Grocery Shopping: A Microcosm of Society?

I am trying to make every post related to running in some way, so it begs the question... how does grocery shopping relate to running? Hopefully I will eventually get to some form of relationship.

When I go shopping there seems to be various characteristics which make me wonder if it contains a microcosm of society. To begin with, I may be the only one with this first issue as a pet peeve but personally I feel it a sign of something with deeper seeded meaning.

1) Grocery Carts - why can't they get delivered back to their designated corral in the parking lot or where they belong in the store? Many reasons I am sure would be given such as: I have kids with me. I am in a hurry. That's what they pay the employees to do, and so on. First, if you have kids, what a great lesson to teach them, to return things to their proper place. Make a game out it, etc. If you are in a hurry fine, then by the looks of some parking lots there sure are a lot of people in a hurry ( I say with sarcasm). Finally, maybe it is what they are paid to do, but we also pay police to catch the bad guys and that doesn't make it okay to rob a bank. We pay fireman to put out fires but it is still not okay to be an Arsonist. I realize I am going a little overboard... just trying to do my best to make a minor point that I don't appreciate having the parking lot be a littering ground for carts, and don't think just because you pop the wheels up on the curb it is okay.

2) Clickers that honk the horn when the door lock is pressed- When did it become okay to honk a horn when someone was walking right by the car? Again, I am sure

there are many good arguments like setting the alarm, and making sure the car is locked etc. I don't feel like explaining this one since I am probably in the minority here. I just know that many times I am startled by a honking horn (rude, rude, rude) and I don't believe the means justify the end. If you feel it is so important to honk your horn than at least have the courtesy to park you car far away... more on that later.

3) Paper or Plastic - Which is better paper or plastic. Answer is neither, Oprah last week said the same thing on her show which I already knew. To read some good ideas to think about go here and click through the 17 different topics. We are a dysfunctional society if we cannot inconvenience ourselves a little to make this world a little better. If you don't use reusable bags, hopefully you do other things and one day may work towards more ideas like reducing the amount of paper and plastic used. Cindy and I have been using the same bags for about a dozen years. They hold more, they don't break, and they do not use up our renewable sources.

It is estimated "12 million barrels of oil are required to make the 100 billion [?] plastic shopping bags Americans go through annually" and for the paper bags it is estimated "14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans" did you read the 14 million trees part?. I am not perfect... only trying to evolve. I have always pulled the plastic bags off the spindles in the produce section but realize now that is just as bad. I recently ordered more bags including reusable ones for produce at ecobags.com. We do not compost (and we should), our vehicles only get between 20 and 30 mpg, etc., etc., etc. But, pressure to keep evolving needs to be put on the human race and I fear society is heading backwards.

4) The need to park as close as possible to the entrance - This is where I get back to the topic of running. To try and counterbalance this issue, I park at the entrance to the parking lot about a quarter mile from the entrance (not always). Grab my reusable bags, and jog to the store. I have saved gas not driving a quarter mile further and driving around in stop and go traffic looking for a parking spot, if I want to honk my horn it will not disturb anyone, and I can drop off my cart at the entrance since my bags can carry plenty. All this and I get a little excercise carrying bags to and from the store. Ted Corbitt, an Ultrarunner would often jog to the subway each morning for some exercise and once overheard a guy say, "Man, that cats always late to work every morning". It's all about perception.

Does the grocery store really mirror as a microcosm of society?... probably not. But we do have an obesity problem, we are becoming less polite (a personal opininon), and we are the biggest polluters on the planet. Oh well, I'm guessing these problems aren't going away any time soon, but if you see some weirdo jogging across the parking lot from a far away parked car, please wait for me to go by before you lock your car. Beep Beep :-)

Commitment Day

I filled out my application for the Angeles Crest 100 miler today. The application has not gotten to the mail box yet with an entry fee for $215.00 though... it is hard to believe I am paying over $200 so that I can stay awake for over 30 hours straight, and run 100 miles through the forest in the heat of the day and cool of the night. To run in the AC100 a runner must complete a 50 mile race (accomplished last week at the Leona Divide) and perform 8 hours of trail maintenance. Performing a service is a great idea, but again hard to believe I am paying over $200 for all this "fun".

My recovery from last Saturday's 50 miles has been slow. The soreness in my legs healed up quickly within a day or two, but my sore ankle that caused me pain after about mile 25 continues to let me know it was more than a little soreness. In the mornings I can barely walk and throughout the day it gets a little better only to start the cycle again the next morning. I have thoughts of trying to go for a run and give it a try but I am trying to learn from my past mistakes such as my broken toe I re-injured foolishly due to impatiently attempting a run too soon causing me almost 2 more months without running. The first weekend of trail maintenance on part of the AC100 course was this weekend, but due to my ankle and some other factors I decided not to go. The next opportunity is May 19 and that happens to be my next planned run in Bishop. I hate to back out of the Bishop run, but since I haven't signed up yet I would like to complete my 8 hours of trail maintenance work ASAP, and my body will appreciate the rest along with more time to better prepare for my next run June 2nd at Fish Camp.

