Biking, Running, Dogs - Time Down With Injury -thoughts-

Some of the benefits of riding my bike. I can actually carry my camera with me so I'm coming across some nice photo ops lately.

This was over the weekend and the surf was unusually high coming under the Golden Gate. A Surfers dream or, nightmare I guess.

 It's now coming up on three weeks of no running! I'm becoming obsessed with this issue, waking in the middle of the night with anxiety and losing sleep over it. Fortunately I can ride the bike with a little discomfort. It probably has been a good thing in a way because I'm spending a lot of time doing core work, reading about running science, training and letting the rest of my body (my back) heal from the beating it took all through 2012.

Realized recently I could easily become one of those crazy "A&E Channel" Dog Hoarders if it wasn't for Cathy disallowing any more mutts coming on board.
I happened to see this doggie on my bike ride Sunday and she looked so much like my Beyonce that it made me think..."I'd love two of those"!

My Beyonce

The one I wanted to steal...

I'm reading "Born To Run" for a second time. I first read it when I started running back in the beginning of 2012. Over this past year the information, stories and characters have become much more pertinent to where my head is now. I love the book and actually understand some of the controversy surrounding Christopher McDougall's portrayal of the characters, experiences and how many athletes felt unhappy with his recollections and characterizations of them.

Going back and researching some of the responses from the main players in past interviews gives it all a bit of a "Soap Opera" quality. I didn't even know who "Anne Trason" was last year. Now I realize how she probably is one of the most amazing athletes of our time. How did that one get away from me. Her accomplishments are truly astonishing.

Here is a link to a fantastic rare interview with Anne Trason by writer/runner Sara Lavender Smith.

Here is another great blog regarding the controversy with Anne "Sponsor The Fool Blog"

I've been living in the cycling world too long!

One of the other thoughts that woke me up in the middle of the night. "Barefoot Running"! There is a great argument for barefoot/minimalist running and how the shoe industry may have created more foot issues in regards to design than they ever could have imagined. It brings to mind the movie a saw many years ago "The Jerk"... Invention gone bad.

Two months into my experiment with running last year I developed serious IT Band issues. I made a trip back to Fleet Feet SF and got myself into a pair of 0 drop Brooks. The problem went away immediately.

Yesterday I started walking around in a pair of my old surf shoes and worked through the day in them. My ankle felt a lot better tonight and the pain was a lot less with the pressure on it. I think my running shoes were forcing my ankle into a pronation situation that was causing a lot of pain.

I'm thinking about getting a pair of the Vibram FiveFingers to start working with while my ankle heals. 

These may be my Marathon shoes, Brooks Pure Drift.




One thought here... I imagine any die hard runners out there that may happen to read my blog and their eyes just rolling reading this.

"Dude! Been there already"!
"You're a little late for the party".

That's true but, I get like that with runners who have just discovered cycling. Can't help being sarcastic with them sometimes. I think I'm alienating my Cycling friends too.

"Yep, He's gone to the darkside".
"Now we'll be running into him every day coming up the bike path the wrong way"!

In reality I think I'll always be half and half Bike/Run. I love my bike and it's a lot more forgiving on this ancient body.

Finite Existence and Riding Ronster Style!

Today the plan was to ride with my friend Ron over to the Marin Headlands (some serious climbing) then, on to Tiburon for lunch and hoping to do this all before the rain came.

The reality of our "finite existence" seemed to be the ongoing theme repeating it's self over and over in my head today. Along with the tragedy in Newtown CT. yesterday which my mind is finding it impossible to come to terms with, It has finally come to a time where revisiting an old dark shadow from the past would be impossible to avoid.

I have not ridden the Marin Headlands since the mid 90's. I did run a Marathon there two weeks ago. "The North Face Endurance Challenge". So, when Ron mentioned this week about doing a ride there on Saturday, I decided it was time to go back there again to enjoy that scenic and challenging place.

