Yet a Third July 4 Running Post

Twice in the last eight years I've run the Santa Clarita 5k on Independence Day. Back in 2007 it was sizzling hot. Three years later, the temperature was overcast and mild, excellent for short-distance running.

The 2010 event was the last time I ran a race of any kind. That's the way it rolls when your health turns on you like a beaten dog. However, for old times sake, I walked around the Rose Bowl yesterday. Not fast, not even brisk, just a walk. It's been a few years, but the place looks pretty much the same. It took me 48:35 seconds to complete three miles, a distance I haven't even attempted in three years.

Enough sniffling nostalgia. Back to writing. Happy July 4th USA.

Last Run

For 2010. I haven't posted much about running lately because I've hit a rut: run a few days, overdo it in some subtle way, rest, ice, start again. 2011 goals? Keep trying. Tomorrow night continues a New Year's Eve tradition: Marx Bros. Marathon. They're running them roughly in order from early evening to early morning, though I'll be lucky to make it to the MGM pair—Night at the Opera and Day at the Races which straddle midnight. I'm always glad to see another year, just not so much of it that early.

Another July 4 5K

Back in business as I finished the Santa Clarita 5K this morning. Unlike 2007, the day was perfect, cool with cloud cover until well after the finish.

Part of Chi Running involves keeping cadence with a metronome. Running uphill, I shorten my stride; downhill I lengthen it out behind me; and to speed up on the flats, I lean forward from my ankles ala a ski jumper only not so extreme or I would be badly hurt in a different way.

But the cadence is always the same.

I really noticed this going uphill today. My heart rate didn't spike, my breath stayed constant and I steadily passed huffing runners.

My goal was to have a fun, injury-free race, though I did pick it up on the last straightaway to the finish line. An old guy passed me. I am an old guy, but this runner made me look like Justin Beiber. (If Justin's nose was all funny from skin cancer.) I leaned from the ankles, sped up and passed him. The old codger put on the gas and passed me again. Leaning further, I sped up, dropped the codger, passed a teenage girl and finished in an unofficial time of 29:37. (Santa Clarita is old school - tear the tag off your race bib and hand it to the kid at the end of the chute.)

In an interesting decision, the race directors choose not to display mile signs or have anyone calling out splits. I guess they figured its a 5K, not Boston. ("Next thing ya know, they'll want race videos.") However, they made up for it with a nice technical tee-shirt in a color I don't have.

Oddly enough, the 2007 event was my first race back after tearing a calf muscle that spring. Santa Clarita appears to be my rehab 5K of choice.

An enjoyable run that showed me the potential of chi running. More importantly, no pain or soreness in my knee.

Happy July 4th to all! Cook! Blow something up! Sleep in! The Founding Fathers would've done all those things, but John Adams yelled at them so they declared Independence instead.

Paper Wave; Writing/Running Update

A mound of unread books and magazines has drawn me away from the Web along with a desire to reestablish myself as a guy who can focus with single-minded intent on the printed word, as Internet use has gradually eroded my ability to do so. I've officially begun the other two sections of my novel. Rather than a detailed outline, which has killed two other book attempts, this time I'm filling chapters with stream-of-consciousness notes, thoughts, scenes. That way, I'm more open to the sudden, unexpected changes that will arise. I'm quite excited after avoiding the start for months. Halloween remains my deadline for a first draft. Went a'hiking with Paul Rugg the other day. Paul's not afraid of a vertical trail. However, coming down those vertical trails pounded my knee into soreness. Ran two miles and walked one on Thursday with lingering knee tenderness. Iced on Thu. and Fri; did yoga yesterday, then walked two/ran two today over at Griffith Park. Much improved knee and I finished the run relaxed and pain-free. This Chi running style is quite different and will take a long time to master, but it eliminates the jarring heel strike I practiced successfully for 40 years (give or take a few years off for drunkenness or sloth).

