Subtle

Mirror of water

Shows what little sun there is

Under these dark skies.

 Wednesday, December 29, 2021

 At a friend’s suggestion I’m re-reading Why We Run. And as an interesting coincidence I hit the chapter on diet right at the end of the year. The author just finished talking about how heavy he is compared to elite marathoners of similar height like Jim Rodgers and Frank Shorter.

 Like the author, for the past several months I’ve been thinking about my diet and how I can reduce my weight while maintaining strength.

 I’m also feeling a bit proud of myself as this will be the first new year I can remember where I haven’t gained at least 5 lbs. through the holidays which causes me to spend the next 6 months fighting to lose it. In fact I’ve managed to lose a few lbs. and am now down to 142 without any loss of endurance or power. 

This was all accomplished with subtle changes that took months to show results and I still feel I can make even a few more minor tweaks and lose a few more pounds before my big races this spring.

 The three changes I made were giving up cheese, only eating one slice of sourdough bread a day, and going down to one cup of coffee on most days. Exactly how those changes have induced weight loss I can’t say

 I’ve also been able to maintain a pretty hard training regimen this year thanks to good weather (up until two weeks ago), and having races to train for.

 This has me very excited about what I can accomplish this year with a big head start on race weight starting from day one in 2022.

I’m Human

 

 Friday, December 24, 2021

 A forthright killer,

She rests her jaws on my throat

And easily sleeps.

 Every Sunday at dinner here at the Ranch we practice gratitudes. But, this being the last Sunday of 2021 I thought I’d break with tradition just a bit and start with a toast leading into gratitudes.

 With all the uncertainty of the past few years, along with the stresses that can accompany the holiday season, my wife and I were having a discussion and at some point one of said “I’m human.” And the way that this was said, as it is often, “I’m human” was meant to say I make mistakes, I’m flawed, and since you’re also human, you should understand that.

 All that is true.

 What I propose, and what I’d like to toast to and am grateful for is that I am human, and perhaps unlike any other species, we have the capacity to see not only how our flaws cause harm to ourselves and to others, but also to other living things, and we can use those insights to change our behaviors and create a better self and hopefully a better world.

 

That’s pretty special and that’s what I’m grateful for. So to us. We’re human and I’m grateful for it.

Small Changes

 The sadness of rain.

The cloudy visions of tears.

Time is a gray wash.

 Tuesday, December 14, 2021

 After having a series of several good races I’m going to change things up a bit.

 Why? For a couple of reasons;

 1.    My upcoming races and goals aren’t quite the same. The recent races were intermediate trail races with a turkey trot thrown in for good measure. My next goal races are a road half marathon at the end of February, a 50k trail race, then some duathlons after that.

2.    Life gets stale doing the same workouts week in and week out. Tweaking things a bit helps to keep the interests up.

I’m not going to make any drastic changes; stretch my one outside ride a bit, throw in a 6 mile trail run at the end of it every other week, run a longer long run every other week, change up my lifting slightly, continue to work on the diet to get under 10% body fat by my birthday…Hopefully, just enough changes to keep me interested and hanging in there.

Roll the Dice

Running through the fog

My adversary appears

To urge me forward.

Roll the Dice: Wednesday, December 8, 2021

 At the NoName 50/25 I ran one of my best races ever. My time of 2:01:36 was the fastest I’ve ever run a 25k. The conditions were perfect and the course was moderate with many fast downhill sections. More so than my performance was how I ran and also how another runner who finished behind me approached the event.

 This was one of the few races, or even runs for that matter, where I felt my mind and body were in the game from beginning to end. I always try to tell myself that if you want to feel you’ve accomplished something special you’ve got to roll the dice and push it a bit possibly risking blowing up and having to DNF or significantly slowing at some point. I’ve done both of those too many times. But Saturday wasn’t one of them. I just felt on this side of the edge for two hours and it felt great.

For another runner it didn’t.

Early in the race a guy passed me I chased him In the fog and as the race rolled slightly uphill and meandered through some beautiful single track, I would catch glimpses of him now and then. Finally, as we approached a long downhill section at the 10k mark, I edged passed him.

At the end I waited for about 10 minutes as I wanted to thank him for setting such a strong pace for the first section of the race. But he didn’t show and I had to get to work. I asked the first woman finisher if she had seen him and she told me he was walking a bit further back when she passed him.

