end of a slow summer

In the past four days I’ve run a total of 20 miles. 8+3+3+(3+3)= 20. I ran twice today - once in the morning, once in the evening. I haven’t had a 20-mile week since May 19 – 25. Three months! Now you see what I mean when I say I haven’t been running much. However, this week I’m slowly getting back on track. The second run today felt better than any of the rest of the runs from the week. The cherry bomb is very slowly getting diffused. I’d like to get in at least one more medium length run this weekend. If I can just keep this 20 per week thing going I could potentially do 800 by the end of the year, so I’m now aiming for that (revised from 700 in the last post.)

Also: It really is feeling like fall. I know officially fall won’t start until September 22, but I’m gonna go ahead and call summer over. It seems to make more sense to me that a season would overlap the solstices and equinoxes anyway. I’d say a month before equinox/solstice should mark the boundary between the seasons.

Tomorrow: I really want to ride Brown Mountain! (It's been 7 weeks!)

finally running (again)

It seems like I say this all too often throughout the year, but I think I’m finally getting back into running again.

I went for a run yesterday evening in the shaded canyon creek trail – a great place to go in the summer when it’s still 90 degrees in the late afternoon. The first half-mile of the route is exposed to the sun, but then you enter the shade of the canyon and it stays that way for pretty much as far as you want to run/walk/bike/go.

Hilary started teaching her kickboxing class again yesterday for the first time after her a.c.l. – about six months ago. The trailhead is on the way to her class so I hitched a ride with her. This felt a little like cheating, but it was also nice to not have to ride all the way up there and then run. Maybe we’ll continue with this Tuesday night carpool scheme.

Anyway, my running miles are way down this year. Everything was going pretty well up through my training for the Mount Wilson Trail Race. Then I took a little break and did some traveling and had/have the whole cherry bomb nagging issue and never really caught back onto a good running schedule. Yesterday I ran eight miles – the farthest I’ve gone since Mount Wilson – two and a half months ago. Running is hard again. I need to get back on track so it will be easy and more fun. Then I’ll be able to enjoy the scenery a little more when I’m out there instead of just trying to make it through the ordeal.

It’s also a little bit hard to train for nothing. There’s a trail race in December out on the coast that looks nice – Lasse Viren 20K. Maybe I’ll sign up for it to give me some motivation. Why it’s named after Viren I don’t know, although he did run in it once.

Hopefully the build up toward a competition and cooling temperatures for the rest of the year will help me get out there. I think I’ve missed my chance at 1000 miles this year, but it would be nice if I could at least recover to around 700 – I would be satisfied with that.

bad good run

Last night’s run was horrible. I rode up to the trailhead and ran from there. But I could barely run at all. It took all I had just to keep from dropping down to speed walking pace. I had no energy and little drive. I’ve been reading a book about Prefontaine, and a magazine article about Meltzer so I figured I’d be able to tap into some of their spirit for motivation, but it didn’t work that way.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons for this drop in performance. The primary factor is just that I haven’t been running much due to all the other reasons/excuses.

The good part, though, was that I somehow managed to drag myself out there and even though my body and spirit wanted to quit immediately, I got in about an hour of running on the creek trail – there’s probably a better name for that creek – I’ll look it up – maybe.

Also good and bad… while I was on the run, all I could think about was mountain lions. One of my friends recently reminded me that they like to hang out in trees. So the whole time I was scanning through all the trees looking for sleeping lions and wondering around which bend they would pounce.

Two f’r Tuesday

Went up towards Brown this afternoon with both my mountain bikes (Mindful Mule, the quasi-vintage rigid ‘94 and Metamorphosis, the full suspension/disc ‘04). No, I didn’t ride them both at the same time. I’ve learned my lesson about that. Lately my roadie friend, Dan the Man, has been thinking about heading back up the mountain trails on the bike. So, today we went for a test ride so he could get the feel of suspension and disc brakes and be reminded of how awesome it is up in those mountains. I ran out of water at the junction road to Millard (about 2/3 of the way to the top of the Brown route) so we turned around. I hadn’t been up on that trail with Mindful Mule since Metamorphosis arrived on the scene a year ago. It seems like much more than a year. I can hardly remember riding Mindful up there. But, she performed quite well today. She’s a little heavy and noisy with all her lights and racks and general urban utility getup, but other than needing to take the downhills a little slower than normal, she pretty much still rocked it.

After the partial Brown route we refilled water bottles and headed up the creek trail for some shady, light technical riding and stream crossings. It was a nice warm day again (but not hot – we’ve had a very mild August) and the water felt great on the feet as we crossed. My toes even got cold – summer must be ending.

The ride was a blast and it was great to be up there with Dan again. I think he liked it, too (maybe he’ll post a comment).

As for the cherry bomb, well, it was bombin’ pretty hard the whole ride, but it was worth it. I do think it’s getting a little better everyday, but I just can’t wait around any longer for it to completely go away.

Roots Ride

I rode up the creek trail through the upper Arroyo Seco this morning. The Cherry Bomb has still got its claws sunk pretty deep into my scapula, but its grip is starting to loosen up a bit so that I can at least get out for some moderate riding - still not quite ready for a ride to Brown, though – at least I can visit its watershed. The creek trail is a lot easier physically but a lot more technical, too. It was a pretty warm and sunny day, so the creek trail was perfect for its shade and stream crossings. It’s always nice to get your feet wet on a summer ride. When I first started riding bikes on the trail, back when Mindful Mule was just a baby, this was the trail I rode. So, today’s ride was sort of a reunion of sorts for me and Mindful and the Upper Arroyo.

Tart Trail Food


Mindful Mule's Sexy Waterfall Shot


Not so much of a waterfall really as a dam

more deferred maintenance

I’ve been considering getting Mindful Mule’s rims replaced for a couple of years now. The sidewall on the rim is starting to get a little concave. I suppose this is from the pressure and friction caused by the brake pads against the sidewall of the rim – especially old pads that have hardened. I have no idea how to lace a wheel. I’m not sure it’s even worth learning although it might be fun. Until I learn how to build my own wheels I could either get Steve at Open Road to rebuild them for me or I could buy a new wheelset altogether – given the age and condition of the hubs, this latter option might be worth it. I’ve put this off for a long time. I keep saying it’ll be fine, it might last another few years for all I know. I’ve heard (on the internet) that wheels can eventually come apart if this concaving is neglected for too long, but how long and how concave does the sidewall of the rim get before it splits and what happens if it splits when you’re riding? And maybe more importantly, if I do get a new wheelset should I get black or silver?

cherry bomb

All I want to do today is ride to Brown mountain. All I’ve wanted to do all week is ride to Brown mountain. I haven’t been up there for a month! I’m in withdrawal. But I’m still not going because I have a pinched nerve – affectionately known as a cherry bomb because it feels like there’s a slow release cherry bomb wedged under my scapula. I’ve been able to do a little bit of riding around town this week but can’t seem to go more than a dozen or so miles – and forget about running.