Vista Strawberry Run 5K race report

Friday night, we went to Oceanside to see “Top Gun: Maverick.” Before the movie, we stopped by the “Top Gun” house near the theater (Charlie’s house in the original movie), which has been restored and reopened as a pie shop.

They have a replica of Maverick’s Ninja out front you can sit on:

We also went inside to try some pie. The interior is decorated to look more like the 1880s beach cottage this place was originally, with some “Top Gun” stuff thrown in.

Who’s that hiding amongst the china? It’s Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell!

The pies were delicious (I had strawberry-rhubarb and Clark had apple a la mode), but I made a giant mess with the chocolate dipping sauce. It came in a packet and I thought it was going to be the consistency of a running gel, but it was more like warm oil-based salad dressing, and it flew all over me when I tried to pour some onto my pie while walking. I had to throw all of my clothes in the washer when we got home and I even found some caked onto my phone case the next day haha.

Anyway, the movie was next. It was AMAZING. The best movie I have seen in years! I don’t want to spoil anything, but all day Friday, Clark kept saying there was no way “Maverick” was going to be as good as the first, just because the intro music in the opening scene of the first movie was so perfect. Well guess what. They opened “Maverick” with the exact same music. The new movie has the perfect amount of callbacks like that, but everything is better — the story, the characters, the action scenes. I would highly recommend it to anyone regardless of how they felt about the first “Top Gun”! (Personally, I liked it but I always thought “Days of Thunder” was way better.)

Clark and I left the theater ready to go sign up for the Navy even though we’re both a thousand years old and can’t see anything haha.

Saturday was May 28, which was special because it was exactly 30 years to the day that my parents, brother and I met Davey Allison.

May 28, 1992, was the Thursday before the spring race in Dover that year, and Davey was making an appearance at a Texaco station (now an Exxon) on the corner of Route 50 in Mardela Springs, Md. My brother and I begged our parents to take us, but they both worked and neither really felt like driving an hour round trip on a weeknight. As an adult now, I get that, but as a kid, I did not, and Dave and I would not let it go. I remember running out to the field where Dad was planting soybeans and following the tractor to keep up our whining. We must’ve been so annoying haha.

It worked though! When we got to the front of the line, Mom asked if she could take a picture of us kids with Davey, and he came around the table to pose with us. He apologized for not taking off his sunglasses but his eyes were still super bloodshot from a bad wreck he’d had at the end of The Winston All-Star race a couple weeks earlier. He and Dave even bonded over the fact they’d been in hospitals the same night. (Dave’s arm is in a cast in that picture because he’d fallen off a piece of farm equipment the same evening as that race, landed on his left elbow and broke it.)

He was so nice! I was so happy to meet him, I didn’t even realize he’d had his hand on my shoulder until Mom got the pictures developed.

Of course, it was only a bit more than a year later, on July 13, 1993, when he died after crash-landing a helicopter. Mom and Dad were really glad we’d made them go to meet him the year before, since there was never going to be the “next time” they kept saying they’d take us to instead.

Back to the present day. I ran 8 miles along the coast that morning. The first six were fine but the last two slowed a lot, and I wound up running a 9:35/mile average.

Surfers.

Clark and I spent most of the rest of the day in the village. The sun finally came out in the afternoon and we saw what looked like a sailboat race going by:

Later he took this picture of our bikes in front of the restaurant where we had dinner:

There was a little excitement that night when I got home and realized my wallet, with my phone in it, was missing from my bike basket. Everything else was still in it. I rode back to the restaurant, hoping I’d left it at the table, but it wasn’t there. So I assumed it must’ve somehow fallen out, and I walked the bike back to the house, looking for my wallet/phone in the road. I didn’t find it.

By the time I got home, I was pretty annoyed, thinking about all the things I was going to have to replace. I decided to try one last thing — calling my phone from Clark’s, hoping someone had picked it up.

I picked up Clark’s phone and it opened to a message from an unknown number, that must have come while I was gone looking for my stuff, saying they had my phone. Clark responded “Sweet! Thank you!” and then fell asleep without telling me haha.

I called the number back and a woman answered. She was staying at a place right across from the restaurant and had found my wallet and phone in the road. So I guess it did fall out of that basket, but I don’t know how! I was just glad someone had it. I rode back and got everything back from her. Phew!

