UltraPoser

Javelina, DNF

2009-11-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well it had to happen sooner or later. DNF. I have been racing in some form or another for the last ten years. Adventure racing, Duathlons, triathlons, Mtn biking, trail running and my latest obsession Ultra running. All of these other sports are great but I think I found my niche in Ultra's. Why might you ask? Well, Ultra runners are just a bit off. My kind of people.

I went going in for a sub 24 hr finish. Was I trained for that? Not sure, but once I saw the big fat sub 24 buckle. I wanted it! Just wish I'd seen it three months ago. When I should have been training to run rather than biking.

We left home early and got to the park in time to get a nice spot to set up our camp. Driving from Redlands does not take long but it sure would have been nice if Arizona had open rest stops. Times are tough when the state can't afford to let you pee! We settled in to a great spot and were able to back the truck right up against our camp. I love this race for the shear fact you can set up and not have to move for the rest of the weekend.

Javelina was a last minute entry for me. I was supposed to run the AC100 this year and the Station fire decided I wouldn't. I like how life works out. AC would have crippled me. Not that JJ is easy it's just the downhills of AC would have reduced my quads to mush much earlier. The race was closed and Jamil was very cool to open 50 or so more spots to those of us that did not get to run AC. lucky for me I have the worlds best wife, she is awsome! Here is a quick example, as soon as I got in to the race she signed up to volunteer, and volunteer she did! She worked the registration table on Friday night, food prep and the main aid station all day Saturday! Not to mention making sure I had everything I needed throughout the day.

So when it comes to racing I can get a bit nutty. I pack two or three times, days before I go. And yes I usually over pack! Pants I forgot to pack pants. Turns out Friday night in the dessert was a bit chilly. Shana brought down! Smart woman. We hit the rack pretty early and the symphony of alarms and wake up farts echoed through the campsite. Tents aren't real sound barriers. Had a little coffee, some grub, a few trips to the restroom and I'm ready to go!

Napa 70.3

2009-05-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Does the wetsuit make me look fat?
So I've been feeling a bit squishy n the middle since Javelina. Back in January we were in Denver and I was working out in the hotel gym when I caught a view of the pudge. After I finished my first hundred mile run I figured I was entitled to eat what ever I wanted. Fine that would be OK for a week or two, tops. BUT I decided that I EARNED as much junk food as I wanted. Not too mention I just really did not feel like running. Throw in a twisted ankle and I was ripe for getting pudgy. Why? Cuz I like doughnuts.

Fast forward a bit and we are going to Napa for a weekend to celebrate my lovely wife's birthday. Me being one who cannot travel anywhere with out looking to see if there is an event I can compete/participate in found a 70.3 triathlon. Now, if I'm up north and Envirosports has something going on I will do my best to enter. The problem here was I had not swam regularly in, hmmmmm a while.

So I go down to the gym and crap out a mile in the pool. Not the best swim but OK. Now I know I can do the mile, the bike will be great, the run not so bad. Armed with this info (how ever bad it was) I am ready to register.

Three weeks out, I'm in. To short to do any real training so I refer to it as taper time. Works for me. I am watching the weather like crazy because my wonderful wife is running her first 21 mile race in Big Sur the week before. I even run out and buy ponchos for her and the group she is running with. What a delight to be on the sidelines waiting for my wife to cross the line. Woo hoo, she did it. I was so nervous that I only could get off one pic of her finishing. It was awsome!

One week later I'm up in Napa looking at RAIN. I get up and head out thinking OK, maybe it's a bit cloudy not too bad. I get a good spot to rack my bike. On the end in front of a dumpster, which had the added bonus of being next to a port-a-john.

The gun goes off and I start the swim. I'm suprised at the water temp. I thought I was going to freeze my butt off but it wasn't bad. I managed to pull off the swim in the time I had figured. It was a bit of a long run to T1 but it got the blood flowing. By now it's starting to rain and drying off seems kind of worthless. I don the arm warmers and vest and am getting ready to hop on the bike when the proximity of the john comes in handy. T1 was kind of slow but worth it!

I'm on the bike and ready to rock! But again it's raining. The short version is that it rained the whole damn time I was on the bike. I was hoping to enjoy all that Pope valley had to offer in the way of views and scenery. Not going to happen. Rain , rain and more rain. I was happy to not pop a tire as I saw many riders on the side of the road. I managed to pass many of the people that dropped me on the swim. I finished the ride feeling great about it.

T2 was much quicker. I hit the run feeling good. The run was a double out and back. I had mixed feelings about it because I don't like running the same things over and over. In a race it can be fun because you can see the leaders as well as the folks behind you. My run was not as good as I would have liked but, acceptable.

All in all it turned out to be a great race 05:28:32 not bad for a first attempt at the half Ironman distance

face book

2009-02-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

Face Book has consumed all of my computer time. Which has been plentiful because I'm keeping my trail time to a minimum. A few weeks back I was on a 5 mile run that we do all the time. As we were cruising back to the truck, I rolled my ankle. No big deal? I roll it all the time. Well I just turned 42 and my ankle is my body's way of confirming my new age. It has been sore for almost a month. The most I've been able to run on it has been 8 miles., Not great for my training, but it keeps me from going crazy.

Spam

2008-12-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

I got hit today by a hardcore "born again" individual. Took me a bit to remove all of his comments. I have now activated the approval feature on my blog.

Javelina race report

2008-11-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

I will post more pictures soon

I want to start this report by thanking my best friend without who's help I could not have done this. Thanks Chicken your the best.

We left early Friday morning maybe a little too early. We don't like being late especially when we are going somewhere we have never been. We had a nice drive to Phoenix only taking five hours. We found the camp and quickly set up our home base. Our early arrival allowed us a good spot to set up. Much pacing around ensued waiting for the things to begin. Pre-race meeting, socializing and camp dinner. The Chicken can pop out some good tailgate pasta. Once properly fueled we settled in to our tent and tried to get some much needed sleep.

4:00am the alarm went off. Not sure I really needed it since we did not sleep all that well. What, how much sleep do you want the night before the longest race of your life. Up and out of the tent I fired up the stove cuz I NEED coffee. Had some caffeine a little oatmeal and a smoothie and I was ready to rock. Much pacing around till the start.

6:00am and GO! Off we went. The pre race instructions were pretty explicit in stating that most runners that complete the first loop in under three hours dnf. So I took it easy. It was dark when we started but I knew it would not last long and did not want to carry anything that I did not need. So I ran close to folks with lights. My plan worked. I saw the nicest sunrise I have seen years. Made quick stops at the aid stations and hit the Javelina Headquarters in 2:30 SHIT. Way too fast. Did I just screw myself within the first lap of their race? Shit Shit Shit. Oh well what to do? I ran in got refueled and a smooch and I was off.
The second loop went well although not as fast as the first. It was gun to be able to greet the oncoming runners as they made their way to the HQ. Now running the opposite direction I was getting a different view of the landscape. Having gone to high school in Tucson running in the dessert was like coming home. The temp started to climb and I made my way back to HQ in around three hours. Much more manageable. Again more water, Accelerade, a little munch munch and a much needed smooch I was off.

