Too Much Running Is Not Good

A few years ago while running a 6 hour run up Rose Peak in the East Bay foot hills I started wondering if the body had some kind of internal fuel supply that is imited. 

I am not talking about the Krebs cycle utilization of energy in the form of ATP that is derived from the breakdown of glucose utilized as my energy source.  The Krebs cycle is the metabolic pathway within the cells. This pathway chemically converts carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into carbon dioxide, and converts water into serviceable energy.   Do you really care about this science?  Not really!

What I was thinking that maybe within humans we have some sort of reserve like melatonin that does not get replenished over time.  I am not sure that I have any science to base any of my thoughts on.  But what I do think that obsession with anything is not good.  While I was and am not obessed with running on daily basis, I was obsessed with my 6 hour Saturday runs.


Over the course of 8 years of continuous long runs every Saturday morning, I started feeling pains like never before.  Eventually, I had to  limit my running to 3 miles 3 times per week.  After a year off of the long runs, I am now able to run for a few hours every Saturday morning. 

My buddy  Dan and I run real slow.  We probably walk about 25% of the time mostly because we are in deep philosophical dialogue and we need the oxygen.  We run only on trails with a lot of elevation gain.  We are constantly changing our pace and muscles groups to run this tricky trail terrain.


I deeply miss the long trail runs and know that I  may get to like  that ever again.  It's kind of like wishing that I  was in high school  again.   I can smile at the past and be thankful  the present.  


What I am most thankful for right now is that I have a future in running.  I feel like I cheated the years once again with some common sense.


A good friend that I work with is into the shock treatment types of work outs.  He is nearly 50 years old-(me too) and he is the epitome of god like body.   He does not lift weights.  He uses his own body weight.  I think he is on to something.  He is a cop and I bet he never has had to kick anyones @$$ because one look at him makes the criminal  lie in  the prone position.


I  recently started doing the Beach Body Insanity  workout.  It's  total shock treatment to  the body because the routine changes every few minutes.  While  most  people  have told  me that  it's  extremely difficult, I don't find it a grinder like back in the days when I was the high school wrestling team.  However, it's an extremely efficient work out that got me sore in places like my toe  muscles!


So  what's this all about when I said too much is not  good.  Yep.  I am mixing things up a lot  in my exercise program.  I walk 5 times a week.  I inline skate.  I bicycle 4-5 times a week to the BART station-it's a 2 mile round trip.  Everything I do is in small amounts.  It's  mostly  for fun.  


I never push myself  to point of pain.  I subscribe to the "More Pain, No Gain"  theory.

Running With The Wild Turkeys

One of my favorite things to do while running the back country trails around Mission Peak is to spot wild life.  I have hunch that a lot more wild animals escape my eyes than what I actually see.  Most of them critters are spotting me long time before I spot them.

On any given run, we can spot owls, red tail  hawks, eagles, coyotes, bob cat, vulture,wild turkey, skunk, raccoon, partridge, fox, and maybe a mountain lion.

My running buddy Dan and I hit the trail at 520 AM.  It was a cool 57 degrees. We heard a lot of noises running up Mill Creek road.  We usually hear or at least spot some wild turkeys before the first water stop.  No cigar.  Dan is  obsessed with turkeys.  He wants to bag one this year with a bow and arrow.

The only noises that we heard were the pesky skunks that wag their rear ends at us.  They love to hang out in the water culverts and drop their stinky bombs on us.  Thank goodness we did not smell anything close to a skunk today.

My first wild animal spotting was a deer.  They are extremely difficult to see at this time of the year as the grass is brown and the deer blend right in.  Dan asked me if I was interested in hunting with him.  Mmm...possibly.  But not during our run.

At around 90 minutes into the run, we spotted some partridges running through the woods.  This was making us hungry!  It would probably take 3 or 4 of them to service our hunger level.

