Basura Bash

Saturday two co-workers,Jerry Ann and Anita, along with two running buddies, John and Tom, met me as we participated in the Basura Bash. An effort to clean up San Antonio creeks, and water ways. Tom also brought along his Daughter Stella. There were about 40 volunteers at our location, Leon Creek at Bandera Road. We actually had fun while providing a service to all who frequent the trails in and along Leon Creek. ME included! I'm in here all the time. We were thanked by some hikers. Thanks to all who participated. As I arrived home my neighbor said to me, "thank God for you civic minded Democrats, where would we be without you? ......You be the judge.

leisurely?

Chris was to lead a leisurely 15 mile run at Bandera today. At mile 12, Larry asked Chris what exactly is HIS definition of "leisurely." Driving out to Bandera before dawn this morning we drove straight into the cold front. Although Chris was NOT driving straight.Visibility was down to about 50 ft. on Hwy 16 as the rain was coming down in sheets, and at one point Chris was driving down the center of the road! We arrived safely at Hill Country State Natural area about 7 AM and the front had passed. It was very windy and cold as we started up Boyle's bump, and Over Cairn's. Before descending Cairn's, we paused and admired what was probably the last blustery winter view of the Texas Hill Country for this season. Chris didn't see it, he was moving at a good clip, and soon we followed. On the hill tops the wind was blowing so hard, It literally blew the snot off Liza's nose! We back tracked and went up Sky Island, up Mount FUJI, the Three sisters and back on trail 6. It did not rain on us, but the trails were wet and muddy. Initially we attempted to go around the puddles and the mud. After about a mile we thought, what the heck, we're going to get wet anyway. It was an outstanding 15+ mile cool, fun in the mud run.
-Tony

Prickly Pear Trail run

7 AM, picked up my packet. I'm running the 10 miler. Chris R. and Lisa H. were working the runner check in. Lisa and I are "almost" related. Lisa said Chris talks too much, Naw, really? No Way! Chris tried to convince Lisa to run trails with us. She said, no, her ankles couldn’t take it. A roadie’s response for sure. Maybe Lisa will relent and join us soon. Back to the truck to warm up. It was cold. 40 degrees in the shade, but warm in the sun. A trip to the bathroom, and back to the truck again to warm up. Second trip to the bathroom and the sun was warming things up. 8 A.M. back at the start and Annabelle is struggling to put on her chip. I help her and find out she’s been suffering from the flu all week. At the start line Annabelle and I wish each other well. Start! Running on the pavement for the first mile the pace was fast. Quickly I knew I had to slow down. Hitting the nature trails I was more at ease. This is what I like. As the trail crossed the main road I saw Marissa! “Catch Kelli” she yelled. Yeah, it’ll be a cold day in hell when I can do that. I was feeling well and my pace felt great, but can I keep it up? Over the dam, and down the chute. I caught on to a girl running a good even pace. Keeping her just in front of me, I was feeding off her energy. We were passing people and “grooving “ down the trail. Hitting probably the most technical part of the course my “pacer” freaked! She was a roadie for sure. The trail zigzagged down to the creek bed and soon we were on smooth trail again. I was having flashbacks of my mountain biking days. Almost 20 years ago I biked here at least 2 times a week. The foliage was much thicker then, but I knew these trails. Heck, I came to this park as a teenager when it was a hippie and biker hangout. Back then; in the 70’s, it was named “North East Preserve.” The trails have smoothed out considerably since then. Still feeling good I sucked down a gel. Keeping an even pace I was surprised I was doing so well, by my standards. At about mile 6, approaching an aid station, I looked up, caught a glimpse of Edgar, and “PLOP” I bit it! Edgar said, “I marked it just for you Tony” OUCH! It hurt. I hobbled through the aid station and slowed to survey the damage to my leg. Just some scratches, and a little blood. I’ll live. But, damn it hurts! Hobbling a little more I slowly got back into my rhythm. At mile 7 I “HEARD” a runner gaining on me. Soon she was on me asking for room with “On your Left.” That’s proper trail etiquette, don’t you know? Again I hung on to this runner! Boy was she moving fluidly! I sucked on her energy and hung on for the next 2 and one half miles until she came upon a guy who would not move over after she asked for space a couple of times. As she finally passed him going off the trail, she nearly fell. I passed this guy too but could not catch up to “my pacer” again. After the race I thanked her for the ride. She was aware of the fact I was behind her and said she saw me running well and had set her sights on passing me. Crossing the line at 1:23:49 I was happy! But Chris reminded me that I had not beaten his time on last years run.

