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Happy New Year!!!!!
I was planning to go to a New Years celebration tonight, something I haven't done in years. Re-aggravated my sore back last night while moving a fat patient from an EMS cart to our ER bed.

Crap. No party for me. Looks like QueenBuffness and I will be spending the evening limping around the "GrumpyUnk Command and Control Bunker" instead.

Not that that's such a bad thing. But a party would have been ok, too.

So, here's wishing each and every one of you a Happy New Year. I hope you all had a good year and that next year will be even better!

Add on here:
Here's Tony Bennett giving you a little encouragement for the coming new year.

Left Wing, Scumbag Lawyer, Keys Marines Car....
I realize that's redundant but Grrrrrrrrr. This kinda crap just makes me want to cause harm to someone.

It seems that a young Marine was visiting a friend in Chicago while on leave and this Piece of Shit Lawyer took exception to the Marine decals on his car. Our young Marine caught the Prick keying his car and summoned Chicago's finest.

You need to read the story, and as you're not likely to see it in the MSM go here - Black Five and check this shit out.

The Chicago Legal Machine appears to be willing to screw this kid in order to protect one of their own. And Young Marine has to deploy back to Iraq in a day or so.

Bastards. A pox on them all.

It's that wonderful time of year again - time to look at the cornucopia of ultras, triathlons, and marathons available in 2008 and plan my season! I get such satisfaction out of seeing a whole year of races planned out. As I mentioned last year, a full schedule is proof that I'm choosing to live in this world instead of on it. Each race is a guaranteed adventure for the heart, mind, and soul.

For 2008, I'm feeling the need to train specifically for my anchor race (the Western States 100) for the first half of the year, and leave the second half of the year flexible. I think that will give me a good checkpoint to look at where I'm at in various Series points rankings, take into account that I might need a break, or want to do some tri's as a change of pace. I've also tried to leave some space in for other races that might pop up.

Here's my tentative schedule for 2008:

1/13 - Angel Island 25k, Marin, CA - This should be a great setting for pictures and a fun way to kick off the new year. I will still be in my "aerobic phase" of my training, but variety is always good. I can also put some points on the board for the new Pacific Coast Trail Runs (PCTR) Race Series, which looks like a lot of fun. The Pacifica 50k on 1/19 is also a lot of fun - if my schedule (and wife) permits, than maybe that one too.

2/2 - Woodside 50k, Woodside, CA - My hometown course, and I have serious bridesmaid karma on this one (three second place finishes in three tries). Perhaps I can break my streak!

3/8 - Way Too Cool 50k, Cool, CA - One of the classics, and shares some trail with the Western States 100. I should be about a month into my speed training, so this will be a good checkpoint race. It will be good to catch up with everyone too. It's also a points race for the PA/USATF Series (not posted yet, but will be here), which I hope to be focusing on for the year. My last year as an under-40 runner...yikes! And I don't mean "yikes I'm getting old", I mean "yikes those 40-year olds are much faster". ;-)

3/22 - Rucky Chucky 50k, Foresthill, CA - I was pleased to see the Rucky Chucky back for 2008, and enjoyed running it in 2005. This race will give me a chance to cover that section of the Western States trail and know it intimately. ;-) This is also the first race in the 2008 Fuel Belt Ultrarunner. Net Series, which was a lot of fun last year.

4/12 - Diablo 50m, Diablo, CA - What better prep for the WS100 than 13,000+ vertical feet in the blazing sun? This race seemed to work as good training grounds for the likes of Jasper Halekas, Bev Abbs, Caren Spore and others for their summer 100's, plus I have some unfinished business on that mountain that I would like to put to rest. This race should be a good checkpoint to see where my weaknesses are, while still having enough time to adjust the training before WS100.

4/21 - Boston Marathon, Boston, MA - Why? Why not! I love this race, and have the lucky excuse that work takes me there every April. I plan to run it for fun, drink the beer at Heartbreak, get a kiss from the Wellesley girls, etc, etc, plus enjoy a day of watching America's finest female runners at the Women's US Olympic Trials. Race costume optional on both days. ;-)

5/3 - Miwok 100k, Marin, CA - A gorgeous race, and good training for WS100. I'm excited to go back and get more pics! I'm not going to run it super hard, but it will kick off a month of very long runs/races as the peak of my training. Another race for the PA/USATF Series as well.

5/10 - Quicksilver 50m, Almaden, CA - I did the 50k last year, and it was full of hills and heat. Ill take a tip from Graham Cooper and Jeff Riley (top ten finishers at WS100 last year) who did this as part of their States training last year. My legs should be tired from Miwok, so we'll see how I hold up.

5/18 - Ohlone 50k, Livermore, CA - An optional race if I have any legs left after the last two weekends. Heat and hills, and plenty of good pics. Ohlone might even be a fun one to hike!

5/25 - Western States Training Run, Auburn, CA - I plan to do the first training day of the weekend to cover the two tough climbs on the WS100 trail.

6/14 - Santa Cruz 50k, Santa Cruz, CA - One last 50k in the coastal redwoods before beginning my taper. Also in the PCTR Series.

6/28 - Western States 100, Auburn, CA - The anchor race for the year. OMG! It freaks me out just to write it down. My goal is sub-24 hour, but honestly I would be honored just to finish it.

At this point in the season, I'm planning to take a few weeks off and see where my head and heart is at, as well as where I'm at in the various Series competition. If I'm doing well in the PA/USATF Series, than the Headlands 50k and Whiskeytown 50k could be new and fun. The Ultrarunner.net Series would steer me more towards the Sierra Nevada Double Marathon (which would be good to do right for once) and Lake of the Sky, which I loved last year. It I have another 100 in me, then maybe Rio del Lago or the Headlands 100, or try a 24-Hour Race. Or perhaps I will be ready to hit the bike, and do the Donner Lake Tri, Vineman, and/or some centuries. One thing for sure, I will probably make it back to the Helen Klein 50m, which is a points race for both the PA/USATF and Ultrarunner.net Series. And this year, Thanksgiving will likely be at home, so the Quad Dipsea will be back on the schedule.

