The sun’s just hotter over here
It’s Monday afternoon and I’m sitting by the pool, trying to shade my eyes enough to see the laptop screen. Charlie’s asleep on the ground next to me – he goes back and forth between the sun and the shade every few minutes. It’s in the mid-70’s and there isn’t a single cloud in the sky. I guess it’s days like today why people always look at my like I’m crazy when I tell them I grew up in Southern California and choose to live in New York.
We’ve been having a great time out here so far. That’s in part due to the fact that we just haven’t done that much. Sure, our days have gone by way too quickly and we feel like there’s a ton going on, but “busy” for us has meant going to the gym, or meeting family or friends for a meal or walking around some part of town. That’s the kind of “busy” I could get used to. For example, Saturday, after having brunch with Assaf, Robyn, Pete, Alyssa and their collected children, I went with Mark and Seth and Charlie to Venice Beach to check out the scene and give Charlie some running time on the sand. He’s a quick little bugger. Here’s another picture of him resting between intervals:
We were exhausted after that busy day!
I’ve gotten in a some good training sessions, including a really good, long swim yesterday morning. The pool at the Equinox out here isn’t a great one – it’s just two lanes and they seem like thin lanes at that, but it has been pretty much empty both times I’ve gone and it is in a big room on the second story of this building, with a wall of giant windows facing the street. The windows make such a nice difference compared to the basement I’m used to swimming in. On the other hand, when I haven’t been training, I’ve been eating just about anything and everything I can possibly get my hands on – including the piles of cookies that Elizabeth’s grandparents keep around the house.
This morning, on my “day off”, I got up early and went with Mark, Seth and Mark’s cousin Barry for a long walk/hike in the Santa Monica Mountains along the Mulholland Highway (which is actually a dirt path, but supposedly does connect with Mulholland Drive at some point). Barry brought his two Golden Retrievers (Cody and Emma) and, of course, Charlie came along. As expected, Charlie was terrified at first of the Goldens (he hates pretty much all Golden Retrievers), but once we got on the trail, he was cool with them. It was a great way to spend a beautiful morning – we walked at a leisurely pace and stopped when the dogs wanted to stop and just talked and enjoyed being outside. Here are a couple pictures of us (I’m the one hidden in Mark’s shadow in the second picture):
The path was great and Barry says that various trails go just about forever out there. We saw walkers and runners and mountain bikers. I think I’m going to try to get Assaf to go out there with me tomorrow for a long run.
Run – December 20
Distance: 3.7 miles
Time: 30:30
Average heart rate: 140
Course: Encino – bike path
Conditions: Comfortably cool (low 50’s), light rain – great evening run
Swim – December 21
Distance: 2,650 yards
Time: 53 minutes
Strength – December 21
Run – December 22
Distance: 5.25 miles
Time: 56:30
Average heart rate: 133
Course: Encino – bike path/park, Strides
Conditions: Late afternoon, mid-50’s, clear
Swim – December 23
Distance: 3,500 yards
Time: 1:12
Strength – December 23