Death Valley Two Month Taper Week

I've been amazed at the response to my "Sh*t Ultrarunners Say" video. Last I checked it had over 22,000 hits (and I think I only hit refresh about 5,630 times, so over 16,000 non-me hits). I just wanted to thank everyone for watching and commenting on it.

I'm running the Death Valley Marathon on Saturday. Road marathons make me cringe, but this one should be fun. I'm giving the distance another shot, mainly because of the bad experience I had at the Las Vegas Marathon. When the opportunity to run the Death Valley marathon with four great training partners arose, my gut told me to run it.

"...the most deadly and dangerous spot in the United States. It is a pit of horrors -- the haunt of all that is grim and ghoulish. Such animal and revile life as infests this pest-hole is of ghastly shape, rancorous nature and diabolically ugly. It breeds only noxious and venomous things. Its dead do not decompose, but are baked, blistered and embalmed by the scorching heat through countless ages. It is surely the nearest to a little hell upon earth that the whole wicked world can produce." -- the New York World, 1894, on Death Valley. 

Most of my running this year is going to be on the trails, so this is kind of my last hurrah road run for awhile. I'm going into the run without a time goal, and without having done any specific marathon training in the two months since the Vegas marathon. I have been running, though, with one 20 miler thrown in and 4-5 days a week of unstructured, untimed, fun trail runs.

I did run a trail 5K on Saturday and ran it in the low 19s, taking 1st place in the 30-39 (or as I like to call it, thinning to balding) age group, so that takes care of my marathon speed work. It reminded me how difficult and fast 5Ks are. There really is no time to build into the race, and no time to warm-up, because when the race starts, the fast kids sprint. My strategy was to park four miles away and run to the start, then run the 5K easy, then run back to my car, for an 11-12 mile day with a little speed thrown in the middle. The plan was working great until that gun went off and I started sprinting with the high school kids. I hate getting passed and it's really difficult to go easy in a 5K especially when you are being passed, so I went, and ran it harder than I should have, but it was fun, and since I took the start a little easier than most, I was able to finish strong. I didn't save much for the run back, so I hitched a ride with a neighbor.

Solid Metal

Yesterday I ran for about five miles, the first couple with the dog and the last couple in my new shoes. I won a pair of New Balance MT110s in a raffle (thanks Michael Jacobs and Road Runner Sports), and the shoes are fast, responsive and fun. If you like minimalist shoes, you should check these out. I will probably use them for shorter distances because I like a little more cushion on long runs.

Even though I haven't really trained for Death Valley, I still get those pre-race nerves where I spend too much time obsessing over the race which is inversely proportional to the time I spend actually running during a taper week.

I had a great conversation with Lucho this week and I'm super excited to be training with him again. Check out the video he did for Ultimate Direction below. His take on running (and on life) is just spot on.

Thanks for reading.

Shit Ultrarunners Say

Yeah, I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I love these and saw Shit Cyclists Say and Shit Triathletes Say, but there weren't any for ultrarunners, so I made one.

Enjoy...

ooshirts.com Review and Pictures

ooshirts.com contacted me about a month ago and offered me some free custom shirts for the blog, and since the main purpose of this blog is money, fame, and free stuff, I didn't have to think twice before saying yes.

Their design process is very simple and done over the internets. You can upload pictures, add text, and choose a layout online, which is just my style because the less interaction I have with real live people, the better. Actually, their customer service was awesome. I got a call from Soren at ooshirts and he said that the design I created wouldn't work with the shirt that I had chosen. I guess the design I picked was too big or something...I tried to be as subtle as possible by choosing orange on black and their font size only went up to 100, so I just added an extra zero at the end and requested "super bold" for the font style. Soren recommended a thinner cotton shirt, and I loved it. So did my wife. She claimed the one that I was going to give away, so blame her.

Here are some pictures (for no other reason than I like to show off my smoking hot wife).

We grew up in the 80s so we modify our own clothes (just like Samantha Micelli did) 

In case you can't read this because the font size is too small, it reads "RUN DIRTY"

Thanks for reading, and check out ooshirts.com for any custom shirt needs.

Pre-Run

It's too early to wake up. I scheduled the run for 8 and at 5:47 AM I'm tossing and turning, half dreaming about the route, the twists and turns, the streams and climbs, the linking of some familiar trails, some unfamiliar trails, measuring the risk of trespassing, crossing some barb wire, hoping that it will be too early for the downhill mountain bikers, wondering who will show and who will flake, and hoping that everyone will love the trail. At 6:30 AM I can't take it anymore, and as my wife sleeps peacefully beside me, I creak and stretch out of bed. It's a cold morning, and the heater won't trigger until 7. I stumble through the bedroom, first looking at the clouds outside my window, dark rain clouds in the distance, but only a slight mist on the ground. I rummage through my running clothes, finding some clean shorts, some arm-warmers, a beanie and my new wool socks. With some wishful thinking, I decide to leave the rain jacket hanging in the dark, back corner of my closet.

