November Wrap-Up

The November stats:
461 miles
69h 35min
97,000' climbed

Which makes 5929 miles, 900h 19min and 1,051,800' of climbing on the year.

A discerning eye will notice that those monthly totals look just a touch deficient when compared to what has generally been my norm in 2010.  Unfortunately, this is not because of a particularly aggressive taper for this weekend's highly anticipated TNF 50 Championships, which, much to my disappointment (obviously), I won't be running.

For the past week and a half I've been nursing a strained calf muscle that resulted from running uphill in snow without sufficient traction, which in turn resulted in my first extended break from running of the entire year (I missed five days in a row last week, bringing my yearly tally of days off to 11).  While I'm back to some very light jogging now (20min this morning), I unfortunately won't be in Marin this weekend duking it out with the rest of the best trail/ultra runners in the world.

I know it foils all kinds of dream match-ups (Geoff vs. me for ultrarunner of the year, a Western States re-match between Geoff and I, a taste of Europe's best vs. North America's best, fast road marathoners vs. fast 50/100 milers, etc., etc.) and, believe me, I have been at least as interested as everyone else to see exactly how things would've shaken out this weekend with me in the mix.  Now, I'll just be watching from the cyber-sidelines like most people.  I've been focusing my training on this race so much this fall that I still can't quite believe I won't be lining up.

Whenever I get injured I first get really frustrated and generally pissed off at the injustices of life, but I eventually cool down and start to try to learn something from the situation so that maybe I can avoid making the same mistakes in the future.  I'm still not sure what exactly happened this time.  I first tweaked the calf on the evening of November 14th while completing lap two of a double-dose of Green Mountain.  I'd gotten out for an easy jog up the mountain in the morning and that evening had PRed on the first lap and headed up the second time at a more moderate intensity in order to just round out my planned two hours of running.  My feet had been slipping plenty in the fresh snow on the top half of Green Mt and on round two I felt something pull a bit in my calf on a particularly steep stretch of trail.  Of course, if I were to do it over again, I wouldn't have headed back up Green for a second lap that night--the PR effort on poor footing was probably more than enough strain on my body as it was.

When I woke up Monday morning my leg was definitely sore, but it loosened up after a mile or two of easy jogging and kept improving with each run the rest of the week, so I assumed I was in the clear.  However, on Thursday evening (after a pain-free run up Green in the morning) I set out on a typical flat, easy shakeout jog, and after waiting for a car to pass on a cross-street, I sprinted across the road and the next thing I knew I could barely run and ended up having to walk the mile or so back home.

Since then I've only done a very little easy jogging and lots of icing, ultrasound and acupuncture.  I can tell that it's coming around but certainly will in no way be ready for a hard 50 miles this coming weekend.  I'm sure I'll be back on the trails in the next 10 days or so, though, and ultimately, this couple weeks of rest/very easy running will probably benefit me for the exciting year of running I have planned in 2011.  I wish the best of luck to everyone on Saturday.

Jonah Hex es el fracaso del año

Es lo que hay. La revista Forbes ha realizado su lista anual de las películas que menos han recaudado este año y "Jonah Hex" ocupa el primer lugar. Solo ha recuperado el 24% de su presupuesto y en numerosos paises (como España o Argentina) la cinta ha salido directamente a DVD. Las penosas críticas tampoco han ayudado...

Transformers 3, lanzamiento del teaser trailer y 3D puesto en duda

Lo de "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" ha sido un culebrón desde el principio. La salida de Foxy, la Paramount cabreada, la chica que hacia de extra hospitalizada, las autoridades de Chicago cabreadas porque con tanta bomba aquello parecia un terremoto... el caso es que el último quebradero de cabeza para Michael Bay viene con el 3D ya que son numerosos los medios de comunicación que aseguran que Bay está teniendo problemas con este formato y que el resultado final será, en pocas y directas palabras, una mierda. Por supuesto él se ha apresurado en desmentir todo esto asegurando que su 3D es el mejor del mundo:

"Vaya, leo a esos estúpidos en internet que piensan que lo saben todo, ¿Qué tenemos problemas con el 3D? Entrad en mi sala de montaje y os enseñaré el precioso 3D. Nunca ha habido un film de acción que haya traspasado los límites del 3D como ‘Transformers 3′. Hemos rodado toda la película con cámaras 3D. Ahora amo rodar en 3D".


