Cole Haan + Nike = Score!

Sunday afternoon, fueled by the need to send some gifts along to my young nieces and nephew (okay, they’re really my cousins’ children but I’m not sure what their relationship to me is technically), I headed out to prop up the struggling American economy. I was very successful at Osh Gosh Kids and couldn’t make it by the Cole Haan store without stopping in. Big mistake. Well, I guess that depends on how you look at it.

As I entered the store, the scent of Italian leather washed over me. I’ve heard people talk about how this smell can be intoxicating, but never experienced it until Cole Haan on Sunday. Yes, beautiful leather bags and shoes lined the store. My go to black leather pumps need to be retired in a pretty desperate way…the leather has faded and the insoles have started to come up, which makes them both unsightly and uncomfortable to wear. We had a business meeting in L.A. on Thursday and I was kind of embarrassed I had to wear them. As I continue to push higher in the corporate ranks, I figure I need to at least look the part (enter the rationalization).

Although I perused the store for a variety of different shoe options, eventually I gravitated toward the black leather pumps. I have a few pair of Cole Haan shoes but haven’t tracked the brand’s evolution since it was acquired by Nike. Initially I thought the proposition of having “Nike Air” soles in work shoes was just a gimmick. However, after slipping the eloquent heel on, I realized I get a nice pop in height and my forefoot is comforted by the cushy sole. Amazing! Maybe there is something to the Nike Air soles. After debating about the steeper-than-desired price tag, I decided to go for them. Day one of wear did not prove disappointing!

Biggest Waves Since the Move

This weekend Southern California experienced monstrous waves. Definitely the biggest since I moved out West about a year ago. According to news sources, the combination of very hot weather (I’m guessing in-land because the weather in San Diego has been a steady Eddy 75 degrees or so) and “50-knot winds that developed off Tahiti” and blew toward Southern California led to unusually large waves – Surfline was calling for waves of seven to ten feet at La Jolla Shores.

I took advantage of the unusual conditions by rushing to Windan’sea Beach Friday evening after work with Reggie. Since low tide Friday was at 5:30p, Reggie and I were able to scoot around the big rocks on the main part of the beach to the side of the beach where the life guards couldn’t see her splashing around in the ocean without a leash on (gasp!). By the time we settled in around 6:45p, a crowd of spectators had gathered on the hill to watch the surfers brave the waves. It was truly spectacular to watch the talented surfers catch waves of this size. It was also horrifying to see a surfer miss a wave and then get beat up by another wave rolling in before he could recover. The eight to ten foot waves kept rolling in on Friday. And Saturday morning. I was trying to imagine what thoughts would be going through my head if I was out on my board. Probably nothing appropriate to publish on the blog.

Other than a quick dip in the water Saturday morning after a run, I didn’t make it out with my board. I heard the undertow was pretty wicked and that life guards spent a significant amount of time in the water over the weekend pulling out folks that got whisked away by the powerful waves. I did notice when I was throwing the ball out for Reggie that the waves were unusually strong and therefore we were careful not to get out too far. She is definitely getting braver in the waves but I figured it wasn’t a good weekend to push it too much.

First Experience at Black’s Beach

Since relocating to San Diego about a year ago, I’ve heard various people joke about the infamous “naked” beach, Black’s Beach. According to Wikipedia, part of the beach lies under city jurisdiction and part of the beach lies in a state park. Apparently, nudity in a state park is legal. And Black’s is notorious for attracting all the local nudists/naturists.

Black’s is located just north of La Jolla Shores and south of Del Mar. When the tide is low enough, as it was this Saturday morning between 8 and 10 a.m., you can get to Black’s Beach from La Jolla Shores by climbing over a bunch of rocks. As I was running along the beach, I first encountered a ton of surfers, as the waves were wicked/gnarly/etc. and up to eight to ten feet. So far, so good. I started to think that this naked beach allegation could have just been an urban legend.

However, as I continued further north, I spotted a really wrinkly behind. Yes. Wikipedia failed to mention Black’s really attracts 70-year old men. And they were the only naked people I saw on the beach. It reminded me of the “Seinfeld” episode about “good” versus “bad” naked. If you need a live picture of “bad” naked, go for a run on Black’s Beach when the tide is low enough to get there from La Jolla Shores. Yikes.

The Best Long Run Ever

Relating to the title of this post, “best” does not refer to the quality of my run but rather to the quality of the scenery during the run. The themes of my posts from this past weekend are all related to the unusual water conditions experienced over the weekend in Southern California (more on that in another blog post). Saturday morning, driven by an unusually low tide and a running group starting point just down the road at La Jolla Shores beach, I had one of the coolest runs ever. The tide was so low we were able to run all the way on the beach from La Jolla Shores up to Del Mar and back. Overall for me it was a 10.2 mile run.

Part of the reason the scenery was so amazing was the waves were up to seven or eight feet, which drew an unusually high number of surfers out to the water by our 8 a.m. start time. In fact, I wasn’t able to park in the regular lot down at the beach and had to look for a parking spot in the neighborhoods. After a rocky start – I realized as I was walking toward the group my iPod Shuffle was dead and I had a hole in the cap of my water bottle – I was excited to have dragged my butt out of bed for the run. The most challenging part of the run was at the end of La Jolla Shores beach. Both there and on the way back the runners had to stop our running and climb over a bunch of rocks to get to Black’s Beach. On the way back, my body was glad to have several minutes to rest from running.

