peer pressure

leadville was awesome. i'm not sure i can express the awesomeness in words, so here is more of the trip in pictures (with captions):

view down the street from our rental house

home in leadville for the weekend

fred and cindy on the bus to the start of the 26-mile saturday run (all were still smiling afterward too...)

trail up the twin lakes side of hope pass (12,600 ft elevation)...if you see dots in the distance that look like people, they are in fact people.

trail near the top of hope pass. yep, we had to run through snow.

the top of hope pass = two thumbs up...sunday was a 21 mile run that went over this twice. each side had ~3000ft of climbing.

me, dan, tom, jack, donna and dave on top of a mountain during the sunday run.

view from the top of mt. sanitas (boulder) where we ran on monday morning.

moral of the story: i was peer pressured by people i didn't even know (in addition to the ones i did) to sign up for the race. so i did.

colorado

we arrived safely in colorado last night. when fred, tom and i got out to fred's car at the airport however, we had a momentary set back...flat #1.

our first flat

once we got the tire fixed, we headed to fred's house in boulder and met up with dan, jack and joseph. we spent last night in boulder, and then after a quick breakfast this morning, dan, jack, joseph, tom and i piled into car and started driving to leadville.

we rented a little victorian house in downtown leadville that sleeps 10 and is right down the street from the morning meeting point for training camp. after changing, we drove down to winfield, a little ghost town about 40 minutes from leadville, which is also home to the 50-mile turn around point for the race, so we could do a training run.

jack, me, joseph and dan pre-run

today i put in about 13 miles or so. we started at winfield and ran along the road to the trail head, and then started the climb up to hope pass. the top of the pass is at 12,600ft elevation, and the climb to get up there is something to be reckoned with. the trail is great, but it is steep enough that i probably wouldn't want to be running up it even if i weren't at altitude!

joseph and tom on the road to the trailhead (jack in the background)

we got up to the top of the pass in about an hour. the view from the top was pretty amazing. it was so nice to be out on the trail. you could here water rushing by in the stream...and thunder echoing in the background as a storm rolled in.

me at the top of hope pass. in the background is (are?) twin lakes and are the first and last 45 miles of the leadville course.

we didn't stay up at the top too long because it was getting cold, but i definitely got a good taste of what our sunday run at camp will be like. by the time i got back down the mountain it was raining a bit harder. joseph and i ran up the road for 15 minutes in the direction opposite of the parking lot, and then turned around and started heading back to the car...although we didn't have to run up a very steep incline, we got on a little hill and i had to start walking. at this point i realized that aside from the pancakes i'd had for breakfast, all i had to eat today was one gel. we started our run a little before 1p and hadn't eaten lunch, so the lack of food just hit me. i could mostly run back, but whenever we started to go up an incline, i started hiking. on the one hand this could be demoralizing (i was bonking afterall), but i think it was actually just good practice to start walking and start booking it! in ultras, ultimately, you have to cover the distance. you'll probably be walking at some point.

about a mile before we were to arrive back at the parking lot, dan, jack and tom pulled up. joseph and i happily piled in as we'd already done extra mileage for the day anyways and it was starting to rain harder.

i should say at this point that to get to the parking lot, we'd had to turn off the main road and drive on an unpaved road for 9.5 miles. well, we got back onto the main road, and dan made a comment about how the car was handling oddly. we pulled over and you could hear the hiss as the air escaped out of the tire. awesome. fortunately we made it back to leadville and were able to get to a garage and have them fix the tire.

flat #2

when we got back to the house, donna and dave had arrived...and were making dinner for everyone! mmmm. well timed guys! fred arrived at the house after dinner, so now there are 8 of us here. we're only waiting on cindy to be complete.

he who feels punctured must have once been a bubble

i've been working my way through "the world's religions" by huston smith, who i mentioned at the end of last month. the book contains a brief history and description of the major world religions rather than telling the reader how to practice them. i just finished the chapter on taoism and a few quotes stuck out at me.

first, the title of today's post is from the Tao Te Ching. if you've never read it, i'd recommend it. you can read the whole thing in 30 minutes or an hour, but, as smith points out, you could study it for a lifetime. i think i have been a bubble at various points in my life.

