The great irony

One of the drawbacks of leaving town is that your work often stays behind rather than taking a break too. So despite a brief break I have been greeted by meetings and work that have been waiting for my return.

Its the season of product showing for all our vendors for the coming summer and fall. The revolving door of reps coming to Skinny Raven to show the new shoes and apparel comes every January. After that we write predicted orders and the vendors produce the products based on our orders. Its fun to see the new styles and colors, etc and hear what's new for the coming season. The running industry is full of great people excited about their job and to be working with companies like Skinny Raven, that share the enthusiasm. It's a job, of course, but its not like floor tile or some other mundane product. Everyone along the process from shoe designers to sales reps to myself and our staff and ultimately our customers are passionate about the sport and the product.

That said I was very sad to receive a phone call from Keith Kelly yesterday just as I was preparing to view product from my Asics rep. Keith called to let me know that he along with 300 others were laid off from Reebok. The short story is that Adidas owns Reebok and its been a strange marriage for the past three years and Adidas decided to trim work force from Reebok. I just met Keith a year ago and if not for his enthusiasm and his boss, Kevin Adams, we would not have been bringing the shoes into our store. Having great relationships with our business partners is something we look for and in the case of Reebok it was obvious they were excited to be involved with Skinny Raven. Keith and Kevin even traveled all the way from Boston this summer to reinforce their commitment to that relationship.

I looked forward to building the brand and the relationship with Reebok and Keith in the coming years and saw great potential. Personally I'm very sad for Keith and for the hard work he and Kevin put in to make Reebok a relevant brand. It had to have taken a tremendous amount of work to go to all the stores and events and develop the relationships and confidence for shops to take a risk on the brand. And just when it was time for that work to show its fruit, the rug has been pulled out from under them.

Today I had an appointment with the rep from Under Armour, which is coming to the market with footwear for the first time. The company has generated quite a buzz for its aggressive introduction to the channel and especially at a time many stores are reluctant to add new models, much less unproven brands. The irony of having a company with no history or commitment to running, no history of design of quality footwear or no evidence of support for the sport of running gnaws at me. Especially in light of a company like Reebok that has sponsored meets and races and sponsored athletes and has runners working in the running business now without jobs. So unfair.

So I had a cordial meeting with an individual who has never run competitively wanting to have a position in our store that Keith had worked so hard for and Reebok had invested so much time and effort and money into. Its very disappointing to have to consider that this brand may have a future in our industry, not because it has a history or real interest in the sport, but rather because its going to throw a lot of money at advertising and try to appeal to the casual sport athlete who runs. I tried the shoes on and they are okay, but frankly I would not advise anyone to purchase as the quality is better in all the other major brands and I'm not convinced that the shoe you try this year will be anything similar next.

Keith #18 banging with "The Big Mazungo" Craig Mottram #3

Luckily, Keith has so much to offer any company and I would hire him in a second if he wanted to come to Anchorage. Perhaps the extra time he has will translate into enhanced running and better results than he could have achieved while working. In the span of 10 months I ran into Keith six separate times from Boston to Anchorage to New York and Dallas. I hope we'll have more opportunities to run and share beers in the future. Click here to read an excellent interview with Keith after he won the NCAA Cross Country Championships

The price you pay

Knowing that you need to make the most of opportunities is a good impetus for training. Being in SoCal and having perfect weather will certainly get you going whether you feel like it or not.

Morning breakfast by the beach and surfing by the pier

After weeks of Vitamin D deficiency and sub-zero temps I knew I needed to squeeze everything out of this trip to California. In the morning I rented a bike again and decided to make Malibu my goal. It's about 20 miles and having a goal made it more fun. I planned on rewarding the effort by finding a roadside cafe and stuff my face while sitting in the sun. I found the perfect spot and reveled in what a truly perfect day it was. Upper-70's, slight breeze and dry.

Destination Malibu and clunky bike I cranked 110 miles on

I tried not to push the pedals too hard as I didn't want to grind down my quads and not be able to run later. After a short nap I headed out the door to beat the sunset. My legs felt horrible! I can't imagine what it's like in an Ironman and I had lunch and a nap. I thought I was running 10-minute miles but was encouraged to see that the first mile was 7:05. That was a good sign that I must be getting stronger and after about two miles I loosened up quite a bit and started to feel as good as I had all week.

