New Life With a New Hip

Mission 10 Miler Smack-Down

2012-01-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well shoot - my first ever race take-down. Perhaps I got a little overeager after a great race at the Rio Resolution 4 weeks ago. I've done half-marathon runs every weekend since, and evidently that's too much at this point; psoas tendinitis came back with a vengence. This race wasn't on my list, but it really sounded like an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday morning and I joined the Delucchi's for the adventure. See the story here...

The Berry Falls Test

2012-01-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

A few days after the Rio Resolution run, and I was feeling the results in my legs; stiff and not feeling like running. I tried a 2 mile easy jog to the beach and it turned into 1 mile. Thursday I did limp through 2 miles, but was not enjoying it much. Turns out the weekly long run for the SC Track Club was going to be one of my favorites; the 13 mile run out to Berry Creek Falls from the beach at Waddell Creek, on Sunday. Sunday came, 7:30am, and I did everything I could to pull the covers back over my head and tell myself not to go run. I was tired! But my kayak was still on the RAV4 roof from a delightful day on Elkhorn Slough with my visiting friend Maria the day before, and I thought I might enjoy kayaking up Waddell Creek a ways after the run. In the end, I did, at the last minute, yank myself out of bed and into my car, and met the gang outside Safeway on Mission St. 20 miles later, up the coast, we launched off. I didn't know whether I'd blow up in the first mile, or would loosen up and enjoy a nice long run through the redwoods and alders beside Waddell Creek. It turned out to be the latter, and the falls were extraordinary in the filtered morning light. Wish my Lumix were working so I could've captured the rainbows set off by the bouncing cascades lit by beams of sunlight against the dark rock.
I confess I was feeling pretty beat during the last 2 miles. But still, I was able to demo to Antoinette how engaging / disengaging the glutes, as I was getting good at doing, made a huge difference in my running speed. The story with a few pix is here.

Numerical Vanity

2012-01-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

A few days before Christmas, I looked with consternation at my training totals. I'd trained hard for my Ironman year of '10 and there was no way I was going to catch my cycling totals for '11. However I was already almost 100 miles ahead on my running. So that left my swimming as the tie breaker. At the time, I had only ~112,000 yds and needed another 26,000 yds to pass last year. Could I do it? I had a shoulder injury in early Fall which put me farther and farther behind. But it was better now... still, that'd require 4,000 yds every day this past week to accomplish. It's now Jan 1, and I can say "mission accomplished". With 1800 yds Dec 24, and then 4,000 avg/day through Friday, I needed just 3100 yds on Sunday Dec 31 to hit 140,000 yds for the year and comfortably set the bar for the coming year. Got it done, with no injury aggravation to the shoulder, just a little bit of a sore neck from all the side breathing. No problemo.

A Day 15 years in the Making

2012-01-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

What a rewarding way to start '12! - for the first time in 15 years, I've run a race and been able to go flat-out and be limited only by my cardio conditioning and not be hobbled by injuries from remaining muscle imbalances from my pre-surgery decade of cripple-dom. The last piece of the puzzle was getting my glutes firing, as I've been working on for some time now, and it has finally paid off. The Carmel Rio Resolution 10K run, an annual tradition, is a very hilly race and has plenty of potential to trash your legs, calves, etc. But not this year - what a great feeling! And no post-race hobble-dom either. 58:06 for my race, which is many minutes ahead of prior races. Here's my story page. Those of you who have newly resurfaced hips, or are pondering cementless resurfacing, I say - go for it! I enthusiastically recommend my surgeon, who pioneered this surgery and has the most outstanding success rate in the profession - Thomas P. Gross in Columbia, South Carolina. I'm finally back. I was on crutches or barely walking for 10 solid years after corticosteroid-induced osteo-necrosis wrecked my left hip. Now, at age 59, I'm finally fully back as a triathlete. Still work to do on strengthening muscle groups, especially those glutes, but the motivation remains strong and I'm looking forward to '12.

UCLA Sierra Clubbers - Paddling Tomales Bay

2011-12-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

Got a new adventure posted. More 'yaking, at Pt. Reyes - my annual get together with my Sierra Club clan from UCLA days. Enjoy it here. I'm looking at my training totals for '11 and looking to up my numbers. It's too late to try and beat my Ironman Year of '10 in cycling, but I've already had a better running year. The tie-break is swimming yardage. I was quite behind, but it was do-ably within reach, so I made the commit - All I need is 4,000 yds in the pool each day this week. Monday's and Tuesday's are in the bag. Today will meet with Ferrell for more, and as long as my right shoulder stays focused on proper injury-free form, I should succeed.

