29 - 3 = what I got

I followed my buddy, Eric, on a mountain bike ride on the river trails the other day. People who know me know that I used to be obsessed with biking. I biked around France, biked across Kansas more than a few times. Did North Dakota. I also used to take long rides every weekend. Then one day I stopped. I remember coming home one day after a road ride with some buddies. We had had a pretty close call with a jerk-off driving a pickup pulling a huge, rusty old trailer. When I got home, I decided that it just wasn't worth it anymore. Road cycling was just too dangerous.

So for the past few years, I only take my road bike out on paved trails and backstreets. I mainly ride an older mountain bike around town (sometimes a folding bike I own as well). But I steer clear of main arteries and 2-lane highways.

I love to run the river trails. And, sometimes when I'm done with the run, I'll pull out my Cannondale MB 400 and ride the reverse of what I just ran. On my weekly day off of running, I also have a tendency to hit the trails par velo.

My old Cannondale has 26" rims. The other day when Eric joined me, his new 2-wheeled whip had 29" rims. I am going to sound a bit like a rapper, but where rims are concerned, bigger is better. Every time Eric barely accelerated, I immediately fell behind and could not catch up. And he wasn't even trying to lose me. He kept stopping and waiting for me - which was slightly humiliating.

Well, Eric (who some of you know as Banjo Hawk) headed to Scottsdale for the rest of the week and left his new Specialized bike with me. I took it out yesterday afternoon (I ran in the a.m.) and knocked over a minute a mile off of my best time. And that included stopping twice: once to watch a flock of wild turkeys, and once to talk to the tame deer that I always see out there.

I may have to drop some green on a new 2-wheeled trail machine. I own 4 bikes at the moment (down from 5). I want to encourage sustainability. But I needs me some 29s. What a world one problem!?!

So, here's the plan: If I do get a new ride, I will donate one of my other bikes to someone who really needs one. Last week I gave a super nice camera to a high school class that needed one. I hadn't been using it enough, and thought why not? I felt better for having done it, and have not missed the camera at all. Actually, maybe I'll just donate a bike whether or not I go blow cash on a new one. Well, I'm going to end this blog right here - no more speculation, no more blathering.

Running, the TDF, David Bowie

I had, luckily as usual, a lovely weekend of runs. Saturday reared its hot little head, and I drove out to Clinton to run with a surprising number of friends. I thought that the Lunar Trek practice run the night before would have pared the field. But, like me, there were many who opted to run in the a.m. instead.

Alex Beecher, Kurt Schueler, and I did a reverse of the normal out to Land's End and back. We went out on the blue and returned on the white. Coleen and company were doing anywhere from a few extra miles up to a full marathon. I figured that the 10-ish miles that comprised the loop and the Sander's Mound were plenty for me. On the return, I kept up with Kurt and ALex for about a mile, and then told them to go on. I'm decently fast, but they are FAST. I also like to run alone and listen to Sat a.m. NPR. So I pulled my trusty MP3 player out of my pack and enjoyed the solo run back to the start.

When Sunday came, she arrived with a bit more bite than Saturday. I was a little hung (really just slightly) from a staggeringly good wedding party the night before. While I had gone to be at a reasonable hour, my inhibitions about imbibitions had waned at the fete, and I had mixed a solid amount of beer and wine, without a corrective amount of H20.

Still, I set off on my favorite trail (the Lawrence River Trail), and had a great run. I took the 7.5 mile short-cut rather than the 8.5 full distance mainly because I didn't think I had brought enough sports drink. I did move another snake off the trail so that it wouldn't get run over by a bicycle (that is becoming oddly de rigueur for me on these runs - and I am not a snake person).

I got home in time to see Bradley Wiggins win the TDF. The tour was more exciting because of the breakout riders - Froome, Sagan, and van Garderen. I'm such a sucker for le Tour. Even though so much of pro cycling has been tainted time and again (and may be yet again, it a huge way if USADA is to be believed). The TDF is still an amazing event.

I finished the day at Marisa Ford's place with vegan rice pasta dish and the movie, The Man Who Fell To Earth. I had never seen the flick before. But with a cast that includes David Bowie and Rip Torn, how can you go wrong?

