Bandy Road Trip 2017 (Part One)

I’m baaack! Did you miss me? I apologize for my absence, but I have been traveling the past two weeks on our family’s first big camping road trip. 

We drove roughly 2,500 miles in Katie’s Saturn Vue from California to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and back. This country of ours is beautiful, remarkable and vast. After camping in three different states, hiking some of the most breathtaking trails I’ve ever seen, and exploring both big cities and random historical sites along the way, we had a fulfilling, unforgettable experience. 

If you’re curious about more specific details of the trip, let me know the next time I see you or feel free to shoot me an e-mail. There’s far too much to relay here, but I did have a few bigger impressions I’d like to share.

First, I’m proud that we were able to make this trip a reality. Katie has such fond memories of camping growing up, and it’s been important for her to reproduce those memories and feelings for Iris. Much time, planning, and preparation has gone into slowly acquiring the materials and gaining experience both in the car and at campsites, and we finally have actualized her vision in a massive way.

Many shudder at the idea of essentially traveling the length of the United States over the span of two weeks with a packed-to-the-brim SUV and a highly active toddler, but we met that challenge and exceeded even our own expectations. Iris was a rockstar (more on that later), we stayed relatively within our budget, and we successfully averted disasters along the way. With this trip in the rear view mirror, I’m beginning to believe I may actually be an adult—or at least close to one.

Katie insists that these roadside stops are the best. Iris took some convincing.

This outhouse is over a hundred years old. Hopefully most of the waste is fully dried out. Hopefully.

I am now officially the king of creating fires. Wyoming also allows you to collect your own firewood. What?!

The second impression I have from this trip is that I’m incredibly grateful for the life that I have. There are definitely not many commas in our bank account, but we are fortunate to have the luxury of traveling this great country of ours. Could things be better? Always. I think, however, that it is really easy to forget how great we have it when we focus too much on what is lacking. This trip helped me appreciate all the good in my life.

One final impression I’ll share before I get on with the rest of this post is that I am excited for the future. We are at a very pivotal period for our family. I will  be starting my new career soon. Katie will finish school in a year or so. We have worked hard and sacrificed time and effort to put our family in a better position, and we’re finally on the verge of reaping the rewards. I’m looking forward to the adventures to come, one of which is this crazy 50k I’m training for. Here’s a bit of a recap of what I experienced and learned these past few weeks.

Oh, Colorado... The Rocky Mountains are a sight to see.

Sweet Altras that Katie got me for Father's Day. Also, there were dogs everywhere.

Fortunately, Iris loves drinking out of this backpack so she was well hydrated on our hikes. Wearing your hat backwards makes you cool, or it keeps your neck from burning in the sun, or it's both. You tell me.

Runner Highs and Lows

A two-week-long road trip with a 2,500 miles of driving while mostly tent-camping is not the ideal situation to begin officially training for my 50k, I’ll grant you that. I wasn’t sure how the training was going to pan out because we would be spending a lot of time in the car, we wanted to hike together as a family, and I didn’t know where exactly I’d be running, but surprisingly it worked out fairly well.

Here are a few quick lessons I learned:

Hiking miles are a good substitute for “easy day” miles. I know running works different muscles, but at least I was able to get the mileage in, which I think is helpful. Plus, the 50k will consist of a fair amount of hiking so the training was still beneficial.

Iris led the charge on numerous occasions. She's sporadically start running and screaming like a banshee.

Life is good when you get pee on your pants and your mom is willing to wear a sweater in the heat so you can use her shirt as a dress.

Sorry, kiddo. There are way too many spiders for you to crawl and play down there.

Running on trails in the mountains is the best kind of running. This was my first chance to explore new trails while running, and I’m hooked! I got to see far more of the mountains than I would have were I hiking. It was also nice to receive encouragement and support from other hikers on the trails. One couple who both appeared to be enjoying their retirement by hiking in Laramie, WY shouted at me as I ran past: “We wish we had that kind of energy! Keep it up!”

Wyoming isn't all plains. This is in Medicine Bow National Forest (just outside Laramie).

Can you hear the trail calling you to see what other sights there are to see?