At the turnaround the sun was about five minutes from setting and the air temp dropped a touch more making the shirtless running even nicer. As it was a Monday there were far less people on the trails. After seeing so many people at the beach over the weekend I wondered if people in LA actually had jobs. I was able to stretch out the final miles and was hitting 6:30's until the last mile where sand had accumulated on the concrete making the turns a bit slippery.

All in all a nice training camp and worth the long trip home. Up at 4:30 to catch a flight from LA to Seattle. Just missed the flight to Anchorage by one seat so I now wait in Juneau to get home. It will turn out to be a 16 hour trip home. Small price to pay.

Welcome to the freak show

Even though I have been to Venice Beach a few times before I am always struck by what a slice of California this area is. No doubt it epitomizes the stereotype one envisions of SoCal.

A long run out and back on the bike trail from Venice Beach past Santa Monica to Pacific Palisades will pretty much take you past thousands of people on a sunny weekend. Today I got a very late start on my run and it was almost noon when I started off. By then it was nearly 75 degrees but all my time spent in the gym without the benefit of wind cooling me makes this weather seem nice. A stop every few miles to hit water fountains made it all the more enjoyable. Total for today was 14 miles at 6:45-50 pace.

Without someone to run with I resorted to keeping up with the occasional bike that would either barely catch me or I would barely catch up to. I spent about two miles catching, passing and getting passed by a hand-cyclist who would put in a few hard cranks to gap me only to have me bridge up to him when he got slowed down by traffic. I had one couple that I passed three separate times on the way back whenever I stopped to get a drink. They had to wondering what the hell after the last time.

As I can't run as much as I have time here I have been getting some extra training by biking while adding miles to my NCC totals for the Tri Club. I'm back in the top-100 overall, but not thrilled that my bike total has just eclipsed my run total for the program. January is bike month so I've been helping the cause by hitting the bike way more than normal. It's been a new source of training and I'm curious as to its benefit. While here I've rented a bike everyday and tried to get 20-30 miles in. The bikes are pretty mediocre as for performance but training is training. I went south just past Hermosa Beach and back. Finished up just as the sun was setting and so many people were gathered to watch it drop into the ocean. I don't know what primal urge draws us to watch but it reminded me of the scene in City of Angels when the guardian angels would gather at the end of the day on the beach to do the same.

Today at Venice Beach ........ . City of Angels

Haven't had a dream in a long time

After finishing yesterday's post I wandered over to my fellow blogger Keith Kelly's page to catch up with his progress. Besides being an extremely talented runner, Keith is a straight-up great guy. Always positive and has a unique writing style and musical insight. I find it all the more remarkable when you consider he does it all despite the burden of being Irish.

I clicked on to his video link for Thursday of  "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want". It is such a smooth song with a "Garden State" sound that touched lightly on my feelings of late on a myriad of areas of my running and life in general. In addition, Keith has been on his own comeback trail and hit a personal high note yesterday on his tempo run. Not only did I sense his excitement, I could appreciate on a deeper, more personal level, what it feels like when all aspects of running collide in perfection. 

I've mentioned before that I'm continually motivated for that "sweet spot" of running that occurs not based on specific times or results, but rather that deep, intrinsic feeling only you can determine. It might happen in a race or a workout, but may happen on a random run or a random part of a run. I'm reminded of the scene in Saint Ralph when Ralph is doing the final workout at night in the park and Father Hibbert has him do the last interval on his own. On that interval Ralph actually begins to fly off the ground as his mind, body and spirit connect in perfection. Watching that in the movie gave me goosebumps as I know exactly how it is to not feel your feet touch the ground and the legs feel no resistance.

I'm not there yet, but I know that it can't be far away and am always open to the moment it may happen when I'm not prepared for it. In any case, I appreciate Keith passing the moment (and the music) along to remind me that it still exists out there. Here's the video from  "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" from the 7 Worlds Collide concert series. 

A day at the beach

After nearly two weeks of sub-zero temps in Anchorage I was fortunate to find a way out of town to a place much warmer - Venice Beach, California. Luckily, my little sister is a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines and she also needed to get warm.

After the run at the Dome Wednesday, she invited me to travel with her here. When I fly with her it's free so that is an easy decision. Clearing the schedule in one day is a bit harder but thanks to Mark and Brent filling in for me, I was California dreaming. I think I was vitamin D deficient anyways so some sunshine was in order.

