The Vitality Kick and other Abnormal Obsessive Behaviors

19 Tuesday Oct 2021

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Mid-life crises are the senior equivalent of teenage angst. Kids are struggling to accept an uncertain future while we seniors know what lies ahead. Maybe we consider an affair but soon discover we’re not movie stars and we have about as much sex appeal as Santa Claus. That’s the insult on top of injury as our bodies’ decay rapidly accelerates just as we’re forced to recognize the frailty of life.

My youngest goes years without reading my blog, but she read my last post. The next day, she pulled herself away from Instagram to call me to discuss my apparent body image issues. Dare to publish your thoughts and everyone’s a critic. I defended my life choices while trying to recall what the point was of ever having kids.

Jut kidding of course and seriously, I’ve been enjoying my mid-life crisis for a good ten years. A few years past the starting line and fully warmed up, I found my stride with cancer at 51. Physically, the carcinomas were totally treatable, as many are when detected early, but that’s not to say it didn’t mess with my head. After sporting a buzz cut for the previous decade, I let my hair grow out and went on a serious racing binge, training between sixty to a hundred miles per week for several years. I even attained a flat stomach like the senior heartthrob Daniel Craig.

Of course, I never called it a mid-life crisis. I preferred the euphemism of being on a vitality kick. It’s pretty obvious I was chasing my vanity by growing long hair but I could always argue running more miles than I ever did in my youth was truly a healthy hobby. Sort of. Others did point out that anything over 30 miles was possibly counterproductive to good heart health. I’m going to start calling this the fall season of my life. And fall is my favorite time of year.

Women don’t get enough credit for having mid-life crises. The physical impact of menopause overshadows the emotional bankruptcy of a mid-life crisis. But for all their differences, men and women are mostly the same. There was this woman, looked to be in her sixties, race-walking or power hiking the Boulder Marathon two weeks ago. I started in the very back of the pack and found myself passing other runners throughout the event, but I didn’t catch her until mile seventeen. And it took me forever to pass her once I did reach her. You don’t become that fast in your sixties without some obsessive behavior. I wonder what she calls her mid-life crisis.

I ran this morning on the East Boulder Trail, my go-to course when I feel like running hills. I think I’m finally in shape enough to begin running with my local running group and almost did today but couldn’t make time for their schedule. They ran today along the Mesa Trail, a hard-packed dirt trail hanging off the Boulder flatirons like a shelf of brown grasses and pine. They’re my age and I like to listen to their talk of athletic injuries as if running was responsible for our bodies’ decay. A hard-earned lie we can share over a local craft IPA. I miss that and will make an effort to run with them again soon.

We’ve chosen to define our life’s decline by feeling it. Not through the false love of an affair but from the thrill of our cheeks and bare legs pushing past forty degree air on a mountain slope. We drown the subsequent aches in a tub of hot water and epson salts afterward, and like a phoenix the inflammation rises to haunt us as we step out of bed the next morning. That pain is our compass guiding us, cairn to cairn, through this lifetime tunnel of wear and tear and with a runner’s grace, it will carry us toward what lies ahead.

Milestone

10 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Boulder Bookstore, Chautauqua, groin pain, Mesa Trail, Prostatectomy, Sushi Hapa

Running has never felt so good. After over five weeks convalescing and walking, I ran three miles today. My expectations were set for July, but my Urologist did tell me I might be back within a month. I ran the same trail along Left Hand Creek that I’ve been walking everyday. I don’t know if I can express how much reaching this milestone means to me emotionally. I had a silly grin on my face the entire run. Running means more to me for my mental health than physical. I feel like this could be the end of the health-related distractions and lack of focus. I’m back.

My groin began to hurt half way through the run. That was less than ideal, and a bit of a surprise. I was monitoring my abdominal pain, breathing and dizziness. My stomach didn’t hurt until after I stopped running. While walking a quarter mile cool down, my scars tightened. My PT yesterday taught me how to massage my incisions in a circular fashion to break up the scar tissue. I’ll put some emphasis on doing that. I was mostly nervous over my breathing and dizziness because I’m still somewhat freaked out by the impact from four hours of anaesthesia. Thankfully I was fine.

My groin pain wasn’t extreme by any means but it did help me confirm my commitment to not exceed three miles. Pushing myself to the point of injury doesn’t buy me anything. A one or two mile run would have provided me the same level of satisfaction and confidence that I am progressing. I’m not in a race, I just need to demonstrate forward progress. There are times when you need to run through some discomfort. There are times when you need to train through injury. This is not one of those times. I emailed my PT to ask about what I should think about the groin pain. She responded within a few hours, on a Saturday, with advice. She’s a keeper. I describe Jenn in more detail on my prostate blog.

