Paige's video

Review of 2015

This past year was a very busy and productive 2015.

I am a little late in this review of the past year. All in all it was very good year. New job at Facey Medical Foundation in April and made extra money for General Construction Inc. performing drywall estimates. This allowed me to take this winter vacation at Snowcreek in Mammoth with the family.

First, the running went well. Concentrated on the shorter races while taking a break on marathon training. This was good so I don't get too burned on the sport I love. Second, My lovely wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this past December. 20+ more years to go!! Lastly, my girls are growing so big, its scary! My oldest has a boyfriend. I really like him and enjoy his company. I'm glad Sydney is happy! Paige, the youngest, started Jr. High and is doing well with sports and her grades. She is my voice of reason.

January started off grand with a wonderful trip to Maui.

February I won my first 10K at the Mardi Gras 10K at the Valencia Town Center. Also, had a blast with Carol at the Santa Clarita Runners annual banquet.

March was directing yet another St. Patrick's Day 5K. This is a wonderful community event hosted by the Knights of Columbus Council #6016. A beautiful day in Mentryville. My Oldest daughter & mother in law ran too!

As mentioned before, in April I scored the hard to get optician position at Facey Optical in Mission Hills. Picture of me in the lab. Nice Santa hat?

In May, My mom in law and Paige share a birthday! They are so wonderful in my life!

June was my youngest daughter's 6th grade promotion. My voice of reason.

When July came, summer was in full swing. The 4th of July & COC summer series running races are what I train for and our local swim team is what keeps Paige busy. I also went to my 1st LA Galaxy soccer match with Sydney and her boyfriend, Byron.

August really heated up with the 1st day of school and a wild night at The Whisky to see my old friends play in their band called Lovebuzz.

At the end of August, the wife and I took my oldest daughter to see Kid Rock at The San Manuel Amphitheater. A little wild & crazy, but such a great show!

In September I won my 1st 5K race in San Fernando. It was a goofy course on a hot morning. The fast guys didn't show up, so I took it! I also was able to check out one of my favorite bands, the Foo Fighters at the Forum.

I really wanted to take my daughter and her boyfriend to see Hozier at the Santa Barbara Bowl. All I can say is wow!! We truly enjoyed this artist and it he has to be my favorite new artist of the year!

Halloween is always a blast. Paige and her friend on their way to school.

In November, I had another opportunity to pace the 3:40 group for the Santa Clarita Marathon. I came within 10 seconds of my scheduled arrival time. Not too shabby!

I haven't raced a 1/2 marathon in seven years and I needed to see where my fitness was at. Santa to the Sea in Oxnard was the place to try it. A flat 1:28:00 was the finish time and I really enjoyed this course. I will try and make another return to this fabulous race.

Our family ended the year on a great note with another beautiful Xmas at home. I'm so proud of my girls and my wife is the solid rock that we cannot live with out! On to 2016 and more memories to be made!!

The Summer went by FAST! Shorter races too!

The kids are back in school but the summer heat is still around. The vacations are done but there are still the fall & winter getaways to start planning. This summer went by way too fast! By the time the summer season winds down, most marathon runners start gearing up the training for the fall races. The "not so Lazy" daze of summer also brings upon the challenges of shorter more high intensity races including 10 and 5Ks. The benefit of these shorter races is that they truly are just a litmus test on our overall conditioning throughout the year.

Personally, I like to take the much needed break from the fall and springtime long distance events. But, by late June the anticipation of the 4th of July Santa Clarita Independence Day Classic gets me thinking of a new PR or holding on to a respectable race time. This years ID5K was going to the 1st time I would try to race both the 10 & 5K. Yes, what a challenge! I figured to take it easy on the 10K race so I would have enough gas for the 5K. I probably could have sped up my pace 10 seconds faster for the 10K to earn a 3rd place award. Oh well, the 5K allowed me to achieve a new PR for the course & a 3rd place age group award.

Once the race was over, the thought of the dreaded College of The Canyons Summer Series started looming in the back of my head. Luis Bernal hopping on his mountain bike with Go Pro camera attached to his seat post and the sound of the gun going off still gives me butterflies while typing this. The races this year brought record numbers of runners. The course had changed due to work being done at Cougar Stadium. People were describing that the times were slower due to the many twists and turns and earl uphills in this race. Good, because personally I saw that my times were about 30-40 seconds slower than last year!

