Teaching an old dog new tricks…

I seem to have forgotten how to run! Well on trails at least, six months of recovery and road have left me with joints that only go in movements of forward and back! And that was the take away from today’s hour or so on the trails; my knees and ankles are decidedly wondering WTF is going on! You see when I started running trails, they were the gentle fire road type near our old house, months went by with me pottering around them as I ventured further and graduated onto more technical terrain. Of course I conveniently forgot that as I headed to my local trail head at our new house, super technical it ain’t but it’s no groomed fire road either.

Anyway this starts of the great base build of the summer and also the relearning of trail running. Last week was a wash but now I have nearly tamed the back to work pile of crap that I had to climb over to even get into my cube so it’s time to start lacing them up again! I’ve a trail marathon to race in November and I am pacing a friend to her first 50k the following weekend (right Penny!) so I need to get my not so skinny butt in gear!

Right now it’s all about time not speed, running for hour(s) not miles and back to running pushruns and the like…and as much of it on trails as I can; today was a real reminder of why that’s where my heart lies. Here are some pics from today…enjoy.

The Ultimate Direction…usually up (hidden joke!)

Blue skies and spring flowers

Technical…ish!

Scary, well he would be if he was more than 3” long!

Chaparral color

Sign on part of an interpretive trail…it made me chuckle!

Raindrops on roses!

These are a few of my favorite things…

My technology; Forerunner, MotionBased and Google Earth, where I came from, where I am, how fast I got there and where I am going…oh yes and what it all looks like from space!

My retail therapy; Chainlove, SteepandCheap, Woot, Zombie Runner, is it telling that I have a blog categories of "Gizmos & Gadgets" and even worse “Not More Stuff”?

My weather: cool crisp mornings, low cloud burning off, clean mountain breezes and desert vistas There’s a reason I live in Southern California. I am grateful every day.

My view: high peaks, deep valleys, rocky outcrops, dizzying switchbacks and the infamous “nearly there”.

My run: the first mile always sucks, so the second is always better, the penultimate mile means I’ve nearly finished; it’s time to dig deep and the last means it’s over…only till the next time.

My RBFs: inspiring, humorous, passionate, honest and supporting…’nuff said!

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Quick update on Saturday, my official time was 3:55:13 104th of 292.

Week 3 Worth the Weight results coming soon…

Samson night!

I am sure you may well be familiar with the tale of Samson and Delilah, where Samson’s strength is lost after Delilah’s servant cuts away his seven locks of hair. Well my day was somewhat the reverse, no Delilah or servant of hers but there was a haircut and strength gain. So yes I got my haircut, no real biggie there. This evening I was scheduled for an 8 miler, it was significantly cooler when I headed out just after 8pm. A chirp from my Forerunner and I was off, eight miles later and 1:02:45, a new training PR, I was done! Complete with the prerequisite negative splits, it went something like this: 7:35, 8:04, 8:13, 8:02, 7:44, 7:50, 7:47 & 7:21. Not super fast compared to others but it’s been quite a while since I threw down such a run and I was just happy enough to have it in the bag; hence the post’s title.

Home, home on the range!

I got back into LA yesterday, a ten and half hours flight, luckily the plane was a little empty so I had an empty seat next to me.

Weather here is somewhat warmer than when I left, it maxed at 107F yesterday and was 84F at 9pm at night; it’s supposed to cool down as the week goes by, fingers crossed. It was great to see my wife and the boys, five days is not long but it’s long enough.

I uploaded all my Garmin data and updated my training logs etc. Last week was not a total write off, I plugged in 25 miles running but no cross training other than dragging two suitcases around with me. My diet was ok and I managed to not go crazy on home treats although my Mum did bake an awesome cake, she’s a wicked good cook and the occasional Jammie Dogder was consumed!

I did manage a 10 miler on Saturday and had no trouble from the ITB, I am hesitant to say it’s behind me and I want to maintain the good habits I have developed. I have to mix things up this week (rest days/training days) to work around the traveling but it should balance out at the end. I also retired a pair Asics Kayano 13s (368 miles) fondly known as "Pair 1" and will introduce a new pair of Kayano 14s that have been calling me from my wardrobe and will be known as "Kayano blue".

Looking at the MotionBased data just made me laugh, for some reason it’s not recognizing London and has, rather appropriately, called it “Cubitt Town”! And so I present to you SLB running in circles!

