Oh My Word: My Legs Hurt!

Last week was just horrible for anything related to exercise or eating – which is not good when you are putting in 60 hours, duh, I know.  This week was a little different.  Every other day week we get a Friday off which is great, because I usually can get so much done on Friday that I have Saturday and Sunday for just messing around. 

So that brings me back around to my week at a glance as far as exercising:

• Sunday – Mtn Bike – 11 miles
• Tuesday – Mtn Bike – 11 miles + rattlesnake scare
• Friday – Trail Run – 7 miles + Mtn Bike – 4 miles
• Saturday – Mtn Bike – 12 miles
• Sunday (tomorrow) – Mtn Bike – ??? miles

From the list above you can understand why my legs hurt.  As of today, 38 miles were logged on the bike & 7 miles on feet.  All in all, it was a great week of training.  I wonder what next week will bring??

Missed My Run

So. . .last nite I wrote that my car had a meltdown which meant that I would miss my morning run in Thousand Oaks.  Now I suppose, I still could have gotten up and ran around the block on the streets (how boring – did that earlier this week), but there is something about the open trail, the changing terrain, and a little thing called sleep that felt oh so good this morning – that is until work called at 6am to say that the installers who were coming did not have the paperwork necessary to get in – doh!

Oh well, got a few good hours on the couch with the screen door open and the cool breeze coming in – would have been a great morning for a run.  There’s always tomorrow.

Happy Feet, Sore Knees

This morning, I met by buddy Michael at the Los Robles Trailhead in Thousand Oaks at the bright and happy time of 6:45am (I was running late). Anyway, I digress, the temp when we started our little trail run was about 34 degrees – the only thing to say was Brrrrrrr.

I had layered up with a Nike Drifit long sleeve t-shirt, trail jersey, sweatshirt, windbreaker, shorts, pants, gloves, and of course a beanie. Let me tell you – it was not enough. I was so cold.

We hiked most of the trail except for running the downhill sections. I can tell I have not run in awhile, because my knees were a bit sore and my legs just didn’t want to give anything to run. Despite all that it was so nice to get out and hit the trail again. I haven’t been on my mountain bike in about 1.5 months and it is supposed to rain this weekend, so it doesn’t look it will happen; however, the days are getting longer and soon it will be time to shift back to daylight savings time. WooooHoooo!

Happy Trails!

Boney Mtn

As indicated by my post yesterday, I embarked on a trail race this morning at the bright and early hour of 8:45am. Here I am – it is about 45 degrees outside, and its Saturday morning. Well, needless to say, I had second thoughts at 6:45am, but dragged my sorry carcas out of bed and made my way towards the race.

With little warm-up (not recommended) and only a balance bar for fuel, I began the “so-called 6K” race. As the race director was going over the course, he said – “if any of you have GPS watches – the course will be a little long“. Okey Dokey.

We took off down the grade which measured about 1.35 miles, not 1 mile and then began a 3 mile trek back up a side single-track hill known as “old Boney Trail”. In the sun, it was warm with a long sleeve t-shirt over my trail shirt, in the shade. . .well, I’m glad I had the extra layer. Due to the recent rains the creek was flowing nicely – as I went to pass a runner — well, it went something like this:

Rock, rock, slip, foot in cold water – oh well, other foot in cold water — that happened a couple of times; however, my shoes did dry out — it was the socks that did not. Needless to say, I added a little weight to my run. By the time we came out of the covered trees it was getting warm. We climbed the last major hill and headed for home.

My goal was to run near 1:06:41 which is what I did on the course 2 years ago. I felt with all my illness and bad eating that would be a victory and give me a good gauge for what my training needed to be, heading into April and May. Well. . .my time was 1:02:50 for 4.2 miles. Not bad, not bad at all.

And that is how I spent my Saturday morning – what about you?

In the Morning. . .

Tis the night before Boney Mtn and all through the apartment,
Not a creature was sturring, not even me
When a rose such a fright, I sprang from my bed to see what it was
I realized I still had 6 hrs until my race.

