Freerange Athlete

Week 1 Report

2012-01-09T05:38:00.000-08:00

Overall, I am quite happy with the first week of my diet. I lost 7 pounds in just over a week. That is a bit faster than I want to lose; however, the first week is always the easiest. It has been hard to stick to the diet most days, but in general I'm getting close to my targets. Most importantly, I did not let a bad day derail my efforts.

Exercise was really weak this week. I got in a short run after work Thursday, but that was it for the week. I will get rolling this week.

My Challenge for 2011

2012-01-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well, this year is about losing weight. I've managed to gain back every pound I have lost and am back to not being able to run due to all I'm carrying around with me. So, here I go.

Losing weight has always been tough for me. I like to eat. I stress eat. I eat when depressed as well. But this year I have a new job. I like the people I work with. And I can't wait to get back to where I can run with my friends again. Slowly, I'm going to make progress.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Reruns and a Cat

2011-06-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

OK, it has been forever since I've blogged anything. It makes sense due to my lack of activity. But lately the activity level is starting to increase a bit.

Running was down to very, very few miles. I used to log over 200 miles a month. Last month, I was happy to break 30. As bad as it sounds, it was a great improvement over what I had been doing. This month, the goal is 40 - 60. Used to be a normal week. So what got me running again? That is where the cat comes in.

Even when I couldn't run, I loved riding the bikes. I was happy either mountain or road. But after cracking both frames last year, I needed something new. My answer: a Catrike. The bikes had started causing a little too much pain from the saddle. The best way to avoid that is a recumbent. And while recumbent bicycles are great, the tricycles are so much more fun. I ended up purchasing the Catrike Road and had a larger chain ring installed for better top-end speed. I'm not really sure how much I'll use the big ring, but I doubt the smallest one it shipped with would have ever been used.

As the endurance on the trike has improved, I've felt like going out for a run more often. It still doesn't feel good, and I doubt I will ever return to the ultras, but I do see and feel improvements. Three miles still feels like a long run. Maybe I'm on the right path to change that now.

Another Bike Bites the Dust

2010-09-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

At times when running is not going so well, whether from injury, stress, or boredom, I usually turn to my bikes for exercise. Neither is a professional-level bike, but they are not Wal-mart junk either. The road bike, a Motobecane Vent Noir, was bought around 2003 and has worked fairly well despite a few issues. The biggest problem was the original wheels; however, Motobecane finally got tired of my nagging and replaced them with a better set. Over the past few years, it has been very reliable. It is aluminum with 105 derailleurs and a carbon fork.

Unfortunately, it has spent the past few months hanging in the garage since I found a crack in the head tube. Motobecane will inspect it to see if it was a manufacturer defect and replace the frame if they find no evidence the bike has been wrecked or abused. All I have to do is send them the entire bike and $40 to ship it back when they are finished. Having already mailed them wheels several years ago, I know this is not going to be smooth. Even if they do agree to send me a new frame, that is all I get, a frame. I still have to have my components moved over to it. For me, that probably means hiring professional help in addition to the shipping I will have already paid. I would love to just get a new bike, but those are quite expensive. My solution to the issue, ride the mountain bike instead.

Crack in top tube of the Kona Kikapu

The mountain bike has been bomb proof. I bough it in 2005 to allow me to keep on the trails despite having to cut back on the running. It is a 2004 Kona Kikapu. Components are not the greatest, but I love the comfort of the full suspension. It has held up to some nasty abuse including a few wrecks and one unfortunate crash into a cactus. Most of the miles on the bike have been on Brush Creek Regional Trail which is almost more suited for a road bike with all the concrete and crushed granite. Still, I have gotten it out to the Barton Creek Green Belt, Rocky Hill Ranch, Walnut Creek, and Lake Georgetown for trails more suited to this type of bike. On Saturday, I had spent a couple of hours out at Walnut Creek riding pretty hard. Sunday I was cleaning it up for an easy ride down the sissy trail when I noticed that I had cracked this frame as well. I even scraped off a bit of paint just to make sure, but it is clearly a crack in the top tube near the seat post.

Right now, I'm not sure what my plan is going to be. Finding an inexpensive used frame is probably the best option. Buying one new bike seemed to be expensive. Two new bikes? I don't think so.

I guess I'll go for a run.

As Setback, or Maybe Not

2010-08-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

One of the things I have really missed in the time I have spent away from running is time on the trail with friends. Seven years ago I was a regular on the HCTR Wednesday night runs from the Hill of Life. I spent a couple of hours a week with a great group of runners. Sometimes on Saturdays, we would spend many more hours together. So on Sunday, I headed out to Bull Creek to join a group of runners for a no-drop run. The no-drop part of that is important with as slow as I am moving lately, and yes I did test that by being the back of the pack.

I had a great time. I caught up with a few old friends. Met a couple of new ones. And put in some miles on a trail much rockier and hillier than I have tried to run in quite a while. I also added a few extra miles hiking after the group run had wrapped up. But while I enjoyed myself, my knees seemed to take issue with the rougher terrain. In fact, the next day I was in quite a bit of pain. This patellar tendinitis was the primary cause of my long absence from running. Ice solved the immediate problem, but I was concerned that I may have set myself back with the effort. Over the next few days, I rested, took an easy mountain bike ride instead of a run, and rested again.

This morning, I was at Zilker Park before the sunrise to see if I could handle a few easy miles along the green belt. My earlier plan had me pushing up to 12 miles this week, but that was now out. I had handled runs of 8 and 10 miles recently. Still, if I have tendinitis issues starting back up, pushing myself is a very bad idea. I somehow decided to try for about 7 miles and turn back early if pain became an issue. There were a couple of times when I could feel some tightness under the knee, but overall I felt very good and had a comfortable run. Twelve hours later, the knees still feel good.

I'm far from declaring victory, but things are not as bad as I had feared. I'll still be taking it easy over the next couple of weeks, but I expect I'll be back out Sunday morning, running with friends.

Oh, and I did scare up a huge snake this morning on my run. It was probably somewhere between 3 and 4 feet long, but it was about as big around as my arm. I need to check the data from the Garmin to see if there is a change in the heart rate. Normally I would not expect to, but I got way to close to this big boy before noticing he was there. Battery in the iPhone was dead or I would have a picture.

Long Time Away

2010-08-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

It is hard to post in a running blog when you haven't been running. No, I haven't completely stopped, but many months were probably less than 20 total miles. Fitness went down and weight went up.

Slowly, things are starting to turn around. I've put in nothing longer than 10 miles; however, I can feel a difference in my runs. Mostly, I've been putting in just a few miles during lunch. Temps are usually right around 90 by noon, and just 3 miles in that weather is enough to push my fitness. Some mornings I have managed to get out for runs slightly longer. And I even did one evening run with temperatures around 101.

Now things are about to shift. Kailey is away at school. Missy starts nursing school on Wednesday. While that will require a little more of my time to take care of things around the house and tend to the pets, it also means that I'm not missed when I disappear for a few hours to put in some miles.

Right now I'm just trying to get in some miles and not think about when I'll join in a race. Still, there are several that are calling me and causing me to push a bit more than I normally would. The most obvious one is the race in Warda in November.

As everyone heads back to school, I intend to increase the mileage and see where I end up. I miss the events. I miss my friends. I miss pushing myself to see how hard I can go.

Not Sure I'm Still a Runner

2009-08-06T20:30:00.001-07:00

Since running the 17 miles at Rick's Too Hot 50K, I have avoided running. For a while, work was really to blame. There are only so many hours in a day. Work and sleep were all I accomplished for a while, and it was much more of the former than the latter.

When the weekend arrived though, I still avoided the run. Partially it was the PF flair up I experienced in the last run. But mostly I am feeling that as the miles increase, there is some sort of injury just around the corner. Maybe after the knee and back issues over the last few years, I am right to feel this way. I really want to keep improving my conditioning but fear that setback. So over the weekend I spent my time on my bikes. Fifteen miles of easy trail Saturday evening on the mountain bike followed by 47 miles of road cycling Sunday. I've also managed two nice mountain bike rides after work this week.

I feel I would just go completely to cycling, but a few things really hold me back. Short days in the winter make keeping up the mileage year round difficult. Bicycle racing is complicated with licenses, categories, egos, and expensive equipment; that is the opposite of everything I love about ultra races. But mostly, I really like the people I run with.

Tomorrow, I really need to get out for a run. If I feel good, maybe I'll find a balance.

Rick’s Really Hot 50K

2009-07-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

I’m in no shape to run a 50K, but that was not really what this was about. After a series of injuries starting in the spring of 2008, getting back into shape has been a slow process. I’ve lost touch with those friends who think going out for a 30 mile run with your buds is just as normal as heading out for a beer. And this run was about celebrating those friends as well as remembering one we lost two years ago.

Unlike many of those out for the run, I barely knew Rick Gastelum. I really only remember running with him one time in 2004 as a group of us made our way from Spyglass through various loops to the top of the Hill of Life. Our trip together ended there as he took the more direct route back due to injury. I abandoned the group a few miles later due to foot pain. Almost five years later, I ended this run in the same way as I walked back to the Spyglass entrance with foot pain. I called it quits after 17 very slow miles.

Four in the morning is very early to start anything, but that is when we began. Actually, the day had begun at 2:30 as I struggled to get out of the house and arrive on time. The sign at Camp Mabry said it was still 81 degrees as I passed. We actually had a nice crowd at the start. Others would join in a few minutes late catching me as I fell behind the pack or when I stopped to refuel at the top of the Hill of Life. I felt I was dragging and spent more time walking than running. Later in the day I would pass more friends out on their own runs. Although it was a slow 17 miles, I was pretty happy with the way things went. I actually managed a better pace than I had expected and gone longer than I had in over a year.

I really could have continued and possibly wrapped up the 50K; however, years of experience told me to bail. The foot pain was probably the biggest issues, but I knew other issues would follow. My knee had hurt early but felt fine after warming up and settling into an easy pace. Late in long runs is usually when things go wrong if they do. I expect it is a combination of losing form due to exhaustion as well as the long wear and tear. I didn’t feel there was any training benefit to continuing.

In the end, I either DNF’ed the 50K for DFL’ed the 17 miler. I don’t really feel it as a DNF so I’ll take the DFL.

Real Heat and the Art of Hydration

2009-07-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

For my first few years of running, long runs really did me in. It wasn't just the effort. I would be left very dehydrated and having headaches for the rest of the day or longer. Yesterday, I made the same mistakes all over again. It has been well over a year since I have been on a run this long. And much longer since I have put myself through the long run in severe heat. Things were forgotten.

Now, it was not that I neglected hydration. Over 15 miles I took in 120 oz of fluids and several salt caplets. That would have been fine at a reasonable pace. Reasonable is not the pace I was running. Extremely slow is a better description. The trip took over 3.5 hours to complete. Temperatures were probably around 80 at the start and over 90 by the time I finished. It was also extremely humid.

Looking back now, I can see I was conserving salt and fluids early. I normally drink every half mile or every 5 minutes. As it gets hotter, I usually take bigger drinks instead of drinking more often. Still, trails often force me into the every 5 minutes schedule which would have been more often than the every half mile at the pace I was moving.

It was not just a fluid issue either. Given my lighter running schedule, one of the things I haven't purchased recently is salt. I started the run down to the last 5 caplets I have. I started taking one an hour. I was losing much more.

Now I know many runners consideration hydration a science. It has never worked that way for me. Maybe it is the extreme heat and humidity I run in during the summer. Maybe it is that I weigh 250 pounds. Maybe it is the long miles I run.

Yesterday was a reminder of some tough lessons. Listen carefully to the body and what it is craving. Pay attention to how it feels. Yes, I can feel when I am becoming dehydrated. Never conserve water or salt even if it feels terrible to run out late in a run.

I'm sure yesterday I dehydrated myself early and was just never able to catch up. All the fluid I took on at mile 9 and after finishing may have helped but never corrected the damage I did early in the run.

Next week, I should hit the same run again to see if I have learned anything. Sometimes it takes a while.

The Heat is On

2009-06-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

I've been suffering through the heat lately. It is just that time of year, and we are in one of those nasty weather patterns. If you live in central Texas, you know. Today's high was around 109. The only good point to that is the humidity wasn't in its usual range.

I've been getting out during lunch a few days a week. I'm targeting four days, but sometimes the work commitments take over.

Still, the hard work in the heat is having an impact. And I mean that in a good way. A month ago I was struggling to keep moving forward faster than a walk for more than a couple of miles. With each week, I stretch the run out a little further. Tuesday's run was just over 4 miles with temperatures around 98 at run time.

Today I went out for a few miles with my boss. He has just started running again after a few years off and feels good about his progress after running for two months. He is feeling good about his progress. I tried to take it easy on the guy. We did take a few walk breaks, and I held back quite a bit. We talked about running together once or twice a week to push him and give me a break.

It was easy to look back afterward and see that he isn't far from where I was a month ago. And at that time, I wasn't facing the temperatures we were in today. It was 100 by the time we finished just after 1. It was also very nice to be able to run in such ridiculous temperatures and feel good. It was a chance for me to actually see progress that wasn't just a measurement of speed or distance.

Tomorrow I'm out in the heat again for a much more arduous effort. Having struggled through trying to run in the Texas summer heat for several years now, I know what to expect. Progress during the hot months seems stalled or in slow motion. That perception changes with the first cold front. The hard work eventually pays off.

I'm also happy I can handle 100 degree weather again. It is a confidence builder. To run in the heat, you have to train in the heat. Maybe fall will have a nice surprise for me.

Wii as a Fitness Tool

2009-06-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

The family now as a Wii. Actually, my daughter has the Wii, but it is connected to my TV for now.
One of the things that we purchased along with the Wii was the Wii Fit.

Before even considering if there are any fitness benefits, let me say that this is fun. The games are interesting and challenging. I like the skiing and snowboarding games especially. And having to lean and balance to control the skis through the turns is so much better than pushing keys on a small controller. I'm sure the graphics are not as great as the PS3 or Xbox 360, but if that is what you are looking for, you don't buy the Wii.

Having pushed myself to some strange limits, I was not expecting much from the Wii Fit. How much exercise can you really get from a balance board and some software?

To start, it makes some effort to asses the user. It measures weight and BMI. It also measures the balance or balance agility of the user and provides a Wii Fit age. I was not impressed; however, what I do like is that it encourages the user to come back to measure progress or to set goals. It also tracks the overall time spent exercising and unlocks more activitys as the total time increases or as the skills improve.

Wii Fit covers four areas: balance, areobics, strength, and yoga. The balance portion makes the best use of the balance board. It includes the best games and easily keeps the user involved to the point of forgetting the purpose at time.

Some of the aerobics activities work pretty well with the board. The running avoids using it at all. None would be considered intense by anyone who runs, cycles, or swims.

The strength section is pretty good for some activities. The board is used but plays a minor role. Some of the exercises have me sweating while others are way too easy.

I have avoided the yoga so far. My daughter will keeps prodding sure it will be entertaining.

For someone like me, the Wii is either entertainment or an easy way to track weight loss/BMI. I have enjoyed it as some low intensity activity. For others, however, I can see it being more. If it gets people off the sofa and moving, it can't be all bad. My daughter has no interest in running or exercising with me, but she will spend hours on the Wii Fit.

I won't be skipping runs to play Wii Fit. For anyone wanting to get off the sofa and do something, I'm all for it.

Got to Keep the Loonies on the Path

2009-05-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

Interesting day out at the motocross park today as I spent my morning volunteering at the Loop. It it the only time pedestrians are allowed out on these trails, and this race makes the most of it. Unfortunately, I'm still not ready to race. But I made the most of the opportunity to spend the day with other runners and help out my friends. And I got to make a loop of the course cleaning up the signs and markers.

I was questioning my sanity when the alarm went off at 3:30 this morning. Still, I managed to get ready and make it to the race site by 5. First task of the day was parking attendant. Nothing too interesting there except the woman who drove through and wanted to question me about what was going on, did we have permits, and why didn't we notify the home owner's association.

After everyone was parked and both the 30K runners and the 10K runners were off on the trail, I found myself back in the parking lot directing a different kind of traffic. It was a task I had initially underestimated. Near the end of the race course, runners drop down a hill, cross the parking lot, and hit the final, short section of trail to the finish. Part of the problem was that you could actually see the finish from where you crossed the parking lot. And the other problem was that the old course used to drop you down a hill and little further up and turn you right directly into the finish line. So I'm cheering the runners on as they cross the lot, telling them to go straight across, encouraging them, then yelling at them not to turn right. It became such a repeated pattern that I eventually adjusted my position and directions enough to stop most of the problem. There were a couple willing to argue with me about it, but once you looked, the signs and flags were very clear. Two hours in the sun yelling for and at the runners left me dehydrated, hoarse, and sunburned.

I wrapped up the day sweeping the course picking up signs and markers. It was a great way to get to run some of the wonderful trails without having to push myself racing. It was an easy pace with lots of stops to gather ribbon and signs.

