Category: Random

Bumps. Bruises, And Falling On My Face

On By siegmunaIn barely coherent rambling, Falling, getting hurt, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Random, Running, shoes, Snow, trail runningLeave a comment
Alternate titles for this rant:
Using your head to break your falls: A tutorial
Reasons Someone Should Buy Me A Helmet
Rocks: The Foots Natural Enemy

It’s no new story that I have a tendency to fall, in fact I’ve written about it several times, starting with some stories about backpacking through NH this summer, training for a 50k that didn’t happen, running in the snow, and the all to frequent stumble over a benign obstacle, which, for some reason, is the most likely cause of injury for me. Yes, that’s correct, when I take a spectacular digger, think the kind of fall that would make for a great outtakes reel, I never get hurt, but an errant pen cap on a technical trail, now that’s dangerous!

Where am I going with this? Well I had been talking about my tendency to fall on my face/ass more often than I would necessarily like, and was talked into writing a post about it, but with one stipulation, I had to fall again, that way there are some fresh scrapes/bruises/embarrassment to fuel the rant. Today, the trail decided to provide me with exactly that opportunity.

Descending from the mountain, after 4 consecutive summits, feeling good, somehow the idea that “this would be a great time for me to take a digger” slipped into my head, this is usually how things happen, I’m tired, often a little over-zealous, and more often than not, I have the road/my car within sight (yes, it’s ALWAYS this close to the end of the run) and blam! my face, on a rock. Fortunately, today’s digger was uninjurious, excepting the token bump/bruise/scrape, we’ll call those battle scars. Now while still ranting, let me explain why I have a love/hate with falling on my face. The Hate part is easy, falling hurts, usually a lot, every so often you get off scoff free, but more often than not there are at leas some bruises to answer to, and not to be a sissy, it just simply sucks. The Love part however, is a little more complex. For starters, falling is funny, there have been entire TV shows based on this premise (America’s funniest home videos?) as long as you don’t actually get hurt, a fall is never not funny… Also, falling, in my opinion is indicative of improvement. Strange? Yes, it may seem so, but if you think about it, falling implies that the person eating dirt took a risk that didn’t pay off, this is a learning experience, and is simple proof that you’re going out of your comfort zone. Without pushing the limits, we never improve, which easily translates to, if you don’t fall on your ass a few times, you’re not getting faster.

Now for a recap of some of my favorite spills/diggers/opportunities to eat shit from the past year.

July: Mahoosuc mountain range, descending a steep dew covered rock face with a 30 lb pack on my back, I lost my footing, and fell face first into the dirt. The only thing that stopped me from going over a ledge was my forehead conveniently connecting with a rock. I proceeded to take 6 or so more diggers in that day alone, but the first is always the most memorable.

July: Same day as before, Mahoosuc Notch, Bouldering with a 30 lb pack, after stowing my trekking poles, I leaped off of a rock, and lost my balance on the landing, narrowly avoided slamming my head on a rock (this may be a trend) and subsequently fell on my butt, Another benign landing, but it certainly made me think twice.

August: Schooleys Mountain, On a second ascent towards the overlook, a slip caused me to roll my ankle and land sideways on a few rocks. Not a particularly spectacular fall, but the ankle twist affected my mileage for several weeks afterwards

November: Powerline trails, I tripped on an errant piece of wire, landing directly on my knee, keeping me off the trail for several days… this would be a prime example of embarrassingly simple obstacles laying me out for a few days.

December: Today’s fall.. Near the end of the trail, I tripped on what I think was a rock… All I can really say for sure is that my left shoulder, knee, and chin took the brunt of the impact, I think I laid there for a few minutes simply stunned at the absurdity of it, and surprised that I was completely fine

So fortunately everything is behaving normally, although I expect a little soreness tomorrow, but for now, I think a solid smoothie, some Yerba Mate, and a couple of delicious beers should wrap up the day pretty well.

