Epiman's Half Marathon

I recently started practicing for a half marathon. There are several marathons for charity in October that I hope to make one of them. Wednesday I ran seven miles as a part of my half marathon program I got somewhere on the internet. I used to run while I living in Ohio; but since Ohio was almost always so cold or so hot I had to do it at the University of Dayton's gym which was not so much fun. The thing was that I couldn't stand running in the same gym every day and seeing the same walls and windows and- after a while- the same people. It was a very beautiful gym though. Anyhow, I gave up running after a while and just did lifting.

But things are different in Southern California. Everyday is sunny and the weather is awesome. Neither getting cold in the winter nor very hot in the summer makes it a perfect place for outdoor sports. For a lazy man like me running is the least excusable one! You just can’t find any reason to escape it. The only thing you need is to do is to decide when to go and you are on your way in 2 minutes. There is also a good biking route close to where I live. It passes by a small water canal and people use it for walking or running too. It’s very nice especially in the evenings when people go out for exercise. Everyone does his/her best. Some walk, some jog, some run so fast and can’t help breathing, some take it easy and let their feet run them, some ride fancy bikes, some cycle really seriously and some just go to have their dogs toilet and go back home ASAP so that they don’t miss the early evenings TV shows!
So, I started this marathon program about a month ago and now I am half way through it. In less than a month- hopefully- I will finish a half marathon and go for a race. If you see me somewhere in Long beach, LA or Newport beach marathon races, make sure to shake your hands for me or at least make a smile. I will be wearing a running short and shoes with a T-shirt. See you there :)

Epiman's mornings

Nothing much is going on these days. It’s just the routine. Everyday I wake up exactly at 5:00AM. Massage my eyes and wish I could wake up just an hour later. While keeping my eyes barely opened I walk to the bathroom,…[you don't need an explanation for this part!] , touch my face and hoping I don’t need to shave (but I do it almost everyday anyways). While shaving, I try to remember if I have anything for lunch or I need to go to the Quiznoz again. Now, I am almost awake or at least force myself to be. Then I walk to the kitchen, open the fridge, take the food, put it in the lunch box and look at my new lunch box which I haven’t been ready to use yet ‘cause it's too many different compartments but all of them are too small (I got it as a gift, so I don’t mind not using it!). Then I check the freezer to see if there is still some frozen breakfast in it. I put the plate and the breakfast in the bag and read the clock. If it is 5:15 I have to leave, if it’s not I turn on the TV to check the traffic. Have you ever seen the early morning news? People look ridiculously fresh! At least they look fresh to me. I mean, at 5:10AM you don’t expect seeing people wearing suites and made their hair by a stylist. I feel pity for them. They probably have to be at work at least 2 hours a head of their show to be prepared. So they have to go to sleep around 8 or even earlier. I hate going to sleep early at night more than waking up early in the morning. See, For me to have a normal sleep, I have to go to bed around 10PM. That is exactly when I want to relax a little and watch some TV or waste my time on the internet.
Anyway, I don’t wanna distract you from my very important morning routine story! I have 30 miles to work so I need to make it quick or I'll be late if I stuck in unexpected traffic jams. It’s still completely dark and again I feel pity for myself. The only good thing about waking up this early is that you avoid the crazy traffic in 405. It gradually becomes a moving parking lot till 8AM.
I turn on the car stereo which is usually on the CD player from yesterday evening. I quickly turn it to NPR radio station. Who wants to listen to some progressive rock CD this time of the night? NPR is the only radio able to keep me up now. They talk about politics mostly, with some short news. I find NPR more interesting at this time of the night rather than any other time for some reason. In 5 minutes I enter 405-north and set the cruise controller on 75. Every morning there is someone in 405 who deserves my curses for his/her driving. When I find him/her, I generously send my worst curses and pass by. In 30 minutes I am at the parking door of the company. I open the door, park my car, pick up the food bag and enter the plant. Everyone is working here. I take a look at the closest person I see, make a smile and say good morning. I clock in and feel pity for these people who started to work at 4:00AM or even 2:00AM! The smell of fresh coffee made by my boss for the engineering people wakes me up again. So, let’s see what’s going on today :)
Good morning to you too :)

Process of Being Californicated

You know I live in California right now. The shallowest state in the U.S. Even the governor is an actor (not a very talented one though). Recently, I figured out that this is the atmosphere which forces people to become shallow. I mean, for example, imagine you go to a mall close by to buy an , say, Old Navy hoodie (OK, I'm a turtle!). While you're walking in the mall you see so many people are wearing nice clothes(including hoodies!).You're a human being, right?(at least I assume you are) so you become attracted to these beauties and if you have some extra money in your pocket you may change you mind from Old Navy to ,say, Banana Republic. But you're an amature, you are still sticking to your principles and opposing you being ranked by your clothes brands. But after a while you see more and more beautiful clothes around and want to have them. So you switch to more expensive brands and end up spending even five times more on your hoodies!
This is how you set the first step to your Californication (as Red hot chili peppers say) process. Luckily I am, I had been to California back and forth for the last 3 years. So, before I completely moved here I knew what I was going to encounter and tried to avoid these things as much as I could but I still can't resist buying my jeans from Diesel! ... I wish I could stick to my principles more!
Anyway, there are lots of great thing about California like being diverse, cosmopolitan, foreigner friendly, one of the greatest art centers in the world, having the best public school system and home to many important businesses, industries and universities in the world and don't forget the very beautiful beaches.

The minor problem No. 1

Did I tell you I go running almost four times a week?
There is always this problem: You know when you are walking or running and someone comes to you from the opposite direction and you want to be nice and say hi or just give her/him a smile but you don't know when is the right time? It's been a problem for me since my childhood.
I just can't find the exact time to do this. Sometimes I don't look at all but it's mean and I don't like it. Sometimes I look at the person so early that she/he can't recognize my hi or smile. Sometimes, I do it so late when the person has already looked away!
It's a weird, I don't know how to deal with this situation.