Wednesday 31MAY2023

Crazy weird sleep last night:  freaky dreams and chills.  Sorta wondering if I had a fever for part of the night.  Definitely fighting something tho ... RHR at the desk is jacked up about 30 bpm than usual.

Snuck out for an hour on the bike between the afternoon t-storms and some evening calls with APAC.  Easy spin.  

Tuesday 30MAY2023

Back to work.  

While walking the dog, I decided to jog a few steps.  The ankle sort of felt better.  I knew there was still some residual stuff in there, but I thought I'd test it.  And nope, it ain't better yet.  Damn it.   

I was talking to JZ recently how I am bothered by the on-going "getting old" conversation that seems to be in every conversation I have with people.  It is boring.  Yes, we are getting older.  We all are.  So what?

But it is hard not to.  I can't go an hour it seems without some reminder that it is happening.  An ache in the leg.  That weird callus thing on my hand.  A note from my doc's office that it is time for a colonoscopy.  Being told that the guitar is a boomer instrument.  Hearing countless references as to how we are empty nesters.  Age group time conversions for races.  Junk mail inviting me to try some testo therapy or to join the AARP.  Even in Japan, when we hit a local brewery, someone told us we were the oldest people there ... 

I'll try not to complain (another post for another time is the complaint fast), but I am going to try to live without worrying about aging.  

15 plus miles on the bike.   I am assuming my bike fit is crap because I end up with a sore neck, shoulders, and sometimes my arms sorta fall asleep ... 

I have been thinking about cycling to running conversions.  Which is a bit of a useless exercise.

A long time ago I heard that a mile is about a 100 cals burned.  Yeah, I know there is variability in that based on your fitness (Meb K was supposedly only burning 68 cals a mile), how heavy you are, efficiency, conditions, etc.  But you get the idea.  

I have also heard that biking equivalent is about a 2.5x the time / 5x the distance.  That would mean a 10 mile run would need to be about 50 miles (and if in 80 minutes for the run about 3:20 timewise).  That sorta seems like a lot on some rides, and not really on others.  It wouldn't line up nicely for today's spin tho.

Monday 29MAY2023

I woke up at 1.   Yes, 1 AM.   After futzing in the bed trying get back to sleep for a bit, I went to the kitchen.  TZ was up too and she was baking.  I made a salsa for later in the day eating.  I really didn't get back to sleep until 4 and then rolled out of the rack at 9:30.

And then I realized how different this particular Monday was.  A decade and half ago, this would have been all about the Bolder Boulder 10k.  I had forgotten that it was even taking place until I saw a post with a bunch of the local Eagles wearing sub 40 club shirts.   

The fact that I couldn't come close to that sub 40 these day was not the surprise.  I know where my fitness is not.  It was more that I had completely moved this event, something that was the event of the year, from my brain so deeply.  Mixed feelings on that:  both the desire to get back to that and do it in a way that is not self-comparative to what I was and chuckling at the fact that it is not a big deal anymore - and why was it ever?

Later in the AM I got out for a ride.  Did some with JZ who was jogging, and then got out with GW for his run.  It was good to catch up with him after a few weeks away, including how the boys did at the State meet.  Did a few more miles with TZ and it rounded me at about 20 for the day.  

I can say confidently that GW coached another 15 seconds out of that 4x800 meter squad.  That was good enough for them to take get 12th in State.  That may not seem great, but they went in as the 16 seed, and the week before State, they were the 20th seed - and therefore not going to make it (in Colorado, the top 18 times in the 5A classification, or the largest school classification, based on time - make the State meet).  I think under a different coach the kids would have run 8:25 and people would have been generally content with that.  GW truly worked at a level with these guys to get them to that next level.  It was pretty magical to see - and all four of those boys ran a 800m PR at the State meet.  8:08 and change.  And three of them are juniors, along with the two alternates.  They are already talking about a run at the school record next year (7:54.65).  

It will be a stretch, but - hell that is what goals are supposed to be about.  

