$209.99

That's what you'll pay if you want to buy a bottle of Postum from Amazon.com.

I know the stuff has been discontinued for a couple of years now, but I'm just finishing off the last of mine. I don't have $210 to get another bottle.

Do I talk about my bike too much?

See the black frame loooking thing on the floor next to my bike? That's my new bike frame. I'm going to take most of the parts off the yellow bike and put them on the black frame. Corbin wants to take the parts off his bike and put them on my bike when I'm done. Fun.

Me, on my bike, at Mineral Basin

Well, almost. I'm at the base of Miller Hill.

Mineral Basin or Pole Line Pass to Mutual Dell

~

...by way of Ridge Trail 157.

It's gonna happen!

Soon!

Just need a ride up to Mineral Basin or Pole Line Pass.

Or maybe we'll ride up and back on the old dirt American Fork Canyon road above Tibble Fork...

I like the Ridge Trail 157 option better.

Mineral Basin

About a hundred years or so ago, as a Boy Scout, my troop went on a hike that went long. It turned into a 50-miler or so, but it wasn't planned that way. It was a 4 or 5 day excursion (if I remember correctly) that started somewhere along the Alpine Loop, then north skirting Forest Lake, into Mineral Basin and then down American Fork Canyon by way of Silver Lake.

I haven't been up that way in quite a while.

I'd like to get up there again.

Soon.

And I may have an excuse here in the next week or so. Jerry is coming home for a bit and he's bringing his mountain bike.

Maybe he'd be up to pedaling up American Fork Canyon into Mineral Basin. Maybe even hump it up to Pittsburg Lake!

I think it would be fun!

I'm going to ask him.

Anybody done it before? How's the road?

My socks!

The aid station #7 drop bag for runner #153 was recovered! All is well!

Crazy Train?

It's just past midnight--I really ought to be in bed sleeping, but I'm not. I'm sitting in front of my computer contemplating the vicissitudes of life. They are vast. They are varied. They are to be expected. And sure as shooting, they'll almost never be just like you want 'em.

But that's not exactly true though. Generally we tend to recognize the changes in the condition of our lives when it's for the worse. If it's a good change, I think we gobble it up without really taking notice of the incredible spread laid out before us.

At least that's how it is with me.

It's a good thing we celebrate Thanksgiving once a year so we can really appreciate the good in life. The 364 remaining days tend to get cluttered up with focusing on, and bemoaning, the not-so-good.

On Saturday I turned another year older. I'd like to lay claim to being another year wiser as well, but I think I stopped wisening up at the age of 14. It was at that point (or earlier, possibly) that my brain stopped learning and applying life's lessons. And that's not to say that I don't recognize them when they're there--I see them, acknowledge them, label them, and cast them away. Dust in the wind...

But I digress.

I've come to realize the opportunities created by the crap I've stepped into (or that's been shoveled into my path).

While today has been somewhat of a struggle in trying to understand why certain trials and obstacles have come into my life, either directly or by way of my progeny or a friend or whatever (it's usually brought on directly through my ignorance and/or idiocy, but once in a while I'm actually affected and influenced by the difficulties of others); I am aware that by and through many of these difficulties, I am a slightly better person.

Sorta.

Anyways, all or my kids were over Saturday night for a birthday celebration. It's not so often that I get all 4 (+1) over at the same time. There was actually a time, not so long ago (in a galaxy far, far away), that I would have bet it would never happen again. It's good to be wrong once in a while. (I've pretty much gotten used to being wrong the rest of the time and have consoled myself to that which is and which always will be...) But there we all were. I got my camera out and everything. And guess what? I never snapped a single picture! At least I don't think I did.

Wait! I lied. I took two. Here's one of them.

This is a pic I took today of one of the birthday gifts I received.

Probably the surest sign there is that assures me that I'm old: a picture frame that identifies me as a grandpa...

At least I'm loved, eh?

And now I've completely lost my train of thought.

Have I mentioned that I have a cat?

I call him Fuzz!; and yes, the exclamation mark is part of the name.