I figured that dude had rolled the dice as well and came up short. I hope he’s not discouraged by his second half struggles because for me that’s what competition is all about; discovering where that edge is and riding it for as long as you can. I don’t have any trail races planned for quite a while, but I do hope I’ll see that dude again so I can properly thank him.

One of Those

 Red crowned white breasted

Black winged woodpecker knock, knocks,

Knock, knock….knock, knock,
knocks.

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

 A few years ago when I was trying to decide if I could make it to work on time if I ran in the Pier to Peak half marathon in Santa Barbara, I looked at the time of the age group winner and figured I’d be all right. But my wife interjected what if he was one of those special athletes that defies aging implying that I shouldn’t be so self-assured and give myself a larger margin for error.

That hurt. What if I was one of those special athletes? Apparently at the time, she didn’t think so. 

Well, at the Ventura Turkey trot I met one of those special athletes, Brian Nelson. It’s like in track and field if you asked who won the 400 meter hurdles when Edwin Moses was in his prime, or more recently, Usain Bolt in the 100. At the race in Ventura I asked a fellow age grouper how he thought we did and he said, well, Brian Nelson was in the race. Pretty much means the rest of us were vying for 2^nd.

So now I know in Southern California in races 5k or less, I am not “one of those”.

Maybe I can still be “one of those” in longer events, or in trail races, but I don’t feel like I’m there yet and I’ve never experienced the feeling that anyone is telling anybody forget about it, Michael’s in the race.

A Sneak Peek

 Family of deer

Blend into the charred hillside

Ashen grey and brown.

Friday, November 19, 2021

 Over the years I’ve tried to worry less about my competition and focus on time or process goals at races. But I’ve broken down and took a sneak peek at the competition for the next couple of events.

 Sometimes I’ll do this as a practical matter to help me better prepare. For example, the next two events I haven’t done before and I’d like to try to go under 20 minutes for the 5k on Thanksgiving and under 3 hours for the 30k at the No Name 30k on December 4^th.  So I”ll peek at past results to give me an idea of what’s conceivable.

 On Thanksgiving, at the Ventura 5k, the times seem pretty fast with even a few people in my age group going under 20. In fact, there’s a good possibility I'll get whooped there, which hasn’t happened in quite a while. I’m going to try and put that out of my mind and just try to hold a steady pace and let the adrenaline and sea of fast runners take me under 20. If I go under 20 where I place will just be a matter of who shows up.

 The No Name has now been changed to a 25k so I’ll have to set a new standard for that. Seems a little less daunting than Bull Dog, which I ran in 2:12 so I’ll give under 2:10 a go. Again, placing will be a matter of who shows up.

 Recently I read an article about Ryan Hall saying that he wants all of his athletes to have both a time and a heart goal. My heart goal for the 25k will be to hang with whomever passes me after the first half hour and to also not walk a step. I was pleased to do that at both Bull Dog and the Old Boney 30k.

 Whatever happens it’ll be fun to get out there and face new competition on new courses and to see how it all works out.

54 Hours

The cold morning ghost

Presses on the canyon brush

With a thick, damp hand.

 Tuesday, November 16, 2021

 At 63, nearing the end of my working life, I have come nearly full circle and almost have the same final ideal work schedule that I had when I started on this crazy journey of work.

 I started happily working at age 12 when Mr. McGowan, the owner of McGowan’s market, the local mom and pop grocery store, offered me a weekend job. He paid me $6 to come in on the weekends to sweep the sidewalk, wash windows and do general cleaning and other odds and ends.

 6 bucks for a few hours early Sat/Sun morning back in 1970 seemed like a great gig and if the dude hadn’t sold the place a few years later, who knows, maybe I’d be an old man now still out there with broom and dustpan.

 In between then and now my predominant line of work was as an elementary school teacher, who’s hours weren’t all that bad and, though the pay and benefits were marginally better, it definitely was a lot more work both physically and mentally. Teaching did allow for weekend training/racing but squeezing in workouts after an exhausting day was challenging.

 For the past four years I’ve been working at a wellness retreat four days a week. But recently that’s been changed to a straight 54 hour shift starting Saturday morning and ending midday Monday with occasional Saturday mornings off to get out and race.

 This allows me four solid days to train, relax and do pretty much as I please. The only small downside is that I’ll need to take time (money) off occasionally if I want to compete on Sunday or have a significant race that requires long travel, but finally, near the end I hope, of this seemingly endless work cycle I’m back to working on the weekends .

