Grooves

Groups

Friends

Laughs

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹

Wednesdays were Wonderful

And we still remember. Here the excitement of weekdays past lives on.

Sunday, the 28th of September, 2008

Camping and triathlon — must be a huge Woodstock like Wildflower, right? Desa, Billy, Sarah, Shawna, and Mark showed that it can be done locally, camping out at Carpinteria State Beach the weekend of the triathlon. Andrew brought a guitar; he and Billy played appropriate campfire songs. It must have done some good: all those present had great races.

But not without some work. The mist was London thick — but fortunately just healthy fog, not smog. Talk was of canceling the swim, but in fact it was held. But not necessarily held to: it was hard to see anything but other swimmers. And they never swim in a straight line. On the bike, it wasn’t much easier, with glasses fogging and cars and turns appearing out of the mist. If you made it to the run, though, it suddenly became pleasant — in triathlon terms.

Drea was the first woman across the line, Shawna won her age group, second overall in her first triathlon. Desa improved from last year, now third in her (competitive) age group. Amy came in fifth in her cohort in her first tri — the Olympic distance, no less. Dave was third in his age group, but his real exploit was edging Sarah out by eight seconds. Sandy won his age group, Kyle won his age group, Rosie won her age group... we mortals have giants to chase. Results are here.

Afterward there was a party at Jon and Sue’s, the latter a medal-winner too. Liz and Amy made killer guacamole, Dave hot-tubbed clothed for once, and Kim brought a case of water-damaged swim caps for free. Wait, isn’t the whole purpose to be water-resistant?

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹


Wednesday, the 24th of September

With the Carp Tri coming up so soon, you’d think people would be holding back. Well, a good contingent did shorten the run. But at the finish? Matt, Ricky, Sarah, Desa... they were flyin’! A good dose of pre-race competition, we guess. Should we call ourselves Flite Grooves now? And as usual (these days) we had a great turnout. This reporter didn’t run, and at first thought the turnout rather scant but more and more people kept arriving until it looked like Nite Moves all over again. Where’s the beer jail?

Well it turns out we all get out of jail free, and it’s at the Brew Co Lounge, which is becoming our favorite hangout. Andrew got his salad almost before he paid for it, beer arrives tout de suite and it’s not too loud. (But will they have Carp Tri highlights on the screens next week?) Maybe they should start screening Hollywood movies instead. How many of us have seen Vicky Cristina Barcelona? Is it a typical guy-fantasy movie or a thoughtful exploration of ambiguous lifestyles in the 21st Century? Some people will have a hard time separating the movie from the auteur, that is Woody Allen, who has lived some complicated lifestyle himself. But Desa said she could still find the thread with which to identify, to suspend disbelief and be drawn in. And she has high standards: after all, she teaches Beowulf and Shakespeare.

Mark’s wife will be delivering two girls soon by C-section, and we still don’t know if they are fraternal (or should we say sororal?) or identical. How will we even be able to tell at first? Obviously DNA will tell but time will even more so. And that’s one thing that won’t run out, even if it looks like the end of the (financial) world. Sterling’s job is still stable, and people will continue to need his services, both in the accounting and auditing fields. He and Brian warmed things up with a heated discussion of the $700 billion bailout proposal: just who is being bailed out? And how many zeroes are there in a billion anyway? It’s like the difference between long course and short course pools. The Olympics come around and we go gaga for meters... and then it’s back to yards again for another four years. Isn’t that how these business cycles go?

☹ ☹


Monday, the 22nd of September

Some butt-kickin’ at the Education Run by Groovers. Ricky ran under a 6-minute pace, and came in fourth overall. Sarah Mandes was the third woman and second in her age group. Desa was right behind Sarah, and Amy just four seconds behind her. Sounds like there’s a story there. But at the pace they were running, they probably weren’t sharing stories along the way! Liz was a bit further back, but this was just a hop, step, and jump in her larger plan for running that day. Sandy ran a 28:53 — which got a better age-graded rank than Ricky’s run! That’s showing the youngsters. Complete results are here.


Saturday, the 20th of September

Got shoulder pain? It is the least-braced joint in the body — that is, it has the widest range of motion, the most degrees of freedom. But freedom isn’t free. You might just have swimmer’s shoulder.

Why not give your shoulder a rest and run the Goleta Education Foundation 4-miler? Starts tomrrow (Sunday) at 8:30 at Goleta Union School District Offec, 401 N. Fairview. It’s a Grand Prix race, so expect to see plenty of Groovers there!


Wednesday, the 17th of September

In the past week the water has warmed way up, a good five degrees (Fahrenheit) or so. We’ve been getting lots of sun. Let’s hope it stays warm for the Carpinteria Tri. After that it can all freeze up.

And we had another great turnout, 25 runners or so. Laurel pulled an “Andrew” — that is, forgetting something. Fortunately John Herzog saved the day by providing some backup running gear. The sun is still out while we run, too, although tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, so we will have less light for another season or two. (Coincidentally, a few days later is the Martian equinox — yes, Mars has seasons too. And they’re all cold.)

