RIP

Some days she was the only reason I got out of bed. My sweet dog Anna passed away from severe anemia the weekend before last. I did a half marathon in her honor, but it was so hard to run. Too many people out walking their dogs on the course. I finished, but with a horrible time. Anna never asked for anything but love and Ritz crackers. I miss her every day. She was the sweetest, friendliest, most docile dog in the world.

RIP. I am glad all dogs go to heaven. She deserves to be happy and pain free for eternity.

52nd Half Marathon

I finished my 52nd half marathon this past weekend and ended up placing third for females. I even got a running trophy. Granted it was a small race, but I never get trophies.

I then spent the weekend battling the worst LA traffic I've seen. An old friend was in town and we met in Hollywood.

Surfing

I tried surfing for the first time. People ask if I had trouble staying on the board. I had trouble getting ON the board. This surfboard, aka, a waterproof tetter totter, didn't work well with me or I didn't work well with it. Either way, I sank deep into the ocean, almost was stung by a sting ray, had the board torpedo at my jaw and cause me to bite my tongue, and I flipped over countless times.

Nevertheless, although my body may disagree and the black bruises on my legs look unattractive, I vow to try again.

No, I did not ride any wave that day.

Scenes from Comic-Con

 Cast of Community

On the set of Enders Game--New Harrison Ford movie

James Spader as a hologram. What?

As the greatest people-watching show on earth, I took to the streets of downtown San Diego, aka crazytown. 

Crewing Badwater Ultramarathon

10am and it went up to 122 that day

 With Pam Reed in Death Valley

 Dean Kanazares running

 I'm in there.

 Free swag

 Vegas!

This Badwater Ultramarathon race was the craziest thing I've ever done. And I've done some crazy things. We were supposed to run in 2 mile increments. I did my first .5 miles and said I have to stop. We were supposed to run behind the famous Pam Reed and spray her down. I couldn't even keep up for .5 miles. I then went out on another .5 miles a little while later and threw up. Then I couldn't stop coughing. One girl did three 1-mile legs, threw up, got heat stroke, went to the medical tent for 12 hours and was put in a hotel for 2 days. She was out.

That left 5 of us and I was taken out of the running part. That left 3 people to run, plus a driver. The runners had to switch off every .75 miles. One lady couldn't get her heart to slow down. It was miserable. 122 degrees, 30 mph winds of just heat, plus sand. I had to cover up my face. It looked like Saudi Arabia. Everyone was wearing hats that covered their neck and ears. I was totally not prepared for that. So I put myself in charge of the nutrition. Every mile we got out and prepared her food and then stood at the side of the road to give it to her.

Pam Reed is a really famous runner and has won this thing. She's been on David Letterman, profiled on 60 minutes, wrote a book that I read a few years ago about this race, been on lots of mags. Everywhere we went, people wanted a photo with her. People kept stopping and asking how she's doing. We even had to find out where her competition was. We'd drive around looking for the nearest people and find out their times. That's not my racing experience.

At night, we ended up in the mountains climbing and I was able to join in pacing again. She was going much slower. I then did 3 miles with her at 6am and again at 12pm because her pace was much slower. We stopped every mile for all 135 miles. I got maybe 40 minutes of sleep total. She wanted me to tell her stories while I was pacing her to keep her mind off of the pain, so I told her all my bad dating stories.

The last leg of the race is an 8,500 foot climb of switchbacks up Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. She couldn't go more than 18-20 minute miles. I walked behind her for a mile and sprayed her. The crew didn't want me doing much, but I felt okay and wanted to do more, but they said no. I was kind of upset about that.

You could tell the lady was really in pain. She was just moaning and kept saying "I'm not a runner. I'm not an athlete. I have no feelings." I just kept saying "You're doing great. You're so amazing." That's all you can do. She was totally hitting a wall, but she finished. She was the second female finisher and was really disappointed with coming in second, but she did really well.

She needs a better crew. We just weren't strong enough for her. She needs top athletes who do 100 mile races all the time. She really needs men to pace her. She's so good she beat a lot of top men.

It was really rewarding, but the toughest conditions I've ever run in. I've never even been in conditions like that.

Alaska

I finally made it to Alaska to visit my cousins. My cousin recently deployed to Afghanistan, so he was MIA. But I did get to meet the newest addition to the family. I also made a running trip out of it that you can read here.

I flew in at midnight just before the summer solstice. This is what midnight looks like. It's such a trip to not see darkness.

Everyone eats reindeer. Poor reindeer.

 At a chocolate factory.

 At the zoo with my cousins.

 Sweets!

 50 degrees on the first day of summer. Reminds me of Seattle.

 My cousin's baby, just 5 months old and playing with Seahawks toys. How can you not love that?

 Finishing the race. Really out of shape.

 Just before it started. Feeling good.

 Best running sign of the day.

During the race 

We actually had to hike part of the race and battle thousands of mosquitos. I have bites all over. 

 

At the zoo with my cousin's kid.

 

Good-Bye to You

I spent the weekend in Los Angeles once again visiting my uncle Bryant. Two weeks ago we were told he had just a few hours to live, but he pulled through and came home. During the weekend, we ate out at a fancy Pasadena restaurant watching him eat a big steak followed by chocolate cake and ice cream. He made plans for the future and spoke candidly and vividly about his life with a fully functioning brain.

We returned Sunday night and I felt hopeful he'd be around for a while.

The phone rang early this morning and I knew it was bad news. My uncle Bryant passed away. This is the last photo I took with him. I loved visiting him in LA and going to Hamburger Hamlet. I spent nights at his place before early morning races and drove him to Trader Joes and Gelsons Supermarket on errand Saturday.

RIP.