bucket list

Excellent 7 mile run this morning with my running pal Shan.  I think the near freezing temps may have scared Diana away.  Mark probably had little daughter duty.  Jim B was a no show after the formal email invitation last week.  He'll be joining us at some point I'm very sure.   Don't know what happened to Steve.  Maybe his usual 7 mile trail run with his pal Nancy after the early 7 mile with us was too much today.  It must be hell being retired and having to make decisions like that!!!

We had a good run in 1:06 and I shared the talking duties pretty well.  As we have in the past we talked about doing some real speed work on the Austin High track on Tuesday mornings.  We'd do a couple of miles to warm up and then some sort of repeats.  Man o man it would really help our running.  We just have to DO IT!!!!

I haven't been this happy about a running month since probably July last year. The month started off crappy with just a few miles the first 2 weeks.  Misty was really sick and then I got a minor cold that set me back a week.  Before Thursday the 17th I only had 15 miles for the month.   That evening started the turn around with an easy 5 miler from the office.  I wasn't feeling well and the weather had been cold and crappy but I got it done and the rest is history for this month.  A couple of back to back 30 mile weeks and what seemed like a very shitty start to the year is now the beginning of what could be a really good running year.

If all goes as planned I'm going to get to knock off the #1 item on my bucket list, running in the Grand Canyon.  Sam V has verbally committed to running with me.  We don't know what we're going to do for sure at this point but we'll get in at least 31-32 miles.  We are going to assess our fitness when we get there and decide whether or not to do the whole enchilada (very difficult 47 mile round trip) or not.   Anyway, I'm so damn excited I can hardly stand it!!

Lovie's back!!

I've got my Lovie back!!  She signed up for a weight loss challenge last Saturday after her first day of bootcamp in several months.  They've got her on a strict diet high in protein with limited amounts of "good" carbs.  They want her doing something everyday whether it be bootcamp or some walking.  She did a couple of easy walks Sunday to loosen up her muscles after their butt kicking Saturday and she also walked Monday evening with our neighbor Stacy.  Yesterday her plans were to get up at 5am with me and do bootcamp but she balked when I attempted to wake her up.  She said she would do the evening class of bootcamp.  We really like Eugene the evening instructor.  She's been kind of frustrated with the lack of choices in the meal plan and her frustration hit a high level yesterday evening and she blew off bootcamp again.  We talked about her need to get back into the early morning routine and I told her I wasn't going to let her off the hook the next morning.

This morning when the alarm went off I got up like usual and told Misty that it was 5 0'clock.  She said okay and got on up pretty quick, got her stuff together and got out the door.  I went about my normal routine and when Misty got home you could see in her face right away that she's getting back the familiar glow that she has when she's happy.  She said that that was what she needed meaning bootcamp!!  I like having Lovie back!!

small world

Shan and I got in a good easy 7 this morning at LBL.  I'm really in need of an easy week after some good mileage the last 2 weeks.  This morning we ran at a pretty decent pace but mixed in several walk breaks and finished in 1:19, just about what I had planned.  Sometimes I feel a bit guilty asking Shan to run slower with me because she is capable of running so much faster ( after we finished this morning she ran a 2nd loop in 1:08!!) but she doesn't seem to mind very much.  For our finish today we walked the last quarter mile or more for a good cool down and saw our Thursday morning running pal Steve F. running the opposite direction.  Small world Austin Tx!!!!

run

All I've got to do is get my ass out and run.  That's all, just get out and do it.  Plan it, make it a priority and JUST DO IT!!!  With an easy week planned next week, 4 miles each on Monday and Tuesday and then the normal 7 Thursday morning I'll top 5 of my 2012 months.  Unbelievable!!  That's a good example of how crappy last year was in terms of running.  61 miles the last 2 weeks show that I've still got it when I focus.  I'm going to take it really easy next week and get in some recovery time.

Sam, Mark and I got in a really good 17 this morning at Lady Bird Lake.  We did the first 10 mile loop in 1:50, 15 was in 2:45 and I finished in 3:18.  I didn't have much left at the end and they had pulled away from me the last mile but that's all good.  As little running as I've done since the 50 miler I'm very happy with my running the last 2 weeks.  Run, that's all I've got to do.  Staying out of the looney bin!!!

lathery

There's just nothing like a new bar of soap.  All lathery and smelling good.  It's crazy to look back and remember the days of going 5 straight days without a shower.  Body cheese is a real thing people!!  It almost could have been 1891 instead of 1991 when I'd roll into the motel on time off with my big bag.  That's what I looked like, a dirty ass cowboy fresh off the trail.
Sometimes I fantasize about being a cowboy when I'm out running in the woods.  In some ways maybe me and my friends aren't that much different from the old cowboys.  We're out in the elements whatever they may be and we're pushing ourselves harder than most people.  Although back in the day everyone worked their ass off just to survive, unlike nowadays.

Shan, Steve and I had a good 7 mile run yesterday morning.  We did it in 1:08, a bit slow but Shan was coming off a 14hr day and I'm still sort of working my way back from minimal mileage and a cold.  Some good news is that the weighted leg lifts I've been doing regularly really seem to be helping my knee pain.

out of place

I had a very disciplined, slow, easy 5 mile run this morning at LBL.  HA!!  I'm sort of serious about that. Between being a drunken piece of shit, the holidays, Misty being sick, me being sick I've run very little since the 50 mile in mid November.  So, I'm doing my best to salvage a shitty mileage start to the new year by doing some cramming.  I had a pretty good rebound week last week and am off to a good start this week.  Today was just a junk mile day.

