February 2012
2 posts
rising, running before the sun
I’d meant to get back into 2-runs-a-day at the start of February, back into the routine I entered briefly before the Christmas holiday. I’d intentionally cut back shortly after Thanksgiving, because I’d run the only race I was going to have the chance to run and wanted to simply stay in the habit of a decent daily outing before really pounding away at building a strong base for...
the simple joy of having expectations met
As a large-footed (size 14) runner, I tend to have a wee bit ‘o trouble finding shoes. That’s one of the many reasons I’ve come to love the world wide web, because on-line shoe stores, unlike their physical and local counterparts, tend to have a vast array of shoes in my size. Don’t get me wrong, I love supporting local businesses, but not enough to cram my feet into too...
January 2012
3 posts
properly motivated
Sunday morning I awoke a tad after 9 a.m., no longer able to sleep. I Keuriged myself some coffee and slapped together a Nutella and peanut butter tortilla, and set about to fill out some reports for work. I resisted my typical urge to check out Facebook, Twitter or ESPN.com, because I didn’t want to be rudely greeted with the results of the Australian Open final between Rafael Nadal and...
commitment > resolution
Resolutions, I feel, are pointless. They’re like diets. The calendar flips back into January and you get all gung-ho about some resolution you’ve made - like going to the gym or walking more often - but a month later it’s been ditched and you’re back into your old, crappy habits.
You don’t make resolutions when you’re serious about self improvement. Resolutions...
back on (the) track
At lunch today, I did something I haven’t done in well over a year. I laced up the running shoes and rather than hitting up the trails/roads in Alamosa at a leisurely pace, or getting some decent climbing in on the treadmill, I jogged about 100 meters across a muddy-but-supposed-to-be-grassy field to the track.
I’ve set foot on the track in more recent months, but very rarely to run...
December 2011
3 posts
my job is lame
December, as a month, is infinitely better than January. There’s just such a let down once you check off that final day of the year and whip out the new calendar.
And I’m not just saying this becuause December is home to both Christmas and New Year’s Eve, two of the best days of any given year. Rather, it’s because December is a month filled with so much promise of what...
a lesson in extreme discomfort
Throughout yesterday’s department meeting, I was constantly trying to will my co-workers to consume more and more the pizza that had been ordered for lunch. I was hoping there’d by anywhere from 0 to 3 pieces left at the end of the meeting, thus preventing me from having the chane to drastically over eat as I am wont to do when pizza is in play.
However, my Jedi mind tricks...
later '11: ending on a high note at the schaumburg...
Last Saturday, whilst back in the Chicago-land area for Thanksgiving, I capital ‘R’ Raced for the first time since…. July 2010? Yea, I guess so. Damn, that was longer than I had thought.
Sure, I’ve done a few races in the meanwhile, but just local 5Ks. And while enjoyable and a good opportunity to test myself physically and mentally, it’s just not a distance that I...
November 2011
4 posts
fab time with the fam
I’ve slept/spent nights in the airport before, but what made last Tuesday night different from the others is that this time it was not planned. I guess that’s the price you pay for over-optimistic booking of a flight.
Perhaps had we actually left Alamosa at 3 p.m. like planned we may have made it… Or perhpas the problem was that we always think of ABQ as being a 3-hour drive...
Inaugural (and possibly last) alamosa fat ass 50k...
Place………Name…………..Gender (Place)…..Age Group (Place)…….Time 1 Scott K. M (1) 20-29 (1) 4:13:37
Well didn’t quite have the turnout I was hoping for (which was two people) at today’s Inaugural (and Possibly Last) Alamosa Fat Ass 50k.
I did, however, enjoy...
inaugural (and quite possibly last) alamosa fat...
THE 1ST EVER (!!!!) ALAMOSA FAT ASS 50K SUNDAY, NOV. 13 @ NOON MEET AT THE PARKING LOT ON THE WEST SIDE OF STATE STREET JUST NORTH OF THE STATE STREET BRIDGE
Come one, come all, but very likely only one (me), this Sunday to the inaugural Alamosa Fat Ass 50k. Despite having totally hyped this event up (to a few non-runners I know in town as well as a few of the Adams State sprinters), I’m...
the up, and the down
Once I officially decided that I would join Melissa for her quick-trip to Albuquerque for a mah teaching conference, one of the first things I did was check out some good running in the area. I was going to take at least one of the two days during which she was going to be soaking up some knowledge and soaking up some sun, and some joy, on the trails.
