A Magical Beach Run

We had a warm-as-summer winter day on Wednesday, and a sunset run to and along the beach turned into once of those delicious experiences you can't predict. The warm weather brought out the can't-wait-for-summer beach kids, and there was also a rare conjunction of planets, stars, and the moon, all reflected in the shimmering wet sand of a low tide. I had my camera and captured the moments...

Toughest Test Yet - Death Valley

Two weeks ago our Santa Cruz Track Club gang combined with the Tullamore Dew Running Club for an epic adventure in Death Valley - an annual tradition but a first for me. Trail running, swapping stories, and beer'n'quesadilla's - it was one hell of a great weekend. The centerpiece was a marathon, or half marathon, from Rhyolite over Red Pass and down into Death Valley via Titus Canyon. I did 12 miles, nearly 5,000 ft of downhill running, on that run. Gratifyingly, I felt pretty good and survived it just fine. And - no ill effects on my metal hip. Remember that just 4 years ago at my surgery, my bone density was so low that a measuring screw into my trochantor crumbled, and density was off-the-scale low; only half of normal. My attention to proper nutrition and bone-building impact exercise has paid off!