Sinceramente, no creo que el 3D de "Transformers 3" sea malo ya que la están rodando en ese formato (no la van a convertir posteriormente) y el Señor Bay otra cosa no pero es el rey de las escenas de acción, por lo tanto no creo que vaya a hacer una mierda con el 3D, va a hacer una mierda la historia en sí. Y ya que le ha dado por hablar del tema, aprovecha para decir que podremos comprobar nosotros mismos la calidad del 3D muy pronto porque el teaser trailer está apuntito de salir:

"Os daré los detalles del proceso y por qué me gusta el 3D la semana que viene justo antes de que el ‘announcement piece’ salga con "Tron" y "Narnia". Y no veáis la película en 2D, la hemos hecho para el 3D".

Estas últimas declaraciones son un tanto extrañas dado que "Narnia" y "Tron Legacy" no se estrenan la semana que viene en Estados Unidos sino el 10 y el 17 de Diciembre respectivamente... bueno, el caso es que el trailer está al caer teniendo en cuenta que suelen filtrarlos a internet antes de lo esperado y dado que Michael Bay tiene que cerrar algunas bocas y demostrar que su película es lo mejor de lo mejor lanzará un teaser trailer espectacular en lo que a acción rodada en 3D se refiere.

Vía Tublogdecine.es

Ponderous Posterior 50K

The final installment of the Front Range Fat Asses (preceded by the Boulder Basic on October 30th and the Fort Collins Chubby Cheeks on December 18th) will be the PP 50K (Ponderous Posterior or Pikes Peak, whichever you prefer)  in Colorado/Manitou Springs on January 15th.  Here is a map:

Click for a larger version: start at JT's house on 31st St (right hand side of map)
and proceed in a counter-clockwise fashion.

Here is a Terrain Map version for a little more insight into the topography of the route:

Looks to be about right at 30 miles.

And here is a MapMyRun-produced profile:


Should only be about 6k' of climbing, with a high point of nearly 9200'.

 And here is a link to the MapMyRun file that will allow you to look at satellite imagery and inspect the exact trails that we'll all be experiencing.

PP Route Description:
Starting from JT's house on 31st we will run a few minutes of pavement and snake through the Garden of the Gods via the Dakota Ridge and Bretag Trails.  We'll exit the Garden by hopping a fence for a couple premium miles of singletrack on the Navigators property before climbing quite steeply to the west for a half-mile or so to gain Rampart Range Road.

Run up RRR for ~3mi to the radio towers before turning left/down onto some singletrack and dropping into incredibly scenic Williams Canyon.  After a mile and a half or so of winding down-canyon the course will turn to the right up a drainage for ~1mi that will connect into the Waldo Canyon Loop at the top of the climb.  Turn right onto the Waldo trail and run it counter-clockwise all the way down to Highway 24 and the Waldo Trailhead.

Cross the Highway with care (there may be an informal aid station in this parking lot), crawl through the big metal gate on the other side, and run UP Longs Ranch Road for ~3mi and 2000+' to the high point of the course at ~9200'.  This is the monster climb of the run.  At the top, turn left/down through the Experimental Forest and connect into the famous Barr Trail at No Name Creek.  Run ~3mi down Barr Trail to Ruxton Ave and Manitou Springs and then turn right onto the Intemann Trail at the Iron Spring.  Follow the signs for the Intemann/Ring The Peak Trail traversing above town.  Eventually pop out onto Crystal Park Road for 1mi+ of paved uphill running and turn left back onto the Intemann Trail (nice big wooden sign marking the trailhead).

Run this for ~2mi until turning left onto a marked trail to connect into Red Rocks Open Space.  Run through Red Rocks (there will be a lot of hopefully reasonably marked junctions through here, but the general idea is to just keep heading down, towards the highway and the Open Space's very developed railhead/parking lot), recross Highway 24 and Colorado Ave on Ridge Rd, take a right onto Pikes Peak Ave and run this back east for just over a mile back to the Start/Finish at JT's house.

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More details to come as the date gets closer, but this is a gathering open to all with the route having several shorter bail-out options---there's no need to complete the full ~30mi loop in order to take part in the fun.  The run will also adhere to strict Fat Ass Rules: No Fee, No Aid, No Awards, No Whining.

