I saw this article this morning. http://www.yahoo.com/s/652108. This marathon wonder boy is 4 and his trainer who was arrested says he has been training him for 2 years. What? Since he was 2? This is creepy.

The Dreaded Treadmill

So, I've had to run on my treadmill a lot the last few days. With a party to put on for a sante (my business) this weekend, the kids and working, I have not had a chance to get out for a run. It's pretty crazy to spend hours in the garage watching people running by and being a captive audience. I try to vary my routine- steep uphill climbs, fast flat running, boring slight incline, but my mind still tries to get me off the damn thing. It was pointed out to me that this is very good training for the hours I will spend alone and tired at AC. It is always a challenge to keep your mind from sandbagging you.



I saw an article on the Speedgoat Blog about a uphill treadmill race between Scott Jurek, Karl Meltzer and Dave Mackey at the Outdoor Retailer show this past weekend. Mackey took both Karl and Scott! I will say, from experience, that it probably wasn't that fun, but I would have enjoyed watching those guys battle it out.

Off to the garage for one last dreaded run...tomorrow I am free!

Pacers Wanted

Looks like I am in need of a pacer, or two, for Angeles Crest. My former pacer(and best guy friend), Justin, is injured and needs to deal with rehabilitating correctly so he can run again. I know there is someone out there who wants to run in the mountains at night. Raul, aka Rocketman, has offered to pace the last 15 miles. That leaves 33 miles or so for someone. I'm thinking maybe I don't really need a pacer, but I think it's safe to say I don't really know how I'm going to feel at mile 52.

What's a Switchback?

Phoebe finally made it to the top of Grass Mountain. I think I will change the name to "What's a switchback?" Mountain, due to the no f*cking around, straight up nature of the trail. Besides Grass Mountain sounds lame. This is a training run worthy of the speedgoats in Utah. I'm going to start timing myself and try to increase my speed. Too bad this area is private property, so there is no good information on the mileage and elevation gain. Looks like I will have to invest in one of those crazy watches with the altimeter and such. I see the benefit of all the new gear, I'm just more interested in things like new trail shoes and running skirts, now those things are interesting!

I did a second run on the Jesusita trail yesterday at dusk. The fire made for a lovely sunset. All red and orange and eerie. We have to appreciate the beautiful accidents in life. I was really fatigued before the run, but felt great during. I'm always surprised when this happens, but I like to think that means I am getting stronger.

I have been running so much recently, that so many of my calories are coming from hammer gel, heed and the occasional larabar. I wonder if this is healthy? I have been so tired at night , though, that sleep has been really blissful.

New Shoes

I took my new shoes for a run today. I can't believe my luck! I bought 50% off shoes at my favorite running store, Santa Barbara Running, and they had my size and they're great. If I wasn't so tired right now, I'd go out again, just to make sure they are as fantastic as I thought they were this morning. They are Montrail Highline and they aren't as rigid as my Continental Divide Montrails, but rigid enough to take some rocks. I don't know.....I think I'm in love.

Tuesday Training

Tuesday training is always a little tricky. I normally work a full day and have the kids, so that leaves little time for training on my own. Today I woke up early and started my day with a quick uphill run on the treadmill, with a cup of joe close at hand. Later in the afternoon, I snuck in another smallish run ( 4 miles ) before I had to pick up the kids. All told, about 8 miles total for the day. Not as much as I'd hoped, but for a Tuesday, I'll take it.

The thing I am noticing about shorter runs and running on the treadmill, is that I tend to push myself more. When I am on the trail for hours, I tend to be more gentle with myself, which is probably okay some of the time. Lately, I have had the kids ride their bikes along side of me while I run. They are great little coaches, yelling at me to go faster and taking turns pacing me. They get annoyed when they have to wait for me at intersections, which makes me run faster to catch up, or I have to suffer their great sighs of exasperation at my "snail pace".

Fire and Frustration

I had my mind set on driving to Wrightwood and doing a long training run on Saturday. I thought it would get me out of the smoke and give me a chance to look at the start of AC100. This wasn't in the cards, I guess, as too many things came up to prohibit this adventure. I spent most of Saturday morning looking for access to a trail to run. The Zaca fire had caused all access to Figueroa and Paradise and highway 154 was closed. I even went out 166 past Santa Maria and the access road to some wilderness out there was even closed. I tried a trail a friend told me about, but it was just way too hot for Phoebe and there was no shade to leave her in the car.

Needless to say, I was pretty irritated and just wanted to run! I finally settled on grass mountain and decided to take my chance with the smoke and trail closures. I was able to access this trail as usual and tried out some new loops that I recently learned about. It was scorching and I only had my two water bottle carrier, which is great, but doesn't hold as much water as my hydration pack. I was miserable by the end, with no water, no shade and rubber legs from going up grass mountain twice. I think the elevation gain must be like 3,000 ft. I have to check on this. It's straight up. It really hurts. I spent 4 hours out there. It took me a while to rehydrate at home.

The next day I went to Romero Canyon and did a 3 hour out and back run. I ran into some mountain bikers and two runners. All from out of town. They all loved the trail and the views of the ocean and the mountains. The weather pretty perfect yesterday. I even fell in love with Santa Barbara again. I felt great, too, not at all fatigued from Saturdays run which surprised me.

I heard this morning from a client who is on evacuation alert, that they now estimate the fire will go till October. October! I just hope there are some nice trails left for me to run around on. We all need to do a little rain dance.



Zaca fire from grass mountain