Ain’t many things cooler than a van with big tires. (via Flickr)
Big Tire Vans Rules
Category: Adventure
Getting to Fit Seth
Intentionally not posting any “before / after” photos, but I’m sorta stoked on how far I’ve come since I started running in 2016.
Back up. Before my first office job, in 1998, I was pretty trim. I worked at grocery stores in the 90s, and when I wasn’t working I was riding BMX or mountain bikes, or playing basketball, or street hockey.
Then, well… let’s just say that at one point my lunch order was three chalupas from Taco Bell (that’s over 1000 calories). Moved to NYC in 2004 and dropped some weight because I was at least walking around more, running to catch the train, or running between building on campus (I was an A/V tech). Heck, even after leaving NYC on my bike and doing “The Bike Nerd” thing, from about 2010-2012 I was in okay shape, but I still ate like shit.
And you can’t outrun a bad diet.
Then from like 2013-2016 I was just a slug. Lots of processed food, not a lot of activity, and broke as fuck from not being able to find work. I was in a miserable place.
But I started running in 2016, and knocked off about 25lbs in a year or so.
Then did “No Junk June” in 2019 with my roomie, and worked with a nutrionest (Grayson Murphy), and lost another solid 15-20 lbs.
Now, in 2020, I’m about 20 lbs away from my pre-first office job weight.
Most important is I’m eating a lot better. Running and all that is one thing, but to finally be working with a consistent plant-based diet, and still snacking on here and there, that’s the biggest thing. Changing the mindset of food. And straight up not buying cookies at the grocery store because I’ll eat the whole damn box in two days.
So much of this is just showing up every day. I run not because it’s “how I’m going to lose weight,” but because it’s something I can control. It gets me away from the computer, into nature, breaking a sweat. I think whatever you can do, to keep things fun, will probably work for you, too. Long hikes, basketball, dancing, roller skating, whatever… you just have to make sure you’re having fun.
My 15 Year Old Flickr Group
Years ago I was super active on Flickr, and I forgot that I started this Bicycle Commuter group back in 2005 – freaking 15 years ago.
I was living in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn at that time, riding down Putnam Ave then North to the Williamsburg, Bridge. God damn, I miss those ride. I miss the city riding, the flow of those streets, the bike lanes, and those bridges.
Morning rides over those bridges. Evening rides. Rainy rides. Night rights. Biking in the city, any city, is fucking magic.
One of the remarkable things about scrolling through these photos on Flickr is the web-first experience. Things on the web seem just slower paced, as opposed to the social network feel on mobile which is focused on speed.
Lately the mobile experience just feels like go, go, go. This is partly because of my day job, and what I do for a living, but I’ve really enjoyed putting the phone down, closing my email, and getting back to checking a few websites that aren’t Google News, or ESPN.
10 Miles on the D&L Trail
Been telling my pal to document more of her journey, and never really taking my own advice. This is from today’s 10 mile journey on the D&L Trail near Palmerton, PA. Sort of uneventful, it’s rails-to-trails after all, but it was a joyous run. Running next to the big hills and the river make running a bit easier.
Meant for this to be an eight mile run, four out, four back, but I looked at my watch and it said 4.25, so I figured what the hell? Let’s go for five out, five back.
I think what made this easier was fueling the night before with three tacos – eggs, fake meat, beans, cheese, lettuce, salsa, corn tortillas. Maybe a few Doritos, too, for good measure. Then a full English-muffin to get the guts rolling in the early morning.
Also about 40 minutes into the run I started eating a KOFFEE – Energy Gel with Coffee Kick from Spring Energy. It’s 210 calories, and COFFEE, so not only does it provide the kick of calories and caffeine, but it tastes so fucking good, which is important in the middle of a longer run.
I’ve been doing eight mile runs lately, as my long runs, and this is the first ten I’ve done in a while. The combination of those tacos, the cooler weather and shade, and these energy gels really worked in my favor.
Video-wise, yeah, need some more b-roll footage. There were some little water falls on the side of the trail that I could have captured, and maybe I could have captured some shots of me running (I guess), but this was still fun to make.
P.S. Thanks Dino for the awesome Nike Trail Running top!
Gravel Bliss Indeed
From Kevin Gilmore.
That View
(source)
Learning to Laugh
Running in the heat is tough. So is biking. The sun just saps my power. Throw in some humidity, and them my heart rate is through the roof.
I used to get mad at this. I’d stop running, reluctantly, and utter some stupid boyish “dammit” or “fuck” which never helped.
Now I just laugh. I’m a privileged white male who can run anywhere, even here in farm country, and I never have to worry about being shot or threatened.
It’s a fucking joke that the worst part of my day is being unable to maintain a faster pace running, or a more powerful ascent up a hill on my bike. I’m covered in sweat, my eyes are stinging, and my chest is heaving… so?
I laugh at this shit now.
It used to be “why aren’t I more fit?” Or wondering if I really “have it,” like I’m some 20 something semi-pro runner. But I’m a dude who works on a computer all day and tries to run 25 miles a week, and spend two hours on the bike.
This is something I stress to my friends that are in their late 30s and 40s who are just starting to run – it’s gonna be years until you’re finishing in the top 50 at your local 5K, or whatever. Just enjoy running with people who are 20 years older than you. Have a laugh, make jokes, encourage others around you. It’s a lot of fun, I promise.
Just enjoy it.
Running 245 Miles in a Week
Hellah Sidibe ran the length of the NYC subway system to help raise money and awareness for the Black men and women who’ve lost their lives at the hands of police; George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Freddie Gray, John Crawford III, Trayvon Martin, and Sandra Bland.
Early Morning Adventure
Above photo by Jesse Keenan
On the day we set the clocks ahead and lose an hour of sleep, I met my friend Jesse at around 6am and hiked to The Pinnacle. We hiked in the dark, but once we made it to the top we were rewarded with such an amazing view.
From there, we ran back to our vehicles. Running the Appalcian Trail is always rough, and it was my first “real” run since tweaking my hip-flexor a week or so ago.
It was cold, and yeah, it’s always nice sleeping in on a Sunday morning. But when adventure calls, you have to answer.
Team then Family
The distance, the scenery, the speed, the desert, racing in the streets… yeah, I love all that. But the people, right? All those people. A team, a family of people from literally all around the globe coming together to work on this one goal, one mission, one project.
To be beat down, exhausted, tired, sore, in pain, along with your teammates, and to get out there and keep moving. That’s what makes a video like this so inspiring to me. Running is such a solo activity, run your own race, sort of deal. But this sort of event, this format, it really gets me going.