in discussing the tao's observation "muddy water let stand will clear," smith writes:

If you want to study the stars after being in a brightly lit room, you must wait twenty minutes for your eyes to dilate for their new assignment. There must be similar periods of waiting if the focal length of the mind is to readjust, withdrawing from the world's glare to the internal recesses of the soul.

the other quote that stood out to me was:

The Chinese word for landscape painting is composed of the radicals mountain and water, one of which suggests vastness and solitude, the other pliability, endurance, and continuous movement.

in some ways i feel that the radicals embody my connection to water and attraction to mountains.

i got to climb sunday evening for a couple hours with my housemate daniel. it was a lot of fun. we went to austin rock gym, which was nice because there weren't too many people there and we didn't have to melt in the heat. my lats and shoulders are a little sore, but that could also be because at core workout last night, the instructor turned 32. because of this, he decided we needed to do 32 sets of 32 reps. when you do a couple sets of 3 minute and 20 second planks, 32 pushups, etc, one can expect to be a wee sore the next day, i suppose.

i'm finishing up my problem set and packing tonight and tomorrow. we leave tomorrow night for leadville!

words of wisdom

Work honestly, Meditate everyday, Meet people without fear, And play.
~ Baba Hari Dass

freak storms, bad falls and solitude

“when you are at peace with yourself for some reason everything and everybody is at peace with you… check your vibration.”

lots of fun adventures have been had since last thursday. thursday night, i was caught in a freak hail storm in the middle of the run and got to hang out in front of a domino's pizza for a bit until my awesome coop-mates drove all the way out to westlake to pick me up (thank you again!). friday morning found me swimming in the healing water of barton springs with lindsay. it wasn't until the last 1/4 mile of my swim that i started turning purple...a new record for me. later on friday, i found out that i am not anemic...despite being a vegetarian endurance athlete (yeah!).

saturday morning i went out running with some people, and a couple hours in, took a nasty fall on the trail, which re-opened the scar on my right knee for the second time in a month. if you looked at my legs right now, you'd think i was a mountain biker. that run ended up lasting close to six hours, with total time out on the trails close to 7 hours. it was a lot of time on my feet, and yet i wasn't really tired. so i went shopping.

i'm a running shoe snob, and i will admit that when some of the people i was running with saturday morning told me that they got shoes at marshall's, i was a tad surprised. however, it turned out to be the deal of the year. marshall's had montrail and asics trail running shoes at over 50% off (!!), but what impressed me the most was that the shoes they had are good running shoes.

i had been wanting to start trying trail shoes for awhile, so i decided to give this a shot. for $75, i got a pair of montrail hardrock's and a pair of asics trail runners. both shoes got top rankings in 2008 from outside magazine as good trail runners. within the ultra community, a lot of people swear by hardrock's. i actually ended up getting the men's model because they had it in my size. the shoe was actually unisex until the marketing people decided they needed to take the same shoe, make it in smaller sizes and put some pink on it so that more women would by it. i'm of the opinion that my trail shoes are going to get covered in mud, dirt and goodness knows what else, so whether my shoes are gray and blue or gray and pink doesn't matter because you won't be able to tell anyway...and i don't think color will make me any faster or slower, but maybe i should test that theory...i'm taking these out for a spin tonight.

the asics are a little lighter than the hardrock's and have a narrower heel, which i needed. they are actually a women's specific shoe, so the fit in general is a bit narrower. they're also red (and gray). unlike blue or pink, i think red does make you faster, but i digress. i took the asics out for a 17-miler yesterday (sunday) morning. they felt great. the run actually made my knee loosen up too, which was good (it was a little stiff from the previous day's fall when i woke up).

my roommates were all out of town from friday night to late saturday night this weekend, which meant i was home alone. and you know what i discovered? i am really productive when i'm by myself, and the quiet is really calming. i got a bunch of homework done, errands run and went to bed early. i wasn't in recluse mode as i was running with people and went out for ice cream with drake. i just kind of slowed down though, didn't feel rushed to get things done, and yet still got more done than normal. i could get used to this.

