Kids Running

I burned her out.  I was trying to catch up on a decade of my own lethargy and apparently, dragged her along.  

Last summer, as I just began to run, I'd bring my youngest daughter, who ran cross country and track, with me.  Most of the time it was a great time.  But it was always early, and even so, still hot.  

She got burned out.  

The following school year, she still participated in cross country but it became quite obvious that her heart was not into it.  I didn't think I was pressuring her to do well at the time, but now see it differently.  Regardless, from the advice of a friend, I backed off, entirely, gave her an open invitation to join me anytime on a run, and left it alone.  

In the past, even before burning out, she would say that she loved running, but didn't like the race environment, especially in track.  After a race she was always distraught, sometimes inconsolable.  It was heart breaking at times.  Her coaches have the right attitude for kids that age, I certainly was thrilled to see her participating and didn't care what place she got.  We all just wanted her, and the others, to get involved, have some fun and get some exercise.  But she was a wreck after each race, even before running with me.  

It surprised me this year when she said she was going to join track again.  I figured she was joining to hang out with her friends.  I just said, "Cool."

It shocked me when she started saying things like, “I hope I get invited to this meet.”

Then, I was almost sent into cardiac arrest when in preparation for the possibility of being invited to this Saturday's meet, she ran on her own, like her coach said to!  She did get invited.  Unfortunately, due to weather, the meet was canceled.  

Regardless of that outcome, I am so happy that she is enjoying running.  She’s having a great time.  She’s not fast, usually finishes in the later part of the field, but she’s getting faster and is now interested in how she’s improved, not her placing! As soon as she finished running the 4x400 relay on Tuesday's meet, she ran over and asked if she ran it faster than her second quarter in the 800.  

Music to my ears!

Three Generations 5K Race Report

Somethings start rough but turn out really great, like a child.  They complain and gripe, don't eat solid food and crap on themselves regularly.  Today was like that.

We loaded in the car for a long day in Tucson, leaving home and our warm, comfy beds at 6:15, IN THE MORNING.  My wife, daughters and myself, were all tired and grouchy.  I had a sore throat. My wife had a sore throat.  My oldest daughter was stressing about her first run.  We bickered about the radio, about people talking too quietly, complaining too much, and so on.  It's not typical for us, but we've been so incredibly busy the past two months that we've had no down time...we're worn out!

By the time we arrived at my parents' house, an hour later, we'd figured everything out.  We dropped off our bicycles, for a ride later in the day, and headed another thirty minutes in the car to the race.

The muscles in my left foot were still sore from last weekend's half marathon and my legs were a little flat feeling from Thursday's bike ride.  For the second straight night, I slept poorly (fretting over things at work), managing a solid two hours before waking, and then another three or so later as morning crept around.  Not too bad for one day, but two days in a row gets old.  Circumstances didn't appear to be there for me to break 20 minutes...and that bugged me.  I actually woke in the middle of the night worried about running too hard and getting injured, or finishing in 24 minutes!  My first 5K, in October, was 20:58, and I hadn't been running at all then.  At least I had to surpass that time.

The drive to Tucson had been very windy, blowing the car all over the road.  Weather.com said the winds were 28 miles per hour, gusts up to infinity.  Oh well, I thought.  I'll give it my best shot and see what happens.

My oldest daughter has never run save on a treadmill.  She usually runs about two miles.  She is stubborn as a goat and a cowgirl.  She owns boots and converse, doesn't want running shoes.  My dad's got a bum Achilles and walks with a limp.  I'm exhausted.  It's cold and windy and I'm wondering, what are we doing here?  Let's just make sure this is a fun experience and live to fight another day!  Words to live by, for a runner.

At the start I wanted to be up front, with some of the fast runners that I'm beginning to recognize, one of whom frequents runnersworld.com, "Run Keith."  Keith is a super nice guy and I wanted to say hello today, but there was so much going on I didn't get the chance.

At the start of the race I quickly got boxed in.  The fast group pulled ahead as we rounded the first turn (the first portion was a lap on the track).  There were two girls running shoulder to shoulder in front of me, and a person on each side of me.  The fast group was pulling away.  I knew it would be unlikely I could stick with them, but if I had to catch up to them first, I had no shot.  Still, I broke through and tried.