In a few weeks the last race in the series will happen. I'm considering actually racing this one. It will depend on how things go with training, but I feel I could handle a trail 10K pretty well if not fast.

Struggle, struggle, struggle

2009-05-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

I start. I stop. I start. I stop again.

That seems to be the story lately. Now that the heat and humidity are back, what little fitness I had just isn't enough. I fought my way through four slow miles this morning. I tried to make up for some of that by spending half an hour on the elliptical trainer during lunch. It is a battle to keep moving.

In my defense, the sinus infection I had really had me down. I just didn't have it in me to do anything that took any energy. After that, it just took a bit to get moving again.

At least the knee has felt pretty good lately. But then, maybe it is just that I have lacked the endurance to push it very much. At least it is not the limiting factor now.

Yard work is planned for tomorrow, but I should squeeze in a few more miles of running and maybe even a few miles on the mountain bike.

A Little Rest, Then a Bike Ride

2009-02-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

I eventually had to give in and take some time off to rest my knee. As I've said before, it is a mental thing. Once I broke the string of consecutive days working out, the rest wasn't so hard. Still, five days with no running or any cardio left me feeling very sluggish.

Today I cleaned up the road bike a bit, lubed it well, and took of for a ride in the nice weather. Cycling is the one cardio activity that seems to actually help my knee if I don't push too hard. I expect it will become my exercise of choice once warm weather is back to stay. And the days become long enough to put in some miles after work. For now, it is more of a nice weekend activity when the weather is agreeable.

Today was just over 31 miles at a 16 mph average speed. That is a little misleading due to the high winds. There were places where I was easily hitting well above that going uphill and others where I was downshifting while going down hill.

Tomorrow morning it is an easy run and weights at the gym.

Walking a Fine Line

2009-01-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

I've been struggling with patella tendinitis since April. I've tried reducing mileage and even complete rest. I've been working with a physical therapist for a few months now and seeing progress. But the hardest part is that I must exercise that tendon enough to strengthen it but not so much to cause more injury. That has been a hard line to walk.

Since I had been feeling pretty good running two days then a day of cross training, I decided to push the knee a little more on Saturday and try some easy rowing. I took it at a steady pace for 5000 meters and felt little pain while rowing. However, since then it has become apparent that I went a little too far. I've still managed to get in my run the last two days, but the tendon has been aching afterward for a while.

It really wouldn't be much of an issues with the runs going well and another cross training day tomorrow except that I'm back in PT tomorrow morning. I had hoped to be really strong going into this one and not coming off a day I pushed too far.

But with all this, the weight loss is going well. I was at 245.9 this morning which is down over 4 pounds from a week ago. That's a little more rapid than I had planned, but the early success can be a little misleading. I'm hoping to settle into a 1 - 2 pound per week rate.

Even with PT tomorrow morning, I hope to get in some time on the elliptical trainer. I'll wait a few more weeks before trying the rowing machine again.

Finally Feeling Somewhat Normal

2009-01-16T22:22:00.001-08:00

Having run really long distances in the past, restarting everything has been a bit frustrating. It is not just a matter of the distance. I used to run in the 9 - 10 mpm pace and feel like I just just go forever. It was almost a resting pace. But lately I find myself watching the GPS or treadmill numbers and struggling to reach my goal even when moving slowly. It has been a chore to keep moving. Until today.

Today actually came quite close to ending my streak. I ended up working until past midnight last night so getting up early was not a good option. The lunch option was canceled because our fitness center at work was in the process of being moved, and I had not brought gear that would be comfortable in the cold. It is not the dangerous temperatures that most of the country is dealing with, but it would have made the run unpleasant. I put is off until after work and headed for the gym.

For a change, the miles flew by. If anything, I felt like I had set the slope on the treadmill to something negative and was running downhill. There was no struggle as my six miles went by. Even the knee felt pretty good. It wasn't quite easy like it used to be, but

Having run the last two days, I'll be cross training tomorrow. I would love to get in a long bike ride, but the weather is not warm enough for me to get on the road bike. I guess it will be back to the gym again.

Day 7

2009-01-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

Seven days in a row of running or cross training. Seven days of burning at least 1000 calories. Seven days on my crazy schedule.

The mileage I'm doing now seems so small compared to what I was doing before last year, but I'm working into a pattern I can maintain. I'm a bit OCD. If I have a streak going, I hate to break it. If I have a day off, what does skipping another day matter. Stupid? Yes, but I know how I work best. For now, it is two days of running then one of cross training. Once I work through three weeks, I'll start increasing the mileage a couple of days a week.

Weightlifting? That i have to work on.

The Fit Assessment

2009-01-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

This morning I was at the gym early for my fit assessment. I had hoped for a little more. It was really a combination of a body fat measurement and discussion of goals. For our discussion, I mostly limited it to getting better balance in my workout to prevent the injuries that have plagued me over the last few years. Lose some weight. Feel good running again. That's enough for this.

She is supposed to schedule another in several weeks to measure my progress. I'm sure there is some sales pitch in there eventually.

As for the workouts, I'm tired. I've lifted the last two days and worked out each of the last five. The tired is probably more related to how early I'm getting up to get all this in with my work schedule. But I know what happens if I wait until later in the day.

Tomorrow morning it is back to the gym. Legs and cross training are planned. I would love to get on the rowing machine, but I'm a little uncertain about the knee. It has felt better the last two days than it has in many months. I'll probably keep doing what is working and leave changes to the routine for later.

Welcome to mornings at the gym

2009-01-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

I was up early to hit the gym before work. Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed in time for a little weight lifting and 5 miles on the treadmill before the work day began. I think I'll be able to handle the weights without a problem, but I am an outdoor runner. The rowing machine or elliptical trainer will work fine as well.

The weights will take a while to come around. I'm really looking at the next two weeks as a burn in period. Now that I'm older, and maybe wiser, I see no need to kill myself with the soreness that comes from starting hard. There is plenty of time for the hard stuff later.

Also, with my membership came a fit assessment. I'll be doing that a 7 tomorrow morning. I'm not sure I need someone to tell me I'm fat and out of shape now, but what the heck. The scale told me enough this morning. I'm starting the year at just over 250. Hopefully by Christmas I'll have switched the last two digits.

New Year / Old Cliche

2009-01-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

New year, new me. I wish it were that easy. Three months of physical therapy on the knee since my last post, and I'm still struggling. Is it better? Yes. Is it well? No.

Today I took the step of joining a gym. I cannot run every day. I think I can handle two days in a row but then need to cross training on the third day. When it is too cold, I just cannot handle the bike. That leaves the gym.

It also opens up the opportunity for weight training again. I had been pushing that hard a few years ago and felt great. Lately it has been limited to what has been prescribed for my knee. The doctor at my last physical suggest I pick it back up again. So it took a while.

Today at the gym was just cardio. An hour on the elliptical trainer did the deed of getting the heart rate up and burning the calories. The knee wasn't comfortable, but I have run the last two days. It never really hurt.

Tomorrow it is back to the gym for some lifting. It may be more cardio as well if it is as cold as expected.

Some things considered

2008-10-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

After struggling for quite a while, I finally broke down and went to the doctor about my knee. I had been correct with my self-diagnosis: petelar tendinitis. What I had been wrong about is how it would heal with rest and easy running. The months of rest have not left me healed. Now, I have to go through PT and build back the endurance I have lost.

I've spent too much time thinking about what I'll do next. My biggest problem is that I don't know when "next" will be. I really want to be at Bandera in January, but that doesn't seem very realistic right now. For a while, I think just getting into a routine of running and cycling should be enough. If Bandera is possible, I'll go. In fact, I'll probably be there even if I don't run. Joe can always use some help.

Today was an easy bike ride. I'm supposed to work the tendon without irritating it. That is really hard to do. I've also been doing the exercises and weight lifting I am supposed to do. I'd love to say it is feeling better already, but honestly it actually hurts a little more than it did before.

Activities are logged at http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/TripSearch.aspx#freerangeathlete if anyone is interested. Hopefully, there will be more interesting runs posted in the near future.

Spinning Away

2008-06-14T19:31:00.001-07:00

I knew after my failure to reach Massanutten that I needed more variety in my training. Part of that is to get back on the bicycle. I've found this very hard to do during the week; I guess I had to take advantage of the weekend.

After wasting time for much of the day, I finally pushed myself out the door and got moving down the road. Foolishly, I started with the wind again. Actually, I don't have a lot of choice. I like to move away from Austin and most of the traffic. That usually means going north. It just happens that the wind usually blows from the south.

After 20+ miles and little over an hour of riding, I was feeling pretty good but ready to turn back for home. It was a much longer ride back against the wind.

Overall I feel pretty good. Just over 40 miles. My 18 mph average going out got taken down a notch on the way back. And the knee is still not cooperating. I need to take it easy for a while longer on that. And hydrate a little better. The triple-digit temps don't feel as bad on the bike as when running, but they still require quite a bit of fluid. I can only carry so much.

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Oh, the rest no longer feels good

2008-06-13T18:26:00.001-07:00

Not the toughest week I have had, but I sure feel beat up. It has been a mixture of walking and running totaling over 40 miles since Monday. Today was supposed to be a run, but the old back issues flared up a bit. I mixed it and did pretty well. It was still quite a workout with the heat.

Tomorrow I need to get out on the bike a while. I'll probably take my daughter with me for a bit if she will brave the heat. Another long walk wouldn't be bad either.

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Not Quite a Walk

2008-06-10T21:17:00.001-07:00

The original plan for this morning had been to walk 10 miles, but a late start forced a change. My work hours are flexible, but there are limits. I decided to run for at least a few miles then finish with walking. My main concern had been knee pain during yesterday's run.

After a slow start to warm up, I found I really didn't have knee pain. I lacked energy, but had no pain until around 7 miles. I was pretty worn out by that point and cut the loop a little short to 8. I wish I could say a had more, but two mornings in a row after a month off isn't going to be easy. The heat and humidity didn't help either.

I'm back up early tomorrow for more. I'm not yet sure more of what. I had hoped to ride the bike a bit, but I didn't get the light installed. I'm not too worried about seeing, but I'd really like to be seen.

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Not a bad start

2008-06-09T17:58:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a while since I have just run so I actually feel pretty good about myself today. Just over 10 miles slipped by without too much effort. The knee hurt a bit, and the heart rate was over what it should have been for the speed, but it does feel good to get moving again.

I would love to go out and run 10 every morning, but I know I won't hold up. I'm planning to be up early tomorrow for a fast walk. Maybe 10 more depending on how early I can get myself moving. I walk pretty fast, but it still takes quite a bit more time than running.

I ate well most of the day too. I blew it a bit this evening, but it wasn't too bad. Hopefully the thought will spur me up earlier for a few extra miles.

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The End of the Resting

2008-06-08T17:01:00.001-07:00

It has been a complete month off. There has been a little running. I've taken a couple of rides on the road bike. And I have been lifting weights a lot more. However, it is time to pick things up and start running again.

More than the physical rest, I think the mental break has been very beneficial. I have not had the pressure to get out or to push the distance to meet goals. There is not long race looming in my future that I need to prepare for. In all, life is pretty good.

On the other hand, it is time to get moving. I'm gaining weight and losing my conditioning. I don't intend to jump into anything big for a while, but I need to move. There are some timed night runs coming up. I'll probably attempt these but at a much slower pace than would be normal for me. Otherwise, I intend to strike a good balance between running and cycling for my cardio work. I also intend to keep up the weight lifting. I'm much more interested in improving my fitness and condition than in preparing to go 100 miles now.

Tomorrow morning the alarm goes off early as I try to beat the summer heat.

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Thoughts on Bailing Out

2008-05-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

After all the work toward racing 100 miles at Massanutten, thing didn't work out. It had been a really rough training cycle, but overall things felt really good. And with the Bandera finish in January, I wasn't worrying a lot about the lack of really long training runs. I was feeling really good about finishing this race; that was my only goal.

About the Injury
Officially, it is bursitis. I've had to deal with this before, but it has never been this bad. In fact, I've been hit with this one several times. It responds well to rest and easy running. It is aggravated by speedwork and hills. Normally it will hurt a bit, and I'll back off those activities which make it hurt. This time, I lacked the opportunity.

I see now how I caused this. I have cut down the miles as the race approached. And some of the miles I've run have been a bit quicker than normal. I wouldn't really call any of it speed, but I've pushed several times to get the heart rate up. Last weekend, I did some hill repeats to test the shoes, socks, and tape. I took it easy, but I guess it wasn't easy enough. Combined with the faster running during the week, I just did myself in.

The doctor told me it was related to my previous back injury and the inflexibility there. I'm not sure if that is true.

Moving On
Because of other decisions I have made regarding my running, it was really hard to drop out of this race. Last year I had cut way down on the long runs. The effort and time away from home were difficult on the family life. I went to running long only once a month and running mostly during my lunch hour or very early in the mornings. The plan was to return to that schedule and pass on the 100's for a few years. 10k's and half marathons sound like fun for a while.

My two attempts so far have netted me a DNF and a DNS. I had really been hoping for the DFL this time.

Part of me wants to look for another and hit it as soon as this injury is healed. Part of me wants to stick to the plan and forget ultras for a while. I can't say which is going to win out at this point. I'm leaning mostly toward working on my overall conditioning for a while. If the opportunity comes up, maybe I'll try again. But I'm looking forward to lifting more weights and spending a little time on the bike. These are things I neglect when I'm spending so many hours out on the trails running.

My exception to the no ultras for a while is probably Bandera. I love this race. I can also probably struggle through it without the normal long buildup and months of long runs. I won't do it well or fast, but I can do it. So far I've finished both the 50K and the 100K twice. I'm really hoping to do the 100K each year from now on.

For now though, I'm resting. Injuries need to heal. Mentally, I need a break. And my family needs a break. After that, I'll see what happens.

Surviving the Training

2008-04-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Massanutten is only three weeks away. After racing Bandera, I had expected to really pound out the miles. It just didn't work that way. After taking a while to heal, I got the flu which took me out for two weeks. The latest blow was injuring my right knee a few weeks ago.

Overall, however, things are not really so bad. Before the injury, the heart rate monitor had been telling me that I was in good condition, and while I wasn't increasing speed, the same easy runs were being done at lower and lower average heart rates. Also, the knee injury forced me to focus on walking. I doubt I have lost much in the way of conditioning; however, I am a much better walker than I was a few weeks ago. And walking well is going to be key to finishing this race.

Also, I've ended up with a very odd training schedule. After returning from New York late Monday night, I took Tuesday off and started training again on Thursday. I ended up only running twice this week. But since the total mileage for the two runs was around 49 miles, it's hard to say I've been slacking. And I've felt very strong throughout the runs and not sore afterward. The only real issues I've had is that I blistered really badly Wednesday. I have purchased new shoes, but I also plan to buy new socks before the race. I've also decided to pretape my trouble areas. This didn't work so well in Saturday night's run; I need to make the tape stick to my feet better.

So, overall I feel I'm ready to go. I've got only one more hard run planned before I start to taper. Let's hope that doesn't drive me nuts.

Bandera 2008

2008-02-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

'till everything falls apart
then I get to try to put it back together
yeah, it falls apart you can count on that
you can count on
bad, bad weather again.

--Dog's Eye View

After running this race in just over 16 hours two years ago, I was thinking about a repeat performance. I actually had some hope of improving. So it was a false hope. I was fool enough to believe for a couple of miles.

The trip down started well enough. I met my sister in San Antonio for lunch. I don't see or call her enough so it was good to spend some time catching up. Then it was on to Bandera to set up the tent and enjoy one of Sammy's great meals. I had planned to buy a new, warmer sleeping bag for this trip having suffered through too many cold nights at this race before, but weather reports indicated that would not be necessary. They were correct. By morning it was warm and humid with fog hiding the hills. That is not the way to start this race.

Sadly, I would have to strip off the long-sleeve shirt before I was even up the first hill. All the normally beautiful views are hidden in the fog. Terrain which is normally difficult just because of the rockiness is now slippery and wet as well. And the fog feels like it weighs a ton as I suck it in grinding up the hills. Foolishness of a quick start is put aside, and I settle into a more logical pace and enjoy the ride. But the day had more tricks to play.

By mile seven my stomach was telling me stories I didn't want to hear. A quick stop at a port-a-john and I feel OK again. I stopped at Chapas long enough to drop of the long-sleeve shirt and slam some fuel. The section between Chapas and Cross Roads is fairly easy, but it just wasn't feeling that way this time. This is much too early to struggle at Bandera. The stomach would force an unplanned stop before Cross Roads. Then another before the Three Sisters. This was turning into a repeat of my 2007 Rocky Raccoon. After one more stop, I dug into the bag for my Imodium AD. This is always a last resort for me. It makes me feel terrible. This time was no different. Immediate problem of stopping every few miles was solved. The new problem was feeling like I was going to puke every time I picked up the pace to even a very slow run. I would struggle through that on the downhills but was reduced to walking the rest. By the time I reached Last Chance, I was starting to adjust the time goals. Actually, I had gone a bit beyond that and started to think about cutoffs.

