Merry Christmas and Hops in Yer' Beer!

May the Christmas Season bring you fresh fluffy snow,
Tires free of punctures, and gift cards in bows,
A spring in your stride and a clean pair of heels,
Miles of turns, and more hops in yer' beer.


Merry Christmas from Santa Fe, NM

Ski Commuting - British Columbia

Another amazing outdoors video making the rounds (see TJ Miller's Rio En Medio Bike Descent, and Danny MacAskill's Way Back Home). I'll need to substitute it for a more time-consuming destination post at the moment. It's been a busy week.

This clip features Canadian free-skier JP Auclair improvising a ski-run down and through the neighborhood. Chairlift via bus. The short is a trailer edited down from a longer film, All.I.Can, produced by Sherpas Cinema. A pretty stunning bit of artistry really. Enjoy.

Skiing by JP Auclair, music by LCD Soundsystem

Armijo Runs to an Olympic Trials Qualifier

Kandie and Armijo, side-by-side at CIM

After several previous attempts at a trials marathon qualifier, Albuquerque's Jesse Armijo put together a beaut of a race in Sacramento a couple weeks back, running to a sixth place 2hr 17:19 finish. That's a helluva run, especially considering it was a back-against-the-wall type situation. The qualifying standard for January's Olympic Trials race is a stiff 2hr 19min, and Sacramento's California International Marathon was likely the last fast race before the Houston Trials on January 14th. Armijo dipped under the standard considerably, running to a massive PR just ahead of fellow Albuquerque runner Solomon Kandie. Santa Fe's Joseph Mutinda converted his early morning rail-trail runs into a third place overall finish. Neither Joseph nor Solomon will be running in Houston.

Originally from California, Armijo has been studying and training in Albuquerque for several years with runners like Kris Houghton who had been targeting a qualifier himself. Jesse provides a pretty fascinating first-person account of his high-stakes marathon run in a great race report over at his blog. A clutch performance with a huge payoff after what I'd imagine was years of toil and effort. Way to go out and get it man! Along with Armijo, New Mexico will be represented at the Trials by Albuquerque's indomitable Mbarak Hussein, younger brother of former UNM All-American and multiple Boston Marathon champion Ibrahim Hussein. Mbarak ran a 2:16:57 qualifier to win the U.S. Masters Division title at the '10 Twin Cities Marathon. Dude's got wheels. 

Marathonguide.com has a listing of mens trials qualifiers and their seeded times here.

On the women's side, New Mexico will be represented in Houston by a couple of Los Alamos natives, All-American and former Adams State runner Heather McNiff (Wood) who qualified with a 2:43:53 run in June's Grandma's Marathon (MN), and former Oregon runner Magdalena Donahue (Sandoval) who qualified with a 2:44:41 run in May's Eugene Marathon. The women's Trials standard is 2hr 47min.

Marathonguide.com has a listing of women's trials qualifiers and their seeded times here.

Related Posts:
  - A Brief Meeting with Billy Mills
  - Olympic Marathon Trial Showdown
  - New Mexican Runners Chase the London Olympic Standards

Lunar Eclipse at Dawn

Lunar eclipse over the Hindu Kush, Iran - photo by Babak A. Tafreshi

Up early for a few ski runs this morning. I'll be damned if there wasn't a lunar eclipse mid-motion in the New Mexico sky overhead. I first noticed what I thought were clouds obscuring the moon as I stopped at the Giant for some coffee. On my way up the mountain I noticed the moon was shrinking into a crescent. Once on the slopes I could see it was pinching out to nothing as it dropped toward the Jemez, and then it was gone. I didn't have my camera but I would've butchered the shot anyhow without some telescopic lens setup. This guy at top-left caught a sweet shot of the same thing a couple years back over the hills of Iran, it looks identical so you'll just have to superimpose the snowy peaks of Redondo and Caballo in there. Ok, cool way to start the day.

When I pulled into the ski lot at 6:30am there were four cars and a truck already there. All four cars were Subarus, and mine made five. Subarus for the win sons. My climbing and turns this morning suffered badly from tired legs. Went running Thursday night for the first time in four weeks and it apparently aged me about 20yrs. The turns up top were pretty good. Saw a couple parties of skiers coming down Parachute. Didn't see too much ice or groomed ice-chunks but I could see it was trending that way without another storm. The forecast says something may come our way on Thursday. Time for a weekend of cookies and egg-nog, beginning...now.