An 8AM start from JT's house is preferable, but again, earlier starts/shorter loops are certainly acceptable so as to facilitate an early-afternoon post-run lie-telling session back at JT's abode.  The idea is to get out for a friendly, possibly semi-competitive group run that showcases many of the endless classic trail options in the Pikes Peak region that many out-of-towners are probably not familiar with while still incorporating the super-classic lower three miles of the Barr Trail (W's, etc.) that everyone is familiar with.

A few images from the planned PP course:

The run starts with a view something shockingly similar to this.

A motley crew running up Rampart Range Road, with a big mountain behind.

A panoramic of the little-known Williams Canyon we'll drop into.
Photo: Harsha Nagaraj

Climbing up the connector btwn Williams and Waldo.
Photo: Steve Bremner.

The views of Pikes from Waldo can't be beat. Photo: Larry Dewitt.

Some goofballs on the Longs Ranch Road climb (our gracious host on the left).
Photo: Larry Dewitt

...which can get awfully steep at times. Photo: Larry Dewitt.

Everyone knows what descending Barr Trail looks like.

A view of Pikes from the Intemann Trail above Manitou Springs.

Red Rocks Canyon Open Space--the final terrain of the course.

Megan y Brian en Disney World

Si uno está en Disney World y ve pasar por ahí a Megan Fox y Brian Austin Green pues hace lo esperado, sacar el móvil e inmortalizar el momento. Aquí tenemos tres imágenes realizadas por gente anónima que tuvo la suerte de cruzarse con ellos. Gracias a MeganFoxBrasil.com :)

Megan Fox en Disney World

Parece que Brian y Foxy están haciendo un recorrido por todos los parques de atracciones posibles o algo así. Ya se dejaron ver hace unos días en el dedicado a Harry Potter y en el de los Estudios Universal y ahora tenemos esta imágen de ambos en Disney World (supongo que Kassius también andaria por ahí).

Shia en Amsterdam y Megan en Florida

Nuestro querido Shia LaBeouf se encuentra en estos momentos en Ámsterdam para ejercer de director del nuevo videoclip del rapero Cage. No se sabe si volverá a casa para Acción de Gracias o si se quedará más tiempo en la capital holandesa.

Por otro lado ya sabemos que el destino de Foxy en este Acción de Gracias ha sido, tal y como se rumoreó, Florida. Por lo tanto, ella, Brian y Kassius están pasando estos días tan especiales con la familia de Foxy. No hay fotos que lo demuestren pero son cuantiosos los comentarios en Twitter de personas que han visto a Foxy en dos parques de atracciones en Orlando (Florida). El de los Estudios Universal y el dedicado a Harry Potter.

Megan Fox 21-11-2010

Imágenes de Megan, Brian y Kassius en el aeropuerto de Los Angeles el pasado 21 de Noviembre. Se dijo en un principio que podrían ir a Nueva York donde Megan tiene que rodar "Friends With Kids" pero al ver a Kassius se comentó que podrían haber viajado a Florida para celebrar Acción de Gracias el próximo día 26 junto a la familia de Foxy. Realmente el destino real no lo sabemos...

Planning for 2011

Although there are a number of (at least semi-) goal races between now and Summer 2011, if I wanted the least-hassle route of keeping the Western States 100 as an option for next year I needed to cash in on my top-10 status from this year by registering and plunking down my $370 before the end of this week.  So I did.  

There is a good chance I'll be back at Western States in 2011 (not the least of the motivating factors being the matter that my $370 is non-refundable) despite the fact that I will almost certainly be entering another conflicting (in my mind, at least) lottery sometime soon (cough-Hardrock!-cough).

Little Giant Saddle at the top of Dives Basin. The creek at the
bottom of the picture is alternately mile 9 or mile 91 of
the Hardrock 100.  This mountain is only one of a dozen similar
such absurdities that must be scaled during the race each July.
Both inspiring and horror-inducing. Photo: Klas Eklof

While the aesthetic and ethic of the Hardrock 100's course is much more my style (unending gigantic alpine passes), the chance to re-engage with the top long-course mountain racers in the world at Western States is pretty hard to pass up. For better or worse, it seems that WS and the Ultra Trail du Mt Blanc have become the two can't-miss stops on the international 100 mile circuit if you are truly interested in racing the best in the world.

