my own steelhead

everyone's been all chatty lately about danskin this and steelhead that and iron this. i've had to significantly modify my race calendar for the summer and fall, scaling back on the number and difficulty of races that i'd had planned. no tri every month, no half iron in the fall. but the itch is still there. and on friday, to show my solidarity with flipperhead (who ran danskin today), i got out and got jiggy with the tri.

coach had 4-5 miles easy on the schedule, and since i'd missed any cycling or swimming earlier in the week, i thought i'd throw in some cross training and do my own little triathlon. i headed to the ymca in newport after work, set up a mini transition area in my car and headed into the y to start my 'race'.

first, i hopped into the pool and knocked out 1000 yards at a pretty decent pace. i had the lane to myself for most of the swim, so i was able to just keep my head down and power through my stroke. i hopped out of the pool at 20:16, a 2:01 100y pace. i toweled off quickly in the locker room and then ran out to the parking lot where i pulled the bike out of the car, threw on the wheel, grabbed the helmet and shoes and jogged to the entry to the parking lot for a transition time of around fourish minutes.

next it was on the bike for an out and back along upper newport bay. i opted for the route with some climbing, which meant riding into the wind. i kept the cadence up around 85 and pushed hard into the strong head wind blowing up the bay. i used the bike as my refuel time and sucked down a bunch of gatorade endurance and tried my first honey stinger gel. i ran out of trail a little past mile five, so i went ahead and turned around rather than fight traffic on pch. the tailwind was great on the return and i was able to keep the 85 cadence but instead of struggling to keep 15-17mph, i flew along in the low 20's. i rolled back into the y parking lot after 10.25 and a 34:17 ride time, averaging just under 17mph.

i quickly stripped the cycling shoes and threw on the saucony's and tore out of the parking lot on a quick four mile out and back along the san diego creek trail past uci. as always after the bike, the legs felt sorta flat and leaden for the first mile+. i stopped at the two mile turn around point to get some water at the fountain there and at that point realized just how warm it was out. being wet from the swim and on the bike had masked the temperature, but now that i was out running in the sun, the 90 degree heat began taking it's toll. i gulped some water, splashed a little more and headed back to finish up the last leg. i cruised along pretty quick for mile three, but really backed off the pace during mile four, since the heat was really getting to me. i climbed the final hill to the y and stopped the watch at 1:35, with a 4.2 mile run of 32:16, a 7:40 mile pace.

all in all, it was a pretty close simulation of a sprint tri with near race effort. i think with some rabbits and targets to chase i'd have gone a little faster, the same being true if it had been a little cooler and less windy, but hey, we run the race given us, right? and, not having any tri's on the schedule for a while, i think it was just the fix that my body needed.

to everyone actually racing steelhead, best wishes for a fantastic race!

thankful

dawn brings up a great point. it's easy to whine about chaos, injuries, bad training, weather, etc, but why is it so challenging for us to celebrate the groovy things going on in our lives? take a moment to accept her challenge.

me? i have a virtual plethora of things to give thanks for (and it's not even late november yet!)

- the ability to get out and move
- smsmh, who amazes me on a daily basis
- the support of friends and family when life is a roller coaster
- unlooked for gifts
- COOLER weather (swiss beef, it's 70 degrees today!)
- did i mention smsmh?
- did i mention the support of friends (i'm talking about you folks, you really, really rock)?
- a court system that really does have kids best interest at heart
- a court system that can move quickly when it's motivated
- a God that has a plan for our lives (gee, you think i grew up in a house full of girls for a reason? wonder why smsmh and i haven't had kids yet? it ALL comes into play, dontcha think?)

go on, rave about the things you're thankful for.