Sleeping in a tent doesn’t provide for the best rest. I attempted to keep my effort levels and mileage aligned with my rest. When I felt like I got decent sleep, I’d run a bit harder or further. On days when I was exhausted, I tried to take it easy. I stuck to the training schedule as much as I could and improvised along the way. I think it’s important to be flexible and look at training from a macro perspective. I have a lot of training left in front of me. If I miss a couple miles here and there because my body is fighting me, that’s OK. Endurance is a game of persistence and consistency.

By far this was the coolest campground we had. Likely, it's the coolest I've ever visited. Note the sweet, level tent pad, trees for some shade, and the rocks for climbing and jumping.

Running doesn’t go well with sitting in a car for extended periods of time on poor sleep. In retrospect, I may have benefit from an additional day or two of rest or broken up the mileage a little more to make it easier on my body. Aches and pains piled up along the way because my body wasn’t healing enough. Especially early on, it’s not worth having a small niggle turn into a debilitating injury because I got overzealous. I’m grateful for my body allowing me to complete what I have thus far and want to be as nice as possible to it so that it allows me to continue.

Two weeks was a long time to be constantly shifting both in place and routine, but I have survived and am still ready for more. It was so nice to get some rest and feel fully recovered. I have some good workouts to share in week 3.

This was the last run I did of the trip. I ran in Hurricane, UT (just outside of Zion) in the morning before some of the heat kicked in. The road ended here, and I turned around and ran back to our hotel.

Because it’s been a few weeks since my last post and so much happened on this trip, I decided to break the post into two parts. I’m hoping to get you all up to date with my training and everything in this next week or two, and I think this is enough to share for now.

In the next few days, I’ll post some parenting memories/reflections and highlight a cool brewery we got to try out in Laramie. I hope this brings some light to your day.

Will write again soon.


Be well,
UltraDadRunner

Blips on the Radar

Does a week ever pass so quickly you weren’t able to really processed that anything happened? That was this last week for me. At first I thought, Man, I didn't do anything last week. In looking at my calendar and training log, however, I see that I worked 5 days, spent time with my family, and threw in some really strong runs.

I half-dread writing these entries sometimes. It's daunting to take the time to actually out the words down. Why waste the time? Who really cares?

Those questions are ultimately misguided. When I'm my best self I realize that these are largely for me. I share them in hopes that they might inspire others, but I know that I benefit from them.

I am holding myself accountable to a goal. Documenting the process along the way will keep me focused. It also helps me be more mindful about how I'm living right now. As an added bonus, it will be a time capsule of sorts, a way to remember details I would otherwise miss about this time in my life. I can live with that.

So, in this week in which “nothing happened,” here's what happened.

Runner Highs and Lows

This week’s training goal was to get some good, hard runs in combined with strength/core training so that I could get a taste of what my official training will look like a couple months in. Contrary to last week, I made a plan for this week and executed accordingly. This was my last opportunity to make some improvements before taking a rest week and subsequently beginning my official 50k training. Of the workouts I did, there were two highlights.

First, I had a solid tempo run on Thursday. I planned to go 6 miles with miles 2-4 being at a harder effort. Even in the afternoon heat I was able to output a solid performance. I huffed and puffed my way through the last tempo mile but finished mile 4 feeling strong. Thanks to Strava, I was able to see that these tempo miles are my fastest 5k effort to date (since high school, anyway).

This run went well not only because of this but also because I’d not exhausted myself to the point where I could go no further. I didn’t finish very fast, but I was able to finish at a slow and steady pace. Once finished, this felt like one of my most productive runs to date. It was balanced, and finished running precisely the way I intended to. That, and I got to cool off by jumping into the pool.

The second high of the week was my long run on Saturday morning. If you’ve kept up with the blog thus far you know that last week’s 11-mile long run was rough. My legs felt heavy, and I had to force myself to finish. This week, however, I ran 12 miles with seeming ease. What a difference a week can make.

Beginning on the Pacific Electric Trail (PET), I ran for a few miles and then ventured up a random wash to explore a bit. I discovered a beautiful trail with a wide dirt path that’s shaded by giant trees. Traffic was almost nonexistent during my crossings, and I had a peaceful, serene jaunt to my mile 6 turnaround.