We continued through Black’s Beach (more on this later also), up toward Torrey Pines State Reserve and to Del Mar. Kirk, Sara and I stopped for a brief rest/stretch/bathroom break at the bathrooms at the beach at the foot of Torrey Pines State Reserve and then headed back to La Jolla Shores. We also enjoyed a bit of cloud covering, which kept the weather nice and cool during our run. I learned that Sara had just completed the San Diego Marathon in May and Kirk also has a lab puppy – though his boy Prince is just a pup compared to Reg at 10 weeks. We recounted puppy stories and shared the joys of being a puppy parent during our run.

After climbing back over the rocks and finishing up through 10 miles on La Jolla Shores beach, we took a quick dip in the ocean. The lifeguards whistled at us and we had to move because we were swimming in an area designated for surfers only. After running 10+ miles, the water felt amazing and I was a bit slow to react to the scolding. All in all, probably the coolest run I’ve been on and nearly perfect conditions.

The Urban Sprawl That Is L.A.

Although I’ve lived in Southern California for nearly a year now, prior to Thursday I had never been to L.A. Based on aggregate reviews from people I’ve chatted with, my thesis was that it probably wouldn’t be my scene: lots of people, lots of concrete, lots of fakeness. Thursday’s visit was brief but I learned firsthand there is one thing that would drive me nuts about L.A.: traffic. The U.S.’s second largest city is home to 3.8 million people, less than half of New York’s 8.4 million people but without public transportation. Yes, a mini-NYC without the subway. Already sounds like a recipe for disaster. It took my co-worker and me about 2.5 hours to get a solid 30 miles outside Century City during rush hour. Ouch.

During our brief trip we also cruised down to the beach and took in the famous Santa Monica pier. I’ve seen the view on “Private Practice.” Generally speaking, anytime a roller coaster is involved, the crowd on the beach tends to get a bit dicey (based on a sample size of one from my experiences around Mission Beach). It just screams, “Come hang out here! This is the most tourist-y place to be!” Needless to say, although the beach is always great, I didn’t see anything that led me to believe the beaches around L.A. could top San Diego beaches.

The spectacular view from the office we visited revealed a vast urban sprawl covered in a layer of smog. It was kind of depressing. I prefer the view from my hood in Windan’sea: the ocean, with a fresh breeze, even if there is the occasional stench of seaweed (particularly as you drive south on La Jolla Boulevard toward PB just as you’re passing “The West End”). While I would realistically say I haven’t spent enough time in L.A. to pass judgment, the initial takeaway is that my original thesis is correct. I think it will take a lot to drag me back up there to conduct additional research. San Diego is more laid back, less trafficky and for Reg and I, the beach is right down the street…

Nine Miles Starting in Del Mar

As the AFC Half inches closer (it’s now 27 days away), I find myself consistently running between 9 and 11 miles on the weekends. For some reason, I’ve been getting stuck at 10.5 miles. I believe that when I’m out there with those other runners, the collective energy will help propel me the last several miles (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). If I manage to run at a sub-9:00 minute mile pace I’ll also be happy. This weekend I made it just over nine miles through Del Mar, up through Solana Beach and I turned around just north of the main beach in Cardiff. It was a nice jaunt at just over a nine minute mile pace.

Probably my favorite part of the run was at the very end, when I walked along the beach in Del Mar and into the water. After spending three straight days in the ocean last weekend, it felt like the water temp had dropped about eight degrees (but the cool water felt great on my legs post-run). Del Mar is such a cool place, each time I visit I debate if I’m making a mistake by not living there. A couple of the drawbacks include the crazy traffic during the summer, driven by the Del Mar Fair and the racetrack. However, when I strike it rich, it’s definitely on my short list of places I’d buy my first beach front home. Especially because it has an awesome dog beach, which during my run was crammed with people playing in a bocce ball tournament. Good times.

Jen Gets Eyed Up By A 65-Year Old

One of the drawbacks to being new to an area is that you’re not always “in the know” about important little factoids. For example, local watering holes are much better to check out on certain nights of the week. During my days in Chapel Hill, the soccer team knew that Thursdays and Saturdays at Top of the Hill/Player’s were much more happening than Friday nights, which most of the college athlete population used as a recovery night.

Now that I’m a resident of La Jolla, I no longer have the luxury of being able to walk to four or five cool spots like I did when I lived at Icon in East Village downtown. Many of the places in LJ are overrun with cougars or creepy old men. The PB scene is too college-y for my taste, and it has been a bit of a challenge to find the hip young professional scene in the North PB/Birdrock/LJ area. Some places I’ve had success with include Turquoise Bar, Firehouse, La Jolla Brewhouse and Beaumont’s. Unfortunately, this Saturday night at Beaumont’s made me think it is much more of a Friday night bar.

Several weeks ago I spent a fun Friday night at Beaumont’s. Live music played and the bar was littered with late 20/early 30-year olds having a few cocktails and just kickin’ it. Overall I was impressed and glad to add a fun spot to check out just over a mile from the new casa. Unfortunately when Jen and I headed down to Beaumont’s for a cocktail this Saturday there was a completely different vibe. I guess it could be summarized as something like a 50-year old birthday party rockin’ out to Led Zeppelin and The Doors. The guitarist was actually pretty impressive, but the crowd was notably older (by an average of 25 years or so).

By the time we arrived, I think they had all already been over-served. I later learned Jen was highly distracted from our conversation by an older, and I mean mid-60s older, man giving her the eye. It was entertaining and overall quite a scene but I’m going to need to further research the trends at Beaumont’s. Is this a Friday night/Saturday night trend or just random?