Brett & Megan

Here’s Brett’s recipe for the week. Go out into your garden, find two large stones about the size of footballs. Grab some heavy strapping or utility rope and tie them to your thighs. Now keep them on for about 4 days and walk around. Then, remove the stones, fill a small bathtub with ice and the coldest water available from the faucet and soak for 20minutes.

I did this except I didn’t need the stones because they were already under my skin in the form of my quadriceps muscles. At least they felt like stones after running a half-marathon. Last weekend I ran the Boney Mountain trail run as part of the XTERRA Trail Race series.  It with about 2,400ft. of climbing (that’s uphill running for the regular not-so-crazy you would do this kind of thing with your weekend crowd). Here’s what the profile looked like:

Normally I would endure such a trail run along with the accompanying heat and wind with vigor but I wasn’t completely trained for it, about 70% I would estimate. I had done several trail runs before including some steep switchbacks right here in La Crescenta but when you get into the race and people are moving fast you tend to forget your pacing and just go with the crowds. I felt good for the first few miles, even through the steeper climb from mile 3 to 4, passing several people walking on the switchbacks. But I overuse the quads in pulling up that climb that by the time I got up the long hill from miles 6 to 10, they were cooked. Cramps began to burn through my thighs. At least the last part was downhill, right? Except that almost hurt worse than going uphill. When I finally got to the last 1/2 mile we made a sharp right turn straight into 40mph winds – a final and literal slap in the face to humble you.

Megan also ran the 6K although she fared better. She had already eaten the complementary fruit and scrambled eggs (right on XTERRA!) and was wondering why I didn’t make my 2hour estimate. When I came in she wanted to talk right away but I would have none of it. Had to lie on the pavement in pain for a while and catch my breath.

After spending a few hours with Jen & Steve (cousins) in Newbury Park we headed home. We stopped at a Costco to return an item and as I walked in to the store my legs began cramping again – must have been sitting in the car for a while that got them. The customer service guy looked pretty bewildered as I used a hurried, bent-at-the-knees and hunched-over stride to get to the counter like I was bowling for a spare.

Five days and several liters of chocolate milk later, my quads are back to normal. You live, you cramp, you suffer. Oh and learn, yeah, learn.

Before the year ends we would like to wish everyone a happy New Year. If you received a card, we apologize for the oversize stamp. We made up cards from the same service last year and as I was designing it this year, I thought ‘why not go bigger with the stamp?’. Little did I realize the stamp would be so big for the card it would  have to be turned sideways so as not to block text. One of my several technological mishaps. – brett

We are usually well prepared for the holidays and this year was not much different. Megan purchased most of the family gifts well in advance and we mostly avoided the crowds. However, just by chance, we were running low on household supplies with about 4 days before Christmas and realized we had to bite the bullet and head to Target (no way I’m paying $4/box for Kleenex at the regular grocery store). Though we really did not want to go near the retail areas this reluctant trip turned out to be a Christmas opportunity.

We were prepared for the worst and had a game plan – I would drop Megan off and she would get a head start while I park the car. On the way in we noticed someone sitting outside of the mall parking lot at our closest Target. They appeared to be sitting on the sidewalk, bundled up in dirty clothes, and selling something. All Megan could read off the cardboard sign they held was “need a sleeping bag”. We didn’t think much of it. Sadly, this time of year is prone to lots of crime in our area. Last year right before Christmas, a guy was rummaging through the bed of our neighbor’s pickup truck. I asked him what he was doing and he gave me a story about being out of gas and looking for a gas can. I politely told him that unless he knows our neighbor he should ask first at which he promptly left. I found out later that day that he went to the neighboring building and stole a child’s bike. You feel for people because they are just trying to provide a Christmas for their own families.

Back to Target: I dropped off Megan, parked and met her inside. She already had a basket with one item in it. I was surprised to find a sleeping bag. But then, I wasn’t surprised. Megan after all is the saint of our marriage. But my Scrooge let loose and I started griping in a repugnant tone about why she had to buy the most expensive sleeping bag in the store and other nonsense. Megan knew the reply – she began reviewing all the things I had spent more money on in the last few weeks, a pair of running shoes being one item and movie tickets being another. Her answer silenced me and I suddenly realized how un-Christian my attitude was. Megan’s later explanation that she has been cold every night (yes, SoCal gets down into the 40’s sometimes – we had snow before Christmas in LA) despite layers of blankets in her foam mattress bed and she couldn’t imagine anyone sleeping out in the cold. On our way out of Target we dropped off the sleeping bag, for which the lady on the sidewalk (we couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman on the way in) prayed blessings on our souls. Needless to say, I was humbled like I should have been.

The next few days were a little better as I looked for similar opportunities to serve others in small ways. I wish I could say our entire celebration was, as a speaker in church called it,  a “Level 3 Christmas”, level 1 being entirely commerical, but we did our job to keep the spirit of Christ and be more loving.  A decent level 2 Christmas I conclude.

resolved to think less selflessly Brett