Club shirts - like a kid at x-mas

I am a child at heart.  Sometimes when I put my big boys pants on I forget that.

[Allen Gamble: Do you wake up in the mornin' and say, "I'm puttin on my big boy pants. Look, I'm wearin' a belt. I got big boy pants on."]

One of my journeys in life is to uncover the boy that is still there, like a moon obscured by the clouds, the boy never went anywhere, it just got buried.  Well, I'm digging the boy out and like a kid at x-mas, I have to unwrap the presents a bit early.

The BykViking has spent the last week designing a club jersey at Canari Custom.  They are not quite done, but I can't wait anymore.  I'm ripping off the wrapping paper . . .    

The jerseys / tech tees will look largely like immediately below.  The only difference is that the side panels from the second set of pictures will replace the side panels in the front.

               Front                                        Back

      Side panels                                                   

When the shirts are finalized, I'll start taking orders.  Let's go barking dogs!

John-crack

It's 3:48 a.m.  I've been awake since about 1:30 a.m.  I went to bed at 9:30 p.m.  Only four hours of sleep.  Why am I awake?  Got a text that Chris B., Greg O. and Greg F. running Elfin Forest at 5:00 a.m.  Am I in?  Didn't think so when I went to bed.  Set the alarm for 4:30 a.m., but figured I'd turn it off and run at 7:00 a.m.  Instead, here I am, trolling Facebook, eating breakfast, drinking coffee and itching to go running.

I get this way when it comes to running now.  Anticipation pulses through me. [Bruce: Don't rush yourself! Sometimes anticipation can heighten the... pleasure.]

I need that run.  It's John-crack.  Things have changed a bit, but not much.  My crack used to be surfing.  If I went to bed and the winds were howling off-shore, the tide was going be low and the buoys were up, there was about zero chance of sleep.

Same thing with cycling.  Group ride into Marin? Nice day in D.C. as a bike messenger?  I'd dream about riding, grabbing onto buses and trucks and playing in traffic.

Now I'm starting to dream about running.  The other night my running shoes were too big and my feet kept slipping out.  But after running 70 miles that week, it wasn't enough, I was running in my sleep.

Now I'm awake.  Time to run.

 John, Chris & Greg

John, Chris & Greg

Fast forward.  It's 7:46 p.m.  All the runners are home.  Except all crack is not created equal.  My crack is more road marathon crack.  I put in 14.9 miles with 3,142' of gain.  The crack of Greg F. and Chris B. is twice as strong, 50K crack, they put in 32.6 miles with 5,336' of gain. Then there is Greg O. crack.  38.3 miles, 8,041' of gain.  It's fuckin' madman crack.

[Now this is Panda, from Mexico. Very good stuff. This is Bava, different, but equally good. And this is Choco from the Hartz Mountains of Germany. Now the first two are the same, forty-five an ounce -- those are friend prices -- but this one...(pointing to the Choco) ...this one's a little more expensive. It's fifty-five. But when you shoot it, you'll know where that extra money went.Nothing wrong with the first two. It's real, real, real, good shit. But this one's a fuckin' madman.]

Day 24 - Recovery is not an option

After running 11 days in a row, I got it into my head to try to run 30 straight days.  At the same time, I ramped up my average weekly mileage from 35 miles to 60 miles a week.  I also put in my biggest week ever, hitting 70 miles.   The first two weeks or so, I was okay.  Then it began to get ugly.

The beginning of the end of was Day 22.  I did a tempo workout and hit some decent mile pace times.  Apparently that was all I had left to give.  The next three days I continued to run, but each day became progressively harder, both mentally and physically as I was irritable, had no interest in running, was beginning to feel pain in both my Achilles and my right foot felt twinges of plantar fasciitis.   

Day 25 would have been a Saturday.  An easy day to get in an easy run.  My body told my mind, "No, this is ridiculous.  You run today, you're going to get injured."  So much for mind over matter.  I realize that running 30 straight days is not the best training, as I never let my body absorb the training I was putting in.  As SEHRC club mate Kamran says, "Recovery is not an option," meaning you must give your body a break.

But this wasn't about training, this was a test of willpower.  I don't look at my decision to stop running as a failure of willpower.  Rather, I'm proud of the fact that I listened to my body and took a day off.  Moreover, along the way I put in the best three weeks of running in my life.

Running happy with Kamran and Travis

Today, after a day off, I had a killer run with the boys of SEHRC (Travis, Kamran, Eric and Kevin).  I felt strong and light and enjoyed myself.  It's amazing how different you can feel after 36 hours of rest.

--Rabbit  

Days of Old - D.C. Courier - A movie about being a bike messenger

After college I moved to D.C. and became a bike messenger.  For awhile, I thought of going to film school, so I made my first and only movie:  D.C. Courier  (Part One)

Enjoy.

