For the days when we need a little reminder about how lucky we are

This is a great story for the days we need a little reminder about how lucky we all are.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/01/cnnheroes.krishnan.hunger/


Madurai, India (CNN) -- Narayanan Krishnan was a bright, young, award-winning chef with a five-star hotel group, short-listed for an elite job in Switzerland. But a quick family visit home before heading to Europe changed everything.

"I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food," Krishnan said. "It really hurt me so much. I was literally shocked for a second. After that, I started feeding that man and decided this is what I should do the rest of my lifetime."

Krishnan was visiting a temple in the south Indian city of Madurai in 2002 when he saw the man under a bridge. Haunted by the image, Krishnan quit his job within the week and returned home for good, convinced of his new destiny.

"That spark and that inspiration is a driving force still inside me as a flame -- to serve all the mentally ill destitutes and people who cannot take care of themselves," Krishnan said.

Krishnan founded his nonprofit Akshaya Trust in 2003. Now 29, he has served more than 1.2 million meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- to India's homeless and destitute, mostly elderly people abandoned by their families and often abused.

"Because of the poverty India faces, so many mentally ill people have been ... left uncared [for] on the roadside of the city," he said.


Krishnan said the name Akshaya is Sanskrit for "undecaying" or "imperishable," and was chosen "to signify [that] human compassion should never decay or perish. ... The spirit of helping others must prevail for ever." Also, in Hindu mythology, Goddess Annapoorani's "Akshaya bowl" fed the hungry endlessly, never depleting its resources.

Krishnan's day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van, routinely working in temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

He seeks out the homeless under bridges and in the nooks and crannies between the city's temples. The hot meals he delivers are simple, tasty vegetarian fare he personally prepares, packs and often hand-feeds to nearly 400 clients each day.

Krishnan carries a comb, scissors and razor and is trained in eight haircut styles that, along with a fresh shave, provide extra dignity to those he serves.

He says many of the homeless seldom know their names or origins, and none has the capacity to beg, ask for help or offer thanks. They may be paranoid and hostile because of their conditions, but Krishnan says this only steadies his resolve to offer help.

"The panic, suffering of the human hunger is the driving force of me and my team members of Akshaya," he said. "I get this energy from the people. The food which I cook ... the enjoyment which they get is the energy. I see the soul. I want to save my people."

The group's operations cost about $327 a day, but sponsored donations only cover 22 days a month. Krishnan subsidizes the shortfall with $88 he receives in monthly rent from a home his grandfather gave him.

Krishnan sleeps in Akshaya's modest kitchen with his few co-workers. Since investing his entire savings of $2,500 in 2002, he has taken no salary and subsists with the help of his once-unsupportive parents.

"They had a lot of pain because they had spent a lot on my education," he said. "I asked my mother, 'Please come with me, see what I am doing.' After coming back home, my mother said, 'You feed all those people, the rest of the lifetime I am there, I will feed you.' I'm living for Akshaya. My parents are taking care of me."

For lack of funding, the organization has been forced to halt construction on Akshaya Home, Krishnan's vision of a dormitory where he can provide shelter for the people he helps. Despite the demands and few comforts his lifestyle affords, Krishnan says he's enjoying his life.

"Now I am feeling so comfortable and so happy," he says. "I have a passion, I enjoy my work. I want to live with my people."

Long Road

Obviously, I've been AWOL for a few weeks now from Bloggy world. After my half ironman, I just couldn't write about exercise for awhile. But don't fear-- I have been running. A lot. Really. Almost 50 miles per week. Yeah, I almost fainted too.

So for the 4th time I have registered for a marathon--California International Marathon. I have yet to get to the start line. Last year, my MD discovered an issue with my hip that always seemed to cause pain right around mile 17 on my long run. Year after year, by the first week in November (if not earlier) I would start my 16 mile long run only to have it end in tears, clutching my hip and the side of my knee.

For the past year, as perscribed by my MD and physical therapist, I've been doing strengthening exercises for my hip, butt and core, to help stabilize things. I've been dilligent, I've been good about it but a little tentative. What if it didn't work? What if I really could NEVER do a marathon?

I've been building up my mileage for weeks. For the last two weeks I did a 16 mile long run. No pain in the hip. Good news.

Yesterday, in the rain and wind, I completed an 18 mile long run. Really. I did it! The bottom of my feet are achy. I have a huge callasus on my left foot, but my hip DOES NOT HURT!!!

