You don't need a strong foot to ride a bike!

So a friend asked me today, "Hey Tony, have you been on the new trails the city is building around town?" Yes I said. I've been on the Leon Creek trails, the Salado Creek trails and the Mission trails. They are great you'd love them, You've got to get out there Dave! "No. I can't do that. because of health reasons."
Health reasons? Dave said his foot and ankle are weak. "Come on now, your walking right now Dave." "And not limping." How do we get healthier and make our joints stronger? We exercise them! We make them work! Dave said he sees the doctor next week and will know if his ankle, which was sprained some time back is good to go. I suggested riding a bike. Dave's response? "I have a bike, but it's still in the box. Been there for two years. I don't think I can ride it. My foot is too weak."
YOU DON"T NEED A STRONG FOOT TO RIDE A BIKE! You need to help yourself Dave!
I'm sorry, but I think sometimes people just make excuses for not exercising.
Unlike my buddy Roger who has been struggling with his weight most of his adult life. Roger recently hurt his knee walking/running as he jumped down off a rock. He slowed down, but did not stop walking. His knee is getting better every day. He's still walking and exercising.
All you need, is the will to make your body stronger.

It is so hot..................................

The fire ants are carrying personal fans!
-Johnny Carson
It didn't get as hot as the local weather guy predicted. Only 94 degrees! It was breezy, but boy was that a WARM breeze! It felt like a restaurant"s outdoor exhaust fan. We lucked out on the humidity though. Only about 65 percent. Not bad by south Texas standards. The heat training has begun!
Oh, and the weirdest thing I've seen on trail? A mid 60ish woman in a full length skirt, a long sleeve blouse, head scarf, carrying groceries in both arms, walking down the trail in 94 degree weather!

Muddy Mayhem

The Muddy Mayhem is an 8k run through cow pastures littered with mud pits, hay bales, tractor trailers, and mud pools that runners must take on. The race is held on a ranch in southwest Bexar county and benefits the Wounded Warrior Project. I feel the WWP is a great program. It helps severely injured service men and women transition back into civilian life. My good friend Liza Howard held a fund raiser for the WWP last year when she ran 12 hours to raise money for the program. Many of our San Antonio H.O.T.rockhoppers running group pledged money and joined her for portions of those 12 hours.
The fact that this race helps our service men and women, and that some of my friends were registered (two who have a nephew who was severely injured in Afghanistan) convinced me to enter this race late last week.
The race started at 10 AM under overcast skies but soon the sun would break through. And although there was a stiff breeze, it would get hot and humid before the end of the race. Some runners were there purely for fun, dressed in wacky outfits. A group of guys were in dresses! A short trek on the road after the start from the ranch and we were back running through open cow pastures. I've run on many trails in many parts of the country and let me tell you, the most difficult trails I've run on are much smoother than a cow pasture. There wasn't a single area that was smooth at all. Those rolling hills, and fields were littered with holes and ruts of all sizes. And the grass made it difficult to see the uneven surface. Orlando said he rolled his ankle at one point. I'm sure he wasn't the only one. I ran in some PUMA flats and that was a good decision.
The first obstacle was a mud pit. We had to crawl under ropes about two feet off the ground over this pit. The next obstacle were tires, then Hay bales stacked two high and two deep, this was about 6 feet high and 8 feet deep. The obstacles were set up about every 3/4 mile. Next was a flat bed trailer. followed by more stacked hay bales and the final obstacle was a mud pool! The pool was about 3 feet deep and 30 feet long. When I entered the pool I was beat and was wading through it as young kid passed me high stepping it. Just before he exited the pool he went down face first.
I exited the pool and dashed for the finish line, crossing it at 40:36. Good enough for first in my age group but I was awarded the first Masters award. They goofed. The guy awarded first in my age group was the first masters.
I had a fun time and felt good about helping the Wounded Warrior Project.

Story of my life

The good Doctor (and she was very cool) called me and said it wasn't sporotrichosis and it wasn't a spider!
What the heck was it?
She didn't know exactly but the results found that I came in contact with some plant, weed, or brush my skin couldn't handle. Story of my life.
All my life I've had reactions to the earth's vegetation.
Oh well, I can't let it stop me from running through it.
I'll Keep applying the good Doctor's prescribed ointment, and I'll keep running through the woods.