I was crazy enough to try my hand (and foot) at a mountain bike race this year at The Over Hump Race Series in Castaic. The goal was to finish the hilly 10+ mile race in under 60 minutes. Sorry runners, mountain bike racing is no walk in the park! A humbling experience as I placed 11th in my age group...almost last! A couple of falls, a broken seat and one hell of a bruise on my left upper hamstring left my ego definitely in check. I was thing "One and Done", but now I am thinking about modifying the cycle and what I can do to improve my time next time. Yeah, crazy I know!! Its all about fun and diversity, right?

It was time to fit a much needed family vacation to Maui. And guess what? Time to fit in a 5K on the last day. I really didn't really expect much. I set my mind for lower expectations, for the race was after a week of getting sun baked, eating plenty of Maui tacos and having my fair share of Kona beer. The Kraig Vickers Honor 5K run was my 1st out of state race. The 2nd Annual 5K Run and a 3K Run/Walk was to honor Maui boy Kraig M.K. Vickers who was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011 during Operation Enduring Freedom as an member of the US Navy's Special Warfare Development Group. Kraig, along with 21 other members of his unit and an additional 9 US Service Members, were all killed when their Chinook CH-47 Helicopter was shot down by insurgents while engaged in combat operations. The heat and humidity was something that made this little race a challenge. Most of the guys in the front row of the start were well trained tri-athletes. Man, they looked strong! The course was along the bike path near the airport. Nice a flat and fast. I hung with the top 10 racers until about half way. No need to kill my self on vacation. But, of course the competitive juices started to kick in and all that Tuesday Hart track speed work started to pay off. With the last 1/4 mile to go, I heard those immortal words from runners long ago, "just let it go". Watching the clock still in the 18 minutes range allowed me to push for the final kick. And there you go, a PR on vacation with 18:58 and 1st in my age group! Btw, you get a free shaved ice too!!

Now, back to work and to reality. And of course trying to PR for the last CoC race. I better remember to wear my SC Runners singlet or Carl Pantoja will kick my ass! I got my rest, hydrated well and yes, I got the singlet ready. As many of you who have raced this, the start is the most terrifying. One must try and get off that baseball field as fast as you can in order to avoid the bottleneck at the fence onto the road. You need to run a fast 1st mile then conserve for the dirt portion of the 2nd mile. Everyone agrees to stay steady to conserve the energy for "Killer Hill". For me, I got out quick for the first mile and sucked dust on the 2nd mile as the youngsters and Lightening Runners just ate me alive. It truly is difficult to maintain a sub 6:00 mile for the final mile and this is where the race really begins. Just as with the marathon, the final miles are the true test of your endurance. Lungs bursting and legs aching I approached the final 400 meters and begin to give it all. The local area coaches shouting at their runners gave me a boost. I am pretending to be in high school again, HA! But, as I see the clock, I will not break 19:00 minutes. I would be happy with the PR for the series, just not an age group award. Hey, at least I was within 30 seconds behind the famous Kevin McSweeney for the last two races. I believe he was recovering from an illness, but I will take what I can get! 

Lastly, I would like to honor a great friend and fine Santa Clarita runner who celebrated his 80th birthday this summer, Mr. Mike McSkane. Cheers to you and keep running strong. You are a great inspiration! Stay motivated my friends and see you all at the upcoming fall events!!

1st Quarter of 2013

New Year's Day- Hangover Run 2013

Once again the year started with a run. A trail run at Vasquez Rocks in Aqua Dulce with the Santa Clarita Runners Club. It is a long standing tradition that draws well over 100 running enthusiasts throughout the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. It consists of a roughly 6 mile trail run up to the Pacific Crest Trail. Then, it ends with a fine party in the parking lot with plenty of food and drink to celebrate another year of living! This day was special because I brought along a newbie who recently started running to break out of the doldrums of the creative writing process. James, welcome to the club and happy running!

Soundgarden-Live at The Wiltern 2/17/2013

My return to The Wiltern LG was long awaited. The last time was about two years ago witnessing Queens of the Stone Age perform the re-release of their debut album. 

This Soundgarden show was the 1st time I have seen Chris with his old band. I recall his performance as a solo artist at the LA Invasion festival in 2007 at The Home Depot Center. We only caught the last few songs of his set but, I do remember saying to myself that I needed to see this guy again live. His vocals just blew the faces off the crowd in the arena! This show was being video taped for a dvd and TV special on "Artists Den" on KCET. I did not know this. This was great because the show only displayed this band and for a full 2 1/2 hours! The audience was hypnotized for the first three tunes and then rocked when the band broke into the older material. I had not heard of a few songs and learned that a couple were never played live before. One that stuck out was "Blind dogs", and I was extremely impressed. 

