Thank you to everyone who wished me well on my 40th birthday. We celebrated at SaintRocke with good food, good drinks and most importantly, good friends. Notice how the following photos get more and more sloppy.
Adam and I had meetings in Arizona last week and found time to knock the little white ball around. We stayed and played at Boulders Resort, which is about 45 minutes outside of Phoenix. The course was beautiful and great shape, but we had a couple of interesting visitors. Check out the video showing the two Javelina’s who joined us on hole #5. We thought they were wild pigs and I estimated they weighed at least 180 pounds, but all documentation says they max out of 60 pounds. It turns out they’re not pigs at all, Javelina’s are related to rodents and closer to rats. I still think they where special trophy sized monsters, but we will never know for sure.
Golfing with Pigs from Mark Roah on Vimeo.
I learned some real sad news today. Mr. Fred Robinson passed away Friday, November 8, 2008 and he will be greatly missed, but remembered as a soaring legend. I was lucky enough to fly with him a number of times and each flight I was in awe of his depth of soaring knowledge, teaching ability and ultimate patience.
Fred knew his time was short and wanted to enjoy every last day. He loved flying so much and wanted to be nowhere else than the airfield. He told me quite a few times to enjoy every day to the fullest, enjoy your friends and family, and make sure you do the things that make you happy, not what makes everyone else happy. Great advice from a wise man. I suggest we don’t wait until the twilight of our life to take such sage advice. He flew almost every day, mainly because he loved it and died a truly happy man with no regrets. Hopefully he is soaring in everlasting thermals high above the clouds.
The Dodgers had a great run at the end of the season and Manny added to the excitement. We couldn’t make it to the World Series, but we were able to pop the campaign twice after winning the National League West and then again after closing out the Cubs in the first round of the playoffs. Craig, Melanie, Steve, Melissa, Lisa and I watched the closeout game, which was the Dodgers first playoff clinch in 20 years.
The following video shows the final pitch and the fans’ reaction. It was a blast!
Dodgers Closeout the Cubs and Advance to the NLCS from Mark Roah on Vimeo.
This second video shows one of the many “Manny” fans found throughout LA in honor of Manny Ramirez and his amazing 3 months in Los Angeles.
Mannywood! from Mark Roah on Vimeo.
I started my glider training today in the desert just outside of Palmdale at Great Western Soaring School located on Crystal Airport. Flying is in my blood and learning to soar is something I’ve always wanted to do. I earned my pilot’s license just after graduating from college, but I haven’t flown since starting L90 back in 1996. My absence from flying extended when I married Lisa and again after we had our two little boys. Too often life just gets in the way of all the things you WANT to do. This year I decided to be proactive with a few WANTS and scheduled time in my calendar just for me.
I flew twice today with my instructor Fred Robinson, a master pilot who has flown longer than I have been alive. He is an amazing man and a wealth of information. Our first flight lasted only about 20 minutes. We unhooked from the tow plane 2,000 feet above ground and didn’t find much lift, but it allowed me time controlling the glider and experiencing a smooth landing by Fred. We quickly connected to the tow plane again, this time climbing 3,000 feet above the ground, which is 6,500 feet above sea level. Lift was incredible! We found thermals, which is rising currents caused by heating and expanding air. Plus, we also rode mountain waves, which is caused by wind running up and down over a mountain, then the falling air bounces up and begins to rise again. Like a wave in the ocean. You can also compare it to a big boulder in a river. The water goes up and then down the rock, but if you look closely you will see a wave of water going up again as if there’s another big rock. There’s no rock, it’s just a wave. So we quickly rode thermals and mountain waves up to 9,500 feet, allowing me ample time to practice turns and other maneuvers. We could have stayed up for hours, but Fred’s cell phone rang and he was reminded that another student was waiting. We pointed the nose of the plane to the airport and slowed down by using speed breaks on the wings. Fred helped me land the plane diagonally on the runway due to a 20 mile an hour crosswind. Our 75 minute flight was awesome! I immediately walked to the office and booked another two days of lessons for early August. I am already counting the days until my next flight.
Learning to Soar from Mark Roah on Vimeo.
In 2007 I dedicated myself to fitness and training for the OC Marathon. I had plenty of time and no excuses, so I set out to complete an 18 week training schedule designed by legendary marathon instructor Hal Higdon. I enjoyed the training, even the early Sunday morning 20 mile runs! I ran the Long Beach Marathon in 2005 which was my first and it took me 3 hours and 52 minutes, so my goal this time was to beat my first time and set the Mark Roah new personal best of 3:45.
During the initial 10 miles, I was really pushing hard and on pace for a 3:30 time, which in hindsight was just too fast for my fitness level. At the 14 mile point, I began to slow down, felt nauseous, started to shake and even had to walked a little. I worried beating my past time was out of reach, I even thought finishing the race was in jepardy. I basically BONKED! I started slurping the energy gels and walked a little more while drinking extra sports drink provided on the course. I think pushing too fast early in the race caused dehydration issues, because I quickly felt better soon after drinking an extra dose of liquids.
I was finally back running again and thinking I was still ahead of my 3:45 goal pace, when the 3:50 pacing team past me. Oh crap! I guess my calculations were off. I couldn’t let them pass, they saw I was struggling a little and urged me to join them. It was the best decision I made. Running with the pace team pushed me and took my mind off just how tired I was and then something amazing happened, I started to feel real strong. Maybe it was my second wind or runners high, all I know is my legs were fresh again and the pacer had to hold me back like a seasoned jockey. I finally broke away from the pace team with 3 miles to go, but my legs would start cramping when I pushed too hard. I found the correct speed, cruised to the finish line and even sprinted the final 100 yards. I finished in 3:47 which was 2 minutes off my goal, but still 5 minutes better than my first marathon.
The training and the actual race were fun, but I’m done with marathons. The training commitment and the toll it takes on my body is just too much. I’m proud of my two races, but I’ll stick to running a 1/2 marathons and 10k races for now.