Could this be the year? After such a long road, can I finally complete a marathon?

I am certainly going to try. Again.

My first half ironman

Warning !!! Long Post full of bad words.
I wanted to write a piece that would adequately portray the myriad emotions I felt before, during, and after my first half ironman. I'm not sure if have succeeded, but I did my best.

Unlike prior races, I didn’t sleep through my alarm (small victories). Got up had coffee, got dressed, etc. Car was already packed with my stuff the night before so I simply filled water bottles, made toast etc and headed out at 5:20 a.m.

I made it to the start and parked my car at 6:15. Transition was open but race bib pick up wouldn’t’ start until 6:30 so I gathered my stuff together and staked my claim on a rack for Sac Tri Club. Drank a bottle of water and got body marked. At 6:30 I walked to the line at the registration tables (YES PEOPLE WERE REGISTERING THE SAME MORNING) and checked in. I received a race number for my shirt (or on a race belt), a number to put on my bike, a water bottle, and a shirt. Volunteers explained that I would get my “finisher shirt and medal after I completed the race.”

Between 6:45 and 7:45 I set up my area and talked to a few familiar faces. Honestly, I don’t know if I was in denial about what I was about to embark on or what, but I didn’t feel very nervous. I slowly took off my sweatpants and smeared bodyglide on my ankles. I put on my wetsuit. 8 a.m.

My wave started at 8:15 so I thought I should get in the water and warm up a bit. Because my swimming has been, let’s say, “sporadic”, I didn’t want to tire my arms out by doing a vigorous warm up. Before I knew it, though, the horn for my wave (the last wave) was blaring and I was off.

Surprisingly, I was doing ok on the swim. I passed the first buoy and surged past a group of 3 women. I rounded the second bouy and turned right. Again, doing good. I put my head down and concentrated on lengthening my body and doing full strokes. About 5 minutes later I looked up. The blur of pink caps were racing off into the distance. I evidently got off course, but continued onward. By the time I rounded the fourth buoy and turned right again, I managed to pass men in wearing two different color caps – I was passing people in other waves! I started to feel really good about myself even as I watched more and more pink caps slip away.
And then it happened. The unthinkable.

I got stuck in a large bed of seaweed. Yes really. I panicked and tried to back out of it but the more I kicked the more it seemed to wrap around my legs. I tried grabbing it with my hands but then it stuck to my arms and images of a barracuda snapping at me got stuck in my brain. A water safety kayak raced to me to try to help but by then I was a jittery mess. The adrenaline caused my left hamstring to cramp so hard I almost cried.

I turned back toward the shore and kept swimming. Finally I saw sand right under my nose and stood up. I was afraid to look back at the water and see that I was dead last so I didn’t. I checked my garmin. 50 minutes.

I walked up the grassy knoll to my bike and stripped off my wetsuit.

I hopped on my bike and headed out for my ride.

In the past, I’ve found that I don’t ingest enough fluids or calories on the bike so I was determined to not let that happen on Race day. By the time I hit the 10 mile mark I was almost done with my first bottle. At the bottle hand off (22 miles) was able to easily chuck the empty bottle and grab a new one. By the second hand off (35 miles) I had slurped down 3 bottles. I emptied my gel flask by mile 50 so I was sure I had enough calories

Now a word about road conditions. I have ridden over 56 miles before with no problem. I have ridden over 45 miles in my tri shorts with little to no problems. So I didn’t expect I would have very many issues riding 56 miles in my tri shorts. The conditions of the road were atrocious however—they were something called , “Chip and Seal” and exposed aggregate concrete roads. For 40 miles. Ouch. I didn’t realize it until later but I had horrendous saddle sores from the road.

I was making pretty good time for the first 20 miles. I did 20 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes—speedy fast for me. But as I made the turn onto Jackson Highway, things slowed considerably. The ride became lonely—I passed 4 or 5 people on hills and maybe 4 more who were having mechanical issues. But that’s it. I was usually riding alone with a running commentary in my head.

“ouch this hurts”
“Oooohh did I just run over a skunk?”
“ouch my arms hurt”
“oooh my ass hurts”

When I entered Amador County (Where the trucks are big, the necks are red, and the men have few teeth”, the chatter changed
“was that a hillbilly truck that just buzzed me?”
“Is his neck really that red?”
“Isn’t the confederate flag passé”?

