What are you chasing?

I am writing this on the plane as our family heads back from a vacation visiting
family in New York over the Christmas holidays. We had a good time catching up with family and friends. We shoveled an enormous amount of snow on Monday. We showed the kids a good time in NY. And the list goes on.

What was interesting was how a different environment can make you more aware of how we change as individuals. I was at a party where I ran into a few old acquaintances that I had not seen in four or five years. It was eye popping to see either how much I had changed or how much they had changed. After pleasantries were exchanged, I noticed our conversations kept coming back to what fancy schools their kids went to or how many househelpers ( nannies,
drivers etc) they had, or how many bedrooms their Manhattan apartments had. I don't begrudge anyone those niceties. Our kids go to a private school and I do believe in spending for the best when there is a clear benefit. What was interesting was when we discussed who was truly happy, one wanted to spend more time with her kids and the other was nearing some form of low grade burnout from her job. The sad thing was that neither of them seemed truly content in spite of having many of the finer things life has to offer.

For a long time I thought that these types of things as well as fancy cars and
houses were the markers of success that I stove for. Over the last few years, Z and I have undergone a total simplification of life. Starting with her retirement from a busy OB/GYN practice back in 2005 to become fulltime mom, followed by my intentional deceleration of work in 2009, we have learned to live with less. I am lucky that I am in a job where it is very easy to work less. The obvious consequence is that I make less money! On the surface, one might ask why we electively gave that stuff up. The answer lies in what we got in return.


Time

Time to breath, time to spend with our kids, time to spend with each other, time to pursue our hobbies. Time to experience or live life. There are plenty of smart people out there, but to my knowledge no one has figured out how to let us go back in time and relive our lives. Whether it's a 100 mile run in the mountains, game night with the kids, or lunch with Z, enjoying the daily
experience of life is the number one priority to me. And guess what? I am happier than I have ever been and don't miss the material crap at all!

So to answer the question in this blog title, I am chasing time, experience and freedom in life to pursue what I value. For me thats my family and being outside pursuing endurance sports. A luxury car, the latest electronics, and fancy clothes all lose their luster over time. Memories of experience are priceless and never become tarnished. On my deathbed, if I am able to say that I was a true family man, that I was out in nature everyday, and that I inspired others to live life, what material possessions I have will be irrelevant.

Make sure you can live with what you are chasing, just in case you catch it one
day.

Nutrition

As we get ready to start the new year and end the holidays, I always think about ways to improve my diet.  Now that I am 40, I find diet makes a HUGE difference on recovery from training.  When I was 25, I could live on Taco Bell and donuts and still train big miles.  Now, I can still train big, it just requires a focus on nutrition.  

There are a zillion approaches to sports nutrition out there.  I have played around with probably at least a billion of them.  What I have found works best for me is to eat real food.  By this I mean food that does not have an ingredient list.  Things that don't require being packaged.   

The biggest thing I have learned to apply this properly is to have a large intake of raw vegetables.  By this I mean focusing on the leafy greens (think spinach!) and things like red and green peppers.   I do eat cabbage and celery from time to time mostly out of lack of any other of the above veggies to eat.  So now matter what else I eat, I start every meal with a lot of the above veggies.  I give credit to Dr Clyde Wilson for getting me straight on this path.  I find I have a lot of energy, rarely get hungry, and eat smaller portions.   

So what I am suggesting is to eat any of the above vegetables raw with every meal.  Don't worry so much about changing other elements of your meal at this point.  Just focus on huge raw veggie intake.  You will probably notice you start to clean up the rest of your diet electively after you take this step.  That said, I still love dessert (some know it is a fondness for cake! ).  The key is to eat the veggies as well. I also suggest drinking a big glass of water (approx 20 oz) with every meal to make digestion of the veggies a little easier.   

Remember, this is about life changes.  Take small and deliberate steps now.  The big changes come from small steps involving action!!!

Feel free to post your experiences from the New Year New Path plan under the comments section of my blog www.ultrawalz.blogspot.com

New Year New Path

This is the first in a series of short posts that will be about how to get the new year started off right.   

The holiday season is one that seems to rob all of us of our training mojo. There are parties to go to, commitments with family, small amounts of daylight etc.  The causes are many.  The cure to getting the training mojo back or developing some in the first place is to get started!   