The last section from Last Chance to the lodge always seems long and slow. It even teases you at times with sights of the goal while turning you back away for more. Another problem would show itself here. Seems the repair job on my gaiters wasn't very good. I had extended the strap a little too much and allowed it to ride up over the back of the shoe. For some reason, this had no affect on the right ankle but left the other with a nasty mark and terrible pain anytime I ran downhill. So that's how I struggled into the lodge around with one gaiter on and the other in my hand. My normal running attire is not much of a fashion statement, but this was a new level for even me.

The DNF did cross my mind before heading back out. Luckily, I think I have lost my taste for that combination of letters. I stopped by the tent for fresh socks and an RC. I even tried some soup from the aid station. The calories were probably needed, but the stomach wasn't happy about it. I dropped off the gaiters, both, and prepared for a repeat. It is hard to have a bad lap and go back out knowing the next is going to be much slower.

The second trip around really provide nothing to brag about either. I found new struggles to suffer through. The arm chafing was new. The blisters? Done that before. But I did settle in and enjoy the things I love about running Bandera. The fog was now gone; focus on the trail became difficult as the eyes drifted to the beautiful views and not where they belonged. The stomach still felt terrible, but it no longer seemed to be my primary concern. By the time I reached Nachos, I was starting to enjoy myself again. I did attempt to eat a little but limited it quite a bit. I was tempted to ask Bill for one of his beers, but there was still about a marathon to go even if the stomach did settle down.

As the terrain smoothed out a bit past Nachos, things kept coming together. I wasn't running, but the walking pace picked up. I would walk past several people who were running. And every now and then I'd run a short section. About the time darkness caught me so did another runner. We had a bit of an odd conversation. I hope he didn't take any of my answers as rude. “I'll walk most of the rest of this. Yes you can walk the rest of the way and make the cutoffs. No, it won't really work to stick together. You'll be strong in some sections and I'll be strong in others.” He was quickly leaving me behind by that point so I think he understood.

I have been taught how to time warp through aid stations by the master, but by this point it really didn't seem to be very useful. I took a few stops to try to limit damage to the feet. In fact, there are entire sections where my pace seemed to be dictated that goal. End the end, I still blistered pretty well. As in the past, I think I waited to late to address the problem. The grilled cheese at Cross Roads was the first thing on my stomach that seemed to really sit right. Having not been this far back in the pack before, aid stations seemed a huge contrast to the lonely trails.

Unlike last time, my last aid station stop was not one for burgers and boozes. I would have passed even if they had been available. The last section was the darkest and loneliest. Oddly, my pace was improving as the stomach felt fine now and I had given up protecting the feet. I did take a long stop on Boyles Bump to enjoy the sight. There are lights way out on the horizon many miles away but the sky still so dark you see stars that are impossible to see around the cities. As I stood in the dark admiring the view, a meteor streaked overhead. It seemed a nice finish to a long day. The last miles slipped by quickly, and I ran most of the last bit.

Pacing Western States

2007-12-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

He ran slower than the 24 hour pace but spent negative 28 minutes in aid stations.

I said that jokingly about Andy after pacing him at Western States, but it is probably the best summary I can give overall. After each aid stations the same people would usually pass us again. We would then leave the next station before them and be passed again later. I was ready for this after my experience pacing him at AT100 in 2005. In fact, I’ve taken that lesson and applied it well.

It was clear to me when I first saw Andy two days before the race that he was ready. He appeared lean and ready to go. I didn’t ask, but I knew he was thinking about that silver buckle. And with a cool weather in the forecast, it was something that really didn’t need to be said. I had planned to meet him at Robinson Flat and Michigan Bluff before starting to pace him at Forrest Hill. His times through those stations would tell me more than anything he could have said anyway.

In my small set of experiences, I’ve found crewing to be more work and stress than pacing. The trip from Squaw Valley to Robinson Flat proved that to be true. Andy had not asked for me to bring him anything at the stations. Well, he hadn’t until he realized at the start that he left his hat in the condo. No problem. The crew instructions stated to allow 2.5 hours from Squaw to Robinson Flat. That would have been about right if it weren’t for the traffic. Cars line up and are led in 20 at a time. After they loop around and park facing out, some are allowed to leave and then the next set of 20 allowed in. I eventually made it, and Andy got his hat.

Then I was off for Auburn for food and maybe some sleep. Food wasn’t too hard. Sleep was impossible. I left my car at the finish, changed, packed what I needed and left with his wife and kids for Michigan Bluff. I had been tracking his progress by calling my wife in Texas to check the webcast. Things weren’t looking good. Based on their estimates, Andy was losing time off the 24-hour pace. Luckily, something in the system was wrong. Not only was he not behind the 24-hour pace, he was actually a little ahead.

After a day that seemed full of waiting, I had no waiting left. It was a short trip to Forest Hill. I filled the bottle I was carrying, ate a little, and slammed an energy drink. I felt I was barely ready when Andy arrived early adding another few minutes to his buffer. I was excited to hit the trail and quite nervous. Andy had been running a great race. The only thing going through my head at this point was “Don’t screw him up.”

Unlike Andy’s start early in the day, my first three miles with him were downhill. I ended up leading much of this but was trying to feel out his pace. I eventually fell in behind and just followed a while. In general, I felt he was running a very smart pace and I just wanted him to keep at it. I also got a real sense of how his energy was flowing. When it was up, he would cruise the downhills and most of the flats with an energy I know I couldn’t muster after 62 miles in the mountains. When it was down, the running wouldn’t quite last to the bottom of the hill. The scenery was beautiful, and I was enjoying the ride. Through much of the evening we could see the American River below us. I also saw a lot of poison oak along the trail. That would leave more than a memory.

Andy eventually wanted me to lead. For all the moaning, whining, and naming calling that came out of that, I must say in my defense that I was only trying to keep the same pace that was being set earlier. Actually, there was very little complaining out on the course. He did call me “slave driver” afterward, but I’ll take it as a complement. His energy level continued to wax and wane, but we made good use of the daylight we had.

I think the highlight for me was Rucky Chucky. It was cold and refreshing, and I could have easily stayed in that water a while. It also cleaned a lot of dust and dirt out of my socks and shoes. I had socks in the drop bag on the other side, but we time-warped through another station. I think this was a good choice. The air is so dry my socks were not wet more than 10 or 15 minutes. (I normally don’t need a river or even a creek to get wet socks, and drying is just not possible with the humidity here.) Also, I just hate to sit down at an aid station.

By this point we had worked ourselves to 40 minutes ahead of the 24-hour pace. There was talk by the runners around us about being on a 23-hour pace. I told Andy we needed to go another 10 miles. Then we could talk about if 23 was possible. He was running very well for someone who had gone almost 80 miles, but now we had a few hills left to climb, and the rest of the way would be in the dark.

Andy was slowing but still maintaining a good pace. Soon we had climbed for two miles to Green Gate. I looked around for my friend Mike who was working there, but as I stated earlier, we didn’t spend much time in aid stations. There are so many volunteers at the aid stations there, finding one person is almost impossible. By the time we reached Auburn Lake Trails, I had given up on avoiding the poison oak. My only hope was that the dust I was covered in would act as a protective coating.

Approaching Brown’s Bar was extremely deceptive. You hear the music getting louder as you get closer then start to fade away. After you are well past it you turn and eventually hear it getting louder again. But again it fades away as you pass. I believe it was the fourth approach that was the final one. Even then, it seemed to take longer to actually get to the station than the music would lead you to assume. Both ALT and Brown’s Bar had funny tasting water. I drank little in these sections and had to really tank up when we got to highway 49.

The section between Brown’s Bar and Hwy 49 was the low point. Even on the downhill and flat sections, Andy just didn’t have the push. By the time we started the long climb to the aid station, I think we were both dragging quite a bit. I had pointed out that he was losing his cushion on the 24-hour pace. He assured me it would come back and he would run the downhill after the next station.

By the time we crossed 49, the 40-minute cushion was approaching 20 minutes. One of the aid station volunteers tried to weigh me instead of Andy. I’m not sure how they handle that situation, but the medical staff there probably does not look upon gaining 40 pounds favorably. I stood there slamming fluids as quickly as I could, but Andy was ready to go. He took the lead again and kept his word about running the next downhill. I’m not sure if the silver buckle motivation kicked in, or he wanted at least one chance to punish his pacer as a small retribution. I actually had a hard time keeping up for a while. Not only was he really pushing it, we was also kicking up a lot of dust. I guess it had been a problem all night, but this section seemed really bad. By the time we reached No Hands Bridge, he had rebuilt his cushion, and the silver buckle was a lock.

I’m sure if we had arrived at No Hands a little later, Andy would have pushed through to the end. I think that once he was assured of his goal, the motivation for a 23:30 or 23:25 just wasn’t there. We walked almost all of the last three miles. Andy handed me his pack as he entered the track and picked up his pace one more time. I went the other way to try to get pictures.

Soon we were at the hotel, showered, and devouring their breakfast buffet. It looked like we were eating for 6.

A few random thoughts I should probably add here. I paced this looking to attempt it one day myself. I have been shocked back to reality. I ran only the easy part of the course, but I also saw the mountains it climbs over. If I do get to do it myself, I need to lose the weight and be prepared. I think I would have completed Rocky Raccoon in February had I not gotten sick. I wouldn’t have finished WS had everything gone well.

I also experienced a bit of crowd support, which I’m not used to seeing in ultras. In fact, as a pacer it is a bit odd. Should the pacer acknowledge when people are shouting “Great job!”? I never had to consider it before. There was part of me wanting to say, “Damn straight he doing a great job!” Me? I was just along for the ride. And what a ride it was.

2007 Prickly Pear 50K

2007-03-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

It has been a few years since I’ve made the trip down to San Antonio for the Prickly Pear, and this would be my first 50K there. I had run the 10 miler a couple of times. The race originally drew me because it had a Clydesdale category. At the time, I had never run on trails before and they seemed so difficult yet fun. It was actually this little race that got me to looking for trails around Austin to run. After a few years of trail and ultra running, it is odd how the perspective changes.

I thought hard about how fast I should try to run this race. This distance has always been a bit of a problem for me. After running a 5:31 in my first attempt at Palo Duro, I had always seemed to struggle finding my pace. A 6:01 at Bandera remained my second best time for 50K despite being able to run the distance in less time in training and even at the beginning of longer races. If nothing else, I wanted to be under 6 hours. And I felt a new PR was possible. But I was also haunted by a 50K disaster a few years ago at Rocky Hill Ranch. I knew I was in condition to run close to 5 hours. But I managed to follow a perfectly paced 2:30 first lap with a death march 3:32 second lap.

At the start of the race, it was 49 degrees and dark. The daylight savings time change had to get me one more time. But for me, darkness seems to have it’s own pace. From the start I just ran. By the time the sun rose, I was moving comfortably. If I wanted to hold back and assure myself of going under six hours, it was time to reign in a bit. On the other hand, I was sure I could go 20 at a 10 mpm pace. So I decided to let it go for 20 and see what the last lap would bring.

As I rolled through the first lap, I was amazed how easy the course seemed. It didn’t seem like this a few years ago, but at the time I trained on roads. I did have a bit of déjà vu as I hit the port-a-john at the 7-mile aid station. The last thing I wanted was to repeat my experience at Rocky Raccoon, but it was the last stop I would have to make. The last two miles of the loop were the only ones where the terrain became more difficult. There were a couple of places I would walk uphill and a couple of creek crossings. But overall, I was still rolling well, and hit the end of the loop and my drop bag at about 1:39.

I slammed most of my shake and took off for my second loop. I don’t waste time in aid stations or with drop bags, and this was my first stop other than having my bottle filled. The 10 miler had started 1.5 hours after the 50K. It didn’t take very long to catch and pass the first couple of stragglers. Then a couple of more. Soon I had passed 10, and I had a new game. How many of the 10 milers could I pass this loop? What had been a few stragglers mostly walking soon became long trains of runners. I was often stuck behind slow runners waiting for room to pass or going a bit off trail to get around. As I walked up the biggest hill, I was passed back by a few, but my aggressive downhill style would put me right back in front of them. By the time they split off for the finish and I headed out the out-and-back for my drop back, I had passed 102 runners. I was going to miss them. And I had gone an entire lap ignoring my pace.

I knew I would be struggling the last lap. My usual ultra run includes walk breaks. This time, I had mostly avoided walking. Only up a couple of steep hills in the last mile of the loop had I really walked. And also every 20 minutes I would walk a little to take in some fuel. Somehow, the second loop had been faster than the first. If I could pull that off one more time, it wasn’t a sub-six. It wasn’t even a new PR. I could actually go under 5 hours for a 50K. Time to see how much heart was left.

The loneliness of the last loop felt odd after passing so many people during the second one. I would go back and forth with one guy before finally leaving him behind on a long downhill. One guy did come flying past me like he had really held back the first couple of loops. And I would make my way past a few guys eventually. But it was mostly just me and dreams of the five-hour mark.

The course did have mile markers. They had been mostly entertaining during the first couple of laps as I had noticed my pace but not adjusted it. Now they were telling me a story I didn’t really like. Although I wasn’t walking, I was not able to keep the pace below the 10 mpm level. As I pushed myself through the later miles, I watched that 5 hour goal slowly slip away. I passed the marathon mark near 4:08 or 4:10, filled the bottle one last time at the 5-mile station, and set myself to grind out the last few miles regardless of the result.

In the end, 5:03:51 is all I could squeeze out. But considering what I had hoped for, I was ecstatic. And now, I’m more tired than I remember being. Plans were to run the 50 miler at Rocky Hill Ranch next month. I think I could do well, but I’m so tired I may want a longer mental break.

A New Toy

2007-03-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

After Rocky Raccoon, one of the things I felt I needed was a headlamp. I have preferred handhelds for a long time because I see the terrain better. Having the light shine from a lower level creates shadows and gives objects on the trail some depth. I've also been able to find some very bright ones for very little money.

The problem that I had at Rocky and at other times is that trying to hold the light steady causes me to not swing my arms as much. Seems I then balance by twisting which puts more pressure on my back. I don't see this as a solution to my back problem, but it seems like a positive change.

I used my member dividend at REI to pick up this little light this weekend. I haven't run with it yet, and my only issue is that the 3-watt light is very focused. I like the defused light from the multiple LEDs. After playing with it a few minutes, I realized a very useful option. The top strap is actually optional. By connecting it to the main strap, it is now long enough to go around the waist. With the change to daylight savings time, I'll have lots of dark, morning hours to figure out how to best use it.

Like Speedwork, Almost

2007-02-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons I drifted into ultra marathons is that I had problems with speedwork. I found that I could run 20 miles at an easy pace with no problems but a hard 5K would have me limping for a week. It got worse with the back injury. But I think things had gone way too far down the slow road.

As I start preparing for Burning River, I need to put for more effort on the running. After struggling with the motivational part of it for a while, I finally made it to the track this morning. I had no intention of really pushing, but I did want to see if I could still move in something like a running form. Three easy warm miles and four easy 800M repeats later, I felt pretty good. The times were really bad, but I felt I had pushed myself a bit without causing any injury pain. Now if I can just keep repeating that.

Getting the Weight Under Control

2007-02-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Last year was a disaster for me. After injuring the back in 2005, I thought a short break would get me back on my feet. I was so wrong. I'm still not 100% as Rocky Raccoon proved, and the training plan going forward tries to address what I think I need. But even if that works, my year with little running also left me with more of a gut than I had before. I still move pretty well, but I'm carrying more than I really want to. I would be faster and have more endurance if I got back to the 200 - 205 range where I feel the best. After Christmas, I hit 238. I was down to 229 about a month later, but I suspect I've picked a few of those back up.

So my goals going forward are simple. I intend to lose 5 pounds a month. If I lose more, great. If I lose less and fall behind schedule, I impose some penalties on myself to push me forward. The biggest one for me is the beer penalty. No beer allowed unless I'm on or ahead of schedule. I guess it is a punishment or reward depending on how things are going.

So here are my goals.
March 1 - 225
April 1 - 220
May 1 - 215
June 1 - 210
July 1 - 205
August 1 - 200

I'm hoping I reach 200 before August. The biggest for me is being careful with the snacking. I'm a stress eater with a stressful job.

I Believe I Can Fly

2007-02-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

So my forced no-run recovery period ended this morning. I think the mental break was as important as the physical break. I had some tightness in my right knee, but there was never any pain. Everything else felt good.

It was actually a very refreshing run. I had planned to go 4 - 6 miles depending on how I felt. I had no pace goals and even planned on walking at times, but after I started running, I had no desire to stop. Although the pace was easy, I ran 6 miles stopping only once to remove rocks from my shoes. I could have just kept going or picked up the pace as I wanted. It was a foggy, drizzly morning but perfect for running through the woods.

