Shamrock Run T-Shirt Review!

Man, I like this one! And don't even get me started with the Beer-Bottle-Opener-Medallion!

First, it's white. White! What's wrong with white? We really need to get more race directors to understand the attraction of the white shirt. It goes with everything. It looks clean. Even when it's not clean, it looks clean. Black shorts, red shoes, yellow shorts, black dress socks...the white shirt goes with all of them.

And what a great, simple, good looking design. Right to the point font with no amateur hour graphic design. Orange and green...just like the old country! Ah the peat! And the sponsors on the back - perfect! Get a couple big money sponsors and stop there. You don't need 46 different company logos on the back of the shirt. Get those people to give more than $20 each already.

The Medallion? Wow. Every race should make their finisher medal into a beer bottle opener. It's the ultimate melding of form and function.

The shirt: A
The medal: A+

Beaver Freezer Is Right Around The Corner!

So if you got in the Freezer, you're pretty much wrapping up your training now. Not really much sense killing yourself at this point. Have a cookie, already. You're wasting away.

And if you didn't get in...hey, sorry, but check the list right down below here - there are lots of Sprint Tris coming up fast now. And you could always volunteer for the Freezer. Volunteering, it's good for your soul!

Let's race!

Unless you're tapering for the Freezer, then...let's rest!

RACES FOR WEEK OF APRIL 12th TO APRIL 18th

April 16th and 17th / Snake River Sprint Triathlon / Lewiston, ID (Friday Night Swim...Saturday Bike and Run! Wha?!)

April 17th / Ekiden Trail 10k / Dexter, OR

April 17th / Strides for Students 5k / Newberg, OR

April 17th / Fit City 5k / Tualatin, OR

April 17th / Earth Day Half-Marathon, 15k, 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

April 17th / Young Life 5k for Kids / Vancouver, WA

April 17th / Wenatchee Marathon, Half-Marathon, and 10k / Wenatchee, WA

April 18th / Albany Sprint Triathlon / Albany, OR

April 18th / Spokane River Run 50k, 25k, 10k, and 5k / Spokane, WA

April 18th / Komen Race for the Cure 5k / Spokane, WA

April 18th / Bridge to Brews 10k and 8k / Portland, OR

April 18th / Spring Fling Sprint Triathlon / Elma, WA

April 18th / WWU Earth Day and Alumni Run 5k / Bellingham, WA

Oakland Marathon Results

Yeah, I know it's a little out of my jurisdiction, but my main man, and cubicle-mate, Manny Balesteri, ran the Oaktown Marathon this morning, so I figured I needed to give a little shout-out: PR BABY!

That's right, Manny ran Oakland in 5:21:27, beating his previous PR, at the Vegas Rock n Roll, by 31 seconds! Now that's pacing yourself!

Congrats Manny!

Oh yeah, here are the results for anyone else you might care about.

Coconut Water - Really?

So apparently, the new Gatorade is...no, not Powerade. No, not Accelerade. No, not Staminade. No, not...um...Antisweatyade.

It's coconut water. Seriously.

The story is that coconut water has the sugars, the carbs, the sodium, the potassium. They say it's got it all!

I'm leery, but if you know me, I'm always leery. But here, I'm actually a little leery of the taste. Hey, if it's nasty, it doesn't really matter how good it is for me - the R's has a picky palate.

So I'll go get some and do a little taste test. For you. Because I care.

Believe me, if it's nasty, you'll hear about it.

Oregon State Beaver T-Shirt - Vote Now!

Hey, head over to VoteForArt.com and help pick out the new Oregon State Football T-shirt! There are over 20 shirts to choose from, but I don't think it's even close - I'm voting for this bad boy right here! Now that's a nice Tee...and the artist isn't too shabby either!

Let's race.

RACES FOR WEEK OF APRIL 5th TO APRIL 11th

April 9th / YMCA Spring Sprint Triathlon / Boise, ID (Friday Night Race!)

April 9th / Twilight 5k / Lewiston, ID (Friday Night Race!)

April 10th / Grizzly Sprint Triathlon / Missoula, MT

April 10th / Pear Blossom Run 10 mile and 5k / Medford, OR

April 10th / Trout Lake Run Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k / Trout Lake, WA

April 10th / Skagit Valley Tulip Run 5 mile and 2 mile / Burlington, WA

April 10th / Go the Distance - Tilikum 10k and 5k / St. Paul, OR

April 10th / Lumberjack Endurance 50 mile and 100k / Port Gamble, WA

April 10th / Rage in the Sage Sprint Duathlon / Benton City, WA

April 10th / Spring Burst 10k and 5k / Tigard, OR

April 11th / Whidbey Island Marathon, Half-Marathon, and 5k / Oak Harbor, WA

April 11th / Seahawks 12k Run at The Landing, plus 5k / Renton, WA

April 11th / Race for the Roses Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

April 11th / Peterson Ridge Rumble 60k and 30k / Sisters, OR

You better be in the pool!