At mile 45 I had to stop to pee at the bike aid station. A lovely volunteer held my bike as I tried to rush into a porta-potty and go fast. I don’t know about you, but when I try to go fast, it seems like things get a little backed up. I exited the porta-potty and he handed me my bike, offered me a cliffshot block package and then sent me on my way with a, “Go get em!”

I was buzzed 3 or 4 more times by big trucks before I made the final left turn into rancho seco park and to T2. Bike time was 3:55

My transition was pretty fast in T2—according to my garmin, 1:12.

The run, well what can I say about the run. If you ask any Triathlete in the Sacramento area about the Rancho Seco run course, without exception the person will shudder and say, “ick. That is a hellish run.”

I started my half marathon just after 1pm. It was hot. 90 degrees or so. There is no shade at all on the run. It is a barely bulldozed fire road full of rocks, dirt, rocks, dirt, oh and rocks and dirt.

No shade
No wind
13 miles.

Oh my.

By the second aid station I was dumping water on my head, back and front. I was tossing cups of ice into my sports bra and down my back. I saw that others did not look well. Some were weaving around as if they might keel over. Everyone was walking. I half-heartedly ran for 2 minutes and then walked for 5. My estimated time of 2hours 15 minutes for the run portion went right out the window as I realized that it was 2:30 pm by the time I finished the first of two loops—nearly an hour and a half after I started the run.

The things that got me through the run were dumb, but effective:

1. Saying over and over to myself, “I never have to look at this stupid piece of ground ever again.”
2. Someday you’ll be too old to do this sort of thing and when you sit in your wheelchair you’ll be wishing you were out running.

I saw several people quit during the second loop, including a woman who couldn’t even walk upright anymore. She was bent over trying to walk while swinging her arms. It wasn’t pretty.

Finally, I realized I had only a mile to go. I started to run as fast as I could. I passed a guy who was walking and he cheered for me, “Go go go!” I yelled back, “I have to get this shit over with!”

As I approached the finish line, I saw my husband cheering for me. Others sitting on the sidelines also cheered and yelled, “Go #182!!!”

I crossed the line in a blur. Someone handed me a Gatorade and a medal. My garmin said 7:37. I was instructed to go to a table to pick up my finisher t-shirt. My husband met me at the end of the chute and gave me a big hug and kiss and walked me to the table where I picked up a t-shirt.

Then I started to cry. I couldn’t help it. I was just overwhelmed. The whole day—from the killer seaweed, to the crappy road, to the death march run just seemed too much. I just stood there and cried. Husband was really nice and just held me and murmured that everything was over and I was done. He asked if I wanted to sit in the shade or use the toilet or just pack up and go home.

I ran to the toilet and realized that I had chaffed so bad from saddle sores that there was blood on my new tri shorts chamois. No wonder I was miserable.

Later that evening, I lay in bed totally exhausted but I couldn’t sleep. My slow race time kept playing over and over in my head and I started to wimper again. My husband sat next to me and said, “you aren’t thinking straight right now because you are so tired. You need some sleep.” At my insistence that I wasn’t tired, “I am NOT tired!!!” he said, “you want me to tell you something that will make you feel better?”


Me: “yes.”
Him: “Your friend Judy who is doing the double century today—she still on her bike right now and she’s been on her bike since 5 a.m. today. Now do you feel better?”
Me: “Yeah.”


The volunteers were amazing through out the race. Every single volunteer cheered, smiled, offered more effort than necessary. Volunteers ran next to me (deftly avoiding my crappy bike handling) as they handed me a fresh water bottle. They walked out to me as they saw me approaching the water stations on the run with 4 cups in my hand. They remembered that I liked two cups of ice and two of water. They cheered and asked how I was doing—if I needed extra sunscreen or if I felt sick. And they paddled to my rescue from killer seaweed. They were awesome!

Is this how most half ironman are supposed to go? I don’t know since I’ve never done another one. But I guess now I know exactly what to expect under brutal circumstances.

But I went to the Vineman 70.3 website today and figured out that registration starts November 1.

Half Ironman #1 – DONE!

I will post a detailed race report later this week but here are some quick stats of what was a brutal day:

Swim 1.2 miles: 50 min
T1: 3:20
Bike 56 miles: 3:55
T2: 1:20
Run 13.1 mile: 2:46

Final time (official but no chip timing): 7 hours 41 minutes.

Time on my Garmin: 7 hours 37 minutes

Can You Hear Me Now?

Happy thursday!