I'm not there yet.  But I will be.  I have a cardio base, but not a running base. 

I was running well, not sure of my pace as there were no markers and I have a Timex Ironman, not a Garmin,  (come on Santa!).  After I'm guessing three-fourths of a mile a group of three men passed me.  I decide to tuck in behind them.  One of them was wearing the exact shirt I was...and here is the difference between men and women:

Two men wearing the same shirt:  Fast Friends
Two women wearing the same shirt:  Mortal Enemies

Anyhow, I followed him the entire race, moving to his left or his right depending on the wind.  The others in his group would surge ahead, then drop back, but my wind-breaker was pretty steady...but man, he had a LONG stride.  Me, I try and keep my strides short and quick, but had a hard time not dropping in his cadence.

Anyhow, with about a half a mile left, I passed him, wondering if it was too soon.  I caught up to the next one in front.  He heard me, sped up.  I was red-lining, but knew that since we were heading straight into the wind that if I could stay there, I had a chance of passing him too.  I stayed, but as we turned the corner, he sped up and opened a small gap.  I closed the gap towards the finish line but couldn't catch him.

My time was 20:33 on my watch, and I think my overall place was 10th.  Either way, I didn't make my goal of breaking 20 minutes.  However, I will next time.  And no doubt, it was a PR. 

It was cool hearing my mom cheer me on at various times in the race, as well as seeing my wife and youngest daughter.  I always think of my wife as I'm finishing a race or a hard run.  It's doubly cool when she's actually there.

After I finished I recovered quickly and took over camera duties (by request).  My dad came around the corner before my daughter...surprising.  As he said, he walks with a limp but jogs just fine!  He said he felt that 13 minute miles were safe but was pulling down 11:30's.  That's slower than he likes to run, but with the injury, he was happy with it.

I was very proud.  He's been on a similar weight-loss journey as my own and I was proud to see him working so hard.  As far as I know, this was his first ever race that he could run!  We both walked one in July as we both had injuries.  He ended up with a time of 34:40.  Not bad.

My daughter tried to pass some people, went off trail, tripped and fell.  She tweaked an ankle, which she twisted again later.  By the time she got to where we were taking pictures, she was done.  She didn't finish.  However, she's going to try again.  

After the race we hung around for a bit, but really we weren't enjoying ourselves.  It was cold and the wind sucked...or blew.  Either way, my parents left and took my daughters with them to breakfast.  My wife and I would catch up soon.  I hoped to meet some other runners.  But as it turned out, I was in a weird mood, and not feeling quite right, so we left.  As always, food helped.

After breakfast we went back to my parents' house.  I installed a new bike computer on my wife's bike and went headed to Marana, thirty minute drive away, to ride with my wife's dad.  We ended up taking a 25 mile ride in.  My wife and father-in-law ride a little slower than I do, but still, with fatigue, and giving all I had on the 5k, I was glad we were done.

Back another thirty minutes in the car to my parents' house.  We ate dinner, and then drove twenty minutes to a guide dogs for the blind outing.  My oldest daughter is truly an incredible person.  For the past two years she has been volunteering for the organization Blind Dogs for the Blind, raising puppies.  She gets a puppy and keeps it for year, attending weekly meetings where they develop skills and strategies to promote skills with these dogs, so they may become guide dogs.  Anyhow, the outing was a walk through a neighborhood in Tucson, Winterhaven, where the houses are decorated incredibly for Christmas. 

All told, I spent almost five hours in the car, set a PR in the wind, rode 25 miles on a bike and walked around for an hour or so looking at Christmas lights on 8 hours of sleep in the past two days, all while having lost 10 pounds in the past 21 days.  And the best part...while we were all grouchy in the morning in the car, in the evening the car was overflowing with laughter and playful spirit.  All told, an awesome day.

Then I get home with a new package in hand.  This year my family drew names for Christmas.  We would make a present (not buy) for the person we drew.  My brother-in-law drew my name.