Well today was that day, and to quote the...
October 2011
2 posts
the sweet spot
Sweet spot - n: 1) a place, often numerical as opposed to physical, where a combination of factors results in a maximum response for a given amount of effort; 2) the focal point between two speakers, where an individual is fully capable of hearing the stereo audio mix the way it was intended to be heard by the mixer.
I’m back in it!
I find it fairly joyous that I’m back to the point...
sunday runday
Running that made me immensely happy was going on in two places on Sunday.
Myself, I got to return to the mountains for the first time in approximatley 10 months, as I made my way out to Mosca Pass at the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.
But, the running that put an even bigger grin on my face, was Kevin and Daniel both running the Chicago Marathon! It was Kevin’s third and,...
September 2011
3 posts
runnin' and dreamin'
I’ve been back to running regularly for little over a month now. It’s been weird, coming back to running after an entirely-too-long for my liking break. While from the very moment I began again I was physically loving it, I must admit that mentally the first two weeks were kind of tough. During its absence, there were times that all the non-runner questions were swimming around my...
now that that's over
Last week turned out be as hellish a week of work as I’ve ever experienced. Yes, even more hellish than working 90+ hours when ASC hosted the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships, and even more so than when we hosted the CHSCA All-State Games, another 90+ hour week.
What made this more hellish… Well, for starters, I worked the equivalent of more than three full work weeks...
going far
This past weekend was a pretty good one all around. There was running, there was drinking, there was dancing, there was karaoke and there was relaxing… That kinda thing probably won’t happen again for a while (sigh).
But the best part of the weekend wasn’t even something I did. It was the call that I got on Saturday morning, whilst enjoying some waffles with peanut butter and...
August 2011
4 posts
my run is mine again
Well, its now been 3+ weeks since I’ve been able to run (nearly) daily, and this is the longest stretch of running I’ve had this year by about two weeks. FINALLY!
The best part of it is that running is finally starting to feel like something of mine again, where each of my steps is not an action directed at a physical end-point, but rather, it is an action done for myself.
I remember...
6 tags
breathing fire
The sun had fallen down below the peaks of the San Juans to the East, and rising above the Sangro De Cristo’s straight behind was a full moon, providing ample light so long as you were atop a dune ridge and not in a bowl of sand.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
What had started off as a nice, one-night getaway to camp, eat well and enjoy a few beers out near the Dunes had...
it really WAS the scenic route
After some necessary chores on Sunday morning (mowing the lawn of the house we’ve been watching all summer), a tingle of excitement went through me as the lone text message on my phone read:
“You wanna go cliff jumping?”
Yes! I shouted, and waited a few moments before remembering that this was a text message, thus necessitating a typed response rather than a yell. It was only...
an unlikely friendship & circling colorado
Once upon a time, a young pheasant was lost and scared ‘cuz it couldn’t find it’s mommy. Whilst shedding tears of fear, this young winged creature came across a rattlesnake (yikes). The rattlesnake was pleased, becuase it was very hungry, but was confused when unlike 99.9% of creatures, the pheasant was not scared, but rather started smiling and seemed to get its spirits back up...
July 2011
4 posts
starting to feel regular again
… and not because I’ve been taking Jamie Lee Curtis’ advice and eating plenty of Activia.
Rather, because the cortisone shot that Doc Kitchen gave me as the treatment for what is/was now believed to be a case of bursitis in the ankle has been the best shot in the dark we’ve taken at getting me back to running yet. I’m still far from being where I want to be in...
ups 'n downs
There have been a great many ups and downs over the last nearly seven months with my leg problems. There have been times that I have been really excited about progress that seemed to be getting made, and times that I was majorly bummed about a vast array of things.
Some of the things that at times had me more on the excited side include: *in January, the idea of taking some time and seriously...
a dream realized
We went into this weekend knowing that come hell or high water, we were going to make it a good one. And we accomplished that and then some.
Right around noon on Saturday the plan became to go camping and fishing on Saturday night. Melissa, Alex and I headed out to Beaver Creek Reservoir aroud 2:30 to stake out a campsite and get in some early evening fishing, and were met by Rebecca and James a...
home is where . . .