Assume = Ass out of U and Me

The last post was a free-thought experiment based on several experiences i had recently. What all the experiences had in common was that someone assumed something about me based upon how I looked or their perception of me. Some were scary, some were funny, and some were sad. Like the one about me adapting to heat better because of my family origin. This was the conversation:

Me: Gosh it is really hot today !! I didn't drink enough water and my running is suffering.

Him: Yes It is hot, I have a hard time running in the heat too.

Me: It seems to take me a few weeks of running in the heat to really get used to it.

Him: Oh, really? I thought that since you have dark skin you probably like running in hot weather and can do it better. You know, chasing after animals or something. I figured you hate cold weather.

Me: aaaahhhh...[crickets chirping]

If I could have, i would have shoved the guy, but that's not how I roll. Of course I didn't say, "Gosh" either, but I'm trying to clean up my language.

As a compliment to the last post, I would like to say things I am.

I am.... comfortable running in 35 degree weather.

I am ... happy to have a job that I understand and that pays me a good wage.

I am... good at math.

I am... happy to exercise my second amendment rights.

I am ... happy to exercise my first amendment rights.

I am ... an agnostic.

I am.... not very charitable to flaky people.

I am... running a 5k with RugRat #2 on Saturday. She wants to run one more 5k together before all her cross country meets start the following weekend.

I am... tired a lot more often than normal these days.

I am... already working on quilts for christmas.

I am... a lover of Edward Abbey books, the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Ken Burns, Batik quilts, and Triathlete Magazine.

I am.... aware that none of the things in the item above seem to go together.

I am.... hoping to visit Utah someday.

I am....easily excitable.

I am... a history geek galore.

I am not....

I am not… a muslim. Not everyone with brown skin is a muslim. I am curious, if I was a muslim, would you treat me differently?

I am not…a mom in the traditional sense. I raise others’ children who I never gave birth to. They call me “mom”.

I am not… calm and serene.

I am not… an age-group placer in any race. I am slow and methodical and I like it that way.

I am not… an expert in yoga.

I am not… a conservative, even though I live in the most conservative county in California.

I am not…. a vegetarian, but I am trying to eat vegan as often as possible.

I am not.. more easily adapted to hot weather, just because I have dark skin and my family of origin came from a warm climate.

I am not… religious.

I am not… immune when you yell and spit at me and tell me to “go back to my own country.” I was born and raised in California—which country do you think I should go back to?

I am not…a bad driver.

I am not... unmoved by kind gestures.


Update: This link I saw today relates to some of the statements above. I feel really sad about it. Sorry to be such a debbiedowner, but here it is:

Struggle Struggle

I've been humming and ha-ing about my upcoming half ironman. One part of me wants to try something new, hard, exciting.

One part of me is really scared that I haven't prepared enough.

As I was having an internal dialogue about this, I read Misty "Athena Diaries Geek Girl" latest post and it described EXACTLY how I feel.

Misty is a much better writer than I am so please read how I feel HERE

Comedy of Errors: The Blood, Sweat, & Beers Race Report

Things you DON’T do before a 10-mile, 3500 foot elevation change trail race

• Do not eat homemade salsa brought over by your next-door neighbor regardless of her assertions of it’s freshness. Sure it looks good and it tastes great going into your body, but consider what it might do in 6 hours coming out of your body.
  
• Do not decide the night before the race to make home made vegan ice cream. If you do make vegan Rum Raisin ice cream, under no circumstances EAT a BOWLFUL of it. See #1 above.
  
• Do not drink any alcohol the night before a race. Not even an ounce. One ounce of good wine easily turns into a glass with pasta dinner and then another glass after dinner.
  
• Do not spend all day on your feet in unsupportive shoes, running from store to store trying to find rock salt for the ice cream maker.
  
• Do not spend 2 hours at Costco buying “goodies” no matter how bad you think you need them. Do not try samples at Costco. See #1 above. Do not stand in the sun outside Costco.
  
• Do not go to the ‘crack house’ Fleet Feet and look at new shoes and then look at your $30 frequent buyer credit voucher and decide that new shoes might be a good idea before the race.
  
• Do not go to bed 4 hours before you have to wake up for your race.
  

If you do any of the above, you will not go past GO, you will not collect $200.

Ok, from the list above, can you guess how BSB went ? Let’s just say, either the Costco samples, the homemade salsa or the vegan ice cream (or all three) did not sit well in my stomach. At 4:30 a.m. I rolled over and immediately sat up in bed so I could scurry to the bathroom before I soiled myself.

