Chicken, Waffles and Startrek

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Howard

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Spent the morning at the Chinese Consulate turning in my application for a visa. After a 90 minute wait and 2 minutes at the window Rachel and I went to lunch.
Roscoe’s is an iconic diner serving up fried chicken, corn bread and 2 big waffles. It was tough eating all the meal but I did it as my belt was loosened a couple of inches. Rachel however could not meet the challenge and left some on the table.
On the way home we stopped to see the latest epic Startrek movie. It is customary for me to nod off at the movies after a big meal. Rachel was so sure I would be pushing zzzzs that she bet me $20 that I could not stay awake. I qualified that bet by saying as long as I can stay awake during the feature I would win. Hoping I would get a quick snooze int he previews I agreed on the bet. Well, I was on the edge of my seat for a few of the previews so no sleep there.
The Startrek flick was action packed and engaging. I highly recommend it to any loyal trekkie fan or anyone who likes action flicks.

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Fog to Sun

Posted on May 17, 2009 by Howard

Road down to PCH in the fog and half way up Encinal Canyon the fog cleared and it got hot.  Felt good despite the swollen quads and heel blister.  Probably did 45-50 miles…

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Topa Topa Run

Posted on May 16, 2009 by Howard

img00097Took Eric, JTo and Chris up Sisar and White Ledge trail to Topa Topa. Started relatively cool and heated up fast. We topped out in about 2 hours 10 minutes. Hung out at the top for a bit then did the commando run down. Eric lead the pack and I tried to chase him.. Felt my foot slide inside my shoe and blistered my heal. Nice half dollar size blister will take a while to heel. I am bummed. Need to get some long back to back runs in and this blister think was not in the plan.

Running: Sisar to Topa Topa 15 miles

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Bad Drivers and Tar Pits

Posted on May 15, 2009 by Howard

Took a recovery ride this morning and came back through Hidden Valley. Had a car pass a truck and come at me head on. I had to pull off the side of the road into the dirt. I cussed him out. I figure he did not see me and when he did it was too late. This was a bit unnerving and just part of the deal sharing the roads with cars. I wonder if the driver has the same perspective. Probably not.

Went to the LaBrea Tar Pits with my daughter Rachel. We had a nice time down there whil Jeanne and her friend took in the LA County Museum of Art. A nice day expect for the traffic in the city. I am sure glad I am not commuting down there. Such a waste of time. I hope I can score a job that does not require this kind of torture.

Road Biking: Lynn/Potrero Loop – 20 miles

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Warming up

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Howard

Today it was obvious to me that yesterday was a hard training day. Not that it was a really hard run, but it was hard relative to my fitness and recovery level. As usual I had aching muscles in the morning. After a whirlwind of cleaning the house for a visitor I was out the door by 7:45. The WARM UP begins. I jogged slowly down the street and then walked up the first hill. A slow start but I have to listen to my body. I spotted a Tarantula Hawk on the trail.img00095

By 8:15 I met Jonathan and off the run in the park.
We picked a good uphill to the Old Boney Trail. Jonathan just missed stepping on a lizard… thankfully the lizard was faster. We slowed the pace up the steep section and Jonathan’s foot found a slow lizard. The lizard in now food for some other animal. The temperatures climbed steadily and it was definitely WARMING UP. A serious sweat-fest until the nice sweeping down hill pulled us back down to Sycamore Canyon. Next the Black Bitch. This is a .75 mile and 800 feet of elevation gain piece of pavement that presents a time time challenge whether you are on a bike or running. Actually chasing bike up this hill is one of my favorite pastimes.
We summitted the top in 7:35… Nice red-lining the heart rate.
I was fully WARMED UP after this climb and cooled down on the remainder of the run back to my house. A fine training run building on yesterday’s run

Running: DV ridge, Old Boney to Fossil Trail: 10 miles, 2:15:00 (7:35 BB)

Wildlife Sighting: Tarantula Hawk

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Ramping up the miles

Posted on May 13, 2009 by Howard

I started the day with a run with the thought in mind that this is my first serious training run focused on the Hardrock 100.  I have been keeping fit since I got back from Libya but it has been relatively unstrucutured and I dabbled in a few different adventures.  This include a really cool fastpack in the San Rafael and Dick Smith Wildeness.  Check out the pictures here.  Also trained up on the road bike whimg00094ich peaked with a 200 mile bike ride called Tour of Two Forests.

So today I took off on a run down Sycamore Canyon in Pt Mugu State Park.  The goal was to run down to LaJolla Canyon and back.  I had 3 hours to complete the run in order to get back in time for a shower and lunch appointment.  Trying out some new running shoes..  make, model and reivew is forthcoming so I will keep you i suspense… I started with a good 7:15-7:30 pace down the big hill (we call it the Black Bitch), and continued at this pace until Wood Canyon Vista Trail.  Half way to the junction I saw a Red Fox.    The trail kicks up with a good 1000 feet of gain.  Ran every step of this climb, sweating enough to triple the weight of my shirt.  At the top, check the watch, did the math and decided it was best to take the most direct route to LaJolla Canyon as opposed to my favorite trail, Ray Miller.

