Caballo Blanco Thoughts

I was find it a bit strange when someone dies that I do not really know.  I've lost people that have been close to me (like my dad and recently my grandmother) so I try to keep it in perspective.

With that said, I was sad when I heard Caballo Blanco was dead.  I did not know him.  I only read of him.  But, he was an inspiration.  I was already running marathons before I read born to run, but reading of him gave me inspiration to one day run ultras.  More importantly, reading of him (and people like him) helps me stay in touch with my love for running.

I wish I could have met him. But, through born to run and all of the blogs and articles about him, I feel that I sort of have met him.

Awesome run in the Rain at Rancho

It was very rainy today (Tuesday) in the bay area.  I mean . . . a lot of rain.

It was also our first run at Rancho this year for the SF marathon training group.  Since I'm a pacer/coach for the South bay group and generally run the hill runs at Rancho I felt I should go.  On my drive over I had a few second thoughts.  Not so much because of running in the rain (it was only 4-5 miles) but for running in the mud where it might be very wet and slippery.  Me + mud + slippery = trouble.

In any event, as I pulled into Rancho I noticed that the parking lot was nearly empty.  It is always packed.  Before I could have additional thoughts about backing out, I saw two people from our group there.  Which meant I'm running.  Not many people showed up due to the rain.

But, those that did went out and did about  4.5 miles of hills.  It was very rainy.  It was cold.  Muddy.  Wet.  Slippery.  But, most of all, it was awesome!

Oakland Marathon . . .

DNS for the Oakland half.

I have not really been training hard so when a trip to Lake Tahoe that my wife wanted to take came up, I did not have a big issue having a DNS.  I did really miss seeing all my running friends run and catching views of some of the local bloggers that I follow.

 It is awesome to run into a blogger for the first time and with this being a bay area event, I was looking forward to maybe running into others.  Though, I think only a few bay area bloggers might know who I am.

In Lake Tahoe, I had a great time.  Took Friday off work and was able to spend the weekend with my wife and Brooklyn, the best two year old in the entire world.  :)

Brooklyn had blast playing in the snow.  We went for a short walk after we arrived and she found a good patch of snow and immediate started to eat it.  As long as the snow was not yellow, I was okay with her trying some.  We also took her on a snow shoe hike - we pulled her in a slide.  She enjoyed walking in the snow (which meant our hike went really slow at times).  She also went ice skating for the first time.  And, did some jumping.

A video and some pictures:

Exhausted!

I'm completely exhausted.  Work has been busy, I teach and then have a great two year old.  All of that means it has been tough to build up the miles. And, I have not done a great job.

Since CIM I've done one 14 mile trail run, one 10 miler and a number of 7 milers.  I've run 3 to 5 days a week, but my weekly miles have generally been in the 20s (with only 1 week in the mid-30s).  Very little speed workouts!

That's okay as I am keeping my base, but I am not getting in "race shape".  That presents a problem when I have Oakland Half on March 25th and then Big Sur which is April 29th.

I have just not got the training in for either of these races.  Which means "if" I run them, I'm not "racing them".  Or, I don't think I can race them.

I have to decide whether I even want to race them.  Oakland is coming up so I won't be able to get in race shape for a 1/2 marathon.  So I need to decide whether I want to even run it.  The main negatives for running it are:  (i) have to drive to Oakland, (ii) have to get a hotel (if I don't then that means I need to drive out there for the expo and then for the race), (iii) time away from my daughter, and (iv) I might not enjoy it since I'm not ready for it.

The reasons to race it:  (i) some of my running friends are running it so it will be great to see people on the course, (ii) I've paid for it, and (iii) won't have to worry about restrooms or water.

For Big Sur, the question will be whether I can get some long runs to build my endurance.  I would not race that marathon, but try to just enjoy it.

I've been running, but not "long runs" and my weekly mileage is low (generally in the 20s save for 1 week in the 30s).  I have not got in speed workouts or tempo runs. So it looks like I will have to cancel at least Oakland and likely Big Sur.

I could attempt to increase my miles to get me ready, but work has just been so busy.

Brooklyn is sick!

I hate it when my daughter gets sick.

I went for a run tonight and when I came home I gave my daughter a kiss on the forehead.  She felt hot.  After a while she still felt hot.  We checked her temperature and it was 103.2!  We tried to give her some medicine and she threw up . . . all over herself and my wife.  My wife felt liking throwing up after having barf all over her.  I just felt bad for my daughter and tried to get her clean as soon as possible without worrying about the smell.

She is sleeping now so hopefully she can have a good night's sleep.  I hate it when she gets sick.  I feel so useless.  She is a trooper so I'm hoping she can fight this off.  I hate the fever too.  I am getting used to colds . . . the running noise and caught.  However, I am not no where close to be comfortable when she has a fever.

On the running front, I got in 35-36 miles last week with a nice 14-15 mile run at Rancho (sometimes I love being out on the trails).

Take care and good running!