I finally found the trailhead to the infamous Thumper.  I had a short day yesterday so I had the afternoon to go exploring.  I've heard about this trail several times over the years.  Most recently when Larry K and I encountered each other a couple of Saturday's ago at Forest Ridge.  We talked about it briefly, or should I say "he" talked about it because I wasn't doing much talking during the mile or so we ran together.  I was too busy huffing and puffing in a attempt to hang with him.

Immediately I didn't feel at home.  I had to park across the street near a utilities entrance because the only other parking was at the curb and my POS car is out of place in this neighborhood.  As I went through the gate there was a small sign that said, "Tenants and Residents Only".   I went on through the gate and gave a friendly wave to a young mother whose kids were playing in the playground.  I thought I could see where the trail was and walked like I had been there before and knew what I was doing.  The trail head was very apparent and I headed down.  It didn't take long to get to a major turn.  Instead of going straight down I turned left and headed in the direction of the houses in the neighborhood.  The rest of the adventure is little hard to describe besides getting lost some but finding my way and having an elapsed time of 1:15.  I did enough running to roll my left ankle twice and get in at least 4 miles.

MLK

What a gorgeous morning we had today.  My drive to work only took 15 minutes due to the lack of traffic for MLK day.  I'm so glad we have a day to remember a man who changed our country in such a profoundly positive way.  MLK was inspired by Gandhi's non violent activism, and that's probably the only way the civil rights movement had any chance at success.  Those years were ugly enough but they most certainly would have been much uglier if the movement had been started by any other person besides him.  We are greatly indebted to he and his courage.

This past Saturday we spent the evening with a person who at the end of the night said,"I don't really like blacks, my friends are not going to believe I spent the evening dancing and listening to an albino black man"!!  Really?  Are you kidding me?  This guy is a brother in law of a friend, Derek, that Misty grew up with.  Two years ago he, his wife and son came to Austin and rented a house on Lake Travis.  We had a good time with them before and looked forward to partying with them again.  Saturday night the plan was to see Carolyn Wonderland, an Austin musician with a big following whom we hadn't seen before but put on an outstanding show.  She reminded us a lot of  Janis Joplin (oddly enough, Saturday was Janis Joplin's 70th birthday).  The main draw was Malford Milligan, a longtime Austin blues singer who fronted one of our all time favorite bands, Storyville and also happens to be a black albino. They are special to Misty and I because we both associate their music to when we first started dating.  I copied the following from the editorial page of the newspaper.  It's the end of his last speech.  It's almost like he knew what was coming later that day.

“We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you.

“But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

wife

This is my first attempt to upload pics from my phone to my blog.  My wife helped my old ass figure it out. She's smart!!

Peace

Peace.  Peace of mind.  At ease with myself.  15 miles with Sam was what I was so in need of.  Today's run, any run I suppose, is just what my soul needs to be at peace.
No need to be in a rush for anything today.  Peace.  Doing what my body and mind were made to do is bliss.  Just simply running......and some walking but yet continually moving.  Peace

relearn

Finally worked up the uumph to run yesterday.  Everything came together, I'm feeling a bit better and the weather outside was beautiful.  I changed it up some too.  I went across to San Jac and up to 34th, cut across to Lamar, down through West Campus and back to the office for a total of 5 miles. This was very similar to the route Mark R and I used to run together several years ago. 

I can't describe how good it was to get out and get moving.  After a long layoff I always wonder how my body will feel and I have this feeling like I'm going to have to relearn running.  It's really weird.  My knees felt pretty good even though I haven't been very diligent about doing my exercises.  Now that we don't have to head downtown to do the mail at 530 I'm going to shoot for 1 run a week from the office on a course similar to yesterdays.  I'm really looking forward to spending time in the woods with Sam tomorrow talking about our R2R2R in October!!!!

8

8 miles at Forest Ridge Saturday morning.

7

7 miles this afternoon at LBL.

thud

Ended '12 with a resounding thud.  835 miles (16 miles per week) for the year.  42 miles for the month of December and 63 for August.  My high mileage month was 113 in July.  I only had 4 months of the year that totaled 100 miles or more.  The kicker is that I've been mostly healthy, definitely healthy for the crappy August and December totals.

I suppose one way to look at it is that I'm fully rested from my very decent 50 miler on Nov 17.  I'm sure I took longer than usual to recover since I was so undertrained going into it. That 50 miler and Misty and I doing the Bandera 25k together last January are definitely the highlights.  And 118 total miles for the year with Misty is also very cool!!

There are a  positives though.  I'm actually in pretty good 7 mile LBL shape right now and I'm sure part of that is the relative consistency of the crunches and pushups I've been doing lately.  Those are 2 things that I can continue to build on.  I'm afraid on the 7 mile part I won't have any choice BUT to build on it since I've already informed Shan I'd really like to get under 60 min for it this spring.

So, onto another year.  I have some goals in mind but none I feel strong enough about to actually put in writing.