1. Running on rocky trails is like feeling the force with a light saber in your hand and your eyes blindfolded.
2. Rocky trails are natures way of giving you the ultimate chance to do ballet tap dance and jazz all at once.
3. You can learn a lot about people by running two or three hours with them on a trail.
4. If you do not fuel your body on a long run the brain is the first thing to get cut off on energy.
5. I can run for over 8 hours but my Garmin 405’s battery can not.

For me setting goals is more about how I am being on the way to the goal instead of reaching the goal. I did not drag myself through 1,000 miles of running dreading the last 200 miles.  Last night I ran at night in Cedar Park.  I ran a 1.53 mile loop on Nelson Ranch Loop and enjoyed it.  I ran a slow lap at about 10 minutes per mile then a fast lap at 8:30 minute mile.  This was a 90 minute training run with no distance in the purpose.  I enjoyed running for the sake of running.  I ran 8.39 miles in 82 minutes.

I got a Sirius radio when I purchased my Dodge Ram 3500 Cumins.  I had not listened to any radio regularly for about 10 years.  I had grown tired of commercials and had developed a passion for Internet radio.  I grew up listening to free form FM radio in the 1970s.  I remember disc jockeys playing whole sides of albums like Genesis and Santana.  Today that just will not happen.  I remember a station in Pasadena KPPC where the DJs played anything they wanted.  This is how I discovered the music of Frank Zappa.

So much to my surprise I discovered a wild free form station on satellite called Sirius Disorder.  I loved it and listened to it in my truck and online 90% of the time that I was listening to music. I will survive without Sirius Disorder.  I will be forever affected by it’s memory.  It seems that all of my favorite radio stations eventually bite the dust.

Oh by the way this post was written on a Cap Metro bus with Free WiFi.  I am getting a ride from work to the NW park and Ride in Cedar Park.

One of the nice things about just being yourself (I repeat this to myself a lot so it is positive re-enforcement for me to write it as well) is that you do not have to rely on what others think or about what the voice in your head thinks about you.  You have the freedom to be you, whatever you chose.  Sometimes I have let the voice in my head tell me to do things because of what other will think.  More often lately I have been breaking out and discovering a lot of nice things about the world including meeting people that I would normally not talk to.

My co-worker Stephanie introduced me to getting me beyond the barrier of just running and not being social.  I sue to run by myself until I started running with Stephanie.  Running and talking is actually fun.  Now when I run I always seek out a group and I love to talk.  Now for a woman talking in a crowd may not be a challenge, but for me it is.  Remember everyone has a challenge of some sort and they are not the same.

Yesterday I ran from 7 AM to 4 PM and a distance of 37 miles.  This is the longest that I have run to date.  I ran in the Barton Greenbelt in Austin, Texas. The last time I attempted a long 30 mile training run I ran out of fuel and only completed 28 miles.  During that 28 mile run on 10/25/2008 I now know that the lack of fuel for my body directly affects the ability of my brain to focus on running.

There are several hurdles that I will overcome in my quest to do my 62 mile run at Bandera in January 2009. One of these hurdles was how to fuel my body on long runs.  During my run yesterday I tried Spiz for the first time.  I used Spiz exclusively for fuel with the exception of two handfuls of cashews and two sticks of dried sweetened papaya. The Spiz really helped because on my last lap at mile 30 from Zilker Park to the Hill of Life I was able to run the whole way with confidence and energy.  I only slowed my pace to go over the really rocky spots because I really wanted to finish without an injury to my tired feet.

I am using two bladders in my Nathan back pack.  I use the original Nathan bladder for 2.0 liters of water mixed with two scoops of Heed.  I also add a Camelback 1.5 liter bladder with water and 4 scoops of Spiz. My estimate is that I can run 15 miles with this fuel pack unsupported.

I also learned about Suceed S!Caps on this run. Roger Davis was the coach on this run.  At the first stop at Zilker Park at mile 17, he met us to see how we were doing.  He asked if anyone needed salt tablets.  He said that the lack of salt in your body prevents you from absorbing fluids.  I believe that the salt tablets are the missing link to my after event leg cramps.  I have done years of biking with distances of 100 miles and I have always relied on real food and no salt.  I always relied on Gatorade to replenish my elements.  A 100 mile bike ride takes me from 4 to 6 hours depending on the route and stops.  Running for 6 to 9 hours puts my body into a completely different realm of fueling needs.  I did notice that at the end of my run that my ring finger was not as large as it normally is so the salt tablets did help.

