Michael: LSD

There are no fat dogs
In Panama, perhaps that’s
Why they bark so much.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Here I am at 57 about to try LSD for the first time.

Why? For two reasons: One I don’t feel I can avoid it and expect to do well in the 100k trail race I’ve set as one of my new challenges for next year, and two, I’ve never trained that way before and am curious what the results will be.

I had a high school cross country coach, Coach Johannes, that wore a “Try LSD” t-shirt after school to our practices, but I wasn’t ever sure he really meant it. The longest runs he ever sent us out on were 10 milers and those were more like mini-races than LSD training. I’d always finish those runs right around an hour, and even in my prime, I’d consider that pushing it along instead of taking it easy.

Once in my high school years, I challenged myself to run around the local Marine base. That was 14 miles. That’s the longest I’ve ever run on the road.
After college I started competing in short course duathlons where the longest run was a 10k and once I turned to trail running, outside of duathlons and road races of a half-marathon or less, I started doing my speed work and tempo runs exclusively on the treadmill. All my long runs were done on the trails.

But the trails here, as beautiful as they are, are not very conducive to LSD training. They’re just too difficult for that. So I’m turning to the roads and LSD training for the first time in my life; very exciting stuff.

As far as the other type of LSD goes…I’ve always enjoyed the philosophy espoused by Alan Arkin’s character in Little Miss Sunshine. He plays a grumpy old grandfather who figures when you’re older, why not? What’ve you got to lose? That’s the time to experiment. I don’t feel I’ve reached that point yet. But I am willing to give that “Try LSD” approach printed on my coach’s shirt a go.

Michael: It's a Treat

Sunshine and rain drops
Intermingle in a bright
Morning jubilee.

Monday, November 2, 2015

After an 11 mile test rolling hill road run yesterday, I’m hopeful, with a few caveats, the Nathan Speed belt 2 will be accompanying me on all of my long road training runs and many of my races, both road and trail.

Why will this belt work for me when so many waist packs have let me down in the past? Because it stays in place. And that place is around my hips and not at my waist. I’m sure this is due to the fact that it is a limited stretch wide belt that uses Velcro instead of a buckle system. Buckles around the hips have just never worked for me.

Everything else about the belt works fine. The bottles don’t leak. They’re easy to holster one handed without looking. The mouths aren’t bicycle water bottle wide but they are wide enough to fill easily and the valves easily open and close. Of course two bottles take longer to fill than one large bottle, but on the upside they do allow you to fill up with two different fluids. At races where my stomach has started to feel queasy from ingesting too much sugar or electrolytes, it’s nice to have a bottle of plain water on hand to ingest as an alternative. That’s always brought me relief and has kept me from writing any vomit stories in my exercise journals.

However, with only 20 oz. of hydration carrying capacity, refill stations will need be no more than a little over an hour away for me. For most road runs and even many trail races, that shouldn’t be a problem. But on longer outings, I’ll reach for my Osprey Rev. 1.5.

The small auxiliary pocket that sits in between the two bottles has a key lash, a small inner nylon pocket that will hold an I.D., credit card and a few bills and closes with a small Velcro tab, and an outer pocket of stretch mesh that easily held my 5 oz. gel flask.

The large Velcro closure on this outside pocket is very easy to access and close. It could also hold my I-phone, but not both the phone and the flask. That’s not a problem during a race, but is problematic during training runs. To resolve that dilemma, I used a small Gossamer Gear pocket in the front of the belt for my phone. That worked fine. When I carry a phone I prefer the phone in the front for ease of access for picture taking. Why all companies don’t come equipped with their own detachable pocket is beyond me. Maybe pricing? Trying to sell additional belts - one for training and one for racing?

The front of the belt has a very small water resistant pill pocket. I put a salt tab in it and it was still in one piece after two hours. This is a very nice feature for me as I’m debating switching to pills for the Sycamore 100k. I like Nuun and Osmo, but for racing they’re both a little awkward to carry and use. Naturally, I’ll train with pills first to see if my stomach will give them the thumbs up.

Like an auxiliary phone pocket, I do wish this belt had a lash up-front for gloves like their Trail Mix belt does. But this is a small gripe. I’ve always found a place to stash gloves, but now that I’ve seen this feature on other belts, I want mine to have it too.

But I do appreciate the stripped down go fast aesthetic of the Speed Belt 2. If it were loaded up with additional features, it would be another belt. Again pros/cons for a company I suppose. Complicate a great belt with detachable features and drive up the price, or sell different belts for different purposes? The only company I know of that is going at the detachable mix and match route full force is Ultra Aspire. At some point I may give that system a try, but so long as the belt works on the Speed Belt 2 and comfortably stays in place at my hips, I’ll remain a loyal and happy customer.

Michael: Halloween Treats

The rust winged hawk soars
Over the valley with a
Treacherous beauty.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

While we were in Panama City each of us picked up a Halloween treat for ourselves. Kimme got a long foam roller and I got the Nathan Speed Belt 2.

The reason for the small waist belt is to start training for my A race, the Sycamore 100k, with a small bottle pack. I brought a small bottle pack here from the states, the Hydraquiver, but Kimme also likes it and, being the gentleman that I am, she uses it when we run.

