-Luke (Paul Newman), from Cool Hand Luke (video
clip after post)
*
For the past few weeks, doing nothing has been a very cool
hand indeed.
I make it a habit to take a pretty extended training break
after running a 100-miler, and sometimes that promise of extreme laziness is
the only thing that motivates me through periods of extreme fatigue during the
training and racing season.
No writing. Hardly
any running. No ridiculously early alarm
clocks or constantly aching legs or falling asleep at the dinner table. You get the idea. It’s the kind of thing I could get used to –
you know, if I didn’t also happen to gain about 5 pounds per week while doing
so.
It’s actually kind of a good thing that I’m not in training
mode, because here’s where I’m spending the vast majority of my leisure time
lately:
This fall, my wife and I have become bona fide water polo parents - a
distinction that isn’t quite as popular as soccer moms or NASCAR dads, and one
that requires a remarkably high threshold for watching your kid get pounded.
The good news is that I’m really becoming a fan of the sport,
and don’t really mind spending all day watching consecutive games at a
tournament somewhere. The bad news is
that with all the time he’s spent in the pool, my son has developed a much
better tan than me. I thought I’d be OK
with this … but apparently I’m not exactly there yet.
With the number of workouts he’s doing, it may not be long
until he’s a faster swimmer than me as well – so it's probably time for me to start
getting in the water or hitting the trails at least every now and then. Which
means it’s also time to get the blog rolling again as well.
I’ve got some product review posts that are piling up, as
well as the other assorted odds and ends you’re accustomed to finding around
here. I’ll also indulge a couple more backward
glances at last month’s Leadville 100 – starting with my next post, which will
be a responsive effort to answer a variety of questions and comments I received
after my superlong race report.
In between, there may be also be some prolonged periods of nothing …
but rest assured I’m still out there doing something pretty cool.
*
"A Real Cool Hand," scene from Cool Hand Luke (click to play):
“And I wonder … If everything could ever feel this real
forever -
If anything could ever be this good again … “
-Foo Fighters, “Everlong” (video after post)
**
I’m not sure what I was thinking, but clearly I must have
slipped into one of my idiot moments.
I thought it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to run 100 miles
across the sky, fly back to town the next day, jump right back into the school
and work routine, and plunk out a race report by the end of the week. I managed to click those first few things off
the list, but when it came to the race report … not so much.
I’m still awfully tired, I guess. OK - make that undoubtedly.
However, there’s something larger at play in my lethargy as well. Part of me is still processing the whole experience,
partially in disbelief that everything went as well as I could have hoped
for. There’s also a fair amount of ennui over the fact that last weekend will most likely be the pinnacle of my
running career – and with each passing day that goes by, the memories will be less vivid, and the emotions will fade and feel a little less real. And when
I finally write the race report, the whole episode will be officially and
permanently in my rearview mirror, which makes me more than a little sad.
(Remember how I've mentioned that I can find the down side of
anything? And you thought I was
kidding.)
So while I’m working through this ridiculous bout of sturm und drang over my Leadville
report, here’s an advance Random Shot of Beauty from the course - click to enlarge for the full effect:
An abandoned ranch shack as seen at approximately mile 25, in the shadow of Mount Elbert (center background) and Mount Massive (at right), otherwise known as the two highest peaks in Colorado. This one
actually didn’t make the final cut for the race report, so perhaps it’s good
that I’ve become such a writing slacker this week.
**
And I suppose it’s fitting that one of my all-time greatest
running experiences should be paired with one of my all-time favorite rock
songs; one true classic to go with another.
Foo Fighters, “Everlong” (Live on Letterman - click to play):
Obviously we're not quite back to operational capacity
around Running and Rambling just yet; I could go into all the details, but I
suspect that would sound too much like complaining. Instead, I'll do a quick by-the-numbers
rundown as a status update of what's been going on, as well as a look ahead at
what's to come - and we may as well start with our customary Random Shot of
Beauty ...
5: number of weeks since I took this RSOB in Toro Park, a
place that used to be my training ground at least twice per week for the past
10 years.
0: number of times I've run in Toro Park since the above
photo was taken.
9: consecutive days I spent without running while dealing with
one of the most stubborn illnesses I've had in recent memory.
6: number of miles I was finally able to run one day last week ...
4 (and counting): number of days I haven't run since then. No, I'm not nearly healthy yet. Normally this wouldn't be such a lamentable situation,
if not for ...
11: weeks until I'll be on the start line of the Leadville
100. Yes, I'm beginning to panic. However, there's one bright spot ...
9: number of weeks that my kids are off school now, meaning
I have a bit more flexibility to squeeze in some extra mileage over the next
several weeks. Assuming I can get
healthy, that is.
See? It's easy for me
to get carried away with the kvetching. On to some better news ...
82: approximate number of seconds it took me to officially fell in love with the following skate video featuring Kilian Martin. I could tell you about the beauty and
artistry of the 4-minute clip - but trust me, it will be far better if I just
show you:
"Kilian Martin: Altered Route" (click to play):
2: number of skateboard videos I've shown here in the past 8
days. I don't think this reflects any
sort of trend ... although I'm still trying to spend a lot of time on a new pair
of Rollerblades that I'll be reviewing later this summer. I don't anticipate changing the masthead to Rolling and Rambling anytime soon,
though.