Garry Gribble's, Running, and a New Varmint

So I go into Garry Gribble's yesterday in order to take part in their awesome sale for Trail Hawks and Run Lawrence members. There is a lot of nice stuff. But I have my eye on a shirt that a staffer tells me is 'the most comfortable shirt' he has ever worn. It is some sort of white wicking cotton shirt that does indeed look very comfortable. It is not on one of the mark-down rack. But once I try it on, I know I'm going to buy it. So, for once at a sale, I am happily upsold. I love Garry Gribble's. We are fortunate to have the local chain in Lawrence.

Lot's of hot weather running, but I have lowered my weekly mileage into the 30s. It is just too freaking hot. I'm writing this at 6:15 a.m., and I'm wondering if I shouldn't already be out on the road. I may do at least 16 of the Hawks' 32 mile night run on Friday. But I am going to be looking at the temps before making a last minute decision.

Finally, my buddy, Mark Robison, of Cockadoodlemoo.org and I were out late last week, and saw our first badger in the wild. Neither one of us had ever encountered one. It was really magnificent. I didn't even know they lived around here. I thought they were found more in northern reaches like Wisconsin. Anyway, new animal to check off the list.

Hot, Hot, Hot

There was a lot of running that took place in the heat this week. My favorite run occurred on Saturday (yesterday). I awoke around 5:45, and was at the river trail head an hour later. It is strange that on days that are going to be seriously hot, 80F feels more like 85F. It must be the stupid heat index, but mentally, it really does mess with the mind. As soon as I began running, though, I knew that I'd have fun knocking out the 8mi and change. And I did. I finished the run looking as if I'd jumped into the river. I was 4lbs lighter than when I started. But I felt great.

I hung out with Eric "Banjo Hawk" Henry on Saturday night, playing a bit of guitar and pedal steel. We agreed to meet in the morning for a slightly shorter run. Well, at 6 a.m. he called and said he wasn't feeling that well. So I changed plans and decided to go knock out 7mi at Clinton North Shore. The run (I finished a couple of hours ago) was decidedly not fun. I'm not as much of a fan of the Clinton trails as I am the river. I ran face first (even as I was waving a stick in front of me) into more spider webs (with spiders in them) than I had ever encountered before. Honestly, it kind of freaked me out. The highlight of the run was seeing the same fawn that I saw a few weeks ago. It looks bigger and stronger. It isn't particularly scared of people - not a good sign for a deer.

I am hopeful that we will get some slight respite from the heat and sun in the coming days. My mileage has had to hover in the low 30s rather than the low 40s. It is just asking too much to elevate the mileage in triple digit weather. Until next week...

River Trails Run/Bike?

I was finishing up my second round of the river trails on Sunday when I encountered a snake. I never worry about snakes on the RT, because, while I've seen many, all have been of the garter or black varieties. So as I don't stop, and continue to hop right over the little guy, I see the markings of a copperhead. He/she looked a little darker than the ones at Clinton, but it was unmistakable. I'll be a bit more careful in the future.

After decent runs on Sat and Sun,I decided to take Monday off and bike the river trails instead. I hadn't done that in some time. As soon as I began, I was reminded why bikers love that trail. It is like the best roller coaster one could ever ride. As a kid, we used to take our bikes out to the river and try to complete the circuit without ever putting a foot down. Being older and wiser (and with wisdom, sadly, comes a bit of caution), I made it through putting my foot down twice. I think I'm going to add some trail riding back into the mix. I used to be such a bike nut before the running bug bit me. It was nice to feel the machine working so well under me on the trails.

Final thought: See Moonrise Kingdom.

Short and Sweet

It has been some time since my last post. Nothing to worry about. With the exception of this scorching week, I've managed to have a couple of weeks in the 40 mi range. Highlights of running: two coyote encounters (one in my back yard as I was heading out), a hot 8+ on the river trails last weekend (and a hotter one tomorrow a.m.), running through all the water sprinklers that have been on practically non-stop since last week.

I've been doing a lot of reading, and quite a bit of writing elsewhere, and that has precluded posting on this blog. I will try to get going a bit more shortly.

BTW - The Lagat / Rupp duel last night in Eugene was fantastic. What an awesome 5000 team to go to the Olympics.

Peace and Quiet

I spent last week living and running alone. I was still connected to people through phones and social media. I also went to my office each day to make sure people were buying what I was selling. So I did see people. But instead of staying at my house, in my neighborhood, with my neighbors (all of whom I really like)I spent the week care-taking the country house of a couple of friends. And I found that I liked the solitude I experienced even more than I thought that I would when I agreed to watch the house.