It was the kind of run that makes me want to go out and do it again tomorrow. Too bad it is a cross-training day. But I'm looking forward to Wednesday already.

Rocky Raccoon Race Report 2007

2007-02-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

Three days before the race I’d been lying on my bathroom floor trying to get my back to stop hurting. The injury that had felt fine several weeks ago was back with a vengeance. I was unsure I could go 20 miles. 100 seemed impossible. But I was determined not to quit. If I tried and failed, I could live with it. But I’m not a quitter.

It was the 75 mile point when I finally faced reality. I guess I had known for a few miles that finishing was becoming more unlikely. Thoughts of finishing had been replaced by concern about reaching the next aid station. Clothes that were warm earlier in the night were totally inadequate for moving so slowly. The mixture of running and walking that worked five miles ago was now impossible. And without the running helping me to keep loose, the only thing happening quickly was slowing of my walk. The four miles from the Dam Road station to site 174 took just over two hours. I had given it all I had. I didn’t feel like I had quit. I had just failed.

We started in the darkness at 6AM with temps in the mid 20’s. This was way too cold for me, but I was fine once we were moving. The course just seemed to fly by. I grabbed a little food off the first aid station, but was sticking mostly to my routine of Gatorade and Cliff Shot Blocks. The Dam Road was the same as I picked up something solid to snack on as I walked on through. I was running all the down hills. Walking anything going up. And mixing things up if it seemed flat. The pace felt too easy, and that was the plan. Hard could come later. And I didn’t want to put any stress at all on the back.

I had never been on the section of trail from Dam Road to Far Side. I had been warned of the mud. In some sections, it was closer to lake than mud. With the hills and roots added in, this was my least favorite stretch. And I would have to cover it out and back each loop. If there was any advantage, it was that I was running very well on the long down hill sections and walking smoothly on the up hills. Jim and Mike were working the aid station, and it is always nice to see familiar faces. I quickly grabbed a snack while my bottle was refilled and turned around for the trip back. The pace seems to be averaging about 12 minute miles. That’s a little fast, but it still felt easy. I popped two ibuprofen at 8AM along with some salt. I kept to the schedule for eating and drinking. So far.

I had to hit the drop bag on the way back through Dam Road. I slammed a Starbuck’s Double Shot, left the light to be picked up on a later loop, and grabbed another pack of Cliff Blocks. The stop seemed to take forever, but I was soon running the easy downhill of the Dam Road and back onto the trails. I knew this section from Sunmart and made the most of the down hills once again. By the time I reached the Site 174 aid station, the intestines were grumbling at me, and I was thinking reaching the porta-potties in a few miles when I reach the start/finish. My digestive tract had other plans.

I wasn’t even half a mile out of 174 when the need for a porta-potty went from soon to immediate. I was quickly scurrying off trail in search of cover. And so began my demise. I finished the first loop just under four hours. Too fast, but until the last three miles, it had all been too easy. I stuck to plan at the start/finish drinking my shake and switching to lighter gloves. I hit the porta-potty while there and moved on without wasting too much time. But I was soon searching for cover again. This pattern would continue. At the highway aid station, I took only coke hoping to settle my stomach. No luck. Same plan with a cracker and Coke at Dam Road. No Luck. Far Side had Tums. That doesn’t work. Another runner offered Peptol Bismol. I felt a little better, but I couldn’t really say if it was working. I did make it a few more miles this time, but not very far. I may have been a little slow mentally, but I finally figured it out. I couldn’t eat anything. I could drink little sips. And the jostling from running made things worse. By the time I finished the second loop, I had been fighting the desire to quit for quite a few miles. With no food for over 20 miles, hope was fading quickly. I decided to try one more loop just to see if I could hold something.

I received temporary salvation this time. The aid station has Imodium AD. Also, I was assisted by that angel and experienced ultra runner Diana Heynen. She gave me Papaya tables. Preached to me about eating. Had Joe preach to me about eating. And sent me on my way. I would follow their advice as I worked my way around again. I drank just the broth from the noodles at the first aid station. The stomach holds out but feels worse for the food. At least I was running again, but I was still scanning for places to get out of sight of the trail just in case. More broth at Dam Road plus a noodle or two. I was drinking more now. At Far Side I met my pacer. I explained what had happened and why I’d be late to meet him for the 4^th loop. More broth and a few more noodles, but again it felt like the stomach was teetering on the edge. I was mostly walking by this point but found I could run long sections if I need. I felt awful, but I had hope of finishing. I was actually passing people again. A mile before the start/finish, I was passed by a couple of blurs. Actually, it was the lead woman and her pacer. I’m amazed that someone can run that fast 99 miles into a 100 miler.

My pacer had to be patient with me as I had to clean my feet and change shoes before the next lap. There was a blister between my toes; I changed into Injinji socks and left it. The larger shoes were more protective, and this felt easier for a while. I stuck to broth and noodles; the stomach rebeled at too much of the latter. I started adding in some Cliff Blocks again. I can usually suck on them and let them dissolve. I still felt I was doing OK with the pace; although, I was clearly slowing down. The trip from Dam Road to Far Side took 55 minutes. Although I still ran the down hills in that section, every step seemed to pound the back. The trip back to Dam Road took an hour to cover the three miles. Each run downhill caused more pain and slowed me further. With the stomach problem, I didn’t dare take more ibuprofen. But without it, running was becoming impossible.

At Dam Road, I took hand warmers out of my drop bag and slid them into my gloves. I really didn’t think I could stand even one more cup of noodles so I passed this time and tried to get moving again. There were many times over the next two hours that I wished I had never left Dam Road. I think now that I’m glad I stumbled through those last 4 miles. They became the difference between thinking I may be finished and knowing I was finished. I reached Site 174 completely spent. And so ended my first attempt at running 100 miles.

Some things have become clear in the days after the race. I wasn’t dealing with a little stomach issue. I clearly had picked up some virus before the race that picked the worst possible time to show itself. Seems this has been making its way around my office while I was away. I had been concerned about my diet before or during the race due to changes I had made.

For lessons learned, I’m a little lacking. Most people learn more from their DNFs. I learned I can’t run 100 miles with a virus. But here are a few keys.

Always plan for the worst. Taking Imodium AD makes me feel awful, but I want to have some with me for times when awful is an improvement.
The rest plan worked; I got more sleep before a race than I have for any ultra.
When you think you have enough TP and wet wipes, you don’t.
Get some papaya tablets.
No clue on the shoe/sock combinations. The left foot has blisters. The right foot does not.
Train harder. Go longer. Be more ready for the tired miles at the end.

All I want for Christmas is a new set of goals

2006-12-25T18:33:00.000-08:00

“Long December and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.”
--Counting Crows

From an athletic perspective, I’m very happy to see this year go. The only bright spot is that the lack of running has given me lots of time for weights and some of the best strength gains I’ve had since high school. Still, I am a runner and not a weight lifter. I’m much happier out on the trails than in the gym.

I attempted three races this year. I struggled through but completed the 100K at Bandera in January, DNFed a fat ass 50K in September, and finished on a positive note with 50 miles at Sunmart in December. I’m still not 100% over the back injury, but I am well enough to move on as long as I do so smartly.

This week I’ll hit the trail again hoping I’m recovered enough from Sunmart to put in some good miles. With my work schedule, morning runs before work are the only real option. But sometimes waking at 4AM and hitting the dark, cold, lonely trails takes more than I seem to have. I need a goal to keep me motivated. So here are my goal races for 2006.

In February, I will return to Huntsville, TX and attempt my first 100-miler. I am not approaching this race as an athletic challenge as much as I am looking at it as a celebration. On January 25, I will turn 40. I may enjoy my beer, but I am not the party type. So I will celebrate by attempting what I’ve wanted to do for a few years now.

Unfortunately, Rocky Raccoon would not be my first choice if it weren’t for the date being close to my birthday. The course is five loops of 20 miles each. A point-to-point course is much more my style and improves my odds of finishing. I find the biggest struggle is starting a new loop when I’m tired, cold, hurting, etc. Having that easy drop option at mile 80 is not something positive for me.

In the longer term, I expect a longer training cycle leading to a more difficult 100 miler. I am looking seriously at Cascade Crest in August. If I survive Rocky Raccoon, I expect that to be my next target.

Actually, I know I’m being foolish. I would do well to get in another couple of months of running before attempting to run 100 miles. If there was a good option for late March or April, I would probably put off my celebration a bit in exchange for better odds on success. The only real options that seem to exist are McNaughton and Umstead. But both are loop courses as well. Both are much further away. And neither will have as many of my friends present as Rocky Raccoon will.

If this week goes well, I’ll drop the application in the mail. It will be a few hard weeks of running followed by a 2-week taper. And if anyone wants to join me, I’ll be hitting the Barton Creek Green Belt early most mornings. Just leave me a comment.

Rocky Raccoon 100 Status Update

2006-12-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

So Rocky Raccoon has been a quietly spoken goal for a while now. And right after Sunmart, I thought it was very probable; however, it seems I didn’t survive Sunmart as injury-free as I thought. I have what I think is an IT band flare up. It hit me about 2.5 miles into an easy run Monday morning.

The Rocky Raccoon application is already filled out and sitting on my kitchen counter. I expect to know by New Years if it will be mailed or shredded. For now, I’m walking miles until I’m sure about trying to run again. I’ll probably try it late next week to see where I stand. And actually, since I will spend so much of the race walking, this could actually be a good thing.

Sunmart 50-mile 2006

2006-12-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

It has been 11 months since I finished a race. That was Bandera. An attempt at Lake Bryan back in September left me with my only DNF. I am feeling rough even on the first loop, but not rough enough to even think about the DNF.

Four months without running, recovery from unrelated surgery, and a new job that demands too much of my time have turned me into a very different runner. The extra pounds I’ve picked up this year add to that situation. I’m not here for awards. I’m here to finish a race. I’m here to push myself back toward where I was before.

I’ve heard about the terrain at Huntsville. Flat. Easy. No hill you can’t see over. So that is not quite true. It’s not quite flat. The hills are a little taller than I am; although, the slope is usually easy to run. Or would be if I wasn’t going 50 miles. I run a few of the hills early being the fool I am but quickly settle into walking up and running down. I hate the sand. There are several spots it is really bad but not very many. There are also roots and stumps. Many are hidden. I went down twice and made two great recoveries.

Because I haven’t run in so long, this is the first I’ve seen of many of my running friends in a long time. It’s good to see Joe, Henry, and Mark before the race. I will pass them each several times during my four loops. Henry most often as he seems to stay about the same distance ahead of me for a while. Joe very little as he is wearing his jet pack today. I’m just glad not to see the back of his head as he laps me, but he did come close.

The plan had been to target 2:30 each lap expecting to slow a bit with each one. The first is too fast around 2:15. But the hammys are already tight. I have no idea how I can be hurting 10 miles into a 50 mile race. It isn’t bad, and I’m not quitting. It is just not a good sign for things to come.

The second lap is close to target, but I know I’m not going to hold the pace. Also, the stomach is playing games, and I end up wasting time in another porta potty, my such break so far. My usual routine between laps is to slam protein, pack another bag of shot blocks, fill the bottle, and get out fast. I also grab the mp3 player this time. The combination makes for a long stop. This is time better spend on the course.

In general, I spend very little time in aid stations. My plan has me skipping most of them as my 26oz bottle is enough for many miles in this weather. It was during the third loop I realized my fueling error. While my combination of Cliff Shot Blocks and Gatorade a generally enough, I was not drinking as much due to the cold weather. I’m still not really stopping at the aid stations unless I need the bottle refilled, but I swipe a coke or cookie each time I pass to pick up a few extra calories. Somehow, this also seems to settle my stomach.

The third loop of four is the loop of doubt. I’m walking much more and can’t seem to move very fast when I do run. The course is just getting familiar enough to fool me into thinking I’m closer to the next aid station than I really am. I’m questioning if I can make myself go back out again. I know I can, but somehow I dread the effort of starting the final loop. At the end of the loop, the clock tells me I’ve slowed but not nearly as much as I had feared.

I make the usual pickup at the drop bag and dump a beach out of my shoes. I’m trying to not repeat the long stop of the last loop and get back out before I can think about quitting and getting warm. I do make it out quickly and just want to keep moving forward. I’m a mile up the trail before I realize my first mistake. I may have dumped out sand from the shoes, but suddenly the right one wants to rub the back of my heel the wrong way. I had another pair in the drop bag. Along with the light. Two lights actually. Still sitting a mile back in the bag with the shoes I wish I had on. At my current pace, I’m going to finish in the dark and with blisters. I considered going back for them. Instead I pushed on a little faster. Now I’m no longer being lapped by faster runners. I get passed some but often pass them back in the aid stations. As slow as I feel, I’m still passing people at times. The legs keep getting tighter and tighter. I’m still walking uphill and running downhill. In the flats, I’m picking points ahead of me to run to. Soon there are glow sticks out. Walk to the next two glow sticks. Run to the next three.

As I hit the last aid stations to fill my bottle one last time, half the volunteers are at the lake watching the sun set. I have just less than three miles to go with daylight fading fast. I pass two more runners only caring about how much light is left. At the interpretive center, I feel another runner behind me. I fly down the long hill leaving him behind. He starts to catch me again as I walk up the next. I pull ahead with each downhill. He reels me back in as we go up. Sounds like a logical story for a 235 pound ultra runner. The finish is not downhill enough for me to have an advantage. And after 50 miles, there is no sprint in me. It wasn’t until after I finish that I realized how hard I had been pushing.

I picked up my swag, grabbed a burger, and went over to the HCTR tent to see who was left. I enjoyed the burger intending to help with the last tent as most everything else was taken care of. Unfortunately, the day had one more card to deal. I had been cold the whole day. I thought I would be dropping off clothes into the drop bag as the day warmed. I dropped nothing as I never felt I was warming up. I had put on an old heavy coat as I was eating, but soon even that wasn’t enough. I knew I had to get dry. I had to get warm. After changing clothes and warming up in the car, I never quite made it back to help. Being warm and dry, I couldn’t make myself go back out into the cold.

Overall, I’m satisfied. I didn’t perform to plan, but I did PR by 30 minutes. I am also already over most of my soreness. Some pains remain, but none feel like they will be sticking around for the long term.

Nice pair

2006-09-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

of runs that is. Nothing great, but I'm finally back after some time off. It was mostly too much work and other things going on, but I was also very mentally drained after the DNF.

9/26/2006 - 6.1 miles/53:43/Brooks Axiom/home neighorhood
9/27/2006 - 6.0 miles/56:25/Mizuno Inspire/Treadmill(Golds)

It's been a while since I've put in two good runs in a row. I was a little tight in the back right after the run, but I'm feeling much better no. Another attempt in the morning if I can drag myself out of bed.

My first DNF

2006-09-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Lake Bryan Trail Run - 25K/2:58:00/Brooks Axiom

The 50K sounded like a really good idea. No realy stress. Check my progress. See if running a 50 in October was possible. I am such an idiot.

On the positive side, the trail was nice. It was one of those where they manage to fit in 15 miles of trail in 3 miles by making it twist and turn until you get dizzy. Nothing is straight. Not the most efficient way to run, but these are the types of trails I love.

I decided to start in road shoes: Brooks Axioms. My only trail shoes now are Nike Air Steens, and they are not working well for me. I also brought an old pair of Vasque Light Speeds with me, but they are hardly ever used. Although most of the trail is soft, the few roots and rocks I stepped on put some stress on the feet. It was more in the effort to flex off of them than any impact. Felt early on like I would be changing about midway.

The first 10K loop was very smooth. No issues. I was slower than expected but felt good overall. Heading out on the second loop, things were still good, but I was looking forward to short walk breaks more. By the time I hit the aid station, the water bottle was empty. I drank half of it there and filled again. The Gatorade bottle was still half full. I would survive about 2 or 3 more miles before I would hit the wall. Actually, it felt more like falling in a pit. Although the overall pace wasn't bad, I found myself struggling through what were probably 17 - 18 minute miles. Upon finally making the start/finish, I dropped. It is sad as I have used the fact that I have never DNFed to motivate me at times to continue.

So what went wrong? I have my excuses. In reality, I lacked the fitness, toughness, and stupidity to continue. The fitness was a problem. I've done nothing over 18 miles since January; although, I've been in the 14 - 15 mile range several times. The heat and humidity were horrid. Dew points were in the mid 70's. Temps would eventually hit the upper 90's even with the scattered showers. I am not heat trained. And I really need more than 2 hours of sleep to do this. I had worked all day Saturday, couldn't sleep from stress, got up and worked some more. Then woke up at 3:15 to drive to Bryan.

But the real factor was my back. After several weeks of almost no pain, I found my back tightening up as the pace slowed. I think this is where the stupidity factor played. I have taken months off from running. Nothing about finishing this race seemed to be worth going through that again. I'm feeling back to mormal already, which wouldn't have been the case had I continued.

I'll update with results later. No Palo Duro for me this year. Maybe it was the heat/sleep/etc. But too much of it was me.