After the run, the fun. We went to the “annex” of the Brew Co., and decided that it is our preferred venue. Easy to get a table, the tabs are simpler since they’re separate, service is fast, not too loud... hard to argue with all that. Desa didn’t run today — it was Back To School night at San Marcos. She certainly dressed to kill, and showed up at dinner in her CEO-suit, prompting some (favorable) comparison with Sarah you-know-who. Sterling joined us, and also Kelly L (the photo queen), who we haven’t seen for a while. Ricky gave Ann Marie a small bottle of Turkish vodka, but she left it in her car. Next time we will share it.

The incongruity of vodka from an Islamic nation got us on the topic of which drugs were the most dangerous. Laurel took the Socratic tack of asking us to define our terms: what do we mean by dangerous? If it’s simple toxicity, alcohol is a serious contender: anyone can drink themselves to death in just a few hours. If it’s addictiveness, probably nicotine takes the cake. But for harm to the body, it’s the smoke, not the actual chemical. (Though nicotine per se is certainly not harmless.) That probably applies to cannabis too, but there were definitely varied opinions. Then there’s harm to society. What’s a mother to do? (Now which TV ad was that from? We think Total cereal, but couldn’t dig it up with Google or YouTube.)

As the evening wore on, the oldsters wore out, and by the time your correspondent left, it was just the “kids” who were wondering why we’d leave when things were just getting started. Maybe they were dogging it on the run...

☹ ☹ ☹


Tuesday, the 16th of September

☹ ☹

Continuing our Alaska-based theme, we have mail from Jody Kamrath, Irongirl and petroleum engineer, who has left the balmy clime of Santa Barbara to work at Anchorage and on the North Slope. (She gets considerable time off to return though.) She sends these photos of one of the native open-water swimmers. Seems like even they like to play with the buoys!

Monday, the 15th of September

With our summer winding down, there is less to report — it’s not quite an-event-a-day like it was!

However, at least we have a few smiles to serve up. As we noted back on September 3rd, we wondered why nobody had speculated about the relation between Sarah and Michael Palin. Well, nothing goes overlooked forever, especially not in this cyber-age. There is now a Michael Palin for President site. This video explains his qualifications, with excerpts from some of his notable movies.

Caveat: This is a partisan clip — i.e. it takes sides. Nite Grooves, however, does not. Except to support Michael Palin.


Saturday, the 13th of September

Weekend activity! There is a lot of it. Or is that “alot”? Who’s taking bets on when those two words will become one in the English language? It’s not a bug, it’s a feature! Sunday will be the last of the Ventura Splash & Dashes, a good way to get sand in your shoes before the Carp Triathlon. For the overachieving swimmers among us, there are two distances to swim on the same day: roughly 2.7 or 4.7 miles along the Summerland-Carpinteria coast. Check out the Channel Island Masters blog for more details on that. It’s a southward swim, so you go with the flow!


Friday, the 12th of September

☹ ☹

Special activity for this month’s SB Tri Club meeting. We assembled at East Beach and did an ocean swim beforehand. Joe Sullivan, what are you wearing behind that car door? Emmy Groom tried out her new kid-sized wetsuit, and swam almost out to the first buoy. After that, you couldn’t get her out of the water.

We had a very big turnout for the swim, around 25 people. Different strokes for different folks, but for everybody there was a group about their speed.

After that, it was a free meal and free wine, the latter courtesy of Makael Sneward of Pacific Wine and Spirits. We thanked our team sponsors Jack Bianchi and Bob Kemp, and Kevin Hoard reminisced about the Old Days in multisport.

Wednesday, the 10th of September

Wednesdays come around every week, and birthdays come around every year. So we celebrate both, and this week it was the turn of Craig and Sam. But we’re getting ahead of the story! First up was the swim, and we were joined by some new faces. One was Drea McLarty, who is well known around town as a runner. She busted out into a new genre at the McConnell’s race, where she won the run/swim duathlon there by blowing away the pack in the 10k and then holding off the competition in the mile swim. That’s about the toughest one around, as grizzled veterans will attest: swimming after running is much harder than the reverse. Another new face was Joslynn, who just moved here from somewhere (we forget) but still has her Canadian accent, eh. She’s entered in the Carpinteria Olympic tri, throwing herself right into the local action.

Conditions were cold and bouncy, not a smooth spot to be seen or found. At least the sun was out, and as usual swimming in the “downhill” direction was a lot easier. We never get that advantage at Nite Moves, except after the dog-leg turn.

The reward was warm showers, which everyone was enjoying. You don’t get that luxury on race day! But the swim was just the appetizer, and there was quite a line for the next course. Another great turnout for the run, more than we could count. (Which might say something about our math skills.) Clearly we have some momentum for Wednesday workouts. Laura Polito joined us, and it seemed she had professional or social connections to everyone in the group already. That’s Santa Barbara.

After the moving, on to the grooving, at El Torito. Desa’s social skills were in evidence with a fully set table for at least twenty, balloons, cards, presents, cake... good thing we managed to persuade Sam not to go to The Neighborhood for once. Josh and Karen also brought some sample wedding cake to add to the dessert — Marie Antoinette would have been pleased.

We heard some opinions on the political scene and about the value or risks of SSRI anti-depressants. Were those related topics? Sarah will be voting issue politics instead of identity politics. For his next birthday Craig will be doing Ironman Wisconsin, known affectionately by the insiders as Ironman-Moo. Do they have fresh milk at the aid stations? We have at least one Groover who’s graduated from milk: looks like Dave is drinking from the pitcher again. While in uniform, too.