Funny what he made for me because just today I was thinking, "How am I going to keep these bibs and medals?  They're important to me and I'd like a way to have them."

He provided hangers for the bibs to be hung on the "Races" plaque, but wasn't sure of the dimensions and didn't install them himself.  What a cool present, huh?

Disappointed my running partner this morning and a running documentary review

My youngest daughter received some running outfits from her aunt and uncle for her birthday.  She asked if I was up for running on Sunday, but I wasn't.  I needed a day off.  But, I was going running this morning, early.

She said to wake her this morning and she would decide then if she wanted to get up that early.  So, this morning, I tried waking her.  Normally, she's easy to wake.  But after 3 tries without response I figured I'd had my answer and went without her.

I explored the trails around a wash near my house and found a nice 4 mile route.  I am still nursing my injured leg, so I just went at a barely moving pace.  I really did what would be called a Zen Run on a show I watched last night.

When I returned home from my run my running partner came down stairs.  She slept in her running outfit.  She was so disappointed that she didn't wake up when I called her.  I felt terrible.  She was so cute all sleepy faced wearing her running outfit.  She came up with a contingency plan for the future...cell phone under her pillow.  I can call her in the future if she doesn't wake. 

Last night we watched The Spirit of the Marathon.  It followed six (I think) participants of the Chicago Marathon, all of various walks of life and ability levels.  The movie did a good job following each different person through their trials and background. 

One particular person had the best quotes, or at least, recited them.  Her name was Lori and she was a mid/late 20's woman (I'm guessing) that was running to raise money for an adoption agency.  She trained seriously and enjoyed running.  I believe it was her first marathon. 

One thing I really identified with was when she said people asked her if she was going to win the marathon.  To all but a very select elite, winning has NOTHING to do with participation.  So, not just people around me don't get that (though mine was on a bike race not a marathon).

Lori's boyfriend mentioned that he believed that the purpose of public transportation was to assist those needing to travel farther than 5 miles.  He also mentioned the insanity of running 20 miles when one ends up where they started.  Good points, both of them!

There was a couple who were serious marathoners trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  The women said that she admired those who ran without watches.  She called then Zen Runners.  They run for the pure pleasure of running.  Well, sometimes, they also run that way because they're recovering from injury (as in my case)!

There was an older man, close to 70.  He started running marathons when he was 65.  He helped a lot of first timers train and enticed his daughter and new daughter-in-law to run the marathon.  He said something that struck me, and I'll paraphrase.  He said something along the lines that, Running consumes you.  Even if you don't want to talk about it, it's what you think about, so it comes out.  You don't care if people get tired of hearing about running, it's on your mind.  

In all, it was neat to hear each runner's perspective, motivation and initial spark of interest in running.  It certainly made me want to run this morning! 

Today's art work is in celebration of one of my favorite foods...chili. 

Wait...yup, I did. I just had an idea. And some art work.

I've come to terms with the fact that exercise will help you maintain weight. But to lose weight, diet is more important. Ugh. That sucks because I have a sweet tooth. Today at a meeting the host brought out a bag of mini-snickers. I had two. They were only 30 calories each, but that's just junk food. Then, one of the principals made chocolate chip cookies last night and brought one for each of us. I ate that too.

I get from the gym today and was starving. I over ate an unusually unhealthy dinner and was still hungry. So, I made some air-popped popcorn and then had a few pieces of a melon. It's one thing to resist eating certain foods (which I'm actually pretty good at), but something else entirely when you're STARVING! Quickened metabolism and high volumes of cardiovascular exercise leave me ravenous. Remember the Jurassic Park where the T-Rex eats anything that moves???? Yeah, like that.Eating is tough. Oh well. I did spend an hour lifting weights (worked on my back and shoulders and as always core) and then spent an hour on the treadmill. I couldn't (or wouldn't allow myself) run much, so I just added time to compensate for the lower intensity.

Anyhow, my weight is dropping very slowly. VERY slowly. But, it's dropping and I'm feeling great, so it's all good. However, again, my body fat is really coming off. I can see it everywhere. If I sneak up on it, I sometimes even have the shadows of a 6 pack! I still have a pinchable layer of insulating blubber to get through, but last year at this time I had a full keg!

