Good Ben's musings

http://runkeeper.com/user/breeves2000/activity/61755342

2011-12-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

http://runkeeper.com/user/breeves2000/activity/61755342

More in 2011?

2011-02-15T09:11:00.001-08:00

Wow. A whopping 2 blogs in 2010. I've really been tapping the creative energies full force!

Maybe I'll be better about it this year, but I'm not going to lose sleep if I don't blog more often.

This year is looking pretty good so far and I'm hoping to race more than in a few years past.

Currently, I'm signed up for the Greenland 50k and will use that as a training race for the North Fork 50 miler in July. If I stay healthy, I'm also planning on doing a couple of adventure races this summer and then I'd like to have a strong run at the Steamboat 50 miler in Sept. So far, training is going well so I'm really looking forward to this year!

Nostalgia?

2010-09-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

Not sure why I'm putting this down, but I find it very interesting.

During my adventure with Matt Hart on his speed record attempt of the Colorado Trail a while back, I was pacing him from Gold HIll trailhead oer the Ten Mile Range from Breckenridge to Copper Mountain area and while on the trial, I experienced a deja vu. We all have those occasionally and we're usually left with a sense of "was that a dream?" or some other sense of bewilderment.

This past Sunday, I was running (accidentally) on the same stretch of Colorado Trail in the opposite direction when I got the same feeling. There was the familiar part of the trail which intellectually, I knew that I'd been there before, but there was also something else. A feeling of something larger. It was a very scenic portion of trail and extremely challenging and at the time, I was at about mile 18 of a trail marathon.

It's strange how the mind works and I'm curious if we'll ever fully understand it.

Fall is getting here now and trail runs and songs and time with friends is as sweet as ever. Apparently I'm really liking the change of seasons, but this year, the nostalgia seems stronger than ever. Perhaps that's a sign of getting old(er)?

Clothing Drive

2010-02-05T08:47:00.001-08:00

skeptical to say the least

2009-11-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

I like Google's products and services. I think they're useful and intuitive. I also realize that they're all ultimately tied to the "mother ship" in one way or another. Whether it be for reporting usage statistics for "product improvement" or if it's a web app which is directly hosted by them or something in between like Picasa which is on YOUR computer and manages YOUR pictures, but still logs on to Google via your Google account for enhanced services.

It all seems fairly innocuous, but if you stop to think (and read the EULA) about what you are giving Google access to, you'll realize that your email, (gmail) pictures, (picasa & email) videos, (youtube) chats, (google chat & AIM) voice conversations (google talk) and may other things are all archived and accessible. Even if you opt to keep your profile information private, (or rather non-public) Google and possibly partner companies still have access to it. The recent release of Google Dashboard is an attempt at transparency, but we all know that he who controls the information can also be selective in its disclosure. READ THIS

I guess what a lot of this boils down to is what we're comfortable with being "out there" and how much we're willing to make known about ourselves.

= BEWARE!

Here's where I'm going with this ramble...

The new Google Chrome OS is a new window manager running on a Linux Kernel which basically runs the Chrome browser. This is Google's idea of what an operating system should be. Their video describing the reasons behind it's development even state that. In the video, they say "if you're like me, you spend 95% of your time in your browser" (on the internet) so why not just eliminate everything else? On the surface, it seems like a good idea especially since netbooks are becoming so popular. Why not just make everything a 'net client? Google Chrome OS aims to do just that and make everything we do part of "the cloud" on the internet. People are only fooling themselves if they feel secure in doing this.

By doing everything via 'net app (internet application) you no longer have to worry about losing your data with a hard drive or computer crash. It's always available online from any computer with internet access.

No more massive hard drives with tons of storage for all of your music, pictures, videos, personal documents, etc. clogging up your system and slowing it down. Also, no security patches to be regularly installed because it's just a browser. Nothing else to be hacked right? Wrong.

What about the systems that store all of the data that everyone uses online. That's still online ALL THE TIME and how can you be sure that it's protected from intruders? Who's to say that you're not trusting all of your online life TO the intruders? Don't be so naive as to think that the password to your Google Accounts makes all of the information contained therein YOURS!

It is entirely possible based on profile information, (address, phone #s, etc) blogs, pictures, (picasa facial recognition) geotags, GPS, and many other "useful" tools for the keeper of all of this information to develop a full profile of you to be used however they see fit.

When I did intelligence in the Army, we used psychological profiles based on MUCH less information than we give to our online personas. As much as I hate to sound like one of those loony conspiracy theorists, this information could be used for different types of profiling which leads down a very slippery slope.

Think that idea is a stretch? It's already being done. It's called targeted advertising and is the basis for Google's Adsense and Adwords.

Giving thanks.

2009-11-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm sitting in a hospital room. It's not for me this time. It's due to respiratory complications with our little princess Isabella. We were admitted last night and she's been receiving breathing treatments all day. The Doctor has suggested that it could be altitude induced asthma. Neither Allison nor I have or have ever had asthma to our knowledge so it's strange that Isabella would have it. We'll have to see what it means for her future.

After Thanksgiving, I'm going to resume training. Family, health, and work permitting, I'd like to be able to do several races next year. Tentatively, my niece and I are aiming to do the Moab race. I'll use that as a tune up/training race and see what I need to work on from there.
Training is still hit and miss with my knees. Still learning a new stride as I retrain myself to run correctly.
Although I'm not in the kind of shape I'd like to be and I can't do the things I'd like to do, I'm extremely thankful that I have the ability to do most of the things that I enjoy. I'm also very grateful that Isabella is as healthy and capable as she is.
Lets see what happens.

Awesome!

2009-07-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

Gut Check

2009-06-26T14:02:00.001-07:00

Last weekend's race was another learning experience for me. I knew that the distances were a little more than just a test for my recently repaired knee, but it's been so long since I've done anything difficult that I felt I needed to push it somewhat.
Push it I did.
Thursday night I drove out to Durango/Purgatory and camped out at the start/end of the CO trail. Friday morning when I woke up, I realized it would be a long weekend when I felt a scratchy throat and some congestion building in the sinuses. Too late now. No turning back no matter what. This would be my mantra throughout the weekend.

The kayak was shortened from 20 miles to 16. 8 UP river and then 8 back down river. The current was about 3-5 knots so it was a stiff paddle, but I surprised myself with how well I handled it. Finished that one in just under 4 hours.
Saturday morning I had some energy, but the breathing was becoming shallower as the wheezing had already started from the head/chest cold. This told me that the mountain bike wasn't going to be easy, but since the legs had felt strong recently, I figured I could wing it.
WRONG!

We started UP the Purgatory ski slopes and in the first couple of miles, we gained a little over 2000 feet of elevation. Instead of taking it easy like I should have, I stayed in a bigger gear and went anaerobic too soon and stayed there for too long. Once we popped out onto the road and the climbing because mroe gradual, I was already nauseaus and my body was going into protect mode and was not giving out the necessary energy. After a short decent on dirt roads we began another gradual climb and despite the nausea, I geared down and tried to push to no avail. My legs felt as though they were filled with cement and I couldn't get any turnover. This was around mile 8.
The next 30 miles are fuzzy as my mind was in a funk and I was really cold. Rain started and at 11,000 feet it was mixed with some sleet. Forgetting my jacket wasn't my problem, but it sure didn't help any. All I could do to warm up was keep moving and pull up a single arm warmer that I found on the road. Surprisingly, it really did make a difference!
I hit the halfway point (mile 25) and grabbed a banana and topped off the water and moved on. They asked me if I wanted to drop. I guess I looked as badly as I felt and I know I was close enough to the back that I might be close to missing the cut-off time later on.
Me? Drop? No thank you. I may feel like crap and my mind was in the wrong place, but a DNF will never be my choice.
Around mile 38 the nausea started to subside and I could hold down more than just water and electrolytes. Obviously my race was over VERY early on, but I was happy to had survived to that point. Then I downed some cliff shot blocks and felt some turnover return to the legs. The rain and all of the bikers in front of me had churned up the course pretty good and I had mud everywhere. Even under the glasses, but was beginning to enjoy the ride a bit more. The scenery was fantastic when I was able to sneak in a glance at it. Most of the time, I was focused on the technical trail so I didn't eat it.

There were several DNFs in this race so I was happy to have been one of the finishers. After finishing however, I wasn't sure how I was going to run the marathon the next day. I really wondered if my body would recover enough for me to run ANY at all.

Thankfully, the Endurox and Recoverite I was ingesting each night was helping. So I toed the line on Sunday and prepared myself to try to enjoy some scenery.

Going UP Purgatory again was no fun, but this time I was smarter about it. I walk/jogged it keeping the heart rate low enough and just stretching out the legs a little to get them warmed up. Once we popped out onto the road for the 5 or so miles headed down to the Hermosa Creek Trail, I began to open it up a bit and cruised past several of the long legged folks that were out-striding me on the way up the hill. During this short dirt road section, I held a quick, but comfortable pace and was really surprised at how good I felt considering. Shortly after getting onto the trail though, I downed a Raspberry flavored Hammer Gel and knew right away it wasn't staying down. Somewhere around mile 10, it came back up with some water and energy and motivation. Wish I could have kept that down!
Right after puking, I saw a couple of people pull away from me. 2.5 miles later at an aid station, I learned that they had already gained 8 minutes on me! This would be my guage and motivation for the remainder of the run. Once I had regained some energy, I started finding a comfortable pace again and tried to hold it. Walked the steep uphills and ran the flats and downhills.
The trail was awesome and at one point, I had to stop in the middle of it and gawk at the beauty of an Aspen grove high on my left which led down into a large patch of Lilacs and some other kind of white fragrant flower. That combined with the view and sound of the Hermosa creek below (and maybe some endorphins) made for a memorable Taster's Choice moment for this trail runner.
Aid stations came and went and I was washing the Shot Blocks and bananas down with water and feeling great except for some tender feet. My longest run in preparation for this had been 14 miles although I had done a couple of back to back 12 milers a few times. Muscles and the knee were responding well and I learned at each aid station that I was gaining time on the folks ahead of me. At the last aid station, I didn't even ask how far ahead they were because I knew I'd give it all I had to try to catch them. If I did, then great, if not, then at least I ran my best.
about 2 miles before the finish, I caught and passed the two people who got away from me when I was sick and kept the pace as strong as I could. The feet were tender, the legs were draining fast and the lungs were burning and wheezing, but I found some speed at the end somehow.
When I crossed the finish line, I had gained 5 minutes on the two I passed recently. Finishing in 5:30 for ~28 or 29 miles.

Overall I am pleased with how my knee held up and am ready to race some more! Now I just need to work on my fueling and strengthening strategy. The cardio isn't a problem, but since I still can't do quad strengthening in the gym due to the microfracture, I'm limited with how well I can climb on the bike and decend the hills on the run.
I'm not complaining though. It just feels good to be back out there!

Lately...

2009-06-14T23:24:00.001-07:00

Leaky Bucket Fiscal Policy

Well, training got derailed the past 2 weeks. It was going well until we left for NC. I was hoping that while in NC, I could at least get in some "maintenance" workouts even though that was during my building/strengthening phase, but that was not to be. I had one fun trail run with Sean and a couple of swims, but other than that, I got nothing but down time surrounded by Southern cooking. At least I didn't over do that part. Thankfully, I was able to eat sensibly during the trip(s).
While in NC for Allison's cousin's wedding, we found out that my Grandmother died. After the wedding, we changed our flights, rented a car, and drove down to Pensacola for her funeral. It wasn't really unexpected as she was 96 years old. She's lived a long and full life and died peacefully in her sleep with my Mom by her side.

Rest in peace Gigi. I love you and we'll miss you.

We stayed in FL a few more days and visited with family a bit. Went to the beach, got a sunburn, went kayaking, and got in one decent run although it was on the road and sidewalks.

Shoe review and motivation

2009-05-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

UltraRunning from Matt Hart on Vimeo.

Here's a video that Matt Hart put together for a presentation that he and Sean Meisner did at the Mountain Hardwear store in Seattle. Great video footage. If this doesn't get your blood pumping, you're not a trail runner.

I've been curious about the new Montrail Mountain Masochist shoes and got a chance to try them out for free. They were sent to me from Montrail as part of a promotional deal I won on Facebook. I didn't have to write a review of them or anything, but I'm going to anyway.

Ever since my surgery, my running has been sporadic at best. The knee has been healing, but since I wasn't sure what it could and could not handle, I've been taking it fairly gingerly. Most of my runs had been 8 miles or less at one time and never back to back. Also, I have been running in the Brooks Cascadia which I thought were awesome until I got my new Mountain Masochists hereafter referred to as MMs.

These shoes are amazing. It's been a long time since I've loved a shoe this much (if ever) and I've waited a whole 3 runs so far to report on them.

In the past, I've always worn more protective shoes with a good bit of cushion, but most of the Montrails that I've worn have been really stiff. Mainly the Continental Divides and older Hardrocks. I also briefly wore the Odessey, but that shoe just wasn't for me.

The new MMs seem to be a cross between the Highlander and the Streak. The Streak doesn't work for me because it's too neutral. I need a little more pronation control and arch support and this shoe has just the right amount of both for me. It's also much more cushiony than I thought a 10 oz shoe would be. I figured it would be another minimalist shoe that I wouldn't be able to put many miles on at once like the Fireblade or Raceblade from LaSportiva, but that's not the case with the MMs.

They have enough cushion support and rock protection to allow for technical trails, long miles, and won't hold you back when you want to let loose and go fast.

My first run in them to break them in was a 10 miler on rolling hills and it was the first time in a long time that I actually felt like a runner! The past few months (2 yrs?) I've muddled through runs and forced my way through some miles, but wasn't able to get into a rythm or feel good during it. This run was different a little over halfway into it. After I got past the inital stiffness and achy knees during the warm-up, I decided to push the pace up a little on a flat gradual uphill section and see how they felt. The remainder of the run (~7 mi) I didn't need to slow down.

Heel cup slippage has been a problem for me in past Montrail shoes which I've been able to remedy with the power loop, but Montrail has redesigned the heel cup and it doesn't seem to be a problem with this shoe. It has a snug fitting heel cup and a fairly wide toe box. So much so, that I thought it might be TOO roomy for me, but after cinching up the laces, the shoe conforms nicely to my foot and I still have room for foot expansion when it swells after some longer miles.

Another thing that I noticed about these shoes that I've never noticed about any other shoe is the traction. The MMs are noticeably very grippy in every condition I've been in so far with them. I ran 11.3 miles of intervals in a little mud and technical trails with wet rocks on Tuesday and was comfortable and confident with every step.

On a side note, after tuesday's run, my right achilles felt done for the week. Some of the intervals I was doing was up some hills and it may have been too much too soon, but after stretching it out some all day Wednesday, I decided that I needed another few miles on semi-tired legs so I did another 9.2 miles for a back to back workout.

Yesterday's run (on the heels of Tuesday's intervals) was more than I could have hoped for. Even with the new shoes, I fully expected to suffer through as many miles as I could handle before walking or limping back to the car, but that wasn't the case. After the first 2 miles, I was able to put it in cruise mode and did the last 7 miles between an 8 and 8:30 min/mile pace. I felt so good that I was on a high the rest of the evening. Only mild stiffness in the achilles and some mild discomfort and minor swelling in the knee.

Maybe it was just the right time to turn up some training now that my body is (maybe?) ready for it or maybe it was the magic shoes, but either way, I'm a happy trail runner again!

In case you can't tell, I love my new shoes!

