Wednesdays were Wonderful
And we still remember. Here the excitement of weekdays past lives on.
Monday, the 30th of June, 2008
We all know the benefits of the “Mediterranean” diet, of eating our veggies, of balancing the amino acids, etc. Here are some secret ingredients to add to your food — which we understand is already 100% healthy. We left the chips, salsa, and beer diet behind years ago, right? OK, days ago. Maybe we could get Jake Clinton to augment the fare at Nite Moves.
The article is in the highbrow NY Times, but they admit it’s from the more plebeian Men’s Health. Which typically has all sorts of more entertaining lists. For a free copy do the Nautica Malibu Triathlon.
Saturday, the 28th of June
What a drag it is gettin’ old. The intro line from the Rolling Stones’ song “Mother’s Little Helper” said it all... but there is another way. We can all cheer for Darra Torres as she shoots for another Olympic spot.
Wednesday, the 25th of June
It’s the peak of the summer, the longest day we’ll have, and we worked it for all it was worth. Ricky came in second by just one second! That’s winning in our book. The beer tastes best after that. Karen continues her streak (no, not that kind) of edging out the awesome Andrea out of the water. But Andrea brought it back on the run, or maybe she just had a really fast transition. How does she do it? She moves faster than we can see. Sarah teased Andrew about what item he would eschew this time, and a minute later his goggles broke. Jinx? Coincidence? There’s something going on here.
The theme was superheros this week, also sending off our dear Lizzo to physical therapy grad school, where she will follow the footsteps of Sara Cohen and Geoff Gray, getting to be on a first-name basis with the origins and insertions of every muscle and ligament, navigating the shoals of pronation and supination. Evidently she already knows how to hoist things.
We talked about our secret identities until the sun went down and there was still beer left, and Desa and Sarah M talking about infinity. Isn’t that Andrew’s domain? But they are teachers and engineers, and true to their professions they paid attention to how things start as well as how they end. The endless discussion continued at The Neighborhood as did the whole Nite Grooves crowd. Tracy showed how she is recovering from her bike crash. Her political science research explains how the Project For a New American Century crashed too.
Tuesday, the 24th of June
Words are just sounds, our thoughts weigh less than air — but they are as important to us as the earth we stand on. How to express what happens when the thoughts and dreams of a friend who ran and swam with us are gone forever? The person and personality that meant so much. Hillary Swartzentruber passed away this weekend after a cycling accident in the mountains of Mammoth. She was as bright as the sun to those of us who knew her. Remember that the sun is really still shining even at night.
Craig Adams was with the cycling tour, and has written some words to help us understand what happened. Thanks, Craig. We hope it helped to write them, and it will help us to read them.
Thursday, the 19th of June
Are Groovers content to party only on Wednesdays? Bien sûr que non. Regulars Slimey (Dave) and TriMe (Liz) organized a hash run that ended at Sweet ’n Ho’s (Amy’s) cool new Montecito digs. Where it started was a bit confused, since Google Maps and the Thomas Guide both agree — wrongly — on how to get there. But we were in a good Solstice mood and had a harmonic convergence at the start. Lots of virgins on hand to learn about this important cultural aspect of life in San Babs.
The hares got off (no photos of that) and then somewhat later the chase pack. Of course in the SB area there are always hills and gullies to navigate. Early in the event Dr. Dolittle (Andrew) fell into a tiger pit, narrowly missing the poisoned punji stakes, and suffered an ankle sprain. (At least this is the way he remembers it.) That snap, crackle, and pop weren’t Rice Krispies. With no cell phone, GPS, car keys, ID, or money, he was the epitome of the straggler, but fortunately there were no predators around, just the helpful Big Bear Moon (Nancy) who guided him to the finish. Does she count as a cougar? Oh well, it wouldn’t be a hash without a swollen member or two.