…these people are:
After arriving in Chicago Saturday night, Mom, Dad and Dan came to Kevin’s condo and we grilled out for lunch Sunday. (Dad, Kevin, Me, Dan)
Was stoked to see Kevin and Sarah do the Muncie Ironman 70.3 on Saturday, July 9. (Mom, Kev, Sarah, Sarah’s Mom)
The only thing that would have made my week off even better would have been (in order): if Melissa...
June 2011
6 posts
Anonymous asked: Do you think you should ask Ro for a 2nd opinion about your achilles/ankle???
MRI oh MRI
After a solid celebration of Melissa and I’s 4-year anniversary on Tuesday night, I woke up Wednesday morning feeling less than chippper (I’ll blame the 3 glasses of honey wine for that one). So, it worked out pretty well that I had an hour in the MRI machine to nap before heading in to work.
The original agenda had called for getting images of the right leg Wednesday morning, and...
6 months in the pain cave?
I’ve entered the pain cave during races and training - the time when every stride seems to take the effort of running a full mile and every breath, well, HURTS - but fortunately it always comes to an end. And rather quickly, too. But no pain cave has ever lasted for 6 months before, until now it seems. Visual representation of the pain cave. I’m in pain, and in a cave: Pain cave.
Let...
trout tamer
I can’t call myself a Bass Master - other than in videogame form - but I can call myself a Trout Tamer after this weekend.
I finally got my fix of mountains and the outdoors this weekend after Melissa and I’s initial plans of a train trip to La Veta on Saturday got the old heave ho, and a camping/fishing trip took its place; definitely a way better way to have gone, me thinks. We...
the wrong kind of endurance
In an ideal week I would run 90 miles - not work 90 hours in an office that’s about 90 degrees.
Therefore, last week was far from an ideal week. It was one of those weeks that could have been made a little more pleasant by getting out for a few easy lunch-hour runs to break up the day, but instead my days were broken up by trips for fast food and more sitting, which just compounded the...
positive breeds positive
Even the knowledge that I am back at my work desk staring two of what I’m sure will be the toughest, most hectic and frustrating weeks of my time at Adams State in the face is not enough to put my in a foul mood right now. I attribute this largely to the fact that since the arrival of my Melissa and I’s moms into town last Saturday, I have had a blast, and those lingering positive...
May 2011
3 posts
this boot was made for walkin'...
…and that’s about all it’ll do.
While this isn’t my first time in a walking boot, it is my first time since my junior year of college, and boy did I forget how non-comfy these things are. It even makes lounging around the house sort of a pain, and I can tell you that lounging has become enough of a pain over the last several months without the added weight/bulk/whatever...
not so certain
Well, went to see a specialst at the SLV Foot & Ankle Clinic today, and I’m not so sure I’m buyin’ it.
I must admit, I was kind of hopeful when the doc walked into the room wearing a pari of Nike Free running shoes. That hope was quickly deflated as I began telling him about my running history and the history of my injury. Dude soon cut me off after taking a look at my feet,...
what's up, doc?
Well, after nearly five months of telling myself that my resources and desire to get this achilles horse-sh*t healed would be more than enough, I’m finally admitting defeat.
I called last Thursday and made an appointment at the SLV Foot & Ankle Clinc. My main hope is that the doc will take into account everything I tell him about the remedies I’ve already tried and put me on the...
April 2011
7 posts
proof positive
Since beginnig running, and especially since beginning to run really long distances, I’ve had a great number of people make annoying comments about how it will affect my knees and weaken my joints. I especially get these comments from those who knew me during my previous life as near 300-pound football player in college.
I’ve always shrugged it off and, I’m sure, sounded very...
bad can turn out good (?)
This will likely become my motto for the time being as I once again (and with any luck, indefinitely) return to running. It’s now been beyond 3 1/2 months since the achilles injury and my absence from any sort of consecutive running… and what a crappy 3 1/2 months it’s been.
I’ve focused on the negative, about how I would end up missing my only real...
an orgy of information
“I worked homicide before federal. This is what we call an orgy of evidence.” — Colin Farrell, Minority Report (2002)
I feel as if I’ve stumbled upon an orgy of exactly the information I’ve been seeking for a little over a month now, yet until yesterday could not find a shred of what I’ve considered legit info.
What was I looking for?, you ask. I was in search...
ode to balega - makin' my feet happy since 2008
Note: The author is not at this time affiliated with the Balega brand at all, though he most certainly loves their product. Putting them on gives him a ‘footgasm’.
