I went to the Long Beach Grand Prix yesterday after the Mazda Master Tech Competition and it was great. I took the bus from the Long Beach Harbor, and noticed once we got closer to the GP that it was going to be a party scene. There were a lot of twenty years olds. One person was complaining on her cell phone that there were people with “flip flops and cowboy hats.”

It took me a while to get to my seat and I saw the last half of the Champ car qualifying. It was loud, but I brought ear plugs. It was cool because I had great Grandstand seats facing the Long Beach Convention Center. It was facing a straight away and when they passed I could see them turn a little. I watch the Indy 500, so the Atlantic cars were similar in look and sound, at least to me. After that there was drifting, but since I was on a straight away it was really boring. However, even with the big screen, where I was able to see them drift, it was still boring. I only watched about 5 minutes of that and then checked out the scene. There was a lifestyle convention, food stands and trinket stands. I didn’t buy anything. Then I went to the American Le Mans race. It was my favorite race and better than expected. There were Audis, Porches, Ferraris and a Mazda! The great thing about the race was that there were so many different types of cars and sounds. Some were open wheel some weren’t. I was amazed at how quiet the Audis were.

I got the tickets free from work, and looking back at all the free trips and tickets I got throughout my career, this was the single best free event. The best trip was last fall to Atlanta, because it was a week long and I got to see my friend in Atlanta. However, for events, this beats the Sun Microsystem’s Java event in S.F.

Today our family went to Mazda’s 2007 Master Technician Competition. Fourteen Master Technicians from North America had two hours to identify and repair duplicate malfunctions on a CX-7.

There was also a small car show in the parking lot.

Mono-Posto

The interior

Custom CX-7. If you look closely you can see D’s new CX-7 in the background–it’s bright blue!

D had the day off today so we ran a bunch of errands in the morning and headed to Seal Beach afterward. The sky was kind of overcast, but it wasn’t too cold. We picked up a couple of sandwiches (one salami and one caprese–mozarella, tomato) at Angelo’s Italian Deli. The service was decidedly “Old World”, as it seemed that Angelo was the only guy working the counter. I also thought the sandwiches were a bit pricey at $7.99 a piece. However, once we found a park bench and started eating, it was all worth it (especially the salami!) We then took a walk on the pier, which was not easy with the stroller. D ended up carrying k because the ride was so bumpy.

Today I ran the Seal Beach 10k. It started at 8:00 a.m. The weather was nice. It wasn’t too cold in the morning, but it was a little hot for running by 8:30. It wasn’t as crazy busy as the Anaheim Half-Marathon. It had more community spirit and a more small town feel to it. L dropped me off and I went to the starting line. I saw a guy from work but he had to drop some stuff off to his car, so I didn’t run with him. He was running the 5k anyway. I started close to the front, so I didn’t get stuck with the walkers like I did in the Anaheim Half-Marathon. I started too fast though. I was supposed to run 9 minute miles, and the first mile even slower (so I could pace myself and run faster at the end and also because the start it slow because of the crowds). However, I did the first mile in 8 minutes and 20 secs. Even after the second mile I was still too fast, 16 mintues and 50 seconds. I slowed it down in the 3rd and 4th miles. I then went a little faster in the 5th mile, but by the 6th mile, I ran out of gas. I slowed down to a slow jog. I finished in 53:57, which was 2 minutes faster than my goal. So I am happy about that. It should also help me get close to my 2hr 10 minute Disneyland Half-marathon goal.

We took k to yet another park last Saturday–Irvine Regional Park (which is actually located in Orange). As you may have figured out by now, I enjoy a picnic, so we brought some food along. We were blessed by another day of beautiful weather. Afterward, we took a walk and made sure to steer clear of rattlesnakes (there were warning signs). We also saw some WPC people on the mini train that circles the park during our walk. When we headed over to the station we ran into them again and chatted for a while. This park is at the top of k’s list–too bad we didn’t take more pictures. Irvine Regional Park is also the home of the OC zoo, but D didn’t want to go because he thought it would be too smelly.

k wore green today so she wouldn’t get pinched. I think we did pinch those chubby legs, though–who could resist?