September 7, 1987
Running Roundup
THE RITES OF FALL—WINE AND CROSS-COUNTRY
Come Labor Day, the air begins to signal trees that they should get ready to shed. It also signals runners that it’s time for two of their favorite things: wine-grape harvest and cross-country.
There are a number of Bay Area races that masquerade as grape harvest runs. They usually are associated with downtown wine, cheese, and arts-and-crafts festivals. This is not to imply there is anything wrong with these festivals, they just aren’t the real thing.
On Sunday, September 20, you can run the real thing: the Cloverdale Grape 3K or 10K. The course is relatively fast, and (as is becoming more common with local races) you have the option of paying a $10 entry fee if you want a T-shirt and a $5 entry fee if you feel you already have enough race T-shirts. The contact is Clint Kemp at 707-894-4385. The race starts at 8 a.m. at the Citrus Fair Building, and all entrants receive a ticket to the following weekend’s Grape Festival Fair.
If you don’t want to travel that far north, you can wait a week, and on the 27th run the Sonoma Vintage 5K or 10K at Sebastiani Vineyards. Starting time is 8 a.m. and the contacts are Stan or Sandi Augustine at 707-996-1815.
Another autumn diversion is getting back to nature—cross-country running. There’s no purer form of running than to run on trails through the woods. Fleet Feet sponsors the Golden Gate Park Cross-Country Series: three races on September 26 and October 17th and 31st. You can run one or all of them. The distance is four miles, and if you’re lucky, it will rain before one of them. After a good rain, the running experience is heightened by the aroma of eucalyptus and the squish of mud-slicked running shoes. For more information (entry fee is $7 with a T-shirt, $10 with) call 415-921-7188.
If four miles of trail running isn’t enough, how about 18 miles? On Saturday, September 26, the Bolinas Ridge/Wild Boar 18 will begin at 9 a.m. at the Five Brooks Trailhead along Highway 1 in Marin County. The 18-miler runs through the Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Mount Tamalpais State Park. The entry fee is $18, the race benefits trail maintenance along the course, and the number to call is 415-540-7008.
This also is the time of year for my favorite short-course triathlon—the Bass Lake Classic. The race used to be the national championships of the U.S. Triathlon Series, until that season finale was moved to Hilton Head, S.C.
People attending the race at Bass Lake had such a good time at it, and the folks at Bass Lake enjoyed the event so much, that the race survived the USTS pullout. The event, held on an alpine lake in the Sierra, had a family atmosphere . There’s also music, fireworks, and plenty of food. There’s a triathlon, too. The field is limited to 600 individuals and 100 relay teams. Race date is September 19, entry fee is $45. Contact Mark Doris at 209-431-2333 in Fresno.
If quaint and woodsy isn’t your style, there’s always the Bridge-to-Bridge at 9 a.m. on September 27, starting at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. You have the option of the famed 8-mile course or a 5K fun run. Cost is $10 through September 14. The contact is 415-951-7070.
A meeting was held in Napa last month to determine the fate of the Napa Valley Marathon. Considered one of the best marathons in the nation, and certainly one of the most scenic in the world, the race has been wearing down the volunteer directors to the point they are reaching burnout. Sponsors or volunteers call Kay Hall at 707-255-0683.
September 14, 1987
Fitness
EXTRA POUNDS MAY REQUIRE EXTRA EFFORT
It didn’t occur to me until I was coming downhill from an extended backpacking trip that it had been 10 years since I restarted my running program. What brought this to mind was the fact that for a week I’d been carrying an extra 40-45 pounds up and down the eastern Sierra passes.
On the way up Toboose Pass, there was a contrast to be noted: Although I normally work out by running at seven or eight miles per hour, it was taking us more than an hour to cover a mile. OK, so we were also climbing about 1,000 feet per mile.
During our descent, the weight of the pack hugging into my hips and bouncing against the shoulder straps became noticeable. This was partly due to the speed at which we were coming down the mountain pass.
But the realization struck me that a decade before, I had been carrying almost as much extra body weight as the backpack represented. I started running on June 13, 1977, back in Alexandria, Va. I made it around the block twice and spent the rest of the day recovering by a swimming pool.
As I descended through the scree, I imagined how uncomfortable it would be to run while wearing a 40-45-pound backpack. The mental image was not one to be savored.
Those early runs during the summer of 1977 came back with increasing clarity. They weren’t particularly pleasant. Actually, the most pleasant thing about them was the same thing I was anticipating how: a hot shower with lots of soapy lather.
It took considerable time before the runs began to generate enjoyment. What had helped then was that I had run cross-country in college and had some idea of the initial discomfort to expect.
Unfortunately, many overweight people start out on a fitness program with little or no athletic background. This creates two problems:
- Due to ignorance, they do too little to get a positive effect or else they do too much, creating a negative effect.
- Well-meaning friends, who are into fitness, lead them down a path that may not be ideal.
In the first situation, the person has not done enough research on the subject before starting a program, and then under-exercises in order to avoid physical distress. Or, at the other extreme, he goes into it hog-wild and the resulting pain and discomfort are so excruciating that he may never want to sweat again.
September 28, 1987
Fitness
A NEW WRINKLE TO THE SHAPE-UP GAME
I recently had the opportunity to spend a weekend with two friends who are 55 years old. Unlike the stereotypical 55-year-olds of my childhood, whom we were taught to respect because of their advanced age, it is easier to respect my 55-year-old friends for all the “wrong” reasons.
From the perspective of childhood, everyone who graduated high school was an adult, and anyone who was married and had children was middle-aged. Anyone who had grandchildren was old and deserved to be respected because they had achieved that ripe old age successfully.
One’s perspectives change radically during college. Then, my perspective was that I was an adult but still somehow youthful (and therefore full of energy and ideas): anyone over 30 was to be mistrusted, and anyone over 40 was staid, conservative, and misguided. Anyone over 60 was, well, ancient.
It was in college that I realized blind respect for the elderly was a flawed concept—that someone who was pig-headed at 25 was likely to be more pig-headed at 65, and was therefore not deserving of automatic respect.
I harbor great respect for my 55-year-old friends not because they are grandparents (They never even bothered to have children.), and not because they have safely achieved the age of 55, but because they’ve reached the age of 55 and do not believe age entitles them to respect.
They’ve also allocated an hour a day to physical fitness. Because of this commitment to fitness, they tend to forget their ages—until a birthday arrives, which was the occasion of our getting together.
The celebration lasted an entire weekend, with a wine-tasting on Friday night, a 25-mile bicycle ride Saturday afternoon, and an eight-mile hike up and down from the Palisades above Calistoga on Sunday.
When we went out to eat, there were no long discussions about how this or that internal organ was going to pot and how this or that food might aggravate an existing physical problem.
Our time was spent talking about workouts or the past month, planning a triathlon relay team, and wishing for an early snowfall so we could go skiing.
Under the circumstances, it was difficult to work up a reverence for our friends due to their status as the “respectfully aged.” Except for the birthday salutations, age was not of the essence.
It’s odd that some middle-aged people spend all day Saturday washing and polishing the car, then dressing in fine clothes for an evening at a restaurant and a show. These same people, however, will not lift a finger to improve their physical condition.
Better the aches and pains should be positive signs of increasing strength, endurance, and fitness that lead to feeling youthful and strong, then the aches and pains of passive deterioration.