Now the third loop was a BITCH. I did not think that the heat was much of a factor as I never felt hot. Some folks were having big problems with it. I was leaving Jackass Junction and could not get my run on. Which really sucked because the road from JJ to the HQ was so very runnable. My legs did not want to get going. My crew (Shana) did not like how I looked when I came in.
When asked how I was feeling I replied " I feel like Dog meat". At that point I did. But, water, Accelerade, munch munch and a smooch and I was off.

The fourth loop included a spectacular Arizona sunset. Which meant I was running by flashlight. I had spent a bunch of this loop running with a Redlands runner. We had a good time but I most likely talked his ear off. Most would not find that hard to believe. After leaving Coyote Camp I spent the next five miles running with two locals. They had a good pace that I needed to keep plus three lights were better than one. I came into HQ feeling pretty damn good. More light, water, Yummy grilled cheese, some soup and the ever important smooch. And to my surprise my lovely crew found me a pacer. Tom, a local that came out to volunteer and possibly pace some forlorn runner. Boy did I luck out! It was so cool to have somebody to talk to in he wee hours of the night.

The fifth loop Tom listen as I blathered on and on, as I do. I felt bad as I'm sure he wanted to run and at this point all I could muster was a steady shuffle. I also started to really notice the blister on my left foot. We stopped so I could check it out. Tom suggested that I pop it. I replied "I have nothing sharp". Here is where a pacer comes in. " You have safety pins on your number". Four to be exact. A pacer can point out the obvious when your noggin is a bit foggy. We actually ran the last half of this loop at a great pace. We ran back to HQ and I was having some grub when Tom asked if I would like him to run another loop with me. "Are you sure?" Tom is dressed in a T-shirt. I was worried that he would not be comfortable. Who wants to be uncomfortable at three in the morning out in the dessert. I was (and am) so grateful Tom wanted to go out again. So fueled and smooched up I was ready to go.

During the sixth loop I caught up with the marines. I met Mos at the starting line and we chatted a bit throughout the night. When we got to Coyote camp we could see all the runners with their glow necklaces on. Oh did we all want one. I made my way back all the while hoping that I would finish before the sun came up not because I was going to break any records I just wanted to get into my tent before the sun came up. I made my way to HQ. It was a shuffle.

I got to HQ and Shana was ready to go out with me on the final ten mile loop. We talked it over and I said it would be better for her to stay at HQ. I did not stay at HQ for long. All I needed to do was top off my water and head out. Once I could see the last aid station I knew I was home free. The aid worker was very direct in saying get out of here! Not that I'm being rude but get your ass to the finish!!! So I took off. This last three miles were smooth and runnable the only problem is that there was no way I was going to run down hill. My legs were trashed!!!!!!! I hit the main trail and off in the distance I saw the most beautiful sight in the entire world, my wife. She ran the last mile with me. Let me explain, I was running. She was walking fast. I crossed the line in twenty five hours and fifty four minutes. Not bad for my first 100.

Three days

2008-11-12T07:02:00.000-08:00

We are leaving Friday morning. Am I ready? I sure hope so! I'm doing my best not to go crazy. I think I have bent the ear of my fellow ultrarunners quite a bit over the last week hopefully not to the point of being a pain in the butt.

Training for Javelina

2008-11-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

How is training you might wonder? Well physically I'm feeling fantastic mentally I think I'm going a little nutty. So much to prepare for. What should I eat? How much, how often? What should I drink? What should I wear? I know if obsess over these things I will nut up for sure. Most of all I'm trying to stay loose. Running easy and riding bikes. We had a great rain last night. During my Sunday run I thought how nice the trails would be for biking. I have only ridden my carbon fiber road bike a few times and wanted to go again. But it looked like more rain was on the way and I sure didn't want to get the new bike dirty. Pumped up the tires on the full suspendy and took off. It's not so bad when you pump up the tires and lockout the suspension. It's only a few miles to the trail and it was smooth sailing. I hit the dirt and was having great fun. Did my loop and went over to Stell for a nice esspresso

Rufus

2008-10-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

We have a new member of our little clan. Rufus!!!!!!! I'd say we found him at the local dog jail but it's more like he found us. We had been there looking at various dogs and even put our names in for one. So, we went on to do our Saturday errands and it was not twenty minutes when the dog jail called us and asked us if we could come back. We did. We fell in love with the little guy. The folks at the dog jail were so nice that they told us he would be avail friday. The lady behind the counter said maybe if we came in late on Thursday we could adopt him early. Picked him up from the vet last Friday. He's been a fun little guy.

Javelina

2008-10-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo,
I'm in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will I or won't I?

2008-09-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

That seems to be the question right now. I waited and waited to see if the Javelina Jundred was getting full. I checked right before the AC and ther were only 75 people signed up. No biggie right? Well hell a week later it was full.............SHIT........... I generally do wait cuz I'm a lazy bastard by nature. If I acctually sign up before hand I have to train......Who likes training? I do, I really do. It gives a purpose to getting out on the trail, gets you out there when you don't want to, lets you cancell things you don't want to do ex. dinner dates or family obligations. "Sorry I have to train, can't stay out late".

So I contacted the RD for Javelina and sent my app off anyway. I really hoping that they will oversell the race and let me in OR soe more people will drop out and some spots will open up. Either way the wait is driving me nuts. Do I go crazy and train for it or sit back and get my winter chubby on? Donuts, cheese burgers, mmmmmmmmmm.

Baden Powell

2008-09-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

We decided to head up to one of our favorite hikes today.

Ginger tends to get really dusty up there but loves it!

San G.(new)PR

2008-09-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

This is me being really lazy. I posted a quick trip report on the SGWA message board and simply pasted here.
My camera took a crap on me so my pics did not turn out but I will post a pic of my favorite hiking buddy from our recent trip up Mt. Tallac in S. Lake Tahoe

Yea!!!
Trip reports. Mine will be short. I left the lower parking lot late 8:00am Saturday. I was not sure if I was going to go to the summit. I figure if I made it to 10,000ft in good time I'd be happy. I also was not so sure about the weather as well. I packed light for a speedy trip, no jacket, no sweater, only a pair of arm wamers to knock off the chill and enough gells and bars for a few hours. I started from the lower parking lot with a nice jog to the trail head. made to the top of the first mile and had the rangers sign my permit. Only the third time I have had one signed. After a little chit chat with Paul, I was off. I decided not to stop till I hit the summit. Much to my suprise I made the summit in 2:52:08 my fastest time up Vivian Creek. Took around 2:10 to get down. Another fantastic day in the SGWA!!!!

Cool People

2008-08-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Her are two people that work very hard so that we can suffer

Thanks Gary and Pam

Mt. Disappoinment

2008-08-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

The day came early, 2:30 arghhhh. I am an early riser all my life but 2:30, too early. I had the car packed up the night before so it was just about taking care of eating, coffee, and the (ahem) bathroom requirements. We made the trip rather fast, there still is quite a bit of traffic on the 210 at 4:00am. Pre-race was business as usual just had to apply the grease to the appropriate parts and I was good to go.

