I have seen postings on this study circulating for a couple of months. This study illustrates how a sedentary lifestyle can impact long term mobility. It contains a series of images comparing the lean muscle mass in the cross section of a human leg between sedentary person and a triathlete. Now on the two year anniversary of leaving the hospital for a severe illness (see previous post), I want to add my own testimonial. ...Read the rest of this post...
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Thursday, March 01, 2012
Tongariro Northern Circuit
Recently, I spent 4 days hiking the Tongariro Northern Circuit Tramp, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks which circles the Ngauruhoe volcano. I split this trek into 4 days, staying 3 nights in the Magatepopo, Ketetahi, and Waihohonu huts which are setup along the way.
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Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Almost Running Again
I have used this blog for the occasional update for recent running or travel stories, but I haven’t had much new stuff I felt made a story worthy of a blog post for a while. Although I have had a few posts catching up on old trips as I get by backlog of pictures processed, there hasn’t been much in the running department worthy of a blog post while recovering from last year’s medical issues. So, perhaps it is time for an update.
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Sunday, November 20, 2011
Organic Coffee Farm in Nicaragua
Two years ago I took a tour of an organic coffee cooperative in highlands of Nicaragua. The Danilo Gonzalas cooperative was named for a teenager from the area who died fighting against the Contras in the 80’s. I reached the cooperative, traveling with by guide Jessica from ¡Un Buen Viaje!, by local bus from Matagalpa to San Ramon, and then 3km hike to the rural community of La Reyna.
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Monday, November 07, 2011
Isla Juan Venado Nature Reserve
During my Nicaragua trip, I visited the coastal Isla Juan Venado Nature Reserve as a day trip from Leon for wildlife viewing. With my guide through Nicaragua, it was a 45 minute local bus ride from Leon to the town of Las Penitas on the coast.
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Saturday, October 08, 2011
Cerro Negro Volcano
The morning two years ago began long before first light when I left leaving hotel in Leon. We made our way about 6 blocks to the office of Quetzal Trekkers by 4:30. There we met up with our two Quetzal guides and two Danish tourists. The six of us discussed briefly the days plan hike the Cerro Negro volcano. Then we packed our lunches and hurried 4 blocks to the bus stop only to wait in the dark 45 minutes for the first bus to arrive. The Leon guides apologized explaining the local bus schedules were not always unpredictable.
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Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks
A couple of years ago I did a trip through the Southwestern USA but never posted pictures from Bryce Canyon or Zion National Parks. After getting some questions from friends planning a Zion traverse, I thought perhaps it is time to get back to this story.
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Monday, August 22, 2011
Bighorn Sheep Near Many Glacier
One of the things I like to do when in places like Glacier National Park is to take a drive near sunset or sunrise to watch for large animals that come out at this time of day, usually away from human activity. However this trip last week I encountered a bunch of Bighorn sheep in a place I was not expecting, in the middle of the day near the most congested road in this part of the park.
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Leon, Nicaragua
I am slowly getting around to organizing/culling photos from prior trips. Almost two years ago I visited Leon, Nicaragua, for a few days as part of a 2 week trip around the Ultramaraton Fuego y Agua event. (The next race, by the way, in February 2012 is open for registration).
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
White Sands National Monument
In April I visited White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. I arrived in the afternoon and went straight to the park after checking into a motel in the town of Alamogordo. It was a windy afternoon. I hiked the first short mile loop trail I came across to get an introduction to the terrain.
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Notable Archived Posts
September 30, 2010
Buenos Aires
I arrived in Buenos Aires last November a few days before the start of a 3 week tour through Patagonia ... Read the rest of this post...
September 09, 2010
Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay
I took a ferry from Buenos Aires for a day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay ... Read the rest of this post...
September 03, 2010
Running Saved My Life
Over the last couple of months I have been in and out of the hospital or else recovering at home following illness that affected my respiratory system. The short summary is I went into the hospital with advanced respiratory distress (ARDS) a few ... Read the rest of this post...
May 06, 2010
Ultramaraton Fuego y Agua Race Report
The 2nd annual Ultramaraton Fuego y Agua (fire and water) was held on Dec 12, 2009 on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua. The island is formed by two volcanoes, Conception and Maderas, joined by an isthmus. The race courses involve climbing one or both ... Read the rest of this post...
The Calzado de Ometepe Kids 5k in Nicaragua was a charity event held in conjunction the Ultramaraton Fuego y Agua allowing the race a way of giving back to the people of the island. This race was for the school children of Ometepe Island to promote fitness and provide shoes for the children.
Last December, I arrived in Managua in the early afternoon after an overnight flight from Buenos Aires via Miami after 3 weeks in South America. 
I have put together a summary of over 40 of my best pictures for this year which can be seen below. 