Whew! I better get crackin' on the training! Let me know if any of you are going to be at these races. I look forward to seeing you there!

Cheers and happy new year, SD

By request, here's another one from the archives.
Guitar Stories................

I've been playing guitar for about 34 years now. Sounds like a long time and I guess it is.

Now that I think of it, I ought to be much better than I am after all that time. But I never really wanted to be a "Guitar God" or anything. I started playing mainly to pick up girls.

Yeah, big surprise that one. I had a buddy who was as ugly as Fidos Ass, but he picked up the girls because he could halfass play guitar. I figured if that ugly mutt could do that and I'm only half as ugly as him................... Yeah, a plan was formed and I went out and got a cheap Epiphone acoustic box.

I had played guitar for about 6 months when I was 13 but that shit was a lot like work and I was so ADD (Attention Defecit Disorder) I just couldn't do it and being forced to practice made me just wanna break stuff. Mom got tired of fighting about it and that was that for 5-6 years till I got the Epiphone.

I found that I really liked to play. I didn't pick up any girls but that was ok too. I played the shit out of that cheap ass Epiphone for several years. The neck got loose and had a big bow in it, but I kept right on with it.

I finally acquired a newer box this way.........

I was working a construction job in Iowa and was in the hotel bar getting good and drunk one night with the foreman and his beautiful wife Alice. In walks this big dude playing a nice guitar, rather poorly. He looked kinda like Hank Williams Jr, but had even less talent.

He said, "Call me Otis". So we did.

We sat there awhile and proceeded to get more drunk and finally went up to Otis' room to burn some rope I happened to have with me.

Like I said, Otis was a big fella. But Otis was a lightweight. John, the foreman, and I were pretty close to Olympic class drinkers at that time and Otis was not up to the task of trying to keep up with us. That would've been ok, but the more he drank, the more he kept trying to hit on Alice. Remember Alice?

Bad move.

John told Otis to keep his hands to himself ......... Twice. Once more than most guys would've and I thought that was pretty nice. Twice wasn't good enough though. Otis Put his hand on Alices' leg again and John quietly got up and excused himself. I didn't know what he had in mind, but I knew it wasn't gonna be good for ol' Otis.

I think subconsciously, Otis must have known it too. His lack of beer drinking KungFu, coupled with the rope we'd burned, made his belly decide that it was a good time to do a crash evacuation maneuver of all contaminants. He bolted to the bathroom and started puking his guts out. Alice and I started getting ourselves ready to go when John came back.

With a tire iron.

And hostile intent.

John was NOT a fella to get riled up. He had every intention of beating Otis to a friggin' pulp and at this point, only Otis' lightweight constitution and the locked bathroom door had saved him. With some difficulty, Alice and I kept him from beating in the door to get at Otis and killing him.

To this day I believe we saved the life of that dumbass.

John was in a cold fury and started looking all around for something to vent on. And saw that nice guitar sitting against the wall.

Up came the tire iron...............

and I snatched it right out of his hand from behind. And it was a damn good thing I had it too, 'cause he whipped around and gave me a look that flat scared the shit out of me.

I told him not to smash up a perfectly good guitar just because it's owner was an asshole. Well, He snatched that guitar up and was getting ready to smash it into the wall when Alice said she wanted it. Alice didn't have any desire to own a guitar, but she was smart enough to know that a guitar smashing spree at 2 o'clock in the morning would just about guarantee us all going to jail. Smart girl.

John just handed it to her and that was that. We all left to the sound of Otis blowing chunks in the crapper.

As we split up at our rooms, Alice handed me the guitar and said, "Here, I don't want this piece of shit. You take it."

I've had it ever since. The statute of limitations for that crime ran out about 1984, so I guess I can tell the story now. It's been a good friend and companion through many adventures. But it's never been as good a friend to me as it was to Otis.

It saved his life.

Damn. Tweaked My Back Again.......
Just turning around yesterday. Didn't do anything exciting or strenuous, just turned around and ...... wham!
I hate it.

In other news, one of the dogs got hit by a car last night.

I got home from work last night a little after Midnight and as is usual, let the 3 stooges out to do their doggie thing. The little one, who doesn't listen to well on a good day, took off across the road to leave a dump in the field there.

And then proceeded to stand in the middle of the road while a car came bearing down on him. Just frickin' stood there. The driver finally saw him and hit the brakes hard and swerved to avoid him.

But he got clipped. I couldn't see exactly what happened but I was really surprised when he got up and came running to the house. Lost some fur and had a shitload of road rash. No obvious fractures, as everything seems to work correctly.

He's been laying around all morning and whining when he does move much today. Queen Buffness has his dumbass at the Vet's office now, so we'll what comes of this later.

I've been laying around myself today, but I don't think I need to go to the Vet yet.

Mr Motrin is my friend. Along with an ice pack.
I see a nap coming.

Paul Charteris tagged me to look back at 2007 with six quick questions. Sounds like a great way to reflect on the year! If you haven't seen Paul's 2007 summary, be sure to check out his picture of the bear he ran into. Classic! ;-)

1. Most memorable moment on the trails. Boy, that's a tough one. I've had some incredible highs (like crossing the finish at my first hundred at the Tahoe Rim Trail 100) and some devastating lows (the emotional blow up at the Diablo 50k), and each memory is permanently etched into my soul. I guess if I would have to pick a single moment, it would be when I fell at mile 96 at the Tahoe Rim Trail 100. I felt every emotion I knew all at one time, my body was in pain, and I thought for sure I was going to DNF. But the calm serenity of the night sky above Lake Tahoe brought me back to reality, and the headlights of other runners reminded me we were all suffering in some way. I ended up taking it one step at a time, and with the help of my Dad, found the finish line. In that moment on the hill, I was convinced that we all have an endless supply of will and courage, you just have to dig deep enough to find it.

