What are friends for ?

What are friends for?
ask for help and they'll be at your door.
Liza's new home was sitting empty,
There was the task of moving the furniture from the apartment.
Her husband was off working, and concerned about how and when this would be done.
She wanted to surprise him by being moved to the new dwelling before he came home.
How can she do this all by herself?
Hey, try asking those trail running pals to give her a hand.
Three of us showed to help Liza out.
Of course we'd help, her husband lends her to us for training and races,
we'll show up with smiling faces.
Stuffing the truck was like working on a puzzle,
will me make it all fit?
"Sure" Liza said, "and I'll help, I won't sit?"
I expected her to carry small items,
But we compared her to an ant carrying much more than her weight.
Unloading at the house seemed so much easier,
and when we were done we sat and drank Beer.
Trading stories and talking about trails we've run,
and books we've read,
Stories filled about so much fun.
Sharing experiences only we can understand,
going in the woods as only we can!
What a great time is had when you make your friend happy.
I can't wait to hear the story after her husband comes home,
to find his wife has performed the task he dreaded has been done.

Old Friends

It’s been awhile but the old bike and I were out for a ride,
The shop owner said ”enjoy the ride, you are to please”
The road worker asked “where will you go?”
“Not too far” I said, and I’m going slow.
The road was familiar, one I knew well,
Hadn’t been on it for quite a spell.
The hills greeted my legs,
in places they had not been addressed in quite sometime.
My lungs too, were feeling the strain,
Sucking up wind, but really no pain.
Others were spinning down the road on their bikes,
Saw an old pal pedaling with friends and waved as he passed.
Riding with others, oh what a gas.
16 miles at the end of the ride and pleased I was.
The shop owner was there with one of my friends.
We chatted a bit and had a laugh.
Other friends showed for their later ride.
One was pleased with her new bike.
We visited a while and off they went,
As I was to leave I noticed another,
He looked twice before he said Hi.
It’s been awhile; I’ve changed a bit,
But the conversation was a big hit.
New and old friends, a sight to see
They bring a smile and many a grin.
The Bike and I, what a long time it’s been.

Time for some cross training!

After a week of not running and massaging my right calf, Achilles, and the sole of my right foot to relieve pain from PF, I tried to go out for a run today. Chris, Liza, Brian, Mike, Abbey and I met at Govt Canyon to run about 10 - 12 miles in the flat trails of the front country. The weather was perfect, sunny,dry and about 60 degrees. Chris led a pretty quick pace. Sub 9 minute miles. Soon Abbey and Mike picked it up and pulled away. Chris and Liza were not far behind them and Brian and I were bringing up the rear.
My foot was feeling OK up until about 4 miles into the run. I started to feel a little discomfort in my right heel at 4 1/2miles. It was getting worse. Liza held up for Brian and I at the 5 mile mark, and I said "I'M DONE!" The pain was back in full force. I'd better stop before I make it worse. I said goodbye as Chris, Mike and Abbey were far up the trail. Brian said I was wise to stop. Chris yelled back goodbye and "get a haircut!" I responded "I'll think about it." As I limped back to the car I tried not to let it get me down. I can work out on the bike I thought.
I motivate myself to train seriously by signing up for a race. Well, last Thursday I registered for the Jemez Mountain 50 Miler. With 4 significant climbs to over 10,000 feet, I told myself I had better get going.
Now I must say to myself, "Take time off from running to let your Plantar Fascitis heal." This is a switch, and will test my patience.
It's on the bike and workouts with Kettle bells for at least the next two weeks.

Me duele!

Aches and pains at my age stick around awhile. The body takes a little more time to heal as it grows older, But I would rather be healing from pains obtained from being active than those obtained from being inactive.
At the moment I am suffering from Plantar fascitis, my right hand goes numb at night due to a flag football injury, and my right wrist still hurts as a result of a fall three Sundays ago trail running at O.P. There is limited motion and strength in my right hand. I get through these pains with the same mentality as I get through Ultras. "This is temporary and will pass and be over with in due time".
I feel I am alive!
At our last run we shared one other trait of ultra runners. Black or missing toenails!