Four Bridges Half Marathon

2011-12-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

My running continues to improve - slowly. Boy, there's a lot of muscle groups and muscle skills requiring conscious attention to fix. My running form in the old days wasn't perfect, but I had healthy joints and that was enough. Now, with a metal hip and 10 years of disuse to overcome, it's been quite the adventure to learn how to run, really for the first time.
Focus on Glutes! Dave D sent me an excellent article "Weak Glutes: The Plague of the Mediocre Athlete". Wow, sounds like someone I know. But I've been putting my mind to it with typical Nolthenius determination - and it's making a difference. Focusing on firing the glutes on each stride, just that.... visualizing the contraction, not actually MAKING it contract, has been enough to make for a good burn, when for so long I run and everything BUT my BUTT gets burned. My stride has lengthened about 8%, without feeling like it has, and my speed has improved as well. I'm hopeful that my future long runs will not leave me so crippled for a week or two like in the past.
A good experience was my run at the Four Bridges Half Marathon in Folsom, with bud's Dave and Rick. Check out the pix and the entertaining story.

A Punishing 10K in Beautiful Carmel

2011-10-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Ferrell and I motored to Carmel for the Stevenson Run in the Forest 10K. The plan was to do the 10K, scarf a big post-race breakfast at the very tony school, drop Rick off at REI at Fort Ord where he'd do a long bike back to Aptos, and I'd drive home and immediately pack my mountain bike for a S24O with Kent. I hoped to put in a strong time as my running as come along. Yow - that first mile was a killer! steep downhill all the way to the ocean, and running it fast on asphalt was not good for my poor hip. Big mistake! Suffered the rest of the race with hip pain, and the rest of the week too. Also got run straight into a big tree by a tour bus! (Hey, go ahead and run me over if you need to; no problem - I know you've got a schedule to keep.) Note to self - no more fast steep downhill runs! Feeling a little better today, a week later. Did a 50 mile ride up Eureka Canyon yesterday, and a mountain bike ride to come today. I'll detail my adventure with Kent in a future post, when pix are posted. Alas, dead camera for the 10K and no pix. Sorry!

Summer Tri Season

2011-09-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

My triathlon season is officially - done! I did bits and pieces of several events since my last posting. I've got pix and story for 4 done and ready for your enjoyment... The Sandman Tri, The Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon, The Santa Cruz International Triathlon, The Santa Barbara Triathlon. Also have pix from the Roughwater Swim and the Big Kahuna Triathlon, but I've still got to pick through and make pages for these. Sometime soon!

Summer S24O's....

2011-07-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

S24O's.... "short, 24hr o'ernighters". A fun term for a fun little getaway. LA friend Kent was up to visit his Santa Cruz mountain cabin and make some repairs - and to test out gear for overnight bike camping trips. Amazing, but except for the '96 Big Sur Ride, I've never done an overnight bike-camping trip. Sounded fun and so off we went. Here's the narrative and pix for our trips to Henry Cowell Redwoods, and to Nicene Marks State Park.

The Perfect Trail Run

2011-07-10T21:26:00.001-07:00

This past week I've had sore knees till today. Probably from the steep downhill through the streets at the Firecracker 10K on Monday. Just general, vague soreness, not sharp pain as if I'd broken something. I've done a couple of short runs mid week but felt stiff and slow on both. So, it was a big surprise today when, after an ocean swim and heading over to Nicene to hopefully do a long run.... that I actually pulled it off. While I didn't bring enough calories because I just knew that my desire (run the West Ridge Trail) was going to flame-out early (a single Larabar: dates and cashew). But maybe it was the cold water swim, or maybe time just finally healed 'em, but my knees were fine. I did wear my camelback so I wouldn't run dry at least. I took the side trails to the steel bridge, on to the West Ridge trail start, and on up to the ridge and along all the way to the Hoffmann Connector. Here I did a short stretch session, then retraced. That's 14.4 miles - my longest run since my hip resurfacing 4 years ago. My glutes are still underpowered it seems, as the return run had my left psoas predictably pretty sore. 2 aspirin + 2 ibuprofen + an hour of icing seems to have done the trick. Funny Jones after I finished the run - I craved protein. Any protein. Drove straight to Aptos Natural Foods and got a can of tuna and a chicken vege wrap and ate both immediately on the spot. THAT felt better!