2. Best new trail discovered in 2007. That would have to be the stretch of the Tahoe Rim Trail where the Lake of the Sky 33m is held. All this time it was a short drive from my usual Tahoe running spots, but I didn't know it was so beautiful! A wonderful and challenging stretch packed with views that I have been back to twice already.

3. My best performance of 2007. I think that would be the Silver State 50m. It was not only a fast time for me, but I've never felt so good at the end of a 50-miler. I was also really pleased with the pictures which is good blogging karma. ;-)

4. I don't know how I previously survived without...gaiters! I have never really used them before this season, and it didn't take long to see why everybody uses them. Duh.

5. The person I would most like to meet on the trails in 2008. Well, I hope to see a lot of you guys in 2008! But if I could chose just one, it would be Debra Weil, who is making a wonderful recovery from her bike-vs-car accident this Spring (read it here, particularly the comments). I hope to someday see her walking/running the trails and finding a new passion to fill in for cycling.

6. The race I am most excited about for 2008. No surprise, I'm super excited about running the Western States 100 in 2008. It's going to have some big challenge for me - distance, heat, etc. - and I think sub-24 is a reasonable goal. It's actually forced me to schedule a year of "training" instead of racing everything in sight. It should be great!

This is a wonderful time of year for reflection, and for planning the next race season. One of my favorite parts of blogging is being able to go back and relive each adventure, as well as peruse my favorites on other blogs. Here's my Cliff Notes version, should you need some reading:

• Pacifica 50k, 1/20 - Face planting on rocks can be a form of motivation.
  
• Napa Marathon, 3/4 - Marathon PR from trying (emphasis on the word "try") to keep up with Devon Crosby-Helms.
  
• Pony Express 100k, 3/31 - 57 laps to salvation/insanity.
  
• Boston Marathon, 4/16 - Storm be damned, I'm going to drink my beer at mile 20.
  
• Big Sur Marathon, 4/29 - Birthday run on Hwy 1.
  
• Quicksilver 50k, 5/12 - Good friends make for an effortless race.
  
• Silver State 50m, 5/20 - Breakthrough performance in the mountains of Nevada.
  
• Bay To Breakers, 5/21 - Video and naked people... 'nuff said.
  
• Mt. Diablo 50k, 6/2 - 8 hours of therapy and a whole new respect for the ultra community.
  
• State Street Mile, 6/10 - Rocky the pug runs a sub-7 mile!
  
• Pacific Crest 1/2 Iron, 6/23 - The whole family races for fun, and my Mom celebrates the joys of being last.
  
• The Death Ride, 7/14 - Learning to group ride through 129 miles in the Sierras.
  
• Tahoe Rim Trail 100m, 7/21 - My first 100, and the reason I'm hooked on more.
  
• Sierra Nevada Dbl Mrthn, 9/22 - Guess what happens when you miss the turnaround on an out and back course? Doh!
  
• Running of the Bulls 5k, 10/7 - We should all run in costume at least once a year.
  
• Lake of the Sky 33m, 10/13 - A perfect Fall day in Tahoe.
  
• Helen Klein 50m, 11/3 - Go out hard, blow up hard.
  
• Santa Barbara 9 Trails, 11/24 - My quads burn through 10k vertical feet.
  

You know, I always wish I had raced more but looking at 2007 there is nearly 650 miles of races and rides! No wonder Active.com is one of my biggest expenses every year. ;-)

Hope you are all having a great holiday!

-SD

Oops, almost forgot to tag three bloggers! The following can consider themselves "tagged" and can answer the six quick questions on your blog:

Gretchen
Mark Ultrailnaka
Peter Lubbers

Just in Case You Were Wondering .....

Saw This today while over at Bane's Place

78%

Find lpn programs near you

Somehow he rated 3% higher than I did. To bad were not neighbors.

From the "I Stepped On My Crank" Files ....

Comes This - Will Smith: Hitler was a good person'

Oh Sweet, Jesus what was he thinking?

"He says, "Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'Let me do the most evil thing I can do today'."

I'm sure he meant to say George Bush. That's ok.

Update: I saw that today, Will Smith Blasts Gossip Sites for Misinterpreting Quote About Hitler

I just couldn't believe, he or anyone else interested in maintaining a career in Hollywood could be so stupid as to say nice shit about Hitler. You decide.

I'll give him a pass on this one.

You can never go wrong betting on the MSM misquoting someone. let's face it, they've not been doing to well in the accuracy department the last few years.

This is one of my favorites from the archives. I should have used this as an answer to the Christmas questions in the post below.

The Best Christmas Gift I Ever Got ...........

Wasn't even a gift intended for me, nor did I get to keep it. I know that doesn't make sense, so let me explain ...........

Christmas Eve 1999, I was working the day shift and it was a relatively slow morning so far. It was about 25 degrees out, snowing pretty hard and it looked like we were gonna get a white Christmas.

At about 8:15 that morning, a young fella comes strolling in the backdoor and tells me he needs a wheelchair for his wife, who he tells me is ready to deliver her baby. Cool. He's acting all cool and shit, so I scoop up a wheelchair and head out towards the back. I'm asking him all the stock questions as we go. Seems her water broke about 30 minutes ago. It's her second child and she hasn't had any contractions yet.

These are all good answers and he was right on 2 out of 3.

We go outside and I see a brand new shiny red Mustang GT parked at the curb with a young woman in the passanger seat. And that's when I also noted that she had - THE LOOK.

Uh Oh.