At 5:15 a.m. I went potty again.

I was pretty apprehensive about the race at by the time I exited my bathroom the 3rd time before 6:30 a.m. I looked at all my stuff laid out and I got ready anyway, loaded up the car and drove to Auburn and parked. At 7:15, I went to the bathroom again in the park public bathroom. This time, there was no toilet paper in my stall so I had to request some from the lady in the stall next to me. Thankfully,she was sympathetic to my predicament.

At 7:45 I went to a porta-potty next to the race start one last time. I felt worn out. I was going to start in the first wave, but held back and started my 10-mile run in the second wave at 8:10.

Suffice to say, I had a horrific race. The first 5 miles I had intermittent stomach issues but managed to keep my pace. My garmin reported the first 5 miles covered in 56 minutes. For a trail run, not too shabby.

Then I made a slight left turn, past the place I fell during the resolution run and looked at a long long climb uphill. It was at that point that my stomach had had enough, revolted and in something akin to the boston tea party, began dumping things. I’ll save you the details, but let’s just say, everytime I tried to go UPHILL, my stomach cramped to the point that I was sure I was dying. Here are some pics I took on the race course. Yes we ran to the bottom of the canyon and back up a couple of times.


The last 3 miles were the worst. It is a double loop where you get to see everyone else who is 2 miles in front of you pass by going the other direction. My garmin seemed to be stuck at 8.4 miles for about 20 minutes. I walked and walked and walked--so did the people in front of me. The last mile I half-jogged, half walked, and managed to turn my ankle. I can honestly say, never in my life have I wanted a race to end quicker.

I finished my 10 miles in 2:15, a 13.5 min/mile pace. All things considered I am proud that I did it, proud that I pushed through the pain. And in irony of ironies, because this was my first 10 mile trail run, I PR’d!

At the end of the race, all participants receive food and two microbrew beers to drink. I took my watermelon slices (I couldn’t even think about any solid food) and grabbed a beer. Three sips of beer later, I handed it off to my friend and told her that it was all hers. I just couldn’t drink it.

I soaked my legs in a nearby canal of snow run-off (many runners do this after running in this area. It’s like a nice little Ice bath) and headed home. While driving my stomach suddenly growled. What? Now you are hungry???

I stopped somewhere on the way and grabbed some food, wolfed it down at home, took a shower and then went to my mom’s to visit with her and my grandma.

Grandma: “Have you EVER gotten first or second in any of these races??”
Me: “No.”
Grandma: “You’ve NEVER gotten first or second??”
Me: “NO! Jesus!”
Grandma: “Why are you praying to Jesus?”

Below are two pics from yesterday with my grandma. She looks innocent enough, but don't be fooled.


Other than sore legs today, there is nothing to remind me of the horror of yesterday. I guess that is a good thing--

Next up--Marin Century on Saturday August 7. My first century!

Alzheimer's 5k Run PR

I ran the Alzheimer's 5k in 25:15 A PR!

Paces (According to Garmin):
1st mile 7:54
2nd mile 8:00-- Side Stitch started here and almost made me throw up.
3rd mile 8:13
Last .15 miles 1:08

Enough of that shit: A new attitude

Ok. Enough about excrement.

I am worried about my next few races. I haven't been training consistently. I am tired a lot. The heat is stifling. I feel lethargic and I sleep as much as possible. This has caused me a lot of anxiety-- "Am I ready? What if I get a flat tire? What if I fall down? What if the streets turn to pudding?" I have decided to re-frame my thinking about my upcoming races. I am doing them simply for pleasure.

• Blood, Sweat, & Beers 10 mile trail run= FUN in the SUN.
  
• Marin Century = Enjoy as many snacks at the rest stops as possible.
  
• Folsom Olympic Triathlon = I get to ride on the some of the same course as the Tour of California Riders.
  
• Napa Century = Stay an extra day and enjoy some wine tasting.
  
  and finally,
  
  
• HIT III Half Ironman= My first half ironman and I will do it with a smile the whole time.

