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Looking back and moving forward

We moved from NYC to LA almost exactly a year ago and for the most part, I haven’t really looked back. (Sorry about that NYC friends, but I do miss you guys!) I’ve had a great year in LA – met a ton of fun people, taken advantage of a lot of what Southern California offers endurance athletes and gotten very used to the nice weather. Since we left, I’ve been back east a bunch of times, but have only spent one night in the City. Next week I’m headed back for a quick business trip. I’m actually looking forward to the quick trip and I won’t have much free time, but I have arranged it so that I can have dinner with a couple friends and will get in at least one run in Central Park.

Before we moved, I made up a little list of “what I would miss” after we left NYC. It was going to be a blog post, but I never got around to it. Here’s that list (in no particular order), with some thoughts from a year out:

• Union Square Farmer’s Market: I loved going on Saturdays and getting my apples, beets and sweet potatoes for the week. But frankly, the Melrose Place Farmer’s Market that I walk to with Charlie most Sundays has everything I need. Except this one really really yummy mint-ginger-cayenne iced tea. I do really miss that tea. I’ve tried making it myself but theirs was just plain better.
• Walking everywhere: As everyone says and knows, this is a huge difference between NYC and LA. I used to walk to work, the stores, the gym, everywhere. I barely even took taxis. I do miss that, but I thought this would be the hardest adjustment and that’s not the case. I still walk a fair amount every day (mostly around our neighborhood with the dog) and even though I drive most places, I still definitely spend more time outside than I did in NYC.
• The Shaffer’s house on Long Island: This was our home-away-from-home and it was awesome to be able to drive a few hours and be totally away. It meant a real kitchen and yard. Easy access to the outdoors, good roads for cycling, trails to run on and the ocean. I miss our weekends there, but we did go back a bunch of times this year. I think we spent three or four full weeks there during 2009. Also, a lot of what I loved about the house, we have everyday here in LA. Except the family time. I do miss that.
• Sitting on our stoop with Charlie watching the crowds pass by: We used to do this any dry and not-too-cold nights after our evening walk. We’d sit and wait for Elizabeth to come home from work or just sit and people watch.

  Charlie got so much attention. This is something we just don’t get in LA. I imagine we could if we lived in a more urban part of LA, but that’s not in the cards.

• Our neighborhood “friends”: This goes along with the one above. NYC has the rep of being cold and distant, but we knew so many random people (other dog owners, John from News Cafe, Ron from UHO, the delivery guys, etc.) in our neighborhood that walking around was much more social than here. I think it might be this one and the one above that I miss the most.
• Jackrabbit Sports and Paragon Sports: To many people, these are just running or sporting goods stores, but I think they’re two of the best in the country. Jackrabbit for it’s staff and carefully hand-picked inventory and Paragon because you could find just about anything there. I haven’t found anything in LA that even comes close to either.
• Washington Square Park: The dog park, the outdoor music, the wild people watching, the grass and benches to sit on. And it was just a few blocks from home. I feel in love with this park while I was recovering from my back surgery in 2006. I spent some time just about every day sitting in the sun on the benches reading, doing my crossword, recovering and being thankful for my health. The beaches in LA are great and there certainly are tons of parks. But none that close to home and none with the same character as Washington Square.
• Wet Nose Doggy Gym: Charlie’s favorite place. Losing his daycare wasn’t a huge deal for 2009 because I worked from home, but we’re looking for a new daycare place for him and while there are lots of options here, none meet the incredibly high standard that Wet Nose set.
• Central Park for running and cycling: It was so easy to ride or run loops in the Park. No – or little – traffic (if you timed it right) and tons of like-minded athletes. And often some pretty sick world-class runners out there. New York Road Runners puts on great races in the Park. It feels like there’s a race every other weekend. Loops might sounds a little boring if you haven’t spent time there, but the course varies just enough that getting in three or four loops (18-24 miles) on an early weekday morning was great. Of course, I’d take a ride in the Malibu canyons or a run in the Santa Monica Mountains over the Park pretty much any day, but those both involve a lot more travel than getting to the Park. And the whole no-traffic thing was really nice.

One thing I definitely don’t miss is the weather. From everything I’ve read and seen, the last few weeks have just been brutal there. And there’s more coming right now – including a potential “snow hurricane”. Whatever that is, it sure sounds like FUN!! Meanwhile, our “bad weather days” include some rain and maybe high temps in the low 50’s. Brrrr!

Another thing that’s been great about the move is the time we’ve been able to spend with our west coast family members. I think I’ll write a post soon reflecting on our first year in LA. So, more on this soon.

Run – Feb 21
Distance: 13 miles
Time: 2:13
Course: Canyonback Trail
Conditions: Sun and clouds, cool start, warmed up (mid 50’s)

Run – Feb 22
Distance: 5.4 miles
Time: 39 min.
Course: Neighborhood
Conditions: Sunny, low 50’s

Strength – Feb 22

Indoor bike – Feb 23
Time: 1:00

Swim – Feb 24
Distance: 2,953 yards (2,700 meters)
Time: 1:00

Run – Feb 25
Distance: 7 miles
Time: 1:06
Course: Sullivan Canyon
Conditions: Sun, low 50’s

Yoga – Feb 25