my own badwater

well, the saga of battling the heat continues, and today, despite the blistering, hot sun, man beat mother nature. smsmh and i were out late last night watching the church in concert at the grove in anaheim (with a surprise opener of rob dickinson from catherine wheel), so by the time i woke up at 10am (yes, *i* slept until 10am!), it was already a scorcher outside. by the time i finished watching the time trial stage of the tour de france, it was a little after noon and checking the temperature gauge on the balcony revealed low 90's in the shade. ouch. with plans for the evening, i was going to have to run in the heat if i wanted to get the miles in.

so, i got together my fluids, headed to the aliso creek trail and got ready to run. the temperature sign at the mortuary was flashing 109, and that matched what the car was saying. no messing around today. i had to play it smart. i soaked my hat with water before getting started and splashed water on my arms, legs and back, and then i was off. i felt fresh, and fortunately there was a slight breeze that cooled my damp skin, but i could still feel the heat like a furnace, cooking me alive. the run went well and i was able to hit two water fountains to repeat the hat and limb soaking. by mile 4, i took off the slinglet, rolled it up and tied it around my neck. that seemed to really help.

by about an hour into the run, i was thankful that i was stopping at eight miles, because the heat really began to take it's toll. i was really being cooked, but despite the intense sun and temperatures, i felt mentally sharp, the legs felt good and my heart rate stayed in the 150's and 160's. i finished up the run feeling hot, but good. score one for the human body. i'll tell you what, though...i can't understand how those guys running badwater this week can handle the 135 miles in 130 degree heat. i'm just happy that i was able to survive my own little mini badwater.

my own alpe d'huez

mixing up the training has been a blast for the last few weeks. the great thing about 'supposed' tri-training is that mixing and matching your workouts creates an ever changing, creative blend of physical exertion. when the body is burnt out from running, swimming is still an option. when it's too hot to grind out a track workout, the wind generated by cycling will take the edge off...and so on.

tuesday and wednesday, i figured in the spirit of le tour being in the alps, i'd create some moderately hurculean workouts to show some solidarity for my comrades (menchov? ekimov? popovich?) in spandex. i took the bike to work on tuesday, planning on running at lunch, then cycling home from work. cycling back to work on wednesday morning, swimming at lunch and then lifting after work would round out the two days efforts.

tuesday's run was warm, but nothing too bad (thank God for a drinking fountain at mile 2 and 4). i headed home on the bike at about 5pm into relatively warm conditions. rather than take my normal 17 mile flat route home, i thought i'd enjoy some of the coastline and ride through newport coast and out to pch, followed by a trip up laguna canyon and back to the house. the route i planned had what i knew to be an epic decent, but i'd never been through the area that i would take to get up to the top of the decent. i wasn't sure if it was a simple grade or something more epic. before leaving work, i quickly mapped out the route, memorized all the turns and then clipped in for the trip home.

the first couple miles went by quickly over some moderately tough rollers through post work traffic, but then by around mile 5 i made the turn onto the hill. it began easily enough with a fairly slight grade, but was turning ever so slightly as to obscure what was coming ahead. slowly, the angle picked up and before i knew it, i'd come over a false flat and was faced with a wall in front of me. i channeled the peloton and dug in for the climb. the new bike is outfitted with a computer that includes cadence. i'd heard or read somewhere that 80rpm is a good training pace, so i stuck to that and kept the gearing right at a level where i could maintain that. my speed dropped fast and i turned into a human sieve...with no summit in sight. i kept grinding up the climb which had now stretched into several miles. shortly after mile seven, though, i topped out on the main climb and was treated to an amazing view of newport coast, looking down into one of the many wilderness parks that dot the coast.

there were a handful of smaller climbs before i topped out and began the decent down to pch. the climb had been completely worth it, though...the downhill was long, smooth and had long, sweeping turns. i was able to hammer the big gears and get over 40mph on the ride down. that's crazy fast on a bike. quick thoughts of hitting something in the road flittered through my mind and i briefly thought of pulling a kessler (vs. canada, since he broke his collar bone) but put the frightening images out of my mind and just enjoyed the speed, the weather and the view.

