A cold 6 miles (45:09) Cold for CA anyway

The outside thermometer when I left the house at 6:15am said 26 degrees this morning. That is pretty cold for us socalers. I ran six miles and I never felt like I got “warmed-up.” I am not complaining though it could be a lot worse. I am thankful that I was able to run today and that there was no wind. The rest of the country has not been so lucky. I am thankful for every day that I get out for a run. Today I ran an easy 6 miles in 45:09 (avg pace 7:30 pace).

I have been flipping though a book called The Elements of Effort by John Jerome. I think I got it in high school or college but never looked into it very far. It is subtitled “Reflections on the art and science of running.” So it is full of little quips and quotes that are blog worthy. Today I decided to check out the chapter entitled “Winter.”

The author describes the earth being “slightly off kilter” which is the cause for the seasons which “keeps things in constant change.” He goes on to say that this constant change is “what keeps the earth refreshing itself, so it doesn’t stabilize, grow stagnant, and die.”

The chapter finishes with the quote, “Go for a run, change your life.”
Ok that is my inspirational quote for the day.

Funny, I just received the documentary on the Endurance 50 starring Dean Karnazes last week titled Ultramarathon Man and in one of the interviews he also says, “If you stop moving forward you stagnate and you die.” I like the metaphor. His movie will be released nationwide on February 10th (I got it on a pre-order). If you pause the movie at the right spot you can see me on two occasions during marathon #20 Valley of Fire Marathon. The movie is worth a watch, very inspirational.


Clay and Dale are running this weekend at the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach. Clay is running the half marathon and Dale is running the full with a goal of breaking 3:30. They should have great weather with a low of 50 and highs at 75 degrees. My predictions are 1:35 for Clay and 3:24 for Dale. Good luck you guys!

Clay is raising money for Run for Mobility, a group that designed a 50 dollar wheelchair that they take to third world countries. Here is a link to help support this cause. Just type in Clay Patten for the name.

In other news, Palmdale Lancaster had two local runners in the top 10 at the Carlsbad half marathon last weekend. Sergio Reyes was second in 1:04:17 and Justin Patananan was 10th in 1:10:19 (a bad day for him). Both ran in the Olympic Marathon Trials in November 2007.

There was a world record broken last week, the fastest marathon for someone wearing a clown suit. Paul Fernandez, 34, completed the Gloucester Marathon in full costume in 2:50, more than half an hour faster than the previous record. They did not know if he was wearing running shoes or clown shoes. I am guessing the former.

Lastly, I read an interesting article about astronauts and bone density loss while in space. They found anywhere from 0.6-5.0% bone loss per month in space. Over a 6 month space mission that could mean as much as 30% bone density loss! They are required to do 2 hours of exercise per day and have a rehab program when they return to earth, but I don’t know if they can regain that loss. The loss in density puts them at a high risk for fractures, and may affect them more as they age. The next night I caught the beginning of Law and Order and the body recovered at the beginning of the show was found to have a very low bone density for a 30 year old woman. She was later found to be an astronaut!

You are what you do!
Keep moving forward, don't stagnate!