It took me a little time to realize that I need to enjoy the training, enjoy the racing otherwise why continue? I started triathlon for two reasons: First, because it seemed that everyone in my life thought it would be a great big joke-- ha ha look at karen try to run, try to swim, try to ride a bike. I wanted them to show them there was no longer anything to laugh at. Second, I wanted to be fit--I wanted that spare tire (muffin top) gone, I wanted buff arms and I wanted my heart strong. But the reason to continue is more elusive. I've decided I need to enjoy my time out there on the bike, enjoy the freezing lake and enjoy the fact that my legs work pretty good and I can run and sprint just like when I was a little girl. I don't need to be fastest (& I won't be) but when I was 5 and running around the block, I didn't care that I was fastest-- I was just happy running.

That is the attitude I will attempt to take with me forward to every event and to every training ride, run, and swim. Really.

An Ode to Poop, Part Doo

Since at least a couple of you were disappointed in my earlier post “An Ode to Poop” for its metaphorical flavor, I’ve decided to do a real post on poo.

The information below was told to me in 11th grade by my high school physiology teacher. Ms. Noyes prefaced her lecture by stating, “we never talk about poop, so here is some information you should all know.” Thanks Ms. Noyes. Thank god Physiology was first period and not the period right before lunch.

“There are several things about poop that one should know.

It should float
It should be ‘mocha colored’
It should be six inches long (That’s what she said)
It should be solid (1 piece)
It should NOT leave skidmarks
There should NOT be identifiable food in it.
Everyone should go at least once a day.”

Never in my life, did I think I would be posting information about Poop. How far I’ve veered from the primrose path.

An Ode to Poop --Thursday Three

• In 22 years I can retire.
  
• My first swim back since May triathlon was an exercise in humility. How can someone loose so much fitness in 1 month?
  
• RR#1 thinks she's "too pretty to work" a la The Housewives of New Jersey. Sometimes I am glad that I am not linked via DNA to her.
  
  

Now for our regularly scheduled program

Due to the sucky "help" (and I use that term loosely) via blogger, I have been unable to post comments. I went online to 'accept' comments from you good people and to 'reject' comments from all the chinese spammers who apparently love my blog but was greeted to this error:

Please bear with me. I have turned off comment moderation for the time being--Chinese Spammers rejoice.

Trail Shoes Galore: A review of the Asics Trabuco and the Asics 2140 Trail edition

A little background: I LOVE running shoes. Some women may have a closet full of Jimmy Choos or maybe some Cole Haans. Not me. I have at least 20 pairs of running shoes. Everything from Nikes, New Balance, and Asics to Saucony and even some Brooks. For a short time I even had a pair of Mizuno trail shoes, but last year when I signed up for the Blood, Sweat, and Beers Run and began doing trail running in earnest, I headed over to the crack house fleet feet and looked at two pairs—the Asics 2140 and the Asics Trabuco.

Asics 2140 Trail Edition: Built on the same foot last as the standard Asics 2140, the trail edition has some modifications to it that make it an excellent choice for light trail running. It has a tighter weave to the mesh than the standard 2140—this of course disallows rocks, dirt, debris from getting into the shoe so easily. This isn’t to say that stuff DOESN’T get into the shoe Many times I emptied my shoes on the trail, but in comparison with a regular running shoe, the issue of, “Crap there is a rock/stick/dirt/sand in my shoe” was significantly decreased. This shoe is light (300 grams), has great responsiveness and fits my feet like a, er, glove. As I have narrow feet, I was able to tighten the laces adequately to fit my feet. The shoe is designed for both road running and trail running and you can really feel the design works perfectly as you move from Road to Trail. Personally, I could hardly tell the difference moving from trail to road or road to trail. The only problem I had with the shoe was “hotspots” on the bottom of my feet after running more than 10 trail miles. These became a serious issue. The shoe midsole is so responsive (read “thin”) that I could literally feel the heat from the trail seeping into the bottom of my feet. If you run trails where it isn’t too warm, this may not be an issue. For me in the Sierras and central valley in the middle of summer, it was a problem that led me to purchase the…


