"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me" Eggnog, beer, turkey, cookies, pie, ham... among many more other delightful food/drinks to enjoy! Ahh.. the holiday season, not only do we indulge in food/drinks we indulge in family, time off of work, school, shopping and staying up late to ring in the new year! Its festive, relaxing, joyful, chaotic, a sense of togetherness, family and wellbeing. Its my favorite time of the year, its seems as though the whole year crescendos into the last two months and cumulates into the holiday season, a well earned reward for all the hard work throughout the year.
This time of year can also be a holiday from running, there are not many races taking place, most runners seem to be ramping down their mileage and/or cross training. Is this holiday taper out of necessity or is it our reward for all the hard work and training we have done throughout the year? For many (like me) its both, on one hand the holidays season necessitates more time with the family, vacationing, the kids are out of school and there is unfavorable running weather, all these factors play a part toward having to shift more time and energy away from running. On the other hand the body needs a break, you can only push so hard throughout the year racing and training till your body starts to rebel against you. All the accumulated miles, elevation gains, pushups, sit-ups and crunches start to take a toll on the body, the body needs a holiday too! Sometimes It just feels damn good to kick up the feet, grab a beer and watch some football!
But the holiday taper can be a tough pill to swallow sometimes, most runners feel a sense of guilt, grumpiness, not measuring up in there fitness or a sense that something is wrong. When you run a certain amount of miles each week and attend to a fairly strict diet day after day, it becomes routine, its becomes a way of life, it feels good to work out and eat right. We sometimes crave running down a single track or killing the weights at the gym, it truly becomes an addiction of sorts. So ramping down the mileage or cross training for the holidays can be a difficult thing, Its taper madness! Add in all the holiday goodies that sabotage our diets we start to see our skinny ass running waistlines grow bigger and we start swearing at the bathroom scale.
In the end a holiday taper from running is a good and for the most part enjoyable thing, we just need to trust in our prior training efforts and know that our bodies are in fact repairing themselves from the abuse we have been putting them through all year. We are also resetting our desire to run, a break recharges the desire to get out there and truly enjoy the run. We get so caught up in training our bodies to run at its maximum potential we need to step back and remind ourselves of why we enjoy running so much in the first place. Most will continue to run, but with less miles and not as high of an intensity, some may cross train with weights, on mountain bikes or by skiing down slopes, either way we need to go out there and get our bodies moving to keep them in shape during the holiday season. We also need to make a conscience effort to eat a balanced diet without getting down on ourselves for the occasional splurge on holiday goodies.
In the end we deserve the holiday treats and we deserve to rest our bodies, we have worked hard for it! Now is a good time to catch up on other hobbies we have brushed aside, getting household project we been putting off done or to start catching up on all the recorded TV shows. Most of all we need to spend some quality time with the ones we love, after all that's what the holidays are really about. Come January when its time to slowly ramp up the training we can do so with a rejuvenated body and mind while getting prepared to crush another year of running, till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run...
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
White Bull Winter Trail Series #4 Chumash
Bitter sweet! Race #4 of the White Bull Winter Trail Series, its the last race of the series, I am happy to be running Chumash but sad to be done with the race series. Chumash trail is one of my favorite trails in Simi Valley, it has great views, its technical is some parts but also be very runnable single track. Chumash trail hold a special place in my heart as its the trail that got me to fall in love with downhill running, its tremendously fun and fast! But in order to run this spectacular downhill you must first run up it, not an easy task by any means. The first two years of the White Bull trail series it rained on Chumash race day and made for an enjoyable mud run, this year it rained two days prior so the trail was sticky in some areas but definitely mud free, the trail was set up perfect for laying down some fast times.