24: number of cool new CLIF Bars that will be awarded from my
website: 8 bars each to 3 winners after a new product review sometime next week. So hang in there with me; I promise there
are better times ahead.
Speaking of which ...
9: miles I hope to run tomorrow morning. Because Leadville doesn't really care if I've
lost my mojo lately - so I had better start building it back.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
After a full week of fantastically sunny California weather, this weekend on the Monterey Peninsula decided to turn gray and drizzly, which made for a nice excuse to sleep in and make it a lazy Saturday.
So in the spirit of sloth, today’s post will be a quick one - but don’t worry, there’s a healthy dose of mojo waiting at the end. First, however, is the Random Shot of Beauty – this one taken from a recent morning on a trail along the Big Sur coastline:
It’s a bird of some sort. A rather large bird. And it looks kind of brown. Obviously I’m not much of a bird watcher, but if anyone out there wants to take a stab at an ID on this one, here’s a fuzzy-cropped closeup of the same pic, which was the only one I got before this guy bailed out and flew away:
Have at it, birders.
**
As for your inspiration: if you happen to receive the National Geographic channel, set your recorder for Sunday at 8PM EST to check out a documentary on the incomparable Dean Potter, who has become a living legend in three different adventure sports. Whether it’s rock climbing, slacklining (yes, I’ve got this on the brain lately), or BASE jumping, Potter is one of the people consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
The National Geographic feature is called The Man Who Can Fly, and it centers on a record-setting free climb and base jump from Canada’s Mt Bute. However, it also provides a nice overview to many other Potter exploits, including a somewhat controversial “first free solo” on El Capitan in Yosemite.
So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to check whether I even get the National Geographic channel, and I'll look forward to watching the show. Maybe I can manage to find an inspiring end to an otherwise lazy weekend.
“The Man Who Can Fly” by National Geographic (click to play):
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
“I like to keep my issues drawn -
But it's always darkest before the dawn -
Shake it out, shake it out - shake it out, shake it out, oh woah …
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back –
So shake him off, oh woah.”
-Florence + the Machine, “Shake It Out”, (video after post)
**
The first days of the calendar year are always somewhat anxious for me, in that it’s time to shake the devil off my back and get reacquainted with the routine of training on a regular basis.
I usually give myself permission to be a complete slacker during the month of December, so there’s very little guilt about sleeping in when it’s dark, drinking wine when I want to loosen up, or eating cookies when they magically appear around Christmastime. The whole process is so predictable, it’s become almost a holiday tradition for the family to guess the date when I’ll finally pop a button on my pants. (They don’t make Hallmark cards for that, I’ve noticed.)
New Year’s Eve tends to be a symbolic rock bottom, the darkest point before I start crawling toward the glimmer of good habits and self-discipline dawning on the horizon. Once January rolls around I can usually step up and start making some tangible progress toward whatever goal I’ve set for myself further down the calendar. But this year I seem to be struggling a bit more than usual, in that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do in 2012.
I don’t know if I want to chase far-off windmills or hunker down closer to home. I don’t know if I want to do something epic and inspiring or something more mundane and manageable. I don’t even know if I want to do formal races, or have more of a “choose your own adventure” year of visiting places and trails that I’ve been longing to explore. Especially considering that the Northern California ultra scene is currently wracked in so much unfortunate drama and shocking grief, it’s hard to elevate the importance of any particular race (or for that matter, running in general) in the grand scheme of things.
So … yeah. I’ll manage to shake something out, but it might take a little bit longer than usual; the devil on my back feels especially heavy this time around. In the meantime, I was asked to author a piece in a local magazine on the subject of New Year’s resolutions; instead of doing the regular “you should start running” spiel, I decided to put a spin on it that might grab the attention of anyone who has started and eventually given up a running program in New Years past. You probably know where this one is going – and the full article follows below.
**
“Resolve to Start Running – Barefoot!”
In the long, storied, frequently disappointing history of New Year’s resolutions, perhaps the most common one is this: I’m going to get in shape this year. I’m going to start running.
Certainly that’s a good idea … but what are you going to do differently this time to make sure you enjoy it more, avoid injuries, and stay consistent until January 2013 and beyond? If you want to make a major change in your previously unsuccessful or long-dormant running habit, here’s a radical notion to try: ditch your running shoes.
(You may recognize these photos - they're all recycled from past blog posts. They were also used in the magazine article last week. )
Barefoot running isn’t exactly a novel idea, but it’s currently the most revolutionary (and often controversial) movement the running community has witnessed in quite a while. Runners with chronic injuries often find that going barefoot solves their problems, and veteran runners experience joy in their training that they haven’t felt since running across the playground as children.
More recently, the movement has gained increasing legitimacy. Barefoot running – as well as its close cousin, minimalist running – has progressed from a weird fringe element to popular fad to the subject of research studies. There’s mounting evidence that the natural running style associated with naked feet has multiple biomechanical and health-related benefits for all runners.
Here’s the premise: Over the past 30 years, modern running shoe technology hasn’t reduced the injury rate among runners at all. No matter how many cushioning, support, or stability features are crammed into your expensive high-performance training shoes, you’re no less likely to become injured – in fact, you’re probably even more so. By contrast, when you strip away the so-called protective and corrective features, your running form changes toward a style with less impact, and a lower incidence of most running-related injuries.