before i knew it, i was down on pch and pedaling along the coast with a nice ocean breeze pushing me along. several more rollers greeted me as i headed down to laguna beach and just before the last drop and climb, i stopped briefly for a gu and some fluids, and was greeted with another great view of crystal cove and the betty ford house out on the point. i pulled out the cell phone and took a shot.

the rest of the ride was a comfortable stroll through laguna canyon with a stiff breeze pushing me along and temperatures in the completely reasonable range. i rolled onto our street just at 24.5 miles and, for taking the long way home, i'd been completely rewarded by one of the more memorable rides i've ever had. i think i'll make this route a regular ride since it features all the great aspects of riding in southern california. hill, ocean, favorable winds and amazing views...it was a day for the history books.

variations on a theme

neese got the right idea from my last humorous post and submitted some doo doo and poo humor. again, pg-13, folks.

to see all the ones you may have missed, check the link on the left sidebar.

i did not have fun

the coach wanted me to find a 5k to race to gauge where my speed is at. so, checking the local race calendar, i found a 5k that had a start about 2-3 miles from the house. perfect! training has been a bit rough the last few weeks, what with the crazy heat and humidity (yeah, i know it's not africa hot here, but we're not used to it). track workouts have been challenging and i have finished them feeling wasted and not on my usual post track high. so, i wasn't sure how i'd fare in today's race. honestly, i didn't even know if i could break 20.

i got up at a decent hour this morning, watched some fawlty towers while i ate my oatmeal and then geared up for my warm-up run to the race start. as soon as i stepped out the door at 7:15, i knew it was going to be hot. i could feel the heat already and the humidity hanging in the air. i jogged easily over to irvine spectrum and was dripping with sweat by the time i arrived. i leaked all over the race entry form and my check, prompting the cashier to ask how far i'd already run. fortunately, i'd been hydrating smartly all day yesterday and didn't feel like fuel or fluids were going to be a factor today.

i poked around for a bit, found johnathon (the race director and co-volunteer from olive crest's fit and fun program) and jodi and said our good mornings. about 15 minutes before the start, i did a handful of strides and was feeling pretty good, if not a little hot. i lined up close to the front and at 8:30 we were off. as always there were some slower folks lined up at the front and i lost several seconds trying to get around them. quickly, though, i was up to the speed i thought i could maintain through the race. after a minute of racing, i glanced at the watch and noticed the hr already in the 160's and i thought, "maybe i should back off a bit so that it doesn't hurt so bad". no sooner had the though come into my mind that it was replaced with thoughts of drew and flipperhead extolling us to "not have fun". i was not there to have fun. i was there to turn myself inside out, leave everything on the course, crush the competition and most decidedly to NOT HAVE FUN.

as i hit the first rise just before mile 1, i reminded myself to NOT HAVE FUN and began moving solidly past people. 6:28 at the first split and i quickly began doing the math. on the drop down the other side of the rise, i pushed the pace, taking advantage of the slope and made sure i did NOT HAVE FUN. as we neared the turn around, i could see i was only a minute or two behind the leaders. that felt good and i quickly squashed that feeling, making sure i did NOT HAVE FUN and passed a group pacing off each other. i rounded the corner at the turn-around and hammered each step around the corner, flying past a runner on the inside. the 2 mile mark was right ahead, along with a water station. all the runners were taking the left hand side of the road, but the straightest line to the curve about a half mile ahead was on the right. i decided to skip the water station on the left and run the tangent. i mean, getting water, after all, would have been fun.