The morning of the race Desirae, Connor, CJ and I wake up early in attempt to make it to the race early as Desirae agreed to volunteer during the race. We didn't make it quite as early as we want and ended up having to park in front of Mr. Grinch's house, Mr. Grinch is know for being the cranky old man with nothing better to do but yell at all the runners and hikers that park at the trailhead. Being cold outside we decided to let the kids sit in the car and watch a movie while we get checked in, we lock the doors and set the alarm, the kids will be fine right? After I was done checking in I decide to go back and get the kids out of the car, I open the door and the alarm starts blaring! oops, Desirae has the car keys 200 yards up the trailhead, I start hearing "He's a mean one Mr. Grinch" in my head as I run and grab the keys, crisis avoided.
As I wait for the race to start I chat it up with all my fellow runners and it get me to realize how lucky we are to live in such a great community with such great people and a fantastic trail system, we truly are blessed, I love Simi Valley! I feel blessed to live in a place I can feel safe raising my kids, all the friends I've met here and all the trails I've ran.We have fantastic neighbors who go out of the way to volunteer for there community, we have great weather year round and we have great schools. We have it all in Simi Valley, we even have Mr. Grinch to yell at us at trailheads, it all makes this community as great as it is! Anyways... back to the race report.
We line up at the start line, no Melissa again but Jerome (the king of Chumash) is back this week after destroying me at Marrland during race #3. Off we go with Jerome taking up the lead and me holding securely in second place, it would stay this way for the race's entirety. Up up up we go, Chumash is 2.6 miles of climbing all the way to the top, the first mile of the trail being pretty steep and the second mile letting up only slightly, its definitely a lung burner. With Jerome in a solid lead knowing I cant catch up to him anymore and that I have no pressure from behind I fall into a steady pace, I don't push myself as hard as could/should because I have no incentive to do so, I enjoy the run and take in the views of my awesome hometown of Simi. At the turn around point where Chumash meets Rocky Peak I pick up a green bracelet laid out at the top to prove I actually got to the top, I catch my breath and get ready for my descent.
Down down down we go, the first half mile down is fairly technical with lots of rocks I jump off of and dance around, the trail smooth's out some and I turn on the rocket burners! I just cant hold back on the Chumash downhill, its like a pieces of candy or a good beer, once you get a taste of it you just want more. The best thing about an out and back is you get to see a lot of the other runners you never get to see on loop trail, every runner I pass by going downhill has a positive comment or a word of encouragement and once again I realize how much I love this community. Time and trail fly by as I get to the last and steepest downhill portion of the race, you can see the finish line from here and hear everyone cheering you on to the finish. This just pushes me to run even faster as a fly across the finish line in 2nd place with a time of 41:23 and first overall in the series with a combined total time of 2:27:20!
I just want to take a moment to thank a few people who made this race possible, Randy and Sarita Shoemaker for putting on the best races in Simi, all the volunteers who helped out and cheered us on. To Nutrishop for the support and bringing delicious drinks, Carbo Pro for the awesome products they donated to the winners and Simi Valley for providing us kick ass trails to run on. Desirae for pushing me to sign up for this race series and always being there to support me, love you! Connor and CJ for getting up early on Saturday mornings to cheer me on, you guys rock! As a legacy runner I will definitely be back next year for more great races, till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run...
The morning of the race Desirae, Connor, CJ and I wake up early in attempt to make it to the race early as Desirae agreed to volunteer during the race. We didn't make it quite as early as we want and ended up having to park in front of Mr. Grinch's house, Mr. Grinch is know for being the cranky old man with nothing better to do but yell at all the runners and hikers that park at the trailhead. Being cold outside we decided to let the kids sit in the car and watch a movie while we get checked in, we lock the doors and set the alarm, the kids will be fine right? After I was done checking in I decide to go back and get the kids out of the car, I open the door and the alarm starts blaring! oops, Desirae has the car keys 200 yards up the trailhead, I start hearing "He's a mean one Mr. Grinch" in my head as I run and grab the keys, crisis avoided.