Nueces Trail Runs, 50mi,Marathon,&10K, 03/06/10

Going in to the Nueces Trail Marathon this past weekend, I hoped to just have a good time. I had pulled my left Gluteus minumus! My butt hurt! This was a result of either a hard kettle bell workout last weekend or going all out in the Salado Creek Trail run. Anyway, I visited my chiropractor Friday and received a deep tissue massage, electric stimulation and had my butt kinesio taped. I felt very good Saturday morning as I picked up John and Liza at 4 A.M. for the 2 hour drive up IH10, over two-lane Hwy 41 and down Hackberry dirt road to Camp Eagle in the Texas Hill Country near Rocksprings TX. Camp Eagle is at the headwaters of the Nueces River. Arriving at daybreak we picked up our race packet. Actually it was a self serve packet pickup, fill your own bag. At the start we visited with race director Joe Prusaitus and at precisely 7 A.M. we were off. I started the race without my camera in tow and very soon regretted it. This place is beautiful. We ran along the river bank’s rocky surfaces, the soft dirt bank, across the river on a suspension bridge, and in the river. It’s not easy running on a suspension bridge! We climbed the tree lined hill sides, twisting and turning through Elm, Cedar, Oak, and juniper trees. At one point I thought that Joe may have gotten lost marking this course and decided to “mark” his way out. In true Joe Prusaitus fashion, trails were created to make this an “interesting” and not so easy race. Later Liza was to say “This is the most difficult race I’ve run.” Running when I could and walking when I wanted to was my theme for the day. The terrain varied. Rocky at times, grassy here and there and even some spots with soft loose dirt. The course loops back to the start line after about 8 miles and I quickly ran to my truck to get my camera. There was a cool breeze and a fine mist in the air for most of the day but the rain never materialized. I was able to take many good photos to create a slide show for our group blog at hotrockhoppers.blogspot.com. I came upon a woman running the 10K with a young child about 8 years old, her son maybe. I asked her to take my picture and I photographed them too. Descending a very long hill I caught a glimpse of John as he disappeared into a wooded trail at the bottom of the hill. I learned later this is where he’d seen a porcupine. Soon I caught up with him. We were at mile 18. From this point on we stuck together, pausing for photos and admiring the beauty of the Nueces River and the rocky hills. Climbing up to the finish line we straddled the cliff side rocky ledges along the river. Care had to be taken on nearly every step to not fall off into the water! Although we ran right along the finish line as we came up from the river bank, we still had to run one more 2 mile loop through the woods and back to the finish. John and I both crossed the finish line at 5:53:12. Liza came in first female in the Marathon and received a cool looking chicken made from sheet metal as her award. Arne also ran, and after having a burger with him and John, Joyce drove us to visit with Liza at the Armadillo aid station where she was putting in time for her required Western States volunteer work. We thanked Joyce and Joe for putting on such a great laid back race. We had our photo taken with Liza, met Eliot and Asa as they arrived, then John and I headed home. On our drive back to San Antonio, we stopped at an old time roadside gas station, Garvin’s, and had a homemade barbeque sandwich with all the trimmings out on the patio. I DID have a good time. The Nueces Trail run is sure to be a classic, and one I will surely return to next year.

Age

Lately in my posts I’ve been mentioning how I am getting older and how it is affecting my performances. I’ve been giving it much thought and have come to realize that maybe I have been taking shortcuts as I did in previous years. I relied on my strength and yes, my youth. The ability to bounce back from injuries, and strenuous exercise, without serious preparation is no longer there. I can’t do that anymore. That’s what it is; I can’t take shortcuts or get by without the proper training and preparation. I have always struggled with patience. I do not posses it. Performance does decline as we age. For some this happens more rapidly than it does for others. But we can continue to do well if we prepare properly. I am amazed at some of the “older folks” at Ultra Marathons. Yes, some folks are blessed with good genes, but they too must prepare and put in the time to train. We can continue to participate in this great sport of trail running, or any sport for that matter, as long as we prepare properly. Some may have to tone in down a bit, but we must continue to test and push the body so that we can keep it functioning well and thus giving us good health and a sense of well being.