The primary downside of barefooting is that to get started, you must proceed extremely slowly. As in one minute at a time slowly. 20-minutes-per-mile pace slowly. So slow that it feels like you’re not actually running. Barefoot running is a skill developed over months and years, not days and weeks. If you’re not the patient type, you’d better make a resolution about that one as well.
Start anywhere you like – and believe it or not, asphalt is an ideal surface for your first baby steps. Remove your shoes and socks, and run for a minute or two, landing softly on the front of your feet before lightly touching your heel to the ground and then repeating with the opposite foot. Take very short steps, and don’t worry about how slow you’re going.
Build up the length of time gradually over a period of many weeks – and if you have any significant pain, stop your run and try it again another day. You’ll probably get some blisters or hot spots on the bottom of your feet; they’ll eventually become callouses that aren’t nearly so bothersome, and the underside of your foot will gradually grow firm yet supple, like the leather of a well-worn baseball mitt. Your feet, ankles, and calves will get very sore when you start; remember, those muscles are being stretched and used in ways they never were when confined to clunky cross-trainers.
Look online for barefoot running resources to help you get started, or check out two outstanding books: ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer, and Barefoot Running by Michael Sandler, who also operates the website RunBare.com. The support and instruction you will find from like-minded souls online will be helpful as you progress.
Of course, it’s January, so you can’t always run outside with nothing on your feet. That’s where minimalist shoes come in. These products allow your feet to move as they would without shoes, while providing a small amount of warmth and protection for external conditions.
Minimalist shoes are built as lightweight, flat, and low to the ground as possible, without any unnecessary cushioning or support. The most popular models are Vibram’s FiveFingers – those strange “toe shoes” you’re starting to see everywhere – but there are literally dozens of options on the market to choose from. The topic of minimalist footwear is an article all its own; for now, check out my Running and Rambling website for some ideas and other good resources.
Once you’ve built up to it properly, barefoot running is simply a lot of fun. You’ll feel like a kid, and exercise starts feeling like recess. If your goal is to maintain a running program throughout the year, the ability to enjoy yourself will be one of the greatest contributors to your success. Kick off your shoes, and go have some fun!
**
Florence + The Machine, "Shake It Out" (click to play):
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
This was before an additional 20" of snow fell throughout the day.
Obviously, I'm not in Monterey County anymore; our family is spending a few days at our favorite vacation spot in the Sierra Nevadas, a trip which just happened to coincide with one of the biggest snowstorms of the season. Despite my love of warm weather and winter beach days, there's definitely something romantic about seeing the snow pile up outside your window, and knowing that there's no particular place to go. Of course, romance doesn't shovel the driveway three times per day, so that cozy feeling only lasts so long.
The view from our deck. See that brown line at lower right? That's the 4' top railing of the deck.
In a related story, I haven't gone running in five days - so once this weekend is over, it will be time to jump back on the training wagon. It's less than 5 weeks to my first ultra of the season, and something tells me that shoveling snow every now and then isn't nearly enough to make up for my recent Girl Scout cookie binges, let alone enough to prepare me for running 50 miles.
"Now I'm ready to start - my mind is open wide ... To step out into the dark - now I'm ready!" - Arcade Fire, "Ready to Start" (video after post)
Like many other New Year’s revelers, I staggered out of bed in the late morning of January 1st, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes for a few minutes, and tried to piece together exactly how my night ended.
I was out of my head for a little while there … I think I remember doing something kind of crazy. Did I really do what I think I did?
All it took was the first download of e-mail in the morning to confirm it: I had indeed done something a little bit crazy:
Click to enlarge
Hello, 2011 “A” race. Truth be told, it wasn’t much of a shocker that I’d end up on the start line of the Tahoe Rim Trail 100-Miler sometime; I basically fell in love with the course and everybody involved with the race when I was there as a pacer last summer. I knew that I’d be itching to do another 100-miler this year, and it was something of a coin flip between Tahoe and Western States. So when I came up empty in December’s WS lottery, I didn’t really shed any tears – I just looked up the registration date for Tahoe and knew I’d have an equally awesome experience there.
One of many breathtaking views on the TRT course last July
So I guess this means I need to start training now. December is traditionally my slacker month, where I allow myself to sleep in and eat whatever I want and don’t worry about skipping workouts if I feel like it – and when it’s dark and cold and it’s the holiday season and there’s cookies and wine seemingly everywhere I turn, and I happen to be spending an ungodly amount of time conducting some crazy blog giveaway spree, it gets easier and easier to blow off those workouts.
In other words, some things have got to change. The good news is, summer’s still far enough away that I can do a slow build through the winter and spring, and be ready to roll once July comes around again. The other reassurance I have is that I’ve traveled this particular trail before; I’m not exploring uncharted territory here - I’m merely making my way back to some wonderful places I’ve already been.
That doesn’t make the journey any less intimidating, however. The mornings will start darkly, the early training miles will be sluggish, and there will be more than a little bit of self-doubt that creeps in as race day draws closer. But those are other stories for other days. In the meantime, I just need to get myself running - and now I'm ready to start.
* Arcade Fire, "Ready to Start" (click to play):
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling. Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
You didn’t think the December giveaway bonanza was ending simply because Christmas has come and gone, did you? This week brings three new giveaways, one of which includes a product review of a great new minimalist shoe that I’m totally excited to be able to debut here.