I traveled to New York to run the marathon a couple of weeks ago. I put myself in the lottery to gain entry early this year before I had decided what I wanted to 
A couple of months ago, and two weeks after the Jemez 50k, I raced in the Hawaii Honu Ironman 70.3 triathlon on the big island. 
Last month I visited Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. The first day’s visit I was with friends and we stopped at several of the overlooks to see the Kilauea Caldera and overlooks of the Kilauea Iki crater, and later I came back on my own for some pictures.
I was expecting Death Valley National Park to be all flat desert and sand dunes, and so I was surprised to find much more variety of terrain throughout the park. There were salt flats below sea level next to 11,000 ft mountains, sand dunes, and hilly regions with interesting desert colors in the rock formations.
Several of us met Thursday to fly via Dallas to Albuquerque for the Jemez 50 mile or 50k Trail runs. I was in the 50k. It turned out to be the worst day to fly.
I visited for a few days in the Davis Mountains of West Texas
My tour of some state and national parks in the western US began with a stopover in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
This picture is from the celebration in D.C. around President Clinton's inauguration in 1993. I was 
I went to Palo Duro Canyon outside of Amarillo, Texas, for a trail run. The canyon, sometimes called the Grand Canyon of Texas is 
Last March (2008), I took a trip to Big Bend National Park. Just me and my camera. It has been awhile since I took a trip focused on photography.
Earlier this year in May, I took a trip to Peru with a several friends I know from the Rogue trail running programs. The trip was excellently run by the tour company IncaRunners. 
The remainder of the trip included a visit to the Everest base camp on the Chinese side, and drive through Nepal to Kathmandu.
As I approach the 1-year anniversary of this trip, it seemed time to come back to finish the report for the second week before the details slip from my mind. 
I visited Los Angeles for a weekend. I saw the Body Worlds exhibit (recommended) and also did the Malibu Creek 25K. The Malibu Creek trail run was in Malibu Creek State Park just outside Los Angeles. The route ran through areas used in the filming of the television show M*A*S*H. The run was organized by 
I completed the Cancun Ironman 70.3 Triathlon. Apparently races of this distance are no longer officially called “Half-Ironman” distance triathlons, but instead are branded as “Ironman 70.3” triathlons. The six of us who were racing
I went to Lake Tahoe for the Tahoe Rim Trail 50k. I tried to save some vacation time by flying out of Austin on Friday evening after work and returning on 
I joined a 2-week tour through China, Tibet, and Nepal. It started out in Beijing, and then took a 2-day train to Lhasa, Tibet. After a few days in Lhasa we traveled for the 2nd week in 4-wheel drive SUV’s across Tibet, visiting 
I went out to Guadelupe Mountains National Park in west Texas for a weekend of long runs across the park with 25 runners from the Rouge Trail running programs or from HCTR. We drove out on Thursday, leaving at 6:30 am and arriving around 3pm. The first night our cook fixed up a meal with choice of grilled salmon or
Report of Shiner G.A.S.P bike ride and Maze 30k
The Austin Marathon this year had a new sponsor and a new course. At the start, I started off slow up the first hill on South Congress. Quite a few people passed me here including the 9:45 group. I paused near the 2 mile marker to remove my throwaway long pants. Then I passed 
The March issue of American Fitness magazine published one of my photographs taken during the 2006 Pikes Peak Marathon.
The KXAN tv station has been using a picture of me running last year's Austin Marathon as a background image for graphics in their coverage of this year's marathon. No doubt a tribute to my awesome athletic performances ;) 
Last week I ran the Bandera 25K trail run. There were also 50K and 100K runs. I drove out to Bandera the day before. I got there just as dinner started. There was a large mess tent that fit a couple of hundred and we had pasta for dinner. 
After 3 weeks of work in Delhi, I had one week of vacation in India. Originally, I had looked into options to visit areas near the base of the Himalayas, but many of the tours had started to shut down in winter. Then I looked into tours through the Kerala backwaters, but I had waited too long and several tour
This is the story of an old trip, posted after someone asked for details. This was a 2-week independent itinerary arranged by Amazon Adventures. The tour operator worked out my transportation between cities, and arranged either for a guide or for me to join a local day tour in each city. 
On July 16, 2006, I ran the Barr Trail Mountain Race in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Twenty-three runners from the Rogue training group in Austin travelled to run the race, and most stayed a few days for additional training runs out of Barr Camp 
On June 17, I ran Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. Grandma’s Marathon was not originally in my race plan for the year. My focus was to be first on the Freescale Austin Marathon, and then on the Pike’s Peak Marathon. But my parents decided to host a family gathering around this race 
In August of 2005, I ran the Pikes Peak Ascent, (13.2 miles) that runs up the face of Pikes Peak mountain. Race Reports:
