12/29 and 12/30

As for preparing for a significant climbing event, I am going to get my ass kicked next weekend. I spun on Tuesday and yesterday I ran about 4 miles, still not convinced I can go out and "fly" and recover the way I want to. At the same time, this down time doesn't seem to be taking me to the finish line. Whatever.

Boney Mt. will be fun. That's all there is to it. Even if it is a good jog and hike.

Yesterday I took Jack to a park here in N. county SD.

Jurek, eat your heart out.



high cadence is the way to go.

a great day on the trails!

the future.

out of shape.

12/28 - Paradigm shift

Today I did 1:15, avg. HR 122 if that. Just cruised and mixed-in some walking. And it dawned on me:

1. All along, I should have been running as long and easy as I could on my easy days. I have not done enough longer runs.

2. I'm not going to even attempt a "peak" and "taper" for this 21k. No way.

a. I'm going to train right-on through the race since that makes the most sense. I did this in the past per my coach's advice and things went pretty well.
b. Frankly, I don't have a clue about "peaking" and "tapering" other than the obvious common sense connotations. Who am I kidding. Just be healthy and ready to go at the line.

I think I'm a day away from all-systems-go. But instead of some version of panic to get in work-outs, I'm going to just keep running. Easy on easy days and harder on those particular days. Basically, I've been doing this except for the lack of very easy very long days. Gotta do it.

So no worries. I have an epic 21k on 1/9. Sure I want to rebuild my manhood. We'll see how it all plays-out.

For the sake of documentation, I will chart each day of running leading-up to the aforementioned confrontation with Boney. Gotta run!

Sunday 12/27

The weather has been quite cool for the December west coast. Seriously. And yes, the viral cold is still hanging around. As I look at the past 2 weeks of running, I am a little bummed (in light of my goal). The week of 12/14 - 12/20 was recovery (and I had just caught the cold). I welcomed the break, actually did stay "recovery" active, but on the 20th I got in a nice little 1:20 run which turned-out to be a little much on the lower respiratory, which is stressed only because of the notorious post-nasal-drip. Believe me, it sucks and probably sounds so lame I should have deleted that; but this is a training blob, too. Then I took it easy before doing a hard hill work-out with incline and steady pace, short but sweet. More easy/off days and then on the 24th I did a nice 7 miler on some nice single track. The cold was definitely still there, but the run was great. The cold seemed to be in a sheer toe-to-toe with my desire to go nuts on the trail. Err.

Took 2 days off and then today I went to the gym and did a work-out Lucho described according to his build-up to an ironman when he was dealing with a pretty severe cold. Basically, run and walk, repeat. He said it helped him get through the cold and maintain his aerobic fitness.

Looking back at the last couple of weeks, I have basically had three solid runs and a bunch of easier work-outs with a few actual days off. All in all, I think I've been a little careless with the HR, which might have prolonged this set-back? Who knows, but trying to train and get over a cold is brutal.

Today's treadmill work-out consisted of 30 mins of 5 walk, 5 ez run, 5 walk, 5 run. . . .HR never got higher than 130. I think this worked well. I spun for another 30 min. I am optimistic. 2 more days should bring me to 100%. I will then go nuts. I should be able to get in 3 to 4 or 5 days of really solid work. That's it.

I will be undertrained for this beast of a 13 miler. But it's just, in the end, a good day in one of our coastal ranges. And the beginning of a new year.

I have a new blog!

Check it out. . .please!

This is fo' real. 2010 is (almost) here and I gotta grow (and run a lot more!)

Thanks!

Christmas Eve and Christmas

WERE great! I finally got a chance to meet with someone whom I hope to learn a lot from in the near future. I have a lot of work to do. Amen.

I am so excited about the future; "excited" means optimistic and anxious; "anxious" means sorta freaked-out. My job hunt is like training for a huge race, one that started yesterday and never ends, if that makes any sense at all. I have a lot of work to do. What I thought about yesterday on my run right after the meeting is the incredible idea of marrying my two passions - endurance sports and communications. We will see.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in and outside the office. After the meeting, I hit a nice little "mountain" in La Costa.
JW introduced it to me.

7 miles, 1 hour, 2000+ ft. total up and down (the down was fairly aggressive for a guy with a cold). HR was too high but this is cold related. Didn't "feel" (PE) that hard. Almost perfect.

The cold is still lingering. I'm off today because the xmas spirit is in the house and I want this cold thing to go away! Errrr.

Yesterday: In front and behind the camera. The venue and the post-run comfort zone: Yeah!



Today has been pretty nice, as well. Compression socks, and other socks (I love socks), a new headlamp, other random gear (kept gifting for me simple, to the point!).

Jack: "This is the best Christmas ever."

Thank you, Jack. That's the best present a dad could get. . .say it again ;-)

Spent a lot of the morning putting together some cool Lego contraptions, watching vintage Scoobie Doo shows, one that even has a Christmas theme!

A little family, a little red wine with Nona's pasta and bada boom: Christmas 2009 is in the books.

Oh and the Chargers look ridiculously good. Take a week-off before the Jan-Feb run?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

Training Secrets Revealed. . .ssshhhhh!

This is how the ideal training program works:

1. Commitment.

Since I have an addictive personality, I know that the exercise that I get done will be "responsible," or useful. There you have it: addiction, responsibility and usefulness all holding hands, equally contributing participants of team Gotta Run. But seriously, I am not going to go for a run for any other reason than to contribute to my fitness. The first principle of any good program, then, is commitment. Run everyday if you can. Do something active. Go for a walk, a jog, do some lifting/core work, but if you're running, run. And if you can't run, it's because you NEED a day-off. You NEED to get fit; so if you must take a day-off running, then you must NEED that. Unless you're doing some much needed recovery (see below), you HAVE to get your daily FIX. Commit to that.

2. Common Sense.

The best addictions work. For them to work (for you to get away with it), you have to be rational about the whole thing. In other words, you're really into something and things could get out of hand if you aren't careful, so easy does it. Make the commitment last. For a running program, most of the running is aerobic. For you to run everyday, this just means that most of your runs revolve around getting out to "smell the roses." Yeah, I omitted the word "stop" from that old saying. In effect, a daily run is a "stop" or "break" from the quotidian hog wash.