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Feeling totally stoked, I wasn’t done for the day. Ellie and I went for a two mile hike on Mesa Trail in Chautauqua Park. Such perfect weather to be outside. Hard to imagine the forecast for snow and sub-freezing conditions the next two days. We followed up the hike with lunch at Sushi Hapa, a browse through the Boulder Bookstore, and some light shopping at the Farmer’s Market. Ellie bought the next three books in The Maze Runner series at the bookstore. I bought some bread and two tomato plants at the farmer’s market. Wow, today is only half over. What’s next?

Naked Pibil Run

07 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Antonios, Flaming Foliage Relay, Mesa Trail, puerco pibil

Ran into Chris last night at Antonios. We strategerized a bit for the Boulder Marathon that’s only two weeks away. We plan to run together. Well, start out together anyway. I’m confident I can hang with him the first half. My goal though is to hang with Chris through what I call the 3rd quarter. I break up marathons into 4 quarters – 4 x 10Ks. A 40K comes up a bit short but this metric works for me. If I can maintain his pace, under 8 minutes per mile, for 20 miles, I’ll have a shot at qualifying for Boston.

I had the Chochinita Pibil for dinner. Oh man! Remember the scene in Once Upon a Time in Mexico where Johnny Depp excuses himself from the table to shoot the cook? Because it’s the best puerco pibil he’s ever tasted? This was like that. Upon closer inspection, I determined what I really liked was the habanero salsa that came on the side. I probably should have kept it on the side but instead smothered my meal despite being warned by the waitress. This stuff was hot. I’ve never had salsa with such intense flavor. I’m certain, given the right circumstances, Depp would have shot the cook at this dinner over the habanero salsa.

This pibil-fired dinner fueled today’s 9 mile run on Mesa Trail with my Naked relay team. We run the Flaming Foliage Relay next weekend and this was a planning session of sorts. I call them Naked for short – our relay team name is Naked and You’re Afraid. This is a play on words to the Discovery Channel survivalist show, Naked and Afraid. If you look for it, I think it’s already been cancelled. Great show though. Like Serenity for the space western TV show Firefly, I suspect a movie is in the making. Look for our Twitter hashtag Friday and Saturday, #nakedFFR. Or follow one of my Twitter handles @edmahoney1805 and @secintel. Or follow Steve Wolfe @sgwolfe. His tweets tend to be more clever than mine.

All of us except Brian and Kelly were able to run 9 miles on the Mesa Trail this morning. That’s Kristina in the top pic. She tore up the hills today. Good sign because she is slated for a 4.2 mile climb up Guanella Pass, and with less than two hours rest after her first leg. Kristina is pulling a double for Van1 in our first set of runs and will finish with 1600 feet net gain in elevation. That’s Allison in the second pic. She passed me this morning while running up one of the tougher hills. Another good sign because she has the hardest leg running up Guanella Pass at 6.1 miles. Her net elevation gain for the entire relay will be 2000 feet.

Jen is in the third pic with the pink running skirt. Clicking on the photos will enlarge them to their full resolution. Jen starts with a 10K trail run and will complete 19 miles by the end of the relay. That’s Keith after Jen in the blue shirt. Keith has to climb the final two miles over Guanella Pass and then descend a brutal 7 miles down the other side. Assuming his legs recover, he’ll run a total 22 miles. Steve is in this pic in a white shirt. He’s our influential team captain with persuasive recruiting powers. Steve will run a very hard 10K and hand the baton off to me on the Colorado Trail before I run over Georgia Pass. Steve will also be our final runner in Buena Vista, having run 23 miles in all.

As anyone would do after running Mesa Trail, we brunched at the Chautauqua Dining Hall. We used this time to plan the number of coolers, capture beer requests and discuss all the other important details. Jen is renting the two vans – she’ll pick those up Thursday so we can load them that night. We’ll leave for Idaho Springs at 4:30am Friday. I run the first leg at 6:20am. Thirty hours later we’ll be partying at some cabins Steve arranged in BV.

All About Ellie

14 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Ellie Rose, Running

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Austin, Chautauqua, Ellie Mahoney, Mesa Trail

It’s all about Ellie this week. We fly down to Austin today so she can join her Papa on a trip to NYC. They have tickets to a couple of plays and her cousin Rachel from New Mexico is also going. It was quite the girl’s night last night as Karen and Brit helped Ellie pack. I’ll work the week in Texas and fly back home with her a week later. Austin is expecting a high of 104° this weekend, with humidity to match, so running will be a survival event. Regardless, I’ll find a day (maybe next weekend) to sneak down to the Greenbelt for a trail run. The Save our Springs Alliance is selling this pretty cool map of the Greenbelt online and at area stores for $6. Maybe I’ll take a dip in Barton Springs to cool off.