Psychological

OK, so what was I feeling while I was running?  I ran with the group in my class for 20 miles.  I was the only one in the group that was running the 35 mile training. It was really nice to be running with a pack of friends and chatting along the way.  I knew that my last 15miles would be lonely so I was planning to save my iPod for that leg of my run.

Running endurance races is a challenge.  I have come to understand that endurance running like any project takes planning.  Part of executing a project plan is being able to break the project up into smaller projects with a timeline.  I have started to do this with my runs.  Instead of looking at the whole distance when I start and getting overwhelmed I only look at the run in stages or loops.  

This run had three stages.  The first stage was a 9 mile loop down the Hill of Life and across the second dam at Barton Creek and then up the Hill of Death to the power Lines.  We continued on the power line trail until we hit the chain link fence.  we then turned around and headed back up to the Hill of Life. The second and third stages were from the Hill of Life down to Zilker Park and back.  Each stage for the Hill of Life to Zilker Park is 14 miles round trip.  I started the day thinking about running each stage and resting during my refueling.  

My first goal was that I wanted to complete this run in 7 hours, but it took me 9. My second goal was to see how long I could run on Spiz.  I wanted to see what my body would do during a long run. I am glad that I was able to gain access to the knowledge that my body can run for 9 hours and recover.  Today I am supposed to run 15 miles.  Currently I am wondering if I will be able to do it this evening.

At one point during my last stage from Zilker to the finish I felt like crying.  I had just past my 30 mile mark which meant that I was now running further than I had ever run.  It is amazing what you can do when you create the possibility that you can do it and you surround yourself with other people that can support your goals.  I am glad that the coaches and members of my Rogue Running class are all supportive in my efforts to attain my goals.  I also feel like I am supporting them with my positive attitude and efforts.  It really helps to be around people that are reaching out beyond what is probable to create what is possible. When I listen to people who complain about walking a mile the voice in my head tells me I am crazy for wanting to run 60 miles.  When I am around people that run 100 mile races the voice in my head suddenly gets really quite.

Enchanting

During my long runs I get ideas in my head.  I do not try to understand where they come from, I just enjoy them.  When I had my iPod on a song came on during my shuffle play, it was by Public Image Limited (PIL).  The song was Warrior.

So I was running through the canyons of Texas and I felt my Cherokee African ancestors running within me.  I felt my heart crying and laughing with joy at the energy and beauty that I felt running on the ground and rocks of Barton Creek.  I felt like I was a primal Aboriginal running in America before there were horses and the only way to get around was by running.  These are just some of the thoughts that go through my head when I am running.

I have been taking pictures of myself with my Canon EOS 10D for a few years.  I was uploading some files to Google’s Picasa and I noticed an album that had a picture of me that I took this time last year.  I decided to take another picture of myself and compare them.

October 2008 From Lonnie

One thing that I notice is that the picture from last year was taken using ISO 100 under an indoor incandescent bulb. The picture that I took today is using natural sunlight from a window. Last years picture shows that I am a little fatter than this year. Check out the rolls on my chin. My hair si also a few inches longer.

Taking close up pictures of yourself is very scary (at least for me). My camera shows all of the pores, scratched and scars on my face. My face is quite interesting. Here is a self portrait that I drew last year.

From Launi’s Art

So now I think that on Halloween I will continue this tradition of taking my picture. I will see how I change each year.

I am getting comfortable running trails at night with my green flashlight. I can comfortably run 10 miles in about 2 hours. A 10k (6.2 miles) run is just a warm up run for me now.

What I am dealing with now is how to get fuel into my body at mile 25.  I have been experimenting with eating PPJs, protien fruit smoothies and gels, but they do not last.  I am going to try a product called Spiz next.  I have placed an order with a local doctor and I will get it next week.

As an African American who considers himself an independent I voted for Obama for several reasons. The first and primary reason is that the US really needs a break from the way the good ole boys club has run this country. My first choice for a president would have been a black woman, second choice a white woman, third choice a black man. Obama is a break from the past presidents because of his bi-racial heritage and his choices of how he lived in the US. This country needs leaders who can thin outside of the box when it comes to solving problems.

I voted for Regan on the same idea that I voted for Obama. I believe that Obama like Regan will not be insecure about not being the brightest person in the room. I believe that all great leaders surround themselves and seek out the advice from experts in their fields and then build a solution from a consensus of experts. Obama has proven that he can build up a national organization and make an effective run for the office of president of the US so in a sense he has proven that he can lead a large organization.

I am planning on upgrading my free Google storage account so that I can load all of my 21GB of images on Google servers.  Thsi will be a backup and a way to publish my images when I want to on my Blog or other web sites.