"Savior Snacks and Other Sustenance...."

"Mmmm...and they're tasty, too!"

Here are some fun food items to enjoy

on your next long trail run, hike or

mountain bike adventure!

*

Who would've ever imagined a delicious

pasta salad could be enjoyed 20 miles

out in the middle of nowhere (??!!)...no refrigeration

required, and as easy to open as 1-2-3!!

*

 

 

 *

St. Dalfour's, Gourmet On The Go,

Ready To Eat Pasta Salad in a can!!

*

This wonderful little gem will be a true delight

to pull out of your pack when you reach the 20 mile 

turn around point on your next outdoor adventure...

* 

*

...included is a tiny fork and salt packet

for seasoning and bringing those depleted sodium

levels up for the trek back to the car!

*

 

*

...delectably delicious!!

*

...several different flavors are available

and can be found

at "Sprouts" and "Whole Foods".

*

...another wonderful find from the "Sprouts"

cookie/granola bar etc. isle,

that is all natural, loaded with flavor and

completely Gluten Free!!

*

*

"Betty Lous Gluten Free Fruit Bars".

Available in a variety of delicious flavors,

this little tasty treat will not disappoint!

*

*

...with 41 grams of carbohydrates, this

2"x 2" cookie square delivers a nice punch to

the taste buds and to the carb reserves

as well!

*

"Farro and Barley" 

...a nice change to eating pasta...

*

*

 

*

...these instant, ready in 10 minutes, varieties

 are from Trader Joes. Look at the carbohydrate

content for a simple 1/2 cup serving...perfect

for sustaining those crucial glycogen levels!!

*

Happy Running!

 

 

 

 

 

"St. George Marathon 2014"...breaking 4 hours was not in the cards....

"St. George Marathon 2014"

It's hard to believe the marathon is

already run and done again for another year...

was it two weeks ago that we were driving across

the beautiful desert?...eating plain cold pasta

from an ice chest and drinking tumbler after

tumbler of lemon lime Cytomax and water...mmmmmm....yummy!! 

*

Things just felt different this time from the very

beginning...to start, when did reserving a room

for marathon weekend become such a headache?...it's
always a bit difficult but being forced to pay
for 2 nights stay was something I didn't expect
from the usual friendly hotels and motels of
St. George. 

*

In past years, we've stayed the 2 nights...one

other year we were able to reserve one night's

stay and were charged for that one night...

...and it was reasonable pricing, not doubled up
to make up for the loss of one night's booking.

...When did everything get turned upside down?
Maybe it's been this way the whole time and
I didn't notice...maybe I'm the one who is
turned all upside down....

*

I do wish the weekend of the marathon could be a

little more relaxed than it ends up being...
that constant push to arrive

in town on time to pick up the bib and race

packet, check into the hotel, prep the race
*

 

*

*
 

paraphernalia pile, eat dinner and get back to
the hotel in time for a decent 5-6 hours of sleep...

(Me, a lovely 1-2 hours...being we brought

 *
 

  

*
the dog, we were put by the exit/entrance where
the door slammed closed all night long.... 
*

I got to the buses at 5 am, and the line was HUGE...
*

*

I must've walked a 1/4 mile to find the end and then

we just stood there for what seemed like and

eternity...we finally boarded, and were off...I

got to sit and talk to someone this time...

her name was Allyson and she was running it for the

9th time with next to no training under her belt...

(I think she ended up running it in 6:35...good job!)

*

Finally making it to the drop off starting area, we

hopped into the porta potty lines that were again,

ten miles long...when the announcer said it was

15 minutes til the start, I panicked. In past

years I've hung out at the bonfires, wandered aimlessly

and could've visited the porta potty lines 2-3 times
before the race start...how am I arriving with only
15 minutes to spare, and I'm still 10 people away from
a porta potty visit??!!

*

Magically the race started 10 minutes late,
the line dwindled down, and all was good...

*

The race went well with a few bumps in the

road...some stomach issues and unprepared quadriceps,

but nothing that a nice steady pace to the finish

*

 

couldn't cure.

*

To make a long story short, I was nowhere near 

breaking 4 hours like I had so hoped to do.

I ran a 4:21, my second best time,

 and am very happy with that!
*

*
 

Whether it was taking 2 years off from running

and being 2 years older, or that my training didn't

include enough of what I needed for that speed

and strength to break 4 hours, all of that doesn't
matter...it was a wonderful experience and that
is all that matters. 

"Tinker In The Woods...."