However, I will confess to being a major-league slacker this weekend, so today’s giveaway will be quick and to the point. Before we get there, however, a couple of announcements …
1) I’m still waiting for The Big Eto contact me and claim his winnings for the VIVOBAREFOOT kids’ shoes contest. You’ve got until Tuesday night before I pick another winner.
2) Everyone still has a couple more days to enter the New Balance MT101 giveaway, where three pairs of awesome trail shoes will be awarded on Wednesday night, December 29th. See details on the link above to enter.
OK then – on with today’s giveaway! As I said, I’ll try to keep things brief.
This summer I learned about Ryders Eyewear, a company that produces high-performance eyewear at discount store prices - and ever since then, I’ve used their lenses for all of my mountain biking and running activities. I first reviewed their Vigor model, which I prefer for mountain biking but also use for trail running, and then the VTX, which in my opinion is a more running-specific style that’s become my all-purpose model of choice.
Trail running with the VTX this summer
The VTX comes with three interchangeable lenses, one of which is clear, so these lenses would be a great option for road cyclists as well. Other lens colors are dark gray and orange, which feature 100% UVA, UVB, and UVC protection and shatterproof polycarbonate lenses.
I could give you lot more details about the VTX – but like I said, I’m still sort of in slacker mode, so I’m saving myself some time by referring you to a review I wrote for FeedTheHabit this fall. (Or you could just take my word for it that they’re awesome.) Afterward, come back to this post, and leave a comment below for your chance to win a pair of Ryders VTX glasses for yourself. Two winners will be selected at random, and winners will be announced on Thursday night, December 30th. Good luck to everybody!
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling. Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
More than a year and a half into this process, it’s fair to say that I love minimalist running. I love the biomechanical advantages it offers. I love how it strengthens my feet and allows them to function naturally. I love how it makes me feel more connected to the ground beneath my feet. Best of all, I love the spirit of freedom and simplicity it gives me every time I run.
I just wish I could do it a little bit faster.
One of the major criticisms of barefoot and minimalist running is that it prohibits you from running at top speed without the protection and cushioning of traditional shoes. The question has been debated and discussed in several running circles, and conventional wisdom seems to say that shod running is for racing, while minimalist running is merely for enjoyment.
But what if you want to be a fast minimalist runner? What if you’d like the ability to run casually on some days, and speedy on others? Those are questions I’ve been addressing with myself over the past couple of months.
There was a time in my life – a period of several years, in fact – where the only aspect of training that mattered to me on a daily basis was how fast I could run. I recorded lap splits during track workouts, mile splits during tempo runs, and 5K splits during long runs. A tempo run that took 5 seconds longer than the previous week was cause for concern, and workout times that were faster than the year before reassured me that I was race ready. From day to day, I lived and died by the numbers that showed up on my watch each morning.
However, for the past several years the tide has turned, to the point where I very seldom care about how fast I run anymore. The primary driver of this is my immersion in the world of ultrarunning, where mile splits aren’t nearly as important as the long-term resiliency to continually put one foot in front of the other. The second factor was my transition to barefoot running, where you have to quite literally start one step at a time, and slow down to practically a snail’s pace to get the technique correct.
Consequently, the twice-weekly speed workouts I did during marathon training have gradually declined – first to once per week, then once or twice per month, and ultimately to an every-now-and-then occurrence just to keep things interesting. In a related story, I’m a much slower runner than I used to be.
Now that I’m doing nearly 100% of my mileage in minimal footwear, I’m curious as to whether I can start building some of that speed back. For the past couple of months, I’ve done brief track workouts and short-distance tempo runs, trying to get my legs used to moving quickly again when there’s nothing underfoot to support them. The answers I’ve found have been kind of depressing.
Compared to my marathon racing days, I’m pretty much a turtle nowadays. The tricky part is that I’m not sure exactly how much of this is attributable to my current choice of footwear. I find running fast in minimalist shoes to be quite difficult: I’ve always derived my speed from having a long, powerful stride, but in Vibrams or Evos I have to remind myself to keep my steps short and my cadence quick. Even when I’m focused on it, my form tends to fall apart as I get fatigued, and I start to fall back into my old habits. The result is that I have a hard time just opening the throttle and running like a maniac, which used to be my hallmark during tough track workouts.
On the other hand, even if I had perfect form, I’d have a hard time matching workout times I did a few years ago anymore. After attributing a few consecutive slow tempo run times to my footwear, the following week I did the same course in Newton Gravitys, which I’ve called my traditional footwear of choice for running fast. To my dismay, my time on a 4-mile course was only about 30 seconds faster. So clearly I can’t blame it all on the shoes.
Every now and then I long for the times when I could lower the hammer and outrun my training partners to the car in the last 2 miles of a 90-minute run, or burn a workout of 8 x 1600m at 5:30 pace in the midst of a long training week. I honestly have no idea (but truthfully, I’m somewhat skeptical) that I can ever match those days, but without any ultras on the calendar until next spring, I’m making it a point during this winter to try and build some of my old speed back – only this time, I’m doing it with minimalist shoes.
I’m not looking to jump back into road racing or set a marathon PR anytime soon - I just figure that as long as I’m committed to this minimalist thing, it would be nice if someday I could do it a little more impressively.
"I hope this old train breaks down - Then I can take a walk around - And see what there is to see - And time is just a melody ... " - Jack Johnson, "Breakdown" (video after post)
Sign from the trail during the Headlands Hundred; kind of ironic that I'd stumble across it during my first-ever 100-miler.