Absent With Out bLogging

I am still alive, I know you were all wondering, I have been subject to planes, trains, the Easter Bunny and Spring Break, life has suddenly overtaken my blogging habits! A quick recap:

~Last week on the bike around 85 miles or so; ok
~Lots of stretching and foam rolling; good
~Lots of easter eggs; bad
~Departing in laws after a six month stay; good and bad all at once
~No running; also good and bad all at once
~ITB & knee etc; feels good
~Finished my PMP prep courses and scored a B or higher in all; good
~Lots of revision before the exam; bad

I came across this searching for an image for this post, it seems that easter eggs are not the only thing that's bad for your health!



OK that's it for now, sock report to follow, I know you're all on the edge of your chairs!

All quiet on the West Coast front

Well it’s been a quiet week, Monday I rested, I should have pushed weights but I was pretty spent after the weekend's long runs so I skipped it. It proved to be the right choice as my easy run on Tuesday went well, I dropped my car of at the VW dealership, it was well overdue for a service and ran back home for just over 9, clicking off the first 8 miles in 1:08:02, a nice even 8:30 pace. Wednesday was intervals, I was forced onto the treadmill and managed to get a nice set of negative splits, over the four miles; 8:52 (eek, that was horrible), 7:11 (that’s better), 6:52 (getting there) and 6:47 (ok now were firing on all four cylinders, just to keep the car theme going), of course none of this data would be possible without the Garmin footpod, trust me if you use a 205 or 305 and run on a treadmill, get one (Marcy, Amazon have them at 67% off!) Thursday was a tempo run, again I had to use the treadmill, but the splits were:

8:36
8:25
8:05:
7:57
7:54
8:10
12:26 cool down and walk

Somehow I missed the middle two miles at tempo pace?!? Put it down to old age. Friday I rested. Saturday started early and I managed just over 20 miles on the trails at Cheeseboro Canyon, another park nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains, my Garmin decided to run out of battery before I had even started, I think I turned it on instead of off the night before so it just drained out overnight! Duh, told you I was losing my mind as I got older! In addition to the header picture, here are some photos of the trails. These trail are the ones used for the Great Race of Agoura which is the first weekend of April, I am kicking around the idea running it as my last long run before I start my taper for Leona Divide, I ran it last year and it’s a lot of fun, it's 85% full already so I need make up my mind asap . Sunday night was a headlamp and highway session for another 14.5 miles making a total of just over 35 miles for the weekend and 57.56 for the week. This week was supposed to be a step back, but I am away next weekend and have the LA Marathon the following one so I switched so I can have an easier week and then a mini taper for the marathon. Not surprising my quads are pretty shot but I am treating them to liberal doses of Flex-Power, yeah I know it sounds super cheesy but it's good stuff, and they are responding pretty well, heat seems to help rather than ice.

On the shoe front I am having a bit of a nightmare, I returned the Merrells with the bad sole pattern and have received and returned a pair of Montrail Hardrocks or "Hardkicks" they were so stiff and a pair of Merrell Overdrive IIs; different sole pattern but an uncomfortable "vamp" (see page 90 Runners World March 08), I am going to try some Vasques next, finger crossed!

So, other than the footwear issue, a good week all in all and I’ll take a large box of good weeks between now and Leona Divide thank you very much!

Spring in my step!

With less than 2 months till the first day of Spring (March 20th) I got lucky tonight with a little early taster.

Tonight was my first real run since Calico, I spent last weekend catching up on some "schoolwork", I am studying for the PMP, that's price for disappearing midweek and forgetting your books and laptop! I did run a couple of miles on the treadmill while I was away snowboading, but the altitude; 7500’ really screwed me and left me gasping for Os. Now I know why Ryan Hall trains and lives in Mammoth Lakes!

Tonight's run was scheduled as an “easy” 8 miler, but I guess I must have had some go fast beans in my chili, as I was able to crank out the 8 miles in just under 64 minutes which is a smidge under an average of 8 minute miles for the distance, the 9th was a cool down and the final half or so was just the walk up the hill to my house. Let’s see if those beans last over till tomorrow, I have one mile intervals.

Here's the Garmin data:

Oh yes and I also got to try, as recommended by 1miletogo, my Petzl Tactikka while running, so far I had only managed while using the grill, it's a long story, suffice to say an apron, a big fork and a headtorch make for a funny sight! If you're running in the dark do yourself a favor, get one and see and be seen!