Snow Tours

In a galaxy far far away snow and ice were falling from the sky a massive peak lurked in the distance obscured by the blizzard in front of us. Should we turn back, should we call it quits before the storm unleashes its fury on our backs. HELL NO, FORWARD!!!!!!!  That was the theme of the trip. Wendell and I decided to make a trip up to Flagstaff with the goal of climbing the peaks and skiing or boarding down. We arrived in Flag about 7:45 in the am and headed for some eggs and bacon at The Place, it was really good. After breakfast we went to the summit to rent some snow shoes for me Wendell was using his skis with skins. Paid a whopping $10 for 2 day rental of shoes.  After talking to the local ski bum he advised us that our planned route was going to be pretty sketchy due to the damage done to the forest by the Shultz fire. So plan B had us driving up to the Snow Bowl parking lot and taking the Humphrey’s trail up the mountain.  Now the adventure starts. Knowing that a storm would be coming in later that day, we hustled up the mountain and after a few wrong turns we took up the trail. All was great and peaceful for a while then the wind started kicking up. No big deal, a few ice chucks falling from the 100 ft. aspens added to the adventure. We were now far along the trail happily minding our own bizz when out of nowhere a gust of wind blows through and all hell starts breaking loose.  Trees are screaming and creaking, groaning from the weight of snow and ice. Next thing you know BAM a tree falls, I scream like a crazed Beiber fan while running for cover. We are kind of in a pickle we are at the half way point do we go back or go down, Shits getting real now so of course we decide to keep going up. The trail is getting clogged with fallen trees, branches and scary sounds so we start humping it as fast as we can after jumping a log jam we come across something very bizarre a set of footprint tracks headed straight up the mountain.  Since we hadn’t seen another soul out in that area it kinda creeped  us out. I’m say it was the yeti out for a stroll but who knows these things. The wind was getting worse so we traversed through the woods back towards the ski park skiing the nasty snow back to the jeep. We spent the rest of the time trying not to get the jeep stuck as we look for possible locations to ski. There wasn’t much snow on the ground so we went back into flag for some much need nourishment. Hitting up Salsa Brava for some Pork tacos and habanero pineapple salsa, it was awesome. Now to the scariest part of the day off to our $30 a night motel. We get there to find out that the rooms aren’t $30 at all but $21 and comes with a continental breakfast! The room was like staying at the fanciest Hilton except for the stains, clogged toilet, quirky shower and 1960 décor.

We awoke the next morning to find it dumped snow all night long. We are talking feet of fresh powder had been laid. We hit up the awesome continental breakfast and headed to the snow bowl for round 2 but the road was closed so we hit up the areas we had scoped out the night before. The roads were blocked but we were fortunate enough to have the combo. We drove up to Hart Prairie and found some great snow. We hiked a few of the cinder cones and had a great time making turns in the powder. All in all it was an awesome trip and even better adventure.

AZTA Alamo section.

  

Had a great time today checking out one of the best trails I have ever had the pleasure of riding in AZ. If you ever have the chance to go riding in Az this is one trail that should not be missed. We got an early start and headed south from the trailhead following beautiful desert single track. The views of Picket Post Mountain were stunning, at times it was difficult to keep my eyes on the trail.( I crashed a few times but it wasn't the views fault). The trail meanders up hill for 12 miles gradually climbing to 3600 ft.. The trail builders did a great job making the route its not horribly steep yet you gain elevation quickly. The climb was fun but the return decent was the best part of the whole day.  The fast and flowey trail allow for some really fast riding, the only problem was the cat claw and cactus tightly hugging the single track. If you got a little wide you were sure to get shredded and we did. After a 3 hour ride we returned to the trail head bloodied and bruised with the thoughts of mexican food on our minds.We headed to Superior picking up my Tata on the way to Los Hermanos, where we enjoyed a well deserved lunch.  Another Great Day!



Trippy

Wow running in cool damp weather is awesome! I hear people complaining about having to do their runs during the winter about the snow, rain and freezing temps. This is one of the few times that I can honestly say without a doubt that winter in AZ is totally the shit. I ran the monthly 5k (20:49) at Road Runner sports in Tempe last night, the weather was a cool 52 deg. and slightly damp from rain storms that just blew through.  The course is out and back along Tempe Town Lake for 1.55 miles and for just a moment I felt like I was running somewhere far far away, cheesy I know but that’s the beauty of running. Even though I was in the middle of the city running  the exertion  opens or closes your mind allowing you to have some sort of existential experience, I was kinda sad at the end of the run. Anyways after every run the store does a raffle. They raffle hats, water bottles, and various other swag but the best thing is they giveaway a pair of shoes. I didn’t win the shoes but I got a water bottle and a cool Coolmax running hat. Funny thing is last time I was there they gave away really nice beanie hats so now I have a hat for every occasion. My legs felt great, shoes were good and I even stopped by Mish and Dave’s house and  hung out in their hot tube very relaxing evening  THANK YOU BECKY.