Have you ever had so many things to do that the prospect of diving headfirst into any one of them paralyzes you from even starting? That's pretty much where I've been for the past couple of weeks, especially in regards to this blog.
I had planned to have a new post yesterday, and to make a cool announcement recently, and to hammer out some behind-the-scenes details for an upcoming round of giveaways and product reviews. At the same time, the rest of life was charging full steam ahead - and somewhere in the midst of trying to manage several different control panels at once, the train slipped slightly off the rails. By that point, my plans were so scattered that the only thing left to do was take a walk around and see where everything landed.
So this is the post you're getting instead: a brief note to say that I'm going to embrace my inner slacker for a while, chill out during this beautiful long weekend, and return next week, back on track and ready to roll. For anyone who might be worried, don't be: about 99% of the things going on right now are good. Life is a gift - it's just moving awfully fast right now. And this seems like a great time to slow things back down a bit.
* "I need this old train to break down - Oh please just let me please breakdown." - Jack Johnson, "Breakdown" (click to play):
One of the cardinal rules you teach children is that everybody is blessed differently.
Each of us has unique gifts and talents, and just because some other kid does something better than you, it doesn’t mean that kid is a better person. Everybody excels in different areas: the kids who make the honor roll aren’t always the most socially well-adjusted; the best athletes aren’t always the sharpest students; and the most popular kids aren’t always the ones who go on to achieve the greatest professional success.
It’s nice reassurance to carry into adulthood as well – the only problem is, I’m not convinced that it’s true.
One case in point was revealed to me in a recent post by the categorically brilliant, immensely talented writer Malcolm Gladwell, who I’ve swooned over more than once in this space. Most recently, I described how reading his work has the unfortunate effect of emphasizing my own limitations as a writer. Although it was a discouraging feeling, I can honestly say I didn’t dwell on it too long … after all, there’s probably something I can do better than Gladwell, right?
Then I found out that he could probably kick my butt in a race, too - at least, he could have at one time.
In this short post, Gladwell tells the story of how he once defeated a future "greatest Canadian miler of his generation" in a 1500m race, in a time that most of us would die to run. He also unleashed this awesome picture upon the Internet:
Malcolm Gladwell at age 14, running a 4:05 1500m
In case you didn’t recognize the coif, that’s him on the right. His 1500m time was roughly 4:05, which is even more impressive when you consider the enormous drag coefficient coming from the top of his head. Given that Gladwell’s such an "outside the box" intellect, I’m somewhat surprised he didn’t think to wear a swim cap when he ran; you could make a pretty compelling argument that with a more streamlined profile, he might have dipped under four minutes.
But that’s mainly just me being petty, and even more discouraged that Gladwell has accomplishments in both writing AND running that I can’t even hope to emulate. And he’s intelligent and financially secure and is probably the life of every party he attends. He’s like a prom king who also turns out to be a straight A student and a completely nice person to boot – an outlier, if you will. Knowing all of this doesn’t cause me to admire him any less - but occasionally it makes me look even harder for something to stake my pride on.
I suppose I’ve got more manageable hair – and for now, I guess that will have to do.
Read more...
“All at once, the world can overwhelm me - There's almost nothing that you could tell me – That could ease my mind -
Which way will you run, when it's always all around you – And the feeling lost and found you again - A feeling that we have no control.” - Jack Johnson, “All at Once” (video after post)
These are kind of interesting times around Running and Rambling headquarters lately.
It’s a period of transition for our family in many ways – most of them good, but all of them with a degree of uncertainty that cumulatively seem overwhelming at times. At the same time, there are some bigger projects I’m trying to work on as well, creating one of those situations where I’ve got about 10 different things I’d love to pour myself into, but barely enough time to do any one of them effectively.
The weight of it all was enough to compel me to spend several hours on a beautiful Saturday getting lost in my work – but fortunately, this was my office:
A nice little bench above Carmel Beach where I stole some time for myself to sort through some thoughts and give focused attention to one particular project that’s been weighing on me for longer than I would have liked.
The day ended pretty well: the satisfaction of finally making some progress combined with the serenity of a perfect beach day were enough to ease my mind for the time being. However, it’s probably only a matter of time before I’m trying to decide which way to run next.
This post isn’t intended to be cryptic, or indicative that life has taken a bad turn; on the contrary, I’m very grateful for the situation I’m in, and faithfully optimistic that I’m following the path for which I’m intended. I guess the main point is to say that things might be unpredictable around here for the near future, but I think some of the end results will be worth all the trouble.
And in hopes of starting the week on a less melancholy note, I’ll kick off another giveaway drawing with my next post. Until then, let’s just enjoy the music.
Jack Johnson, "All at Once", live at Kokua 2008 (click to play):
Last summer, 22-year-old Kilian Jornet announced his intention to break the fastest known time for a complete circumnavigation of the Tahoe Rim Trail. Over the next several weeks, he assembled crew members and a team of pacers, and successfully took down the record in late September.
By the end of the year, Salomon Running, Jornet’s primary sponsor, had produced a video series on the record-setting run, and I used those videos for a post in January. In the post, I mentioned that one of Jornet’s pacers was Bryon Powell, who in addition to being a tremendous blogger, also happens to be a badass ultrarunner – as in top-10 at Leadville badass.
