Jan Closeout

And so January 2011 comes to a close. I was really getting my diet back on track after the Xmas splurge. I'd just take a wad of spinach and eat it here and there even. However, today I kinda slipped again. I had Denny's for breakfast (country fried steak!), which isn't so bad (no its bad), but I ended up eating a ton of sushi for dinner. At least it's fish right? haha Eel sauce is sooo gooood!

I finished up this month running with 122 miles. So a little less than last month, but there was plenty of new stuff in the running program this month. First, I ran outside 12 of the 20 days ran. That's double my normal amount. The outside runs were often more strenuous too since half were at Red Rock. I began adding a day of ten 100 meter sprints into the week which is really fun. I also just added simple stretching and core strength exercises with a medicine ball into the week. Hoping to get those in 3 times a week also. And lastly, I've slowly reintroduced push ups into the week. This will be a really slow addition. I've tried it before and done too much only aggravating my shoulder. That's how I got an impinged shoulder to begin with last March trying to do those silly clapping push ups. Bloody hell! Also, even with the purchase of the Cascadia 5s (44 miles ) I managed to keep my minimal shoe vs reg heel to toe drop shoes to 50/50 use. I'm ok with that!

Finally, there's been much discussion about where we will move to next. Back and forth, back and forth. Would it be Langley, VA? Anchorage, AK? Eielson, AK? (Thank God no, that's too cold there!) or back home to FL? Anchorage was so very close. Alaska is extreme in everything so it was exciting and daunting at the same time. What would come out on top there? The long dark winter making me crazy, or running along the bay seeing a pod of Narwhal? Those thoughts will have to wait as other more important matters have presented themselves. Back to the Sunshine state we will go.

Pizza Pizza Yum

Pizza!! Warm glorious pizza pie with hot greasy cheese, salty and succulent pepperoni, strips of juicy ham, and thin shavings of beef crispy like bacon, all on a medium sized crust that's light, crisp, and has this silty black powder on the bottom whose flavors run from a hint of grilled steak to the richest of grilled cheese sandwiches. Something like that anyway. The pizza I ate tonight was close, but the crust was more to the normal variation.

I hit Red Rock Canyon today and just eeked out a 13 mile run. My legs were really tired right around 10, so I had to walk that last half mile. Saw a couple of trail runners today which was cool. 60 degrees in the canyon with a chilly wind equals nipple chafe city, but the sun was warm enough so I just went topless...in January. Coolness! Wore the Cascadia 5s and taped my ankle. I only smacked it once briefly so there was no blood letting today. A decent run, though I was dog tired when I was done. Kinda sucks driving home for 30 minutes because by the time I get out of the truck, it's like ahhhhhh move legs!

I've been craving 2 things lately: Lobster and pizza. Liz was very gracious in letting me go eat by myself, so I decided to wait on Liz for the lobster and grab myself some hot juicy pizza! I ate Papa Johns all the way back in July of 2010, but no real pizza since then. Can you call PJ's real? So I think you'd agree that it was not just time for pizza, it was life imperative! I drove down to a place called Rocco's New York Pizza and ordered a 14inch meat lovers all for myself! 8 Slices of that madness.

I sat in Rocco's eating my glorious pizza , watching some NFL recap show where they spent a lot of time showing people angry with Brett Favre like this one guy who was waving a Buck Frett sign all over the place. Crazy. Anyway, the atmosphere in Rocco's was what you'd expect with the loud Brooklyn-ish accents talking loudly, the huge well centered poster of the World Trade Towers, lots of old washed out photos of NY delis and restaurants, pictures of uncle whoever throwing a snowball, sports jerseys, and even Tasty Cakes! Yum!

A man came in covered from neck to toe in what appeared to be some very detailed and interesting tattoos. Another guy came in sporting the Eminem look. Can that be cool? Another woman came in wearing a plain brown shirt with plain yellow text that said "Doesn't Care". I thought wow that kinda sums it up don't ya think? Later these two gay asians guys came in, and one of them had his head tilted the whole time with this constant super pout look on his face. He also shuffled his feet really fast which was kinda strange. Definitely some interesting folk coming through there. So Rocco's was a good time indeed. I will have to go there again perhaps.

