All In The (Active) Family

Maybe Archie Bunker wouldn't have been such a grouch if he threw on a pair of running shoes once in awhile. Or maybe Edith would have dumped Archie on his fat ass if she was more empowered by joining some sort of athletic organization. Well, at least for our family, if we didn't exercise we'd go from the Cosby family to the Manson family. That is a fact. You should see our 3 year old toddler sing "BAAAAAAAABE-BAAAAAAY!!" It's hilarious.

"Awwe. Put a running sock in it, would ya, Edith?"

One problem with our Modern Days exercising family is TIME. Especially on the weekends. I have decided to run my first ultra run on December 19th at the Rodeo Beach 50K. This means that I have to run on Saturday and Sunday. My wife is a competitive rower. To say she is competitive is putting it mildly. My sweet, sweet wife who has grace and a positive frame of mind, yelled at two of her own teammates today. She was totally in the right. "If you are able to talk in the boat during a race, you are not rowing hard enough."

My wife had a rowing regatta today at Lake Natoma. I needed to go on a 14 mile run. I really prefer to run in the morning. I like to get it over and done with. Since we live 14 miles from Lake Natoma I decided to run from our house to meet my wife and daughter at the boat house. We could exchange parental duties and then my daughter and I could stick around and cheer Mommy on as she crossed the finish line.

She needed me to be at the boat house by 8am. I left the house this morning at 5:50. And then I came back home because I forgot my watch. I left my house at 5:52. And then I came back home because I forgot my water bottle. I left the house, AGAIN, at 5:55. I ran two miles to the American River Bike Trail and continued on my way. I had two hours and ten minutes to finish my training run. Plenty of time.

It was about 52 degrees outside. I had on shorts, patagonia short sleeve shirt, gloves, my fav skull cap, head lamp, water bottle, nathan pack, ipod shuffle, two packs of shot blocks, one lime gu and my new injinji socks.


It's a glove, for your foot.

Heck, it was still night time when I left my house. I liked it. I love running at night and I love running in the morning. I got to enjoy the best of both worlds. I find so much peace while running alone. To run with a clear mind and not being able to focus on any one thing is nirvana. I passed by a cyclist. I passed by a group of three runners after 5 miles. It was still dark out. I said "Hello" and a faceless woman said "We thought you were a cyclist." I took that as a very nice compliment.

I want to thank the California State Parks for putting port-a-potties on the trail. You deserve a pay raise.

I know this is going to sound cheesy, but I love it when a song you are listening to describes what you are experiencing. When the sun began to rise at mile 8, Fleet Foxes' "Sun It Rises" began to play. It was perfect timing. If you haven't listened to their work, I would strongly recommend it. If their music doesn't touch you, you don't have a soul. Yeah, I said it.



The American River Trail is always abundant with wildlife. The only wildlife I saw today were a dozen jack rabbit bunnies scampering in front of me with their little cotton ball tails bobbing up and down. Very cute.

As the sun came out from behind the Sierra Nevadas the trail began to reveal layers of mist off to the side.


Sun rises over the American River Trail.

Pictures don't do the scenery justice.

My run felt really good. I didn't feel like I was slacking off, but I didn't feel like I was putting out too much either. I wanted to stay at a 8 min mile pace to make sure I was going to meet my family in time. I really didn't want to disappoint my wife or her teammates by holding them up. By mile 12 I began to worry. The pace time on my watch was indicating I would arrive on time, but the actual time was telling me that I had 14 minutes to get there on time. I had not accounted for the pit stops I had taken. Apparently, they took longer than I thought they would. I dug down deep and was gunning for it. Runners were giving me funny looks on the trail because I was running really fast. I felt like Jack Bauer in tense episode of 24, where I had to meet a certain goal time or a nerve gas would be released onto Lake Natoma, turning all the Canadian Geese into flesh eating monsters, attacking rowing shells and proud mom and dads wearing sweat shirts that read "My money and my kid go to Cal." Run faster. Faster. FASTER. Stop the Canadian Geese from attacking.

"HOW DO I STOP THE FLESH EATING GEESE?!"

I got to my destination with 5 minutes to spare. Guess what? You guessed it, oh wise one. My family wasn't even there!! HAHAHHA!! What a running fool I am. We eventually got together and my daughter and I got to watch my wife race.


My wife is stroking the boat. "GO MOMMY!"

Here are my timing results for the 14 mile run:
Time:01:46:41
Avg Pace:07:37 min/mi
Best Pace:04:40 min/mi

So yeah, it all worked out. I got my distance in. My wife got her regatta in. Everyone is in their happy place. I like the happy place. I wonder what Archie would have preferred more, trail or road.

See you on the trail.

Scott