Mt. Fuji

Here's a picture of my father climbing Mount Fuji back in the day.

I was perusing irunfar.com the other day and the most recent post was about the state of Japanese ultrarunning. Turns out they are now starting a Mount Fuji race. How cool would that be? I'd better start training!

Seriously though, I would love to get to Japan sometime. You never know, I might live there for a bit. A visit though would definitely be awesome. If I go to Mt. Fuji, even if I run, I think I'm going to have to find a hat just like my Dad has in the picture and take a matching silhouette picture. Look at the heel on that shoe too!! You were rockin it Daddio :)

Someone runs in their cowboy boots

He's outside. He's got a huge cowboy mustache, metal framed glasses with dark brown lenses, a black cowboy hat, white boots, and a brown leather jacket with fringe on the back. He spins around smoking his cigarette with an old school swagger that says he's the real deal.

This place is slammed and people keep leaving after being seated for just a few minutes. The look on their faces amuses me a bit. I'll just wait. Oooh Bacon and Avacado arrive! I'm so sick of this phlegm in my throat. Cough Cough Cough Cough! It pushes me into the realm of seeking food comforts.

Staring into the leaves in the trees I google cowboy in my head and stop on the cowboy from that old movie Innerspace with Dennis Quaid and Martin Short. That's probably the only time Martin Short has appealed to me. That cowboy sang a funny song in the movie ,and he later went on to become the doctor in the Star Trek series Voyager. But what about that guy Mister Igo from the movie, the one with the missing hand. Wasn't he also the really angry chaps wearing guy from Mad Max 2? And can you imagine seeing your child as a fetus the size of Mt. Rushmore?

REC REAR DIFF SRV (44.99)
REC FUEL INJ SRVC (64.99)
REC TIRE ROTATION (29.99)
REC FRNT DIFF SRV (44.99+
QUALITY INSP BY DANNY

All that and more, but I just got an oil change. At least I finally got my truck washed. It's been a long time.

Stopped by Red Rock Running Company. They had both the New Balance Minimus Road and Trail shoes available. I wasn't moved by either. Pity since I was so hoping that the Trail would be worth all the wait. So I went to REI and got a pair of Bikila Five Fingers. Fliggy Flegam aside I decided to pop a Halls in my mouth and run a mile around the block in the new VFFs. Afterwards, I felt like I could've exploded at any moment, poking and prodding for some crazy pain to shoot out of me like a popped balloon. However, all is well it seems. I'll take that little positive and put a big check mark on the 'awesomeness for the day' meter.

I really don't care at this point. I have no issue eating a #2 at McD's while sitting in the kid's play room. Why am I in the disease pit again? Too late now. There have been 3 screaming kids in here so far. The birthday sugars doing their deed. That woman has a unique stroller. It's called a Quinny. I just looked it up. I'll bet she uses it to run. She looks like a runner. Asa has crawled into the tube maze. She never goes in there. She's all the way at the top! I give her thumbs up and wave. Then I see her face in a little window. She looks scared. Here comes the crying. I have to crawl up the tubes and get her. Almost :)

School Bus

This is a film picture that is composed of 3 exposures from a school bus I found parked in a neighborhood. Often after scanning, I would prolly dodge and burn (lighten and darken) parts of the image to bring out or subdue items, but the idea was to leave this untouched from digital tools.

My friend and I shot two rolls of film that day, one color and one b&w where we did multiple exposure by stopping down the exposure or covering a part of the lens. Many turn out noisy and chaotic, but I thought this had some interesting structure to it. Film is a fun adventure after being in digital. In fact, I've been toying with the idea of revisiting film. Ultimately, it slows you down and helps you visualize.

Athlete with Scraper

Well I suppose this is a good time to not run. My treadmill is broke, the desert wind has been in psycho rage mode for days now, and I've been hacking with a persistent cough since Tuesday. I haven't had any food guilt though! Liz made one of the best key lime pies ever yesterday. We finished that off tonight. Fresh fruit rules! I also made a trip to Denny's this morning. Oh Supreme Omelette with hashbrowns and a half a plate of nachos going in mah belly maka me happy! I know... nachos at 9:30 in the morning with black coffee and tabasco sauce. Have I completely ruined it for you?