The 2009 Squaw Peak 50-Mile Trail Run report (take 1)

Aid station 7 drop bag for runner #153 has yet to make an appearance. Anyone?

It would be a shame for me to let two pair of purloined socks sour an already painful experience. I should just let them go despite the fact that they had many more miles left in 'em... But it's hard for me to let things go.

Which brings me to the report.

2008 Squaw Peak: 15:39:07

2009 Squaw Peak: 16:20:17

That's an addition of 40+ minutes from last year--under significantly better conditions this year! What the...?

Leigh, George, and I stayed fairly close to each other during the first 26 miles without actually running hand in hand. We each shared the lead at various points until I passed Leigh on the far side of the mile 26 aid station (Left Fork). That was the last I saw of Leigh until the finish. George caught me at the mile 33 aid station (Little Valley)--he was coming in as I was heading out.

Again, it's a pretty hike from mile 33 until you get to the climb and then the scenery can go jump in the lake. All you can see is the climb. This year there was significantly less snow than last year and I seemed to have missed it altogether as I found myself atop the first climb having not even stepped in any. The climbing isn't over yet though. Less snow up top meant not having to go over the peak too. Yay!

After the Windy Pass aid station, where I vaguely remember turning on the afterburners last year, I struggled. My ankles were hurting and that knot in my calf below my right knee was back for its second year. Once I was on the pavement in South Fork I could go and the last three miles seemed to fly by.

No kids to greet me this year at the finish, but I had been posting updates on facebook with my cell phone every time I'd get cell service (3 or 4 times maybe?). It was fun to get all the comments coming back through on my cell phone in response to my updates.

Which brings me to the part where it's hard for me to let things go.

I've finished the Squaw Peak 50 twice now. I did better with the big climb this year than I did last year--despite the overall slower time. I ought to be happy with that and let it go.

Something in the back of my head says that I probably won't...

Squaw Peak 50

If you happened to be the one that picked up the aid station #7 drop bag for runner #153, it's mine! I want it back!

~7.9 miles, Battle Creek/Grove Creek--trail run

~6.15 miles, 52:55, 8:39 pace, Provo River Trail

Sapper Joe 50K

While Addi is playing the piano for a few minutes, I figure I’d better get writing a bit of a Sapper Joe 50K report. I’ve got nothing more, really, to report than has already been reported out there on the World Wide Web—just do a Google search for “Sapper Joe 50K” and you’ll find all sorts of blogs with individual reports.

Anyways, the inaugural race was held on Saturday, May 23rd out at Camp Williams. Camp Williams, being a military base, is generally closed to civilians although I’ve been out there a few times because I’ve got family in the Utah National Guard. The course took me deeper and further west and north onto the base than I’ve ever been before. Awesome views of both Salt Lake and Utah Valley’s.

The course itself was a bugger. The start sits at an elevation of about 4800 feet and by mile 4.2 we had climbed to 6430. By race end we would make two more ascents above 6600 feet—both in the second half.

Not a lot of tree cover. There was some scrub oak in the miles between 14 and 17 but the angle of the sun put what shade there was out of reach for the most part. Fortunately there was a good breeze blowing that kept me cool and some clouds blew in later that kept the temps pleasant.

I didn’t set any speed records—I didn’t intend to and don’t envision ever getting to that point—but I didn’t finish last either—46th out of 58 men.

Going into the race, I was feeling a bit fatigued from the Ogden Marathon I’d completed the Saturday before. Not a lot, but some.

My aid station times appear to be pretty consistent—3 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, and 3 minutes. They felt longer than that…

Overall, I’m pleased with the outcome. Hopefully in the next two weeks I’ll recover sufficiently to complete the Squaw Peak 50 Miler that I was fool enough to register for again this year.

Two last things of note: my Montrail Hardrock's performed admirably! I love those things. The Nathan Hydration vest (HPL #020) is too small for me, but I like the pockets on the front straps.

