Xterra Laguna Woods 16k Sept. 20 by Michael

Xterra Laguna Woods 16k Sept. 20

Really more of a day after and shoe review than a race report, though that’s not what I was thinking Saturday morning at about 9:30 when the race was over and my heels were suffering like they have after almost all of my trail runs this year.

At that time I was questioning the wisdom of signing up for the Twin Peaks 50k next month in the O.C. I did because it gives me another chance to visit my mom before moving to Panama. It’s also a very challenging race that I’ve never done before, though I’m familiar with most of the trails. It’s been quite a while since I’ve run any of those trails so I’m hoping for that quasi-déjà vu experience that comes with revisiting some old stomping grounds. It also gives me a chance to up my win ante giving me another opportunity to notch 10 age group wins for another year. I don’t know how many years I’ve done that, but for the last few years it’s been a fixation of mine. I’m at 6 now with 3 months to go.

But with my heels fluctuating between bothersome and wincing during a relatively flat 10 miler, I was doubting I’ll be able to hold up through about 5 hours of the difficult roller coaster ride Twin Peaks will be.

Then came a relatively short 10 miler on Sunday, the Ray Miller Trail, with our trail runners’ club, that I had planned to take at a gingerly pace given that it was the day after a race and I was almost certain my heels would act up again if I pushed it at all. I hadn’t worn the Hoka Rapa Nui’s in a while but wasn’t expecting much relief as I recall that the last time I wore them my heels still hurt, but what the hell; why not give the oingy-boingy shoes another shot. And WOW!, I’m not a drop down to my knees hallelujah kind of guy but I believe - Turkel, my prayers have been answered. I ran down a long hill stretch of trail with a carefree smile on my face only my fellow congregation would understand, or at least not be overly frightened by.
I was so overjoyed that I immediately googled some reviews for the lightest Hoka’s out there - the Cliftons - and ordered a pair. Took them out for a two hour jaunt on Los Liones Wednesday morning and again ran a long steep downhill stretch misery free. They’re not the perfect shoe for me. Like all Hoka’s the sizing’s a tweener; either I live with my normal shoe size and get that squeezed mid-foot yet still slightly loose heel feel or I go up half a size so my toes can stretch but risk a real floppy feel in the heels which I find very annoying. I opted for the tight forefoot.

 I now have enough hope that it might be possible to race the Twin Peaks without at least my feet suffering. I know it’s a big jump from half marathon training runs to 50ks, but I’m a lot more optimistic now than I’ve been for months. I’ll give the Cliftons a good push the week before Twin Peaks at the Xterra Pt. Magu 18k and will hopefully find out at the end of that race’s long downhill stretch whether I should still be jumping for joy. But for now “I’m singing in the …?” whatever that stuff was that use to fall from the skies over Los Angeles, ash… smoke…smog…glass…something. Whatever. I’ve got happy feet again and that’s what counts.

Now it’s almost time to get back out there and play.

Michael

Meandering Mondays by Kimme

The first day of Fall.  This is my last Fall season before Michael and I move to Panama.  I have about 3 months to wrap up my life here in a thoughtful way.  I have to:

1. Design a mini Fall collection: dress, skirt, pants, two tops and a simple bag.
2. Thank the people that have supported my business for the last three years
3. See my friends before I go.
4. Consolidate what I want and need to take with me.
5. Find people to give what I don't need.
6. Sell equipment that I don't need.
7. Try to document my life here in Los Angeles: food, shelter, clothing and exercise.
8. Somehow stay calm and  balanced through this move.

Blog by Kimme

The first time I heard the idea that the most basic essentials of life are food, clothing and shelter,  I knew that it had to be an oversimplification.   But I was transfixed by the simplicity.   I was intrigued by monks and other ascetics who further simplified these most basic needs in order to focus and think about what is most important to them.  So I kept my life simple and chose a career that gave me freedom and time to research,  think and explore.  What about?  It turns out that I love to think about simplifying food, clothing, and shelter, and how I can design and make it myself.   And I also noticed that I think best while running so I have added exercise to my basic needs list as well.

Soon after getting to know my husband, Michael,  I found out that he had the same interests and preoccupations.  So now we are on a quest to design and build our first home.  We can't afford to do it in Los Angeles right now and we don't want to wait so we looked up where we could afford to build and decided to check out Panama.  We liked it.   So that is where we are going to try first.  We plan to leave in 3 months.  The next three months are going to be a whirlwind.  It seems counter-intuitive to start a blog with so much going on but as I pack and dismantle my L.A. home and begin the slow process of building a new home I may find comfort in an online home where I can put the stuff I can't just throw in a box. 