Courtesy Rons Photo

The Dark Past: 
Through the late 80's and into the 90's there was one particular friend of mine who I basically rode to the Moon and back with. For a period of two years we rode every bike century and a couple of double century rides together. We joined the same bike club and kept up a close friendship together with his wife and my wife riding with us a lot of the times.
He had a bit of a crazy side to him. Loved the downhill speed and was always trying to do one better on the descents.

As it goes so many times in life, friends get involved in other people and places and my life and work situation forced me to drift away from the the bike people who together with, I had spent so many years rolling through thousands of miles of beautiful Northern California.

Around July 1997 I got a call from one of the old bike group members. She was shaken to the core and was barely able to get out the news to me that my friend had died in a horrific bike crash going down the backside of the Marin Headlands descent.
This was the first time that "a friend" had un-expectantly passed away. It was a reality check, a wake up call and realization how death could be so devastating to people who are close.

Over the years I just could not bring myself to revisit the site where he lost control of his bike and met an untimely fate. It just weird-ed me out and I had to put it out of my mind for for probably too long...Until now.

As we began the climb from the Golden Gate bridge I began to feel some anxiety and queasiness... We descended down the backside and eased into that infamous turn...

As it turned out as I rode my brakes and took it all in. I felt only a sadness and actually looked at it analytically realizing how this happened and how easy it could happen to someone who took these type of extreme chances in life.
I thought how much I missed those times riding with him and experiencing the challenges together. He was with me when I won my first race, first century and first double century.
Such a tragic thing in such a beautiful spot. I forgot about how majestic and serene this amazing place can be.
Here I am now riding with another great friend (who I don't worry about as much).

The good thing is, I've moved on now. Come to terms with something that has been hidden away for too long.
Such is life. We get past these horrible moments in life and do the best we can to not let it happen again.

Everything must pass...

The Ride: Ganghem Style with Ron

I met up with Ron at Sports Basement, as always so good to see my friends. Since the weather held no promises, I think most of the sane people decide to stay home and keep dry.
Not a Hell of a lot of tourists crisscrossing the bike paths or the bridge way. It was quite cold but after the Bridge we began the ascent to the top of the Headlands and warmed up pretty quickly.
I was surprised at how much easier the climb was on my one speed. Probably from all the running and building a lot more core strength in the past few months.

Seeing the bunkers, gun turrets and feeling the echoes of the war years gone by brought back those feelings of finality and futility. What's that shit all about I think to myself. I don't get it. This human drive to annihilate one another and ourselves. I'm so lucky to not have gone through all of that like my father did...Wait a minute...I am and we are all still going through this. It never ends...

Man, I just want to get off my bike now and RUN! I love this area and all the beautiful trails.
Finally we head down towards Sausalito and out along the bike paths sloppy from the "King tides" we've experienced this week.

We make good time rounding the loop and as we come back into Tiburon Center I realize I'm getting a flat in my rear tire.
We decide to stop at our favorite halfway restaurant "Casa Manana". Great call. Delicious meal. I fix my flat and it's getting really cold and starting to rain, we head out.
At this point I'm ready to be done. I don't do rain very well. I actually promised myself I would never ride in it for the rest of my life...I lied!
We blasted through Sausalito and up the grind to the Bridge. I was passing a lot of riders so I knew I was making good time.
When I crossed the bridge I only saw one person coming towards me. Pretty amazing for a Saturday!

I met up with Ron back at Sports Basement. The last time I did this ride with Him I adopted a dog at a mobile adoption event there and this is what I went home with...

My little Layla at Sports Basement, almost exactly 2 years ago.

This time I rolled in and lo and behold...Doggies!

Unfortunately or fortunately how ever you look at it they were someone else's dogs so, not a chance for me to claim them.

Oh well, you win some you lose some.

We did close to 50 miles for the day, got completely soaked but it was well worth it and I was able to move through a painful memory and come out the other-side with a better perspective and a shot of confidence to boot!

I'm A Criminal Baby!

..."Shit" I think to myself. All I need to top of my day now is a friggin ticket!

As I approached the intersection on my SE single speed, my mind was preoccupied with the days bizarre events. On top of everything else that had aggravated me today, the traffic was ridiculous going through the Presidio. I hate when people drive below the speed limit while talking to themselves obviously locked into a phone call and every four way intersection becomes a game of "Mexican standoff"..."you go", "no, you go"!