That's right, the Beaver Freezer is two weeks away. Have you been swimming? Have you been spending some quality time with your swimsuit?

Get in there! I know it's only 500 yards, but who's kidding who? You're not ready for the swim...are you?

I've been in the Dixon pool a lot lately, and I haven't seen you.

I'm keep an eye out for you.

RACES FOR WEEK OF MARCH 29th TO APRIL 4th

April 3rd / Spring Classic Sprint Duathlon / Portland, OR

April 3rd / Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon / Corvallis, OR

April 3rd / Hockinson Meadows Park 5k / Brush Prairie, WA

April 3rd / Habitat for Humanity Fun Run 5k / Salem, OR

April 3rd / ORRC Vernonia Half Marathon / Vernonia, OR

April 3rd / Liz Duncan Memorial 10k and 5k / Richland, WA

April 3rd / Easter Marathon, Half Marathon, 10 Mile, 10k, and 5k, plus a Sprint Duathlon! / Rochester, WA

April 4th / Soaring Eagle 50k, 10 mile and 5 mile / Sammamish, WA

Is Running Good for Your Health?

A new report has hit the news stating that running marathons, and other longer distances I would presume, can actually cause hardening of the arteries.

Well...hell.

I just wrote an article on this very topic - heart health - for the new RaceCenter Magazine that will be out in a couple weeks. And so I've been very recently assured that, yes, running is good for me.

Overall. All things considered. Relatively speaking.

But what do you do with news like this? Do you change what you're doing? What if you're training for a marathon...like the R's is doing at this very moment? Do you quit?

What if running truly, utterly, makes you happy? What kind of risks do you take to be happy?

Sometimes there are no easy answers. You've got to make some decisions. Maybe you really consider and ponder the alternatives and the risks and the benefits.

And maybe you don't.

Maybe you just run.

I won't judge you either way.


Thanks for Fitness.com for the picture. Check out their article on heart health right here.

Yikes! I'm behind on the calendar!

Sorry, I don't know what happened! But I think it might be that hour of sleep I lost for daylight savings. Arrggghhhh...I need my extra hour of sleep back!

Let's get right to it!

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF MARCH 22nd TO MARCH 28th

March 25th / Bring in the Spring 5k / Eugene, OR (Night Race!)

March 27th / Tri-State Outfitters Duathlon / Lewiston, ID

March 27th / Shotgun Trail Blast 50k, 25k and 10k / Marcola, OR

March 27th / Birch Bay Road Race 30k, 15k, and 5k / Blaine, WA

March 27th / Lacamas Park 5 mile / Camas, WA

March 27th / Can Do 10k and 5k / Bothell, WA

March 27th / Running of the Fools 10k / Longview, WA

March 27th / Leif to Leif 5k / Seattle, WA

March 27th / Walk and Run with Friends 5k / Lake Forest Park, WA

March 28th / YMCA Indoor Sprint Triathlon / Albany, OR

March 28th / Run for the Cheetah 8k and 5k / Portland, OR

March 28th / Fort Vancouver Run 15k, 10k and 5k / Vancouver, WA

March 28th / NW Trail Runs Redmond Watershed Preserve Marathon, 10 mile, and 5 mile / Redmond, WA


Yes, that's a "fool," and he's running right here.

Shamrock Run Race Report!

Well, that was a hilly mother!

So why didn't anybody tell me the Shamrock Run 15k is just the Portland Triathlon Bike course run backward? Remember...the Portland Tri? Here, let me quote the important line from that post, "Finally, made it to the top and had a super fast, and a bit scary, long curvy downhill." Now remember that the Shamrock Run ran the course backward...yesh.

So anyway, back to the Shamrock Run. The best part of the whole race...I found a free parking spot about four blocks away from the start line. Score!

After watching about 14 waves go for the 5k, and standing freezing in the 35 degree weather, although nice and sunny, and wishing I had stayed in the car for about 20 more minutes, they finally called the 15k runners to the start line.

A few minutes later, we were off. From the start at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, we meandered through the city streets for about a mile before we hit the hill and I belatedly realized where we were running. Crap. I recognized the course from the Portland Tri and knew I had a long uphill staring me in the face.

I'm just not in good enough shape for a long, steady uphill like that. Rolling hills? Maybe. But this was no rolling - this was up and up and up and up.