The day after.

Well after a good night rest and a Christmas party I'm feeling pretty good. The only real pain I have is my knee where the IT band rubs it. Jumping into a cold pool does wonders; it may be my new recovery trick. So overall I can’t wait to do it again. My new shoes worked out great they are comfortable and really held up to the rocks on the course. I was kinda worried that I would feel every rock and pebble but that was not the case they preformed much better than my old stand-bys. One thing I’m learning at these events is never judge a book by its cover I see older men and women 60+ years old flying down the trails. It’s amazing what people are able to accomplish. I just hope that when I’m their age I can be out there running on the trails. Then there are the super fit looking folks in spandex and race gear getting totally worked over after a few miles. You just never know.

McDowell Mt. Frenzy

        Well I ran the 25k and it was totally awesome. I finished in my normal slow time but hey I was out there. The best part was that Becky played hookey from work and brought the kids out to watch their old man getting worked over. Another cool thing was my sister and niece came to cheer me on It was like I had my very own cheering section. All that was missing was more cowbell.  Now back to the race… It was a nice morning around 50 degrees, perfect for running.  The crowd was nice and light less than 50 runners doing the 25k, the 50k animals left an hour before our 8 am start time and everyone thinned out in no time at all.

For all who have not had the chance to enjoy McDowell mt. Park, this race took place on the 3 competitive loops which are pretty much all single-track so passing and getting passed takes some timing due to the numerous chollas lining the track. Then you have to avoid all of the loose cholla balls scattered underfoot.  Now back to the run the first loop takes place on most of the short track for 3 miles or so, the single track is nice and compacted decomposed granite. The track flows and rolls up and down and up and up and down through the desert really loosening the old thighs up. From there the course moves to the long loop which is 7 miles of rocky running. The nice little rollers from the earlier track transition into longer dives into and out of dry arroyo’s making my thighs burn. The course then takes us back to the parking lot and back to the short loop again by now I’m really feeling the little rollers but the tough stuff is yet to come. The short course moves to the technical course where the climbing is longer and rockier culminating in a mile long jaunt strait up a mountain and down the back side into a nasty wash that you basically have to crawl out of. After running for a couple of hours the view of the finish from the top of the mountain really invigorated me to start moving a little faster and ignore the screaming pain of my tightening IT band. At the finish my rooting cheer squad was there to dole out high 5’s and love.  I crossed the finish line dove straight at the snacks for some pretzels and a peanut butter burrito yuuuummmm. Over all it was a great run my IT band kills right now so I’m off to my parent’s ice cold swimming pool for a soak.

New Balance mt0101

 Well Rex ate my running shoe, that will teach me to put my shoes away. They were only a month old and just getting really comfortable so I had to go buy new ones. I normally would go to big 5 sports and buy my regular cheapo pair but since I had to go to Road Runner Sports to pick up my race packet I decided to look around. I got to talking to the store owner and excitedly she said that there was a new shipment of shoes from new balance in the back and she thought they had their newest minimalist trail shoes in it. So excitedly i had her bring me a size 10 just to see if they fit and if they were comfy. Damn the luck they were both so i pranced around the store for a while wearing them just to make sure i liked them and once again damn the luck they are supper nice.They were also pretty reasonable at $64 although they were twice as much as my normal shoes.Now i have to break in a new pair of shoes before Sat.It shouldn't be too hard, they feel really good right now.

Rambles

    All right so I decided to start running the DRT series of races that Arivipa Running is putting on. There are 6 events this fall\winter\spring I missed the first 2 but Oh well does it really matter. Along with these 4 races I'm going to run the PF Chang's marathon on Jan 16 which I said I wasn't going to because it was to expensive($130) well Intel decided to sponsor runners so I signed up and they paid the entry fee. COOL!!!  Then they came along and said they would pay the entry fees for the Lost Dutchman Marathon on Feb 5 so I signed up for that one as well.

    Anyway the first DRT run is this Sat. at McDowell Mountain park. It s going to be on the competitive track that is normally used for mountain bikes so its going to be kinda weird running on a trail that used to kick my ass on my mountain bike. Oh well!  I'm going to start with running the 25k for the first couple of races and see how that goes. If everything goes alright Ill finish the series by running the 50k in March. That is unless I get crazy and go run with the Raramuri in Copper Canyon, Mex. I actually have a friend at work who is from that area and has agreed to take me down there. Once you get passed all of the drug mules,assassins, and kidnappers I hear its nice. That run is March 6, may be I can talk Beck into letting me go as an early Birthday present.

     Here is a map of the McDowell Mt. Frenzy course.



McDowell mt. Frenzy course.

