Dale Giesen makes a mean quenelle

Dale Giesen makes a mean quenelle. A quenelle is a beautiful little egg shaped topping of ice cream, sorbet or whipped cream, molded on a spoon and set tenderly on top of desserts.

Dale, a professional cook at Lucca and Roxy, works under the watchful eye of Roxy pastry chef and Team Lucca runner, Kristina Dula. With the two of them producing such luscious desserts, it would make anyone consider taking up running just to be able to eat dessert everyday.

Quenelles are only one of the many things Dale does well. Another is running fast.

Team Lucca training officially began last January and Dale was one of those team runners that got on board with training from the get go.
In turn he has seen his fast times improve in leaps and bounds, his endurance increase to the point where running long distances is enjoyable, and is now, quite simply, the fastest guy on the team.

Following is a recent running interview with Dale

T: How long have you been running?

D: I started running about a year ago at the Alzheimer's aid race, which was my first 5k, as well as the first time I had run more than 3 miles since high school.

T: What is your favorite thing about running?

D: I enjoy running because it gives me a chance to disconnect from everything. I can just concentrate on my breathing and finishing the next mile.

T: Favorite race?

D: My favorite race thus far has been the Buzz Oats No Excuses 5K because it was a nice track and my fastest race yet.

T: Favorite distance?

D: 5K races are my favorite so far because they allow me to track my progress and force me to push harder on the next race. However finishing my first half marathon was an exhilarating experience since it was the farthest I had ever run.

T: Best place to train?

D: For long distance I love to run by the river either starting out in Folsom or at the Howe Bridge; and my shorter runs are almost always at McKinley park.

T: What inspires you to keep running?

D: Pushing myself to run farther and faster keeps me inspired because I always want to set a higher goal for myself.

T: What are some of the things you do to abate the boredom of a long run?

D: I usually don't run with any music so I tend to just get lost in my surroundings.

T: What are your goals and what are you currently training for?

D: I am currently training for the Cowtown half marathon, which I hope to complete in under an hour and a half. My goal by the time I complete it is to not be so sore for the next 3 days as I was on the completion of my first half marathon.

T: What do you enjoy the most about being a part of Team Lucca?

D: I love that Team Lucca got me started running because I had wanted to start long ago, but never found the motivation. It's nice to just be a part of the team dynamic and have people who root for you, that you can root for, and who hold you accountable for your training.

T: If and when you run to music what are two great songs you like to run too?

D: Anything by Regina Spektor or Imogen Heap gets me really pumped up when I exercise. Cyndi Lauper "Into the nightlife" is still one of my very favorite songs to get me through hitting a wall on a run.

Dale will be leading the team on Sunday morning, September 13th for the Sacramento Valley Aids Run/Walk. Come join us for this 8:30 am race starting at the west steps of the Capitol.

Dodging Dalmatians

I had the best week running. Last Wednesday morning on the road by five thirty am for a six mile tempo run with distance coach, Emily Tash and Kaitlin and Pheebs. We watched the sunrise over Sacramento while running up along the C street levy. It was just gorgeous.

Saturday, Kaitlin and I went down to the river to conquer an eight mile long run in staying with our half marathon training agenda. Kaitlin is just an awesome runner. One of those gems that come along every now and then, who take to running heart and soul. Kaitlin led the way and motivated this little old 20 years of running mama to just keep going and going. We both felt like a million bucks afterward.

Monday morning I headed out for a fast two to three mile run, when along came John.

John is a super nice guy in the neighborhood that I see often enough running along with his two Dalmatians. When one of the dogs stopped to do his thing, I said good morning and passed by. Moments later I hear, “Molly’s to your left, Barney’s to your right”. “Now Barneys’ to your right, Molly don’t just stop like that in front of Terri” so we proceeded, dodging Dalmatians while John spoke of his 80 mile running week and me of my 20 miles. Then out of nowhere I find myself, airborne.

What is it with me and my propensity for falling? Sailing parallel to the ground I thought quick enough about the previously broken elbow to twist a leg around and break the fall. Moments later I said goodbye to John and the Dalmatians and hobbled home. Self prognosis -twisted ankle.

So here I sit with a swollen and bruised foot in ice then onto elevation and compression, while I day dream of running again.