All concerned downed their down-downs and danced; there was even a pole, whose original function was probably structural. People planned how they were going to keep the party going, with the Solstice parade and Chuck’s run coming up. Weekday? Weekend? We can hardly tell the difference these good old days.
Wednesday, the 18th of June
Is perfection possible? Like the infinite, it’s hard to say whether it’s a real place or just a direction. But we got pretty close today. No “June gloom”, warm smooth water, legs dead from Tuesday track — OK that last part was not ideal. But we still love it!
Of course Jane's timing was typically perfect: nice big wave rolling in right as we ran into the water. We dove through that and zoomed up to and around the first buoy. Jane also “straightened” the buoy line, lengthening the course somewhat, but who could complain about being in the water a little longer? As usual, Karen was the first Groover out of the water, second female overall. Apparently time spent at the U of Minnesota swimming 10,000 meters a day (plus weights) pays off. Struggling in the draft were Andrew, Josh, the Sarahs, Dave, Jessica, Sam, Nancy, and Desa. Julie Velthoen, a regular at the Carpinteria Sunday swims, showed up and admitted to not hopping in the water since the Carp Tri. We all shared our similar stories about riding, running, laundry or whatever.
There was a run of course, with Ricky winning his age group and leading the way. Man those guys at the front look fast when they go by. We salt-soaked sloggers must look quite a mess. It all feels like a slow-motion movie going up that hill.
Post-race chatter talked up tomorrow’s hash run, which Desa won’t attend because she’s just too good for us. (Or perhaps there was a valid scheduling conflict. We have to share her with the rest of the world.) Dave and Amy were scheming up something that they wouldn’t share. We saw neither hide nor hair of them after the beach. Jayna is sad because her housemate Jeanni is leaving to get smarter at grad school in San Diego. To drown our sorrows we adjourned to the Brew Co, where we remembered that Lars is back, bringing Michelle with him. She finished her Ph.D. in biochemistry, a field that Andrew’s dad reminisces used to have a hyphen. Now we have geochemobiophysics. Pretty soon we will start talking German.
Sarah M is shown here describing something that looks a little disappointing. Or perhaps she’s just practicing her trash talk for the hash. We heard how God works in mysterious ways: Desa’s sprained ankle leading to the birth of Gianna Marie. Which led somehow inevitably to the picture on Sarah C’s refrigerator. Perhaps she will be able to forward it to the Grooves Web site. Who knew there was an E size in bras? Who says we are not supposed to eat (from) anything bigger than our head?
Saturday, the 14th of June
Eating Crayons — sound like fun? At least since Proust we have celebrated the power of smells and tastes to recall our younger and wilder days. This was the name of the band playing at the Creekhouse, where all sorts of Groovers and friends gathered on the other side of the week from Wednesday (aka the weekend). A trio — what some would say is the optimal size for a group. With a threesome you get enough interplay without too much overhead. Of course you have to have talent; just ask Rush or The Police, or Green Day. (But who remembers Hüsker Dü?)
The word was spread via the great and groovy Grooves gabmail. Ann Marie had her moment — we’ve all done it — of “reply-to-all-oops”, and is shown here accepting Andrew’s apology (or was it the other way around?). We were joined by Dale Kramer, spinning stud, who hosts the wintertime Tuesday meetings where Groovers watch (read “curse”) coach Troy and ride their trainers. And the ladies showed that there is nothing quite as enticing as a newly-available guy. Poor Peter!
Liz pointed out that she was in full pirate regalia on Wednesday and was at least tied with the “other” Liz. We can have fun visualizing that. And get the word out: Billy Mandarino will be playing music Sunday (that’s tomorrow relative to today) with Justin Michael and Dillon at the Brewhouse around twenty o’clock. There will be fun out of the sun.
Wednesday, the 11th of June
Swim times slowed down today, with Emi just edging out Karen and Andrea, the usual hot-shots at the front of the phalanx. But the real news is that Desa got back in the pack! Andrew loaned Jeanni Wheeler a swim cap, went capless (in the spirit of Sarah Cohen), and had a cold slow swim. Coincidence? They say heat diffuses fastest through the scalp. Is that the heat you have to bring to win? Andrew will wear a cap next time.