I was (am) not in 50 miler shape this year so I opted for the 50k. Good choice! As we were waiting to start I had the chance to meet David Goggins. When asked if I could get a picture with him, he could not have been nicer.

I also met Jorge

And Greg

I think the best part of Ultra's Is hanging out with people that are just as nutty as myself.

Mt. Disappointment, Saturday/ Napa, Sunday

2008-08-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

I went on vacation the next day. Yippeeeeeeeeeee Sitting behind the wheel for eight hours was not such a good idea though. I have been waiting to post with pics of Mt Dis. but I have not found a one hour photo yet. Last night I went for a 6.5 mile run(51min) with a group from the naparunningcompany.com/ these folks like to boogie. I usually don't run on the road-ever! But I had a great time. I will post a race report as soon as I get some photos back.

San G. PR

2008-07-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

I had a splendid day on San G. I got up early and headed out. A little too early as I forgot to hang my parking permit in the window (again) this time there was no ranger to give my ticket to so I'll have to mail it. Back to the trip. I made good time on the first mile: 17 minutes. As I came around the corner I smelled smoke, that's not a good thing up there it is incredibly dry. I found a group of campers with a small fire. I tried to be cool in asking them to put it out. They did with a minimal of grouchy face. Funny thing though one of the hikers in that group thanked me fro being so adamant about putting it out. He tried to sway the others but they blew him off. It was a great morning having the trail to myself, as I was getting closer to halfway camp I was hyper vigilant about bears. I heard a crashing down in the creek. Bear? Much to may amazement I saw the coolest big horn sheep. I pulled out my camera and snapped off two quick shots. Unfortunately they did not come out. I was feeling good and decided to do my best not to look at my watch, I really wanted to hit the summit in under three hours. Something I have only done once before. Well the planets were lined up today I made the summit in 2:51:02. That beats my prior by four minutes. Sweet...........

Over a month................

2008-07-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

Damn I'm bad. No post for over a month. I had an unknown injury. After that last summit trip I developed " pitting edema" in my left leg. It was a little un-nerving because I had just returned from a trip to New Orleans jammed up the summit and got back on plane and flew to Reno and back. I finally decided to go to the doctor. After telling him about my recent travels he got a very concerned look about him and could not get the blood thinner shot into my tummy fast enough followed by telling the nurses that they needed to arrange an Ultrasound "stat". Not to pleasant to hear. Not to mention I had just put my wife on a plane the day before. So I'm sitting home with my daughter who's down for a few weeks thinking about the conversation I had a few hours earlier. "So doc what's the worst that could happen? He replied..... you could die, quicker than a heart attack!" Shit I was thinking pneumonia, crap. Oh well, a bunch of tests to no avail. They did tell me I did not have a clot and wasn't going to die. Sweeeet!
I had the privilege of escorting my daughter to Disneyland (ticket hook up :) ) We had a blast. Although she would more than likely say that I might have "marched" a little too fast to get around both parks. I mean come on who doesn't want to see everything possible.

San G. Sumit

2008-06-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday (6/8/08) I hit the summit of San Gorgonio (11,450ft.). It was a fantastic day! I tried to get some of the guy's from the running club to go with me. No one laced up to go so I hit it solo. I left the parking lot at 8:00. Nice warm up to the trail head, then it was on. I cleared the first mile in 16:48 a little too fast, I slowed a bit but kept a good pace. Made it to halfway camp in 48:15, high creek in in 1:38, and the summit in 3:09. It was a little windy for me at the summit and I did not want to cool off to quickly so I headed back down after a two minute breather. I got to the bottom in 2:20 and am really paying the price. My legs have been killing me!!!!! I did not hydrate enough the few days before I left and cramped up three quarters of the way down. My left calf was (is) killing me. It was a fantastic trip. I have only busted the three hour time once before and am told I need to reach the summit in under 2:50 from the lower parking lot to break somebody else's time. Ah a goal!

Ah.............. Back

2008-06-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

Trips are fun, having somebody else make your bed everyday is nice as well. BUT being in your own lumpy old bed is the best! I love coming home. I missed our animals big time. Apparently our little dog took a few liberties with the house sitter. There was a nice crevice on the couch where the little pooch had been lying down and I woke to the sound her munching on some cat food. Big time no no! I will post more on the Big Easy. Am I running to or away from the strip club?

Heading out of town

2008-05-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

So we are heading out of town for the weekend. Going to the Big Easy............. Going to do some humidity training. Oh yes nothin like running with your clothes sticking to you breathing through a straw ahhhh. Got to love it!!!!!!! Just like Indiana.

Run Through Redlands

2008-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

I had a fantastic day!!!!! Got up early and headed out to help set up the easy up (tent/booth) at the race. I then got to round up our athletes and register them. Nothing like telling the registration folks that I'm signing up a bunch of runners and won't be paying for them either! I had been working with the Kiwana's for months setting up our sponsorship and they dropped the ball BIG TIME nothing like being a major sponsor and not getting recognized. WE WERE LEFT OFF THE SHIRTS! that is the end of my rant for that one.
The best part was knowing that it was going to be my wife's first race ever (10k). Things worked out perfectly. I left early to set up and she was able to to take her time and walk down to the booth on her own time. The race was in our home town walking distance from our house. I started a half hour before her and was cruising along, mind you I DON'T RUN ON THE ROAD! This was my first 1/2 on the pavement, we'll see if there is going to be a second. So at ten miles in I bellowed out "hey chicken" and was able to run with my lovely bride for a few hundred yards. We soon went our separate ways on the course unfortunately for me I could not pick up the pace at the end but I finished strong. More to the point my super wife finished in great spirits. I was a little concerned she might not have a good day and hold me responsible. Not that I would shy away from that, I just wanted her to have a good time. I think she did, she doesn't hate me right now.

Summit

2008-04-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

Not the best photo but, oh well. Saturday I went to the summit of San Gorgonio. I had a great time all by myself. It was one of those days when all the cards fall in to place. I'm not a loaner but it is nice to not have to worry about anyone else's pace or need to stop. It is much easier to go alone. Maybe not the safest thing in the world or smartest. But I try to be as careful as possible. I was pissed at myself though, I wanted to travel light so I left my ice axe at home. Mistake! Although I did not need it I would have felt much better had I brought it. All in all a great day I made it to the summit in 3:37 and down in 2:15. Given that there is still a bunch of snow I feel good about my time. Oh yea I got a major sunburn on my legs argh...... next time SUN BLOCK!

Bicycle Classic

2008-04-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not one dimensional. I love my bicycles too. I spent the weekend at the Redlands Bicycle classic. I was lucky to be able to spend time with some incredible athletes. Some just starting to ride and some that are world class record holders. I went on a training ride with the current record holder at Ironman Hawaii nine plus hours to finish. The time trial was all uphill, my heart rate tends to spike on that ride. Now try doing it with your arms ! No way I could do it, these guys and gal are truly inspiring.

Life

2008-03-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

Must say that life is good! A little scary at times my munchkin is turning fifteen "YIKES". I thought turning forty was making me feel old, having the kid gain years really drives it home.