Chula Vista Duathlon Recap by Michael

Sideline Stitches - August 11, 2014
The Day after the Chula Vista Challenge

With about 4 meters to go I performed my good deed. There was a competitor that I was slowly gaining on who missed the path we were suppose to take to the left that would lead us to the soccer field we needed to cross to reach the finish line and instead he was continuing straight down the sidewalk.  I yelled at him. He turned around and now was right behind me. I don’t like people just off my shoulder at almost any point during a race and particularly not at the finish. But fortunately he wasn’t strong enough to out kick me. He thanked me for the correction. We weren’t in each others division, but at our age it’s hard to tell. Happy end of story.

Now for some of the random events and thoughts that take place before and after the race.

- Before the race in transition area I was setting my bike up near a young athlete that was also racing the duathlon instead of the tri. He asked if I had competed in the worlds in Spain. He said my bike looked very familiar. Anyone who’s seen my bike would recognize it with its Gumby orange, yellow and green paint scheme and Gumby and Pokey strategically and aesthetically posing on the seat and head tube. The bike is better than me and garners much more attention than I ever have. But no, I wasn’t in Spain and Gumby better not have been either.

I believe, whether he was aware of it or not, he was trying to game me. Basically telling me that he was world class so good luck trying to compete with him. And what a compliment that was. I’m almost twice his age and yet he perceived me as a threat. Not as spirit lifting as a babe flirting with me, but at this stage of the game, that’s not happening so I’ll take it.

I did end up beating him though I shouldn’t have if he had been a little bit smarter. He stopped about a mile from the finish suffering from dehydration.
The same thing happened to a very good racer two years before when I last did this race. I think some athletes avoid training in the heat because it’s uncomfortable and they figure they’re good enough and the race is short enough so it won’t be a problem. Heat should always be considered a problem. It’s puzzling to me that athletes will put themselves through all kinds of stress to condition themselves for an event but avoid a little weather conditioning. It’s summer in SoCal. Inland you can expect it to be warm if not miserable. If you’re going to race in it get out there in it every once in a while. You just can’t visualize heat and anticipate its effects.

- In the bike rack area a few people wanted to borrow my pump. No problem. Damn, another good deed. I must have forgotten about that when the old dude was going off course. One of the persons was a young woman who seemed new to racing as she didn’t know what tire pressure she should be at. She thought 140 P.S.I. I told her that was probably not ideal and might even slow her down. For her weight I suggested she inflate to no more than 100. That’s what I use and I doubted she weighed more than me, though she thought so. I am pretty lanky but I’m just about 5’11” and she was hanging in there around 5’2” and though perhaps a little overweight, 145 would be pushing it. I also suggested that she google or check Michelin’s website so she can understand the relationship between weight, inflation and tire performance.

Just another one of those beliefs that were once widely assumed or pushed by the industry as a truth. Higher inflation = lower rolling resistance = speed. Now the same changes are taking place with tire and rim width. My narrow rims are no longer considered de rigueur. The science is now pushing for wider profiles to enhance performance. I’m not a conspiracy dude or anything but it sure doesn’t hurt the industry for science to reveal that we’re not using the best, most up to date equipment any more.

- Talking to the young dude who came in second place after the race. A relatively young dude who wiped me out on the bike leg. Lives just down the street in Manhattan Beach. Wasn’t suppose to do this race as he was helping his girlfriend prep for a tri when she pulled the plug on their relationship last week so he was looking for something to do as he now had an open weekend. Made a wrong turn at some point and thought he could’ve duked it out for first if he hadn’t. Honestly talked more about that as an annoyance than the break up of his two year relationship. But sadly, that’s about as intimate as guys get even if we had been friends for years.

- On the shuttle back to my car at the race start sat and talked to a good guy that was training for an Iron Man 70.3 next year. He was smart and didn’t bring his bike to the MANDATORY day before bike drop off which cost me an aggravating day’s drive to San Diego on Saturday. Instead he drove at 4a.m. to rack his bike the day of the race. Near the marina at that time in the morning he said he saw a large crowd gathered outside a building and couldn’t figure out what was going on or why so many people huddled around this out of the way place so early. Turns out now in the light of day he could see it was a strip club. Never would’ve occurred to me either. I’m rarely up that early or stay out that late on a Saturday night. Not that I have any religious objections, perhaps some moral qualms about the cultural degradation of the sexes that these establishments seem to profit from, but truly I just love to get up early and go trail running every Sunday morning that I’m not racing. It’s nice to be reminded every once in a while that there’s whole other worlds out there.