The theme was Pirates, broadcast by Liz on our groovy Nite Grooves group. Ricky was right out in front of the running pack with the headband. Lizzo went all out and ran up and down the hill in full garb. She wins the real prize, no matter where she finishes. Even non-groovers got in the groove, raising the question: who is a Groover? We are inclusive, and we certainly included a lot of friends at The Neighborhood afterward. Professor Vanessa, Leslie (UCSB Tri-team Prez-emerita), Dr. Geoff, Whitney Wilkinson, über-geek Jeff Behl, Tracy the real pirate, Joey Hernandez, and everybody who was somebody, wanted to be somebody, or was going to be somebody celebrated the return of Lars Mininni with a Tip Cup competition. The tree fell and people heard it. Yay!
Brian explained that George Washington separated his male and female hemp plants, which implies he was trying to improve THC production. The Declaration of Independence was printed on hemp and we have pursued happiness ever since. What a radical declaration that was.
Wednesday, the 4th of June
Warm water! Or are we just acclimated nowadays... you know we only perceive differences, not sameness. That's why the world presents us with rates, change that we have to integrate in order to see the actual state of things. Everyone thought they swam faster today... and they did, by the clock. But we got out of the water in about the same position relative to each other as usual. Maybe inspired by the start, when we were swept around the first buoy in a tight scrum, upright and chatting like we were standing in line somewhere. Everyone took the same line this time.
The first swimmer came in at a friggin' 10:23, almost even time for a 1000 meter swim which is hard to believe. But Jane says the square-off turn buoy is being stolen or something, which is also hard to believe. Swimmers had to make a hairpin turn, and then felt the chop in their faces, so perhaps the swell was going the goofy direction today, which sped the swimmers along.
And out of the water it was party time, celebrating Liz G's birthday by wearing hula skirts or leis or whatever you could find (Liz can still bring it, and did). And she brought it to the Brewhouse, where we had a cake and a celebration of her ♺'th -- we'll just say she keeps recycling her 30th birthday. That's Tri Me!
Politics, religion and sex were in the air... all the things you are not supposed to bring up at family gatherings. But our family embraces the republican democracy and lets a thousand flowers bloom. (Thank you Mao.) Is virginity overrated? It all comes down to commitments, the very nature of which is they have to be voluntary. Is a commitment (marriage, church, whatever) forever? You always think so, but as Neils Bohr said, prediction is difficult, especially of the future.
But we have at least one prediction we can believe in, or rather two: Mark's daughters, who will be appearing soon after the election results are in. Let's hope they grow up in a world of truth and freedom.
Friday, the 30th of May
We have a new feature: memory. Older (we call them "classic") groove notes are now archived, in the interest of making the fresh news load faster. In the left-hand sidebar you will now see the link called "Was up." It will take you to the saved stuff. Surely all your relatives haven't yet caught up on all our hi-jinks.
Wednesday, the 28th of May
The water just seems to get colder: well below 60 according to Jane. Again Karen came out first, followed by Andrea, Andrew, Liz, Dave, Josh, Sarah M, and Irwin. They all ran up & down the hill too, with the order resorting somewhat. Pure runners included Desa, Lisa, Sam, and Brian. Billy and Gianna Marie joined the cheering crowd.
We adjourned to The Neighborhood, as did it seemed like the whole Nite Moves crowd. There must have been at least 30 of us that knew each other one way or another. And right next door, at the Brewhouse, were more friends, celebrating (commiserating?) the departure of Sarah Cohen, who will be going to San Francisco to get her doctorate in Physical Therapy, following in the illustrious footsteps of Geoff Gray. She's shown here with Amanda, the great track coach.