As I wait for the race to start I chat it up with all my fellow runners and it get me to realize how lucky we are to live in such a great community with such great people and a fantastic trail system, we truly are blessed, I love Simi Valley! I feel blessed to live in a place I can feel safe raising my kids, all the friends I've met here and all the trails I've ran.We have fantastic neighbors who go out of the way to volunteer for there community, we have great weather year round and we have great schools. We have it all in Simi Valley, we even have Mr. Grinch to yell at us at trailheads, it all makes this community as great as it is! Anyways... back to the race report.
We line up at the start line, no Melissa again but Jerome (the king of Chumash) is back this week after destroying me at Marrland during race #3. Off we go with Jerome taking up the lead and me holding securely in second place, it would stay this way for the race's entirety. Up up up we go, Chumash is 2.6 miles of climbing all the way to the top, the first mile of the trail being pretty steep and the second mile letting up only slightly, its definitely a lung burner. With Jerome in a solid lead knowing I cant catch up to him anymore and that I have no pressure from behind I fall into a steady pace, I don't push myself as hard as could/should because I have no incentive to do so, I enjoy the run and take in the views of my awesome hometown of Simi. At the turn around point where Chumash meets Rocky Peak I pick up a green bracelet laid out at the top to prove I actually got to the top, I catch my breath and get ready for my descent.
Down down down we go, the first half mile down is fairly technical with lots of rocks I jump off of and dance around, the trail smooth's out some and I turn on the rocket burners! I just cant hold back on the Chumash downhill, its like a pieces of candy or a good beer, once you get a taste of it you just want more. The best thing about an out and back is you get to see a lot of the other runners you never get to see on loop trail, every runner I pass by going downhill has a positive comment or a word of encouragement and once again I realize how much I love this community. Time and trail fly by as I get to the last and steepest downhill portion of the race, you can see the finish line from here and hear everyone cheering you on to the finish. This just pushes me to run even faster as a fly across the finish line in 2nd place with a time of 41:23 and first overall in the series with a combined total time of 2:27:20!
I just want to take a moment to thank a few people who made this race possible, Randy and Sarita Shoemaker for putting on the best races in Simi, all the volunteers who helped out and cheered us on. To Nutrishop for the support and bringing delicious drinks, Carbo Pro for the awesome products they donated to the winners and Simi Valley for providing us kick ass trails to run on. Desirae for pushing me to sign up for this race series and always being there to support me, love you! Connor and CJ for getting up early on Saturday mornings to cheer me on, you guys rock! As a legacy runner I will definitely be back next year for more great races, till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run...
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
White Bull Winter Trail Series Race #3: Marr land
Charge! Let the White Bull loose.. Time for race #3 in the series. Out of all the races in this series Marr scares me the most, I run all trails in this series a lot and know what to expect, kind of a curse and a blessing. I can psych myself out knowing the torturous climbs and technical terrain coming up, but I can also employ strategies like saving my legs for certain climbs on the course or slow down for a fast turn coming up. Marr is deceptive because it starts out with a quarter mile of down/flat fire road but you can see to the top of the "mountain" your about to climb giving you a false sense of security. More on that later in the report.
I show up to this race without my awesome support crew that is usually there to cheer me on although I see all the regulars and friends at the starting area. Another bonus running a trail series is that you run with most the same people each race with a few new faces sprinkled in so you develop continuing friendships and make new friends each time, who doesn't want more trail running friends? While I was chatting it up with some of the White Bull regulars, I failed to notice some of the new faces that showed up to run this race (oops bad start on my part) what I did notice is that Melissa never showed up to the starting line. Good news right? No! I wanted a challenge, someone to push me to run harder and Melissa was the only one close to me in the overall standings for White Bull, I could run easy now and still get first place overall, make me work for the win, I want to earn it.