Snow Shoe The Bear

2008-03-09T05:51:00.000-07:00

Last month I ran a 10k snow shoe race in Big Bear. Yup, snow shoeing in Southern California. It was a blast! I had called the race director earlier in the week to find out about the course. He said that the run started in town and cruised up for a "bit" leveled off and back down to town. Cool, sounds like a breeze.
The race directors did a great job of getting the course ready. They had a back hoe and volunteers covering the streets with snow. We were able to start and finish in down town Big Bear. It was sweet. I wanted to start out slow, I tend to go like hell when the race starts. I decided it would be in my best interest to book ahead so as not to get poked with hiking poles. It took a bit but all of the sudden I was in third place. Woo hoo. Well I hunkered down and decided I was going to do everything possible to hang on to third. Low and behold I got to stand on the podium. First time ever! I even went home with more shwag than the cost of the race. I actually came out ahead. I liked that feeling.
Hats off to Kahtoola and Equada Outfitters

Chair

2008-03-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

I found this and wanted to add it to my badass post but Blogger would not let me. Dude is fast!

Running with a Badass!

2008-03-06T15:51:00.001-08:00

I had the pleasure of running with a real badass today. Next time your bitching about a sore knee, hammy or whatever ails you, be grateful you can run. I spent two plus hours running with a guy that is in a racing chair. He was pushing harder on the hills than I ever have in a race. Not a peep out of this guy, just kept pluggin away. I did get some much needed speed work trying to catch him on the down hills. His chair is fast!

40 miles

2008-03-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

This is me after 40 miles of running. The last 8 with no aid, no shade and all uphill!

Being outside

2008-03-03T19:00:00.001-08:00

Man I love being outside!

Multi tool

2008-03-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

One more thing from Saturdays hike. Some a$$hole left a six pack on the trail. So as not to get any beer cooties on me. I used my trusty ice axe again! I'm not afraid of beer just don't like the smell anymore.

Lunch!

2008-03-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back I went up the mountain to try out my new snow shoes. I had a blast tromping around. It took me just around three hours to get a way past halfway camp. On a dry day I can do it in around forty five minutes. That might give an idea of how much more energy it takes to break trail. It started to get a little windy so I stopped and donned my goretex, mm.....cozy. I could have stayed out for hours but decided to turn back. I stopped in a nice sunny spot for a bit of lunch. I LOVE my jet boil. Lightweight, fast, and compact. I also picked the spot to practice some self arrest skills. The slope was perfect but the snow wasn't. I climbed up some fifty feet and proceeded to sit and SINK. No sliding today. All the better, my wife doesn't like it when I do stuff like that when I'm alone. I did some glissading on 3/1/08. Man you can get going fast! Oh, you learn how to stop with the ice axe when you are speeding down the snow feet first.

Traction

2008-03-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

This is some lightweight traction............
Woo hoo they kick ass

Snow!

2008-03-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

Went for a little snow run on saturday. Me and the pooch had a blast. The snow was mostly packed enough to support my weight which was a nice change from snow shoes, they turn out to be a butt load of work. Look at the little bugger have fun.

View

2008-02-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a view from the single track. The views along the run were fantastic.

Italy

2008-01-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

I have not written in a while. I have a new used computer so I will try to keep up with it just a little more reguarly. We spent our December holiday in Italy. Wow, was it fantastic! I had not been to Europe in decades. Still cold when you travel in the winter. Espcially when you leave from sunny southern California.
What can I say? The food was incredible!!!!! I had more or less lost my taste for red sauce over pasta. Too many quick "out of the jar meals" if you know what I mean. Well, I ordered the most phenomenal basic pasta dish with red sauce. Oh my goodness was it good! I will have to start making some from scratch myself. Pizza..... Completely different level than what we consume over her in the "new world". Pizza in Rome not to be matched. The Coloseum was bitchen. What it must of been like to see the sporting events back then. Although, now we have monster trucks and mixed martial arts, the equivalent of chariots and gladiators. Too much to list......
More importantly I found single track to run. It was quite nice to be able to get out on my own for a bit.

My new toy

2008-01-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

Been out of the country for a bit. Since we were traveling we decided to open our presents the night before we left. Early presents yeaaaaaa!!!!! I received the coolest gift from my lovely wife, Micro spikes! I love to run in the snow! Unfortunately in southern California there is a lot of melt and freeze so ice is a constant on the mountain. I could not wait to get up and check out my new crampons. I went out for a few hours just about 9000ft. The view was spectacular where I decided to stop for a snack. So nice to be able to run across the ice and not worry about falling on my butt or worse off the trail.

http://www.kahtoola.com/microspikes.html

Race Photos

2007-11-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

I am not very good at this posting thing. Plus the fact that my computer is just barely hanging on. I will try to post some more pictures of Mt Disappointment. This was early in the race when I was feeling good. Life was good nice and sunny, man what a great day!

Here is the 30 mile aid station the folks here were fantastic. We came and dropped our packs for a two mile out and back. What a treat to run without the pack for a while.
I will post more when I move the pictures to the new computer.

