spit up

topanga canyon turkey trot

htppnh and i hooked up this morning in woodland hills at zero dark thirty to head into topanga canyon for the race.  as i sat in the parking lot waiting for her to show up, the sky slowly began to grow light and a HUGE smoke plume began to come into view.  with the announcement of more santa ana winds, i guess it wasn't a surprise to see another wildfire billowing ash into the sky.  this one, though was only a couple ridges over from where our race was.  the race would go on, as the wind was blowing the fire into the ocean via malibu canyon.

it was a brisk 37 degrees at the start, so after picking up our packets, we tried to stay out of the wind waiting for our race to start.  who'd think that wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt to a race during santa ana conditions in so. california would be a near freezing proposition?

anyway, the race went off a little bit late, on the plus side, the sun came over the ridge while we waited and kept us warm. 

the course was a great, wide fire break for the first four miles, with the first three for the most part uphill.  there were some pretty steep sections of the trail, but the climb up to the ridgeline we'd run along resulted in some AMAZING views.  the skies were very clear with the winds from the day before.  to the north, the san gabriel mountains were dominating the skyline and to the south, catalina island. 

at about mile four, though, we dropped down off of the fire road and onto a great stretch of singletrack that would finish off the race.  htppnh had never been on singletrack before, so she had a blast learning to navigate that type of running.  just after the six mile mark, we came up out of the canyon and caught sight of the finishing area.  htppnh picked up the pace a bit and we finished strong.

it was a great day for a race, coupled with great company and a great opportunity to introduce a friend to the joy of trail running.  here's to many more!

early night

going to try to get into bed early tonight.  i'm headed out at zero dark thirty in the morning tomorrow to take part in the topanga canyon turkey trot.  i'm doing the shorter 10k option, but i'll go long on sunday, too.  a good blog friend, hardtopronouncepolishnamehead (htppnh) is in town from austin and we're going to try to tackle her first trail race.

it should be a great race, but it means leaving the house no later than 5am tomorrow.  eep!  better carb load early tonight!

sweet potatoes

it's been a good thanksgiving.  no running since monday as i let my body heal, but that will change tomorrow.  this morning was so much better than yesterday.  the jaw is still sore and things will sometimes remind me that the muscles in my neck are still worked, but for the most part, i'm on the mend.

we started tc on rice cereal last week to get him used to 'solids' as we prepared for today.  this morning we fed him his first 'real' food.  for his second meal of the day, tc celebrated his first thanksgiving with a jar of sweet potatoes.  he made a couple faces, but ate it down pretty quick.  later in the day he wolfed down another jar of the stuff and was loving it.  i think he's just happy to be eating something that doesn't taste like cardboard.

the day was relaxing.  smsmh's family and some friends of ours congregated at the in-laws where we ate a fantastic meal (mom?  the butternut squash was fantastic) and just hung out by the fire with our gourds.  what, you don't chill with your gourds on thanksgiving?

so much worse

i woke up this morning feeling like i'd been run over by a bus.  the chest, the jaw, neck and back were totally stiff and sore.  i took some ibuprofen to aid with reducing the inflammation, but i'm still hurting.  the jaw hurts most at the joint on the left side.  it's mostly a dull pain, but there are times when i'm chewing that the pain is acute and once when it brought tears.  a word to the wise?  when you have a jaw injury, don't eat things with grains or seeds in them.

i'll keep an eye on the jaw and if the pain in the left side doesn't subside over the next couple of days, i might have it checked out.  seriously, though, it can't be broken or i wouldn't have full range of motion like i do.  at worst it might be a hairline fracture.  and what do they do for stuff like that?  make you drink from a straw and say, "be careful"?  not like they can put my chin in a cast.

unwanted visitor

so, our visit with my parents in arizona was just going to be my folks, smsmh, tc and i and my grandparents on my dad's side.  we showed up friday night and as we were getting ready to settle down for the night, this visitor showed up.  mom was adamant about us squishing the poor little guy, but dad 'accidentally' let him out of his container onto the rocks in the back yard.