Brian's beer got shared around some, as did whatever social diseases. But Lisa was thoughtful enough to order a whole 'nother pizza, which satisfied the post-Nite Moves hunger of several athletes. Nancy Clayton re-joined the Groovers -- she ran on Wednesdays before it was even called Grooves. And won style points for riding her beach cruiser to the restaurant. And her birthday is tomorrow!
Desa quizzed Andrew, naming authors and asking for quotes. He got Oscar Wilde, Ralph Emerson, Shakespeare (a gimme), William Blake, and Lord Byron, finally missing on Elizabeth Barrett Browning. (He quoted Emily Dickinson and Robert Browning, sort of surrounding it.) Andrew's kickball team will be playing Lisa's next week in the first round of playoffs. If anyone could score an in-the-park home run, it would be Lisa.
Sunday, the 25th of May
Groovers take in art. Kultchah! After our morning workout (swim, trail run, whatever) we went to the Mission to see the I Madonnari chalk. Among the notable works was the classic fractal Great Wave, by Burnell Branch & Pester Architecture. Shown here is Bob Pester with daughter Claire Wentzel. Look for him to be playing guitar with Andrew and Debra Farris near the run turnaround in the Tri for Life Triathlon in Ventura on Sunday June 29th.
Saturday, the 24th of May
The Challenge is getting bigger now: third party club Rincon showed up to contest this traditional contest between the SB Tri Club (the old guys) and the UCSB Tri Club (the kids). The race pits teams of six, three swimmers and three runners. The water was cold, and the weather was gray. It was hard to see the buoys, or anything else. I'd like to see the GPS of my swim!
Karly swam sans wetsuit, Carly ran instead of timing. Some guys wore dresses. Once again the kids (shown here) came, saw, and conquered. They have way too much energy -- better cut back on that F.R.S.! They got a weird award, and donated to the geezers some high-fiber cereal, prunes, and adult diapers. (For those long car trips?) For more photos, follow the link in the left sidebar.
Andrew went home to put the pictures on the Nite Grooves web site. His cat Audrey had to help.
But that wouldn't end the day for the Groovers. They reassembled uptown at the Downtown Brew Co (go figure) to talk it all over. Pete, Sarah, Brian, Andrew, Ann Marie, Taj, and Leroy put down beer, dinner, and dessert, at the same time solving the world's problems. Any more questions? Ann Marie was handing out copies of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and Sarah recommended Barbara Gowdy's The White Bone.
Wednesday, the 21st of May
Dry wind makes the salt crystallize in our hair before we even get to the transition area. No goggles! Idea courtesy of Sara Cohen, who is going all minimal these days. Can we be as lean and mean? Better drop the cell phone -- which was in the pocket of the new running shorts under the wetsuit. Andrew had to make a quick handoff to Jane at the truck and dash into the water a bit behind the pack, but with eyes wide open.
A clear view was helpful because of some missing buoys at the turnaround. Groovers and wannabees hammered their way around a sharper turn and into the beach. Karen and Taj showed the way, and many tried to hang on their heels. They continued to rock on through the run, with Josh opening up a whole can of something. Desa won her age group in the run; four seconds behind her, Lisa was fourth in hers. Where's the justice? And a whole pack of Groovers right behind them, including Sam, Sterling, Amy, Jessica, and Brian.
Sarah M had some well-deserved ice cream afterward. Did you know that your gut is a mini-brain? It has neurotransmitters and everything. We think that ice cream is dope for the enteric nervous system. There was some fun music, with a slide guitar, so So Cal. Then we headed to Sharkeez, so very So Cal. Dave told his "no goggles" story about his laser eye surgery, and Desa explained how to play Over The Line. We're already there! Andrew announced that his father is engaged to be (re)married, and that he will be acquiring three new (step)sisters. They seem pretty groovy.