Hydraquivers are on the expensive side before the added cost of shipping and duties, so I had already decided to go with a what I could find in Panama. As far as bottle packs go in the shopping centers we covered in Panama City, that meant a few limited choices of waist belts.

Waist belts and I haven’t been the best of friends in the past. I want them to ride low on my hips, but they always want to ride up to my belly button. Once there, I either have to tighten them uncomfortably and feel constricted while breathing to prevent them from bouncing, or live with an annoying bounce.  I’m hoping the Nathan, with its broad limited stretch elastic belt, will stay put.

Today is test #1 of my appropriately colored black new waist belt. Keeping my fingers crossed I haven’t tricked myself this Halloween.

Michael: Around the Horn

The afternoon air
After a tropical rain
Is heavy with sweat.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

These are a few small observations from our recent visit to Panama City.

We stayed in the Cangrejo district at the TRYP Wyndham Central. It’s a very nice area within easy walking distance of shops and restaurants and the Metro de Panama. The hotel is clean, quiet, comfortable and affordable and the staff were happy to answer any questions we had.

The Cozy restaurant down the street from the hotel was a major find for us vegetarian types. We had a salad there every night. Odd that the salads’ had all English titles while all the ingredients were in Spanish, but we figured it out easily enough.

Using the subway system, the Metro de Panama, was a great alternative to using a taxi. But it is only a one line system at the moment. I don’t know if Panama has any expansion plans, but the route through the center of the city that terminates at the Albrook Mall, served our purposes well. We walked 5 minutes from our hotel to board and 4 stops and less than 10 minutes later we were at the Albrook Mall.

The Albrook Mall is as monstrous and modern as any mall I’ve been to in the states. We walked around it for 5 hours and I’m sure there are wings of shops we didn’t see.

Kimme found a can opener at the Reys grocery store in downtown Panama. Unbelievable that we couldn’t find a hand cranked one in either Volcan, Boquete or David.

It was also very nice not to get bitten for a couple of days. It’s not like we’re being attacked by vampire mosquitoes every night here in Volcan, but we have come to expect a small bite every couple of days. Panama City was a nice reprieve.

Our internet this month has been so reliable this will be the first month we didn’t watch on old Columbo DVD. I kind of miss the old frumpy dude, but he needed the vacation.

I’m not a singer and even if I were, I wouldn’t sing “I’m a little bit country, and she’s a little bit rock and roll,” but Panama City is a fun place to visit and a big contrast in almost everyway imaginable from the small mountain .
town of Volcan.

Michael: The Cart Before the Horse

The repetition
Of  simple everyday
Tasks is rewarding.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

As soon as my loan funds, the first thing I’m going to do is contact Matt at houseplans.com and ask him to walk me through the steps of working with a designer to modify my house plan.

It’s probably not the first thing I should spend the money on. That should probably be land for our house, but I’m just too excited to wait, and the house is, after all, the desired result of the loan process. 

I’ve talked to a few people that believe you should be able to design a plan yourself through an online program, but I think that’s like believing because you can build a model car from a diagram, you could design your own car. I don’t know anything about plumbing or electrical plans or specifications just like I don’t know much about a real working engine schematic. So I figure working with an architect is going to save our house from looking like one of my model cars and keep a lot of that funky glue off of my fingers.

Naturally, the design process isn’t free. If I stuck to the plan I like as is, blueprints would only cost a very low $200. With modifications it’s going to be more like $1700. But that’s still way under the average costs and well worth the expense of having professional plans a contractor can use.

Michael: My New Traveling Companion

The sheet lightening
Flashes on the horizon
In soft white patches.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Before we returned from the states, we were walking to the internet café on a regular basis, which meant I had to lug an old Dell laptop with me. It’s about the size of a small briefcase and, according to Kimme, quite outdated. For my birthday, she decided to update me with a Nextbook; a 2-1 notebook, that I just started becoming familiar with using.

This thing could become dangerous. Because it’s so small and light, not only will it travel better, but I can lie in bed and read with it, check my email, or browse the web. If I moved the bed into the kitchen and kept a charger nearby, the only time I’d have to get up and move would be to go to the bathroom.

But that doesn’t mean the old Dell is going into the trash heap. I still prefer it’s larger screen and keyboard over the Nextbook. But I do have a decent desktop computer in the states in storage and when that gets here, it may be time to erase our memories and to depart with my old Dell traveling companion.

Michael: My New Traveling Companion

The sheet lightening
Flashes on the horizon
In soft white patches.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Before we returned from the states, we were walking to the internet café on a regular basis, which meant I had to lug an old Dell laptop with me. It’s about the size of a small briefcase and, according to Kimme, quite outdated. For my birthday, she decided to update me with a Nextbook; a 2-1 notebook, that I just started becoming familiar with using.

This thing could become dangerous. Because it’s so small and light, not only will it travel better, but I can lie in bed and read with it, check my email, or browse the web. If I moved the bed into the kitchen and kept a charger nearby, the only time I’d have to get up and move would be to go to the bathroom.

But that doesn’t mean the old Dell is going into the trash heap. I still prefer it’s larger screen and keyboard over the Nextbook. But I do have a decent desktop computer in the states in storage and when that gets here, it may be time to erase our memories and to depart with my old Dell traveling companion.