Around that same time, I was considering entering the Tahoe Rim Trail 100-Miler which takes place this coming weekend – but with a very short entry window, and a lot of uncertainty as to what my day to day life would look like this summer (a situation that still exists, come to think of it), I decided against entering the race. However, I had several reasons for wanting to be in Tahoe and get a taste of the event, so I volunteered my services as a pacer to someone I knew would be an ideal companion for fifty miles of Tahoe trail running: my soul sister Gretchen, who practically nursed me back from the dead at Western States last year. I figured the least I could do was repay the favor, while also doing some reconnaissance on a course that’s very high on my 100-mile wish list.
After that January post featuring Kilian’s Tahoe record, Gretchen left this comment: I’ll be your Kilian Jornet if you’ll be my Bryon Powell.
To which I replied, I was thinking more along the lines of Boots and Dora.
And while that was admittedly a knee-jerk reaction from someone who lives with two grade-school-aged daughters, it actually makes a fair amount of sense. Dora’s a chick who goes on one adventure after another, and is more than capable of getting herself through any problems she encounters whenever she goes exploring. Boots is basically there for companionship and some occasional comic relief, and ends up learning from Dora’s expertise along the way.
I could even take the analogy a little further: just like the main characters on Dora the Explorer, I’ll be equipped with my very own Backpack, full of the supplies we need to make it to our destination. I should also carry a Map of some sort, to prevent us from getting lost along the way (because it’s happened to me lately – more than once, in fact).
When it comes to these ultras, Gretchen’s no joke; she’s steadily climbed the ladder in race standings over the past couple of years, and has been dutifully logging the kind of hours and mileage on the trails this spring and summer that I can only dream of. She’s made this her goal race for the year, and she’s as familiar with the Tahoe trails as anybody – in other words, she has the potential to have a very good showing next weekend.
So I’ve been taking my role as Boots quite seriously, mainly because I don’t want to screw things up for her. I’m trying to identify with the character, and even hunted down an unsuspecting Dora one day last month to pick her brain for some advice on how to get through the super-exciting adventure we have coming up next week.
Me and Dora, shortly after talking race strategy
And that’s the main reason that getting sidelined in the Sierras last week was such a bummer for me: I had already been something of a slacker in my own training over the past few weeks, and I had penciled in this vacation as an ideal time to turbo-charge my running for one last fitness boost before assuming my role as Gretchen’s pacer. Then I went and nearly wrenched one of my toes off, and ended up not doing anything for several days afterward. Needless to say, I'm not exactly arriving at the top of my game.
It’s one thing for me to be an idiot; I’ve come to live with it. What concerns me is the possibility of any of that idiocy rubbing off on Gretchen during her race. She’s ready to roll, and deserves a good pacer to make her adventure a success, instead of some goofy out-of-shape monkey with a broken toe who’s just along for the ride.
For the time being, I'm remaining optimistic that things will work out just fine - and by this time next week, we’ll know for sure how the story ends.
Read more...
This is the view from my cabin window this morning:
Honestly, our family’s annual summer escape to the Sierra Nevadas couldn’t come at a better time; thus far, 2010 has been almost completely chaotic, with the craziness reaching a crescendo over the past couple of weeks. In light of that, this vacation is an opportune chance to catch our breath and reconnect with each other, while appreciating all the blessings our family enjoys.
I’ve got some plans in mind for what the week may bring, and a couple of epic-ish runs that I might report on a bit later … but then again, maybe I won’t. Above all else, our Sierra vacation gives us the freedom to do whatever we want to do – or more importantly, to not do whatever we don’t feel like doing. At this point, I have no idea which way things will go.
So the posts could be a bit sporadic around here for a while, and life looks to be approaching some transition points in the weeks to come. (Don’t worry – it’s nothing terrible. Just very different.) In the meantime, I’ll be relaxing with the family in the mountains, giving thanks for where life has brought us so far, and remaining optimistic for all that’s yet to come.
I need to make a habit of checking my calendar more carefully.
This weekend marks the confluence of two events of nearly equal significance in my (admittedly somewhat warped) mind: the Scripps National Spelling Bee Friday morning and evening, and a 100K ultra in Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Despite the fact that those two events fall on different days, the proximity of one relative to the other makes it impossible for me to be fully “in the moment” with either one of them. On Friday afternoon, the hours I traditionally spend nailed to the chair catching up with the NSB’s morning preliminary rounds on TiVo will instead be spent nervously packing my gear for the following day’s race. In the evening, while I’m working my way through a 4-hour drive to Santa Barbara, the championship rounds of the Bee will air in prime time. And on Saturday, the day I normally re-watch the Bee a second (or even third) time to compile my NSB diary, I’ll be preoccupied with dragging my tail over 62 miles of mountainous terrain. I’d curse the fates for conspiring against me, but there’s really no one to blame for myself.
First, about the Bee: If you’re a new reader wondering what the heck I’m talking about, it’s important for you to know that I’m a freak for the National Spelling Bee. And if you don’t believe me, just look over to my right sidebar and read some of the reports for yourself.
This year's competition features two young ladies who I’m extremely excited about, although for completely different reasons. The first is someone I actually know: a sixth-grade classmate of my son's who will be making her first trip to the NSB after winning our regional championship. So if you see a girl from Monterey County make it to the televised rounds, you’ll know who I’m cheering for.
