A New Personal Trainer

I hired a new personal trainer a few months ago because my old one was getting kind of old and grumpy. He has been coaching me for around 13 years and seemed like he was becoming lazy in his old age. (He’s 74 years old.) The last thing you want in a personal trainer is laziness. I need someone who’s going to show up on time and bring a lot of vibrancy to my runs. 

Moonset over Mt Riley and Cox in New Mexico

Ever since I moved to El Paso about 12 years ago, I have been running about five days a week on our local trails at the base of the Franklin Mountains. My coach and I usually cover between 5-7 miles on weekdays. On weekends, I run the Franklin Mountains State Park or travel to the Organ Mountains up the road in Las Cruces, NM to do my long runs. My personal trainer has been helping me achieve my goals for all these years so I felt guilty about giving him the boot. We’ve had a lot of grand adventures together as you can see by reading other posts from my site.

A full moon illuminating an early morning run.

Sadly, he started to oversleep more often and wasn’t waking me up at the designated time in the morning for my run. Therefore, I went with a younger, more energetic lady with fewer miles on her. Junie B is up and raring to go at 5am licking me in my ear to wake me. Tail wagging, she follows me everywhere in the morning whether I like it or not. She even accompanies me into the bathroom while I take care of my pre-run business (for better or worse). She doesn’t let up for even a second until we are out the door and onto the trail. No wonder I rarely miss a day of training.

Charmin Covid -19 Marathon Race Report

Earth is closed until further notice! The Coronavirus pandemic is in full swing. Like every other human on our planet, I have been social distancing, quarantining, sheltering in place or whatever else you want to call it. For me this isn’t much different than how I operate anyway, so I suppose I’m lucky in that regard. We have been spending time at our family’s ranch in West Texas which is what we normally do over Spring Break. Hudspeth County, TX is one of the least populated counties in the US so I have to laugh when authorities say to keep a six foot distance from others. Out here it’s closer to six miles!

The Ice Cream Cone, Indian Hot Springs Rd

Anyway, I was supposed to run the Bataan Memorial Death March for my 9th year in a row, but of course it was cancelled. Instead, I signed up for the Charmin Covid-19 Marathon that was run out here in the Chihuahuan Desert. About five of us hearty runners started out at first light for our 26.2 mile adventure.The weather was nice and cool in the morning when we began our run along a dirt road that runs near the border of Mexico. 

Ten Years of Blogging

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been blogging for ten years now. This project started as a mistake late at night while I couldn't sleep. While reading a runner’s blog post about the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs, I accidentally clicked on the Google “Blogger” icon. I didn’t know anything about blogging and was even quite new to Facebook and social media in general. When I clicked on the icon it said something to the effect of, “create your own blog” so I started poking around and, before you know it, I had a template set up and was on my way.

W. Texas, wide open spaces

Lost Dog Trailhead

One morning last year I was running my regular route from the Lost Dog Trailhead in West El Paso, TX when I stumbled upon some survey stakes along the trail. This land, adjacent to the Franklin Mountains State Park, is owned by the city and managed by the Public Service Board (water utilities). Some of it has been sold off for development in the past. I was concerned that the stakes indicated another development plan on my beloved trail system along the foothills of the Franklin Mountains. 

Development along the foothills of the S. Franklin Peak.

The red "box" shows the trails that would be lost.

What I Did on Black Friday

We spent our long Thanksgiving weekend at the BR Ranch visiting family and getting some much needed R&R. I decided that I wouldn't run at all the entire four day weekend. Just kidding. Pretend I never wrote that last sentence. Actually I did a lot of running in one of our least populated counties —Hudspeth, TX. Black Friday seems like such a bore to me. I can't even imagine what some people go through just for some Christmas savings. On the other hand, I got some great deals on quietude, scenery and nature and all it cost me was some calories which I had plenty of after eating our Thanksgiving meal.

Harry and Lucky leading the way

Quitman Mts (Hudspeth Co, TX)

Coyote Alley

Last month we went to visit family at the BR ranch in West Texas. One morning I went for a run with my three dogs as well as three of my in-law’s dogs. **Cue Dog Whisperer theme music** This area is very remote so I don’t worry about them being off-leash. I’m no dog whisperer, but we rarely have any trouble aside from an occasional jackrabbit chase where the dogs only return a few minutes later empty handed and out of breath.

Taz, our special child

Harry Potter

My Year in Review 2015

I hope you enjoy this slide show of my favorite pictures from 2015 (Click HERE if you can't see it.):

Black Friday

I scored some really great deals on Black Friday. We spent the weekend at the BR Ranch in West Texas and, of course, had a traditional feast on Thanksgiving with our family. The following day, I had to fight an unruly crowd as I was trying to get my shopping done. After lacing up my running shoes, I tried to get out of the ranch house door, when I was overrun by six excited dogs who wanted to tag along with me. 

Sierra

Rattlesnake Bite, Again!

While I was out of town running my 50 miler last month, my personal trainer and number one running partner was bitten by a rattlesnake. Cara and Maddie went to her parents’ ranch for the weekend since I was traipsing around in the mountains morning, day and night. Our dog Lucy, along with six other dogs were out on a walk with the family when Lucy started to limp while holding her front paw up. On closer inspection, the family noticed she had two puncture marks on her front leg. 

