"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!"