The way I have always maintained mojo through this time of year is to lower training volume but keep the consistency of the workouts.  For me in the offseason, unless I am recovering from an injury, I set a goal of 30 min a day running as the daily minimum I will accept.  Also during this time, I will allow one day of the week to be something low key like a walk, hike, swim, bike ride whatever.  The key is to just do something.  

So what I am proposing is that if you are interested in starting the new year right, set a daily goal that is achievable while you are in the habit forming phase.  So as step one of my New Year New Path plan, get some exercise!  I would suggest a daily minimum goal of 20 minutes a day of any form of aerobic activity you like. It can be biking, walking, hiking, swimming, running, kayaking etc.  The activities can also be mixed in any fashion.  The only key is 20 minutes daily.  Also, this isn't weekend warrior intensity. Remember we are building fitness for a lifetime, not til St Patricks Day!   At this point there is no such thing as too easy, but there is a thing called too hard.  So err towards efforts that allow you to maintain conversations and where you are not terribly aware of your breathing.  

Remember 20 minutes on a day you are strapped for time can be something as simple as climbing stairs at work during your lunch break, going biking with your kids, or going for a walk with friends or your spouse on the weekend.  The ways to do this are only limited by your creativity.  

In the coming days, I will continue to post the rest of the elements that are important to integrate into life as you start a New Year New Path.  In the meantime go out there and do some moving! 

I do have a limited number of coaching spots available for this coming year.  If you already have a goal of some type that you would like to achieve from a 5k to an ultra marathon, send me an email!

Looking Forward

This week was lottery week for alot of the races that I want to run next year. As I have said before, it is crazy how these things have taken off. I remember 5 years ago entering a major race a month before the event. Nowdays, these same races fill via lottery six months out. That is a sign of a healthy sport!

I was pretty happy with my lottery results. I got a spot at Miwok 100k and Squaw Peak 50 miler. Miwok is gonna be my A race of the spring and possibly the year. I plan to run Squaw Peak in June as it is an excuse for a road trip and its an area I have never really been too. I am on the fence about running a 100 miler this summer. I am probably going to enter one in July and see how my body feels. As to which one, that is a question. Angeles Crest is in my backyard, but I would also like to get back to Vermont. The other one I have wanted to check out is Tahoe Rim. Thats all a little fuzzy at this point.

So my races are shaping up to look like

3/5 San Juan Trails 50k
3/26 Old Goats 50 miler
5/7 Miwok 100k
6/4 Squaw Peak 50miler
6/? A new 40 mile race from Mt Baldy to Wrightwood and back
7? Possible Vermont/Angeles Crest/Tahoe Rim 100miler

My annoying sore hip appears to be really improving with a shoe change. Funny how little tweaks can make big differences. I am considering buying a pair of the HokaOneOnes. They are pricey, but Karl says they are really durable and you get your moneys worth. If I buy some, I will write a post about them.

This is the last week of "offseason" running. Starting Dec 27, the training begins in earnest for the spring. Enjoy the holidays!

Checkin' In

Its been a good chunk of time since I checked in.



I have only raced once this year. A far cry from my plans at the start of the year. That said, I had a great year of mileage. Most importantly, I have learned to wean myself off of the heart rate monitor. I find now I am much more aware of how my body is feeling. I pay attention to breathing and percieved exertion. Overall, it has made me a runner who is much more in tune with my body as opposed to being detached from my body and the feedback it is providing.



To initiate the process, I knew what type of paces produced certain heart rate zones on flat terrain. So I attempted to run at these desired paces, and over a few months came to learn what the exertion feels like at those zones. Every so often, I strap on the heart rate monitor to make sure all the paces and heart rates still jive. In the mountains it is the same. I am aware of my how hard I am breathing and if I feel any lactic acid in my legs, that is a sure sign I am pushing the pace too much.



So using these techniques, I ran my one race of the year. The Bulldog 50k in August. I ran a 4:54 which was slightly faster than last year. It was good enough for 13th overall and 2nd in my age group. The photo is post race. Sitting on a bag of ice with a soda was really nice. The coolest part of the day was participating in the award ceremony because Matt and Charlotte really got a kick out of seeing dad get an award. As always, I gave Charlotte my finishers medal to put on one of her dolls. That has sort of become our tradition. The only ones I keep for myself are the 100 mile belt buckles.