This show was extremely loud as F@#k! I am begining to like the cheap seats up on the mezzanine. I get the better feel for the crowd and of course the decibles are a bit kinder. The new CD, "King Animal" just completely rules. I made it a point to get my hands on it and thouroughly get versed on the new material. This made me really enjoy this show. Of course, the highlights for me were the older material from "Badmotorfinger", such as "Rusty Cage" & "Slaves and Bulldozers", the show closer. This last song left us devastated. The minute plus feedback was mind numbing but left us longing for more! I definitely should've got a T-shirt. 

Set List:

1. Incessant Mace 
2. My Wave 
3. Been Away Too Long 
4. Worse Dreams 
5. Jesus Christ Pose 
6. Flower 
7. Taree 
8. Spoonman 
9. By Crooked Steps 
10. Blind Dogs 
    (1st time played live, … more)
11. Rowing 
12. Non-State Actor 
13. Drawing Flies 
14. Hunted Down 
15. Black Saturday 
16. Bones of Birds 
17. Blow Up the Outside World 
18. Fell on Black Days 
19. Burden in My Hand 
20. A Thousand Days Before 
21. Blood on the Valley Floor 
22. Rusty Cage 
23. New Damage 
24. 4th of July
    Encore:
25. Outshined 
26. Black Hole Sun 
27. Ty Cobb 
28. Slaves & Bulldozers
    
    

    Basketball free throw highlight
    

    
    

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yV-tRbtDjI
    
    

    This season marked the 1st time my youngest has ever played the game of basketball. She really enjoyed softball and we tried that out for three seasons but, decided to have her give this a try. I'm sure glad we did. Of course, there was a bit of learning and extra practice time that we put into it. But, it sure did pay off. The Mystics finished #1 in their league. I wish I could be more involved with my kids sports as I was last year when I was out of work. I can't complain. They do just fine without me there all the time. I was so proud of the improvement that Paige obtained throughout the season and I wish that she continues. 

    
    

    Soccer star in the making
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    Once again, our oldest ceases to amaze us. Sydney made it to Tournament Soccer play this year and we couldn't be more proud. Not only is she doing very well in school, she has excelled at the very sport she once shunned when she was 1st introduced to it. I definitely have not been there for her during the early years as much as I should have, both emotionally and physically. I sometimes feel that she would rather have me not around. But, I also feel that this is a formative time of her life and I should just learn to "step away" and let her figure things out for herself. I prod, poke and snoop. That is what parenting a 13 year old is all about, right? Nope! Sometimes you gotta just let go. This is way too hard. 

    
    

    St. Patrick's Day 5K & The L.A. Marathon
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    
    

    What can I say? Another year another 5K to direct and a Marathon to pull off the following day. Why do things easy? The Knights of Columbus 33rd annual 5K race was held again for the 3rd straight year at Central Park. But, unlike last year it did not rain and the old hilly tough course was unleashed to the runners. What a fine day that included local charities, Honda and the local running store to set up spots to advertise. The SC Runners were in full force to lend a hand and without them, this event couldn't have happened. Thank you for all of those who volunteered and ran this race!

    
    

    Once again I headed down to Santa Monica with fellow SC Runner, Dennis to catch the shuttle to Dodger stadium so we could run back to the car on thew very festive St. Patrick's Day! Wow! What a crowd! It was a great turnout and I did Boston Qualify with a time of 3:11:48. I even got to be on TV on channel 5 when I scared Gail Anderson on Hollywood Blvd. What a day and what a green weekend. I got to even top it off with a traditional St. Patrick's Day party at a SC Runner's house, Jeff. Again, it is times like these that makes life worth living!

    
    

    
    

The Santa Clarita Marathon 2012

The Santa Clarita Marathon 2012 is our hometown running ritual. I feel so lucky that I am able to wake up on Marathon Sunday from my own bed and to warm up, ride my bike to the start. This is only my third Santa Clarita Marathon since 2010, but my third marathon this year. I felt that my training so far has been doing okay and I planned on achieving that coveted Boston qualifying time of sub 3:15. Marathons are funny. Not in the "ha ha ha" type, but in the strange way each one at each particular time have a unique quality of their own. I was told that the LA Marathon is one race not one to try and PR. But, I did and felt strong. I was also told that our hometown race is also one that is not a PR course. Fine, this seemed like a helluva challenge and I worked very hard through the training to BQ or at least beat last years time. The response to the question, "So, what time are you shooting for?" was "Somewhere between my LA time and 3:20." That's not too lofty of a goal, right? I do remember back in March that one famous dentist in our club told me, "respect the minutes, young man." Boy, was he right! We have so much talent of all ages in our club, but when seasoned runners speak, you tend to pay extra attention.    

