Closing Out 2016

I wasn't sure when or if I would get around to this post because I have had serious motivation problems lately. I woke up this morning intending to do it but then decided to do other work first including putting all the horses out to pasture for the day. In fairness I didn't put them all out, my brother-in-law put one out. So I finished and now here I am looking back at the past year or actually as the title says, Closing Out 2016.

Statistically the year would be considered a bust in some areas and a success in others as far as running and fitness are concerned. My weight, I won't even get on a scale, has certainly increased as I spent to much time using stress as an excuse to overeat and more importantly, eat the wrong things. Additionally my consumption of beer was to much for the amount of activity I was doing. I'm not going to make specific resolutions but I do hope to improve in all of those areas. All of this is connected to my knee injury that happened in October of 2015. I finally had to stop running in December and I had surgery to repair a ruptured meniscus and also what they call micro fracture surgery to "regrow" cartilage. I was on crutches for almost 8 weeks and did nothing except physical therapy. The day after I got off crutches I left and drove cross country to visit friends and family. It was a good trip that included some minimal walking that I didn't even document but near the end of the trip I decided to do a "race". It was an 8 mile trail run in Colorado that I walked in crazy adverse winter conditions. That was my first race of the year though and it felt good to get something under my belt. That was on April 30th and was the total of my documented "mileage" that month. I had a total of 36 documented walking miles up to that day.

I continued doing races even though I only walked them fast because I wasn't supposed to be running. I walked 3 more events through June and in June my walking mileage increased to 113 for the month. After that I walk-jogged a few races until I got to where I am mostly running them again. My first race that I decided I was going to attempt to run it all was August 21st in St. Louis and I did run the majority of it. I walked my next two in Colorado with friends and since September 17th at a race in Pleasanton I have been running and my training has been running.

For the year I participated in 20 Races bringing my total to 195 since turning 60. I documented 428 miles walking and 195 miles running for a total of 623 miles for the year.

My reading total was 65 Fiction and 46 Nonfiction books during 2016.

While this is a brief "Look Back" it serves its purpose of documenting my miles and my reading two things that I get a kick out of recording. My next post will be after the first of the new year when I am scheduled to race in Richmond, California. I hope to do a better job getting motivated to write this year as well as continue running, reading and visiting family and friends as time and money allows.

Appreciate Your Health & Final 2016 Races

The past couple of months have given me several reasons to stop and think about health. I mentioned in my last post that I had been fighting with a chest cold and missing several days of running. When I raced the Spirit of Giving 5K in Modesto earlier this month I finally reconnected to a rival/friend who I had not seen since the Escalon race when he left really discouraged by his performance. He beat me the majority of the times that we raced in the 60 - 69 age group but because he is several years younger if we did 5 year age groups we would both usually finish on the podium. The reason that I bring him us is because he started having serious health problems and struggled to get a diagnosis. The good news is that he finally got a diagnosis and is getting treatment the bad news is that it is something that can't be fixed, just managed. He's back run-walking now and it was great to see him at the race.

On Thursday of last week I was running on the road and my foot clipped a bump in the road and sent me sprawling. While I got skinned up landing on my hands and knees before flattening out completely I was fortunate that I wasn't seriously injured. Needless to say I was sore after and even more so the next few days including the day I did a Double 8K my final races of 2016. While in San Juan Bautista at the Double I spent time waiting around for the awards ceremony I spent time talking with several guys in my age group and the 70-75 year age group and we all agreed that we were Blessed to be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other no matter how slow we were getting. We all knew people who were either injured or ill and no longer participating. And then to reinforce our comments a 78 year old runner tripped over a loose board on a bridge and went down busting up his face.

These thoughts aren't to be negative or maudlin they are simply to remind me to be grateful and make the most of opportunities when they present themselves. Here is a picture of my boo boos from my fall the Thursday before my Saturday Double.