It's true that obstacles provided unexpected opportunities (the point, to me, of Lance Armstrong's book It's Not About the Bike). Since I'm injured and can't run, I've been riding my bike a lot more. I'm having a great time doing it...I realized that I was really burned out on it. Now, I'm thinking that I would like to participate in El Tour de Tucson in November. The potential problem is that I've already signed up for a half marathon that is on December 11th.

I'm researching and posting on message boards, checking out triathlon training plans and so on trying to figure out a schedule. The thing is, I don't want to participate in either just to finish. If I'm going to do something I want it to be at a high level (for me) or I will lose interest.

Basically the question is: How do you maintain two long workouts (one riding and one running) in a week, or do you even need to? Or, do you alternate weeks, one long ride, next week long run? Ultimately, there's only one way to find out that I know of...to try.

Either way, there's a family gathering about 80 miles from my home this Saturday and I'm going to ride my bicycle to it. It'll be my longest ride since April and I'm curious to see how it goes. I'm lighter and in better overall shape, just not sure I have the legs for that amount of time anymore. I'll just take my time and enjoy the ride.

I've added a map of where I'll be traveling, for your viewing pleasure. :D

Now you have to admit, even when you like your in-laws (like I do), this is a good distance for keeping the peace. I know that I can wear on people.

So, if you've made it this far, you deserve a reward. I decided to draw a little something using microsoft paint. It's my called losing weight. :D Hope you like it! I'm going to blame the crudeness of it on using a mouse to draw in Paint...but the truth is, it'd look like that on paper too. It's all for fun!

Phil Staples

I recently watched the docudrama "Fat, Sick & Half Dead." Basically, a 320 pound, 40 year old business man decides to reclaim his health. It struck me as he was about the same size and age as me. He went about things quite differently than I did though.

He loses weight like drug addict would enter a detox clinic. The man is Australian, but travels to America for 60 days (removes himself from his society) where he only consumes fruit and vegetable juice (goes cold turkey) from a juicer (not prepacked stuff). Of course he loose an incredible amount of weight and in a short time.

His hope is to restart things, drop a huge amount of weight in a short amount of time and then develop a healthy lifestyle. Though I wouldn't promote some of his drastic measures, I found his motives to be sound and his demeanor to be of someone who wants to help others as he helped himself.

In his travels he meets a morbidly obese truck drive named Phil Staples. Phil NEEDED drastic measures. It is Phil's story that got me. Phil was well over 400 pounds and could barely walk. He was literally killing himself with food. He was ashamed of himself and afraid of what was to come.

Phil lost an incredible amount of weight and went from walking 10 minutes (his total limit at first) to actually jogging! His reclaimed his health and became a huge motivation and influence to the people around him. He got his health under control and seemingly regained a reasonable grasp on his life.

What struck me was how happy Phil was just to be enjoying his new found health. He was happy running a post pattern while his son threw him the football. He was happy jogging and sharing his journey with others. He was a sad sack that turned into a very happy man. The human element of Phil captured in this film was priceless. Here's to Phil!

It made me think about throwing away my watch when I run. To run is a gift. Not everybody can run. When I start worrying about how fast I'm going or how far I'm going is when I injure myself. And my goals really have nothing to do with running fast or a certain distance. Sure, I have time and distance goals, but the real objective is to be healthier, enjoy the act of exercising and participating in physical activities. And truly, the goal for me, is to enjoy all of the other things that go along with it.

When I ran my fastest 2 miles in the army, 11:30, I wasn't at all worried about running fast. I had no goal other than to run. I felt good and pushed myself for the experience of pushing. That day I remember feeling great and really being in tune with myself. I noticed things about my feet and breathing that I had never noticed before. I wasn't worried about the clock. I beat my official PR that day by 35 seconds.

Now I'm not really going to throw away my watch. In fact this morning, I used my watch as a tool on my bike ride. I had a 10 mile loop with a few hills in it that I wanted to cover in 30 minutes. But, I really enjoyed what I was doing. I didn't complain that I'd rather be running. I went fast, averaging around 24 mph on the straight flat stuff and just enjoyed the morning and the experience of being able to be physical.