More focused training

2009-05-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

I've set my mind to prepare for this. The 3 day challenge has been tempting me for a few months now so I'm going to give it a shot.
After soliciting some advice from my neighbor, I decided to start upping the mileage a bit and start some back to back days. This will get the legs used to working while tired and will make them stronger.
Yesterday, I headed out to Deer Creek Canyon Park and did 11.2 miles in 2:09. Sounds as slow as it felt, but there was a LOT of climbing out there. Plus, my legs felt like they had cement in them from start to finish. It seemed like I had no gas in the tank and lumbered up the hills while sputtering down them. The hard part was all physical. The mental part made me glad I was pushing it and enjoying the outdoors.

That was supposed to be the good day on fresh legs. Well, semi-fresh legs anyway. I rode a little over 18 moderate to hard trail miles on Sunday, but the legs never felt depleted until yesterday. I need to do another 10-12 miles today, but I think I'll stick to some relatively flat(er) ground at Waterton Canyon or the HR trails close to home.

The knee is ok, but a little uncomfortable. That was expected so I'll continue to ice it and might even try a Naproxen or an Advil.

The Dumbest Generation

2009-05-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Recently, I posted some thoughts on inner conflicts I deal with regarding our overdependence on technology.

From the Dumbestgeneration.com website:

"The dawn of the digital age once aroused our hopes: the Internet, e-mail, blogs, and interactive and ultra-realistic video games promised to yield a generation of sharper, more aware, and intellectually sophisticated children. The terms “information superhighway” and “knowledge economy” entered the lexicon, and we assumed that teens would use their know-how and understanding of technology to form the vanguard of this new, hyper-informed era.

That was the promise. But the enlightenment didn’t happen.

The technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes, and improve their minds had the opposite effect.

According to recent reports from government agencies, foundations, survey firms, and scholarly institutions, most young people in the United States neither read literature (or fully know how), work reliably (just ask employers), visit cultural institutions (of any sort), nor vote (most can’t even understand a simple ballot). They cannot explain basic scientific methods, recount foundations of American history, or name any of their local political representatives. What do they happen to excel at is – each other. They spend unbelievable amounts of time electronically passing stories, pictures, tunes, and texts back and forth, savoring the thrill of peer attention and dwelling in a world of puerile banter and coarse images."

A few days ago, I posted a Twitter and Facebook update stating that I was "pondering the decline of intellectual curiosity in Western Civilization."
That day, I was thinking about how many issues we face in society could be related to that topic.
Appropriately enough, a friend of mine actually replied to this by saying, "Dude....you are seriously too deep. Are you a half empty or half full fella? Have faith in your fellow man:-)"

A few other replies were as follows:
- "you're wasting your time man, westerners are too indifferent..."
- "We're much better off when society watches the boob tube 5+ hours a day, don't you think?"
- "really? Why? Oh who cares anyway..."

For the last one, I really liked the ignorance and apathy reference.
A lot more on this subject is bouncing around inside my head, but it probably won't come out coherently and I'm out of time for blogging today...

ongoing recovery

2009-05-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the second of the Adventures Xstream adventure race series. This one was held in Buena Vista, CO and I was really wanting to do it, but held off in favor of letting the knee continue to heal. Plus, since it was Mother's Day weekend, Isabella and I had some good quality time together while Mommy enjoyed some time to herself.
On Saturday, we went to the Front Range 50 bike race to check out some of the action. I thought it might be interesting to check out some of the bikes and see some of the racing action. Not that interesting really. I've seen enough of that and it was just frustrating to me because the course was dry and very fast and I was wishing that I'd done the race the whole time. I haven't done any significant racing since 06 and I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines.
On that note, however...
A few days ago, I was speaking with a P.A. for another Orthopedic doctor in town and she said that with debridement AND microfracture, I should expect about a 9 month healing/recovery time frame.
This was disheartening, but helps me understand the continued discomfort I've been feeling during and after runs and rides.
On the fun side, I've already encountered a Rattlesnake ON one of the the trails I train on and yesterday, there was a coyote out on the trails as well.

Yet another reason it's not smart to run those trails with headphones.

Here's a recent photo from a ride on the Colorado trail. I went out one day with a training partner and we rode out to the trail, dropped the bikes in the woods, ran a few mountainous miles, then rode back down to the car. Good training day and the knee felt fine until later that day.

building up?

2009-04-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been training more regularly with a variety of things. Been in the gym adding swimming to the weight routines. I'm still a horrible swimmer, but it's still a good workout no matter how bad my technique is. Been running at least 3 days a week as well and the knee is staying fairly consistent. Consistently hurting that is. It's not unbearable pain, but it's annoying and frustrating that it feels no different than before the surgery.
So I just have to train through the pain and hope for the best I suppose.
It really feels good to be in the trails on a more regular basis. Did a long ride the other day and have been doing some short, but tough runs with some significant altitude change.
I'm not fast and am wondering if I'll ever get any speed back with the knee condition, but at least I can do something which is better than nothing at all.

Scotch!

2009-04-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Those who know me well enough know of my affinity for Scotch. And I'm not talking about Dewar's or Johnnie Walker either.
Sunday, The Art of Manliness posted a pretty good guide on this worthy subject. I especially liked the referenced quote below.

“The proper drinking of Scotch whisky is more than indulgence: it is a toast to civilization, a tribute to the continuity of culture, a manifesto of man’s determination to use the resources of nature to refresh mind and body and enjoy to the full the senses with which he has been endowed.” - David Daiches

The rest of the post can be read here. (http://artofmanliness.com/2009/04/05/the-art-of-manliness-guide-to-scotch-whisky/)

busy last week

2009-03-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

It was so good to sleep in my own bed last night!
Last week was our 15 year anniversary so Allison and I went to Estes Park, CO for a few days of R&R. Our new roommate (my 19 yr old niece) agreed to watch Isabella for us so we felt comfortable leaving knowing our little girl was in good hands. We stayed at the Stanley Hotel which is where Stephen King was inspired by, and wrote "The Shining" during his stay there. Contrary to common misunderstandings, it wasn't actually filmed there, but rather in some other gargantuan hotel somewhere in Oregon I think. Anyway, the hotel is not creepy, but it is old and beautiful and set in a spectacular landscape.
While there, CO got hit with a huge Spring snow storm and dumped between 1 to 3 feet of snow in various places over a 24 hour period. This made driving home Friday morning interesting and slow.

Once back home, I kissed my little girl, played in the snow, repacked the FJ, and got back on the road headed for Moab, UT to volunteer at the Adventures XStream Adventure Race.
I really wanted to do this race, but the knee just wasn't ready for it yet so I decided to help out.
Friday and Saturday night, I slept in the back of the FJ in some very chilly temps.
After a not-so-good night's sleep, Saturday morning came extra early when I headed out to Gemini Bridges where I would be assisting with the ropes section of the race. At this part, the racers leave their bikes at the top of the canyon, rappel down the ~300 feet vertical wall, then run 5 miles back up hill to the top to reclaim their bikes and carry on with the rest of the race.
I was at the bottom of the ropes helping to belay the racers' rappel.
At one point, some rocks came knocked free by one of the rappellers came down the cliff and hit me in the trapezius muscle on the right shoulder before I could react. My helmet couldn't protect from that and I now have a large bruise and a slight sunburn to show for my day's efforts. All in all it was a successful day with no major injuries and the racers had a good time.
My Sports Chiro/rehab Dr, Jeremy Rodgers took second place in the Men's solo division behind Pro Adventure Racer Travis Macy.

Wisdom though the ages...

2009-03-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

thoughts...

2009-03-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I struggle with some things that I do in society. I work in the telecommunications industry and help to facilitate and propagate new technologies that make the world more and better connected. That has it's good and bad sides.
For one, I love technology. I play with it at home for fun and feel VERY fortunate to have a job that allows me to earn a living in something that I enjoy.
Another love of mine as most people know, is outdoor activities and in particular, adventure racing. These two interests of mine are very much at odds with each other and reconciling the nature of each in my life and mind is sometimes confusing.
Allow me to backtrack a little.
After leaving high-school, I joined the Army and did Satellite communications and Intelligence Analysis. This was not really that taxing mentally, but often, it was physically demanding being part of a rapid deployment airborne unit at Ft. Bragg. Basically, I was physically challenged, but not mentally.

Upon my honorable discharge and leaving the pride of serving my country behind me, I made the transition to a civilian job working with IBM Global Services in Tampa Florida. This job was the complete opposite of my previous life with the Army in the sense that it was mentally demanding, but offered no physical challenge. As is the case with many people in the corporate world, I needed both types of stimulus. Interestingly enough, Ted Kaczynski touched on this very thing in his "manifesto" and the effects of the industrial revolution on society. If you've never read it, please take the time to do so with an open mind and think about some of the implications of technology on our daily lives. (another similar and fascinating article here)
Back to the present.
One thing that technology does is the enablement of more multi-tasking (based on one's capacity for such) due to ever increasing computing power. This multi-tasking in the networking arena allows for more and faster communications via different mediums. The very definition of communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs. (Dictionary.com) Now that we're able to exchange thoughts and ideas instantaneously with anyone and everyone that wants to know, how much substantially relevant info is being communicated. Obviously the answer to that subjective question depends on the individual perspective, but I feel that the more access we have to entertainment and each other, the less originality there seems to be.
This leads me to wonder just how much ease of information access or communication is necessary.
This is also one of the conflicts that I see in my own life.
Yes, I twitter. I'm on Facebook and MySpace, and obviously, I blog. I love technology and I support my family through the use and furtherment of technology, but electronic communication is (IMO) impersonal and requires less human interaction. Of course face to face communication isn't always geographically possible, but those people who are regionally capable, still lean on electronic means of communicating due to convenience.
The conveniences that technology has created for us has led to more sedentary lifestyles for many. A sedentary lifestyle doesn't fit with my idea of "living." To me, there's a big difference between existing and actually living.
When I'm trail running or mountain biking, I can be alone with my thoughts while being physically challenged. During this time, I am being myself without feeling the need to check or update my electronic "status" with the world.
Don't get me wrong. Communication is essential and I feel that EFFECTIVE communication is falling by the wayside for many reasons. Ignorance and apathy to name a couple.
Perhaps if we as a society had less convenience, we might be better communicators. If we were forced to actually FACE those with whom we wished or needed to communicate with, there might be more empathy and understanding amongst our fellow humans.
Since I'm thinking out loud, I guess it all boils down to a matter of personal choice. This is a problem though because when given the chance, most people with choose the path of least resistance or perceived greatest pleasure instead of the road less traveled.

Are you making the most of life or are you letting life make the most of you before it uses you up and discards you?

Gear review

2009-02-25T08:45:00.000-08:00

For the past week and a half, I've been able to return to *some* biking and running. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've acquired a new bike and now also have a new pair of trail running shoes to comment on.

First the bike:
My new Motobecane Team Fly is very light and has some great components on it. Some of the highlights to include:
FSA Team issue carbon cranks with FSA MegaEXO External Bearing System
Shimano XTR Front and Rear Deraileurs and Shifters
Avid Elixir CR brakes
Vuelta Team Superlite wheels
Ritchey WCS Stem, Flatbar, Seatpost, and grips
RockShox Sid Race 100mm front fork

These are the main points, but one of the things I don't like about it is the Ultegra 9 sp cassette they put on it. It's a 12-27 and doesn't have the range of gears I'm used to. Easily enough corrected with a new SRAM PG990. The bike is VERY light and not having ridden a hardtail in a long while, I'm used to a slightly heavier and more active full suspension.
I've had this bike out on a couple of rides, but yesterday was the first real test on anything mildly technical or fast. I have to get used to the differences like the weight (or lack thereof) and the Rigid rear end. Now I REALLY can appreciate the reviews of FS bikes when people say that it "climbs like a hardtail." Most of the time, this is an exaggeration, but at least now I KNOW what that's supposed to feel like! :-)
Also, the Elixir brakes are very nice. Maybe even too nice for me and this bike. I don't need that much braking power, but the ease and range of adjustability are really sweet!
The Vuelta wheelset is seriously light, but the jury is still out as to their toughness. I"m keeping in mind the mtn bike mantra.... "Light, Strong, Cheap. Pick two." We'll see.
The bike handles well enough, but the head angle is quite different from the Giant Anthem I've been riding. The Sid Race fork is 100mm of SMOOTH travel and has a lockout, but I haven't found the need to use it yet as it's not too active.
I'm not really in good biking shape yet, but I'm amazed at the ease at which I'm heading up hills already. This bike came with the skinny Kenda Klimaxx 1.9 tires which are ok, but I'll be replacing them soon with the Maxxis Ignitor 2.1. Also, on flats, despite the rear cassette/gear ratio, I'm able to hold 19-22 mph for a few miles. Haven't had this on any long flat sections yet, but it's very light and pedals easily.
The differences I'm feeling between this hartail and my past FS bikes are really noticeable. The bike is so much more responsive when cranking under load. Not at all squishy. The lightness allows it to get up to speed much quicker than I'm used to as well. One downside is that it's less stable on fast descents and around cornering hard requires different weight distribution.

Now for the Shoes:
Although I've been a Montrail and Vasque fan for a while, I got these Brooks Cascadias at a locally owned store. The owner, Alan Culpepper is a super nice and helpful guy. He's also quite the impressive runner with a very competitive history.
He was showing me some new laces that he plans to start selling soon. When I asked if I could buy a pair from him, he offered to give me a pair to test and give him my opinion.
The shoes fit great and are super comfortable. This is often the case when one tries then buys shoes, but doesn't always stay true when running the trails in them. Fortunately, this shoe feels even better running trails than it does in casual wear.
It weighs and fits like a road shoe but has enough support to handle rocky trails. The mid-sole is very cushiony but that's fine for me. Taller and heavier runners might not like it because it doesn't have as low of a profile as many other trail shoes out there and it may feel squishy to them. Works for me though. The shoes also have aggressive traction, but the lugs feel almost too soft. I hope they're durable. I've had shoes that lugs broke off on rocks before so more miles and trails will be the judge on this.

The laces are a very cool concept. They're elastic and designed to be strung, tied once and that's it. From then on, the idea is to slip them on and off. The elasticity is supposed to keep them snug while allowing for foot expansion and flexing while running. Great concept and I'm sure it'll work, but finding that "sweet spot" between too tight and too loose is hard. The laces are a little difficult to run through some shoes, but once they're in, they stay put! I'll have more info on them later when they're for sale.

Train Hard, Win Easy.

2009-02-23T07:36:00.001-08:00

I saw this video on Scott Jurek's blog and wanted to repost it here. It really makes me feel ashamed for my attitude towards running. It really is a luxury for me, but one that I feel I need. Now I just need to stop taking so much for granted and try to focus on doing my best with what I've got.

Back on the trails

2009-02-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

It's been a little over 4 weeks since my Arthroscopy and I don't think I could've asked for a better outcome. I've been continuing to see Dr. Jeremy Rodgers with the Colorado Sports Chiropractic Center and he's had me doing progressive stretching and strengthening for it and the knee has responded well.
Sunday, I was able to get in a 3 mile mountain run followed by another 4 mile bike ride also with some sustained climbs and decents. Afterward, the knee felt fine.
Yesterday, I did a 5 mile ride close to the house on some trails and although it still feels weak, the knee responded well again. I think I'll try another 3 mile trail run today on some easy trails at slow pace.
This is pretty exciting for me, but I want to keep it under control so I don't re-injure anything or undo any progress. Still, it feels good to be back on the trails!

Currently, I still have my Giant Anthem which will continue to be my full suspension race bike when the trails call for a FS, but I now have this SUPER LIGHT weight baby in my stable for some faster things when climbing fire roads and smoother single track are called for. (more pics here) WITH pedals and computer, it's still 19 lbs!!!

