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December 07, 2004
Warning: Duh!
Catching up from San Diego
I could write about work over the past few days in San Diego, but the ubiquity of ridiculous signs warrants a more entertaining discussion. Everywhere I went, I saw signs like “Smoking is permitted in some guest rooms and smoking, to the State of California, is known to cause cancer. (CA Code xxxx)” Well, duh! I didn’t need a stupid sign to tell me that. Last time I checked, smoking caused cancer in all 50 states. Or what about “Caution: Rodents in this area…do not handle rodent feces.” Hmm, that was a tough one to resist. I mean, c’mon people…did common sense go out the window? The litigation attorneys must have been raking in the dinero before the advent of these no liability signs. Even though I spent half of my childhood in California, I almost felt like I was in a different country this time. I was tempted to have dinner at a steakhouse just to see if I could order my meat rare or medium rare, which I hear you can’t do in Cali.
Despite the ridiculous signs and the SoCal “winter storm”, or rain as we East Coasters call it, I had a productive and fun weekend with my unit’s San Diego Sailors and Marines. In interviewing the Inspector-Instructor staff and Reservists, I was able to identify issues, new project ideas, and questions that I can take back to my Commanding Officer and my Inspector-Instructor staff in Virginia. I didn’t get to do as much sightseeing as I hoped, since the workdays were long and the weather was dreary. What free time I could scare up, I spent studying for my final exam, selecting wedding photos, and exercising, of course. The gym opened at 4:30am and closed at midnight.
Thurs, Dec 2
Bike 1hr
Lift arms
Fri, Dec 3
Run ~12.5 miles Penasquitos Canyon Preserve
Awesome run (see below)
Sat, Dec 4
Elliptical 1 hr
Lift legs easy
Sun, Dec 5
Run easy 45 min (5.5mi) treadmill
Lift arms easy
Mon, Dec 6
15 min warm up
4 x 2 min @10k, 2 min easy; 1 min @ 5k, 1 min easy; 30 sec all out, 30 sec easy
25 min cool down
The 2 minutes after the 30 second easy was the hardest part of the workout, since I was still breathing heavy at that point.
The highlight of my trip was a run at Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, just a few exits north of Marine Corps Air Base Miramar. The dirt and rocky trail was a beautiful, peaceful out and back course with a waterfall, huge oak and sycamore trees, and some good hills. I had a flashback to Meghan’s mountain lion encounter when I saw a sign in the parking lot - “Warning: Entering Mountain Lion Country”. My initial reaction was “Cool! Mountain lions!” But I quickly did a mental 180, remembering her blog entry and thinking, “Crap, I didn’t bring my Leatherman!” Well, I am happy to report that the only fast creatures I saw were 3 jackrabbits and a few mountain bikers. Strangely, 40s in the canyon felt a lot colder than 40s back home. Maybe it was mental – being in SoCal, shouldn’t I be in a tank top? – or perhaps it was actually cooler, as the shrubs were frost-covered. Either way, my hands were fur-eeeeezing. I ran much faster on the way back just so I could get to my car heater.
Tues, Dec 7
40 min bike on trainer
Lift arms
20 min elliptical
It’s good to be home again. I think the cats missed me. I also visited the chiropractor for some quick retuning.
Thanks for your concern and advice on my black sheep brother. He's actually out of jail right now and trying to get his life together. We'll see how long that lasts. Off to catch up on everyone else’s adventures before bed…
Posted by Leilani at December 7, 2004 10:44 PM