However, if you want to run fast, you have to practice that too. I'm not going to elaborate on speed work (there are so many "work-outs" from "experts" it's kinda silly). Just run. Hard. Sometimes. Use common sense. I'm on the 80/20 to 70/30 plan. There is a school of thought that says you get faster by going slow. Aerobic ("slow") running is obviously the staple. You can get fit and fast by just running slow, allegedly. But running fast is fun too. So is running up and down hills and mountains. So mix it up. To run often, you simply have to be able to recover from yesterday's run to run today, etc. Use common sense.

3. Tracking.

A lot of people keep very dedicated logs of their training. You see a variety of styles of tracking as much as you see a variety of styles of training, or raising kids, etc. To each his or her own.

I looked back at this blog's dirty footprints that I refer to as my training log and noticed I've been having a pretty steady go of it. I do not have mileage totals nor am I keeping track of total time spent running. This is very very important actually. At my age, I can totally get away with that. Moreover, trail/mountain running aspirations DICTATE that I must not over analyze; rather, one must simply fall in love with the desire to climb and crest, descend and devour. Given the ethos of my chosen slice of running fare, IPA selection becomes as important as which training software I use to track my progress (though Garmin and Sport Tracks have represented themselves nicely if by chance I decide to micro manage this menagerie of desire and discipline). That's my style of tracking. I know, based on my blog, that I've been fairly steady.

But here's where my program has a lot to be desired. I am not racing enough. Racing means you are comparing yourself to others, including yourself. For most, it's the latter comparison that means the most. So even if you're not "competitive," there is reason to race. To see how you compare. This kind of tracking, I think, is necessary to stay committed and improve one's common sense.

And even if that doesn't mean much, the experience of racing is a blast. I happen to love the trail race. I won't elaborate now, but it's as inspiring as I'm sure the 1500 meter men's final is for the track star. So, my program needs more racing.

Which is what 2010 is all about.
___________________________________________________________________________


My build to January 9th. I have been steady for a couple of months now. Just a lot of little runs, but I think the consistency has been good. I have mixed-in some harder efforts, so the plan has been fairly on track. But not enough length and specificity is my sin. About a week ago, I got a little cold, which corresponds with my last post. This last week was all about recovery.

I took Monday off.

Tuesday I ran 4 ez miles.

Wednesday and Thursday I spun at the gym and did a little hiking. Not much, but broke a sweat.

Friday I ran 3 miles and spun. This was all knowing that I won't lose much if any fitness from taking a day or two off, but the addiction "suggested" I do something.

Saturday I ran 9 miles, not flat, and felt great for the first half. Coming home was a little too much. The cold was still lingering.

Sunday, spinning for an hour.

Monday 4 miles including 2k of 7-8% pretty steady (~9 min pace). On the recovery, I worked on turn-over, so this was a hard effort. Cold still lingering.

Tuesday 5 miles ez.

Today I might take off because tomorrow is a little mountain running and I want to be really well for this.

The point I want to make is that the week off, though forced because of a cold, has been great. I have gotten in a few months of steady running. The week-off has been a great opportunity to recover and refresh. That, I am finding, is so important. Hitting that refresh button. On my 9 miler, I was so fired-up to run. Probably went out too hard. But again, a little down time is money. It often happens when we're sick or injured. Everything happens for a reason.

So, hopefully I'm on the rebound from this cold. I can put in another solid 10 or so days of build with some steady/hard efforts that include specificity (mountains). Then a little recovery, and then 2010 race season begins.

I just have one goal for 1/9: break 2 hours. Will be tough, but I'm looking up (at the mountain). Gotta keep looking up. Gotta run. . .

Weekend

Friday: 7 miles going 3 miles aerobic, 3 miles Aet, and 1 mile of hills (400 ez, 400 ~6% x 2). Felt great. Getting it in. Went to Idyllwild last night, had dinner and was going to stay the weekend, but didn't work-out. Back in town.

Saturday: 45 min. on the home trainer with some short ME intervals (3:00, 4:00, 5:00). I've never really done these on a trainer but the huge gear felt like a good call especially based on what Lucho has explained in the past.

Sunday: Going to see about some local snow and returning for the Charger game. Spending time with some friends drinking some good beers. The trip yielded very very little snow. This last storm just wasn't cold enough. We got up above 6000ft, but the snow was non-existent but for the little crap patch. But, I saw a bunch of trail heads. We stopped at one, took a little jog and took some pictures. The wind was nice! Temp was around 33, but the wind made it relatively colder. Really good times. Can't wait to hit this up very soon. From Julian to Pine Valley, there's a lot going on. Kitchen Creek (nice pics), Sunrise trail (the Birders have the pics!).

I was reminded of running Noble Canyon and bits of the PCT back in '08. There is a lot to do in SD county. Looking forward to getting out there and hunting down some BIG fitness fresh air.

Where do we go from here

Tuesday: Nada. Tuesdays are always my long day at work, so no pitter-pat.

Wednesday: 10 miles @8:22, 1000ft.+ climbing, avg.HR 152. I worked pretty hard on this one. Wasn't feeling 100%, but sometimes that's the way it goes. Deal with it! Nice to get a run in like this; just went with it although I did end-up on an oval for 3 miles, so I had to "monitor" just a bit :)

Thursday: ~6 miles, avg.HR 146. Felt much better but for the scratchy throat. Coming-off 10 miles and running in 2 year-old trail flats with the standard insoles that suck means I'm absorbing the work pretty well. Definitely a good sign.

Then it was off to my last day of work at San Diego State University. Needless to say, I'm pretty rocked by all of this. Losing a job you've had for roughly 7 years and having made the decision to "walk" from the field feels like free falling. I don't know what I'm going to do. Sure I've been researching, trying to network and maintain a positive attitude, but of course this is big.

One thing I can say: I am leaving with my head held high. And even though HHH might sound a little cliche, it's important. I finished strong. I fulfilled my duties, and maintained my professionalism. Today we talked about the students' final project, a letter to the director of California's Post Secondary Education Commission, revisiting some of the concerns and issues we all face now and in the future. I feel bad for them.

I went into teaching because I enjoyed my own education so much. Believe me, from UC students to the CSU and community college students combined, they are not enjoying this experience. Higher fees, fewer students, fewer classes (with more students), fewer departments, older/duller professors, etc. They are not idiots. They know what's going on.

