A World On A String

[waveguide]

i snack for heat not for endurance. too incoherent to remember what they say the good stuff is, maybe K that is in fruit. local lore is heat exhaust = salty food. the fruit works, and the mexican candy industry attests to the efficacy of chili powder i bet if you threw in some cocoa powder too.

the other shit i love out there is peppermints. aromatic, blood circulation. and you can pretend you smell like public transportation in the u.k. (polos and sweat hehe)


conviction not something i value

who could love that old bastard, giving everything away, it's a slap in the face of everything we stand for as opportunistic bloodsucking vampires. stuff i say et c.

 

[Jericho Mile]

Foxtails?

Foxtails?

Another annoying fucking thing. Foxtails. I changed my run today because it would have taken me off trail through massive patches of those things. The other day I ran through a meadow of them...when I exited it..onto a dirt road..I had to stop and pull/wipe out about 200 foxtails on each foot. Stuck in my shoes and in my socks.

True...it's genius of them..as those seeds get spread. Lately I've taken to sitting in the dusk...on a lawn chair tweezing foxtails out of the gear I'm wearing for my next trail session. They have a way of hiding inside the heel of my shoes...or stashed away in the tongue where my foot bends...or in a sock grinding against the ball of an ankle.

Having that pestering pricking of a foxtail..while I'm running can fuck my concentration..

whatever though. I will go out of my way or change my run plan when they are dried and looking to spread....like now...like the last few weeks. Staying on a groomed trail is the best defense.

* The more I get gone....the more I understand how important it is to stayed composed. It may be the most important thing. Chill that mind out..and breathe with the terrain...especially when running in the heat. You have to stay calm in the heat.

I read that when running...only 25% of the calories consumed go towards creating locomotion. The other 75% go to cooling the body. Then factor in running in heat.

Another thing I read is that lighter/smaller runners are better suited for the heat.

just stuff I've read. From my own experience I do know that running in the heat adds a whole different dimension to the game.

* I ran trail then switched to a long section of steep chip seal...then down into technical canyon trail

went 3 miles (up and down) of technical trail to 6 miles (up) of chip seal to 6.5 miles of technical trail (down and up) in 3 hrs 6 min....which was not so bad considering the long steep climb (already thinking about the Chimera) followed by the technical descent

in the upper 80's full sun

consumed 60oz of water...2 gels...2 Medjool dates..3 salt capsules

forget what my watch estimated on calories..but it would have been meaningless...as it doesn't factor in temperature...just GPS stuff

I'd guess my starting weight at 144 pounds and finish weight at 140 dripping away

now figure that was in only 15.5 hard miles.

Must stay calm and composed to thrive. that's it

stretched...fueled...exhausted..going to bed...hitting the trails hard again tomorrow. transcending

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

I wish somebody made foxtail-resistant athletic socks. I've worn ankle gaitors to keep them out. Don't know how they'd fit on running shoes .... but then with light running shoes the top toe fabric just wants to suck those things in. Maybe outer "socks" of light tight weave nylon? But those would make your heels more likely to slip.

 

[Jericho Mile]

I wish somebody made foxtail-resistant athletic socks. I've worn ankle gaitors to keep them out. Don't know how they'd fit on running shoes .... but then with light running shoes the top toe fabric just wants to suck those things in. Maybe outer "socks" of light tight weave nylon? But those would make your heels more likely to slip.

A lot of trail runners wear ankle gaiters. There's a velcro strip on the backs of my shoes for attaching them...but I'm not a gaiter wearer myself. I spent a 1/2 hour last evening tweezing the pair of shoes and socks I'm wearing today. I found foxtails so imbedded in the insides of the shoes that you could barely see them. A little splice or tip would be showing and I'd be able to get a hold of them and pull them out. Couldn't have done it with out the tweezer though.

I'm switching back and forth from the Altra Olympus and the Altra Lone Peak 2.0 shoes. I run for a couple sessions in one pair then switch out to the other pair. Gives my feet different feels and doesn't train them into just one alignment. Running in the 32mm stack height Olympus is like running in foam moon boats...as they allow you to go straight over about any rock outcropping. Running in the Lone Peak 2.0 is more a technical sensation...where you have to pick your footing not as direct.