Again, I'm lucky to be able to ride, have a nice bike to ride and a great place to ride it. And I've put literally 10 times more miles on my bicycle this year than my motorcycle! Whoa! Who'd have guessed that!

In the mean time, I'm incorporating strengthening exercises into my routine to promote healing of the hamstring, but also to help prevent future injuries.

And...it dawned on me last night (bragging here) that my pant size is way less than my age! Eleven months ago I was squeezing into a 44 with a huge over-hang, and now I'm easily slipping into a 34 and probably need 32's! :D Ouch, I think I just strained something patting myself on the back.

Family Long Run

Today I tried something new: I took my family with me on my long run. My youngest daughter is a runner, but can't keep up on a long run. The other two are not runners.

How'd I do it? Easy.

The trail was an out and back, about 8 miles in a riparian region. The plan was that I'd run the route and they'd walk and explore and take pictures. My youngest daughter could run as far as she wanted and when she got tired, could turn around and return to walk with her mother. No matter what, they'd turn around and return to the car after a certain amount of time and it would be a good family outing.

So, we hit the road at 6:15 am. It was a beautiful 70 degrees. Nice since the high was going to be 108! The plan worked ok, but we'll adjust a few things next time to prevent my partners from having to wait on me.

First thing is we'll take an extra set of keys. Second, their turn around time will be about five minutes after my estimated half way time. I need to recover and stretch when I get back anyway.

A recovery run in the evening, followed by a long run 8 hours later isn't a great combination. Write that one down. :D Today's run was a struggle even though I've run this route a few times before.

All things said, it was a great family event. We all had a good time and shared a common experience. It was a nice way to get out of the house and it didn't cost anything except the drive to the trailhead (10 minutes away). I don't think I'm overstating things when I say that my entire family is looking forward to doing it again. So, on Monday, we will. :D

Cheat Day, 105 degrees, and a run...no problem.

Today I spent the entire day out of the house. I left before 7 am, spent the entire day with my youngest daughter. She had a dentist appointment in a town about 35 miles north of us, where my wife works. Since my truck doesn't have AC, gets 15 miles a gallon and diesel is $4.50 a gallon, we decided to ride with my wife and pal around for the rest of the day.

The town is Green Valley, Arizona. It's a retirement community. We had one errand to run (get the oil changed on the car), and the rest of the time was ours. The appointment was in the morning, so that went by quickly. After eating lunch with my wife and her co-workers, we went to a used book store and found a STEAL. A first edition, signed copy of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove...for $3.00! Whoa!

Then we went to the library. We picked up a couple of books, including Pam Reed's book, The Extra Mile. As we used the automated computer system to check out our books we saw we had something ready for pick up that had been reserved. We look on the shelf that's in the first isle in the library. Our name is at the bottom. We are bent over looking for our item when we hear a RIIIIIP. I looked up and there's an old man's saggy rear end pointing right at me between the shelves from the neighboring isle! I grabbed our item and we scrambled away to the checkout computer choking on laughter. The old man actually farted right in our faces.

The thing I want to know is, did he NOT know it made a sound, or did he NOT know he let it rip?

What was the item we risked death to retrieve? Beverly Hills Chihuahua! No joke.

After the library we dropped the car off to get the oil changed and walked across the street to Wal-Mart. Now, my daughter Brianna (12) and I play slug bug rather aggressively. We've expended the game to include PT Bruiser and Kick-a-Jeep. Also, remember this is a retirement community. If you're 65 in this place, you're a youngster, no exaggeration. I decided to kick our game up a notch, and as it turned out, this was a very poor decision on my part. I decided to start a game called, Punch and Oldie. That means, see an old person, punch the competitor. So, for an hour we sat on one of the benches punching and pushing each other. I'm bruised! We did see an octogenarian woman wearing bright red short-shorts! Whoa!