Wednesday, the 14th of May
It seems our first night was the teaser: the water has cooled down and stayed there. Jane said it was below 60 degrees Fahrenheit -- and it did sting the face for some time. And typically rough too, though it smoothed out as it went along. Groovers Andrew, Karen, Andrea, Liz, Josh, Sarah M, Lizzo, Dave, and Mark all braved the conditions to swim; most went on to do the biathlon too. Lizzo and Sarah C showed their toughness and didn't wear goggles. Greyhounds Ricky, Desa, Lisa, Sam, Sterling, Amy, and Ann Marie ran the 5k -- most of them bunched together at the very front of the pack.
Afterward, we had some luck in the raffle too. Desa got a whole raft of goodies, and Sam was in a raffle-within-a-raffle, but didn't quite emerge on top. We had a pleasant jazz combo serenading us; they didn't have a vocalist but Jessica was singing the words to some of the tunes. She should have taken a turn at the microphone! Maybe we will get to hear her group some day at Nite Moves.
Some groovers continued the excitement at the Downtown Brewing Company (which, inexplicably, is uptown). Your correspondent missed out on that, so whatever hijinks went on will have to stay there. (Unless an informant comes forward.)
P.S.: The statue shown at right in the previous entry is of Vladimir Ilych Lenin. (Born Ulyanov. Those dictators were big on changing their names: Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky all discarded Daddy's. At least they didn't wind up blotting the family's good name.) Vlad is still lying in state in Moscow, almost as well-preserved as Dave. But he doesn't swim too well.
Friday, the 9th of May
Who's that demagogue standing up on the table, waving his hand like some crazed Bolshevik? Well, that would certainly describe Dave's politics (not), and there he is, statuesque, large as life and fitter, running the SB Tri Club's annual barbeque meeting at Leadbetter Beach. In true SB outdoor style we all got progressively colder as the meeting went on, and had to traipse to our cars for more layers. There was a nice accompaniment by a small drum circle nearby, that kept everybody on a slightly bouncy trajectory. The kids (as usual) were the most tapped into that groove. Lots of schwag was handed out, some notable gloms being Anne Illgen's new wetsuit and Kendra Grant's training tour with Jack Bianchi. Anne will be the new great white shark that we will have to look out for. Kendra is already the smartest triathlete in town, and will now learn from the Odysseus of cycling.
"Triathletes of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chainrings!"Wednesday, the 7th of May
The Siete de Mayo Nite Moves was back to what we remember about the event: less crowded, less warm, as much fun as ever though. The unseasonably warm skies and water of last week gave way to they more typical overcast and cool. The crowds of Grand Prix point racing faded away leaving the dedicated core. Groovers such as Lisa, Andrea, and Desa continued to lay down the law on the pavement, while Karen, Josh, Andrew, Sarah M, Sam, Brian, Mark, Jessica, Dave, and Liz threw themselves into the Pacific and then tried to run off the numbness. Lines for beer were shorter, and there was a raffle, though inattentive racers may have missed it. Many plans were laid for the weekend, as well as the Friday barbeque for the downtown tri club.
Sunday, the 4th of May
And this morning dawned... foggy and cool. Can't we just curl up in our sleeping bags and visualize the race? No, there are too many last-minute cars driving in, too many car alarms being tripped, too many bathroom trips to be made to stay in bed. And once you're up and moving around, get a cup of joe from the motorhome next door, another trip to the bathroom, and you're starting to think it's time to race.
There were plenty of waves, the last heading out at the ripe old time of 10 AM, by which time the sun was coming out. But it never really got to the broil setting. Good for runners. Andrew's transmission had issues and he could only use his small chainring during the ride. Well, Wildflower is definitely a small-ring race; he had to coast the downhills and contemplate the run. All Groovers made it to the finish line, but Sandy didn't make it an inch further. He was helped to the Med Tent and revitalized with fluids. He wins the "Mandes" award.
More Wildflower photos at the Image Event site of Dave Groom.