In the mornings, I'd arise, feed the kitties (literally, they have cats), then go to work. I'd put in the required number of hours, doing a job I enjoy very little (but sadly, am pretty accomplished at doing). Then, in the late afternoon, I'd drive over to the river, change in my car, and hit trails. The solo runs last week were some of the best I've done in some time. Running late in the day is not something I normally do. I found it a bit difficult to get started. Then it was hard to warm up. Breathing in the heat was a bit labored. But all in all, I found that perseverance paid off. I messed around with different paces. I wore minimal shoes one day (Merrill Barefoot), just for the heck of it. On my final run I decided to take off at a pace I didn't think I could sustain. Each time I felt more tired, I pushed harder and increased my pace. And, at some point, it all went away. All the exhaustion, the pain, the doubt faded into a background fuzz like tv tuned to nothing. I had headphones on, but couldn't tell you if I was listening to NPR or my own playlist. Everything just went away as I ran.

When I looked at my watch at the end of the run, I had knocked 6-7 minutes off of my regular time for the distance. It was near a race pace, with no taper preceding the run, but rather runs each day of the same distance.

Over the weekend, I thought I'd head out to Clinton and click off a few miles on the more technical trails. When I arrived at the trail head, there was a canopy set up. It was full of food and water for people running 40 miles for the 40th birthday of a woman I know only though running, named Gen-no. She and a bunch a friends (most of whom I know) had set off earlier to get a jump on the day. I took off on the same loop but in the opposite direction, figuring that I'd run into them. It was a beautiful day. There were deer everywhere. I see so many deer that I normally don't comment on them, but yesterday was special in terms of proximity to, and number of the animals. I had no issues with breathing, pace, or form. I listened to NPR and cruised along. About 3 miles into my run I did come across the group. My buddy, Coleen (who had celebrated her own birthday, coincidentally, the day before), Gen-no, Alex Beecher, a couple of other guy I recognized, and then Gary all passed by as I sang Happy Birthday (I, obviously, was going too slowly if I could belt out a tune). Gary asked if I would turn around and join them, but I demurred. I had been having such a lovely week of running, and other than when doing runs over 20 miles, I prefer to run alone. I finished an uneventful 10 miles in good time, and was glad that I wasn't trying for forty. Late in the day I did get word that most of my buddies had completed the birthday run. I feel fortunate to know such committed people. That type of running takes a mental as well as a physical strength that people who don't do it probably can't understand. As much as I run, I still try to get my mind around a feat like that as well.

The pool next to my house was set up for long course over the weekend. It is such a treat when they do that. You can just go, and not have to turn every 25 meters. So, seeing that, I couldn't resist. And, after a 2/3 mile swim last night, I once again headed out to the River Trails this morning. I got up early, and hit the trails early in order to beat the predicted storms for late morning and this afternoon. As it turned out, I was the first person on the trails. And, while not as bad as Clinton in the a.m., I was responsible for clearing about half the trail of spider webs... with my face. In the twilight-ish light (wrong time of day, but that is what it felt like), the trails are a bit creepy. Whenever I'm out there alone with darkness descending, I always think about the mountain lion that my optometrists wife swears she saw nearby. She had been on a triathlon training run, and had seen a big cat trailing her. It kind of freaked her out. And years later, the story still freaks me out a little as well. About 4 miles into the run I was finally passed by a cyclist going the other way. And after that, I saw 3 or 4 more as I made my way back. Their presence took away the heeby jeebies, and also cleared the trail ahead of spiders - nice.

So, as I ran this morning, I thought more about what I should do. Most people hit mid-life and buy a Porsche (or something). I've hit mid-life, and want to get rid of everything, move to the desert, and read, write, and run. I feel the need to down-size. I want to strengthen the friendships and relationships (particularly running and writing) that matter. I want to create a type of job that I enjoy (and I think I can do that). And I want more peace and beauty in my life. I'm tired of worrying about quantity; wealth accumulation and risk-avoiding longevity. I'd rather have quality. Maybe I've needed a few seasons of discontent in order to define what really matters. Maybe I won't do anything about the way I feel. But maybe I will. And that is what will get me out of bed.