"Mountain-Biking Big Bear"

...This  weekend won't be as fun as the last.

The unbearable heat and humidity that parked

itself over Southern California last week,

drove us from the flatlands up into the higher elevations

in search of clean cool air and blue skies...

(Actually we just wanted to ride somewhere different

where the canyon trails weren't crispy and brown,

sizzling with the sound of cicadas in the air.)

*

So we woke up early, before the birds and the worms,

and headed out on the open highway to meet our friends

at Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake, California...

*

I am always impressed by the mountain view

that greets you as you pull into the parking lot...

*

 

*

...pedaling off,

I remembered my camera, and couldn't leave it behind...

...the sighs and rolling eyes while digging for the

truck keys, it was obvious that the camera and

all my picture taking were wearing thin...

*

Embarrassed, I joked:

 "You never know what we might see...we could run into

someone like Tinker Juarez, or Jorge Pacheco, training, 

and we wouldn't have 

our camera to take a picture!"

*

So off we rode, probably the only riders the entire day

who didn't take the chair lift, but actually rode UP

the trails, to the top of the mountain.

*

*

Slicing and dicing along a wonderful

single track trail system,

we stopped to take a couple of snaps...

*

*

 

*

and learned that some people just shouldn't...

*

*

...take "selfies".

*

...we finally emerged at the lookout point where we

relaxed and socialized with passing cyclists...

*

 

*

Long story short, Tinker Juarez rode up to our group 

out of nowhere like it was perfectly scripted...stopping for

a brief second, asked for directions, and then 

disappeared down the side of a

mountain trail leading to nowhere as mysteriously

as he had appeared...

*

I had my camera, but I froze...I couldn't get myself

to speak up...I kept remembering the ice cream parlor

incident from my teenage years...chapping a Pasadena

rock star's hide all because of my surprised expression

as we passed one another in the doorway...his flowing

blonde hair and spandex pants...what was

I supposed to do...I was 17!! (I'm sure that, today,

 the lusterious locks have receeded and the "signature"

air splits would result in traction!)

 

*

Anyways, I didn't want a repeat of the parlor incident 

to happen here...to look like

some star struck middle aged mountainbiker, and scare

Tinker away...so we let him go...we laughed at

the irony and coincidence of the whole thing, and ended

up riding a wonderful 16 miler through the beautiful

mountains of Big Bear!!      

 

 

 



"...Running Down The Yellow Brick Road May Not Lead You To OZ...!"

 

 

 

...many times I've heard how people are training

for the marathon...following to a "T", an outlined

running plan that builds only on the increase

of running mileage and nothing else.

*

In my hopes of breaking the 4 hour mark, I began thinking

maybe a written out schedule is the way to reach

my goal...focusing just on running and running only.

*

So I did some research and found a fun one online,

calendared to the day of the race, complete with 

special instructions for speed and hill workouts...

*

"This should really help me!"...I was convinced...it's

all layed out and makes such perfect sense...

*

So I set out on my first 2 weeks of training, plodding

along on the endless concrete sidewalks we all

run on to get our miles in...chalking up the

exact mileage, and days, the plan asked of me into my

running journal...obsessive not to miss a day,

I began to feel like Dorothy running down

the Yellow Brick Road in pursuit

of OZ...

*

I began wondering if this Running Only plan was

all it was cut out to be...getting out of bed

in the morning, I began to notice my arches,

knees and hips hurt like they never had before...I'd

cross trained in the past, incorporating mountain biking,

swimming or an exercise video workout with running, 

and never had these issues.

A little voice began reminding me...

*

...remembering friends who had trained by the book

for a marathon, toes bloodied and blistered, obsessively

following the plan, carefully wrapping their

wounds every morning with moleskin just to get their

workout in...others running through pain,

ignoring the signs, to then suffer a stress

fracture, never making it to the starting line

at all...this was not going to happen to me.

*

Whether it was a little voice, a bird or

just good common sense, thank goodness I've

changed paths...

*

...let your joints and muscles rest and repair

between runs, but most of all listen to

your body and what it could be telling you!

 

"Happy, Healthy Training!" 

   



"Concrete Hurts!!"...and some other current events...

#1-Concrete Hurts...

*

There's never been a close call of falling,

ever, while running on the road...

Several on the trails where a tree root

or jutting rock was to blame, but

never an incident out on the

smooth hard concrete.

*

The little upward elfin-like curl at the tip of my

new Brooks Pure Connect minimal running shoes 

is to blame for the injuries.