Related:

I've updated the Winter Trails page to reflect current conditions and Nordic Trail areas for 2011-2012.   - Off Piste - Winter Trails (Dec. '11)

Outside Magazine's Top 10 Running Blogs

If you follow Outside Magazine on Facebook or subscribe to an RSS feed you'd know that they churn out a lot of interesting posts and articles during a regular day. One that caught my eye last week was a Top 10 list of "the Web's Best Running Blogs". The list is more of a blog post itself than an exhaustive article, but I found that I was familiar with most of the sites that made the cut. The list includes the following:

10. Running Technique Tips
9. Track Focus
8. Nate Jenkins's Training Log
7. iRunFar
6. Coach Jay Johnson
5. Japan Running News
4. Runner's World Daily
3. Track & Field Superfan
2. Peak Performance
1. Science of Sport

My personal favorite of the bunch is Track Superfan, that's why it has a home in my bloglist on the sidebar there. J. Squire keeps up with a lot of cool stuff that I don't or can't. He also rocks a sweet mustache which I feel has to count for something. iRunFar is great for trail listings, mountain running events, and trail gear reviews. Brent at Japan Running News provides a window into the somewhat insane world of Japanese marathoning. Know how many entries there were for this year's Tokyo Marathon? Over 282,000. Makes Boston look like a casual Spring event.

What makes the list even more fun to read is that it was put together by Santa Fe local Peter Vigneron, who laced 'em up for October's Big Tesuque Trail Run, finishing eleventh in a tough field. Nice work Pete.

Opening Day at Ski Santa Fe

Climbing the catwalk alongside another set of tracks

Delayed from what looked like a possible Thanksgiving Weekend opening, Ski Santa Fe is officially running the lifts today with a reported 18" base. I'll be chained to my office desk most of the weekend but I did make it up top for a few runs early this morning. The timely storm that arrived last night left much less new snow than advertised. I thought there was probably 2-3in. of new up there this morning, but it might have snowed another 1/4in over the couple of hours I was there. No complaints from this guy however, this morning being my seventh ski day of the year - complete before the year's first skier even boarded the quad on opening day.

Not a lot was groomed or even roped off up there. In fact, I noticed all of the clocks weren't even showing the correct time. All still unplugged or needing fresh batteries or whatever. Kind of funny considering the place was opening in a few hours. Talking with ski patrol a bit later they told me the only open skiing would be Midland and lower Easy Street. Those were in fact, the only runs I found to be groomed. So, hope for a bit more snow up there today and this evening. The discounted full day lift price of $48 might be a bit optimistic for that kind of ski-able terrain.

Visibility low looking up towards the top of the Quad Chair

The fog was working over Midland most of the morning. My new skill with telemark turns made the descents a lot more fun and a lot less evel-knievel

I saw a few others during my loops, skinning up for tracks of their own. The one guy I stopped to chat with up above lower Parachute happened to be Chris Keyes, Editor at Outside Magazine here in town. Cool guy. I'd been on a trail run with him once before with mutual friends but it's been a while. We talked about the snow and my Rossignol cross-skis. He mentioned that he and friend used similar equipment in a few tries on the Elk Mountain Traverse a few years back. I've spent time contemplating that beast of a race, but need another season or two to sharpen my backcountry skills before taking on a trek that serious. Anyway, good to hear and see that Chris finds time to get out and rip it. Santa Fe needs a bit more snowfall though if the ripping will continue in the short term.

Roping off upper Easy Street just below Totemoffs. I'm sure they have their reasons but this one puzzled me.

Rio en Medio Trail - Winter Bike Descent

It seems for some reason like there should be mad-skiing and snowmageddon blizzards cascading down upon the state right now even though it's just nearly December. Hmmph, maybe the Thanksgiving weekend was a bit too long for me. Still plenty of non-skied off snow up at Ski Santa Fe if you're willing to earn your turns but hardly any new for the last three weeks. All of this of course is great for extending the Santa Fe trail running and mountain bike seasons.