why ruin it with foreshadowing?

we had planned to head to church w/ my parents on sunday morning, so i bumped my long run to this morning.  after extensive researching on the local trails and mountains, i opted to do a 16 mile loop through white tank regional park; starting clockwise on the goat camp trail and connecting with the ford canyon trail.   a look at the elevation said it'd be a tough couple miles at the start, but then a great cruise for the middle miles and some fun downhill for the finish.  perfect.

i popped out of bed at 5am, ate, grabbed my gear and headed to the trail head.  the sky was just getting light as i pulled up.  i had a two mile jog from where i'd parked (at the ford canyon trailhead) along the park road to the goat canyon trailhead before i hit any dirt.  i opted to do the road running at the front end of the run so that i wouldn't have to suffer the asphalt if i was tuckered out at the end.

the sun crested the horizon as i approached the goat canyon trail head.  it was a huge orange ball, backlighting the saguaro cactus and painting a picturesque desert sunrise.  i hit the trail and started up the canyon on the dirt.  the first mile of trail was a real easy grade and i cruised along, feeling fantastic.  the trail wound through lots of desert scrub and cactus of all shapes and sizes.

by mile 4 (2 miles into the trail), the trail began to change and climb steeply up the canyon.  the smooth trail was replaced by lots of rock and very technical sections.  by the time i hit mile 3, it was getting difficult to keep running so i power walked/hiked/climbed up the trail.  finally, i hit a saddle that marked a change in the trail grade.  i stopped for some gu and a void break.  as i emptied my bladder, i thought to myself, "take that, you nasty mountain!".

running again, the trail took a much less steep route, but continued to climb.  i spooked a small herd of mule dear and watched as they bounded across the rocks and brush.  the trail crossed the wash it had been paralleling and then climbed steeply up the canyon wall.  again, it was technical and too steep to run.  once i hit the saddle, i was greeted with a welcome sight.  the trail followed the contour of the mountain's arms, keeping about the same elevation.  i could see it stretching off for miles.  it was time to cruise.

for the next several miles, i was in heaven.  smooth singletrack, minimal elevation gain or loss and fantastic vistas as the trail wound over and around the ridgelines and saddles.  eventually, it dropped back down into another wash, climbed up the other side of the canyon and then spit me out into the wash of ford canyon.  here, the trail disappeared and for the next couple miles, the trail WAS the wash.  nasty sandy running made for a real lame portion of the trail.  i was still feeling good and having a grand old time, but this was the low point of the route.

eventually, the trail resumed and stuck to the canyon wall as the wash continued to wind it's way below.  more of the very technical type of trail returned and as i descended back down to the canyon floor, i ended up going as slow downhill as i had uphill.  it was just too technical to truly run.  i hopped and shuffled my way down, trying to move quickly, but still trying to be safe.

safe.  right.

at about mile 12, my right foot caught one of the numerous rocks on the trail and i went flying forward.  in that split second that i was off balance and headed toward the ground, i was able to get my arms out in front of me.  the thought went through my head, "ah ha!  good thing i got my hands out to break my fall!"  and then...

BAMMM!

i landed chin first onto a huge quartzite boulder in the middle of the trail, hands on either side, useless.  i rolled to the side, sat up and felt my chin.  my hand came away wet and i looked down to see a surprising amount of blood covering my hand.  i took quick stock.  my head felt okay.  i wasn't dizzy.  i moved my jaw.  holy ouch.  my jaw ACHED at the joints, but i had movement.  that had to be a good thing.

i stood back up.  still no dizziness.  my head must be okay.  i brushed my chin again with my arm and again, it came away covered with fresh blood.  i looked down at my shirt and it was already covered, too.  haha...at least it was a dark colour!   looked down at my legs and the were bloody, too.  a pretty large hematoma was forming on my right shin and my left knee was looking pretty messy too.

i started walking.  everything seemed to be functioning.  i picked up my pace and started power walking down the trail.  i was paying close attention to how the jaw felt.  the pain in the joints wasn't acute, but more of a dull pain.  the pressure of swallowing was pretty intense and when i clamped my jaw closed, i couldn't stand the pain.  but, i could move my jaw side to side, open my mouth and talk, so i figured that i'd live.

