Last Chance for Triathlon!

OK, maybe not last, last chance, but it's getting close. The summer is getting late and school is a comin'! And that means triathlons, Northwest style, are not long for this world.

But they're well-represented this week, so get out there and do a tri while you still can!

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 15th TO AUGUST 21st

August 18th / Deschutes Brewery Twilight 5k / Bend, OR (Thursday Night Race!)

August 19th / Aquaman Sprint Duathlon / Richland, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 19th / Silvan Ridge Twilight 5k / Eugene, OR (Friday Night Race!)

August 20th / Run for the Fallen 5k / Portland, OR

August 20th / Sherwood Family Sprint Triathlon / Sherwood, OR

August 20th / Summit Ridge Trail Run 50k, 20m, 10m and 5m / Black Diamond, WA

August 20th / Friday Harbor 8.8k Loop Run / Friday Harbor, WA

August 20th / Finish Strong Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Monroe, WA

August 20th / Lise and Faith Memorial 10k and 5k / Puyallup, WA

August 20th / Beaver Lake Sprint Triathlon / Sammamish, WA

August 20th / A Step Ahead 10k and 5k / Eugene, OR

August 20th / Where's Waldo 100k / Willamette Pass, OR

August 21st / Salmon Creek Sunset Run 12k and 6k / Vancouver, WA

August 21st / Run Girl Run Half Marathon and 5k / Ridgefield, WA

August 21st / Kelly Butte Classic 8k and 5k / Springfield, OR

August 21st / City of Portland Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Portland, OR

August 21st / Whitefish Lake Sprint Triathlon / Whitefish, MT

Aloha Day Twelve

Aloha Day Eleven

Badwater...Really?

There are races, and then there are races.

Badwater would be in the second category.

While I have absolutely no doubt that Oswaldo Lopez is one of the most badass athletes on the planet (with his Badwater 2011 winning time of 23:41:40), I just have a hard time relating to a race like this. At all.

I don't really understand it. I mean, is this really a race at all? Or is it just a test of who can stand the most pain?

I mean, I'm impressed by the folks that finish these kinds of races...or even start them for that matter, but...

I can't even picture myself running Badwater. Not only that, I can't even picture myself wanting to run Badwater. And there aren't many races I could say that about. I mean, an Ironman would be brutal, painful, horrible, and long, but I could see myself trying it. And I can see myself actually having fun during certain sections of the course.

But these 100+ milers, in the heat, in the desert, through the mountains...I just don't know.

Again, I'm impressed, but it's not for me.

Aloha Day Nine

Aloha Day Eight

Dog Days of Racing

Yeah, it's hot out there. Just remember, we pray for this weather nine months out of the year. So grab a water bottle and go run a hot race.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 8th TO AUGUST 14th

August 12th / CATnip Friday 5k / Sherwood, OR (Friday Night Race!)

August 12th / Auburn Good Ol' Days 5k / Auburn, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 13th / R.A.T. Race Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon, 10k and 5k / Redmond, WA

August 13th / Coeur d'Alene Olympic Triathlon and Duathlon / Coeur d'Alene, ID

August 13th / Emmett's Most Excellent Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Emmett, ID

August 13th / Tri for Life Sprint Triathlon / Albany, OR

August 13th / XTERRA Portland Off Road Sprint Triathlon / Portland, OR

August 13th / March of Dimes-Farmers Charity 5k / Hillsboro, OR

August 13th / Scandia Run 10k / Junction City, OR

August 13th / Pineapple Classic 5k / Portland, OR

August 13th / Running Is For the Birds 10k and 5k / Sunriver, OR

August 13th / Crawfish Crawl 5k / Tualatin, OR

August 13th / Stilly Fun Run 5k / Arlington, WA

August 13th / Vasque Cougar Mountain Trail Run 13m / Issaquah, WA

August 13th / Foster Kids 5k / Redmond, WA

August 13th / Goldfish Gallop 5k / Tacoma, WA

August 13th / Mid Valley Mentors Run 10k and 5k / Salem, OR

August 13th / Heritage Days 10k / Washougal, WA

August 13th / Pasta Dash 10k and 5k / Olympia, WA

August 13th / Loggers Jubilee 10k / Morton, WA

August 13th / Crater Lake Rim Runs Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k / Crater Lake, OR