~31.35 miles, 7:43:05, 14:46 pace, Sapper Joe 50K

~4.01 miles, 35:14, 8:48 pace, Provo River Trail

26.4 miles, 4:17:36, 9:45 pace, Ogden Marathon

Mountain Bike - Spring is in the air...

*

So I've got this old GT Aggressor 1.0 that I've had for years--and loved. I've been upgrading the components on it for some time--I've documented some of that here on this blog.

I love my triple triangle--I really do! I don't know that you could damage the frame if you wanted to. We've been through a lot, that bike and I.

But it's old.

And it doesn't have the disc brake mounts for the rear wheel.

And that's pretty much the deal right there.

And, since I upgraded the fork, it's a bit tall for my liking.

I don't know though...

Is a disc brake setup on the back-end all that important to me?

One thing's for sure: I worry too much about stupid stuff.

It sure would be nice though.

Rainy Day Ruminations...

~

Two nights ago, before heading to bed, I turned on the TV and flipped over to the Universal Sports channel. There were re-broadcasting Monday's Boston Marathon. I had a bunch of friends running that race and while I was at work I kept up on their progress via the World Wide Web. Later, when I had gotten home and had more time, I learned that both Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher had placed 3rd overall in their respective genders.

I wasn't really surprised with that--an American hasn't won Boston for quite some time--1983 for the men with Greg Meyer and 1985 for the women with Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach.

Still, Ryan and Kara were big-time contenders to finish first at Boston this year. Even more amazing, in my mind anyways, was the fact that this was Kara Goucher's second marathon. Ever. Her first was the New York City Marathon back in November of last year where she also finished 3rd.

While Ryan Hall dropped back from the leader somewhere in the Newton Hills, Kara Goucher maintained her position in the lead pack until the very end. Only in the last mile did she drop back, and even then it was only a few feet. Ultimately she finished 9 seconds behind the winner. Ryan Hall finished 58 seconds back of the men's winner.

Both performances were amazing. Ryan's average pace for the full 26.2 miles was 4:57! Kara's was 5:49! I couldn't go a single mile at that pace without keeling over and throwing up a lung, a kidney, and my liver. 4:57!

I've got 4 kids--3 of which ask me occasionally when I'm going to BQ so that we can go to Boston. Yes, they've all assumed I'm going to drag them right along with me. And I will. Many of the stories I've heard from my friends who have been highlight what an incredible experience it was having their family there with them. I couldn't imagine going out there alone.

But I'm getting old and I'm not as motivated as I ought to be. I really need to be able to run 7:30's (26 of them) to qualify and I'm not there.

Running is a metaphor for life. I'm sure there's a metaphor out there somewhere that I ought to apply to running. Between the two metaphor's, maybe I'll get it right. Someday.

My Disneyland essay...

~

or, How I spent Spring Break…

or, What I did on my first vacation in who knows how long…

First things first. Single fathers should never—ever—take 600+ mile trips with their 18 and 21 year old daughters. You will say things that you’ll wish you never had. And even if you don’t, they’ll hear something and turn it into something you’ll wish you never said—even though you really never said it.

Kidding...!

Still, it was fun. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

The last time I was at Disneyland was 10 years ago when we were in California for my great-grandmother’s 100th birthday. My baby girl was somewhere around a month or two old. That’s all I’ve allowed myself to remember. She was due to go back. I was due to go back. We were all due to go back as a family. Well, mostly.

The oldest and her baby (my grandkid) ended up coming with us at the last minute and I’m so so so so so so glad they did. We had a ball. And that grandkid of mine is so so so so so so stinking cute! She looks just like me!

We drove down to St. George Friday night and spent about 6 or so hours napping in my brother’s in-law’s house. It’s good to have family who have family who have a house you can crash in once in a while. Up and on the road by 5:00 so we could be in Henderson, NV by 7:00 for breakfast at the in-law’s of my sister. It’s good to have family who have family that will feed you breakfast!