I run in the same form in both...but my lines are different. It's like surfing or skating different boards. Style is the same...but the lines picked are not.

* My favorite and still my go-to shoe is the Lone Peak 2.0. Altra just came out with the Lone Peak 2.2 so all the retailers will be unloading the 2.0 for 1/2 price here pretty soon. I'm going to stock up. It sucks though if the new model doesn't turn out as good as the previous model because I'll be unable to buy them anymore. I've never had a complaint about the 2.0.....hope the 2.2 is just as good or better. I've seen pictures and they look about the same.

It's not like the old days when they kept a shoe model going for years. Now days..it's common for a model to only be around for 1.5 yrs...before they change them.

Foxtails can't be totally avoided all together....and they do take away some of my runs when they are in season. Just like some runs I avoid during deer season.

 

[Jericho Mile]

i snack for heat not for endurance. too incoherent to remember what they say the good stuff is, maybe K that is in fruit. local lore is heat exhaust = salty food. the fruit works, and the mexican candy industry attests to the efficacy of chili powder i bet if you threw in some cocoa powder too.

the other shit i love out there is peppermints. aromatic, blood circulation. and you can pretend you smell like public transportation in the u.k. (polos and sweat hehe)


conviction not something i value

who could love that old bastard, giving everything away, it's a slap in the face of everything we stand for as opportunistic bloodsucking vampires. stuff i say et c.

Well I figure if you are going to dedicate your lifestyle to a certain pathway....having a bit of conviction in your decision would be appropriate. A little confidence in your conviction may be the only fuel that gets you through the dark times. Now if we are talking legal convictions...I'm with you..not something to value.

* I grow peppermint and spearmint...and shit loads of garlic.

** I eat for the heat as well. Sometimes it is just a matter of what will go down. I regulate electrolytes with the salt capsules (there's also potassium in those...potassium being important) because it's easier for me to keep track of my uptake. Too much or too little will leave you either bloated or depleted. When using liquid forms to gain electrolytes it's harder (for me anyway) to understand exactly how much I'm getting. I don't mix anything into my water.

Salt capsules. Some people believe they are hazardous...but I'll disagree. If you know how to use them and when to use them...they are a perfect way of uploading electrolytes..and regulating them. You have to uptake water when using them. That's very important.

I can generally get gels and Medjool dates down at all times. Other foods either dry my mouth out (making me take in water that I can't afford to use) or just won't go down. Sometimes I can't even get a peanut butter Cliff Bar down. I used to make peanut butter/Medjool date burritos for the trail...but found that deep into a run..I'd be unable to eat the tortilla because it would dry my mouth out.

Nothing stays the same though. I change things up all the time. What works once may not work twice. Evolution/Devolution

 

[waveguide]

after a bowl last night i was thinking about the statements on attachment, but that was last night so you get the halfassed post today

jaina sutras, which i love for being immensely boring (400 pages on how to beg for food).. the jains differentiate the lay as "householders, people not seeking enlightenment in this lifetime" implying preparation for a future lifetime. the jain (conqueror.. those with jain dharma conquer this reality) householder endeavours to reduce their passions.

breasts.. german guy translated it "loathsome fleshy mounds" which seemed a bit strong for the text.. a laugh for those who ponder attachment..

a jain scholar of the early 1900s wrote that being a householder is "more difficult" because of the dedication for others, not for self. you can bandy it about a lot of different ways i suppose. bonds once made, are broken if you break them

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

Foxtails could wreck havoc upon a long race.

 

[unclefishstick]

and some goatheads would stop you in your tracks!

