Michael: Becoming a Hick

A watery haze
Curtains the hills in a shroud
Of grey mysteries.

Monday, May 15, 2017

My parents were raised on adjoining farms in Minnesota, but moved to the city in California after my dad joined the Marines. He joined the Marines and my parents left Minnesota to avoid the embarrassment of my older sister’s pre-marital conception. When I came along a few years later my feet never touched farm soil except for the occasional visits back to the relatives there.

And even then I don’t recall ever taking my shoes off and immersing my feet into the rich northern soil. I like shoes. I don’t like the feel of dirt on my feet. I associate dirty feet with being a country bumpkin - a hick.

But here in Panama, I’m slowly giving in to living with my feet being a bit more smudged than I’d ever thought I’d be able to tolerate.

In the states, particularly Southern California, it’s easy to walk around comfortably for months in sandals; a habit I enjoyed. I enjoy it here as well, but there’s not nearly as much pavement here and we live down a short dirt farm road. That means either giving up sandals or getting use to dirty feet once in a while. That’s another one of those small conundrums I wouldn’t have thought about before moving here.

Michael: Seasonal Changes

The dreams of a dog
Through its small twitches and yips
Seem fascinating.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Even if the windows were blacked out and you were oblivious to the sound of thousands of large water balloons being dropped on the roof, there are obvious indicators that we’ve turned the corner and are now into the rainy season here in Volcan.

Last night, for instance, we had an unexpected candlelight dinner as power outages become more frequent. Another electrical related indicator of the change of season is the overhead kitchen sink light stops operating until the dry season returns.

With the blackouts we lose the net so our evening ritual of watching Hulu or a Youtube program are occasionally replaced by downloaded books, pod casts or a game of chess. An enjoyable diversion that keeps us appreciative of the wonders of the times.

On the plus side is the return of decent water pressure. Not up to U.S. levels but strong enough to allow us to ditch the use of our supplemental pressure pump.

On a topic that I don’t like to talk much about, the rain causes a change in our toilet’s ability to operate properly. The water saturation must effect the septic tank. But this year we believe we’ve finally found a fix by not flushing after urinating. So far, so good; enough said.

Also at the beginning of the season June bugs and large beetles die off and a few field crickets come on in for sometimes noisy and thankfully short visits. I was hoping our new dog would relieve me of my duty of cricket hunter, but she seems to care less as they skirt into the house around her door side bed.

Laundry now takes longer to dry and sometimes requires a few days out whereas in the dry season a few hours will do the trick.

It does get a bit colder inside as the season wears on, and when we first moved here I considered getting a small space heater, but a hoodie works fine.

In our two and a half years here, we’ve never been trapped inside by heavy rain for more than a day or two, so we’re probably even more spoiled than we were in Southern California. In fact I didn’t realized how cold L.A. could feel until living here then heading back to visit in the winter months.

This year, for some odd reason, the small white butterflies are far more prevalent at this time of year than they have been in the past.

I feel we’ve made the small adoptions to the differences in weather here between L.A. and Volcan without too many hitches or regrets. If and where we end up next, I’m sure we’ll also have to make adjustments and there’ll be unexpected difficulties and delights. But I’m sure so long as we’re together and the dog has a place to crash, we’ll all be fine.

Michael: And One Last Little Tidbit

The deafening rain
Pummels the old metal roof
With a million fists.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Before I leave the topic of preparing for the SBER Marathon in July, I’m going to give this one final late bloomer piece of advice; look at other race profiles and maps if they share part of the same course as yours.

If I had only looked at the elevation profile for the marathon I would’ve thought that between miles 13 and 17 were all down hill. But looking at the expanded version of the same course on the enlarged half marathon elevation profile shows that the course is actually a series of up and overs.

If I hadn’t of looked I would’ve presumed that as soon as I reached the midpoint of the marathon, and us marathoners were now sharing the same course as the halfers to the finish, I would be tilting my head slightly downhill and enjoying a long sustained downhill romp. That would’ve left me a bit puzzled and disappointed when it looks like those first 4 miles of the second half of the marathon are going to require a few short uphill pushes before we all reach that nice long 7 mile downhill jaunt to the finish.
Or at least that’s what both the profiles for the marathon and half marathon suggest.

Michael: Rules of (Broken) Thumbs

The white butterflies
Sprinkle the morning meadow
Like nimble angels.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Initially, I was going to write about how clever I was going to be in my next stateside race by breaking two rules of thumb when it comes to ultras, but those plans have been subverted by another rule of thumb.

The two rules I had planned on breaking were; 1 - Don’t go out hard, and 2 - Run your own race.

My reasoning for going against these rules in The Santa Barbara Endurance Marathon in July was that the first half of the course is predominantly uphill, so if you can get that section out of the way while moving closer toward the ocean as the day heats up, I’d hope to beat the heat and be heading downhill toward the cool ocean after doing most of the major inland hill battles.

Secondly, a half marathon is going to be run on the second section of the marathon course and was scheduled to start 2 hours after the marathon. If I could complete the first half of the marathon before that race started I could use some of the half marathoners for pacers; basically using their fresh legs as a boost to lift my energy and pace.

But that’s all been subverted by another racing rule of thumb; check the event website now and then. This morning I noticed that the half marathon and marathon race starts have been moved up to coincide with the 100 mile and 100k start at 7a.m. That means most of the marathoners should be well on the downhill side of the course before the heat of the day comes in, and all most all of the half marathoners will be finished long before any marathoners get close to the finish.