The trail was rather quiet.  We saw a few lone hikers.  The sun was rising in in the east with bright blood red colors.  It was going to be a hot day.  We ran in and out of hot thermal layers.

There were no coyotes or  turkeys to be seen in our favorite spots.  The turkeys usually hang out near a hidden spring that bubbles out into a tiny stream.  Maybe they know that hunting season is around the corner.  Since so much private land surrounds the park, they make great targets for the up coming Thanksgiving holiday.  We talked about bagging one with a bow.

After nearly 2 hours of running, I mentioned to Dan that the turkeys like to hang out on the hill side near Ohlone College.  Sure enough, we spotted a herd of them in the distance.  No gobble gobble gobbling.  But at least we saw them.

All of this trail running made us hungry.  We stopped by our favorite fig tree that we have been ogling for the past 4 weeks.  The figs were finally starting to ripen.  We ate a few and had to part ways since I promised my wife that I would finish installing the laminate floor in our dining and living rooms.

I arrived home to the loud noises of my two boys and my wife Idy patiently (well, not really) trying to get them ready for an airplane ride.  If she had a gun...let's not go there.

They left me right after I showered.  I took the liberty to drink a large cup of fresh roasted Tanzania coffee and surf the web for an hour.  I kneaded a batch of whole wheat dough to into my traditional Saturday morning cinnamon maple nut rolls.  I mentioned to the boys that if they did not return home soon, that I would eat the dozen rolls myself.  I scarfed 4 cinnamon rolls all to my self!  Nothing beats a high fat and high carb diet.

It's now nearly 830 PM and I am still feeling the high of the morning run.  After nearly a year off from running Mission Peak and the East Bay hills, I think I have learned my lesson from over doing the long runs.  I don't plan on running the 6-7 runs again.  Yes, I definitely miss the long runs.  There is  so much  to see when you get to where not many  people can run.  It was just wreaking havoc on my poor  little feet. 

The worst day of running is better than the best day at work.

Spring Training| Trail Running!

My enjoyment for running is relative.  Two years ago, a "good" run was a 6 hour run in the back country of the east bay foot hills.  Today, a "good" run is lacing up my running shoes and running around the block.

I have been plagued with minor plantar fasciitis for at least 2 decades.  I have always taken care of it to a certain degree.  I wear inserts, do stretches, and ice the painful areas. In the last 6 months, my running has dwindled down to a maintenance program.

For this last bout of PF, I bought some inserts from the Good Feet Store.  This is not a knock against the company, but my feet got worse and I developed "pump bump" which is a calcium build up on my right heal.  Basically, I am screwed for running anything long.  Rather than being bitter, I am happy that I can still run.

I purchased some custom orthotics and hope that this will at least stabilize the problem.

Last week I went on my first long trail run in 6 months and it was like being let out of jail!  I was able to see a cute bob cat on the run.  This cat was perched on the side of the hill looking real cool at us.  Cats are always cool.  They act as if they don't have a care in the world.  This bob cat was BIG!   We thought that maybe it was a mountain lion.  From our vantage point, it was hard to tell.  It was feline and it was not your garden variety house cat!

Over the past few months, I have been gradually increasing my runs while decreasing my pain.  The pain is a constant reminder that I am not greater than God.  While at age 48, I think of myself as invincible, my aching heel tells me that I am a mere mortal.  This may be my "thorn in the flesh".

This morning I had a beautiful early morning run.  The sun was just peeking over the mountains and warming up the ground.  It was much later than my usual 5 AM runs.  Since my injury, I know sleep in on Saturday's until about 6 AM.  See, it's all relative!  I even met up with young lady who completed the Oakland Marathon a month ago.  She is suffering with PF too.  I think most long distance runners over the age of 20 battle with this ailment.  Running is very social.  I don't try; to get away from people to be alone.  In fact, I look for other runners to talk with.