Now Dad was still not aware that things were not quite as he believed them to be at this point, but I started moving faster and paying less attention to him and more towards what I was seeing in the Mustang.

Sure as shit, when I got close, the young Mother looked out the open window at me and screamed - "The Baby's Coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I hauled ass over there and she's got both feet up on the dashboard grunting and puffing like Teddy Kennedy at a Sorority House Party. She tells me the baby's coming and I believe her at this point. Oh Crap!! My "Pucker Factor" hits Warp 9 and I send Dad running back to the ER for Backup.

The young Lady had on a pair of white sweat pants so I just pulled them out and ......... DAMN!!
The Kid's head is already out!!! I yanked her pants down, kinda up in this case, and was really wondering where my coworkers and Doctor were at this point.

Now she's in the front bucket seat of a little sportscar with her feet up on the dashboard. The ergonomics were not real good for delivering a Baby, so I'm fumbling like mad, trying to find the seat release to lay that seat back.

She's sweating and grunting. I'm sweating and scared as hell and trying to find that damn seat release, when all of a sudden I found it.

She was braced, with those feet on the dash, pushing like hell when I popped that seat release and ...... WHAM!! That seat flew back and that Kid came flying out of there like a shot!

Now, I'm a "Crosseyed Little FuckTard" or CELF, and have the hand/eye coordination of most Garden Slugs, but I made a one handed stab that would have made any Major League Shortstop proud and snatched that Kid up in midflight and then immediately went into brain lock.

Thank G-d, the brain lock only lasted a few seconds as that Kid was blue as a Smurf and not breathing. My brain re-engaged and I started rubbing the little shit, while keeping it's (I didn't know what the sex was yet) head point down to drain anything from it's mouth.

After what seemed like an eternity, that kid took a big ol' breath and then let out a very nice sounding cry. Mom and I started breathing again at that point.

Finally, Suzie came out the back door with a cart and Dad was right behind her. Now remember, it was 25 degrees out and snowing hard and I'm holding this steaming little baby and trying to figure out what the hell to do next. I calmly screamed like a little school girl, "I GOT A DAMN BABY HERE!!!!!" I then had Dad take off his Greatful Dead, tie dye tee shirt and utilized it as a swaddling cloth.

The Doctor finally came sauntering out, taking his sweet ass time and Suzie about ran his ass over carrying the "Precipitous Delivery Package" out to the car.

So here I am holding this slimey little bundle in my bare hands and the first word out of Dumbass Doc's mouth is to ask me for a Bulb syringe so he can suction out the baby's mouth.

I politely replied that, "I would be happy to shit one out for you if you have a minute, but I really thought you may have thought to bring one with you. Asshole". He was not impressed with my answer. We clamped and cut the cord and Doc, Suzie and Dad took off inside with the Baby, leaving Mom and me still out in the car.

I looked at mom, and since she was a little bitty thing, I just reached in and snatched her ass up and tossed her on the cart. Her pants were still down around her ankles and her ass was hanging out in the wind, but I figured it was the thing to do at the time. She didn't seem to mind.

As I was wheeling her into the ER she asked me if it was a Boy or a Girl.

I had no clue. I had held the Baby face down the entire time and never even saw the business side of things.

Turned out it was a 6 lb 6 oz little Girl who had all her fingers and toes in order and she did just fine. Mom and Baby were moved up to the OB floor shortly afterward.

So that was the best Christmas gift I never got - 7 years ago today. I forget what they named her, but I wanted to call her "Mustang Sally".

But nobody asked me.

Christmas at Arlington .....

I found this picture over at The Freedom Folks a couple of years ago. Magnificent. Maybe my favorite Christmas photo.

I've been Tagged ....
With a Meme. By the King Tiger.

I generally avoid this kind of thing, but in the spirit of Christmas and all that. He says there's some kinda law regarding this sort of thing, too.
So........ here goes.

Christmas Facts about YerUnk.

1. Wrapping or gift bags? - Both. I wrap like a retarded Monkey.

2. Real or artificial tree? - Fake

3. When do you put up the tree? 2 weeks before Christmas

4. When do you take the tree down? - Early in January

5. Do you like eggnog? - Nope

6. Favorite gift received as a child? - Tuff one. My folks were pretty good about picking gifts. Maybe the heavy sleeping bag when I was about 14. Our house didn't have heat upstairs where I slept.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? - Two. One made by the wife's Grandma.

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? - A rock. BUT I WAS DAMN GLAD TO GET IT! Not like you damn kids nowadays!

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? - Not my department.

10. Favorite Christmas movie? - Damn that George Bailey!

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? - Shopping? Oh Shit!

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? - Cookies

13. Clear lights or colored? - both

14. Favorite Christmas song? - Nat King Cole, The Christmas Song or Elvis, Blue Christmas

15. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? - Home. I'm always working either Christmas Eve or day

16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? - I'm lucky to remember the kids names.

17. Angel or star on the top of your tree? - Angel

18. Open your presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? - Both

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? - Christmas in the ER. Worst day of the year.

20. What do you leave for Santa? - Beer

21. Least favorite holiday song? - Little Drummer Boy

22. Do you decorate your tree with any specific theme or color? - nope

23. Favorite ornament? - Pink Flamingo

OK. That's that. "The rules" say I'm supposed to Tag 7 other folks with this. Naw, can't do that, but I will tag Jean 'Cause she's a good sport.

Treated Myself for Christmas ......
To one of these. A Browning Buckmark .22 caliber-







Actually, I bought it for my Birthday, which was a couple of weeks ago.
Got a couple of extra clips and 2 large boxes of .22 LR.

WooHoo!!

Man this thing is totally fun. It's the first semi auto I've ever owned. So accurate it's scary. Puts 'em right where you point it. Not always where you think it's gonna go, but that's my fault, not the pistol.