I, for one, know that virtually every time I run up Green Mt., an image very much like the one below flashes through my mind at least once:

A crazed yeti chases a diminutive mountain-slayer through the snow at Robinson Flat,
WS100 2010. Rickey follows behind, documenting the moment on video, while I'm
sure Geoff is just out of the frame somewhere. Photo: Mike Redpath.

But Western States and the Hardrock 100 are only the beginning of the lotteries I plan to enter in the next couple months.  The Miwok 100K, Wasatch 100, and UTMB all hold their lotteries this time of year too and are all options I would very much like to have remain in play for next year's racing season.

Like Hardrock, even the best are relegated to a hike on the
climbs at UTMB.  Kilian grunting his way up to La Flegere,
the final crushing ascent of the UTMB route, in 2009.
The scenery can't be beat, though.

Megan Fox 16-11-2010

Imágenes de Foxy de compras en West Hollywood (California) el pasado 16 de Noviembre. Vuelve a aparecer el chico que se dijo que era un amigo pero que resultó ser un trabajador de la tienda. Aquí se le ve encantado llevando la bolsa xDD

Lagoon Love

Ah, yes - the return of the mermaids:) I have been working on this piece in my spare moments for quite some time now, so I'm happy to finally be able to share it! I will have prints of this piece with me at CTN-X this weekend and they will also go up in the shop early next week.

This weekend's show is going to be completely packed with incredible talent, so if you can make it I highly recommend it! You can find me at Table 13 in the main hall, but if you are there you should go say hi to all of the other animation legends first. I will be around all weekend:)

I hope to see you there!

Megan Fox 15-11-2010

Imágenes de Foxy saliendo de un salón de belleza el pasado día 15 en Los Angeles :)

Shia LaBeouf 11-11-2010

Teníamos el video pero no las imágenes. Shia corriendo en Los Angeles el pasado 11 de Noviembre :)

Shia LaBeouf 14-11-2010

El pasado 14 de Noviembre Shia salió a hacer ejercicio (a correr) por las calles de Los Angeles y nuestros amigos los paparazzi se dedicaron a seguirle todo el tiempo (hasta en coche). Cuando ya Shia llega a su casa aparece un hombre que les dice a los fotógrafos que no pueden estar ahí porque es una propiedad privada pero según ellos no hay una señal que lo indique lo cual quiere decir que van a seguir tomando fotos cada vez que les de la gana.

Weekly Summary: Nov 8-14

11-08-2010
Mon-AM: 14 miles (2:06) Green Mt., 3000'
Up Gregory-Greenman and down Bear Cyn.
PM: 8 miles (1:03) Skunk Creek Loop+Kitt
Ran easy with Joe.  Got in 1.5mi barefoot.

11-09-2010
Tue-AM: 14 miles (2:09) Green Mt., 3000'
Up back and down Bear Cyn.  First snow clouds of the season were rolling in towards the end.
PM: 8 miles (1:01) Skunk Creek Loop
Legs felt surprisingly good.  Maybe because it was snowing the whole way; I was in full-on tights, gloves, hat, and jacket.  Lovely run.

11-10-2010
Wed-AM: 14 miles (2:07) Green Mt., 3000'
Up Gregory-Greenman and down Bear Cyn.  First real snow up there since April.  Maybe an inch or so on upper Greenman that definitely affected footing a good bit.
PM: 14 miles (2:00) Green Mt., 3000'
Up the back and down Bear Cyn.  Legs felt decently good--coming around after the long run on Saturday.  Cruised up Gregory-Ranger in 36min and spent too long on top so that I was stumbling around a bit coming back on Mesa in the dark.

Starting to fill in the cracks on upper Greenman.

Ocean of clouds from the summit of Green.

11-11-2010
Thu-AM: 18 miles (2:51) 1.5xGreen Mt., 4700'
Met Joel (RT photographer) on top of Green and then we went down Greenman doing a lot of running back and forth for filming.  We started descending Gregory to meet the group and eventually turned around and ran back to the summit via Ranger with Geoff, Joe, Jeff, Brandon, Dave, and Nico.  Descended Bear Cyn and came back on Mesa.  There were a few inches of new snow and the peaks were all in the clouds today.  First real day of winter running this season.  Skipped the evening run to try and get back on top of my fatigue levels.