Sunny Day in Maryland

Maryland was a trail running haven I tell ya. Loads of trails to run there. Sad thing is I never really ran them. I walked through them quite a bit, even lost my dog for 30 minutes letting him chase deer. Scared the crappers out of me. I didn't even have a cell phone then!

This was a cool pic that I kinda made look like a hipstamtic photo way before that was even cool which makes it even cooler.

Book Ups

I recently finished reading a book I picked up over Xmas by David Sedaris called 'squirrel seeks chipmunk'.

I was drawn to the book by it's cover, the size of the book as it's just 5x7 inches, and I'd read good stuff about the author. I popped it open, and read the first part of a story titled "The Faithful Setter. "

"Back before I met her, my wife lived on a farm. It was a small operation, organic vegetables, pick your own strawberries, and a dozen or so chickens, each and every one of them, to hear her tell it, "an absolute raging asshole."

I cracked up instantly and decided to buy the book. This story goes on for a bit about the relationship between these two dogs and the comedy of marriage/life, but the end throws out this chunk of real life darkness.

As I continued to read the other stories, I found myself dropping my jaw even more and more. These were not light hearted tales mirroring the lighter side of human life. These stories were dark, like kids fables crossed with Stanley Kubrick's darker movies. I enjoyed reading them, and found myself wanting to share these stories with my wife and friends. It's just not what I expected.

And interestingly when I was done, I was really curious about the drawings in the book. When I discovered it was Ian Falconer from the Olivia cartoons on Nick, it all made sense to me. Olivia was always a bit creepy to me.

I never did finish my book Run btw. I'm still reading it here and there between mags. I just read a little and have to absorb it. There are a lot of concepts in it that need time to explore.

Red Rock Canyon Pics

Some pics from a few weeks back at White Rock La Madre Spring trail



Don't run down there! lol


The trail basically goes out and around the lighter rock formation at the center. It's only 4.5 miles.


Da Moon!


Brooks Cascadia 5s


The one issue I am having with these shoes, is that for some reason, only in them do I really knock the crap out of right ankle. Guess running with a little blood is cool no? Not really - frakkin hurts!


From Pine Creek Canyon.

Lately I'll be running out here and I'll here people voices, very faint ones. Many times they're climbers way way up, and I have a hard to spotting them. I don't think I could ever get into climbing :)

Australian Open

It's another grand slam tennis event. It's 'live' really late, so I'm being bad and staying up way too late. But it's worth it.

Tonight Wozniacki beat Schiavone in three sets. Two days earlier, Schiavone played the longest women's match in Open era history at over 4 hours with the final set taking 3 hours of that time. Schiavonne won the French Open last year, and I'm really sorry I missed that now.

I don't think I'm going to see better matches in this tournament than the last two I've seen with Schiavone. She plays a brand of tennis no one else dare play. She's wild, in your face, explosive, funny, and a fighter. She talks to the ball, to herself, she laughs at her mistakes, diggs big holes from crazy aggressive points, and then fights her way out them.

Tonight against Wozniacki, she could've easily gone out a lot quicker. You see it all the time. The concentration is smashed. The player is lost. They miss shot after shot. Shiavone says 'Hell No' to that!

And I have to wonder, what makes her fight to the end with such guts. There are great tennis players, and then there is great tennis. Tennis with shots that surprise you, shots that they don't teach, because they're not high percentage. Shiavone uses these shots with such charisma, that even when she loses, it's thrilling to the core.

So here's to you Francesca Shiavone. You inspire me because when everyone else is thinking, oh this is it. You smile at the odds and give it everything, your way, and on your terms.

this image is from this site http://tennis.it/schiavone-jankovic-portorose/

The Yellow Building

I can't remember if I tried to open the door. Seems like I should have at least knocked maybe.

Chinese Cactus Chilli

I can't stop eating this stuff lately!
It's good on everything! Well, except for yogurt perhaps.

Here was an odd sight a few days ago on a walk. Prank? or winter warmers for our prickly friend?



Ahhhh! A direct link!!