Tomorrow morning, I shall slip from my comfortable bed at 6 am – dress in warm clothes – slip into my trail running shoes – and make my way towards the race. As I contemplate the race, I realize that I feel like a “fat cow” and I tomorrow should not be about how fast, but a reflection of the journey that I have been on. I may not have eaten right or exercised or who knows what, but tomorrow will come and I will remember that I have lost nearly 40 pounds and the goal is to have fun and enjoy God’s beauty.

The goal for tomorrow is to run 1:05 for the 6K which would be about a minute faster then my time here two years ago; however, my stretch goal is 55 minutes, and believe me its a stretch goal.

In the words of Forrest Gump – “Run, Forrest, Run”

Happy Beginnings!

Well, its been awhile since I have posted and life has been interesting and exciting thus far. Two weeks ago I officially kicked off the “its time to get my hiney in gear” project. I had been traveling for 5 of 7 weeks which led to 8-10 weeks of non-activity, so I jumped back on the bike one week before the Malibu Creek Trail Challenge and started riding again. I have always loved trail running and now I love mountain biking. Slow beginnings make for some serious soreness, but there is always good news.

My time for the Malibu Creek Trail Challenge (4 miles) was 1:06:00 and I wasn’t last. It had some hard uphills which just worked me over, but the downhills were awesome and that’s where I shine. Last year, I was in much better shape and ran 1:05:01, so for being a bit more out of shape this year having a time that was within 1 minute of last year was a huge success in my eyes. Now, if I can just stop drinking the hot chocolate, I would be all set.

You can now find me atop my two-wheeled pedal machine in the early afternoon as a quick escape after a long day at the office.

Happy Trails!

What To Do on a Saturday Morning?

Do you ever find yourself awake before the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning? Personally, I try and avoid it as much as possible because I don’t seem to get enough sleep during the week and Saturday’s are my one and only day to sleep in. Well, this morning I found myself awakened by that ever-instrusive alarm clock at the bright and unforgiving time of 5:35am. For me this signals the start of the work day, not a Saturday morning; however, this Saturday was not like most others.

Today, I was awakening early to begin, what I hope will be the beginning, of a renewed passion of trail running. In early posts, I have blogged about taking up mountain biking and trail running. Growing up I always loved the trails. The single-track trails would wind through plush forests flanked on either side by bushes or streams, and it just seemed peaceful – you also felt fast. Many single-track trails were winding and would easily lend themselves to the slowing and quickening of pace – a bear to pass, but boy could you hum along. Today, I found myself at 8:00am standing on the start line of the Malibu Creek 4 mile trail run. A narly uphill awaited just as you finished the first mile, which I quickly found out that the 8-10 week layoff was really catching up to me. The soreness of using muscles that you haven’t used was at times unbearable, but I pressed on – walking though. And then somewhere between miles 1 and 2, you made a sharp right turn and up the single-track I began to climb. The view was amazing. I seemed to do most of my walking on the uphills wishing that I hadn’t laid off my exercising as much as I did; however, the single-track downhill was rapidly approaching. I had been passed by a few people and quickly, but cautiously caught them on the downhill which is the better of my running. Heading for home, the last mile seemed like an eternity, but I kept trucking along, slowing to almost a snail’s pace but I just kept picking the feet up and putting them down one after another. Surprisingly when I crossed the finish line my time was within about a minute of last year’s time which was a surprise, but my coach said I still have a good base.

Next challenge – lose some of that weight and keep up the biking and running. Next race – October so I have some time. Until we meet again on the trails or in the pages – enjoy life!

Oh Boy, This Hurts!

Well, its been about 8 weeks since I have been out running or gotten aboard my two-wheeled pedal machine and boy does it hurt. I finally jumped on my mountain bike and headed for an afternoon ride with two of my closest friends to the “Landing“. I quickly realized that taking 8 weeks off of anything is not a good idea and about halfway up, I was rethinking this whole riding thing. The great thing is that when you get to the top, you look out over the canyon and you realize that the hard work is worth it with a view like this. So. . .I think its time I headed for the hills and got back on the bike – perhaps that would be a good thing considering I have a 4 mile trail race on Saturday, where the goal is to just finish. Tomorrow, is another day and tomorrow I will be on the trails with a little bit of pain and a smile on my face.

Ever Run Across the Sahara Desert?

If you are a trail running enthusiast, you might consider running across the Sahara Desert. Check out this post from “The Trail Runner’s Blog“.