And a Win!

Also known as Summer League Game 3

Yes, that's right, we won last night.  It was something like 15-9, too.  We were ahead the entire game, although they did score a couple of points in a row when we reached 13 to make the game last longer than it should have.  And that first point after 13 lasted a long time.  Like at least 10 minutes.  There were so many turns.  I'm glad I wasn't on the field for that one.

We had 9 guys show up this week again, but they only had 8, which certainly helped us out a lot.  We also had two guys who hadn't been able to make it so far, which was nice.  But I do think that extra guy made a lot of the difference.

On a personal note, I had a mixed bag.  I caught two discs and I dropped two discs.  There was also one that was thrown to me where the disc sailed over the head, but fortunately a team mate was there to catch it.  One of those drops was low and to my side.  It did bounce off my hand, but it was a very awkward throw for me to catch.  The other one was most definitely my fault.  I committed the classic mistake of looking for where I was going to throw the disc before I caught it.  Just before I dropped it, I realized what I was doing, too, but there was no time to watch the disc until I caught it.  Fortunately, we got a turn and I was able to successfully catch the disc and pass it on later in that very point.

Irvine Lake Mud Run 2019

Or the mud run that wasn’t.

The Irvine Lake Mud Run holds a special place in my heart.  It was the first mud run I did back in April of 2010.  While I haven’t done it every year, I’ve done it at least 10 times because I did it multiple times some years, and I think I only missed one year.  The last couple of years, they’ve only done it once, and the numbers have been dropping, so I was afraid the day would come when they would discontinue it.

Never the less, when they announced the mud run for this year, I signed up at the cheapest discounted rate – back in July of last year.  That race was supposed to take place this last Saturday.  I was still getting promo e-mails like I usually do from them; in fact, I got one over Memorial Day weekend.

So you can imagine my shock when I got an e-mail two weeks ago, a week and a half before the event, saying they weren’t going to be able to put on the mud run this year and it was postponed until March of 2020.  That’s right, another 9 months away.  My registration was good for the new date or I could have my registration switched to someone else.

Naturally, I wasn’t happy about that since I had been planning some other things for that day since I would be down in Orange County any way.  However, I’ve managed to work things out so I can do those activities on other days, and I was able to get together with some friends on Saturday I would have had to pass on otherwise.

But what really makes me mad is that I am going to have to fight them for a refund.  The weekend they have rescheduled for I have other plans for already, so I can’t do this run.  They didn’t offer a refund, so I am going to have to fight them for it, and I will.  It’s not a lot of money, but it is the principle.

What makes me even sadder is I bet this is the end of this particular mud run.  No one is very happy with them right now, and I doubt others are going to sign up after this stunt.  It was truly a very fun event, and I’m sad that last year was my last time doing this run.  Even if they do come back from this, it is going to be hard to trust them and sign up again.

Summer League Game 2

We had our second summer league ultimate Frisbee game Wednesday night.  It was the same result, only better.  What do I mean?  We lost, but we lost 13-15, which is just over double our score from last week.  We had 9 guys show up instead of the 8 we had last week, too.

The one thing that is frustrating is that we were up almost the entire game.  We took half at 8-6.  Then they came back and tied it up.  We aren’t completely sure what the score was at that point, but it was either 13’s or 12’s.  We went with 12’s.  As you can see, they score 3 points to our 1 after that.

I’m sure the fact that they had more subs helped them.  Especially since it meant I was out there on D.  I hope we get a few more subs so I can play more offense than defense.

However, I’m not complaining about getting more playing time.  I’m getting more than I’m used to, and I’m definitely not complaining about that.

I didn’t have any drops or throwaways last night, although one throw was close.  There was one disc thrown to me that fell short.  I could have run to it, but I thought it was going to make it to me, and then I lost it in the lights.  By the time I saw it was going to be short, I couldn’t get there.  If I’d been running harder toward it, I might have been able to get there, so that is frustrating.

We’ve been playing at the fields where Summer League was played for years.  (Don’t remember if I mentioned this last week.)  It was nice to be there for a nostalgia point of view.  And it is really nice to be there since it is a shorter drive than where the majority of our games are these days.  However, the gophers have taken over the field.  It’s why we stopped playing there.  We won’t be there anymore this summer, and I won’t miss the gophers at all.

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 2019

10

I have now done the Camp Pendleton Mud Run 10 times.  I really find that hard to believe.  It doesn’t seem possible that it has been 10 years since I started doing mud runs.  But the number of mud run related shirts in my closet certainly don’t lie.

I had hoped to get some friends to join me this year, but that didn’t come together, so once again it was just me.  My parents were almost in the area, but their plans changed again as well.  So it was just me driving down and back and doing the mud run.  Not that I’m completely upset because I got over half of an audio book listened to, finishing it up just before I got home.