My friend gave me a cd for Christmans or a birthday many years ago, like say 15 years. I listened to it then and I wasn't blown away or anything. I think our tastes in music were going on different paths at the time. The cool thing is I recently popped that bad boy in and track 6 just wowed me! So I called him up and said ,"Hey man, thanks for giving this to me 15 years ago!" To which he says while laughing, "that's great you finally got around to it!" Funny how that works.

Pine Creek Run

Went to Red Rock Canyon the other day, and I decided to try out a new trail head named Pine Creek Canyon. I figured I could run south and north onto various trails, and collect a good number of miles. Not soon after I started I passed an older gent who smiled and said, "oooh you picked a bad trail to run son, this one's ah rocky!" I had already come across a fair share of large rocks, but nothing too crazy, so I kept on. I had dressed for 60s, and this side of the canyon was getting shady quick. My whole venture was a bit chilly.

I also kept running into dead ends on the trail. I would run into a cluster of bushes and then jump up some rocks and....there was no where else to go! I did see some mountain goats though which was cool. I also had to wait for a tour bus group of about 40 people walk by me. Many of them said Hi to me which I didn't expect for some reason.

Overall my run was all over the place. Lots of stopping and walking to take pics, video, be cautious, or just figure out where the trail was going. My gps battery died so I had no idea on my distance. There was one short maybe 300 yard section of trail that was nothing but soft red clay. It was slightly downhill and had periodic 2x4s embedded in the soil to prevent erosion. Those 2x4s were like little mini hurdles and with the clay so soft, it was easy to haul butt down the hill and feel like a gazelle for just a bit.

Here's a video of me running down a fairly steep hill. The rocks are not super jaggy here, but they are loose and round which makes them quick to roll on you. The Cascadia 5s did really well for me on this outing, giving my feet plenty of protection. I feel like I spent so much time hopping and twisting, that in many ways this run was really a core workout, maintaining balance constantly. I'm glad that I felt no unusual leg aches or pains today. So far, I am liking the Cascadias! I may have to revisit this trail later when I get a pair of minimalist trail runners to feel the difference for myself.

Maybe someday I'll laugh at this trail.

Mermaids

Well well well, looks like things between Ariel and what's his name didn't go too well. Like you can trust a Prince! Two feet and then you ended up on a slot machine.

Running The Gun Range

Just a couple miles or so from my house...

I think if I continued on this path I might end up in Utah :O

Spinach Physics

Well silly me, I finally changed my time zone! And you thought I was posting at 2am. Pacific Time is crazy, I think oh I'll call them, but wait, oh crap it's way too late now.

A few nights ago, Liz made some homemade spinach pasta. It was guuuud!!

They're big, they're tall, they're targets for graffiti, and they give us the juice we demand. It's easy to tune them out, but powerlines always catch my eye. They line and transform the landscape, scream 'civilization', and just look like big metal monsters frozen in a line sometimes. If I were an EE guy I would be nerdy enough to tell you everything about this pole. I did well in the power chapters in physics. Not so well in the other chapters :)

Here's me running a couple weeks back by some powerlines. I'm tiny to view, but believe me when I say that a Smartwool zip up top is soooo verrry nice!!

Today I had a really good run at Red Rock Canyon. It's been almost 2 months since I've run there. I'll save that post for another day though as my thoughts are a bit scattered right now.

Crazy Teens

I was walking this afternoon with the dog and my 'if it's sharp and shiny-I want to pick it up' child when I heard a bunch of voices behind me out in the desert. I turn around and it's the local high school cross country team running towards us. As they pass, I see that the 'one' girl is slightly ahead and in the center of 8 boys. Classic! One of them had some strong freekin cologne on, one had a mohawk, one wearing a pique polo shirt?! had black vibram five fingers on.

They passed us and ran down the street spreading out so that all of them covered both lanes of road. A green motorcycle was coming directly at half of them. I could hear them shouting "No no no we must stick together! " Then they were bumping into each other and laughing. As soon as they began moving over, the motorcycle revved up and sped through them rounding the corner in a whir of sound which was followed by hoots and hollers of course.

To top off the silliness, just another couple of hundred meters down the road I see this large kid talking up a loud storm to a circle of a strange assortment of smaller teens...maybe teens? I can't tell anymore. As we approach they break up and I hear the big one yell, "well you're a Filipino so go eat some lumpia you puto!"