The second, of course, is Erin Andrews. Admit it – when I first started gushing about her NSB assignment in 2008, did you suspect she’d become almost a household name less than two years later? But then she was the victim of a well-publicized scandal, and Oprah got hold of her, and Dancing with the Stars happened ... and now she’s practically America’s Sweetheart. So it’s good to see that her newfound fame hasn’t caused her to turn her back on the awkward adolescent crowd who knew her back in the day. At least not yet.
Erin Andrews and someone who's not (as far as I know) a good speller
And now about the race: I mentioned that it’s 100K, but that number doesn’t do the course nearly enough justice. 16,000’ of climbing does. 85 to 90 degree temperatures (forecast for Saturday) do as well. Last year’s winning time of 12:45 – by a guy who has run sub-19-hours at the Leadville 100 – is a pretty telling number as well. Truthfully, the more numbers I look at, the more intimidating this race appears.
Here’s one more: Zero, which is the number of long (greater than 20-mile) runs I’ve done since the Quicksilver 50 four weeks ago. Basically, I’ll be doing the race on muscle memory and determination – which isn’t something I shy away from, but I know it’s going to be one of the tougher challenges I’ve faced in quite a while. If you thought I was kidding about my goals being to 1) not get lost, and 2) finish in one piece, let me assure you that my expectations seriously aren’t much loftier than that.
Assuming I make it through that gauntlet, I’ll recuperate by watching the National Spelling Bee a couple of days late, and getting to work on a race report sometime next week. I’m hopeful that I’ll have a spelling diary in me at some point as well, but for now that one’s going to take a back seat until I see how things shake out after the weekend.
Read more...
“I've made a mess of me, I wanna get back the rest of me – I've made a mess of me, I wanna spend the rest of my life alive.” - Switchfoot, “Mess of Me” (video after post)
* My wife and I both exercise consistently; unfortunately, only one of us seems to be getting any benefit out of it. At least, that’s the conclusion our video game system presented us with earlier this month.
If you don’t believe me, perhaps a visual representation is in order. This, according to our new Wii Fitness program, is me - or, in proper Nintendo parlance, my Mii:
I’d be the pudgy guy in the corner stretching out the belly of his blue sweatshirt. Prior to receiving our balance board, I created a Mii with my facial features, which was then attached to a body shape of my choosing. I made mine somewhat tall and slightly lean, keeping with how various people have described me over the years.
At least, I thought I was super …
However, when you order the balance board and fitness program, you enter your height, and the board measures your weight to calculate your BMI. Then it displays what the board “feels” you must look like. And if you're me, you look like this:
Let me ask you: does that look like a guy who’s ready to run an ultra in a few weeks? It looks more like a dude on the Blue Team waiting to meet Bob and Jillian at the Biggest Loser ranch.
More insults were quick to follow; my BMI rating came out as borderline overweight, and my “fitness age”, determined by BMI and my performance on some rudimentary balance challenges, was 49.
I’m, um … not 49. Barely within a decade of it, actually. But apparently all that swimming and biking and lots and LOTS of running in my past have only served to hasten my demise. I suppose it’s likely that my chocolate chip cookie addiction hasn’t helped my situation either. Somehow over all these years, I’ve managed to make a nice mess of myself.
On the other hand, consider my lovely wife, who in real life - as if that matters - was born just a few months apart from me (and no, I’m not saying who’s older). This is her Mii:
Very easy on the eyes, wouldn’t you say? Slim and curvy, and rockin' a snug green t-shirt. She runs a few days per week, and does a variety of workout videos on the days she doesn’t run. It must keep her in great all-around shape, because …
… even from the back, her Mii has got it goin' on. Given how out of my league she is, I sometimes suspect that her Mii might be looking around Wii Plaza for an upgrade to her virtual spouse in this picture. A guy can only wonder.
Whatever she’s doing fitness wise, it seems to working, because her Mii is perfectly lovely. Not only that, she’s much healthier than me; her BMI is smack in the middle of the “healthy weight” range, and her fitness age is – get this – 33. On the plus side, all this means that in Wii Fitness terms, I’m hooking up with a girl who is 16 years younger than I am. Go me! Or rather, go Mii!
Predictably, my kids now enjoy perpetuating my Mii persona as a tubby slob who struggles just to get a high score in Tilt City. Perhaps the ultimate indignity was voiced by my 6-year-old this week as I was about to eat a cookie: “Dad! Don’t eat that! Your Mii will get fatter!!” And so it goes.
Supposedly the Mii body will morph and adapt and become leaner once I spend some time burning calories on various games, or once it detects that I’ve lost some weight. Time will tell, I guess. Either way – whether it’s the prospect of running a 50-miler next month, or the shallow vanity of squeezing my Mii into a size smaller trousers – one thing is becoming clearer with each passing day: I need to get a little more serious about this training stuff.
*
As for the song, there’s not much explanation to it other than the obvious one, and for being a current favorite of mine.
If you should ever wonder why I feel compelled to run as much as I do, allow me to present a little story, along with a few exhibits that my wife threw together over the course of about 48 hours last week:
Exhibit A: a gumball machine cake.
Each fall, our elementary school has a Fall Fiesta fundraiser, and one of the most popular attractions is the Cake Walk, where 15 people go around a circle of numbers in musical-chairs fashion until the music stops. A number is pulled out of the bucket, and the person standing on that number wins a cake. Simple as that.