Not worth the chair you're sitting on!

2009-02-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

Lance has some criticism for one of his critics!

On Giving

2009-01-26T20:28:00.000-08:00

The following excerpt is from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. It's one of my favorite chapters and summarizes my feelings on giving. Much of this book has guided my thoughts and feelings on a few different issues in life and I always enjoy re-reading it because I pull something new from it each time.

Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving

And is there aught you would withhold?

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."

The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father. - Kahlil Gibran

got cut

2009-01-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

After having a quiet, but fun Christmas and New Year, I was able to get in a few more days of skiing.
The Dr's visit for the MRI results was on Monday the 12th and he scheduled the arthroscopy on Thursday the 16th. That was fast! I wish I could share the MRI results with you, but I can't seem to get a copy of them. He had a very busy schedule and that date was the only one open for him till March so I wanted to get the recovery started sooner rather than later.
So here we are one day after surgery and I'm simply amazed. That was the least stressful of any surgery I've ever had and coming out of the anesthesia was easier and smoother than I've ever experienced. No ill after effects at all and soreness is minimal so I've not needed any pain meds yet.
Initially, he planned on doing arthroscopy/arthroplasty since the debridement was deemed necessary. Once he got in, he noticed that there was more cartilage wear/damage than originally thought from the MRI so he decided to do a microfracture to force bleeding and stimulate more new growth and hopefully faster healing. You can see from the pics that there was quite a bit of fragmentation in the cartilage. This was smoothed out which should cut down on the amount of irritation. Time will tell.
I'm cautiously optimistic, but am a little excited to feel like I'm on the right track to recovery. Let's just hope I don't get too frustrated with the time it takes to recover adn heal PROPERLY and don't cause more injury with rushing the process.

Below are pictures from the surgery. Click on them for a larger version but be warned they are BIG!

skiing now

2008-12-15T11:09:00.001-08:00

Been seeing the sports chiro for a few weeks with more mixed results. Mostly bad news for the knee. The exercises he's given me haven't been able to compensate for the damage that's already been done in there and the cortisone shot only provided temporary respite. At least it helped us know better what we're dealing with. Now, he's sending me to an ortho here in Denver and we'll do another MRI and go from there. Looks like some kind of procedure is inevitable. More on that later...

=

Lately, I've been able to get in some skiing. Nothing crazy, just some fun alpine style in different conditions. I don't do moguls or jumps so it's ok on the knee. My first time out to Vail with Lee 2 weeks ago was awesome. The parking situation is pretty inconvenient, but the slopes were great and we were there while it was snowing and they already had about 10 inches of fresh powder on top of packed stuff. Very nice indeed. I'm loving my new skis.

Saturday, I went to Arapahoe Basin by myself and enjoyed a couple of hours. It's not as big as Vail, but there's a good bit of terrain to choose from and it's much closer than most other places. Plus, it's VERY convenient because you can park RIGHT beside the lifts. I literally skied back to my car when I was done. No resort there to complicate things.

Pretty soon, the resorts will have most if not all of their terrain open and skiing will be much more fun (and crowded) since I like to find routes less traveled. With limited terrain open, it's hard to make your own tracks. Thinking of heading out to Breckenridge again this week. We'll see how the knee is feeling.
Lately, since I haven't been able to run or bike, I've been going to the gym and have been hitting the weights for the first time in a long time. The initial soreness felt great, but now I'm getting back into it and forgot how quickly I bulk up. I really need the cardio to keep the lean muscle mass and to burn off the layer(s) of fat that are building up. :-(

Michael Parkes

2008-11-03T14:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of an art lover or critic, but I love this guy's work. I own the one titled Cargoyles. To see more, check out his site. http://www.theworldofmichaelparkes.com/html/artists.asp

going crazy

2008-10-31T14:19:00.000-07:00

My knee hasn't been doing too well lately. I've been going to see Dr. Jeremy Rodgers of the Colorado Chiropractic institute for a little over a month now and I'm not sure what to report. The patella tendinitis isn't as bad (pain) as it was before, but as a result of the exercises my knee is pretty sloppy now.

Initially, Dr. Rodgers told me to take off 3 weeks of running while we strengthened some supporting muscles since I've been running over my 5th toe on my right foot and he wanted to get some abductor muscles stronger to pull my knee inwards a little to have my knee over my second toe when I started running.
The exercises combined with some taping has made my patella pretty unstable. It's not staying put at all. When I walk up or down stairs (i live in a 2 story home with a basement) it pops with every step because it's tracking mostly to the left of the groove it SHOULD be in. It's not like a knuckle popping that's loud, it's more like the sound of a dislocated bone sliding back into place with every step. This in itself doesn't hurt, but it leads to more inflammation and subsequent swelling.
He's sending me over to an Orthopedic that he works wtih for some Cortisone shots to try to get the swelling under control and if that doesn't help get us back on track with his program, then he's going to recommend 2 different surgeries. :-(
We've been trying to avoid surgery at all costs, but it's possible that there's just too much damage to allow the body to heal itself or compensate effectively. We'll see. I'm not going to put it off any longer once they say that's what they want to do. I'm going to get everything done at once and hopefully, be back on my feet healthy and training again next year.
This is very frustrating for me because running and biking are my stress relievers. I live in Colorado where it is beautiful, I have so many wonderful trails close by to explore and it's FALL! The best time of year for running and I can't enjoy it. I've had a few dreams lately about running and they've all been bouldering downhill after running some smooth single track with leaves crunching under my feet. Those dreams have been torturing me. I can't even bike anymore after last Sunday because of the instability and the swelling and pain afterwards.

So now I'm home icing it 2 to 3 times per day and will be getting the cortisone shots soon and then we'll see if it improves enough to resume the therapy program.
Maybe I'll at least get to get in some skiing this season. Since I don't' do moguls or jumps, skiing shouldn't be too hard on it. Just the easy stuff. Groomed or powder on smooth rolling terrain. If I can't even do that, I might just have to stop into a pawn shop for a good deal on a full auto cause I'm going to go postal!

Catching up and political rant.

2008-10-10T11:23:00.001-07:00

Lately, I've had plenty to blog about, but just haven't had any motivation to do to. Here's an attempt to try to catch up.

About a month ago, I did a race with Adventures Xstream out near Vail. Although I was not anywhere NEAR being in race shape, I wanted to see how I'd do and wanted to see the scenery and test the AR skills.
Navigation was pretty basic with a couple of surprises and the distances weren't too crazy, but the terrain and the paddle gave me more of a challenge than I expected.
Race Breakdown:
The night before, we were given the course map and passport. We had to plot out our checkpoints and route based on the instructions.
The race started at 7:30 am in 30 degrees with an 8 mile bike ride to checkpoint #1.
At CP1 we received coordinates for CPs 2-4 to be reached on foot and we decided the best way to reach those in whichever order we chose. I was in the first transition about 2/3 of the way back in the pack, but was second out of the TA going into the navigation.
CPs 2-4 and the final run down to CP5 was ~ 5-7 miles and my knee and energy levels were still good.
I was still in second place beginning the first kayak leg and was still losing ground on first place, but still gaining ground on the rest of the soloists behind me.
I'm not a strong paddler and did not have a good boat so the class 2 river paddle wore me out for the first 6 mile segment. This leg of the race took us back to the transition area which we biked to at CP1 earlier. CP1 was now CP6 and after refilling the Camelback, I mounted the bike again in search for CP7 & 8. This part of the race took us up a LONG climb on a dirt road up the back side of some mountains. We climbed over 3000 feet in 10 miles and then had a decision to make about the route to take getting to CP8. The whole bike section was scenic, but grinding except for the downhill. The climb up took me 2 and a half hours (with a flat tire fix in the middle of it) and only 30 minutes to do the descent with a stop along the way for CP8. Getting back to what was originally CP1 & 6, I got back in the kayak for the final paddle down river to the start/finish. This last leg was more class 2 with a short section of class 3 and it was exhausting.
Surprisingly, I finished still in 2nd place and was 1 of the 4 or 5 soloists to finish the entire course. Many of the others couldn't complete it due to time cut-offs.

A week later, Ben Holmes (a.k.a. Bad Ben) and his wife Vicky came from KC to visit us. I had the privilege of seeing them in Leadville a few weeks earlier in August during the Leadville 100 mile trail run where they were supporting some fellow trail nerds who were running it. It was fun to also get to help out and watch that action unfold.
While Ben and Vicky visited, Ben and I got in a short but fun run in on the trails near my place.
Over the past few 3 months, I've been running about 6 or 7 times, biking about 3 times that, and the knee has been getting worse. I knew I had to do something about it soon.

Ski season is coming up soon and I now have my own set of skiis and have the Colorado Pass so I really hope to be able to take full advantage of it this winter. The way my knee has been feeling, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do that.
SO, I decided to put out a request for recommendations from the Boulder trail Runners mailing list. After receiving several recommendations, I decided to go with Dr. Jeremy Rodgers with Colorado Sports Chiropractic Center and go with his recommendation if I needed to see an orthopedic for anything. Many of the recommendations I received from the BTR list are below.

1. Dr. Voss of Boulder Orthopedics and Bob Cranny [Altitude Physical Therapy] (both x3)
2. Dr Stephen Paul (x3)
3. Lori Faulkerson (x2)
4. Dan Ocel (x1)
5. Jeremy Rodgers Sports Chiro (x3)

My visit with Dr. Rogers last Thursday was very positive and I'm enthusiastic about doing treatment with him. Hopefully, we can get my knee healthy and back in shape in time for ski season, but more importantly to me, in time for next year's running and adventure racing.
Of course the previous statement will be heavily dependent on the knee as well as my ability to race with whatever resources are available and those are dwindling with the economy taking such a downturn.

ON THAT NOTE...
I'm sick of the political ads, the negative commercials, the lies, and the blatant ignorance of the general public. For those of you who want to go along with the mass media's interpretation of what's at the root of the economic problems, you might want to get your facts first.

And for those who don't really believe that there's a democratic/liberal bias to CNN, I was trying to post comments with some facts in response to some political and economic articles and NONE of them were posted by the moderator. However, most of the comments that WERE posted were slamming Bush or Republicans in general and the slams had nothing to do with the articles. Why weren't my comments posted? There were nothing inflamatory there, nothing obscene, and no advertisements in my comments.

Here's some info for those of you who wish to know a little brief history leading to our current economic situation.

This is in case you were wondering how the housing crisis happened, which in turn has affected the stock market…as well as all financing in general.

During the Clinton administration all credit requirements for loans were lowered. This (combined with the dot com boom) helped caused an economic boom we all hear about during the Clinton Administration. Initially the lower standards were for low-income individuals. The middle class and the rich all took advantage of the same relaxed standards in order to buy investment homes. Everyone bought houses they couldn’t afford with no money down. Eventually, all of these mortgages were bundled and sold as investments on the stock market. Finally the bubble burst and now we are in a bad economic situation.

Clinton’s involvement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

This is from the New York Times in 1999

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&&scp=1&sq=Fannie%20Mae%20Eases%20Credit&st=cse

Good quotes:

· “Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.”

· “the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.”

· “In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.”

In the early Bush years (2003-2005) republicans attempted to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was fought by the democrats and no regulations passed. We don’t know why they didn’t pass, what we do know is that the largest campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been to Democrats. Obama receiving the second most of any Democrat. I am not sure if there is a tie, but it is interesting. In any case, Pelosi should get her facts straight before she speaks and blames the crash of the stock market and the housing market on President Bush and the republican party.

Actual congressional hearings when the republicans were trying to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the democrats were against it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

McCain trying to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2006

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190#sMonofilemx003Ammx002Fmmx002Fmmx002Fmhomemx002Fmgovtrackmx002Fmdatamx002Fmusmx002Fm109mx002Fmcrmx002Fms20060525-16.xmlElementm0m0m0m

Maybe we need to hear it in basic language (with an angry guy explaining the crisis.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYKk-uHTcks&feature=user (btw-I love this guy)

Although we know the war (that both parties voted on) is a large part of our national debt. The collapse in the financial market driven by the mortgage lending market and bundled products on the stock market are the cause of our economic downturn.

Check out this fascinating ppt:

http://www.slideshare.net/eldon/sequoia-capital-on-startups-and-the-economic-downturn-presentation?type=powerpoint

Sequoia called in all their startups to tell them how to survive the downturn.

Just in case you continue to hear Democrats blaming the Republican Party for the economic situation, you now have the facts!

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying vote Republican or Democrat or Independent. I'm saying the same thing I've always said which is my motto in life. Know what you believe, but more importantly, know WHY you believe it. Bottom line is THINK FOR YOURSELF and don't believe everything you hear. Especially on TV.

I'm no fan of President Bush, because Republicans have traditionally advocated LESS government and more personal responsibility, but under his tenure, the Federal Government has grown tremendously and I don't believe we're approaching "the war on terror" the right way. Anyone who thinks or says that "Bush's tax cuts" were for "the rich" obviously doesn't understand how our tax system works and is guilty of perpetuating ignorance.

Anyone who believes that Obama's tax plan which will result in 45% of the US population NOT PAYING ANY TAXES AT ALL yet still receiving a rebate is good for the country is being lulled into socialism. But that's delving into a topic that I don't have the time to explain right now.

Ok, enough of the rant.

Currently, we're all in Orlando for my work. I'm here for 2 weeks of training and we're catching up with old friends and will get to see family as well. Pictures will be forthcoming soon.

Enjoying the Colorado Summer!

2008-08-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

I've been slower with the updates on the posts lately due to some fun time with more friends visiting. Here's a few highlights...

Here, Sean and I stand at 14,063 feet on top of Mt. Bierstadt.

In the above picture, we are beginning to make our way across the sawtooth over to Mt. Evans. This was a little scary and precarious in places, but definitely doable without ropes. Just takes a lot of nerve.

Above is me perched on one part of the sawtooth. Below is a weasel that was curious about us. Cute little guy that followed us for a minute. Probably wanted to see if we had any food.

Below is a view from atop Mt. Evans. In the bottom of the picture, you can see the parking lot for the folks who like to take an easier route up to 14000 feet. The peak of this one is at 14,264 feet above sea level.

Below, you can see one of the few animals able to survive in the tundra climate of the upper Rocky Mountain peaks. The Rocky Mountain Goat. This guy was a little shy and didn't want us coming too close. It's amazing how agile they are on the side of the mountain.

Sean and I made the ~10 mile trip in about 9 hours. We had thought we would be faster than that, but it seems we underestimated the conditions. That being said, we were just happy to be done safely. During the trip, we were snowed and sleeted on a couple of times by an approaching storm front that closed the road to Mt. Evans on Friday. The day after we were there, it snowed over half a foot on both mountains. Looks like our timing was just right.

Recent photos

2008-08-01T12:30:00.001-07:00

This is from when Shane and I climed Mt. Bierstadt after biking.

We also got to visit Lee and Monique and Connor while they were camping outside of Georgetown.

After hanging around the campfire for a while, we decided to go for a hike near Mt. Bierstadt.

Isabella had fun and stayed awake the whole time.

Slacking

2008-07-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah I've been a slacker lately on the updates. A lot has been going on and I haven't been very good about having the camera at the ready to capture all the fun moments.
My sister came to visit as a last minute trip courtesy of a birthday present from my Mom and Grandmother. During her visit, we also had a visit from our friends the Jones family from KC. That visit was a little last minute as well, but we were glad to see them again and to get to spend some time with them. See more about those visits on Isabella's blog here.
During their visits, I wanted to help them explore and enjoy the wonders of living in CO as much as possible and since that means getting outdoors, I was able to get in some good training. My knee is now paying the price for all that activity with the tendonitis on the right knee and the ongoing LCL issues on the left knee. A doctor's visit is in the near future for me!
Here's a summary of recent activities since the Firecracker 50 race:
Biked a little over 230 miles on trails
Ran with my sister on local trails

Climbed/ran Mt. Bierstadt <-- yes actually made it to the summit!
Went to a Police concert.

