Trails, Waves, Space Shuttles and bonfires on my!

A quickie of the weekend (because everyone likes the occasional quickie!)
Seven miles on the RnR Seattle Marathon training schedule for Saturday morning. Jenny and I decided it would be a good idea to make it a trail run and why not sleep in since it's only 7-miles? Well, we ran about 8.5 miles just for good measure and the final mile or so killed me. Not because I can't handle 8.5 miles, but because some days are better than others and on this particular day spring allergies decided to attack making it difficult to breath. Otherwise it was a great run. Jenny really enjoyed it. I'm happy to report it was the "hottest" run yet this year and we both enjoyed perspiring in the heat! Thank God the cold is gone! After getting home and removing my sand-filled shoes I noticed my legs had taken on a new appearance and no, these are not tan lines!


I've been feeling a little stiffness in BOTH my lower calves and Achilles tendons lately. As a precaution I decided it would be a good idea to cyrogenically freeze them after the run. Only problem is my feet are too big for a bucket... so I used a ice cooler! Ouch!


Saturday night was beach bonfire night. Good times. Good Food. Good people!


Made it to the beach Easter morning. Good swell in the water and glassy conditions. While I passed many crowded churches on the way to the beach apparently I'm not the only surfer that felt Jesus would have wanted me to surf Easter morning instead of going to church. I was not alone in the line up. It's all good though, as I was joined by some good friends and we're now all wearing minimal wetsuits. Yay for Summer!


This morning was the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. After this launch there are only 3 more launches until NASA retires the shuttle program. Here's a shot I took just minutes before dawn.

Running and Surfing Weekend Recap!

I've been having a bit of a writers blog as of late. I come up with blog ideas and get excited only to let them fall by the wayside for a few days and then they aren't so exciting anymore. However, I have a great recap from last weekend to tell and a few ideas in store for the next week so hopefully my little stumble will fade away.

The Surf

As I mentioned in last Thursday's stoke, it was Jenny's birthday weekend and what better way to celebrate than with some running and surfing!?!? On Saturday part of the gang gathered, or should I say only those of the surfing gang brave stupid enough to venture into our cold surf that has dipped down into the lower 50s due to our record cold winter. Now us Florida boys only have 3/2 wetsuits. Years ago when I surfed in Oregon we wore a 5/4 wetsuit in 52 degree water along with booties, gloves and hood. This Saturday it was more like whatever you can find, wear it! I chose a 2mm O'Neil short sleeve top as a base layer under my Excel 3/2 full wetsuit. I have some 2mm O'Neil booties that I also sported. No gloves, no hood. Dees and JB had similar tactics.

The air temperature was about mid-50s and there was a side shore 15-20mph wind that was mixing up the head high surf a bit. I was glad I brought my 9'8" Anderson nose rider at first because of the wind, but later wished I had a performance board as the waves turned out to be sectiony and choppy and I needed more drive. Jenny watched in amazement as the three of us screamed profanities at the ocean upon first charging it. I imagine to an outsider it's probably the same kind of "your insane" as an outsider looks at runners when they say "I can't go out tonight because I'm getting up at 4 a.m. to do a 15-miler."

I tried to keep my head from getting wet as long as possible, but eventually had to take a wave on the head. It felt like thousands of ice crystals being blown into my face by a hurricane and instantly took my breath away. Soon I lost all feeling in my hands. Then my nose, ears and lips followed. Nevertheless, we were in the zone; cheering, hollering, yelling every time one of us took off after a wave. It was good to be back in the ocean. Nearly a month since I last surfed and for JB his first time this winter wearing a suit (he just returned from Puerto Rico). We were making the best of it!

After about 45 minutes someone said something like, "I think I might take the next one in," and immediately another said, "me too," followed by a final, "me three!" We were all cold. I was so cold that when I stood up on my last wave my muscles were failing to do what my brain was ordering! For safety and health reasons it was definitely time to go in and call it a day.

That may have been as cold if not colder than my session back in Oregon.

Jenny ran a few miles on the boardwalk and was reading a book in my pickup truck bed as I shivered out of the water. Her run was marked by the cold wind as well and wasn't ideal. It wasn't long before we all decided to head home to warm up. It was good to get back in the water!

The Birthday

Saturday night was planned as a beach bonfire night. The Cooper Street gang got the permit, but at the last minute it was canceled due to cold weather and that blistering wind. Not to let that ruin our night a bunch of us decided to have our own little bonfire in my backyard. Jenny didn't want everyone making a big deal about her birthday so I didn't tell most of them, that way we all hung out as normal. What we learned:

Cut up palm tree trunks, no matter how old or rotted, do NOT burn well.

Eating up the jumbo rock shrimp before everyone arrives is a good idea. More for us!