Yes, the gumballs are real
So each year, my wife comes up with some super creative designs for the cake table. And since she's helped organize the Fiesta in years past, she's aware that some parents are either too busy or too forgetful to bring cakes of their own - so she makes one or two extra on their behalf. That's just her way.
Exhibit B: My 8-year-old's favorite design this year
Each of us in our family knows that these cakes don't only look delightful, but they taste amazingly good - so the kids' primary goal at every Fall Fiesta is to win one of Mom's cakes back.
It's really a bunch of cleverly arranged cupcakes
The trouble is, the cakes are so distinctive that they're always among the first to be picked from the table by early winners of the Cake Walk. This year, our 5-year-old did the family proud by winning a cake within the first half-hour of the carnival.
Exhibit C: A cute carousel
She picked out the carousel cake that she helped decorate, and came home the hero of the day. As for the cake - it lasted less than 24 hours at our house before it vanished.
Complete with real animal cookies
These cakes may seem like extraordinary stuff - but to my wife, they're just another good idea that she was able to pull off without a hitch. I could probably write a similar post like this just about any week you choose, featuring either cookies or brownies or my current favorite at this time of year, pumpkin muffins. They're too much for me to resist, so I compensate by working them off as much as possible afterward.
And I keep exercising on a regular basis in the mornings, because I never know what might be waiting for me each night when I get home.
Although I’m moving forward with the blog, there are bound to be occasional backwards glances at Western States over the next several weeks – one of which is the subject of today’s post …
Actual exchange between me and the massage therapist that my awesome wife hooked me up with two days after my completion of the Western States Endurance Run …
* Therapist: So tell me your situation – what can I help you with today?
Me: Well, I spent most of the weekend running on trails up in the Sierras, and I’m pretty sore now.
Therapist: OK … so what are you, training for some kind of marathon or something?
Me: Um … yeah. Something like that.
*
And later, after the massage was over …
* Therapist: You know, something happened during that massage that I took as a compliment.
Me: (immediately thinking to myself, “Oh crap – did it move?”) Really? What?
Therapist: You fell asleep during the massage. That tells me you feel very relaxed with me.
Me: Oh, right. You betcha.
*
I’m fully aware that in both of these exchanges, I could have taken an extra 30 seconds to explain my situation in a way that would have clarified things a bit better … but honestly, I just didn’t feel like it. It’s not that I ever mind talking about my running – but the thought of triggering another “Wow, you’re crazy!” discussion at a time when all I wanted was to chill out was more than I was looking to deal with. Sometimes, things are simply best left unexplained.
On the plus side, it was a nice massage - and I'm fairly certain that it DIDN'T move.
Whenever I finish a big race, I spend quite a bit of time thinking of the tank gang from Finding Nemo.
In particular, I replay the final scene where the fish from Dr Sherman’s dental office make a daring escape by first clogging the tank’s filter, and - once placed into individual plastic bags for tank cleaning - rolling themselves across the table, out the open windowsill, across four lanes of traffic, and over the pier to finally find their escape in the big blue Pacific. They cheer their amazing accomplishment, then float silently for a few seconds, at which time Bloat the porcupine fish voices the question on all their minds: Now what?
(And if by some chance you’ve never seen the movie, or forgotten the scene, just click and watch the first 80 seconds of the video below.)
So that’s where I’ve been mentally for the past couple of weeks: celebrating my achievement, in some ways marveling at how I was able to accomplish it in the first place, and trying to answer the quiet question growing steadily louder in the back of my mind: now what?
I indicated earlier that I don’t have any race plans for the remainder of the year, or any huge event on my radar for 2010. The situation is like this by design, but I admit that it feels a bit foreign. Normally my motivation for training comes from anticipation of one challenge or another; without anything tangible to work towards, I’m guessing that compulsion will be greatly diminished.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s hard to explain the weight that is off my shoulders now that Western States is in the books; I feel like I have all kinds of time to refocus on other areas of my life that have suffered in the process of averaging 80 miles a week for five straight months. It’s one of those balance issues, and I’m making a course correction to steer myself closer to the midline I frequently claim to straddle but veer away from more often than I like to admit.
Perhaps another great adventure will capture my attention someday, but I’m not going out of my way to seek it for a while. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the freedom of training as much – or, in some cases, as little – as I want to, whenever I want to, as a secondary endeavor behind the other priorities in my life. (You know … just like normal people do.)
As far as the blog is concerned, it’s full steam ahead. I have a handful of product reviews on tap*, a vacation report featuring a cool mountain biking story, and the rest of the customary nonsense that pops into my head during whatever miles I spend on the trail.
After all, just because I don’t know where I’m going, that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the journey.
**
*on the subject of product reviews, a couple of updates …
1) The Drymax Lite Trail socks that I tested and promoted during the Western States training camp are now available to the general public, and you can get a sweet deal on them from Wilderness Running Company, who have a a special introductory price of $7 through the end of the month. Believe me: when you can get Drymax socks for seven bucks, you should grab them by the handful. The lite version is ideal for hot summer trail running.
2) I raved quite a bit during my review of the GoLite Rush pack, and since that post was written, my recommendation would only grow stronger. In the past several weeks, I’ve used it for running, hiking, biking, travelling, and as a basic day use pack, and it’s served all of those purposes wonderfully. The Rush is also available from Wilderness Running Company, and you’ll get a 10% discount by using the coupon code (R&R10) on my left sidebar.