bike rack etiquette

i haven't really ranted about anything in awhile, but this morning something happened which bears mentioning. i've decided there is an art to racking your bike at a bike rack. the guy who parked his bike next to mine clearly is not an artist nor does he have good manners. why in the world would you park your bike so close to someone else's that your handlebars are literally deforming your neighbor's seat because they are on top of said neighbor's seat? and why would you block someone else's lock to the degree that they are clearly going to have to move (or wrestle) your bike out of the way to even get a chance at unlocking theirs? wouldn't you be worried your relatively nice bike was going to get abused more than it needed to? i feel that if you cycle enough to have clipless pedals on your commuting bike (like this guy did) you should at least have some clue as to how to rack your bike without being a jerk to those around you...especially when there are plenty of open spaces on the rack, obviating the need to put your bike on top of mine or anyone else's.

after some pushing, tugging and plain brute force, i got my bike unlocked and out of the rack this morning...fortunately for the owner of the bike on top of mine, i was tackling this problem after my yoga class, so i was relaxed enough to not just use my keys all over his paint job.

deep breath.

ok, now that that's out of my system, it's wednesday! i had my second digital signal processing class last night. i'm liking the class and the prof, but by the end of 2.5 hours of lecture, my brain is a little fried.

i'm building a device to trip people (for research purposes, not to be a bully), and i have been doing research online to find components for the device. in doing so, i discovered that shimano tiagra components are not limited to use on bikes...they're also used in fishing!

on a completely random note, this month's issue of trail still has some pretty cool pictures!

atlas, leftovers and leadville

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."
~Chinese Proverb

it has been a crazy last few days. last week ended in a flurry of running, meetings and getting ready for the atlas ride. atlas was a LOT of fun. i got to catch up with many texas 4000 riders, sponsors and supporters who i hadn't seen in awhile because they don't live in austin and meet many new faces, including lots of 2009 rider parents. its always fun to meet people's families!

the start of the ride found me other 2008 riders discussing how we hadn't ridden in awhile and how our jerseys are much cooler than this year's team's. the atlas ride offers two routes. one is 52 miles long and the other is 70. they split at rest stop #2 and join back up at rest stop #5 and follow the same last 16 miles or so to the finish. i rode to rest stop #2 with todd, david, evan, ivan, ivan's professor, jeff and a few others. it was great to be riding with them all again!

while most of the alum and current texas 4000 riders decided to go the shorter route, david and i took off on the 70 mile route. we rode at a pretty good clip and laughed about how big the small hills seemed. i haven't been riding since about february due to all the running, but i felt great (strong) on the bike, which kind of surprised me.

as david and i rolled into rest stop #5, we saw a couple 2008 jerseys who had gone 50 miles and wondered who they would be. it turned out to be todd and lauren, and i suddenly felt like i was having deja vous. last year, i had ridden the last stretch (rest stop #5 to the finish) of the atlas ride with todd and lauren, and i happily joined them for the last segment this year.

atlas 2009: (left to right) me, troves, dan, todd and daniel

the above picture is from the finish line activities at atlas this year. ivan, evan, julio, kasaundra, stella and i were the only people from the 2008 rockies route who were there. ivan, evan, stella and i did some pushups for everyone at rest stop #2. it was bummer there weren't more of us there, but it was great to spend time with those who were. its amazing how geographically spread out we've all become in the last year!

the rest of the day was spent relaxing, chatting, going to hancock springs and finally camping under the stars. we woke early the next morning and cooked breakfast for the 2009 team, shared a ride dedication with them, taught them the haka and then sent them on their way.

lots of memories have come flooding back in the last few days. its been crazy to watch this year's team and think that its already been a year since my team and i set off on our own adventure. thank you again to everyone who was part of that experience. i'm grateful for your influences in my life.

last week was a recovery week in training, and i'll be back to the usual this week. this time though, i thought ahead and cooked dinner last night so i have leftovers for a couple nights and a few other things i can whip up quickly for dinner. it stinks to come home late and hungry and have to figure out things to make!