The ceviche was a SUCCESS! Jenny and I made a ceviche inspired by the one JB and Julie made for us in Puerto Rico. It was simple amazing and easy to make. Here's how:
1.) Soak (cook) 1 lb of oily fish in a bowl with fresh lime juice (we used Golden Tile)
2.) chop up a fresh organic tomato, avacado, green pepper, jalapeno pepper, sweet onion and cilantro to be mixed into a bowl with more lime juice.
3.) Once fish turns white-ish in color mix with the veggies and now you have an amazing ceviche dip that is good for you!

The Run (a.k.a. The Stump Jump!)

On Sunday morning, or should I say late morning as we wanted to sleep in and let it warm up, Jenny, myself, Harrison and Katie converged upon the Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve for the week's long run. Katie is one of Jenny's running friends from Gainesville and a member of Team Hot Legs. She came into town Saturday night to celebrate Jenny's Birthday and do this trail run with us. It's been several years since I've run this trail, but I've done it on mountain bikes numerous times. The entire loop is 7 miles and that matches our Seattle RnR Marathon schedule exactly. The trail is very similar to the San Falesco route that I've run with Jenny and Katie in Gainesville a few times and I was excited to share with them a trail in my neck of the woods. The weather warmed up to be one of the hottest days of the year so far! Low 70s with a comfortable breeze near the Spruce Creek section of the route. The big difference between San Falesco and Spruce Creek is the difference in under growth. Spruce Creek has much more of it, whether it's scrub oak or palmetto brush, it's harder to see long distances so in some sections of switch backs it's difficult to see the path much further than 10-15 feet.

We nicknamed our run the "Stump Jump." Two reasons for this:
1.) Katie was supposed to do a trail running marathon in North Carolina on this very day, but had to cancel because of an hip injury that she is now recovering from. Jenny decided it was a good idea to give it a name and we even created a "race packet" for Katie with mementos from New Smyrna Beach. Any "race packet" deserves to go with a "named" race so we dubbed it to the Stump Jump and even made a bib with the number 1 for her because....
2.) We saved a bottle of wine for the night before that just happened to be named "Stump Jump" wine. Not sure why, but it sounds like a good race name. The joke was you drink the entire bottle and then demonstrate exactly what a "stump jump" is for your friends!

We drank the wine the night before, but didn't do any stump jumping although during the run there are several log jumps that bicycles jump. As we jumped over them we all yelled "stump jump!" Plus, we decided that a trail run isn't official until someone falls down. This happened around mile 4 when Harrison tripped up and had to fall on one knee. That made it official!

The Stump Jump was a hit with Katie and Jenny and I'm sure we'll return for some more fun out at the Spruce Creek Preserve soon!

I tested out a new app on my HTC Hero phone called "My Tracks" that uses GPS to map out your route and uploads directly to My Maps in iGoogle. I'll probably write a review for this phone in the future as I learn it, but here's the satellite image of the route we ran during the Stump Jump.

New Years Weekend Trail Run

A few posts ago I introduced you to the Cellon Creek Loop at the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park here in Florida where the Dietitian and I ran a 5-mile loop and I regrettably forgot my camera. I was forced to use a couple stock photos of the park in my recap.

But guess what?!?

I returned to the park for another trail run this past New Years weekend with the Dietitian and two of her running friends. They set out to do 15-miles. Not wanting to risk aggravating my Achilles tendon, I decided to run the first two miles with them and then take the Cellon Creek Loop back to the truck and see how I feel. This time we saw even more deer. My last count was 22 I think. I completed one loop and then a little extra to make it 5 miles and felt amazing. The air temperature was in the upper 30s when we started out. Nobody like it. I wore my Nike Fit long pants, wool socks, long sleeve Under Armor Heat Gear, Addias running gloves (which I'm absolutely in love with) and a beanie. It took at least 3 miles to warm up, but by the end of the first loop I felt so good I decided to go for another loop. It would be about 10 miles. Hey, it's better to be running and staying warm than freezing cold and waiting for the girls to finish their 15-miler!

Not 30 seconds after I finished my 10 miles and started to stretch I hear voices behind me. The girls have returned. I think to myself, "Holy crap, they did 15 in the time it took me to do 10? Damn, I'm slow." The Dietitian runs up and gives me a big hug! They are all stoked, but have only done 11.5 miles. "Thank God," I think to myself. They doubled back to use the restrooms and still plan on finishing off the 15-miles on the Cellon Creek Loop.

For good measure, I jumped on my mountain bike and did the Loop one more time crossing path with the Dietitian and her friends somewhere near the middle.

So... Less than a week until the Disney Marathon and I was able to run a 10 mile trail run at around a 10-minute pace (picture taking included) and do another 5 miles on the mountain bike with very little Achilles tendon pain. What's even more exciting is I kept telling myself after the run/bike that I need to remember to take some anti-inflammatory drugs and ice my Achilles. We all went out for a glorious brunch at The Flying Biscuit and I totally forgot about my Achilles until hours later. I neglected it by accident only to realize there was no difference. It wasn't swollen up or aggravated. While the ice and drugs make for a good precaution, I didn't need them after all. Maybe I'm more healed up than I think?