I hydrated well and ate enough calories that my travel back was just as solid as I started. Unlike last week when my final miles progressively got slower, I finished this run with my last mile being my strongest (at 8:26). Even more, I was able to successfully work a 6-hour shift at the restaurant after my run without feeling like I was falling apart.

I could not have asked for a better week to lead into my rest week. I feel good now taking the time to recover and will hopefully start my official 50k training healthy, fit, and ready.

Dad is the Best

Iris and I got to hang out a lot this week as Katie has been finishing up her semester, part of which involves clocking the last of her 60 field hours at the animal shelter in Norco (SO MANY HOURS!).

On Friday, Iris and I ran to the park to have lunch and hang out for a bit. Iris will be participating in a race of her own this Saturday, and she wanted to train like her dad. I took her on plenty of training runs, and, when I suggested we run to the park she said,  “Dad, I gotta train for my race!”

So we ran to the park. Well, there was some running that took place. Iris, like most kids her age, likes to run when there's a game involved. It doesn't have to be a regimented game. Chasing each other around or running down a hill as fast as possible are fun enough goals on their own.

If there is a destination in mind, however, the impetus dissipates. While this can be frustrating at times, it mostly serves as a great reminder for what life should be.

I'll be the first to admit I'm terrible at it. Where are we going, and how efficiently can we get there? I tend to attribute part of this to living in Southern California, but I think parts of it are also modern society and the nature of humans.

Why are we in such a hurry? Where are we going that’s so important? What are we missing along the way?

While I'm running I miss a lot of rocks, trees, bugs, flowers, and nasty bird feathers which are likely infested with unspeakable diseases. What am I missing in life? The ability to enjoy the moment, to appreciate the place I’m in right now.

This is a lesson I have been struggling with for years. When I was at Norco college, I tried to take a look at life through an expanded perspective. What did I want to do in the long-term?

All the things I wanted to do seemed out of reach so in my head that the best I could hope for was eeking out a living until I could eventually retire and then I'd be able to start living. WHAT?! Asinine to think now, but I that's how my deranged mind worked at the time.

I remember a conversation I had with one of my English professors at the time. I was contemplating going to school to get my PhD in English. “But there's just so much schooling,” I whined at him.

“Yes, but you can live along the way,” he shot back.

But how? I wondered but was too embarrassed to ask. 

My brain’s tendency was/is to see life as all or nothing. The way I saw it, I couldn't really live until I finished school. Well, then I'd have to get a job and wouldn't really be able to live until I could buy a house. But then, I wouldn't really be able to start living until I retired.

I’ve invested time in appreciating the moment and being present in my daily life, but I know I still have a long way to go.

May we be like Iris, appreciating the bugs and flowers on our journey to the park.

Brew Overview

Katie bought me some awesome brews this week. Saturday, after my long run and walking around at work for 6 hours, the idea of enjoying Wolf Among Weeds had me nearly salivating.
This double IPA is packed full of flavor without too much edge.

This beer is, “Gold in color, this full-bodied IPA is a balanced showcase of the majestic hop specie, in Latin, Humulus Lupulus, which translates “Wolf Among Weeds”. At 8%, Wolf will sneak up on you from behind the dank earthy hop notes and subtle rye spice” (goldenroad.la).

We got to enjoy this brew while Iris swam around the pool like a fish, jumping and splashing with all alacrity.

Weekly Workout Summary

This was the last actual training week before my official training kicks off. Next week will be a few easy runs to allow my body to fully heal before beginning my 50k training plan.

• Monday - Rest
• Tuesday - 3.3 easy miles plus core/strength training
• Wednesday - 6 miles with 3 at tempo pace (higher effort)
• Thursday - Swimming with some core and PT work
• Friday - 3.2 easy miles running to the park and back with Iris
• Saturday - 12.1 long miles on the PET
• Sunday - Rest

Total weekly mileage: 24.6

Should I break this up into 2 different entries and just post twice a week? What do you think?


Will write again soon.

