April 12, 2010 |

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But it’s wafer thin, sir. ~ Waiter


Sat 10 April: 00:36, 3.5 miles, Casa trails to Firehouse loop
Sun 11 April: 1:19, 7.91 miles, P2P to Gap to Raccoon, around Thorne Lake


Well, that was not a stellar week but I did manage to get in a few miles despite continuing to shed weight and have little-to-no appetite. Ugh. That food bout of food poisoning kicked my ass. Today is a new day, however, and I am bound and determined to get back on that pony and ride. (“Pony,” in this case meaning “running schedule,” NOT “dirty food eating.”)



As I mentioned, Friday’s run was fairly miserable. Saturday was better in regard to gut-pain, but energy levels were pretty “meh” and it wasn’t like I felt like doing long surges. I tossed in a couple of very mild, very short bursts and didn’t feel completely like jumping off a bridge, so that was nice. There is still a ton of snow in the woods around the house. We need a couple good rains to compliment the already massive melting going on due to warmer temps to really start to take a bite out of the biggest drifts but we’re getting there.


Yesterday, I tried to get out for a couple of hours but the energy levels just weren’t there to support that kind of effort. Managed to make pretty decent time up to the park where I dropped down Raccoon Trail in Golden Gate Canyon State Park to test the (frozen) waters. Still a lot of snow on this loop as well wis MASSIVE drifts toward the bottom. My plan was to spin a lap but once I started up the climb from the bottom, decided that idea was for the birds. So I just headed home on another route.


Met up with a young fella (probably about 4-years old but I am terrible at estimating the ages of kids) on my way who came bursting out of his driveway inquiring frantically, “Why are you running?” I stopped and explained that I run for fun – an answer that apparently didn’t jive with his 4-year-old world-view. “But why?” I laughed and he quickly moved on to asking, “What are those things in your ears?” (My earrings.) “Why do you have them? That tree attacked me. Can I come with you? Who’s that dog?” All delivered shotgun style. I explained that he needed to ask his mom before coming with me and he agreed that she would probably not be down with that action. I was then instructed to walk, don’t run and we parted ways. Funny exchange, to say the least.


Eating was still not breaking into my “top-activities-for-a-Sunday” list (try as I might) and so I whacked down what I could and decided to just roll with it for now. Hoping that today produces a marked change in my stomach’s ability to deal with solids. I am approaching race weight from 1989 when I was a skinny cyclist. Not really where I planned to be at this time in my life.


As always, I’ll keep you posted.


Thoughtful strategy. Practical execution.

Clear thinking, honest perspectives, and experience shaped by years of doing the work. No shortcuts, no borrowed opinions, just lessons learned by showing up, solving problems, and following ideas all the way through.

Four hikers with backpacks walking along a rocky mountain ridge under a blue sky
May 8, 2026
We are each our own greatest inhibitor. People don’t want to do new things if they think they’re going to be bad at them or people are going to laugh at them. You have to be willing to subject yourself to failure, to be bad, to fall on your head and do it again, and try stuff that you’ve never done in order to be the best you can be. ~ Laird Hamilton Yesterday: Hit Range Balls/Hike – Casa del Critters, 1:15 Today: Run – GGCSP, ~2 hours Tomorrow: Ride – Somewhere singlespeedy, ~2 hours Yesterday, Rach and I took a nice stroll in the woods around our house. The songbirds were going crazy-nuts and surprisingly, we only saw one other person walking his dog. I love where we live – close proximity to fun trails and the ability to get away from it all in just a short walk from our house. During lunch yesterday, I went to the driving range to get a few cuts in before playing a round of golf with my dad next week. I don’t get to play very often so need to brush up on my skills (or lack thereof) whenever I can. I am looking forward to playing with my pops and hope to break 100. I shot a 102 the last time I played so I am within striking distance of the sub-triple-digit score. We’ll see how things go. I usually do okay for most of the round and then fall apart on a couple of holes pushing my score way up. Dad shoots in the low 80s usually (I think). I am not sure I will ever play enough to be that good but it is fun to get out on the course now and again. I also went to see Dr. Paul yesterday for my ankle problem (which seems to have been resolved) and my knee (which is still a bit swollen but has decreased in size markedly over the past several days). The knee stems from my unscheduled nose-dive back in May (see this post for details). The shot some pictures and believe that everything is a-ok so that was good news. I just need to select better places for splashdowns in the future. And today is Luke’s birthday. Age is one place where I will always beat him but visit his blog to congratulate him on trying to catch up. Until next time…
Runner silhouetted at sunset on a rocky trail, mid-stride between hills.
May 8, 2026
Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience. ~ Elbert Hubbard Yesterday: Run – Casa del Critters/Flume, 1 hour 15 minutes Today: Ride/Hike/Relax Tomorrow: Run/Hike – Pawnee/Buchanan Passes, 6 hours? Yesterday I ran around the house. Not literally, mind you, but in the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous evening – calm, cool. Perfect. The wildflowers are really starting to take off up here and I was treated with a bold display of color throughout my run. Tons of Columbine lined the trailside as I ran on old mining roads and singletrack trails. It is really fun to see how much differently I am able to handle familiar terrain. I used to have difficulties running this loop and would have to walk major sections. Last night, I ran the entire loop without trouble and was able to moderate my speed to maintain a steady cadence through the run. Good times. Contracting is staying steady. A bit of a drop-off this week given the holiday but I am still managing to put in a decent number of hours. I picked up another new project today and will need to get started immediately to ensure that it gets completed on time.  Tomorrow, we are going to head up Pawnee Pass and loop back around to Buchanan Pass in the northern Indian Peaks Wilderness. This should be a fun challenge as we’ll get up pretty high, have to navigate some snow (most likely) and will be out for quite awhile. I am looking forward to it for sure . Movie time: I forgot to mention Shopgirl, a Steve Martin vehicle, we watched the other night. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but found this to be a charming film about loneliness. It was well acted and would recommend it for sure. The pacing is steady throughout and some might find it a little on the slow side but it was an engaging film that had a lot to say without being overly sappy.
Hands holding a tablet displaying a video player interface. The video is paused.
February 20, 2026
In case you hadn’t seen these (and also for my friends at Adventure Film ), here are a couple of must-see running movies from Joel Wolpert:  Geoff Roes: Slogging to the Top