Obviously nothing serious but it is all the aches and pains that don't show up in pictures that remind me of how much worse it could have been.

My final three races of 2016 were the Spirit of Giving 5K in Modesto and a 5K-3K Double in San Juan Bautista. I'm so much slower than I was just a year ago that it would be hard to believe if you didn't take the knee surgery in February out of the equation. But that was just part of it, another part is in my control and if I want to get any faster even as I continue to get older then I need to lose weight. As we all know, talk is cheap and if I don't do more than simply talk about weight loss I'll continue to gain weight and as a result, slow down. While I'm not calling it a New Year's Resolution I am going to make a better effort to lose weight this year and better racing will hopefully be a byproduct.

Spirit of Giving - Modesto

That's a wrap on 2016 racing and blogging! 

Election, Car Wreck, and California Races

As readers of my previous blogs know I love Fall! It is my favorite time of year because in my opinion it is the prettiest time of year and despite the falling, dying leaves, to me it is a season of new beginnings. I'm sure that has a lot to do with a lifetime spent starting back to school and cross country season beginning. It is also the time of year that I most enjoy racing.

My love of Fall has been somewhat tempered by the election this year. I'm not going to get into a big political discussion here because it is not the place to do so. I will say however that since the election results I have had a feeling of low-grade depression. There is so much ugliness and nastiness that took place during the campaigning and has not slowed since the election. If anything much of the rhetoric is worse now than before. It is frustrating to see how much hate and garbage is being spewed in the media and on social media and how much is being overlooked. Brief though they were, those are my comments on the Presidential Election of 2016. I am not encouraged!

My Fall racing started in Pleasanton at the Run 4 Life 5K followed by the Modesto at the Peace Officer's Memorial 5K between the time I got home from my road trip and the time I left for Oregon. Both races were slow but I am starting to feel a little like a runner again. A slow runner but a runner none the less as opposed to someone "wogging" races while trying to stay involved.

While I was in Oregon I did a lot of walking including time on Pre's Trail but I didn't run once while I was there so when I got back to California I got right back to running because I knew that I had races on the calendar. The first was one that I have done several times since moving to Patterson; the Move Your Bones 5K in Turlock. It was raining and windy and cool the whole time. The race was good the worst part was waiting around after for the raffle to finish and the results announced. I was 3rd in the 60-69 age group.

Veterans Day

I was sick with a chest cold for about a week after the race and then got back to running. I wanted to find races for Veteran's Day Weekend and got online. There wasn't anything reasonably close for Friday but I found a 5K in Livermore on Saturday, The Race to the Flagpole and another 5K Sunday in San Jose, Veteran's Day 5K. I decided to stay over in the Bay Area between the races. The races went well and I enjoyed the patriotic atmosphere of both. The only bad part of the weekend was that when I left my hotel to go get something to eat I got into a car accident that did about $5000 damage to my car. That happened on the 12th. On the 11th I had owned the car for 1 year. Not a very nice anniversary gift. Oh well, "It Is What It Is". Still put a damper on what was supposed to be a racing and relaxing weekend.

My car is still in the shop so I'm not doing or going much. I had a rental car for a few days but since I found out that it was going to be over two weeks until I get my car back I turned the rental back in. I'll just borrow a car for a race I plan to do on Thanksgiving Day and to a VA appointment the day before I get the car back. I did take the rental on a road trip when I went to Chico, spent the night and then took my nephew and two friends to the airport in Sacramento so that they could go home for the holiday break. The highlight of the trip was finding a really nice used book store in Chico that I would certainly go to again.

An Unexpected Trip to Oregon

I took a trip to Oregon so that I could take care of my niece Brandy's animals while she was away at a dog show in Ohio. I enjoyed the time there with the exception of one incident where two Saint Bernard's decided to tear down the fence between them and when I went to move them they got into a fight. Blood everywhere but happily when I finally got them separated and put in new kennels none of it was mine and neither dog was seriously injured. Other than that it was simply a matter of caring for 15 dogs, 2 cats, 2 pigs and two goats. Feeding, watering and cleaning up after.