With that said, The Surf City and LA marathons were completed in almost perfect fashion. Training went super smooth. Those finish times were decent and I remained injury free. Why did it? Maybe because I was laid off work from August 2011 to April of this year and I had sufficient time to train hard, eat right and best of all REST! I was super happy to back to work doing what I love and not really thinking about racing 26.2 miles for awhile. Of course, when summer wrapped up all I could think about was November 4th. Approaching this hometown race, I did manage to get 9 stitches on my left leg on a 18 mile training run with The Club. Note to self, don't try and hop a freeway guard rail like a 23 year old when in fact I am not! Thanks Dr. Mike for hanging with me while the wife picked me up! Two weeks of light and not so light training took its toll and cost me a severe infection. Luckily, there was a full eight weeks to fully recover before race day.

Marathon tapering seemed to come quick. This is a good thing. Get it over with, right? Anyway, the weatherman was right on the money when it came to the increasing temperatures holding steady through the race weekend. I believe the Santa Clarita 1/2 marathon training race two weeks prior was an indication of what we might be in for. "We" would be Jawn, Chad, Dennis and I. It was supposed to be a test on what our midway split will be for the marathon and we could plan our attack for the second half. Of course, someone up there seems to always laugh at plans... The morning of the race was so very familiar. Meet the team of guys you have trained with for several weeks and just chill. Yes, team. Not only is running with a group like our Club is beneficial to achieving your goals, but when one can train with a few people of basically the same physical abilities, I like to call this a Team!  The infamous tall Englishman taught me a thing or two about the importance of sticking together during a race. Thanks, mate! Of course, he is into Ultras now and I may never see him on a puny regular marathon again!

Well, the sun started to beat down right when the gun went off. Dennis took off like a rabbit as usual and I knew it was going to be a mountain to climb. Dennis knows us three will catch him, just when? This was the plan. The first half is always fun, as everyone knows. The second...not so much. If anyone has done the full knows what I am saying. Lonely, mentally challenging and this year, too hot to run 26.2 fast. Chad and Jawn kept it steady, like I knew they would. We passed Dennis around mile 14ish. By the way, he grabbed an age group award with a time of 3:33. Great job, pal! But, the sound of the footfalls were beginning to wane behind me. What the hell was happening? I was dying for orange slices! Chad, Jawn and I stuck together with me until about mile 20-21, where the "real race" begins. God, I hate when people say this. But, it is so true. The second half was really warm and I started suffering around mile 18. It was my first race to run with the SCR singlet but I had to take it off at mile 18 because I was chaffing on my chest. Oh well, go for the beach finish, right? I always seem to labor around mile 18-20, so why would today be any different? Approaching Runner's Lane I noticed a table of GU energy gels, but nobody was there. I could sure use a good rock band right about now. Through the bowling alley was the worst. Desolate, hot and miserable. Get me the hell out of here, I thought. I do have to say it sure was nice to see Mr. Flowers cheering us along. Thanks, bud! I still held out okay through mile 21 with a pace of about 7:23. Then, bam! I see a wall ahead of me. The pace then dropped by almost 1 minute for each of the next few miles. Worst yet, no Chad and Jawn to push me along. There was the invincible Caesar Rojas trying to make up time after his potty break when I noticed him around mile 23. But, this was a training run for Honolulu so why should he kill himself? Oh well, it was just me out there. Just as I didn't want to happen. Be a tough guy and suck it up. My mind was there. The legs were not. The last 5K taught me a thing or two. The left calf muscle that was bothering me midway reared its ugly head. Just a cramp I thought, drink more fluids. Too late. Way too late. Speed up and make time. No way. Just as I was about to gun it, the right hamstring tightened up. It was a friendly reminder that if I try to go faster, this large muscle will pull and I will be out and limp to the finish! This will not happen. Forget about Boston. Just finish strong. Ahhh, those last two bridges. I see them. So does the blonde twenty-something who jetted right pass me. Pride is a mother! Elaine Woodward did the same in LA and it was really tough to let her go. But I did and glad for that move. So, the thought catching this one crossed my mind for only about a minute when we hit the bottom of the bridge and I could see her determination on "eating my soul" to give her more strength. So what! I ate more souls than mine being eaten today. I was very pleased to see the family out there again for support and looking up at that clock registering under 3:20. Yes, hands in the air for a well fought run. Then the Westfield Mall security gal told me to put my shirt back on. Just can't win...

