Tour in town

I’m not sure what kind of crazy hormone boosting steroidal epo cocktail is leftover in this bottle but I’ll take whatever I can get. It smells like lemon drops. It has two Xs marked on the cap with a marker - double strength? for Lance? Levi?

I picked up a bottle from Quick Step, too, but gave it away to my friend (before I realized it might have been Tommeke’s - sorry Peanut!)

Friday fifteen

Went on my first long run of the year today. I ran up the arroyo to Johnson’s Rock. I’d like to try to get in one good long run at least every month this year, so I guess I’m a little behind already, but that will just give me a challenge to shoot for.

I felt pretty good on the run. I picked up a new pair of running shoes a couple days ago and they seem to be cushioning my steps a lot better. I’d like to find at least one more pair so I can rotate from day to day. I took them out for a 3-miler a couple days ago just to give them a little break in and then wore them again today. No blister problems.

Years ago I would get blisters with almost every new pair of running shoes a tried. Now blisters are rare. I’m pretty sure it just has to do with my feet being more accustomed to running rather than anything different about the shoes. Callused in all the right places, I guess.

I thought about going for eighteen today. That was the outside chance plan. I cut it short because I haven’t done much distance lately and it was actually pretty warm and dry today and thought maybe I’d be better off returning home for the weekend with a little bit in reserve – maybe a short run tomorrow morning before the Tour of California rolls into town…

I’ve been noticing lately that when I’m planning to run a long way I feel a lot more tired at, say, mile 3 or 7 then I would if I were only running those shorter distances. This is a bit of a psych out I guess based on fear of the longer distances. I’d really like to disconnect from that mindset because it would probably make things much easier, especially as I (if I) start to do longer runs which I hope to do. Of course, I should probably focus on this in all aspects of life, too – sticking with the present moment.

To go longer though… gosh, things will have to change to accomplish that. I’m not a particularly fast runner so going 15 or 18 miles takes a lot of time. At those distances I can semi fake the hydration and nutrition aspect of running, but if I’m to increase the distance of my long runs I’m going to have to make that a priority.

But beyond nutrition, I’m just not sure if running longer is my thing. I’m definitely inspired by accounts in blogs and magazines and books from people who run incredible distances all the time. But just because I find their feats inspirational doesn’t necessitate my following them through myriad mountain miles. Or maybe it does… I don’t know…

All the Right Moves

I was following another rider while riding home yesterday. At first I didn’t make too much of it. I stayed back about a hundred feet or so. Very quickly, though, I realized that this rider really knew what she was doing. Every move she made was spot on – positioning on the road, awareness of surroundings, steady speed and pedaling, etc… basically, perfect urban riding technique. I was amazed. Many of the riders out there are total kooks in their approach to riding safely along with traffic. But this rider was really a joy to follow. It was like following a shadow of myself on a personalized training ride along my familiar route. I followed her for about a mile before our routes diverged. Ride on… safely…

Bear vs. Les

My friends and I have been debating this one for a few months now. Bear and Les both have wilderness survival programs on television. Bear’s show is called Man vs. Wild. Les’s show is called Survivorman.

Both of them stay out in remote wilderness for several days to film their shows. Both of them seem to have a lot of knowledge about surviving on the land. Both of them eat a lot of bugs.

It’s pretty funny to debate this and see how into it people get. People really take up strong sides for either Les or Bear.

Many of the Les fans point out that he films his own shows and is really out there surviving for real while Bear has a film crew and might cut a few corners here and there.

I think one of the main differences between them (and thereby, between the shows) is the attitude carried through these survival situations. Bear seems to be genuinely excited to be out there climbing around on rocks and jumping into streams and chasing down snakes – like a kid playing around on playground earth. Les seems a little more glum to me, like he’d rather not be out there at all. Maybe this stems from different levels of support they receive.

But in the end, it’s just a tv show and I guess I’d rather watch something uplifting that makes me want to get out on playground earth...

keeping up with shoes

For the last couple of weeks I’ve had some minor and migrating tweaks and pangs in my knees, feet, and hips when I run. They tend to run themselves out pretty well and then show up somewhere else. This probably means it’s time to get new running shoes. Or maybe I need to stretch better or maybe it’s just the cold or maybe this is just what the last lingering stages of “extremely aged youth” feel like.

Currently I have two primary pairs of shoes. Both are road running shoes – New Balance and Adidas with 410 and 384 miles respectively. I tend to get about 400 miles out of a running shoe. Although, I think I recall taking one shoe up to 600 miles. Some only make it 300. After that the shoes get demoded to non-running shoe status, aka shoes.

I’ll try to drop by the shoe store soon. They’ve generally got some pretty good deals on leftover shoes ($40.) Tough to find the right size, though. It used to seem like a big important deal to me to find running shoes that were designed for my exact type of running style and foot shape and gait, etc. Now, though, after a few thousand miles of experience, I’ve found that it doesn’t seem to matter too much. If the shoe fits (and it feels squishy)… run in it. It sounds simple, but it’s really taken me a long time (a lot of miles) to know what “a good fit” really feels like.

