Michael: The Dog House

Slept in the dog house

One cold and windy night;

It wasn’t so bad. 

 Tuesday, December 31, 2019



This is to further support my belief that nature is a baffling and random creature.



 About nine months ago, as we were about to move to Topanga, we figured since it’s a bit colder there and to protect her from the rain, we bought a pretty decent dog house for our little Luna (She’s not really – weighing about 60 lbs, but I like the alliteration.), and tried to convince her to use it.



Until last month she was firmly against it. While we were at work she instead would huddle on her outdoor couch, or if it was raining go in a protected crawl space.



But for some unknown reason, and with very little prompting on our part, she now often prefers her house even over the creature comforts and warmer conditions of being indoors with us in the “big” house on many cold and rainy nights.



Why the change? We have no idea. It’s baffling, but no more so than any other change from what appeared to be routine behavior from any other species I’m aware of including my own.

Michael: Not So Secret Santa

A miserably

Tortious experience;

A ride in the cold.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019



Since I’ve been working full time again, I’ve pretty consistently bought a new piece of running gear every month. That seems to prevent the highs/lows of Christmas expectations.



And as far as a being a gift giver goes, I’m not bad, but I will say that there always seems to be just a little bit of a dark cloud with every shiny item I pick up for myself.



Recently those have been Inov8 rain pants and Saucony Peregrine Iso shoes (both on sale!).



I haven’t tested the pants in the rain yet, but on a chilly windy day they worked much better than I thought they would; keeping me warm without causing a sauna inside. If they work as well in the rain they’re going to be great. The only niggle is the poor design of the rear mesh pocket. It’s too loose to feel comfortable about stashing anything in it and expecting to be there at the end of a run. That’s an easy fix though. A snap place in the middle or some other type of reinforcement should do the trick. I’m hoping I don’t have to use them in any races, but I do have some long events planned in the next couple of months so best to be prepared.



The Peregrines also fit great except, oddly, where they almost seem to be over-built; that’s around the heel collar. With all that padding you’d think that the heel would definitely be locked in, but although the mid-foot wrap is great and more than adequate to prevent my foot from sliding forward, the heel seems like it might be prone to allowing a bit of grit to come in due to a little heel play. Again, in cold weather, I’m thinking this would be an easy fix by using a gaiter. And although that’s not something I’ve made use of training or racing, I may to give it a go.



And that’s the way it goes when almost everything is very good but just not quite angelic. It leads to another gift coming out of the next pay check.  

Michael: The Pee...p Show

Orange and yellow;

The colorful leaves of fall

Brighten the season.

 Tuesday, December 10, 2019



As part of my job as a hiking guide, I give a little talk about using nature as a port-a-potty. I emphasize that for privacy’s sake, please have a friend stand guard or leave a pack or pole on trail so that no one sneaks up on you when you’re answering nature’s call. For two years, that advice has been heeded and I haven’t caught anybody with their panties down. Until yesterday.



The woman who’s snatch I almost got a peek at was a freebie. That’s an A lister who does the program for free in the hopes that they’ll spread the good word and it’ll generate business. These people are almost always social media darlings whom I never recognize because I’m old and don’t participate in any of those shenanigans.



But there she was only a few feet away from a public park parking lot, squatting down taking one last leak for the road. Fortunately I caught her in the frog position right before I turned the corner and took a few steps back to be polite. I know she saw me, but she didn’t ask and I didn’t divulge that I didn’t see her. And that was that.



 Perhaps she’s of a generation that isn’t as coy or concerned about privacy as my generation is. And perhaps that has its positive aspects. But I’m hoping I’ll be retired before I’m told that my little “be careful” of your privacy out there talk is giggled as anachronistic.

Michael: With a Whimper

The patter of rain

Started in my childhood and

Continues today.

 Friday, December 6, 2019

Due to the vagaries of my work schedule, I am not going to race again until the SOB 50k on January, 8^th. That’ll mean I’ll end the year without a race the last two months of this year. That’s a long time for me, but nothing I can do about that except reflect on last year and start to prep for the challenges awaiting 2020.

One of the biggest challenges won’t be a race at all but will be the next big chunk of the Colorado Trail sometime in September. Hopefully I’ll find a way to get out on a little gear run before that, but that won’t be until August or September so can put off planning for that for a while.

As for last year…Overall, it was pretty productive and I’ll be hard pressed to duplicate the success I had so better put some new challenges up on the board so as to not get bogged down in unwieldy  expectations.

And damned, that first challenge, the SOB, really isn’t that far off.

January races are always tough to prepare for. For one, like most people, I gain weight over the holidays. This year, I’m up to 147 so far, which isn’t bad considering I raced most of this year around 145. But weight gain, age and ultras don’t usually lead to improved results.