Headed up Green in the snow. Photo: Joel Wolpert.

Through the winter wonderland. Photo: Joel Wolpert.

11-12-2010
Fri-AM: 13 miles (2:02) Green Mt., 3000'
Met Danny down at the St. Julien and then took him up Viewpoint/Flagstaff to Ranger and then descended Greenman-Gregory.  The snow was pretty slippy this morning and my legs were a bit tired, but the mountains looked incredible with all the frosted trees. Gorgeous clear day, too.

11-13-2010
Sat-AM: 14 miles (2:06) Green Mt., 3000'
Up back and down Bear Cyn.  Felt okay through the canyon but the slippery snow on the top half of the mountain sapped my energy a bit.  It's going to take a week or two to adjust to the new rhythm of winter running.

11-14-2010
Sun-AM: 15 miles (2:12) Green Mt., 3000'
Up back and down Bear Cyn. Enjoyed how the chillier weather is thinning out the crowds on the trails.  Also, a nice inversion layer covered the city in a sleepy blanket this morning.
PM: 20 miles (3:00) 2xGreen Mt., 5500'
#1: up back, down Bear Cyn. (34:46) 12:25, 15:25, 19:15, 23:40, 28:40
#2: up front, down back: (32:36) 6:30, 12:05, 14:35, 18:11, 22:10, 29:22
Great run. After an afternoon in the library I didn't get out the door until 5pm, so I took a headlamp with me and needed it by time I was half-way up Green the first time.  I was feeling pretty good but was definitely shocked to see I was 15 seconds under PR pace at my rock-check (start of flat terrain before lodge) because I certainly wasn't putting in much focus.  The snow started in earnest here, though, and although equal to PR pace at the cabin I was forced into a much more casual pace above the cabin because of the poor footing and ended up a little over a minute over PR.  Coming back on the Mesa trail my legs still felt great so I decided to hit another lap on Green and headed up Amphi-SaddleRock.  Despite stumbling around a bit in headlamp-light and not putting too much effort into it I was a surprising 7 seconds ahead of PR pace at the 1st Flatiron cut-off, the same at the 2nd overlook tree and despite the snow and poor footing still right on PR pace at the Greenman junction.  Above there, however, the snow became too slick to keep pushing and I mostly just jogged it to the top with the snowy surface acting as a governor.  On the descent down Gregory I am about 80% sure I saw a mountain lion staring at me from ~20yards off the trail.  I saw its eyes in my headlamp and after a triple-take (and with the help of the moonlight) came to the conclusion that whatever it was its head was awful big for a fox (one of which I had seen earlier on the Mesa trail).  All in all, pretty encouraging run as I think it was quite likely I would've PRed for both routes on Green in the same run if it weren't for the slick snow on the top half of the mountain right now (not to mention the dark/headlamp vision).

Total
-Miles: 152
-Hours: 22h 37min
-Vertical: 31,200'

2010 Boulder Summits
-Green: 270
-Bear: 28
-SoBo: 6
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I knew this week would be affected a bit by residual fatigue from last weekend's exceptionally long run, so I was careful to not force any kind of above-average effort or distance most days.  Life was especially busy in general this week, too (which will be the standard for the rest of the semester), so it wasn't hard to scale back the miles and intensity a bit.

This week also brought the true re-introduction of winter to the local trails, which means that there will be a frustrating couple of weeks traction-wise where it doesn't make sense to wear Microspikes but where standard running footwear isn't quite as satisfactory as it is on dry trail either.  Even so, I'm enjoying the change in seasons and the new flavor it brings to the daily running.

Megan Fox 11-11-2010

Imágenes de Foxy y Brian el pasado día 11 de Noviembre saliendo del cine en Los Angeles.

Transformers 3, muchas más imágenes

No paran de salir imágenes del rodaje "Transformers 3" en Los Angeles. Más de lo mismo (aunque tenemos a Shia en calzoncillos) y momentos de "tonteo" con la sustituta que incrementan los rumores sobre que están liados (para morirse). Algunos medios apuntan a que la ruptura entre Shia y Carey se ha debido a la entrada en escena de la sustituta aunque hace unos días se la vió por ahí con su novio, el actor Jason Statham. Rumores, rumores... Os dejo unas cuantas imágenes pero en esta web teneis muchísimas más.