From Henderson we drove to Corona, CA where we stopped for lunch. Some of us ate at a Taco Bell, some at a Subway, and some at the Mad Greek. Some may have gone somewhere else, but I don’t know for sure. We had about 3 hours to kill until our hotel rooms in Anaheim would be available—what can you do in Corona for an hour or three? Fortunately, we didn’t really have to find out. A quick call to the hotel revealed that one of the four rooms was ready. And off we went.

I don’t recall much more than that about our first day there. I think we ran over to a In and Out Burger joint for dinner and then later we had a family meeting to discuss the next morning’s events and schedule.

The next 3 days were spent inside Disneyland and California Adventure wandering around, riding rides, chasing kids, and getting sore and tired feet. Seriously, walking around Disneyland for one day hurt my feet and legs more than the 50k I ran on Antelope Island 3 weeks ago!

I enjoyed Star Tours. Got wet on Splash Mountain. Experienced whiplash on the Indiana Jones ride. Was impressed with changes on Space Mountain. Heard more than my fair share of It’s A Small World. Loved Pirates of the Caribbean. Screamed on Screamin’. Felt totally cool on Soarin’ over California. Got a little claustrophobic on the Nemo Subs. And a bunch of other stuff too. All right along with the best company a guy could ask for.

I haven’t done anything with the pictures yet but I will. There’s about 100 of them I need to sort through.

The baby was a perfect angel the whole time. Most of the time. She was jabbering quite a bit on this trip! She met goofy and one of the Fairy God-Mothers.

Wednesday dawned and we headed home. This time I had the two older girls, the grand kid, and the boy. If traveling 600+ miles with your older daughters is a bad idea, traveling with them and your teenaged son is even worse! We had a blast even if our patience was running a bit thin.

The snow really started to fly as we left Beaver, UT. Had to stop at the gas station at Cove Fort to clean the ice off the headlights. Ended up staying there for a bit while the weather let up. Don’t know that it actually did, but we took off anyways and found the weather greatly improved up the road a bit. Ran into more snow at Nephi, UT and drove through near white-out conditions from there all the way home. 30 to 40 miles an hour and the snow just kept coming. Woke up Thursday morning to find about 5 inches outside and many trees and branches in the area had broken or fallen under the weight of the snow.

It was good to be home though. Really good. Still, I wouldn’t have minded staying in CA a few more days—soaking up the sun, hitting the beach, visiting good friends…

Oh well. There’s always August.

I so love my kids!

2009 Buffalo Run

Tomorrow morning, at 3:00 a.m., I'll be waking up and driving up to Antelope Island for the 2009 Buffalo Run. I'm participating in the 50k race that begins at 8:00 a.m. I'm hoping to finish in under 8 hours. That puts me finishing at 4:00, right?

I should be sleeping.

I've put together two drop bags as there are only two aid stations I'll be running through--the start/finish area which I'll go through to start and finish (duh!) and at mile 15.5, and a station called Elephant Head at about mile 5.2 and 10.5 and then again on the second loop around the course. It's a two lap deal.

My longest run this month has been just over 7 miles. I think I'm in trouble.

I'm a bit anxious.

But not nearly as anxious as I am about Finley's baby blessing on Sunday. It's at the ex-MIL's place and a whole slew of the ex-IL's are going to be there. Don't know why I'm fretting over it so. It's not like they're going to ostracize me--that's already happened. Still, all the worrying I've been doing over it the last few days is giving me an ulcer.

I thought I was done with the baby blessing thing 10 years ago.

Ten years ago I thought a lot of things...

I need to go to bed. Three o'clock is going to come way too early. I wonder if I could wait til 4...

I brought the mountain bike down from the cabin last weekend. It's set up on the work stand back in the TV room. I really need to upgrade the shifters, chain, and the rear cassette. $180 bucks just for those three items IF the derailleurs are compatible. If they're not, add another $120 or so. More if I have to pay to have someone install the stuff. I'd like to think I'll be fine doing it myself though. I think I'll need to buy a chain whip tool thing though...

OK, I'm going to bed.

Well, I'm gonna try to go to bed...