It was 105 degrees today, we were gone all day and had very little to drink. It was one of those days where I was starving all day. Also, being Friday, it was time for a cheat meal. My wife wanted Little Cesars and I just wanted to eat, so perfect. Little Cesars it was!

We waited an hour after dinner and went for a run. My oldest daughter Alex, (17), decided to go along, though not to run. She was going to take pictures of things. She'd walk the trail until my youngest daughter got tired and turned around to return to the car, where they'd return together. As it turned out, there were too many good things to see for Brianna (the youngest) and she never turned around. Instead, when she got tired, she just explored until I returned and decided to run back with me.

We found Alex about a mile from the trail head. It was getting dark. I held the camera and her phone and the three of us jogged back to the car. Alex did very well for not having ever run before, especially considering that the mile she ran is challenging because of the sand.

So here's a little tip: Ever want to know how to run better, ask a 12 year old. The first mile of this trail is largely soft, deep, dry sand, the kind that swallows your feet and fills your shoes. She told me today, to run better in the sand, I just need to go faster. Of course, it couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she weighs 95 pounds and I weigh 215!

What about the combination of pizza (covered with Tobasco), lack of hydration and 105 degree day and running? Did it make me hurl?

Nope. In fact, I felt great. It was just a recovery run, so I went slow and easy the whole way.

Here are a few pictures of the trail. It's called the Sonoita Creek Trail, the Rio Rico Trail head. It's just over 1.6 miles from the trail head to the first gate, which is a perfect recovery run. That's usually as far as I go, as I did tonight.


This is Brianna and myself heading out on the run. Good thing it was a recovery run because my legs were STIFF at first!

Here are a few pictures of the trail. I'm not up for the full 18 miles out and back, but eventually would like to write a full report of the trail. I've walked the whole thing, but that was a long time ago.


As you can see, this is a well traveled path.



This is the mountain San Cayetano, which I climbed three weeks ago.

Sometimes you run well but the clock lies!

Early yesterday evening my daughter and I went to the track. I was going to run two miles and she was going to run one. We have put quite a few miles under our feet since our last trip to the track and were hoping for some marked improvements! I was 4 seconds slower and she was 20 seconds slower. DOH!

I was a little disappointed because I ran pretty well, used my watch for the first time to track my progress. My daughter was very disappointed and down. The thing is, she usually starts out too fast and finishes slow. Last night her last lap was her second fastest and she was totally spent when she finished. Even though she didn't have the time to show improvement, she had a great run.

Our problem was the elements. The last time we ran it was early morning, about 70 degrees, sunny, clear and calm. Last night was 95 degrees with gusty winds and horrible air quality. I guess there were sand storms to the west of us because it was almost like like fog.

So, sometimes you can have a great run and the total time doesn't tell the story.

It's not all sparkles and lollipops

Losing weight is great. You feel better, look better and it's a legitimate accomplishment. I mean, when you start to make changes, there's no guarantee that things will work out as planned. The biggest hurdle is yourself, but what bigger hurdle is there? And really, for most of us, our weight is a product of lack of personal discipline, so this is the cross to carry! This is my burden and I will carry it and be better for having done so.

But it's not all puppy dogs, fuzzy kittens, rainbows and sugar coated warmth. There are some problems. I'm talking about clothes. It's expensive, especially if you start rifling through a size once a month.

My solution: The Salvation Army, Good Will and other second hand stores. I started out wearing loose fit 42's (pants), and had a lot of 'over-hang' there. It took a while to get out of those because they went from tight to properly fitting to a little loose. But once the flood gates were opened...

Now I'm wearing 34's and will probably end up wearing 32's when I'm all done. Since January I've had to purchase 40's, 38's, 36's and now of course 34's. Then there are shirts. No way could I afford to keep myself clothed if not for second hand stores. I teach math for a living, my health insurance costs 2/3's of my mortgage. I do not have extra money floating around.

Why not just wear the too big clothes? Because I felt better and wanted to look better too. And wearing those old clothes was just, well, not me anymore. They once looked good, but not anymore. And they were a shameful reminder of what used to be and something I'm determined to never let be again!

