Old Man Winter

Who the heck called this guy into work? That is a question I want answered.

Sat night through the Sunday the wind howled something awful and with it came a cold front from out of something.

This weekend was generally pretty awesome.

I took three days off of running, which was a very smart move I think. I need to give my joints and muscles some time to heal and get adjusted to the constant pounding that running inflicts.

Saturday I headed out for a little spindle with the Smitty and the UCSB kids. It was a good time and a nice little change of pace.

Sunday I headed out to Thousand Oaks to watch Caitlin's Sister compete in a Horse jumping dealy. It was pretty exciting actually... The jumps were HIGH. It makes you appreciate sports like motto cross and cycling in which you are really the only other variable as long as you maintain your equipment (with the exception of the occasional mechanical failure etc). In horse back riding it is both you and the horse. You tell the horse what to do, but ultimately it is up to the horse to decide if it will jump or not and I don't know if you all know too much about horses but it seems they get spooked pretty easily. If your horse refuses to jump twice you are done... game over. The type of racing that Amelia was doing was called "Hunter/Jumper". I think I am going to get down and see the Pros have a go at it at a "Grand Prix" later this year.

It also seems like a LOT of work. preparation for a very short track. The horses jump maybe a dozen+ times in the course of 2 minutes and then kapow... its all over

Went out for a 5+ mile jaunt around Ellwood yesterday afternoon after my shift had ended at work. WOWZA what a beautiful run that was along the bluffs looking out into the pacific ocean. The sun was hanging low in the sky and it literally took my breath away. I was running at a very comfortable clip. I shortened my stride and have been focusing on increasing my cadence to increase speed. That has been working like a champ. Although I was starting to feel strain on my left knee from a tight IT band and my shins were also feeling a bit achy in general. Tough to say if they are shin splints or if my legs were just a little 'tight' from not running in 3 days. I don't have a clue and often times I think some of the stress on my legs might be pshycosymatic. I get so obsessed with it...
After the run I went to the gym with Caitlin and threw some Iron around... Then later dinner with my parents who were in town. We had a wonderful dinner and talked politics over dessert. My Dad seems to always have the same question... "Where is the Youth today?" He was very active when he was younger and participated in many demonstrations and marches in Berkly and other places.
He raises a very good point though... Where is the youth?
Perhaps we are too focused on face book and twitter and blog spot? Spending 17+ hours a week in a virtual reality. Listening to music, watching TV, Hulu, and netflix... The days still have only 24 hours in them and it would seem that the chief difference between my generation and my fathers is not the level of enthusiasm. I honestly believe that still exists. I think the primary difference is the amount of distraction...

Abre los ojos.