The Firecracker 10K

2011-07-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

First time I've done this local classic in about 20 years. Tough race, very hilly. I've got a photo page with narrative here.

'Yaking, Biking, and Philosophizing at Pt Reyes

2011-07-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Great weekend with my German friend Fernando, in the USA for just a month. I met him at the hostel at Miami Beach back in '00, when I was getting growth hormone injections in a vain attempt to save my left hip, and he was a recent grad student in theoretical astrophysics. Times have changed, and he's now a successful software engineer at SAP in Frankfurt, with a recent philosophical bent - perfect travelling and conversational companion for me! Enjoy the photos here.

The Wildflower Triathlon - on a broken toe - doh!

2011-06-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

Broke my toe 10 days before the race. My first fracture ever! But it was deserved - I whacked it but GOOD against an incline bench while running. Doc said I could still do the race, but it would hurt like hell. He was right! And I'd paid my $$ and this was a classic so it was game on. Follow the adventure w/ pix here...

Also got some photos at the Slug Run at UCSC (as volunteer). More adventures to post, stay tuned.

Also got more data on my hip recovery. See the latest posts on my chronology webpage to see how my bone density and metal ion levels look here.

Bone Trouble

2011-05-23T01:08:00.000-07:00

Got my new dexascan results. Insurance only pays for one scan per 2 years, which seems counterproductive given my osteoporosis. I was as confident as could be this time - I've got a 1000 miles of running under my belt, calcium/magnesium supplements above the RDA, and 2000 IU of Vitamin D for the past year or so. All the ingredients for further additions to my bone density.... so what happened?? My lower spine actually LOST density, and my right hip was unchanged. Couldn't test the left (operated) hip what with the metal. I will say that the pelvic X-ray around the same time shows the left side now at least as dense as the right side, so that's a big improvement. But why no improvement in my right side or spine? Did ALL available bone building go into my left leg ONLY? 4 years now, post surgery. On the positive side, I've ramped up my running as we are into triathlon season. Did 8 miles today to go with 13 miles earlier in the week. Felt great, as did all the recent road and mountain biking. Oh, the other bone trouble - a broken toe banging it into my steel incline bench a month ago. Made running the Wildflower more adventurous. I'll save that for the next post...

Fort Ord Dirt

2011-03-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Finally had some time to put together a page. Fort Ord for me was Terra Icognita; never been, and now I know - it's a great place for mountain bikers. Well worth the extra miles driving out there (even at $4/ga). Tons of trails, and even some which have been cleared of unexploded ordnance. Enjoy the pix of this mountain biking adventure.

Sparse Start for '11

2011-03-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

After a good January (well, except for the dog attack), February was a bust. A total - BUST! Got a bad chest bug which was going around town and my lungs were totally shot for the entire month. Boy, the bugs out there now aren't the old fashioned low-key cold bugs that go away after a few days - they're nasty and don't go down without a big long fight. I'm finally feeling better and starting to ramp up for upcoming triathlons. I'll post some pix of recent adventures soon. Meanwhile, I've got a page up for the Jan 1 Rio Resolution 10K Race. Running's going OK again. I'm getting some new tests done to make sure my hip is adapting to all the running with no problem. I have no symptoms to say otherwise. Tested my glutes today left and right side and they were as nearly equal now as I've yet seen post-surgery, so that's good news. I've computerized my training numbers and finally posted my 2010 totals at right.

Doggone it!

2011-01-24T18:47:00.000-08:00

Well here's a first for me. I'm doing my Sunday long run at Nicene Marks, about a quarter mile up the West Ridge trail, puffing hard - and here are two dogs off the leash, (with owner and family) going for me in attack mode, snarling. I try and get off the trail hoping their momentum will carry them on by, but one makes a side lunge at me and grabs a big bite into my right side. Yelp! THAT hurt! Some choice curses came out and I scramble for a stick to defend myself before the owner calls off the dog, grabbing it. Man, that was TOTALLY uncalled for! Several laws broken to pieces, and I'm prosecuting. After I got her name and phone, I loped on up to the next stream crossing and washed it as well as I could. Miles from my car, it was a while before I could get home. Got some photos, including this one the next morning.