Old Boney

An amorphous cloud

Hovers below the mountains

Slowly vanishing.

 Tuesday, November 2, 2021

 At the moment I’m in that transition phase where I’m still taking way too much time feeling good about myself from last weekend’s race before slapping myself to get it together and getting back to training and focusing on the present and future events.

 The Old Boney 20 miler, like just about every race, had its share of accomplishments and failures. I failed to hit my time goal of under 3 hours. This year I have not hit a time goal. I’m not missing by much though so I’m not going to write myself off as an out of touch optimist just yet. Next up will be a turkey trot where I’ll give under 20 in a 5k a final shot for this year.

 At Old Boney I did win my age group and came in 5^th overall in a very respectable 3:08. Next month I’ll shoot for an under 3-hour 30k on a far easier course, but with weather and what not…

 I did fall, but with minimal damage and not much of a setback. Otherwise, everything pretty much went according to plan. For the No Name 30k next month I’ll make some minor changes in equipment but will set out to keep the same basic plan and outlook.

 One racing element that was fortified by my approach is that for longer challenging races it’s wise to reign it in a bit at the start. Since Old Boney began at 6:30 a.m. the first 15 minutes were in the dark and all of the runners pretty much cruised and used that as a warmup. And that didn’t prevent the winner from doing a blazing 2:40 and running away from the rest of us mere mortals. Nor did it prevent me from feeling great once I got going and allowed me to work myself into the race where I felt very comfortable pushing the pace and challenging myself to do something special.

 Darkness won’t be an issue at No Name and given that the course is easier, the temptation to gun it at the start is going to be hard to constrain. Once I have more details, I’ll better be in a position to feel if a pre-race warmup is desirable or if I’ll be better off to again start slow and work my way into race pace. But my time and effort level sure felt right at Old Boney so it’ll be an interesting compare/contrast if I deviate.

 Alright already, enough pats on the back. It’s time to kick myself and get back to work.

Head to Toe

 

Native animal

Ragged yet sleek, sly, nimble

Though cautious near us.

 Monday, October 25, 2021

 Here’s why trail races are so intriguing to me; at the beginning of the month I ran one and next week I’ll run another and just about everything except the nearby locations will be very different.

 At the beginning of the month I ran the 25k Bull Dog and this Saturday I’ll run the initial Old Boney Trail 20 miler. Both runs are in the Santa Monicas and will probably feature similar dry hard pack trail conditions, but otherwise there’ll be enough changes to where what I’ll use will be almost completely different from head to toe.

 Next week’s race will be longer, colder and with aid stations spread further apart calling for almost a complete head to toe transformation.

 I’ll use this schematic to demonstrate with a brief justification for the changes:

                         Bull Dog               Old Boney                     Why

1.    Shoes – Salomon Pulsars       Salomon Ultra Glides    The Pulsars were great for about two hours, but as I’m getting older I just need a bit more for longer than that. Plus they don’t fit my Superfeet blue insoles. The Glides have been feeling great in 2+ hour runs so I’m pretty confident they’ll make it for the 3 and change I hope to do Old Boney in.

2.    Socks – Compress Sport Trail Crew socks (same)       Although I’m going to add CEP lite calf sleeves for warmth.

3.    Shorts -      Patagonia            2XU                      The Patagonia shorts with the two deep pockets in back worked great, but with the aid stations spread further apart and the race a tad longer I’m going to use the Naked band and pocketless compression shorts to hold a bit more.

4.    Shirt -         2XU            Ortovox               The race starts an hour earlier Saturday so going to short sleeve wool plus arm sleeves instead of sleeveless.

5.    Hat -           Headsweats (same)      I like the colors.

6.    Gloves-      OR              Brooks                 No real reason.

7.    Equipment -        Simple Hydration          Naked Band        At Bull Dog I started with an empty bottle, filled up at miles 3/7 and was good to go. At Old Boney with the first aid station not coming until mile 5 switching to Naked because it allows me to carry an Amphipod 20 oz. bottle without bouncing, so a little more capacity and no need to use the bottle as a handheld even for a little while which I have to do with the Simple Hydration bottle because shorts’ waistbands just aren’t taut enough until a few ounces are removed from it.  