Summary 11/12-19

On By siegmunaIn Barefoot, fitness, Hours, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Random, road running, Running, SummaryLeave a comment
This past week has been the least productive of the year as far as running is concerned, logging a Whopping 7.3 miles for a little over 1 hour of total running time (3.2 and 4.1, 26:44 and 34:25 respectively). My left foot has been bothering me for weeks, and this week I decided that any illusions of ultra-marathons in the next 6-8 weeks being run well is out of the question, so I figured it would be best to rest my foot, and try to let it recover so I can start feeling healthy, and get back into the shape I’ve been yearning for. Taking 5 consecutive days off was rather troublesome however, I think that after a while, you identify yourself so much by what you do, that when you’re not doing it, you begin to lose some of that association, living in the past to a sense. My foot is still not 100% but it’s runnable, and today’s 6 miler made me feel like a real runner again (and the first time I’ve gone shirtless in weeks). On the bright side, the lack of running allowed me to really hone in on my practicing, as well as do some research for upcoming job openings, one of which is in Utah… which has great mountain running, so… we’ll see!
Since there’s not much running to talk about, here’s some great music, by one of my favorite song-writers right now:

Weekly Update 11/6-12

On By siegmunaIn Awesome, Cold, Falling, hashers, Hours, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Merrell, Random, Running, shoes, Summary, trail running, ViewsLeave a comment
Sunday 11/6
7.03 miles 59:20 Ran around the local hills on the road, nice to get out and see the area on foot.
Monday
AM 4.85 miles 46:23 Often when I don’t have a lot of time to run on a particular day, and want to get on trail, I’ll run the paths for the power lines local to my house. They’re surprisingly technical, covered in medium sized rocks that challenge my running technique, and the paths right by my house essentially go straight up, and down hill. I did however, take a rather hard fall tripping over an embarrassingly small obstacle, which resulted in my knee being sore for a few days, and my foot still being sore today.
PM 1 mile 10:54 slow, almost barefoot(vibram) mile to shake out the stiffness from the mornings fall
Tues 0 Knee and Foot very sore
Wed 0 Foot very sore, limping noticeably (still!)
Thurs 4.85 46:45 Ran the same power line trail as Monday, foot still feels awkward landing on technical downhills
Fri 6.2 miles 1:40
Ran to High Point with Brian mostly through Appalachian Trail, we decided beforehand to take it rather easy, and split the difference between running and hiking, particularly with regard to my sore foot, I’m not sure how much we ran, and how much we hiked (i figure 1/3 hiking 2/3 running). As a runner, we spend a lot of time training in solitude, and it’s nice to have the chance to be social again, especially since my rehearsal schedule has prevented me from our usual Thursday runs with the Highlands Hashers.
Sat 0
Came down with head cold, probably for the better to keep me off the trail, as my foot is still substantially sore, and negotiating rocks/roots isn’t the best game plan to recover.
Totals:  23.93 miles, 4:25 Looking forward to my foot healing some, and getting myself back into the 60’s 70’s/wk

Here are some photos from High Point, Brian and I both decided to wear hydration packs, a deviation from my usual “bring nothing” M.O. With the mercurial weather predicted for the day, it seemed prudent to bring a couple of extra layers, especially knowing that our pace would vary, and that it wasn’t terrain that either of us were intimately familiar with. So, while I prefer nothing more than a handheld water bottle (and boy did the sloshing of the bladder annoy me) sometimes, bringing more is the best plan