after about a quarter mile, i looked at my watch and realized that if i kept walking, i'd finish the run quite late and i knew that my mom would completely freak out and call in search and rescue.  i tentatively started running again and everything felt okay...as long as i didn't move my mouth, that is. 

finally, the trail dropped out of the canyon and back onto the desert floor.  no more technical sections!  i picked up the pace and started crusing along through the saguaro and other cactus.  i passed a couple hikers heading up the trail and got some interesting looks.  i guess i was a mess.  covered in blood...like a serial killer.  or a grave robber.

after four miles, i finally made it back to the car, hopped in and called smsmh to let her know i was okay, but headed to the hospital to get my jaw checked out.  they were worried, of course, but i fortunately talked them out of meeting me there.  i tried to eat a matisse & jack's bar on the way to the hospital, but man did chewing hurt.  i had to let it just sit in my mouth and dissolve. 

i'll pass on the boring hospital details, but they determined that i most likely didn't break my jaw.  fortunately i landed straight on and didn't have any lateral force, which would have most likely broke it.  the chin, though, was nasty.  i ended up with seven stitches.  woohoo.  now i've got some trail running cred.  haha.

i'm a tad sore, it hurts to chew and i've got rock rash all over my legs, but i'm alive, a little bit smarter and now i have  an excuse to take it easy at the xterra race this saturday.   tomorrow, though, i know i'm going to be stiff.  good thing we're doing nothing but driving back to california. 

next time, i won't be so rude to the mountain.  respect nature?  absolutely.

my ryan shay memorial run

i scoped out a 5.5 mile loop through my parent's community for my memorial run.  i woke up when tc got up, started feeding him his bottle but smsmh kept prompting me to get out the door before it got too warm.

i eventually headed outside and stood in the driveway for a few minutes, just thinking.  i prayed silently for ryan's family.  for his friends.  and then i set off.  as i ran, i thought about the importance of making sure those in your life know how they are loved.  i thought about the weekend with my parents and my grandparents and the opportunity to do just that.

i also though specifically about ryan.  i thought about the frailty of life, but at the same time, about the powerful and steadfast way he trained, raced and lived.  i thought about the amazing way that one person could have such a profound impact on so many people.  and then the lesson revealed itself.  how can i, how can we, how can YOU live in such a way that we have that sort of profound affect on those around you.  what choices do i need to make in my life so that people are inspired, encouraged and motivated?

it takes a conscious effort.  it takes having a goal and a purpose.  ryan had all of that in spades and lived out those right choices on a daily basis.  to ryan's family and friends, know that his spirit is alive and well.  the lesson he left behind is being read, learned and lived by so many people.  we, as a community, are with you and supporting you in your grieving, but also in the celebration of a life well lived.

shampoo horn

to make up for my missed nablopomo entries, i submit the following video:

shampoo horn

on the road again

it sure is hard to blog every day when you're driving all over the western states and then when you reach your destination, you end up with no internet access.  phooey.  that's okay, i blew the whole nablopomo thing a couple days ago when i had a rough day with some work problems.

we're in arizona for the weekend visiting my parents and my grandparents.  it should be nice and relaxing.  well, in theory, but tc is having a complete melt down day and sounds like his arms are being torn from their sockets.  poor little guy.  it's funny, watching the whole family sitting around the family room, quietly reading while he screams in the background.

general mills

we started tc on solids this week.  his first feeding was with rice cereal and we captured the wonderful moment on film.  or carbon.  or whatever you want to call it these days.  please to enjoy tc and his messy face.  oh, and a couple other gratuitous photos from this weekend.