Turn the calendar back three weeks and it looked like riding season was over. These guys didn't seem to get the memo. Brilliantly, they filmed video of the ride (a la Danny MacAskill) which descended Rio en Medio from Aspen Ranch north of town despite several inches of fresh snowfall, including riding-out the gnarly switchbacks and the super-sketchy rock slabs above the cliffs toward the end (from 3:00 on). If you've ever ridden this trail, this will friggen' scare you white. My hope is that the mountains will shortly be scared white.

Riders are Santa Feans T.J. Miller (w/ camera), Chris Sheehan, and Jonathan,
music by The Beta Band

Untitled from TJ Miller on Vimeo.

Related Links

 - Santa Fe Area Trails Listing

View Rio en Medio Trail - Santa Fe, NM in a larger map

New York Marathon 2011 - Race Report

New York City

Standing with a crowd of thousands before the Verrazano Bridge in November is a sight that is difficult to forget. I was fortunate to have the privilege a couple weeks back, and it was fitting that I got to share it with my man Boots who has been on the line next to me in several hard to forget races over the years. The challenges of the marathon distance do become familiar over time but the charm and feeling of each race is usually quite different, and the 42nd running of the New York Marathon was a race we needed to see for ourselves.

The New York Marathon doesn't really begin in Staten Island, it begins with a 5am walk to the subway. You board a south-bound train downtown with lots of nodding half-asleep New Yorkers heading in to work, and a slowly growing crowd of jittery runners in all manner of boldly colored shoes, race bibs, goofy hats. We unload downtown and march up to the docks where we line up to board the Staten Island Ferry. Together we boat across the harbor and watch the sun rise behind the Brooklyn skyline and the span of the Verrazano Bridge. To the west we motor past Lady Liberty herself, pantomiming a super-big high five to all aboard. Having been to New York only once before, I found these iconic views quite memorable.

Bridge and cargo boat from the ferry

Arriving in Staten Island, we swarm off the boat and board lines of buses en masse. These will take us to the athlete's village near the starting line. We arrive and wait there for an hour and prepare our things. The coffee and donut lines looks tempting but also quite long. I pin a zia symbol to the sleeve of my race shirt and change into my racing flats. I chat with a couple of guys and take photos. We drop off our gear bags at one of dozens of UPS trucks who will kindly deliver it all to the finish in Central Park, and when the time finally arrives, we run off to our assigned corrals and are led up to our places on the bridge.

Athlete's Village

Penned up in the starting corrals

The race organizers announce the women elites, the National Anthem is played, and the runners are sent off (give 'em hell Caroline!). We wait 30min for the mass wave start, all the while witness to warmups and spare clothing come off, casually flung through the air toward the roadsides and in all directions. We've been up for nearly five hours, changed clothes more than once, and now stand with thousands of others in an area too small to properly warmup. While somewhat interesting, this is the downside to running a marathon major. But the upside begins moments later as the gun sounds, and we're off. 

The first mile is the steepest of the course as the field climbs the bow of the bridge toward Brooklyn. My first mile is always my slowest, so I had determined to press a bit this morning and knock out a 6min35 mile or so when the legs felt most fresh. This would set us up for an optimistic finish of around 2hrs54. The effort felt honest but our split was a lackluster 6min 50sec. We'll make it up on the downside I thought. Nope, another 6min50. The effort felt faster to me but we were just getting our legs under us perhaps. The third mile went by in 6min40 and then we settled in knocking out 6min36 for several clockings afterward. This is where I wanted to be but it felt pretty lousy. This pace was not going to be sustainable for me. Boots looked effortless and several times I had to put my head down and press a bit to close gaps that would open between him and I. Passing through an underpass at mile seven, I heard the familiar Rocky theme pumping out of a stereo set up for the runners. Apparently this was all that was needed because I loosened up quite a bit and started to feel more smooth and in control from that point on. You're my man Rock. It also reminded me that Apolo Anton Ono was somewhere back in the pack getting his ass kicked by yours truly. Life's filled with disappointment buddy. The Desert Babe seemed to think I'd have trouble with Ono, but c'mon, this was no ice rink. Have some faith woman.