A tiny rise on a driveway apron grabbed the curl

and threw me to the ground with a flesh slapping thud...

...a bruised hip, palm, knee caps and

throbbing elbow road rash have hung up the

running shoes for a few days... 

 *

 

#2-Good Things Do Break...

 

...pink rubber watch bands can

mysteriously snap in half

during sleep...

*

 

*

...plastic tabs will shatter off a Nutri-Blaster

mid-blend...

 

*



*

...expensive bikes will fail!!

*

 

#3-A Little Help Can Go A Long Way...

 

 

 

*

...nature needs a helping hand when

there is no chance of survival...the evil

Red Racer snake would not let up and continued attacking... 

*

*

...so the sweet bunnies were removed and transported to Pat,

a true Wildlife Rehabilitator specializing in

wild rabbits. She's rehabilitated and released

over 50 bunnies back into the wild just this season

alone. (I do hope you both were strong and healthy enough to

make it back into nature.)

*

 

#4-Shelter Dogs Make The Best Friends....

*

"Lacey"

 

*

...6 months ago, lying on the couch, you were skin

and bones, knocking on death's door...

Oh, the stories you could tell about

where you came from and what you'd been through...

a stray found wandering scared through the bleak Antelope

Valley Desert, matted and dirty...tagless,

never spayed, abandoned and forgotten...

one of hundreds left behind to be uthenized at

the Lancaster Shelter...

*

...if they could only see what became

of you...  

 

*

...A happy, healthy hiking partner on

the trails of the Eastern Sierra over

Memorial Day Weekend...

 

*

...your first camping trip to

the mountains...

... a real trooper!

* 

*

...you stepped up and took me hiking

when the spouse had to stay back at camp

with a sore back!!

*

 

*

...and then there was all of your invaluable 

help and insight

on our taxes and financial investments.

Thanks, Lacey...

You're such a good dog!!

 

"Never Underestimate The Possibilities Of A Shelter Dog!"



 

 

 



 

 



"Mountainbike Weekend...."

If anything, I'm figuring out that it's important

to keep the exercise ball rolling.

*

So this weekend I rode both days..."the" 10.6

mile loop that makes up part, or the whole, of most

mountainbikers training rides around here.

*

 

...taking a picture while riding is harder...

 

 

...and less flattering

than I imagined.

 

 

...gorgeous views for as far

as the eye can see.

 

 

 

...beautiful blue skies and a contrail

thread...

 

 

...and open space...

 

 

...will you take my picture?

 

 

...only if you take mine!

 

 

...emerging from the last bit of single track...

 

...and heading back home in the car.

 



"No Lounge Lizards In This Boot Camp....!"

 

 

* After Saturday's 8 mile trail run, and a day off on Sunday,

a good week of cross training started Monday with

a workout from my newly acquired T-25 DVD workout set.

(These workouts are the perfect length and intensity... 

they compliment running and mountain biking without

the fatigue and destruction brought on by other more lengthy

workout videos.)

*

* Tuesday, a quick 3.5 mile pavement run in the morning,

with an hour and a half in the pool alternating between

laps of swimming and kick-boarding.

*

* A day off on Wednesday...a mountain bike ride

of 10.6 miles for this morning's

Thursday workout...

*

"Happy Training!!"

St. George Marathon 2014

3:59

 

   

"The Tan Lines Of Summer Have Begun....."

 

...screw on feet, Speedo back straps and permanent

bike short tan lines go hand in hand with training

during the summer months...thank goodness it's

that time of year again!!

*

An 8 mile trail run over this past weekend, though

very windy and a little chilly for short sleeves,

ended up being a fun adventure...(even though
I forgot the advil at breakfast and ended
up tightening up towards the end!)

*

I was finally able to run a trail I have been so

curious about for several years...I've avoided

this one on my mountain bike for a long time because

it's dangerous and designed to be ridden by the
really good riders...

*

Being "on-foot" I didn't experience the "G-Forces"

this trail is so famous for on the mountain bike...

...but I did see some beautiful blooming cactus,

numerous varieties of wildflowers and spectacular

views from every direction!!!   

 

 

7:30 am- heading out from the bottom....



Such a beautiful place!



Cactus in bloom...



The wind is whipping....why didn't you pack your
wind-breaker? (??)



The beginning of the trail...



La Sportiva's amongst the wildflowers!



It looked pretty when I was there....



At the bottom of the trail looking back up.



Heading back down to the car.