Valentine's Day 2010

I'm no stranger to going on vacation and signing up for races. In fact, I enjoy running around new

people in new places. This past Sunday, the 14th, I ran the San Dieguito Half Marathon with my girlfriend. Over 2,000 folks came out, mostly local. It was put on by the Hash Harrier club and they had a beer rest station just after the first mile and before the last mile. The course is hilly, but as the description says, quite beautiful.

There were many characters at the race. Of course, the usual red dresses of the Hash Harriers (Anon!), a guy in a white robe with red hearts all over it, a guy dressed as a Pacific Islander native with a headdress, and a woman at the 5k turnaround dressed as a queen with a little white 'toy' do

g and a scepter.

The registration and start/finish of the race was in San Dieguito County Park, north of San Diego. It is an out and back with a shorter section on the return. As low key as a very well organized and known run can get, there were no timing chips. As this was a training run for me for the Boston Marathon, I decided to just take it easy. Rachel signed up for the 5k but started in the wrong race! Apparently that happened to quite a few people. I was shocked when I saw her running to the turnaround as I returned to the finish. A great valentines adventure.

I came in around 1:42:00 which I was happy with, a sub-8 minute pace. I grabbed some water and headed to the final uphill to the finish to cheer on Rachel. She came in around a sub-9 which is great for her. It helps to train at 7000 feet I suppose as well (she lived in northern Arizona).

There was one issue that some people had trouble with. It was more of a

challenging cool-down, but climbing back up the hill to the beer garden and tents was difficult for some people. Anyway, it was a great race on a beautiful Sunday morning sunny California day.

Where comes the sun?

I have moved from the highlands of Arizona, where the air is crisp and dry. Where 300 glorious days a year provide sunshine and warmth to the world's largest Ponderosa Pine forest. Where 12000' peaks streak into the sky amidst a painted backdrop of all shades orange and red. Flagstaff, what a magnificent time can be had in a 4 hour radius of the epicenter of extremes. Yes, I have moved...and where? To a place a 1,000 miles east. My birth home. Where the sun shines half the time, and for the past month, the weather has been more miserable than I can remember.

Oklahoma City...why can't there be oil and gas jobs in more interesting places. I'm struggling finding good running from day to day. I battle cars nearly running me off the road, no shoulder, and ditches. Skunks greeted me today as I tried to pull in a 30 minute rest day. I think there are many people here who could have the potential to run long, but they don't have the opportunity to be introduced to the sport of trail running. Though today, unlike in the past, there are at least two trail running groups in Oklahoma. I'm starting to find hope!

I've been training for a few races coming up: Post Oak Run, A-OK 50k, and the Boston Marathon. The first is February 28th, a 25k in Tulsa. Right around the corner.

Later this week, I'll be in SoCal on vacation. I plan on running a 5k in San Diego. Should be a good time. I'll do a nice report afterword.

I plan on discussing a bit about furry, four-legged running companions...I'm in the market.

Rim-to-Rim

Yesterday I was given the privilege of joining 3 faculty members from the geology, biology, and engineering departments in a rim-to-rim run across the Grand Canyon. One of those bucket listers I could not pass up.

We left Flagstaff a little after 4am and got to the South Kaibab trail around 6 for a 6:20 start. The sun was beginning to rise as we came up to a good view to the east.

The weather started to immediately warm up as that sun was hitting the trail. Quite few layers were shed. Many people were out as it was the last weekend of the year for the North Rim's Grand Lodge to be open. Quite a few rim-to-rim runners were out as well, including a friend of mine running rim-to-rim-to-rim (rrr).

Approaching the Tip-off we really got a good view of what we had left. Let's just say I wasn't thinking about the distance, I was focused on the vistas. We crossed the Colorado at a little over 1.5 hours pulling into Phantom Ranch at around 2. There were 4 water stops on the north side.

The North Kaibab Trail was pretty much an interstate as we made our way to Cottonwood Campground, the next water stop. Along the stretch, we stopped at Ribbon Falls to take in the sights.

From Cottonwood it was another 3 to Roaring Springs and around 4.2 from Roaring to the rim. That last stretch was painful. I ran out of GU and bonked at the last water stop, 1.5 from the top. I finally came in around 5:55, barely breaking 6 hours...I'll take it! And then I realized I had 1.5 to go to the lodge. I took all my layers out of my Camelbak, threw them on, and made the trek. To pass the time I whistled the theme song to the original Zelda game on NES. That got my energy moving...a quest for warmth!

