WARRIOR DASH

I so want to run this race in May. Check it out: Warrior Dash!

I LOVE WINTER RUNNING

I love winter running. Yesterday was our first run in cooler temperatures. When we rolled out of the house about 5:15 a.m. it was about 35 degrees. There will be plenty of runs this winter colder than 35, but this was the first morning that required gloves and a toboggan. About mile 4 I had warmed up enough to take off my cap and gloves.

One of my problems with winter running is I always find myself with wearing too many clothes on cold mornings. Then a couple of miles into our run, I'm stripping clothes off because I'm too hot. I guess I'd always rather strip clothes off that be cold an entire run.

Winter running is a lot of fun ... I can't wait until the first morning I have icicles on my cap.

PHASING OUT THIS BLOG

Well folks, all two of you who stop by once a month, I'm fazing out this blog. I'm just going to combine my main blog "treymorgan.net" and this blog. Not sure why I separated them in the first place, but it's time move my running posts on over...

Thanks for those who have stopped by AND I will continue to blog about running, but I'll do it on my other blog. I've even got a new post on my blog today, "What I've Learned from Running."

Keep running...

Trey

IN THE MARKET FOR NEW RUNNING SHOES

My Adidas running shoes have a little over 400 miles on them. It's time to start looking for my next pair of shoes. I love it when I'm in the market for a new pair of running shoes.

• I love shopping for them
• I love researching them
• I love trying them on
• I love making a decision on what kind I'll try next

I've been wearing Adidas and Asics, and I've found that I do not like Nike. I am considering some Spira's.

What shoe do you like to run in?

A GREAT RUNNING STORY

The following "Defying Death Valley" was a Sports Illustrated article that I found here...

It's been a month now, and the top of Arthur Webb's right big toe remains a sunken rectangle of pale, wrinkled skin. Not that he's upset, considering that Webb is the one who yanked the toenail off with a pair of pliers in the first place. It's something he does to both big toes every year, just after he squeezes his feet into a pair of too-small shoes and runs 15 miles to loosen the nails. Otherwise, they tend to crack and bleed as the toes swell like tiny, overinflated balloons during the Badwater Ultramarathon, the grueling 135-mile race through Death Valley that Webb has run for the past 12 summers.

Think of Badwater as five consecutive marathons, only they're uphill (from 280 feet below sea level to 8,360 feet above), held inside a blast furnace (the temperature hovers at 115º—and that's at night) and capable of frying runners' brains like a fistful of peyote (intense hallucinations from sleep deprivation are part of the event's charm). During the day it's 130º of shadeless hell, the heat mirage so thick that runners appear to be churning through a wall of water. Shoes actually melt, the soles disengaging like skin shed by small synthetic animals. The race is invitation-only and famously humbling, which makes Webb something of a legend. He has run the second-most Badwaters ever, finishing as high as fourth (in just under 34 hours), and he consistently "buckles," earning a coveted Badwater belt buckle by breaking 48 hours. And, oh, yeah, Webb is 67 years old.

Sixty-seven. That's a year older than Joe Biden. Webb has two grown children, has been married 41 years and recently retired after 30 years as a postal service electrician in Santa Rosa, Calif. Yet he still runs 15 to 20 miles every day for 10 months of the year. To acclimatize for Badwater, he sits in a 170º sauna for an hour at a time—that is, when he's not running in it. And come race time he endures stress fractures and vomiting; once, he briefly lost both consciousness and an active pulse. Some golden years, huh?

But to Webb, this is the joy of retirement. He doesn't run for fame or money—good thing, as he gets neither. Nor is he some narcissistic fanatic. He has never let running come before family; if midnight was the only time he could train, he ran in the dark, then woke at dawn with the kids.

The way Webb sees it, running is never hard. Hard is having your father bail on the family, forcing your mother to work two jobs to support five kids. Hard is moving a dozen times before ending up in a foster home when your mom can't carry on. By 13, Webb was working full time as a busboy. Still, he graduated from Cal State--Northridge and made a life for himself, discovering running at 35. So you believe him when he says he hates excuses. "The minute you lean on an excuse, you slide backward," he says. "You made the commitment, so whatever you do, you're morally obligated to follow that commitment. If you don't, what's the purpose?"

Each year Webb dedicates his race to the Valley of the Moon Children's Home in Santa Rosa, which cares for kids from dysfunctional families. He visits regularly, preaching self-reliance without self-pity. "You know that story about the engine—'I think I can'?" says Webb. "I take the think out. My thing is, 'Yes I can, yes I can.'" Last year a boy came up to Webb after one of his presentations. "You know what," the boy said, "I've now run twice."

"Good for you," replied Webb, beaming.

"No, I've run away from this facility twice," the boy said. "But because of you I'm going to stick it out." As he retells the story, Webb's blue eyes, set deep into a creased face, go watery.

The chance to inspire others is, he says, why he is so fanatical about finishing every race he starts. But what happens when his body doesn't hold up its end of the bargain? This year at Badwater, Webb felt "wrong" and broke down at mile 17. He was rushed to a medical station. You are 67 years old, the doctor reminded him. Your fluids are imbalanced, and you need to rest. So Webb did, for nearly nine hours. Then, still woozy, he asked his wife, Christine, to drive him back to where he'd stopped.

The road was searingly hot and pitch dark. The pack was a good half-day ahead. Hot winds whipped Webb's legs. He felt like collapsing again. Finishing would be a Herculean task; buckling seemed out of the question. Still, Webb stuck in his earphones, pumped up Led Zeppelin and began again. Usually, competitors alternate between running and walking; by mile 55, Webb realized he needed to run nearly the rest of the route, much of it uphill, to have a shot at buckling. So he ran. Through day and night. Up the side of Mount Whitney. He even clocked a couple of seven-minute miles. And then, finally, the small man with the gray hair and the herky-jerky stride—"a giddyup," as Badwater vet Chris Frost affectionately calls it—hobbled over the finish line. The clock said 46 hours and 35 minutes. Webb had buckled, barely. That night at the awards ceremony he received a standing ovation from the other competitors. Think about that when you're feeling too lazy to go to the gym.

Next year Webb will be back, and he plans on running Badwater until he can't. "People say, 'What if you die out there?'" he says. "And I say, 'So what? I gotta go sometime, right?' After all, I'd rather die living than live dying."

WELCOME BACK TO RUNNING

It has sure been a while. There were times I've wanted to delete this running blog, but it's one of those little things that pushes me to keep running. Being injured this summer was both a blessing and a curse. No one likes to stop running, but I was so busy this summer it was probably good that I took some time off.

I started again this week. I logged two simple miles on Saturday and two more this morning. Yea, not much for a guy who was running 12's back in May. That's okay, I'm thankful that I was simply able to start again. I'm thankful that I've got a little base still and it won't be long until I'm running long ones again.My goal is the Palo Dura 12 miler that takes place in October. It's a great run.

So after a summer of gaining 10 pounds and very little running... ready or not ... here I come.

So, how has your summer running been?

RUNNING AGAIN

After a month and a half of being knocked down by a hip flexor injury ... I'm back. Yee Haw! This morning's little 2 miler was pain free. I wanted to run a little more but kept my excitement in check for fear overdoing and hurting that hip.

I plan on some light walking tomorrow and a 3 miler on Thursday. On Saturday I'm planning on running the local "Full of Bull" 5k. I'm going to take it slow and easy, but I do plan on running it.

Nothing is more frustrating than being out with an injury. I'm glad things are going in the right direction again.

Later this week I'll tell you about my new running toy I got this weekend.

Run hard ...

Trey