Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Playing

So, here's an update on my "training".  I use quotation marks because the word training seems so serious.  Maybe its just the way I've always heard the term used, but it has always carried an air of negativity in my mind.  So we'll call it playing.  That sounds better.

I've played a lot over the past few weeks.  I'm on pace to hit my first 100 mile month in running and 95% of those miles have been in the mountains surrounding Whiskeytown.  As Billy Brown says, I've "earned my view" on numerous occasions.

In addition to the trail runs, I've been spending some time running in my New Balance - Minimus shoes (minimalist shoes).  I can feel my feet and calves getting stronger from those runs but the main high points are the "cool-off" sessions plunging into the Sacramento River.

What other fun playing have I been doing?  Well, I spent some time kayaking on the Trinity River a couple of Saturdays ago; never been kayaking but it was a blast!  Pretty sketchy rapids through Hell's Hole but nobody died so I guess it was a success.  Although not that great of a work-out, kayaking was super-fun! 

Then, to top it off, spent some time house-boating with Anna and our friends last weekend which was a ton of fun.  Tubing kicked my butt, as did wake-boarding but the highlight of the trip wasn't the exercise, it was the beautiful surroundings and quality time with great friends.

Now that I've reminisced about the past few weeks, I need to drink some water, eat a snack and get ready to go play on the trails early tomorrow morning.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I'm not a blogger.

I don't have a lot of excess time and I don't blog.  In fact, I'm pretty proud of myself that I was able to set up a blog page.  So, this begs the question, why am I doing this?  Not sure.  I guess that I am looking for a good way to document my adventures and my training on something other than Facebook. 

This way, I can document my progress without blasting big long messages on Facebook. 

I love to run.

Its more than a matter of being in shape.

Running takes commitment.  Our society isn't characterized by commitment.  Look at marriages.  Look at our obese bodies and our obese credit card bills.

Nothing is fast when you run.  Running doesn't come easily and its not something to do halfheartedly; or you will hate it.  That's why most people don't run.  They can't get past the discipline and into the reward.  That's ok.  Its not for everyone, but it is for me.

Recently, I began running trails in Whiskeytown.  Ever since my first trail run, I haven't had a burning desire to run on pavement.   There is something remarkable about being miles away from civilization surrounded by mountains and creeks that puts life into perspective (more on that in a later post).  When I'm not with my wife and my daughter, I want to be on a trail - nowhere else.

Here's my plan.  I'm going to:

1) Document my runs (time, distance, terrain, etc.)
2) Talk about my training (preparing for an Ultra-Marathon 50K trail run in October)
3) Discuss various adventures (mountain climbing, kayaking, etc.)
4) Make observations about my life

I'm not going to be religious about blogging but I will try and update frequently.