Run DMZ

Spend any amount of time with me and you know I make frequent trips to the bathroom at home or restrooms in public. Since COVID, I’ve become more squeamish about portable toilets, but if that’s the only option, I’ll hold my nose and not look down. I can’t recall the last time I peed in the wild, but it would have been on a long hike years ago.   Sometimes the urge is real, like after drinking a large, iced tea while running errands. Other times, I’m convinced seeing a Women’s Room generates a Pavlovian response – I really don’t have to go now, but I can easily be convinced otherwise because relief is right there, right now.   I wrote during the early months of the pandemic about the quandary outdoor exercisers faced with so many public restrooms shuttered to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. But since the world’s reopened, something else has happened:  Publicly accessible restrooms have continued to dwindle in numbers .   Here in San Diego, public restrooms w...

While preparing for the official launch of Anne 6.0 next month, I searched for races on launch day and found only one in my area. It looked like an ideal competition – with a 10k or 5k on relatively flat, non-technical trails. I signed up, then got others to join me.   Then almost four weeks ago, I sprained my ankle. Like, a this-is-not-going-to-heal-in-a-few-days sprain.* It’s still slightly swollen and hurts when I flex it, but it’s much, much improved. [Update: that's because I actually broke it and it set wrong.] I went for a 1.75-mile walk the other day – per my PT’s instructions – and it felt good. I walked around Balboa Park for a couple miles today and it now hurts like hell.   The daily RICE regimen might have been more frustrating had I not also contracted Covid from a family member, and therefore had even more reasons to remain off my feet as much as possible. It felt like a moderate flu for a few days, and I didn’t lose my senses of taste or smell. However, until t...

  One of the most popular hikes in San Diego doesn’t involve climbing mountains or crossing rural roads. It’s a walking tour through some of the city’s nicest, most densely populated neighborhoods with seven bridges as focal points.    I first did this 5-mile loop with friends shortly after it was publicized in the San Diego Reader. We liked it so much we came back to Balboa Park about a year later to do it again, and this time I documented our trip with my GoPro (RIP, dear camera companion). It’s been four years since I made that video, so we were overdue when everyone gathered this morning to start the trek.   I MPORTANT: You can start from anywhere since the course is a loop.   However, you are more likely to find free parking if you start and end in Balboa Park.   1.       Park Blvd Bridge No coincidence the hike starts at the bridge spanning Park Blvd. on the east side of Balboa Park. The bridge links gorgeous gardens to lawns ...

It says everything that when I told people I was attending this year’s Comic-Con, they responded with something along the lines of “Oh, San Diego has one too?!” My response was always, “Actually, San Diego is where it all began. All the others are knock-offs.” That’s not to say that the other Comic-Cons aren’t excellent events in their own rights, but they aren’t like the one that’s descended on downtown San Diego for 50 years now. Comic-Con is huge, not just for comics and pop culture fans, but for the entire region’s economy. It draws 135,000 people from 80 countries who spend $88 million directly and $149 million altogether. It’s such a financial force that we’ve had voter drives to start referendums on a San Diego Convention Center expansion solely to keep the conference from moving north.  One look at downtown last week, and it is easy to see why a bigger venue might do. But we San Diegans are grateful to the founders and organization leaders for keeping Comic-Co...

I sometimes forget what it’s like to belong to a running community. Not just any community either. I was part of the San Diego Track Club and for years the club—from weekly runs and Tuesday track workouts to volunteering and board membership—comprised a significant portion of my weeks and, quite frankly, life.  I’d belonged to two other running clubs before joining this one. The first was the Tidewater Striders, where other than “running into” some people from high school, I remained a lone wolf. Then we moved to Cape Cod and I joined the Falmouth Track Club, where I made some friends and enjoyed some excellent New England runs. But, again, I kept some distance due to my long weekday commutes into downtown Boston. I didn’t immediately warm to the San Diego Track Club either, but over time I grew to really enjoy everyone and felt like a part of a family. I looked forward to seeing familiar faces and developed deep friendships. I stayed in shape, too. Today, I got to fee...

I just uploaded pictures from my position as a volunteer at this morning's 46th annual Balboa 4 Mile cross-country race. I love this opening shot not only because it looks like one guy is running on air, but because it also shows the age range in the open category. There were so many kids under 18, even 12, giving it their all today. I've long believed that volunteering as a course marsal or aid station worker is a great way to recharge and to revise your own race strategies. Plus, you do not have to worry about heat, hydration or the lines at the portable toilets. This is a tough course, which includes running up both of the biggest hills in Balboa Park (Powder and ZigZag) in addition to smaller hills. This year there was a new celebrity race competing for participants. But between the great turnouts at both events, I think it was a good day for one and all. I worked a well marked part of the course, which allowed me to take pictures while yelling, "Move on to the grass!...

I returned to my track club's Tuesday night workouts after a month's absence, and boy did it show. Our workouts consist of three parts: Hill training (through mid-Sept) Strides Core exercises I really enjoyed tonight's workout, so I thought I'd share it with those trying to improve their time on shorter distances, especially if your upcoming race is on trails, as mine is. We ran along the dirt Bridal Path in Balboa Park, which consists of small hills bordered by freeway on one side and "nature" on the other. The workout consisted of running at 5k pace for 3 minutes, immediately followed by 2 minutes of recovery. Soon as we hit the five-minute mark, we start all over again. We did this six times. I picked a bad day to forget my stopwatch, so I had no choice but to follow the pace of people in front of me, many of whom seemed to not go that much slower in recovery mode. By the fourth repeat I was wheezing; by the sixth, I couldn't remember my name. But I man...

This race is never easy, but this year I at least wasn't injured or ill, just not as fit as I first thought. The course includes some concrete, some asphalt, some dirt, some sand and some grass. It meanders through many of the main parts of Balboa Park and some that until today I bet folks didn't know existed. I ran the first 5.5 miles with my friend Alexis, who had her second child four months ago. Alexis and I used to run together regularly during my later marathon years, and running with her today really helped me maintain a decent-for-me pace. She even taught me a trick to help the quads on steep trail uphills that seemed to actually work. I really need to work on running down those same steep hills because that's where I noticed Alexis gained on me and I wished her well as I let her go and settled in behind some high school cross-country runners. My goal from the get-go was to run this one conservatively, and I did. That and excellent weather allowed me to pass people ...

This week our club began 10 weeks of hill training on Tuesday nights. I ate a lot of dust and humble pie on the first one, which included going up and down two particularly gruesome hills in Balboa Park a total of six times. I managed to stay with my group the entire time, but on the last two climbs, we all pretty much ran out of steam and walked a wee bit. Since I run hills routinely at home, I was surprised at how difficult the workout was for me. Hills are part of the training trilogy: long slow distance runs to build endurance; speedwork to improve pace; and hills to build strength. We got a mini-lesson on how to handle hills from our coach just prior to the workout. The most important thing, whether in training or racing, is to "never, ever sprint up a hill." If you do, you will implode at the top and suddenly be passed up with no chance to catch up. Form is key with hills. You need to keep your head up (to keep air flowing) and pump your arms to get those legs moving....