- Came in third over all. Generally pleased with my performance. Met one of the three objectives I set for this race. Ran the first 5k under 18 min. which was faster than two years ago. Trying to inject some speed back into my legs so happy about that. Rode the 40k in the same time I did two years ago. Satisfactory, though I was shooting for a couple of minutes faster. Lagged  two and half minutes behind my two years ago 10k time to finish off the race. A little disappointing, but not terrible. Going to chalk a bit of that up to a few nights in a row of inadequate sleep and all the driving involved to get to this event.

- So I won’t bask in the glory and get back to work I’ve got to start sharpening for the Bull Dog 25k and a chance for a 2 hour finish and an age group record. Won’t be able to do that without the aid of my buddy and arch enemy Ron. But that report will come in two weeks.

- Now it’s time to get outside and play.

Michael

Two Years Ago by Michael

Two Years Ago…

Kimme and I went out on our first date. I asked her out at the Nike Station during a trail run with the Trail Runner's Club, the club we’ve both been running on Sundays with for a few years. I usually started late and would pass her at some point during our runs so we didn’t talk much out on the trail, but when the club’s runs are over people generally hang around for a bit to socialize. Honestly, we didn’t talk much then either, but I got enough of a vibe from her to make some inquiries.

Since our first date we’ve been together every day but we still seldom run together. We start and end our runs together. We talk about our experiences out on the trail. We go to breakfast afterward and often take a nap together, but the run itself is an opportunity to commune with nature, our physical presence and thoughts on our own.

That’s one of the conundrums of a relationship. You are together. You want to be together. You want to help each other enjoy both individual and communal endeavors, but there are aspects of our souls that we can only nurture ourselves. Every adult should want some time alone. Not because you need to be away, but because you need to be a healthy individual to be part of a loving relationship.

Together, Kimme and I both want to explore, learn, build, create, and live a life on our own terms as much as possible given the resources we have. Some of our aspirations are rather hazy at the moment. Some, like moving to Panama at the beginning of 2015, seem both surreal, fortunate and will quickly overtake us.

I am blessed to have such a beautiful partner on this adventure. Where we want to go together and as individuals, how we can help each other, learn, love, create, comfort, laugh… who we meet along the way and how those encounters change the dynamics of everyone’s lives, is what this will all be about.

Michael

Say Yes by Kimme

About two years ago,  early on a Sunday morning,  I was running with my trail running group.  An hour into the run, the group was spread out on the mountain.  I stopped at one of the few water fountains and randomly bumped into someone in the group.  He casually suggested that we hang out sometime.  Being bombarded by daily non personal social interactions and invitations after years of living in LA his invitation was so understated that I could have easily have missed it and brushed it off.  But, he was a fellow trail runner and from watching him run over time, I could tell he was not a flake and this was not a one of those non personal invitations.

So I took a moment to think it through.  Soon after moving to Los Angeles,  I learned a lesson... if you want to get anything of value done you need to learn to say no... unless big exception,  you are in a grounded state and there is something deep inside of you that yells out "yes".    And, I heard one of those yes's.  I was 42 at the time and still single, like the rest of my talented, highly educated, and career focused friends. By now, my opinionated Chinese mom had minimized her normally stringent dating advice for me.  Her only mantra for me was, "if he eats the same food as you and likes to do the same things as you, then it is a good match"  By doing the same thing, my mom meant spending too much time  running long distances on mountains by myself and by the same food my mom meant whatever new version of an "all natural" diet I was trying.   I knew he liked running but I did remember  how his eyes glazed over when I once mentioned how I used seaweed for electrolytes in a race instead of salt tabs.   At, that time, I wrote him off as someone who I should not talk diet with.  But this time around, heard one of those big "yes''s, so I agreed to having dinner that evening.

Since then, he has in his signature nonchalant way brought up getting married, moving in together and now moving to Panama to build our own home. Each time, I took a moment and heard a yes.  So this blog will be about wrapping up what I learned  in Los Angeles and consolidating my fifteen years of daily journal musings about food, clothing, shelter and exercise.
kim