13 on the 13th

smsmh and celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary in true style last night.  for the first time since tc came into our house, we headed out on our own and let grandma watch him for the night. 

we headed to the cheesecake factory for dinner where we grubbed on some pretty tasty chow.  i tried to order a glass of wine, but it just didn't taste right (man, how long has it been since i had a glass of wine with dinner?!?) and i let most of it sit.

dinner was great, as was the decadent dessert that we ordered.  when the waitress asked if we wanted coffee as well, i evaluated (at about 8:30pm) how alert i was and answered with an emphatic affirmative. 

we had plans to go see a movie afterward, but we were so stuffed from dinner and still pretty worn out from the day that we decided to just walk around irvine spectrum for a bit and then head home.  we did stop into barnes & noble where i picked up stephen colbert's book.

once home, we passed out on the couches.  how's that for an exciting way to celebrate?!  i guess this is a new chapter in our lives.  13 marks the beginning of the 'old married couple' syndrome, i suppose!

consolation

the recent fires here in so. cal have decimated several of the areas that were amazing for trail running.   harding, whiting ranch, modjeska grade, etc.  some of the premiere areas are now charred and closed.  so, to get good local trail runs in, we've been relegated to the coastal wilderness parks.  now, don't get me wrong, these places offer some amazing trails, but it's just nice to have some variety.

today started out as another perimeter run of the laguna coast wilderness park/el moro park.  i met up with dmitri, shelly, stephanie (who headed back after about 5 miles) and greg at the newport coast entrance and was excited to enter the park from a new area.  waiting there, though, was ryan from the oc mudslingers, another trail running group.  ryan and his friend were planning of doing a 15 mile perimeter run as well, but quiet different than what we'd planned.  theirs was based off of a route that ryan had put together by looking at google earth and scoping out all the possible single track routes.

we decided to tag along with ryan and we set off.  we dropped down onto bommer ridge but then quickly dropped down a single track trail heading down into what i think was called willow springs?  this single track was hands down some of the BEST single track i've ever run in orange county.  it was technical, had a great canopy and took us through coastal scrub and lots of california live oak.  the trail continued for a couple miles and then spit us out onto laguna canyon road, right at the el toro intersection. 

we stuck to the single track and paralleled laguna canyon all the way to the big bend climb.  this was a beast of a climb, consisting of four major inclines that were just too tough to run without being reduced to a shuffle.  after trying to shuffle most of the way up the first climb, i decided to walk the steeper sections.  this trail topped out at a ridge line that looked north/west down onto emerald canyon.  we headed out toward the ocean and then quickly dropped down another single track trail called 'old emerald'.  this trail ran along the spine of a ridge that dropped down into the canyon.  again, this was some BRILLIANT single track.  somewhat technical on sandstone and twisting through coastal scrub, it was a beautiful and fun descent into the canyon.

once in emerald canyon, we headed left and out toward the ocean.  the single track continued, but this time winding us along the creek bed and under a beautiful canopy of sycamore and oak.  again, some of the best single track i've run in ages.  the trail dumped us out at pch in emerald cove where we jogged through the residential community and up to bfi in el moro.  we started up bfi, but turned down the trail where the single track hits the paved section.

the route we were taking then headed up el moro canyon on the fire road, up the 'slow and easy' climb at the end of the canyon and linked back up with bommer ridge right about where we'd dropped down into the first single track. 

the route was amazing.  it opened our eyes to some trails that i'd never known were there, showed me where i could link in other runs and connect with trails from my house and took us on some of the absolute best single track that i've run in so. california.  again, the company was fantastic with great conversation with greg, dmitri, ryan, shelly and the quiet guy from ecuador (can't remember your name for the life of me!)

like i said, with the recent burning of some of my favorite trails, today's route and today's company was more than consolation for that hard felt loss.

grave robbing

well, i knew i couldn't mention number five on my tag list and not blog about it immediately.  all of the internet peeps that i've met over the years, run races with and slept in their houses are all thinking, "holy moley, and i let him crash on my couch?!?"  i'd better tell the whole story before people start freaking out!

