Moving and... moving

Last night my Dad and I took part in the Nike Human Race, purportedly the world's largest running event with races taking place in places like Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo on the same day. Because of the time zones, Los Angeles was the final race. My dad and I were among the 12,000 runners that began the 10K (6.2 mile) run by the Coliseum at 8:31:08 on 8-31-08.


This what it looked like from where we were standing at the starting gate. There are white signs that arrange members the crowd according to what pace they run. The world-class runner are in front. We were pretty far in back at the 11:00 minute-mile mark!


Dad and me "before" running. You can see people stretching in the background as well as the Olympic torch in the background.


It gets pretty crowded while running on the blocked-off streets. Not for claustrophobic people or agoraphobiacs. When people decide to stop running and walk, it creates weird obstacles and eddies in the flow. They should really move to the side.


The "after" picture. We sat under a tree so no one would walk into us and ate the freebies, including Power Bars, puffed potato chips, and bottled water. That was our dinner.


The run was sponsored by Nike but my dad wore Mizuno and I wore Pumas. Whoa, my right ankle is looking swollen. I swear my legs aren't that fat. Maybe it was the running?


The evening culminated in a concert by Kanye West with Common. I'm not super knowledgeable about modern rap, but I give West credit for being a smart guy and great performer. Not only did he step up and criticize Bush afer Katrina, but he is homies with Murakami. During the show, he said, "I would have run with you but I had to rap tonight." (The American Idol host who started the race didn't offer to wear no red shirt.) So it was cool to finally see him live. Actually, it turns out I might prefer Common's voice to Kanye's. It's powerful, and when he came onstage, it changed everything.


How do you train for a 10K? Well, Dad and I spent two hot days leading up to it cleaning out my house and filling bins. We never broke for lunch, but somehow we had enough juice to do the run. Good thing that took place in the cool evening air.


Amazingly, we packed everything into three bins, so we can return the fourth one empty and not have to pay rent for it. Now I've just got the ticky-tack work--like boxing up all the kitchen and bathroom stuff. I'm glad it's brainless busy stuff, because I am really beat.


As for Dad, I gave him the day off. Right now it's just me, taking a break to blog, but trying to finish before dinner and hopefully get some time with Eloise. I'll have to fight the in-laws for her attention now, and I better get used to it. The home renovation will take at least seven months!