mile 2 went by a tad bit slower at 6:32, so i decided to have even less fun and marked a runner ahead to pass. beyond him, i marked another, and another until we got back to the overpass and i did NOT HAVE FUN by powering up the rise. i yo-yo'ed with a runner that was desperately trying to pass me, and lost him on the rise. i marked a quick, young gal on the downhill and tried to pull up to her. we rounded the last corner and could see the 3 mile mark and the finish, i surged and passed her, but as we hit the marker, she pulled ahead again, obviously kicking. i did NOT HAVE FUN and went with her, crossing the line with my eyeballs bulging out, arms pumping and jaw completely slack, a step behind her. i stopped my watch and was thrilled to see 19:58, a gold medal performance for the day.

i cooled down, got some fluids and fruit, chatted with the thin, bearded, fast, old guy from cal coast track team that had been my early rabbit and, not seeing my name on the early finishers results, headed on home for my recovery. the clouds moved in and a breeze picked up and saved me from the heat and humidity. all in all, not having fun turned out to be very fun.

adventures with the amazing sphincter

this has nothing to do with running, with the exception that running blogger, dawn will get a specific thrill out of it. this post is a long time coming and i've debated for a good long while whether i should post it or not. well, common sense be damned...especially when it's in the name of getting a laugh. the big deterrent to writing this post was knowing that my folks read the blog. well, what i'm about to post contains photographs that...while risque (folks, this is pg-13 material), isn't anything they haven't seen before. mom, laugh at this, and don't die from embarrassment. with that said, let us begin.

a couple years ago, i was actively posting my photography on a community photography site and developed a fun community of photographers and photobloggers, not unlike the running blog community. most of my photographs were 'art', but if you know anything about me, you know i've got a silly side. through the course of running jokes, i got silly and took a photo of, what can only be described in computer terms as a hard disk dump. the photo received wide acclaim and great response. so great, in fact, that other budding photographers got in on the deal and began enhancing the original photo.

at first, the other objects that appeared in the photo were random, like a glass elephant (a gift from south africa to the nation of scotland), a someone's fury friend, rubber wee things (more scottish humor) and a swashbuckling statue. but then, the things took more of a photography/film theme, with tributes to kodak, willy wonka and the gods must be crazy. butt, then things took a turn for the worse and i tootied. yes, it seems that things had come to and end at that point. but not first without being recognized for photography splendor with an award from my peers.

so, now you've seen the real jeff. the half moon jeff. and, i hope to bring the dream back to life. should you get the wild urge to add to my collection, feel free to snag any of those shots and modify it yourself, or pass me along shots of objects or people that you'd like to see join in on the fun.

whew, i'm so glad to have that out of my 'system'.

hot, hot, heat

i am a leaky runner. i joke quite a bit about my lathery legs on hard workouts, about wringing my shirt out after a run, even my socks and i laugh at how i have to rotate my shoes to let them dry after longer or harder workouts. but today this joke is tired of laughing. i got fried today, and in a very, very bad way.

as is typical on weekends during the month of july, two things happen. first, it gets warm here in southern california, and second, i get easily caught up in watching the tour de france. this morning was no exception. i was out of bed early enough to put in my 15 miler before it got warm, but the insanity of today's time trial stage won out. watching bobby julich crash out, levi leipheimer bonk and floyd landis turn in a second place finish despite having to change out his bike, while amazing to experience live, was not worth the fallout of starting my run at 9am.

i stepped outside to get started and it didn't feel overly warm, but by the time i was down my hill and heading toward the trail, i could feel the warm wind washing over me. not to worry, though...i was loaded with fluid and had two water fountains that i could restock at. i kept a moderate pace and hydrated smartly for the first handful of miles. at mile 6, i hooked up with a couple that was out running, bree, a nine month pregnant, 2:58 marathon mother and her husband, jason, pushing their son in a stroller. bree had to split off after about a mile, but jason hung with me through my turn-around and all the way until just after mile 8. as is normal when i hook up with other runners, i forget to keep an eye on stuff and i'll get distracted. i wasn't watching my hr and i think i missed some drinking...but, hey, the legs were feeling great and mentally i was feeling pretty on.