What's as surprising as finding out that I like a lot of foods without meat in them is that I don't really mind buying clothes at these thrift stores. A year ago there's no way I would've eaten beans and rice without meat. There's no way I would've eaten ONLY salad for dinner, much less both of those meals in the same day. And, there's no way I'd consider buying second hand clothes.

But, it's okay. Here's me in a second hand suit I wore for high school graduation. Who cares that this was given to me?

Grouchy Kids, Lazy Rabbits and Dead Birds

My running partner is my 12 year old daughter, Brianna. We've decided to run together 5 to 6 days a week over the summer to get a good cardiovascular base. She wants to be better in cross country and track and I want to be a better runner and in better shape myself. For both of us that means early mornings when we wouldn't otherwise have to wake up!

I am careful to make sure it's not a situation where I'm living vicariously through her running experiences. I'm not forcing her to run. If she wants to skip a run, she is free to do so without consequence or disapproval. She runs because she wants to. Or, so I hoped!

Today, I found out that was the case.

We spent the weekend at my in-laws' house. They live in Marana, Arizona, about eighty miles north of us. As always, we had a great time and ate too much food, probably none of it on a runner's dietary plan!

As a result, we were both tired and grouchy this morning. We got up an hour late (7 instead of 6). We took forever to get ready. When we left, I knew Brianna was grouchy and irritable. I tried to have the kid gloves out.

Before running, I suggested we walk up the hill to the end of our street. It's a steep hill, about 1/4 mile long. I figured it would get our bodies warmed up a bit before we hit the road running.

While walking, everything I said was met with a grouchy, borderline disrespectful grumble or grunt. About half way down the hill I stopped and corrected her behavior, told her to be respectful (in a more aggressive fashion that was probably really called for, I was tired too).

I tried to engage her in conversation again, just to break her out of her mood. Often, it's little things out of the ordinary that one of us will notice that will set the world right again. I saw the first signs of summer monsoon clouds on the horizon, and wanted to point them out to her. No luck. She was still sour and unreasonable. I mean, everything was irritating to her.

I stopped and bent down to her eye level and said, "Listen, you don't have to go on this run. You don't have to be here. Why don't you just go back up the driveway and go back to bed if you don't want to run."

As we walked down the road towards the driveway she was on the side of the street where our house is. I was watching out of the corner of my eye to see if she'd go home or stay with me. I was hoping she'd stay with me and be happy, but figuring that only the prior half of the wish would be true, I also hoped she'd go home. I didn't want to be snapped at by a 12 year old on a morning run when I felt crappy.

She stayed. I was happy. Even if we didn't talk, it was nice to have my running partner with me.

I let her pace the run. She's shown signs of being able to really cook, but also sometimes runs half-heartedly. Today I'd see both.

The first mile and a half we were running 12 minute miles...barely moving! That was ok, I figured. We both had new shoes and I was sore from the previous day's run. But, that was on the down hill and flat portion of the run. We had a 250 foot climb ahead of us. I was sure we'd come to a screaming halt then.

Over the years I've shown an uncanny knack for one thing in particular: incorrectness. I had done it again. I was wrong.

As we turned onto the dirt road with the hill, Camino Revolucion, she perked up and started telling me all about the road, how it was bumpy, how there were dogs at the top and how steep the hill was. (Her school bus travels down the road on its route.) Her pace quickened significantly as we started the climb.

The climb gradually increases until it gets to the last 200 yards and then it rapidly increases. As we approached that point where the hill increases incredibly I told her I was just going to run up it and wait for her at the top. She ran with me but stopped. While I was finishing the hill, on her own, she had gathered her composure and started to sprint up the road. When I reached the top she was 50 feet behind me. When she reached the top she was as red faced as humanly possible and about ready to collapse. She put her hands on top of her head as I'd taught her and she was stumbling around.

Then we saw the lazy rabbit. A cotton tail, right between us just slowly crawling along, aware but unconcerned. Maybe it had run up that hill before and knew we had nothing left with which to pose a threat.

We were now back on pavement and had a short, but very steep hill to climb, then a short descent, and then another climb and then some long down hills until we were back home. We crested the first short hill and came down the back side. At the bottom the hill changes from an incredible pitch of probably 8% to flat almost instantaneously. Cars always smack their bumpers here if they are unfamiliar with how to drive it.