I was in the mindset to at least bust one personal record on a segment of my Strava profile. Since my Klein was broken (that's a story for later) and I was on my 1 gear cannonball on wheels, I figured it would have to be a flat, short segment.

Me and the trusty SE singlespeed...Old picture

Ahhh... "Cemetery East" coming up. How perfect for my F*d up day.

Just as the car in front of me pulled out into the intersection I rolled with it "Hollywood Stop"! Then I blasted into the segment right as I got to full speed I noticed a Motorcycle cop coming the other way who had seen my maneuver coming towards me with cars on his ass. He yelled at me. 

"That's a stop sign"!

I smiled and waved, then looked away and stomped on it. As I started to round the curve I looked back saw the blue light and him turning in the middle of the intersection I had just blasted and heading for me. Fortunately I was way ahead of the cars behind me so I put the pedal to the metal and like a Gerbil on Crack I screamed past the tombstones in a blur. At that perfect moment, I get a phone call and glance at my phone...It's Cathy!
I hit answer and in one breath.

"Honey, I'm running from the cops, call ya back"!

I hang up.

I cut hard to the right up towards the rear of the cemetery figuring the cop would guess I went straight. At this point I was quite a bit from the cut off and I glanced back to see him going straight. I kept my speed up and soon pulled over real tight to the edge of the road where I could see from every angle.
Safe! Now to cautiously wiggle my way out of the Presidio and out through the Marina.

I sleazily pulled through the gate at Fort Mason, went to the far back of the parking lot and locked my bike. I then innocently walked out the gate and began jogging towards the Bridge like a little angel.



Check out the PR on Cemetary Sprint! Faster than I've done on my Klein Road bike!

Kind of Karmic in away due to the fact I was summoned to Superior court this day to testify against a career criminal, meth freak, arsonist who attacked me my wife and tried to set my building on fire a year ago. 
The disgusting Pig Shit Defense Lawyer spent the whole time trying as hard as he could to present me as some kind of bully making up the story and picking on his poor little client! 
I look over at the prosecuting attorney and she's sitting there with a look that could kill at the other lawyer and her lips were silently repeating the F* word.
This was just the preliminary!
I walked out of there feeling so incredibly weirded out...
What the Hell has happened to this world?
I can't write anymore about it at this point.

When I got home I decided to clean up my Klein road bike. Cleaning for me is cathartic  Must be a leftover Catholic purifying compulsion.
As soon as I grab my bike...Arrgh!!! WTF! the headset is completely frozen up. The bearings are seized up. Two days before I have to race on this thing. 
I just sink...
Screw it, I gotta get out of here before I slap someone.
I throw my cage pedals on my Tank and fly out the door and down towards the Marina...

Epilogue:
Felt better today, got some work done and just focused on my Klein and began the chore of disassembling the headset. When I got it apart I realized that the bearing seals had folded up probably due to the fact that the labeling had never been taken of during the original assembly! It had bound up the headset after almost ten years usage and very well I could have gotten in a serious accident had this happened on the road.
The assembly was done by a shop that I will not mention due to the fact this happened a long time ago and a bad mechanic caused this. I can't disparage a shop that probably has come along way since that time with probably very good employees.

Duathlon Saturday and at least I feel somewhat comfortable with with my equipment.

Saturday Jump Start

I'm anxious to get back to a regular training schedule including more cycling. Today I kind of got the itch to maybe sign up for some races. As I started out on my Saturday ride in the cold and fog, I wasn't really enthused with riding across the bridge and decided to ride local. It was my fortune to run into one of my friends who just happens to be a Cal masters state champion competitive cyclist. He was out getting warmed up for a race coming up on Sunday.

 Accompanied by some of his riding buddies who looked pretty formidable! I rode by them and immediately turned around, caught up and asked if they didn't mind me riding along...even though I was on my one speed, they said fine.