Hiked part of Mt Bierstadt and Deer Creek Canyon twice with Isabella in the backpack.

Gotta figure something out

2008-07-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, was fun, but it was also an eye-opener for me.

I need to pick something and do it whole-heartedly. No more of this dabbling in this and that and trying to be above average at everything. This goes for most aspects of my life and it's becoming more and more dis-satisfying. I have the ambition to be really good at most things I apply myself to, but since I try to do so many things, I'm not as good as I know I can be at anything.

Last week, we learned that Allison's Grandfather Smith had passed away at his home during the night. This meant we needed to get a last minute ticket back to NC for the funeral. While in the midst of planning, I wasn't sure I'd be able to go due to work obligations and upcoming changes. (more on that later) Our friends Brian and Nicole helped us get a buddy pass (Nicole works for Delta) which got Allison to Atlanta for free based on standby availability. Once in Atlanta, she caught a ride with her cousin Eric on his way to NC. At the last minute at Allison's request, I got a ticket to NC through priceline that left Denver 1 hour later than the flight she and Isabella were able to get on. Mine went all the way to NC so I beat them there by a day.
Once there, everything went smoothly and I returned home on Sunday afternoon while Allison stayed behind for a few more days. Her return trip to Denver was supposed to be on Wed afternoon so instead of driving back to ATL from Fayetteville, her sister Amy bought her a ticket from Raleigh to ATL stopping over in Charlotte. However, once in Atlanta, she was unable to make it on any of the overbooked flights and kept getting bumped. She and Isabella were both exhausted from the trips and we had no idea when she would be able to come back. Frustrated with the whole mess, I just bought them a ticket from ATL to DEN for the next afternoon and put them in a hotel so they could both get a good nights sleep and be home at a definite time on Thursday.
On Thursday, I picked up Allison, Isabella, Mark Koester, and his girlfriend Katie at the airport and brought them all home. Later that afternoon, Mark, Katie and I went to the Rockies game losing 1 extra ticket we'd purchased for Allison because she was too tired to go and we didn't want to add any more confusion to Isabella's already crazy world now that she was finally home.
We had a good time at the game. It went extra innings against the FL Marlins, but the Rockies were able to win it at the bottom of the 12th.
THEN we were dazzled with a very cool fireworks display at the stadium.

While at the game, Chris Locke and Eric Tiffany arrived at the house. They had been driving from KC all day and were staying with us since we all were doing the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge on Friday July 4th.

We got up early (5:30) and hit the road around 7 am for the 1.5-2 hour drive over to Breckenridge for the race. This was the National Marathon MTB Championship race so we knew it would be a packed race full of talent. We had read the course description, but I don't think it really sank in with either of us just how much climbing there would be.

The race consisted of 2x25 mile loops. The course was BRUTAL and very technical on some of the descents. There was ~1000 racers that started and I have no idea how many finished, but the finish rate was MUCH lower than the start total. Of the 45 pro riders, only 32 of them finished. Many dropped out during the first lap from exhaustion and/or mechanical failures.

My age group started several minutes behind the elites and the beginning was a lot of fun. The bike race was the kick off to the parade in the middle of town and we were part of it. We had to ride an enforced 10 mph behind a course marshal until we were outside the outskirts of town at which time the marshal peeled off to the left and we began racing in earnest.
The first 6.5 miles was all uphill and seemed more like one of the mountain stages in the Tour De France than a mtb race.

Several of the downhill sections were very steep and technical and many riders experienced multiple flats and some race ending crashes. During the first big decent, the rebound adjustment valve on my Fox 32 F80RL front shock blew off due to the rough terrain and this left the inside of my shock wide open. This was not a good thing as dirt can get in and all of the oil was getting out. And every time the fork would compress, it would shoot oil all over the right side of my body. I had shock oil from my helmet all the way down my right leg pooling in my shoe. This was a yucky situation made worse by the super dry conditions which caused all the dust to stick to the oily part of me. The busted front shock also meant that I had to ride more carefully through the rough stuff (couldn't ride race pace) because it was destroying my bike.

I completed the loop more tired and beat up than I should have been due to the mechanical issue, but it also made me realize how much fitness I've lost with my lack of focused training.

The next day (Saturday July 5) we rode part of the Colorado trail and then did the trails close by my house. Chris and Eric were both tired too, but they wanted to get in as much Colorado biking as they could. Great training weekend for me. Now I need to pick a race to train for and apply myself.

muddling along and learning the hard way

2008-06-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks, I've really missed running. My mileage has dropped off and am only running MAYBE once a week. The knee pain is my current reason/excuse, but it hasn't kept me from biking. In fact, Chris Locke and I are considering doing the Firecracker 50 mtn bike race in Breckenridge on July 5th.
I'm considering changing jobs again. I have an opportunity to stay with the company and change positions again to something that I think I'll like better, but am not sure. I've been in telecom so long that I think I'm getting burned out on it. Although I still love technology, it might be a good thing to change industries completely. We'll see.
Got a call late last night that Allison's Grandfather passed away. Her Grandmother (his wife) died February of 07 and he has been getting weaker ever since. Still, no one thought it was his time just yet.
A couple of weeks ago, Lee and I tried to summit Mt Bierstadt. It's one of the 14ers out here and I thought it would be a good one to try first.

really didn't think that climbing a 14er in the summer would be much of a big deal. We hike up there, struggle with a little breathlessness and then hike back down in a couple of hours and then say we did it. Not that easy at all.

We made it within 500 feet of the summit, but had to turn back due to weather and me being very unprepared. The weather forecast that day was for a high of 45 and sunny so I had three shirts on and compression shorts under hiking shorts. Other than a numb face, I was fine until my foot punched through the snow and got wet and subsequently numb. The higher we went, the colder it was and with the wind at a constant ~30-50 mph, and snow blowing, we decided to turn back instead of pushing it to the danger limit.

The video was taken somewhere around 12,800 to 13000 feet.

We'll be going back VERY soon to do it again and will be successful next time.

Tag, I'm it!

2008-06-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Bad Ben.

1- How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

Most of my running was for triathlons or adventure races and training for them was done on pavement! YUCK! Even though the adventure races running events were on trails, I still trained on the roads. Most of my runs were 6 miles or less and usually no more than 3 days per week.

2-What is your best and worst run/race experience?

Sorry, but I don't feel like sharing my worst run experience in a public forum such as this. If you really want to know, ask me in person. Needless to say, it ain't pretty! There are several runs that stand out in my mind as being memorable in a positive way. A few of them involve races, but most of them are long runs with good friends.

3- Why do you run?

Stress relief, fitness, because "Fat Ben" is constantly chasing me, and I like to push/test my limits.

4- What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?

The best advice I've been given is to listen to your body. A strong mind can push the body to previously unthought of levels sometimes, but it takes experience to know when to listen to the body's pleas for mercy.

5- Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

I was a paratrooper and an intelligence analyst in the Army for a few years and in my spare time, I troll online forums on philosophy.

Now I'm supposed to tag some other people so these are the people whose answers I'd really like to read:

Chris Locke

Matt Hart

Jamie Donaldson

Here are the rules guidelines:
If you have been tagged, you will find your name at the end of this post. You should then, copy the rules (or your version of them), and the set of questions onto your blog post, provide your own answers, and then tag 5 new people.

Just to be sure that everyone tagged knows they have been invited to play, go to their blogs and leave them a special comment letting them know, and refer them to your blog for details.

One more thing, once they've answered the questions on their own blog, they should come back to yours to tell you.

Biking the Colorado Trail

2008-05-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Since I've run part of this first section of the CO trail, Ive been wanting to do the whole first section of it. It would be nice if I could incorporate it into my running routine, but work has put a HUGE dent in the training. Last week I was in Dallas, next week I'm in NJ and the week after that I'll be back in Dallas again.

Just before I began all this traveling for work, I was able to get in a good long ride on the aforementioned first leg of the CO Trail. It was fantastic! A bit more climbing than I thought and parts weren't ridable, but it was all definitely worth doing. In all, it was a little over 30 miles round trip and just over 5200 feet of climbing.

Along the way, I encountered one runner training for the Leadville 100 and two riders (guy and girl) from the Czech Republic beginning their attempt to do the whole Trail system one weekend at a time! They'll have to hike parts of it and they're figuring out the logistics along the way. Good luck with that. An admirable undertaking for sure, but a bit ambitious to try to wing it.

Lots of wildlife along the way. There were Elk, lots of deer, Bighorn Sheep and several other critters making sounds in the woods. Most of the snow had melted off, but there were still patches here and there.

In retrospect, I think I would have felt safer doing this with someone else, but I didn't have anyone willing to do this ride with me just yet.

lately...

2008-04-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a short trip to NC. The family got to meet Isabella and I was able to spend some time with my Mom and my 95 year old Grandmother who flew up from Pensacola.

The day before we left CO, it snowed about 7 inches, but was 78 degrees the day before. During the winter, the snow was pretty cool and seasonably aesthetic. Snow during Spring just looks strange.

I'm hoping to be able to start running again. Haven't done much since the race. Travelling, the new job, and lack of motivation have all conspired against me. I've been on the bike a couple of times and the bike legs are still feeling good. I love my Giant Anthem! Although out here, I often wish I had about 100 mm of travel instead of the 80 on my current setup.

AXS Moab

2008-04-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

The short version is we DNF. My first in an Adventure Race.
Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about that.

The race was divided into classes and each was given a separate stagger start time. The 4-person Co-ed teams began at 7:30. Our division (4-person open/single gender) began at 7:45 am. The rest of the course started 15 and 30 minutes after we did. The race began at a river campground with a 7 mile kayak leg. We were still scrambling to get our PFDs, hydration packs, and happy to be starting this adventure in such a beautiful place. We had paddles together when the start was issued. We were second to last in the frigid water, but discussed potentially lashing the boats together if they didn't track well, but we soon got into a rhythm and were able to keep them straight without having to tie them together. The Colorado River was higher than normal from a larger than normal snow pack melting in the Rockies to the East. The current was swift and helped make the paddle cold, but quick. We did a little over 7 miles in about and hour and 15 or 20 minutes. Once out of the water, we headed over to our transition area where we shed some wet clothes and changed into bike shoes, gloves, and grabbed the gear we would have to carry for the remainder of the race.
Transitions have never been my strong point, but I guess that experience has taught me that time wasted in a TA is hard to make up if you're going to be pushing yourself through the rest of the race.
Once on the bikes, we had a short 3 mile stretch on the paved road before heading into a LONG climb up a canyon on a technical 4x4 road. I figured that while on the pavement, we could hammer a little to get the legs warmed up and try to make up some lost time. My teammates didn't subscribe to this idea. We started off in the back of the pack and kept falling even further back for the rest of the course.

During the climb, we caught up to several teams unable to ride the steep terrain. Many were walking their bikes up the canyon climb and we soon joined them. We were also caught and passed by many of the remaining teams that started after us. Once at the top of the canyon, we were on a more gradual uphill climb on an easy dirt road which led to another 4 mile stretch of paved road. Much of the paved portion was downhill and we were able to rest the legs and coast down. Then it was a right turn onto another 4x4 road leading to the next phase of the race. This bike leg was ~25 miles with the last 5 miles consisting mostly of deep sand that had to be pushed through.
Once to the bottom of a canyon, we dropped our bikes, put on our running/trekking shoes and began the ascent back up the 5 miles of sand we had just pushed our bikes through on the way there. This led us up to the top of Gemini Bridges where we were to rappel down 300 vertical feet to the bottom of the canyon which is where our bikes were stashed. After a 2 hour hike uphill to the rappel, we were told that we were past the cut-off time to continue the race officially. We begged and pleaded our case and although declared officially a DNF at that point, we were the last team allowed to do the rappel back down to our equipment since it was faster than walking back around again. It was a fun rappel that I'm sure tested the nerves of a few people.

From here, our race was over and I guess I let my disappointment take control of me. We had to get back up the canyon to the race course officials who would determine if we could continue unofficially or if we would have to hitch a ride back to the start/finish line. I never said much to the rest of the team, but instead, just rode up by myself. I had plenty of energy and was still feeling fresh and wanted to finish even though it was starting to get cold and dark and we didn't bring lights. The race officials said that I couldn't go by myself so I waited for an hour and 20 minutes for my teammates to arrive. Eventually, I just caught a ride back to the start so I could put Allison's anxious mind at ease. She always worries about me if I'm not in within 2 hours of when I estimate I'll finish. We were WAY overdue and I knew she would be worried.
I didn't start out biking that last time with the intent of leaving my teammates behind. While alone with my thoughts and too much energy, it just sort of happened. Apparently, this denotes a lack of commitment to the team, but the race was over and they all had food and water and were only 5 miles away from the race course officials who eventually came to pick them up anyway. I don't know if it was my competitiveness that took over or my desire to just finish that led me away. Logistically, I knew I had to hurry if I was to make it back to the long canyon for the fast downhill (which we'd struggled up earlier) by dark. Once I reached the course officials, I found out that this would not be possible and I was now not ONLY a DNF officially, but wouldn't be allowed to finish UNofficially either.
My teammates were pissed. Rightfully so. I had acted selfishly. It was demoralizing and rude to them and after some internalizing, I decided to apologize sincerely to each of them separately and then to them all as a whole. Two of them graciously accepted my apology and the third decided that holding a grudge and giving me the silent treatment was the best way for him to deal with his anger and frustration towards me. That's fine.
Lessons learned all around. I made many mistakes before and during this race.
In a race this long (~12 hours) it is necessary to have a "go go go!" type mentality just to make the safety based cut-off times. My teammates had no such sense of urgency.
Warning flags were all over the place, but I dismissed them as minor issues that wouldn't be a problem. Some of the warning signs were as follows:
- Teammates had limited experience in Adventure Racing. (usually not a big deal as everyone has to start somewhere/sprint races are better suited for first timers)
- Teammates not making concerted effort to make training together a priority.
- Teammates' lack of enthusiasm for the pending adventure. (maybe I'm reading too much into this, but they just didn't seem very pumped up about it)
- Teammates wanting to carry enough food for several days out in the wilderness. This is not a good strategy for speed.
- Teammates not having a sense of urgency for getting set up in TA and getting to start line on time for race start.
Yes, it seems that I'm pointing the finger completely at my teammates when the problem was (is?) MY expectations, attitude, and choices. I should have done this race solo or chosen teammates with similar goals in mind for a race. As it is, there are now 3 guys who think I'm a hyper-competitive, insensitive jerk.
But as I contemplate the root cause of this negative human interaction, I can't help but continue in a certain (selfish?) line of thought. I volunteer for certain programs and organizations that benefit others. I put my own time and money into helping others for no tangible gain in return. Adventure racing is what I do FOR ME. It's what I have to myself as a positive, healthy outlet for stress which encompasses several different things that I love about outdoor activities.
In this situation, I think I just chose poorly in teammates who had different goals and motivations. It's not that they are bad athletes or poor competitors, but they have different personalities and experience levels and thus, had different objectives than I did this time.
Hopefully, I haven't made any enemies for life. I like for all personal interactions with other people to be a positive experience overall.

Tagged

2008-04-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by "Shane Jones" to play a little game called "six word memoir".

Here are the rules:
1) Write your own six word memoir
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links
5) Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

Here is my six word memoir:

"Have meaningful interaction. Leave no trace."

