Happy Birthday, USA!!! Pizza; three fun couples; The Race

Last night was time to get serious... not about art, religion, politics or sex... but food. I had to prepare for my 10 km race, and that meant carbs... let’s see, there are many sources of carbohydrates, but pizza sounded like a good choice. My choice was Filippi’s, a family-run institution started in 1950 that I have patronized since 1975. The pizza was amazingly good. The best part of last night’s experience was the couple at the next table. Dan and Jackie (in their early 30s) were talking about her recent Rock n’ Roll Marathon. It was hard (okay, impossible) for me not to butt into their conversation, since marathons had been a passion for me for many years. After exchanging training tips, we found that we had a lot in common other than running. Dan had worked for the Navy as a Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile engineer, and I had fired about 17 Tomahawk missiles in their early days (like in the 80’s, when Dan was maybe 7 or 8 years old). Jackie is a chemist at Pfizer, and a strong runner who was also running the Scripps Ranch 10K (6.2 mile) race. Dan’s grandfather had been a resident of The Villages. Dan is an avid golfer, surfer and kayak fisherman. (I invited him and Jackie to visit The Villages, even if they are a bit underage).

4^th of July morning... Aboard Navy ships, that means holiday routine and late sleepers. Not this morning aboard The Bus. Early rev at 0515. Rudy and Gretchen very confused; what is Dad doing? Walk the pups, get a quick shave and shower, nuke a bagel, one cup of coffee and on my way. Oh, yeah, and dress out in running gear, including race number and timing chip. Drive to the race to be standing at the start with 1,731 of my closest (new) friends. The pre-race included introduction of some Wounded Warriors back from Afghanistan, a young woman singing the National Anthem and lots of US flags. There were some unusual costumes out there, including Abe Lincoln, Superman and a group of Wonder Women. Short shorts, Spandex and skimpy tops were the order for the day. After all, this IS Southern California!

I was hoping to run at a pace of 9 minutes and15 seconds per mile, so I looked for other runners who might be a little faster. That way, I can try to keep up and stay at or faster than my predicted race pace. I selected a group of 4 high school cross country runners, Karly, Natalie, Holly and Taylor; these girls were 16-18, cute and in very good shape. At least the scenery was going to be worth the run. They didn’t disappoint me; I kept pace with them for most of the race, but they pulled away from me at the end, finishing 40 seconds ahead of me. I did achieve my goal, and finished 802 out of 1,732, with a time of 54:35 and an 8:47 pace.

The male and female winners were both 31 years old, and finished in 30:49 (4:58 pace) and 36:12 (5:50 pace). OOH-RAH! 

After the race, I met two great couples. To the left, Patrick is a neurologist, and ran an excellent race, for a young guy. He was proudly showing me a photo of his new granddaughter on his cell phone when his wife Karen joined us in the over-21 refreshment area (otherwise known as das Biergarten). Their 14-year old daughter was stuck outside the fence looking just a bit put out with Dad.

To the right, Jim Lovell (not the astronaut, but I think he soaks that for all it’s worth at the clubhouse) and his wife Joan, a travel agent, live in Scripps Ranch, and were volunteers for the 10K race. Their son is a Navy ensign at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where he is in training to become an F-18 Super Hornet pilot. FLY NAVY!

I may try to get out later to catch a 4^th of July parade, but right now I’m recovering from the race (I think Suzanne calls it “loafing”). And maybe I’ll update my training schedule to see if I can get my time down another couple of minutes... let’s see, intervals at the track and a few hill workouts... hmmmmm....

Suzanne is still back in The Villages, FL, enjoying her Mom, enduring the heat wave and working out in the gym or on her road bike. She's had an attunement session today with her good friend Lynn Walker, and is taking her Mom out for sushi tonight. Enjoy it, Sweetheart!