Surrounded by Girls: June 2016

With great sorrow

It is with great sorrow that I write this.

Today, we said goodbye to Emma Louise Preisman Spitzberg Spears. She was ~19 years-old.

Emma could not have been a better friend and companion. She was our adopted dog-ter, who almost didn't come to us because she was too protective of her own litter (12 puppies - 5 black, 5 brown, 2 white). When her foster family dropped her off with us in North Park, on December 28, they told her to "get a job". For 14 years she did a very, very good job, and it was time for her to rest.

Kickin' It Challenge

Melanie and her team played in the Kickin' It Challenge last weekend, with all proceeds going to the fight against breast cancer.

It was hot!

The girls were decked out in their pink uniforms, and went 1-0-2 in group play to make the finals.

The final was a 0-0 nail-biter which they ended up losing on penalty kicks. Still that's two runner's-up medals in two tournaments with the new team. Not a bad start!

2016 San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon

~Mile 12. You'll notice that I'm still smiling.

Then, at the finish, "The agony of the feet".

Here are my running partners for the first 8 miles, and half-marathon finishers in their own right, Laura and Jen Grove.

Post-race photo to (from l to r) me, Laura, Austin Grove, Ryan Grove, and Jen Grove.

Here's my tracking data. You'll notice that I started walking more and more around mile 18. Considering that due to injury, I hadn't run more than 16-miles in training, and that was several months ago, it's not surprising. Also, by that time, my knee (thanks, hamstring and IT band) was more and more painful.