Feeling good!

2008-03-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

The weather around here has been pretty nice lately. Occasionally, the temps will drop with a cold front, we'll get some more snow and then it'll be nice again for a few days. The snow melts off quickly and with the dry air, the ground stays dry as well.
What all this means for me is that I've been able to get in some good training lately! Today being the first day of Spring, I decided it was time to break out the sleeveless jersey for the bike ride and got a little sun on the shoulders. Went for a run as well and the legs are feeling great. My biking has really improved lately and my cardio is still improving so I'm looking forward to keeping that progression going. I've dropped my running mileage back a little as it had gotten up to around 35-50 miles per week.
Once the race is over, I'll resume the running regimen again and am REALLY looking forward to a new route I've found on the Colorado Trail. To be fair, I guess I shouldn't say that I found it. Jamie Donaldson told me about it since she uses it for training runs. Hopefully, it's been warm enough lately to have melted most of the snow so the trail can be runnable. In driving around on some country back roads, I've discovered where the CO trail crosses some dirt roads and can use these as mileage markers and resupply points for long training runs. I can get in a one way trail marathon run, a 16 miler one way run, a 50k round trip training run, or even a 52 mile training run depending on how the training goes. It's all within short driving distance and I'm looking forward to running and biking it soon.
This Saturday, I'm heading down to CO Springs for a full day of training. First, I have to do a climbing certification which is required for the race. Then, we'll do some navigation, biking, and finish up with a run before heading home. The high on Saturday is supposed to be 46 with a rain/snow mix. It's been in the 50s and 60s all week and now this.

Trip to Monterey

2008-03-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

Allison, Isabella and I all went to Monterey, CA for my friend Freddy's retirement from the Army. His family is all from Monterey and when you have the connections that Freddy does, you can pull some strings to make things happen so he was able to have his retirement ceremony in his hometown.

Freddy and I met at Ft. Bragg when I had just come back from Korea and he had just returned from DLI (Defense Language Institute) out in Monterey where he had learned Hatian Creole. As a linguist, Freddy speaks 6 languages fluently and is teaching many of them to his kids. We've been friends ever since we met in May of 95. We've both been through a lot of changes and I've seen him through some rough times since then, but there have been many great times as well. He's one of those low maintenance friends that you can always count on and lives a great example of how to love others unconditionally.

The trip was short, but we were able to get to see a good bit of Monterey, Carmel, and the surrounding area. It's a beautiful part of CA and seems to be largely unspoiled by over development unlike the rest of CA and much of the US. Even so, it's not a cheap place to live by any stretch of the imagination.

Isabella did great on the trip. She slept through the night every night were were there in the hotel room and she was a perfect angel on the plane ride there and back. She is such a good baby. She was even happy amongst all the chaos of his family and the retirement party and tons of overstimulation. She took it all in stride her mommy and daddy were happy to have her along with us on the trip.

WARNING! Stupidity ahead.

2008-02-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Sunday) I had planned to get in some good training in the morning before taking Allison to the Home and Garden show in Denver. Lee and Monique were going to meet us there too. I headed down to Waterton Canyon and had planned to run the 7+ mile dirt road up the canyon and back and then bike it. Since I started out running, I took 2 bottles of Accelerade with me to stay fueled for the run and bike and paced myself easily.
The uphill run didn't take long or much energy so since I was feeling so good, I decided to hit the single track trail at the top of the canyon. This trail is the beginning of the Colorado Trail but it has a loop that comes back around to the canyon road. The single track loop is a little over 3 miles of beautiful scenery and I knew the way having biked it before. The first mile was great, but steep and I was still feeling good.
Most of the snow I encountered on this 45+ degree (in the mntns.-60 in Denver) day was packed down by hikers and there were little patches of ice that were easy to avoid. I was wearing my Continental Divides and shorts with 2 shirts and my carried water bottles. As I got to the trail split where it leads on to the Colorado Trail or circles back around to the road, I took the loop since that's what I was familiar with. All of the foot traffic that I had seen up to that point had abruptly stopped so apparently everyone had been doing an out and back instead of taking the scenic loop. Wonder why?
After a little more climbing and some muddy sections, I hit the back side of the mountain where it stays shaded and the snow was still pretty deep on most of the trail. The wind and sun had caused it to crust over making it a thin shell of rough ice on top of deep snow. I was making fresh tracks and not minding the first section of 6-8 inches of untrodden snow when I came upon a section wherein I sank up to my waist! Not only that, but the crust on top had cut my exposed legs once my foot broke through the top layer. It cut me going in and again when pulling my leg out. This was a little uncomfortable, but I was not to be deterred from this picturesque training opportunity. It was a minor annoyance, but anyone who knows me knows that little cuts and scratches mean nothing to me. As I continued forward, I kept thinking, "This deep stuff probably won't last for long." Each step, I lost more skin and was beginning to bleed pretty steadily. I was still fairly warm although my skin was starting to get numb from being encased in snow from the hips down. It's an odd feeling to have good bloodflow and to be warm despite being soaking wet and covered in ice. As long as I kept moving forward, I knew I'd be ok. The deep stuff continued. Then got a little better for a few feet, but overall I stupidly forced myself through about 1.25 miles of that painful experience. A couple of times, I was unable to maintain my balance and toppled over into the snow at which point I'm sitting (in shorts) in a snowbank up to my neck. My first thought was to sit there for a moment and catch my breath and take a short rest, but the reality of my situation kicked in quickly and I realized that was NOT a good idea. 10 miles away from civilization and being on foot is definitely not a good place to tempt hypothermia. It transitioned from being an amusing novelty at first, to being an annoyance, to being an uncomfortable test of will power, to being an slightly frightening challenge from which I have quickly learned.
My original plan was to run 12-14 miles and then bike the same, but my curiosity got the better of me and it turned into the hardest 17+ I've ever done. Besides the snow fiasco, the mountainous terrain was a little steeper than I was prepared for at that distance.

In the end, I toughed it out and made it back to my car in 3 hours and 40 mins missing some skin and a little blood. What doesn't kill you, only makes you tougher.... right? I realized when I got back to the car, that I had only drank 1 and 1/3 of my 2 bottles. I don't think I was dehydrated, but I'm going to have to start paying better attention to my fueling, my surroundings, and learn to keep my sense of adventure in check.

Groovy blisters and a selfish daddy?

2008-02-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, I've been doing some weight training and riding my bike on the trainer in between runs. Haven't been able to be very consistent on the runs, but every one has felt good so far. I've had to incorporate some road running back into the routines due to necessity, but that's ok for now. Surprised myself and did a 15k route in 1 hour and 18 mins with some BIG hills the other day. Since I've had to take so much time off running because of the surgery, moving, new baby, and numerous other reasons, my feet have lost the callouses and become tender. This has led to blisters where the callouses used to be and now I'm left trying to figure out the best way to manage them until I can get the base/regular mileage back up again. I've found a few routes that I can get in some long runs on the trails and will hopefully get to those soon.

Allison also started running again lately and I gladly take my turn keeping Isabella occupied while she gets back into the swing of things. She's aiming for the Denver Half marathon in June and I've just about got her talked into doing the Leadville heavy Half in July. It's cool because I can tell she's doing it because she wants to and not because she thinks I want her to. That's an important distinction for anyone who knows us. She continues to make me proud!

Being a daddy gets better every day. The little things that only mommies and daddies get to be a part of are becoming more and more special all the time. Parenthood can be such a soul searching task sometimes. I've thought to myself that I should have had kids sooner and not wasted so much of my life on myself. When I go running though, I realize that the act of running is for me only and that makes me feel a little selfish. This leads me to wonder how much and at what level I should train and indulge my love of competition as well as my love of activity in the outdoors. How do you balance/reconcile selfish desires with the selflessness of parenthood? It hasn't been much of a direct conflict yet, but I can see that it might be one day. I just want to avoid regret and bitterness if at all possible, but I'm sure that some is inevitable. Just thinking out loud.

feeling the need

2008-01-21T17:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend (12-13th) I got in back to back runs on Sat and Sun. This past weekend, I got back to back couch sits with the littlest lady. Today, (Monday) I went for a frigid 5 miler in the light snow/freezing fog. Was a little under dressed for it, but I made it ok. The route I took was 2.5 miles uphill and back down for another 2.5. I was surprised when I got back in 43 mins. Although it's a very gradual climb, (500 feet total) I felt very slow on the way out and only moderately consistent on the way back. Still, I felt good and cold, but energized and glad that I made the effort. My Continental Divides did great in the snow despite the lack of additional traction. Hoping to start picking up the mileage again soon. I really miss running with the Trail Nerds! They are great company, motivation, and a good source of accountability when you need it.

lately...

2008-01-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

training hasn't been going very well. It's pretty much been non-existent. I've been running twice in the past 3 weeks and I'm feeling my fitness leaving me by the day. The lack of sleep, family visiting, and various other things have all been taking priority instead of getting in some exercise. That really needs to change.
Recently, I've been given a pair of the Salomon XT Wings to try out on the trails. The pair I have are very red and I like the sensifit lacing system initially. We'll see how they fare on some runs. They're also comfortable upon initial wearing, but once again, we'll have to put them to the trail running test.

Allison and I were at the Columbia outlet the other day and noticed that they're carrying Montrail shoes now. We each picked up a pair of trail runners (not that we REALLY NEEDED them) for $10!!! That right, I said TEN (10) bucks! Couldn't pass that deal up! She picked up a pair of CTCs and I got another pair of the venerable Hardrocks.
The plan is to start back with low to moderate mileage within the next two weeks and gradually work my way up from there. I NEED to get back into it for several reasons. Not the least of which is my health. I've got a cold or sinus infection which has hung around for WAY too long and it's frustrating because I haven't been sick in over 2 years. I'm pretty sure it's due to the lack of exercise.

The hand is still healing ok I guess. Rehab is off and on and it's my fault for not being more on top of it. I just hope it's fully functional by spring time. The baby is starting to sleep a little better so I think I should be able to find some time and energy soon to get back on track.

stuff about stuff

2007-12-19T11:43:00.001-08:00

Matt Hart just recently posted a link to this site about consumerism. Be sure to watch The Story of Stuff when you get a chance.
Unfortunately, our country doesn't have a good track record when it comes to consuming less. Our capitalistic society has glorified consumerism because of our collective love of the almighty dollar and it's coming around to bite us in the butt.
It reminds me of this:

Big Box Mart | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Much of Western culture takes the path of less resistance or the path of perceived greatest pleasure. This is evident in our rising obesity epidemic, the constant commercials for more luxurious cars, and the current market conditions in the housing/mortgage sector. People get in over their head because they're convinced that they NEED more luxury or more space. Why do we allow this to go on?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for progress and technological advancement, but it has to be SUSTAINABLE progress. Newer and better gets shoved at us so fast now that we don't have time to fully utilize and appreciate what we currently have. When is the last time you repaired a hole in a pair of socks or mended something on your clothes? We've become so accustomed to everything being disposable because the price of consumables is low enough we don't give it a second thought. This also speaks to our lack of discipline. We seek the quickest or easiest way to achieve what we think we want. Instant gratification is rarely productive in the long run.
Have you noticed that the quality of most things has dropped substantially in the last 20 years? Computers/parts/peripherals, etc, don't last as long. Cars aren't driven as long as they used to be. Phone and/or cable service gets changed every few months now because we can save money by switching to something else, or because the service sucks. How many of you would rather go get another new printer or just buy new ink cartridges which cost almost as much?
Why don't we wake up and see that our love of money (corporate greed/ personal wealth and perceived status) is what is driving this? We need to start shifting our values to more substantial ones which will HAVE to start with taking our focus off of ourselves.

First time away

2007-12-17T21:26:00.000-08:00

alright, once again, the obligatory baby updates (pics and vid) can be found HERE! (http://ben-reeves.blogspot.com/)
Saturday night/Sunday morning I got in from Brian's wedding in Atlanta. We had a good time and it was a beautiful wedding and another eligible bachelor is off the market. I'm glad I was able to be a part of it.

While there, Allison sent me pictures of Isabella from her phone every morning. That really made me miss them both even more. It was strange for me. I'm used to being self sufficient while on the road and this time, although I was glad to be spending time with Brian, I really missed holding my little girl. Maybe that means I'll be a good daddy.

getting more handy

2007-12-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

I got a good report from my hand surgeon on my follow up visit the other day. Going in, I was prepared for a scolding. My last visit to him, he gave me a prescription for a splint for the thumb and more physical therapy. I never went to it or got the splint, but I did stretching and exercises on my own for the hand. The Dr didn't scold me and was sufficiently impressed with my progress. I'm still hoping to get full range of motion back to all fingers soon, but it's not happening soon enough for me.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T15:12:00.001-08:00

First thing's first. More gratuitous baby pictures are posted HERE.

That being said, after a little cuddle time, I decided that I've had enough of the indoors. A little play time was in order Trail Nerd Style!

Cuddle time!

2007-11-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

I'm in the process of moving blog entries over to my other blog (The stuph of life) and will be returning this one to running, biking, training, racing, and injury recovery soon.

Although I haven't been a daddy for long, I'm pretty sure this is one of the best things about it. My daughter is turning me into a giant softie (especially around the middle) but I'm loving every minute of it.

Note that the cast is off the left hand now. One surgery scar is visible.

I'm currently trying to figure out how to (easily) move blog entries from one blog over to another. If anyone knows, please clue me in.

She's home

2007-11-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Wed 14 Nov) we checked out of the hospital and brought our baby girl home after her and mommy both received a clean bill of health. We've had help from my good friend Lee in taking care of things around the house while we get used to some changes. It's been an amazing realization so far because thanks to all of our good friends and family and their generosity, we have everything we need and it's so nice not to have to worry about not having anything to provide for our little one. I think it's really cool when I notice all the different gifts from various friends and family that added up together, complete the necessities that we need to provide. It makes us really appreciate our friends and family who are part of us welcoming Isabella into the world, even if they are not here with us. Here's a short clip of her that I took of her in her room after a feeding.

Thank you all for your compliments and well wishes. We look forward to Isabella getting to meet everyone who is such a big part of our lives.

Daddy's girl

2007-11-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a short little clip of our new girl. She's sleepy because she has a full belly. And because it's exhausting having daddy kissing her all the time.

Meet Miss Isabella Marie Reeves

2007-11-12T06:17:00.000-08:00

Our little princess arrived at 1:05 am on Monday morning November the 12th, 2007. Although she was 13 days early, she weighs in at 6 lbs and 15 ounces and is just over 18 inches long.

WOO HOO!!!

2007-11-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

After taking about10 hours to get dilated, Allison only had to push for about an hour to get Isabella out at 1:05 am on Monday morning! Both Allison and baby are doing fine.

I'M A DADDY NOW!!!

OWIE!!!

2007-11-11T19:19:00.001-08:00

The contractions are getting closer and more intense. We're starting the epidural in a few minutes. It's currently 8:21 pm Sunday night and Payton Manning has just thrown his fifth interception!!! :-p
Stay tuned...

Here she comes!

2007-11-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

So last night/this morning, Allison started having some contractions around 1 am. We're now in the L&D room @ Skyridge Medical Center and they've started a pitocin drip to help speed things along.

More to come later!

healing and dreaming

2007-11-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

While the hand continues to heal and physical therapy helps me get it usable again, all I can do for the time being is ponder upcoming parenthood and dream of things like the videos below.

See more videos like this at Mountain Biking at YourMTB.com

As much fun as biking is (especially since I'm in mtb heaven) I'm really looking forward to returning to running the trails. The scenery here is spectacular and it will soon transition from fall to winter running. FUN FUN FUN!!! :-)

on the mend?