Racing Again

2011-01-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

It seems this blog has become pretty single-mindedly focused on training and surgery recovery. I suppose that's OK. But it's not really sharing my philosophical side. I may have to make a second blog for that, or reorganize this one... but for now - it's been 2 months and I should note that I've run 2 half marathons and 2 10K races during this time - my running is continuing to improve. The Silicon Valley Half is chronical'd here, and the Marin North Face Challenge Half Marathon is here. The Turkey Trot 10K went badly on an easy course - hip pain with a vengence, but cleared up in 2 days thank God. The Rio Resolution 6.3 mile run went much better on a much tougher course - progress! I've also started Bikram yoga, which has been challenging.

Soy and Silicon

2010-11-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

The past 3 months I've been absorbed with academic things. However, hip surgery readers will be curious how my training and rehab has gone. After a month of running every day, I had an overuse injury to my right calf - that's my GOOD side. Till now, all problems have been on my left (operated) side. Perhaps my single-minded focus on building strength and control in my left leg has left my right behind? Was very stubborn about healing, in fact, another solid month when I could barely run at all - very strange. I came to blame it on soy lowering testosterone and healing ability, after much reading. But yet more reading and I'm not so sure. I wish it were easier to see who's funding a given research project! I've stopped eating soy, for nearly a month now. My calf healed, and I'm back to regular running. I feel more energy and generally better. Have no idea if there's a connection with soy, at this point. Check back later on that as I continue reading.
In any case, did have a better-than-expected experience as buddy Ferrell recruited me to accompany him on a birthday adventure - running the Silicon Valley Half Marathon. See the story and pix here.

One Step Forward, Zero Steps Back

2010-08-23T22:47:00.000-07:00

Beats 5 steps forward and 6 steps back, it is a mathematical certainty. 16 straight days I've run - usually just 2-4 miles, but once a week now up to 7. That's a long enough streak that I'm in commit mode - run every day unless it's dumb and injurious. If someone had told me that I'd be able to do that w/o re-injury a month ago, I'd have laughed at 'em. The muscles and body are a complex system and I'm glad I have a good coach (Tom Smith, DC and runner) on what muscles need work because despite my obvious brilliance, I sure was clueless on how to fix myself post-surgery. Doing everything wrong! Progress is definite.

So I decided yesterday to do my long-time favorite run; it was time to go run trails again - I ran the Hoffman Trail at Nicene Marks, which is 6.5 miles and 750 ft of total climbing from the trail branch-off at Aptos Creek Road where I lock my mtn bike (7 miles if from the "green gate"). I told myself to just run easy, as I'd done a 40 mile 3200' climb on the bike on Saturday (and 2 mile run). I took it easy, but still discovered at the end that I'd set a new post-surgery PR on that trail. I can make use of the endorphins too - I'm usually in mourning over the loss of my summer by mid August and don't perk up until a week or so into the Fall semester's teaching. Not this year.

Santa Cruz - An Optimum Place for this Dilemma

2010-08-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

Philosophically - Does one find oneself doing one great ride over and over until sick of it and can't bring oneself to ride it again till all other options are spent? Right now I'm enjoying the Mountain Charlie/Summit/Zyante ride. Done it 3 Saturdays in a row now. It's so beautiful, and Hwy 9 below Felton still remains closed except for bikes. I used to ride up Hwy 1 to Davenport or on to the Swanton Loop. The traffic on Hwy 1 didn't bother me, till one day it did, and now the thought of doing that ride is just not enticing at all. I'd done Capitola/Eureka Canyon/Summit/Old San Jose Rd over 'n' over as well, and it's still a beautiful classic Northern California ride, but I'm bored with it. What'll I do when I get bored with Mtn. Charlie? I'm starting some GoogleEarth'ing to get ready.

All Hail South Carolina

2010-08-18T01:30:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, on my daily run down to the Boardwalk on the beach in Santa Cruz, I was greeted at the shore with a nice sight - perhaps 20 young people wearing club jerseys with their roadbikes right there on the damp sand at water's edge. For a moment, I thought - strange, those don't look like the kind of bikes you'd want to ride on sand.... and then I realized. They must have completed a fairly significant ride and are celebrating. Their smiles and joy was infectious, and I found myself pulled in. Parents and friends were there too, snapping pictures as the young people hoisted their bikes overhead while feet enjoyed the Pacific ocean. I asked one of the parents "Did your group just finish a nice ride?". She answered - "You could say that - we just bicycled across the country, from South Carolina!". I was impressed, inspired, and joined in the congratulations. Later, I felt a bit more spring in my step as I ran through the waves. I so crave to be inspired by my fellow man, and this moment made my week. So now I know South Carolina has at least two great things going - these ambitious and adventurous kids, and also a great surgeon - Dr. Thomas Gross - who did an outstanding job giving me the ability to run again, with my new cementless resurfaced hip.