Sporotrichosis or Arachnid

"Oh, that doesn't look good"
Those words prompted me to pay a little more attention to the blistery patch that had appeared just above my left wrist. What I thought may have just been an irritation from wearing my watch (which needs cleaning), turned into a rash that grew larger and a brighter red. Initially I ignored the half dollar sized rash and thought it would go away. After a couple of days I tried treating it with Tea Tree oil. Then after the comment above from a co-worker I tried neosporen. Nada. Then it was an olive oil and garlic paste I put together. My close friends will understand that one. Olive oil alone followed, and that helped a little but the reddish rash was still there but had formed a scab. It never really itched all that much. After over a week I finally saw a Dermatologist. She seemed puzzled and asked if I have any rose bushes at home. I told her I do and I tend to about 5 rose bushes at home. It's not a passion but I do enjoy my rose bushes. She mentioned Sporotrichosis, an infection of the skin caused by a fungus on rose bushes. But she also thought I may have been bit by an insect or a spider. I mentioned I run in the woods and that I also have problems with eczema flaring up on different parts of my body. She asked if I frequently and easily experience rashes. I told her I do.
All my life I have had very sensitive skin. Horsing around and rough housing with friends as a child produced welts on my body. For as long as I can remember I have had rashes and bumps flare up at the slightest brush up against plants, grass, trees and even if I bump up against something. I'm a trail runner that's environmentally Challenged!
The doctor decided to take a biopsy from my arm to be sure what treatment to follow. She feared this may travel up my arm! She had to stitch up the area where she took a chunk out of my arm. It now matches the scar on my left leg from a biopsy another doctor took two years ago because she thought it may have been a skin cancer.
Results in a week.

Effort

"Hey Tony! I want to tell you about my new race strategy!"
So began my friends detailed description of his experience at the Big D half Marathon in Dallas last weekend. Steve's distance is the half Marathon and he is always trying to improve. Steve is an accountant, a bean counter. He puts everything to numbers and is very precise about pace, splits, projected finishes, graphs, well, you get the picture.
Going into his latest race in Dallas he had NO EXPECTATIONS! He had been hurt for most of the last month leading into the race and felt he would just run to complete the run. Although Steve wore his garmin, he paid no attention to it. Instead He "Ran as he felt." Giving extra effort when he had it and easing off when he didn't.
Result? A PR!
As he later analyzed the data downloaded to his PC he said he would have panicked midway through when he was running an 8:15 pace. Instead he ran on effort and was more than pleased with the result.
I recalled my Marathon PR at San Francisco in 2007. I just wanted to enjoy the experience and take in the sights. I paused for a restroom break and took many pictures as I ran the 26 mile course. To my surprise I PR'd and had the most enjoyable road race to date.
My buddy Tom recently ran a 50K trail run and did not enjoy TRYING to run fast. He settled into a relaxed pace towards the end and savored the last 5 miles. It was not a PR or his best time, but he realized that running hard is not what It's all about.
Running in YOUR zone at the given time makes for a better experience.
And, a better time.

Meditation on the trail

New Balance in town

Yesterday we had one of our largest groups in quite some time at Eisenhower park for our weekly run. Liza was entertaining the New Balance guys from Boston. She invited them out to our group run because they wanted to talk to folks who run, but don't get anywhere near winning, ultra marathons.
The NB guys visiting were shoe engineers, product designers, and marketing reps. Two of them ran with us and asked questions of the group on our 5 miler. We gave our opinions on what makes a good shoe while recounting some of the ultra-runs we've done all over the country. Of course we also told them about the great person and runner Liza is. And how much we enjoy being her training friends. Which makes me think of how Liza was, Just Liza. The same old pal she is as always. Not trying to be pretentious or putting on airs in front of these New Balance big shots. Not that we thought she would. But in an artificial world containing artificial people, It is so refreshing to be associated with such a great person. Pretty much the content of our group too, Real people!