The next morning, I looked closer at my phone and saw the back glass is shattered, in spite of being in a case and inside the wallet when it hit the road, so I might wind up buying a new phone anyway. But I don’t have to.

OK, now we are on to Sunday and finally to the race report.

I didn’t feel so hot when I got up Sunday morning. My stomach was bothering me and I kept having to use the bathroom.

I’d already paid for the race though, so we went. Clark still had to register, and I had to pick up my race bib and T-shirt, so we got to Vista early for that.

This 5K is the first event of the day of a strawberry festival they hold in downtown Vista every year (which, like everything else, was on hiatus the last couple of years because of the pandemic.) Registration/packet pick-up wasn’t too crowded, so I didn’t think there were a ton of people running it, but apparently most of them had picked up their stuff the day before, because it turned out there were nearly 1,300 participants.

Clark and I got our bibs and shirts, I hit a port-o-potty one last time and crossed my fingers I’d at least be able to get through 3.1 miles without needing it again, and then we found the rest of our running group at our gym’s festival booth.

The start line was in the middle of the festival itself. We all squeezed ourselves into the crowd and waited to get going. It took a few extra minutes to get the route clear but we finally got the commands and we were off.

It was a VERY slow start though! Lots of people were going to walk the whole thing, which is fine, but several of them started as close to the front as they could, and that just caused a massive bottleneck.

The first couple of turns of the course, through the festival area, were so clogged, I was barely moving at a few points. It definitely did not feel like a race!

We made a loop around a church, the only real hill of the course, and then hit some wider streets. I was still dodging people left and right but at least there was room to do so.

It took me 8:18 to finish the first mile. I was not going to be setting any records, that was for sure! But on the bright side, I hadn’t heard a peep from my stomach.

The course led us back to one of the main streets through downtown Vista, where we ran an out and back that made up most of the rest of the race. This got kinda tight again, as there was two-way running traffic on a street that was also lined with booths for the festival, but I was able to try to keep up an actual race pace the rest of the way.

My second and third miles were faster — 7:52 and 7:49 — and I finished the 5K officially in 25:04, an 8:04/mile pace.

Homestretch.

I felt OK about my race when I was done. I was annoyed with the walkers at the front in the first mile, but I was glad I’d been able to pick it up in the second and third miles and I’d not had any more digestive issues.

They funneled us into a field after the finish, where we got medals (for a 5K! That still blows my mind haha), little bags of strawberries, granola bars and water. We could also check our results. I was shocked to see my 25:04 was third in the F 35-39 age group. My first age group award in a few years!

Clark and I changed into dry clothes and then we went to the 5K awards ceremony. The first place runner in my age group got the second overall award, so I moved up to second in our age group.

The first place AG winner and me.

Clark and I had a few beers in the beer garden, had lunch at Belching Beaver, where we saw the end of the Indianapolis 500, and then came home to watch the Coca-Cola 600.

Today is Memorial Day. We’re both off. I will probably go for a short run at some point.

Race T-shirt, bibs, medals and my AG award.

Vista Strawberry Run 5K

• Chip time: 25:04
• 3rd/96 F 35-39
• 22nd/741 women
• 141st/1,280 overall

Training for 5/27/22

Monday evening, I ran 3.1 miles at an 8:56/mile average.

Tuesday, I didn’t get up and run in the morning before work, and then instead of going to the track workout that night, Clark and I went to the Padres game. Jennifer, Pepper’s old dog sitter, got a pack of tickets for the Bark Yard and invited us to go with her, her dog, Riley, and her friend Denise.

It was a weeknight game against the Brewers, but it was as crowded there as the last game we went to, a Friday night game against the Dodgers. That was because they were giving away Manny Machado bobbleheads ha.

Wednesday morning, Clark had to leave really early to catch a flight to San Jose for the day. I got up a little while after he left and ran 3.2 miles at an 8:53/mile average.

After work, I went to Vista to meet the running group. I ran with Shawn, 2.7 miles at an 8:48/mile average. We did most of the course for the race we’re running there in Vista this Sunday morning. It mostly avoids the bigger hills in the area, which is nice. There’s only one, and we get it out of the way in the first mile.

Thursday, after I got done with work for the day, I ran 6 miles along the coast at an 8:44/mile average, and today I did another 3.1. Something was not agreeing with me, digestively speaking, and I had to walk a lot of the last mile.