Be well,
UltraDadRunner

Grind Out the Lows

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23… 

Are you tired of counting yet? Last Saturday stands as the current record for my toughest run yet. Amid a fierce sun and heavy breathing I resorted to counting my steps to get through last of 11 miles. Not a more than a month ago I triumphed as I completed 13.1 miles with seeming ease, but when the adrenaline isn’t flowing as freely and no one is watching, the motivation is tougher to find.

In my defense, I hadn’t been getting much sleep the nights prior, but I wanted to get a good solid run in this past week to prove to myself I am fit and ready to begin this journey. I wanted to prove that my half marathon wasn’t a miraculous occurrence resulting from the excitement of the race, the ease of the course, or the apex of what I could accomplish. And it worked. Sort of…

Runner Highs and Lows

Most of the week felt languid, partly because Katie (my wife) was gone and partly because I’m indecisive and didn’t fully commit to any training goals in these weeks leading up to the beginning of my official training cycle. I did have a moment of respite, however, when I threw a movie in for Iris on Wednesday afternoon. My mother-in-law, Julie, walked in from work and agreed to stay with Iris while I went on a run. Having no set goal in mind, I grabbed water and some snacks and headed out to explore.

I didn’t have a destination or time goal in mind. I just wanted to get some energy out and explore. It turns out, this attitude goes a long way as it led to an almost 8 mile run. I found a cool new area to run in and ran the fastest mile I’ve run since high school. (Disclaimer: the mile was mostly downhill, but I’m still counting it.)

If you’ve been feeling stagnant on your walks or runs, try breaking up the routine a little bit. Adding a little impulse can go a long way.

It was a great feeling to be able to say to myself, I think I’m going to turn left here, make a right there, check out this area over here. If I felt myself getting tired, I slowed down. If I felt like I was low on energy, I started walking and had a couple bites of my energy bar. Although I went out a lot longer than I intended, I ended the run feeling refreshed and revitalized.

It's cool that Strava keeps track of all of this stuff for you

In stark contrast, “refreshing” and “revitalizing” are not the adjectives I would use to describe how I felt after Saturday’s run.

Within the first 15 minutes I knew it was going to be a tough day. My legs felt heavy, and I couldn’t find a rhythm. I managed the first half pretty well, but around mile 7, I began coming unglued. My run/walk intervals seemed way too far out of reach, and I found myself struggling to maintain even a shuffle.

Having heard about lows like this, I decided to do my best to utilize this experience for learning. I knew that positive thinking was well beyond my reach so I decided to switch to something more neutral: counting. I turned off my interval app and replaced it with an counting intervals. I ran 300 steps and walked 50. To switch it up just a little bit I used a different foot for counting on each set.

Note the miles get slower and slower until the very last one when I could see the finish.

Did it work? Kind of… It certainly wasn’t easy, and I wouldn’t say I had fun, but, it got me through the run. Instead of refreshed, I felt gratified. Instead of revitalized, I felt strong. In many ways I relish adversity like this. I feel like I’m paying my dues and depositing into an account from which I will one day soon withdraw.

Even still, I'd rather have fewer workouts like this if I can avoid it.

Dad is the Best (Sometimes)

This week was a tough week as a dad for a couple reasons, but I think the primary reason by far was that Katie was out of town for most of it. What?! Katie went out on vacation without you?! Aren’t you so mad?! The truth is, not really.

Katie has been working relentlessly in both school and work this past semester. On top of her classes and her shifts at Lazy Dog, she’s had to log Clinical Practice hours at the animal shelter in Norco. The end result of this concoction combined with being a wife and mother adds up to little sleep and a whole lot of stress.

For the above reasons, I was glad Katie got the opportunity to enjoy herself a bit. A great situation presented itself, and I was happy she got to take advantage of it. That said, my week with Iris didn’t highlight the best of my parenting abilities.

After just one week I need to give a hearty round of applause to all single parents out there. 

Katie and I work so well as a team, and the dynamic shift that occurs when she’s gone is noticeable. Suddenly, I have to be the bad cop every time. Sharing this role helps balance Iris’s attitude towards the both of us. After several days without Katie, it wasn’t fun having dad around anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, we still had plenty of fun, and there were laughs and games aplenty. That said, however, we also had our fair share of rough spots, one of which was a hike at the Claremont Loop on Thursday. 