A friend called me this morning asking about a time and place we went to years ago on a photo trip. I figured out we had gone to a place named Jasmine Gardens. We just kind of stumbled on this place. It was very cool as gardens go, but we got there so late, we kinda rushed through it. I would like to revisit this place sometime perhaps. I'd be more willing to absorb all the art in the gardens for what they were rather than just looking at them with the camera eye. The Greek theme was very interesting. Here's an infra red pic I took while there.

Hmmm just dark enough in the right spots no? Apparently, the athletes back then would scrape the sweat and dust off themselves. Is that a new running gadget I hear in my brain? A sweat scraper slash squeegee that attaches to you via velcro for the modern ultrarunner? Wait a minute... can you drink sweat? We'll see now, Answer.com just told me I can, because it's delicious!! It's electrolyte recycling!

All right them , I'm going to make some popcorn and watch Bear Grylls cut up a seal and make a wet suit out of it.

Limitless

There is a movie coming out called Limitless where Bradley Cooper plays a writer who takes a pill called NZT which unleashes his brain power. In the preview, they put out that old saying that 'we only use ten or twenty percent of our brains', think if you could use all of it. Man! That line just bugs the crap out of me, but hey it's a commercial right. Another statement in the commercial is "how many of us ever get to know the perfect version of ourselves?" Now there's an interesting thought. Is there a perfect version of ourselves? Well probably not, but there's no doubt that many of us are searching for it in at least some area of our life.

I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago and he was poking at me in a friendly way saying, "Dude what happened to you? You used to be into this and that and now it's like 180 degrees." I jokingly said back "Well I guess I got married and had a kid!" So we explored the idea of whether 'family' inhibits artists abilities to produce good works. It seems to make sense for many things. This band , this writer, this artist...we still like their earlier works, but the new stuff after having families just doesn't interest us and in many cases their original audiences.

However, there is some dynamic going on here where our tastes change as we get older which still allows us to enjoy old items, but perceive the new content in a different way. Why? Well simply because they are growing to, the artists that is, even without family in some cases. And of course my experience and logic doesn't apply to everyone either. There are plenty of Rush fans out there that I'm sure find their new albums just as moving.

Back to the idea of the perfect self though. I think artists have no choice but to evolve and change their work over time striving to better their work and build on their experiences. An artist may finally make his best work, the most meaningful only to find that no one is really interested. I pointed out that Anthony Burgess didn't like A Clockwork Orange very much at all and yet it's what he's most known for. My friend told me that Mellencamp hated Jack & Diane and didn't want it on the album. Yet it's one of his most popular songs.

In high school I was in art class and did a charcoal still drawing. It was a picture of fruit, some gourds, and a blanket. When I went to the county fair, I was shocked to see my drawing in an art booth representing our school. I was appalled that my name was attached to such a boring drawing. I remember marching into my art teacher's office and demanding to know why I wasn't told ahead of time. My art teacher was so nice though. She said in the sincerest voice that she thought it was really good and that she thought I would've been happy. I felt bad for being so rude. How was she supposed to know that normal looking me, was really trying to define himself as a new age cyberpunk?!! People came up to me though and said, "Hey I saw your drawing at the fair. It was really good!! You are awesome!" I simply said thanks, but deep down I was like ughhhh, just call me gourd boy!

So my silly high school story aside, here's the idea. Is it likely that the more you become your ideal self in art, writing, engineering, or even running...the less people will notice you or notice the things you see as important. As you approach that ideal self in you, the further you become from everyone else and suddenly no one can relate to you anymore.



I just re read this post and it's kinda confusing I think. But ya know what, I'm just too lazy to edit it. I don't feel good, and I just wanted to get this out of my head since it's been rolling around there for a couple of days. Oh and another thing. The other day I saw a horse playing soccer with a huge green and yellow soccer ball. Dems some weird chit going on out here Fred!