Again, why am I writing a check for $215?

Leona Divide 50 Miler

All week the weather for Saturday's Leona Divide race looked questionable. I am pleased to say the weather could not have been better. At 6 a.m. after the traditional saw blade was clanged the run started up a nice climb for a couple of miles. As we traversed up the wide fire road, the sun was just beginning to peak over the moutains creating a beautiful light across the surrounding mountains and glistening off of Lake Elizabeth. One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I regretfully did not have a camera... hopefully next time. The next 20 miles seemed to fly by with beautiful scenery, casual conversation, a mix of fire roads and single track Pacific Crest Trail, and my IPOD playing some Journey, Cold Play, ACDC, etc.

Cindy was waiting for me at the 20 mile Aide Station and I was upbeat, feeling good, and about 7 minutes ahead of finishing below my goal of under 10 hours. The "fun" was just about to begin! As runners (at this point walkers) were making their way up a 900 ft. climb in about a 1 to 2 mile span (click on picture to the left if you want to be able to read the elevation numbers and mileage), I began to realize I was undertrained for these kind of hills. My legs were becoming Jello and others were flying by me like a flash of light even though they were walking too. By the time I reached the next descent the damage had been done, I eased into a trot down the hill but my quads were not happy with the pounding and they let me know it with each step. When Cindy met me at Aide Station #5 I was 10 minutes behind meeting my goal of 10 hours with no hope in site. My enthusiasm was lacking and all I could think about was... boy oh boy, if I didn't love running, I sure would be miserable right now. I stopped and had a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup and chatted with Cindy for 5 minutes which helped me mentally before departing station #5. I left on my next climb at mile 28 and after about 30 seconds my mental boost was gone. The next 7 or miles are a blur, but after reaching the turnaround point at mile 35.5 I was offered a chair to sit in and have some homemade soup by the great volunteers at Aide Station #7. After chatting and having a leisure bowl of soup (anyone arriving would never have known I was in a race, rather it looked more like a social club and I was president) I decided to get going after about an 8 minute rest. I think the looks of "Is this guy ever going to leave?" helped give me strength to start the journey back. Somewhere around mile 40 to my surprise, my legs felt like they had new life. My energy was recharged (it must have been the spinach in the soup) and I began running like I was just starting out on a 10k race with fresh legs. For the first time in many miles I was passing other runners and singing to my IPOD songs. At Aide Station #9 I briefly said hello to Cindy and good friend Teresa letting them know I had no time to chat because my new mission was to make that 10 hour time. After a couple more miles of making progress, reality started to kick in and I slowed a little too much up the steep climb. By the time I caught my last bit of energy and began charging to make that 10 hour time I was just a little too late. After about 10:01:20 of running I was done, and happy with my accomplishment. I felt I had learned some things from my first 50 miler about better pacing myself, being better prepared for hills, and less social time with the nice wonderful volunteers. As the great golfer Bobby Jones once said, "I never learned anything from a match that I won" I think in the long run it will be better that I did not run as fast I hoped and the course was more unrelenting than I expected. I am happy I finished strong, and even happier I just plain finished!!!

Half Assed Isn't Half Bad

I know what your thinking.... "this blog entry has a stupid title, because anything I do I give 100% it's just the kind of metality I have", or maybe you weren't. It is my claim that the mantra givning 100% is pretty much a misnomer in sports. Perhaps I am being too technical (the high school math teacher that I am) but we would be foolish to give 100%. Do you give 100% to your job? Your sport? Your family? If you did, you wouldn't be reading this blog right now. When you are in a race do you really give 100%, if you did then you would pass out like the great runner Emil Zapotek was said to have happen to him in his training runs. The act of giving 100% (in my view) is related to the training as well. Juma Ikangaa (he won the 1989 NYC Marathon) gave a good quote:

"The will to win means nothing if you haven't the will to prepare".

Let's take this topic from a different approach. This week I am running in the Leona Divide 50 miler. Some people might be impressed that I am running 50 miles this Saturday. I'm not! I will get beat by many people, even "chicked" by many women. In fact many of the people running this Saturday run 100 miles in a single race. When I worked at the 95th mile at the Angeles Crest 100 mile Aide Station a man came through by the name Hans-Dieter Weisshaar not only was this man running his 5th 100 mile race in 5 weeks but he had one more to go the next week. Did I mention he was 66 years old? Me, I will have only run 50 miles, but hey dare I say it: Half Assed Isn't Half Bad. As I continue to understand my path in life, I try to realize the important things. I'm okay with mowing my lawn once every two or three weeks (except in the heavy growing season) and spend my time going for a run, traveling, reading, etc. In fact the picture comparing my neighbors lawn to my lawn is pretty half assed, not to mention the $10 camera I took it with, but you get the point.