So strike breaking rule of thumb #2. It may still pay to go out a bit stronger than usual and get the long uphill sections out of the way while it’s still nice and cool then use the long gravity friendly sections of the second half to pick up tired legs toward the finish, but I wish the race director wouldn’t have made those time changes. Now I’m going to have to be even more careful and, without as many runners out in front of me, try to remember another rule of thumb that I recently overlooked; To avoid getting lost stop and look around when there’s a questionable choice as to which direction to go.

Michael: Two Thumbs Up and a Pecho

The day glooms over
As the heavy clouds move west
Blocking out the sun.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Birthdays become more meager affairs in middle age; even more so when you’re living in a foreign country away from family and friends.

No cake, no presents, no Sheriff John birthday song. I haven’t checked my email to see if any of my sisses sent birthday wishes. My mom wished me happy birthday when I made my usual weekly call on Monday. We had a long standing tradition/joke that because Mother’s Day follows on the Sunday after my birthday I’d be half as generous to her on Mother’s Day so it paid for her to pay out big on my birthday. But that gag kind of falls apart when she can’t send me a present.

At least Kimme’s coming through by baking brownies and making wraps for dinner.

And today on my usual Sunday ride I got two separate thumbs up from some truckers and a shout out, something to do with “pecho”, from a cyclist heading in the opposite direction. Those gestures raised my spirits and I’m going to take them as cosmic birthday wishes.

Michael: Winging It

Black pin holed paper
Allows the small lights of hope
To shine through the night.

Monday, May 1, 2017

An inaugural small town race in a foreign country calls for a deep breath and relaxed attitude.

We signed up for what was billed as a 10k trail race/Duathlon last Saturday, the day before the race. We made sure to ask several times what time the race was suppose to start. We were told that they were suppose to be open to at 5a.m. and the race was suppose to start at 6. Even the very nice woman who helped us knew that wasn’t going to happen and said that 6:30 was probably more realistic. At that, we still thought 6:30 was unlikely, but to be on the safe side we decided to arrive at 5:30.

At 5:30 there was only a skeleton crew there setting up for the race, so we decided to go for a walk. At 6 they were ready to register people and pass out bibs. The race was going to start at 7:30.
Perhaps the best thing about being the first participants to arrive was being the first to use the porta potties. I don’t recall ever being the person to tear off the covers of an unused roll of toilet paper, and to say the least, it was refreshing. I’m not going to commit to arriving to races two hours early from here on out just to de-sanitize a porta-potty, but it’s always a plus when you can find some bright spots in an otherwise time to kill morning.

The number on the John was 11554; a few of my lucky numbers given that my birthday is 5-4. My race number was 195, so again, things were looking up. I also like 0 and 8 but I’m not superstitious about it. It’s just an extra little delight.

Looking at the map at sign up on Saturday and given the race’s location, I didn’t figure it was going to much of a trail race and it wasn’t; more like a dirt road race with very mellow ascents and descents. For that reason I opted for road racing flats which turned out to be the proper choice.

Before the race though they did announce some changes and someone was kind enough to tell me the course, for safety reasons, was going to be shortened from a 10k down to 8k. Given that these changes were announced right before the race started and were told in Spanish, I wasn’t exactly sure how the race was going to be shortened; I was goofily thinking that they were going to move the turn around point up, but they announced, unbeknownst to me because of the language barrier, was that the loop at the end was being eliminated.

I’ve made so many mistakes getting lost on courses that I was a little bit on edge as to what to expect and, given that my getting lost in March during a 50k cost me dearly, I figured I was going to be extra cautious during any points of the race that were questionable.

That point came early on. The duathlon and 10k started together, but I wasn’t thinking about the duathletes only running a 5k therefore turning around way before us 10kers. So when a bunch of runners started turning around and I could only spot one runner going straight, I paused. Fortunately, another 10ker waived me to keep on going. Smack, the forehead, it finally dawned on me why so many people seemed to have turned around early.

Other that the start time and course confusion, it was a beautiful day to get out there and run. All races, but particularly races here in Volcan, require a flexible attitude as to what to expect before, during or after a special event.

Michael: Forbidden or Frowned Upon?

The earth rich powder
Brewed into a deep black heat
Warms the morning soul.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Many ultra races require that participants carry specific gear and/or hydration carrying capacities, though in all my years of trail racing I’ve only been checked for mandatory gear once. That was in Costa Rica last year when at the midway point of the Cerro de la Muerte 50k I was asked to show my jacket and headlamp.

I have no grievances with these requirements for the most part, though for short races over moderate terrain, I tend to believe these should serve more as guidelines than hard and fast rules. But I would hate to show up for a race and have a hard nosed race director yank me because I was only carrying one bottle as opposed to the mandatory two. But I’m kind of dense so it can take me a little while to find the smack myself on the forehead work around.

For example, in July I’d like to run in the inaugural Santa Barbara Endurance Marathon. They’re requiring carrying the capacity of two 20 ounce bottles. But the race starts early, doesn’t look that difficult, and has 5 aid stations.

Ah ha! It took me a long enough to realize that there is some wiggle room  between “carrying capacity” and actual carrying. I can easily carry a collapsible 20 oz. flask collapsed in my svelte race pack along a  20 oz. hard flask I’ll use for fluids. That way I’m meeting the requirement for “carrying capacity” without lugging along the extra fluid. But I’ll have the capacity  on hand in case it becomes unbearably hot and/or they require me to fill up.

I’m sure many runners have used this cheat long before it smacked me upside the head. I’d be curious to find out if any race directors actually feel the heft of bottles and bladders to make sure people are meeting the hydration requirements.