Do you remember when...

you built your first bike ramp and were kind of afraid of it at first




but you went for it anyway



then started charging it as hard as you could




and blocked it up so you could go higher and farther







and what a rush it was



well, I remember, and I got to relive all of that today

thanks Max!

Holiday Fun

I can't remember the last time I had two weeks off from work. It's been epic! I love the Holidays, and this year my wonderful wife busted out all the shopping online, super-early in the season, so there was really nothing left to do except some assembly and wrapping, oh, and lots of time to enjoy beverages, eating great food, and playing games with the kids.

Spending everyday with the fam has been outstanding. We've had great weather for running, riding, and going to the beach, and to top it off, the Chargers came back from the end of the season dead and crushed the Broncos.

Me, my dad, and his wife's grandkids also did a fun little 5K downtown, which was followed by the Holiday Bowl Parade. I've lived in San Diego most of my life, and had never gone to this parade before. I'm not much a parade person, but this one was really fun with the floating balloons and all, and of course some outstanding SD weather.

Hope your holidays have been great too, and that you and your families have a Happy (and safe!) New Years!

Rest : the wonder drug

In the weeks following the Silver Strand Half Marathon, I'd been very bummed out. Running while compensating for a blister on that day really messed me up.

On two runs attempted in the weeks following, even though I ran short distances at very moderate paces (tortise-like paces compared to some people I follow), I was having extreme pain in both knees, and my left hip. I was really worried that I'd done something very bad. On the third run attempt it was so bad that I had to stop within 1oo yds - my wife and kids were surprised to see me back, and I was depressed. I didn't want to talk or write about it for fear that doing so would make it real.

So, I stopped running, and hoped that with some rest, my body could heal itself, but in my paranoia, I doubted that it would. I was really worried about my left knee in particular, thinking that maybe I'd tore a meniscus or something.

Fortunately, the busy schedule with Thanksgiving, my kids campouts, etc. have managed to keep my mind off of it a bit, but then...

Getting the early registration notice for the Wildflower triathlon brought the worries back to the forefront. Should I shell out $220 (wow) for a race that I might not even be able to do? What about the CA 1/2IM? As you can see, I'm a worrier.

This past week, though, brought some happinees since I've been pain-free while walking, and the weather has been fabulous. This morning I felt like I've given it enough time, and decided to give it a go again.

Wow, soooo much better. Yeah, there was a little pain in the left knee during the hill climbing parts, but I feel like it's going to get better, and the hip and right knee were totally pain free.

I had forgotten how much I missed my morning runs down along Cardiff to the Solana Beach sign and back, and this morning was absolutely glorious. Wind free, quiet, and extremely clear. What an amazing sunrise, and the clarity and peace that comes to my head cannot be beat.

After the run, I was like a giddy school kid after a goal-scoring soccer game.

So, my Christmas present has come early this year, and I'm thankful that the gods of rest have smiled upon me.

Princess Weekend at Marston

This weekend I took my daughter on her Indian Princess camp out at Camp Marston, just outside of Julian.

For those of you without kids, let me tell you that I was one of those guys that was very, very afraid of parenthood, and thought that there was a good chance that I wouldn't like it (selfish person that I am), and an equally good chance that I would be terrible at it.

I now think I am living proof that the cliche about not liking kids until you have your own is absolutely 100% true, in my case at least. I don't know if I'm good, bad, or otherwise at it, but for me, nothing really beats spending some great time with my kids doing fun stuff.

It's really quite wonderful seeing them learning and enjoying new things, coming into their own as people with interesting, and quite often funny things to say.

The weather at Marston this weekend could not be beat. Perfect temperature, perfect blue sky days, and starry windless nights. And Marston, like Indian Hills, is one of those places where you can fully take advantage of all that great weather. There is so much to do up there that you're never at a loss for something fun.

I'll be back up there in two weeks with my son - can't wait!

Silver Strand Half Marathon

Sunday was the Silver Strand Half Marathon, and it was my first race at this distance. The location is great, the course is really flat, and it seemed to me that the turnout reflected that. I had hoped to set a PR here given that there are no hills, unlike my half marathon route at home, but that was not to be. In fact, I turned in my worst time ever at this distance.

I don't handle heat well, and today I was really overheating. At one point, I had slowed to a 10:30 min/mile pace to try to recover, but my HR was still at 184 which is about 7 bpm higher than my normal 7:30 pace HR. Eventually, I just had to start pouring water over myself at the aid stations, looking very sad indeed, not to mention embarrassing when everyone else was seeming fine. I was doing OK by cooling myself down like that, but I think they skipped an aid station as there was one at mile 7 and not another till mile 10. Normally, I wouldn't need that much water anyway, but today, I needed it. Around mile 9, I think, all that water was working wonders in my shoes and I had developed a good blister on my big toe.

Well I finally got myself to the finish and was limping around. I think I must've been compensating for the blister and really messed up my stride. Anyway, I found my dad who did the 5K, and we hung out and chatted as I snacked a little. It was really great seeing dad at the finish since it was pretty crowded, and I didn't think I'd find him or vice versa.

As I was leaving, I spotted James and Beth and went over to congratulate them on an amazing year of triumphs. Beth made her goal of running a sub 1:30 - congrats Beth!

Well, my first half marathon event is done. Now on to the Carlsbad half, and hopefully cooler temperatures.

Puerto Vallarta

The pictures say it all. The only training that got done this week was repeated margarita lifts, throwing kids into the pool, and laughing with our friends.

To top it all off, I got home in time to watch the Xterra world championships web feed and see James Walsh win his AG. Congrats James!!!

7.6 Mile Paddleboard

No waves today, so went paddleboarding instead this morning with my buddy Trey Foshee. Started at Cardiff reef and paddled to the Del Mar powerhouse and back (route here). On the down current / down wind leg heading to Del Mar, I paddled the shorter and slower of the two boards. Heading back (the harder direction), Trey put me on the longer/faster board. The wind really kicked up on the leg back north. It was supposed to be a Santa Ana today, but the wind was coming straight out of the north during that leg. Good thing I was on the bigger board, because it took everything I had to get back to Cardiff. Trey, on the other hand, just crushed it. He was paddling the short, stubby, push-all-the-water-in-front-of-you-board, and he was still killin me. He was so far ahead that I lost sight of him until Seaside reef where he was waiting on me (he should've just finished), and freezin his butt off because the north wind was now ripping.

I was glad to get back, but it felt great! Next time I'll bring a clif bar or something if we paddle that long. I almost repeated my bonk episode of yesterday's run. Some people never learn!

7.6 Miles, 2 hrs 15 min, 3.38 MPH pace

One interesting thing I find about paddleboarding is that it's much less cardio than running, swimming, or even biking. Even at the end of that long paddle, I was not tired in the way that I am after a hard swim, bike or run. It seems more of a long endurance push of strength in the shoulder and arm muscles. Perhaps if I was more of a paddler, and stronger at it, I could ramp my pace up enough to make it cardio. Even so, I really enjoy it. It's so excellent being out on our beautiful north county ocean, particularly on a day like today, and be entirely under your own power.