Just signed up for the San Juan Ten Miler. A neat flat race at an interesting distance that I have not run every year as it usually lands on a working Saturday. This year not! So I am in. This race, many years ago was my fastest. I ran 10 miles in under seven minutes a mile. Ain't gonna happen this time, but am looking forward to it.
This event is in its 25th year. It is sponsored by the Hollister Rotary Club and all proceeds go to benefit local scholarships and charities. San Juan Bautista is a small California Mission town just off Hwy 101 approximately 50 miles south of San Jose. The two races, one 10 miles and one 5k in distance, both start and finish in front of the historic and beautiful San Juan Mission. The area is rural and the course takes runners through farm land and up the Anzar hills. Medals are awarded three deep in standard age categories. We also hand out door prizes. The 10 mile race is particularly good training for upcoming spring marathons. Fees include LS-shirt. Good training for marathon base. Both races timed w/awards.
www.sjbca.com; Online www.theschedule.com; wgtt@sbcglobal.net; 831/637-0071; 831/637-0092 Bill Tiffany, 535 Monterey St., Hollister 95023
Event Date:
Jan. 30, 2010 (Saturday)
Location:
Mission San Juan Bautista (45 min. south of San Jose)
City:
San Juan Bautista, CA US
Web Site:
Visit event website
Register Online:
Click here to Register Online
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
It was a Long Dark Night
The longest night or shortest day just past. We got a good bout of rain, followed by two real clear and cold mornings for running. Black, black sky and twinkly little stars all about. Heard a Christmas owl the last two mornings too.
Mushroomin'
With the recent rains I have noticed a good number of mushrooms on the trail.
When armed with my little Buster Brown flashlight in the dark on the trails I see the little white caps pushing up through the rich dark earth and feel as if I have entered a Disney animation world...Fantasia or Alice in Wonderland.
There was an article in the local paper about mushrooming. The usual warning, but not necessary for me. Fortunately I have not been bitten by the bug to go toadstooling for consumption. I will stick with the items in the grocery store in the little pink and blue boxes.
Aside from the white ones, I say a cool pink one up the Tank Road the other day.
When armed with my little Buster Brown flashlight in the dark on the trails I see the little white caps pushing up through the rich dark earth and feel as if I have entered a Disney animation world...Fantasia or Alice in Wonderland.
There was an article in the local paper about mushrooming. The usual warning, but not necessary for me. Fortunately I have not been bitten by the bug to go toadstooling for consumption. I will stick with the items in the grocery store in the little pink and blue boxes.
Aside from the white ones, I say a cool pink one up the Tank Road the other day.
Vibram Five Fingers
Saturday at long last I purchased a pair of the Vibram Five Fingers "shoes." Also known as Monkey Toes, or Foot Gloves. I got a nice black pair at the Treadmill in Carmel. They fitted me nicely as always and one of the staff had a pair on. She runs about 100 miles a week, (oh my) and suggested starting out slow...like five minutes a day.
I got the KSO model...which stands for Keep S*%t Out apparently another staffer suggested.
They are all black which works with my wardrobe, such as it is, but also makes for something padding around the house that indeed resembles gorilla toes. Very disconcerting.
So I have run a block or two a day with them. Heightened sensations all 'round. Ones skin tingles, need be aware of running posture, road hazards...
We will see.
I got the KSO model...which stands for Keep S*%t Out apparently another staffer suggested.
They are all black which works with my wardrobe, such as it is, but also makes for something padding around the house that indeed resembles gorilla toes. Very disconcerting.
So I have run a block or two a day with them. Heightened sensations all 'round. Ones skin tingles, need be aware of running posture, road hazards...
We will see.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Geminids
Got out early this morning and tried to catch a peak at the Geminids. It was partially overcast at first and could not see anything...just barely a few stars sneaking through. By the turn and heading home things cleared a bit. I thought I had missed it all, but then I saw one and then a couple more...pretty cool.
Late tonight is the peak of the year's most prolific annual cosmic fireworks show—the Geminid meteor shower (Geminids picture).
The meteor shower has been growing in intensity in recent decades and should be an even better holiday treat than usual this year, since it's falling in a nearly moonless week.
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Coming fast on the heels of its more famous cousin the Leonid meteor shower—which peaked less than a month ago—the Geminid show should feature as many as 140 shooting stars per hour between Sunday evening and Monday morning.
The Geminids are slow meteors that create beautiful long arcs across the sky—many lasting a second or two.
Favoring observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the Geminids are expected to be most frequent within two hours of 1:10 a.m. ET in the wee hours of Monday.
The shower's radiant—the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate—is the constellation Gemini, which rises above the eastern horizon after 9 p.m. local time.
Astronomers recommend observers head outside between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. local time.