Again, I am going to maintain a positive attitude and land on my own two feet. . . going pitter-patter.

Stormy Monday

Wow. Haven't had a storm like this in a while. Lost electricity for about 6 hours last night. Went to a local restaurant for dinner. Thankfully the restaurant's power went-out only after the waiter served my son his corn dog and fries. A lot of rain and wind.

I hit the gym mid-day for a little cross-training. My right foot has had a little discomfort. Some arnica and Traumel have seemed to work. Did I strain it on a run, or during the "Chinese reflexology" I got Saturday night? Who knows. So, my therapy seems to have worked some and I decided at the gym I would take it easy.

What does that mean?

Spin for 30 minutes. And run hills on the mill! 5 miles. 1k warm-up and then alternate between hills and steady flats up through 5k (1k ~4%, 1k steady, 1k ~5%. . .finishing with a hard effort at ~6%). Cool down 2 miles.

Not a lot of running. But some quality. May not get to run today.

I'll survive ;-)

Free Base

Saturday: 6 miles Aet. Solid run. Pretty flat trail ~8:20/pace.
~57 degrees, breezy, good energy but faded toward the end. Avg. HR 151.

Sunday: Tired (from Sat. night and just tired) so I just hit the tready for 5 miles. Pretty much a progression. The last mile was 7:47, avg HR 143. This was a great run because the treadmill is a lot easier in terms of HR, so one can get the turn-over while still maintaining a flat-out aerobic effort. I felt pretty good after this run. We had a bunch of errands to all day, so it was nice just to get it in after chillaxing most of the morning drinking a lot of homemade (manual) espresso :-)

I would have loved to get in a bigger weekend in terms of miles. But really the weekends can be tougher because of the family time. Still if I wanted to I could've.
The other reason why I'm not too bothered is that I am, whether I want to call it this or not, working on a base. And sure such a program might mean LSD, I've instead been averaging about 6 miles a day, every day. Pretty much. The consistency right now is a top priority, coupled with staying healthy which are one and the same.

These manageable runs are, I'm sure, preventing the over-use injury. I feel the shin-splint "haunt" the left leg occasionally, but it never sets-in. Varying my running surface has been key, my paces, and keeping the mileage in check helps a lot.

I will continue to build mileage some. Right now, I just love developing my ability to run faster easier. That is the most important thing right now. I do not want to "finish" races even when that means 50k. Run everyday. Wake-up, gotta run.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

Thursday and Friday

I need to post something other than just these work-outs. Later. . .

Thursday: 5 miles on the tready, 8:30 HR 140, with some strides. Felt good. Watched the "civil war" while treading. Great game. College football.

Friday: ~4 miles in 30:00. Just a watch. Watching the sunset.
Plus I did an hour of yoga today. Ouch. Great stretching and balance and core. But I'd rather just be married to a yogi (wife kicks ass). I wanna run!

Tomorrow is my birthday. Yippee. All I want is a new pair of running shoes and some cold IPA. And a little fellowship with friends and family.

That's what's happening this weekend.

Gotta run this weekend, too. Can't wait to hit the trails!

Wenesday

7 miles total. 3.15 mile, 8:20 pace 500+ft. up; 3.1 mile, 7:55 pace 450ft. up. ~1 mile cool down. I blew-up around 5.5 miles. I watched it unravel on the HRM, which might be lame, but the data helps some. Bottom-line, the first 5k was easy and solid. The second 5k, a different course (different trail) was me pushing things a little. First 5k avg. HR 152, second 5k avg. 165.

Tomorrow is aerobic. Weekend is a mix. Next week I run some bigger hills (san diego mountains).

It's just nice to feel good.

First and next

This is the profile of my first trail race, as well the next one.

Tuesday: 5 miles on the beach. Super ez.

Sunday and Monday

Did not want to go to the gym AGAIN on Sunday and by the time my wife got home from outta town, I had a couple of Belgians going watching football. I didn't mind.

Today I did 8 miles with some good dirt climbing and ovalling. The track data was a really good sign. The HR reflected how I felt (regardless of the data). I just felt good, rested, ready to roll (a day-off here and there is definitely money right now . . .maybe always . . . to keep me fresh and super fly). Doing 8:20s at 144 is just a good thing for me, at this point. I feel stronger. The dirty hills were fun too. Great weather.

These good vibrations are juxtaposed with the dreariness of my job situation. Obviously, I'm overwhelmed trying to figure-out a good next step, but just mulling over that career to which I'm saying adios is trip. And sure, I might do a little part-time teaching down the road, but as far as that being my one and only focus, my bread basket, so to speak, time to move-on. Nights are, of course, the worst.

Later I spun on the trainer for 30 min. Good day.

Diet: Eggs and veggie burrito, left-over Kashi spinach/mushroom zah, and KILLER salad for dinner.

Rainy Day

I therefore am run.

Wasn't going to because of the weather. . .and the little aches and pains. I started to rationalize. Huge core work at home, just lay low. Then I had some coffee. I wonder how many great things get done with the help of coffee. I guess I should say caffeine. I've actually given up coffee. I have a double or triple espresso most mornings depending on the day. But until I get my new machine in a few weeks (for my B-day), I've just sorted through my loose change to hit a coffee shop on my way to "work." Today, laying low, not going-out to get the juice, I decided to make some very strong coffee at home. It was OK. But it did get my ass to the gym.

Did ~50 minutes. Put together a little hill work-out. 5 x 3min hills with ez 5 min recovery. The hills were at 4-6% grade, the pace between 9 and 8 min mile. Certainly makes the treadmill more bearable. The hills, "at the top," were nice and steady.

On the "aches and pains," sometimes I feel a hint of that shin splint I had a few months ago. And my hammies, ass (piriformis), and ITB have been tight. So after the run, did some stretching. GZ had a nice link to a Pete Magill stretching video. Good reminder.

Ran some errands after that, and here I am. Football and movies with my 5 year-old. With mom out of town, the boys are just getting things done.

T-day and beyond

I gotta say it. Best Thanksgiving ever and I think it had everything to do with my attitude. I feel great right now (even though I'm losing el jobo). I feel healthy and that's totally absolutely completely the first step.

Family was it. I totally appreciate my family. It's small but I really value what I have.

The food (prepared by father-inlaw and wife) was. the. shit. I ate, got tired and stuffed, tried to eat more. Fell asleep.