At that spot there was a dove, dead. Not only was it dead, but it appeared it had no head! Johnny-on-the-spot, I was ready with the Dumb and Dumber quote. As it turned out, it wasn't headless, but had its head curled back like they do when sleeping.

We turned to start the last climb of the run and Brianna went sprinting past me. It was all I could do to catch up! We ran like that for the next 100 yards to the top of that hill. My hamstring was screaming at me but it was a lot of fun.

The thing with running together is that it's something you do, together. There are things that happen that don't happen at home in front of the TV. There are bonds made and common experiences shared and later relived. The physical benefits are just icing really.



Here's a graph of the elevation changes. It wasn't a long run, but you can find as much challenge as you want in hills.

Ready for further commitment

My best days of running are ahead of me. Why? Because I'm older and I want to run. Before I just ran because I could. Now, I can barely run and former me would definitely be frustrated with the current 2011 version. But this is something I want to do.

Nine months ago I agreed to exercise everyday that I worked. That has developed and led to bigger changes that were at the time unexpected. Back then, a small change had drastic effects. Because I had 100 pounds of excess weight with which to work, make a minor dietary adjustment had large benefits in weight loss.

Now, I may have a fifth of that original excess weight. As I get closer to where I 'need' to be, it is getting gradually more difficult to drop the weight. I never had a number in mind, or a clothes size. I just wanted to be healthier and lighter. Now I have a number in mind, but it's a functioning number. I think, and this may change, that if I weighed 180 to 185 I'd be able to do a lot of the things I have in mind. That's still 30 pounds over my "ideal" weight, but I don't know how those numbers come to be! Right now I'm 210 to 215. So, I have a ways to go.

A few months ago I wanted to join races just to complete them. Now, I want to compete. I need to drop the weight so that I can training with lower incidents of injury and also for the obvious reasons of speed.

I've already developed a menu from which I can eat. It consists of various items I can for meals and snacks that I can have at other times. I try not to eat after 7 pm. I eat immediately after working out and try to increase the veggies and limit the fats as much as possible.

But now, I need more. Over the next two months I want to design a training specific diet and go all out. I'd like to use the next two months to combine diet and exercise to really get over the hump and into a position where I can safely push myself to the point where I can compete as I hope to. I'll put a lot of time and energy into this and post how the progress an experiences go!

Celebrate the Pain

Let us celebrate, revel even, in the punishment we are about to endure.

That was the sentiment as we approached the first of four large hills that I planned as our daily run. We joked, those hills at home or at a school will be nothing.
The hill, from here, is a quarter mile to the top and a climb of 204 feet in elevation.

Here's my running partner finishing off the first hill.

Here is the view from the top of the first climb.

Here I am standing in front of the second hill. The drop before this one is pretty small, but the climb was another 100 feet.


Here's hill three, with my running partner, Brianna, running at the bottom. This gives you an idea of how steep they are.
And of course, every time you run, if you look, you'll find something unexpected. Like a Kris Kristofferson record that someone blasted with a shotgun.


The thing about this run is that the hills were loose and steep. I fell running up them a few times. Going down was precarious and if you fell, you were sliding to the bottom and leaving a lot of bodily tissue behind! So, caution was the word of the day on the descents.

In Born to Run, there's a woman who describes a Monster. The Monster is what urges you to stop, slow down, give into the pain. I think about that a lot while I'm running. I want to face the Monster, beat it. I want to challenge it every time.

Today's run was supposed to bring the Monster, but it really didn't. Yesterday's two mile flat run did, I felt like crap. I didn't expect to see it there, but was happy when I did. It made me pick up my feet, take a deep breath and GO. I wanted to see it again.

But today, we showed no humility in the face of the hills. We were both thoroughly beat, after having run up each one as fast as we could. Each hill made us feel better, more accomplished and more confident.

My knee hurt, Brianna twisted her ankle, a dehydration headache was setting in and we were both exhausted. We can't wait to do it again.