Anxiety building

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

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

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

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!

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

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?

"Life comes at you fast..."

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

Courtesy of http://xkcd.com/

Taking it slowly

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

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

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.