2007-10-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

So on Wednesday, I guess the surgery went ok. The Dr said that after going in there he decided he needed to use plates as well as screws to put the bones back together again. He also said that he feels good about re-attaching the ligament to my thumb. As much as I absolutely hate taking drugs, I'm pretty thankful for Vicodin right now. Lets see how well it heals in another month or so...

OUCH!!!

2007-10-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning I'm scheduled for surgery. The Dr. said he'll put in screws and possibly a plate to reconstruct the spiral breaks in the 3rd & 4th metacarpals and then he'll try to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament. The whole procedure should take about 2 hours and recovery will be around 2 months. This means I'll have to learn how to change diapers with one hand! :-(

DOH!

2007-10-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

I just needed a little lower PSI in my tires & they probably could've held onto the trail. As it is though, I'm now looking at having some pins possibly put in my left hand to put it back together. Friday afternoon I was just going for a short bike ride at the trails by my house and instead of keeping my fun meter in check, I was going a little too fast and went down hard enough to break my left hand. Oh well, at least I can still run! The hand should be healed in time to hold my little girl when she gets here unless she decides to come early.

Injuries suck!!

living the dream

2007-10-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to head out to Moab, UT to help out with the Adventures Xstream Adventure Race. While out there, I got to do some riding on Amasa Back/Cliffhanger trail and part of the Kokopelli Trail as well as meet some fantastic racers and race personnel from some Pro teams like Team Salomon/Crested Butte.
Salomon also had some of their wares on display at the finish line so I had the chance to check out some of their shoes which are NUMEROUS in variety and function.

Several years back, I had a pair of Salomon's shoes, but they didn't wear very well. At first, they were very comfortable, but the soles came unglued and they weren't very light. It seems Salomon has learned their lesson and their shoes have come a LONG way since then. I was surprised at how comfortable the XA Pro 3D were. They were lighter than any other trail shoe I've tried on recently with the possible exception of the La Sportiva Raceblade or Fireblade, but the Salomon's also felt very stable. When the mileage starts getting higher on my Montrails and Vasques, I may have to give one of the pairs of Salomons a shot.

Enjoying the autumn

2007-09-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

When we lived in FL, we used to take a long weekend trip up to the Smokey Mountains of TN or NC to see the fall colors. Compared to the FL weather, the cooler temps was a nice change. Now that we're out here in some REAL mountains, it's very cool that it's so convenient to go check out the colors and cooler temps at our leisure.

Last weekend, Allison and I went with Lee, Monique and Connor on a drive to nowhere in particular to see what we could see. It was fun to drive around in such a scenic place with no agenda. We stopped when we wanted to and had a picnic then later went for a hike.

Good times!

fall means college football!

2007-09-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

While living in Florida, one of the things Allison and I really enjoyed was getting to drive up to Tallahassee to see FSU play football. We haven't had that opportunity in a while so when I heard that FSU was coming to Boulder to play CU, then I figured I'd have to find a way to get tickets to it. Luckily for me, Allison's cousin in Colorado Springs got tickets from his boss who wasn't able to use them and we got to go for free.

Florida State won the game, but it was an ugly one. Although I was surrounded by CU fans, everyone was nice an diddn't give me a hard time for wearing my FSU gear.

Good times! Go NOLES!

fun around the corner

2007-09-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a few shots from the trails I've found close to home. These are the ones I run or ride to from my front door.

As Mr. Wakefield advised recently, I'm just trying to "soak it in" right now. Once the baby comes, I'm not sure how active I'll be able to be at first, but for now, I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can. It'll be nice when some friends come visit so I can share this with them!

adjusting the training

2007-09-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

Due to the complexities of the house buying/closing, the packing up, moving, unpacking, working, and getting used to a new city/state, etc, I've had to take off longer than I wanted to from running. In the last 4 weeks, I've only been able to run a couple of times. This week, I've been able to get in three runs and I've already discovered that I'm not quite fully adjusted to the altitude yet.
On a very cool note, I've discovered some trails within running/riding distance from home and they take me up to a rattlesnake infested high plain leading up and around a ridge line with a great view of Denver and the front range. Not overly technical, but it gives a good 7-13 mile workout with long gradual climbs and descents and lots of fresh air!

Before the Leadville Marathon, I got a pair of Montrail Continental Divides and have loved them, but for one thing. A blister forms on my right heel whenever I don't run at least 3 times per week every week to keep the callous toughened up. Looks like I'll have to pick up the mileage or switch shoes again..... or both!

Meeting the locals...

2007-09-10T08:44:00.001-07:00

Saturday, we went up to the Vail area to check out the local (somewhat) adventure race scene. There was an AR being put on by Adventure Xstream and I wanted to see how well organized it was and how they did things. For this venue, they had a sprint distance and a 12 hour distance race. For other locations, they do a 12 and a 24 hour race. It looks like a pretty well done operation and I think I'll volunteer for the next race in Moab at the end of September. This will give me time to continue to train and get my "mountain legs" under me so that hopefully, I'll be ready to race in this series next year.

SUnday, we went to see our friends Lee, Monique and Connor in Evergreen, CO and to attend the Chili Cook Off. There were 40+ types of Chili and we had a good time tasting most of them and voting on our favorites. On the way to Evergreen, we were held up by a group of Elk crossing the road. As you can see from the pics, there was one bull (with a huge rack) and several females with their young 'uns. Looks like that bull has been busy! They're so used to the people that you can walk close enough to touch them though I wouldn't try it.

Of course no weekend in the mountains would be complete without some form of trail activity. I talked Lee into riding with me over at Elk Meadow trail for a little while. This weekend, the temps dropped and the high on Sunday was around 58 in Evergreen. This part of the year is a transition from Summer to Winter with very fickle weather so you never know what to expect. Fun stuff!

moving right along

2007-09-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

Things have been going pretty well lately. Since the last post (almost 2 months ago... SHEESH) I've had some pretty big changes.
The wife and I are now living in Highlands Ranch, CO and we're LOVING it! The weather had been awesome and the close proximity to the mountains is like living next to a candy store only much healthier! It's been about 2 weeks since I've been running, but I had the chance to get in a bike ride out at Alderfer/Three Sisters park in Evergreen. Going for a lung-busting run today!

My little girl is still on schedule to be born in November and the Dr says she's measuring big for how far along she is. Looks like at least an 8.5 pounder! My wife wants to start the anesthesia now! Updates on that here.
More updates with more pics SOON!

Leadville Marathon

2007-07-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

Despite the injuries that I've been dealing with over the past 9-10 months, I decided to do the Leadville marathon again this year. Since I started running again 9 weeks ago, I figured I could get in reasonable shape to do it. Well, a few setbacks had reduced the mileage that I was able to do in preparation for Leadville. No matter. I planned on just doing it and didn't set any goals for time.; just to finish.

Several trail Nerds planned to do the marathon this year. Caleb, Sarah, Greg Burger, Shane and his brother Cody all planned on making the trek out to Leadville, CO from KC. Caleb and Sarah drove with Allison and I and everyone else went separately. Shane wasn't able to make it, but the rest of us met up in Leadville after various other excursions in the area to help us get acclimated to the altitude.

On July 4th, Allison and I were able to catch a Colorado Rockies baseball game and fireworks show. We did this last year with the Jones family and had so much fun we decided to do it again. the fireworks show after the game is probably the best one we've ever seen. One of my best friends Lee Barnes and his wife Monique and son Connor joined us for the festivities. Lee and Monique just moved to Evergreen from FL where we grew up together and it's going to be neat living close to each other again in Denver. Lee likes doing adventurous things so I'll have some company out on the trails.

The day before the marathon, Ed Payne, Greg Burger and I drove some of the route of the marathon and it made Greg a little nervous about the steepness of the grade we'd be running in that altitude as well as the rugged terrain. I was later told that Mosquito Pass had only been open for about 3 weeks since the snow had melted sufficiently.

During the run, I took it easy on the uphills and enjoyed letting gravity take over on the downhills. At about mile 10 or 11, I started having a really hard time staying motivated. Really hit a low spot and the funk was killing my desire to continue. I still had energy physically, but wasn't sure I wanted to continue. I pressed on up mosquito pass even though I didn't want to and about halfway DOWN the pass, I began to feel better. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to go the 3 miles UP the pass and 30 minutes to get DOWN it. Not a very consistent pace, but at least I was still moving forward. This run also reinforced that I DO NOT do well on coke and chocolate at aid stations. They always give me heart burn.

In retrospect, I think I probably could have done some longer runs at a slower pace, and I KNOW I should have done more weight training for the quads, but I'm just glad my knee held out for this one. Still, I wasn't really expecting to be a full 64 minutes slower than last year. On well... Now I have to get my mileage up in preparation for the Moab Alpine to Slickrock 50 miler in September.

GPS data from Caleb's Garmin forerunner 305

Attitude counts

2007-07-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in Church the message was on what we value. Do we value what God wants or do we value what we want? One of the sections of the Bible referenced was from Luke 14:7-14.

"7When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Whether you're a believer or not, these are definitely good principles to live by.
In the first section, (verses 7-11) Jesus instructs that we should all be as humble as possible. No matter what your accomplishments, there is always someone better than you or more worthy of honor. Bottom line, it is better to humble yourself and to have others exalt you, than to exalt yourself and be humbled by others.

In the second part, Jesus speaks toward our attitudes towards generosity. So many people dont' do anything unless there's a reward or some form of repayment for their actions. They have the "what's in it for me" attitude. Arguably there is no such thing as pure altruism from a philosophical standpoint, but when people do things for personal gain whether tangible or not, it really lessens (cheapens?) the deed.

As is usually the case, this speaks to me in a very personal way. There have been many times that I've found conversations with others centered on me. This bothers me when I think about it and it's something that I need to consciously work on regularly.

Try being a Good Samaritan quietly sometime or practice random acts of kindness that nobody else will ever find out about. In addition to being truly gratifying, these are the things that will make the world a better place. Not people hearing about how good you are.

People may believe what you say, but they'll always believe what you do!

Anxiety building

2007-06-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Injuries suck!
Last Sunday, I guess I pushed it too much on a run and the knee is now bothering me again. The same knee I've been struggling with since January and gave almost 5 full months to heal. Now I'm wondering if I'll even be able to do the Leadville Marathon coming up on July 7th. That also has me wondering if I'll be able to do the MAS 50 miler in Sept. Oh well, I guess I'll just take it one step at a time and do what I can do and see what happens. If the knee is still jacked up when we move in Aug, that will be NO FUN at all!
Lately, Wyco hasn't been very good to me. Two weeks ago, we were doing trail maintenance out there and I got a good batch of poison ivy which didn't show up till the next day while I was running it. It spread and went systemic. After battling it for the whole week and losing, I decided to get some steroids from my Dr and that knocked it out pretty quick. During my ithchy sessions, I decided not to run for fear of spreading it more.
This past Sunday was my most recent run in which my knee let me know it's still not 100% AGAIN while out at Wyco. If you do that place enough, it's a good course in Kansas to toughen you up or break you down.

Keeping busy

2007-06-14T07:21:00.001-07:00

Weekend before last, I decided to do the Missouri State Mtn Bike Championships race at Mastin, MO near St Louis. Even though I was sadly out of bike racing shape it was still fun. I took 5th place in the endurance/marathon division. Riding for 3 hours on a trail that I didn't know was fun, but the hills got old pretty quickly! During the race, I think I may have strained my right calf a little but not seriously.

This past Saturday was the second race in the Rock Creek Trail series put on by Great Plains Running Company. There was a 5 and 10 mile distance to choose from and with this being my first race back since my injury, I wanted to see how I felt for the 10 miler. The training had been going well up to this point (with the exception of the calf strain) and I was anxious to push it a little. Well, I ended up not running a smart race because as usual, I went out too hard and blew up halfway through. Early on, there were a few hills that I pushed too hard on causing my heartrate to shoot up and that didn't allow me to hold a pace for very long. I started off doing a 7:25 pace and finished up at about a 9 min mile pace for a fairly hilly course. :-(

Later that Saturday after the race, Allison and I went to see the KC Symphony Orchestra play Brahms' Piano Concerto #2 and other pieces. I love going to the symphony for several reasons. The rich sound, the synchronicity of the bows with the string instruments, the antics of the conductor, and the complexity of sounds from the instruments. Sometimes I get fixated on the violins (my favorite) and when they hold out a note, it's interesting how another instrument will be carrying on in the piece and it's sound will rise up in the background just as the strings are fading off. For some reason, I just like that. It's also fun to see the intensity of some of the musicians in their styles of playing.

On another note, the bid we put in for the house in Denver got accepted and we'll be closing around the end of August. This means we'll be moving from KC to Denver around the first of Sept. New baby on the way, new house, new city, new scenery... big changes coming up! Life is good. What a ride!

Back at it

2007-06-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Training has been going well lately. Since the knee has been letting me put in some miles, I'm trying to get back to a respectable level in time for the Leadville Marathon. The longest run I've done in the past 5 months was a 13 miler last Thursday. Did another 9 on Monday and 9 more last night and feel pretty good. Feeling a little sore from lack of conditioning, but ice and Endurox are helping me through that. Been getting in some biking for cross training as well. Still got a lot of toughening up to do, but at least I'm on the right path. Hopefully, I can avoid the injuries.

Our self-destructive choices

2007-06-04T09:17:00.001-07:00

As Americans (arguably as humans) we've created lives that promote, endorse, and seek comforts and convenience over substance, practicality, and sustainability. This is one of the main reasons we're in the state that we are with regard to the disparity of salaries of Executives and professional athletes versus those of Police, teachers, and other civil servants. It's also a major reason for the obesity epidemic, and for the outrageous litigations going on due to the total lack of personal responsibility we have in our country.
This video is a satirical look at the consequences of our choice to save some money and get everything all at one place. This does nothing but destroy the mom and pop stores and it encourages more BIG business with more advertising and higher executive salaries, etc... So much for entrepreneurship in America. Funny stuff, but it's just another symptom of some serious problems in America.

Big Box Mart

to buy or not to buy. THAT is the question!

2007-05-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

As we contemplate buying our next home, we feel it's important to consider all of the prudent options.

Reading stuff like this sure helps clear things up! (<-- sarcasm)

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/102603/why-your-home-is-not-the-investment-you-think-it-is

Agendas are everywhere and I love JibJab

2007-05-29T15:32:00.001-07:00

This kinda shows ya how silly our media is. Don't forget that it's driven by ratings though. Check yourself!

You've already seen how I feel about Hollywood and their hypocritical horseshit on "Global Warming." Here's a little more info on that subject. This is a little long, but if you've got time it's WELL WORTH watching.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4499562022478442170

Some other things I like to check out when feeling like life is going too smoothly.

http://www.themeatrix.com/

http://www.krafty.org/

Certainty?

2007-05-17T21:43:00.001-07:00

"Life comes at you fast..."

2007-05-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

We're pregnant again! Due November 25th which is one day later than when we were due last year. Already heard the heartbeat and everything seems to be going well so far.

Training is resuming at a more acceptable level for me. It's my stress reliever so I'm glad to feel somewhat healthy again. Saturday, I got in a little over 13 quick miles in some mud and Monday, I did another fast 7. Hopefully, I can get my mileage up soon so I'll feel ready for the Leadville marathon which I'm signed up for again. Later this year (September) I'd like to do the Moab Alpine to Slickrock 50 miler. We've got a lot going on before that though. Now that the knee is letting me get back to training, once I get the conditioning back and work my way back to a semi-competitive level, I'm wondering if I'll still need surgery. Time will tell...