Saturday, the 3rd of May
Back to Wildflower, place of legends. As we've noted before, it's the Burning Man of triathlon.. or is Burning Man the Wildflower of festivals? Liz and Dave ought to know, because they've been here and there and done this and that. Things change year to year; it seems like the Wildflower organizers have gotten things pretty well down by now.
Josh and Karen had arrived early and staked out some space, and were joined by SB Tri Clubbers Kyle, Shannon, and family, and Andrew. Various other Santa Barbara faces passed by: Jessica, Craig, Sarah M, Matt Hirschey, Mackenzie Kane, Fred Maggiore, Sarah Cohen, Mary Baldwin (Ms. FRS). Dave and Liz swung by to pick up a saddle bag for Liz to use (and hopefully not need) on the ride.
Both of them burned up the course on a day when you had to bring the heat yourself, because (for once) it wasn't a furnace. As of this posting, Active doesn't have results and the Wildflower web site is not responding (come on guys, get some industrial strength servers!) so we will have to wait for official times. (But they must not have worked too hard, because they had plenty of energy for cheering Groovers on Sunday!)
Wednesday, the 30th of April
The first Nite Moves! Is it always this chaotic? Well in fact we think it used to be crazier, and this is actually pretty sedate. There were looong lines of people registering, somewhat shorter lines of pre-registered people picking up numbers, and mobs of lines of people getting food and beer afterward. But everybody was happy to be back to the party!
And the elements cooperated with us too. The water seemed positively warm after Lake Lopez and the UCSB Triathlon. Yesterday's winds relented. The band played the actual Bob Seger anthem, or at least teased with the signature chord changes. And some Groovers went all out on the Grand Prix run. Desa, Amy, and Lisa showed most of the pack their rears. Lucky pack. Sterling Ellsworth rocked, and is, by the way, the answer to the quiz question of 6 Feb, "What Groover is descended from German philosopher Johannn Wolfgang von Goethe?"
And in the aquathon, some Wildflower racers just couldn't call it a workout, and let their competitive glycogen flow. Those pictures are blurry because that's the way they looked in real life! My intuition is, this will just enhance their races this weekend. You can see Nite Moves results here.
Food from the roach coach proved insufficient, and an impressive crowd moved on to the Brewhouse. What do you call a group of triathletes? A junta? A shaving? A rubdown? (We wish.) At least fourteen people showed up, including long-lost Newbury Park friend Sarah Claus. She brought visitors too. A typical night out in SB, Brian knew somebody else there, who knew somebody else... and there were lots of stories. We celebrated the return of Sarah Mandes' mojo, which had been hiding for a while. When we left, it was still April but the Nite Moves season was in full gear.
Wednesday, the 23rd of April
Our last Grooves before the Moves starts again. We ran from the Grooms' place, and once again were almost blown across the freeway by the winds. We really are ready for them to be all over too. On to More Mesa, where the grass is growing pretty high right now. It was Matt's first Nite Grooves, and we pretended that it's like this every time.
And it's been less than two weeks since our last frolic at the Grooms' for dinner. So many dishes... and the food was good too. Athletes really do know how to eat. Especially Matt. There is a lot of room in there! Peter brought his little puppy, who loves the paparazzi. Sarah brought her appetite, all better again. It seems that quite a few of us have had brief but dramatic intestinal issues in recent weeks, and we're all glad it's over, because we like using our intestines for their intended purpose. Andrew announced that he's leaving his current job. But hopefully not his hobby of Webmaster. Stay tuned for more on that story. Desa pretends to be the innocent girl that we know Amy to be. But everybody got down on the Stick and agreed it was a good thing.
The end of history? No such thing! We will be dominating Nite Moves for the whole summer. Look forward to continuing reports on our Wednesdays and weekends right here.
