell us, “Go ahead, come here and trip on us. You’re too busy running
anyway so how can you even notice us?” Well we did notice them and nobody
tripped and fell down thank goodness.
Once again,
I kept checking myself to make sure I was running with my back straight and not
hunching over. I’m all about the perfect running form these days, and I think I
might be getting a little closer to achieving it. Of course, I may be just
fooling myself as I have quite the talent for that.
The one
thing the Lucky 13 pace group were unlucky in this week was staying on pace.
Eventually we had to realize that we were running too fast and had to slow down
a bit. I could certainly sense that I was running faster than usual, and I didn’t
have to worry about being at a press junket on time either. I don’t know, maybe
I was trying to rid myself of whatever negative thoughts were buzzing around in
my head so I could make room for all those endorphins which come in handy for
those dealing with anxiety and depression. That’s the danger of not exercising
on a regular basis; you forget how good they make you feel.
The Bolivers
were on hand once again to treat us to all the snacks, water and Gatorade we
needed for the rest of our run. It doesn’t matter what the weather’s like
because this married couple continues to drive all the way from Covina to
Burbank to give us the fuel and the support we need to help us run just a few
more miles. Those peanut butter and pickle covered Ritz crackers remain as
addictive as ever, and I soon lost track of how many I had while I was at the
Boliver rest stop. It got to where my stomach started telling me, “I thought we
were going to free up some space here and thin things out.” As for my knees,
they have long since given up complaining with me and are now just saying, “I’m
going to miss all the cartilage.”
When we made
the final turn towards the finish line, it was so nice to feel that gust of
wind come in our direction as the sun had finally arisen and things were
beginning to warm up. As we approached the end, we threw our 3:1 pace out the
window so that we could cross the finish line running instead of walking.
Somehow the thought of just walking across it felt all wrong.
So that
concludes another 5 mile run, and we managed to escape the pouring rain in the
process which was nice. Next Saturday our mileage increases to 12 miles, and my
guess is we might have a hill or two to climb over. If we don’t, then something
might be seriously wrong with our training
As the sun
came up over the hills in Griffith Park, it shone down brightly over the late
Scott Boliver’s tree which continues to grow there. Scott may be gone, but he’s
always with us in spirit.
FUNDRAISING
UPDATE: As you know I have reached my
fundraising goal for AIDS Project Los Angeles, but people are still donating
regardless of that fact. To date I have raised $1,086, and I encourage you to
keep donating to this non-profit company that has done so much for so many
people over the years. One of these we will deal the death blow to the AIDS
virus, but there’s still a lot we can do in the meantime before that happens.
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