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 50 Miles

2007-08-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

I did it! 50 Miles in under 13hrs. Before I go on my race report. I want to thank all of the aid station workers. If it was not for them I would not have finished!
We woke up at 2:00am to be on the road by 3:00. I am a freak about getting to places early, even if it means less sleep. Lucky for me my lovely wife feels the same way. It was worth it. We arrived at Mt. Wilson to a closed gate, CRAP ! We are early. Soon a line formed behind us of anxious racers chomping at the bit to get in. We waited about ten minutes and the gate was opend. A mad rush for parking and then we settled in to our spot for the next few hrs (about16). Registration...smooooth. It is nice when to RD's are organized. I hung out at the truck slowly getting my crap together when I noticed a man loitering by the truck. I said, "you must be Cartocracy". Indeed . We had chatted though the Runners World forum. It was nice to have somebody to hang out with. I finally got my self together and made my way to the starting line. After a brief opening ceremony and race dedication we were OFF!!!!
Lucky for me the first few miles were down the road. Plenty of room to pass people and find my groove. By the time we reached the single track the race was spread out enough that people were not jamming into each other. I had run this part of the course in a training run and was comfortable not go out too hard. I knew I had some 50 miles to go. I hit the Red Box aid station (5.7m) and, oh my, they had pop tarts. I don't have them at home so why not. We continued down hill for a spell, hit some uphill to the Clear Creek aid station (10.8m) and guess what ? Mmmmm more pop tarts. On my way to the Josephine Saddle (13.4), which was almost totally uphill my stomach said, pop tarts, eh......... Dumb ass we don't eat that crap reguarly so why the hell would you stick it in me when you are racing? OK not tooo smart. BUT, I have ginger chews ah........ Dropped one down, tummy problems all gone. The next section was another power hike interspersed with running, still going to be a long day. It was a long haul back to Redbox (21.2M). I hit Redbox, dropped my pack and the aid workers were filling it as fast as they could, checked my drop bag for a hankie, gave some duct tape to Tom and I was off. The next section was great, mostly all down hill. The good kind. The kind that allows you to run and not worry about hammering your quads. I made up some time. But now we are at Westfork( 26.2m) ! What to do? What to do? I have just covered a marathon. Should I pack it in and head up the hill with a respectable 50k finish? Or should I go on into the unknown? If your gonna be a bear be a grizzly......So I'm off to Newcomb (30m). It was a good streatch. I had met Joe as I was leaving Westfork. It was nice, we ran together for the next few hours. We hit Newcomb and dropped our packs right there. We had a short out and back to hit to fill in the miles. As we ran the aid workers filled our packs. It felt soooooo Good to run without them for a while (1m out,1m back). On our return the aid workers were barking drink drink drink. The next section was going to be tough. Tough? Well I summed the next section up with one word: demoralizing......... Eight miles, no aid, no shade, and up up up. I had spent the last few hours enjoying conversation and good company with Joe but I just could not keep up. I was "running" my own race. By mile 38 I was Ok with dropping. I had already run further today than I had ever run before. Not bad for a 40 year old ex-smoker. I reached Shortcut (40.85M) and was quickly asked "WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DRINK RIGHT NOW!!" " SIT ! WE WILL SPONGE YOU DOWN!!" Crap I had to ask them to stop I was getting chills. They were magificent. I thought I was going to quit right there. They were not going to let me. How do I look I asked in my hoarse voice? " Oh, you look GREAT , You can make it no problem. Thats all my male ego needed. Tell me I look good and I'm off........Since I had not really "run" in three hours it took some time to get my leggs moving at a running pace. Did I mention that breathing had become really painfull by now. Apparently my sides had had enough of this shit and were not letting me take full breaths. Mmmmmm problem? Do I hike back up to the aid sation to quit. There is no way in hell I'm going backwards uphill only to quit. Who needs to breath anyway. I'm still moving forward. Not to mention I'm going down hill. So go for it. It was very pleasant all the way back to Westfork (44.7M). Now I have not really eaten much because of the pop tart fiasco. I did have a little beef jerky I packed away in my drop back, It was tasty!! At Westfork I was asked what I wanted to drink. Well, they did not have any Gatoraid and I sure as f*ck did not want ANY MORE Heed. So I loaded up my handheld with Mtn. Dew., over the counter green speed....... Boy was it yummy. I will say that I had sense enough to sip it during the last 5 miles (all, up hill 1900ft). This section was tough, but OK. I had made one training run and I knew what to expect. Thank Goodness. I was ready to see my wife and started power hiking up the hill. I passed a guy. Damn I'm going to make it. Well, I went a little too hard and my quads started to bark and lock up. I had to take a few sitdowns to rest them. Sitting was something I forbade myself to do (I had relented at Shortcut) for fear I would not get my lazy ass back up. This became the norm: walk for a while, sit for 30 seconds, repeat when necessary. I new I was getting close to the top. I could hear the fire engines that came to take care of one of the runners. As I poked out of the trees I did not see any people. Where in the hell is the finish line? I yelled. Felt like yelling I'm sure it sounded like a whisper. Up there I heard. I rounded the corner and saw my lovely wife. She screamed my name and I took off like a rocket........ I had not run that fast the whole entire race. I was moving, no really I was really sprinting. I have no Idea where all the pain went , I just had to get to that finish line where my wife was. I crossed the line, fell into her arms, squeaking " I did it, I did it". Then I collasped.....Once again there complete strangers ready to do anything they could for me. It was incredible. I had never pushed myself that hard before. For a guy that never thought he was going to make it to 25, 40 is looking to be damn good.

50miles

2007-08-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well it has been over a month since my last post. I have been busy trying to train and take some time while my daughter is here for a visit. Bad time to prep for a race. But, we spent some great time together at the beach. I will do my best for my first 50 miler this weekend. I will post a race report good or bad. No good running photos to share just the pooch

Summit run

2007-06-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I have posted. Probably since I have not done any serious running. Well not true, I have had some great runs. Mainly I have not been putting in the kind of miles I would like to as well as not taking the time to write. Things have been going rather well, nothing to bitch about. I went to San Diego a few weeks ago with my lovely wife ( on her employers dime, Sweet!). She was busy with work stuff so I took time to have fun. I rented a surfboard and wetsuit, thinking "hey I used to surf all the time". Well, that was almost twenty years ago. Lets just say it was a VERY humbling experience. I had a good time though. After realizing I was not going to spend the whole morning surfing I packed it up and went back to the hotel. I changed into my running gear and headed out to the boardwalk. I had decided to run to PB for a lunchtime meeting. As I was coming up to the club I spotted a sign that looked like the Injinji sock logo. I poked my head inside and asked if it was and, they said yes. Next thing I know I'm getting a tour of the place and sitting down with the owner for a half an hour talking about socks. Next to running shoes I love socks, good socks. Injinji has a great product and the company seems low key.

Friday night my wife asked if I was going to run up in the mountains. I had run a nail into the side of my big toe Wednesday (hazard of being a carpenter) and was not sure if I was going to run this weekend at all. But I made a call and was able to get a spot on a VC permit. So I was off. I wanted to reach the summit in under three hours from the trailhead. I have done it in 2:55. I think I was in a bit better shape last fall when I did it. Anyway I made it in 3:10, not bad. Unfortunately on the way down I hooked a rock with my toe (yes, the sore one) and struck a superman pose to the ground. The only bad contact was my left knee skipping off a rock. That's where the photo comes in. Nothing but a flesh wound. It looked horrible to the hikers I passed on the way down. It was a clean hit, so I waited till I got home to deal with it. If I could walk and maybe run I would be ok. Since I did take a digger so early it took me a little longer to get down. I always a bit skidish after a fall. But all in all a great day.

Kick Ass Run

2007-02-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

I had a great run today, ..................................
Slipping down the mountain in the snow was a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

40

2007-01-22T06:43:00.000-08:00

That's right I turned forty over the weekend!!!!!!!!! No big bash, no fan fare, more importantly NO sorrow. I hear so many people bitch about getting older. Sure I move a little slower ache, a bit more, and am getting some cool gray hair in my beard. I'd rather it come in on my head, maybe even up front. Oh well, what can you do? I will say that anything over twenty five for me is a bonus. There really isn't any good or logical reason I'm still above ground sucken down the O2. I am grateful for the opportunity to do so. Birthdays in general have really not been on the top of my list for good days in years past. When I turned twelve it was the last time I saw my father and head died the following month. Lots of years dwelling on that. Not this year. I spent the the weekend with my best friend. My wife!! We went to a wonderful dinner in downtown Redlands on Saturday night followed by a kick ass hike on Sunday (my actual b-day).

We got up slowly had some oatmeal and hit the trail at a reasonable 9:00am. Unfortunately I realized I forgot to lock the truck a mile into the hike and had to run back and lock it. So I got my run in. Shana kept going and I had to hustle to catch her. The day was beautiful. We hiked just short of high creek found a nice view and had a picnic. Nothing like some sandwiches, hot ramen noodles and tee on a chilly day. The snow was intermittent but we did put the crampons on the icy shady area on the decent. We were out six hours probably eight or ten miles and four to fivethousand feet of elevation gain and loss. Not bad for a Sunday.