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹


Wednesday, the 3rd of September

It was as groovy as it gets in Santa Barbara, on the first evening of withdrawal from Nite Moves. We’re in “rehab” now and on a roll. Dave, Taj, Andrew, Amy, Mark, and Sandy showed up for a swim in the warm water. When they got out, there was already a crowd waiting for the land-based action. We had almost 20 people running along Shoreline Drive, and there were plenty of shout-outs to other friends we knew. Yet again, Andrew forgot his shoes and ran in sandals. Early Alzheimer’s? We won't know until the autopsy.

We had some new faces like John from Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club, Dr. Laurel, Julie V... people we know from the Moves who have moved (up) to the Grooves. Larry and Sarah did the catch-up thing and caught up, which wasn’t that hard since we were keeping a pretty conversational pace. Of course Sarah passed us all up and then went on to do more with Desa. Dave and Sterling told Burning Man stories but didn’t seem too burned out.

We reassembled at the Brew Co for some brew of course, and non-fast food that actually came quite quickly. Although Sarah Palin’s first national speech was going on, we watched sports instead. None of the recent commentary on the VP nominee has delved into the really important question: is she related to Michael Palin? (Seen in the link with our Santa Barbara neighbor John Cleese.) However, we can catch up by watching this CNN interview about her executive experience.

We were focused on our own family values: Larry announced his engagement! And though it's not news, Josh and Karen will be tying the knot in a few weeks too. Amy wore her cowboy hat, which makes her look more like the country girl from Missouri. But do cowgirls drink martinis? Brian claims that the watermelon story is really true, but doesn’t provide any details. Craig got the bang-for-bucks award, having spent all of $40 on the Lompoc Tri, and then winning it. Desa’s hubby Billy will be playing music with his band Change at the Creekside this Friday evening, starting around 9. Don't miss it!

☹ ☹
☹ ☹ ☹


Tuesday, the 2nd of September

☹

Is this a race photo or an ad for Ultra-Brite? This photo of Sarah, Drea (star of the SBAA pages), Amy, Cathy, and Danielle was surely taken before the race, because they all look like they just stepped out of the salon. Oh wait, there’s sunlight... they must have been smiling because of their great races — check the results. So it was all worth getting up at oh-what-the-!@#$!-hundred hours in the morning.

Remember tomorrow, we resume the raison d’être of our group: Wednesday wildness. See you at the beach! 5 PM for swim, 6 PM for a run, 7 PM for dinner plans.

Monday, the 1st of September

Good weather for both running — if you can call it that going up Gibraltar — and swimming. Kyle kicked some butt on Sunday, getting up to altitude in under two hours... and still just 9th in his age group. Similarly Sarah was 7th woman, and 5th in her age group. Whattya hafta do? Josh was just a few minutes behind him, followed by Ricky, Sarah M, Coach Amanda, Peter, Gina Fennell, and other familiar faces. The race was a little longer this year, because of an added out-and-back along Camino Cielo. The Independent reports that it was to make it an exact half-marathon... we’ve been getting a little break all these years. Oops!

Then this morning, an event (not a race) that couldn’t be more different: it starts at sea level, finishes at sea level... and stays at sea level the whole way. Or was that seal level? The true men & women of iron, or at least aluminum, were those who did the double: Peter and Sarah. On the sand, Peter told the story of how Sarah took off like a roadrunner about halfway through the run. If we could tap that, there would be no more energy crisis. And Sarah could charge for it, and be richer than the sheikhs. Andrew discovered a flat tire, but decided to swim anyway. Why not? It wasn’t going to get any flatter or less so while he swam.

The rest of us mere mortals hopped in the water at Hendry’s at 8 AM with no fanfare, starting gun, or even a hurrah. Jane Cairns, the spiritual leader of the swim, is out of town this week but the event carries on anyway. The water was colder than expected, and murky, but both warmed and cleared as we got farther out. Flat conditions, which are the benefit of overcast skies. Lots of strokes, and finally the last point to go around. And what’s this? A strong head-current... feels like we’re swimming in place. The last stretch was the most challenging, but it’s good to see the familiar sands of Leadbetter.

Peter, Andrew, Kelly, and Cindy Braden got a ride back to Hendry’s from the amazing Dan O’Meara, whose mitochondria should get some award. Check out his age and swim ranking at the Nite Moves results and marvel. We left him with memories and sand in his car.


Saturday, the 30th of August

Tomorrow is Pier-to-Peak! Earlier start now, at 6:30, with walkers and runners going together. Looks like sunny skies but not quite the heat of last year. Late registrations may be available at State & A after 4 PM today. If you’re really tough, you can do the Pier-Peak-Playa double and swim Jane’s swim on Labor Day. That starts at Hendry’s Beach and goes to Leadbetter. With the current, there will be a few kayakers to help navigate. It’s free and fun. Sometimes cold and choppy, sometimes warm and sunny. Odds are good this year!

Meanwhile, a new cartoon to keep your spirits (or something) up.