Went out and fired off a couple of hundred rounds through it today and had a ball. YerUnk gives it the thumbs up seal of approval.

Great Quote .......
From Days of our Trailers -

Anti Gunner- "What shortcoming are you Gun Nuts trying to compensate for?" Pro Gunner- "I am compensating for the fact that I can't throw a rock at 1000 feet per second."

Now that's good and earns a Gratuitous Hottie with a pistol picture!

This is about it for my off-season training - chasing Sophie around the shopping mall. Working on that aerobic base!



Do note I'm throwing in some upper body work at the end. ;-)

I hope y'all are having a great week!

Great Campaign Ad .....
I saw this over at Right Wing News last night. I'm sure it's not officially endorsed by THE FRED! but it probably should be.



Personally, I like The FRED! and hope he starts kicking ass and taking names.

The Christmas Season .....
is upon us and I've been a little slow on rolling out the usual Christmas stuff again.

Here's a very NSFW Christmas Song I discovered over at Roger's Place today.

Holy Shit, it's Christmas.

Enjoy.

Glenn Tachiyama has updated his popular Trail Running Calendar for 2008, and I would highly recommend it for any trail runners left on your holiday gift to do list. I have enjoyed the 2007 calendar all year with Glenn's fabulous photography and the dates of major ultras marked down to remind me to check results pages.

As was the case last year, proceeds from the calendar will go to the Washington Trails Association, a non-profit that creates and maintains trails in the State of Washington. Buy three of more calendars from ZombieRunner, and you can even get a free pair of Dirty Girl gaiters!

You can click to the order page here.

Cheers, SD

Global Warming. Coming to a Wallet Near You .......
Noted this quote at Right Wing News this morning.
They're not even trying to disguise their intentions anymore -

"When the chips are down I think democracy is a less important goal than is the protection of the planet from the death of life, the end of life on it," he says. "This has got to be imposed on people whether they like it or not."

Or so says, Mayer Hillman, senior fellow emeritus at the Policy Studies Institute.

When are people gonna realize that the whole Global Warming scam is all about money and control?

Never forget - The Goricle and all the Green Weenies are like Watermelons. Green on the outside. Red on the inside.

Update: SondraK has a nice little note on the how Global Warming effects some folks at the UN. This makes Yer Unk laugh.

Update 2 - Here's a nice collection of silly shit that the UN pukes were up to in Bali. Via, The Jawa Report Here's just a taste -

“A climate change response must have at its heart a redistribution of wealth and resources,” said Emma Brindal, a climate justice campaigner coordinator for Friends of the Earth.

I'm telling you, they're Watermelons.

Dan Fogelberg ......
Passed away yesterday morning. He'd been suffering from Prostate cancer for several years.
Story Here
I always liked his music. Very talented singer, songwriter and a hell of a good guitar player.









Damn Cancer. Rest in peace, Dan.

Here's one of my favorite Fogelberg songs -
Part of the plan

You Wish ......
You could have done it.

A Real Hero ........
The Emperor Misha has a great post about a true American HERO.

Navy Corpsman Joshua Chiarini and the story of how he earned The Silver Star. Great read and very inspiring. Click on his name and go read about it.

I love these kids. Please consider supporting our troops during this Holiday Season. Lots of good ways to do it. Start by checking out the sites over on the right in the links if you need help .

35-year-old Uli Steidl is considered by most to be one of the greatest ultra runners of our time, using his 2:14 marathon speed to clock course records at nearly every event he has entered. His mix of competitiveness and approachability has made him a welcome champion in the ultra community of Seattle, WA, where the Seattle Running Company clan such as Scott Jurek and Scott McCoubrey help him gear his wicked speed for ultra distances. Most of them agree we have yet to see the pinnacle of Uli's capabilities.

Uli started his running career as a teenager in the Bavarian city of Erlenbach, Germany, with top finishes at junior cross country meets (5th place German junior championships, 113th World junior XC championships) and a win at the junior's race of the Mountain Running World Trophy in Zermatt, Switzerland, all in 1991. All this led to a full tuition track scholarship at the (NCAA DI) University of Portland. In the fall of 1992, 2 months before leaving for Portland, he entered his first marathon in Frankfurt (2:25:14). At UP, he was a 6-time NCAA qualifier (12th, 9th and 10th in the 10,000m and 49th, 35th and 16th in cross country). After collegiate competition he continued to run track and cross, but also ventured into marathons, including a 2:17:21 at the Portland Marathon, a course record that still stands. His track and road PRs are as follows:

800m 1:56:03 (1994)
1500m 3:49.61 (1994)
mile 4:12 (indoor, '94 or '95)
3000m 8:03.02 (1998)
5000m 14:04.81 (1995 & 1998)
10000m 28:50.14 (2000)
1/2 mara 65:58 (2005)
marathon 2:13:56 (2000)

As fast as Uli was on the track and roads, few could have predicted the impact he would soon have on the ultra community. Course records fell regularly as he won the Chuckanut 50k in 2002 (3:57, CR) and 2005 (3:43, CR), 2003 Way Too Cool 50k (3:19, CR), White River 50m National Championship 2003 (6:37, CR) and 2004 (6:32, CR), Sunmart 50k 2004 (3:11, CR) and 2005 (3:07:47, CR), 2006 American River 50m (5:58), and the 2007 North Face Seattle 50m (8:17, CR). If you find yourself in an ultra with Uli, you are likely racing for 2nd (unless your name is Matt Carpenter).

Uli recently added $10k to his bank account by winning the 2007 North Face Endurance Challenge San Francisco 50-mile, the largest purse in ultramarathon in the US. I caught up with him over e-mail to find out about the race and his plans for 2008.

Scott: First, congratulations on your finish at the Endurance Challenge! I read your write up, and it sounds like your course preparation paid off. Can you summarize how the race went for you?