Socks. Typically an afterthought on most occasion. Something simply to help keep your feet from getting sweaty and to keep your shoes from getting overwhelmingly stinky due to that sweat. Any ol’ pari will do,...
recovery-focused approach
Up to this point, I have approached this achilles injury with two objectives: to heal my achilles while also maintaining fitness so that I’d be able to earnestly toe the starting line at the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run 50-miler on May 7.
Well, I have come to the shitty realization that it simply isn’t going to happen that way.
I’ve now been 3 months without running. I think...
WatchFueled by HoneyStinger Vanilla Waffles, Saturday was a good morning on the trails and roads around Alamosa.
finding positive
I’m well aware that I’ve harped on a lot of negative things lately, so for today I’m keeping things on the upbeat.
I was delighted to hear a few weeks back that The Infamous Stringdusters, a Grammy nominated bluegrass band, was going to be swinging through Alamosa. Really!? Alamosa?! Well, okay.
So I made sure to swing by and pick-up my tickets for the Friday, April 1 show...
March 2011
4 posts
lo tech
Pretty much any event that invovles a lot of endurance has had my attention since the day after my final football game in college. Even during my football career I was at least fairly interested in endurance events. The allure of exploring limits and the possibility of failure has always been alluring to me, even though the reason may not be something that I’ll be able to succinctly...
motivation vs discipline
A normal day for me, when my health is present, goes like so:
5 a.m. - Alarm goes off. Quick bite (apple/orange/energy gel) and out for approx. 90 minute to run. 7 a.m. - Back home to eat breakfast/shower. 8 a.m. - (or sooner) Arrive at work. 11:30 a.m. - Small snack (fruit/energy gel). 1 p.m. - Leave office for lunch-hour run/weights/swim. Whatever suits the day. 2:30 p.m. - Post-run snack...
motivation, where art thou?
Well, on March 4 I managed to get in my first pain free run since December. It was only 25 minutes, but it felt absolutely wonderful. It shouldn’t have, but it did. I was in the middle of having a crappy cold, and I was running in rather chilly temps in nothing but shorts and t-shirt because we were staying at the only hotel left in the world without a fitness center of any kind....
in the hive
I was pretty stoked late last week when I got an e-mail from the very nice folks over at Honey Stinger to inform me that my application to be part of their grassroots sponsorship program, The Hive, had been accepted.
I guess that means I can call myself an sponsored athlete? Why the hell not!
No, I’m not getting free products or loads of free merchandise with honey comb patterns on it, but...
February 2011
8 posts
so not cool, achilles. so not cool...
Disappiontment would be a major understatment for the way I felt after my achilles continued to feel like shit on my first run in a exactly a month on Sunday afternoon.
After having discussed the problem in depth with the athletic training staff on campus and getting some more guided ideas for rehab, I hadn’t even felt so much as a niggle during or after my cross training workouts. Things...
balance has never been my forte
Both in a physical and general life sense, I’ve never been great when it comes to balance. It’s why the balance exercises I’ve been doing for rehab tend to be tough, it’s pretty much why I ended up hurting myelf in the first place, and it’s the reason that many a night that has started off as a casual cocktail evening has turned into a, well, shitshow.
That last...
some of the best people i know (click title for... →
I’ve had the pleasure since moving to Alamosa of becoming friends with the people at the core of the Vineyard of the Rio Grande, and it’s been an incredible honor to get to know them. Even though my work schedule has largely prevented me from getting to join them on weekend outings, I sit at my desk anxiously awaiting Thursday night cookouts. It amazes the sincerity my relationships...
a shot in the dark
Yesterday I got a Google messenger message from Melissa that intrigued me so much that I ended up e-mailing someone I’ve never met and asking them if they’d be interested in having me join them for a 200 mile running relay in Utah. Now, about 24 hours after sending that e-mail, I’m feeling as anxious and nervous as a comically desperate and overdramatic woman at a rose ceremony...
not what i wanted to hear
On what I was hoping would be the eve of my return to running, I felt the need to check in with the school’s athletic trainers and see what their thoughts were on the recovery of my achilles. Just the fac that I felt it would be a good idea to stop in and see the trainers was a pretty good sign to me that tomorrow would likely not be the day tht I resumed running.
Yes, my achilles had been...