Gluteus Maximus

2010-08-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

I've been doing left-leg stands, bent knee, upright back, to engage my glutes and train the proprioceptives. Often at the beach on the soft sand to make it tougher, (and the scenery better!). And, it's working! Aug 3 I went for a 2 mile run and actually FELT like running fast, and did. After 10 miles in 3 days, I am dialing back a bit and yesterday did a 38 mile ride; up Mtn. Charlie over to Zyante Rd and down to Felton, Hwy 9 back home. Beautiful ride! I'd forgotten how great Zyante Rd is, with dense redwood groves and rarely seen habitation, beautiful creek, blackberries ready for picking. Quite a nice day.

Summer Rehab'in

2010-08-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

Dave D had an impressive Vineman Ironman 70.3 race. I... survived it. The story's here. Two more races (Roughwater Open Water Swim, and the Sandman Triathlon) were this past weekend. but it's gotten pretty clear that I won't make any further progress on returning to pain-free distance running until I double and re-double my efforts to balance all the muscles involved. My excellent DC Tom Smith is helping me. Weak glutes, we've decided, are the first necessity to fix. I'm doing a lot of balancing on my left leg, knee bends and one-legged bridges for glutes.

Death Warmed Over

2010-07-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

A thousand apologies for the long neglect. It's been a frantic past few months. I did do the Ironman St. George race - well, 2/3 of it. See the account here, not yet finished. Thing is, I got a baad superBug a day before the race. In fact, 5 of our 6-person Ironman team (Dave and Diane D, Sonia and Fred P, Joyce, and me - only Dino was spared) - we all got a respiratory virus that was the worst I can remember. A month and two follow-on bouts of pneumonia later, I was finally beginning to feel better. Meanwhile, sicko notwithstanding, I was madly preparing for a unique opportunity - as a member of the Joint Science Team for the Hayabusa Mission re-entry. I left for Australia June 7, returned June 19. An amazing adventure - Pictures are here. The day after returning was also the last day on which I could get a refund for my entry to the Vineman Half Ironman. I felt recovered enough to go for it. The race is July 18, and as a tune up, I decided to join my friend Dave Wyman, who was putting in unearthly mileage to prepare for his grand cycling adventure of 2010 - the Markleeville Death Ride - on July 10. He went for all 5 passes: 15,000 ft and 129 miles. I went for just 2 passes: Once up Monitor Pass and once up Ebbetts Pass (once up Ebbetts is enough for any mortal) - 59 miles and 6400 ft of climbing. I'll post a link to pic's for this adventure sometime soon. Meanwhile, Dave already has a fine illustrated narrative here. That's my update for now, folks.

A Calibration Run

2010-04-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

A 3 day weekend should have a 3 days of hard workouts. But be fun! Friday I drove Chris and myself up to Yosemite for a XC ski adventure during a light snow storm to Dewey Point. Saturday was a 42 mile, 2400 ft ride through the local mountains. And today was long-run day. My goal was to do the Nicene Marks Half Marathon course, backwards. I was worried about my left psoas tendinitis issue, as it had flared a bit last week. But it had given me no trouble on the XC skiing, despite being called on with my heavy skis and heavier backcountry leather 3-pin boots in untracked snow. I ran the side trails to the West Ridge trail, up to the ridge, and felt OK. Light rain started up on the ridge (not below) but was never a big deal. By the time I got to the connector to Hoffman's, my psoas was getting a bit sore. I'd stop every few minutes and stretch it, and continue. Arrived at Hoffman's, went right, on down the trail and slowly the pain increased, despite the occasional stretch. Arriving down at Aptos Creek, I needed to walk the last 3 miles back to the entrance. I put it to good use by using the known distance (3.0 miles) to see what pace I could walk when injured this way. I averaged 16.3 minute miles, and 15.4 min on the final mile (if the sign 0.8 miles to pay station is right). For a marathon, 16.3 min miles works out to 7.17 hours, which would make hitting the Ironman St. George cutoffs tough unless I've got a cushion coming off the bike. That's worst case, assuming I have to walk the entire St. George Ironman run course (well, except that St. George has no level stretches at all, like the Aptos Creek 3 miles). For today, including the walk, I did 3:07 for the 14 miles (I did the side trails in, so figuring that's 14 miles total). That's a 2:56 half marathon pace, or 5:52 marathon.