Run/Write Report

Another 3 miles yesterday, walking fast for two minutes then running for 1 and repeating as necessary to cover the distance in 36:53 which comes out to 12:17 a mile. Despite the fact that I'm fat as a bean bag sofa, I was pleased to finish minus knee soreness, a state that continues into today. Hopefully, I'll keep up this routine for the next month, 3x a week. Unless work intervenes. Then I'll be forced to give up work. I had an idea for a fast, fun science fiction story that I would write in a week. It's turned into two weeks. Unlike the curt "Fresh Ideas," this one seems to be growing into another 8K-word honker ala "Bane Fish." As I've never written a sci-fi story, I find myself spending a lot of time crafting backstory that won't see the page but ends up informing my story choices. I need to complete a draft before I totally bail out for something easier.

Running Plus #2 at Every Day Fiction

Ran 3 miles on Thursday after realizing it had been one year since my last run. 1x2 run/walk ratio with icing after. A bit sore. Ran today; same distance and speed; felt fine. How strange to be in motion again!

Plus I linger at the Number Two spot on Every Day Fiction.

Walking Fast

Stopped by a local high school track last night and walked 3 miles as fast as I could. That turned out to be 41:35, a 13:51 pace. Too much, too soon I think, since I'm tired today. But my final mile was 11:28, which is minutes faster than the running pace for my first marathon. The goal is to let the running happen naturally, but I'm close now. Tonight, I'm going to watch a documentary by Werner Herzog on the late Rev. Gene Scott. He was big here in Southern California during the 1980s and 90s. Quite a character; no other TV preacher quite like him. Herzog never has trouble locating fascinating subjects.

Ralking

Another ralk today. Other than sounding like Scooby Doo, the word refers to a hybrid movement of fast walking approaching a run. Maybe in another week or so, I'll break out into a brief run and see how my knee accepts that. I've been loafing, avoiding the rest of my novel. Once I'm going, it'll be fine. So go, me.

Nose Stitches Out

At the doc's again to have the last stitches removed from my nose. I take it for granted that it looks somewhat okay, minus a bit of discoloration. But the nurse told me, in addition to how well its healing, that odd, unpleasant things often happen with skin grafts and that past grafts she's seen look like something that fell off a tray and landed on the patient's snout. Fortunately, mine still looks like a nose.

My wife reminded me yesterday that we started dating 20 years ago this week. I have trouble reconciling being in physical proximity to the same person for that long. I didn't last 20 years with my family, departing for the USMC at 19. In any case, there have been many ups and downs, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer just like our eventual wedding vows. Glad I took them as the adventure continues to unfold.

I consider an almost-run a walk so fast that running is the next step. Using the dirt trails around Griffith Park, I've been practicing walking gradually faster. Today bordered on a run for a few minutes. Now I'll see how my knee feels tomorrow. But it was fun to actually pass someone for the first time in a stinking long while.

Marathon Bomb Scare

Bomb found near the finish line of the Pittsburgh Marathon. Thankfully, no one hurt. I never had to deal with high explosives on a course, just running out of energy goo. On the walking scene, I haven't been out since last Tuesday - slight soreness in the knee. I may have overdone it, covering 4 miles at a 14:33 pace. Not wise. Longer distances should never be attempted quickly on the first try. I didn't give myself time to grow accustomed to the additional mileage. I keep forgetting that, which is part of the reason I'm walking. Reduced walking, very little gym and no swimming have led my weight to creep up again. I keep sliding back and forth over the same 10 - 15 pounds. My scale is getting sick of me. And I of my scale.

A Blister!

It's been awhile, but I developed a blister from walking. Now I'll have to use Body Glide on my feet — an act of pure nostalgia.