Wednesday, the 27th of August

What is a pattern? Something that keeps going. Isn’t that like life itself? Nite Moves is ending, but Nite Grooves will resume. The water was opaque, ranging from jade-green to chocolate-brown, but warm enough to skip the wetsuit. Which it looked like a lot of racers did; the field was filled out with a lot of returning collegiate swimmers. Making her final point of the season, Karen is first woman out of the water, and should get some sort of medal, but it seems that Jake isn’t keeping score any more. Andrew again forgot his running shoes and ran in Tevas. Laurel suggests there is is something more going on here. Now, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. But more on that topic later.

Dave & Liz were elsewhere on vacation after the SB Tri, understandable, but we had less incentive to be goofy. Last Nite is traditionally the “underwear run”, but nobody came with any tighty whities during the run; people were mostly clothed, which was probably good, because everybody started noticing the cold invading their extremities and internals. Is that kind of like the dark getting in through windows?

Of course, drinking cold beer is not likely to help either with hydration or heating, so people had to get things moving again, by jumping up and down, shouting, and, eventually, heading over to the Neighborhood to keep things going.

At that venue, we welcomed Jessica to her first Groover evening, though she’s been part of the Moves circle for quite a while. Turns out various of us knew her from other contexts — another degrees-of-separation story. Our global village is just an example of Ramsey theory. She was treated to the full monty of conversation topics, from God and infinity to guys and their packages. (Or are those the same topic, really?) The Greeks thought that anything eternal (the wind, waves, sun) partook of the divine, so what about memories and influences? If the good we do lives on, then what about the laundry?

Doing our part for the eternal, we will keep this cosa nostra going on Wednesdays. See y’all next week. Optional swim at 5 PM, run at 6. Meet at the bathroom/showers/changing area by the restaurant at Leadbetter.

☹ ☹ ☹


Monday, the 25th of August

We are getting our stories up here and out there! Several Groovers have had their Warholian moment by being profiled by the SBAA. On our own “Who we are” page, names are now linked to stories. Surely there are more though. Who’s next?


Sunday, the 24th of August

Results are in, and they confirm our awesomeness! Lots to digest there. Some notable results are a first place women’s relay for Desa, Dawn Schroeder and Sue McDonald, and a second place mixed relay for Amy, Dave, and Dan O’Meara. That last with the poetic name of “A Rose Between Two Thorns.” Yes, we’ve always considered Dave to be... oh, never mind. They got Amy right too.

Quite a few people doubled up too, racing the sprint course. Just can’t get enough of a good (and expensive) thing. Josh rises like a Phoenix from the ashes to win his age group, Karen gets second place in the Women’s race, and Desa has the second fastest run. Are they going to take Monday off now? Oh no, tonight’s a school night!


Saturday, the 23rd of August

Don’t save the drama for your mama! Get it out right here where the pedal hits the metal and the rubber meets the road. Very good conditions for racing, and maybe the halo of inspiring performances in Beijing, led to some truly impressive ones back here. People gave it all they had, and found out where their limits were. (For now.)

Pete had two flats, the first pre-race one practice for the in-race, which happened early on. And even with this six-minute “penalty”, he still PR’ed. Kyle was running on fumes at the end but managed a smile with Josh. Who looked good at the time... but wound up in the med tent soon after, getting fluids. Karen, Sarah M, Craig, Amanda... were all wrung-out sponges for a while after the race. Let’s hope the yogurt, blueberries, pasta, and eventual sunshine brought them back around to collect their hardware, both the stuff they brought to the race, and in some cases some new stuff to bring back home. We’ll keep the site updated on results as soon as they are in.

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹


Friday, the 22nd of August

Connections! We are making more, now that our good friends over at the Santa Barbara Athletic Association have a link to our page on theirs. Of course, we reciprocate (see the sidebar on left). We have been inspired by their Web page and challenged to be as good, but different. Sort of like the challenge of racing, that makes us all faster. Welcome, SBAA viewers. We aren’t stuffy around here. (According to us ourselves.) The common thread is a day of the week — Wednesday — that gets us together to train, race... and groove!


Wednesday, the 20th of August

An exciting, Grand Prix night... but your correspondent (Andrew) wasn’t around, so no photos. He was down in San Diego working on his electronic guitar project. Shown are photos of some of the more far-out keyboard ideas that have made it past the drawing board. For more about Andrew’s specific design see the Z-Board page. Alas, there was no music on the drive, due to a little incident that left his iPod, like Macduff, “ripped untimely” from its proper place.

But back to sports! On a very important night, Ricky, Desa, and especially Sarah and Sandy opened up a big ol’ can of you-know-what, winning their respective age groups. And Lizzie and Andrea made them work honestly for it too. Looks like a season P.R. for Ricky, who sets a pretty high bar for himself as his toughest competitor! Sam, Brian, Larry, Irwin, and Lisa also put themselves out on the GP night.

For others, it was business as usual in the water — no GP glory, just the usual kicking of butts and taking of names. Can anyone catch Karen? (Except evidently for Anne Illgen, who has busted out of her pool workouts to show some pretty fast arms in the ocean.) Friend of the Groove Sarah Claus graced us with a visit. She recommends the weekend of Tinley’s Toughest for all of us.

