Enjoying the Sun in L.A.

Recently, a work/family trip took me back out west to the L.A. area. I was staying in Santa Monica for a night and used some free time for nice morning run along the beach.

It was nice and cool with temperatures around 60 degrees. Perfect!

I started out going north past the famous Pier. Since it was relatively early on a weekday morning there weren't a lot of people out, so there was little having to go around people, etc. I wasn't exactly going on trails, but who cares if the views are as beautiful as this:

(perfect trail substitute)

Once I reached the end of this gorgeous, let's call it, 'urban trail, I turned around and headed south towards Venice Beach. One thing that amazes me about L.A. beaches every time is how wide they are. I realize that it's not true for a lot of the coast, but it's still pretty amazing.

(lots of beach...where's the ocean?)

Somewhere between Santa Monica and Venice it happened: my first celebrity sighting on a run! And it wasn't some C-list celebrity you might see on VH1 tomorrow, but it was Jessica Alba! She is certainly one of those people who looks just as good in person as she does on TV. Through my work, I see and meet a lot of famous people, but it never really matters to me (I find fame to be a rather trivial concept when judging someone), however I must admit that this was pretty cool. Certainly a first as far as running goes. (This event ranks behind my run-in with a turtle a few months ago in some Georgia woods. Sorry, Jessica!).

In Venice, I passed an important place influential on my youth. You see, I grew up being a basketball fanatic, so running past the court where the majority of White Men Can't Jump was filmed was fun. Of course, nowadays I'd get a much bigger kick running on the Western States or Hardrock courses. How times change....

(no ballers out that morning)

Soon enough, I got to my turn-around point in Marina Del Rey. I'd been able to run the first 10 miles in 70 mins, which was a nice little accomplishment. So, I sat, watched all the ridiculously expensive yachts and enjoyed some QT with my loyal friend, the ultimate direction bottle.

(Marina del Rey)

(We've been spending a lot of time together lately)