9/14 Run

2006-09-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail - 4.7 miles/40:27 (+.7 miles) (Mizuno Inspire)

Nothing very special. It was a nice to keep up a pace even if I'm way too slow. I may have been able to pick it up a little, but I don't think I had too much more. Weather is still hot, but the humidity wasn't quite as bad. I had planned to go out again Friday for something short, but it looks like this is the last run before I try for 50K at Lake Bryan on Sunday.

9/11/2006 Run

2006-09-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

Barton Creek Green Belt - 14 miles/2:34:32

Not the best weather for a run, but it was better than I have been dealing with all summer. The humidity was still quite high although it wasn't quite as hot.

I started on some very dry, dusty trails and was feeling I should have taken the small, green light. I found I don't see as well with the green LED light, but when the trails are very dry the color is light enough that I can see. When they get wet, I need the bigger, brighter light.

But things ended up working out for the best as I soon found wet trail. I seem to have missed all the rain but did get hit by a few drops falling from the trees. There wasn't enough water for mud, but it did keep the dust down a little. The trip out was slow. Things picked up on the way back after putting the light in the pack. Unfortunately, the later sunrise has me running half the trip with a flashlight. And that is increasing each week. I may be doing almost the whole thing in darkness before the end of daylight savings time give me a little break.

Chilli weather? Almost

2006-09-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail - 14.25 miles/2:17:11 (+ .7 extra)

Nice weather for a change. Temps were in the low 60's as I headed toward downtown. In the city and around the lake, it wasn't quite that cool, but it was a very nice change from what I have been dealing with. Funny thing was all the long sleeves and thermal shirts I saw today.

I had hoped to put in 17 - 20 in the nice weather, but I got a late start. I also had some back pain which made me careful about pushing it. It was a nice run; energy was good the whole way. I could have probably gone 20 - 25 without much of a slowdown.

Skipped the weights to get more work done. I've had some long days lately.

9/4/2006 non-run

2006-09-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I was supposed to get up and hit the greenbelt for a run. Didn't happen. I got the Boston Terriers around for 2.1 miles, but I didn't have it to run. I did get a nice couple of extra hours of sleep though.

2.1 miles walking

9/5/2006 Run

2006-09-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

Barton Creek Green Belt - 4 miles/49:28 (+2.1 walk)

Some days your heart just isn't into it. I normally love to run in the rain, but a late start and a forgotten hat didn't start things off well. And the wet ground was dark and hard to see with the little green LED light.

I turned around at the 2-mile marker and pushed the pace back to the car. It still wasn't fast, but it wasn't bad considering how hard it was to see the technical trail.

9/2/2006 Long Run

2006-09-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

San Gabriel Trail - 17 miles/2:46:09

Not quite the run I was hoping for. I was sure I could hit 20 today. But the cool weather we had earlier this week is gone, and the early start did not happen. By the time I gave in around 1:00, it was already 98.

On the positive side, the pace was good overall. It was very smooth the first 8 - 10 miles. I was fading hard by 12. I wanted to go back out for the last 8, but the 5 more was tough to muster.

Now I'm dealing with a headache from the dehydration. I went through 120 oz of Gatorade during the run, fueled on Hammer Gel, and took Succeed. But I just can't keep up in this heat.

I'll take tomorrow off. I'm not sure about Monday yet. It may rain. I'll probably run in the rain if it does. Otherwise, I may try to recover a little more from this effort.

New Running Quote

2006-08-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

I recently read the book by Dean Karnazes, Ultra Marathon Man: Confessions of an All-night Runner. Much of it really struck a cord. There is something about ultra runners that just takes an ultra runner to understand.

But while I felt that connection, I felt he really struck out on his main point. His answer for why he runs, well, sucked. Or maybe it was one of the few parts of the book that didn’t really resonate with me. That and his hallucination at the end of WS about being part of something bigger and all being connected or what ever he was trying to say under the stress of 98 miles. I can see why it is a lightening rod in the ultra community.

I’ve tried to answer the why question many times. I feel I’ve come close at times but never quite hit it. But this week I think I heard the best answer so far. It was in a JFK speech when he was talking about putting a man on the moon. I’ve heard part of this many times as have most people. What I hadn’t heard of that speech is the why.

"...NOT because it is easy, but because it is hard. Because THAT GOAL will serve to organize and measure the BEST of our energies and skills. Because THAT challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one that we intend to win!"

Shot Down in a Blaze of Glory

2006-08-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

Barton Creek Green Belt - 14 miles/2:31:03 (1:20:16 out/ 1:10:46 back) August 30, 2006

My early plans had included a 10 mile trail run before work this morning. But some rain and cooler temperatures called for a little more. I’d make it 14. And with temps around 70, I felt like I was packed in ice.

Things did not start well. My 5AM started got delayed until 5:30. Not good for someone who needed to hit the gym for a shower and still make it to work by 9. And plans to pick up the pace to make up a little of that time were not working out. I felt I was moving faster, but the watch was telling a different story. Still I felt good.

The rain started around the 4.5 mile point. Unfortunately, it ended around the 4.7 mile point. I love running through the woods in the rain. I felt teased. But I was enjoying the cool weather too much. The heck with work, I’d push on to the 7 mile point and just hope I could still make it on time.

On the trip back, it was finally light enough to put away the flashlight. And the energy level just never seemed to drop. I was moving easier than I have in a long time. The back wasn't hurting at all. The watch was telling me a new story now. I was going to make it to work on time. I don't remember ever covering this trail as fast. The trip back was going to be about 10 minutes faster than the trip out. And the energy level was just begging me to turn around and do it again. I was flying as I passed the .25 mile marker with only a few hundred yards to go when it struck. A rock reached up and grabbed me. Blood and sand make interesting mud. I took some good cuts/scrapes to the hand, elbow, and knee. But the worst of it was that I twisted my back in a weird way.

So the mostly painless run left me with more back pain than any run in the past few weeks. I’m not sure how much progress I’ve undone, but 12 hours later I’m still in a bit of pain. Also, hopes of making it to work on time were shot as I had to clean sand out of my cuts.

I may have to replan my runs the rest of the week. I'd rather be sure of my back than log the miles. Tomorrow is weights only so I have a little more time to see what the impact may be.

8/29/2006 - Weights

2006-08-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

No run today, but I squeezed in some weights during lunch. I was in training all day, so that was a feat. Bicepts and lats today.

We've actually had some rain lately. It's nice to have rain again, but mostly it has cooled things down a bit. I plan to enjoy my run tomorrow since temps should be around 70 in the early hours instead of around 80.

8/28/2006 Run

2006-08-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail – 11.15 miles/1:50:14 (.7 easy to and from the trail)

Oh, this isn’t running. I’m not sure what to call it. I should be rested. I should be cruising. Instead, I’m fighting to get to the next mile marker and a few walking steps to catch my breath. Then it is off again after a little fuel and a shot of Gatorade. I’m soaking wet from sweat and a misaimed sprinkler head. The sprinkler should have felt good, but even the water is warm in this weather. Not like there is any evaporation.

A couple of things are right. Dawn then the sunrise seem to bring a new energy to my running. After struggling to lay out a few 10-minute miles, I’m hitting around 9 and breathing a little easier. It doesn’t last long, but there is always something about the sunrise the picks me up.

Also, the bats are out. In Austin, there are bat cruises at night. I’ve been on one. But the best time to see the bats here is when they come back in the mornings. As I make my way under the Congress Avenue Bridge, millions are returning from a night of eating to find a rest place in the little gaps under the bridge. It is a beautiful site. I’ve got to remember to bring the camera.

I did manage to struggle through the 10.1 mile loop. I then walked/slogged on another ½ mile before turning back to make it an 11.1 mile run. Things don’t look good for a 50K next month or a 50 miler in October, but I’ve been through my downs before. Just got to watch the diet and keep on pushing.

Even though I drank 40 oz. of Gatorade and 20 oz. of water, weight is down 5.7 pounds after the run. It has to cool someday. Even if I could drink that much, I don’t know if I could carry it.

Hit the weights during lunch for chest, tricepts and shoulders. Also threw in some ab work.

8/26/2006 - Ooh that heat

2006-08-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

So I went out today in the middle of the afternoon. I had some thought of running 4 - 6 miles. The stomach had been a little upset and it was hot so there were no thoughts of going very long.

The first mile went OK, but I was starting to feel really hot. By the time I finished the second mile, I was suffering pretty bad. I could have pushed on but felt things just weren't right. I turn back along the shorted route toward home. Ended up with 3.1 or 3.2 miles, but I was really not doing well by the end. I'm glad I turned back when I did.

Turned on the local news station to see the weather was about 102. Considering I was running in the sun on asphalt, it was feeling much warmer than that to me. Closest weather station is reading 105. I think I'll stay inside and cool for a while.

3.1 miles/0:28:56

8/25/2006 Run

2006-08-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Barton Creek Green Belt - 14 miles/2:38:14

A slow slog up the greenbelt and back. Had to rush to make a 9AM meeting this morning. Nasy humidity with temps starting out around 82. Lots of sloshing noised from the shoes after 5 miles, but taping the big toe on the left foot seems to have prevented any further blister problem there. Still not sure I can use these shoes for anything longer.

Looks like I may make the start line for the Lake Bryan Trail Run. It had been iffy for a while. Also, it seems I will probably make Palo Duro in October. I had given up on that one, but some other things have settled out. I'm not sure I can pull a Western States qualifying time even with the new standards, but if I'm there I will be trying.

But that brings me back to the shoes. The Nike Air Steens will not work for 50 miles. In fact, I don't think they will work for 31. My problem is that the options are not really good around here. I really want to try on some Inov-8 shoes. REI is supposed to carry them, but they don't have them in the store. I'd have to order online. I'm going to stay away from Montrails for a while. The Highline seemed to work for me, but having a shoe fall apart on me like that one did is not something I can take. So while the three pair I've had have felt great on the trail, I've had quality problems with 2 of them. If for no other reason, I need another pair of trail shoes so I can run trails every day and still allow them time to dry.

8/23/2006

2006-08-23T17:14:00.000-07:00

Skipped the run this morning to let the achiles heal a bit. And I just didn't have it in me to get up early. Motivation is not really there this week.

I did hit the weights hard during lunch. Back and bicepts doing sets of 12.

I've got to find a race to help me get motivated. The September one is still uncertain. I'm not sure what it will be, but I will pick one soon.

8/21/2006

2006-08-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Running - Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail - 10.1 miles/1:45:43 + 0.7 warm up and cool down

Achiles is killing me so I walked up every hill and took all of it very easy. Not a bad average pace under those constraints, but I was in quite a lot of pain after about 8 miles. May have to shift to walking for a while until I heal a bit.

Weights - Chest, tricepts and shoulders - sets of 12.

Managed 3 sets of 12 at 175 on the bench press. Not much left for incline and decline press after that. By the time I got to dips, I was shattered.

8/19/2006 Run

2006-08-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

San Gabriel Trail, Georgetown + Blue Hole trail and Scenic Drive -- 15.0 miles in 2:23:38

I had intended to try 20 this morning, but too many things happen when you are rebuilding a base. The back hurt some, but it was never bad enough to stop me. And the energy was leaving, but I was running all but the steepest uphill sections. In the end, my right calf and achiles were the straw that broke my back. First pain hit around 4 miles but eased up when I backed off the pace. I had to back off several more times. By about 14.5, there wasn't much backing off left if I was going to call it running.

I had intended to do a short the day before this attempt, but it didn't happen. I did lift and get 30:00 on the eliptical trainer.

Wildlife included a few deer and a rabbit. Lots of runners and walkers out after the sun came up.

8/17/2006

2006-08-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

No running today. The back still isn't in condition to run every day. I generally need at least one day off between runs. I'll try to put two together tomorrow and Saturday, but with a very light run tomorrow.

I did hit the gym today working chest, tricepts, and shoulders. I'm on sets of 12 now which is not my best part of the cycle. I still had a good workout and feel I've pushed a little further than the last time I cycled through 12s.

8/16/2006 Run

2006-08-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Barton Creek Greenbelt - 10 miles/1:41:11
From Zilker to Twin Falls and back before work. Still nasty himidity. Felt horrible the first 4 miles or so, but things improved as the sun came up. I was faster and had much more energy in the back than in the out.

54:51 out
51:18 back

Heard an owl hoot but couldn't see him. It was still pretty dark at the time.

Shoes rubbed the blister back after I had popped it. Feet are also a bit sore which often happens if the shoes are stiff. The Nike Air Steens may not work, but I'm having a hard time finding a good option that I can actually try on.

8/14/2006 Run

2006-08-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

Barton Creek Green Belt - 14 miles/2:33:16
Slow trudge out to the Hill of Life and back from Zilker before work. Started around 5:15 with OK temps but nasty humidity. New Nikes rubbed a big, bloody blister on the outside of my left big toe.
Little wildlife except for a rabbit and the normal critters.

Running Again

2006-06-26T18:24:00.000-07:00

Oh, I'm so fat and slow. And I mean really fat and slow. On the other hand, at least I'm moving in a forward direction. It is not painless, but I have been able to handle the pain so far.

Although I've been on the bike and elliptical trainer quite a bit while not running, it is not the same workout. I tried to turn an easy 4.25 loop through my neighborhood. Sadly, I took a short walk break about 3 miles into it. Some is just being out of shape. And some is all the weight I've gained. Both have to be fixed if I'm going to do anything this fall. Between the lack of running and stress eating, I've managed to hit 235 pounds. I run best around 200. So at least 25 pounds need to drop off before any real effort is put into a race.

As far as racing, I had really hoped to qualify for Western States this year. I came very close back in November when I ran 11:06 at Rocky Trails. I didn't realize until later that I was so close thinking I needed to run under 10:00 at the time.

I am considering possibly running Palo Duro in October or Chicago Lakefront in November. Under 11 hours at either would qualify me. Chicago would be easier and a couple of friends will probably be there. On the other hand, 50 miles of flat asphalt is not my idea of fun. And November in Chicago will probably be colder than any weather I'm used to running in. I just don't have the gear for snow or cold rain.

But for now, I am only going to worry about running. If I can keep increasing the effort and results through July, I may start mapping out a plan. But for now, I just need to build the basics and lose some weight. The racing will come.

PT

2006-05-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

So athletically I'm quite a mess. Nothing has gone as planned since Rocky Trails in early November. Sure I finished Bandera, but I wonder what I could have accomplished had injures not held back my training as well as reduce my effort during the race. After several months off from running to try to heal my injuries, I went to a new doctor for a second opinion.

I did like my new doctor. Although it is really hard to tell what a 7-month-old back injury is, he went through evaluating, eliminating various things and explaining possibilities. Although not sure, he thinks I've injured the connective tissue between the spine and muscle. He thinks PT can help and wants me to try that for 3 weeks and come back to see him.

Friday was my first visit with my physical therapist, Peter. Peter goes through his own set of evaluations and questions. His explanation is a little different, but he thinks he can have me close to normal in a couple of weeks. He tweaks and torques and has me work out there. Unfortunately, I'm not to run until I'm further along with him. Cycling is OK as is the elliptical trainer. He also wants me to start lifting again avoiding anything heavy in squats or leg presses.

Right now I'm just hoping the insurance comes through and pays for this. I had reached the point before having gall bladder surgery that I was willing to bear the expense to get back to running. Now I should have met my out-of-pocket maximum for the year, but I'm still missing bills from various doctors and the hospital. Nothing is as messed up as medical billing. I won't even start here. But the entire situation makes lawyers look like an honest group.

But back to the PT. I really want to be running again. I want to bring my weight down to a more comfortable number. I want to prepare for a fall race. But for now I'm just stuck on the bike or elliptical trainer. I did 35 miles on the road bike today. I've got to get used to being in the saddle if I'm going to do this. Maybe some more tomorrow if I think I can sit on it at all. If not, it may be off to the gym again.

And which amendment is that?

2006-05-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the fervor from the immigrant protests here has mostly died down. Congress is off pretending to address the issue. I don't expect anything out of that at all. And anything that comes out of it will be unenforced like the last immigration bill.

But some of our local protesters have managed to provide a little entertainment lately. Many of the students here decided to protest during the middle of school by walking from one school to another. And doing this once wasn't enough. They had to do it twice. The police finally started making arrests for violating the daytime curfew.

So yesterday many of these students had to show up in court to enter pleas. Now, I figure if you are going to do something like this, you have to be willing to take your lumps with it. Maybe they have heroes like Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks. Maybe they were willing to sacrifice more than a days worth of algebra, biology, literature, and American history for what they believe. Maybe I'm just a gullible fool.

Seems about half the 200 students arrested entered pleas of not guilty and will go to a jury trial. Considering this is a $200 fine and community service, this wouldn't even be a big lump.

And based on some of the quotes I've heard from the students, let's hope they are smart enough to sit their quietly. What am I saying? These fools will represent themselves. But my favorite quote went something like this.