This evening, we are going to Oceanside to see “Top Gun: Maverick” and I can’t WAIT. All the reviews say it’s even better than the first! And since we’ll be in Oceanside, we’re going to see the “Top Gun” house, by the pier, which has been restored and just recently opened as a little pie shop. They even have a replica of the Ninja motorcycle Maverick rode to visit Charlie in that house in the first movie out front.

This weekend, my only solid plans are to run tomorrow and then do the 5K on Sunday morning. It’s part of a strawberry festival in Vista and a lot of people from our running group are doing it, so it should be a good time. Other than that, we’ll see what happens.

Carlsbad 5000 Race Report

I did not quite have the race I’d hoped for at yesterday’s Carlsbad 5000, but the whole weekend was a lot of fun and I’m so glad they are able to hold this amazing event in person again!

Saturday morning, I ran an easy 7-miler along the coast at a 9:03/mile average. It wasn’t nearly as windy as the day before but May Gray was in effect.

Clark also ran a few miles and said whatever was hurting in his hip earlier in the week didn’t seem to be bothering him anymore, so that was good. He thinks it was from sitting on one of the high stools in the kitchen the first few weeks he was working from home, before he got a desk. That is no longer an issue so hopefully that’s all behind him.

We rode our bikes in town to pick up our race packets, which was quick and easy, and then we spent the rest of the day bouncing around the village. Clark made a ridiculously excessive amount of pasta for dinner for two people to “carb load” for a 5K the next morning haha. And then we went to bed.

Sunday was race day! Clark was signed up for the Men’s Open race, which didn’t start until 9:15, and I was in the Women’s Open, which was even later, at 10:08, and the race was only a short bike ride away, so we had a nice leisurely morning before heading over.

We ran into a couple friends from our running group, Jennie and Corey, almost immediately. Clark and Corey both ran the Men’s Open, so Jennie and I watched the start of that.

I guess the guy at the front in all blue had forgotten to set up his racing playlist before the start haha.

Then we walked over to the finish line. I somehow completely missed Clark running by on his way to the finish, and by the time the tracker alerted me he’d crossed the line in 27:01, he was lost in the crowd. I gave Jennie our stuff to hang onto and headed out to run an easy mile to warm up and do a few drills before my race started.

The starting chute was pretty packed when I got there, about four minutes before the gun. There were pace flags for “Fast” (6-7 minute miles), “Fit” (8-11 minute miles) or “Fun” (12-15 minute miles.) I wedged myself into the middle of the “Fit” section.

Then we were off! The first few 10ths of a mile, a straight shot up Grand Avenue, was pretty crowded, but I had plenty of room to run once we made the left turn onto Carlsbad Boulevard (the 101), where the majority of the course was.

I hit the first mile marker in 7:42 and honestly thought I’d easily maintain that pace for the next two miles, since I’d felt like I’d been slowed down by the crowding at the beginning.

We made the first U-turn on the course, near the intersection with Tamarack, and headed back on the other side of the highway. I heard my Garmin beep the end of mile 2 and was surprised to see 7:58! I felt like I’d maintained my effort but had fallen off 16 seconds.

The last mile of the course took us to a second U-turn, near Ocean Street, then back to Carlsbad Village Drive, where we made a left turn to the delightful downhill finish.

I fell off a few more seconds in that third mile, 8:02, and finished 3.1 officially in 24:32, a 7:54/mile average.

Jennie got a video of me at the finish, which I took a couple screenshots from:

Well anyway, now it was time for the fun part — the beer garden!

Clark and Jennie found me immediately after I came out of the finisher’s chute and then we met the rest of our group in the beer garden. A couple of our guys had run the Men’s Masters race, which was the first one to go at 6:55 a.m., and they were already several beers deep by the time Clark and I even got there haha.

Clark, me, Jennie, Corey and Shawn.

Technically we were only supposed to get two beers each with our wristbands, but there are always ways to get around that. Clark and I drank our first two and then went home to change into dry clothes. We threw away our first wristbands there (the volunteers were marking them as we took beers) and then we got fresh wristbands when we came back in.

As you can see, the sun had come out by this point, and it was a perfect day for hanging out. There was still more running to come though — the “people’s race,” a non-competitive run/walk of the course, was held just past noon. I think that’s when the race directors took these drone shots of the course, which I got from their Facebook page:

Intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive, which we passed through three times.