Photo courtesy of claremont.ca.us

I’d been trying to go on a hike with a friend of mine for weeks and finally got the opportunity. Iris and I have been on a few hikes before so I felt confident we’d be able to do it together. I was feeling fit enough that I thought I could carry her a significant portion of the hike without too many issues. While Iris can whine with the best of them, she normally gives a decent effort on a large percentage of the time so I had high hopes.

On this particular day, however, she decided she wasn’t having any of it at all. She didn’t want to go, she didn’t want to hike, and she utilized several opportunities to stall the process along the way. 

I know there must be a balance somewhere between being an angry drill sergeant and stopping to smell the proverbial (and literal) roses, but I certainly did not find the balance on this particular day.

Even at the start Iris wasn’t interested in walking, and, when she did, she’d take three or four steps to check out what the ants are doing. This habit is fine here and there, and I attempted to encourage the admiration while gently nudging us along, but my well of patience started out lower than I would’ve liked. The gentle nudging quickly turned into cajoling which turned into pleading and finally to impatience and irritation.

I became distracted and primarily focused on getting through the hike instead of enjoying our time out there. When we finished I felt relief that it was over and almost immediately regret that I hadn’t actually enjoyed more myself along the way.

I know I’m not the worst dad out there, but this experience was not one of my better moments. It’s difficult to write about because I’m embarrassed by how I reacted and disappointed in myself. I’ve replayed the scenario countless times in my head thinking of what I should have said or how I should have responded, but none of that will change how I was.

As a bit of a disclaimer, I am highly critical of myself in general and do believe everyone had a bit of fun at various points throughout the hike. We played some tag, ran downhill, and Iris shared some rather creative stories with us. Her energy improved toward the end of the hike, and we had a nice lunch afterwards.

I highlight the negative side of this experience for a few reasons. First, I think it’s important to improve self-awareness even if it’s after an event has taken place. Ideally this awareness improves to the point that maybe next time I will be able to stop myself in the moment. Second, this reflection helps me take advantage of the better moments and better appreciate them. 

The good news about parenting is that there are usually several opportunities to be better, often in that same day.

I want to be better than I was yesterday—as a parent, husband, friend, athlete, you name it. That is the path I’m on and the path I return to as quickly as possible when I realize I have strayed. If I keep working at it, I know I will continue to improve.

Not the best this week, but I am fortunate to have more opportunities next week.

Brew Overview

This week’s beer is one of my favorites and was especially enjoyable because I got to drink it with family. David, my brother-in-law, got tickets to an Angels game wherein we got to watch the Atlanta Braves receive a massive pounding. The seats were great, and the stadium exploded when Pujols hit the 599th home run of his career.

No foul balls caught but plenty of action nonetheless.

The brew I enjoyed at the game was Space Dust IPA by Elysian Brewing. When I first tried this beer, it reminded me a lot of Sculpin, which I’ve loved for a long time but rarely drink nowadays as it is well outside of my desired price range. From the brewery’s website, “The hopping is pure starglow energy, with Chinook to bitter and late and dry additions of Citra and Amarillo.”

Photo courtesy of ElysianBrewing.com

David and I see each other very rarely these days, as he lives out in Orange County, and I’ve been engrossed in school and work for the past couple years. At one point, we lived together and hung out almost daily. When we moved out of that place, we lived in the same complex and still got to hang out a few times a week. We’ve shared a lot of good times together, and I was grateful to be able to share this one even if times like this don’t happen nearly as often as I’d like.

Weekly Workout Summary
For those curious, I thought I’d start adding a weekly summary of the workouts I’ve done. As always, feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Monday - 4.1 easy miles pushing Iris - 11:11/mile pace overall
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 7.5 fun miles - 9:30/mile pace overall
Thursday - 5 mile hike at Claremont Loop
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest with a little bit of swimming
Sunday - 11 mile long run - 10:27 pace overall

Hope you all had a great week. I’m planning on getting an entry out early next week and get my subsequent posts out on either Mondays or Tuesdays from here on out. We shall see how that goes.

Will write again soon.

Be well,
UltraDadRunner