We have a right to free speech. We have the right to do anything we want. That's what they teach us in school. I'm a graduate of Round Rock High School. I should know.

I have mentioned that I don't send my daughter to public school, right? Based on the knowledge of the constitution demonstrated here, I was hoping for way too much with regards to MLK and Rosa Parks as heroes.

$8 Beer

2006-05-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

I'm usually quite cheap and spend as little as possible. The one area of my life that this is not true is with beer. I normally drink about a 6-pack a week and generally go for quality. Usually that means $6 - $8 per six pack although I have gone higher for some of my favorites.

One of the beers I've been wanting to try is the 120-minute IPA by Dogfish Head. I've had the 60-minute and 90-minute IPAs. Both are outstanding. Actually, everything I have tried by Dogfish has been good. So when I ran across a few bottles today in my local HEB, I had to pick one up. I thought about picking up two, but didn't since I wasn't sure of the price. Well, at $7.99 for the 12 oz bottle, I was glad I stuck with one.

I have to admit the first impression wasn't very good. It is a little sweeter than I had hoped. But as it warms and the palate adjusts, I could have been wrong about that second bottle. There is more than enough malt and hops here to hold up against the high alcohol levels. Although this much strength is probably better being sipped by the fire on a cold night instead of during a hot Texas afternoon..

Label claims it will store well. I may have to pick up one or two for that purpose. Could make a great reward beer after a goal race if it weren't for the 20% ABV.

Free Speech?

2006-04-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

I have always appreciated South Park. Don’t take that to mean that I always agree with them and the political points they attempt to make, but they do take on topics that others just avoid. I guess you could call them equal opportunity offenders. But while I may disagree with what they say at times, I support their right to say it.

Unfortunately, I no longer get Comedy Central so I miss out on my free-speech reality check. But I did manage to catch last week’s show while laying in the hospital recovering from surgery. My drugged-induced fog left me wondering if South Park had been censored or if it was part of the joke. Sadly, it wasn’t part of the joke. You can get the story here from CCN so you don’t think I just quote the right wing nuts. I can quote the left ones as well.

Banned by Comedy Central from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, the creators of "South Park" skewered their own network for hypocrisy in the cartoon's most recent episode.

The comedy -- in an episode aired during Holy Week for Christians -- instead featured an image of Jesus Christ defecating on President Bush and the American flag.

I guess I’m not surprised by the hypocrisy. Even that great bastion of free speech, “The New York Times”, has shown where it stands on the issue by printing images of Mary covered in elephant dung while refusing to reprint the Mohammad cartoons. But I had hoped for more out of the network with the balls to air South Park in the first place.

But while the hypocrisy is clear, there is something that isn’t. If Islam considers Jesus a prophet, where is the outcry over the use, in some very unflattering ways as well, of his image?

Cycling Plans

2006-04-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Hey, my site is still alive. And I remember the password. I'm just glad it hasn't found its way into some permanently inactive state.

Still no running for me. The back is feeling better, but I fear a relapse if I don't take it easy. But I am getting in miles on the bikes. My next goal is a 12-hour mountain bike race. It will be tough on me mostly because my technical skills on the mountain bike aren't very good.

Last week found me struggling along some trails I often run. Funny how you look at them in an entirely different way from a bike. But the struggle through tough terrain was good for me. I went down a couple of times, but both were soft landings. I found a much harder landing this weekend, but managed to catch myself mostly on my hand. I have a nice bruise for my effort and the sharp limestone left a nasty cut even through the cycling glove, but I'll be back at it tomorrow afternoon for another ride.

I don't enjoy the mountain biking quite as much as I enjoy running, but there are times when I catch a little air or cruise down some sweet singletrack that I find something that will keep me coming back for more. If I could only find a way to keep the thing upright.

A Short Break from Work

2006-02-15T19:27:00.000-08:00

OK. I'm sure no one has noticed, but work has taken all my time lately. What free time I've had has been spent with family and doing a little training. I'm not sure how much more I'll be able to take.

For now, I'm just staying awake until 2 AM when we will actually deploy the software I've been testing for the past week. I've tried sleeping before these wee-hour deployments, but it just doesn't work well for me.

Anyway, there is some interesting news today. Being a libertarian, I love news of people reclaiming their freedoms from big government. And while I'm disappointed it isn't here, I have to cheer anyone taking the fourth Reich (European Union) down a notch.

Read the full story at the London Telegraph. I've snipped out some sections to include below. But I recommend reading the whole story.

In the decade since they voted to join the European Union the islanders of the Aland archipelago in the Baltic Sea have been outvoted and overruled by Brussels, time and again.

Now Aland, a unique, autonomous region of Finland, is about to teach Brussels a lesson in democracy it may never forget.

Thanks to a quirk of early 20th-century history, Aland's 26,000 people are essentially sovereign co-rulers of their home nation of Finland. As such, they can veto any international treaty that Finland wants to enter, including EU treaties.
...

The islanders' revolt has been brewing for some time. First, this community of Swedish-speaking Finns lost the right to fish at sea with traditional nets.

Then Alanders saw their beloved spring duck hunting virtually abolished. To the Alanders' final outrage, local laws on consuming "snus" or Swedish chewing tobacco, are about to be quashed by the European Court of Justice.
...

The Commission recently took Finland to court to quash Aland's snus law. But Finland has no power to change that law. Finland does not control laws covering health in Aland; Aland does.

Aland is not allowed to defend its law before the justices in Luxembourg because the court recognises only nations. So the court is set to convict and fine Aland, without allowing the island's government to plead its case. ...

Probably the coolest thing about the situation is that Finland is slated to take over the rotating EU presidency later this year. Of course, that hinges on them still being in the UE.

A Reasonable take on Judicial Activation

2006-01-12T22:17:00.000-08:00

A good article in Reason about Alito and Judicial activicism. I'll reproduce some of it here. http://www.reason.com/sullum/011106.shtml

The Democrats say they're worried Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is "a judicial activist." At first glance, that suggestion seems about as plausible as New York Sen. Charles Schumer's description of the mild-mannered 3rd Circuit judge as "strident."

Once you realize activist has become a bipartisan epithet for judges who reach conclusions different from one's own, the label makes sense, although it's not very informative. Since one man's judicial activism is another's sound interpretation, poopyhead would do just as well.

Properly speaking, a judicial activist is a judge who does not apply the Constitution so much as rewrite it to fit his own policy preferences. For conservatives, Roe v. Wade was the height of judicial activism, overriding state laws restricting abortion based on a constitutional pretext so thin it vanishes when held to the light.

For the Democrats, voting to overturn Roe, as they fear Alito is apt to do, would be judicial activism. They also consider any suggestion of limits on congressional power, such as Alito's 1996 dissent questioning the constitutional basis for a federal ban on machine guns, to be judicial activism.

While the Democrats (along with quite a few Republicans) are offended by the idea that Congress should exercise only those powers granted by the Constitution, they insist that the president do so (when the president is a Republican, at least). "Is there any limit to executive power and authority that this nominee will recognize?" asks Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)

Although Kennedy's concern about constitutional limits is selective, the question is timely, given our current president's apparent belief that the Constitution authorizes him to use whatever means he considers necessary to fight terrorism, including torture, warrantless wiretaps, and unilateral, indefinite detention of Americans. There's no telling what else President Bush or his successors will decide to do in the name of the never-ending war on terrorism, but we can be pretty sure they will condemn as judicial activism any attempt by judges to stop them from doing it.
...

The rest is good too, but I won't reproduce it all. I still stick by my earlier statement that the only thing that matters to the Senate is Roe v. Wade.

I hadn't drawn a conclusion about Alito until I saw some of he hearing. Unfortunately, my opinion is all negative now. I think the number one thing a justice needs is a backbone. This man has none.

Bandera 2006 Race Report

2006-01-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

Photos

After taking two trips to Bandera to run the 50K, I went in for the whole 100K this year. I'm still trying to come to grips with my performance there. Mostly I'm shocked that things went so well. The eight weeks leading up to the race were a disaster. I injured my knees running Rocky Trails in early November. After four weeks of recovery, I started running again only to hurt my back. I joked about my 8-week taper for Bandera. I guess it worked. It just wasn't planned.

I won't describe the course. It is as difficult as it gets in Texas. See my photos to get views of the hills. What they don't show is the rocikness and the dust we had this year.

I went down Friday to set up the tent, meet with friends, and have dinner. After another wonderful feast provided by Sammy V, I was off to bed early. One of the things I love about camping is the lack of distractions from TVs, computers, or anything else.

After about 9 hours of rest, I would wake with the worst headache. I would scramble finishing up drop bags, putting in contacts, eating, dressing, and preparing for the start. Somehow, I made it to the start just in time. Well, minus most of the breakfast. Not the best way to start.

I had decided with all the issues to just enjoy myself. I brought my new camera to take pictures. I just wanted to finish. I had wanted to walk the first 10 minutes since that seemed to loosen up my knees. With the headache, I was even more inclined to start with a nice walk. Except for passing some slow-moving groups, I stuck to that plan. I stopped on top of Big Nasty to take some pictures. The walk and stop would leave me passing some of the slower movers for a while. By the time I reached Nachos, the first aid station, I had lost both the jacket and the long sleeve shirt. I had the volunteer fill one bottle and took off.

The next section provides some opportunity to run and some longer hills but generally remains rocky. I continued passing people but not pushing myself. At Chapas I would drop off gloves and jacket and slam an energy drink as the volunteer refilled one of the bottles. I packed the shake in my bottle pack along with my Snickers bar and took off along the easiest section of the course. This section feels flat even though much of it isn't. It mostly rolls before becoming flat. I pushed through this section averaging 10 minute miles. Two things of note occurred during this section. First, I would lose one of my two water bottles. Second, I would pass several friends I really shouldn't be in front of. Diana was hurting and would never catch me though she is a much stronger runner. My remaining bottle was empty when I reached cross roads aid station. Refilled the bottle. Slammed the shake I had packed at the last stop then head out on the inner loop.

The pace slowed as I hit the tough terrain again and mounted the three sisters. Once again, I would repeat the aid station routine as I went through cross roads. Slam an energy drink. Pack a shake. Fill the bottle. I'm taking salt every hour and way to much ibuprofen to keep the back pain under control. Still, one bottle isn't enough, and I'm slowly dehydrating. Most of this section after Cross Roads is easy except for Lucky Peak. It isn't a long climb but very steep with lots of loose rock going both up and down. At Last Chance, I would snack and drink as much as I could while the volunteer refilled my bottle. My hands were swelling and the energy was down. Luckily, I would enjoy the company of Gabe and Henry for much of the remaining course back to the lodge. I stopped a couple of time to take pictures from Carim's Climb and Boyle's Bump. The lodge would be my first long stop as I cleaned my feet and changed socks. I'm having foot issues already, and it seems the reason is clear. Even with the gaiters, I'm getting dust inside the shoe and sock. It is just so fine that it goes right through the shoes and socks and sticks to the feet. I picked up a water bottle which fit well in my pack, slammed a shake, and hit the trail before I had time to consider stopping.

Oddly, this was probably the lowest point of the race. I laked energy to run the flats and struggle going uphill. The temperature would reach 79 with very low humidity. I snapped more pictures from Big Nasty and Ice Cream Hill. I struggled into Nachos with hurting feet and no energy. With the feet hurting, I stopped to tape. After some experimentation, I have switched to cloth athletic tape. And in general it worked. Unfortunately, I had waited too long for the blister on my heel. That would hit me hard later. I also took time to eat some real food and pack some gels. Between the tape and food, I started feeling better and moving faster. The shakes were now upsetting my stomach so I skipped the rest I had packed. At Chapas I picked up the jacket I had left in the morning along with my big light. I also had another Snickers and an energy drink, but didn't mess with my tape. As it turned dark, I was still running sections through the flatter parts. I would pick out a glow stick in the distance and run until I reached it. I'd then walk and while and repeat. And it worked very well until I popped the blister on my left heel. My moderate pace became a crawl as I struggled to Cross Roads again.

I hate long aid station stops. This one was going to take a while. Since the blister had already popped, I didn't have to use the needle. Make sure it is clean. Apply the blister pad. Then tape well. And I did tape well. Those who have played football will understand what I did only without shaving or prewrap. But that pad wasn't going to move. I had to be careful on uneven ground as any sliding hurt but I was good otherwise. The downhills were slow, but I still had energy for the flats. Passing back through Cross Roads on the way out I had my last energy drink and left with a hand full of gummy bears. I was shocked at how much of the flat sections I could run. But maybe it was motivation. The last station, Last Chance, always has tequila. This race had been such a mixture of effort and ease. I had run hard but had stopped to take pictures. I had walked when I wasn't tired and pushed hard when I was. I was having a shot.

I ended up passing on the shot of tequila; there was something else that caught my eye. The bottle of Maker's Mark just seemed to call my name. A shot of whiskey. A grilled cheese sandwich. A cup of coke. A burger. And half a beer. That was my last stop on this course. I left the station with my friend Mark. But what ever had been causing him problems earlier seemed to be completely gone as he quickly left me climbing up Carim's Climb. I never saw his light again until the finish. This section is very rocky as well as hilly. The unevenness of the rocks really hurt the blisters. I moved as well as I could driven by the fear of being caught from behind. I almost took out the camera one more time on Boyle's Bump; the lights of San Antonio could be seen from 50 miles away. But I was getting close and could smell the barn. The finish is downhill and I made the best of it. I ran the rest of the way pushing so hard in that last mile that I almost caught Mark. I was met at the finish by Joe, the RD, with my buckle. There were hand shakes and hugs with friends before finding a hot cup of soup in the heated tent.

After cleaning up and having a beer, there would be just a little more excitement in my night. I started feeling a little sick to my stomach and walked out thinking I might lose my soup and beer. In fact, I had just targeted a nice garbage can when suddenly I'm laying on the ground with everyone gathered around asking if I'm alright. Seems I had passed out. And somehow that had settled my stomach. I don't understand it. Maybe I just can't handle my beer. I'd finally feel strong enough to brush my teeth and get a little sleep.

Breakfast the next morning would be great as expected. Lot of friends collected hardware. I had packed up camp before eating and left soon after for the long ride home. The blisters still hurt and the soreness was setting in, but somehow, I was already thinking about next year.

Off to Bandera

2006-01-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

So the back is hurting, the knees are iffy, and I'm off to run the 100K at Bandera anyway. This is a difficult race even when in the best condition. A wise person would probably bail out, but that wouldn't be me. I decided after the 50K last year that I would do the 100K this year even if I had to walk it. Well, I may.

I did go see the doctor about the back. He took x-rays since I did land on it in a nasty fall several weeks ago. Nothing shows up there. He gave me Celebrex for the pain. I've decided to stick with the ibuprofen instead.

Seems Celebrex is like Viox and may cause heart problems. Now, I'm not against a little risk, but this gets to the reason I started running five years ago. I had recently met my biological mother. We were starting to build a relationship. Then she died at only 49 of a heart attack. At the time I weighed about 275 and couldn't run a block. That seems like a lifetime ago. So Saturday I'll start the longest race I've ever attempted. I expect pain. And a good chance of my first DNF. But I'll take that over increasing that risk I've fought against for so long.

Not Quite so Bad

2006-01-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

Off for a trail run on the last day of the year to test the back, I found a little Texas wildlife. Oh, and I also got to try out my Christmas present and snapped a few pictures.

I was loaded up on ibuprophen to see if I could handle the pain of running. It did work for 8 miles. Will it work for 62? I guess there is only one way to find out.

Tax Cuts: Not a Christian Value

2005-12-22T22:09:00.000-08:00

My friend Ollie makes an interesting comment to my last post. I agree strongly with his words but not the point he is trying to make.

Christian values? "Heal the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit those in prision"?

I read nothing about "tax cuts" in the NT. :-)

There is nothing about tax cuts, but there is a lot about tax collectors in the NT. In general, tax collector = sinner.

Matthew 21:32 -- Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Matthew 18:17 -- If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Mark 2:15 -- While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

And there are many more. But I think the point is pretty clear. Jesus preaching tax cuts would be like the ten commandments including, "Thou shalt not steal too much", "Thou shall not kill too many", and "Thou shall not commit adultery unless the chick is hot and your wife fat."

Many democrats confuse taxes and charity. I believe in charity. I pay taxes because I will be locked up if I don't. I give to those in need although I admit I act carefully and suspiciously. I pay taxes grudgingly.

My money has been taken by force to invade Iraq, to pay for abortions, to subsidize large corporations, to station troop around the world, to kill inmates on death row, to spy illegally on American citizens, and to do many things I disagree with. It has also been used to do some good at times; although, I find these to be extremely rare.

In Ollie's defense, I'm sure he is thinking of some very different programs. I still find most of these offensive or simply areas where our government should have no role.

Red and Blue Foolishness

2005-12-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

So there is one good bit of news out of Washington this week; it appears that many of the provisions of the Patriot Act will expire. I wish they could have just defeated the thing outright, but I guess I'll accept the good even if they had to filibuster into it.