Uli: The very short version is that the first 18 miles were comfortable, the next 26 miles were a hard-fought dual between Matt and I, and the last 6 miles were still physically hard but mentally easy as Matt had dropped back with quad issues. I did travel to San Francisco to preview the course 2 1/2 weeks earlier, and it really paid off as some sections were not well marked and / or some markers were (re-)moved intentionally by someone.

Scott: I understand that Scott Jurek played a part in getting you into ultras. How did that come about?

Uli: In 2000, Scott Jurek won his first of 7 WS 100 titles, and a feature article in Northwest Runner about Scott talked about how he would run up Mt Si three times in a single run, faster than anyone else could do it. No way, I thought! I ran up to the Seattle Running Company where Scott worked at the time and 2 weeks later we were doing a "double Granite Mountain" - for a total of 16 miles and 8000ft of climbing (and descending). I was going to "show this ultra guy what real speed is" and he was going to "show this road runner that speed doesn't mean anything in the mountains". On the second climb I pulled away by about a minute from Scott, and on the last mile of the decent he pulled about a minute away from me. So we both came away from this run with mutual respect for each other and many long training runs together followed.

Scott: I had read that you went to Kenya this year for training in the marathon distance, as part of an intense focus on running and away from your teaching career. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Uli: I did teach 2 years of HS chemistry at Edmonds-Woodway HS from 2004-2006. However, this took so much time that my training was reduced to that of a weekend warrior. I had to make a choice: Do I want to focus on my career or continue to run at an elite level? The decision was aided by 2 things:

My wife Trisha got hired as the head XC and track coach at Seattle University (and a decent jump in salary compared to her previous job), and the fact that my HS principal was a jerk.

My kick-ass wife told me that she though there were a lot more things I could accomplish in the running world, and that years from now I might look back and wonder "What if?" if I decide to quit competitive running.

So we made the decision that I would do three things:
1) Train
2) help her with coaching, recruiting, travel planing, paperwork, etc
3) substitute teach when it works with #1 and #2

Going to Kenya was part of that. Stephen Kiprotich, who we met at the Vancouver Marathon 2005, had invited us to visit him in Kenya. So in December of 2006 we did. For most of the time we stayed at a training camp in Kaptagat, about 20 miles from Eldoret, at 8000 ft. It wasn't one of those training camps for western runners but one where usually only Kenyans train. No running water, no internet, no laundery, no electric stove. And almost every evening ugali for dinner. Kenyans ALWAYS start out easy on every run. When they run easy, they run really slow, like 8:00 - 10:00 minute / mile pace. When they run fast I wasn't able to stay with them for very long. It was a great cultural experience and we also came back in much better shape. We'll probably go back next year.

Scott: It sounds like you are focused primarily on the marathon, but are still throwing in ultra distances. How does your preparation change when focusing on an ultra?

Uli: For me, the training isn't that much different. I have done 40 mile pavement runs as part of my marathon training before, as well as 5 - 7 hour runs with Scott on the trails. In preparation for the Northface 50 miler I did _more_ long runs and less speedwork than what I would do for a marathon.


Scott: Your Web page generously shares your workout logs for the last few years. My first take after glancing through it was there was a substantial amount of long, aerobic-paced runs. Would you consider these the most important part of your training?

Uli: When I'm training for a marathon I usually do one speedwork (5x mile or 20 x 400 or 8 x 1000), one tempo run (e.g. 15 miles at 5:12 pace), and one long run (2:00 - 3:00 hours) per week. Mileage is certainly important, but it's not everything. On the other hand, too much speedwork makes you tired for the race.


Scott: How many marathons have you run?

Uli: 30 - 35. 13 of them under 2:20. Portland, Pyongyang, Vancouver (4x), Berlin (2x), Toronto, Austin, NYC, Boston, Duesseldorf.

Scott: I once read that you eat "real food" on the longer ultras, like hazelnut strudel. Can you tell us a bit about how you hydrate and eat, both for marathons and ultras?

Uli: Unfortunately, the German bakery that made the hazelnut strudel went out of business. Guess I didn't eat enough! :) On training runs I can eat almost anything. Sometimes I eat a 1200 calorie granola muesli 30 min before the run, and salami & cream-cheese bagels on the run. On "shorter" runs I usually go with one or 2 Carbooms. At the Northface 50 race I ate about 7 or 8 Carbooms, 3 home-made muffins and drank about 2/3 strength Gatorade. In marathons I usually eat one or 2 Carbooms and drink 2/3 strength Gatorade. The amount really depends on the weather.


Scott: Your wife, Trisha, is also an accomplished runner (they respectively won the Men's and Women's Overall at the Seattle Marathon in 2006). What's it like having two elite runners in the same household? Any chance she will be joining you in ultras?

Uli: Actually, Trish has run 3 ultras already. She finished second to Nikki Kimball at the 2003 White River 50 in her first 50-mile race, followed by a second place and a win at the Chuckanut 50k. However, to me her most impressive ultra performance came on a 7 hour training run with Scott and me. I had gone on a few long runs with Scott earlier in the spring when Trish said she wanted to come as well. I was a little skeptical as she had not done anything longer than 3 hours all year. We did a Cougar - Squak - Tiger - Squak - Cougar combination with about 8000ft of climbing at a decent pace. When Scott dropped it to close to 6:00 min pace on the last, flat mile Trish just stubbornly hung on all the way to the end.

Right now Trish has other running priorities than ultras. But she'll run another one eventually.

Scott: I recently signed up for the Way Too Cool 50k and saw your 3:18 course record - I thought it had to be a misprint! Would you consider that your strongest ultra performance?