Sunday 28MAY2023 ... music #gom blabber

Biked 21.5 miles, heading a bit further east than I have on the 36 bikeway.  It breaks down into neighborhoods once you get past Sheridan but it is still a nice ride.  I got hit with a thunderstorm on the last 20 minutes.  That was sorta nice ... I mean, there was no hail, so no biggie.  Got a little body weight exercise stuff in too.

I imagine I look like quite the chump boomer on the bike.  It is mountain bike that is older than both of my offspring.  The front brake is sort of wonky.  I wasn't wearing a shirt.  I got this old guy pony tail now.  And no helmet.  Just cruising at 12 - 15 mph.  

But better than doing nothing.  I had to get out today.  I was up at midnight and struggled to get back to sleep - the expected outcome of being 15 time zones ahead for the last two weeks.  The spin sort of set me straight a little bit.  Stomach was a bit wonky too, the outcome of 28 hours of airplane food.  

Ended up digging on some Tears for Fears today.  I had not heard them in forever, but as a youngster I really dug them and found their music interesting.  It was just different than what others were doing at the time.

While in Japan, I ended up in a bit of a debate with the adult youngsters - sounding like an old man - about top of chart music these days versus what it used to be.  They kept queueing up these four chord (if that) songs with little variation:  nothing different in the chorus except maybe a variation in the speed of the melody.  Nothing really to mix it up - like a key change or a break ... I do dig, and even cover, some of these songs - and hell, what I write ain't any better (but my stuff ain't sellin' any records) - but most music these days is just sort of plain.  Okay, there are some very interesting cats but they don't seem to get much play (e.g., Ren, Polyphia).   Not that there is a radio they get played on.  

Yeah, I know, #GOM stuff.  

I would ask young people I coached what sort of music they were into and most would shrug and say "I dunno."  Yeah, there was the occasional kid who would be really into country or might even shock me by saying Led Zep, but most said they just listened to whatever was queued up on Spotify or Apple Music.  That is a change for sure:  you used to know a little something about someone based on the music they liked.  You're wearing a Dead shirt, ok got it.  You - wearing the Nirvana sweater, I got that too.  I asked a kid recently who happened to be wearing a Nirvana shirt if they knew any songs by them and they said no, they just liked the shirt.  I decided not to do the Foo Fighter follow up.

And you used to have to invest a bit to like that music.  You had to buy the album or the 45 or the cassette and then the CD.  That has obviously changed - as we all have it all now on these little devices.  That is great, but it has shifted how we treat that art too.

I ain't complaining really.  It is just a change.  I just dug Tear for Fears today.  

Ok, back to clearing the time zone brain fog.  

General update ... end of May 2023

Well, I haven't run in about six weeks - or since I was in Chicago in April.  

I don't really know what I did to mess up my ankle but it seems like it is the post tibial tendon.  I am not really sure what level of damage I did to it, but given its slowness to heal, I wouldn't be surprised if it was partially torn.  Even after all this time, there is still some pain there.  I know that walking on it in Japan for 15 mile days didn't help (I could see the swelling at the end of the day) but I was not going to miss that.  

Being in Japan made not running easier.  I could just enjoy where I was at and not worry about it.  It would have been nice to jog with KZ, but I demonstrated a modicum of discipline to not do that.  

Now that we are back, I could start the process of getting it really figured out.  That means doc, referral, probably an x-ray, another read/referral, MRI ... and I think it ends up being the same even if I don't do that:  don't run on it for a bit.  Yeah, there could be something else where they say "hey this is a surgical matter" but that seems unlikely.   I have generally resigned to waiting it out to see if it heals on a 3 month window.

In the past this would have been maddening for me.  It still sorta is, but it is a voice I can manage.  I pulled out of the burro racing game for the summer, and it seems that Pikes will be next unless I am running by July.  

Frankly, it is easy not to run.  It is less easy to live the rest of the day or week or month without running.   I will get back to running, I just don't know when yet.  It is simple as that.  I want to run, play in the mountains, and even compete ... but I am not there right now and perhaps in the least physically conditioned I have been in all of my adult life.  It is simple as that and it doesn't require more analysis than that.