On the other hand, the rest of the news really sucks. I'm not surprised but still very disappointed that our president authorized NSA to spy domestically. And where is the outrage? Maybe people are too desensitized by the “Bush Lied” and “Bush Mislead” crowd to realize when our president has thumbed his nose at our constitution and our freedoms. If republicans want to be the majority party again in the next 30 years, they should lead the impeachment effort. I spent the last three years of my Navy enlistment at NSA, and I truly lack the verbal ability to express my disgust at this tyranny.

Of course, I expect no moral guidance from the democrats. While the republican dictator shows his disregard toward our freedoms, they are up to old tricks. Their chairman, Howard Dean, claims to have fundamental Christian values and has even brought in a senior adviser for religious outreach for the party, the actions remain quite different. Just this week, the democratic party of Washington was selling a very interesting magnet. It is basically the Christian fish symbol with flames and the word “Hypocrite” on it. It has now been removed. While I don't believe the whole democratic party is anti-Christian, it does include many such groups within it. And when Dean calls the republicans a “white, Christian party”, it is impossible to believe that Christians represent anything more than a targeted demographic.

Many of my Christian friends will finally realize that republican values and Christian values are quite different, but they won't find a home with the democrats either. I wish I could persuade them to vote Libertarian, but I suspect most will probably withdraw from the political process and not vote.

Training Again

2005-12-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

Well, it is back to training. I had a good week last week even though I'm feeling a bit sluggish. It will take a while before I feel good running again. I hit the trail Saturday for some rocky miles. Knees are feeling much better, but various other parts are hurting from the increase in miles.

The plan is for three tough week and then a two-week taper before Bandera. I would really like another tough week or two, but I'll take good knees over more training. At this point, the goal is to finish. I had hoped to push the 14-hour mark, but I don't think that is realistic after my recent rest weeks.

Government Education

2005-11-29T21:16:00.001-08:00

OK. Except for the price gouging issue, I've avoided politics for a while even though there have been a few items which have fired me up. Hopefully I'll get to those eventually. But for now I want to hit an issue important to me that covers a few of these: education. And my friend Ollie’s recent post on his blog and forced me to finally finish this up.

This is the fifth year of homeschooling my daughter. This did not start as a theological or philosophical position. It started as a clear way to improve the quality of her education.

To call the public schools a disappointment would be an understatement. The focus is only on two things: attendance and standardized testing. They need the attendance to collect the federal funds. And everything else is to improve performance on the standardized test.

This is not to be confused with improving how well students do on the standardized tests. That is not an issue. All that matters is how many students pass the tests. Having a daughter who performed way above grade level, there was never a question of her passing the test and improving the school's, or teacher's, rating. This meant she could be ignored while underperformers gained a majority of the teacher's attention. By third grade she was reading at above a 7th grade level. Yet she was being assigned books written on a second grade reading level. Curriculum was based on what was on the test. And hours were devoted to test taking strategies.

The talented and gifted program was an even greater disappointment. It should have been an opportunity to challenge the brightest kids. And my daughter was challenged. But the challenge was in the quantity of work and not the level. Instead of the 20 problems a regular class would receive, the class would be given 100. There would be 60 vocabulary words instead of 15. She would be doing homework late into the night that she didn't find difficult, just busy.

Our experience with a private Christian school was more disappointing. The quality was about the same as the public school; just add a bible class. But then I was paying private school tuition on top of all the taxes.

Homeschooling has been rough at times. The materials aren't especially expensive; however, the time commitment is quite large. Most of this comes from my wife who does a wonderful job planning, teaching, grading, and recording. I handle math subjects and any science that gets very math intensive. I'm looking forward to Physics, but my daughter thinks she wants to do Anatomy and Physiology or Advanced Biology first.

While quality and performance has improved with homeschooling, there seem to be more and more issues outside of quality that confirm this decision. A couple of these are current with all the discussion of intelligent design (ID), thanks to Pat Roberts, and a recent 9th circuit decision that parent do not have the right to control their child's sexual education.

The battle over ID has gotten way out of hand. The extremes on both sides have tainted the discussion to the point that intelligent voices are no longer heard. Many Christians have foolishly associated creationism and intelligent design. And while the point that many things are just to complex to have evolved by chance is quite agreeable to Christians, it begins to turn the focus of ID away from scientific discovery and toward an exercise about proving God. But that is another discussion.

With other school boards backing down, the shrill voices are mostly focused on Kansas now and their science standards. I've heard everything from them removing evolution from the curriculum to teaching creationism and ID. A quick view of their standards doesn't bare this out. http://www.ksde.org/outcomes/sciencestd.doc

The student …

1 understands biological evolution, descent with modification, is a scientific explanation for the history of the diversification of organisms from common ancestors.

2. understands populations of organisms may adapt to environmental challenges and changes as a result of natural selection, genetic drift, and various mechanisms of genetic change.

3. understands biological evolution is used to explain the earth’s present day biodiversity: the number, variety and variability of organisms.

4. ? understands organisms vary widely within and between populations. Variation allows for natural selection to occur.

5. understands that the primary mechanism of evolutionary change (acting on variation) is natural selection.

6. understands biological evolution is used as a broad, unifying theoretical framework for biology.

7. explains proposed scientific explanations of the origin of life as well as scientific criticisms of those explanations.

Seems the entire uproar is over the second part of statement seven. Apparently any criticism of evolution is now an establishment of religion and not allowed. Years ago scientists were persecuted by the church for criticism of the common belief. Now the government and press have taken over that role.

Oddly enough, the standard even points out some specific areas of criticism to be covered. None mention God or ID. While the second one hits at the general area of ID, it makes the criticism no less valid, and can’t possibly be construed as the teaching of ID.

7. Some of the scientific criticisms include:
a A lack of empirical evidence for a “primordial soup” or a chemically hospitable pre-biotic atmosphere;

b. The lack of adequate natural explanations for the genetic code, the sequences of genetic information necessary to specify life, the biochemical machinery needed to translate genetic information into functional biosystems, and the formation of proto-cells; and

c. The sudden rather than gradual emergence of organisms near the time that the Earth first became habitable.

Oddly, my daughter has a better grasp of these criteria than most any high school student. I'll admit she is strong regarding the criticisms, but she can explain the theory. She understands it is a model that much of her science learning will be based on. There is a quote that I've forgotten the source of, but it is simply, "All models are wrong, but some are useful." And regardless of your side on evolution or creationism, the balance I have provided my daughter is much better than the extremist of either side would provide.

If you want some specifics about criticisms of evolution from a scientific point of view, I suggest "Darwin's Black Box" by Michael J. Behe.

But while evolution is interesting for me to debate, I think the recent 9th Circuit Court decision is much more dangerous. You don't have to be fundamentalist Christian to fear the direction our government is taking here. We all do well to remember that any power yielded to the government will at some point be wielded by a party who disagrees with us or is even hostile to our beliefs. Anyone who doubts this should remember that government education was a very strong point of Hitler and Nazi Germany. No parent with kids in government schools should be able to read the court's words without a chill.

In summary, we hold that there is no free-standing fundamental right of parents “to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs” and that the asserted right is not encompassed by any other fundamental right. In doing so, we do not quarrel with the parents’ right to inform and advise their children about the subject of sex as they see fit. We conclude only that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on that subject to their students in any forum or manner they select.
Source: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/E8695945B7C6F6B5882570AD0051320A/$file/0356499.pdf?openelement

And if this applies to sexual matters, how easy is it to expand this to religious, moral, or political subjects. And while Judge Alito has his record searched for any possible chance he may have not protected the rights of some small soul, congress will ignore this blatant judicial activism.

Lake Georgetown Good Water Trail

2005-11-29T19:24:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about living in central Texas is the great trails within a short drive from my home. Most people know of some of the better ones in Austin, but sometimes I head out a little to something a little more remote. Saturday, I took an easy run on the Good Water Trail which circles Lake Georgetown. Our local mountain bikers recently finished this trail and did an awsome job.

I thought I would post a few pictures so others can enjoy this; although, I only covered about 4.5 miles of the 28 or so around the lake.

Most importantly, new shoes. I had beaten my old Hardrocks to death. I'm trying the Highlines. So far they feel great. But they will never look this good again.

Trail head at Russell Park. Lots of artifacts along the trail as you go toward Camp Tejas. Much of this is easy double track so I went the other direction toward Jim Hogg Park.

Built by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. I've ridden this trail before, but the difficulty on wheels is a little beyond my skills as I'll point out later.

Being a trail runner, I don't need much of a trail. The bikers who built this one took a much different approach. They are very careful about durability and errosion. Notice the trail turns left around the tree with a nice rock wall to build up the turn to the right.

There are a couple of well-armoured creek crossings. Being the "Good Water" Trail, these are usually wet even when the lake is way down.

There are some very enjoyable sections of trail. Many are very runnable.

There are lots of beautiful views from the trail. The water level is way down now, but you still get the idea. Too bad you don't get to enjoy them much or the rocks jump up and bite you.

After running this trail, my feet always hurt from the rocks. These things eat Montrails and make you wish for baby heads.

The problem is this pourous limestone. In some places, it is like running on a bed of nails. It shreads bicycle tires too.

No snakes this time out, but there are lots of cacti. Notice the easy little turn here. There once was a cactus on the inside of the turn too. There is still a little left, but I take much of the credit for its demise as I came flying off my mountain bike and body slamed the poor thing. I was picking the little splines out of my back, butt, legs, and arms for weeks, but it appear the cactus got the worse of it.

Price Gouging

2005-11-18T22:34:00.000-08:00

Time to blog about something other than running.

There are several things on my mind with all the events going on in politics lately. I just watched an interesting move by the House republicans forcing a vote on immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. I think it was a better move than the one the democrats pulled a few weeks ago forcing the closed door session. But what will be interesting is to see if the press reaction is different. They trumpeted the democrat's move as brilliant. I expect to see this one presented as something less if not as a political stunt.

I'm also watching Senator John McCain on David Letterman. I had also seen Howard Dean on Letterman recently. Letterman is good with politicians in that he interrupts often with inappropriate questions. However, he also lacks the depth to push deeper when he should. Not that digging in would appeal to his audience.

One of the thing that did spike up was oil profits. McCain suggested that the oil companies donate these excessive profits to Katrina victims. Of course there were hearings recently on Capitol Hill where the big oil executive were paraded around and grilled by politicians putting on a show for the voters back home. Everyone knows it was a show. Big oil donates millions to politicians to make sure they continue with policies that make them higher profits. And politicians continue to do so to get the campaign donations.

But beyond that, there seems to be a general assumption that oil companies were gouging consumers after Katrina. While it is true that prices jumped immediately following the hurricane, was it gouging?

I like the point made by Walter Williams about price gouging. He noted that right after Katrina, he was paying over $3 a gallon for gasoline. Recently, prices are down to almost $2 and continuing to drop. If the increase in price was gouging, why have prices dropped. Did these executives just come in one morning and decide they were tired of gouging. Apparently, there are market forces as work.

Another thing Mr. Williams pointed out in the interview I listened to was that profit margins for the oil industry about are around 8%. There is nothing excessive about 8% margins.

He does well making a case against a windfall profit tax in this article. http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47311 I won't bother trying to improve on it.

Windfall or supernormal profits are any profits in excess of normal profit and are above and beyond that necessary to keep entrepreneurial resources in their current usage. However, windfall profits are a vital component to a smoothly operating economy. Windfall profits serve as a signal that there are unmet human wants. Let's look at it with a simple example.
Suppose there's a disaster wiping out food resources in Harrisburg, Pa., and I live in Philadelphia. Prior to the disaster, bread prices in both cities were $2 a loaf. I buy a truckload of bread, cart it to Harrisburg and sell it for $20 a loaf, earning huge windfall profits. When the word gets out that there are profits to be made, what do you think happens?
If you said other people will start carting bread to Harrisburg, bakers will start working overtime to produce more bread, people who formerly used their oven to bake cakes and pies will switch to baking bread, there'll be bread conservation in Philadelphia and elsewhere and eventually bread prices will start to fall in Harrisburg and windfall profits would vanish, go to the head of the class. While some might find people earning windfall profits objectionable, the result of their actions, getting more bread to Harrisburg, is precisely what's desired.

Having experienced a natural disaster first hand, my perspective is quite solidified by personal experience. In the hours after the Loma Prieta earth quake in 1989, the price for a bag of ice quickly rose from about $1 to $10. And at the time, I was quite angry about it. But the days after quickly changed my feelings.

I was angry because I wanted ice to chill my beer. Being an E-3 living on theMonterey peninsula in California, I had very little money so it was very cheap beer. It was not beer worthy of $10 ice. Several of my neighbors were unhappy for the same reason.

A few days later I learned from a friend that he had bought several bags of $10 ice. Seems he had recently bought a few hundred dollars of meat and put in his freezer. $30 for three bags of ice saved him lots of money. I mentioned he was probably the only one buying ice at that price; he corrected. Seemed there were several people who thought ice was worth at least $10 a bag. One had medical supplies to keep cold. I don't remember if he mentioned the reasons the others were buying ice at that price. But none were for beer.

Of course the media was vilifying this “price gouging” afterward. But I think that markets worked. Had there not been this “price gouging”, my neighbors and I would have had cold beer, but there would have been none left for expensive or important things like medical supplies. As a professor of mine pointed out, markets are fair, but they are very brutally fair.

And in all the mess following the earth quake, one of the grocery stores demonstrated the opposite price pressure. They opened the doors and let anyone who could eat it or had a way to store it take any meat for free. This was not a move of pure generosity; they would have to throw it away once it reached a certain temperature. No one complained the consumers were being unfair with prices.

Rocky Trails 2005 - Picture Book Edition

2005-11-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

Maybe a little fun since I can post some pictures on this blog.

Just in the second of six laps, and I'm happy to be going through a rock instead of over it for a change.

I don't think of the course as hilly, but it wasn't flat. Too bad I couldn't take my eyes of the trail to enjoy the views.

And I need to work on my form going down them. I was trying to take it easy and not fly down, but that could have contributed to this bad form and possibly my knee problems.

This is a section of the biggest hill. It wasn't very large, but it was quite rough. And coming down the back side was rather steep.

There wasn't much shade on the course, as my sunburn reminds me, but Robert seemed to find me in a little of it here.

50 miles would be much easier if I would lose a little of this gut.

In areas where it wasn't rocky, there was no need for signs telling you to stay on the trail.

Given all the food, I may have gained a pound or two during the race.

I really gave this a lot of effort, and I think it shows here. It also shows the impact the heat and humidity was having. And I still have about 12 miles to go.

Rocky Trails 2005

2005-11-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

How does one get into these types of races? That was the question I was asked during the fourth of six laps. My response, “Foolishness; complete foolishness.”

It was interesting to have people along the course as I ran. Most were cub scouts out camping in the various areas we ran through. Several were just people who seemed to have stopped a while to watch the runners. Some of the large groups of scouts created interesting obstacles on the narrow trails. “On your left!” means nothing to an 8-year-old boy, and shouts from the leaders to move to the side had little effect.

I was lucky that these encounters occurred in some of the tamer areas. It is difficult to describe the trails there. What sticks in my mind from the race is all the rock. The exposed granite makes for some interesting running. There is also some sandy single-track. I dumped a good portion of this out of my sock after I got home. In many places the narrow trails are enforced by cacti and various other things that stick. I noticed in later loops that many of the prickly pears were missing splines. I'm wondering if they are missing from hikers over the summer or if some of the runners took them home.

Overall I'm happy with my first 50 mile run. I had not expected things to go as well as they did. This was not a goal race for me. The rockiness made it good training for Bandera, and that was my primary concern. I had not planned for the record heat pushing temperatures into the upper 80's.

The course is 1.5 miles of out and back on park roads then six loops of 8.25 miles. I could pack everything in a single drop bag and get what I needed each lap. This would work in my favor several times. After the second lap, I was in the bag looking for help with hot spots. Duct tape had been working well for me in training. I figured the few minutes lost in the aid station was worth it. I would also go back to the double-bottle pack. I would soon be draining both bottles between stations due to the heat.

Before I could get two more miles, the tape was off. My feet were sweating too much for it to stick. The stop to remove it was more wasted time, but it had to be done. I would change socks the next two times through the start/finish station. I wasn't fixing the problem, but I was wasting a lot of time in the aid station. I guess I was learning as I went; I didn't bother stopping the last two times through.

Having marathoner mixed in created an interesting dynamic to the race. They started an hour after we did. One would pass me on his way to winning. I would spend the day passing marathoners and chatting with friends as our paths met. Several I would pass twice.

I was lapped by a couple of the leaders, but I do take some pride in not being passed after everything settled out during the first lap. I would make a couple of passes of other 50-milers out on the course, but learned a great lesson pacing at Arkansas and made more passes in aid stations than along the trail even with the taping and sock changes.