Groinus Painus

I am quite bummed this morning. I took 3 days off of running because I've felt a slight soreness, not pain, in my left groin area. It started last week or so and has been intermittent. My thought was that I'd recently taken my core workouts/stretching up to 3 times a week and maybe I'd overstretched something? Seems doubtful since these things are supposed to prevent injury, however it's really the only new variable. The other new variable is an increase in outside running, but since I'm not pounding concrete in vibrams, I don't think that is it either. Sunday, I felt fine with no soreness.

A running log is a funny thing btw. This year I started putting in commentary per run in my log. My run yesterday felt easy and slow, whereas 2 weeks ago, the same run/time felt fast and fresh. It's fascinating how the brain interprets things. Anyway, I did feel my left groin yesterday running. Can't say it hurts, but it lets me know it's there if that makes any sense. This morning it is also clearly there. If I stand straight and lift my left knee up as far as it will go, I can feel a tight soreness right where my thigh meets my body.

Reading online about groin injury is a depressing subject.

" had this pain for 21 months, spent thousands on rehab and it's still here!"

"Doctors can't find/ misdiagnosed/ keep searching/ just told me to rest."

and plenty of forums questions about the pain that are only answered once with someone saying, not sure, try this.

Course you have to take this with a grain of salt as the internet is clearly a place where worst case scenario often makes itself the most visible. Perhaps I just need to rest a bit more and this will all heal up and I can move on? Maybe I should try stretching it out before and after and reduce mileage to see how it goes? Maybe I should go see a sportsmed doc?

I really don't know at this point. I think I will opt for more rest and see what happens.

Tule Springs

The other day I went over to Floyd Lamb State Park which isn't far from my house. It's a nice change going here since it has plenty of real grass, large trees, some small lakes, and lots of birds. It's a good place to take some lunch and walk around with the dog. There are also signs in several places stating your dog must be on leash at all times. While I don't take a hard line stance with this, there's always someone who chooses to let their dog off leash.

Rudy was such a dog. He was your typical spirited chocolate lab. He finally decided to ignore his masters and run full speed at me, the stroller (my daughter is feeling cruddy), and Finley. As soon as he got near us, Finley quickly strutted right into his face. Rudy immediately backed down. Then sniffing ensued. You could tell he was probably a pup still because most chocolate labs I see are big dogs. In my head chocolate labs are supposed to be like my friend's dog Bisbee who is probably 130 pounds. Rudy quickly rejoined his pack with his master saying, "you're supposed to listen!"

The park has a lot of interesting items. There's a herd of peacocks that live there including a whitish one. They will often just sit in clusters in the bushes. There are sometimes large numbers of geese and other waterfowl.The park still has housing structures that were used for 'out of state couples' to reside in so they could take advantage of Nevada's easy divorce laws. Supposedly, movie stars would often stay here. A sign also tells me that Tule Springs in the park is one of few places in the world that has evidence of human visitation going back some 11,000 years. Also giant sloth and mammoth bones have been found at the springs. Eleven Thousand Years! I like to let that one roll around in the noggin for a bit.

At one point, Asa asks if I can take the stroller down a hill off the paved trail. She wants to go to the bottom where three wooden benches are placed in a semi circle facing a stone plaque of some sort. Going down the hill, I notice flowers on one tree in the distance and also another with what looks like Christmas tinsel. Then I notice each tree has a small cement rectangle with a name and dates, obviously of people who have passed away. Asa insists that she can read the stones. As we go by the big stone in front of the benches, she asks what it says on the big white one. The plaque is kinda dusty and the contrast of the lettering was hard to read so I read it aloud slowly. These names, this place, it is a memorial for victims of murder! I stood there looking around me at all the stones. Murder, murder, murder. I took a deep breath, and we moved on.

I wasn't expecting it, and at first was mildly creeped out. Such an intense space though, I could not help but wonder. So I googled. I read that the survivors of these victims would meet there once a year. This was a healing time, a time to celebrate, and a time of peace. This little space of woods in this park, out in the middle of the desert, it suddenly seemed like the perfect place for such a memorial. It's an oasis for the land and the heart. I wonder how many people will come through here and not even know this memorial is here. I've been to this park several times and just discovered this.