I say that for me more than anyone.  For now.  

The trip to Japan was ... well, lazily said ... incredible, amazing, wonderful.  The posts on it before this are also lazy.  A few pixs grabbed from the close to a 1000 taken.  It ain't gonna be captured well in a blog post anyway.   We kept talking about our favorite parts:  a temple, a shrine, a view, something in nature, the food ... I think for me it was the deep belly laughs with my family.  It has been a long time since the four of us were together long enough to do that for that much.  That was my favorite part and a pic doesn't really need to grab that.  

Japan 2023 Part 3 (back to Kawatana)

We returned to Kawatana and hit KZ's favorite noodle spot.  It was divine in its understated nature, the beauty of its food, and how damn good it was.  

We spent the remaining days exploring Kawatana and the surrounding areas, the local mountain, pottery shops, places to eat, the parks and paths ...

Japan 2023 Part 2 (Osaka and Kyoto)

We flew from Nagasaki airport to Osaka.  It started a bit tough because Peach Air was not going to allow me to bring my travel guitar with me in the cabin.  Rather than ship it, a recipe for destruction IMO, I left it in KZ's car.  I was fairly convinced it would be melted by the time we got back (but it worked out that it was fine).   Once we got to Osaka airport (KIX), we fumbled around trying to figure out what train to take to get to downtown (a bit of a challenge given the language differences).   Once we got settled, we headed out for eats.  Osaka is an incredible city and we only got a short glimpse of it.  

W

Osaka - I think you could eat out every night of your life there and never see a quarter of the places.  The ones in the back alleys are the way to go for sure.

Then it was the bullet train to Kyoto.  What a marvel.  So comfortable, so easy, so fast.  If I visit Japan again to see KZ, I'd take the train from Tokyo to Fukuoka.  Makes flights seem horrible.  

Kyoto is unbelievable.  It is truly a magical city with over 1600 temples and shrines.  We took hundreds of pictures.  

We ended up wandering a quiet canal alley, found great food and drink, enjoyed the fireflies and the magic of it.  

Our second day there we ended up walking over 15 miles, taking in temples, shrines and an infinite number of Torri gates.

There was sushi of course as well.

Hit up a bamboo forest. 

On our last day, we still walked another ten miles, taking in more ... and again just scratching the surface.  

It was then back to Kawatana (next post).

Japan 2023 Part 1 (first part in Kawatana)

We went and visited KZ in Japan.  

She lives in the Nagasaki prefecture, in a smaller town (but bigger than most in CO) called Kawatana.  There she teaches English at the junior high school and an elementary school.  It was, as expected, a long day to get there (really about a full day from door to door).

Her middle school.

Enjoyed a meal where you cook your own meats at the table our first night.  

We were generally comically confused in grocery stores.  There was liberal use of Google Translate (a ridiculous app:  see something in Japanese, hold your phone camera up to it and then see it translated in about 2 seconds). 

Went to a traditional onsen our second night, so no pics from that.  KZ made us dinner.

We then headed to Osaka and Kyoto for a couple of days.  We flew to Osaka, but first we stopped at the "Corgi Cafe" - also called Dog Hill in Kawatana.  Basically, an eatery where there are Corgi dogs walking around.  I'll cover the Osaka and Kyoto piece in the next post.  

Nothing really new

Nothing really new here.  

I haven't run in about a month now.  The post tibial tendon swelling has subsided but there is still a fair amount of soreness in there.  I bike some, lift some but have not run.  I can flare it up a bit if I am on my feet too long or if I walk a bit too much.  

At first, of course, it was crazy frustrating.  Being accustomed to running 50 miles a week ... well, when that goes away it, and there are racing goals on the horizon, it sucks.  But, again of course, I have grown used to it, and that has settled down.  Not running is not that hard actually.  