As with any meteor shower, the Geminids will be muted in light-polluted cities, but even suburban sky-watchers may catch as many as 60 meteors per hour during peak time.
Geminid Meteor Shower: Rising Star
The Geminids have been historically overlooked, simply because of their timing so close to the busy holiday season and during frigid winter nights, astronomers say.
But that's beginning to change, thanks to the Geminids' rising intensity over the past few decades.
In fact, for many astronomers, the December meteors have now dethroned the more popular August Perseid meteor shower as the shooting star event of the year.
"It may come as a surprise to many, but the Geminids are currently richer and are brighter on average," said Anthony Cook, astronomy observer at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.
Why the sudden illumination?
Earth is plowing deeper every year into an ancient stream of rocky debris left behind by a mysterious 3.1-mile-wide (5-kilometer-wide) object that orbits the inner solar system, he said.
When Earth's atmosphere crosses paths with that debris cloud, the rocks are superheated and burn out—and new Geminids are born.
Geminids' Mystery Parent
The Geminid meteors all appear to be chips off a mysterious rocky object called 3200 Phaethon.
Other meteor showers come from material shed by melting comets—which are massive chunks of dirty ice and rock—as they pass close to the sun. (See asteroid and comet pictures.)
But no one knows for sure whether the Geminids' parent object, first identified in 1983, is an asteroid or the core of an ancient comet that simply sputtered out.
Recent observations of Phaethon, though, suggest it's a nearly dormant comet, and the Geminids' parent is now officially classified as such by NASA.
The research revealed that Phaethon is the rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun, according to NASA.
The shooting stars' rocky, hard exterior—as well as the fact that they, unprotected by ice, get baked by the sun—may help explain why Geminids are slower and last longer in the sky than other shooting stars, said Peter Brown, a meteor expert at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
"They have the ability to penetrate deeper into Earth's atmosphere," Brown said, "and burn up at much lower altitudes than meteors associated with the Perseids and Leonids."
Late tonight is the peak of the year's most prolific annual cosmic fireworks show—the Geminid meteor shower (Geminids picture).
The meteor shower has been growing in intensity in recent decades and should be an even better holiday treat than usual this year, since it's falling in a nearly moonless week.
Enlarge Photo
Printer Friendly
Email to a Friend
What's This? SHARE
Digg StumbleUpon Reddit
RELATED
Perseids: What They Are, How to Watch the Meteors, More
Interactive Solar System Map
Coming fast on the heels of its more famous cousin the Leonid meteor shower—which peaked less than a month ago—the Geminid show should feature as many as 140 shooting stars per hour between Sunday evening and Monday morning.
The Geminids are slow meteors that create beautiful long arcs across the sky—many lasting a second or two.
Favoring observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the Geminids are expected to be most frequent within two hours of 1:10 a.m. ET in the wee hours of Monday.
The shower's radiant—the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate—is the constellation Gemini, which rises above the eastern horizon after 9 p.m. local time.
Astronomers recommend observers head outside between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. local time.
As with any meteor shower, the Geminids will be muted in light-polluted cities, but even suburban sky-watchers may catch as many as 60 meteors per hour during peak time.
Geminid Meteor Shower: Rising Star
The Geminids have been historically overlooked, simply because of their timing so close to the busy holiday season and during frigid winter nights, astronomers say.
But that's beginning to change, thanks to the Geminids' rising intensity over the past few decades.
In fact, for many astronomers, the December meteors have now dethroned the more popular August Perseid meteor shower as the shooting star event of the year.
"It may come as a surprise to many, but the Geminids are currently richer and are brighter on average," said Anthony Cook, astronomy observer at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.
Why the sudden illumination?
Earth is plowing deeper every year into an ancient stream of rocky debris left behind by a mysterious 3.1-mile-wide (5-kilometer-wide) object that orbits the inner solar system, he said.
When Earth's atmosphere crosses paths with that debris cloud, the rocks are superheated and burn out—and new Geminids are born.
Geminids' Mystery Parent
The Geminid meteors all appear to be chips off a mysterious rocky object called 3200 Phaethon.
Other meteor showers come from material shed by melting comets—which are massive chunks of dirty ice and rock—as they pass close to the sun. (See asteroid and comet pictures.)
But no one knows for sure whether the Geminids' parent object, first identified in 1983, is an asteroid or the core of an ancient comet that simply sputtered out.
Recent observations of Phaethon, though, suggest it's a nearly dormant comet, and the Geminids' parent is now officially classified as such by NASA.
The research revealed that Phaethon is the rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun, according to NASA.