Asics Trabuco: Touted as the “Real Trail Runner” shoe. When put next to the 2140 trail edition, it looks like a Chevy Suburban next to a SmartCar. But the size is deceiving as it is ONLY 30 grams heavier (330 grams) than the 2140 trail edition. The Trabuco has a toe guard around the front of the shoe—so one doesn’t bruise the front of toes while tripping over rocks. Its heel is significantly thicker than the 2140 trail shoe and that is a plus in my book. The Trabuco also is a lot wider in the toebox than the 2140. This is great if your feet swell a lot or if you have average-to-wide feet or if you tend to wear thicker socks. If you have very narrow feet, this might be a deterrent since the tougher outer structure of the Trabuco makes cinching down on the laces more difficult. I do have very narrow feet (I usually wear Nike or New balance Narrow) and it took a while for me to get used to the feeling of my feet moving around in the shoe. The Trabuco also has a much tighter weave for the upper, so theoretically, LESS stuff should get into it than into the 2140 Trail and I did find this to be true for me. .For more technical or longer runs on trail, the Trabuco is definitely your choice (unless you don’t want the extra 30 grams of weight or if your feet are very very narrow.) It also took me time to get used to the way they felt on my feet—like big bricks. They lacked responsiveness—no midfoot bending, etc so I couldn’t really feel the trail under me and that was unusual. However, this was sometimes a plus in my book because of the “hot spots” issue I had with the 2140 trail. Personally, I would rather give up a bit of responsiveness than feel like my feet were on fire. BUT I seemed to trip and fall more with the Trabuco because of the lack of feeling—or maybe I was just clumsier. I am not sure.

So which is better? I use both shoes but for very different runs. The 2140 trail I use for trail runs where I may also need to run on roads or asphalt OR if my trail run is shorter than about 10 miles. Non-technical runs are also best done with the 2140 trail. For runs longer than 10 miles on the trail, very technical trails, or if it is very HOT outside, I switch to the Trabuco. I have to use thicker socks with the Trabuco for my narrower feet and I tend to be more careful about my foot placement as I have fallen down several times with the Trabuco (never with the 2140 trail shoes). My basic rule is, if I have to carry my Nathan Intensity Water pack, (i.e it is very hot outside, the run is long or too technical for me to carry my water in a bottle on my waist) then I need to wear my Trabucos.

The "killer" and other monstrosities--Good News & Bad News Edition

• Bad News: PT confirmed course of action given by MD sports doc--3-6 months off to allow hip and knee to heal fully.
  
  
• Good News: PT took one look at my face and said, "But I can tell you won't do it for awhile and I don't blame you. I'm the same way. Let's try to get your hip strengthened in the meantime"
  
  
• Bad News: Wednesday night speed workout was really a monsterous "killer" hill workout. 6X400 straight up a hill while dodging cars in 90 degree heat.
  
  
• Good News: I completed the run, that honestly I thought was very unlikely at the outset of the workout.
  
  
• Bad News: I am falling behind on my training plan for my next Half Ironman in September.
  
  
• Good News: Everyone I know is also falling behind in their training plan. Ok this isn't necessarily good news--but it is good to know that i'm not the only one.
  
  
• Bad News: I've missed all the thursday trail running races. Boo!
  
  
  
• Good News: I get to trail run on Sunday in Auburn with Tim T. and Mo B.!
  
  
• Bad News: I have so many things going on in life, yet I can't think of a lot to post on my blog.
  
  
• Good News: I don't get paid for blogging.

Next Up: Review of Asics Trabuco and Asics 2140 Trail shoes.

Run like the wind to be free again

Sunday's RUN ROCKED! I had such a good time.

Got to the start point at Cavitt Middle School around 7:15 for the 7:30 start. It was amazing how many people I saw there that I remembered from last year. I talked to "big D" from Trailmomma's blog. She is a wonderfully sweet lady who (last year) always yelled encouraging words to me as she sprinted past.

I also spoke with a few others who I knew from trail running last year, along with a couple of my wednesday track workout comrades that are also doing trail running.

After a quick peptalk by Mo Bartley and Tim Tweitmeyer, we were off for a 5 mile jaunt through trees, over hills and next to folsom lake. The view from the trail was breathtaking! I took a couple of pictures but they really didn't turn out well.

I got a lot of, "You go girl" from Mo which made me laugh as I was leaned over at a 45 degree angle trying to power walk up a steep hill. Mo is awesome.

I managed 1:04 total time for a 5 mile run. I believe actually running time was about 55 minutes. Today my glutes, hammies and quads have that nice, post run ache --not pain-- but I know I worked out yesterday!
Tomorrow is run and bike and wednesday I will hit the pool again and try to get some yardage before work. EEkkk. The 4:20 a.m. swims commence!

Tommorow is another day

I approached todays ride witha bit of trepedation due to it being the first ride since the auburn tri three weeks ago. Gusty winds and 90+ degree weather further raised my anxiety. I took off with a friend and I am SO GLAD THAT I RODE MY BIKE!

