Michael: The Paradox of Now

The fields are barren
With permanent dark shadows
Under the burned trees.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

What do you do with all the time on your hands now that you’ve been laid off ? Sadly, temporarily, I hope; I’ve fallen into the ‘About Schmidt’ complex of dreaming I would do a lot while actually doing very little. From what I remember he watched a lot of T.V., while I’ve been grazing through Youtube.

You would think some of that grazing would encompass some gain in knowledge, particularly as I haven’t just been viewing clips of old Colbert bits, but searching training tips for 100ks. But instead of enlightening me, most of those I just find kind of irritating.

The most annoying clips are the ones aimed at trying to convince me that when I begin to struggle I should just focus on the now; my next step, soon the steps will add up and I’ll get through what would’ve seemed like an insurmountable difficulty by inching my way through my temporary difficulty.

As affirmative head nodding as this Zen’s philosophy appeal is, I’m not buying into it; at least not completely.

Mainly because experience has taught me that having a plan ahead of time, and sticking to that plan as best I can, pays off far better than just living in the moment and dealing with problems as they arise and then just trying to get through them one small step at a time.

Of course, I realize that when people, myself included, are out there, we’ll work with both approaches if necessary; sticking to our plans as best we can, but dealing with those unexpected issues of the moment by just trying to focus on our next move, not the miles ahead. But that’s rarely the focus of these Zen slanted advice videos.

Not to say that a bit of paradox isn’t worthwhile. It’s part of the philosophical make up of ultra running that I find appealing.

Michael: The Count

Pressed into the stone
An imprint of ocean life
Now seen through the fire.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

This being my first year back in the states for the holidays in three years, I’ve been a little more keen on observing the differences between the small farm community of Volcan, Panama and Los Angeles.

Without editorial comment one of those differences hit me this morning when KCRW talked about the annual homeless count in L.A. In the mountains of Panama, at about this same time, they’ll be setting a date for their annual bird count.

Michael: That Time of Year

A dog’s loyalty;
Our responsibility;
Is a bizarre love.

Friday, November 23, 2018

 Halloween through Christmas are treacherous times for an athlete; particularly an older athlete.

For most of the year my weight is pretty stable and for the many years now I’ve been able to hold my seasonal weight gain down to a decent 5 lbs. This year, with my part time work as a hiking guide 4 days a week, I thought I’d be able to get through this time of year without any weight gain, which would set me up for a great start to the new year.: particularly as I’m committed to running a 100k in February.

But now with my job having gone up in flames I’m going to have a lot more free time on my hands. And those hands, particularly now, are prone to reaching out for sweets when they’re within range.
Work, in my case, not only was an enjoyable 4 hours on my feet, it kept my hands well away from any temptations.

Now I’ve got to deal with good old self discipline, which has never been my strong suit when it comes to Christmas indulgences. And if Thanksgiving was any indication, I’m not off to a great start.

Michael: Dear Santa

Through the pine needles
A delicate whisper says
It’s time to exhale.

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Recently I was asked what trail running product that I believe is missing or if there’s an existing product that could be improved upon.

A product that I would be excited about, and sadly, this shows how easily pleased I am, would be a handheld that can also be comfortably tucked into the back of my shorts after a few ounces have been drunk.

The closest bottles that have come to meeting that requirement has been the Simple Hydration bottle, but that only held 13 oz.. Hydrapak made a semi-shaped collapsible flask that also was semi-successful, but one of it’s problems is its  small opening ( though larger than most collapsible). Soft flask also tend to bounce a lot and won’t stay in place reliably.

Also, like a lot of bite valves on soft flasks, they can leak if squeezed against anything; for example, a fitted waist belt.

Whenever I can, I race without a pack. But the last time I tried the collapsible flask hand/cheek trick, I lost the flask. Fortunately, it was late in the race, it was a comfortable day, and there were enough aid stations to see me through. But if I could get away with just using short pockets and a bottle that had a decent capacity, filled easily and could comfortably be tucked into the back of my shorts after a few ounces were displaced, I’d be one happy camper.

Michael: Lights for Christmas

Why some trees remain
Among the devastation
Is because they do.

Monday, November 19, 2018

As ridiculous as age related goals are, I have one; compete in a 100k while I’m 60. That goal entails one of those paradoxical thrill/dread propositions; in this case possibly running (that’s already looking on the bright side - this is a pun - far more likely is stumbling in a zombie like state) in the dark.

So far in life my experiences with darkness after being out in the wilderness all day have not been good ones. Its meant that somewhere I made a mistake. I either started too late, over estimated my abilities, or got lost, and in some instances; all three. I’ve never planned to be out after dark.