No running. I've been pretty consistent lately so I felt the day-off was perfect. Definitely want to avoid over-training (which just means over-use for anyone who might think I'm hardly training). A quality 5-6 every day is good right now. Plus some weights and core sporadically.

So, yesterday off. Today, 5 miles, 8:30 avg., HR 146. Success is relative. I am not looking at the numbers while I run. Just running. I swear. It's nice to be able to elevate and deflate the HR. I'm just fiddling with my own gig. That's it.

After the run and lunch, and laying around a bit, went for a 45 min. hike with Jack. The surf was way up today, so we had some great scenery.

Now, I'm having a beer. Life is actually very simple.

Oh, yeah: shout out to James and Beth for inviting me to their killer cocktail party. I mean, after some of those Belgian double IPA Trippel monsters I felt like I'd been kissed and then gotten my ass kicked, in rhythm.

Here's to a great weekend!

Pre-T Day

Yesterday, just a little core, spin 20 min. and 45 min run on tready. Did some incline, and varied the pace again. All felt good. Really good.

Today, at the gym again because of child rearing. A little core, a little lifting and 5 miles in ~43 min. Easy. Which is a good sign. Again, some incline and variable pace. . .kinda like a trail run.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Race is a bitch

"When Meb Keflezighi finished the New York City Marathon in two hours, nine minutes and 15 seconds the morning after Halloween, he became the first American to win the race in 27 years. But some spectators apparently missed the three red letters on his chest as he burst through the tape. Keflezighi is only 'technically American,' argued CNBC sports writer Darren Rovell. He's 'like a ringer who you hire to work a couple hours at your office so that you can win the executive softball league.' Though Mr. Rovell has since backtracked, nobody recalls similar comments about Alberto Salazar, the Cuban-born American who won in 1982. And if Meb's name was Joe Smith and he was born in England rather than Eritrea, few would have questioned his national identity."

Full article

This is exactly what I was talking about when this topic made its round of the blogosphere recently. This "negative" reaction, despite all spin and complication wrought by more "thoughtful explanation," is about race first (skin color) and ethnicity second (his name, country of origin). The second criterion doesn't come into play with out the first being introduced. If he was white born and raised in Kenya, but now a U.S. citizen, not nearly as big a problem. And as the writer points-out, if his name was Joe Smith, from England, fewer would have blinked. So let's be clear, skin color is what prompts the initial unconscious and later conscious reactions.

Solid Monday of 30 min. core/weights and little 40 minute run with all kinds of pace. Felt great. I told my wife how effective a 15 min. core work-out can be. No excuses!

Well, back to the (human) (rat) race!

Today's program: file for unemployment (first time in my life), make the best salad dressing in the world, pound salad, and sweat like a man!

Have a great day!

Watching the Chargers v. Broncos in a huge divisional match-up. Wrapped-up the week exercise wise with 6 miles nice and flat. Felt very good in general but especially considering yesterday's steep gut check.

Headed out to Mission Trails which simply is not flat. Actually, I've been running a flatter loop over by the Visitor's Center off of Mission Gorge Rd., but Saturday's run/hike was into the belly of the beast of Interstate 15.

This was brutal. The "hills" are so steep that even hiking is anaerobic. This is a great work-out for strength. I passed on the climb up S. Fortuna which has the "steps" but N. Fortuna was unbelievably sufficient along with the other climbs I had the pleasure of mounting. Knowing I need a little more time, the figure eight loop that will take me up N.Fortuna then a nicer flatter descending section to the base of S.Fortuna, up that and then work my way back to the car will be over 3000ft. of climbing and 10+ miles. This will be a "killer." On today's flatter run, I got to shake-out the legs and take easier breaths. But yesterday made me feel very new to the program. I have a lot of work to do and I am not running to run flat. So "gut checks" will happen frequently.

The diet: Still making quality decisions but I did have a piece of pizza last night with my pint of Stone Cali-Belgique. Great stuff, the beer. I love drinking it out of appropriate stem-ware. OB ale house is a pizza place, too. Great pizza, which is now just part of that weekend-warrior stuff that "may happen." I really would rather eat like a tortoise.

So, back to work this week, which means more running. I need to really start building. I'm especially inspired by Tim's win at his first 50 miler. Sky is the limit for that cat. Great job, TW.

~25 miles on the week. Neither good nor bad. Just what is.

Didn't run on Tuesday because of the job. Tuesday night we had a little freaky situation with Jack spiking a huge fever. Common sense says it was a reaction to his second round of H1N1 vaccination, his booster (kids under 10 get two shots). This meant that Wednesday he was home all day really sick. It was a trip. Sudden flu. So no run yesterday either. Then today (Thursday), got out on a little 50 min. run. Felt GREAT to get out. Man. I want to run. Gotta Run. Yeah, the new Blog title. Things are changing on several fronts. The title was going to be Gotta Get the Hell Out of Here; the picture of my son getting air off the top of that BIG slide falling toward the "Exit" was a little visual I liked for it speaks to my wanting to get to a better place. "Place" in this case means a lot of different things. Maybe I go into that later. I'm antsy.

Which is why today's run was good. Cross my fingers that Jack feels good tomorrow. So he can go hang with his friends at school. And dad can go trail running! Hopefully, solid run tomorrow. On Saturday I have a little window. Maybe a big run.
Sunday get something in and watch ball. Sunday night going to a college soccer game between USD and UCSB. See if any of them gots skills.

Diet:
Yesterday - Eggs and turkey bacon (I was starving), small bowl of wheat pasta with two turkey meat balls, and fish salad for dinner. (wow, a lot of meat).

Today - Peach and "green" protein smoothie, zico and a bag of M&M peanuts (fuck), and a fish salad (I love arugula) for dinner. One beer.

Let's do this!

Just thought I'd post something. Made goal by getting all of that work (grading) done by today. Didn't even run this morning, so that I could put finishing touches on the waste of trees courtesy of writing pedagogy.

I was looking at a website I'd bookmarked probably a year ago that has calculations for HR training zones. It uses resting HR and max HR, a little subtraction and division to produce one's training zones (70%- 90% of max HR, etc.). The results are different compared with the perhaps more commonly used 70%-90% of max HR straight calculation. The corresponding HRs are higher.