I only managed a short 18 miles but I was so happy to get on my bike and ride in the sunshine. Riding buddy and I stopped at Folsom Bike and had a cool beverage. As we sat and chatted about riding bras, cycling computers, and our garmins. It was just so great to get out even for just an hour or so.

Tomorrow I start my long runs with the trail running class, coached by Uber Studs Tim Tweitmeyer and Mo Bartley. Tomorrow's run is just 5 miles but considering my lungs I think it will be a great run for me.

Run details on monday recap!

Tuesday Twenty-ish

• I could get used to not doing anything ever. Since my illness, I’ve allowed myself to indulge in food and drink –drink is usually wine, but the 85+ degree weather the past few days truly creates a need for margaritas. Ice cold margaritas. I thought about trying the “Skinny Girl” margarita (no margarita mix, just soda water and the juice of 2 limes—only 100 calories) but honestly, that just doesn’t sound good. I’ve become a glutton. How do I know? I had a body fat test.
  
• Percent bodyfat I was in high school (caliper test) –18 %
  
• Percent body fat I thought I was – 24%
  
• Percent bodyfat the electrical impedence machine measured me on June 6 –29.5%
  
• Current BMI –25
  
• Height – 5’2”
  
• Weight – 112
  
• That makes me approx 33 lbs of fat.
  
• Husband’s response to my newly elevated percent bodyfat: “Stop eating so much crap.” Uh, no shit Sherlock. Obviously, dietary changes are not my forte.
  
• Took RugRat#2 to see Bodies Revealed. She insisted on going and had been begging me to take her.
  
• RR#2 fainted within 4 minutes of us entering the first gallery.
  
• When she recovered she tried to go outside, took 5 steps and fainted again. I caught her in my beefy (and fatty) arms.
  
• I wheeled her out in a wheelchair.
  
• Bought her a milkshake and then she insisted that we go back and finish the tour.
  
• I agreed but only after convincing her to allow me to push her in the wheelchair through the exhibit.
  
• She did fine the rest of the time—had no problem looking at dissected lungs, smoker’s lungs, penis cancer, even embryos and fetuses (feti?). But the full bodies posing on the bike or holding a baseball bat were too much.
  
• I have mixed feelings about visiting bodies revealed. On one hand, it is totally interesting and a view of humans that nobody ever gets. But despite Chinese Governmental insistence that these people died and had no relatives and donated their bodies to “science”, I never shook the feeling that I was visiting something akin to Dr. Mengele’s house of horrors.
  
• One of my two dogs is getting very sick and old. She has kidney failure and there isn’t much the vet can do for her. She is still HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY ninety percent of the time but she is having more and more days where she doesn’t do a lot of fetching, begging or running.
  
• I’ve decided that my next run is going to be a 5k called “Alzheimer’s Run” on July 24. I would like to do around 23 minutes for the 5k but we’ll see.
  
  
  
• A quote from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby keeps going round and round in my head. Jean Girard saying to Ricky (after breaking his arm), “Your injury is one of Ignorance and Pride”.
  

Good Times at Diva Night-- Friday Five

Pic shows the fun I had a Diva night a few weeks ago. Even though they plied me with LOTS of red wine, I did NOT BUY ANYTHING at Diva Night. That's a first. I usually plunk down a good $200 on necessities (isn't everything a necessity when you are a little toasted?) like Hammer Gel and 4 pairs of biking shorts.

I had a DNF (or was it a DNS?) for my wednesday night run group.Obviously this illness is taking longer to shake than I anticipated.I dragged my carcass through the 2 mile warm up, did one slow (12+ min/mile) track lap and then walked back to my car. I didn't even get to the actual "workout" this week. My lungs are still pretty congested so I am taking time off until next Monday or Tuesday and I'll re-assess then.

Three people are pressuring me to try for an IM in 2011--IM Arizona to be exact. My dream is IM St. George (because I've always wanted to visit Utah's Arches National Park) but I don't know if I am ready to undergo the rigours of an IM schedule. Granted I wouldn't even have to start training until--well-- like a year from now, but the challenge sounds intriguing. "Karen, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" Yeah, that has a nice ring to it.

Because of illness, our 10 year anniversary was a bust. Boo. But we're trying to reschedule a nice night out on the town or in San Francisco at our fav restaurant, Millenium. Yea!

I've eaten McDonald's twice this week and I feel like a bloated, overstuffed pig. I need a good vegan raw food cleanse. Or maybe I should just stop eating crap.