Boots and I feeling fresh at 10K

Feeling myself again I had a blast rocketing through Brooklyn and Queens, gazing at all the folks watching the race through apartment windows, roadside bands, large crowds heavily favoring the Italian and Mexican runners. Mostly the Italians. Not a lot of New Mexican love through here but we're hard, and passing droves of Italian colored jerseys soothes the ego. The crowds were pretty enthusiastic, several times closing in on the street in a tight funnel. That will never get old, an effect that can really elevate the running and charge a guy up.

We clipped along, chatting a bit and grabbing water at the mile intervals. Passed a gospel choir nearly 100 strong singing under the eaves of a Church somewhere in Queens. Passed through the Hassidic neighborhood and wondered at the folks in traditional dress going about their morning errands. Almost like a foreign country for a mile or two there. Soon we hit the half way mark at 1hr27:35 - feeling, kind of not so good. Hard to guess with these things though. Soon after we're on the 59^th St. Bridge, climbing the course's steepest incline and we notice most of the people up ahead moving backward, so we're not the only ones starting to feel the hurt. Boots and I have zero problems with the 'hills' and we move past dozens of runners. We pass a litter of discarded water bottles marked with colored tape and writing - they belonged to the world's finest marathoners that ran through here 25min before. Toward the end of the bridge, we run over 1^st Ave. and hear a roar from the crowds below. Holy smokes that was loud, here we go!

Serious and working harder by this point

A broad roadway and pandemonium up 1^st Ave. People are spilling out of bars and restaurants making all kinds of noise. The road is dead straight so you can see all the way to the Bronx just about, and it looks pretty far. Boots and I had run the length of the race together but began to separate a bit through here. After mile seventeen, I could feel that rather than face the horror show that I was somewhat expecting, I felt to be getting stronger. This is a fine, fine feeling in a 26mi race. It was time to get to work and bury some fools, so that's what I did for the next hour or so. I just moved to the center of the road and locked into a 6min40 turnover like I was on the track back home. You could look way up the road to a fellow in blue (lot of italians were wearing blue), and just reel the guy in over the next half mile or so and then start again.

When we hit the bridge into the Bronx, the incline really hurt some people. A lone bagpiper on the span piped a funeral dirge as the group I was with sailed by. The numbers of people walking to the side were growing now, fried from leg cramps or rotten pacing. It was nothing like the walking dead we saw in Boston - that was dreadful - but folks were definitely beginning to crack with yet another 10K left before the finish in Central Park. The short section through the Bronx came and went in a flash. I remember a Korean youth group pounding on massive drums, urging us on our way. I looked around for a glimpse of Yankee Stadium a few blocks to the north, and then we were over the water once again on the course's final bridge.

Classic pain cave shot near the Park

Heading toward the Park I began to zone out. This is the beginning of shutdown for me. Still feeling steady I downed water at each mile and tried to take in some of the sights and sounds but my focus was blurring. At mile 24 my left calf started cramping which was alarming. I could tolerate a slow fade but not some sudden stop just because a leg stops cooperating. Three cups of water and a slower mile pace through this section loosened the leg some. I know there are hills as we enter Central Park but I don't remember them at all. My brain clicks back on when we make the right hand turn at Central Park South. I knew this was almost-home, so I revved it back up to red-line and made it my job to pass every runner I could see. People cheered for some guy in a Yale singlet, so long pal. Some guy staggers just in front of me as he weaves a line through the potholes, so long pal. I pass the first woman I've seen in a while, she looks tough as nails, it takes a prolonged effort but I finally get by her too. 

After turning north we arrive at the last stretch. Signs on the roadside mark 400m to go, 300m, 200m… made me think of Dixon and Salazar and Radcliffe. At Boston last year a few guys got past me over the last quarter mile so I tried to minimize a recurrence of that here. I count each runner as I go by, one guy has me count backward as he huffs by on my right, but he soon stalls out and I overtake him again. I count fourteen runners and then just before the line a guy dressed as Superman slows and I take him with two steps left. Can't tell you how satisfying that was. 

At the line - kryptonite sucka!

A fine run finished. I feel fantastic. A strong run all the way through, limits stretched, effort maximized, mental battles fought and parried, crowd energy absorbed and rekindled on countless ocassions. A fully realized run, nothing is finer. I receive a finishers medal then walk the mile long exit chute chatting with a few other tired guys. We are trying to predict who won the men's race an hour beforehand (a nice recap of the elite races here). Boots rolls up on me at the bag check station. I nicked a 2hr56 finish, Boots ran 3hrs flat. We high five and discuss the race as we change into street clothes, then amble off to the nearest bar. As the waitress arrives with two cold pints, one of the four televisions near us begins to broadcast the highlights of the elite races. A fitting end to one helluva day.