So I fire-off an email to Lucho, curious what he might add. He said I should just run, that I'm over-thinking. Talk about a role reversal.

One last point on HR (than I'll just shut-up and run), in terms of aerobic HR, no matter what calculations I make, it all pretty much boils down to 144-146 as that target fat-burning effort. Whether it's 180 - age, or 75% of max, or this other one that includes RHR, the same general number comes-up. Now I'll sleep better at night. By the way, I've been sleeping great!

I've been running "comfortably" lately outside on trails. My average on an easy day is 147 - 150. That's money. And it will only go down. As a matter of fact, on Monday, after getting role reversaled by Lucho, I went to my little trail and ran 5 miles. I saw a definite fitness gain. Not only was my avg HR lower, but my HR recovery response was dramatic. I think that is a big factor especially with racing in hills. Can you recover to hammer the descending or flatter sections.

At the same time, I've been running hard if I want to. I guess all I'm saying is the training appears to be working from a HR perspective. Of course, it's only November, so I'm just trying to quietly get this next campaign (the next 20 years) under-way.

Diet: Lemon water, espresso, organic apple, salad, coconut water. . .so far.

Light at the end of the tunnel. . .

Let me get these metaphors out of the way.

* I can see the end of this mountain of work that I've put off. Beyond getting my students back their work, I can smell the end of the semester (yeah!) and my job (ho shit!). But getting this work back will give me more room to play = run and gun!

* The diet will now be my friend. I know the recipe for health. This has been my achilles heal for a long time. I can say with out a doubt that eating has way more affect on one's weight management than does exercise. This is especially true as one gets older. I am eliminating processed foods from the diet. It is so doable. Partaking in this little detox was similar to working with a personal trainer at the gym. Just a little fundamental information is going to go a long way. The picture of these two glasses of "juice" symbolize the diet: liquids and vegetables. Obviously, this isn't for everyone, but based on my reaction to the diet, I feel very confident that this will pay huge dividends down the road. No stomach issues. Lighter. Cleaner. Tangibles and intangibles. I feel very good about the diet.

* With the diet and training coming along, I can see a much better runner coming into form. Same game plan as far as running/racing goes: trails. I want to become better and stronger on these kinds of tracks, being able to attack and feel comfortable climbing. Mountain running is absolutely the standard, the goal, the dream. I think I'm in a better position going into 2010 to make some genuine gains in progress, results. Either way, I think I'll be healthier, which gives me the best opportunity to have fun and maintain the consistency I need to improve.

Saturday, I attended a beer festival. It was fun. Picture essay: The festival, me in green (festival took place at the Green Flash brewery), people drinking and pouring beer, and later that day in Ocean Beach. I slept about 12 hours after all of this. Not a weekly event. Family, work, running/gunning, and a few cold IPAs. That's where I'm going.

Running-wise, I've been a little pressed for time, but have been sweating for at least an hour every day. Last week I took 2 days off because of work and I had a strange pain in my right ass cheek. The pain would stretch down my right leg like a weird ITB issue. I figured-out it was a little tweak from doing lunges with weights. I was holding dumbbells over my head during the lunge. A little too much weight. A strain. Dumbbell. Feeling better and look forward to more base/fun running over the hills and through the woods. . .

Cleaning-up the joint

The weekend came and went and things still just continue to be interesting. The job situation is just fucked. I've been with two "companies" for 6 years and I am being laid-off. Sure there could be some 11th hour shenannigans, but the point is that I don't want this kind of instability. So, I have to figure-out what in the hell I should do. Pretty nuts.

On the diet end of things, wife and I are doing a little 7 day detox diet that's actually just a killer diet. I've done a detox in the past. It was a 21 day trip that involved a ton of supplements and was pretty expensive. This one is definitely all about digestion. I'll post some more specific info on it this week.

Today's menu:
Wake-up and have a room temp glass of water with juice of 1/2 lemon.
Then have a cup of herbal tea (Detox tea).
Hour or so later, a blue-berry and almond milk smoothie with the one supplement, some "greens" powder with pro-biotics and other yummies.
At about 11:00, a little box of coco-nut milk.
Lunch was a salad with a little onion, half avocado and this KILLER ginger/miso dressing. I LOVE IT.
For an afternoon snack, pumpkin seeds and almonds, just a few.
Dinner was a broccoli and arugula soup. KILLER.

What I'm so stoked about is incorporating a lot of this into my regular diet. I've been having some digestion issues. I didn't have any issues today. We'll see. I will definitely post more reaction. The diet also calls for daily sweating (nice that "they" actually recommend exercise. God knows, I'm going to). I was so swamped today I only got a teeny weeny stretch/core/weight session in and a 30 min. ez run outside.

As for the weekend, Sunday I was worked. Had a tough Saturday night and some family commitments on Sunday so I took the day off. Very weak. I lost my nerve, but Saturday wasn't bad.
Took the 5 year-old on a little hike. This is Cowles Mountain. Got a little tough coming down, "Focus: how about we stop singing and concentrate on our footing!" It was awesome. About 1500ft. of climbing, perfect weather and a nice recovery day after Friday's harder run. So all in all, taking Sunday off wasn't the end of the world.

Tomorrow, after my water, tea, and blue-berry and rice milk smoothie I'm going to go run a little trail at Mission Trails. I might go kinda hard :-)

Let's go already. . .

Running is keeping me busy. I did about 1:10 yesterday with some hills and an oval mixed-in all at an aerobic HR. I know: data schmata, but I don't mind some kind of verification for the blob - log. The training is pretty organic. I'm just trying to have as much fun as I can and make good decisions (the same thing I tell my 5 year old every single day). This means the work-outs are mostly "comfortable" or aerobic. And just this week I'm starting to introduce a few harder sessions, maybe intervals during a regular work-out, or a few harder mile repeats, push a hill harder than I might.

Although I am an aerobic convert, I think some harder stuff (granted when one is "ready" which is pretty relative) is necessary if one wants to get faster. Before I met the blog and Lucho I ran how I felt I was supposed to and did fairly well for an ex-college soccer mid-fielder (1:32 half marry). And I think the trail/mountain running is even more unconventional if one wants to spend a lot of time there training, meaning a bunch of flat slow miles might not produce much "arousal" if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, I value the slower miles, just cruising and burning fat, building capillaries and the rest of that slow-twitch universe. I think injury prevention might be one of the biggest benefits to HEAVY BASE.