August 13th / Run for the Light 5m / Westport, WA

August 13th / Breathe Deep Seattle 5k / Seattle, WA

August 13th / Beast of Big Creek Trail 10k / Hoodsport, WA

August 13th / Major McClung Memorial Run 10k and 5k / Oak Harbor, WA

August 14th / Transcendence Ultra 12 Hour Run / Olympia, WA

August 14th / Harvest Thunder Sprint Triathlon and 5k / Great Falls, MT

August 14th / Tillamook Burn Adventure Run / Pacific City, OR

August 14th / Port Gamble Half Marathon / Port Gamble, WA

August 14th / Garlic Grunge 5k / North Plains, OR

Just so you know, when you enter in "hot race" in Google Images, you get a whole lot of NSFW images. The photo above was about 200 images down the list.

Aloha Day Six

Slow Motion Brick Workout

Under the heading of "Don't Worry About How You Do It, Just Do It," I've realized that I'm actually putting in full triathlon brick workouts about every other day...I'm just doing it very slowly.

So, on days when it's not pouring rain, which is horribly rare so far this year, I've been trying to bike to work. Let's call that part one of the Brick Workout. Sort of short, only about 3 miles, but we'll tack on another later.

Then, during my lunch hour, I hit the pool at Dixon. I usually put in 1600 yards. Olympic Tri Distance? Close enough.

After work, back to Dixon and on the treadmill. Especially if the pollen count is scary high, which it often is during the summer. Usually do something between 5-6 miles.

Finally, bike back home, which is another three miles.

So, the full day, spread out, Brick Workout adds up like this:

Swim: 1600 Yards
Bike: 6.0 Miles
Run: 5.0 Miles

That's a decent sprint tri right there!

And taking a couple of hours between each leg of the workout to actually, you know, work, means my old, decrepit body actually can survive doing it day after day.

Every workout's a good workout!

Aloha Day Four

Aloha Day Three

My Own Rift Valley Run

I don't imagine I'll ever actually run in the Rift Valley, so I did my long run in the next best place: the R's Family Reunion at Manastash Canyon!

Sure, it doesn't have quite the same elevation, but for someone who lives at sea level in the very flat city of Corvallis, Manastash Canyon, just outside of Ellensburg, WA, is a whole different kind of run. With the whole run taking place at more than 2000 feet, my lungs were feeling it just a bit. And of course, I managed to head downhill for the first four miles.

You know how you're running along, thinking, "man, I feel good - I could run forever," then you turn around? And feel like you're going to die for the next five miles?


Yeah, that was my Manastash Canyon run to a T.

Bring on the Kenyans!

Aloha Day One

Rev3 Portland Recap

Nice video recap of the recent Rev3 Portland Half-Iron race from Slowtwitch.com.

Check it out here.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 1st TO AUGUST 7th

August 4th / YMCA Y-Not Sprint Triathlon / Boise, ID (Thursday Night Race!)

August 5th / Grizzly 10k and 5k / Choteau, MT

August 6th / Greater Portland Half Marathon and 5k / Forest Grove, OR

August 6th / Homer's Classic 8k / Silverton, OR

August 6th / Cascades Edge Olympic and Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon / Enumclaw, WA

August 6th / XC12k Trail Race / Boise, ID

August 6th / Mt. Ashland Hill Climb 13.3 Trail Run / Ashland, OR

August 6th / Empowerment Day 10k and 5k / Gladstone, OR

August 6th / Catherine Creek Classic Half Marathon and 5k / Union, OR

August 6th / Grand Ridge 50k, Half Marathon and 5m Trail Run / Issaquah, WA

August 6th / Whidbey Island Sprint Triathlon / Langley, WA

August 6th / Riley Run 10k and 5k / Mount Vernon, WA

August 6th / Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon / Tacoma, WA

August 6th / Race for the Homeless 10k and 5k / Vancouver, WA

August 6th / Wild Idaho 50m and 50k Trail Runs / Crouch, ID

August 6th / Steen's Rim Run Trail 10k / French Glen, OR

August 6th / Circle the Bay 30k / North Bend, OR

August 6th / Grizzly Marathon and Half Marathon / Choteau, MT

August 6th / Butte Falls 5k / Butte Falls, OR

August 7th / Heart of the Sound Sprint Triathlon / Vashon Island, WA

August 7th / Summer Madness Half Marathon, 10m, 10k and 5k / Elma, WA

August 7th / Summer Madness Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon / Elma, WA

