Why I Get Up at 4:45 in the morning...on a weekend
Truth be told, I wake up about that early most days, no matter what. 4-6 hours, that's what my body averages. It's not what my alarm is set for, it's not what I say I'm going to sleep, it's simply what my body does. I've been like that for pretty much as long as I can remember. Sure, there are moments where I creep closer to 6-8 hours, much past that and its proof that I'm sick. When I was 5 or 6 years old, my mom would leave the house very early to go for a walk with some of her bunco buddies. We had just gotten super limited cable which basically meant HBO and the Disney Channel. Sometime around 4:30 or 5 in the morning (I never did understand the logic of this) the Disney Channel had a show called 'Mousercise!' Yes folks, it was the 80's, and aerobics was where it was at. The cheese is sliced super thick on this one, check out the killer intro:
If I was feeling particularly feisty after my Mousercise workout, which could happen, I would go back into my room, get dressed for school and get back into bed. When my mom came in to wake me up, I would fake that I was asleep until she got close enough to the bed for me to spring out of it. 'Surprise! I'm already dressed!' Heh. The weird things I thought were highly entertaining as a kid. Anyways, I digress. I've gotten off track, I was trying to relay my Sunday morning run.
The Other end of Speedway
I really like these TTR runs out in the Rincons, its just sort of amusing to me at 5:30 in the morning when I get into a car to drive to the clear other end of Speedway, literally. You see, I live where Speedway ends on the westside of town, and we were running where it ends on the eastside. It's a good spot. We start at the Douglas Springs Trailhead and branch out from there. Today's run had a few options. The whole enchilada, which was out to Mica Mountain and back to the trailhead. The slightly smaller enchilada was up to Cow Head Saddle and then back to the trailhead. The halfway version was out to Douglas Springs campground and back to the trailhead.
It was incredibly windy out at my place last night. It has been the past few nights, and my lungs still just haven't quite recovered from the beating they took at the Old Pueblo. So, I woke up this morning pretty sure that the whole enchilada was not an option, but hoping to at least go up to Cow Head. In spite of having gathered most everything I needed together the night before, I managed to leave a few things behind this morning. Nothing of great importance, but I did leave both my watch and my garmin, so having any sort of idea of what my pace was like or how far I had run was simply out of the question. My chest felt pretty tight in the cool morning air, but I was hopeful that once I got moving things would balance out and I'd get into a good rhythm that would take me to Cow Head.
As usual, it was great to see all the smiling faces of the TTR group. I'll say it again, such a fantastic bunch! Everybody signed in and Joe set us off into the sunrise. I got to moving along pretty well for the first 3 or 4 miles. As the sun got higher and I crept closer to Douglas Springs my lungs kept racking on my chest. The uphill climb slowed me down a bit and I tried to get my breath to be more settled, focusing on the ins and outs...no dice. My lungs simply weren't going to cooperate much today. I pushed on (slowly) and made it to Douglas Springs. I knew I could slowly make my way up to Cow Head, but it just seemed silly. Why push it when it's only going to cause more breathing problems for more days. So, I called it good and turned around to head back to the trailhead. I was pretty wheezy, but I knew I could push it on the downhills without doing anything dumb.
'Sucks to your ass-mar!'
Oh Ralph, you were so eloquent with your friend Piggy. (For those of you scratching your heads, its not a cumulative lack of oxygen that's made me loopy, I'm quoting William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'.) It probably took me about a mile or so of downhill to get my breathing to finally fall into some sort of rhythm, but it finally got there, and I picked up the pace. This is where running as my primary form of meditation really pays off.
Technical downhills, how I love you so. Only two good catches/near misses today, which is not too shabby. One coming around the corner of a switchback where the trail was pretty loose and I almost lost it. The other where my toe caught a rock and I stumbled a bit before getting back to my downhill stride. You know its a good day when your amphipod's (handheld waterbottles) don't ever touch dirt. Yup, today was a good day on the trail, asthma frustrations aside.
Striding into the finish
I was feeling great. There were lots of folks out on the trails. Said hullo and goodmorning to many a stranger, most of them returned my greeting and wore the puzzled look of 'you're running this trail?' The last 3/4 mile or so into the trailhead
13 or so miles later I returned to where I had begun. Joe estimated my time at around 3 hours and 20 minutes, which sounded about right. Not incredibly fast, but not painfully slow, especially given the terrain. Perhaps next time I'll make it all the way out to Mica Mountain, it just wasn't in the cards for today. I chatted for a bit with Joe and Steve, waited for Joan, whom I met at Douglas Springs, to make it into the finish, and then headed back into town to get to work.
Now, my lunch break is pretty well over, and I have a few more things to get done. Crews rig-up and head back out into the field tomorrow morning, so it'll be an early day. Finally back into the routine of running to and from work, which is helping me focus and feel good. I'm slowly getting closer to a more ideal running weight...it's been a slow process, and will continue to be, but I know I'll get there. 5 pounds behind me already...just another 15 or so to go!
One last thing
It's springtime...did you know that? Yup.
Yet another 'In honor of springtime' installment. It's that time of year where I just want to swim in lakes and rivers and natural pools, have backyard fires and barbecues and dance parties...
So, to get your feets a movin, little Chris Brown before he grew up and was mean to his girlfriend.
