Strength Training on Trails When it comes to athletics and coordination I can be a bit of a slow learner. Sometimes it takes me a while to get something. Take jumping rope, for example. I jump rope every time I do a workover as part of my warmup. I used to jump rope all the time as a kid. You would think I would know how to jump rope by now, right? Wrong. At any given point in my warm-up you will see me get whacked consecutively in the back of my head with the rope. "Thud, thud, thud." Yup. I'm sure its quite entertaining for people who happen to be watching me. And its not like this happens to me on occasion. Its EVERY time I jump rope. So pretty much EVERY time I go to the gym you can be guaranteed a snicker and a giggle if I'm there. Everybody says my rope is too short. I checked. Its not. I'm just lame. So here's another discovery that's taken me a while to get. Getting tight. I'm not talking tight as in "cool" or "hip...

So where am I right now? OK. That's a rhetorical question. I don't mean where AM I right now as in the shower or the gym, or the hospital or on a ski lift (I wish). Although knowing myself, the hospital isn't a stretch if I've just been to the gym or on a ski lift. But I digress. What I mean is, where am I in terms of my goals? Well running goals anyway, because life goals beyond that are a little messy right now. Its been about a year and four months since I ditched my motion controls. Last January I was suffering from achilles soreness, calf soreness, and my normal knee pain (most likely my ITB issues). I was bitchy and frustrated. If you happened to be around me a year ago you probably would have slapped me. I was fed up. At my wits end. Wanting to run, but not really being able to comfortably. It was also around a year ago that I started my strength and conditioning training. I started doing whole body movements and weightlifting to strengthen my weaker m...

Lake Chabot  Its called a "Fat Ass." I opened my email from the race director of the Epiphany Ultra Trail Run and there it was. Its a popular term used amongst the ultra running community to describe a free, "unofficial" and relatively unsupported race.  I've been speculating on where the term came from, but I haven't a clue. Does everyone show up at the trailhead in running tights asking "Does my ass look fat in these?" I don't know. Maybe. I guess you could say its the running equivalent of a flash mob. You put the word out via Facebook or Twitter and see how many people show up. I left my house on Sunday morning around 4:30am to drive to the Bay Area and meet my friend Pablo in the parking lot by around 6:45am. I got to race start just as the sun was rising up over the hills, (the view was beautiful from the ridgeline and I had to stop along the way up to get an early morning "jewelbox shot" while it was still dark.). T...

Rogue race motivation (minus the Coors/Heineken/Miller) So I signed myse lf up for t his rogue race. Yeah. The description on Ultra Signup goes something like this: This is a run without any rules, really. It's the New Year, and time for the 33rd Epiphany Run! FREE!!! Therefore: no T-shirt, no wimps, no complaints. A modest amount of whining is generally considered acceptable. Remember: you get what you pay for. My friend Pablo talked me into it. Actually, I don't even remember Pablo very well. I met him in New York and well... things were a bit of a blur that weekend. But, we're Facebook friends now and he seems like a decent guy and not one to lead a fellow runner astray, BUT you never know with these sort of races or the sort of people I meet. So, even though things are a bit questionable, I'm always up for an adventure. Woohoo! Apparently the race is an out-and-back-and-halfway-to-a-road-and-back kind of race. Yeah. They give you a map and let you navigate...