I try to be quiet in the kitchen, focusing on each movement to try to dampen the sounds of a cupboard closing and glass on the granite counter. I pour the coffee grinds into the aluminum stove-top coffee maker with the happy Italian pointing one finger in the air. The gas hisses and the starter clicks as the small explosion wraps around the base and warms the back of my hand. I breathe the sigh of a failed mission as I hear small feet on carpet in the bedroom above. I listen to him as he dresses in the clothes that he laid out for himself the night before, like a police chalk drawing on his bedroom floor, complete with a hat and sunglasses. He walks down the stairs and smiles as he peeks around the corner and his eyes have that ever-present glint of a mischievous 6-year-old. He knows that it's too early for him, but wanting a soft, half-sleeping hug, I open my arms and swallow him up in them as I kiss his sleep-warmed cheeks. He is wearing an old Catalina Marathon t-shirt that is a few sizes too big and covered in small islands of purple, red, green, and orange acrylic paint. I guess that is the type that doesn't wash out.

The dog runs to him, jumps and licks the boy's face. The dog promptly falls to the ground, claiming her space at his feet, exposing her soft belly, and asks, no demands the morning pet/scratch/rub. She signifies her approval with front paws hooked over his forearm with just enough pressure to make him stay there until the job is done.

The heat clicks on at 7, blasting warm air through sleeping bedrooms and over cold kitchen tiles.

The dog now sits patiently by the back door, waiting to go out for the morning. As I step into the backyard, the sound, like a rattler at my feet, makes me jump, heart racing and instincts, though a little slow at this time of the morning, kick in, as I shield my lower legs by jumping sideways and avoiding the razor sharp fangs filled with paralyzing poison that I am sure are lunging toward my shins. As I look down I see the sprinkler head that popped up, the stream of water a hiss at my feet. Walking back inside, I feel a few drops of rain...it might come after all, but I'm still not going back upstairs for the rain jacket.

I drink my coffee and eat my oatmeal mixed with Nutella and peanut butter, I am anxious for the long trail run with friends, but reluctant to leave the warm, mostly sleeping house. Before my son fell asleep the night before, I had promised to take him up to his favorite trail. A spot where some kids had worked for hours digging out a berm and a couple of jumps on a small, circular dirt path, past an abandoned yellow car covered in rust and suburban graffiti and a couple of power line towers that always make me think of A Wrinkle in Time. Talking about the afternoon ride leads to talking about camping and biking trips in the mountains when he gets older, and waking up early so he can wear his headlamp and run with me in the mornings. And I tell him nothing would make me happier.

New Year's Update

First off, Happy New Year to everyone. I've been travelling the last week as we took a family trip to Northern California, but that trip was book-ended by a couple of great running events.

On New Year's Day, I hosted the Fourth (or maybe Fifth) Annual "No Puking on the Trail" New Year's Day Run. This year we had about 60 people show up and start the new year with a beautiful trail run followed by mimosas and an icy cold soak in the stream. This is always such a fun day and I can't think of a better place or better people to share New Year's day with, and I am happy to report that no one has puked (yet), but Jeff came close.

First to the top

My kids got three weeks off of school this year for winter break; I guess California can't afford to keep the schools open much anymore, so by week 3 the kids were alternating between bouncing off the walls and putting a strain on global internet bandwidth by streaming nonstop Netflix. We decided to take a short road trip to visit Sharlie, Ryan, Harrison, and my mom up in Palo Alto. I ran a great trail in Rancho San Antonio Preserve while my kids hiked to the farm with their grandma. The running terrain up there is so beautiful. I ran under a canopy of redwoods and on soft pine-covered trails, but my heart still belongs to the desert scrub and jagged rocks of Southern California.

Some pictures from the trip:

We visited the Stanford campus for my daughter's school project and of course we were all drawn to the track.

Watching some pure speed.

The CamelBak coordination was not planned. You can't plan this kind of fabulous.

Yesterday I was able to attend the first Rough Runner Fun Run, a benefit for an injured ultra-runner put on by Keith Swiatkowski and Christine Bilange. It was great to see so many runners rally for a good cause, and it was a good training day for me. I haven't run anything longer than about 15 since the Las Vegas Marathon, and with Death Valley Marathon a couple weeks away, I was starting to worry about my endurance. I ran a little over 20 yesterday and felt great. It's fun running with other ultrarunners because everyone talks about which 50 mile, 100K or 100 miler they are planning in the coming year and it almost makes what we do sound ordinary.

One last thing; it was cool to be included here. I've always said I'm only doing this for the fame, accolades, and fortune.

