Why the Jackalope?

I know it's odd.

A grown man referring to himself as a mythological creature of western lore.

I get it. I do. I'm not ashamed.

A few years ago I needed to start a blog. Myspace was all the rage and I was getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan for more than a few days; the stars seemed aligned and what resulted was a mildly entertaining online diary for my friends and family back home. At least, that was the party line anyway. The problem was that it had to be somewhat anonymous. I'm not James Bond or anything, but when you're deployed and wearing a beard it's not a great idea to advertise everything about yourself. Consequently, a moniker was in order.

As I spent the better part of my youth getting dragged around in the back of a pickup truck by my father in an attempt to kill every Chukar east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it seemed appropriate to latch onto something that uniquely represented the oddity that is my personality. For those that have never heard of such a thing, the Jackalope has a long and sordid history, most of it totally made up.

Ronald Reagan had one over his mantle. He somehow managed to convince the reporters interviewing him that it was real, or so the legend goes. But I digress. . . .

The Jackalope itself is generally a taxidermist's practical joke consisting of a Jackrabbit head combined with a couple of small antlers designed to give the impression that such an animal once roamed the earth. The legend of their actual existence probably comes from the Shope papillomavirus that wild rabbits are sometimes afflicted with. This virus results in some serious tumors which can give the appearance of horns or antlers. The whole concept is not unlike the Manatee inspiring the existence of mermaids.

At any rate, I saw these things everywhere while I was growing up. In truth, Wyoming really has a corner on the market, going so far as to actually trademark the term. (I'm awaiting a cease and desist order any day now. I'm sure both my readers in Canada are going to be really upset.) That being said, what lives in Wyoming generally lives in Nevada too, except for maybe Dick Cheney. So I decided I'd adopt the Nevada sub-species, Jackalopis Legalized-Gambling-orensis, or Nevada Jackalope.

While I was in Afghanistan the idea was to represent the Warrior Rabbit, which seemed fitting giving that the Jackalope won't fight unless cornered, which is more or less how we worked things over there. Now that I'm no longer getting shot at it seemed appropriate to, well, start running.

And so, here's me hoping that the whole concept doesn't come off as stupid, but when you refer to yourself in the third person as a made-up hybrid animal, I suppose it's the risk you run.

But then again, at least I'm running.

By Marcus with No comments

Finding the Time

I remember when I was researching the purchase of my first home and coming across the phrase, "Hidden Costs".  The idea being the notion that for the most part, you don't really know what you're getting into until you're on your eighteenth trip to Home Depot for the weekend in a thwarted attempt to fix your screen door that won't quit slamming shut.  By the time you're finished, you're throwing a thousand bucks a month at various widgets and so on when all you really thought you needed was some curtain rods.

Running in general, and training for a marathon specifically, can easily a beast of the same type.  You start the weekend looking forward to those two good workouts you have on the calendar and by the time you're done, the internal inertia created by family, friends and other various commitments leaves you to wonder just how in the hell you managed to miss both runs.  For me that usually goes hand in hand with wondering how it was I managed to finish off 3/4 of a Pale Ale twelve pack.

In an effort to combat this, I adopted a strategy that includes not stressing about the details of my training calendar.  For what it's worth, my plan is pretty simple.  Two days of "speed" work per week: one day of Yasso or half mile repeats and one day of negative split runs.  The other days are recovery runs along with a longish run on Friday's and a Long Run on Sundays.  I don't sweat the distance so much and if I feel lousy, I can always adjust.  I increase the mileage slightly each week but for the most part, I don't cry a river if I miss a run during the week.  (It's probably worth pointing out on the days I do speed work, I also lift some weights and do some core exercises.)

There are challenges though in merging even the loosest of training plans with your life and the requirements thereof.  This weekend was a great example.  Cousins visiting, beaches to experience, homework to do, dinners to be had . . . all fantastic excuses to miss your scheduled run.  I could have fretted all weekend long, becoming an antisocial jerk and driving my family bonkers.  Instead I chose to get a run in when I could (in this case it was along the beach with the pooch while the hot dogs cooked) and push the long run until Memorial Day.

I suppose my point is that the hidden costs of training can be easy to surmount given the right mindset.  A little bit of flexibility goes a long way and it's important to remember that unlike the house, a little "neglect" with regards to the training calendar might result in a healthier mindset in the long run.

