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.