so, i mentioned i'm stealthy, right?  one of things that i used to like to do as a teen was climb out my bedroom window at night and just wander around town in the dark hours of the night.  sometimes i'd go to work [i cleaned an office.  dusting, vacuuming, emptying trash, that sort of thing] and finish up something i'd skipped earlier.  other times i'd drive to a park and just wander around the park.  there was even the odd occasion that i'd meet up with some friends and we'd go hang out somewhere.  in every case, though, it was pretty benign. 

on this specific night, some friends were going to pomona to hang out on top of a hill that overlooked the city.  at night, the lights of la county are pretty impressive.  to get to the top of this hill required parking in an industrial complex at the bottom and bushwhacking your way to the top.  why this hill and not some other hill that we could have DRIVEN to the top of, i'll never know.  i was just along for the ride, even though i was driving.

so, it's 1am or so and we park across the street behind a dumpster so that the car is well hidden.  we cross the street, hike through the parking lots and take a dirt road to the base of the hill.  where there happens to be a very old cemetery.  through the cemetery we go, hop the fence at the back of it and start our way up the hill.  before too long, the climbing got really rough and we eventually stopped about 3/4 way up and just sat there and watched the city.  again, all pretty benign, right?  right.

it was windy and cold and after a short while we were uncomfortable, so we headed back down the hill.  we hopped the fence to the cemetery and headed back toward the car.  as we walked through the cemetery, we heard noises.  at one of the graves, we saw three people earnestly digging away.  we slowly approached and saw it was three college age guys.  we asked them what they were doing and they responded, "this is our party bud, we're digging him up to take back to the frat house!"

woah.  these guys were whacked.

the three of us quickly left and continued on toward our car.  no sooner had we left the demented frat boys when a police helicopter flew over, shining it's light down through the trees on us.  we picked up our pace as the light followed us and then switched back to the grave site where the guys were still digging.  we took the path back to the parking lot and noticed the guys car parked on the path in plain sight.  i looked in the window as we walked past and noticed a whole casket gurney contraption in the back.  these guys were  serious!

as we passed their car, several police cars pulled up and stopped us.  we emphatically said that we weren't with the guys back in the cemetery and tried to continue on to our car, but they stopped us and had us sit on the curb near one of the cruisers.  we waited while the police went into the cemetery and collected the frat boys.

we were shuffled into the police cars and they began driving us to the sheriff's station.  over the radio, i could hear them calling ahead telling the dispatcher that they had two groups of three that they were bringing in.  let me take a break from the narrative to explain something.

the frat boys?  they were dressed as preppy as could be.  polo shirts, khaki's, loafers.  my friends and i?  mohawks, eyeliner, leather jackets, combat boots, etc.

when we arrived at the station, the booking officers automatically assumed that my friends an i were the ones that had been digging up the grave.  we continued to protest that we had been involved, but our appearance seemed to speak louder than our voices.  we were booked and taken to separate cells.  i sat for a while in my cell, alone, wondering what in the world was going to happen.

before too much longer, i was collected by an officer and taken into an interrogation room.  i was questioned again and again about what i'd been doing and why i wanted to dig up the grave.  i held to my innocence, but they wanted none of that answer.  back to my cell i went.  after a couple minutes, i was back in the interrogation room, being questioned again.  fortunately, this time my story had been confirmed by my two friends and by the three frat boys.  i was thankful that they'd been adamant that we weren't involved with them.

despite that, my parents were called at about 3am and told that they needed to come and pick up their son, who'd been arrested for grave robbing.  i'm quite sure that came as a shock to them, since they were sure i was safe in my bed.

my parents came and picked me up and fortunately i wasn't charged with anything.  of course, the punishment at home was worse than anything the courts could have imposed at the time.  so, i ended up with a clean record and a great story to tell at parties.

and that, folks is how i was arrested at age 17 for grave robbing.

tag

rules:
• link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
• share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

my tagger:

juls - my amazing runner and friend, looking to qualify for boston at cim in december.

my randomness:

1.  i fold things.  napkins, paper, towels.  it's most noticeable at a meal.  smsmh crumples her napkin and uses multiple ones and i'll have one neatly folded napkin at the end of the meal.

2.  i missed valentines by one day.  born on the 15th...i guess that means i don't hit the mark when it comes to things romantic.