I have to come to terms with the fact that a run at Fairplay or Pikes this year seems out of the cards.  Even if I get this thing back together by June, it would seem unreasonable to expect that I can run those sorts of distances, climbs, at elevation.  

That bums me out.  Of course.  But ... breathe in, and realize what it is for what it is.  

I can't say I love the biking.  It's all right but it ain't this magical substitution for me.  It might be that I don't have a great bike (its at least 30 years old).  I appreciate that I can use it to get a good thump in my neck going, and that I can explore a bit, but I can't report here that I love biking. 

I have been trying to get into the weight room.  I have been using the Eagle gym to do that (HS) but that is coming to an end.  I am pretty sure I am unraveling from coaching at Broomfield.  We are considering moving to the mountains and I have to separate a bit from some of that stuff.  That is also a bit sad - it has been an amazing seven years doing that.  We got a boys squad to the State 4x8 this year and that was something else (it has been a coin flip all year if they would make it and so getting in at 16th - they take top 18) was a big deal.  Again, it is a closing chapter, which is sort of a bummer, but at the same time, it was a good run, and it will be good pivot and get some of that time back.  I may pop into help occasionally.  

So, yeah, a fair amount of shifts there:  not running for a while and not sure when I will get back to it, working on a move to the mountains, not coaching the HS anymore.  I can say some of it comes with age, or some of it is just the natural way of things, but at the same time I can say those were somethings I thought I might do forever.   That was folly for thought of course.  Nothing like that sticks.  

But for now, in Japan for a little bit (saw that coming, didn't ya?) visiting KZ.

 

So this post is happily coming from you from 15 hours in the future of Mountain Time.   Which means I am upside timewise and up in the middle of the night.  

Keep livin' it.  

Check in the week ending 30APR2023

In regards to my training, not much new to report.  I had hoped for a quick recovery post the trip to Mark.  While in Libertyville this past week, I did some running, but I could tell I was aggravating the post tib tendon a lot.  So, back to no running and I guess some biking for a bit.   Starting to question if Pikes and Fairplay are reasonable ideas.

But there is still music for now.  

A statement regarding Pack Burro racing - 22APR2023

I have been the lucky benefactor of running with a burro that has to be at least considered in a "Hall of Fame" conversation for Pack Burro Racing  Jack.   Jack has three wins at Fairplay, six at Leadville , and a Triple Crown win.  And a lot of 2nd and 3rd places in the mix there as well.  

Part of the reason I have had that luck of running with Jack is by way of support of Bill Lee of Laughing Valley Ranch and Amber and Brad Wann.  They have been nothing but supportive of me in donkey racing and life for over a decade.   They bring a passion to burro racing and a wanting to share that with others.  

I have seen how some folks don't share their vision.  In 2012, when Jack and I made a run at the Triple Crown (we came up short, losing in BV after winning Fairplay and Leadville), it was made clear to me that others didn't appreciate a suburbanite from New England who was now a Colorado corporate weenine "who didn't own his burro racing for such a trophy.    

And then Jack would put his head on my shoulder and I could know that at least this donkey didn't care if I was the person who owned him or not.  We enjoyed each other's company and we dug running in the mountains together.

In the eyes of critics, I didn't really understand these animals and therefore I was somewhat of an outsider.  Bill, the Wanns, Laughing Valley Ranch ... by some they were considered as part of a problem of inviting in outsiders and spoiling the sport.  

In my view, they were doing the opposite:  they were creating an opportunity for people to learn about animals, the outdoors, our state history, and themselves through Pack Burro Racing,  Their passion was the key driver to make this ridiculous event Colorado's official Summer Heritage Sport by law.  

Jack and I are both past our fastest racing days but we will both look to make some show at the burro racing circuit this summer.  And I wish I could say that is all there is too it:  just a simple thanks to Jack, Bill, and the Wanns for some great races and memories.

Unfortunately, that is not the case.  