And to the future: good luck to all the Santa Barbara Triathlon(s) competitors! It looks like we will have perfect weather: that is, warm smooth water and overcast skies in the morning. We’ll have full race coverage of these epic events, which are at least as exciting as the Olympics, no?

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹


Sunday, the 17th of August

The funnest (we claim that’s a word) event in Santa Barbara! That would be the McConnell’s Ice Cream Endurance Events, yes it’s a plural because there is so much to do. Besides eating ice cream before, during (?), and after each stage. So many Groovers stood out today, doubling, tripling, maybe even quadrupling! (Karen did last year anyway.) Liz, Amy, and Ricky came away with medals in both the 5k and 10k, and went on from the 10k to swim the mile that together comprise the duathlon. And got to feel that incomparable feeling of trying to swim after running. Just like a real lifeguard or surf rescuer might have to. Oh man it’s hard! But.. in the real world they don’t stop to put on their wetsuits. Well, one of us (Karen) didn’t either, and it surely gained her a few minutes into the water. But it’s a tricky trade-off.

More than the usual number of legs ran that 10k, because Peter’s dog Tyrant ran along with him, the farthest they have run together so far. Maybe they could take up adventure racing. Tyrant could be the one to solve the Rubik’s Cube. (We’ve heard of that being one of the challenges in such a race.) Sandy keeps on going like the Eveready bunny, making us wonder when he will ever quit. Not for a long time, we hope.

People hung out for a good long time, some of us swam the stand-alone mile late in the morning. The water was still pretty smooth and made us all wish that Nite Moves could be so accomodating. We heard about Brian watching his own colonoscopy, and Sarah who woke up during some sort of -ectomy to see what was taken out, and then go back to sleep. And true to form, we talked about what further workouts we were going to do later in the day. When you’re in good shape, it feels so good to keep going! Laurel opined that Michael Phelps might have Marfan Syndrome... OK let’s elect him! He’s clearly popular enough.

The question on everyone’s mind: where was Sam? There might be a big story here. And you know what happens when people start talking. Poor Richard Gere.

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹
☹ ☹ ☹


Friday, the 15th of August

It’s classic journalism that dog-bites-man is not a story, man-bites-dog is. Our friendly local paper (not the one run by she whose name we don’t speak) has an article about the fishy version of that.

And as if on cue, we get a girl-bites-fish story of our own from Desa, who is vacationing at June Lake. At least we hope she got a bite in. No photos of the preparation though. Ewww!

☹


Thursday, the 14th of August

This month, a Tri Club meeting where we don’t get educated; we do real work instead. The school of real world. This time packing race bags for the upcoming SB Tri. You can see our dynamic duo Dave & Lizzie at opposite ends of the table. Liz had the brawn to pack boxes of bags and lift them into the truck. Dave had... the brains to hold a beer and direct.

We also got a shout-out from Fred about our Web site. We should mention of course that the Tri Club has its own site; it’s listed in the sidebar at left under “Friends.”

And on that topic, another Friends link is SBAA, which has a profile on Ricky, following up on earlier profiles on Groovers Desa, Amy, Kelly, and Andrea. So, finally a guy makes it. Talk about being media celebrities!

☹ ☹ ☹


Wednesday, the 13th of August

The weather is so perfect... how can summer be fading already? But we see the McConnell’s races are imminent and that means the SB Tri is right on its heels, and then the End of Life As We Know It — that is, the end of Nite Moves. But hey, that was the whole motivation for Grooving. Fear not!

Our theme for the week was neon, and Liz, Dave, and Nancy were in style. Andrew’s inadvertent theme was casual: he forgot his shoes and ran in Tevas instead. The verdict: comfortable but slow. He was also celebrating the return of his camera. Samy’s Camera billed him $20 for the repair — a pleasant surprise, that. So our Web photos are crisp & clear again. Karen had a stitch in her side while running, so for once Josh caught her, and they finished holding hands. In’nat cute? And Ricky did the biathlon too, tearing through the pack. We definitely showed 2006 Kona Queen Michellie Jones how to do it.

Mark was here with his wife, daughter Sophia, and (hidden under the shawl) two more daughters on the way. Doing his part in the struggle against the 1.05-factor that favors male births — or is that just an urban legend?

Off to the Brew House to catch up on Olympic gossip were Dave & Liz, Josh & Karen, Andrew, Craig, Ann Marie, Ricky, Amy, Sam, Brian.. did I miss anyone? Desa is out at June Lake vacationing; we e-mailed here a photo of us having fun, and did the same for Sarah M. We planned our McConnell’s races for the weekend. We heard some election predictions from the political experts. Josh opined that the South has been lost to Democrats since Johnson kicked out Jim Crow with the Civil Rights acts. That did lead to Nixon’s Southern Strategy; the question is how long will it hold? Andrew claimed that the Republican idea (or ideal) of “running government like business” is overdone: the goal of a businessman is to make himself and his friends rich. Would you vote for a lawyer over a CEO? How about an actor? Craig pointed out that when it comes right down to pushing the lever (or checking the box or hanging the chad) people often vote differently from how they say they will. A bit like dating, perhaps? On that topic, there were rumors that Brian has made an eHarmony connection, but we didn’t see any evidence.