I kind of knew I was asking for it but, surely this would be the workout I needed. I wasn't disappointed. Even though the were somewhat taking it easy the day before their race, it was still a bit of a hammer fest for me on my cannonball on wheels. At one point we rode up "Lovers Lane" which is a particular steep grind. I couldn't keep the momentum up and just got of the bike and ran up it which was actually much faster. As I've said before I really like the work out I get on a one speed. It works well with my running although it puts me at a bit of a disadvantage with the road bike guys.
I ended up having a great time and we mostly talked about running. My friend Chris comes from the running world and was just as amazing running as he is with the bike.
I like being around these guys that inspire me. I don't feel intimidated and I'm a bit older than most of my friends. It's kind of interesting that I don't have a whole lot of friends my age. I guess that's a good thing for forcing me to work harder at my athleticism.

Tomorrow I run and plan on doing some tempo work. I'm looking forward to The Santa Rosa Marathon, although the logistics and costs will be a bit of an issue, I'm really interested in seeing how I'll do for my second Marathon with less elevation than the SF Marathon. I think after this event I may concentrate on some shorter Fall races and some trail running. If I qualify for the Boston Marathon than I'll have a whole new set of plans and a new direction plotted out for my winter.


In the meantime work has been OK, although I'm taking yet another huge financial hit. I need to make it work somehow. I'm really inspired to take time and train to be an amateur athlete and see how far I can go.
I may get burned out with it all but, I can always come back to the music after all...

The dogs are so happy with their new home and the dog care has been somewhat steady and helping with the financial imbalances.The dogs are so happy with their new home and the dog care has been somewhat steady and helping with the financial imbalances.

Open Road, Just Me and My Bike...

Sometimes in life, you look back and realize you've just gone down a path that you could never have fathomed. Life is full of surprises and the trick is don't hit the brakes, just let it happen and you may be happy with the path you've taken.


I had a chance Saturday to step back and take a breather and to just digest all that has happened in the last few months. I haven't had anytime alone aside  from running in where most my thoughts have been about training, goals and short term life logistics. I had planned on taking a bike ride to Mt. Tamalpais and put out a somewhat weak invitation for others to join. It seemed everyone had plans and couldn't make the ride, which was actually fine cause I really needed some alone time.
With a week to the Marathon, I needed some cross training and to give my feet a break from slamming the ground.

I dusted off Klein road bike and got up early and headed out for the bridge. I just focused on quieting my mind and just threw away the thoughts that would start worrying me. By the time I got to Fairfax I finally got into that Zen mode and it just became me and my bike.

I think I've lost a bit of power/wattage in my legs but at the same time I've gained endurance. Usually I'm pretty trashed after a Tam ride but, I actually ended up feeling excellent, like I could have gone much more. 


The whole ride was very positive aside from the bike crash I came up on as I approached Alpine Dam. A woman at lost it on a curve and went down pretty hard causing a serious head injury. I stopped at the Dam and watch them proceed to airlift her out by helicopter. 

It made me think of how I'm lucky I just seemed to lose the thrill of blasting downhill at high speed. One of those qualities that comes with age...it's called common sense. I've had too many close calls and I feel in the past few years my timing, balance and  bravado have lost a bit of polish.

The Seven Sisters

I'm beginning to get a handle on how to eat and the amount of energy I burn with riding and running. Where I'm losing certain advantages, I'm gaining in a other avenues.
I rolled along the "Seven Sisters" and felt so lucky for just being and thankful for being able to witness the beauty on such a fine Summer day. I cruised down the front of Tam and happened into a few riders and a bit of chat. It was a breeze going through Sausalito and up the corkscrew to the bridge. 
I was absolutely crazy heading back across the bridge with all the bike tourist traffic coming at me. I felt like a Salmon on a bad acid trip.
Finally I made it home safely and called ahead to meet Cathy at our favorite restaurant, "The Grubsteak". 

After a great meal, we headed home for a power nap and some doggy time!

Solace of the open road...loving life.

I feel so lucky...
I hope this feeling stays for awhile.
This week I'll do some light running, focus on work and next Sunday "The Marathon"!
Can't wait!


Saturday ride was 57 miles but, my GPS didn't boot up until 17 miles into the ride...