Yesterday's run was in a pair of old school sweats. Those and the cotton tee were screaming for a headband. I might oblige. Train in cotton, race in burmudas. Might be the new blog title.

By the way, I'm thinking about kicking this blog into gear. I need to hone some skills. Maybe a website? What does anyone think of Wordpress? JW, GZ, Footfeathers, anyone? I want to do more with this space.

Today's 8 miler was with about a 1000 ft. of climbing on this urban trail I like to frequent rather than drive 1/2 hour to some of the better trail heads. Obviously, when I want to start doing bigger trails, I will drive. But this little urban venue is pretty nice. Has a xc course running through it. I don't know the exact course, but I run on a dirt xc "track" that's .7 miles. I did some hard loops and had "fun" on some of the hills elsewhere.

What didn't help was the massive hunger spike that hit me prior to the run. I even ate breakfast, but around 10:30 when I hit the trail I was starving. Ate a piece of pizza and a bunch of "healthy" cheetos. WTF? Did not help the run. My version of sandbagin. Big 70s style sweats, a headband, cotton tee, and some left over meatloaf before the run. Perfect.

Right now. Dinner is done and I'm sippin Le Freak and have a Lagunitas Ale getting cold.

Cheers.

Wednesday 11/4

I hit Mission Trails yesterday. Ran 5 miles on my little loop course. Did some soft loops and 2 hard loops. Definitely a harder work-out. The speed was good to see and feel.

As we get older, speed is what we lose first. Endurance later. Therefore, I'm going to incorporate more speed into my program. Likewise, we need recovery. Today, I didn't run, first off day in a while. Hit the gym and spun 30 and did weights and core. I'm starting to groove THAT work.

Tomorrow is aerobic running, work all day (while i still have a job) and then Friday is long/hard.

Question: How can I help you? What can I do for you?

Monday 11/2

50 min aerobic run, not flat, perfect conditions. Avg. HR 149. I know, data schmata. Curiosity killed the cat. Ran a lot last week and was going to take today off but the brisk mornings are too good. And it was a comfortable run. Tomorrow I hit Mission Trails before work for some trail running. Might throw down a little.

Hit the gym in the afternoon. Spun for 30 minutes, did some core and lifted and hit the jacuzzi. Yesterday's core was tough along with the 1:30 run so today was just good to get some work done.

I'm having some digestion issues. I have been taking pro-biotics for over a month now. I had a bad night about a week ago where I had too much homemade (hot) salsa and was whacked for a couple of days. The shits, couldn't keep anything down, etc. Just got back to 100% and then I had another tough day today after my post-run meal: homemade garlic mash, two eggs, avocado, swiss chard and kale with olive oil and just a little bit of siracha. I'm blaming the garlic. The siracha probably didn't help. What's up? I think my system is getting good and healthy; part of that means I'm more sensitive (I think) to "extreme" dishes. Starting to really think about this diet thing. Big changes? Maybe. Lots of changes in the air.

By the way, I'm losing my job. More to come on that. It's called project re-invention. I want out of teaching English full-time because this kind of instability rears it's head every 5 years or so. And let's face it, California does not give a shit about education. Life will definitely be getting more interesting. And I will definitely be getting fitter physically and mentally to meet this new insane challenge.

End of a week

A good week of running. Ran on trail in Point Loma, Mission Trails, and hit a little dirt and pavement around town and Fiesta Island. It's the days of comfortable running doing ~1 hour a day. Today ~1:30. The runs are fairly ez with some little bursts at the end/here and there. I don't think a little uncomfortability can hurt a predominantly comfortable run. HR has been observed some and it's really aerobic but for the little surges. My 8 miler at fiesta island yesterday was a day of fatigue (not fitness breakthrough); had a hard time getting the HR up but for the end when I was dehydrated and pushing it a little. The trail runs are the best. I have a little .85 mile loop at Mission Trails that is not falling-off-a-cliff vertical that I can roll on with the Oakley Thump giving me some love. Good times. So nice to be running regularly again. The weather is perfect. I still think the best itinerary is San Diego Fall/Winter/Spring and Somewhere Else Summer. Crazy? Maybe.

Just a few pictures.

One foot in-front of the other. . .

Friday, I did a couple of shots of flax-seed oil and then ran 1:15 aerobically with a little progression at the end. Felt great afterward which says it all. Of course slamming my recovery drink post run was key too. I have to get this immunity system back together!

Saturday (today), rode the trainer for 45 minutes in the garage, mixing-up the gears and then quickly jumped into my running cloth and did 50 minutes. Again, all aerobic but for a little progression at the end. Felt great.

Listened to a little Zeppelin today. They are the best. . .ever. By the way, John Paul Jones, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and Dave Grohl have started a new band: Them Crooked Vultures. Queens is the shit. Grohl worked with them on Songs for the Deaf. JPJ: enough said. Stoked.

These work-outs were good. Goal: strong and fast. And stay healthy. Health is wealth.

No Mas . . . Data . . .Fo reels

Solid 5 miler this am no HR data, no Garmin, no nada. Just the feeling that I would be having a heart attack around the next bend in the trail. And this is how I will roll.

The dumbest thing I can ever say is that the blogosphere has made me a slower runner. But sometimes the dumbest thing someone might say, might just have a point. Let's just say I'm going to run like I used too, dumb and full of the need to get after it without comparison or commentary. Just run. I used to run organically. Now I just try to eat that way. Well, ironically, I'm full of shit now. So, time to run. No data to compile other than the knowledge that I worked that day and the day after. This is the plan along with weights and core. My wife and I had a little stint with a Personal Trainer, so I have some "routines" that enable me to think less, maintain my dumbness. Run and get strong. And I will hit the bike. After all, it's laughing at my dumb ass right now, insisting I don't have the manhood to ride. We'll see.

Whatever.

My blood work came back pretty uneventfully. I shut-down the fitness program after a run last Wednesday following some bigtime fatigue on a run. The HR had been higher than it should and the fatigue had become pretty odd. I always have a lot of energy. That has not been the problem. But these bouts of fatigue have been alarming. Head-aches, very fatigued, pretty silly. The blood work didn't reveal much other than a slightly weak thyroid. We'll see what the next week or so reveals, if my doctor wants "more tests."