I believe that I should try just running bandit style next year. Nah, too easy!

St. Patrick's Day 5K RUN 2012

Finally, this years 32nd annual St Patrick's Day 5K race is over and in the books. This run marked my second time directing a race and let me say this was very trying. After seven months of being laid-off from my previous job of over 12 years, active job hunting to get back into the optical business, taking care of my two girls soccer and softball duties, and training for the LA Marathon I expected this year's run to go as smoothly as last year. Not even close! The rain and wind that was so accurately predicted the week before forced me to make last minute changes on the course. Not steep hills and crazy descents! Sorry runners, I had to think of safety 1st.

Even though the top runners got lost, the timers were off, the main clock fell and got damaged and my brand new EZ-UP was destroyed, nobody got hurt and the refreshments that our Knights of Columbus council is famously known for got polished off! There were close to 100 participants, so our goal was made and people will talk about their crazy St. Patrick's Day Fun/Mud Run! Pictures of the race are also down loadable from my flickr page below and the article from The Signal is also posted. The results were not 100% accurate, but we did the best we could. I just hope next year we don't have a heat wave!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cota4/sets/72157629320716828/



Rain can’t stop charity run

Lenny Kravitz Live at The Nokia Theater 2/16/12

I was very lucky to witness multi-Grammy winner, Lenny Kravitz at one of my favorite concert venues last Thursday night at The Nokia Theater at LA Live. My buddy Steve and I were treated to an eclectic and soulful show that spanned the artists 20 plus year career. I was first introduced to his music on the debut album, "Let Love Rule". That record had a personal and rock oriented feel to it, and this live show was no different. I haven't heard any of his new stuff, but I was pleasantly grooving on the mezzanine when he opened the show with "Come on Get it". Lenny then rolled into some of his earlier hits and the sell out crowd was just in a tizzy, including me! Of course, the tune I wanted to hear was "Mr. Cab Driver", my favorite off "Let Love Rule". The horn solo at the end was just stellar! I'm so glad I captured it on video even though it was on my cell phone. I really will remember to bring out my HD Kodak next time at a show! His autobiographical tune, "Black & White America" was truly mesmerizing. The crowd really seemed to enjoy the slide show during this part of the show including the stage setup. Lenny had a huge video pyramid that lit up the night. "Are you gonna go my way" was a perfect set closer that had the people dancing and singing. The encore consisted of two acoustic songs, "Push" & " I belong to you" and his 1st hit, "Let Love Rule". I was impressed by the usual yet catchy chords and melody in "Push". "Let Love Rule" was incredible. Lenny worked the crowd by going into the aisles and making it all the way to the back. It would have been really cool if he made it up to the party section at the mezzanine level!

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. The people seemed to get into it and the sound was great. The Nokia Theater seems to have better sound the further back your seats are. I've seen shows from up front to the back lodge and I feel that the sound gets a little bassy. Lenny could have played longer and the time between the regular set and encore was too brief, but hey, he had places to go and people to see. With that said, I would go see this extremely talented musician again and definitely recommend people to go out and witness a Lenny Kravitz concert. Since his set was rather short this allowed me to take my friend to the ESPN Zone to end the night in Los Angeles. I'm sure glad they kicked us out by midnight so we could make it for the hilarious fun at Sardos karaoke night in Burbank. It is always a fun and adventurous night with Steve! And thank you www.youtellconcerts.com for the tickets I won!!  

 SetList-

1. Come On Get It
2. Always on the Run
3. American Woman
4. (The Guess Who cover)
5. It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
6. Mr. Cab Driver
7. Black And White America
8. Fields of Joy
9. Stand By My Woman
10. Believe
11. Stand
12. Rock And Roll Is Dead
13. Rock Star City Life
14. Where Are We Runnin'?
15. Fly Away
16. Are You Gonna Go My Way
    Encore:
16. Push
    (acoustic)
17. I Belong to You
    (acoustic)
18. Let Love Rule

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRAtWKSqE9Y
http://youtellconcerts.com/