preconcert workouts and U2

Yesterday's workouts were pretty good. Swim about 1650 yds. 3×500 (10 min, 9:45, and like 9:20ish) and a 150yd pull to cooldown. So I was happy with that. Was a bit annoyed though… there were 2 of us sharing a lane, doing our thing. With like 100yds to go in my second 500 some girl jumps in and starts swimmingweaving about in our lane "to avoid us" as she said. But this confused us, and the other guy ended up almost swimming directly into me. So I stopped her and was like dude, you need to let people know when you are joining and not jump in when they are in the middle of sets. And she made tons of excuses about how she hasn't swam with people in a while and I was like yeah, so let 'em know you want to get in, and wait for a finished set. And then we swam circles, after making sure all 3 of us knew what was up, which was fine. But she wanted to talk about how far was just swam, and how long it had been since she swam during my rests between sets. And I wanted to be in my zone, enjoying the feel of the water. So it threw off the feeling a bit. Probably the last time I jump in the water around 2 in an attempt to avoid crowds! It was busier than I've seen the pool in a while (this was at Lisa's pool).

After the swim got in a nice 3.3 miler just running on roads around the gym. Heartrate was a bit higher than I wanted, but that's what I get for going hard in the swim immediately before. Was the first real run after a week and a few days off for my foot, and it felt great mentally, alright physically. Foot was a bit achey, but nothing big.

And now for the complete U2 story…

Monday night Holly calls me. "Did you get Mike's message?" Oooh… I remember. That's right! I had been juggling a bazillion calls in the car, and my phone had stopped reminding me I had voice mail as a result. So I check it. He has an extra ticket to U2… for the following night. I waver… on one hand, it would be fun to spend time with him, and U2 would probably be fun as well. However, I was really looking forward to swimming and yoga that night, and am not a huge fan of concerts. Especially with 2.5 million (or ok, 20,000) people. I call him back, no answer, and end up leaving a non-commital message. He calls back around 11:30, and his excitment is kinda contagious so I decide to go. Yes, Kylie went on an actual date which did not involve exercise, and involved wearing real clothes. Kinda weird!

Last night I met him at his place in Claremont and we headed to LA. We made good time — got there by about 5:45. Parking was easy, and traffic wasn't really bad at all around the Staples Center, which was a nice surprise. We found our seats, and just chilled and talked, waiting for Jeannie (from Village Grill) and Scott, and watching people. Out seats were pretty much the best in the place. Exactly center, and up just high enough. Oh, and no one in front of us at all, but still a bar so my feet had a place to let me sit funny.

Soon Jeannie and Scott arrived, and the opening band began. It was reggae by some Marley relative, and definitely enjoyable. Then… yes, it was time: U2. They were pretty damn cool. Played a number of songs I like, plus a few I didn't know but still liked. As much as I enjoyed the music, I think I enjoyed their little comentary and such just as much, if not more. Of course he talked about the "ONE" campaign, and other political stuff. Pulled a girl out of the audience and sang "With or Without You" hugging her and rubbing her hair. But one of my favorite parts was that it was the drummer's birthday. So they wore shirts that said "the Larry Mullen band" and sang him happy birthday. They also read posters that people in the standing area had, and one was "professor for hire" and they asked what he would teach, and he gave Bono books. Bono was like "great, I get the books, Edge gets the girls, [some band member gets something I don't remember] and… Larry has the giant penis". Later after one of the few encores he walked out and was like "hey, there was a group with posters saying guitar player, singer, etc. Where are you?" It was a group of four youngish girls, and he pulled them up. "Well, it's Larry's birthday and Larry would totally get a girl band. What are you going to play?" And play they did… the drummergirl was pretty damn fun to watch, the guitar girl I could see also just had fun. The singer? Waaaay nervous, esp when Bono shared the mic with her and sang with her! But it was way cool, and the audience loved 'em.

At the end, Larry thanked us for coming to his birthday party, and was all cute and such. And we headed out. Again no traffic, and it was a very easy drive home (after we got through the spooky horror movie area we had to go through). Back to Holly's, and wooo sleep!

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