Related Posts:
  - New York Marathon 2013

View New York City Marathon - Five Boroughs New York in a larger map

I heard this song being played by a DJ somewhere in Queens and had the beat in my head the rest of the race. Sweet running beat. Estelle and Kayne

Other cool stuff not along the course

A movie shoot down off Wall Street, see if you can guess the movie...

What I thought was a sweet mural, doubles as history

One World Trade Center climbing out of dark memory

Silk screening a shirt in Zucotti Park, Occupy Wall St.

The Brooklyn Bridge and moon - under repair

A clipper ship and Manhattan skyline at the South St Seaport

Related NYC Marathon Posts: 

  - A Few Quick Thoughts on New York (Nov 8th)

  - New York Marathon - Just Around the Corner (Nov 2nd)

  - Preparing for New York, (Oct 20^th)

  - Fall Marathon Training II, (Aug 15^th)
  - Building the Base for a Fall Marathon, (July 19^th)

  

Preseason Conditions at Ski Santa Fe Not Bad

Tuesday's snow caked Sangres. Too inviting to pass up

An after work visit to the mountains on Tuesday proved that the snow up high is actually quite good. Few rocks if any, lots of loose powder. Too bad the lifts won't be operating for another week because the conditions may be a bit baked in by then. Lots of evidence that guys like me are up there already getting their turns in.

I wasn't anticipating the snow making machines for some reason. They were laid out on Easy St. which is half my usual loop. Lucy and I trekked up to the summit of the quad chair via the catwalks instead. I then hollered at her to get the hell outta Dodge as I crashed my way back down the walk trying to work on my crappy telemark turns.

Totemoffs, looking up Open Slope

 

and from the top of Open Slope looking down

The spotlights and snow making equipment made it seem like we were skiing on the Moon.

Luce loved the skiing, but was distracted by the possibility of legions of squirrels lurking about.

Good dog

An Early Start to the Ski Season - Wolf Creek

The wife at the ski lodge

So, a lot of running and racing in my circles of late. It did not escape my attention however that Wolf Creek spent most of October being blasted with snow, and has been open and operating for a month now. Capping off a rather full week for myself, we loaded the car and headed up to Pagosa early Saturday for some turns and a happy visit with the Colorado winter.

We saw several other cars and trucks with ski-racks making the morning drive up from NM. The gas station in Chama was packed at 7:30am. Quite a sight. Conditions at the Creek were terrific, and we skied a full day on the mountain and an hour on the nordic trails afterward. The Alberta Lake nordic trails at the east end of the Wolf Creek parking might be the best cross country skiing in the area in my opinion, along with Enchanted Forest in Red River.

Aside from having all the snow, the Creek has all kinds of other nice things that Ski Santa Fe doesn't, such as affordable lift tickets and locals days, beer at the cafeteria including bombers of all kinds from Colorado's great local breweries, and actual green chile on their green chile burgers. The latter is really in-excusable not to have in New Mexico. Here's to more mountain snow (and holiday cheer) for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Two things you could never find at Ski Santa Fe, PB&J and a bomber from the Alamosa Brewing Co.

 

Fresh snow and open turns, with the Alberta Meadows below

My mighty Rossignols ride again, along with a new pair of duct-tape free ski pants

Christina skiing the Alberta trails, Alberta lake to the left, Alberta Peak in the distance

Christina and a stretch of climbing up from Alberta Lake

Related Post:
Nordic Skiing - Alberta Lake Trail (4/611)



View Alberta Lake Nordic Trails - Pagosa Springs, CO in a larger map

A Few Quick Thoughts on New York

Multiple starting waves at the start

One New York Marathon in the books. Fantastic day for a race, 50degrees and no wind. The crowds in New York were phenomenal. Boots and I had strong runs, sticking together through the first 18miles. I thought the course was faster than Boston. The hills were really a non-issue.

The field really started to slow up and come back to me at mile 18 but without the wreckage of human misery we saw at Boston. Didn't see any other New Mexicans, we were a sparse bunch. 51 runners total according to the searchable results list. Italy had a contingent of some 3,400 runners as did France. Colorado had 390 finishers.