Then we finally hit the halfway point and it was down, down, down. Ah, I love running downhill. A chance to go past all the people that blew past me on the uphill. And I got past a few. Felt good all the way to the finish...of course, there were no more uphills after the halfway mark.

Fought the same potholes on Naito Parkway that I fought when I rode my bike over them in the Portland Tri...I'm sure the City will fill those in any day now.

Finished up with a 1:25 time - about 10 seconds per mile slower than I was looking for, but with that uphill, I'm not feeling too bad about it.

Cool shirt and useful finisher medal. I'll get some photos and show them both off soon.

Sweet Water of Life!

Well, chlorinated water, of course.

OK, if you're under 40 years old, you might as well quit reading now...I've got nothing to say to you here (actually, I do - "GET OFF MY LAWN!")

If you're over 40, listen up, because this is really for you.

For some reason, when I really got into the marathon training a few months back, I slowly fell off from the swimming and biking and increased the running. After a while, I wasn't swimming at all, biking maybe once a week and running the other four or five days with one or two days off. Yeah, basically I forgot I was an old man.

Mistake.

Now I've got a touchy quad and the quality of my runs seems to have gone downhill lately. I needed something to turn it around...and fast. And I think I found it - yeah, swimming.

The past couple weeks, I've been following up my running days with a nice, long, easy swim. And I'm feeling so much better. I'm feeling stronger, less muscle soreness, more energy. Why did I ever stop? I love the water!

The quad's still a little touchy...can you run a marathon on nothing but swim training?

I may yet find out.

Elevation Profile for Shamrock Run 15k

It's a bell curve. We're going up for the first half...and down for the second half.

Check it out here.

Ah well, hills are good for you.

Right?

Right?


Thanks to Zazzle for the Bell Curve.

Best Running Song for March!

With the Winter Olympics still fresh in our minds, let's revisit one of the more memorable and inspirational advertisements in a long while for this month's song: Nike's Human Chain.

Of course, it's more than just a shill for Nike, it's actually a very cool song called "Ali in the Jungle," by a band called The Hours. And there's no doubting it's one very inspirational tune. Yes, just one short month after I told you to ignore the lyrics...I'm telling you that this song has some awesome lyrics. This one can get you through that last tough mile.

Although I don't understand why Nike didn't give a little shout-out in the ad to Ali - I mean the song is called "Ali in the Jungle." Does Nike really think Rampage compares to Ali? Come on.

Oh, and if you liked the little tune backing up the Apolo Ohno AT&T commercial better, well, here it is: "Intro" from The XX. Hey, I won't deny it, it's a catchy little tune as well.

Yes, you too can be an awesome Winter Olympian...just close your eyes and turn up the iPod!

Past Best Running Songs:
February: Los Fabulosos Cadillacs / "El Matador"
January: White Rabbits / "Percussion Gun"
December: Deftones / "Knife Prty"
November: The Kooks / "Always Where I Need To Be"
October: At the Drive In / "One Armed Scissor"
September: Silversun Pickups / "Lazy Eye"
August: Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros / "Johnny Appleseed"
July: Deathray / "I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh)"
June: Raconteurs / "Salute Your Solution"
May: Tea Party / "Save Me"
April: Bloc Party / "Like Eating Glass"
Ever: The English Beat / "I Confess"

Power-Up Triathlon...SUNDAY!

No joke.

Right after I post about the first triathlon of the year over here, OSU gives me a race-schedule wedgie in the form of the Power-Up Challenge Indoor Triathlon.

Urk!

That hurts. And what's more...you've got to sign up by tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. That's Thursday for those of you without calendars. So head on over to Dixon and sign up for this baby. Hey, I know you're not ready for a Tri, but who is? Look at it as a nice little 60 minute brick workout.

Put That Grande Latte Down....Now!

Nice article in the Corvallis Gazette-Times today (and it's not often I can praise the G-T, so listen up). A little article about a benefit race for Johanna Olson (notice that the G-T misspells her name in the photo caption...did I mention about the G-T?).

Anyway, Johanna is fighting her second battle against brain cancer and needs some help paying the bills. Fighting cancer is never cheap and fighting it for the second time in a few years is very much not cheap.

As you can read in the article, Johanna is not only a former OSU cross country assistant coach, but she's also a two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. I interviewed her for an article for RaceCenter magazine a while back (the same article I interviewed Meghan Arbogast for, and hey, there they are, running together!) and she's not only a great runner, but also a nice, giving, friendly, person. Exactly the kind of person you could give some money to!

So skip your Starbucks and Qdoba for today and put that $20 to good use. Head over to Johanna's site here, and donate for a very good cause.