Tangent

My brain has been churning for a few days after the midterm elections. I am a political junkie of sorts. I oscillate between hope and severe cynicism. Anyway I think there may be something at play that I wanted to jot down.

I think there is national funk going on. I think that many people (especially outside the Washington beltline) are starting to feel that the best times are behind the USA. They see that incomes are flat or falling while at the same time things (health care, food, utilities) are increasing in price, even though the government says that inflation is flat or non existent. Young people have to go into debt to get through college and still cannot get a job. Senior citizens see their life savings riding on the stock market roller coaster or no cost of living increases from Social Security.
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What this all means is that people are scared, angry and frustrated. What do you do when you are in this funk?
1. You can become a Tea Bagger . Yes government is failing to solve anything. They keep spending money they do not have.
2. You can latch on political party and hope beyond logic that they will finally do what they say in the soundbites.
3. You can look for someone to blame for all the problem: illegal immigrant, socialists, aliens?
4. You give up. You do not vote because you believe (with some good logic) that nothing will change.

We are in trouble! Why would the same parties that have been in charge for the last 100 years do something radical to change the direction of the country? If you add in the factor of money and special influence, it is unlikely that we will see any real change in the next several years. A Tea party activists is not much different from a hard core Democratic party idealist. I think they hold these strong and passionate beliefs because the alternative is to accept that it possibly hopeless.

I got into a heated discussion with someone after a 'progressive rally'. This person was criticizing me because I was critical of Obamas middling health care reform, lack of follow through on closing Guantanamo and the practise of assassinations of both foreigners and US citizens without any due process. His point was that we have to support the Democrats because the alternative is so much worse.

I really hope that is not what we have come to. I also feel that things are in a bad shape in this country. We cannot continue to do nothing because we are sliding backwards.
I often fantasize about a party or group of leaders who would lay out a vision for the future. I hope that things do not get much worse before we see some alternative future.

What Happened to the Year

Okay. Its still only October and the summer weather has not moved out yet. It was in the 80's last week which is a bit of a drag because last weekend was the Glacial Trail 50 mile race that I vowed to get revenge for a breakdown two years ago. Well, the good news is that that trail kicked by sorry ass again. I think I may have topped my time by 3 minutes from 10 hr and 58 minutes to 10 hr and 55 minutes - now the two slowest 50 mile times I have ever run (if you want to call it that).

Race recap - Kudos to Robert Wehner and all the volunteers. It is a blast to see Tom and Lorraine Bunk, Julie Treder, etc. at the aid stations. I ran the first half in 4hr 30 minutes and then I bonked for the next 6 1/2 hrs. I remember seeing Christine Crawford at the mile 30 aid station. I plopped down in the shade next to her and she asked if I was done. I replied that I was done but I was going on. It was about 5 miles past there that I had a bad vomiting episode where I lost all the fluids I had consumed for the prior 30 minutes. I could get nutrition to stay down. At Baker Lake, Julie T and Lorraine B. gave me ice and ginger ale and I plonked down for another 10 minutes before staggering on. I kept waiting for the second or third wind. Maybe I did get them because I finished but I cannot really differentiate between struggle and hope.

Next Year dammit!

Summer

Summer...... It has been a hot and balmy summer here in south central Wisconsin. Running has been OK. I have not been able to really get long runs in. I did run the Madison Marathon with my buddy Tom. The race was called around 4 hrs because of heat but I finished in around 3hr 35' which got me a 3rd place in my age group. Kind of a nice surprise.

Summer running is when you get up knowing you will lose about 1 to 2 pints an hour to sweat. It is hard to carry or access enough water to do long runs. Then there are the bugs. If you run in the woods, you can outrun the mosquitoes but the black flies will get you. If you stop or slow down too much, then the mosquitoes will swarm you and take blood. I am not really complaining because summer running is a real challenge and its a blast to try to work through it.

Skipping Ice Age 50 Mile

For the first time in a few years, I will not run the Ice Age 50 mile or even the 50K this weekend. The Chippewa 50K convinced me that I do not have the base to really have a good (or at least not a really bad) run. Best wishes to all who are participating. It looks like great weather - low 50's for the high, no rain.