 

[Jericho Mile]

after a bowl last night i was thinking about the statements on attachment, but that was last night so you get the halfassed post today

jaina sutras, which i love for being immensely boring (400 pages on how to beg for food).. the jains differentiate the lay as "householders, people not seeking enlightenment in this lifetime" implying preparation for a future lifetime. the jain (conqueror.. those with jain dharma conquer this reality) householder endeavours to reduce their passions.

breasts.. german guy translated it "loathsome fleshy mounds" which seemed a bit strong for the text.. a laugh for those who ponder attachment..

a jain scholar of the early 1900s wrote that being a householder is "more difficult" because of the dedication for others, not for self. you can bandy it about a lot of different ways i suppose. bonds once made, are broken if you break them

Briefly looked at Jainism once..when you had mentioned it way back in some other Toker Den nightmare thread..but I haven't really looked at it...under light

my thing is not to get hung up in much of anything...believing that if I can follow my inner gut feeling..lessen the mind's voices..stay in true form and not fear pain... then existence should be fun.

The trail running...going long distances has become symbolic of the proving grounds. I didn't just decide to start running trails...something showed me to do it. I believe that. There is method and there is purpose...I don't know if it's sound. I know that I'm learning how to meditate in depletion..in exhaustion...and in pain. It's become ritual.

i seek pure influence....like the one that lead me to the trails. it's out there..i catch glimpses...that peripheral shadow i speak about. i've been out there for years now...but it doesn't feel like it.

 

[Jericho Mile]

Small Block Gardening

Small Block Gardening

I don't know if you dudes remember me saying that I'd...made a switch..and went from flowering in 5 gal smarties to 1.7 gal plastic squares? I don't really like growing bigger plants in my studio...especially when I'm flowering new expressions and a have back log of vegging plants. My studio is more designed for smaller plants..and perhaps...being crammed.



^ harvested a couple Queen Moxie...day 58 like always. Flush from day 48-58. As I've shown many times...I've pushed to 80 days..and took many at 65-70....but it gets me nothing. I like her right at 58. My favorite plant...my favorite hash..all time...forever keep

The more I grow this clone..the more I see. I watch her expression change with different environmental factors. I see Flo more at some times than at others...but I believe that she helped with that 58 day harvest. Aroma wise she's always the same...skunk, plastic, baby shit, bit of floral maybe..something there. Always potent and flavorful....best running herb



^ This is Early Mox Trilogy #3. She is on day 39 and I'll go ahead and claim her father was a Purple Bastard Haze f2. For some reason I didn't clone this one. That's ok though...I have a good chance at finding another one. I don't want any long flowering Haze expressions anyway. This girl looks like she might be looking at 70 days...and I hope not beyond. I can smell that berry/cherry sweetness on her...awesome aroma...and I'm sure she's going to be really fine smoke (hash)...but yeah that aroma comes from the Purple Bastard Haze line. so to refresh:

Easy Mox Trilogy = Mox Mox (Easy expression) X Blended Pollens

Mox Mox = Chem DD X TFlux

TFlux = Original Flo X Chem DD

The Blended Pollens :

Purple Bastard Haze f2

Triesel

Casey Jones f2

crazy shit around here...firing through expressions..riding the summer wave of heat...following along as it were

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Slept good...but I'm feeling beat up. I chafed the fuck out of both my arm pits yesterday. rubbed raw.

everything is tired. some of it is sore.

I picture in my head sometimes when I'm running that

...my body is just like flying a sensitive craft. I picture the gages...the controls..the throttles and brakes...the hums and glows..listening to and watching everything at once..feeling for the delicate balance of the..sweet spot..between the internal journey and the external realities.

 

[Jericho Mile]

and some goatheads would stop you in your tracks!

Goatheads. Ahhhh...those motherfuckers. Yeah they can end your day....or pop a tire. Those things are all over...as well.

 

[Payaso]

Nice pics, thanks!!!

How are your shoes? Melted yet???

Be well and stay hydrated!

 

[Jericho Mile]

think my head is

 

[Jericho Mile]

The world keeps turning

The world keeps turning

Got an e-mail from the wife. Lucy's Fur Coat (local SD band from back in the 90's) is getting together for 2 shows at the Casbah...a Friday /Saturday thing...she got us tickets for the Saturday night show Aug 1st.....fuck yes. Social Media saves the day...as those tickets should sell out fast. I didn't even know they were thinking of playing. Great band...should have been huge...but glad they were not.

