There's no place like home, except California

I’m on my way home from California today. I had a GREAT trip, probably the best ever. We accomplished everything we needed to and I got a great run in at the beach (see pics below). I also got to meet Southbay girl for fish tacos! It is amazing to me how small this world is sometimes. When I began blogging I never intended to meet new people. I had only hoped to capture my thoughts and feelings so I could have them for later. It has turned into this wonderful world of interesting people and really opened my eyes to how much we love RUNNING. I love being around runners. It is great to be around people that have the same problems, concerns, loves, and desires that you have. Even if we live thousands for miles away from each other. I hope I have made a friend for life, I hope Southbay girl doesn’t run away and hide from the internet after meeting me, I hope I can come to California and always know someone who I can hang out with, I hope if you ever come to Oklahoma you will look up SeeWillieRun and let me show you around, and I hope we all keep running forever.

I ran 8.5 miles along Manhattan, Hermosa, and Redondo beaches yesterday. It was a little chilly and I only brought shorts and a short sleeve T-shirt so I was a little cold until I got warmed up. There was a strong breeze coming off the ocean but I was running perpendicular to it so it never bothered me much. There is so much to see along the strip. The houses are amazing (amazingly expensive probably) and I am sure I passed a celebrity. I tried to take pictures of everyone just is case they were a celebrity (shameless tourist from Midwest). I saw people playing volleyball, I saw homeless people, I saw couples with children, I saw old men and young women, I saw airplanes taking off from LAX, I saw boats out at sea, I saw birds hanging on the breeze, I saw skateboarders and rollerbladers, I saw beautiful cliffs down south and horrible smokestacks up north. I watched the sun fall into the ocean and the lights of the city streets come alive. It was an amazing panoramic theater of life. I wish I could do it everyday but I would fear it wouldn’t be special after awhile. Wonderful things in life sometimes have to remain brief in order to remain wonderful. I’ve always hated that about life.

As I said, I ran 8.5 miles in 1:16 minutes. That’s great except that I had only planned to run 6 miles in about an hour. You might think, “Great Willie, you did more and felt good what’s wrong with that?” Well, I only fed the parking meter 1 hour and 15 minutes worth of quarters. As I was finishing my run I noticed a meter maid driving by in her little golf cart. She waved at me and I waved back. That wave cost me $30! I got a parking ticket!!! I was only about 3-4 minutes late and I ran extra so shouldn’t the people of Manhattan Beach congratulate me? I am going to pay the ticket with a note describing how much I love the city and how good my run was, I may even include pictures. I figure if the meter maid was nice enough to wave at me we may as well keep the whole process of screwing me on a friendly level until the end. I’m actually proud of the ticket; it shows that I did more than I had planned. It’s proof that I exceeded my expectations. Spend my money well Manhattan Beach.