My hip is finally feeling OK. Its hard to tell completely because I have been working for the last three weeks on a exterior remodel job with friend Kevin M. I don't remember if I mentioned that I am a carpenter/ solar installer by income. It is tough to do carpentry and tear off siding or roofs, etc. and then run first at 5AM. Climbing ladders gets real tough at my age after a 10 mile run before work.

Had a decent run last weekend. I ran the Lake Monona 20K race which Tom and I do as a training run. Its a good race - lots of participants, good course and beer and wings at the finish. I finished around 1 hr 33?'.

Since the galcial series is not going to happen for me this year, I am still trying to figure out some good events to participate in......

Chippewa 50K and Sylvester

Well,

I am resting after the Chippewa 50K race this last weekend. I was lamenting the cancellation of this race in January when I was informed that it was picked up by another group.

First, the positives:

1. The weather was great. It was cloudy and cool at the start with plenty of sunshine.

2. The trail was nice and soft with lots of moss and leaves.

3. Great Race - I had a good time once again and thanks to all the organizers and volunteers

Negatives

1. I had a crappy race. The first half was good and fast. The last third was a death march. I am not sure what happened but a list of likely suspects would include: under training, hip injury, stomach problems, going out too fast.

2. The nice and leafy trail covered up a lot of root and rocks so I took about 4 falls. None too serious but more than my average.

My wife Geri ran the new 10K and we had another good weekend up in Chetek. Reds Tavern was definitely the best dinner we have had in town. This area is really nice and the lakes around Chetek are beautiful.

Anyway, back to the race. I have been suffering from a nagging hip pain for over a month that I was suspecting might even be a stress fracture so I had stopped running for the two weeks prior to the race. Good for my hip but bad for me. The first 10 miles of the race were sweet. Lots of singletrack up ridges and around countless lakes. Add a few boardwalks and bridges and it is as nice a run as I have ever participated in. The last 5 miles to the turnaround are a bit less spectacular but still pretty nice. I was dragging at the turnaround at about 2hr 25 minutes but I thought 5 and change was possible but things wend bad pretty quick. I got lost after a mile or two and added about 1/2 mile or so but mentally that hit me right when my body was rebelling. Stomach pains, calf pains lack of energy plagued me the rest of the way in. I would get passed and get a bit of energy trying to keep pace but I always dropped back. I kept waiting for the second wind but it never came. Anyway, the last mile is great because most of it is downhill except for the evil hill in the last 1/4 mile which I managed to stagger up.

Its weird how crappy you can feel but then feel OK about an hour later. We headed to the hotel and a shower and rest for an hour made me fine to go out for a few beers and dinner.

The other tough thing is that we had to put our cat Sylvester to sleep this afternoon. We have had Sylvester since we lived in San Jose and he was about 17 years old although we don't really know because he showed up in our driveway 15 years ago in bad shape. He was a good soul and he shared out life in Singapore, San Francisco and finally Madison. He joins our cat Maya who passed away two months ago as well. The photo I found of them made me smile. They were buddies but also competitors for food even though they never went hungry living with us.

Rest in peace friends!

John Dick and Turkeys

Well, the first long run of the year - the John Dick 50K - was last weekend (Feb6th). I have been doing this run for three years in a row now. The race/run is held on the trails around Scuppernong near Oconomowoc, WI. Since it is early February in Wisconsin, that means you are running on snow/ice/slush or a mixture of all three.
This year, the conditions were pretty good. We had gone a stretch without fresh snow so I was worried it would be too icy but we got a few inches of fresh stuff on Tuesday before the race so it worked out pretty good (although there were sections where the ice slick was showing through the snow). It was about 20F if I remember correctly and we had sun shining through a light cloud cover. It never got too warm or too cold. I started running with my buddy Tom Schlaefer and got a few laps (the course this year was 5 laps of a 10K course) in before I started struggling. The course has one aid station manned and an unmanned water/gatoraid station at the other end of the loop. I have always had trouble getting a base of sufficient miles over winter here in Wisconsin so this race is always a bit of a struggle. At the same time, it is fun to see all the local runners: Robert Wehner (RD), Tom Bunk, Mary Gorski, C. Crawford, Julie Treder, etc.. Great job to Robert and the Badgerland Striders for the event.