Sunday Ride Highlights

Mountain: Brown (of course)

Trail conditions: excellent traction from recent rain, the red (iron?) in the soil is a lot more visible when it’s wet. A few good sized land/rockslides across the trail.

Plant: Lotus scoparius. I noticed these on yesterday’s run, too. They’re looking really green and healthy. No flowers on them yet, but soon…

Flower: Ribes (delicate pink and white bells – maybe this one) and lots of white Ceanothus (mountain lilac), too.

People: The elderly (75?) hiking couple with good-old-fashioned leather boots with red laces, walking sticks, wool caps, and thick Alps-origin accents to match. Also, saw Speedy Gonzales, bombing his way down the trail – haven’t seen him in a few months, at least. Somehow I always see him in almost the exact same place on the trail…

Post ride snack: Giant slice of chocolate cake leftover from Hilary’s sister’s birthday party. Yum.

Fairly cold up there today - 49 at the start up to 59 and the end – a few sunny patches, but mostly cloudy.

Go Floyd!

I’ve just realized something... I’m a little surprised by it, really... The Tour of California starts tomorrow (nice to have some familiar faces back in the peloton… can’t wait to see them storm into Pasadena again next weekend) and I haven’t invited anyone to come over to watch the opening coverage. Now what kind of King of California am I making myself out to be with this kind of neglectfulness? So, by all means, come on over. It starts at 2, I think. In the past hour I’ve been frantically texting all my friends to get something together. I hope it works out…

King of California

I haven’t been riding much. I’ve been running a little. It’s been rainy and cold.

I saw a movie the other night called King of California. It’s awesome. It’s my new favorite movie. If you are deeply in love with California (or whatever Place you live in) and are just a little bit “crazy” (you don’t part your hair on the correct side) you might appreciate it.

And while we’re on movies: Run Lola Run is great, too… the title pretty much gives away the entire movie, but still it’s a nice trance inducing kind of film…

Hilary and I have a tradition of going to Out of the Closet Thrift Store on Valentine’s Day. We held our date a little early this year (last night.) I found a great cycling hat that, amazingly, matches the newer frameset that I’m building up right now that I’m too excited to even post about, yet…

and then there are not so insignificant numbers

I just ran my fastest time up and back on Meridian Ave (the three miler I do all the time.) It felt really good. Strangely, I didn’t even feel like I was pushing particularly hard. Maybe that’s the secret – don’t try to run fast, just run… fast.

Just a few days ago I was looking back on my previous best time on this route from last September and wondering if I would ever beat that time – if it could be broken – if it was some kind of fluke never to be repeated.

I didn’t plan on going out fast on this run. It just happened. It felt quite unusual. I noticed that right away I just started motoring along with a short quick stride. Usually I start out slow and blend into a long lumberjack stride. Even within the first quarter mile I was curious about what was going on. It was like my body was numb and running its own run, uncaring of what my mind might have to say about it.

I was reminded of a running race from decades ago – probably around fifth or sixth grade. We were running around the perimeter of the football field for a few laps – I don’t recall how far the race was – maybe about a mile or less. This was just for a PE class so it was just me and my friends racing against each other. For most of the race I was just dogging along in the pack not racing, not caring. But with one lap to go I noticed John Borovicka running way ahead of everyone – probably a half lap ahead – and suddenly, for no particular reason, I bolted. I ran faster than I ever had or probably ever will. By the last stretch I couldn’t even feel my legs as they sped along - I was in a trance – similar to my experience today.

Alas, in the end, though I caught his heels, I couldn’t beat John to the tape…

It rained 5.6 centimeters yesterday

It used to be when it rained it rained. I usually didn’t know it was on the way or how long it would last. When the storm had passed the sun came out and I never knew, or thought to care about, how many inches or centimeters or millimeters of rain the storm had deposited. Nor did I keep track of these rain totals through the season or compare them to previous seasons.

It used to be when I rode my bike I rode my bike. I didn’t map out routes or record mileage or the number of times I had completed a given route…

…as it used to be with running and calories and cars and beers and burritos and a few of the other important things in life. I have no explanation for why I do all this recording, but I’m sure this counting affects the outcome of my reality. (What’s that theory that links the outcome of a given scientific experiment to the observer… something about molecules acting differently when we’re around watching them… self-conscious molecules?)

The numbers have nothing to do with why I ride or run (or eat burritos), but I do find myself comparing numbers with other people out there and wondering if I could/should/would ride more, run more. And this blog, well, it’s not really supposed to be about the numbers, either, so much as the experiences surrounding the activities that I enjoy and how they become woven into life.

I’m sure numbers will stick around for a while, but I’m trying to keep them more on the periphery (aka: sidebar) these days.

Yesterday, I was outside for a few moments in the rain (a downpour, really.) I wasn’t wearing raingear (let alone gore-tex), just normal clothes – some wool, some cotton… and it was really quite nice to just hang out with the rain for a bit.

new link

Just heard about the practical pedal. Looks pretty good. I’ll put it over in the links…