The end of the course near the U-turn at Tamarack Avenue.

The elites ran around 1:30 p.m. We left the beer garden to watch the start:

Elite men running by.

Elite women a few minutes later.

Then we booked it over to the finish line to see them come in:

Edward Cheserek of Kenya won the men’s race in 13:44.

Biruktayit Degafa of Ethiopia won the women’s race in 15:29. She only beat me by nine minutes haha.

Shawn went to Barrio with Clark and me to get some lunch, and then he headed home. We met one of Clark’s former coworkers, Gaith, at Pure Project for one more beer and then we finally rode our bikes home too.

We called our parents, watched the NASCAR All-Star race and ate some of the huge amount of leftover pasta for dinner. There’s still plenty left for lunch and dinner for the next several days haha.

Here’s our race swag:

The race shirt is nice but runs a little small. I’ve never gotten a medal for a 5K before but this is one of the nicest medals I’ve ever gotten, period.

Carlsbad 5000 (Women’s Open 39 & Under)

• Chip time: 24:32
• 48th/137 F 35-39
• 179th/527 women
• 201st/635 total (there were men running the All Day 20K who were also in the mix)

Next up is a 5K in Vista this coming Sunday, part of the town’s Strawberry Festival. The course is on the same roads we do a lot of our Wednesday night neighborhood runs, so it’ll be a lot hillier than Carlsbad was. But it’s a much smaller race, so we’ll all get to start at 7:30 a.m.

Today, I just have a short easy run on the schedule.

Training for 5/20/22

Monday evening, Clark and I ran 3 miles together at a 9:09/mile average.

Tuesday morning, Clark had to leave for a work trip. Before I went to my office, I ran 3.2 at a 9:06/mile average, and that evening, I went to the track for our running group’s speed workout.

We did a ladder workout — 400, 600, 800, 800, 600, 400.

My times were 1:44 (6:58/mile pace), 2:37 (7:02), 3:33 (7:04), 3:31 (6:58), 2:34 (6:48) and 1:35 (6:18.) With a half-mile warm-up and the rests in between intervals, we covered about another 3.2 miles.

Oh also I think something is screwy with the elevation tracker on my Garmin. It had claimed I only climbed 66 feet in the 4-mile race over the Coronado Bridge on Sunday, even though I know that bridge is 200 feet tall at its peak, and then it said I’d climbed nearly 700 feet during this workout on a totally flat track haha.

Wednesday morning, I got up before work and ran another easy 3-miler at a 9:06/mile average.

Clark had gotten home by the time I got back from the office, so he went with me to the Wednesday night neighborhood run, but he has a pinched nerve or something in his right hip area that had been bothering him since the run Monday, so he sat out of running Wednesday night.

I ran with Shawn and Colin, through some trails I didn’t know were right there near the gym. Well, I knew a section of the trail was there, but I didn’t realize how much farther it went. We got in another 3.5 miles at a 9:08/mile pace. And we didn’t see any of the venomous snakes they’d both seen there before!

Thursday morning was Bike to Work Day in San Diego County. I work from home on Thursdays, but I took my bike out for a spin to stop by one of the “pit stops” to get some free snacks and another free T-shirt.

I also rode into the village to get an iced coffee, and then I came back to my office.

I never went out to run though.

Today, I just did another easy 4-miler at a 9:03/mile average. It’s exciting to see all the signs near the Carlsbad 5000 race course warning about the road closure only two days from now!

It was an unusually windy and gray day here though. I don’t think I saw a single surfer, which is rare.

This weekend, the big excitement is the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday! The weird thing about this race is they don’t run everyone at the same time. I’m in the Women’s Open race (39 and under) for the first and last time — I’ll be in the Women’s Master race next year. My race isn’t until 10 a.m. As far as a time goal goes, I’d be happy with an average pace around 7:30 to 7:40 a mile.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the elite men’s and women’s races though!

Navy’s Bay Bridge Run (4-miler) Race Report

Yesterday, I finally got to run the Navy’s Bay Bridge Run, a 4-mile race from downtown San Diego and over the bay bridge to Coronado — the only time anyone can cross that bridge on foot. I’ve been signed up to run it pretty much since I moved here in late 2019, but it got cancelled in 2020 and was virtual-only in 2021 due to the pandemic.

I had a decent race but I definitely learned to start closer to the front if I run it again!