volunteering and pacing Jan10@Bandera

This year for the Bandera 50 and 100k I decided to help Joe and volunteer as much as I could. Which was very little compared to what many other folks do to put on a race like this. I helped with tent set up on Thursday, was asked to help at check in on race morning and worked with Paul at the Chapas aid station. We as runners arrive at the race expecting signs, flags, glow sticks, and aid station tents to be on the trail, not really realizing how much work it takes to set these up. Joe,Crash,Henry,Mike,Mark,Joyce,Diana, and MANY others do this with such passion.
And on race day I felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction being able to help runners as they came through the aid station. I met new people, as is usually the case at these trail runs. Enjoyed socializing with and congratulating friends post race.
I helped pace my good friend Liza (last 15 miles of her 100K), to a second place finish!
Pacing can be very rewarding. But also can be a little nerve racking. Don't let your runner feel this from you though. You've got to try to keep your runner motivated, entertained, and happy. You must be careful not to distract them from the task at hand and bore them with your banter.
So, I feel you must constantly ask your runner what they want and need. Make them feel like they are in charge. Be there for them. It's a delicate balancing act.
After all the runners come in, revel in finishing their race, admire their medals and head for home, Joe and the race volunteers still had to tear down the course, the tents, gather the trash, pack it all up, and lug it home.
Thanks to all who help at putting on such great events.

Bushwhacking with John

Sunday December 28th, it was 40 degrees, overcast, and just a little windy. Perfect weather for hitting the trails. John and I compromised and started at 7:30 AM. John being the adventurist suggested we look for the old blue flower trail. This is an old trail at SAR used "back in the day" when SAR was a close kept secret among trail runners and mountain bikers. "Sure, Let's go look for it" I said. The trail head was easy to find, but soon we were walking and looking for cairns (stacks of rocks serving as trail markers). We found them here and there and were on the right track (sometimes). At times we were ducking trees and fighting the brush. It has been very dry and the brush was bare, exposing their stickers and thorns. The Texas hill country is beautiful but there are plants that bite, sting and scratch. We were getting our lower legs cut, scratched and bit! I even suffered a big scratch on my neck! We found a couple of cairns John remembers putting up and we set up one or two also. John apologized for walking more than running, but I assured him it was OK with me. Hey, time on your feet is what counts. After about an hour of searching, and two miles, we found our way out to the main trail leading down to the creek and up the hill to familiar trails. Now we were running. Trail running offers a chance to leave the real world behind if only for a few hours. And running with a trusted friend only adds to the joy. The trails will take your worries away and a friend will too if you ask. What a great way to relieve stress and enjoy the company of a good friend. 8+ miles and 2 1/2 hours of time on our feet and weight off our minds.

I was Santa today!

Four weeks ago I was asked by a co-worker to be Santa for an Elf Louise project, Delivering toys to needy families. After saying yes I thought, "what did I get myself into?"
I had a wonderful time!
We were assigned 10 homes to deliver wrapped toys to. We were also given extra toys just in case. And My co-worker, Letty, took a bicycle to give to a child of our choice. Letty was so enthusiastic! I thought she had to be on some kind of happy pills.
Letty knew all the ropes, so I depended on her. At first I was a little apprehensive, but Letty helped loosen me up and soon I was Ho Ho Ho-ing and having a good time with the kids.
The pretty little girls wanting to hug me melted my heart.
One little boy had a smile that never faded. And he would giggle at every word I spoke.
The Mom's were very appreciative (a couple got real friendly with Santa, lol).
The most touching moment was when we were walking up to one of the homes, a curly haired boy about 6 years old stopped me on the sidewalk to say hello. I shook his hand and talked to him a Little bit. His home was not on our list.
We continued on and visited the next home. As we left, there was the 6 year old again with gifts he wanted to give to me! I was puzzled. His mom came out of the house and said he wanted to give me gifts to take to other children! I felt a lump in my throat and hugged him so hard as I cried and thanked him, telling him what a wonderful young man he was, and how his kindness will make someone very happy. I asked him to please never stop caring for others, and people like him make this a wonderful world.
Letty asked his mom if he needed gifts. She said no. He had gifts for Christmas. Letty then asked if he had a bike. He did not.
"we have to give him the bike" Letty whispered into my ear.
We did! He loved it!
Thank God good people are still coming into this world!
If you ever have a chance to volunteer for a project like this please do. The rewards could be fantastic!
Thanks Letty!