It was awful nice of them to make you climb over  a mountain in the last miles of the race. I don't have any expectations on how much time its going to take me I'm just going to go out and have a good time. Oh yeah after the run I get to look forward to going into work. Hope I finish early so I can at least catch a nap. Ill probably on do a few short runs this week leading up to the race.

Pass mountain loop.

Well today I was feeling better ( have been fighting a cold all week) and got the chance to take my long run out on the pass mountain race trail.

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I did the 26k loop and it was really good. Except for the first half it was really exposed with the sun bearing down on me the whole time. I know it was only in the high 70's but wow I felt like I was melting and I was going through my water super fast I think I drank 30oz. in the first 9miles. But as soon as I started the climb up Pass Mountain the trail was mostly in the shade and when I got to the top the breeze was really nice I actually got kinda cold. I love the views from the backside of the mountain it makes the running so much easier. Over all it took me 2.5 hrs and felt really good hopefully ill be ready for the race next weekend in fountain hills. here are some pics of the run.

My first time.

Ok I did my normal 4 miles his afternoon while the kids were playing in the back yard 28 min. Then I trimmed my bushes and started putting lights up in the front yard. Mind you its just a start when the rest of the lights return from their vancation with Dave, Michelle, and Olga at the APS light parade and bus show Ill finish.

Totally a Charlie Brown's Christmas scene.

Also I was practicing my photo uploading skills.

The light run.

Last night Rex and I went for a run, we started along our normal everyday 4 mile loop. Then I saw some Christmas lights and we changed our course. I am amazed at the lengths people will go to decorate their houses. My wife seems to think I'm a bit of bah humbug type of guy because of my lack of decorating enthusiasm. I do appreciate the work others do to their homes this time of year. Any way my little 4 mile run turned into 10 miles in and hour and a half. It was really weird to be drawn into the lights like that. Rex and I went up and down countless streets in the neighborhood. At one point I was totally lost, hypnotized by all of the different flashing snowmen, deer, and elves. Rex was pretty confused when he saw a man in a tree hanging his lights . I have lived in this neighbor hood now for 7 years and never taken the time to notice all that goes on this time of year; people really go all out. I guess Ill go out and hang some lights!

Here it goes!

My name is Tony and I am an addict, for the last 34 years I have had a problem with food. I was 325 lbs and suffering horribly from gout. Although I was morbidly obese i always stayed somewhat active or as active as the gout would allow. It seemed that I was always on some sort of diet losing a few pounds here and there but always gaining back more than I lost. In the spring of 2009 while in the grasps of a crippling gout attack I made an appointment with my Dr. to talk about my options. We talked about my eating and drinking and how until I got both under control there wasn't much he could do. I knew that after dieting and failing so many times that it was no longer an  available option so I made an other appointment with a barriatric specialist. After a 6 months of a Dr. prescribed diet and no alcohol I was down to a whopping 309lbs. So on Nov.21 2009 I had Gastric Bypass Surgery to help with my problem. Surgery was fairly uneventful and I came home after a few days. All was going OK for the first few weeks until on Dec 21st I was being rushed in an ambulance to the emergency room with severe internal bleeding. After 7 days I was headed home again only this time I had a 10 inch scar down the center of my stomach and barely the strength to walk in the house. My family was thoroughly traumatized. As horrible as it may sound this was just the thing I needed to help turn my life around. I vowed that as soon as I was strong enough I would make exercise a key component to my lifestyle. By Feb I was able to slowly walk around the cul-de-sac in front of my house. From that point I made a goal to run a trail 5k with my sister. I trained as hard as I could. I was extremely weakened by the massive weight loss and effects of the surgery. So I ran my first race ever finishing in 33 min at 225lbs. and from that point I vowed to do a special physical event every month for a year. In May I rode the Arizona trail from Payson to Flagstaff. In June I signed up for a 104 mile mountain bike race but it was cancelled due to a Forrest fire but I did my own tour riding close to 150 miles over a couple of days. In July I climbed the San Francisco Peaks in northern AZ a feat that had been on my bucket list for years. In Aug. while on a family vacation I rode my bike across the state of Michigan from Detroit to Saugatuck. Sept I rode the rescheduled mountain bike race but only made it 78 miles because of bike issues. Sept also brought my first 1/2 marathon - the Flagstaff 1/2 at the Nordic center finishing in 2:12. October brought my first marathon. My best Friend and I ran the Detroit free Press marathon we finished in 4:19. Now my addiction has transferred to something that i can be proud of. I love to run. I love to ride my bike. But most of all I love being a positive influence on my children. Now instead of being a fat blob on the sofa my kids see me running and being active. I put my family through hell to get where I'm at, I ruined the Christmas of 09 for my wife and kids. Heck I almost died last Dec. and it took almost dieing to really see what living is. I'm starting this blog to record my exercise routines, weightloss and adventures.