Today was a good day despite tired legs. I never felt loose and easy but I managed a good pace and running in shorts and shirtless felt good. Running the bike trail from Venice Beach past Santa Monica was just a menagerie of activity. Bikers, Runners, Walkers, Surfers, Skate Boarders and Beach Volleyballers (many hotties there). I must have run past thousands of people on my 11 miler. Having all that distraction took the mind off the sluggishness and the tender leg. It also felt good to blow past bikers once I got rolling.

Got the pace down to 6:30 the last couple of miles after I started feeling tired, but I tried thinking about running like a Kenyan. It forced me to relax and be lighter on my feet. Once I did that I started running a few seconds per mile faster. Always good to think about form when you are tired as that's when habits (good or bad) take hold. 

Hopefully, I'll loosen up and get a better night sleep and recover from the trip so a better run will follow tomorrow. No matter what it beats the cold, indoor track or treadmill.

Someone to talk to

Today's title is lifted from a rarely heard song by the Police. After posting about needing someone to run with to help pass the time, I was assisted through my best run in over two weeks. I had doubts about even trying as the leg has been poor lately, but I started slow and when I caught up to Michelle after a few miles it was feeling better.

Fortunately, I was a little tired and Michelle was running well so we were both able to have a good time. Having her to chat with made the laps in the Dome go by quickly and took my mind off my leg. Good time getting to know her a bit better and talking about our little trips to Paris, London and Rome. Kudos to Michelle for making today so productive for me.

Today was the 9th day in a row in which the high temp has not exceeded 0 degrees. The longest cold snap in 10 years for Anchorage. We could really use a break as there is a long way to go with winter and a bit of plus temps would go a long way towards everyones morale. As for my morale it may get an additional boost as little sister, Esther, was at the Dome today also and asked if I want to go to Santa Monica for a long weekend trip. As she is a flight attendant I can travel free when I go with her so. I will enjoy getting the hell out of this icebox and get some warm weather in.

For now it looks like laps in the Dome will be the best for my leg as outside has not been productive. Tomorrow we have adidas rep extraordinaire, Ben Evans, in town for next seasons new product so I will drag him inside for more running. I'm sure with another sub-zero day coming that he'll be happy to run in circles.
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Here's a cut of Someone To Talk To. I caught the very first Police concert in Vancouver on their reunion tour last year. Very cool concert and great energy as they had been working for a few weeks to get the act together again. They were genuinely excited by the crowd's reaction as they must have been uncertain of how they would play after being apart for 25 years. For me the Police were a seminal band when I was in college and when they broke up I figured that was one concert I would never see.

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Don't call it a comeback

With all due respect to LL Cool J, I wasn't really gone but taking a needed break to get properly inspired and other things in order also. Cranking out blog posts takes a bit of time and I think a recent comment referred to it as "feeding the blog" like feeding a dog. Thanks Keith (and Mom) for staying on my ass to get me back posting.

I wish I could say that the New Year has forced me to become re inspired and ready to make it my best year ever. I plan on making it my best ever as 2008 was a very good year too. But I didn't feel any special push once that calendar page flipped over.

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Today was a good day spent inside the Dome as we have endured our 7th straight day of temps below 0 degrees. I ran outside yesterday at -10 and with proper clothing I felt great but my calf and winter shoes don't seem to enjoy each other right now and I had to turn back. Today at the Dome felt much better and I could run a better rhythm (6:45 pace) rather than slog along with multiple layers.

I was inspired by a group of ladies that were also putting in their laps at the Dome this a.m. as well. Three of them were with me in New York for the marathon in November and I haven't seen much them since. Dorothy (3:14) who I ran the race with, Selina (3:35) and April (injured and didn't run) were clipping off laps with fellow speedy mom Michelle. A very impressive group of women and runners who manage to run very fast while also managing kids and family. Especially good to see April running so well as she had to miss NYC with an injury.

I feel a bit inadequate when I try to compare dealing with my issues when all I have to do is account for myself. Seeing them hit the track after getting the kids back to school after Xmas break and ripping off laps is very cool. I told Selina that I need to have a few kids to develop some patience and toughness. I also need a good team to train with like they have. Those laps and miles would go by a bit easier with someone to run with. Watching the girls run together was like watching a college cross country team out for a daily run.

I'm gonna knock you out