I have been decidedly fairly quiet in the public space about much of the news surrounding pack burro racing in the last couple of years.  Pack burro racing has always had what its own folks call "donku-drama."  It is a term I first heard from either Bill Lee or the now deceased Curtis Imrie.  Those guys shared with me that Colorado's Summer Heritage Sport had a long standing tradition of people worrying about things that the donkeys really didn't seem to care about.   There have been debates about saddle weight, what is really a pick axe, the use of intact jacks in races, the use of in heat jennies in races, if this team cut a race corner or lost control of the rope and didn't go back to where they lost it, and any number of things.

In the last couple of years however, the amount of this drama and its volume seems to swelled to new levels:  questions over the integrity of Western Pack Burro Association elections, who calls the shots at the races (the town or the WPBA), heightened debates over rules of the races including where spectators can observe from, use of jack chains, and cutoffs at races.

I have tried to steer clear of most of this stuff, but I have waded into the soup on occasion.  I wasn't a fan of splitting the start between long course and short course at Fairplay.  One year at Idaho Springs, another racer accused me of not keeping my rope and I accused him of cutting a switchback (and we weren't smiling about it ... by the way, neither of us won that race).  

I and those around me look to remind me that it is better to consider the bigger picture: be grateful that you can run these things with these beautiful beasts of burden in an amazing backdrop of the Rocky Mountains.  And oh yeah, mostly - the donkeys don't care about our human created ridiculousness.  

The Chaffee County Times have recently released two articles on some of this (1, 2),  Like any good controversy, there is a bunch different perspectives, hurt feelings, and multiple sides to the story.  

This story however also has a character that has been considered divisive for years, and long before his entry into the burro racing circuit as a race director or WPBA member.   You can refer to the article to get a sense of some of that history. 

I find when this person comes up in conversation, most of us are a bit stuck.  Most of us don't want to wade into controversy, or are looking to abide by the rule of "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."  And so we don't do or say anything publicly.  We let it go, and hope that it will go away.  

But my experience is that in our private conversations we state our disgust at his ego, his brazen nature to capitalize for himself first while trying to paint it in the light of some broader good fellowship effort and, perhaps worst of all - his inability to respond to any criticism.  This is almost always met with some sort of rant of how he is being bullied, and a character attack on the person raising the concern.    

You might not share my view.  That is fine.  You make your choices and I will make mine.    If you don't like the decisions of any town with their race choices, including who the RD is, "vote" with your choices and don't participate.  Instead, support those who support the values you support. 

I recognize my essay here, support of Bill/The Wanns and the criticism of some won't sit well with some and I may deal with consequences from that.  There are some who could interpret this text as being disrespectful in some regard, and therefore, such behavior could disqualify me from participating in pack burro races (see page 31).  I am willing to deal with those consequences if some authority deems them necessary and appropriate:  I'd rather stand with these folks who have helped me than at the starting line of a race being directed by someone who has questionable motives, been destructive and I think the sport would be better off without.  

And remember, the donkeys mostly don't care.  

Checking in

Not much to report since the last bloggy post.  I have been fighting the foot issue. My left post tibial tendon is irritated and it has made running uncomfortable at best and impossible at times.  After screwing around with the injury for six weeks (since going to Tullamore), I finally went to Mark P for some treatment.  The jury is out as to how this is progressing.

So limited running.  Like I said, not much to report there.

Band and music has been fun as of late.  No tendon issues in the hands yet.

Current plan is to just not worry about the running until end of May.  Just being realistic.  If I can get ahead of that, I will.  

Week ending 02APR2023

Monday - ended up in Fairplay over night and decided not to fight the snow, cold and wind up there for a run.  

Evening practice.

Tuesday - AM practice.  7 miles with some nice strides in there.

Wednesday - 8 miles in the AM.

Thursday - day off.  Colorado things in the hills.  

Friday - stupid wind.  I got the idea yesterday as I was walking around that my leg is truly jacked (ankle) and like I have done countless times before I have managed to delay its recovery by not paying attention to getting it right.  The 60mph winds today made it easy for me to take today as a day off.