Lots of Excitement Today

I am lying in my hotel room in sunny San Diego. Probably not what most out-of-towners do here, but I'll explain. For one, I am running a half marathon here tomorrow. It's a training run (slow pace), which means more time in the sun tomorrow, so I'm trying to avoid the sun today. And for two, the Olympics is on nearly all day today. Granted, NBC has decided that track cycling prelims are more exciting than the women's 10,000 m final. You know I love cycling, but the US athletes aren't even winning medals in the events they are showing. Where's the love for Shalane? Right here.


In case you weren't up between 12:30 and 2 am to watch the replay of the race, Shalane was confused about her place at the finish because the leaders had lapped some runners but she didn't know how many. The video shows a non-African runner crossing the line after the winner, Dibaba, and it's confusing for a second, but then you realize that woman has more laps to go. Congrats on getting that third place Shalane! I'm sure Marblehead will have a nice parade for you and I will do my best to channel you during my race tomorrow. We drove the end of the course today, which we heard was hilly, and it was, so I'll need the boost.

The only outing today was to Whole Foods (and then to drive the course). While we were there, Jon Miller, of ESPN fame, was also shopping.

The story: I heard the guy behind the counter say, "Hello Mr. Miller." In my head, I thought, "Oh, that must be a former teacher of that guy. Cool." But then, the response of Mr. Miller was so weird. It was as if he didn't know the kid working behind the counter or didn't care to catch up. I kept shopping and then I heard K say to the man, "I really like your style." I looked the man up and down and thought, "What is he seeing here?" He had on a blue Hawaiian style shirt with no pattern, dark chino shorts, and some older Teva-like sandals. I didn't think his style was anything to comment on. Then Mr. Miller spoke. "Well, thank you very much," he said. Then I knew that this wasn't just any old Mr. Miller. This was Jon Miller, who I've heard call the Red Sox winning the World Series on the radio. And his style, was not something to be seen, but to be heard. Funny thing is...his voice sounds the same in real life.

The final note of the day: This morning, I went to the Starbucks across the street to get the Times. By the way, this Starbucks opens at 4:30am on weekdays and 5 am on weekends. I didn't know that the San Diegans were so aggressive in the morning. Maybe the early hours are for the surfers. Anyway, I got a coupon for a $2 grande cold drink if I came back after 2pm that same day. So, since it's right across the street, I went back and tried the new Vivanno smoothie.

I first saw these advertised in Atlanta, but I can make my own smoothies, so I wasn't that interested. Today, I had the orange mango banana, which I thought it was pretty good. Who knows what's really in it, but I wouldn't turn it down if someone wanted to give me another one.

And as I close, bad news for Deena. Sad.