Awkward Silence...

Haven't blogged in a while cause I really haven't had much to say. Of course by saying that I'm implying that I've had something to say before when we all know that's preposterous. My blog, to date, has been mindless drivel that has, more or less, leaked out of my left ear and made its way onto my blog by way of my finners.

The whole blog thing... Don't know exactly where it started (lie) or why I thought it would be a good idea (true), but here it is. I know it started as a place to bemoan and whine about how unfair life has been. I've thrown in a few posts about my running aspirations, car repairs, bike upgrades, and exploits with the children; but this just hasn't ever really been what I thought it would be.

I think it's my computer's fault. If I had a better computer, maybe the blog thing would be better. Maybe I'd be more inspired.

Maybe.

Back to the bike upgrades, I'd like about $400 to upgrade a few more things on my mountain bike for the 2009 season.

Car repairs? Been busy there too. Thanks to You Tube I've completely cleaned the throttle body and replaced the upper motor mount on my Saturn. It's amazing how much better the car seems to run with just the replacement of the motor mount. One of these days I'm going to actually find out how much money I saved doing that myself.

I've registered to run the Buffalo Run 50K next month. March 28th. Antelope Island. I'm excited although you wouldn't know it by the amount of training I put in today. Zero. Had numerous opportunities too. Let 'em all slide right on by. It's my computer's fault. I bet if I had a better computer I'd be more motivated.

A garden snake snuck into the house recently. I'm thinking February is a bit on the cold side of the year to be finding snakes around; but I guess if they're going to be around, inside the house would be where they'd be. It was kind of funny though. Mom wanted to find an old scrap book and went into the bedroom in which they were stored. As she opened the door, this thing fell from the top of the door frame and bounced off her landing on the floor. Turned out it was a decent sized garden snake. It's a good thing mom didn't realize at first what it was or I may have had to call 911. It all makes me a bit nervous... How many more snakes are calling the inside of this house home?

Went snowshoeing again today.

Alone.

Dad said he was a bit worried about me on account of a mountain lion sighting he and mom had a while back.

He didn't tell me he was worried about that until I got back though.

Lost my camera in the snow.

Found it.

Didn't make it up to the Timpooneke Road as I had planned due to exhaustion, but I was close. Real close.

The snow was so deep where I turned around that, even with snowshoes on, my feet were sinking in the snow up to my knees!


I enjoyed being the first one to traipse through the freshly fallen snow, but it sure was a workout. My legs are going to hurt tomorrow.

I almost didn't go. Glad I did. Probably should have gone to work though. At least for half a day.

Oh well.

Good times.

I need some good pants to wear snowshoeing...

Snowshoeing

I've been wanting to go snowshoeing with the boy for a while but things have just never come together. The weekend rolls around and he's off snowboarding or hanging with his buds, or I've got something going on--there's always something.

So earlier in the week I mentioned to the boy my intent to go snowshoeing on Saturday, and he said OK. So Friday night when I picked him up he had two of his buddies in tow--left me thinking, "so much for snowshoeing...".

Well, we didn't go as early as I had planned, but we did make it up to the canyon sometime around 2 or 3. The drive up the canyon had rain falling on the windshield pretty much the whole way, but as soon as we pulled into the Dell the rain turned to snow. We checked in with my folks, donned the snowshoes, and headed up the Bear Canyon trail.

About 3/4ths of the first mile was fairly well traveled with packed snow--could have done without the snowshoes, but the remainder of the trail was mostly unspoilt snow. We got to the fork in the trail, about a 1/4 mile from the Timpooneke Road when the boy had had enough.

On the way down, the boy wanted to go off trail and down the side of the mountain. We did. (Note to self: don't forget to put in the contact lenses and to empty your pockets next time. I didn't lose anything, but I was worried about it the whole time and my glasses were constantly fogged or fogging up. What a pain!) Anyways, we rolled, slid, crashed our way down the side of the mountain to where the trail switched back and then went back to the cabin.