Monday, the 21st of April
Our new look. Well, it's supposed to look exactly the same. But I overhauled the guts -- changed the formatting to use CSS instead of embedded tables, for those readers who know what that is. But. It looks fine on my Mac, but I got to work this morning, tested it out on my PC... and it's all wrong! At least on Microsoft IE 6 the sidebar bleeds over into the text. And the right-hand logo sidebar is invisible. Aargh! My recommendation: use Firefox, Opera, Safari, or other better browsers! But I'll work on getting more IE friendly.
Saturday, the 19th of April
A perfect morning for running: cool and overcast. But Liz and Ricky were barely recovered from Tough Enough. Andrew was barely recovered from Jiu-Jitsu. Desa was barely recovered from food poisoning. What great preparation.
But all concerned put the hammer down, kicked a**, and took names. Shawna was first woman across the line, in just over an hour. That's for ten miles, people! Right behind her was Ricky -- and yet he missed getting hardware, fourth in his (competitive) age group. Where's the justice? Liz won her age group with a sizzling 1:12, and Andrea was third in the same group, edging out Desa. I think they are still friends though. Andrew made his goal, but he has run that same pace in the SB Triathlon. That's the next goal. Amy was cheering for all near the turnaround, which is in her new neighborhood.
The cherry on the top of it all was soaking in Desa's hot tub, where we were joined by Iron-Sarah, who told us all how easy it was. Alas, she was just on the brink of some sort of post-Ironman bug -- very few escape it. Get better soon... the autumn Arizona Ironman is coming soon!
Wednesday, the 16th of April
Quite a few people still in recovery, or shall we call it rehab, from the weekend's Tough Enough run. Amy showed her stuff (no, not that) by going all the way and looking good doing it. Lesser mortals were content to complain about Tuesday's track workout. Desa is back in action, having won the war with some tiny one-celled creatures. (But there were lots of them!) Liz & Dave did their own thing (no, not that) but were thoughtful enough to get to the Brewhouse early and get us a table.
There was lots of de-briefing about the race, as people related parts of the puzzle that they knew about and the whole picture appeared. We learned that our little Groover Gianna Marie is good at sharing. Her mama shares her knowledge of the English language every day with San Marcos HS students. People laid plans for the upcoming 10 mile race. Never a dull running moment in Santa Barbara.
Sunday, the 13th of April
Sarah Mandes is an Irongirl! All that training, preparation and discipline have paid off. She swam a solid and sensible 1:12; she didn't tell us her goals (smart) but that sounds right on target. Her bike times are nothing less than phenomenal: 1% variation in pace across four splits! Talk about staying in the groove. And does uncorking a 4:18 marathon sound easy, even by itself?
Today Sarah is the Queen of Nite Grooves. She had family coming in from all directions to give support, and it looks like it all worked. We look forward to stories. After the ice cream.
Saturday, the 12th of April
Anybody who finished the race today truly is Tough Enough! Temperatures soared with clear hot weather and a stupendous view from the top of the world up on Camino Cielo. This must be one of the most scenic runs in the world. The wildflowers were in bloom, the Channel Islands looking like big whales cruising down the Channel... a lot of dust in the air from recent fires and wind though. Humidity seemed like it was negative, with the air sucking moisture out of your body.
And before all that even started, one of us got hit by a meteor -- almost. Poor Desa came down with food poisoning the night before the race! Mad scrambling to replace such a vital cog. Amazingly enough, there was another like unto her, and Sue Beatty stepped into the breach.
And filled the shoes, too. The Spicy Girls ran like hell in hell. One of the all-time great performances, it must be a "temperature-graded" record. People and mechanisms broke down in the heat. Team Racing Flatz from SLO lost their transmission going up Gibraltar, and had their own mad scramble for replacement transport and nutrition. Fellow racers were generous and in fact the team did finish the race. Clearly they were Tough Enough.
And showing that Tough and Spicy go together, our girls were the first women's team across the line! In addition, they crossed before the other hometown favorite, Hashers for the Beer, which included Dave Groom and Mark "2Daddy" Warren, which gives them some bragging rights. How long those rights will last is a matter of some dispute.