Allison's little sister Hannah is getting married this year sometime. They're still playing around with some dates. Allison will be going to NC for the wedding shower and to help plan the wedding. She's also going to NYC to meet my sister and my niece for a girl's trip. It's our graduation present to my niece. They'll have a few days and will be staying in Mid-town near Central Park and 5th Ave. I think Alexis will enjoy it.

I'll be in Denver next week for work and am taking my bike with me to get in some riding and will try to meet up with the Denver Trail Runners to get in a fun trail run. :-D
In June, I'll be in Orlando for 2 weeks for work and will get to see some old friends again. That'll be cool.

Highway Engineer Pranks

2007-04-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of http://xkcd.com/

Taking it slowly

2007-04-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

It feels good to be able to run again. I've had a few over the past couple of weeks, some with pain, some without and it's forcing me to learn how to slow down. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up my mileage enough to do the Leadville Marathon again this year in the first week of July. We'll see...

Although my running hasn't been up to par lately, I've been staying VERY busy nonetheless. This past Sunday, I helped put on an adventure race with Blue Hills Adventures. Clay had asked me to design the course for the expert AR while he did the one for the novice race. He asked me to make it at least 3 hours long but probably longer. He left the route and order of events up to me and I used quite a bit of past experience to try to make it challenging and fun at the same time. Over the 4 weeks that I spent working on the layout, I put in around 100+ miles with most of that being the week OF the race while deciding what trails to use. While marking the course, I saw MUCH wildlife and even got to save a baby turtle in the middle of the road.

The race was a success with the winning teams finishing in 3 hours and 51 mins and most of the teams coming in after 4 and 5 hours. A few teams got lost but admitted that they just didn't follow the course markings correctly. It was a good experience for me and the comments and compliments I received afterward make my happy with the effort I put into it.
The Mid-west Fat Tire Duathlon series wrapped up with the last race out at Smithville Lake. I didn't have a teammate to do it with me and I wasn't confident enough in my knee to try to push it with short sprinting and biking at the same time so I just sat it out and helped with the race. The night before the race, we got another 3 inches of snow, but an hour north of us at Smithville Lake, they just got a little rain making the course a COLD mud fest! I'm not too bummed about missing out on that!
I ran with the group last night out at SMP in the rain. It felt really good to run with them again . The first loop, they let me lead and I pushed the pace a little finishing it in 32 mins for the 4.5 miles. During that loop, I rolled my ankle once, but was able to keep going which made me feel good that I haven't lost all ankle strength (conditioning) even if the rest of me wasn't feeling that great.
During our abbreviated second loop, Kyle led the way and inadvertently pissed of a copperhead snake that was sitting on the side of the trail when he ran by it. Poor Josh at second in line was the target of the snake's first strike. He saw it in time to jump and make the snake miss. Those were some damn good reflexes as he cleared it by a few inches. The strike put the snake right in the middle of the trail and it recoiled quickly enough to take a stab at me since I was following closely on Josh's heels. When I saw Josh jump, I quickly did a left side-step and stayed out of range for the snake's second strike, but I saw his mouth wide open as he came at me! That was a scary second and a half while all that occurred. We stopped long enough to admire the pissed off reptile and I took a stick and moved it off the trail. It struck at the stick a couple of times demonstrating it's ill temper. It was surprising how aggressive it was.

Ah yes! It does feel good to run with nature again.

Gonna be a little less negative this time

2007-04-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Success!?! I guess that's what you could call it. This past week/weekend was a busy one. Wed night we hosted a run with the KC Track club and I marked out an 8 mile run course and then cooked for the group of about 25. Thursday after work, I went out to a state park to scout out some trails for potential use in an adventure race I'll be designing the course for soon. Friday afternoon, I went out to the Lawrence River trails to help set up the transition area and mark the course for Saturday's duathlon. Saturday, Caleb and I did the duathlon and Sunday was the Brew to Brew 44 mile relay run from KC to Lawrence.

For the Brew to Brew, I had only planned to be a spectator/driver for our team, but one of our team members couldn't run and even though my running ability has been questionable at best lately, I agreed to attempt to do one of the remaining legs. My part of the course initially was leg 9 or the 10 leg relay. It was a 4.2 mile run on country gravel roads with a pretty stiff headwind.
I took it easy and allowed the still healing knee to warm up gradually and finished the 4.2 miles in 33 mins. Not a record breaking time, but just being able to do it without pain is a first for me in a few months. I was so happy to be feeling this good, that I kept going through the transition area and continued on to do leg 10 and finish up the run for our team. That last leg was on a river levee that is out in the open with no wind or sun protection and was 4.7 miles of mental torture. You can see where you're supposed to be going, but the levee curves around and regardless of your pace, it seems that you're barely making any progress. Other people may not feel this way, but it's tough for me mentally to push through that. With about a mile to go, the knee started to feel that familiar twinge and I backed off the pace significantly dropping my pace to about a 10 min mile. When I finished the 9 miles in 73 mins, I was feeling no pain and was so happy to have been able to run again. The two and a half months off running has caused quite a decline in my speed and endurance, but I still think my overall fitness is ok. I'll just have to put in some miles now to regain a base and go from there.

One thing that I think made a big difference is that I took 2 motrin about a half hour before I started running. Maybe drugs CAN help? They're certainly not the answer though.

the frustration grows

2007-03-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

When I went to the Ortho on Monday, I was envisioning getting the "all clear" to resume running and all would be good in the world again. My Dr (who was behind and seemed very rushed) asked how I was feeling, (without listening to the answer) glanced at my chart/records and did a quick exam on my patellar tendons (not sure why) and then rambled on about insertion points of the quads. He then started going on and on about degenerative tissue breakdown and which tissues have adequate blood supply to promote healing. Long story short, I don't believe he knew who I was, what my injuries have been, or what the plan should be. His assistant did warn me that he was behind that morning and that he had arrived home from Mexico at 1:30 am that morning. Eventually, he got around to telling me to let my pain be my guide and said to go ahead and resume running.
Tuesday night I ran with the Trail Nerds out at SMP and was looking forward to doing two slow loops of 4.5 miles each. Around 2 miles into the first loop, I felt a little familiar twinge in the left knee. Not really painful at first, but familiar enough to cause me to take notice with concern. I stayed with the group at a leisurely pace as the discomfort increased. By the end of that first loop, the discomfort had become moderate pain in the left LCL. I've taken almost two and a half months off to let this heal. I respect my doctor's knowledge and skill, but his lack of personal attention may force me to find another. This has gone on too long already in my opinion.
It felt so good to be running through the woods again. I'm not ready to give that up.

Limousine Liberal Hypocrisy

2007-03-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

The article below is featured on time.com and I think it deserves all the circulation it can get.

"Friday, Mar. 16, 2007

Limousine Liberal Hypocrisy

By Charles Krauthammer

Goldman Sachs has been one of the most aggressive firms on Wall Street about taking action on climate change; the company sends its bankers home at night in hybrid limousines.

--The New York Times, Feb. 25

Written without a hint of irony--if only your neighborhood dry cleaner sent his employees home by hybrid limousine--this front-page dispatch captured perfectly the eco-pretensions of the rich and the stupefying gullibility with which they are received.

Remember the Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore global-warming pitch at the Academy Awards? Before they spoke, the screen at the back of the stage flashed not-so-subliminal messages about how to save the planet. My personal favorite was "Ride mass transit." This to a conclave of Hollywood plutocrats who have not seen the inside of a subway since the moon landing and for whom mass transit means a stretch limo seating no fewer than 10.

Leo and Al then portentously announced that for the first time ever, the Academy Awards ceremony had gone green. What did that mean? Solar panels in the designer gowns? It turns out that the Academy neutralized the evening's "carbon footprint" by buying carbon credits. That means it sent money to a "carbon broker," who promised, after taking his cut, to reduce carbon emissions somewhere on the planet equivalent to what the stars spewed into the atmosphere while flying in on their private planes.

In other words, the rich reduce their carbon output by not one ounce. But drawing on the hundreds of millions of net worth in the Kodak Theatre, they pull out lunch money to buy ecological indulgences. The last time the selling of pardons was prevalent--in a predecessor religion to environmentalism called Christianity--Martin Luther lost his temper and launched the Reformation.

A very few of the very rich have some awareness of the emptiness--if not the medieval corruption--of ransoming one's sins. Sergey Brin, zillionaire founder of Google, buys carbon credits to offset the ghastly amount of carbon dioxide emitted by Google's private Boeing 767 but confesses he's not sure if it really does anything.

Which puts him one step ahead of most other eco-preeners who actually pretend that it does--the Goracle himself, for example. His Tennessee mansion consumes 20 times the electricity used by the average American home. Last August alone it consumed twice as much power as the average home consumes in a year. Gore buys absolution, however. He spends pocket change on carbon credits, which then allow him to pollute conscience-free.

What is wrong with this scam? First, purchasing carbon credits is an incentive to burn even more fossil fuels, since now it is done under the illusion that it's really cost-free to the atmosphere.

Second, it is a way for the rich to export the real costs and sacrifices of pollution control to the poorer segments of humanity in the Third World. (Apparently, Hollywood's plan is to make up for that by adopting every last one of their children.) For example, GreenSeat, a Dutch carbon-trading outfit, buys offsets from a foundation that plants trees in Uganda's Mount Elgon National Park to soak up the carbon emissions of its rich Western patrons. Small problem: expanding the park encroaches on land traditionally used by local farmers. As a result, reports the New York Times, "villagers living along the boundary of the park have been beaten and shot at, and their livestock has been confiscated by armed park rangers." All this so that swimming pools can be heated and Maseratis driven with a clear conscience in the fattest parts of the world.

The other form of carbon trading is to get Third World companies to cut their emissions to offset Western pollution. The reason this doesn't work--and why the carbon racket is a farce--is that you need a cap for cap-and-trade to work. Sulfur dioxide emissions in the U.S. were capped, and the trading system succeeded in reducing acid rain by half. But even the Kyoto treaty doesn't put any cap on greenhouse gases in China and India, where billions of these carbon credits are traded. Sure, you can pretend you're offsetting Western greenhouse pollution by supposedly cleaning up a dirty coal plant in China. But China is adding a new coal plant every week. You could build a particularly dirty "uncapped" power plant, then sell hundreds of millions in carbon credits to reduce it to a normal rate of pollution. The result? The polluter gets very rich. The planet continues to cook. And the Gores of the world can feel virtuous as they burn up the local power grid.

If Gore really wants to save the planet, he can try this: Turn off the lights. Ditch the heated pool. Ride the subway. And spare us the carbon-trading piety."

(original article here)

On a personal note, do you think that the celebs purchase their "carbon credits" with a credit card with a rewards program? Certainly not! That might negate any true benevolence. I mean, wouldn't true "green" intentions not be seeking any benefit other than that of the environment?

Life goes on...

2007-03-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, I've been trying to keep sane while keeping the fat monster at bay. I haven't run in the trails in 8 weeks so that I can continue to let the knees heal as the doctor recommended. Biking has been a great substitute and has allowed me to get acquainted with my new ride the Giant Anthem. I would gladly recommend this bike to anyone considering purchasing a full suspension mtn bike.

I have another visit with the Dr in about a week or so. Hopefully, we'll be able to make a final decision on whether or not to do any invasive procedures. I'm hoping that it's a definite no and I can resume training full on! This year, I'm hoping to do the Leadville Marathon again, a few Adventure Races, and several other trail races.

Helping out with events has been fun and somewhat rewarding, but I'm looking forward to fueling the competitive side again soon. I think I have some more good races left in me before fatherhood becomes my main focus.

On a side ( and somewhat related) note, I quit drinking a month ago and started seeing results right away. I dropped 3 lbs in the first week. Since then, I've regained it due to traveling for work and other setbacks, but overall, I think it's a good thing. It's probably not a permanent thing, but I wanted to see how much of a difference cutting out the few beers per week I was having. Time will tell. Perhaps I'll end up going to Bad Ben's diet of one beer earned for every 6 miles I run.

Losing my frickin mind!

2007-02-27T09:21:00.000-08:00

Maybe I just have too much energy, or stress, or ADD, or ambition, or something. It's impossible for me to sit still for anything. Running (exercising in general) has been a way for me to shed stress and keep some focus on other aspects of my life. Now that I no longer am able to run, it's getting harder to find time for other avenues of stress relief.
After getting back from the family visit in FL last week, I decided to quit drinking completely for a while and to start watching my diet a little better in an effort to stem the caloric intake.
A week ago, I was at the gym and decided to try out the knee on the treadmill. As has been the case for the last three runs this year, it gave out on me at the 2 mile mark. So I guess I'll just stick to biking for the time being.
Got a new bike for the mtn bike races I'll do this year.
I got a sweet deal on it from the bike shop that sponsors the bike team I ride with. Now if I can just keep the legs in shape and keep the weight off, I'll be good to go and maybe won't go insane. I really miss running the trails though.

Year to heal?

2007-02-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well, for the past month, I've been able to run a total of three times. All three ending in having to stop and walk back due to injury. So back to the orthopedic I went. I really trust my ortho and always try to give him as much info as possible so he can be as thorough and accurate as possible.

My latest injury is due to compensatory changes in my mechanics because of past injuries that I didn't allow to heal completely. My LEFT knee now has been giving me (debilitating) pain about two to three miles into a run. The pain has been so bad (and progressively getting worse) that I've only been able to walk/hobble back to the car to go home and lick my wounds.

The outside (lateral side) of my left knee is where the pain has been and initially I thought I might be developing the very common ITB issues that so many people encounter. Thanks to another MRI, my Dr found that it's actually a tear in my LCL that is causing it. It makes me wonder how many people are so casually (mis?)diagnosed with ITB because the symptoms are so similar.

READ HERE!

Prognosis and prescription? Not one, not two, but THREE months off from running and hard biking! :-(

Winter fun!

2007-01-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've updated this. Mainly, because there hasn't been much that I've thought was noteworthy. Dr visits and time off have made me not want to blog because nobody wants to read complaints all the time and I didn't want to sound like I'm whining.
Anyway, The Dr said to take more time off and I have been. He also said to start taking NSAIDS and reluctantly, I have been.

This past weekend, I went down south to Yates Center, KS to visit Allison's cousin. We stayed with her on Friday night and Saturday morning, I drove 45 minutes over to Fall River, KS to help build some new trails at Fall River Lake State Park. It's a big beautiful park and will have some spectacular trails soon. We were only able to get about 4.5 miles of initial ground breaking work done when the weather forced us to quit early for safety reasons. The snow was really starting to pile up and not everyone had 4-wheel drive. That far out, the snow plows don't come around very often if at all!

The snow continued to fall at about an inch per hour for the next several hours. Saturday night, I decided that I wanted to go out and play in the snow in the 4-runner. Allison doesn't like it when I drive like that so she decided to sit that one out, but her cousin was all for it! We drove up to a local school parking lot and did dough nuts with a couple of other kids out there. They were teenagers and here I am, a (supposed) grown-up and we were all slinging our cars around like toys and having a great time!

Trail running!

2007-01-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

The below post is worth reading over and over. To say that Matt Carpenter is an accomplished runner is a gross misrepresentation of his achievements. He holds numerous records and is a very influential member of the running community (global) in general as well as being a clever and insightful writer.

Gnarly trails and magic rocks

By MATT CARPENTER
www.skyrunner.com

I remember that first gnarly trail to this day. I found it on my standard out/back run from the dorm. What looked like a little path turned into quite the discovery! Soon the whole cross county team started running it on a regular basis. In the past we had always sought out new training runs sometimes resorting to taking a van to distant places to log our miles. But this trail was different. We could run it over and over but it never got old. We called it the gnarly trail because it had everything: hills, creek crossings, mud, rocks even a few Tarzan vines. Time had no meaning because we never bothered to look at our watches. Simply put — this trail was fun!