More hiking than running

2006-11-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

I have been hiking way more than running lately. The good thing is that they have been long hikes mostly over 9000ft. Any training is good training. I will get motivated to beat feet on the pavement in the morning. It is getting dark here at five so afterwork runs will be by headlamp.
The good thing about the runs I have done lately is that I have spent more time thinking about the things I am grateful in my life. I have a lovely wife whom I adore(and she me), a wonderful daughter, a good job, great people I can call my friends, and an annoying little Boston terrier that likes to hike and run. I stated in my intro that I want to run a 100 mile race. Well, that I am discovering is the easy part. Eat well and train. Simple...It is the other part, "learn a few things along the way" that is sometimes elusive. The lessons aren't always so clear. I am fortunate right now that I am in a good place, not wanting for much. My biggest lesson of late is that I ALWAYS need to have some grattitude for what I have.

Here is a Ginger at 9500ft. The summit of Baden Powell

San G

2006-10-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

We went up San Gorgonio mountain on Saturday. What a great hike. We went as a group of four, the other two in our party did not meet up with us in time. There were some missed communications in our meeting spot. I will not leave it to someone else to convey messages again.

It was a little cool when we started but after twenty minutes on the trail we warmed right up. I decided to Bring the D.dog on the trip. I was a little concerned that it would be too much for the little dog, but she proved to be a kick ass little hiker. I was really looking forward to taking my wife on the mountain. I always want to share my love for the outdoors with the one person that means the world to me ( I love my daughter just as much). We took around five hours to reach the summit, spent a few on the top having some lunch, and headed back down.

The trip back down was fun till we started with Shelby's short cuts. I really do not like to hike off trail even if is ok. My knees REALLY do not like the steep pounding and loose footing. My wife's knees are not used to that kind of abuse at all. Needless to say I started to get a little pissed we were taking these routes, but the promise to be finshed earlier had too much appeal for the rest of the group. We made the round trip in eight plus hours, had a great time doing it, and my wife rocks!!!!!

Now she knows how I feel after a marathon................

And for my friends back in Indiana this (tree) is what fall looks like here.

We got new Ink

2006-10-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

We got new ink. Some might think it corny, but I don't. My wife and I went out and got matching tats last night. I'm a pretty happy guy and my wife is the love of my life. Not much running for the past week. We are going to go hiking as soon as I stop typing and shower.

Sunday mishap

2006-10-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Oh Man.............
I went to Forrest Falls. What a cute little place. We
could live there!
Anyhow, I stopped at the ranger station and got a
permit (free) to go up to the top. As usual I was
unprepared. I had one water bottle and no food. I was
only going to go until I felt tired or an hour or so.
But my tummy was not happy. The trail I was on was
steep and loose, running was not much of an option. I
got to an area that flattend out and had running
water. I think it is a turn around for most people. I
saw some big leafs that I thought I could use but
decided I was too close to the water so I headed back
down thinking I would just make it to the truck and
the toilets in the parking lot. Tummy
grumbling............ I stopped on a switchback to
look for a place to poop and heard voices and there
were some peeps comming up the trail. I said hi and
scamperd down the way stopping to squeeze my butt
cheecks so no poop would escape. I finally could not
take it anymore and ran off a switchback behind a tree
and dropped my shorts and blew some dookie. Remeber
the big leaf well I did not have them any more.
Nothing but pine needles and ROCKS!!!!!! Ah, but I had
my permit just enough pink paper to take care of
buisness. So I made it to the truck and toilets for
another poop. Pulled the parking ticket off the
windshield and made my way home. Did I forget to
mention I was high on the trail when I rememberd that
my brand new parking permit was still in the glove box . Doh....As I
drove out I saw the ranger that gave me the ticket
showed him my pass and he said no problem won't even
enter it into the log. It was a nice outing not many miles though.
I was still pretty beat up froim the Whitney ascent.

Whitney In A Day

2006-09-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

I got a call on Tuesday from my wife's uncle saying that we might be able to get on Mt Whitney on someone else's permit. Lucky for me I had finished my project at work. Since it was only my second week there, I was a little worried about asking for half a day off. It worked out. So I left work on Friday around noon, packed up the truck and drove to Lone Pine. Three and a half hours later I was in Lone Pine. Things got a little crazy for me about now. The plans on meeting the guys with the permit were a little fuzzy not to mention I really was not sure where I was sleeping that night. Needless to say everything worked out. Shelb went back to Lone Pine to sleep in a cozy hotel and Larry and I spent the night sleeping under the stars at the portal. Up at 3:00 to pack, eat, break camp, and hopefully use the restroom before we left. Not so lucky on the bathroom visit. I did not really want to have to use my "wag bag". Great idea, just the thought of having to poop into a plastic bag AND have to pack it out. The packing it out would not have been bad except for the fact that everything in my camelbak was crushed when I left. I need a bigger pack for these longer trips. Once we got started I was on a mission. I wanted to get to the summit and head back down asap. Not that I wanted a record but if you read the last entry I have been neglecting my wife a bit. I was going at a good clip passing people as much as I could. I was using the people ahead of me for motivation to move at a steady pace. I enjoy being on the trails meeting people along the way. Nine times out of ten they are very nice. I knew that the air would get thinner as I went up so the labored breathing was not too bothersome. After about 12,000ft it did not seem to get any harder to breathe. I was trying to conserve my water as I ran out on the way down on my San Gorgonio trip. I had a full 100oz in the camelback and two handhelds with cytomax. I figured one bottle for the way up and one for the way down, sipping on the water intermittently. Well the water in my hose froze so I was relegated to the handhelds. I was a little too conservative on drinking. I did not pee for at least six and a half hrs. Not good. It was a push to keep going to the summit but well worth it. I hit the summit in five and a half hours. I spent about fifteen minutes checking out the view and warming myself in the hut. Then it was time for the descent. I basically ran every section I could. There were many that were much too rocky to risk a broken ankle over. I was about two thirds of the way down when I got really bummed that my lovely wife was at home, a four hour drive away not to mention however long it was going to take me to finish the trip. Well after ten minutes of that I got a good wind and ran some smooth single track enjoying everything the trail had to offer. I made it back to the car in three and a half hours making for a nine hour one day summit of Mt. Whitney. Yipeeeeeeee I got back to the truck ,changed clothes, gave my unused "wag bag" to the rangers to give to someone else, and got the heck out of there. I wanted to see my wife! It was a great day and I'm a little tired.................

Angles Crest

2006-09-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!!!
What a night. I told Catra I would pace her the last twenty five miles of the race. Boy howdy was I clueless about pacing when I said I would do it. Not that I regret any of it, it was awesome. I have to thank my wife from the get. She was a sport in the truest sense. She really had no idea what I was asking her to do for me AND women she or I had never met. We hung out all day and evening watching the live feed on the web to judge when we would leave the house. I have to say that when it was getting close to my usual bedtime the thought of leaving the house and driving an hour plus was not really on my list of favorite things to do at that moment.