Relying on some of my tempo work I was able to leg out the last 10K of the race for a 2hr 56min finish. Cranked out a 93second last 400m, reeling in fifteen slowing runners before the line. The last guy I punched out - two steps from the line - was dressed as Superman. New Mexico for the win sons.

I'll have a full race report up in another week or so. Cheers to all that ran or plan on running at a later date. It's an awesome way to spend a Sunday morning.


View New York City Marathon - Five Boroughs New York in a larger map

New York Marathon - Just Around the Corner

The start on the Verrazano Bridge

OK, a few day out from this Fall's big race. I wish I could say lots of area runners will be out there besides myself but most of these folks are pragmatic and ran last week's Albuquerque Duke City Marathon which is a comfortable 60min drive away. I know I'll be running with the esteemed Bryan Boots out of Boulder, CO. This will be his debut at New York after two straight running 2hr 54min and 2hr 57min at Boston and a 9^th place finish at this year's Steamboat Run Rabbit Run 50M; Santa Fe's Steve Rogers is running; Santa Fe pro Caroline Rotich is confirmed in the women's elite race, and that's pretty much all I've got.

A couple quick notes about the New York City Marathon - the race traverses all five of New York's Boroughs, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and back again through Manhattan finish in Central Park West. The full course map can be found here (.pdf).

According to an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal there are a projected 47,000 finishers for Sunday's event. This compares with 44,700 finishers last year and 43,250 finishers in 2009. The next biggest US marathon is Chicago with 36,159 finishers in 2010 according to marathonguide.com. Interestingly there are 60,000 registered runners for Sunday's race with a full 15,000 expected to withdraw before race day due to injury. That's a 25% attrition rate from training related injury. I can empathize with this, but man, that's a fairly high figure.

Hell of an elite field put together for this race. In the mens' field there are:

  - Returning New York champions from 2010 and 2009
  - The 2011 and 2010 London Marathon champions
  - This year's Boston champion
  - Two former Fukuoka champions
  - Multiple Olympic marathon medalists
  - Multiple World Champ marathon medalists including a two-time champ
  - A former World-XC Champion
  - Several elite US runners

In the womens' elite field there are:

  - Last year's 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 10th place NYC finishers
  - This year's London champion
  - This year's Boston champion
  - A former World-XC Champion
  - A former European-XC Champion
  - Several US Olympians

Other notables in the field include; US Olympic skating champion Apolo Anton Ohno; Two time NYC champion German Silva of Mexico; Former 800m world record holder Wilson Kipketer of Denmark; Former mile world record holder Steve Cram of Britain.

The race will be streaming live at Universal Sports.com. Athlete tracking via the web will be available at the NYC race website here.

Related NYC Marathon Posts:

  - Preparing for New York, (Oct 20^th)
  - Fall Marathon Training II, (Aug 15^th)
  - Building the Base for a Fall Marathon, (July 19^th)

View New York City Marathon - Five Boroughs New York in a larger map

Trick-or-Treat

A Nike throw back to the Fall of 2000. The ad was pulled from television for being too scary. Scary fast I'd reckon.

Jason vs. Suzy Hamilton

Happy Halloweeeeeeen.

The North Face Speaker Series

The Karakoram at dawn  - Cory Richards for Outside

Get an early taste of winter's snow capped mountains this evening with alpinist and photographer Cory Richards, guest speaker in this year's installment of the North Face Speaker Series. Cory will be presenting photos and details of his team's recent summit of 8000m peak Gasherbrum II. Q&A and athlete signing afterward. These guest visits have been a lot of fun the last few years, and this evening's iteration ought to dovetail nicely with the icy cold front moving in to the state. Bring it baby.

Free admittance. 7pm Wed 10/26 at the Armory for the Arts, Santa Fe. If you can't swing it fear not: Cory's photos and a recount of the expedition were published in the April edition of Outside Magazine.