It’s not just you — even the gods themselves have problems with leaky goggles. Michael Phelps pushed on through in his 200 butterfly, but we remember when Karen Smyers lost her goggles early in a Kona Ironman swim. She didn’t win that one, but came back to win in a subsequent year. And that was one of the smaller obstacles she overcame in her career. Remember that next time you stub your toe.

☹ ☹ ☹
☹ ☹


Tuesday, the 12th of August

Under the heading of Old Guys Watch, we hear that Steve Larsen is eyeing a “comeback.” Not his words, BTW, but he did qualify for Kona and came in third at the Vineman 70.3 (that’s a half-Ironman if you do the math). Along with Dara Torres and Mark Foster he reminds us that training starts between the ears. But how about a shout out to Groovers like Dave Groom who never left?

Oh and of course we do agree that Guys contains (or embraces) girls too. But, as the Brits would say of a raging battle, there is a bit of a discussion down on the pitch.


Saturday, the 9th of August

“You animal!” Is that a compliment or an insult? And to whom? Biologically, it’s clear we are animals. Science News tells us how animal athletes would stack up in the Olympics.


Thursday, the 7th of August

Stretching: love it or hate it? Back in the day, it was thought mandatory before running. Yours truly spent a good half hour at it, and his mom thought it was just procrastination. (She admitted it years later when she joined a health club and saw the light.) The New York Times has an article on this topic, though no conclusions yet. Current conventional wisdom (always subject to revision without notice) is: don’t stretch cold. Don’t bounce. After exercise more important than before. Next topic is weights: love ’em or hate ’em?


Wednesday, the 6th of August

Lizzie sent e-mail, suggesting “Instead of your fastest race hat, lets see some crazy afros, blues, pink, green, you name it.” And to help out, she brought a bag o’ hair, for those wig-challenged among us. Some of us were virtually unrecognizeable. Who was that raven-haired beauty? Look closely.

As usual, we took the entire beach to The Neighborhood. Desa brought two friends, Woody and Nanette. Lizzo was back in town, and turned out to know Nanette too. Amy brought Peggy, and Pete and Maura were also new faces. The regulars were too numerous to count. The compulsive among us (we know who we are!) had their web-browsing cell phones out to check race results ASAP. Sometimes it seemed we looked at our phones more than at each other. We marveled at Andrew’s Pianist (no, not that), a program that turns the phone into an instrument. He intends to write one that simulates the Z-Board, his lifelong business project.

Sam told us about visiting a new Ventura branch of his Jiu-Jitsu school, and having to “prove” himself to all the students who wanted to take on the new guy. He still has all his limbs. Woody has a new juicer, and is a convert to that healthy way of drinking. Speaking of that, there was some major tossing-down of the stronger stuff. The girls definitely are the men around here. But did it put hair on their chests? Hmm, as if shaving weren’t already enough of a pain.

We also contemplated the imminent end of the world — or at least of Nite Moves. We have only a few weeks left. Then it becomes Grooves again. Long live Wednesdays!

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹
☹ ☹


Tuesday, the 5th of August

Results are up for the Goleta Try. Both Ricky and Ann Marie did their first triathlon! We are waiting to hear the stories on Wednesday. Also super-mom Desa and super-massage therapist Kelly came, saw, and conquered. Naui, cycli, corsi.

On the global front, R.I.P. Alexander Solzhenitsyn (that’s Алекса́ндр Солжени́цын to his mother). Anyone who has plowed through The Gulag Archipelago has a little more respect for such minor legal niceties as habeas corpus, pre facto laws, and the Bill of Rights. And Cancer Ward makes Western medicine look better than ever. He didn’t think the West was the answer to everything though... but hey, when you walk through the grocery (or video) store don’t you also think that (at least) half of the stuff there is junk? Freedom means you have to think.


Monday, the 4th of August

To Protect and to Serve? OK, that’s the motto of the LA Police Department, familiar to all viewers of Adam-12 and other cop shows. As cyclists we certainly depend on other people following the Rules, and we should too. But check out this video showing a confrontation between a cyclist and a New York City policeman. The cyclist was cited for “assaulting” the officer.

We have always thought that an effective (bang for the buck) way to improve society would be to double the salaries of teachers and cops. Get the best people in the critical places. But this guy doesn’t make the grade.

On a more positive note, that guy (Mark Warkentin) who won the Semana Nautica 3-mile swim, and is going to the Olympics to race the new open-water 10k (yes, a 10k swim), is in fact a Santa Barbarian. Let’s remember to cheer for him on August 21st when the race is run... er, swum.


Thursday, the 1st of August

Not content with Wednesdays, we colonize the next outpost too: Thursday! So many days to choose from. But Thursday is the traditional day for hashing, and our Groove group keeps up with expectations! Dave & Liz (excuse me, Slimey and Tri Me) were the teachers for Jeanni (Sandy Snatch) and Jayna, who may have a hash name coming soon. The theme was rodeo, and it sure looks like the ranch could have used a few hands in the right places. More photos at Dave’s ImageEvent site. But the good pictures require a password. ☺

☹ ☹ ☹


Wednesday, the 30th of July

Another sunny day in Paradise, ho hum. No theme this evening, because Lizzie wasn't present. (She just does that to make us realize how much we need her. But see below to find out what she was cookin’.) Nonetheless, Nancy did run in a purple skirt, holding up the tradition. And we welcomed Amy back to the world of swimming! She showed up with her brand-new wetsuit and plunged into the big ocean with the pack. For someone with no recent experience, she tore through transition like a pro, doffing her wetsuit and moving into her stronger suit on the run.

