Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Counting Down

I am still in Southern California. Still plowing through calories, traffic in the comfort of a car, not running and doing a good job of being a couch potato. The week before I left I had spent some time with an old buddy of mine, Jason Arth, and we were laughing at how easily and quickly I can transition from being a long mileage runner to a sloth. It's quite a feat requiring talent and skill I must say. The truth of it is that I'm the kind of person who likes to be lazy and eat all the wrong things. There are people who don't participate in athletic endeavours but keep themselves in good shape and eat responsibly. You know those people. I am the opposite of that. Don't make me show you pictures of my art college years. A time in my life where I was constantly stressed, sleep deprived and compensated by eating all the tasty bad things. Ironically it was also in art school that I got to know one of my instructors who told me that she "recovered" from her years of art school by taking up running and participating in marathons. Five years later I ran my first marathon, yeah I know, slow growing seed.

I'm coming down from this food and couch high though and priming myself for a return to training. I got big plans for 2010. I entered three race lotteries, didn't get into Western States 100-mile but got into the Miwok 100k and the Way Too Cool 50k. I've never run Way Too Cool but it's a popular one, fast, competitive and early - March 12th. I've pretty much decided on returning to the San Diego 100 in June and putting some serious thought to the Leadville 100 in August.

I'm heavy(ier) with no miles in my legs (12 miles logged for the month of December) but I'm also well rested and my two little but nagging pains (calf and plantar) is now gone. I've been pampered by my mom, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, cousins and friends. I'm ready to return to my "man cave" in San Francisco.

Before I go I would like to give a big shout out to all the active parents out there. You guys are such studs. I have always had respect for your ability to carry on despite the rigors and time demands of parenthood. My first four days here I was in a home with two young kids. A lot of fun but exhausting. A different kind of non-stop event.

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A ride with Jason the weekend before Christmas. Maybe more biking in January and February to keep the pounding down.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like great down time...enjoy...you'll be punishing yourself soon enough. And the kid thing...well, it helps keep things in perspective...like when your six year old asks if you won...makes me smile...and I wouldn't have it any other way...btw...it makes those runs in solitude really special. ;-)

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  2. Downtime is good. So is being spoiled by mom. Hope you had a great time with the family before the big year ahead. Happy New Year, Rick :)

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  3. Hanging with the little ones is definitely an endurance event all its own! Happy New Year! Sounds like the rest and spoiling will do you good.

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  4. Rick,
    I am in complete understanding with your slothy situation! And it's so hard to return to the "good" ways! I'm behind ya all the way though! ha Oh, and Dave, wait til your kids are TWELVE and ask if you won! Whatever! Peace!

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  5. Don't worry, Rick, with your tenacity, you will have another fine year. Enjoy your break. Definitely do some of the lower impact cross training such as the cycling that you mentioned along with some running the next few weeks to keep the total pounding (and pounds! :)) down. Happy New Year and hope to see you at more races in 2010! Ann

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  6. Rick, I am so glad to hear that you take the same approach to the off-season as I. If you're going to rest, go big, right? I always laugh when people say "I took some time off. Now after 8 days, I'm ready to start training again." Uh, yeah. That doesn't count as time off!! You're right though. It takes a certain talent to be a total sloth after training so hard. We should be proud! :)

    Glad to hear the injures have abated. Good luck with the training, and hope to see you out on the trails this year!

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