I travel through the woods to see places so the idea of having only a small spotlight to shine on a very small area is antithetical to my reasons for fast packing.

So ideally I’d prefer to start at the crack of dawn and finish before sundown. But I realize I need to be prepared for the possibility that I may need to move through the darkness if I’m going to complete this race.

And that’s where the plus side of this goal comes into play. As a newbie Ultraspire Immortal I get to purchase Ultraspire products at a substantially discounted price. And that makes it much easier to indulge in one of my favorite trail related activities; trying out trail products. In this case I’m going to start doing a little night training with the Lumen 170 2.0 and  Lumen 600R And just to make it a little more worthwhile I’m going to make it a family affair by bringing the wife and dog along.
Once I’ve given these lights a go, I’ll let you know what I think of them. The claim is that lighting has really improved from decades ago. I sure hope so, though I’m also hoping I won’t have to make use of either one of these gizmos after the 100k starts.

Michael: 45 Miles of Solitude

The Angeles Crest
Is an unrelenting road
Into the forest.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

With access to my usual rides through the canyon roads of the Santa Monica Mountains closed due to the Woolsey fire, I wasn’t sure what alternatives there would be near my Los Feliz home that would satisfy my requirements for a decent ride.

The reasons, outside of familiarity, for heading out to Mulholland and Las Virgenes every Tuesday, were to start a 2+ hour ride outside of all the hassles and dangers of suburban rides. This starting point requires a drive of about 45 minutes, but that’s a trade-off that was well worth it in my book.

So to Google I went.

First, I looked at rides I could do right from my front door - Griffith Park. When I lived on the Westside, I could get to PCH with just a few traffic lights and not too terrible of a ride with traffic until I got north of Sunset. But Griffith Park is a different beast and the loops I found are only between 10-20 miles; not worth the hassles and stress, in my book, for the trade off  of not using the car.

The other alternative was Angeles Crest Highway beginning in La Canada.
I use to ride up that road with a friend over 20 years ago. It’s less than 30 minutes away and seemed to meet my requirements of a no suburb hassle start, along with plenty of solitude.

The route I mapped out was Angeles Crest to Angeles Forest to Big Tujunga back to Angeles Crest. And Wow!, what a sweet ride that was. Just as little traffic, if not less, than the coastal canyon roads, long climbs, great scenery and great pavement. The only downside I can see is that in the heart of winter these roads may not always be open, and even if they are, a ride through them could be one Dumb and Dumber snot freezer.

But for now, this loop is definitely worth throwing into the rotation, even when my old canyon road friends open back up.

Michael: Scorched Earth

A trickle of rocks;
A whisper from the mountains,
Otherwise silence.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

The trails I work, train and race on have been engulfed by the Woolsey fire. The wellness center in Malibu where I work, fortunately, only sustained minor damage, but there’s no word on how long it’ll be before it’s up and running again.

As for myself, I love those trails and it’ll be a blessing to get back out there to them as soon as I can so I can experience their rejuvenation from scorched earth to the Mediterranean eco-system that so quickly springs to life again from a fire.

It’s simple and cold callousness to chalk up this destruction to karma. Yet the blessings and curses of nature and life are remarkable. How long the embers take to settle and how far they’ll travel, is impossible to determine at the moment. But they will come back to earth. The rains will come and those of us who are fortunate enough will again have the opportunity to work and play in the majesty of the Southern California mountains.

Michael: Trials and Errors

The gray, white, red clouds
Rise up over the mountains
From a choking fire

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Races are experiments. Saturday, during the Griffith Park 30k some results were undeniable, while the lab results for others were mixed.

For example, a sure conclusion can be drawn on my feet’s compatibility with Hoka Torrents. For the second long race in a row my feet came through pain free. Last month in the Rocky Peak 50k and today in the Griffith Park 30k. I’ve never been one to hoard shoes and store them away, but I’m definitely going to put in my request that Santa stuff my stockings with a at least one back up pair of the Torrents.

On the iffy end of the spectrum, my usual hand/butt cheek flask procedure failed me at about mile 10 when I reached behind me and realized that my flask was no longer there. This didn’t cost me though as there were three aid stations over the last 8 miles, the weather and terrain were reasonable, and I was moving along at a reasonable clip. My next experiment to overcome this dilemma will be to use the Ultraspire hybrid flask with their fitted race belt.

Also in the dubious column was my decision to cut Skratch Labs hydration packets and secure them with more easy opening scotch tape. The one remaining unused packet was leaking powder and, combined with my sweat, was creating a pretty colorful raspberry tinge to my shorts. The one packet I used earlier on in the race though worked much better than just the stock packaging, so the jury’s out on this procedure.