the last bit of exciting news is that i will be going to the leadville training camp in two weeks. basically, this is running camp for grownups. i'm going to with a bunch of other people from austin. we're heading to boulder for a couple days where we'll run 30-40 miles (in two days). then we'll drive out to leadville, co for the official training camp. leadville is located a couple hours drive west of denver in the middle of the rockie mountains. the city sits at ~10,000ft. elevation (fun fact: leadville is home to the highest elevation airport in north america). the first day of camp we'll run 26 miles and the second day we'll cover 21 miles. all of the running will be done on trails at 9,200-13,000ft elevation. i am ridiculously excited...and fully expect to be ridiculously tired by the end of it.

two monitors

i ventured over to the civil engineering building today to print a couple of posters for the atlas ride this weekend. all of the workstations in the lab i was working in had two monitors. its so nice to be able to see everything you're working on, your email and a random website ranking running shoes all at the same time! i'm nerd, i know, but if you've never tried computing with two monitors, you should try it some time.

i miss riding my bike. actually, i should clarify. i miss riding my bike more than to commute around town. its time for regular long rides in my life again. to the cyclists out there, check out the pearls before swine comic from yesterday and the indexed diagram from today.

happy national running day to all!

chai

just so no one else tries to test this: paper to-go cups from coffee shops are not meant to be put in the water bottle holder on your backpack while you bike to work. i decided to try it today anyways though just to make sure. fortunately, minimal delicious beverage was lost, but a to-go mug is on my list of purchases to make.

i had grand plans to start unpacking last night, so i could feel more moved in, only to realize that i had a meeting to attend at 7p...which lasted until 10p. the meeting is for the atlas ride, which is happening this saturday and is the first full day of riding for texas 4000. i'm helping mark the course the day before and then will be staying out in lampasas to help cook the team breakfast in the morning. i'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

back to the unpacking though, my room still looks like someone moved a stack of boxes, a couple suitcases and a few bikes into it...and then left them there. someday, i will unpack! regardless i'm liking the neighborhood and location.

check out today's post from kartoen.be and then check out this article on ultrarunning that came out yesterday in time. and then go for a run...or at least go outside.

hill of life

Let us accept the inner life, the spiritual life. Mistakes in our journey are inevitable. Success without endeavour is impossibility itself. No work, no progress. Experience we must welcome, for we can learn nothing without experience. The experience may be either encouraging or discouraging. But it is experience that makes us a real being, that shows us the true meaning of our very existence.

- Sri Chinmoy

i spent a lot of time running this weekend...7 hours and 15 minutes to be exact. on saturday morning i went out intending to do a 3 hour run, but got out and decided i needed to run to the top of the hill of life, so i kept going. as i'm running up the hill of life i start wondering if i'll have some sort of epiphany when i get to the top (and suspecting that it might induced by lack of oxygen, but i digress). afterall, the name of the hill implies that meaning might be found on it.

well, i reached the top and found myself thinking, oh my gosh, i'm ALIVE!...and out of breath and ready for a gel. at this point, i see the 5 happy trail runners sitting on a bench, refilling their water bottles. nope, they weren't an illusion. turns out they're members of hill country trail runners as well, and they invite me to run with them for a bit. this worked out quite nicely because we went on some new (for me) trails and got to see a pretty amazing view of the area west of 360. the rest of the run was enjoyable and uneventful. the sun felt strong, but at least there was good shade on the trails.

lesson learned from the hill of life this time: good company helps pick up your spirits (and your pace) when you're tired.

saturday night i helped set up the finish line for "the loop," a race being held on the motocross trails in emma long park. in retrospect, i probably should have tried racing that race sunday morning, but my legs were still a little dead. so i went out on a slow 3 hour run by myself. ah, the joys of back to back long runs. ironically, the runs this weekend actually made my legs feel better. i need to look into the physiology of this.

and the last exciting thing that happened this weekend was moving. yep, i am now officially on my two month "vacation in austin." i am living in hyde park for the next two months with some friends from the ride last summer and then will move back into my co-op in august. tonight after core workout, i will get to experience grocery shopping for myself for the first time in almost 2 years (the co-op shops for us and last summer, i was shopping to feed 20-40 people). i'm a little nervous.