My 2 young boys have gotten used to having me around early Saturday mornings and get excited because Saturday morning is Cinnamon Roll Day.  I make home made whole wheat cinnamon rolls every Saturday.  When I am out on my hour long run, they sneak down stairs and peek into the oven to see if the rolls are rising.  They have gotten so used to it that they can hardly remember me running my hour runs. If I run longer than 1 hour like last Saturday, they ask why I was gone so long.

At the end of the day, I would rather be seen as the husband of my beautiful wife and father of my 2 boys rather than the guy who can run 25 miles.

Quick Trail Run In The Cold

Today was a windy cold day in April. My 8 year old son Josiah asked why it was so cold and windy. I told him California weather in the Bay Area is always unpredictable. A week ago we were enjoying temperatures in the 90's!. My son rides his bicycle beside me on our weekly runs. It's a great bonding time for both of us. My 6 year old son, Zachary was stuck at home because he was fooling around and was not ready. I give them a fair chance to get ready. Our saying is "If you snooze, you loose!"

Today we exercised just to get it done. I bundled up with wind breaker, long sleeve shirt, and winter running gloves. Evey run is fun for me. I don't take rain or cold weather days off. I have all the right running equipment and I make the best out of every situation.

I run because I run! Period

Trail Run To Rose Peak

Before my alarms sounded at 430 AM, I was already wide awake and excited to go on my trail run to Rose Peak. Andria and I arrived at the trail head at 520 AM and were shivering as we donned our jackets to ward off the cold. With flashlights in hand, we headed out in the dark. We decided on the high trail that traverses across a dangerously steep hill. We like running this trail because on the return trip home, we are rewarded with a beautiful bubbling brook shaded by secret garden of trees with hanging moss.

The wind cut right through us the higher we climbed. We were blanketed by a thick layer of fog. It seems like our coldest runs are always in April. Even after sun rise, we had no sight of Rose Peak. After 2 hours of running torturous hills we finally cut through the fog. It was glorious! The sun was shining through a thin layer of fog that highlighted the spring flowers in golden sun shine. The flowers carpeted the hill sides artistically with an array of pastel and bright colors.

We arrived at Rose Peak in just under 3 hours of running. The sky was bright blue. Below us lay Silicon Valley and lots of fog. We drank in the beauty and ate home made organic cacao nib cookies. It was so peaceful. The view is our reward!

















We decided on a different running trail for the return trip home. We enjoy varying our routine for trail runs. I like my trail runs to be loops rather than an out and back run. The new running route avoided the monster hill work out and that was just fine for us.

We saw over 30 people enjoying themselves on the return back to our vehicle. It was a mix of back packers and day hikers.

The brook was bubbling in our "secret garden" trail. This is the place that I could sit with a good good book and hot cup of coffee for hours. If it were not for my wife and 2 kids waiting for me at home, I would have lingered longer.

The run was beautiful. 20 miles, at least 3800 feet of vertical climbing, and 5 hours, 30 minutes of running.

Trail Run To Sunol In The Dirt

On Saturday mornings, I usually wake up before my alarm goes off at 4:30 AM because I am so excited to go on my weekend trail run. This morning promptly at 4:25 AM, I woke up feeling very rested and ready to run. I had everything packed up last night except for my camera. I ate a good size bowl of super porridge(millet, oats, rye, amaranth, quinoa, millet,etc) with cultured kifer milk and raisins and a large mug of jasmine green tea.

We had 2 new editions to our running group this morning, Sue Corrie & her dog Rio. She had 1 or 2 cancellations and so did I. It was Sue, Andria, and myself. I changed the route slightly to accommodate Rio. Dogs really don’t like running on a paved road for 4 miles. Neither do I! After approximately 2.5 miles, we hopped the fence and were trail bound in the dirt to Sunol!

It was a clear starry night. Temperature was about 45 degrees. Perfect! We started out with flash lights on and shucked them after a mile. When we hit the trail everything was so green. It was like being in the dales in Ireland. No, I have never been there. It’s my blog so I can write and fake it if I have to. We ran to the top of Mission Peak and saw a spectaculiar sun rise. We did not linger as we were in the running mode.