Motivating with a new hat from Black Sheep Endurance

Last night my phone starting going nuts.  Cam was trying to organize a run via text.  About every 10 minutes, bzzzz, another text.  The texts soon degenerated into comments about "length of the run", but interspersed between the size jokes, I was told the winner of both Endure the Bear 50K and Nobel Canyon 50K, as well as the 7th place finisher of the Leadville 100 would be in the posse.

This was not a welcome sight.  I was on my ninth day of running and my legs were screaming for a break.  I normally tend to run 4-6 days straight and then take a day off.  However, I couldn't resist the chance to run with some elite runners.  Ten days in a row it would have to be.

At 6:00 a.m. we met at Questhaven Park, headlamps on.  There were nine runners, including three Ironman finishers, six ultras and me.  Although, I have run a 50K, so I guess I'm an ultra.  One dude parted ways pretty quick, but the remaining eight ran down into Elfin Forest.

Walsh, Joe, Casper, Cam, me, Rich and Chris (kneeling) on Andy's Trail.
Dax is photographer.

Around mile five, a few of the guys had to head back.  The rest of us continued on, putting in 11.4 miles with 2,000' of gain in about 2 hours.  During the run, Hoka Cliftons, Nike Tigers, head lamp lumens, hydration, nutrition, Leadville 100, Nobel Canyon 50K, Northface Endurance Challenge, Whoo's in El Moro, pacers, and mountain lions were discussed. It's the kind of run that makes you want to run ultras even if you really don't.  At the same time, it's the kind of run that you want to have every day, as being surrounded by guys who love to run, really motivates you to want to go longer and faster.

Cam in front, me in green and Rich in foreground, heading up towards Melissa's trail.

In addition, I got to meet some new people, especially Rich Airey of Runningwod.com (soon to be blacksheependurance.com.)  Rich took 7th in this year's Leadville 100 on his first try.  Not only is Rich a super cool dude, we also grew up 25 miles from one another in New Jersey.  At the end of the run, proving what a nice guy he is, Rich gave out the hat pictured below to everyone.

Thanks for the hat Rich!  Looking forward to wearing it with pride.  Speaking of motivating, I just got a text from Greg, who coincidentally wears trucker hats on runs.  Tomorrow at 6:30?  Sure.  Eleven days in a row?  No problem . . .

Peaks of San Elijo Hills and surrounds

The Peaks of Three Peaks

Mt. Whitney - 1,732'
Frank's Peak - 1,692'
Double Peak - 1,644'

The Medium Size Peaks

Elfin Forest Overlook (Equine Trail) - 1,342'
Cielo Peak - 1,226' (on trail, near water fountain)
Elfin Forest Way Up Trail - 1,206' - (high point)
Radio Tower - 1,210'
Mt. Tapatio - 1,182'
Via Ambiente South Side - 1,171'
Denk Mountain - 1,053'

The Lesser Peaks

Yellow Truck Trail Peak - 965' (West side, near BMX jumps)
Dump Climb Peak - 846'

Punta Arroyo Peak -795' (where concrete hits gravel, west side)

Ridgeline Peak (Box Canyon) - 656'
Paint Mountain Peak - 607' (where the trail (which one?) meets Suerte del Este)


--Rabbit

Boston Marathon - so it begins

I ran my first marathon, the Carlsbad Marathon, at age 41 in 2013.  My goal was to finish.  I ran it in 4:07 or 9:26 a mile.  After finishing, I vowed never to run a marathon again.

I ran my second marathon, the Carlsbad Marathon, at age 42 in 2014.  My primary goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  To do so I needed to run 3:15 or less.  My secondary goal was to run a 3:00 marathon.  I figured if I shot for 3:00 and failed, I'd qualify for Boston.  I ran it in 3:06 or 7:06 mile.

The Boston Marathon accepts registrations on a rolling basis, based on qualifying times.  I was allowed to register on Friday, September 12, 2014, as I qualified by more than five minutes.  On September 14, 2014, my entry was officially accepted.

This made it real.  For nine months, it wasn't real.  It wasn't concrete.  It was like a baby in my wife's belly. Now it was real.  Now I had to plan.  First up, I needed a plane ticket.  My wife, aka travel agent, took care of that.  Second, place to stay.  I texted my Bostonian brother and told him I was coming.  Next up goal pace.

I ran a 1:20 half-marathon in January.  In my mind, I could have run it a bit faster.  Double it, add a few minutes and voila, I decided on 2:45 goal pace or 6:17 a mile.  Can I do it? I think so.  Will I do it?  That depends on the training.  Was I crazy.  Sure.

But so it begins.  On Friday, I was on my way to a run on the coast.  As I drove west on the 78, I looked to my left and saw a billboard.  "Low fares to BOSTON" was the message.  That was my sign, both figuratively and literally that I had made the right choice.

If you are interested in following my training journey to Boston, check it out at http://www.strava.com/athletes/1865679.