Taper week

To the newer followers of RTP: Welcome and thanks for following. I tend to clump my complaint blogs, and the following is a prime example.

I used my taper week this week and will have to run 35 miles the week before San Diego. Either that or resort to my own (admittedly ill-conceived) Couch to Marathon 5 day plan. HJG is not sleeping and he is making sure we aren't sleeping either.

I tried using that excuse plus the old 'work was busy' (it was), 'my itb is sore' (it is) 'I'm supporting Adam through his foot ordeal' (I'm not) excuses, but the fact remains, I did not make it out on the road at all.

Had a chance to run with Lauren and Demi this morning on our weekend canal run and DNS. Hope you guys are tearing it up! As The Governor of California once said, "I'll be back!!" He also said, "Get your ass to Mars!", but that's just sleep deprivation talking.

I am working more and more on the idea of changing to Half Marathon status for San Diego. I'm on a fairly minimal training plan, but not making the weekly goals. Feedback?

Not Chicked!

This post is dedicated to all of you who have worked harder at running today than I have.

Men run, women run, boys and girls run, animals run, and I run (yes, my own category). Sometimes I run fast, and sometimes I run slow. I have been working on becoming a better runner since I began in September of 2008, but I am still slow and I don't work at it consistently enough to get much better.

So when a girl/woman/obese/old/young/differently-abled/etc. person runs faster than me, it is my responsibility to

trip them into the gutter

cry and stamp my feet

yell 'foul' and report them to race officials

run faster and injure something else

Think, 'there goes a person who is running better than me right now. I bet he or she put a lot of work into this run.'

It is not a good idea to think that I have been 'chicked' when a girl passes me, or think 'how does that old f... do it?' Because now I know how it is happening. They have put more work into it than I have. They got up early when they didn't want to, they ran in the rain, cold, heat. They massaged and iced their injuries. They read more articles and blogs (no they didn't!). They stretched after running and stayed hydrated. They ate apples instead of cheeseburgers.

It's completely awesome for another person to pass me and shouldn't be thought of as some miracle. Jimi Hendrix once got really mad at a reporter for talking about his gift as a guitar player. He said that he spent his entire youth locked in his room trying to play like Chuck Berry. He worked every second for every second of fame on stage.

Running at our level is difficult. Most of us can't do it naturally. We suffer, we train, we strain, we succeed, we fall back, and go out again. There are no gifts in running, but if I continue to work hard enough and long enough, I will continue to run in proximity with other people and that is something to be enjoyed (even they are passing me like I'm standing still).

Gardening Through Phoenix (Cross Training)

Just finished Pollan's In Defense of Food. Nothing really new, but good reinforcement. Each year, we try to plant a garden, but our plot has been woefully small. So this year we decided to sacrifice some yard space and plant a farm! (Just this one post and then I'll start a new blog). I ran to The Big Orange Home Despot (hey, a running reference!!) and spent about $50 on bricks and shitty (literally) dirt.

Maria and I spent about ten minutes with shovels, realized that we would finish in time for the next Superbowl, so it was off to A to Z rentals for a gas powered roto-tiller ("Of course I know how to work it", the slow runner said to the A to Z man) Got it home and spent 1/2 hour trying to figure it out.

Engines on and up came the grass, dirt, some Indian burial stuff.... the usual.

Mixed in some cow poop, got it leveled and decided to roto-tiller some other areas of the lawn while Mrs. G was not looking. My three hours were almost up so I returned it and got busy with the bricks.

We have canal irrigation so we need to block the floods that come every two weeks or our little patch will get washed away to Casa Grande.

Tomorrow is the bird screen and overhead sunscreen, and if all goes well, the first planting of TOMATOES!!

Tomorrow is also a 14 mile run. Plenty of gu and a Stick from Runner's Den, and a hope and a prayer. My itb on the left side gave me a really hard time on Tuesday's 7 miler. Hmmmmm. Marathon?

In Theory....

This little black toenail has been around for a few weeks now. There is also a 'won't go away' blood blister on the tip of the toe and also the third toe tip next to it. All other toes are fine and it doesn't really hurt or affect my running --slow no matter what.

Spot's dad kissing my toe has not made it any better, but I included the book under my foot so it would show up better in the photo.