When ever we get a new addition to our group, I am always leary. The person could either be really slow and mess up our pace or the person could be super fast and kill us! Sue was kind of like a Goldilocks girl. Just right! Andria and I not really training for anything, so we are very flexible. Sue is training for a what seemed like a half dozen races. Been there/done that with kids. God bless my wife for putting up with my 6 hour long training runs.

At the sign in gate to the Ohlone wildnerness we spotted a lone runner. Runners are rare at 6:30 AM anywhere. Practically non existent here. It was Steve Bradley! We ran with him to Sunol. Steve and Sue had never met. Their only connection is an old baby jogger that I gave to Sue 4 years ago. Steve gave it me 8 years ago and I needed to get rid of it. I suggested they become friend on Facebook a few days ago without realizing the baby jogger connection. They live a few streets away from each other in the Niles district of Fremont.

We reached Sunol in 2′15″. That was excellent considering that we ran Mission Peak before running down to Sunol. We took a nice long break and ate dried cherries,apricots, figs, cocoa nibs, nuts, and other running power food.

I have been running for 35 plus years. This may seem like a bragging moment-running is almost like walking now. Trail running seems effortless because we enjoy it so much. Don’t get me wrong, by the time we are finished, I am very tired. When I started ultra running 8 years ago, I would go home and go to bed after a 4 hour run. Now I go home and play floor hockey with kids and walk 3 miles with my wife.

After our 20 minute break at Sunol, we had the monster hill to climb. It’s approximately 1500 vertical feet to climb out of Sunol. I would be lieing if I told you that we ran the entire hill. We walked.

I am a die hard runner. However, I rarely talk about running. It’s kind of a boring topic. Running is a life experience. Each run is different and somewhat philosophical. If I read someone’s blog about how many hill repeats, track work outs, and sprint works, I would be so bored. To each their own. I run the trails to see the beauty of God’s creation. I love the ever changing weather patterns. I get to see deer, cattle, goats, wild turkey, hawks, and occasionally a mountain lion.

Today was very special because I got to run with Andria and Sue. Running is not about running. It’s not glamorous. You stink when you are done. Your muscles get sore. Most of the time you do it alone.

Alameda Creek Trail

I have two wonderful little boys with lots of energy. When I return home from work, they are like little puppies excited to see me. My routine when I arrive home is to usually hit the trail and go for my run. I was feeling a little torn and decided to take my boys on my week day runs down the Alameda Creek trail. I have a nice 9 mile loop with plenty of water and bathroom stops for my boys.

My wife packs the boys back packs with snacks such as home made granola, water kifer, oranges, and anything else to make the boys happy.

The trail starts just after the rail road track crossing over the creek. It's a challenge to get the boys bicycles to cross the tracks. I usually have to lift the bikes safely over the tracks. Once we are on the trail, the fun starts. The boys usually crash 3 or 4 times during the ride. They bump into each other, hit bushes, or just fall. This may sound like I am not an observant parent. Rest assured, this is not the case. The boys fall when they are on the gravel side attempting to do stunts. The gravel side has rocky berms on the fence line. They will ride up the berm and run out of gas-so to speak. I was once a little boy covered with bruises from head to toe. My boys seem to be falling my foot steps!

When we are 3/4 through with the bike ride, I give the boys a 15 minute rest at a picnic table near a pond that I run loops around. I have a visual on them and can safely return. Each loop is 4 minutes. They eat the snack, drink water, and throw rocks at imaginary monsters.

The last leg is my favorite because the wind is at the boys back and they feel invincible. They will always beat me back to Mission Blvd where they are instructed to wait for me. They have a few "secret paths" that they take. Sometimes they hide from me. I love the imaginations of boys. They feel if their eyes are closed, that I cannot see them. What a cool thought!