Even though the weather was starting to turn to the rainy fall it was still nice and I found that the weather didn't bother me at all as long as I made the effort to get out and do something every day. While I did quite a bit I was never gone more than two hours at a time there were just to many animals to keep an eye on. I particularly felt that way after the fight.

I got to revisit a few places that I enjoyed visiting in Eugene and Creswell as well as some new places but the biggest change is that I spent a lot of time in the small town of Cottage Grove. I got to meet Smitty for lunch at Creswell Coffee and for breakfast at Joe's Diner. I can't say enough about the food at Joe's and Creswell had a really good panini sandwich. And while it wan't about the food as much as about the time spent with a friend, good food makes the whole experience better.

Eugene

Some of the highlights in Eugene were time spent on Pre's Trail and going back to Smith Family Bookstore. As a matter of fact I found out that Smith Family had two locations and I visited both of them when I went downtown one day. Book selection is great. Location other than parking is good. The only negative is that I haven't found the staff to be friendly in any of my visits. I enjoy talking books and visiting in general when I go to a book store, particularly a used bookstore. It's part of the complete experience for me. One place that I wanted to visit in Eugene in the past but hadn't yet was Voodoo Donuts. This time I made it a point to go there for coffee and a Eugene donut, both were good.

Cottage Grove

Cottage Grove had a lot of the things that I enjoy seeing when I am on a trip. Bookstores, unique restaurant experiences and historical locations. While visiting CG I ate at Buster's Main Street Cafe which was in the building with the huge Buster Keaton Mural on the wall. A movie with Keaton was made back in the '20's. There are murals throughout the town depicting the history. Another historical aspect of the town is the covered bridges in the area and while I didn't visit all of them I did see the majority. I also spent time hiking along the Row (rhymes with cow) River Trail a couple of days.

One of the highlights of Cottage Grove for me was finding three unique bookstores all within a few buildings of each other downtown on Main Street. It's no secret that I love independent bookstores in particular those that have used books and a local flavor.

I wound up staying an extra day so that I could take Brandy for her shoulder surgery. While she was having her surgery done I went to grab something to eat and found a bookstore. Imagine that.

On the Road Again - Pt 4 - The Trip Home

As I have been trying to do on all of my recent trips I tried to make sure to stop and see things on the drive home from Colorado to Patterson. There are always multiple route options depending on who or what I can see on the drive as well as time. I am fortunate in that time isn't often a consideration. I decided that I wanted to see Mesa Verde and other things in southwestern Colorado so I went through the San Luis Valley and over Wolf Creek Pass. It was a beautiful drive and I stopped on the Continental Divide and at a pullout where I was able to take a short hike to Treasure Falls. I was thinking about how many people must just drive by without ever knowing it was there or stopping to see it.

I made another stop at Chimney Rock National Monument. Even though there wasn't much to see without going on a tour it was an interesting rock formation and there is a lot of interesting history associated with the area.

I drove to Mesa Verde National Park next and spent a few hours driving and hiking. The history of the area is remarkable. Once again I didn't sign up for any of the tours here either because I really enjoy getting out on my own. It is a place where you could certainly spend an entire day or even longer including tours.

I spent the night in Cortez and got an early start to Arizona where I planned to visit the Petrified National Forest and the Painted Desert. I couldn't believe how close the park is to the Interstate. As a matter of fact the Interstate actually crosses part of it and old Route 66 actually drove right through the park.

My last day on the road I stopped in Ludlow, California for breakfast. We had briefly lived in Ludlow when my Dad was doing pipeline construction and we were following jobs. We attended a one room schoolhouse while we were there and the school is still there as a private residence after all these years. Then I made one final stop at the Headquarters of the Mojave National Preserve for information with plans to spend more time there on future trips.