Jaundice was coined off a Lucy Fur Coat album and Easy (from Easy Mox) was given her name after one of their songs...

been about 5 yrs since they last got together...I think. I know I was at one of those shows. The Casbah with Lucy playing...goes off. I've never been disappointed by any of the shows. I'll come off the hill for that

 

[Jericho Mile]

Tomato Towers

Tomato Towers

All my tomato (home bred) plants are in place. Used 5 and 8' redwood stakes to build some towers around them...then pruned and started tying the plants down and in...as I want to be able to control their height...as well as...be giving them the best shots at sunlight..the whole aspect thing..and how the sun moves across the sky..comes to play out.



^ two different locations and elevations...same home bred plants..getting ready to blast off. In my vision...I already see how it will be in a couple months...not imagining that I'll be seeing much of the stakes. They should look like massive shrubs by the end....weighing down the structure.

Like always...I prune and keep tying throughout the season. Plants should stand at 6-8' high...and 5-7' wide.

* each tower has 4 clumps of 3. So a total of 12 individual plants per tower. I treat each clump as a single plant...but in reality...they are 3. I'll let all that cross pollinate then select seeds from favorite fruits.

** calculating: Just in these two spots I have 36 tomato plants. I have a few other spots going..but they are just extras...and not being geared for size and production. Even those spots should do well though.

*** all my tomato plants this year are my home bred plants. I am growing 2 Black Cherry tomato plants for my wife..but even those seeds are home made.

**** My entire summer garden is from seed. I didn't cheat anything. Started germinating seeds indoors back in April. It's a long journey.

 

[Jericho Mile]

Easy Mox Trilogy #'s 1,2,3

Easy Mox Trilogy #'s 1,2,3



^ Easy Mox #1 on day 51. This expression didn't stretch much..but was the fastest grower in veg. Had to elevate her on a bucket to keep her in the prime light spray...now though..as I flush her..

..I just place her in the veg studio (under 400's MH)...putting her back in the flower studio for the dark period. So...she's given up her space..and should harvest within the week. Nothing impressive (thankfully a fast finisher)...didn't keep a clone. She smells like a rotten fruit...I can't really tell which father created her. I'd speculate that she is more dominant to the mother side...but not the best version of her genetics. A throw away



^ #3 (left/forefront) I showed the other day. Purple Bastard Haze leaner...now in her 40's..fattening up each and every session..reeking like the berry/cherry funk. Can't help but like her.

#2 (right/background)...is 6 days behind #3...so in her early 40's or late 30's (I don't remember her label date offhand). She looks like she will be a Purple Bastard Haze leaner as well...though I'm not as confident on my call as I am with the #3. This girl attracted me in veg...so I do have a clone of her. She's really starting to turn on now...pushing herself out to race #3. It's a beautiful thing you know?....watching your creations battle it out for dominance.

Especially the sativa dominants...it's like watching race horses hit their strides...watching their hearts thrust them forth...shine time.

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I'm going through some confident issues with my running abilities...down on myself for not being further along than I am. Been watching ultra documentaries and reading blogs/articles..as a way of relating to the high and low experiences of the lifestyle. Emotionally I'm finding myself on this roller coaster. I get mad at myself...question my toughness and why I'm not able to push beyond this wall I'm coming up against.

fucking my head up on it. my time spent against it...not enough to will myself through.

* Hill repeat variation. I've been starting and ending my runs on a short paved hill section....running up and down it backwards. You want to feel how your legs work? Do hill repeats....then do them backwards. Backwards up and backwards down...and keep doing them until your legs twitch or go beyond gassed

Part of the mind fuck is about the weakness in my hips. I'm obsessed with getting my hips to be not human. I struggle to keep in the harder forms...to find the needed strength to gain vast amounts of leverage...up and down mountains...for as long as I must go. I can't handle weakening in the distances...it's a fuck show in my head...in my dreams..

I don't accept the wall I've come to. I've not become enlightened in it...I'm fighting it....it is a war of attrition. More now..I find that I'm not in a state of peace...nor do I feel like I want to be. I'm running to fight and that mind set has a whole different set of bills to pay.