Going back to the day before the race. I had to go to LAX to pick up Clark on Friday night. The drive up there wasn’t bad, but by the time we were headed back, road work crews had nearly or entirely closed down the four- or five-lane freeway in two separate spots, creating some massive backups. It took forever to get home, and it was really late when we got to bed. I did not feel like getting up early the next morning to get in a long run.

We wound up taking it easy Saturday, and we were both asleep at a much earlier time than the night before.

Sunday morning, we left the house around 7 for the roughly half-hour drive to downtown San Diego. Clark didn’t run, so we didn’t have to try to find parking there; he just dropped me off close to the start and then drove over to Coronado (one side of the bridge remains open to traffic in both directions while the other side is shut down for the race.)

I got to the start area, in front of a hotel next to the convention center, about 20 minutes before the start. I had to pee but it wasn’t urgent enough to go try to get through a port-o-potty line, so I just held it and hoped the urge to go went away when I started running.

I joined the crowd, not anywhere close to the front but what I hoped was still mixed in mostly with other people who were planning to run from the start (there are a lot of people who walk the whole thing.) Spoiler alert — I was not far enough up.

The horn sounded and we were off. Kinda. I quickly realized my mistake as I ran up on wall after wall of people walking three or four abreast.

The first mile is mostly flat, as you’re not on the bridge yet, but I wasn’t able to really run it, since I kept having to dodge walkers. Also, the course crossed some train tracks, and I got there just as a metro train was approaching, so we all had to stop and wait for it. It didn’t take long, but still. We were on the clock haha. That was a first for me in a race.

I finally finished the first mile and saw the split on my Garmin — 8:55. Not anywhere near the pace I’d expected to be able to run before the climb on the bridge!

Most of the second mile was on the bridge. But first we had to run up the on-ramp to get onto it, by far the steepest incline of the whole course. The bridge itself wasn’t nearly as steep, but it lasted forever. I tried to keep a steady effort. I finished mile 2 right before the top — 9:05. Honestly better than I expected.

Oh, the view up there was really pretty. I had my phone on me but I didn’t stop to take any pictures because we were finally headed downhill and I didn’t want to waste any more time!

The third mile was almost entirely downhill, which felt amazing after that long climb. The mile marker was right at the bottom of the bridge — 7:21.

One more to go! We ran through the toll plaza, where a Navy brass band was playing, and then made a left turn onto a service road that ran back past the toll plaza and under the bridge. That took us out to a sidewalk/bike path that ran along the bay, and into a park, where we turned off the sidewalk and ran across a grassy field to the finish line.

I was pretty gassed but I kept the fourth mile under 8 minute pace too — 7:55 — and I finished 4 miles officially in 33:30, an overall average pace of 8:23/mile.

Clark had found street parking and met me near the park.

Standing by the bay in front of the bridge.

Runners coming down the bridge into Coronado.

Runners in the final stretch to the finish line.

We did a lap around the post-race festival but there wasn’t anything I was interested in, so we walked back to the car. I changed into dry clothes and then we had brunch at the Night and Day Cafe in another part of Coronado. It wasn’t that far from the park where the race had ended, but there was a marine layer hanging over it, and it felt so much cooler than where we’d been running, like a completely different place.

We took the long way out of Coronado, driving south along the Silver Strand to Imperial Beach, not far from the Mexico border, then got on the freeway to head back north. We stopped along the way at AleSmith for a couple beers.

Clark and a flight of Speedway Stouts.

We made it back to Carlsbad in time to see the end of the NASCAR race. Then we got some steaks from TipTop Meats, which Clark marinated and grilled. All in all, a pretty nice day!

Race T-shirt, bib and medal.

The Navy’s Bay Bridge Run

• Chip time: 33:30
• 17th/333 F 35-39
• 93rd/2,098 women
• 387th/4,089 overall

They said before the race there were more than 9,000 people registered, so I don’t know if half of them changed their minds, forgot their bibs or chose the virtual option.

Anyway, that was the first of four weekends in a row of races I’ve got lined up. Next up — the Carlsbad 5000 this coming Sunday!

Today, I’ve just got a short easy run on the schedule.

Training for 5/13/22

Tuesday morning, I went for a short run before work, 3 miles at a 9:01/mile average. I just happened to walk out to the end of the jetty and take this picture:

That tall structure near the far right of the picture is what little bit was left of the old power plant they started taking down last year. It was a landmark, with its huge smokestack — that happened to be full of asbestos. They knocked down that last bit later that same morning. It’s all gone now.