Wavering Fitness

On By siegmunaIn fitness, hashers, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Random, RunningLeave a comment
The past few weeks have been relatively unproductive running-wise for me for a combination of reasons, increased academic workload, necessary recover time from the marathon (still trying to get my body used to running these distances with some regularity) and now, a handful of hopefully benign discomforts resulting form some missteps/falls on the trails in recent days. One of my favorite “slogging it out” daily short runs involves running on the truck paths for power lines throughout my hometown, while these trails are not the most inspiring, they’re often very rugged, and don’t require me to drive from my house, but rather simply run a few minutes, and find myself engaged in technical trail running. the downside of these trails, besides the obvious proximity to power lines (a constant reminder of the human impact on our environment) is that these trails are more subject to having garbage on them. This week while running one of these trails, i caught my foot on a circular piece of wire, causing me to take a digger at full speed onto some rocks, which has caused some lingering soreness in my foot/knee, and subsequently has cost me some mileage.
So as I concern myself with my low mileage, and the resulting effects on my fitness level, I’m going out with fellow hasher Brian on a destination hike/run through High Point to try to jumpstart my training, and get another good social adventure in (a great change of pace from my usual solitary runs).

Winter Running

On By siegmunaIn Barefoot, Cold, Falling, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Merrell, Random, Running, shoes, Snow, trail running, Views, Winter2 Comments
If you read any of the running blogs from the Mountain time zone, you’re well aware that they’re already beginning to experience the joys, and perils of winter running, and here on the East Coast, as a result of an unprecedented October snow storm, we have as well.

Many of my friends, both casual runners, and non-runners often ask me how I maintain mileage over the course of the winter, especially as a trail runner, and since last weekend I remembered just how awesome winter runs can be, as well as the oft forgotten downsides of running in sub-freezing temperatures.
So, since many runners I know tend to reduce their mileage, or go towards the treadmill during the winter, I figure I’d try to explain as best as I could, how I maintain my mileage through season. First, attire, everyone has a different approach to cold-weather running, and much like my summer runs, I try to keep things very simple. A pair of tights (yes tights) lightweight baselayer, and a running wind breaker seem to be the most I wear during winter months. A lightweight pair of gloves, and a hat also are helpful. Many runners tend to overdress for cold weather, and end up actually being too warm. The downside of dressing as I do, is that you WILL be cold for the first few miles, the purpose is comfort in the long run, not in the first few miles.

Now, winter runs have their upsides and downsides, the most obvious downside being the negotiation of temperature/wind, hence the windbreaker and other attire mentioned above. The other, less obvious downsides are the shrinking roads as a result of snow (they get so much thinner!) which of course, makes avoiding cars much more of a problem (run trails). Trails however, get faster it seems, especially in the snow, which seems to fill in the changes in terrain, making for fast downhills, and less worry regarding rock avoidance with the extra cushioning. There is, of course, a lack of traction. I’ve found that on normal circumstances, I fall every ~300 miles or so when running technical trails, usually as a result of some mud, wet rocks, or a concentration lapse. On snowy trails, I fall roughly 1.5 times for every 10 miles, this obviously is a result of poor traction, and i expect the ratio to go down as the season progresses, and I get used to it. 
So why run in Winter? Well, here:

Trail Head
Tights and my Merrell Mix Masters
Snowy Bridge on Columbia trail

Blurry Picture, Deer in Snowstorm

Trail heading up Schooley’s Mountain

Long Valley

My Head

In Favor of Short-Shorts

On By siegmunaIn Awesome, fitness, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Races, Random, Running, ShortsLeave a comment
Now that summer is over, and it’s becoming more necessary to start wearing clothes, I thought I’d try my best to justify my summer attire, or lack thereof. Enter the split shorts. A lot of people find it strange that I would prefer to wear the shortest shorts available to runners, so allow me to explain it.
1. It’s hot outside, so why would I wear more than I need to, more clothes = more sweat, more sweat = more water to carry = slower runs…. you do the math.
2. Freedom of movement. The way that split shorts are cut allows the most freedom of movement I’ve experienced.
3. Better support. Even though longer shorts always come with a bloomer, or some similar support system, the support in split shorts in my experience, is always better. This may be because of the increased potential for a wardrobe malfunction, but regardless, it’s nice to have.
4. It makes a statement. As a runner, I think I need to embrace the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a runner, this includes embracing the style, and the aesthetic. Track athletes, marathoners, and a handful of ultra-runners embrace the short-short, and it’s one of the ways I like to embrace the aesthetic of being a runner.
Plus, these guys seem to dig them:
Scott Jurek

Killian Jornet

Anton Krupicka

Jesse Scott

Prequel

On By siegmunaIn RandomLeave a comment

Okay, so I’ve been out of town/access to internet for the past couple of weeks, it seems that the problem with blogs are that the best adventures seem to take you away from access… so, in the next few days, I should have the time to post with regard to the following: Appalachian Trail, Rangeley, River to Sea, as well as their effects on my ultramarathon training… coming soon!!

