Track and Field Blogs - RunDMC

The water in Mammoth tastes better than any bottled water I have ever had. It’s like drinking from a mountain spring. In fact, maybe it is drinking from a mountain spring. So I drink a lot of it. Normally I am a soda and sports drink guy, but the water here keeps me drinking. When I would hike with my Dad as a kid, he told me if I ever got lost I should find a stream or river and follow it downstream and I would eventually find a town. People always build society near water. Mammoth sits along Mammoth Creek. Several times a week when I feel tired and sore, I go sit in Mammoth Creek for 15min and my legs are revitalized the next day. The water is cold and makes my jubblies shrink up like a frightened turtle, but it is worth it.

My bro and his wife came up last weekend and we packed the weekend with running, biking, hiking and even got in a swim at Lower Rainbow Falls. That was some chilly water. Somehow I just have to jump in when I see a big pool of water in the mountains. I hope my brother and his wife were not too horrified when I stripped down to my underwear and jumped in. It could have been worse, though. Some people around here think nude swimming and hot tubbing is OK. Not me!

So after my swim we hiked over to Devil’s Postpile. There was a group of high school age runners in a summer running retreat at the bottom of the Postpile. We walked past them. For some reason I had to pass gas terribly badly so after we passed them I stepped into the woods and let it go silently. It was a horrible odor. Imagine rotten eggs, sulfer, and the city dump wafting up your nostrils. I almost passed out. Just as I released the noxious fumes, part of the HS group started walking our way and passed to the downwind side of us. I heard them say “Ohmygod, that’s horrible. Who did that?!?” Just as I had kept the release silent, I kept silent now. If asked, I would have blamed it on the volcanic activity in the area.

I had gone back to “The OC” for almost two weeks for work and some friends visiting and fell into my normal bad habits. Working too much, eating dinner so late that I was not willing to cook and only fast food was open. Just terrible. However, I participated in a track meet while there. I ran 2 relay legs of 1600m and 1200m, and I ran the open Mile. I was surprised to have very strong, steady pacing and a solid kick despite almost no speed work. Got the mile under 5min. Must be all the extra RBCs from altitude training.

This week I have put in a solid training week and am upping my base mileage. Tuesday I did 6x800m with the club, and Thursday I got in a 95min run mostly on trails. My wife rode her bike with me and we were both worked over, but it is the best I have felt on a long run here and it is the longest yet. Sat in the creek afterward and felt OK today.

Tonight there is a Beer N Blues Festival here. We may go, but tickets are kind of expensive. Maybe I’ll just drink the beer in the fridge… Tomorrow we will attempt to climb Mt. Morrison (12,277 ft). It looks severe, but is only class 2. The hike starts at 7600ft. It’s the vertical that gets you!