I CAN however ride my bike. Last night though was about me and Mother Nature not being on the same page. I thought it didn’t get dark until around nine, she had other plans. I started up the trail at seven o clock for a two hour ride. Rarely do I ride this late so the first thing I noticed was the clouds of bugs. It was like passing through one curtain after the next of little black bugs. I got them in my hair, in my nose, my eyes, my ears and I am certain I swallowed a few. It became too much with the bugs. In order to deal, I came up with a brand new song called, “So many bugs, so little time”. Remind me and I’ll sing it for you sometime. Sorry though it’s not a rap song, more like Ella Fitzgerald.

The first hour flew by though I noticed the sun setting at a rapid pace. I rode until 8:45, the last 20 minutes or so pedaling like a fiend in the dark. I did call Ron to let him know where I was. He was of course, not happy.

When I got home I realized I had on the see thru webby looking bike shorts that you are suppose to wear underneath other cycling shorts, not by themselves. With that I was now so grateful I did ride in the dark. Those shorts along with the elbow pad I wear on my arm and the compression wrap around my ankle brought to mind a song my boys would sing to me when they were little.

It’s to the same music as “Super Freak”

And goes like this - “Super Geek, Super Geek our Mom is super geekeeeee”

Some things never change. Have a great week and keep running!

Coming soon: Information on the very first,
Cowtown Runner’s Smyposium
hosted by Lucca Restaurant, Fleet Feet Sports and New Balance

FEAR: Crashing, Cramps, Snakes, Hypotensive Shock!

I had to laugh today while I was out running thinking of my conversation last night with my sister Katherine, a marathon runner. I listened to Kath tell of driving her team through the Colorado Mountains this past weekend for the 200 mile “Wild West Relay” race from Fort Collins up, up, up to Steamboat Springs.

I asked her what the worst part of it all was. She said well (? friend whose name I forgot) got diarrhea on her segment of the run and had to poop behind a bush and then use leaves as tissue paper.

Both of us were a little mortified.

There are many fear related experiences we have with running, cycling and triathlons.

When we overcome our fears, we expand ourselves to a whole different level of ability.

The fear remains, but our ability to deal, redefines itself.

Last week while out running with Emily, we talked about our experiences with stomach cramps during long runs, half marathons, (mine) marathons (hers). How awful it is and how after those experiences you try everything you can, not to have to go through THAT again.

I told her of my one and only experience (thank God), years ago, of almost losing my cookies at the finish line of a 5k, running faster than I should, trying to out run someone that looked far older than me. (Bad idea, now I know there are zillions of people older than me that can run faster than I can. But hey on the flip side it is the coolest thing when I pass a teenager, which also happens, often enough).

My brother in law, Derek is an endurance runner. Seems like each time I was home last year, Derek was off racing another 50 miler. I was moved to tears watching him finish a 50 mile race up in Tahoe last summer. Derek is an amazing guy and an incredible athlete. This spring he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung which translates to his now having to take a blood thinner. When I asked Katherine how Derek was doing after his scary hospital stay, she told me, if you ask him, he is perfectly fine, he is not going to let this stop him from living his life. Within weeks Derek was back to his long runs. He ran some of the highest elevation miles in the relay race over the Rockies this past weekend.

I have spent so much time with my son Luke at the many triathlons he has done over the years that I can tell within 3 to 5 minutes when he is expected through the swim, when he will be transitioning onto the bike and am always amazingly close in my calculations of when he will cross the finish line. It was the Xterra Championships at Lake Tahoe, several years ago, that I remember Luke making the first lap of the swim in perfect time and then waiting, waiting, panic, panic stricken waiting. Finally Luke came out of the water.

Half way out on the second lap, Luke experienced a cramp and disorientation that almost led to him being pulled out of the water and out of the race. He still managed to finish that race in amazing time.

Last fall when I crashed on my bike, I dealt with two things immediately going on in my head at the same time. Shock, not the fear kind but the “you’re kidding me” kind, while my body, simultaneously and with no regard to my mind, began shutting down, to the point of nearly losing consciousness.

For what seemed like a long time, I sat on the side of the rode with this debate going on in my head - “Don’t be a baby Terri, get up!”, “ You’ve got to get to work” and “Ron is so NOT going to be happy about this” to the “stay awake, breath, stay awake, stay! Stay! Stay!” as my peripheral vision became less and less while the world around me turned a shade of sepia brown and my body felt like everything in it was going to come out at any second.

When I got to the emergency room, I remember a doctor telling me, “Don’t let this worry you but we’re going to have about 30 people in here in about 4 seconds. I remember them cutting off my bike jersey, sticking an IV in, rolling me over to check my spine, doing an ultrasound to check for internal injuries and being asked time and time again if I was hit by a car, (no), could remember crashing ( yes).