We got to Chantry flats with no problems. It was cool to see all of the people milling about in the middle of the night in some remote parking area on the side of a hill. As usual, we were early. I just did not think we were THAT early. But after a bit, the aid workers asked if there was someone to pace runner 18? Yes, I'm here I said. Well the hammy radio operators had a closed circuit TV to the previous aid station so I was able to meet Catra via TV. Cool...... Then I got to hang out some more.....
Do they call it pacing because of all the nervous walking I did around the aid station waiting for her to come in. Yes, I was a nervous Nellie. I'm mean come on I was going to pace a hardcore athlete and I am but a mere mortal.

Well she came in, ate some soup and it was on. We had a nice climb in the dark to get to know each other. We passed the mad napper about half way up the climb. I'll get back to him later. It was nothing but up for a while. Frankly I enjoyed it. Once we got to the top the view was spectacular. I hate being in any kind of city, but the lights sure looked cool from the top. We kept going from aid station to aid station, there was not anything out of the ordinary between them. Except when we were being followed by something in the bushes above us...............Never found out what it was.

The mad napper eventually came cruising past us ......Oh yea when we first saw him his pacer was patiently sitting on the side of a switchback with the guy curled over on his side snoozing away. After they passed us, could have been an hour could have been twenty minutes we found the pacer sitting comfortably again this time the guy was face down snoozin away.
Then I realized the first time I saw him was when he came into Chantry flats ate drank, and promptly fell asleep in the chair.

Catra had a little sleep issue took about two minutes to get over that. She had some stomach issues. Gave her some ginger chews, she got over that. She did not stop moving. I was really impressed that somebody could be that upbeat after seventy five miles. I was fresh so I would run a head and snap photos when I could. What a good time! Watching the sun come up was really nice. I don't think the weather could have been better. Not cold, and just warm enough. I was wide awake the entire time, nary a yawn throughout the night. As far as the race went, it was great to hang out with a racer of that caliber. I was able to learn some valuable lessons on Saturday night and most of Sunday morning. I must say that was a total blast. I think my next foray will be as a runner in a 50miler.

Oh, and the mad napper. He came in to finish about ten minute behind Catra. Good Job to all

And it truly was my pleasure

Last minute run

2006-09-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

I unexpectedly had to bring my wife some dinner at her work. It has been a crazy week for the both of us. I would have rather sat down an had a nice evening picnic with her but since I am pacing an uber ultra runner this weekend I thought it best for me to get out and pound some dirt. Man was it worth it......... I have been having trouble with my camelbak rubbing my lower back raw. So I needed to find a way to keep it in place. The little one inch strap that comes on it is fine for bike riding not good for running. I have a fuel belt that sits nicely on the hips but the bottles area small and a pain to use. Hmmmmmm....
So being Magaiver like I went to the garage pulled out an old mtn. bike helmet, removed the chin strap and adjusting buckles slapped them together and bam!. I am happy to say .......... It worked like a charm

Saturdays Run

2006-09-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

AHHHHH..........
Did the Saturday morning hustle to the peak of Baden Powell along the PCT. Next week a few hundred people will be partaking in the AC100. Today I was dropped off a few miles before the parking area at the base of the trail. It added an extra four miles to the outing. Running along the PCT on the "other side" was really nice. Amazing how different the trails are from on ridge to another. I can't wait till spring when all the flowers are blooming on that trail. It will be spectacular. We ran to the base of Baden and ten it was mostly a Powerhike to the top. I ran when it flattened out maybe 10 to 20 yards at a time, but still kept a good pace. I should have eaten a bit more. Was feelin a bit flat. Split a Cliff bar at the top and headed down. Took me a bit to get pumped for the run down ,it wasn't long before we were at a nice steady jog to the bottom. All in all a great day to be on the mountain.

Oooh it's warm

2006-09-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is one of the main trails that mountain bikers use out in Loma Linda. Got off my butt for an hour run in the hills today. I was only going out for an hour so I could make it home to shower and get ready for an appointment. Got home to find the app. had been cancelled. Shit..... I would have rather made a day trip to the mountains. Oh well.... It was a little warm at 8:00am. I have been running with my camelbak lately and I let it bounce around a bit and got some nice "rug" burns on my lower back. Don't mind them on my knees...... ;-) So I'm giving my back a break and running with two handhelds. I could get by with one but I want to get used to using two. I do not want to run out again next time I head up San G. I figure two bottles and a full bladder should get me through.

Here's the deal

2006-09-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

Was not to motivated today to go out and run first thing. I was feeling rather squishy this morning for some reason and did want to hit the trails after I dropped my wife at work. This poses a problem for me. How ? Well I need a game plan in the am or before I go to bed. My job has not started yet so I am getting really lazy with my time. Plus I'm getting a little bored with the thought of running in the local hills. It's fine once I get my lazy ass out there, just getting there sometimes is a problem for me. I will load a pic just cuz it makes a blog interesting Mmmmmmmmmm.................. Pie, who doesn't love pie

Friday........

2006-09-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Who says you cant get a good work out when you find one of these a few miles out? I went out for a good exploration run today. I am running a couple of hours a pop in the local hills linking different trails together. I am pretty sure I can string a bunch of the trails into a three hour run with out having to run the same trails twice.

Off Day

2006-08-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

I chose not to go out today. Knee hurts a bit so I like to rest it. The good news is that I'm going to pace Dirt Diva during the AC100 in a few weeks. I'm stoked! It will be cool to run with somebody at that level. I will use the experience to get my ass motivated to run my own 100. I'm thinking of a 50 in February. Since I did not run today I will use throw in a pic of my dog.
I like to use snow pictures when I'm hot

Catch up entry

2006-08-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Oh yea,
Once again I have been neglecting my blog. I am happy to say that is mostly due to the fact that I have been spending more time running than I had been over the last month.

Good news and bad news.
Good news is that since my wife has a kick ass job and I am one of the few Americans that have health insurance. It had been a few years since I was covered. So, I went to the doctor to get checked out for the hell of it and I am in pretty darn good shape. The only hitch is the beginning of arthitus in my left knee. I have been suffering knee pain for the last few years and I thought it was just my body rebelling against the higher mileage I wanted to run (and basically it is). Looks like I have a great doc. I told him that I had no intentions of stopping running because of some stupid knee pain and he said it wouldn't be a problem as long as I stayed off the road. SWEEEEEEEEET......... I hate running on the road.

We have been hiking up Baden Powell out of Wrightwood. It is so nice to get out of the smog and into some elevation. It is a nice hike and a fun run down. I guess people are training for the AC100 right now. I wish I had the poop to go for it. Although, last Monday I threw caution to the wind and got a day permit for San Gorgonio Mountain.