Uli: No, the 3:18:17 is not a misprint. I was in very good shape then, the trail was in superb shape after 3 weeks with no rain, the weather was great. I wanted to break the record (which I thought was necessary to win given Dave Mackey was running) and I didn't know the course. It turned out that the course was shorter than I anticipated, so I broke the record by a large margin (13 min). Especially the last "1.7" miles (including the rather significant climb after Hwy 49 crossing) in 9:00 minutes? I don't think so. Even if Greg (Soderlund) doesn't want to hear it, Way Too Cool is short. Maybe a mile or two.

I did beat Mackey by 18 and Scott Jurek by 23 minutes that day. I recall Ian Torrence arguing with some guys from Colorado about the pre-race predictions. The Colorado folks were telling him that they think Dave Mackey would win. Ian said something like: "I've run with Uli. He's here. He's running. End of discussion." I myself didn't have that much confidence in me, but I also never raced against Mackey before, and Ian had.

Scott: What inspires you to run and train?

Uli: I love running - most of the time. I don't always love training, though. But I know the next race will come and the competition doesn't rest. So I guess the competitive part of me is what keeps me going every day. Running on the Wonderland trail near Mt. Rainier in the summer is something that inspires me.

Scott: What motivates you to race?

There are 3 primary reasons:

1) for time: to see how fast I can run
2) for place: in order to win or finsh as high as I can
3) for money: part of the reason Trish supported me quitting my full-time job was because I would likely win prize money in some races, partly offsetting the loss of income form quitting my full-time job.

A lot of the time it's a combination of the 3 reasons. e.g. at the Northface 50 both Matt and I (and presumably a few others) decided to run because there was $10,000 on the line. That, in turn, brought the level of competition to a whole new level. The finish time was secondary, though in the end I pushed it to stay under 7:00 hours. Reasons 1 and 2 would be enough for me to race, but prize money makes it possible for me to afford to travel to far-away races and run against really good competition. e.g. I ran Chuckanut 50 3 times, and there is no prize money. But I wouldn't have flown to Sunmart (Tx) if they had no prize money.

Scott: What do you enjoy the most about trail running and ultras?

Uli: The scenery is different at each one. White River and the Northface San Francisco are probably the most beautiful courses I've run on. Sunmart probably was the least scenic course. But I like the variety. What has been great at every ultra are the people. The runners, the volunteers, the spectators. 99% of ultra runners are just genuinely nice people.

Scott: Do you think we will see you in the 100-mile distance sometime soon?

Uli: No. But I'm not ruling it out sometime in the future.

Scott: What are your plans for 2008 and 2009? Will we see you tackling more ultras?

Uli: That all depends on how my spring marathon goes. If I do run under 2:13, which I think is rather unlikely, then I'll run another marathon in Beijing in August. If not, there is a good chance I'll run another ultra that summer. I any case, there is a good chance I'll run the Northface race again in December. In 2009 the IAAF world championships are in Berlin, and I definitely want to make the German team again in the marathon. I mean, how much better can it get than representing your native country "at home"? I used the quotation marks since I now consider the US more "home" than Germany. I'm a permanent resident here, I'm married here, and I've been here continously (except for visits) since 1993.

Best of luck with your training, Uli, and thank you for the interview! - SD

Why You Should Aways Be Nice ......

I learned a lot of things while in The US Army. Lessons that have served me well ever since.
Focus, Discipline, Respect, Personal Responsibility and a host of other Good Shit.

Early one morning in the California desert I learned about being nice to strangers even when you're the boss and technically, you don't really have to be.

A little background first. At the time, I belonged to The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and we had been selected to go to a training rotation at National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Ca. Ft. Irwin is located way the hell out in the middle of the Mojave desert.
Not far from Death Valley.










Yep. That's it.
Hotter than hell. Dusty & Nasty. A great place for "Good Army Training".
Or so said, Sgt Dave. The crazy bastard, who attempted to murder me on my 2nd trip out there. (Link above for story)

The NTC is a very intense training environment. 2 weeks straight of hot days, cold nights, no sleep battles and hard work. With a week on each end of unloading, loading and cleaning that fucking sand out of everything you own.
Along the way you acquire a nasty case of, The Funk Ass, CheeseDick and SandCrack from not showering for at least 2 weeks straight in that environment. Good Army Training indeed.

The Night I learned about being nice, one of the Troopers had not latched down the hatch or his vehicle. Now the hatches on these armored vehicles are big heavy steel and the hinges are spring loaded to make it possible to close them easily when it comes time to "Button up" in a hurry. What happens if you don't have the hatch latched securely is this. You're motoring along across the desert and hit a big bump. The hatch gets lift and whacks you in the back of the head.

That would be bad enough, but it usually drives your face into the rim of the vehicle at the same time. Most folks hope it's not the teeth that make contact on the 2nd blow. Not pretty.

Our trooper had gotten a good sized laceration on both the back of his head and his chin from the blows. Along with knocking his ass out cold and down he went, into his track.
My partner and I sutured up his lacerations, but we were worried because he had really taken a shot to the melon and wasn't acting right. Afraid that his brain may have been scrambled we decided to evac him in to see the Chief Warrant Officer, who was the medical officer for the squadron.

Sgt White, his Platoon Sgt came along with us. Sgt White was a big, black E6 who took good care of his guys and was a pretty good, no nonsense guy. We got our trooper back to the aid station and turned him over to Chief.

Now the cooks just happened to be set up next to the aid station, so we stopped in and they were nice enough to give us a loaf of bread and a can each of peanut butter and jelly.

HEAVEN! It was around 3 am by now and we were all glad that dumbass had smashed his head, without killing himself, while we ate PB&J's enjoying our treat.

About then a jeep pulls up and this little 2nd lieutenant jumps out looking like he really had a mission to do. We all saluted him and he took one look at our PB&J fixins and stated, none to politely, "I'll be right back and I want one of those. So get busy." I said "Yes sir" and started grabbing bread. Only to be stopped by Sgt White, who said, "Let me make the LT a sandwich." I started to say something and Sgt White just glared at me, so I let him have at it.