As usual, I spent Friday night in the area.  Hopefully the Motel 6 I was at this year gets their hot water fixed soon since it stank, but other than that, my night was fine.  I certainly slept well.  My chair at work isn’t comfortable, bugging my legs by the end of the day and usually by the end of the week, but again that didn’t prove to be an issue.  While they were bugging me Friday night, I woke up feeling great and ready to run Saturday morning.

I got on base with plenty of time, which is always nice.  I was possibly earlier than in years past since I got to park on pavement instead of in the weeds like the last couple of years.  Got through registration very quickly as well.  Wandered around a bit killing of time, and then it was time to run.

They had changed the location of a few of the obstacles this year, but there were no major surprises.  Not that I’m complaining.  I had a huge grin on my face from the moment I got on base until well into the run.  I’m surprised my face wasn’t hurting from smiling so much.

There was so water in the creek we run through in the first half.  A little bit of water to slosh through in the reservoir, but nothing like there was the first two years.  Lots of plants along the sides of the course.  It was beautiful as always.

And warm.  It has been cold down here, so I was worried I’d be doing it in the cold.  Wouldn’t be the first time, but I prefer it warm.  The sun came out before my wave started and stayed out.  It was definitely warm while running, but it was perfectly pleasant when I was done.

While I may not have been running with a friend, I made a friend along the way.  A woman was using me as the person to try to stick with, and we chatted some as we crossed back and forth, which was fun.

Afterwards, I made my now traditional stop at the Pit Stop Diner, which I always enjoy, to refuel before heading back home.  Along the way, I stopped at Downtown Disney, first time in about a year, and bought some pins and shirts.  Like I need more shirts.

As usual, it was a very long day, but a very fun day.  I need to sign up again for next year.  Can’t wait!

Summer League Week 1

The first week of June is over, and that means the first week of summer league is over.  I had my first game on Monday, so I got to start out the week playing.

This year, we are back to two leagues, and, unfortunately, I am in Men’s.  I know a couple of people on my team, at least from the group that was there this week.

About half of our team missed.  We only had 8.  Since 7 are on the field at a time, as you can see we had an issue with subs.  I got more playing time than I figured I would.

We were also back at Balboa.  This is where I played league games for years until the gophers became an issue.  They are still there, although we managed to avoid any injuries on our field.  There was one on the other field, sadly.  Hopefully, this is a temporary location and we will be back on good fields after next week.

And we lost.  Given our numbers, versus a fill team with almost a full line of subs, it wasn’t surprising.  Plus, they had quite a few guys who play together regularly, including guys from my Spring League team.  Still, we got to 6 points before they scored 15.  Considering they scored the first four in a row, that made me happy.  Heck, we stuck with them in the first half after those first few points since it was 4-8 at half.

Hopefully, when the rest of our team comes back we will be able to hold our own in a game.  We’ll find out on Wednesday.

New Job!

It’s been almost exactly 13 months since I lost my last job.  I was laid off when my company was bought out and my job moved to Texas without me.  During that time, I’ve worked two different temp jobs.  The first one didn’t work out, but the second one did.

In fact, this was my first week as an official employee of the company where I’ve been working for the past 9 months.  And I’m thrilled.  This is a company I’ve wanted to work at for years.  I’ve applied multiple times, but never heard anything back.  When I took the temp job, I was hoping this would be a way to get my foot in the door.  And it was.

I’m frustrated that I am just now earning vacation again, but other than that, I’m very happy with the rest.  Benefits have already kicked in.  I am getting a raise over my last real job (not to mention both temp jobs).  And I really do like my co-workers.  This is a job I intend to be at for quite some time.

And the best part is, it’s still in town.  The other side of town from where I work, but still, it is so nice not to have to leave town during commute times.  I don’t know how those who do it manage.  The year and a half I did it was more than enough for me.

Mud Factor San Bernardino 2019

I did my first mud run of the year just over a week ago on May 11^th.  And it was a new to me mud run as well – Mud Factor.  It was over in San Bernardino, which was definitely a drive.  I was very happy to have an audio book to keep me entertained.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed by the mud run.  It was a 5K, which was the only distance they offered, but even for that, we did the same course twice.  That’s right, they didn’t have enough space to set up a 5K course.  And the obstacles were a bunch of climb over stuff.  Definitely not my favorite obstacle.  They did have us going through a couple of concrete tubes big enough we could stand up inside them, and that was cool.  There was an inner tube slide down a huge hill, but the line was long and I skipped it both times.  Honestly, it looked like it would probably freak me out more than it would be fun, and I was trying to get to some professional ultimate Frisbee games.