I ran 10 miles on the LoBo Trail Saturday and another 10 on the Mesa Trail today. Twenty miles in two days. It’s nearly as hot this weekend in Boulder as in Austin. I ran early this morning to escape the heat, because yesterday’s noon-time run wiped me out. Today’s run was further enhanced by a Bloody Mary at the Chautauqua Dining Hall, along with my après-run brunch of a Caprese Omelet.

Yesterday’s run was miserable. I even walked a bit on the return. Today though was nice. You can’t not have a great run on the Mesa Trail. Keith, Steve and I left Longmont for Boulder at 6:30am to beat the heat and allow for our day schedules. I still have to pack for my 5pm flight. We met up with some other teammates who plan to run the Epic Relay with Keith and Steve next weekend – Brian and Kevin. Both strong trail runners. Kevin has to be because his wife Beth publishes Boulder County’s most popular running blog, Shutupandrun.

Launching from Chautauqua Park at 5700 feet, the trail rises unrelentingly to 6292 feet in the first mile and a half. To figure out the grade, convert everything to the same unit of measure. Let’s go with feet. The rise was 592 feet. Done with the rise. There are 5280 feet in a mile so the run was 7920 feet. 592/7920 gives a grade of 7.5%. That’s a decent incline, but one that most runners are capable of running – assuming they are acclimated to running at an elevation one mile above sea level.

I’ll spare you the math from here on out. The next eight tenths of a mile is down a 5% grade and then back up a 10% grade over the next three quarters of a mile. This is the high point of the run – assuming you turn around after 5 miles like I did. The trail has a couple more 150 foot drops followed by intense 10% inclines (reversed on the return); otherwise it smooths out for some nice running. There are a number of trail intersections. The signs either say Mesa Trail with double arrows or have a single arrow pointing to South Mesa Trailhead, which is about 7 miles from Chautauqua. This is my first run on Mesa Trail since the mud, snow and ice of the spring. Great trail conditions now. Get out there.

Chautauqua

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Boulder, Chautauqua, Jabe's Running Group, Mesa Trail, trail runner

Keith and I ran the Mesa Trail again this Saturday, but in the reverse direction. We started and ended at Chautauqua Park in Boulder. This enabled us to breakfast at the Chautauqua Dining Hall. This place doesn’t get much press, one of Boulder’s hidden gems. We didn’t feel under-dressed in our sweaty running gear and muddy shoes. Although I’m not sure it’s possible to under-dress anywhere in Boulder, except maybe the Flagstaff House restaurant. We were here because of Susan’s (Keith’s wife) birthday. She was running with Jabe’s Running Group – an incredibly social network of runners in my neighborhood. They launched from the South Mesa Trailhead and joined us for breakfast at Chautauqua. With seven runners and several other hikers and friends, we pwned the place.

This running-centered, real-world social event leads me to think of the virtual social discussion from the Trail Runner Magazine’s current blogging topic: Social Media – Bane or Boon to Trail Running. It seems unlikely any blogger would respond “bane”, and I’m no exception. I’ll tell you how I leverage social media. When I plan to run a trail, as part of an event or otherwise, I query hiking and running blogs for trail descriptions. It’s the rare trail race web site that describes an event to the detail I desire. I’m happy if they provide an elevation chart, but those can be misleading. Many event web sites are so poor in content I wonder why they bother. I’m waiting for the year the Boulder Marathon figures out how to add links to their sponsor logos. Even the good ones though, like the IPR from Ouray to Telluride, are no substitute for a verbose, segment-by-segment writeup by a good blogger. I want more than a description, I want to read the experience.

The information I look for in a running blog includes advice on how to prep for the event. How to optimally run the course. Especially tips on the best eateries in the vicinity. It’s difficult to say exactly what detail will turn out good-to-know. Copious comments might contain content that I would not have thought to consider. This is where the social aspect comes into play. Social media is a boon to communication. And communication expands the potential of whatever it’s focused on.

I can imagine worse case scenarios wherein word-of-mouth leads to more popularity than a trail or event can support. You see this with some big road races; they start out small and become huge as a consequence of their successful operations. Trails generally control this by setting limits on participation. I don’t know how trail events establish these limits – probably experience. I think the Imogene Pass Run has a weather related cutoff time to get runners over the pass. Regardless, I don’t think trail running suffers any adverse affects from social media. It’s all good.

From the WordPress stats my blog receives, I find many readers come from searches on upcoming events. No doubt, they query blogs for the same reasons I do. Search terms contain the race name along with the word “training” or “review”. Immediately after the event, searches contain the race name along with “results” and “photos”. Of course I don’t see as many searches for this as I do “sexy trail runner” and “runner porn”, but that’s the Internet for you.

