shoot, surf eat, run
my attempt to do my own very special los angeles triathlon (shooting, surfing, running) was thwarted by an incredible mud-slide-inducing storm on friday which supposedly turned the ocean into a toilet, so i substituted surfing with massive overeating at every turn.
my baby brother had never been shooting before, so after a little forced gun-safety reading, we headed down to the los angeles gun club. the kid can shoot, i tell you what. he’s a natural. we were shooting a 9mm sig and then a .45 cal kimber, which we went to after these two dudes walked in hauling a smith and wesson 500, which is about as about as long as my thigh and twice as heavy. (btw, check out the picture of it being fired at night.)
then on sunday, i ran the city of angels half marathon with jen, patrick, john, kevin, and eileen (who i ran as last year in vegas). it went well. i set a pr with 1:28:47 (6:47 min/mile). i really love the half marathon. it’s over early, i have a ton of energy when i’m finished, and then i get to do more massive overeating (i forget how good the produce is in southern california and how amazing the veggie restaurants are).
i wound up way back at the start for some reason and spent the first seven miles picking my way through people who went off too fast (which feels awesome, though i tend to feel sad for them). then i found a guy who was just about at my pace and i sat on his heels for the next six miles before he completely dusted me at the finish. i have never been so thoroughly beaten in a sprint for the line. i congratulated him after the race. he did the same. i like runners.
takeaways:
+ i forgot that los angeles could be so hilly.
+ i maybe left a little out there on the course, since i was so bouncy at the finish.
+ i am getting old. my heartrate only saw 190 bpm during the sprint and it was really sore.
+ with a little more speedwork, i think that i am capable of running a 1:25 on the right course.