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Willy Wonka Preview

Todd — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:09:00 +0000

Emma is performing in her very first school play, a performance of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She will be playing a Wonka Bar and has been practicing relentlessly for weeks. Here’s a little preview.

The play starts next week. Wish her luck!

Twin Peaks 50/50 Ultramarathon

Todd — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:14:14 +0000

Last weekend I volunteered at the Twin Peaks Ultramarathon. The race is practically in my backyard, taking place in the Cleveland National Forest around Saddleback Mountain. The course is scenic but brutal. The 50 mile race has 17,000 feet of total elevation gain!

The first I’d ever heard of ultra running was via Dean Karnazes’ Ultramarathon Man
a few years ago. Having just completed my second marathon I wanted to see first hand what the “next level” of running looked like. After spending a dozen hours on a mountain top watching runners all I can say is, “Wow!”

I was stationed near the top of the course at Upper Holy Jim, working with folks from Riverside County RACES. The crew was great, arriving well before dawn and then being the last off of the mountain with us, well after dark. While on duty we recorded split times as runners passed by, offered directions to those wondering which way to turn next and circulating back down to another aid station at Bear Springs to keep supplies of Gu and Nuun fresh. A few trips down and back (maybe 3 miles total) convinced me that this race wasn’t for me.

The winner of the 50 mile race was Hiroki Ishikawa who finished in 9:05. I’d met him the night before at the volunteer dinner. He’d flown in from Japan and is an accomplished ultrarunner. (See his profile on Patagonia.) I met several other folks during the dinner and cheered them on as they crossed by at mile 25, mile 40 and again mile 45. Ross Davidson, from Kentucky, was in California on business and decided to tackle the 50K before returning home, seemingly on a whim. He was begging for bourbon, instead of water, at our station. Mike Fugget, from Hawaii, was using Twin Peaks as a qualifier for the H.U.R.T. 100 mile run in Hawaii.

We ended up waiting for a few runners well after dark, literally packing up the station and following them down the windy fire road by vehicle (some great video of the bumpy road here on Billy Burger’s blog) while they continued to run in the darkness. I felt terrible when I saw the results the next day for the two women bringing up the rear of the 50 mile and 50 K races. They’d come so close, only to end up as DNFs. And, while exceedingly annoyed at one runner who ignored the cutoff times, I couldn’t help but be a little proud to see his name with a time in dead last. True perseverance.

Everyone that passed that day was truly inspirational, whether smiling and in great shape or struggling to the end.

Born to Swim

Todd — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:49:11 +0000

Emma joined the Rancho Santa Margarita Dolphins swim team this year and took to the water like, well, a dolphin. She practiced multiple times per week focusing on the 25 m freestyle and 25 m backstroke. Despite being the shortest person on the team she wasn’t (always) the slowest. By the time for the first meet her body was tan and her stroke smooth.

2010 Surf City Marathon Race Report

Todd — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:45:36 +0000

After a thorough soaking Friday and Saturday the clouds parted in Southern California making Sunday a beautiful day. This was good, as I was at the starting line preparing to run my second marathon on Sunday in Huntington Beach as the sun rose.

Mindful of the lessons I learned at the OC Marathon last year, I kept the pace easy and had really consistent splits up until mile 21 when I started to fade. I had one long walking stint at mile 23 and then summoned enough will to power through the last few miles.

A few notable moments:

Around mile 6 I caught up with George Border, an 81 year old running his 40th marathon. He was all smiles and playfully “conducting” one of the bands in HB Central Park.

At mile 15 a boy and his mother were cheering from the median in the road. The boy, no older than 5, had his hand out for a high five but no one was taking him up on the offer. I sprinted across the street and gave him a hoot and a quick slap on the hand. The glee on his face gave me an instant adrenaline rush. It was great!

Around mile 20 I crossed paths with Barefoot Ken Bob, who was prominent in “Born to Run”. He was walking with another runner so I slowed down, said hello and then went back on my way. I spotted two other barefoot runners during the race along with one prosthetic limb. Talk about inspiration!

My family were near the finish line, cheering and holding up signs the kids had made for me that morning. Nothing could have made me happier than seeing them and I crossed the finish line right near my goal time with a smile on my face.

Miscellaneous May

Todd — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:52:03 +0000

Quick pop quiz! What do these three things have in common?

a dead hummingbird
an off-shoe camera cord
children playing in a box

Give up? They all happened to be in our house during the month of May in 2009.

Cora Likes Cecelia

Todd — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:58:15 +0000

I was introducing the kids to some Simon & Garfunkel the other night and Cora started dancing when “Cecelia” came on. She stopped dancing immediately, of course, once she saw that the camera was rolling.

Strawberry Picking

Todd — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:30:45 +0000

We’ve belonged to the CSA program (community supported agriculture) that South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano runs for almost five years now. Every other week we get a giant basket of yummy fruits and veggies, largely picked straight from the farm that day.

In late spring the baskets are even better than usual thanks to fresh strawberries. If I happen to pick up the basket on my way home from work, I generally have a hard time not eating all of the strawberries on the drive home. (I place strawberries right behind butter and bacon in my list of top foods.)

We were super excited, of course, when South Coast Farms ran a $1 per pound promotion on “you pick” strawberries at the end of the season last year. We piled the whole family in the car and picked to our hearts’ content! After a few hours we returned home with bellies full of strawberries and just over 10 pounds of berries. A double batch of delicious strawberry pineapple jam was in our future…

Emma Turns 7

Todd — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:35:30 +0000

Since our trip to San Francisco last year Emma has been in love with trollies. When searching for a place for her birthday party this year it was natural to choose The Old Spaghetti Factory in Newport Beach. The trolley dining car in the middle of the restaurant was a dream come true.

Centennial Farm with Henry

Todd — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:54:02 +0000

I played hooky from work one day to go with Henry’s pre-school class to Centennial Farm at the OC Fairgrounds. His teacher, Mrs. Carrie, laid down the ground rules prior to us entering the farm and then we were off!

First order of business: have lunch. Seems that no pre-K kid can make it past 10 AM without some sort of snack to tide them over. Once properly fed, the kids started their tour of the farm. We saw farm implements, learned how cheese is made and saw some cute newborn animals.

The star of the show was the fat sow and her dozen or so piglets. Whether running around and squealing or fighting for a prime feeding spot, the kids all had a great time watching the chaos in the pig pen while mama pig snored away.

The farm tour ended with a good game of chase, of course, and Henry and his buddies laughing, screaming and gloriously grass stained.

Easter with the Family

Todd — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 08:07:56 +0000

Easter this year was a giant feast, attended by both my family as well as my brother’s. Bonus guests were my sister-in-law’s parents, making this one of the largest Easters on Northcutt record.