Anyway, the last few miles were a struggle but I finished in 5hrs and change.

I had a bizarre experience last week on a morning run. I passed a group of turkeys on a city street and I turned around to look back and saw one of them jogging after me. Another turkey flew out of a tree and joined his pal in chasing after me. I wasn't near any females or chicks so I was unsure what they were doing but sure enough, they started catching up to me. I stopped and faced them but they had no intention of stopping. They were looking at me with these dead eyes and I proceeded to try to back away and wave my arms to scare them off. They were not the least bit afraid of me. I was kicking snow and ice chunks with little effect. This went on for about 100 feet and I was wondering what to do about this. I know turkeys have pretty sharp spurs so I didn't want to turn my back and run for it. Finally, I was able to create about 15 feet of space by throwing ice and I sprinted down the road and lost them. That was pretty weird. I have run by group of turkeys for years and never seen them act aggressively in the past????

Winter Still

I went out for a run this morning. The thermometer read -2 when I headed out the door and the wind chill was about -15. I decided to do the run to the UW Arboretum which is about 4 miles one way and then see what I felt like doing. I actually did not feel too cold starting out. The layering I had on helped alot. When I got to the Arb. I decided to try a turnaround at 9 miles and then back to the barn. This ended up being about 18.75 miles for the day. For some reason (probably because it was cold as hell) my 'member' was chilling up at about 15 miles. I had some hand warmers so put one of those in my wind briefs which did the job. Anyway, it has been a pretty good week for mileage. I will end up with 52 or so after tomorrows run. Next week is the John Dick 50K which it looks like might be good this year. The run the last two years has been on snow so we are supposed to get an inch or two over the next week which should soften the icy crust that is currently on the ground - no snow for two weeks or so but no warm weather either.

Still bummed about Chippewa 50K cancellation? WTF?

I am still unsure what to set for goals this year. I would like to do the Mad City 100k in early April. The Ice Age 50 and Kettle are always good races. Maybe I should look for something out of the state??

Happy 2010

Well...... Its been a while. It has been a pretty slow fall for me running wise. First, I suffered through some calf strain issues starting in late October. Then I ran a half marathon (Tyranena) in early November which was a beautiful day and run but I pulled my calf muscle again at about 3 miles and ran through it only to severely aggravate my injury.

This is the first day of 2010. It is a typical January day in Wisconsin. It is partly cloudy with a high around 10F and a morning temp around 2F with a breeze making the wind chill about -10. What do you do on days like this? Well, you can run. And that is what I did. This is the day for the New Years Day dash - a local 5 mile run. It is started from a chicken wing joint in Middleton, WI so you also get to run against a chicken as well as the other runners. The problem is that the chicken is pretty darn fast. I beat the chicken this year and finished first in my age group (34'50" or so) so I got a cheesy mug. Running in the cold requires a few modifications including:
1. Wind briefs - these are magical underwear that keep your organs from freezing. This is not something to snicker about. A run at 10F or so with a slight breeze can result in some serious chilling that can be pretty frightening. The briefs eliminate the problem- period.
2. Long underwear
3. Tights
4. Long sleeve shirt (coolmax or something like it)
5. Glide for the nipples due to the rubbing of all the layers
6. A wind proof top (windstopper fabric)
7. A balaclava (sp?) to keep your ears and cheeks from freezing
8. Hat
9. Gloves or mittens
10. Yak tracks on shoes to keep from falling on your ass

I know it sounds weird to run like this but you can actually do OK once you get used to it. I will not even start on carrying water(which tends to freeze after about 30 minutes).

I am thinking about my running goals for this new year. I will jot them down soon.

PS- I heard that the Chippewa 50K has been cancelled this year. I am not sure why or what happened but this is a huge disappointment. This race is one of the most beautiful runs I have ever done. This throws a serious wrench in any plans for my Glacial Trail Series for 2010.