Speaking of pros, check out Shawna! She is still living in LA, but showed up today to tell us she has signed a contract to run for Nike. She gets all the gear free and clear. Maybe they could come up with a Nite Grooves line, and make us all look as good as her.

After the race, we adjourned to Doug Black’s place on the Mesa, to celebrate two birthdays: Sandy and Irwin. What a perfect venue for post-Nite Moves. Or post-anything. A swimming pool complete with slide, hot tub, patio fireplace, and food provided by Dave & Liz. Some weren’t prepared with swimsuits for the water, but in proper California style, they were optional anyway. Sometimes that wetsuit takes a little more off with it!

In their various degrees of attire were Sandy, Taj, David, Liz, Andrea, Irwin, Sara, Laurel, Amy, Nancy, Ricky, Andrew, Ann Marie, Matt, Julie, Sam, Shawna, Desa, Craig, Josh, Karen, Peter, and four active dogs. We invented some new ways to go down the water slide. Sam showed Andrea how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu takes all the ranges of motion that her physical therapy restores... and finds their limits.

And here’s a heads-up for the first-ever Goleta Try: a triathlon based at Goleta Beach. This Sunday at 8 AM. Ricky says he is going to be in it, and rumor had it that Amy would too. That's throwing the glove down; how can we not pick up the challenge?

☹ ☹ ☹
☹ ☹ ☹


Saturday, the 26th of July

No ../photos, because your Webmaster’s camera is on the fritz. You get a new cartoon instead. (What lap was that? I always get lost at two.) And you can visualize the sunny Saturday morning, with a big group of fit-looking people rolling their shiny bicycles into the grass at Goleta Beach... oops, that’s Momentum 4 Life! Wrong group. But they could so easily have merged with...

...a remarkably similar-looking group of fit-looking people, further down the shore, except they are leaning their bikes up against their cars. This would be the “transition area” for Steve’s Tri, the least expensive triathlon around. All it costs is a little morning sleep, because you have to get out of bed and get your butt in gear. We got an open-water swim clinic from Mateo Mercur, coach of the UCSB Triathlon Team. He had his notes on his new iPhone, a (deserved) gift from the (generous) kids on the team. He discussed the importance of a snug wetsuit fit, and demonstrated a truly fired-up water entry. We were out of breath just watching it.

After that, there was a deliberately uncoordinated “start,” and the participants hit the water for a swim that tried to be half a mile. Who knows how far it really was? Chrissy Faulding and a friend were on surfboards to guide the swimmers and keep the overachievers from going one buoy too far.

Then on to the bikes for a brief tour of the bike path and Hope Ranch, and a similarly short but sweet run up the bluffs of UCSB and around the lagoon. Andrea and Kyle were the first finishers, but we really don’t count that. You will look in vain for any results, online or off. Nonetheless, there was free food and some goodies were handed out. It was the first triathlon for quite a few participants, who found out how silly it is to obsess about any one thing when there are so many things to go right or wrong. Just keep going!



Wednesday, the 23rd of July

Your webmaster is back from a summer vacation in the Napa Valley, where swimming pools, running tracks, and oceans are in short supply. Cycling opportunities, by contrast, were all around. At the same time, some Groovers were close by at Vineman, one of the most venerable, well-run and fun races in California. Andrea Stouffer and Pete Nielson both finished in a blazing 5:19 (we’re ignoring the seconds here). Other Groovers Sarah Mandes, Sandy Roberts, and Jason Schmidt were there and rocked. Amy was a support crew and tested the river for swimmability. And we must note Desa Mandarino’s heroic effort in the Semana Nautica biathlon — a four-mile run on the sand, followed by a one-mile swim. That is one of the toughest events around, and only the tough even bother to show up. I recall finishing dead last one year in a very elite field, and it wasn’t because I was slow. Swimming after running is tough! (Just wait for the McConnell’s race.)

But catching up to the present brings us to Nite Moves again. Strong current running against us today, but that didn’t stop Karen from once again hitting the sand ahead of every female and all but a handful of male swimmers. Is it the Wheaties?

The theme was mini-skirts, and Dave went all tribal. Is that the Groom tartan? And is this the time to settle once and for all the question of what a Scotsman wears under his kilt?

The food was pretty good, so there was less of a move to head to a sit-down restaurant. Instead we sat down on the ground and had the Asian Chicken Salad from a local McDonald’s, courtesy of David Peterson. Who knew corporate-committee food could be edible? One more step toward becoming a locavore.

After that, we moved to the stand-up Neighborhood, which is becoming the moves away from Moves. We debated the merits and odds of laser eye surgery: would you go for it? We waited a long time for pizza... but it was worth it. Ricky plans to do the Nite Moves biathlon on the last Wednesday of the season — but it’s very close to the Santa Barbara Tri, in which he is running the ten-mile as a relay racer. And to McConnell’s. Wasn’t time supposed to be Nature’s way of keeping things from all happening at once?