I remembered the camera this time around! Here are a few pictures I snapped during the run.

Hitting the trails in Gainesville

Ahhhhh Gainesville. So many memories, so many stories. It's hard to believe that it's been a decade since I lived in this small, yet big, college town surrounded by what I like to call "real Florida," or otherwise known as the north central part of the state that tends to be more "southern" than the Hispanic dominated south Florida or the Yankee dominated coastlines. It's amazing that my college memories during my years at the University of Florida seem to be primarily limited to parties, football games, friends and a few bars, some of which no longer exists, but the parks, natural environment, recreation areas and outdoor activities are nothing but a void. I guess I had a few too many beers back in the day.

Nevertheless, I'm happy to say that last week I got to experience a small slice of this town that I'm actually a little ashamed of never taking advantage of while I was a resident party animal. The San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park, located just north of Gainesville off C.R. 232, is absolutely beautiful. It's about 6,900 acres of trails accommodating hikers, bicyclist and equestrians. The Dietitian and I planned out a 4.5 mile run, turned 5-miler (we got temporarily confused), along the Cellon Creek Loop, which is described as "traversing both sides of Cellon Creek as it winds through rolling terrain and across small jog jumps. This is a 4-mile intermediate level trail."

It was a crisp morning as the air temperature was in the upper 40s. This would be my first trail run since before injuring my Achilles tendon in September. Not really knowing how to dress for running in cold weather (we're used to running in 90+ degrees down here in Florida) I opted for a long sleeve Under Armor Heat Gear top, running shorts and some wool snowboarding socks. The dietitian wore a long sleeve tech shirt, long running pants and gloves.

The trail was super fun right away. Unlike some of the trails I run around New Smyrna Beach, this area of Florida has very little palmetto plants and palm trees. There's less under growth in the hammock making for better visibility. Less palm trees mean more oak and pine trees and other hardwoods. The trail was heavy with gnarly roots protruding chaotically here and there on the trail requiring constant attention to every step. This dodging of the roots works the core muscles so much more than a regular run on pavement. I love it! The ground is laden with leaves. So much so that extra care must be taken not to slip. The leaves also have the tendency to cover up and hide one of the gnarly roots just waiting to twist an ankle, but this is what I define as trail running!

About halfway through the trail we realize that we're not on the trail. We've been chatting up a storm and totally not paying attention. It's a good thing the Dietitian knows the area because I'm completely lost and would otherwise have to pull out some Bear Grylls knowledge to get us back on track. We double back and find our way back on the trail. About a mile later we're chatting away again making a bunch of noise while I hear a loud shuffle ahead. At first I think some mountain bikers are headed our way and then appearing out of nowhere two deer jump right in front of us not but 20 feet away! They're both doe. Figures that the one time I leave the camera in the truck, this happens! They stop and watch us run by and I sense little fear from them, unlike the deer found in the woods around my home that are more accustomed to hunters shooting at them. Awesome.

Right around the 4-mile mark we emerge into a huge grassy field rolling with small Florida "hills" that reminds me somewhat to other areas of the south like Alabama. The last mile skirts the tree line just within the woods but keeping visibility of the field before we arrive back at the parking area. The run was great. My company was even better. My Achilles tendon spoke to me a little, but did not complain in the hours and days after the run so I'm giving myself a big SUCCESS on this trail run and look forward to visiting the preserve again on future trips to good old Gainesville!

Trail running in Oregon

The last two visits to Portland my cousin has spoke of an awesome running trail in the Forest Park that is pretty much surrounded by the city. This time we ran the trail, or at least part of it. The park runs about 8 miles or so parallel to the Willamette River along a mountain ridge line from downtown Portland to where the river flows into the larger Columbia River. There are many trails for jogging, biking and hiking that range from completely flat to almost vertical. My cousin says the trails we ran have about 600 feet vertical difference in elevation. I estimate we ran about 4 miles. I learned several things during this exercise.


1st -- Look far ahead of you on the trail as it comes really quick going downhill, plus it is possible to give yourself motion sickness if you're looking directly in front of your feet and not where you're going!

2nd -- Stretch and stretch again.

3rd -- If I had terrain like this I would have the most amazing core muscles and NO MORE chicken legs. As I'm writing this it's four days past and certain stabilizing muscles in my legs are still sore! Trail running terrain like this is an excellent cross training for surfing!

4th -- I wanna do it again!

I attempted to video some of the experience. It's hard to see the elevation changes that are occurring and the incline/decline of the path, but you can see the beauty of lushness of the forest.