I wear running socks and use the running size and width recommended by my running store Runner's Den. and like I said, all other toes and the entire other foot are fine. no worries right?

I'd love to hear your theories and recommendations...

Tomorrow I'm going out for my seven miler and I'm going to work in some hills around North Arcadia. The San Diego RnR marathon has a 300 foot hill over three miles in Balboa, and I want to be ready.

Let me know what you think about this toe thing. Issue or non-issue????

GWMA 6.66 mile Virtual Race Report

Global Warming My Ass 6.66 mile Virtual Race Report

6.66 miles 66.91minutes --(almost got the .66!!)

This was a terrific run this morning with Rio and Runlaur. Runlaur started out before we got there and got in a quick 5 miles because she needed 14 total for Bobby Potts. The three of us ended up going nine miles together and I extracted the race time from the first six.6 miles on the Garmin. These two are really fun to run with. We kept a nice training pace and were able to chat the whole way, and no injuries!!

The weather was a little off --it was sunny and about 65 degrees. I run my best at about 68 degrees.

We ran the canal from 48th street past Fashion Square and around some construction, some Italian fishermen, and a guy with a backpack who seemed to be on a little side trip to Pluto. There were also lots of runners out there which is really inspiring.

I can also report that I beat Adam's time who has a foot injury and is restricted to spin classes, The Lifetime channel, and "working his core" (if you know what I mean!!)

Thanks for the Race ROATM! Had fun and got a little bit healthier too.

50th Golden Post

I had ideas about working "golden" in with "showers" of accolades, or prizes, or some other juvenile way to connect Golden and Showers (the link is Wikipedia, not pornographic I promise! Is that even porn?) and the 50th post, but that would be cheap and I already feel like I'm setting an unwanted trend in that direction.

Had a really fun group run yesterday with Adam and Lauren. We went about ten miles with Lauren and then Adam and I did almost 3 more. The weather was perfect, and the company was just what I needed. I have decided that I love running with other people. We kept the pace mild and were able to chat the whole way.

Adam is an animal of a runner --he did this whole route on a bum foot and I don't think he sweated. Lauren is a really great runner and right around my level, so we were able to stay in a group without too much sacrifice.

I did wake up last night at about 3 am with sharp pain in my right knee, on the inside. I was not able to completely straighten or contract the knee with out it feeling like there was a knife sticking in it. I've been working it this morning and I think it is abating. I also have a black toenail -2nd toe left side (finally!) Now I have had almost all of the injuries one can get -except nipple chafing. Adam and I discussed this yesterday. Adam tapes all the time, even for short 3 mile runs. I usually only tape for 1/2 marathon or longer, but yesterday only did the Glide on each and had no trouble. JEFF.... GEYER.... YOU..HAVE.. IRON.....NIPPLES!!!!!

This blogging thing has been fun. Thanks again to my 13 followers, and also to the random few who read without following --and yes, even to the Asian porn person who lurks just out of reach of the filters.

If you are interested in forming a regular Sat morning running group with intermittent membership and rotating locations around the valley, let one of us know. 

Cliff Shot Razz

One made-up hybrid word for this product: Fyucky!! It did the job I guess, I had a really nice 6 miler tonight, but never again. The little tab stays connected to the package via a 'litter leash'. How clever. enough said.

You find running gear in the strangest places. I was in a sports store this weekend called (strangly enough), Fascinations. Fascinations carries The Stick ---that self-massage tool that has helped many a fatigued runner work out sore calves, quads, and hammys. Fascinations carries a wide variety of Sticks --I didn't know there were so many. I tried to get a photo from the internet but got a bunch of inappropriate links and (can I be quite Frank?) suggestive pictures. The Sticks come in lots of colors and sizes and most have a vibrating feature --I suppose for extra soreness. The employees are really friendly, but weren't able to answer my questions about pacing, and recovery techniques. I hope that they start carrying shoes and socks soon, and try to learn a little more about running, or even just a little about sports in general. I already own a Stick and so didn't make a purchase, but did get to sign up for their mailing list.

This weekend, there are a few of us possibly running in a group. Can't wait to run with Adam, Lauren, maybe Rio if she can slow down for us, and who else? Sat about 6:30am in central Phoenix.