All the runners line up at the start and its off, charging down the hill like rabid White Bulls, I get to the start of the "mountain" that is nicknamed Hotdog Hill, wait who is this? a tall fit guy just darts off in front of the whole field, well crap this guy is in a completely different league! Okay don't be stupid Kenny just let him go I have someone else breathing down my shoulder to worry about; all of a sudden just like that I get past up by yet another new face. I'm in third now but I'm not going to let this one get away, so I stay hot on his heels the whole way up Hotdog Hill, he keeps looking back realizing exactly what's going on. Now the back side of Hotdog Hill is a super fun single track that I can normally fly down, the only problem is the guy in front of me is running slower than I want but I cant get past because the trail is too tight. No problem though, I know there is a steep ascent coming up so I will save my legs for the climb.
Here is the part of the course that I think caught a lot of the runners by surprise, after all that climbing up Hotdog Hill you get a false sense of security that the worst is over with and for the most part you would be right, but a very steep albeit fairly short hill awaits to test your legs all over again. I could tell it caught the runner right in front of me by surprise when all of a sudden his very fast climbing ability slow to a crawl, ahh.. here is where I make my move. As I pass him we both say good job to each other with a tired smile, a mix of running and power hiking with my hands upon my knees I make it up the brutal ascent. All down hill from here! my favorite.. I kick it into high gear and float all the way down Hotdog Hill securely in second place. I really like Randy (the RD) but what a cruel guy he can be sometimes, who puts a very steep quarter mile ascent right at the finish line? You have to sprint up it and try to look your best (as your secretly suffering) because everyone is watching you climb it to the finish line! Across the finish line among many cheers with my bull horns up in second place with a time of 36:48! 3 races down 1 to go, here I come Chumash. Till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run!
I show up to this race without my awesome support crew that is usually there to cheer me on although I see all the regulars and friends at the starting area. Another bonus running a trail series is that you run with most the same people each race with a few new faces sprinkled in so you develop continuing friendships and make new friends each time, who doesn't want more trail running friends? While I was chatting it up with some of the White Bull regulars, I failed to notice some of the new faces that showed up to run this race (oops bad start on my part) what I did notice is that Melissa never showed up to the starting line. Good news right? No! I wanted a challenge, someone to push me to run harder and Melissa was the only one close to me in the overall standings for White Bull, I could run easy now and still get first place overall, make me work for the win, I want to earn it.
All the runners line up at the start and its off, charging down the hill like rabid White Bulls, I get to the start of the "mountain" that is nicknamed Hotdog Hill, wait who is this? a tall fit guy just darts off in front of the whole field, well crap this guy is in a completely different league! Okay don't be stupid Kenny just let him go I have someone else breathing down my shoulder to worry about; all of a sudden just like that I get past up by yet another new face. I'm in third now but I'm not going to let this one get away, so I stay hot on his heels the whole way up Hotdog Hill, he keeps looking back realizing exactly what's going on. Now the back side of Hotdog Hill is a super fun single track that I can normally fly down, the only problem is the guy in front of me is running slower than I want but I cant get past because the trail is too tight. No problem though, I know there is a steep ascent coming up so I will save my legs for the climb.
Here is the part of the course that I think caught a lot of the runners by surprise, after all that climbing up Hotdog Hill you get a false sense of security that the worst is over with and for the most part you would be right, but a very steep albeit fairly short hill awaits to test your legs all over again. I could tell it caught the runner right in front of me by surprise when all of a sudden his very fast climbing ability slow to a crawl, ahh.. here is where I make my move. As I pass him we both say good job to each other with a tired smile, a mix of running and power hiking with my hands upon my knees I make it up the brutal ascent. All down hill from here! my favorite.. I kick it into high gear and float all the way down Hotdog Hill securely in second place. I really like Randy (the RD) but what a cruel guy he can be sometimes, who puts a very steep quarter mile ascent right at the finish line? You have to sprint up it and try to look your best (as your secretly suffering) because everyone is watching you climb it to the finish line! Across the finish line among many cheers with my bull horns up in second place with a time of 36:48! 3 races down 1 to go, here I come Chumash. Till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run!
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