I've decided to take the great long story I worked on last fall and expand it into a novel of about 200 pages. That means I'm only 130 pages shy. The theme is redemption through suffering, a bit lofty sounding for a story involving a forest monster running around eating people and livestock. But I've been invited by a publisher to submit the finished product which torpedoes my excuse that no one's interested. I'm plotting out the next two sections on 3x5 cards. In the past, tapping out a detailed outline fried my brain, as if I'd already written the book. Room must be left for the subconscious to plot various twists and turns. Hopefully, I'll add final changes around Halloween, a suitable time to submit a (hopefully) scary story.

There. Well. Ha! I've said it. Halloween. Inquire often. Ask me how the story's going. Hold me to it as you would hold a great round fellow to a diet.

Cancer Skin Graft, Walking, Writing

Graft Dodger. Not really, but I liked the sound of it. My stitches stay for another week and I need to keep the nose moistened to facilitate healing. A year shall pass, said the dermatologist, before my old honker appears normal. (If it ever did.)

Walked 52 minutes this morning, speeding up at times to a brisk pace. My plan is to gradually acclimate to faster foot turn-over so my transition to running will be seamless. Walking for almost an hour 3x a week, I have to say the knee has held up well. Alas, my weight ballooned again so, with no swimming for three more weeks, I've got to eat less and get into the gym more. I feel like I've said the same thing over and over for the last 18 months.

Several potential writing projects, lean with promise, seem to have dwindled away, joining the ghosts of many others over the last decade. Perhaps there is a Project's Graveyard, similar to the Elephant's Graveyard only without big, round tombstones. One can only speculate.

Johnny Black Nose

Skin graft has turned blacker than a collie's snout, making it appear I feel asleep on a barbecue grill. Itches too. The divot behind my ear was leaking but appears to have stemmed. Tomorrow I get the stitches out. Yeah. Walked early on Tuesday, logging 52 minutes at a moderate pace. Last week, I lost momentum with pitch meetings and surgery. For the next three weeks I'll focus on establishing consistent work-outs 3x a week. On week four, the focus will shift to walking faster. (I may incorporate a session at a local high school track.) The goal will be to eventually walk 3 miles in 39 minutes - 13 minutes a mile. Afterwards, I'll look into slowly running the distance. But everything depends on the knee. Any soreness or pain, and I stop. And I can do all that regardless of nose color. Though I prefer it wasn't puppy black.

Cheruiyots of Fire

Speaking of running, the 114th Boston Marathon wrapped up with Kenyan (really?) Robert Cheruiyot finishing in a course record 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 52 seconds. Americans Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi ran 4th and 5th. Woman's champ Teyba Erkesso edged a Russki dame to finish in 2:26:11. Top Yank Female was Paige Higgins, finishing in 13th place.

Congrats to all who trained, qualified and ran. Huzzah to you, I say.

UPDATE: Biggest cause of marathon injuries: Bad Gatorade? Cheerleader mayhem? CNN has the big surprise.

The Price of Commitment

For over five years I studied t'ai chi. I learned the Yang Family long form, short form, fast set, push hands; attended t'ai chi camps and workshops; assisted the instructor, read books, bought videos, checked out websites and practiced persistently. But there came a time when I was faced with moving up or moving on. To move up would have required me to drive cross-town in rush hour traffic twice a week and study at the main guy's school. I would need to make a big financial commitment as well as up my practice time. This decision came just as I began running again, mentally committing myself to finishing a marathon after years of false starts. So I moved on, ran, and eventually joined Team in Training, completing 5 marathons. And while I still practice t'ai chi, I have decided the level I'm at is the last level I'll reach. Which brings me back to running. Every setback is a time to examine commitment. Do you renew or fold? This cancer business on top of last year's knee operation, illness, learning to chi walk, tendinitis, anemia and all the hurdles I've faced since September 2008, including misdiagnoses from a hack doctor, have made 'fold' seem not only realistic, but the smart play.