I hit LaJolla Canyon at 1 hour 27 minutes.  A quick turnaround and then back on the trail the way I came except I ran down Hell HIll instead of Wood Canyon Vista.  Heard a helicaopter landing.  What’s that all about?  Turned out to be a LAPD training mission.

Up the BB and back to my starting point at 3:02.

Overall a great training run.

Running: Satwiwa to LaJolla Canyon 18 miles

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Biking Continuum

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Howard

I started the day with a friend of mine who has always wanted to ride a bike but never had the chance to learn. Now she has a goal to ride a bike with her friends at the beach. She is in her early 50s and asked me to help her achieve this goal. No training wheels on my old mountain bike but it served its purpose. I lowered the seat and held it as we did repeats, back and forth in the parking lot.

She actually was able to ride on her own for over 40 feet. I was so proud. Then she tried this again and was on a solo run when she fell over. Took a nice hunk of skin out of her knee. We bandaged it up and she started to feel light-headed.  I think it was due to low blood sugar.  As she relaxed in the trunk of her car I gave her one of my Hammer bars and that snack cleared up the problem. She said she wanted to continue practicing so we spent another 30 minutes doing laps in the parking lot. She has improved significantly from when we first started. She emailed me she from her doctor’s off that she was happy with her progress and is still focused on her goal.

At the other end of the spectrum was today’s “time trial”. I have been wanting to time myself on the Rock Store climb on Mulholland Highway. I got the “official start and end” locations from Robb and warmed up with 8 miles of rolling hills. As I moved past “the pull box at the mobile home park entrance” I started my watches. I focused on a steady

Catching my breathe at the top of the Rock Store Climb

pedal stroke with little time out of the saddle. Traffic was light except for some a-hole in a tiny car that was screeching around every turn. I had to concentrate to not lose focus as he passed me. My stomach started to hurt about 10 minutes into the climb. I guess that pint of Super Food Protein Smoothy was too much for my stomach at this level of exertion. I got out of the saddle in the last 100 yards. 30 feet from the top a 4 foot Two Striped Racer Snake was on the side of the road. Its head raised up 6 inches above the pavement. These are very fast snakes but he was in an odd place with a large embankment to climb up to escape. Normally I would have stopped and moved him off the road, potentially saving his life, but today I just had to keep going to get my finish time. I passed the green dumpsters at 15 minutes 14 seconds. My stomach was really talking to me now so I stopped hoping that nausea would not set in. I snapped a picture, caught my breathe, and twittered my finish time. This will be a tough benchmark for me to improve on. I look forward to the next chance to climb the Rock Store.

Road Biking: Rock Store Climb – 30 miles

Wildlife Sighting: Striped Racer, Pair of Coopers Hawks

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Upgrade to FIOS

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Howard

Got FIOS today. This is supposed to be super high speed internet access via FIBER from Verizon.  I ran a speed test before (Time Warner) and after.  This is what I get with FIOS:

Before with Time Warner I was at 9330 download and 819 upload.. This is a significant improvement.  Loving it.. and it’s cheaper.

As part of my ramping up of mileage I started a run today at about 5PM.  Did what I call the Old Boney Loop.. I warmed up slowly thinking it was going to be a painful run.  Very stiff in the shoulders, sore hips and a slow turnover.  This run includes 3 miles of pavement all down hill.  This is a good warm up.  Then left at Blue Canyon at Danielson Ranch you head uphill for a few miles

Old Boney Loop

to a final long downhill.  After 30 minutes of running I felt better.  I ran all the uphills and hammered the downhills. The downhill running was awkward at first but then I got into a good rhythm.  It has been a while since I got that kind of speed and it felt good.  Finished in 1:47 drenching in sweat.

Running: Old Boney Loop – 10.75 miles

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Blogging…Got to start somewhere..

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Howard

Finally breaking down and starting a blog.  Just got back from Boston on a LONG flight..  The toddler on the plane behind us and his parents have no concept of personal space.  I hate this kind of attitude.  Another couple 2 rows up did the same and then the two babies started to communicate with one another.  When that started it was time to TURN UP THE MUSIC..

After an In and Out Burger as close as possible to the airport (on Sepulveda within a mile of LAX) we headed home.  Our dog Anouk was so glad to see us.  Hung out for a while and got this wordpress to work on my server and aftere I posted this for the first time it was time for a run.

Boney Mountain from the trail in the late afternoon

Boney Mountain from the trail in the late afternoon

I drove up to Wendy drive and decided to run up to the cabin site.  I ran into Brad Youngblood.  He is heading to Namibia next week for a 6 day race put on by Racing the Planet.  He feels like he has trained well and looking forward to this adventure.

I wished Brad well on his journey and then ran/walked to the cabin.  The week of moving furniture and the prior weekend’s double century road bike ride has taken its toll on my running.  I feel tight, and my form feels off.  Some funny pains in my abductor muscles and my shoulders.  I will have to get more focused on running this week and ramp up on my miles.

Run: Wendy TH to Boney Mountain Saddle – 8 Miles. Some trail maintenance as well.


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