I learned a lot from the race. I was extremely happy with the effort I could put out late in the race. I often get too tight to run well after a few hours, but I was able to run for reasonable lengths until the end. I also seemed to be able to stay focused mentally for the 11 hours I was running.

On the negative side, I did have a few problems. Hot spots and blisters continue to be an issue. I was having trouble staying hydrated in the early heat as it caught me by surprise. And the course did not allow me to walk as fast as I like. The walk issue cost me lots of time later in the race as I could run less. Add to this that I didn't think of sun screen for a November race leaving me quite burned from being out all day.

After a couple of days, I'm now most concerned by what seems to be some tendinitis in my right knee. Having encountered this after running a marathon, I know I need complete rest for a while. This was not in the plans, but it seems better to rest now than be forced to rest later. I can take some time off and still be ready for Bandera.

But my confidence is high. I beat a tough course on a very hot, humid day. I would like to put another 50 under my belt before Bandera, but I'll wait to see how the knee does. I suspect rest will be more valuable than anything another race could accomplish.

Results: http://hillcountrytrailrunners.com/docs_results/RockyTrails_res_2005.html

Proposition 2 - Part 2

2005-10-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I hadn't intended to hit this again, but it was one of the odd things that came up on the radio talk show I listen to on the way to work.

Seems there is a group fighting Proposition 2 by claiming that the wording actually will be harmful to traditional marriage. I don't think the argument holds much water; however, it does seem to be gaining traction in the news lately. Today's show included a pastor who has taken this point of view and recorded phone messages which are being used in the campaign.

I was not surprised to find this pastor supported same-sexed or trans-gendered marriages. (That was term. I'm not sure I know what that means.) But while he was quick to point out the prejudices of those supporting proposition 2, he had a problem when one of the hosts asked about multiple partner marriages. He had managed to rationalize that homosexuality was OK, but felt bigamy was immoral. And of course, that is the way the law should be according to him. Why am I such in a minority in believing that government power should not be used to force others to conform to my view of morality?

Goodbye Harriet

2005-10-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

I usually take great joy in bashing democrats. It is not that I have a preference toward democrats or republicans, but democrats usually say such stupid things that the job is quite simple. (I'm not talking George Bushisms here.)

But one of our republican senators, John Cornyn, called into the KLBJ morning show to talk about Harriet Miers withdrawing herself from consideration for Supreme Court Justice. He was one of the republicans defending her selection. Unsurprisingly, his defense of her was very weak. OK, it wasn't just weak. It was stupid.

According to our wise senator, the problem was that these republicans that opposed Miers never gave her a chance to show us what she could do. I'm not exactly sure how she was supposed to get this chance. There are only two possible options. One is that he meant the opportunity to testify before the Senate. Of course this make no sense as all potential judges know, are are coached, to answer the questions without saying anything important. Do they ever learn anything from questioning the nominees? The other possibility is he meant to giver her an opportunity to be a justice and see how she did. While I hope the senator knows this is a lifetime appointment, I try not to over estimate the intelligence of those we send to Washington. Or maybe the good senator has an assassination plan to make Pat Robertson blush.

In any case, I would hope anyone we put on the highest court would have a clear record that would indicate what she would do on the court. Anyone we have to wait and see, or give them an opportunity, just isn't qualified.

Proposition 2

2005-10-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

On November 8th, I get the opportunity to cast my vote for or against the Texas marriage amendment. It defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. Sounds like an easy choice for a fundamentalist Christian, right? And the choice is easy -- just not painless.

I believe homosexuality is wrong. I believe greed, adultery and gluttony are wrong too. There are many things that are wrong. And I try to live by my beliefs. But I would never expect the government to force my beliefs on anyone else just as I wouldn't want anyone else's beliefs forced on me. In fact, I am disturbed that the government is involved in marriage at all.

I know many of my Christian friends will be disappointed, but I will be voting no. While I can't support gay marriage, I can't support government's involvement in marriage. As many who oppose the proposition have turned this into a gay issue, I feel a bit uncomfortable. I would like to make a stand to keep government out of something that should be a religious, or at least private, issue. But clearly, my voice will not be heard through the ballot box. If my vote makes a difference, it will not be seen as vote for freedom from government intrusion. It will be reported as a win for gay rights.

So while I have no joy in it, I will cast my vote against proposition 2.

Novermber 5th Plans

2005-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I guess I didn’t have enough going on. I have just filled out the application for Rocky Trails. This will be my first 50-mile race. After 36 rocky, hilly miles yesterday, I feel I can handle this as long as I keep reminding myself it is training for Bandera and not a race. I have no real goals for the race other than to finish and get in some good miles on rocky terrain.

No Suprise Here

2005-10-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ollie posted his results from a political test. I decided to do the same. Some of the questions really left no reasonable response, but the results seem close to right.

I hope this show correctly. Preview page shows me strongly republican. Yuck!

You are a
Social Liberal
(76% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(96% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Libertarian

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Arkansas Traveler from a pacer's view

2005-10-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

Before we would reach the last station, I knew what a blister problem was. I told Andy I was going to stop and change socks and would catch up in a few minutes. Long before I caught up, I knew I had made a mistake. While the sweaty socks had played their part in creating the blisters, dry ones did a much better job of irritating them. Only 6.3 miles to go. I'm there for my runner. He isn't there for me. Surely I can handle anything for 6.3 miles.

I'm sure at this point I was no longer pushing the pace. I was trying. I just couldn't walk quite as fast with the blisters and Andy was finally looking a little human and becoming unable to run. I feel like I'm counting down the miles like I had done them all. I clearly have blisters on the balls of both feet and on my left heel. Every step reminds me. Markers are scarce. I'm in front much of the time trying to pick out the smoothest path for us. We have to avoid mud and puddles. I'm trying to avoid rocks. Snake! So Andy learns one of my phobias. I think the laugh was good for him.

I'm sure Andy will mentally beat himself up for what happened in the last 5 miles of the race. I have to wonder if I could have done anything differently here to help. After the original shuffling, Andy had not been passed all day. I think the woman who won was the last person to pass him until this point. The first runner to catch us was running quite hard. Uphill! And this late into an ultra. I don't think Andy could possible run hard enough to keep up with him. We would be passed twice more closer to the finish. One was a couple running together. Andy would try to run down the hills, but the quads were gone.

Right as we passed the 98 mile sign, the blister on my left heel popped. But pacers aren't supposed to whine, just go. So go I did. Before the 99 sign, it was back to a walk. Andy said he popped a blister. I admitted I had as well, but pushed on. I could run or walk slowly. I could not walk fast. So I would jog a little ahead and let him catch up. Then I would jog again. The last mile is paved. We should finish under 23 just walking. But there is a light behind us. Another runner is closing. I mention this to Andy. He claims he doesn't care and keeps walking. But a minute later he is running. He walks a few steps and then runs again. Uphill now and still running. I'm having a hard time keeping up with him. He won't be passed this time. Finally the top of the hill and the path through the lights to the finish. As we make the turn, I slow and drop off the path. I can claim it was to allow Andy his moment to shine. Actually, I was so happy to stop. My feet were happy to stop.

How does one end up in Arkansas anyway? Even though I attempted to sound charitable in helping Andy out, clearly much of my motivation was selfish. I got to participate in a great event without running 100 miles. I got to learn first-hand about running longer ultras. And I got some information about an event I would like to participate in one day. In addition to all of that, I ended up as a spectator to one awesome race.

While pacing was my plan, the real work was crewing. The first crew-accessible station was only a short walk from the camp site. I slept in a bit so I would be awake during the night. Using the pace charts provided, I made sure I was there before the time for the 20-hour pace. I was actually there early enough to watch the leader pass through. Andy would come through only a few minutes behind the 20-hour pace. And since my watch is usually a little ahead, he may have been almost on it. Take the gloves. Hand him his drink. Take the trash. And all while the aid station workers filled his bottles. He was in and out in a flash and looked really strong.

The next meeting would provide me with more information about how the day would go. Andy arrived at 12:05. Considering this station is over 32 miles into the race, he had just beaten about half my 50K times in the process of a 100 miler. The pace was no longer so close to the 20-hour pace, and it was clear that he was suffering from the heat. But then, several of the people in front of him were suffering even more. Not that there were many of them. Andy was running 13th at the time. From the way they looked going through that station, I expected several to fall back before the end. A couple looked extremely strong. The guy out front looked like he was out for a few easy miles. And the woman arriving just before him seemed to be on cruise control. More on her later. It was another quick stop and out in a flash. No wasted time in aid stations for Andy.

By the third meeting, I had decided that crewing was too stressful. His first pacer was running late and would just meet me at the station. I was doing my best Dukes of Hazard imitation down the mountainous dirt roads of Arkansas trying arrive at Powerline before 3:20. I'm lucky that Andy was later than my projection as I didn't get there until around 3:25. I would see the woman I had seen before. Still looking strong and a few positions above where I had seen her before. What I didn't see was Andy's pacer. Jonathan drove down from St. Louis and from our earlier conversation headed directly to the aid station. He did manage to arrive about 4 minutes before Andy and had even managed to change into his running gear before Andy was out of the station. Nothing like a little unnecessary excitement, right?

I had to retrace some very dusty, rocky dirt roads as I headed to meet them both at Turnaround. Here, the race got very interesting from a spectator point of view. Well, eventually anyway. For a while I got to watch the aid station workers drink beer and cut firewood. Finally, here comes a runner, but this wasn't the guy that was leading. This was Scott Eppleman. Oddly enough, he would ask the question that was on my mind: when did the leader come through? The man responded, “Well, you're the leader now.” Turns out the leader had arrived long ago but dropped because of a pulled hamstring. The woman would arrive in 5th looking just the same as before and much better than anyone ahead of her. Andy and Jonathan would soon arrive. The pace was slowing from what I expected, but he was still moving up in position. Maybe an experienced crew would have asked about lights then. But I knew Andy had one in his bag. Surely Jonathan had one. That was not the last mistake I would make.

I arrived at Powerline just in time to see the woman come through one more time. She wasn't leading, but I was sure then that she would win. I would have quite a wait for Andy this time. There was a little more uphill coming back from Turnaround and it was getting dark. Andy would arrive in darkness, pacerless, with only his small handleld light. I would hand him a drink, his headlamp, and a set of extra batteries. All I had to do was drop the bag in my car on the way out. Jonathan arrived as we were leaving. My day as crew was over. My night as pacer was about to begin.

I would learn quite a few things over the next 8 to 9 hours. The new 17-LED light kicks @ss. It is heavy and big. But it lights up the night and didn't use up the batteries. On the other hand, Camelbaks are not for racing. I used it over the bottle pack mostly so I could carry what I thought I might need. But Andy was in and out of stations faster than it could be filled. Bottles are just so much quicker. Oh, and dust sucks.

Many of the miles now run together. For a fresh pacer, the pace seems slow. Or it should have seemed slow. I was happy to settle into a quick walk for a while. I would often encourage him to run but never push the pace when he did. When I did push the pace was when we walked. While Andy couldn't run a lot, he seemed to have no problem keeping up with my fast walk. I would take the lead up most of the hills. Andy would follow. Even after all the miles, it was rare that I slacked off the pace to let him catch up. If we were going downhill, Andy would try to run while I fell in behind him. It was not a very fast run, but it was much better than I could have done after 67 miles.

The trails were rougher than I had expected. Andy complained about the rockiness. Yes, they were rocky. But I'm used to rocks. Rocks I can handle. I think several other things played a bigger part in this race than the rockiness. The first I really noticed was the uneven ground. Many of the trails were on dirt or old roads. But some were on trails that undulated never providing a steady incline or decline for good walking or running. The hills were much longer than I was used to. I train on short, steep hills. These hills were not nearly as steep, but some went on for miles. But the worst for me ended up being the dust.

My real work as pacer began after Lake Winona. This was about 84 miles into the race. Andy and I arrived as another runner was leaving. We would lose time here searching for Andy's light. We would find it in his pack several minutes later. Time to stop letting the runner do the thinking.

As we passed below the lake and started up the long hill, we would pass the runner we saw at the aid station. I was sure he was running in the top 10 now but didn't mention it. But the long uphill started taking its toll on the pacer. I had some hip pain from an old injury just as we started. It had faded like it often does. But this was not going to fade. My calves and hamstrings were tightening up. And the more we would climb, the tighter they would get. Anytime we would get a downhill section and Andy could run, I would loosen up again. But as we would climb, the muscles would start to tighten. Still, I would lead up the hills and Andy still had the strength or determination to follow. We would pass two more struggling runners as we powered our way up.

I'm not sure if the tightness of my muscles got better as we left the longest hills behind, or if my feet just made me unable to notice any lesser pain than they were feeling. I have never been a person who blisters when running. It has happened a few times, but it is rare considering the mileage I run. This would lead me to the stupid decision to change socks at Pumpkin Patch. In retrospect, there were several things that contributed to my blister problem. I think the biggest was the dust.

After the race, Andy and I sat around a while to eat, drink, and try to recover. There was a white board with lists of finishers and drops. The list of drops was huge. I think it was about 35 at the time. And the list of finishers was very short. I knew Andy had been in the top 10 for a while, but I feared he had been passed by too many runners there at the end. But I watched as his name was written in the number nine spot.

It is a bit ironic. Damon had predicted a sub-20 performance. Andy had pointed out that it was unlikely, but if he did it would be enough for a top 10 in most previous years. I never expected only the second of those to happen. And while I'm sure Andy would have loved to claim his top 10 finish with the sub-20 performance, he battled it out on a day when the heat and humidity got to everyone.

I'm proud to have played along in this. I would like to say I had a part, but I didn't run the race. I was fan and spectator with the ultimate seat. And I will gladly do this again. After I learn how to care for my feet.

Bandera Dreaming

2005-09-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

It's a long way to January. Oh, so long until January and a little race called Bandera. If there is one race I do, this is it. I love and hate this race. In the two times I've been there, it has seen the best and the worst of me. Last year's effort was not only my worst ultra ever, but it left me injured and in pain for several months. The year before saw the best race I've ever run on a day I should not have run at all.

Only a fool flies through the first 20 miles at Bandera. And I was a fool that day. I wasn't racing the course. I was running from emotion. The night before, we had lost a dog who was very special to our family. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to cry. But around mile 20 emotion caught me and any desire I had to run just left. At that point I almost dropped. It was a short walk to cut over to the first aid station and turn in my number. But I didn't want to see anyone. I didn't want to explain. So I just walked. I walked the next three miles to the next aid station. With each mile that passed after that, I would run a little more and walk a little less. I finished in 6:01 and was not impressed. I ate quickly and jumped in the car for the 3+ hour drive home.

While I wasn't impressed with my time since it was 30 minutes slower than my only previous 50K, it was still faster than 50 other runners. And with only 55 in the race, that put me in 5th. It is still my only hardware not from an age group or clydesdale division. I found out much later that the 50K has almost 5000 feet of climb and descent. As badly as I felt about my performance that day, I'll probably never reach that quality of a performance again.

But what calls me from Bandera is not what I've done there. What calls me is what I haven't done, what I've been too afraid to try: the 100K.

The application is filled out. It will be mailed Monday. I have no real time goals. I want to finish. I want the feeling of conquering this beast.

So why blog political?

2005-09-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

I am a person who would rather talk running than politics. The former has several advantages the chief one being that I have some control of what actually happens. But that stubbornness which serves me well during ultras has earned me some bad feelings from those I would like to be able to consider friends. A recent newsgroup post was the last straw as I was accused of holding various positions on everything from abortion and gay marriage to immigration. Since I had expressed nothing on any of these topics, I can only assume the onslaught was caused by my condemnation of the actions of the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans: both democrats.

For those who don't know, I am neither a democrat nor a republican. My political leanings are very libertarian. I bash both major parties with equal vigor. It may not seem that way at times as democrats seem to say very stupid things which bing me off quickly. But the republican abandonment of their stated principals of small government and a strict interpretation of the constitution has caused me to hate that party far beyond what I thought possible. In fact, I expect I will somewhat enjoy watching their defeat as the donkey party takes over all the branches of government during the next few years. I think the only thing that could hold the republican party together is the hatred of Hillary Clinton. The democrats only have to nominate someone with a pulse, someone who won't base their entire campaign on four months of questionable service in an unpopular war, and someone not named Hillary Clinton and they have the White House in 2008.

I will get around to discussing those hot topics of abortion, gay marriage, and immigration. Hopefully, I'll post more on running and good things than I will about politics. I don't claim to write well enough to hold anyone's interest on any of these topics, but maybe it is worth coming back just to see what I think. I may even challenge your views on a few things. I welcome comments. If, on the other hand, you are offended by views which do not agree with your own, I suggest reading something other than this blog.

So I started a blog

2005-09-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

I don't enjoy writing. I have political views way outside of the mainstream. And I have an interest in running which would bore any normal person to tears. A blog seems like a really bad idea. Like most bad ideas I have, there is some flawed part of me that is pulled into it and can't break free. Heaven help the poor fools who stumble across this.