The Obligatory Goal Post and Getting Epic Like Kim Jong Il

I've written about goals in the past and how I don't really believe in them. I don't sit down at the beginning of the year and write down things that I don't really think I'll be doing come January 31st. Instead, I spend the year focusing on what I enjoy doing, whether that be spending time with my family, or running trails. I run long races because I love to run, so this year I'm focusing on more of the same. The main thing that I learned this year about my running is that if I focus too much on goals and reaching them at the expense of the enjoyment that I gain from running, then there really is no point in running at all.

That's not to say that I don't want to run faster or further, I just don't want to do it at the expense of my enjoyment. I love running and I cringe when I hear the cliché answer "because I can" or the "because it's there" to the admittedly difficult question of "why do you [insert hard thing here]?" I love a long jog in the mountains, I love running through the night, I love running through the rain and muddy trails, I love watching high def videos of European mountains that I hope to run someday, I love the long talks with friends, and the short guttural responses when we are running too fast to form sentences, I love walking to meet the early morning regulars with my headlamp off and steps lit by the stars, I love running through streams with my dog, I love coming home after a hard run, sweaty and stinky and giving my kids hugs as they cringe, and I love the taste of blood in my mouth and numb shoulders because I can't give any more. "Because I can" doesn't begin to describe it.

I've been thinking a lot about potential lately, and pushing the limits to reach mine, and to be able to see it in others. That is something I need to work on. We all have greatness in us, the ability to accomplish things unimaginable. I think that's one thing that my kids have taught me, and I'm working really hard to see this potential in others.

My daughter Kaya was born nine weeks premature, and she struggled early in life.

Tanning

I remember the incubator and a short, elvish doctor discussing the health of my daughter, still developing lungs, with the help of tubes, drugs, and a warm, glass-covered bed. I remember being scared, not sure if she was going to make it.

This memory came hard at me last night as I watched her dancing to Just Dance 3, our new video game, my five-year-old keeping up with her six- and ten-year-old siblings. Moving arms and legs, spinning around, singing the songs that she has heard from the lips of her older sister, and laughing.

I failed to see this potential as she struggled in the hospital, relying on machines and drugs to live, to gain weight and recover from starving in the womb, with a knotted umbilical chord. We were as surprised as the doctors when she came out, her source of life cut off, and slowly starving. Now she makes us all laugh, spouting off knock knock jokes at the dinner table with the timing of a natural comedian.

Last night, as she finished dancing, growing weary of LMFAO on repeat, she squeezed in next to me on my favorite chair as I wrote about her early struggles. She looked over my shoulder as I typed on the screen, asking me what I was writing about and I told her I was just writing about my sunshine.

Sometimes I get lost in the day to day struggle, the fear and the uncertainty, and I forget to recognize the potential for greatness in others, a potential that we all share.

I have a lot planned for 2012 and it's more of a wish list than a list of goals. The year will start with some short trail races, a marathon in Death Valley, a traverse of the Joshua Tree Riding and Hiking Trail, a traverse of Zion National Park with Jess, a 50 miler on the Pacific Crest Trail, a 100 miler on some of my favorite trails in San Diego, and a top secret marathon on the trails of San Elijo Hills with some of my favorite people. When I look at that list I get giddy from excitement. I look forward to stretching my limits while sharing beautiful trails with some amazing people. I consider myself lucky and blessed, and when the struggle gets me down, I am grateful that I have the ability and the drive to occasionally do some long, epic jogs.

And while we can't all run a 1:59 marathon like Kim Jong Il, occasionally we can all do something epic.

Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year.

Hiking Elfin Forest

Yesterday, I went on a long hike with two of my favorite hiking buddies. It was a nice reminder to slow down, take in the view, and talk. We talked about school, where lightning comes from, Charlie Brown's Christmas (Woodstock is cool, but the rest of those kids are kind of assholes, right?), and the amazing taste of orange Gatorade. My son carried his own CamelBak and snacks that we ate at the top of the climb, overlooking the Olivenhain reservoir and dam. We did about 5 miles of pretty steep hiking, and he only fell six times. I guess I should have bought him the trail-rated Chuck Taylor's. He's a good little hiker, though, strong and deliberate. He would stop every few minutes to point something out to me, he spotted Double Peak Park, the new hospital by Stone Brewery, a hawk circling above us, and he would ask me to be quiet so he could try to hear the stream down below. I run this trail a lot, but I generally don't take the time to look around, and yesterday was a good reminder.

My wife's friend passed away a few days ago. My wife and kids went to the memorial service on Sunday and had an amazing time. Her friend was an artist, so all the guests made a huge splatter painting. My kids came home covered in paint and laughter. I can't think of a better way to celebrate a life.

Thanks for reading. I hope you are all able to slow down over the holidays and enjoy time with friends and family.