And then, they didn’t have anywhere for us to change afterwards.  Yes, we could get cleaned up, but no changing tents.  Seriously, that’s a minimum requirement.

This is on top of making us buy a shirt if we wanted one.  Yes, I did buy a shirt since it was a new to me mud run, something I wasn’t planning to do if I did it again.

Okay, yes, I would consider doing another Mud Factor mud run, but definitely not at that location.  It would have to be much closer and cheap (I did get a good deal when I signed up).  But this certainly isn’t one I’m going to go out of my way to do again.

What makes me nervous is that I am signed up for a second mud run in the same location in July.  Fortunately, it is a different company, so hopefully it will be better.  In the meantime, I’ve got Camp Pendleton and Irvine Lake on back to back weekends in June again.  Looking forward to them as always.

Disappointing Beach Tournament, but Wonderful Weather

Saturday was the end of season tournament for spring beach league.  We went into the tournament in 3rd place.

And finished in sixth.

Of course, part of that is because everything comes down to the tournament.  We don’t get to count anything that happens in the previous weeks toward our ranking.  And we lost both of our games, so we wound up in sixth.

They were both close games, so that much isn’t disappointing.  We just didn’t manage to pull it off and blew leads in both games to wind up losing.

However, the weather was wonderful for a change.  There was fog when we got there, but that burned off early and we had sun and some warmth by the time we were playing the second game and by the time we left.  I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day weather wise.

And I know I say this every year, but I need to go to the beach more often.  It is absolutely beautiful down there.  It is a shame I only go during beach league season.  I’m thinking I may go down for some pick up again this summer.  Haven’t done that for a few years.  I just need to confirm times before I do since I will definitely be going with traffic on a Sunday afternoon in the summer.

Final Regular Week of Beach League (and More Ultimate)

This last Saturday was the final week of regular games of beach league.  We had two games as always, and we once again had a mixed result, we lost the first and won the second.

My frustration was getting anyone else to focus on the game.  Our two captains and their usual sub were all gone.  The guy who is normally trying to lead things just wasn’t focused for that first game.  It was actually painful trying to get him to pay attention as he wander here and there talking about his past glories in the game and family history and this and that and anything but the actual game we were currently playing.  Fortunately, he did seem to focus more on the second game, which I think helped.

Not that he was the driving force behind our win, but we all seemed more focused that game, which helped all the way around.

And both were hard fought games.  We made the first game close, and the second was closer than I would have liked it to be even if we did win.

We are third going into the tournament this weekend.  Unfortunately, with six teams, only the top two teams get first round byes, and we are starting earlier than normal.  I’m going to have to be there are 9 AM, which means leaving the house even earlier to pick up the people I carpool with.  I’m not looking forward to that.

Anyway, that wasn’t all the ultimate I got this last Saturday.  After a couple of hours at home, I went back out to the LA Aviator’s game.  This is the men’s professional ultimate team, and I like trying to make some of their games each season.  This was their second home game and the first chance I’d had to watch them play this year.  It seems like I always go when they are playing San Diego, but they were actually playing San Jose this time, which was fun.  Even better, they won!  They got a few breaks, but the teams mostly traded points, so it wasn’t exciting in that regard, but there were some great plays and it was just fun.

Easter Weekend Beach League

I’ve forgotten which week we are on, and I’m too lazy to go back and count.  But I did go to beach league again this last Saturday.

We had a split week – we won the first game something like 11-7.  But we lost the second game 8-11.  What was most frustrating was we dominated the team in the first half of the game.  It was 6-2 at half, and we turned that into a 8-11 loss.  Okay, so the other team really stepped up on defense, but we just weren’t trying as hard either.

There are six teams this year, and that seems to mean there are fewer people per team.  As a result, I’m playing more than I’m used to playing.  It has its good and bad points.  Obviously, I love playing the game; heck, I play for an hour or two straight on Sundays at pick up, so it’s not the play time or time on the field that are my concern.  It’s the fact that I feel more pressure during a league game.  That’s where my concern comes from.  I notice when I mess up and turn the disc over more.  Or when I can’t get my guy on defense.  How down are teams?  We are always looking for subs it seems, and even then, we didn’t have enough for a full second line.  That’s a lot of extra playing time for me.

It was overcast Saturday, and windy the first game.  It died down for most of the second game, which was nice, although I’ve played with stronger winds in the past.

And we finally got carpooling going!  I drove, and I had a full car.  Yes, that means driving across town, but it is nice not driving down and back by myself.

Our losses mean we have dropped down to fourth with a 5-4 record.  Still, I’m more than willing to take it, especially after our 0-3 start and my team not winning any games last year at all.