The shooting stars' rocky, hard exterior—as well as the fact that they, unprotected by ice, get baked by the sun—may help explain why Geminids are slower and last longer in the sky than other shooting stars, said Peter Brown, a meteor expert at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
"They have the ability to penetrate deeper into Earth's atmosphere," Brown said, "and burn up at much lower altitudes than meteors associated with the Perseids and Leonids."
Cupertino
Had a holiday party in Cupertino last Friday evening. It was late enough that my wife and I thought it best to find a place to stay overnight. We had no real schedule to attend to, so we got a room at The Cypress, which happens to be a Kimpton Inn. We have stayed at Kimptons before. This was a nice enough hotel, but I was thrilled to find a nicely laid out Jogging Map on the desk with all the other propaganda.
So Saturday morning, though it was raining, and I did not find another vict...um I mean volunteer to run with me, I went out using the map. It had a couple two mile loops and a four and 1/2 mile loop. I did the longer one and added a bit. Ran real well through a nice neighborhood...with the proverbial tree lined boulevard. It was very flat, but a good time. Finished a little too soon and needed some more exercise time so I went into the Fitness Room at the hotel. This too was nice but typical. I sent some time on the StairMonster...low impact and since it was right after I finished my run, it took no time to get a pretty good froth going.
Anyway, not to be pimpin the Kimptons, but they seem to be nice hotels with that cute little jogging map.
So Saturday morning, though it was raining, and I did not find another vict...um I mean volunteer to run with me, I went out using the map. It had a couple two mile loops and a four and 1/2 mile loop. I did the longer one and added a bit. Ran real well through a nice neighborhood...with the proverbial tree lined boulevard. It was very flat, but a good time. Finished a little too soon and needed some more exercise time so I went into the Fitness Room at the hotel. This too was nice but typical. I sent some time on the StairMonster...low impact and since it was right after I finished my run, it took no time to get a pretty good froth going.
Anyway, not to be pimpin the Kimptons, but they seem to be nice hotels with that cute little jogging map.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Winter Running
It is winter in our 'hood now...as it is across the country. Seems it turned all at once. Running in the early mornings the last ten days has been a new and different feeling...for us here on the Central Coast, rain marks a distinct difference from the norm. But last week and early this week, the coldest temperatures we ever experience were here. I suspect that we were low 20s a couple days. On Tuesday, I smiled to myself as I was stretching at the end...I had on an extra layer, and had done a full 60 minute run plus and noticed, "Hey...I did not even break a sweat this morning." Usually I at least get a little damp, but nothing.
I have run in much colder and even drier weather. Running Steamboat Springs in the winter is mighty chilly, but this was pretty cool for our area.
Gots to keep running though.
I have run in much colder and even drier weather. Running Steamboat Springs in the winter is mighty chilly, but this was pretty cool for our area.
Gots to keep running though.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Midnight on the Old Coast Road
Last week Tom Treanor and I rode the Old Coast Road at midnight during the full moon. Not a run per se, but a great outdoor adventure and with the hills involved there indeed was some foot time. Just could not ride the whole way. The second long sustained climb got to us.
What a great and exilarating experience. As we started it was overcast and not nearly as breathtaking as last year, but we got going and rode down into the Bixby Creek Canyon and all the way up. Worked up quite a lather on the ride up, so much so, that I got cold on the long decent. Riding along we notice that we had not needed our headlights. Finally as we crest the first hill the moon starts to break through.
We climb the second hill in the moonlight and both take advantage of the chance to walk the bikes up. Too much work to crank those things up that second hill. As we get to the top I notice there is little wind over the ridge. A nice time and we get to see the stars at the crest.
The ride down starts gently down, and through several redwood groves and switchbacks. We had to take a couple almost on faith as we plunge into darkness of the trees and then pop back out into the moonlight.
We start to get some speed going down and just before we finish a giant yellow shooting stars streaks across the sky!@
"Dude...did you see that...?!?," we exclaim...and finish the ride to a wonderful Blue Moon beer.
What a great and exilarating experience. As we started it was overcast and not nearly as breathtaking as last year, but we got going and rode down into the Bixby Creek Canyon and all the way up. Worked up quite a lather on the ride up, so much so, that I got cold on the long decent. Riding along we notice that we had not needed our headlights. Finally as we crest the first hill the moon starts to break through.
We climb the second hill in the moonlight and both take advantage of the chance to walk the bikes up. Too much work to crank those things up that second hill. As we get to the top I notice there is little wind over the ridge. A nice time and we get to see the stars at the crest.
The ride down starts gently down, and through several redwood groves and switchbacks. We had to take a couple almost on faith as we plunge into darkness of the trees and then pop back out into the moonlight.
We start to get some speed going down and just before we finish a giant yellow shooting stars streaks across the sky!@
"Dude...did you see that...?!?," we exclaim...and finish the ride to a wonderful Blue Moon beer.
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