Preparing for New York

Been building towards New York all summer. Marathon training was gangbusters up through August where I was ticking off 70mi weeks and hammering track workouts. A probable PR in the making. During a twenty miler at month's end, sudden tendinitis in my foot put an end to all of that. Couldn't walk without a pathetic limp for days, and had to take a couple weeks off. No trails, no running. Outlook was kind of like this:

          Bill Paxton's training goes to hell (nsfw)

After two plus down-weeks in September I regrouped and charted a new plan of attack. The decision was to bike and swim like some fitness obsessed freak so I could lay wood to at least a handful of slackers that show up for the race less prepared than myself. I would taunt them without mercy and dance a jig to their misfortune.

Staring at several pair of shoes that had seen no action, and only six weeks out from a marathon I needed an airplane to get to, the situation called for DEFCON 1 emergency measures. This included cutting all empty calories to balance the loss of a weekly ~4,000 net calorie burn. Out were nachos, chocolate, desserts, donuts and pastries (maybe the hardest to deny), and.. wait for it…, wait..for..it, …..beer. God help me. Outside of DEFCON 1, I would consider such deprivation to be some hocus pocus clean living non-gluten-eating load of bullshit. But the cold logic of numbers do not lie, so what needed to be done was done.

Well folks - let me tell you this - biking and swimming will whip a fellow into shape, especially when training am/pm doubles or stacking brick workouts. The foot is now rested and can handle moderate mileage (I cut away part of the sidewall of my shoes and lace them less tightly). Got in my last few long runs without problem and the body is keenly aware that a cold beer awaits in Central Park South on an approaching cold November morning. It will be the Lord of Beers. Three-and-a-half weeks into Operation Bill Paxton Is A Whiny Sack of Shit, and my outlook for New York has brightened to this:

If Burgess Meredith were a Bike

NYC Training Log

Aug	wk16	70mi
Aug	wk17	61
Aug	wk18	70
Aug	wk19	71
Sep	wk20	12
Sep	wk21	10
Sep	wk22	15
Sep	wk23	21
Sep	wk24	36
Oct	wk25	41
Oct	wk26	50
Oct	wk27	0
Oct	wk28	0
Nov	wk29
		NYC

Related Posts:
  - Building the Base for a Fall Marathon, 7/19
  - Fall Marathon Training II, 8/15

View New York City Marathon - Five Boroughs New York in a larger map

Luminaries on the Rail Trail

The Santa Fe Rail Trail at Rabbit Rd.

Got in a great long run with Nunez on Sunday. We ran out 22 pleasant miles on the Rail Trail starting around sun up. Early on I was blabbing about the upcoming New York Marathon when Caroline Rotich comes by us, a possible top three finisher if she accepts an invite to run. Can't say that happens to me everyday. Later we saw another area pro running an out-and-back on the trail.

On our return trip James was talking about the upcoming Duke City Marathon. As we discuss the race we run into Chris Chavez who happens to have run all twenty-seven previous Duke City Marathons. Helluva streak. He's out on the trail getting in last minute training for number twenty-eight. Chris joins our run and starts rattling off a history of the race with a great anecdote about former Albuquerque runner and NYC Champion Ibrahim Hussein. Hussein won Duke City one year, yet does not hold the course record. The record belongs to former UNM star Pablo Vigil, son of legendary Adams State coach Joe Vigil. Quite a morning.

Santa Fe Rail Trail
22mi, 3hrs 5min



View Santa Fe Rail Trail (17mi point-to-point) in a larger map

Moonlight Training Run on Canyon Rd

Moon, cloud, Jupiter, and ponderosa  photo: Matthew BeVirt

Canyon Rd. Loop
10mi, 75min., road/dirt/art

A gorgeous full moon was out sitting just over the foothills on Tuesday night. This happens once a month of course, and is a happy invitation for me to get out on one of my favorite runs. I head east toward the lighted hills, through and past the museums, then turn north towards town with the hills and moon now in profile. Down the quiet narrow streets of Monte del Sol, Acequia Madre, Canyon Rd, and De Vargas. No people, no traffic, just pale moonlight, footfalls, and awesomeness. Canyon Rd alone is like running through an after hours museum.

Running along with a goofy smile, I often get to thinking about whether any run could be better than this loop with a full moon. I also like to think, 'if a guy was charging $10 or $20 at the trailhead, would I pay for this run'? This is one that I would. The following is my very thorough list of best runs possible:

1. Running in 2-3 in. of fresh snow
2. Moonlight run over dirt roads
3. Running in the rain
4. Running a PR in some race
5. Trail run at dusk (I'm fortunate to run this one 2-3 times a week)
 

An interesting insight, most of these runs don't work in combination.