Truth be told, I wake up about that early most days, no matter what. 4-6 hours, that's what my body averages. It's not what my alarm is set for, it's not what I say I'm going to sleep, it's simply what my body does. I've been like that for pretty much as long as I can remember. Sure, there are moments where I creep closer to 6-8 hours, much past that and its proof that I'm sick. When I was 5 or 6 years old, my mom would leave the house very early to go for a walk with some of her bunco buddies. We had just gotten super limited cable which basically meant HBO and the Disney Channel. Sometime around 4:30 or 5 in the morning (I never did understand the logic of this) the Disney Channel had a show called 'Mousercise!' Yes folks, it was the 80's, and aerobics was where it was at. The cheese is sliced super thick on this one, check out the killer intro:
If I was feeling particularly feisty after my Mousercise workout, which could happen, I would go back into my room, get dressed for school and get back into bed. When my mom came in to wake me up, I would fake that I was asleep until she got close enough to the bed for me to spring out of it. 'Surprise! I'm already dressed!' Heh. The weird things I thought were highly entertaining as a kid. Anyways, I digress. I've gotten off track, I was trying to relay my Sunday morning run.
The Other end of Speedway
I really like these TTR runs out in the Rincons, its just sort of amusing to me at 5:30 in the morning when I get into a car to drive to the clear other end of Speedway, literally. You see, I live where Speedway ends on the westside of town, and we were running where it ends on the eastside. It's a good spot. We start at the Douglas Springs Trailhead and branch out from there. Today's run had a few options. The whole enchilada, which was out to Mica Mountain and back to the trailhead. The slightly smaller enchilada was up to Cow Head Saddle and then back to the trailhead. The halfway version was out to Douglas Springs campground and back to the trailhead.
It was incredibly windy out at my place last night. It has been the past few nights, and my lungs still just haven't quite recovered from the beating they took at the Old Pueblo. So, I woke up this morning pretty sure that the whole enchilada was not an option, but hoping to at least go up to Cow Head. In spite of having gathered most everything I needed together the night before, I managed to leave a few things behind this morning. Nothing of great importance, but I did leave both my watch and my garmin, so having any sort of idea of what my pace was like or how far I had run was simply out of the question. My chest felt pretty tight in the cool morning air, but I was hopeful that once I got moving things would balance out and I'd get into a good rhythm that would take me to Cow Head.
As usual, it was great to see all the smiling faces of the TTR group. I'll say it again, such a fantastic bunch! Everybody signed in and Joe set us off into the sunrise. I got to moving along pretty well for the first 3 or 4 miles. As the sun got higher and I crept closer to Douglas Springs my lungs kept racking on my chest. The uphill climb slowed me down a bit and I tried to get my breath to be more settled, focusing on the ins and outs...no dice. My lungs simply weren't going to cooperate much today. I pushed on (slowly) and made it to Douglas Springs. I knew I could slowly make my way up to Cow Head, but it just seemed silly. Why push it when it's only going to cause more breathing problems for more days. So, I called it good and turned around to head back to the trailhead. I was pretty wheezy, but I knew I could push it on the downhills without doing anything dumb.
'Sucks to your ass-mar!'
Oh Ralph, you were so eloquent with your friend Piggy. (For those of you scratching your heads, its not a cumulative lack of oxygen that's made me loopy, I'm quoting William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'.) It probably took me about a mile or so of downhill to get my breathing to finally fall into some sort of rhythm, but it finally got there, and I picked up the pace. This is where running as my primary form of meditation really pays off.
Technical downhills, how I love you so. Only two good catches/near misses today, which is not too shabby. One coming around the corner of a switchback where the trail was pretty loose and I almost lost it. The other where my toe caught a rock and I stumbled a bit before getting back to my downhill stride. You know its a good day when your amphipod's (handheld waterbottles) don't ever touch dirt. Yup, today was a good day on the trail, asthma frustrations aside.
Striding into the finish
I was feeling great. There were lots of folks out on the trails. Said hullo and goodmorning to many a stranger, most of them returned my greeting and wore the puzzled look of 'you're running this trail?' The last 3/4 mile or so into the trailhead
13 or so miles later I returned to where I had begun. Joe estimated my time at around 3 hours and 20 minutes, which sounded about right. Not incredibly fast, but not painfully slow, especially given the terrain. Perhaps next time I'll make it all the way out to Mica Mountain, it just wasn't in the cards for today. I chatted for a bit with Joe and Steve, waited for Joan, whom I met at Douglas Springs, to make it into the finish, and then headed back into town to get to work.
Now, my lunch break is pretty well over, and I have a few more things to get done. Crews rig-up and head back out into the field tomorrow morning, so it'll be an early day. Finally back into the routine of running to and from work, which is helping me focus and feel good. I'm slowly getting closer to a more ideal running weight...it's been a slow process, and will continue to be, but I know I'll get there. 5 pounds behind me already...just another 15 or so to go!
One last thing
It's springtime...did you know that? Yup.
Yet another 'In honor of springtime' installment. It's that time of year where I just want to swim in lakes and rivers and natural pools, have backyard fires and barbecues and dance parties...
So, to get your feets a movin, little Chris Brown before he grew up and was mean to his girlfriend.
I have my own theory about why you need so little sleep, and it is related to your height. My theory works because at my height, I can easily sleep 10 hours or more and still take a nap in the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I dig the LotF ref. There's never a conch shell handy when you need one.