By Marcus with No comments

Of all the mistakes that I made last summer in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon, I often wonder if my biggest was the perceived necessity to wear a “real shoe”.  This is to say that I eventually decided to get a pair of Saucony Kinvaras.  

While a great shoe, and highly recommended for those looking to start down the minimal footwear path, it was too much shoe for me and I paid for it.  I had never had any knee pain in my life prior to the marathon, but the moment I switched to the Kinvara (under the assumption that I needed the padding for the distance to be covered) things started to hurt.  Post-marathon I dumped them completely and went back to the shoe that never let me down despite having next to zero padding, the Nike XC Streak.

I’m definitely a forefoot striker, almost to the point of “prancing” as has been pointed out by my running partner.  Despite the less than masculine moniker, I’m pretty happy with the form I have and as I discovered yesterday, I go more midfoot the faster I attempt to run.  This makes the Streak the perfect shoe for my gait.  It’s cheap too.  If you visit Pete Larson’s fantastic blog at runblogger.com (enormously comprehensive if you’re looking to do some research into running form etc.), he has a 10% off coupon for runningwearhouse.com which is easily one of the best places to get your shoes online.  If you live in California it gets even better as they offer free overnight shipping as opposed to the free two day shipping you might receive in another state.  So I plunked down my 50 bucks and got a new pair with the intent of not switching again, at least that’s my thinking this week.

The more I think about it, the more I realize this was what likely made me a bit frisky yesterday when I ripped off 9 miles at an 8:20 pace.  While not fast for many, this was flying as far as I was concerned.  It was nice and cool, with some rain coming down as a light mist.  For whatever reason, I felt good and went with it; my thinking was that I would just take it easier today than I otherwise might have done.  I realized however, that when I finally powered down for the evening, I was smoked like a bag of beef jerky.  To say nothing of the crap I was bound to get from my running partner as I am usually the one preaching the "go slow" philosophy when the schedule calls for it.  But I digress. . .

So, as of right now, I’m sticking with the Streaks for slow to moderate runs and Bikilas for most of my speed work.  Next week, I’m going to order some New Balance MT101s and give those a whirl on some trail runs.  I’m fairly sure that as much as I love the Streaks, they aren’t going to survive the pounding that a trail is going to give them.  Standby for a review of those.

By Marcus with No comments

Blowing out my loafers

I decided to take a break from my project this morning and go for a little jaunt along the trails at Jack's Peak Park.  I had yet to explore it, and if I have any hope whatsoever of surviving this crazy idea I need to get busy and start building my climbing muscles.

So Jeff the wonder dog and I took off around 10 and headed up the mountain.  Being the tightwad that I am, I decided to park outside the gates and jog up to the trail head.  This alone was brutal.  The grade was miserable and I found myself smoked a half-mile into the morning.  Jeff looked at me like "Listen here Ass, I haven't been on a run with you in a month and you drag me out here?  WTF."

When we finally hit the actual trail, things mellowed a bit but I felt as though the majority of the 4 mile run was uphill.  We also found a few fallen trees blocking our path and that wasn't exactly the most rewarding thing to uncover after 20 minutes of climbing either.  Jeff also discovered that Horses are, in point of fact, enormous and intimidating.  He briefly considered barking at the four he found coming down the trail before he looked at them, then me, with a "I'm gonna let these Jokers slide today Dad.  Just this one time." look on his face.

Things were all good in the hood until the way down, when I realized my pinky toe on my right foot hurt like hell.  When I looked down I realized that I had completely blown out my Nike Mayflys.  Not entirely surprising given they are engineered for only about 60 miles or so.  I reckon I got 200 out of them before they 'splodid.  Not a bad shoe, but they had too much cushioning for my liking.  Overall I place them in the failed experiment category and I plan on returning to the XC Streaks from Nike.  I absolutely love that shoe. There isn't much too it, but it fits my running style perfectly and is just enough shoe without being over the top.

By Marcus with No comments

Lover's Point

Ordinarily, I'm not a "running partner" kind of guy.

I just don't like it, generally.

Today was a bit different.  Me and a buddy went out on a ten-miler, nothing fancy, nothing fast.  Turned out to be a pretty enjoyable jog to be honest.  Perhaps I'm turning over a new leaf in my old age.

What's more, Lover's point park in Monterey, California has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world to go for a run.  The views are amazing and I don't ever get tired of looking over my shoulder and watching the waves crash against the rocks.