It might boil down to my coffee abstinence and simple recovery from some illness and drugs. . . and the fact that I'm getting old.

Anyways, I started up again today, the minute I heard the blood results. After my work-out I hit the OB Noodle House and went Pho with three Racer 5s.

Back to square one.

We have a lot of work to do!

Here's an email I pulled from the Triathlon Club of San Diego "message board."
___________________________________________

10-11-09

List mates

I sipped my coffee this morning and read the LA Times.In the pictures I saw snow on the ground in America.But none in San Diego.Then I thought of my friend Clayton Griessmeyer who now lives and practices law in Wisconsin..He tells me its getting cold.I miss him.Were sure lucky here.

Seconds latter, I reflected on yesterdays Hawaiian Ironman,which signals the traditional close of the Triathlon season.Even most Bicycle races.

With that said, may I share with you all a poem my mentor Gerry Spence,Esq wrote for his wife Imaging,which captures the change in season.Its called First Snow.


First Snow

Together we watched the snow cover the ground

In ten minutes.

“Before it’s through

The snow will be up to the doorknob.”

Do you remember saying that?

Then we saw the golden ground give up,

The tall summer grasses, frightened,

Standing stiff

Like old men frozen at the brink

Waiting to be smothered.

“Do not be afraid, grasses,” you said.

“Already you have seeded.

Do not shiver so.

But fight.” Do you remember how you said,

“Oh, please fight!”

And then the blood of golden grasses

Turned all white.


Warm Regards to you all this Fall. I look forward to next season... full of racing, friendship & adventure.

Sincerely,

Richard __________

___________________________________________________________

Clearly, a fine mention of the nice weather in San Diego vs. other parts of the country, and the popular sentiment whistling through the minds of many regarding the racing season.

However, I've been reminded too often via the blogosphere and elsewhere of how athletes embrace the change of season despite snow and other seasonal changes. Moreover, it. is. on. And any talk of respite, hiatus, off-season. . .be gone! We all live in the season of becoming a better human being which includes but is not limited to husband, father, brother, son, daughter, mother, wife. . . and athlete. And sure we need a little recovery now and then, for sure. But don't get carried away.

Let the good times roll! and don't stop believing. . .and let's get this party started!

I like GZ's mention today of how he's just exercising because he doesn't have a specific goal in mind. But you can see he wants to be ready. And obviously, the more active we are in our preparation/maintenance/drive to succeed, the better we are in other facets of life.


Btw, i gotta say watching the Yankees beat the Twins to clinch that divisional series had one real highpoint. After A-Rod tied the game at 1-1 with a solo blast, the Twin faithful chanted, quite well I might add, "Steroid. . . Steroid. . . ." etc.

I'm going to start twittering so I can yap about those kinds of things.

. . .and this Rockies/Phils game is great!

The beginning of the end?

Hopefully this is the end of my off-season and I can start to get some full health in place and start to really build. I had a good week of building, but can feel yesterday's run in my upper chest (nothing too bad). I'm not even 85%, but I've been working-out. I'd like this next week to be "WEEK ONE" in my (end of) '09 - '10 campaign.

Here's my little comeback, so far:

9/30 - 4 miles

10/1 - 2 miles

10/3 - 2.5 mile hike on Ray Miller

10/4 - 4 miles (went too hard at the end. .. "I want to run, bad.")

10/5 - 4 miles (felt pretty weak)

10/7 - 40 minutes on my trainer

10/8 - 5 miles on hilly trail (run/hike)

10/9 - 8 miles (6-am & 2-pm) Felt very very tired/weak, elevated HR

10/10 - 7.5 miles, hilly. Energy was pretty good so I just ran, but the HR was way too high. Oh well. It "felt" good.

10/11 (today) - 1 hour at the gym doing core and strength work. I will take the rest of the day off. Yesterdays ("hard") run kicked my ass. I'm going to hunker-down and hope this next week can build.

~37 miles in a week and a half.

I'm drinking a bud lite right now at 12:30 watching baseball and football and procrastinating the 100+ papers I have to grade. Yuck. If I end-up in the Hop Head, trouble.

Congrats to Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington. Pretty convincing.

And congrats to JW on his first CX win.

The Yankees

The New York Yankees' rhetorical argument:

I don't buy it. That they haven't won more world championships in this modern era is a little surprising.

Here's their logos: a lot of extremely high paid players. This year, once again, they roll-out the best that money can buy. Their ace and #2 are brand new. The Yanks signed their ace (CC Sabathia) to a 7 year $161 million contract; their #2 (Jason Burnett) is making a fresh $82,500,000 over 5 years. That's the '08 off-season. Over the past decade they have signed huge free agent after huge free agent. Oh, and Mark Teixeira, their new first basemen, signed an 8 year $180 million contract. Those three contracts equal $423,500,000. Under the rules, they have done their job of creating a most capable team consisting of, essentially, the best players available. In terms of personnel (coaches, players) they have a strong argument. Most baseball fans would say the Yankees have what it takes to win it all. True. They do have the evidence, and one can reason from that evidence that the team is solid. A good argument.

Pathos: Do the Yankees evoke sympathy? Do you feel good about what they represent in the game of baseball? What do they represent? What emotions does one associate with the NY Yankees? Well, unless you're a fan (New Yorker, Front-runner, etc.), they symbolize what is wrong with baseball's salary structure. There is very little or no revenue sharing. You've heard it before: the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers can't compete with the Yankees or Mets, or Red Sox. The Yankees are the epitome of the HUGE market franchise. The financial reality might inspire fear in some fans. But I'm sure there is equal amounts of resentment. Such a structure isn't fair. Emotionally, outside the New York Yankee fanbase, the argument is pretty weak. A lot of people hate the Yankees.

To be fair, the team has a history of winning (numbers don't lie). That kind of success translates. People associate success with the Yanks. Even the New Yorker arrogance has come to represent a true American characiture, a ture American classic. However, in today's context of corporate excess and corruption, the Yankees have a lot of evidence to support that kind of operation. That doesn't translate. Emotionally, perhaps we have a split decision. They inspire a lot of excitement, a lot of success in big games with players that have performed very well. The fan-base enjoys the fruit of a very strong logos which has helped manifest a strong pathos. Unfortunately, not everyone shares these sentiments.