3.  my middle name is a family name.  it's the same as the father of genetics.  it begins with an 'm'.  google away, folks.

4.  i'm stealthy.  i move quietly no mater what i'm doing.  i often scare people at work because they don't hear me walking past them.  sometimes i take advantage of it to play tricks on people, but mostly i don't realize that i'm doing it.

5.  at the age of 17, i was arrested for grave robbing.  hard to be stealthy with a police helicopter spotlight shining on you.

my tagees:
bill, laurie, mark, rudi, karin

back on the wagon

in my seemingly never ending quest to get back into the groove of things, i headed out to back bay again today to put in a solid interval workout.  i had 12x400m on the schedule, so i decided to do them along the same stretch that i did last weeks 2x2mi interval workout.

ken's 400m markers again came in quite handy.  i started at the base of the memorial hill and just ran out and back, tacking on a 200m out and back recovery jog at the end of each interval.  again, i wasn't really quite sure what i'd be capable of, so i thought i'd try for somewhere around 1:35 for each one.

the first 400m fly by in 1:24 and i was a little shocked and wary of that pace.  the return 400m was a little more realistic in 1:38.  the next out was quicker, though, and the return was slower.  as i continued through the out and back routine, i quickly realized that the out had a slight downhill and the return, obviously, had a slight uphill.  i finally worked out the effort and was able to keep each of the intervals right around 1:30.  by the 12th, i was spent, but i felt fantastic.

i slowly jogged the 2 miles back to the ymca and upon completion could tell that i'd reached my limit for the day.  it feels really good to be doing these sorts of workouts again.  it's a great sensation when you feel totally spent, but strong at the end of a workout!

vanguard success!

i hit back bay after work today to get in a quick six mile workout.  as i jogged over to the trail, i saw brian, the coach for the vanguard xc team, sitting on a bench preparing for a workout.  i plopped down for a few minutes to chat with him.  turns out the men's team qualified for the naia national championships and two of his women qualified individually as well.

it's the first time since 1995 that the men's team has qualified for nationals.  congratulations, brian, and Godspeed to your runners on nov. 17th!

ryan shay 5.5 mile memorial run

most folks out there that are reading this that are runners themselves are familiar with the untimely death of ryan shay over the weekend at the 2008 olympic marathon trials in new york on saturday, november 3rd.  ryan collapsed at mile 5.5 and was pronounced dead at lenox hill hospital shortly thereafter. 

this news has rocked the distance running community, as ryan had an incredibly promising career and had already set many records in his years at notre dame and proved himself at distances ranging from 10k to the marathon.  at 28, the prospects of him representing the us in future olympics looked good. 

sure, the loss of a talented distance runner is a tough pill to swallow for the united states, who has only recently started to have a resurgence of talent at the marathon level.  what is harder to swallow, though, is the thought of those that are left behind trying to make sense of the empty space that he once occupied.  his wife, alicia.  his training partners, meb, deena, josh, etc.  his numerous friends and family.

join me in support of them as they process their loss and dedicate your own 5.5 mile run next saturday, november 17th, in memory of ryan.  run the exact distance, or dedicate a 5.5 mile portion of a longer run in his memory.  take the time to recognize life's frailty, to think about those in your life that you need to tell that you love and most of all, pray for those that will feel ryan's absence the most.

thank you.

outage!

i walked into work this morning, filled my GINORMOUS mug (thanks scott!) with tea and sat down to get started on the days tasks.  open up my email, and it doesn't want to connect to the network.  try to connect to one of the remote servers and still nada.  i pop over into my boss's office only to find out that our point to point connection with our other office was down.  nobody was able to work.  so what does that mean for me?

a work at home day!

i have to do legitimate work, but i get to see my wife and scimmia picolissimo all day!  yay!  boy, if i could swing this every day i'd be the happiest dad on earth.  so, i had to dump the entire mug of tea down the drain, BUT the tradeoff is worth it.  haha

shouldn't 'meadows' be flat?