My runner’s story is a prime example of running related social media. It extends my enjoyment of trail running with another enjoyable hobby of writing. Perhaps posting these pics of my friends on the trail today enhances our collective experience. That’s Keith in the first two pics, he’s navigating a treacherous snow-covered bridge in the second. The trail was more mud today than dirt from Wednesday’s half foot of snow. We could only average a 12 minute pace for ten miles. Eve, in the third photo, dared to wear brightly-colored gear despite the mud. She later said the conditions made her feel like a kid. Jabe is clearly enjoying herself as she wades upstream on the trail in the fourth photo. And the final pic captures our birthday runner Susan leading Jen in both conversation and running on the snow covered trail.

I missed snapping a shot of Suzy, and unfortunately she didn’t have time to join us for breakfast. It was a two hour run. I will say the real world social aspect of running beats this virtual social media stuff hands down. The girls told hilarious stories and the food at that place was awesome. So were my two Bloody Marys. The virtual world is no substitute for drinking after a satisfying ten mile trail run through snow, ice and mud. Sharing pictures is a nice benefit of social media. It helps to remember the experience. Not as good as being there though.

Mesa Trail

13 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Boulder, Katja Broecker, Mesa Trail, Trail Runner Magazine

I could do my taxes. Instead I’m writing my blog. That tells you most everything you need to know about me. But this post isn’t about me. I’m participating in a blog discussion with TrailRunner Magazine with the subject set as, “Can trail running develop into an unhealthy addiction?” Wonder if there’s a social networking term for group blogging like this. I know, TrailRunner Mag’s question sounds rhetorical. Absolutely it can be habit forming. Seems redundant though to say unhealthy. Addictions generally carry a negative enough connotation with them rendering that adjective unnecessary. Or is it?

Running by itself can be addictive. The endorphins that release into the body after 45 minutes or so generate a nice buzz for the vain, skinny, hypocritical road runners who tell you they do it for their health – in between buying inserts from the local PT dealer and scheduling their next MRI. The law hasn’t yet caught up to these junkies.

Let’s be clear though, trail runners are different from road runners. We don’t sit around after our runs in a stoned stupor; our runs themselves are Henry David Thoreau inspired transcendental experiences. A road runner’s addiction is a trail runner’s discipline. If addiction represents a habit formed by incessant trail running, then certainly we are addicts. We are not fair weather runners. We fling spring mud and wander through winter whiteout conditions nearly naked in shorts. Addiction is a tool leveraged by weak minded road runners in their hope to form a healthy habit. The disciplined trail runner keeps the mind soberly focused on prepping the appropriate gear to the forecasts from their Weather Channel app. The trail runner’s romp though adverse conditions and challenging terrain is as conscious a decision every time as the sun rising in the morning and setting over the horizon at dusk. You will not find a more controlled and deliberate habit.

What could be unhealthy about it? Are trail runners dazed in a foggy haze in social environs? I lived in the athletic dorm one semester in college and recall a roommate who could talk about nothing other than his workouts. I found him boring beyond belief. Vain and narcissistic people find their way in sports. There’s a reinforcing affinity between their personality and the workouts. That’s not a result of the repetitive nature of running the trail day in and day out. They’re simply self-centered. The repetition that forms the habit – that establishes the addiction – is a beautiful thing.

To ask if trail running is an unhealthy habit is to suggest a healthy addiction is an option. Have you watched an elite athlete run? Up close? I was following on the heels of 20 year old Katja Broecker in last week’s Boulder Half Marathon. She passed me at 7 miles and I fell in behind her because her stride was so excellent, it sucked me in like a vortex. She was mostly airborne, her feet touched down only long enough to satisfy the gods she was human. I was behind and slightly to her right at 8 miles when she cut in front of me to grab a water at the aid station. I was ready to throw my arms up to keep from colliding with her but instead she sipped her water at full speed, tossed the cup, and the space between us never closed by even an inch. Who can do that? I can’t. That’s the exquisite form of an elite athlete and that level of skill comes only from training to the point your body has reached the level of art. I have no doubt coming down from such a high is painful. I know first hand what it feels like to be sidelined from injury. The addiction left unfed worms its way through your mind until it’s destroyed all self-confidence. Unwinding an addiction is ugly, but when it’s created beautiful art it can’t be bad.

Keith and I ran the Mesa Trail today from Eldorado Canyon to Chautauqua Park in Boulder. And back. About a 13 mile trail run over steep inclines and mud. I know I’ve neglected certain things to be able to wake up early to run this trail. Maybe it was asocial of me not to be out quaffing drinks with friends. But if you ask me how I feel right now, I would not respond by saying I feel unhealthy. I’m buzzed and I can’t wait to get back out to run it again.