My Year in Review 2014

2014 started with a groin injury and ended with a 100 mile race finish so I can’t complain too much. My first race of the year, Bandera 100K, was scrapped for the 50K distance  since I hadn’t been able to train enough leading up to it. I didn’t attempt a 100 miler this summer because I wasn’t sure how my training would go coming off an injury. Most summer 100s require early planning to ensure you have a slot, so I waited until I was on the mend before planning too many races.

Lucy getting into the Christmas spirit

Enjoy a slideshow of my favorite photos from 2014: (Click Here if it doesn't load)

Running With the Big Dogs

The morning is cool and crisp; perfect for running our usual trail in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains beside the Cimarron neighborhood of El Paso. Suddenly, my dog Lucy takes off after some critter. Probably a jack rabbit. My other two, Sierra and Taz follow in Lucy’s wake quickly bounding up a hill towards the top of a mesa. In the distance I notice five dogs, but wait a minute, I only have three. Where did the others come from? Coyotes; this could be disastrous!

Lucy

Sierra (above) and Taz (below)

Fall Running

Snowpocalypse, snowmageddon, bomb-cyclone, polar-vortex. Where I grew up on the East Coast we only had the occasional nor’easter that would dump a bunch of snow on us and then move on to wreak havoc on our northern neighbors. In a few days it would warm to 70 degrees and all of it would be gone in a flash. 

American Coot

Spring Flora in my Desert

Spring is a great time to hit the trail in the desert. All winter long I brave cold and darkness to keep my running routine going. Everything looks brown and dead in the mountains of the Desert Southwest and our only respite is the occasional dusting of snow which brightens up the landscape. When winter finally breaks, strong winds and dust storms plague us, but at least the temperatures rise and wildflowers and cacti start to show their stuff.

Lumix Long Zoom Camera

With Spring finally in the air, I’ve been out on the trail testing out my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS25 point and shoot camera. I chose this make and model because it has a powerful optical zoom (20X) for a point and shoot, yet is small enough for me to take on my running adventures. Some day I’d like to get a professional camera with plenty of fancy lenses, but that would require ample time to learn how to use it not to mention plenty of money. Therefore I’ll put that hobby off until I’m too feeble to run.

My Year in Review 2013

Training for and running seven ultramarathon trail races summarizes my 2013. Even though I didn’t finish one of them (San Diego 100), I ran the marathon distance (26 mi) or more at least once a month, every month until I suffered an injury in late October. unfortunately I had to scale back my mileage in the last part of this year to recover and get ready for some upcoming 2014 events. 

Franklin Mts El Paso, TX

Go, Dog. Go!

"Dog. Big dog. Little dog. Big and little dogs. Black and white dogs…"

Do you remember it? The Dr Seuss beginner book? Well, when our family gets together it is much like Go, Dog. Go! Every family member owns at least two dogs and some of us own more so I’m never alone when I run at the ranch. I don’t mind though; dogs are great training partners. I don’t have to listen to their political rantings or how great their new running shoes are. They never complain about their injured IT band or hamstring and not once have they shown me their lost toenail collection.

D.N.S.

What’s worse than DNFing? How about DNSing? Did Not Finish (DNF) a race is one thing; at least you tried. Did Not Start (DNS) is worse; you didn’t even make it to the starting line. Well that is what happened to me recently when I decided not to run the R.O.X. 50K in Vado, NM. If you read my last post, you will remember that I was whining about some lower ab/groin pain. Apparently I strained some abdominal muscles causing pain to flare up when I run long. 

36 Miles Along The Rio Grande

With cooler Fall temps in the air, I decided to run from El Paso, TX to Old Mesilla, NM (Las Cruces) along the Rio Grande levee road, a distance of 36 flat miles. I left a little before dark and was going to take a picture of the trail lit only by my penlight when I discovered the camera battery was still in the charger plugged into the outlet at home. Since there was no reason to carry the camera all that way, I turned around and left it in the car. Was this going to be one of those days? A lot can happen on a seven hour run.

Taz Update

For those of you who don’t know, my dog Taz, aka Frankenweenie, was bitten by a rattlesnake last month and underwent skin graft surgery. You can read all about it in my previous post. Unfortunately Taz’s graft was unsuccessful so his recovery will just take longer. He had been sleeping in my closet instead of his kennel for the past week for some reason, but enjoyed going on short walks with my other two dogs, Lucy and Sierra.

Emergency on the Trail!

It was a day just like any other. We were on one of our usual trails enjoying a morning run. Lucy, Sierra and Taz love to accompany me on this desert trail near our neighborhood. I was excited to be running early because it had showered the night before which made for a cool morning with that “after the rain” smell. I love the smell of creosote bush in the morning.

We started up the trail where many dog owners bring their pets for an off-leash walk. My three were also off-leash running a little ahead of me, but staying on the dirt path. The sun was still behind the Franklin Mountains in the backdrop and the clouds were lit in a wash of orangish yellow.