In closing, Many years ago, someone told me about the “Persian Flaw”. The greatest rug makers in the world are Persians. The rugs are worth thousands of dollars due to the time and precision taken to create these beautiful objects. In every rug something is done that would never enter the thinking of most of us… they put a flaw somewhere, someplace into this exquisite “perfectly” stitched creation. Why would someone do such a thing? Persians believe nobody can be perfect except God. They aren’t going to pretend to be perfect. Perhaps not giving 100% isn't so bad. I hope to spend more time on this topic in the future and do a half way decent job.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Last week at the 50k a few sections were quite rocky and I had always suspected my Adidas trail shoes were a little soft around the balls of the feet. Every time I cringed when I landed on a rock confirmed it was time for a new pair of trail shoes. I had read good things online about the Inov-8 shoes and found a running store on their website that sold some of their models called FootPursuit in Simi Valley. Their service was great and if you are ever in the area I stongly recommend trying them out. Having a bruise on the bottom of your foot can help greatly picking out a pair of shoes... the process is easy, keep trying on shoes and when the sore spot on the ball of your foot hurts the least buy that pair. I ended up with Inov-8's Roclite 315. Of course there was no way the cold wind was going to keep me from going on a run to try out my new shoes to the top of Bunny Hill (see previous post). I also purchased a new camera ($10 on sale at Rite Aid) the other day that is about 1 inch by 2 inches and I can easily carry it with me on my runs. Myself and Cindy are still learning how to use the camera correctly, you may notice something wrong with the picture Cindy snapped. Cindy felt like my attire was worth a picture, but it's too bad you aren't able to see the geekiest part.

For a tiny ten dollar camera the pictures aren't bad for posting on the web, and the picture to the left gives a view of the "bunny" from the back side.

The last part of my run is along the California Aqueduct and I am often rewarded with some pretty awesome views.

Antleope Valley Wind

Back in 1979 the phrase Twinkie Defense was coined. The defendant tried to claim he murdered some people because he ate twinkies rather than his usual health food, causing an imbalance in his mood. I am confident a mood change happens in the people of the Antelope Valley when the wind picks up. Today we had heavy gusts and boy were people cranky. A colleague was throwing a tantrum because the copy machine was all out of paper and I tried to explain to her that sometimes it runs out and you have to add MORE paper to the machine in order to make it work. I am not sure if it was the wind, the sarcasm in my voice, or maybe a little of both, but she "blew" out of the copy room pretty quick.


On the way home from school I snapped a shot of a trampoline that went over the fence. They may want to wait until the winds slow down a little or there could be a reinactment of Mary Poppins A.V. style.



I am disappointed to report that the wind caused me not to go for a run today. I am getting over a cold and the dust in the air looked quite heavy. This to me is merely a poor excuse and I should have gone out and given it a try. The run I take almost every day is on the trails about a half mile from my home. We live very close to the California Aqueduct and behind the water are some great single track trails. The run I take most often is over Bunny Hill, even on calm days it's pretty windy at the top... I wonder what today would have been like? The name comes from the Juniper tree and a bush right next to each other. If you look closely in the left centerof the picture the bunny's head is facing right. Perhaps one day I will post a better shot to give the bunny more justice. For some reason I'm hungry for a Hostess snack.

San Juan Trail 50k

Saturday April 7th, I ran the San Juan Trail 50k. This was my first race since I broke my toe the first part of January '07. A good piece of advice is when your toe is hurting for a couple of days and you aren't sure how bad the damage is, don't go for an 8 mile run on rocky trails. A few miles into the run after stepping on a rock I could now confirm that my toe was broken since I seemed to be in denial up until that point. The doubt was gone and so was any running for the next two months. When I finally started running again (March 3rd) I stayed on the pavement for a while until I was confident I could make it back to the trails safely.



The San Juan Trail 50k website said the course was "tough" but I was not expecting what I ran into the last 10 miles. Since I was two months behind on running I gave my wife Cindy an estimate of 6 hours before she left for a morning of shopping in Orange County to prepare for our 12 guests coming for Easter brunch the next day. The first 20 miles were fairly straight forward, we ran down about 1100 feet through beautiful scenery and nice single track trails, and we had been informed by the RD Baz Hawley (A classy and enthusiastic gentleman) we would be coming back up on the same trail, again...challenging yet straight forward. I must have been to entranced in trying to get my IPOD working during the part where he talked about the last part of the race. After making it back to the top where we had started the day the trail broke off into a new section. Starting about mile 21, after climbing the never ending road higher and higher into the misty abyss in the sky (it was really about 2 miles) I joked with the guys at the aide station that the hill was a piece of cake and did they have anything more challenging. I don't think they understood the sarcasm in my voice since they went on to tell me about how I was in "luck" and I would soon be faced with a climb even more challenging.

Picture by Charlie Nickell from his blog

After what seemed like a crawl I made it up the last climb and was rewarded with the last two miles of steep downhill running. Not exactly a reward when your quads are sore and tight. As I was nearing the finish I took a look at my watch and mustered up enough strength to go from a medium shuffle to a slow trot (aka, I picked up my pace oh so very slightly). I have not seen the official results but according to my watch I made it under 6 hours by a mere 4 seconds.... I was just a little off my estimate. :-) Postscript: Here is the results page I am pleased to say my estimate was really only 3 seconds off.