Now, almost fifteen years later, I find I spend most of my running time on trails. I have grown accustomed to hours passing without notice. The excitement of never really knowing what lies around the next corner. The hunt for the next gnarly trail. But then again I am a trail and mountain runner. What’s in it for the road runner?

The next time you go on a run take notice of what happens when your foot strikes the ground. What happens when the next foot strikes the asphalt? And the next? If you are like most people the same thing happens again and again. The repetitive nature of running on a road can bring about our least favorite word — INJURY!

Contrast that to a trail run. I am talking trail here — not a paved bike path. Each individual foot strike is just that — individual. Throw in some rocks, slanted trails, and gravity defying curves and you give your feet and legs a well deserved natural break.

The same goes for the rest of your body and mind. On the road your running form seldom changes except for interruptions — cars, intersections, and the occasional whatever that always seems to break your zombie like trance. Even your mind rarely gets much excitement on a road run. After a while you may find yourself thinking of everything you were trying to get away from when you went on your run in the first place — work, bills and all those nasty little thoughts that creep in unless you run so hard that you only think about stopping. This tedium and monotony can bring about another not so favorite word — BURNOUT!

On a trail you must lift your knees to get over the rocks, torque your body to keep from falling over on the slants, and swing your arms wildly to keep from flying off the curves. Most of the time you are thinking about only one thing — the trail! You rarely end up in a zombie trance without having to pick yourself up off the very trail you so rudely forgot to think about.

The workout a trail run gives you may leave you feeling beat up but it will never leave you feeling beat down. A good trail run has an invigorating-one-with-the-world-who-cares-what-the-neighbors-say feeling. However, to get this feeling a good trail should have one or more of the following elements:

Magic rocks and roots the ones that trip you but you can never find afterwards.
Surprises the occasional fallen tree, psycho mountain biker, bear, horse poop, etc.
Scenic stopping points something so awesome that you actually feel OK about stopping for a few seconds and saying wow! Note: The actual time will vary depending on your little understood obsessive compulsive gene (OCG).
A small dose of risk lets face it, magic, and not so magic, rocks can hurt you.
A small dose of fear of getting lost and ending up in another state.
Remorse a good trail always makes you feel sorry that it is over no matter how tired you are.

After you find a trail with some of these elements — or a gnarly trail with all of them — you may find yourself not wanting to get back onto the roads. It’s a risk with many rewards! Wherever I travel I almost always manage to find an off-road adventure that has something new to get excited about. Even the biggest cities often have a park or a river with a trail around them. Sometimes however I find myself back on the roads where it seems like I constantly look at my watch. I am never quite sure if I am timing how far I have run, or how much longer before I get to stop.

If you are interested in a good 3 hour (or more) run in Colorado Springs that has all of the above elements except for the magic rocks and roots you might like the run a friend took me on. Park at the Broadmoor Hotel and run UP North Cheyenne Canyon. When you get to Helen Hunt Falls keep going UP until the road ends. At the cul-de-sac there are three dirt roads. You want to take Gold Camp road UP and to the west not the one that goes down to the city. This dirt road goes for what seems like forever and all the while going gently UP. It has three tunnels on it, the first of which is closed but we went through it anyway (there is your small dose of risk). Right after the tunnel you get your first scenic stopping point or if you do not have an OCG it could be you tenth stop by now. A lot of gentle UP and a few scenic stopping points later you will come to the second tunnel. A short time later you come to the third tunnel. By this time you are looking straight over at the NORAD antenna (This is where I waited for my friend and made him tell me just how long our “2 hour” run was going to be — we were almost at 2 hours yet I knew we had to run way down there... I should have seen it coming with all the UP on this run). After the last tunnel you will wonder if you are going to end UP in Cripple Creek but eventually, after some more UP, you come to Old Stage Road and get to turn left down (very steep at first) through some awesome forest. The road levels out but by this time you are so tired you will wonder why you were complaining about the downhill. Once you do get sight of the city — it will be there — head toward the Broadmoor to finish your run. Although I was relieved to find out that I was still in Colorado it was one of those runs I hated to see end — even though I was tired.

Once the snow melts we can stay off the roads and go in search of magic rocks.

A new year!

2007-01-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well, the year 2007 is now upon us much to my chagrin. We hear it all the time, but many of us feel that we're hurtling towards old age at a dizzying speed. As much as I did get accomplished in 2006, I still had other goals that I wanted to get done. Now I feel I'm playing catch up, but am wondering if I just need a re-arranging of priorities or goals. Regarding New Year's resolutions, well.... I just don't do 'em. Even so, the passing of the old, and the ushering in of the new is a great time for reflection and alignment.

This year, I still want to feed my competitiveness, but not at the expense of others. Last year, it feels like I did more for myself (in training, racing, and traveling) than I did for others and that bothers me. Although I still want to do some races and be competitive, I hope to stay focused enough to be able to do so while not neglecting any relationships with my wife, friends, or mankind in general.

This year started off similarly to last year's with a fun, but subdued celebration on New Year's eve, followed by a drive up to Wallace State Park in Cameron, MO to do the Fat Ass 50k. Last year, it was my first 50k and I had some great friends to help me through it. It was an uncomfortable test that I completed a little more easily that I'd thought. This year's attempt was a different story. After the 4th of 5 loops of a 6 mile trail, I cried "UNCLE" and stopped after mile 25 due to a torn right quad muscle. This was the first physical event that I've EVER not been able to complete. Even though there was no fee, t-shirt, or prize for this race, it will still be remembered as my first (and hopefully only?) DNF.

A little shoe business

2006-12-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

Recently, I've decided that it's time to change out my trail shoes. My road shoes are doing fine and I usually have little to no problems with those since most of my mileage is in the trails nowadays anyway. So I've been keeping three pair of active trail shoes. Montrail Hardrocks, Vasque Velocity, and Mizuno Wave Ascends. The hardrocks have the most miles on them. According to the running log I started last Jan 1, I've put in over 540+ miles on them, over 300+ on the Vasque (bought in Feb) and just over 230+ miles on the Mizunos (bought in June) and the Montrails are in the best shape.
I use the following shoes for the following conditions:

Montrail Hardrocks:
- very rocky and technical trails for longer distances >10 miles
- These shoes are indestructable

Vasque Velocity:
- moderate to easy trails but used for long distance runs >12-15 miles
- These shoes are comfortable and never gave my feet problems while they were fresh. I also got these an extra half-size larger than normal and it has worked great!
- no visible signs of wear on the shoes. Foot fatigue becoming evident.

Mizuno Wave Ascend:
- I've used these shoes as my AR shoes and for fast and short (less than 8 miles)
- Very Lightweight and comfortable for short runs.
- not enough forefoot protection from sharp rocks and not enough room to allow for much foot expansion during long runs.

Lately, my Mizuno's have been bothering my feet on ANY run (even the short ones) and so have the Vasques. I think the density foam is done in my Velocity's so I'm not too bummed about that. I'm a little disappointed in the Wave Ascends right now, but I will acknowledge that there have been improvements made in the shoe since my model that I've not yet had the chance to try out. As for my Montrails, I can definitely see why they're so popular with ultra-runners. As I stated above, they're indestructable. Not only that, they're comfortable and consistent. Taller and heavier runners have mentioned that a downside to them is their tendency to "ride high" meaning that they have a thick sole and the foot is not as low to the ground as it is in other shoe models.

Currently, I've ordered a pair of Montrail Oddesy's for my lightweight shoes for fast runs. these may turn out to be used for more than just short runs. We'll see. I'm also considering the Vasque Blur as my longer distance shoes for moderate to technical trails and long distances. Many of the other Trail Nerds run these and like them very much. Last weekend, I tried on a pair of The North Face Arnuva 50 Boa and was VERY impressed with them. I've never been this impressed with shoes before. When I first read about the Boa lacing system on TNF's site, I thought it seemed kinda gimmicky, but after trying it first hand, it seems to be legit. Now keep in mind that I've not run in them, nor have I purchased a pair (yet?) but I did try them on at length and ran around the store and up and down stairs like a little kid in his first pair of sneakers! They are very light and minimalist, but are also very comfortable and built for ultra-distances. These are the shoes that Dean Karnazes is wore and is wearing in his latest endeavors.

does sacrificial service = fulfillment?

2006-12-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

Think about the last time you did something good for someone else with no ulterior motives. Perhaps it was volunteer work at a homeless soup kitchen, or participating in some sort of community project for the less fortunate. Maybe you've even donated time or items during the holidays to organizations dedicated to helping the impoverished. How did it feel? Did you enjoy putting your own interests aside for a time to make better the situation of another? Most people experience the pleasure of selflessness at some point in their life, but few practice it on a regular basis. Why is that?
Giving money may be necessary and helpful, but it's so impersonal that it rarely yields any personal satisfaction and thus isn't repeated often. What I'm advocating is giving of yourself, your time and your own personal effort to something for which you'll get nothing in return. Get out and volunteer! It's very liberating! The harder it is to do, the more it's worth it!
I encourage everyone to engage in some form of (sacrificial) service to others. It's not a "good deed" if you get something other than a good feeling in return. In my own life, it seems that once I agree to do something for someone else, something always seems to "come up" that would give me an excuse to back out of my agreement/commitment. When I forgo my own personal wants to fulfill my agreement/commitment, then it always seems to be the most gratifying. When I sacrifice my own desires, time, and resources to benefit others, it's fulfilling.
Whether you equate it to the movie Pay It Forward or consider it your civic duty, everyone should experience being a giver when it is not reciprocated. It's nice to be appreciated for the effort and work you put into something but just because you may not be appreciated or thanked for something doesn't mean that it was any less of a good deed.

Just in case you're wondering, I'm only advocating sacrificial service in one's personal life. NOT in a professional life. It's great to take pride in yourself and in the work you do, but please do NOT give more than necessary to a soulless company who will show no loyalty to you as an employee.

updates?

2006-11-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

Apparently I suck at keeping up with blogging regularly.
Since the last post, I've been back to the Dr. got an MRI, got a cortisone shot, kept running, (shorter distances and slower) had family visit for Thanksgiving, and worried my way through our company's merger. I guess a lot has been going on, but for the past 2 1/2 months, I've been working nights and it's thrown EVERYTHING off big time! Eating, sleeping, motivation, and several other things are all affected by the vampiric schedule I was keeping. My appetite is returning to normal now, but I actually dropped below 130 lbs for the first time in a few years! Running has been sporadic at best and I've only been biking once in the past 9 weeks! Now that I'm back on a regular schedule, I can get my knee repaired (maybe?) and get back to training for Psycho Wyco in February.

Thanksgiving was good and unseasonably warm. My sister and nieces came up from Pensacola, FL and while they were here, I was able to introduce them to trail running. Of course, as SOON as they left, it turned frigid! We went from above avg temps to below avg temps in 1 DAY! From 70 degrees on Tuesday to 21 degrees on Wednesday and an ice storm. Thursday (today) it's 17 and we're expecting a few inches of snow. What a difference a day makes sometimes!
I'm really looking forward to running in the snow again, but it'll take some RE-adjusting to the weather again. I'm still a warm weather guy!

Diagnosis

2006-10-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to seeing the orthopaedic doctor about my knee. I have a torn meniscus on the right side in the back. Pretty common or "classical" of meniscal injuries according to him. :-(

He said that I can keep running on it or get it fixed right away. It's up to me and how much pain I'm willing to put up with. Continuing training and racing, I might make it worse; maybe not. I think I'll try to resume training cautiously and see what I can deal with for the time being. The idea of invasive surgery has never been appealing to me. We'll see...
I'm pretty bummed about it, but at least it's not worse.

Waiting and wondering...

2006-10-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

Haven't been running for two full weeks now. I have an appointment to see an orthopedic Dr next week about my knee. Since my knee has been bothering me, I told myself and everyone else that after the last adventure race, I'd take about three weeks off to let it rest and heal and then get back to training. It's been two full weeks now and I'm not seeing (or feeling) much difference in it.
In my restlessness, I've been to the gym several times but only doing upper body. Hopefully, the Dr will give me a good (positive) diagnosis and I can get back to training in another week or two. I miss running with the group, but I also want to get out in the mild fall weather and enjoy the foliage and cooler temps before it gets COLD!
In the meantime, I'm doing my best to help the outdoor activities continue running. I helped out a little at the last Adv Race and will be helping a bit more for the next two weekends at other events. Saturday, I'll be doing course set up, marking, registration, and tear down among other things at a trail run and cyclo cross race in Lawrence, KS. Sunday, Kyle and I will marking the course out at Kill Creek for the run we're hosting on the 21st which is part of the Trail Nerds series races. I'll be helping run it, but won't be running IN it. It's nice to help out and do my part to make these things happen, but I'm really not much of a spectator. I'm more of a competitor!

It is finished.

2006-10-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

Well, the last race of the Blue Hills Adventure Race Series has come and gone, but not without leaving it's mark on many AR loving competitors. The field of 50 teams made this race the largest one yet this year with most of the regulars showing up for the finale. Teams Backwoods WildHares, Echelon, Lawrence Fire Dept, Hope to Survive, and many other regular faces came out to enjoy the second annual Eisenhower Challenge at Eisenhower State Park near Melvern, KS.
It was a beautiful day with temps starting in the 60's, but quickly climbing up into the 80s by race end. As teams began their setup in the transition area, race director Clay Meyers-Bowman walked around encouraging and thanking competitors for their participation. Many of the teams were last minute registrants much to the delight of race staff, but due to the larger than expected number of teams, the logistics of the race had to change slightly. During the pre-race meeting, teams were told what to expect during the race. When asked how many teams were first timers, approximately 20+ teams raised their hands. They were listening intently as Clay instructed them how to have the most successful race possible.

After the meeting, teams received their maps and some instructions for beginning the race. For this race, the field would all do the same course, but the legs would be in different order based on divisions. The Co-ed and Masters divisions started the race on the trail run whereas the rest started a short run to the kayaks. This did a good job of separating the larger than normal cluster of adrenaline junkies. The wind was whipping up pretty well during the paddle section and it was humorous watching the teams battle the elements (and the inflatable kayaks) while zig-zagging all over the place.

Some of the co-ed and masters teams returned from the 4(+) mile trail run to encounter their first special test. They were to solve a word/number puzzle before receiving their next set of instructions. Many racers who may have done triathlons in the past soon learned that there are MANY differences between a tri and an adventure race. Some teams found it difficult to stop (or control) the adrenaline long enough to focus on a mental task so a 5th grade level math puzzle took longer than it otherwise might have in a different environment. Once this was successfully completed, teams were given their next set of instructions.

During this race, teams also had to make their way through a challenging bike course which included single track, horse trails, bush whacking through 7 feet tall thick brush, and some roads. There were several team positions changed during this part of the race due to the varying levels of mountain biking experience. One all female team even had to finish on two flat front tires! Now THAT'S showing some true grit! Good job girls! Some other teams also had to tough their way through flats and other mechanical issues to finish the bike leg.

At the finish line, amongst the tired and dirty faces, there were lots of smiles, handshakes, and high-fives.
Although I didn't get to race today, it was still fun watching everyone else enjoying themselves while pushing beyond their normal comfort levels. Everyone I spoke with said that they loved the race and would like to do another one. Hopefully, they'll take advantage of the opportunity to do more of the Blue Hills races next year as well as checking out other Adventure Races. Then there will be fewer people calling ME crazy!