San Gorgonio
I woke up Monday morning with and itch I had to scratch. That itch was along run, an adventure. So, as my wife got ready for work I half-assed my running kit together and made ready for an all day run. I said good bye to my wife and rolled down the road to the unknown. I got to the ranger station at around 8:15 got my permit to be on the mountain and the permit to park my truck. As the ladies were telling me of all the trails I could run I did not pay attention to the trail they put on my permit. OH Well. They gave me some fact sheets and news letters and I was off...... Only a half hour up the mountain to the parking area and I would be off. After twentyfive minutes I thought something was amiss Hmmmmmmm. So I pulled over...going through all of the papers the nice ladies gave me I could not find my parking permit. Down the mountain I go back to the ranger station. lo and behold it had fallen out of the F*cking pile of papers the nice ladies at the ranger station gave me. BACK UP THE MOUNTAIN I go. Good thing gas is so cheap right now or I would have been pissed. Did I mention I drive a fullsize pick up.

I was in great spirits to be up in the mountains to foolishly head out into the unkown all by myself. Man do I love being stupid. Pull on my trail shoes , strap on my camelbak, (even used sunscreen on my nose and ears) and I'm off. I would love to say that I was in a nice steady run from the truck to the summit,but a liar I'm not. A knuklehead maybe, but not a liar. Anyhow I'm off at a mix of steady jogging and power walking. I stopped a few time to snap some photo's and eat a little along the way. Since I lost over an hour driving back to get my parking permit I was on a tight time schedule. I would have to reach the summit in three hours or turn around and go back to the truck. It was pretty much a great assent. I kept an eye on my watch the whole time. As It got close to the three our cut off I started to get discouraged that I was not going to make the summit. I decided to switch over to my clock instead of the stopwatch I had been using and it was only 12:45 that meant I still had 15 minutes to reach the summit. Whoopee..... I went for it. I came around the bend and I probably had 500 yards the summit. I was able to break into a comfortable run. I hit the summit in 3:09. I was happy with that. Met some folks up there took turns taking photos for each other, had a snack, back down I go........

The run down was fairly uneventful until.........I got to a break in the trail and lost the damn thing. I'm not one to lose trails easy, I'm pretty good at finding my way. But, was somewhere new and walking in circles. Not fun....Went back up to where I lost the trail and found it again. Whew.....I was cruising along fairly well, I had to slow down at times because the trail was too rocky to run. I was paying attention to the fact that I was alone. I was hydrating along the way not wanting to cramp up. Guess who did not bring enough water..... Doh' I ran into a pack of scouts heading out on a backpacking trip. When one of the scouts asked me"how far did you get?" I proudly replied "to the top". Now after that I felt it would have been awkward to ask for some water. " Dumbass can make it to the top but doesn't bring enough water" I felt I had to suck it up and make it back to the truck. It was a long trip not having anymore water,live and learn. I made the return trip to the truck in 2:12. Not a minute to soon cuz I was wrecked. Luckily I keep a rather large first aid kit in the truck stocked with water and a lovely can of peaches. Who cares that they were piss warm. Those peaches were damn good.....

All in all I made it to my wifes work with plenty of time to spare. I came home to find that it was a 23mile round trip from 6600' to 11500'. Not bad for a day off

Lazy..................

2006-08-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

I am so bad about keeping up my blog. Since I do not sit a t a computer durring my work day, sitting down to write is not high on my list of things to do with my free time. I have been running though. I found some good trails in Loma Linda down the road from where I live. I have not crossed paths with any rattle snakes yet, But I'm always looking.

Road Trip

2006-07-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Well..........
I did it 2100 miles in four days. What a pain in the Butt! Literally. I got a cramp in one of my cheek's that really got my attention. The first day was 14 hrs. behind the wheel. Damn that was long. Second day 10 , third day 3,fourth day 6.
We broke it up so we could relax in Flagstaff. Which was a great idea. We were able to go hiking for a couple of hours which helped to loosen up the body after being crapmed up in the truck for a couple of days. Then off to a nice meal. Very much needed after eating nasty road food. We arrived in Redlands mid afternoon Sunday and have been waiting for our furniture since. I got a call and it should be here first thing tomorrow morning. What a relief. I have run twice since being in town. Yesterday and today man is it hot, but nice and dry! Not nearly as uncomfortable as the midwest. We will see what happens next in our new town!

Moving Day

2006-07-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

We are packing up the last few items today. The movers will come and load the truck at some point today and we will leave Thursday moring. So I will post next week from our new home in California.

Hot Hot Hot

2006-07-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

Went for an early road run this moring. Trying to beat the heat. Running in the Midwest is like putting a treadmill in your bathroom while running the shower full blast steaming up the place. Tech fabric? Forget it. They don't dry fast enough (or at all) to have any cooling effect. The weatherman said he saw a firework shoot up in to the sky " and get stuck". I'm just babbling as the movers are packing our stuff and I seem to be getting in the way. Here is a pic of what we are leaving. I posted the winter pic beacuse I'm thinking cool thoughts. Plus it's the nicest picture we have.

Running in the Heat

2006-07-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Went for 14/15 miles not really sure on the trail length. Met up with some friends for a very hot and humid run in the woods loops of a 7 or 7.5mile trail. I am trying to upload an image to make this blog a little more interesting.

Saturday Run

2006-07-01T04:35:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in posting. My upcoming move has changed my schedule. I have really slacked off on running. It is easy to do when your schedule changes. We were supposed to move last week, but the movers botched that up. You would think I took the extra time to run, I didn't. I really need a race in the distance to keep me motivated. I have been able to get some nice runs in with my friends here in Bloomington. I will miss running with them. I am heading out for 14 miles in a few hours probably my last group run here. It will be fun.

Sunday's Run

2006-05-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

Went for an early run on Sunday morning. Ran the upcoming 1/2 marathon course. Could not have asked for better weather. It is so nice to run in the woods in the spring time in the Midwest. That will be one of the things I miss. Californians have no idea what season are really like. I know I didn't till I moved out here. Due to the early start I have time to come home and shower eat lunch and watch a movie before I headed out to my buddy's house to shoot the breeze about life and go for a couple hour ride on his horses. Life does not get much better than that! Two trips to the woods in a day.

Sunday Morning

2006-05-07T03:52:00.000-07:00

Has been a few weeks since I posted. We have been busy , my wife just graduated from graduate school with two masters in three years. We have been looking at new places to live as she is now a librarian. We will be moving in a few weeks to southern California. I do not know what that will hold for us but I'm looking forward to it. This will be a short post I am leaving for training run. I'll continue later.

Wednesday

2006-04-20T03:38:00.000-07:00

Went to work and the city had torn up the street right in front of the house I am working on. Bummer.....Had to take the day off. I was leaving early anyway to take my wife to the airport as the job search continues. I should have squeezed a run in but I took the dog swimming instead, she was happy. But, all in all a great day!

Day One

2006-04-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! Woke up sober and will hopefully go to sleep the same in an hour or so. Had a good day at work was able to get out and run a few miles in lovely 75 degree weather. I am a little worried I run my Boston a little too hard. She will be two next month and nobody told her she was not supposed to be a trail runner. It is amazing to watch that 20lb. mutt flash through the woods. It is great to have a running partner that is always ready. As this is my first entry in my new blog I will keep it short and hopefully interesting.

My goals........
1. Move in the next three months, where ? I don't know. Wife is getting a new job we just don't where.

2. Run a 50 miler when and where depends on #1

3. Be happy, depends on me

4.Learn....... anything good or bad

5.Be open