But that isn't even the whole story. Another Groover, Teague O'Connor, finished the race -- solo! That's 65 miles of the toughest running around. As if that weren't enough, he beat more than half the 5-person teams, finishing in 9 hours and 13 minutes. Teague is Tough Enough times five! Does he get five shirts?
We have some race photos, check the link in the sidebar. There was a wild post-race party too, but it's "taking a while" to process all the photos. (There is one party photo as a teaser.)
Thursday, the 10th of April
Meeting night for the downtown Tri Club, hosted as usual by notable Groover Dave Groom. Attendees were met by our own Andrea and Liz G., shown here at the door. Owner Bruce Davis didn't let a little thing like a hundred-odd (or a hundred odd) people stop him from conducting business. Triathletes were first treated to some jazz singing by Jessica McAllister, whose band Roman Glowlights will be performing at Bricks Café at 8 PM Saturday. Perhaps this heralds a regular "talent show" by other talented members.
The main event was a video about and lecture by Willie Stewart, a "winger" or one-armed athlete. A talented high-school athlete, he lost most of his left arm in an industrial accident. He was very inspiring reminding us that our biggest hardships force us to develop our best qualities. As if to top off his heartwarming journey, we learned that he is now a proud father. As Dave instructed us, "Don't ever let me hear you complain." OK, maybe only at track workouts.
Wednesday, the 9th of April
What is up with this wind? It never seems to stop. Instead of running we are almost flying like Sister Bertrille. Today we were also accompanied by Team in Training runners, who were doing what they do -- being a team and training -- along the waterfront. Brian threatened to ditch Nite Grooves and join their team, apparently because of some good-looking legs he saw. What, we're chopped liver?
Yes, that was the sound of clinking glasses you heard at the Brew Co. So many achievements and announcements to toast. First and foremost, Mark and Jennifer are pregnant! Not only that, but... wait for it... it looks like twins. All those good fertility vibes we were sending must have had their effect. The photo below shows Mark explaining to Brian how he did it, in fifth-grade science terms. The more details you know, the more mysterious it is.
Not to be outdone, Sarah is poppin' out an Ironman... this coming weekend! The gestation of such an accomplishment is at least as complicated as bringing a baby into the world. But it's a lot more restful afterward. We will be able to follow her progress at the Ironman Arizona Web site. It starts at oh-seven-hundred on Sunday the 13th of April.
Clay visited the martial arts class that was recommended by Sam, and Andrew expressed interest in trying it out too. Once you've mastered moving and grooving, you need to learn balance. Brian used to teach Shotokan at UCSB... you're definitely safe when you are running with the Groovers. This was Jacqueline's second time running and her first time at dinner. We put her up at the head of the table, where Dave explained all the secrets and history of Nite Grooves. What are they? Can't tell!
Wednesday, the 2nd of April
The one rainy day of the week... the one rainy time of the day... was Wednedsay evening. That didn't stop the intrepid souls who met at Desa's front door! We ran toward Leadbetter, and rolled up a few of the clueless (not their fault) who didn't get the message. On up the hill to the top of Shoreline and then turned around. Andrew somehow missed that turn and went up to the next park; he got an extra workout.
Back down again, and we got a warm welcome not only from Billy but this time also from Gianna Marie, who is toddling all over the place like the Energizer bunny. She's as social as her mom, totally unfazed by all the company. The most interesting visitor to her was Emily, who was closer to her size. Desa put her heart and soul into making food for us. We held hands and said grace with true appreciation. Then came the Stoli shots! Events after that are a blur. We agreed that Lady Godiva wasn't quite the right model for Sarah to emulate in her first Ironman. Some of us were immersed in hot water, for reasons therapeutic, not culinary. The biggest dilemma: key lime cheesecake or blueberry pie?
Alas, the Easter Energizer bunny didn't visit our photographer's camera, which ran out of juice long before the Groovers did. But there are a few photos, check the sidebar.
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