Abe, the geology prof had reserved cabins a solid 13 months prior and we were to stay there that night. The other two guys' families drove up the day before to meet us. We all had dinner at the lodge that evening as the sun set through the big windows. A fellow grad student also was on the trip, though he was hiking. We roshambo'd for the other bed, I got lucky.

I got up the next morning and watched the sun rise from Bright Angel Point. We left for the South Rim to pick up the remaining car adding another chapter to my adventure book. Peace for now friends.

Mark

St. George

Two Saturdays ago I had the pleasure of joining over 5,000 other runners in the very scenic, never dull, St. George Marathon. Despite the blustery headwind complete with life-giving rain, many were in high spirits at the start. Over 50 mini bonfires were lit to warm runners as we all waited for the 6:45 start. Many of us came up on the early bus arriving 2 hours prior. It was a long wait but warm!

Clif Bar was out with around 12 pace crews. My goal this marathon was to qualify for Boston so I jumped right in with a 3:10 pacer named Mike. He carried those balloons the whole way, mad props my friend! There was a pretty regular crew in the pace group, I'll call them my 3:10 friends (Joe, Mike, etc). All a marathon really is anyway is a 26.22-mile long party, am I right?

I didn't bring a camera as it was too wet, plus I kinda didn't have time to stop. Highlights included the Veyo hill, the sub 6 Snow Canyon drop, the long stretch of annoying up from 17 to 19-ish, then the final 4 or 5 drop into St. George (very painful...ouch). Pretty much everyone left Mike at around 4 to go as we were ahead of schedule and he wanted to stay on pace. I ended up coming in at 3:07:21. Boston here I come!

Houston (for beginners)

Time to get back in this craziness!

I'm in Houston this summer.
I am working for Marathon Oil Company.
I wish the name wasn't so generic but it has a rich history and they can keep it.

I'm living right next to Rice U. and it is beautiful. I never thought I would say that in this city but it has its hidden jewels. I have been running every morning around 5 and the trail I run on actually has a bunch of people on it! You gotta do what you gotta do in this heat. I've been training for a 25k in July but most importantly a marathon in October, the St George.

I work on the 34th floor of Marathon tower and it has a pretty good view. I can see all the south part of the city and at times we're in the clouds. I guess that is all from this front. Not as exciting as my good buddy Champagne, riding his bicicleta across los estados unidos. Check it out at http://champagneamerica.blogspot.com/.

Alright folks, until next time...(and not long, I promise)


mock

Blustery Winters Day

The wind is howling, the snow is coming down. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have healthy knees, but having an excuse to work out inside is great during times like this. Though, later this week when the sun is shining and the air is calm, I'll have to cope!

There is nothing better than getting up at 4:30 am and going on a run. Last year I used to do this quite regularly and it was awesome. Nobody out on the roads; I could run all over the street! A few times the same dog would follow me 2 miles from my house all the way back home. I'd pull up to the porch and start stretching and he'd just sit there until I went inside and then he'd pick up something else, like the garbage truck.

Rainy Day in Flag

I started this blog for running ventures that never came to be due to bum knees. I plan on having surgery next month on one knee and the other the following month...gotta find a doctor first!

Though I'm somewhat out of commission I'm still finding time to get out and explore. Last weekend I drove up to the south end of Grand Staircase-Escalante to explore the Coyote Buttes area including the Wave. I met a guy up there who had permits and since they were hard to get...really hard, I had no problem hiking with a stranger.

The Wave was amazing. There was a frozen puddle at the base of it and the sun hadn't quite reached the bottom of the formation so I was sliding up and down this thing. As the sun started to show itself, my last and final slide cracked the ice. I heard a deep sound and got off as fast as I could....it was great!

The next day we drove out to a place called Cottonwood Teepees and walked around. There were amazing fin formations in the sandstone. Irv, the dude I was hiking with said it was crazy they hadn't been knocked over by 'coyotes chasing rabbits.' I though it was nuts wind hadn't blown them over they looked so fragile.

After this nice area we drove to a place called White Pockets which was basically as my pal Emily from the U of A called them, giant turtles...good call Em. They were a lot of fun to run around on, my knees would pay for it later but I cared not!

The night inbetween these two days I stayed at the bunkhouse inbetween Page, AZ and Kanab, UT. There was a stove in the building and they gave me all the wood I could ever need. There was a microwave in there, plenty of bunks, running water but the stove was my favorite...I wish I had a fireplace of my own! 15 bucks a night is well worth it, they only take cash so if you go keep that in mind.