As I’ve done at all my races this year, I pre-lubed with Tropical Edge and chewed a couple of pieces of Run Gum within the last 45 minutes of the race. Whether those applications or having an unexpected “Fire” day off from work (more likely all three; along with the placebo effect), I easily surpassed my goal for this race of finishing under 3 hours, coming in 2:43.

Even getting lost for a bit, which has really cost me in the past, didn’t cost me much time or worry this go round.

Experience definitely has it’s benefits. Though how much ground that can overcome due to age I can’t say, but I’m hanging in there and still finishing in the top 10, so I feel encouraged and want to keep going out there and experimenting and having fun while hoping to get a little bit closer to that perfect race every time out.

Michael: Decisions...Decisions

The woods at twi-light
Are a mysterious place
To go for a walk.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Now that the mid-terms are over it’s time to make some important decisions; like what shoes I’m going to wear at this Saturday’s Griffith Park 30k.

I took a new pair of Salomon Sense Rides out on Monday for an hour and a half run around the park and was pretty impressed. They were a little tight in the forefoot, but otherwise I really liked them. But today, when I took them to work for a 2 hour jog + 2 hour walk, my heals were in a bit of pain, my feet felt a bit more pinched and my right little pinky was crying wee…wee…wee all the way home.

I’m not completely giving up on the Sense’s; maybe they just need a bit more brake in, or Super Feet Green insoles. But for Saturday’s race I’m going with my tried and true Hoka Torrent’s. The tread is a bit overkill for the trails the race is on, and I’m not overly keen on all the road surface they’ll have to negotiate, but those will be small sacrifices if the Torrent’s keep my feet as happy as they did at Rocky Peaks.

After that I’ll see if the Senses are salvageable, and if not I’ll look into some other shoes.

I feel fortunate in having found one set of glass slippers in the Torrent’s, but for the 100k I plan on doing in February, I want another Cinderella to show up. Greedy I know, but I’m a tenderfoot and I just believe that changing shoes after several hours has a lot of benefits for my old muscles and joints.

Michael: Testing 1...2...3

The Santa Ana’s
Are the hot, dry mountain winds
That spark our fires.

Monday, November 5, 2018

Trail racing and training, for me at least, involves a lot of tinkering. For example for this Saturday’s Griffith Park 30k I’m thinking of trying out different shoes, a different gel, and a different way of getting my hydration mix into my bottle.

Why? Both for logical and pleasurable reasons - sometimes it’s just fun to tinker and sometimes it solves one of those annoying little quibbles that many racers come across.

The little quibble is the Skratch Labs single hydration packs. At the Rocky Peaks 50k a couple of weeks ago, I had a damned hard time opening them and even after tearing them open along the perforation lines, the opening was so small it seemed like it took forever to pour out. To solve this I’m going to pre-cut them well below the perforation and use scotch tape to hold the package shut. This will allow for easier opening and pouring. The only drawback could be that during the rigors of a long race the packages might open prematurely and it could cover me in a cloud of hydration powder.

The reason I’m trying another gel also has to do somewhat with ease of use. Normally, I use Hammer Gel. I like the fact that it comes in a large bottle and therefore saves on the environment and allows me to use a flask instead of single serving packets. However, for racing I do like to sometimes use single serving packets for convenience. And the downside to single serving Hammer gels is that they, like a lot of gels, run a bit thick for my liking. When I use a flask this isn’t a problem because I can add just a touch of water to thin it out. 2nd Surge gels are a bit more thinner to start so I’m going to give them a try. I do feel their slogan of being “Protein Powered” is a bit misleading when their first 4 ingredients are sugar, sugar, sugar and water. But that doesn’t bother me too much because that’s what I want.

Now the big experiment …shoes. I have discovered the perfect trail shoes for my feet; Hoka Torrent’s. But this isn’t a typical trail race. It’s exclusively on hard packed fire road and single track with just a bit of grit on top to make the downhills a bit slippery. It really could almost be considered a gritty road race and there’s really no need for the lugs or grip on the Torrent’s. For that reason I’m considering road shoes. The only problem with that is the uppers on my road shoes are very unstructured and I’m afraid I’ll be banging my toes and sliding around in them on the downhills. I do have a new pair of Salomon Sense Rides that have a nicely structured toe box and upper, but they feel like they need a bit of a break in period. The lugs, though not overly substantial, also would be a bit of overkill, but I may give them a try anyway.

Either way, I’ve got to decide soon, as I can’t start working out a race kit until I’ve made a shoe decision.