I’m going to try and not stress too much about it. With shopping, holiday parties and family gatherings ahead, trying to lose weight at this time of year is a tough ask. So I’m not going to. If I can clean up my diet a bit at home and work, I’ll be happy. And if I go into the SOB not tipping the scales over 150 I’ll use the race as a hyper start to a New Year’s resolution to get back to my race weight before heading into a couple of races in February.

This year I only ran two 5ks and was hoping to go under 20 minutes before the years end, but won’t be able to tackle that goal until early February. After that it’s the big and final attempt of trying to run the Scyamore 100k in under 12 hours. That’ll be the third and final time I sign up for that race. After that I look for other challenges early in the Calendar year to take it’s place. Or maybe I’ll just kick back and relax. 2021 is a long way off, but I would like to start swim training to see if I’d like tris and I sure do miss duathlons, which I haven’t raced in now for a couple of years.

This year has been good to me and it’s showed in my performances. I have a lot to be grateful for and will make a concerted effort to let everyone know how much their positive influences on my life has helped me improve as a person as well as an athlete.  

Michael: The Sleeper Diet

The rhythm of rain;
A cold samba beat tapping
Against the window. 
 Tuesday, December 3, 2019


I’ve been torn for quite a while on whether I should make any changes to my diet. I’m reading a book, Food: What the Heck Should You Eat?, that seems very reasonable in it’s recommendations. It doesn’t push vegetarianism, which I am and am not going to give up, but otherwise, it does have some very simple changes I know I should make.



Funny, when I rationalize all the sugar and processed foods I eat, I always think of Woody Allen’s Sleeper, where his health food owning character is informed 200 years later after he’s been unfrozen, that his healthy diet was proven to be badly misguided and that steak and desserts are the true health foods.



But I’m only hanging on to a thin thread of hope that that will occur to me, and I mainly believe that despite my good athletic performances at an advanced age, my diet is what will do me in if I’m not willing to make some changes.



So changes it’s going to be. I’m going to start small by not having any more chocolate or fried plantains in the house. Look for an oatmeal and bread substitute. And I’ll give these changes a go at least until my birthday in May and see what the results are. I’ll still allow some indulgences away from home for now.



Sometimes in order to keep moving forward or just to not back slide terribly (which is what I’m aiming for), you’ve got to make some adaptions. Food is one of those great pleasures in life. But my ego is driving me to see what I can get out of my body. And if I keep filling it up with junk, I’m afraid I’ll end up like an old smoker, wheezing and denying that smoking is the cause of my poor health and performance. For now, eating cleaner is, I believe, my best hope of continued success. If that fails, I’m going to go out in a blaze of banana splits.

Michael: From Orange Grove to Industrial Hemp

The cold grey showers

Have put off the chance for fires

For another year.

 Wednesday, November 27, 2019



Here’s another one of those, “How time flies” old man revelations.



Growing up in Orange County meant actually growing up in a county that had vast field of orange groves. Riding my bike through those groves on my way to Laguna Canyon Road and the coast was one of those take it for granted treats of my youth.



Those fields are gone and will never return, but another one of those unmistakable aromas of years gone by has returned and may possibly last much longer than I’d care for; that’s the smell of pot.



From where I work at the Four Seasons to one of the hikes we do on a regular basis – Ray Miller, we drive along Los Posas road through fields that just a year or two ago predominantly grew peppers and lettuce. This year much of those fields are covered in industrial hemp, and the aroma is very pungent.



I never smoked pot, but I grew up with many friends that did. I don’t like the smell of it and it never occurred to me that I’d ever have to be subjected to it again once I left my teens and early twenties far behind me.





But here it is and it seems it may linger for a while.



And here it is again, that sneaky fear that I’m becoming one of those old dudes turning into one of those grumpy old men only coming outside to shake my fist and to grumble, “ Get off my lawn, yer darn whippersnappers!”.

Michael; Ironic

 A light rain dampens

Our fire prone brush and eases

Our worried for now. 

 Tuesday, November 19, 2019



A week after taking a group of guests on the unintended record longest hike in our company’s history, a new week’s batch of guests came with one of the guests revealing a very interesting and relevant complaint to me.



She complained that while at our sister program in December of last year, a guide took her on a 5 ½ hour hike and that she would never go on a hike if that guide was involved. Naturally, I kept quiet about my recent involvement in the over 6 hour hike.



But her revelation did help put my worried about job security mind at ease a bit. After all, my goof wasn’t that much worse than the one she had experienced. And the guide that led that hike was my mentor and is still employed.



Shows that even the best of us can make mistakes now and then. Not that I’m in that category. Which means I’m still a bit worried about my job.



And also no one has mentioned it. I haven’t received an email from my superior or the owner, who was on the hike. And one of my fellow guides is still excited about incorporating part of my hike into our program – sans the additional mileage.



All of these thoughts ran through my head as I wryly smiled and listened compassionately to last week’s guest complain about her epic hike.