That evening, there was no lacrosse game at the high school, so we got to run a track workout for the first time in three weeks.

We did a simple one, eight 400-meter repeats with about 90 seconds of rest between each. I almost managed to run each one faster: 1:47 (7:00/mile pace), 1:45 (6:53), 1:43 (6:52), 1:42 (6:39), 1:41 (6:39), 1:40 (6:28), 1:40 (6:35) and 1:37 (6:28.)

With a warmup, we did a total of 2.8 miles.

Wednesday, I ran again in the morning before work, 3.2 miles at an 8:57/mile average, and then after work, I met the running group in Vista for the neighborhood run.

I started running with Jose, but his one knee was really bothering him, so he turned around before the end of the first mile. I ran to the 1.5 mile point before I turned around, running a total of 3 miles at a 9:12/mile pace.

Thursday, I had a run on the schedule, but I didn’t do it, so I ran it today, which was supposed to be a rest day — 4.7 miles at a 9:04/mile average.

I ran past the pile of scrap that is the old power plant:

Also, I registered for the Algonquin 50K again as soon as it opened this afternoon. Next February will be my seventh trip around that course. Even better, Susan and Kelly are running it again too!

Now I’m about to head up to LAX to pick up Clark. I’ve missed him this week and I think he’s definitely at least missed California haha.

This weekend, I’m going to do my long run tomorrow morning, and then Sunday, I FINALLY get to run in person the 4-mile race from San Diego across the Coronado Bridge! Normally I’d prefer not to do a long run the day before a short, fast race, but I don’t think this one is going to be very fast. There’s about a 200-foot climb to the peak of the bridge over the second mile. That’s going to suck but the view at the top should be worth it.

Training for 5/9/22

Friday evening, I got Clark to LAX in plenty of time for his flight back to the East Coast (along with Anthony Anderson, who apparently graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., the next day!) and then I came home.

It wasn’t even that late when I got back, but I just could not get to sleep. So I didn’t get up early enough to meet the running group in Carlsbad, and then I kept putting off running all day. About the only thing I “accomplished” was watching the Kentucky Derby, which was pretty exciting, when the 80-1 long shot, that hadn’t even been in the race until another horse had to scratch the day before, came out of nowhere to win.

Sunday, I did go out for a long run, 12 miles to Oceanside and back, which got me to the ol’ river trail I used to run all the time when we lived there.

I was happy to see they’d paved the south end of the Strand, which used to be rutted, cracked concrete:

The north side is still concrete but maybe they’ll redo that sometime.

Where the San Luis Rey River meets the ocean, near the end of the trail.

It doesn’t look sunny here, but it was poking in and out of the clouds the whole time I was running, and it got kinda warm. I had a water bottle full of Roctane and a Huma gel that I took at halfway but I still didn’t feel great for a lot of the second half of the run. I wound up running a 10:10/mile average for the 12 miles.

When I got home, I called my mom to wish her a happy Mother’s Day, watched the Darlington race and then pulled some weeds out front.

Today, I worked from home, and after I was done for the day, I went out and ran 3.1 miles at a 9:04/mile average.

Training for 5/6/22

Tuesday, we couldn’t run a workout at the high school track because of one last lacrosse game, so I went to Lake Calavera and ran the 5-mile loop there instead. Hills are speed work in disguise and there are plenty on that loop — 554 feet of climbing according to my Garmin. I ran a 9:51/mile average. Anything under 10 there is pretty good for me.

Gorgeous evening on the trail.

Wednesday, I was sitting at work in my office when a friend let me know a Facebook account that monitors the police scanners on the Eastern Shore reported there was a structural fire at a chicken house on my parents’ farm!

Long story short, a tunnel fan on the older chicken house, built in the 1970s, had an electric malfunction, which caused a fire. Luckily, my brother was right there and noticed it quickly, called 911 and then got the water truck and started spraying things down before the fire department got there and got it the rest of the way under control.

1,700 chickens died — the rest went out that night, a couple days earlier than originally scheduled — and there was some damage to the end of the house that will have to be repaired, but if Dave hadn’t been there, it probably would’ve been a total loss. So we are all very glad he was there!