Salado Creek Trail Run

Aah........ the benefits of growing old. At 51 I am often told "You're not old." No, to people near my age I am not, but to many of the 20 and 30 year old crowd I sometimes run with, I am. Even though they are kind and say otherwise. And to those older, as in an older co-worker, I am "just a snot-nosed pup." But at my age it is sometimes advantageous as in today's trail run at Salado Creek. I felt good and knew I could have a good race if I played it right and ran "MY RACE". As is usually the case though, I got caught up in the quick pace of the front runners, but quickly toned it down and ran with a group I thought I could hang with. The race started on the road for the first half mile then turned into a really tight single track trail. So tight at times that frequently it was necessary to duck under trees and at least 3 times I was brushing my shoulders up against trees and large brush. Low trees were abound and demanded ducking, dodging, and weaving. I was running with a group of about 10 runners and soon we dispersed as the trail became more technical. At times the trail opened up to a wider almost jeep trail and then to very rocky river bed terrain. I could tell some were not accustomed to running in such tight and rocky trails. At one point there was a fallen tree traversing the trail. In a split second I thought, Go under or climb over? I climbed over and nearly fell. Thinking I was running well, and fast, I again surveyed the field as I had done at the start and thought I could maybe place in my age category. Not too many old guys out here. Come on, don't we all do that? I passed at least 5 people the first 5 miles, but then I began to get passed. At the 5 mile aid station I stopped for about 30 seconds to grab some Gatorade. a group of about 7 people went pass me as I took my break. I continued and tried to keep that group in my sight. With about 2 miles to go I was feeling somewhat fatigued but was able to sustain a good pace. I finished in 1 hour 15 minutes and change. I felt good about my chances. Tom, Brian, Joe, Roy, Edgar and his fiance Kerri hung around and waited for the results. Tom won third in his age category, 45-49. Kerri won an award (she's young, I didn't pay attention to her age cat). And I won first! Granted, there aren't too many guys my age out there but it felt great! HEY CHRIS, I'M FAST....................For short distances, and among old guys. Lately I have been noticing the affects of aging on my body, and I am OK with it, but it feels great once in a while to be successful. Wait a minute........, I mean to win something, because just going out and running an event is being successful. I hope to keep running for many years to come and I wish for my friends, family and everyone to do the same.

Running into a friend

It was a beautiful Sunny day Saturday Feb 06. A welcomed change from all the rainy cloudy days we've been having. I decided to sleep in a little and had a late start (7:30AM) on my morning run. I headed out the door into a chilly breeze.
Running a mile on the road to the trail head of Leon Creek I was wearing my iPOD and enjoying the cool (38degrees) breezy morning. Staying on the paved path because I didn't feel like getting muddy, I was enjoying my music and the serenity of running alone. The usually dry creek was running rapidly. Passing walkers, leisurely bikers, and some runners and exchanging "good morning" was feeling good. The pond at the turn around (6miles) was over flowing and teaming with ducks floating on the water having a great time.
As I turned to head back I removed my top layer and felt a buzz on my Phone. It was Brian who was crewing for Liza at the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler. Liza was through the first loop (20mile) and in the lead! As I responded with an "Awesome", I looked up to see John Palmer. "Good to see ya John." Although I was enjoying the solo run, Running into John was great. I turned my iPOD off and enjoyed the conversation and catching up on things. At times there was silence, but just running with a friend is a conversation in itself. We hit the trails at the Birds of Prey Preserve before we headed back. The pace was a little faster than I had been running, but that is good for both of us.
At OP Schnabel park we parted ways, We each headed home. It's so convenient to live so close to the trails.
As for Liza, she won! Her second 100 mile victory in 3 months! Awesome! Can't wait to hear the stories from Her, Her crew, and pacers at our Thursday evening group run.