All Kinds of Upcoming Outdoors Events - Oct '11

Lots of fun stuff happening around town over the next few weeks, thought I ought to take note of them all in one place.

In conjunction with the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society, the National Forest Ranger District is holding its 2nd annual Moonlight Project, an evening trail maintenance event on the Borrego Trail up in Hyde Park. Allow me to translate: Trails, cool people, s'mores, b.y.o.b. (discretely of course). A combination that cannot be denied. As a Forest Service project, long pants, long sleeves, above ankle boots, leather gloves, and a headlamp or lantern are required gear. Friday Oct. 14^th, 6pm-830pm, Borrego Trailhead, Free

The annual Santa Fe Ski Swap is scheduled for this weekend (.pdf), Fri 14^th - Sun 16^th at the Genoveva Chavez Rec. Center. Get rid of your old gear or find great deals on new or semi-new gear from around the area. Pick up discounts on area season passes if you haven't already done so, browse the silent auction items, all proceeds benefit the Santa Fe Ski Team. Oct 14^th-16^th, Genoveva Chavez Ctr, $25 Fri evening 7-10pm, $2 Saturday 9am-5pm, Free Sunday 10am-2pm

The fellas at NM Bike & Sport are hosting a Specialized Bike Demo this Sunday at La Tierra Trailhead-West (NM 599 to La Tierra, 1/4 mi north). There will be both road and mountain bikes to look over and demo, as well as breakfast burritos and coffee to accompany the riding. Sunday Oct. 16^th, 10am-230pm, La Tierra Trails, Free

This one is a bit of a stretch but bears mentioning anyhow. It's Albuqueruqe's 4^th Annual HopFest at Hard Rock Casino in Isleta, easily accessible via the NM Rail Runner (departing at noon, arriving 2pm, last returning train at 630pm). Loads of brewery reps will be on hand including Santa Fe Brewing Company, Marble Brewery, Il Vicino, Turtle Mountain, Ska Brewery, Pagosa Brewing Co., Odell Brewing, Left Hand, Deschutes, Sierra Nevada, Silverton Brewing, plus live music Cold delicious bee-yah. Saturday Oct. 22^nd, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Isleta, $25

The weekly Sunday group run organized by the Santa Fe Striders will once again traverse the Dale Ball Buster, 12mi of hilly trail and climbing, over sections of Dale Ball, the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve, Picacho and Atalaya Peaks, and coming to an end at the Barrett-Arnold's for a barbeque and refreshments. The run is not competitive, timed, or charged for - a ton of fun though. Prizes have been awarded in prior years for standout costumes. Bring a bomber or box of cookies if you're feeling charitable. Sunday Oct 23^rd, 9am, Dale Ball Trailhead-Hyde Park, Free

The North Face Speaker Series comes back through town in what I think is it's third year? Well it's my third year anyway. This year's tour brings American alpinist Cory Richards to talk about his most recent expedition on 8000m peak Gasherbrum II. Last year's speaker was Norwegian skier/base-jumper/Banff film star Karina Hollekim. Two years ago it was American alpinists/adventurers Conrad Anker and Jimmy Chin. This year's event is courtesy of Outside Magazine and REI Santa Fe. Arrive early to find parking. Wednesday Oct. 26^th, 7pm, Santa Fe's Armory for the Arts, Free

Snowfall in the High Country

We're getting both a cold spell and a wet spell this week which together make for some early season snow! Christmas come early. I picked a lousy week to cut back on beer.

Ski Santa Fe at 5pm Fri. evening. The annual Santa Fe Ski Swap is scheduled for next weekend at Genoveva Chavez, Oct 14th-16th (.pdf)

The Creek at 5pm Fri. evening. That Cat was actually driving through the video plowing snow! The Creek is reporting 36" of new, and a 30" base. They're opening three lifts THIS weekend -as in tomorrow - with $33 lift tickets. God bless us all.

Powcam up at the Butte at 5pm Fri. evening. Looks like pretty good accumulation in the trees there but maybe they cleared the snow platform there. Don't clear the fresh snow already people. Leave it be.