My mom sent me this picture of the end of the house where the fire happened. A lot of insulation fell out of the ceiling.

And here are the rest of the chickens, oblivious as usual:

There was one more casualty, unfortunately. My dad pulled up to the fire in his beater, a 1994 Aerostar we have always called the Boomstar, and he forgot to put it in park before he got out. It slowly rolled into a manure spreader. Dave said Dad was run-shuffling after it but he couldn’t get to it in time haha.

My parents bought this thing new 28 years ago and it has close to 400,000 miles on it. A cracked bumper cover is the least of its issues.

Anyway, things were not nearly as exciting here in California that day. I finished up at the office and Clark got home from a work trip to the Bay Area in time to go with me to that night’s neighborhood run in Vista. We ran the same hilly 3.2-mile loop as last week, again at an 8:52/mile average.

Thursday, I ran late in the day. I’d had a sandwich on whole wheat bread for lunch and I think that was the cause of the terrible gas pains I had almost the whole way. I muscled through the first three miles at a decent clip but by the start of the last one, I was tired of feeling like I was being stabbed in the gut with every step, and I walked a lot of it. In the end, I ran 4 miles at a 9:14/mile average.

Then we went to Barrio, our favorite Mexican place in the village, for dinner, since it was Cinco de Mayo.

Today, I should’ve run before I started working, but I didn’t, and then I had another sandwich on whole wheat bread for lunch. I’m also taking Clark to the airport in about an hour anyway, so today will be a rest day.

Clark is heading back to Maryland for the next week, to help Bart move, and then his parents move, and then work out of the Federalsburg office for a few days. I’m just going to stay here and not burn any time off. I’m probably going back home next month anyway, when he’s going back for Eagleman and then to work out of that office again.

So I’m on my own. I don’t really have any plans, other than to get in some runs.

Training for 5/2/22

Saturday morning, I did a long run! Finally!

It was a beautiful day here and I felt pretty good throughout the whole thing, other than getting a little hot in the last couple of miles. I even got some sunburn on my shoulders, neck and chest.

View from the Alila Marea Beach Resort right on the edge of Encinitas, where I turned around.

When I first got here, there was a young woman in a really pretty bright yellow formal dress taking pictures on that compass on the next level down. It looked like a prom dress so I Googled to see when the local high school’s prom was. Nearby Carlsbad High School’s isn’t until next weekend, but it’s on the USS Midway in the San Diego harbor! I know not every high school has theirs in the gym like mine did, but how many hold them on a decommissioned aircraft carrier turned into a museum?

Took a detour to walk up this dirt path in the median of the 5 on the way back.

I wound up getting in 12.3 miles at a 9:03/mile average.

That finished up April, so here’s a monthly summary.

Mileage:

• Week 1 (April 1-2): 4.2 miles
• Week 2 (April 3-9): 17.7
• Week 3 (April 10-16): 20
• Week 4 (April 17-23): 27.7
• Week 5 (April 24-30): 30.6

Total: 100.2 miles

I didn’t run any races this month. I just tried to get into training for a series of races I have coming up in May and early June — a 4-mile race across the Coronado Bridge, two 5Ks in Carlsbad and Vista and the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon.

On the plus side, I did finally get back in the habit of going to the running club’s weekly track workouts. Unfortunately, the high school that lets us use their track has a new vice principal who didn’t like that we were running laps with a lacrosse game going on, and asked us not to do workouts during games — which fall on Tuesday evenings pretty frequently. It’s been almost three weeks at this point since the last time we could do a workout. The lacrosse season should end soon though, depending on if the girls’ or boys’ teams make the playoffs.

I was lazy about doing long runs. I only got in two, a 10- and 12-miler. Also my plans to force myself back into getting my runs done first thing every morning haven’t panned out yet either!

Well there’s always May. Which we’re now two days into and I am 0-for-2 on morning runs ha.

Yesterday, I thought about doing a short run, but I took a rest day instead. Clark and I slept in and then we rode our bikes to check out the big Carlsbad Village Street Fair. The local Kiwanis Club had a pancake breakfast so we started there, and then we walked around to check out all the vendors. We ended up in the “beer garden,” which was a single brewery from San Marcos selling little plastic cups of beer for $7 each haha.

We came back home to watch the Dover race, but they only got in 48 laps before they had to postpone it to today because of rain.

Today, I will do a short run after work.