Finally, a reminder for upcoming activities. See the previous entry! Music and “racing”.

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹


Thursday, the 10th of July

The Downtown Tri Club (not to be confused with the “kids” club, which, it is true, kicks some butt) met, hosted as usual by founding Groover Dave Groom. Lots of other friends of the groove were present, including Jessica, Andrea, Josh, Karen, Kyle, Laurel, and Craig. The format had four panelists answering questions. One of them was our own Lizzie, who had answers about nutrition and training. The most dramatic moment was when she demonstrated exercises for the core — what we used to call “abs”. She got up and did it right on the table. If only we could all flex like that!

We heard about some great local events coming up — not even quite races, but experiences to enjoy.

Meanwhile, Desa, Sarah, and Ann Marie were over at Sam’s place. You can see the scenery is beautiful... nice view too. Did they cook for Sam or was it the other way around? Either way we’re expecting some yummy leftovers next Wednesday. What are friends for?


☹ ☹ ☹


Wednesday, the 9th of July

It sure started out like the heat of summer, but as the day wore on it seemed like time was running backward, like the Time Tunnel — to June gloom. Partly from fire smoke, partly from the marine layer rolling in, suddenly everyone was shivering. Well at least that matched the day’s theme, which was Christmas in July. We did have flakes dropping from the sky, just not the snowy kind. Nancy was totally prepared, Mark got into the groove, in fact we had a great turnout. Liz & Dave brought helpful accessories for the Christmas-challenged among us, who actually put stuff away on Boxing Day.

Karen almost made time stand still, coming out of the water fifth overall, kicking butt and taking names left and right. Taj barely managed to edge out his elder Dan O’Meara, who’s a gimp to boot, not that it slows him down in the water. Dan is a miracle of nature: he knocked down the inaugural Coeur d’Alene Ironman like a shot of Jack Daniels, and uses his artificial hip to hop ahead of swimmers half his age. Mark’s wife showed up, either with a big schwag from shoplifting, or pregnant with twin girls. Let’s hope it’s the latter, so she doesn’t get arrested.

Off to the Neighborhood again; it’s turning into a pattern. They do make good pizza and pay attention to their customers. The question of the day was this: “If the hottest, sexiest babe imaginable came on to you and invited you to a rendezvous just around the corner, right now, would you go for it?” Ricky called it a win-win situation, what economists call non-zero-sum. Desa wondered how you could possibly find a deep spiritual connection in five minutes. Andrew visualized the encounter as extending into a whole evening or weekend of activities. Ann Marie pointed out that by using the superlative the question almost forces the answer to be yes, by definition. Like the puzzle of what happens when the irresistible force meets the immovable object. Does everybody win?

☹ ☹ ☹
☹ ☹ ☹


Friday, the 4th of July

Eating watermelon today? We could be in for some extra fireworks, says a story in the Washington Post. We’re waiting for reports on that, because there certainly was some watermelon at the casa of Bob Blackwell, where a good contingent of Groovers met to celebrate our independence. We independently had some great food and drink, but stuck together on the way down State Street, thanks to some useful glow-sticks.

The fireworks were great, even though there was a deceptive lull in the middle. Brian urged us to not lose faith, the climax would come. Perhaps the first half was just the tease. But it was good for all concerned. Sarah’s new Ironman tattoo was as red-hot as she was, still stinging from the needle. What is she going to get when she finishes her first Eco-Challenge?

Sarah and Amy had plenty of energy for further dancing; others had sore joints or other parties or plans. A lot of Semana Nautica races coming up: how will we race tomorrow morning? Stay tuned to find out!

☹ ☹ ☹


Wednesday, the 2nd of July

Talk about bringing the heat! As if we weren’t already hot enough thanks to our compulsive workout schedules, there are fires burning even as we speak, swim, and run. And getting closer. We hope no Groovers, or anyone else, are in danger. At Nite Moves, fewer wetsuits as the water warms up and people contemplate the weekend of Semana Nautica races.

But even as we run up the hill there are flames on the higher hills, and we can see them. It’s pretty spooky seeing a big fire right up there on the mountains that cradle us every day. Jessica has forwarded these dramatic ../photos.

Meanwhile, power is out in parts of Goleta, but people figure out that if they can’t hang out in their neighborhood, they can go to The Neighborhood, where Nite Moves lives on. We heard that Lizzo’s last Friday was as exciting as her last Wednesday, and the ladies showed that they can hold their liquor... and then drink it. We don’t have as much photo evidence as we’d like, but compare the Ventura race pic to the low-light bar one - don’t you think they can put down the alcohol as well as the carbohydrates?

☹ ☹ ☹

Tuesday, the 1st of July

Are we getting in gear? It’s time to ride now, the sun is up at oh-dream-time in the morning and how can you not? Well the problem around here is that there are hills! Lots of ’em. They say the Chinese ideogram of problem is the same as for opportunity. You need to charge those hills. Our webmaster Andrew just got a whole new drivetrain for his bike. What does that mean? Here’s a tutorial on how your gears get you to the top.

More about veggies. What’s not to like about them? But apparently we exaggerate how much we’re getting. (Is that new?) Seems people overstate their veggie intake at the same time they downplay the calories. And how many miles did you run last week?