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Monthly Archives: November 2011

Todays Run With Pics 11/26/11

November 27, 2011
Echo Mountain Trail, Today's Run
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So so run today.  I tried to use a new app and it didn’t track well at all.  It was off by a while miles and I only ran 5.4 miles so that is a HUGE way to be off.  I ran the Echo Mtn trail in Altadena.  I’m not too sure about the history of the ruins at the trail head up top of the Echo Mtn trail but I hear that it was a really famous resort hotel up in the mountains that burned down around 1901.  There was a tram car type thing that used to carry up people to the hotel up top.  I have posted below a few photos I took up top.  There are a few panoramas of the views I get to see up there when I make the run.  The huge metal wheel type gears you see in a few of the pics are some of the left over gears that would pull up the tram car.  It was a cool run with beautiful sun but I run the trails to get the hell away from the other humans and there were just too many people for my taste.  All in all it was a cool day.


http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=2c744764-65ad-4c55-a397-86be771e0b56&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false


http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=92724a72-b0c6-4d5d-a3e7-85a49a73ab3a&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false

What a Day!!!!

November 24, 2011
Mount Wilson Trail, Running
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So as of today I have officially completed all my goals of 2011!!! Holy shit!

My friend Adam came into town from NY and we made plans for a run earlier today. He runs in the city so I wanted to show him the beautiful trails I have found in my exploration of the mountains. When I picked him up we decided today is the day to give Mnt Wilson a shot. We ran most of it, probly about 3/4 of it and I call that a complete mountain run. Hell yes. I can’t believe we actually made it to the top. It was one of the more intense runs I have ever done. 7 miles uphill with an elevation gain of just under 4,460 feet. Some of the roughest terrain I have ever run. One day I’ll try to run the whole trail in its entirety but there are parts that are so sketchy that it’s going to take many runs for me to be able to if I ever can. Anyway, I had an amazing day with a great friend of mine running up to the tip top of our local mountains.  It’s days like this that I am eternally grateful for.

Bike check Jolene and Ivan

November 23, 2011
Cinelli
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Hello every one, I’d like to introduce you to Jolene and Ivan.

Jolene say hi,

Jolene is a the kind of woman that likes options. With her 17 tooth cog and the 48 tooth chainring she’ll handle most hills I can find with grace and dignity and with a mere flip of her wheel she have her 15 and will handle distances and speeds with power and precision. Light, stiff, and fast makes traffic a joke and distances are a breeze.

Ivan, say hi.

Ivan is Jolene’s big brother.  He’s the kind of man who is hard to keep a hold of.   He is fast, crazy fast super light and insanely agile. All he wants to do is dominate cars and other bicycled as he blasts through traffic. His 16 on the back and his 48 on the front make it so he can go just as fast as the cars around him and the thick slick wheels make him super quick and stopping, skidding super easy. Even at the fast speeds his stopping power is manageable and safe.  He’s a mean agressive big brother that wants nothing more than to protect his baby sis.

Todays Run 11/19/11

November 20, 2011
Today's Run
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http://app.strava.com/runs/2385321/embed/7be0fe573a7a915810ff0232265e1afde0261c46

I’m looking for a good way to record to a map my runs in the mountains. I used Strava for this one but that means I need to carry my iPhone with me and also Strava is a cycling specific app so if I record a lot of runs on it it will throw my average off if I end up wanting to keep track of it. Next time I’m going to use Map My Run and see how that works. I love the map I got out of Strava (above) and I hope to get a good one out of Map My Run even though I have had 2 out of 3 bad experiences with Map My Run‘s sister program, Map My Ride but we’ll see what happens.

The run I went on today was the same one I wrote about a few weeks back when I met Thomas, the guy who was on the mountain bike that I got to talk to as we both climbed the Brown Mountain trail to where it begins to descent down and I eventually pull off to the right and take the El Pietro single track down to the JPL trail head.  It’s becoming on of my favorites.  The descent is just incredible.  I’m looking to get a good video camera I can strap onto me maybe a GoPro or something like that.  I have the Contour GPS but the size of it is way too awkward to strap onto me for running.  For cycling though it’s going to be amazing.  You’ll see soon enough.  For now, enjoy these….

Tonight’s Ride 11/17/11

November 18, 2011
Today's ride
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http://app.strava.com/runs/2368669/embed/a198d799d9cdfa941de43bed528fd0759441768b

So I have a friend named Patrick.  I wrote about him in the post a few weeks ago about riding the 100 miles to Seal Beach and back.  I called Patrick a beast on a bike because, well, that’s what he is.  He’s always down to ride and I need that because honestly I get lazy.  A friend who can always get me up off my ass to ride a ride like the one we rode tonight, all the way up Lake Ave in Pasadena, is a friend I want to cycle with.  This is even after rinding up and down the the Art Center hill twice to fo to and from school.  Friends like these are what make me want to keep going when my body says, “Fuck you ice cream is better.”

Tnight’s run 11/16/11

November 17, 2011
Today's Run
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Tonight’s run was twice around the Rosebowl in Pasadena.  Classic Pasadena running.  I did get to reconnect with my good friend Taryn and run with her though.  This was good for me.  As I tend to chase the isolation of running and cycling I forget that there is also a social aspect there if I choose to move toward it.  I tend to be a person who doesn’t really like to be around a lot of people.  I usually dislike people in big groups whereas one on one I love people.  So when I get to run with my friends like Taryn it means the world to me because as mucha s I like to run solo I also get lonely.  I know this sound back and forth but it’s all true.

I had a great run.  I hung out and caught up with Taryn.  The night was awesome.  That is all.

My Ride Home From School

November 15, 2011
Bikes, cycling
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I have been lagging in my cycling since my last big ride. It is super common for one to not ride much for a while after a big ride but still it had been around a week since I was last on the saddle and I was craving it. I decided to start cycling to school whenever I can or whenever I don’t have errands to run after for which I would need my car. I am so happy I did because this is what I saw…..

Thoughts on Tonight’s run 11/14/11

November 15, 2011
Tonight's Run
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You can read the stats of tonights run HERE.

I know I say a lot that I don’t usually like running on the road and I would much rather me in the mountains on the trails, which is true, but tonight was a really great road run for me.

A long time ago at the very beginning of my taking running seriously I signed up to run the first Pasadena Marathon.  I was working a job that was a night shift so I got home around 11:00 or 11:15pm so all my training would be at night.  For some reason I have never been a morning runner.  Tonight reminded me of those days.

I live Pasadena, a city that in the day time is super busy with tons of traffic.  Most of the locals like myself will avoid the main streets in the day time due to this traffic.  I regularly saying things like, “Stay off Lake or Colorado, the traffic is terrible.”  or “I never go on Lake or Colorado”  I would say it as if the traffic was a permanent on those streets and other streets like them.

What running in the city late at night does for me is it shows me the impermanence of this traffic.  If it’s late enough I’ll run a couple miles in the street where I am so used to seeing cars all day long.  Running late at night reminds me that yes there is traffic and yes people act like assholes in traffic but no it is not permanent, it is a temporary man made condition unfortunately laid upon the streets of beautiful neighborhoods.  It’s a really nice thing to remind myself of.

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