the frustration grows

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.

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...

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!

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?

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!

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!

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!

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

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?

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?

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

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...

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.

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!

Tough Sprint Adventure Race!

This past weekend's Blue Hills Adventure Race was one of the top two toughest if not THE toughest one yet in this series! I decided to make it a little harder on myself by forgoing the necessary rest the night before. Getting a little over 2 hours of very bad quality sleep, I got up at 2:15 to load the car up, drive over to get Shane, and hit the road for the drive up to Kellog, IA for the race. Three quarters of the drive up was in pouring rain and it began to make us a little nervous thinking that we might have to slog it out in the mucky stuff. It's best to mentally prepare yourself for the worst just in case. Thankfully, the course was dry, but definitely not easy. This time, the guys from Blue Hills wanted to make sure we all got out money's worth of racing, so they made the course longer than in races past to ensure a MINIMUM of 3 hours racing for everyone. We ended up doing the events in the following order with approx distances:
1. run ~1 mi
2. kayak ~2 mi
3. run ~ 2.5 mi
4. bike ~10mi
5. kayak ~ 2 mi
6. run ~2.5 mi
7. bike ~10 mi
This course was also much hillier than I expected it to be. Lessons re-learned from this race include getting enough rest the night before and make SURE to eat a good breakfast the morning of a race. Coffee and hammer gel does NOT constitute a good breakfast. During the first bike leg, we met some race course officials on one of the roads that made us stop for a "mystery challenge". They gave us a card with instructions to drop our bikes in the ditch by the road and proceed on foot into a pine grove. In this grove, we were to find hidden checkpoints A, B, and C and punch the card with them. These were cleverly disguised hanging in the trees varying distances apart. Another special test had us collecting random objects from a list and putting them in a plaastic bag for race officials to check off. We had to find a bug, coin, credit card, leaf, rock, hammer gel, piece of litter, and a piece of toilet paper. Most of these things were readily in the transition area, but a few teams had to run back to their cars to complete their tasks. Although the kayak leg(s) seemed to go on and on and on, the biking was definitely the difficult part. A good part of it was cross country on newly mowed brush clearing which bridged some of the singletrack sections. The hills surrounding the lake seemed endless with one right after another and almost no flat areas to catch your breath.
Shane and I ended up taking second place in this race behind the Backwoods WildHares. I think we had a good race since we made no big mistakes and felt ok. I think we could've done better with some solid food in us and with a little more rest beforehand, but the team we lost to has been stronger than us all season thus far. It's a bit of a downer to keep finishing behind them, but it's also good for us to have to keep pushing ourselves to race UP to the level of competition they bring.

I'm too old to be trendy!

Good Training weekend

I'm tired.

This weekend, had some good training for me. Took third place in my age group at the XTerra 10k on Saturday morning, helped out (didn't have to substitute/ride in) for a 12 hour mtn bike race that afternoon, ran with the group Sunday morning,(NASTY ticks) and then got in some riding with my AR teammate Shane. This week, I'll train a little on Tuesday night, but for the rest of the week, I think I'll just hit the gym for light work on weights and swim a little. I also REALLY NEED to start eating better. I've been reverting back to junk lately. Not sure, why, but it's taking a toll on my body. The next Adventure Race is this coming weekend on Sunday. It's just a little east of Des Moines, IA. I think we'll be ready.

Fun Trail Run!

The Trail Nerds held their second of the series of trail races on Friday night. Before the run, I was wondering (nervously) how I'd do. I was feeling pretty good and wanted to do well, but realized that I was actually WORRYING about it! WHY? Not sure really, but on the way there, instead of the usual pre-race tunes, (Linkin Park, Prodigy, etc...) I put in some pretty chill ambient stuff and it relaxed me a bit. That helped me rearrange my goal for the race from wanting to do as well as I could, to just wanting to make it an enjoyable run. It went great and we had a very good turnout for such a low-key race. Instead of rehashing the whole thing, I'll just let someone else's well-written report suffice. Check out Jake's account of it here.
Dick Ross generously photographed the runners. His pictorial account of the race can be found here!

One thing I REALLY think I need to work on though is the pre-race warm-up. I HATE doing little runs before a race to warm up and I dont' think they've ever helped me. Could be wrong on that, but it's my perception. BUT, I also don't feel warmed up before the race and when I go out too hard, it hurts the lungs, and jacks my heartrate WAY up! Anyone have advice for this?

The post below shows what I have in the way of mtn bikes. I'll be selling those sometime and I think I'll get one of these!

A biking dilemma and AR Training

I've been contemplating getting a new mtn bike for a while. Of the three mtn bike's I've owned, I've only REALLY liked my Gary Fisher Sugar. Even though I still have it, I haven't put any money into it lately and the parts on it are worn out. I have a hard time justifying putting more money into it when I have and am currently racing on my Specialized Stumpjumper FSR. It's newer and rides farily nice, but I just don't like it as well. My Stumpy is a small frame (which is supposedly right for my height) but my Fisher is a medium and feels more right for my style of riding. NOW I'm getting to the point where the components on my Stumpy are getting worn and I'm wondering if I should continue to put any money into it or just get something I like better. Selling a used mountain bike is such a pain though.
Anyway, it's Tuesday again and this is another training night for biking first, then running. Last Saturday I ran with the group and we got in around 8 in the trails. It's been pretty hot lately. Hopefully, the heat won't hurt the training. Last night's run was very inconsistent. Started out strong, but had a side cramp twice during it and had to walk out the first and ran through the second one. Still got in a little over 6 on the roads. While running, my deltoids started tiring. I'll either have to cut back on the fly reps in the gym or increase my mileage so get the arms back where they need to be so I can run efficiently and keep the ribcage/diaphragm open.
During the last race, Shane and I paddled fairly well, but we were both sore in the shoulders afterwards. We both know that kayaking with proper form isn't supposed to use the arms completely, but in the inflatable little rubber duckies, it's almost impossible to maintain proper form. Hopefully, we'll be able to get in some paddling practice before the next race. If not, we'll just punish ourselves more and rely on strength, determination, and experience to help us continue winning.