but when jason split off, i looked down at my watch and noticed that, even though i was crusing along at an 8:30 pace, my hr was floating in the high 160's. usually, i only hit 160's when i'm powering up a hill or hammering through intervals...and NEVER when i'm crusing in the 8's. i backed the pace down a bit, made sure i was breathing well and focused on my form. still, the legs and the mind felt wonderful, and i didn't understand at first why my hr was so high if i didn't feel like i was exerting myself. and then the hr crested 170, 172, 174...and despite only running a 9:30 pace at this point, i couldn't get the hr to drop back down.

by 9.5, i was concerned. my second water fountain was right ahead, next to a tunnel that the trail ran through. i stopped in the tunnel and rested for a bit. i wrung out my shirt and socks and drank up. i kept an eye on the hr and told myself that i'd let it get back down to a reasonable rate before heading back out again. but 5 minutes later, it was still in the 130's, despite me sitting on the ground. so, i waited some more, and by 10 minutes into my break, it finally dropped under 100.

i headed back out, still feeling okay, but spooked at the hr a bit. i took it nice and slow, keeping my pace between 9-10 minute miles. the hr crept up quickly and by 11, it was in the 160's again. by 11.5 it was at 170 and i was doing 10 minute miles. i stopped under some trees on a park bench, sat down and nearly passed out. i was incredibly loopy and had to sit on the ground to feel comfortable. i was nauseated and didn't want to drink anything. i forced a gu, water and cytomax down, but stayed put until the hr was back under 100.

and then i started walking. easy, comfortable walking. with my soaking wet singlet wrapped around my neck...my mind quickly slipped into survival mode and i began thinking about calling for a pick-up. i jogged on and off for the next few miles, always stopping to walk when the hr got anywhere over 150. by mile 13 i was a zombie. two miles back to the house, and i felt like i could make it under my own power. i dug down deep and ran for another half mile, but by 13.5 i was getting weird pain sensations near my left lung and up into my neck. that freaked me out badly, so i wrapped the singlet around my head and trudged on. i thought about flagging down a car, but the thought of ruining someone's upholstery with my nasty, foamy sweat won out. funny how the mind works at times like that.

i staggered the last 1.5 miles home, and only on the final hill up to my house did someone pull over and ask if i was okay. i was about 200m from home at that point, so i waved him on. it's several hours later and even now i feel really rough. i'm still down about 4lbs after drinking somewhere in the range of 64oz of fluids and eating a bunch of pasta. spooky, to say the least. i get freaked out when i think about what would have happened if i hadn't been wearing the hr monitor. i noticed something was wrong LONG before i felt that i was in trouble.

so, lesson learned. do not mess with the heat, jeff. you are a leaky runner and can dehydrate quickly. phil and the oln boys will replay the day's stage several times, and you can catch it later. getting that run in early or in the evening needs to be the priority. take care, folks, and don't let the heat get the best of you.

okay, i'll play

i got tagged by smsmh (via email), jessica (whom i answered in her comments) AND meghan, so i'll play along and actually post my (edited) responses:

4 jobs I've had:
janitor
us marine
shoe salesman
computer geek

4 movies I watch over and over:
much ado about nothing
saving private ryan
chariots of fire
when harry met sally

4 Places I have lived:
jacksonville, nc
issaquah, wa
cape henry, va
laguna hills, ca

4 TV shows I watch:
scrubs
the office
my name is earl
the daily show

4 Places I've been on Vacation:
auckland, new zealand
brisbane, australia
ottawa, canada
glacier national park, montana

4 Websites I visit everyday:
breakingthetape.com
bloglines.com
google.com
scarygoround.com

4 Favorite Foods:
smsmh's lasagna
smsmh's salmon
smsmh's eggplant pasta
smsmh's bacon pasta

4 Places I'd rather be right now:
anywhere on the 395
yosemite
frasier island
with smsmh

4 Favorite Bands/Singers:
the the
dead can dance
killing joke
oingo boingo