I feel like I've been expanded and see things in a more well rounded sense. I'm in no denial of war or peace....accept both...neither being on a higher plain than the other. Recognition of this may be the explosion needed to get through this wall. The days are long.

** I want to race the Angeles Crest 100M next summer. I've got these fall races..and I'll race in the winter/spring...do all those races I did this year again...then go into the Crest race with the experience. That's how I'm seeing it now. The crazy train

*** My wife is becoming more and more supportive of this blind questing on the trails...the training and the races. If she were not supportive...it would be very difficult for me to be able to spend the time and effort it takes to quest. It's not always a healthy thing...and it's nice to have another set of trusted eyes to help keep me pure.

 

[unclefishstick]

sound like you need something like the everest challenge i did last month....talk about having some serious doubts about finishing...i about broke myself the first week and had to make a plan of attack to get through it without blowing out my knees,and there were days when i just didnt want to get on the bloody bike again just to go and suffer....but i got through it....i feel much stronger,much calmer on the hills,much more able to get in the zone and just grind those long climbs out...
but really the most important thing is it got me out of my comfort zone,broke up those routines that were holding me back....i was feeling the same thing,stuck at one level and not able to make the leap to the next...and now that i have made that leap i find im less interested in the racing side of things and feeling more like just going out and seeing new places,or just puttering around with no real goal in mind,just riding because i love to ride,not break strava records...

 

[Jericho Mile]

sound like you need something like the everest challenge i did last month....talk about having some serious doubts about finishing...i about broke myself the first week and had to make a plan of attack to get through it without blowing out my knees,and there were days when i just didnt want to get on the bloody bike again just to go and suffer....but i got through it....i feel much stronger,much calmer on the hills,much more able to get in the zone and just grind those long climbs out...
but really the most important thing is it got me out of my comfort zone,broke up those routines that were holding me back....i was feeling the same thing,stuck at one level and not able to make the leap to the next...and now that i have made that leap i find im less interested in the racing side of things and feeling more like just going out and seeing new places,or just puttering around with no real goal in mind,just riding because i love to ride,not break strava records...

I could have gone on a group run this morning...and another tomorrow morning....people training on the Noble Canyon 50K course...but I don't feel like training with anyone or really..talking to any of the club members. I'll run with my wife...but other than her...I'm training by myself.

I'm training well...running well. I ran hill repeats on a couple different hills on this day..in between..practiced a rolling pace over the flatter stuff...also ran a little under a mile on a slightly rolling piece of pavement..just before hitting a short..but steep couple of miles on a rough trail. around 9 miles of hard work. Hill repeats....man..those are part of this current wall I'm...

working through.

Sometimes it helps me to stay mad. I'm not feeling like a cool breeze this summer. Going to keep going in this direction for a while....up down up down up down...backward...forward..

maybe best to become an aggressive athlete to get me in the shape I need to be in. It's a matter of time before I breakthrough this wall. I don't believe this is the wall that will take me down.

still have months before the next race (Sept 19th)..so it's time to build new forms

 

[Jericho Mile]

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Butchering myself on the hills. Ran 11something during the heat of the day....up down up down...running a 2.25 mile section of chip seal road (the only road I actually train on. it's a beautiful 10 mile black snake that is the back way up the mountain..single lane...steep winder) and some hilly trail that is part of a couple race courses...

Exposed chip seal. Man...that gets hot. Heat radiates off the surface and up to my face. I worked that hill...worked worked worked..while the deer flies kept biting at me..buzzing me through their territories..with me at their mercy..because I couldn't outrun them going up...sadistic fuckers. This road though...

I like using it for working on different hill forms. I can get really crazy on it...butchering up legs and hips. The sun dance..the dicing up

 

[unclefishstick]

i have a 6100 foot day coming up....but i plan on taking it slow and not trying to crush the climbs,i will get my style points from doing it on a fat bike...gonna be a long day,two category 2 hills and 3 category 3 hills...gonna be a 3 banana and pb&j sammich kind of day...been on a couple of good little rides lately,all the climbing last month is paying off in the dirt now,getting up much longer and steeper climbs now....not very quickly,but then i am talking about lugging 37 pounds of steel and 5 inch tires up these things...