Brooks Cascadias

I finally got to run in my new Cascadia 5s today. About 8 miles right near my house in the desert. It was actually warm too. I ran in just a t-shirt, no compression layer or sleeves. Supposed to be in the 60s this weekend. Man I'm going to miss this weather next year most likely. Anyway, they felt weird, but they also did pretty well I think for an initial outing. I'll post my thoughts after a few more runs to see if anything becomes more vivid to me. They're kind of an ugly green, but that's all the store had.

Rainbow Gorilla Eggs

Ahhhhhhh big blue monkey gunnna get me!!! No this is not part of the musical montage from Tron Legacy. I think Tron could've used a musical montage. So much plot exposition can be put out there in such a short time. I'm kidding of course. The girl working in the pic prolly does this all day. I wonder if being in blacklight for extended periods makes you eyes wacky? or wonky?

While walking today, I explained to my daughter that she was an egg in mama's belly when I was a little boy. She then said, you remember the blue eggs we found at the brown house? That's our house from Nebraska. I said ahh yes! The robin eggs. Who were the eggs for she asks. For the the baby robins of course. Ahhh She then tells me this grand story about when she was in her egg, she had a rainbow colored bird snuggled with her, and they ate cheezit crackers with sprinkles on them. I said that sounds like an egg party. She said nope, just crackers.

As I catch up on all the pics I took over the holidays, check out these recliners. They are pretty wild patterns. I see them and wonder if you owned these chairs what would it look like on the inside of your house decoration-wise. I keep conjuring feathers and black colored wooden animal sculptures. No?

And in running news I did some 100 meter sprints today. The idea is for me to try and run them in about 23- 25 seconds to stimulate all the muscle and nerves for running faster. As you do these you progress in distance and then in reducing the time. It's kinda fun, and I've never done this type of interval run. Hopefully, it will pay off.

Sun's Gone Dim

Well I did not feel ferocious this morning. I felt like a crumpled piece of paper. Well maybe crumpled cardboard? In an act of insanity, I decided not to run today and put the hammer on some much needed winter cleaning. Lots of loose ends to be taken care of. ( Gawd this song is sooo depressing :see Title)

The news just bummed me out today too. I've just absorbed so much of the news in the last couple of days, it was not healthy. The insanity that is spewing forth from some people with regard to the shootings in AZ... it just gets to me sometimes. Maybe that's why I found some comfort in listening to Skinny Puppy for a while today. However, it's one of those things where as you get older and revisit the passions of youth, you find a bit more of yourself unable to connect to it anymore. Maybe that's the core of it, maybe I just feel old today.

On a funny note, there's my dog. He's definitely a little skittish sometimes depending on the situation. I like to play hide and seek with him though. He will be upstairs and I will make a noise that he knows is meant to play. Sometimes he has to whip his nose out to find me and I can hear him get frantic in looking for me. Sometimes I will jump out and try to scare him, but it never works.

So last night in a very unplanned moment, I walked down the hall into a room right as I heard him trouncing down the stairs. I had walked into a room but didn't turn the light on. I knew he would go in the living room first to see Mother. I just barely peeked around the door and saw his foot coming towards me. So I jumped out and went brrahhh!

As I lay on the floor laughing to the point of crying, I am running it over and over in my head. As I jumped out, Finley had his head down which instantly snapped up. His body almost reflexively snapped to that play position dogs do with the front of the body lower and front paws spread out, but his head was still out of wack and up a bit. The noise that came out of him sounded like someone knocked the breath of him with the weakest bark ever. While frozen in shock, his mouth and teeth were clenched in a way that tells me without a doubt I scared the crap out of him. Jeez words just don't do it justice. Had I filmed it, I betcha I coulda got a video of the day spot somewhere. Gotta love our pets.

I think he kinda looks like Michael Keaton here no?

New Shoooz!!

Daddy finally got a pair of new shooooeesss!! wooohooo. On my rest day of all days. I better get to sleep so I can feel ferocious in the morning! Oh wait...what's that? What kind?!! muhuuhahahahahahaha

I heard a Who!

Big Family

I think this is the biggest one I've seen yet.