This psoas issue has GOT to be solved! I felt I still had running left in me, w/o this inflamed tendon. Likely the two prior days of XC skiing and biking stressed and shortened my psoas and set me up for this. I've got to pay a lot of attention to regular determined stretching during this final month. At least my other imbalance issues (IT band, knee, achilles, calf cramping) didn't appear.

Next of the Big Rides: Convergence to a Solution?

2010-03-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

The Four Horseman of the (Ironman) Apocalypse rode again this past Saturday (4/27). Getting close to the nominal crescendo before a slow taper towards race day. Diane had picked out a Terri Schneider Ironman training favorite ride - up Hwy 9 through Felton, Ben Lomand, Glen Arbor, and Boulder Creek, switchbacking up to the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Hwy 35, along the spine of the mountains north to Palo Alto and Alpine Road, left down through beautiful green hills, redwoods, flowers, babbling brooks, then up Sam McDonald Ridge, down west to Pescadero for sandwiches with a packed house of other spring weekend cyclists at this artist's enclave. Then up Cloverdale Rd to Butano State Park, and over some hills to the coast and Hwy 1. Then down Hwy 1 past Waddell Creek and up to Swanton Loop, inland, exiting north of Davenport, and then on down Hwy 1 to Santa Cruz. It was a perfect 100.0 miles on an absolutely glorious spring day (except for the mid '30's morning temperatures all the way up frosty Hwy 9). For Dave D, it was an easy recovery ride after he'd done 100 miles to Monterey 2 days before, plus 4000 in the pool and a 2 hour run. For Diane, Sonia and I, it was a bonafide workout. This time, I re-tuned my nutrition. Fewer power bars, more whole foods, and more salt! My fanny pack had 2 almond butter 'n jelly sandwiches on sourdough (extremely tastey), a zip lock bag filled with a mashed red potato seasoned with sea salt and a minced chicken thigh w/butter. My dual 24oz water bottles were Accelerade, the first of which had several pinches of sea salt. I also ate 3/4 of a power bar, 500mg potassium, 500mg calcium, 250 mg magnesium. And at Pescadero, one bite each from Diane and Sonia's turkey sandwiches, and maybe 5 potato chips. It worked! no calf or achilles cramping like on my last two ~century rides. We finished the day with a cold stout at the Mountain Brewery (I abstained, preferring my unique Nuclear Mud formulation - banana, chocolate soy, soy protein powder, blueberries). That was yesterday.
Today was Sunday - long-run day. Dave, Di, and Sonia did multiple repeats of the 3 mile, 333 vertical foot Cox Loop, while I did a 2 hour run up West Ridge in Nicene Marks. Legs were pretty toasted, but no injuries and I'll just get stronger I do believe.

Posting done - now, if I can just stay awake long enough to actually get some astronomy work done.

First of the Big Rides...

2010-03-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

Feb 28, a rare dry day - and the Delucchi's had planned the first of the 100 miler days on the bike. I joined of course - a nice opportunity to train with my buds instead of my usual solo training. We left their home on Cox road, down to Aptos and Soquel, then up Old San Jose Rd to the Summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains. A stopover at Summit Store for a sandwich (I had my own PBJ, now mashed to a mess but tasting just fine in my micro fanny pack), and then up to Bear Creek Rd north of Hwy 17, and steeply down the other side towards Los Gatos and around Lexington Reservoir, and then back up Old Santa Cruz Hwy to Summit Rd and our second stop at the Summit Store. My calfs were seizing up, big time. I thought I might have to bail and limp back to the Delucchi's w/o the added Hazel Dell loop. But - maybe it's those electrolytes? I don't have salt in my home, it's one of those things I read bad stuff about decades ago, jettisoned, and never thought more about it. But it's getting clearer that I am under-salted! In fact, there at Summit store nothing sounded better than a big $4 sized bag of salted "sun chips". Even as the rest of our 4-some was clipping in and heading off, I was madly cramming into my squirrel-sized cheeks as many chips as I could. It worked! Slowly, my calfs unknotted, and by the time we were at the Browns Valley turn I was game for the extra ride up into the mountains on Hazel Dell, then Green Valley, into Watsonville's outskirts, then back to Corralitos and then to rural Aptos and the Deluch's place. 80 miles, and 6250 ft. Even did a 1/2 mile jog, w/o total seize up. Nutrition, Nolt! Got to get this straightened out before St. George...