The good Sgt then proceeded to drop his BDU pants right there and roll the 2 peices of bread around his nasty, dirty, funky Schlong before adding the PB&J. Then he calmly pulled up his pants and slapped the sandwich together just as LT Shithead came stalking out again. The LT never said a word and just held out his hand as he went by. Sgt White never said a word as he handed it to him. LT Shithead jumped into the jeep and drove off eating that nasty, PB&J with Dickcheese sandwich.

Nobody said a word for a few moments till Sgt White said "Mutha Fucka should be a little nicer. Hope he likes the taste of my dick." We all busted up and laughed so hard an officer from one of the other tents stuck his head out and told us to STFU.

Sgt White suggested we have another sandwich and head back and started to reach for the bread when I stopped him and said "I'll make 'em this time thanks."

The USATF has announced locations of their 2008 Mountain/Ultra/Trail (MUT) Championships on their Web site:

2008 MUT Championships

March 2 – USA 50 km Championship
Caumsett State Park 50 km
Huntington, NY
http://www.newyorkultrarunning.org/caumsett_state_park_50k2004.htm

April 12 – USA 100 km Championship
Mad City 100 km
Madison, WI
http://www.madcity100k.com/home.php

June 8 - USA Trail Marathon Championship (pending)
Deadwood-Michelson Trail Marathon
Deadwood, SD
http://www.deadwoodmickelsontrailmarathon.com/

June 21 – USA Mountain Running Championship
Mt. Washington Road Race
Gorham, NH
http://www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com/

June 29 – USA 10 km Trail Championship
Steamboat Springs, CO

July 19 – USA 100 Mile Trail Championship
Tahoe Rim 100 Mile Trail Run
Lake Tahoe, NV
http://www.tahoemtnmilers.org/trt50/

July 26 – USA 50 Mile Trail Championship
White River 50 Mile Trail Run
Crystal Mountain, WA
http://www.seattlerunningcompany.com/WR50/

August 16 – USA 100 km Trail Championship
Where’s Waldo 100 km Trail Run
Waldo Lake, OR
http://www.wpsp.org/ww100k/

October 11 – USA 50 Mile Championship
Tussey Mountainback 50 Miler
Boalsburg, PA
http://www.tusseymountainback.com/

The press release did mention the San Francisco Headlands, so I'm wondering if they forgot the Headlands 50k Trail Championship held in August.

Like many of you, I spent this morning at 8am hitting the refresh button on my Web browser hoping to be one of the few to get a WTC 50k slot. I did get it (yeah!), and watched the race fill up within a few minutes. Unbelievable.

I'm personally hoping that some of the fast folks who weren't able to pull a Western States 100 lottery slot this year (that means you, Jasper Halekas, Jon Olsen, Anton Krupicka, and Karl Meltzer) are signed up and ready to get a slot via top 3 finish a Montrail Ultra Cup qualifier. Check the blogs and comments of Anton and Karl to see some of the frustration/conversation among the elites who didn't get in. I've never been so happy to be a two-time loser. ;-)

My 2008 season is slowly shaping (WTC, Boston Marathon, WS100) and I'm already getting giddy for the training! Such a challenge to stay aerobic in my December runs with all the excitement.

For your reading pleasure, some great recent blog interviews:

Tim Tweitmeyer on his Tahoe Rim Trail Record (courtesy of Peter Lubbers)
Michael Kanning, 15-year-old Ultra Phenom (courtesy of Tony Overbay)

- SD

The End of the World .......

Andrew Bolt has a delightful column today regarding the scare mongering of Al Gore and Global Warming and why he isn't all that worried.

Welcome to my nightmare.

He recalls some of the better "We're all gonna die!" scenarios from the last 30-40 years. Puts a bit of historical perspective on things. Read it and enjoy.

Never Forget .........

Sunday morning, December 7, 1941.

Why I Love Rachael
lucas ......

She rips the AssMonkees from "The Harvard Crimson" a new one over this Brilliant Editorial - The Second Amendment is an anachronism in need of repeal

She rocks. In a big way.

I have been remiss in not updating the links on the sidebar. The 3 of you who read this shit should be checking her out. No one rips like Rachael Lucas.

Those of you who enjoy shooting sports, believe in the second amendment or the right to protect yourself, should be paying attention to what's going on out there. There are a lot of folks who think you are a threat to society and would be happy to make you a criminal in the eyes of the law.

I'm gonna have to start a whole new section on second amendment (2A) stuff around here.

Overheard in the ER ......
"I was pro-life before I became a nurse."

Yep, you get that way after dealing with Zombies all the time.

Stanford Magazine (for alumni of Stanford University) did a profile on Will Laughlin and his training for the 155-mile Gobi March and the Desert RATS Spring Ultra. It's an interesting profile, which includes some stats on marathoning and ultras, and even a quote from Dr. Marty Hoffman.

One of my favorite quotes was his recount of DNF'ing at the Leadville 100:

Will’s previous race took place eight months earlier at the Leadville Trail 100, a traverse through the Colorado Rockies between 9,200 and 12,600 feet. Typically, about half the entrants finish. At mile 23, Will sprained his ankle on a rock. Fifty miles later, it took him six hours to trudge 10 miles on his swollen ankle, as he limped from tree to tree. “It was the middle of the night, and someone tried to encourage me by saying, ‘Good job!’” he remembered. “I wanted to say, ‘F--- you, I’m holding onto a tree.’”

Indeed! You can read the whole story here.

- SD

I took a walk down my driveway on Saturday and got a few shots of the 270 trail runners braving the cold (and bees, apparently) at the Woodside 50k/35k/17k/10k. Check out all the smiling faces!

If you see your face, you are more than welcome to the photo - just right click and save!








- SD