We had a good time. I want to go back and do it again! I'd like some better pants though--denim jeans don't quite cut it. And I can't forget to ditch the glasses and put in the contacts next time either! And empty the pockets!

We saw no wildlife, but we did pass a couple of guys from the granola crowd as they were heading down the trail. They had gone up sans snow shoes and I noticed from their tracks that they both had little feet. Smaller than mine even.

I wonder if people following my footsteps stop and think, "Man! That dude has averaged sized feet!"

Would it be bad for me to go back up there this afternoon by my lonesome and go for a hike?

More snow.

Woke up this morning to a couple inches of fresh snow on the ground. It was wet and heavy snow though. It was so wet and heavy it could almost be considered slush.

I didn't sleep well last night as I was worrying about the talk I had to give this morning. And it wasn't so much the talk that I was anxious about. It was the introduction that kept me up. What should I say? How much lightheartedness and self-deprecating humor is too much? Turns out all the worry was for naught. My turn rolled around and I only had a few minutes to get through my talk--no time for any lightheartedness or self-deprecating humor.

The new mom and baby are home as of today and doing well.

Hay drove up to Logan at about 11. I had some concerns about the weather but she made it safely.

Talk of a "family" trip to Disneyland was discussed briefly tonight. Nothing really was decided but we got a fairly good idea about who was going and what our options are. I know my two youngest really-really want to go, and I'd love to take them. We'll have to see.

Corbin is in the other room listening to some band. Don't know who it is, but it's just wrong. It Just ain't right.

Grandpahood-dom

This is my granddaughter. She was born at 6:16 a.m. on Friday, January 23, 2009. 7 pounds 7 ounces and 19.5 inches long. 10 finners and 10 piggies. She's a keeper.

Moving furniture

The "TV room" is always frigid in winter as it costs too much to heat, and Corbin has been bugging me to move the TV into the front room where the heater is. Today we did just that. We moved the TV and the futon into the living room and moved the treadmill into the TV room. I've got a love seat I need to do something with now. DI?

I have access to the fireplace now though. Maybe I should see if I can get it to hold a fire! That would be nice.

...except I just gave away all my firewood a couple of months ago.

Crap!

One of the boys is tender and I've been eating way too much chocolate as of late. Somebody make me stop!

I need to go to bed. I'm tired and really need the sleep. And church is at 9 in the morning and I need to get Corbin home before that.

Me and Hay are going to see Body Worlds 3 tomorrow. I know it's Sunday but that's the only time we could get it to happen.

I had my teddy bear turned over to me today.


I've had him for I don't know how long, but he's been in a box for the past 5 years. Didn't even realize I had been missing him until he showed up on my pillow this afternoon. I should probably be a little grateful. Probably, but it's so darn hard!

Friday night and severe discomfort...

One word: epididymitis.

Addi came over tonight. Just long enough to call her cousins and arrange for a sleepover at their place. And I'm cool with that. Takes a little bit of pressure off.

Corbin came over too, but he's skating with a friend up the road a bit. Skateboarding. In the friend's basement. Oooh! And I'm cool with that too.

Presently, chicken nuggets are in the oven and cranberry juice has being given a task. And an ice pack.

I need to find some virus protection software for my Hay.

Snowshoeing and a bull moose

If you go back to my January 01, 2008 blog, you'll read about the New Years and Numb Arses run my brothers and I did New Years morning. Well, we did it again. Actually, it was me, Brett, and Russell this year. Jerry is in Georgia.

Later that day, after minimal sleep, Mike and Donald showed up at my place to go snowshoeing. And so we did. And it was awesome! We hiked up the Bear Canyon trail to the Timpooneke Road on trail 179. We then hiked down the Timpooneke Road to trail 178 which hooks back into 179 which we followed back down to the Dell. Just before we hit the last set of switchbacks, a big bull moose came into view and we just sat and stared at it and it looked back, snorted, and continued to look. Finally, we gave up on the staring contest and cautiously finished our trek. What a way to end it though. I wish so bad I had taken my camera! Next time, for sure, I will.