against the odds

No, not the sappy Phil Collins song.

That's just how I feel about our performance after we won our most recent adv race despite making several mistakes that I thought WOULD have cost us the race.
Thankfully, we didn't have to travel too far for this one. The next race in the Blue Hills adventure Race series took us to Smithville Lake which us Trail Nerds have trained on before and I've raced this park last year. It was projected to be about 93 degrees with a heat index of around 110. In reality, the temp got up to 102 ACTUAL temperature later that day, but it didn't hurt anyone too badly. We had a puker, and someone stopped sweating halfway through her race, but other than that, most everyone hydrated pretty well and I didn't even notice the heat. The rude locals were harder to deal with than the heat, but that's just another part of the challenge in an adventure race.
After the pre-race meeting, everyone started off running down a short road toward an open grassy area strewn with ziplock bags with race numbers on them. These contained maps and the directions we were to follow for the race. After getting these we returned to the Transition Area and got on our bikes. We were warned/advised to take our running shoes with us on the bike leg. Of course I listened to this part due to some past mistakes. Certainly I wouldn't make it again...
We got about a minute and a half into the trails when I realized that in our transition rush, I in fact DID NOT strap my running shoes to my camelback! Not wanting to risk it this time, we turned around and headed back to the transition area to retrieve my running shoes and then continued on the first mountain biking section. We lost what seemed like about 3 or 4 minutes on this mental error, but it was probably only maybe 2 mins. Still, it wasn't good for our mental state so early in the race.
We hammered pretty hard on these trails passing what was a mostly courteous field, but once we got to the front few teams we had a little harder time passing them and their egoes. We did about 4-5 miles in the trails on the bike punching checkpoints along the way when the map brought us to a second Transition Area (TA2).
From here, we were instructed to drop the bikes and proceed on foot through the next four checkpoints. This portion was approximately 4 miles. The heat didn't really bother me, but for some reason, I was having a hard time catching my breath on this part and consequently, was running much slower than I wanted. Still, we didn't get caught by any other teams and we also caught the final (lead) team back at the Transition Area as we got back on the bikes. They took off a little before us, but we eventually caught them in the trails and left them behind. From here, we rode another 3 or 4 miles back to the start/Transition Area 1 for our next set of instructions. We received a special test telling us to run the half-mile down the road out of the park to a "General Store". Here we were to use 4 quarters that was in our ziplock bag to purchase an item (less than a dollar) and bring that item, the receipt, and any change back to the race officials. Shane picked up some sunflower seeds and we were out and on our way. This was a quick mile run and we were in the store for just at a minute.














Once back in the Transition Area, we had to get a kayak 2 paddles and 2 PFDs and head down to the kayak put in point on the lake. There were 3 check points to hit during this leg and although we saw several teams enter the water after us, we were well enough ahead that was never any threat of getting caught. After having raced together in several of these, Shane and I work well together in the inflatable boats and as long as it stays inflated, we normally gain ground of the rest of the field while paddling.
After exiting the water, we had to portage the boat, paddles and PFDs back to the TA and get our next special test.
This test was a word/number game with a set of 10 instructions for doing simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to get certain letters from their corresponding numbers. If you followed the directions carefully, it was very easy and we blew through it quickly spelling our words (appropriately enough) "the winner".
After this we were handed another set of instructions stating that the FINAL mountain bike leg would take us east in the park along some paved trail approximately 3 miles to the last checkpoint. Thankfully, Shane had a functional computer on his bike and he clocked the mileage. During this ride, my legs began to tire. When we hit the three mile mark, Shane let me know so we both started to keep an eye out for the checkpoint. After passing it and turning around, we saw it lying on the ground. I thought this to be odd since they're normally hanging securely from a tree in plain sight. We approached it and Shane grabbed the punch to punch our control card. I mentioned that we should probably hang it back up in the tree since I assumed it had fallen by accident when we both smelled this horrible stench of feces! After asking my teammate if he was feeling alright, we noticed that someone had intentionally ripped the checkpoint down and then did their own business on it! HOW RUDE! We were able to avoid the mess and still got the CP hung back up in the tree so that other teams didn't pass it like we did.
I don't mind helping out other teams, but I'm glad that others benefitting from our misfortune didn't cost us any placement in the race.
After this last punch on the control card, we rode the final three miles back to the Finish line with huge smiles on our faces. This race was a great win for us as we had to overcome several obstacles and some mental errors. This really helps build confidence.
Tonight, I think I'll do a recovery run of about 6-7 easy miles with the KC Track club. Then it's back to training as usual.