Anyway, enough about this past year. Things are rolling really well right now. I am running about 50 miles a week after a mid fall mellowing out period. I am entered in some lotteries for races next year and will know the results in a few days. This sport has become so heavily subscribed that now entry into the major ones is via lottery. I am waiting to hear about the following



Way Too Cool 50k

Miwok 100k

Massanutten 100m

Squaw Peak 50m



Depending on how these lotteries go, I will make a season plan from there.



Back with more after the lotteries!!

2010.......

It has been a really long time since my last post. My lack of blogging has not been due to a lack of living life. The fall was a blast. In September I had so much fun watching Matt and Charlotte playing soccer. October meant Halloween and we turned our front yard into a haunted graveyard. November saw me run my first sprint triathlon. Over Christmas vacation, Z and I taught Matt and Charlotte how to ski. January has been all about watching Juliette who is now 6 months, start to tune into the world around her! January has also gotten me thinking about what I want to do this year as far races and endurance events in 2010.

2010 is gonna have a different spin than years past. I am changing up some of my approach. I want to do more "adventure" type big runs that are not races. By that I mean stop racing against a clock or competition quite so much. While I am still interested in doing some of that, I also want to use the fitness that I have to see new mountains and trails.

So a rough plan for 2010 looks something like this

Feb- Do some serious downhill work to get ready for the big ditch!

March- Grand Canyon double crossing. This means I will start on the south rim, go to the bottom, climb up to the north rim, and turn back around to the south rim. All in one day. It is about 47 miles with 10000 feet of climbing and 10000 feet of descent. It has been on my "to do" list for about the last eight years.

April- Probably Leona Divide 50 mile race. It is a local ultra that despite living in LA for seven years, I have managed to miss every year. Another option is the Zane Grey 50 in Payson, AZ. It is a really cool race and runs for 50 miles along the base of the Mongollon Rim. Super technical, super hard, but really rewarding. I have done it a couple times and always like heading back.

May- Either the Bishop 100k or Bishop 50m. This is a race that takes place in the eastern Sierras. Again, I have never done it and always wanted to.

June- A decent chunk of June we will be in Hawaii on a family vacation. Not sure what the plan is. Maybe get decent at stand up paddle boarding? Surely run some loops on the HURT 100 course.

July- This is a cool one. There is a group of camps in the Yosemite called the Sierra High Camps. There are about a half dozen of them spread out on a 51 mile loop. I plan to run that loop in a day and soak in the beauty of the High Sierras. I might have to plan this one carefully as some of the trail gets pretty high in terms of elevation. In keeping with this theme, I have never been to Yosemite.

August- My entry from the 2009 Angeles Crest was rolled over to this year. The race was cancelled last year because of the Station Fire. It is a freeby to line up out in Wrightwood and start the race. My plan is to enjoy the day, take it easy, and see whats left in the tank come mile 75. Unlike last year, there will not be a ton of specific prep leading up to this years race. I will come in with no expectations other than to eat and run on some cool trails for about 24 hours. Incidentally the pic on this entry was taken at about mile 93 of the race course last week after a ton of bad weather. Sure is different in summer when it is 100 degrees!

September- Again something different. Because my body will be smoked for a few weeks after Angeles Crest, I am going to do the La Jolla Roughwater Swim. You probably are getting the idea by now. I have never done an open water swimming race. So it will be a first. It will also get me to think about something besides running for a few weeks after Angeles Crest.

October - This I have not planned much. Probably see how my body feels. If I am good, I would like to run the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park in either one or two days. We will see.

November - Santa Barbara 9 Trails. This is an excellent race. 35 miles of very technical terrain. About 11000 feet of climbing. The potential snag is that it was cancelled last year because of permit issues stemming from the Santa Barbara wildfires. So this plan could change.

December- I don't have a plan. I know I want to spend a decent chunk of the month getting ready for the HURT 100 in January of 2011.

Stay tuned to see how the year goes. Now time to get some running done!