plans to run in pt. magu got scraped in exchange for a local trail run with the octr folks.  jess, greg and dimitri showed up at aliso creek & wood canyon.  greg was going to do a long 22-24 mile run, but jess, dimitri and i were opting for something a little bit shorter.

greg's suggestion to run the 'meadows trail' sounded...pastoral.  that was, until we saw the climb that the trail went up.  for at least a mile, we hammered along some pretty stinkin' steep single-tracked switchbacks.  it was tough.  i'd have walked if greg wasn't there to motivate me to keep running.  the climb was a nice 800' and made more difficult with fog hiding the top.  each turn revealed a new, steep section to navigate and it seemed like it would never end.

once at the top, the four of us headed over to 'top of the world' and headed down the ridge line toward cholla.  greg split off at the infamous 'stair step' trail and headed on to laguna coast wilderness park while the rest of us continued on to our decent into main canyon.  at the top of cholla, dimitri and i took off sprinting down the single track.  dimitri was hooting and hollering like a kid and i couldn't help but join in. 

the three of us finished up the great run together.  jessica had her longest run since her injury and looked great and strong the whole time.  it was a blast to hook back up with the octr folks again.

and greg?  i'm thinking you really are the lovechild of sunny bono and tori spelling...

speed = rubber legs

i hit back bay at lunch yesterday with the 2x2mi on the schedule.  i've been doing intervals for the last few weeks to regain some speed, but i've been keeping the interval section to about 3 miles.  12x400m, 6x800m, 3x1mi, etc.  the 2x2mi was a slight increase and would mark the increase of all future interval workouts.

ken has marked quarter mile markers along the south side of the back bay trail, so i decided to run out to the monument there and start my repeats from there.  he's got an M for the mile, Q for the quarter and H for the half.  that makes it really nice...i'm able to maintain a good pace, check at each 400m and not have to be on a track.  it works out great.

from the ymca, it's two miles to where his markers start.  a perfect warm-up and cool down distance.  the santa ana's hadn't kicked in and there was still a slight marine layer hanging about.  it was perfect running conditions.  i figured about 6:40ish would be a good pace to try to hold.  i dove into the first one and was feeling quite good.  i hit the first mile in 6:27 and decided to try to keep that pace since it felt good.  by the end of the second mile, though, i was really feeling the effort and turned in a 6:30.  i rested for a few minutes, stretched and prepared myself for the return interval. 

i went out at what i thought was a conservative pace and turned in the first mile of the second interval at 6:17.  oops.  must have been the wind at my back.  the second mile was 6:28, so a bit more on pace.  but, oh man, was it hard.  that effort was really tough and one of the hardest workouts in recent history.  my legs were like rubbery lead for the two mile cool-down.

i'm sure it'll come back with time, but the pace and type of workouts i was doing earlier this year seem so far away and unattainable right now!  patience.

clearing the air

the local fire is finally nearing 100% containment and they're hoping to have it completely out by sunday.  the santa ana winds are scheduled to come back today, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't flare back up.  fortunately, there's been plenty of marine layer, cooler temperatures and a slight offshore breeze the last few days.  it's really pushed the smoke in the other direction and given us some clear skies for the most part.

i've actually been able to get outdoors for a couple runs this week and it's been great to stretch out the legs and get away from that horrid treadmill.  i'm hoping to crest 40 miles for the week and finally get back into a rhythm that will allow me to crank up the miles in preparation for twin peaks in february.

i've got 2x2mi on the schedule for today.  a light interval workout compared to what i was doing earlier this year, but you've got to start somewhere, eh?  let's just hope that the winds don't pick up before i get out there for the run.

our giant squid

we headed over to smsmh's brother in law's place last night for halloween hi-jinks.  it was pure chaos when we showed up with caribbean and her friends preparing to dress up as dice, dogs running around and strobe lights flashing.  we put tc into his costume in the hopes that we could go out with the kids trick-or-treating, but as soon as we got it on, he melted down.  so, it was a quick feeding and then back home to put him down for the night.  that's how we rolls these days, yo.