Electrolyte Hell

2010-02-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

Well, doing a little reading up, my potassium needs equate to 10 bananas a day. And I've been more forgetful of my Ca/Mg supplements the past month. Getting only the 1000mg Ca typically (plus some from food). Combine that with my increase in protein to build muscle and recover more quickly from training days... Since I'm presumably using a fair amount of calcium in bone building since my hip resurfacing and osteoporosis, I'd love to think this issue'll be fixed by a little better nutrition discipline. Right calf still sore, no running this week. I rigged a bungee so I can lay in bed and stretch my calf comfortably while I watch the Olympics and tap away on my laptop.

Charlie Horse in the Desert

2010-02-15T23:36:00.000-08:00

President's Weekend, spent in the Mojave Desert helping (along with Ken Rockwell) with noted photographer Dave Wyman's workshop "Cultural Mirages" for the 7th straight year. An outstanding trip, with an accomplished group of participants. See my gallery soon, and gallery from past years here. After the workshop, I looked forward to doing a trail run through beautiful desert mountains. Drove out to Rainbow Basin, parked in a wash, prepared, did my stretches, packed my water and powerbar, sunscreen.... and turned to head off. My run lasted exactly 1 step. One! and I got the mother of all cramps in my right calf (my strong leg). Yow! I worried I'd really pulled something, but in fact it slowly got clear that it was just a bad cramp. But that was the end of my run. Can I log it as 0.0003 miles? What happened? Was it the fact my body's used to 2 bananas (potassium!) a day and I'd had 1 on Friday and none on Saturday or Sunday? Was it the food-on-the-road syndrome making for mineral deficiency? Seems far-fetched; don't minerals last longer than that? My eating hadn't been totally nutrient-free. I'd rested for 3 days since my last workout, so that wouldn't account for it either. It's a mystery. I bought a hand massager, am OD'ing on bananas and Ca/Mg tablets, and we'll see.

A Wet, Cold Saturday Ride in the Mountains

2010-01-17T00:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday - my long ride day. Eureka Canyon is my fave. Starting from Spa Fitness, over to Corralitos, up Eureka Canyon to the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains, along Highland, and down Old San Jose Rd to Soquel and Capitola and the gym again, is 42 miles and 3387 ft of gain. Today, I got an unusually late start - noon! Rain forecast by afternoon but I heard it would be light and hoped it would wait till I was done. I reached the upper headwaters of Aptos Creek, where the Silicon Valley mountain bikers like to park on the back side of Santa Rosalia Peak and then ride through the redwoods of Nicene Marks upper reaches. Here, the rain began. It gave a dark, ominous cast to these unpopulated forest areas, not far from the infamous Ormsby Cutoff crest of the ride, where a dirt road leads off to the netherlands of drug growers who guard their privacy zealously. At this point, I was still puffing uphill and wondered how well my bike would handle downhill. It has been many years since I rode my skinny tire Serrotta in the rain, and never intentionally. I've still got osteoporosis from years off my feet due to severe hip disease, fixed w/ surgery in '07. Going down hard on the slick pavement would be very bad. I considered pressing on to the nearest civilization - the Summit Store, and begging for a ride down in the back of someone's truck. Ignominious, but safe. My pride wouldn't let me and I figured I'd just trust the traffic would see me and not run me over or carom me off into the canyon. All went according to plan, except halfway down the steeps I heard a bad sound and got myself pulled over to find big fat construction staples poking into my rear tire. Doh! Salvagable, repairable, and with help from a nearby tree to shelter me from the rain, I got that solved. But I was wet and cold by the time I got back to the spa. I soaked my numbness in the hot tub for a good half hour, did some stretches, ran some errands, and then home.

"...it's just a mission statement..."

2010-01-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog. I will be posting progress on the many advancing (or retreating) fronts of my life. Especially for now - my training for Ironman St. George, and occasionally my thoughts on teaching, science, and philosophy, and progress on my search to help find new planets in the Galaxy. Enjoy!