Details of the trip after the jump if you are interested.

We started out by cutting out of work a bit early on Friday, and driving up. The park is off of I-5, right near Mt. Shasta. But we got off to a late start, and hit some traffic, so we had to make camp with headlamps on.

Saturday was a pretty good day. We got up early and had a 7 mile run. It got warm really quickly up there. That, the hilly course, and the higher elevation made for a pretty difficult run. We got back to camp and cooked up a big fat breakfast (I love car campling). After breakfast we went to check out Lake Siskiyou and do a little swimming. On the way up we actually got to see Mt. Shasta for the first time, and it is impressive. You’re driving up I-5, come around a soft bank, and BAM!, it’s just sitting there in front of you. Swam a bit, went back to camp, showered up, and treated ourselves to a big steak dinner (did I mention I love car camping?). Delicious!

Sunday we hiked up to the Castle Crags. It’s a wild hike, and pretty intense. It’s 3.2 miles out (6.4 round trip), with a 2300 foot elevation gain. We got a sorta early start, and we were glad we did. It was HOT! Low 90’s by lunch time. Anyway, have a look at the photo set to see some of the scenes. As the trail gets closer and closer to the crags, they start to unfold in front of you. Before you know it, you’re amongst them. The final destination is Castle Dome, and it’s pretty sweet. Some people were rock climbing (with and without proper climbing gear). And again, Mt. Shasta pops out all over the place. Nice treat.

We got back to camp just after lunch, and went to take a swim in the Upper Sacramento River. Holy cow was it cold!!! It totally beat the heat, but staying in the water for more than a few minutes was nearly impossible. The water was clear and swift, and very refreshing. After we got back to camp and cleaned up, we made a nice big fire and another big dinner, and went to bed early, totally exhausted.

Hit the road pretty early on Monday, and headed back to SF. Great trip! I’d go up there again for sure.

Here’s a picture of Lil’ Luka (a.k.a. Luquito), in all his 8 lbs., 3 oz., 22 inch glory:

Near as I can tell, being an uncle is about the coolest job of all. I get to spoil the kid, obviously. And when he is old enough, I can tell embarrassing stories about his mom, and generally undermine their parenting efforts ;^)

That’s all I’ve got for now. Cheers!

So the cat is out of the bag. Anne Marie and I are running a MARATHON! Some of you are already aware of this, but the majority I think are not. We wanted to keep it kind of quiet until we were sure we could actually pull it off.

So here we are, into the eight week of Hal Higdon’s novice marathon training program, which is an 18 week program.

Those of you who are quick at calendar math will have placed the run around Thanksgiving. And you’d be right. We are running the Seattle Marathon. It’s Nov. 25, the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. The course is challenging, especially for a first marathon. But our training is trying to take account for the nasty hills around mile 20 :^(

Quick answers to questions you may be having (in no particular order)…

• Yes, we know it’s crazy. But has that ever stopped us before?
• Yes, it may very well be overkill. We have been trying to get into better shape for some time now, and having a program to follow and a goal to achieve has helped enormously. And if you’re gonna have a running goal, why not go all the way!
• Yes, it is very difficult physically. But to be honest, not as bad as I expected. I’m sure I’ll eat my hat on that last comment, but hear me out… It’s hard. It’s really f***ing hard, actually. Last Saturday we ran 12 miles! At one time!!! I usually get agitated when I have to drive that far. It’s tough on the knees and ankles and feet. But the muscles recover and the cardio system adapts, and you get up to run another day. Alas, I fear my joints will never forgive me.
• Yes, it is very difficult mentally. Doing this much running forces you to make life changes. When deciding what you can do on any given night, you have to consider what kind of run(s) you will be doing in the coming days. It’s a consideration in every trip you take, every meal you prepare, and every beverage you consume.
• Yes, I feel great about it. Not only is it the most physically challenging thing I have ever attempted, I am getting noticeably healthier. I feel better about myself, I am sleeping better, and I’m losing a bit of weight. I feel good (cue James Brown).

Anyway, that’s big news. I’ll try to update the blog fairly regularly with progress reports and reflections, for those of you who are interested and/or concerned. We are really excited about this, and hope you will be excited for us and support us in this endeavor.

Anybody out there have any comments or advice for us? Well wishes? General good karma? Comments are open (although I suppose it would help if anybody actually read this blog).

As an added bonus, the back half of this gallery features my goddaughter Natasha hamming it up for camera. She’s pretty damn cute herself

I doubt many of you noticed, but all the photos and links to photos on this site have been down for some time. I switched to a new web hosting service (DreamHost, if you’re interested - they rock!). So I thought I’d revamp the site with a new look and the latest version of WordPress. That all happened a little while back (thanks for noticing ;^)

Now I’ve finally gotten around to getting the photos back online too. I’m trying something new… with the goal of trying to present a more unified user experience with the photo gallery. So please, let me know what you think of it. You can actually access the full resolution images now (click on the ‘Dimensions’ link in the image info), mostly due to the fact that I have a ridiculous amount of disk space and bandwidth with the new hosting. Link to the main photos page is on the sidebar, or you can just get at it right here.

Enjoy, and happy surfing!

If anybody has more photos they would like me to post, or if you have photos posted somewhere, pleasae leave a comment to this entry.