• Any outdoor exercise must now be tempered by the knowledge that I'm very skin cancer prone. So its cover-up exposed skin and train in the early morning or evening. (Or retire to the state of Washington.)
• I'm pushing 60 and have sustained a fair amount of damage over the decades from a severe leg wound to broken bones to sprains and torn muscles.
• Odds are that I'll never again equal where I was physically in 2008. That means I'll probably never qualify for Boston or run Heartbreak Hill.
• Maybe the point of all these set-backs is not to press on, but to quit before something worse happens.

I'm caught in limbo, unable to sustain a training program that will get me running again and unable to move on. I wish I could let running go and take up cycling or Candyland. I'll be like Chuck Liddell, the Ice Man, who could've eased into training fighters after the Rampage Jackson beat-down, but returned to the octagon, losing four of his next five fights, one of them a knock-out. That's not a graceful exit. But that's how I'll leave running. Painful as it is to keep starting over, I'm going to need another series or two of smack-downs to prove I'm finished. And I may not believe it even then. 'Cause if I'm not moving on, I'm moving up. Moving on up. Moving on up to the Eastside, to a de-luxe apartment in the sky. From now on, I'll run a dry cleaners. Wait. Skip that part. Run again soon, I'm believing.

Black Water at Devil's Gate

The dam you see here is Devil's Gate Reservoir. Team in Training usually staffs an aid station atop the structure for longer runs up the Hahamonga Watershed, past Jet Propulsion Labs and up into the Angeles National Forest. This video shows the run-off power of January's storms, black with ash and dirt from the fire-swept areas. Running trails are off-camera but parallel to the flow. The last footage in Brookside Park is near the start point for many TNT runs. Fire and El Nino rains equal instant landscaping.

Via PhotoBoost

Biopsy Results

Biopsy results indicated skin cancer; something called basal squamous - which sounds like the name of a cheap carnival owner. Apparently, there is danger of metastasizing so I have an operation scheduled for Thursday, April 15. This will result in an even bigger bandage on my nose. But the doc seemed positive he could snip out all the bad cells which makes me positive. (If he sobbed and apologized over the phone, I'd feel different.)

This morning I did my walk starting in pre-dawn gloom. As I now have a 40% chance of reacquiring skin cancer, I must temper my interactions with the sun. Considering how I almost blew off meeting the dermatologist, I'm feeling rather grateful today.

Breaking Down

Emil finds his running limits.

Tidy Bowl

The Rose Bowl, that is. Sharing a patch of Arroyo Seco with a golf course, the perimeter of this fabled landmark is a work-out mecca for runners, cyclists, walkers, dog walkers, baby walkers, and people with time on their hands. Up to now, the exercising public has circled the Bowl's 3.1 mile perimeter in both directions with cars rolling past just to keep matters interesting. Disputes have arisen between omni-directionalists (cyclists who wish everyone to go one way and cyclists the other), and multi-directionalists (everyone else.) After years of meetings and collisions and harsh words and signs advising all to omni-directionalize, the City of Pasadena seems to have hit upon a best-of-all-worlds solution. The roadway is being widened to create a two-directional run/walk/stroll path separated by rubber cones from the cyclists who will share the road with the cars. This has the potential to tidy matters up, end conflicts, and give everyone their favorite direction to exercise in. By April's end, the new system should be in place and I'll report back on whether the city has added toll gates, which, I'm sure, everyone will agree is something to avoid.

Devil's Gate

Walked through the reservoir today for the first time since Sept. 2008, when I ran the trails on my way to eventual knee surgery. Winter rains washed out so much vegetation, it looked like a dried river bottom. Not so dry though, as there was still low-lying water around to keep the cracked mud company. Knee held up well. No soreness. In keeping with recommended injury prevention - which I never bothered with before - I'm only adding ten percent additional walking per week. (I should reach marathon distance sometime in the early 22nd century.) Meanwhile my swimming has many of the elements of a polka: wild twirling followed by breathless collapse. This isn't proper form, but I believe not-drowning to be the foundation of any successful water exercise program.