The gloves are off!

The Oven Gloves!

With the start of 2010 literally round the next corner we’re on the cusp of what was eloquently described as resolutionism in Lora’s blog. And so here endeth the excess, as if to reinforce it I answered the question posed on Twitter…

With…

And back on the straight and narrow I’ll be going! I am a realist, holidays are holidays, what’s the point in guilting yourself out of something and them having it anyway, better to enjoy it!

So cometh January 1^st I am upping the training ante, part of which is to re-incorporate core work, for my ‘Hood training program I used the ‘pushruns’ (10-15 pushups every mile) which worked really well, but in this cycle it’s all about speedwork so I need to fit it in elsewhere, additionally I need to drop back to my racing weight; especially if I need to hit some of the targets I have set myself. I had a great interval track workout the other day and I am starting to see some real improvement in my speed and I am getting a glimpse of what’s ahead!

So using the principles I discussed in this post I’ll be using the 100Squats/100 Pushups/200 Sit Ups challenge over the next 6 weeks, I threw it out on Twitter to anyone who was interested, there are no prizes only the motivation of acquiring washboard abs, rock hard quads and double guns to set you up for the Spring, you can sign up here, follow the instructions on the second tab and fill in your results…easy peasy well apart from the squats, push ups and sit ups! Sign up and join in the fun!

Lastly the winner of the 13.1 Los Angeles is Lindsay, Lindsay let me know your email address and I’ll send you your entry code!

I am no marketer…but I know what I like!

It’s that time of year, January’s editions of Runners World or Trail Runner have hit your door mat or maybe Triathlete or UltraRunner or any combination of them, you’ve read the shoes reviews, the interview with the celebrity runner, the 101 training tips that you’ve never tried before (but you vaguely remember seeing around this time last year) and made a mental note to try the healthy post run meal. Now you’re at the end of the magazine, you find yourself flicking through the last half a dozen pages and looking at the ads for races; some catch your eye and some don’t.

Now as the post title alludes to I am no marketer but I am a complete sucker for marketing, make it appear difficult, unique, a bit hair-brained or just plain hazardous and I am often found merrily figuring out how I could get there and even punching my credit card number into my keyboard. Here are a few that appeal, excuse my cropping:

Artful, eye catching and simple, a bit dangerous and strangely both Canadian!

At the opposite end of the spectrum you have some that are over worded, poorly photographed home crafted versions, I have actually run the Calico race, (report, photos etc here ) it’s a beautiful high desert race that  really could have such a better advertisement!

It actually gets worse with Marathons:

Now I am not saying I could do any better but if a picture is worth 1000 words, please use the picture in fact use two or three!  Although I suppose if all else fails we all know sexy sells right!

Hello my old friend…it’s been a while

Ah the holiday week, I am forced to take a week off, seriously where I am contracted closes for the week; no work till January 4^th the downside is no work equals no pay though.

So when my wife suggested a hike I thought what the hell! I confess I am not a big hiker, it’s too…pedestrian. But I’m pretty pedestrian right now and so to a local section of the Back Bone Trail we headed. I’ve not been on a trail since 100 in the Hood, not that I was nervous but, well, it’s been awhile.

The Back Bone trail runs the length of the Santa Monica Mountains and is approximately 70 miles in length, we’re lucky to live close enough to it to be able to hit one of six or seven trail heads within a 20 minute drive so I suggested a nice section slap bang in the middle; 3 miles up and 3 miles down. It was also a chance for my wife to off road her new Salomon XT Wings…my recommendation, her conclusion they rock! Ladies you can get yourself a pair from WRC, use Quad10 for a 10% discount. In fact WRC is having a killer sale, check it out and grab yourself a bargain!

We parked, we hiked, we chatted, we laughed and before we knew it, well I knew it as my Garmin is almost an implant I wear it so much, we were at the top and treated to this view;

Looking west across the Pacific towards Catalina Island

Looking east across Topanga Canyon and the snowcapped San Gabriel's in the distance

Worth the work I would say, we about-faced and ran and walked down, round trip time; 2:17, distance 6:76, reconnecting with old trails; precious, doing it all with my wife; priceless!

There’s till time to vote for me in the Endurance Blog of 2009 one click is all it takes follow this link and if you want to throw your hat or visor into the 13.1 lotto add a comment to this post!

Hope you’re all enjoying your holidays!