Ethos: The Yankees have a lot of credibility as a baseball enterprise. They have been hugely successful, become part of the mainstream culture, representative of the great American past time. Some might argue the Yankees represent American baseball better than anyone. If you're a fan, you trust your team is actively (aggressively) building a competitive team. The San Diego Padres fans (and surely other cities' fans) have lost faith in their teams. They don't trust management is doing its best to build a strong team. Perhaps the owner(s) want to make money (only), and since his/her team's market might be less conducive to growth, said owner has to make decisions that ensure he makes money: sign average players but still charge fans big league prices. NY Yankees fans don't have this problem.

Be that as it may, in the past decade the Yankees have lost a lot of respect/credibility. Sure, the fan-base might still be fanatical about its Yankees, but anyone watching baseball knows that they haven't been very successful in recent memory. In fact they haven't won a world series since 2000 despite having the HIGHEST payroll each year; despite each off-season signing the best free agent players available. I would love to link a list of the Yankee free-agents signed in the 21st century. This disparity represents a big weakness in the New Yorkers' ethos. They have contributed to the massive salary inflation and petered-out in the post-season. Having said that, their credibility (ethos) is not very strong.

Now, despite the association one makes between the Yankees and corporate excess, we have to be fair and say that the real indictment here is that of baseball itself.

I have to admit, I decided to do this after watching the Yankees win yesterday, beating the Twins in extra innings. All of these big free-agents pitching, hitting walk-off homers, etc., made me a little queesy. So, I thought, let's breakdown the Yankees the way Aristotle might on his own blog.

Having done this, I realize that the Yankees indeed have some rhetorical weaknesses. Emotionally and ethically they are vulnerable. However, they play by the rules. Baseball establishes the rules. The Yankees more or less abide by those rules. In the event that they have a luxury tax to pay for going over some sort of salary cap, they can afford that, no problem. The beat goes on.

Maybe we should take a closer look at baseball . . .

In Stages

Doesn't everything happen in stages?

(Really no relevance to this photo but it's such a good one).

"In a surprise, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize."

The reaction from most, even his biggest supporters, appears to be stunned. Clearly, from anyone who has followed even lightly the news will wonder on what the committee based this decision.

Obviously, the conservative reaction concerns the rest of the world's idolization of Obama. He's popular, he's practically a celebrity in countries around the world. They'll point to various speeches he's given abroad wherein he's effectively "apologized" for the U.S. So, the conservative (anti-Obama) take will amount this award being the result of his deference to others, to put it mildly. A right-winger might just say, "Obama's a pussy."

At the very least, people (both left middle and right) will wonder what accomplishments of Obama warranted the Nobel Peace Prize. The selection committee is, I believe, notoriously left (liberal) so again some criticism will point toward a giant liberal hug.

A couple of problems with this conservative spin. First of all, there is, I think almost all would agree, a great deal of credibility associated with the Nobel Peace Prize selection/election process. Intelligence, culture and good-will (ethics) exude from that entire enterprise. As a result, we ought to consider their choice in light of this credibility. Does a world-wide liberal conspiracy out-weigh that committee's role in maintaining a history of recognizing human achievement? I really doubt it. But don't be surprised if you hear Glen Beck or one of his puppies argue otherwise.

The second problem with the knee-jerk "what in the hell has Obama done to deserve this" reaction is that such points-of-view still see America as a country operating independently in a world of lesser foes. The patriotism associated with the Republican banner is both bullshit and one of that party's inherent flaws. It's bullshit because the more liberal thinker is just as patriotic, just as proud of his/her American citizenship, as the right-wing clown. Such a tactic as arousing the social conservatism of, say, the southern states of this country amounts to raising a pit bull to kill on command: it's just as unfair to the dog as it is to the one the dog will attack. One saw this line of bullshit with McCain's VP pick. Her down-home Americana bullshit got laughed right off the stage. But the flaw is even more serious. Our independence was established in and around 1776. But centuries later, the world is different. To use the ideas of one Benjamin Barber, we are interdependent now. Our failure to realize that amounts to our failure to be successful on so many fronts (politically, economically, environmentally, educationally, socially, medically, etc.). We have to get along with the rest of the world. Sure we are still a leader, still pound-for-pound the strongest country (leave it at that), but that only means we have to lead in working interdependently with others. To be the leader, we have to act like the leader.

And that's, I believe, where the Nobel selection committee got its read on Obama. They believe in Obama. Let's certainly not take away that he has initiated talks with certain countries and made priorities of certain issues that amount to establishing more peace and security, but many will wonder what exactly has he done?

Everything happens in stages. At this most early stage of his presidency, the world's authority on human achievement has declared "good things are to come from this man." I think even Obama woke-up this morning and said, "Wow."
_________________________________________________________________________

And the training happens in stages. . .

Wed. 40 minutes on the trainer. Light. Felt pretty good.

Thurs. 5 miles on a hilly trail. Walk/run repeat. This was more or less the prescription of Dr. Tim. I coughed most of the 5 miles, pretty annoying. Really tight in the chest.

Friday. 8 miles. But tired w/elevated HR. I'm coming. . .

Some exercise

Last Wednesday I ran 4 miles and felt great, even blobbed about how great it was. Whatever. Well, it beat me up. I just wasn't quite over the sickness. Did another 2 miles on Thursday. Friday traveled up the coast to go camping. Saturday did 2.5 miles and some climbing but that was a hike. Then I slept a lot, on the beach, in the tent, between beers. Sunday, got home and ran 4 miles pretty solid, finishing with a little intensity. Almost threw-up and didn't go that hard. Monday, feeling a little iffy, ran 4 more miles. Tuesday (today) took off because of work and just knew I needed to stay off.

Couple of good points came-up about working-out with a cold on GZ's blog. I knew I was going a bit too hard during some of my runs, even if I wasn't going hard. HR too high. So, I'll hit the bike tomorrow and see where I am. I feel better today. I mean it. I know it. After my night class got out at 9:00pm, I sprinted back to my car. I'm ready to go tomorrow. Let's do this!

So for the week so far, I have 12 miles.

Pictures

Camping w/friends in N. Malibu







Beat after 2.5 miles, 800ft. climb

Get it, Bo.


Another beer commercial.
This is a still from the video shoot -- I'm explaining the aggressive hops. . .