I took the Nathan water bottle out again and for those that are interested, here is my assessment:
* It's a fantastic little device that certainly accomplishes it's intended purpose.  Quite easy to remove from it's holster, easy to put away and secure.  It's also really snug against my waist, I can't remember it moving at all really.  I'll be taking it for a trail run tomorrow I think, and we'll see how it performs under those conditions, but for right now, it's definitely a keeper.

I also tried one of these:
Nathan Electrolyte tablets.  Lovely little things actually.  I was pretty sure I was going to hate them, but I knew that they would come in handy at some point.  Surprisingly, the pomegranate / blueberry flavor was pretty good.  I could do without the effervescent quality (does EVERYTHING need to bubble? Jesus.) but I suppose it also helps it to dissolve.  Whatever the case, it was pretty good and after 10 hours of recovery now, my legs feel great and this is a step above plain water for sure.

Additionally, I'm trying to get away with fewer and fewer intake calories on my long runs in the hopes that by depriving them of carbs, I'll be staying in that good old fat burning zone.  Last weekend's 14 miler was made a bit more challenging because of this, but I can already feel the difference in my ability to handle fatigue.

So anyway, for what it's worth (and right now I get about 9 page views a day, so it's not worth much) I endorse.  And by the way they were 8 bucks at REI so the price on the left is quite an improvement.

By Marcus with No comments

Of Harbor Seals and Awesome

I absolutely love running here.  I knew I would; the anticipation was killing me for the last few months on the east coast.  The reality though, was and is so much better than I thought it would be.  I honestly cannot believe that my daily run takes me to this view:

The seals have been pupping lately so it's not unusual to catch a glimpse of a wee one learning how to swim.  Generally though, they do a lot of lounging around.  Sea otters are not uncommon either.  I make it a point to stop every time I hit this little observation point; I figure the loss in "fitness" with regards to stopping is well outweighed by the fitness of spirit gained.

I got a new toy in the mail this week:



Absolutely love it.  Obviously it was way more than I needed for a 7 mile run like I did today, but for testing purposes I took it along.  Almost zero bounce and it was nearly full.  It comes with a small little bottle for GU or HammerGel.  I'm looking to experiment with various diluted quantities of that and frankly get tired of having GU packet-trash left in my pocket after my runs.

I'm planning on taking it out for a more serious spin on Sunday for the weekly long run, and after that I'll drop a full report but as of right now I'm a big fan.  I had used a handheld version before and in fact that's what I took with me during the Marine Corps Marathon, but I wasn't really comfortable with it.

As for training in general, things are soooo much easier than they were at this time last year.  I really feel like I'm getting something out of each and every run.  I'm averaging about 40 miles a week with two days of speed work of some kind whether it's a tempo or the old Yasso 800's.  I pretty much totally neglected speed work last year and I also believe I ran my long runs entirely too fast, which resulted in a painful, though not entirely miserable final five marathon miles.

By Marcus with No comments

Okay, I suck

I'm sorry . . .I'm a terrible person.


I completely fell off the wagon last summer with regards to blogging.


The combination of class, early mornings and just general malaise sort of kicked my ass.


Much has transpired since then, and I find that I miss the blog quite a bit.


Did you know that since the last time I posted, I had thirteen visitors from Vietnam?  How the hell does that happen?  A great global search engine optimization accident I'm sure.


Well since then, the family and I have relocated here:



This photo of Monterey is courtesy of TripAdvisor


Not bad work if you can get it.  This time the Army has gone done did me right.  


I was too late to sign up for the Big Sur Marathon but a buddy and I did sign up for the San Francisco marathon in July.  I have no intention of turning this into a SF marathon prep blog but I figured I'd mention it's on the calendar.


If anyone is curious, I did manage to beat Oprah at the MCM after battling some less than stellar wheels the final month of training.  4:27 was the final time.  Next time is going to be a whole lot better, lemme tell ya.  I've hear the SF marathon is a bear, but I've spent so much time on my feet I'm going to be quite disappointed if I don't improve.  On the upside, I was able to raise over 1700 bucks for the Fisher House, which was a victory regardless of my time.


And so there it is, my halfhearted apology and relatively shitty update.  I figure I've already broken most of the solid blogging rules at this point (consistency, etc) so there is nowhere to go but up.


That being said, the beach is a damn nice place from which to look at the top of the hill.

By Marcus with No comments