And, I was proud to hear this information conveyed to each new medically involved person entering the room, “she was wearing a helmet”.

Big big proponent of bike helmets.

All in all that day was not pleasant. I was back to riding my bike two months before I could ride across that fear laden road again.

Regardless of our many fears from the concrete - bees, snakes, deep water, tight corners, high speeds, to the psychological - “can I do this” “will I really be able to run that far”, “will someone look at me and laugh, thinking what the heck does that lady think she is doing out there” - the way we navigate our fears with sports and racing, says much about how we navigate fear through our lives.

I remember quoting to my son Luke that great FDR line, “there is nothing to fear but fear itself’ - and Luke’s response, “mostly mom that is right, but not always”.

Some preconcieved fear is real, some anticpated fear is necessary. I remember reading an excellent article recently while in Boulder, about a world class mountain bike cyclist in which he said something like - contrary to what people may think about mountain bikers being these crazy fearless maniacs who thoughtlessly ascend from wild elevations at excessive speed in the middle of the night, the reality is, to really do this sport well, one has to have a healthy and intelligent level of fear.

A fear that causes one to really think through and calculate their ability, the drop offs, the speed, the turns, the rocks, nutrition, alertness level, and so on, leading to his final thought of “we do really all want to live”.

Yes live. Live smart and live well. To limit living because of fear is too great of a sacrifice.

The video attached is the swim start of an Iron Man in Tempe, Arizona, that Luke participated in. The last minute is really wild to watch as you can actually see people swimmng on top of eachother. My son Joe shot this and calls this video -

"the human blender"

Love. Flying. Gratitude.

Love. Hundreds of times every year I drive across the Howe Bridge. Each time I do, I look to the river below with longing. The American River parkway is a treasure.

I try hard to exercise my soul in ways of goodness as much as I can, so I begrudgingly think this, knowing that I am being bad in doing so - but, I think it anyway. I am selfish when it comes to that trail. When people think Sacramento is a cowtown and express they have no desire to live here, I am secretly elated. I love the thought of keeping our beautiful, serene, nature laden trail all to ourselves.

Love. When I had both my boys, I considered myself overwhelmingly, lucky. I had what I call, postpartum elation. I would look at them in total awe, amazed they were mine. Luke races now as a pro in the mountain bike world of endurance racing, and is currently training an Iron Man team down south. Joe oversees Lucca and Roxy, is an artist and taught mom to kayak last year. For many reasons, I am still in awe of my boys.

Ten days after Joe's 27th birthday, he and I along with my kind of adopted kid, Cameron, raced as a team along the beautiful gorgeous, even though that day, sweltering, American River Parkway in the 2009 Eppie's Great Race.

Joe did an excellent job as always with the kayak, the coolest part of the race both figuratively and literally.

Cameron, who also celebrated his 23 birthday the night before, ran a good race, though with the combination of the after birthday beer blues and the high humidity, loudly cursed his way through the last mile and for a half hour afterward, or so I heard.

But I am grateful for Cameron. Because he ran, I got to ride.

Also racing that day for Team Lucca, was our really fast team of Dale with the run, Craig on the bike and Jeff in the kayak. Dale is always one of our fastest guys with any race and did the 5.8 mile run in around 38 minutes. Craig rode like the wind on his brand new Trek Madone. Jeff did such a great job with the kayak. It is just a matter of working the transitions and finding each other faster to make this one heck of a great team next year.

Flying: I was beyond happy that I got to ride my bike. Before my birthday last year, I decided to buy myself, for the first time, a present - a beautiful all carbon, light as can be, Cannondale Synapse SL3 road bike. Riding this bike is like flying.

Even though I am now happily back to commuting to work, riding around 100 miles a week, I set out on that Eppie's course with great trepidation.

You see the bike is pretty great, the rider not so. Last fall, the week before Thanksgiving, I crashed, broke my elbow, tore my tricep and didn't ride again for 3 months.

Regardless, I gave it my best shot and while a far cry from Craig's 28 minutes of flying down the trail, my 39 minutes was for me, sheer joy.

Gratitude. I am so thankful that we are lucky enough to live in a place with such a truly lovely bike trail. Thank you Joe for racing with mom. Thanks Dale, Craig, Jeff and Cameron, you guys are all wonderful. Love having you all at the restaurants. Love that you were willing to get up bright and early and come race with me.

More race pictures of Eppie's Great race in photo stream