8.    Hydration/Fuel    E-Fuel/SIS  Beta Fuel/SIS       Tested out the higher carb Beta Fuel on a test run today and no problems over 2+ hours so going to give it a go. Along with my new caffeine kicker – SIS super caffeinated gel with about an hour to go.

9.    Strategies - Hard Charging    Slow Start             With the 7:30 start at Bull Dog and a bunch of fast runners blazing out of the chute, it was hard not to get caught up in the drag of it all and not start too fast. Didn’t seem to hurt me much but am going to be happy to slow it down in the pre-dawn 6:30 start at Old Boney and cruise the first couple of miles until I can see where I’m going. With the extra 5 miles and a few challenging climbs, it should be easier to give my legs a decent 15 minutes to loosen up and then settle in.

It’s still a race and that means rolling the dice and gambling a bit. For example, though I’m familiar with some of the course, some of it will be new and of course never strung it all together. And without any comps from past results it’s hard to judge what an expected finish will be. From what I know of these mountains and past performances over 30ks I’m going to aim high and shoot for 3 hours give or take. That means I’m only going to carry one Beta Fuel in a zip lock for hour two and one SIS gel for the beginning of hour 3. At the beginning of that 3^rd hour I’ll fill up with Scratch Lab from an aid station along with a gel and hopefully that’ll take me to the finish.

 If I have an outstanding race I’ll at least be competitive in my age group and possibly even win and set a very high standard for years to come.

 Anxious to find out if I’ve put together the puzzle pieces to make a pretty picture out of next week’s challenge.

The Last Running of the Dog?

 Three deer tread lightly

Through the dry mountain grass

Weary and wary.

 Tuesday, October 5, 2021

 The spell may be broken.

 For over 8 years now I’ve been focused on holding both the age group records for the Bull Dog 25 and 50ks. I knew those records were out of touch in my 50s but I thought if I stayed in shape I could grab them in my 60s.

 Saturday, I obtained half of my goal by running a 2:12:45 25k. The irony of that was I had completely forgotten that three years ago I had already broken the age group record with a 2:14.

 So enough of the 25k. However, while I do believe the 4:54 mark of the 50k would be possible next year. However, I feel I’ve run enough Bulldogs and other events have more appeal to me.

 Lately though I’ve been toying with the idea of training with poles to prep for some long fastpacking trips and if poles are allowed at Bulldog next year, it might be interesting to use them on the second loop and see how much help they would be.

 But that’s a long way off. What lessons were learned from Saturday that I can move forward with for the near future?

 First off, from reading Jason Koop’s ultra-running book and numerous articles, I’ve focused on hill training and high intensity intervals. It’s paid off. Although three years older I ran two minutes faster. I’m going to continue in that vein. Though I’ll tinker a bit with the structure of my intervals just to prevent the workouts from becoming stale.

 To try to continue to improve I know I’ve got to focus on the other side of the ledger, weight. At 145 I’m svelte, but my next goal is to drop 5 lbs. of fat and retain my strength. Strength to weight. At my age I’m not going to squeeze a whole lot more from the strength side of the equation so dropping a few pounds is the more promising way forward until I just chuck all this craziness and end my days gorging on pizza and gelato.

 Secondly, I was sucked into believing that my Cinderella slippers had been tightly placed on my feet. That’s a firm – under the right circumstances. The Salomon Pulsars felt great except on the long steep downhill portion of the race. Typically, lightweight racers have caused me heel bruising on this section and the Pulsars were no different. On the plus side it wasn’t terrible and didn’t cause to chop my steps for long. But I’m not going to wear them in races I expect to last much over two hours or have long steep downhill sections.

 With a trail marathon coming up at the end of the month that means going with Salomon Ultraglides or hoping the new Asics Fuji Lites will do the trick.

 I had no problems with hydration or nutrition, but in a short race that’s not usually an issue. For the marathon I’ll just extend my use of Cranksport gels and powder, SIS super caffeinated gels and whatever the race provides.

 I’ve also now reached a point where I can usually keep my head in the game and focus on what pace I should be running at and not let the rabbits get me overly excited or getting passed throw me off.

 What’s been most surprising is how long it’s taken me to recover. It could be just that I haven’t raced in a multi-hour race and have forgotten, but it seems like I’ve been in a funk for a few days longer than I ever recall for such a short race. Could be age as well, as that seems to seep into all aspects of competition.

 But it’s time to get back out there again and enjoy.

Attack

Scrub jay balances

On the most fragile of twigs

Because it knows how.

 Friday, October 1, 2021

 Outside of rabbits, squirrels, and coyotes our dog Luna doesn’t attack. However, if provoked she will aggressively defend herself.

 That is a part of her nature I wish I had. But I’m not a half pit bull half lab mix. A mix yes, but from a more refined small European stew. And at a scrawny 145 lbs. my nature isn’t to bolt to attention and take a bold stance daring you to come at me; catch me if you can are where my genes direct me.

 And that’s probably allowed me to get to be 63 without any physical confrontations. But I am a competitor and to some extent that must mean there’s some small bit of fighting will rumbling somewhere down in my Id.

 Now whether that’s a good thing who knows. I know many whom believe peace, love and cooperation are the way to go. But I admit that I don’t feel hurt or sorrowful on the rare occasions when my dog has drawn blood in self-defense.

 Likewise I relish the idea of being a lone wolf on trail capable of taking a bold stance and charging into the wind when called upon hoping to draw blood; if only figuratively. 

Dirty Old Men

 Three deer crossed my path

As I jogged up the canyon.

This morning is blessed.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

 When I started running with the Santa Monica Trail Runners Club about twenty years ago or so, there were a few very energetic older men who very much enjoyed flirting with women of all ages. Many of us could see that this was off-putting to many of the women.

 That isn’t to say that it was always agreeable when younger dudes flirted. But let’s be honest about how humans work. This was a club that promoted people to come out and run and socialize together. There’s bound to be some flirting/dating among individuals voluntarily coming together to engage in likeminded physical activity.

 So where the line is drawn between flirting and creepy isn’t always so clear cut. Yet it was easy to see in some situations these old dudes were just sadly and strangely oblivious to the fact that the age difference between some of the women they chose to rub up against should’ve been easily recognized as inappropriate.

 And now the truly sad part; I may now be one of those older men. And from my vantage point I can now very much empathize with the older men I use to run with.

 I’m not running with the club anymore, but I do work for a wellness center and I’m near the point where I’m getting to be close to many of our guests’ father’s age.

 And the irony is that my scope for what women I find attractive has definitely widened from mid 50s to mid-20s.

 From my previous experiences watching older men, I’m doing my best to reign myself in and not be just another dirty old man. Yet I’m also tempted to believe that there must be an exception to the rule and with my fairly decent job of aging and demeanor surely I must still have broad appeal (bad
pun intended).

Hot Bench

The smile of a wolf

With a vicious temperament

When on the prowl.

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021

Not only does it seem as if justice is neither swift nor fair in many cases, sometimes it seems downright bizarre.

 In my case, when a skateboarder lost control of his board that hit my bike causing me to fall and break my clavicle, I was just about ready to give up when possibly the entertainment Gods are going to step in to help out.

 The producer from a program called “Hot Bench” sent me a letter inquiring if I would be willing to have that show arbitrate my case. The catch is the defendant would also have to agree to appear. And why would he? The producer explained that the advantage for a defendant is that because it’s binding arbitration that’s not going through the courts, it doesn’t show on their records. I hope that’s enough bait. I also hope that the contact information the dude gave me was accurate. I tried calling once but never received a response.

 This is the e-mail I sent back to the producer.

 Thank you so much for considering my case. I was at the point where I felt receiving justice was hopeless.

 Outside of your sadly true statement regarding collecting damages through the small claims court system, the court made a clerical error listing two different case numbers and a different defendant (Bicycle World) on the mandatory mediation notice. In Los Angeles before proceeding to trial mandatory mediation is required. I sent a certified letter to the court stating this error on June 15 and have, as of yet, not received any update.

 And it doesn’t end there. Because I’m in my 60s health insurance is extremely expensive. To lower the cost over a year ago I joined a health share network; Trinity Health Share. They have since filed for bankruptcy protection. To this point I have paid out of pocket for a very expensive ambulance ride and a few x-ray bills. My clavicle surgery went very well and I am almost fully recovered my physical injuries but am in limbo as to whether or how much of that was paid for.

 However, it isn’t the expenses and mental and physical discomfort of the accident that caused me to seek renumeration through the court system, it was the lack of remorse or any attempt to make amends by Mr. Flores.

 Fortunately at the time of the accident there was a good Samaritan on hand, Matt, who rushed me to urgent care, had the sense to use my phone to get the I.D.s of Mr.Flores and his friend, and held on to my damaged bicycle until it was convenient for my wife to retrieve it.

 If there are any details of the case that you need, I’ll be happy to forward them to you. I’ll also call you tomorrow after work.

 Thank you again for your time and for reaching out.

Scratch

 Rhythms of darkness;

Owls, insects and coyotes

Sing throughout the night.

 Friday, August 27, 2021

 DNFs are painful; scratches are almost unforgiveable.

 Almost…

 Sometimes you’re injured. I’m not. I’m actually feeling pretty good. But I don’t want to injure myself or anyone else so I’m going to scratch from tomorrow’s Santa Barbara Duathlon.

 It’s just taken me too long to get my Argon 18 set-up and ready to race. I was only able to get out on one road ride, and if there weren’t going to be a bunch of other nervous riders flying all around me I’d be okay, but I’m positive there’s no point asking the race organizers if that’s a possibility.

 So I’m opting out. Which gives me 5 months to become confident that I can hold my bike straight enough not to be an unofficial hazard out there.

 Instead, I’ll go after the elusive over 60 under 20 minute 5k which has eluded me the last couple of years.

 I’m not too disappointed in myself for this decision. I know it’s not going to plague me as I build up for future races. Races involving bikes require much more skill than running races. I’ll get there soon enough.

The Jitters

 Lonely howls

Pierce the indifferent cold

Before the sunrise.

Thursday, August 19, 2021

 Races don’t make me as nervous as they use to. In fact, it’s actually a relief now to get race nerves as I worry if my body doesn’t go through its usual race preparations. Arriving early and getting in multiple visits to the porta-potty lets me know that my mind/body are in sync and are preparing for some serious business.

 And speaking of serious business…

 What really gives me the jitters is when my boss walks past me and tells me not to leave before seeing her.

 That doesn’t happen often but unlike racing it’s never what I signed up for.

 Fortunately, lately it’s been about minor details like scheduling changes. But it does help put into perspective what’s worth stressing over.

A Second Try

Bands of diffused light

Reaches from the living sun

To touch our faces.

 Thursday, August 12, 2021

 I never set out in life to be a role model, but that seems to have been my fate.

 For 25 years I was an elementary school teacher. I didn’t start out wanting to teach, but as with many of my fellow liberal arts majors looking for gigs, adding on the additional year it takes to earn a teaching credential while we figure out what we want to do seemed like a better option than continuing in the economic dregs of retail.

 The years just kept adding up and while I never experienced that “I found my calling” moment, I did feel I grew competent enough in the job to keep at it.

 Part of what goes into teaching is knowing that you’ve got 20/30 children looking at you everyday to see how you’re handling yourself and others under all kinds of circumstances. And in that respect, I thought I did a decent job of developing an environment of trust and affection. And that goes a long way in making teaching both enjoyable and honorable.

 Now in my second career as a program guide at a high-end wellness center, I have again stumbled into a job that has placed in the position of role model.

 At 63 I am older than almost all our guests and for many reasons I am in generally better shape than most. Often that means I’m held up as an exemplar of the program. But although I do believe there are many positive aspects to our program, it’s not how I got to where I am.

 But I don’t mind.  I do feel it’s rewarding to be admired for my health. It’s not nearly the burden I felt while teaching and it prods me to continue to look after myself.

The Plot Thickens

 

Elaborate dreams

Mystify

Why

Should I awake

When

Living on my side

Is so

So satisfying?

 Friday, August 6, 2021

 I work with a few people who for various reasons have not gotten the vaccine. One of those person’s reasoning is that Bill Gates and his cadre of evil masterminds wants to substantially reduce the human population.

 But I don’t believe they’ve thought this all the way through to fully appreciate what an evil genius Mr. Gates is.

 I believe that Mr. Gates in cahoots with the Chinese government created the virus.

 He also understood that in the unlikely case an effective vaccine was produced, he would be associated with it because of his speaking out about this type of pandemic years ago. And that association would cause many wackos to forego getting the vaccine.

 This in turn would allow the virus to mutate and spread and further his diabolical aims of reducing the population.

 It’s an evil genius/conspiracy wacko catch 22. That damned evil bastard.

Minimizing Risks

 Eyes flicker; legs twitch.

She is moving through a dream

Of hunting her prey.

Minimizing Risks: Friday, July 30, 2021

 After a four-month hiatus from cycling I am perhaps a week away from getting back in the saddle.