Runs, Hail, Rain

On By siegmunaIn RandomLeave a comment

I spent the past week couch-surfing in NH/MA, mostly because I didn’t have to work, and had been invited up to an old college buddies house for a get-together, it lined up well with a “light” running week (40-ish miles) and gave me an excuse to run in a different environment, as well as gear test for an upcoming backpacking adventure.
As I’ve previously articulated, I’m “training” (such an ugly word) for a 50k in August, and doing so, for me, seems to avoid any specific planning, other than logging long, hard miles on a variety of hills/roads/trails/anything I can run on, and attempting to do the 31 miles over 2 days, basically at race pace… sometimes split evenly, but mostly split in a 40/60 or 60/40 sort of ratio, trying to run long/hard on harder terrain, tired legs, and slightly malnourished… So after a weekend of Independence Day-ing, I ran a little more than 14 miles at pace, drove to NH, partied some, woke up, and ran 16-ish in humidity/hills. This only confirmed to me, mentally that I’m in pretty good shape for the upcoming race, as well as pointed out some of my shortcomings, namely core strength which seems to rear its ugly head in side cramps, so, it looks like more planks/crunches for me in the upcoming weeks!
What’s more important however, is the backpacking adventure I undertook with my buddy Abe. Now I have this theory, that as a generality, my generation seems to be bored, unadventurous, and whiny, which is part of why I’ve been trying to do interesting, vital things. Being bored, really seems to lean more towards being boring, in the individuals sense of the word… but now I’m ranting. As I mentioned, I needed to test gar for an upcoming AT hike through parts of NH and Maine, and where better to become accustomed to this than in the White Mountains, go hard or go home right? So packing light, and getting ready for a simple overnight in the mountains turned into a crash course in handling a hail-storm on a 4000-odd foot summit in the middle of July… and I loved it. Yes, that is not a mistake, being in the midst of a torrential downpour, on an exposed ridge, was exciting, uncomfortable, and a great learning experience, confirming that I had packed well, was indeed able to handle this, knew what I was doing, and couldn’t wait to do it again. Not that I’d recommend being in the midst of such foul weather at altitude, but if it happens to you, it will be well worth it.
This brings me to a more important point in this rant-like post. Attitude. I’ve come to the conclusion that attitude is a choice, we’ve all heard the cliche’s such as “when the going get tough, the tough get going (or get duct tape)” but in my experience, when the going gets tough, those who pull through, simply live up to it, complaints are a waste of breath when they’re unable to change the situation, so you might as well enjoy it, be it a hard run, rough weather, heartache, etc, experience this!

That’s it for now, hopefully I can develop these topics later, in less of a hectic unconnected sense

Mission Statement?

On By siegmunaIn RandomLeave a comment

So I suppose the first thing to do with one of these is to provide some sort of mission statement, a proclamation regarding the intended subject matter of this here blog, unfortunately, I have a feeling that these things will eventually take on a life of their own, and despite my best intentions to keep within a single vein, I will likely be unable to write solely about one part of my life. This blog will, however, contain a substantial amount of material considering my recent running, training for ultra-marathons, barefoot/minimalist shoe philosophy, including reviews of shoes/clothing as I acquire and test out new things. I will also be cataloging my backpacking adventures, and interjecting with commentary on life as a music student. Expect pictures, ruminations, reviews, and maybe even a recipe or two!