 This is both compelling and worrisome. Compelling because I’ve always enjoyed riding. Worrisome because in the past 5 years I’ve had three accidents, two hospital visits, 33 stitches in my face and surgery to repair my right clavicle.

 There’s an itch of doubt that I’m getting too old for this.

 So what changes can I make to try to remain competitive and minimize the risks of another injury?

 For one, I’m going to limit my exposure by only riding once a week outside. I’ll do that on Tuesdays avoiding the weekend cars and crowds on PCH.

 I’ll also start from Michael Landon Park as opposed to riding from home like I use to; a short but decent drive from some of the busier sections of PCH.

 For now I’m also going to avoid the fantastic canyons of the Santa Monicas and stick to out and back rides on PCH. I’m training for duathlons and as much as I enjoy the hills, my bike isn’t set up for them and I’m not sure I have the nerve for it at the moment. Once I build up some confidence I’ll fix up my damaged Cervelo and give it a go.

 Until then the plan is one indoor/one outdoor ride per week. Will two rides be enough? I’ll find out in February when I hope to compete in Powerman Arizona.

Limbo

The zzz of a fly

Moves in and out of focus

As my life stands still.

 July 24, 2021

 Almost four months have passed since my clavicle was broken and to this day I have no idea what the final economic or legal ramifications will be.

 Medically, I have received a few inconsequential bills. My surgery, which was supposedly covered by Trinity Healthshare, went well. But I have neither received a bill, an itemization of the costs, or a claim for my deductible.

 Two weeks ago Trinity sent an email stating that they were no longer operating in California. A week after that they sent out a notice that they were filing for bankruptcy protection.

 Not sure where that leaves me, but maybe someday it’ll all shake out.

 Similarly, after receiving a small claims court date, but with the wrong defendant listed, I have, for more than a month now, been waiting for a correction from the court.

 I’m dubious I’ll receive my day in court, or that given a positive outcome I’ll be able to collect from the skateboarder that caused my injuries.

 Is this the best of all possible worlds? Clearly not. A little closer to the The Trial and Metamorphosis if you ask me. Kafka, turns out, was not a literary genius, but merely a journalist slightly ahead of his time.  

The Memo on the M.O.

The tambourine leaves

Shaking in the willow’s hands;

A sunny folk song.

 Thursday, July 15, 2021

The weather’s been a hot topic lately (That’s a pun.). It’s also been a subject of linguistic humor as well.

 My wife is bi-lingual having been raised in Taiwan by an American father and educated at an international school. But she does occasionally misuse American colloquialisms.

 For instance, a couple of days ago we woke up to an unexpected light rain.

My wife claimed that the weather people must not have sent us the M.O.

 That confused me.

 I said, “Did you mean memo?”

 Given that they sound quite a bit alike, her swapping of phrases was understandable.

And also very amusing, at least to me.

Validation

 The desert willow

Angelic white pink flowers

Grace the dry landscape.

 Tuesday, July 6, 2021

 Turns out I was right all along. Well, truly more luckily ignorant.

 I’ve never been much of a practitioner of LSD training, not even when I was convinced it was the right way to go. Like most people holding a Monday-Friday; 9-5 type job, getting more than one multi-hour run per week is a tough ask.

 So I tried work arounds by doing a long run/ride on weekends with tempo and brick training during the week. I followed that pattern for a good 20 years before stopping the brick workouts all together about 10 years ago as there just weren’t many duathlons to train for. Though I am planning to compete in multi-sport events again soon and may throw an occasional short brick workout in here and there.

Currently I’ve modified my workouts slightly based on recent readings and watchings that advocate short sprint work. Along with that workout, I’m doing one two/three hour run per week along with an interval session of 5- three minute hard efforts followed by a ten/twenty minute tempo run.

 Yesterday was my first 5k race in a year and a half. I finished fourth overall and first in my age. Pretty much what I was doing before the pandemic.  My goal is to go under 20, but at this event I recorded a 20:50. The course was a shade long though and rolling, so I still believe my 5k time goal is within reach.

 It’s difficult to assess whether my tweaks in training have made much of a difference as I’ve never made the big leap from LSD to higher intensity training. But given my consistent results over many years I’m confident my anecdotal evidence along with current studies is all the proof I need that my fortuitously ignorant training plan was and is the right way to go.