August 7th / XTERRA Black Diamond Off-Road Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Black Diamond, WA

August 7th / Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon, Half Marathon and 7m / Bend, OR

Image of the Rev3 Portland Course from Jesse Thomas' blog - he finished fourth! Nice work from the Oregon boy!

My First 5k Win!

Of course, I ran it by myself...

Check out the whole story here in the Corvallis Gazette Times.

So OK, I didn't officially win the Out to the Ballgame 5k, but I did set a new 2011 5k PR of 24:07. Let me tell you, it's sort of nice to have a pacer on a bike out in front of you for the entire course. Thanks Gerhard!

Oh and the photo. Note Carson in the background. The kids ran the warning track and 3rd baseline home with me after I got to Goss stadium. She was getting a bit tired at that point, but nice effort while holding a stuffed buffalo! Payton, of course, had no trouble keeping up with me even though he was in flip flops.

Thanks to Aaron Yost for the nice article and Ethan Erickson for the photo.

Summerfest Rock and Soul Crash Lands

Bad story out of Milwaukee from last weekend. The Summerfest Rock n' Soul Half Marathon and 10k started in high temps and ended with runners collapsing from the heat and reported lack of water on the course. Check the story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel right here.

Hey, it's summer time now. It's going to get hot. And to me, it sounds like there's plenty of blame to spread around in this one. First, the organizers just have to be prepared. No excuses. It's July - there's absolutely no reason to not have enough water on a Half Marathon course. Some runners are spending between two and three hours running in the heat. You've got to have enough water.

But the runners don't get a free ride here. If you're running on an extremely hot day, no shade and you hit a water stop or two that are out of water, do you just keep running? It's just a race. There's another one next week. You don't risk dying from heat stroke just so you can say you finished a Half.

Everybody has to be responsible in a situation like this. I have no doubt the race organizers will learn from this, but I hope some of the runners look at themselves and ask if they should have done something different as well.

Be smart out there.


Photo by Mike De Sisti

How Fast Can a Human Run?

Yeah, I know we've talked about this before, like right here, but this is an interesting article all the same.

Chuck Klosterman, over at ESPN.com, spends a little time thinking about the top-end limit on human speed. As I said, frankly, the sprinting stuff has been said before, and I don't find the 100m all that exciting anyway, but I like his point about sprinting vs. long distance running. That said, I'm not sure what Christopher McDougall is talking about with the hype around sprinting being "sexist." What? Because men are faster than women in sprinting? Well, they're faster at the marathon too - I don't see it.

Anyway, nice to read any kind of running article at ESPN. That's pretty rare.

Yeah, the photo: enter "fastest human" into Google images and the first 7 photos are of Usain Bolt. The eighth photo is this guy. Yeah, he looks fast.

Run Faster in One Easy Step!

If you're looking to run faster, I recommend the Pacific Gopher Snake (helpfully pictured above).

I was coming down the back side of Bald Hill on Sunday and started to jump over what I thought was a rubber water diverter, of which many are placed along the trails in Bald Hill to keep the rain from washing out the trail. Well, I thought it was a rubber diverter until it started to move across the trail. That was when my foot was about two inches above it and, almost against the laws of physics, it turns out you can actually jump straight up in the air even when running down a hill at a 7:00 pace. Who knew, right?

So if you're looking for something to move you right along on your next long weekend run, I'm going to say "four foot long Pacific Gopher Snake."

Yep, that'll do it.

Josh, quit not breaking world records...

Just an awesome new series of spots from K Swiss featuring Kenny Powers, and in the latest episode, superstar 50k record holder Josh Cox.

Check it out here.

"Josh, quit not breaking world records."

Awesome, just awesome.

Out to the Ballgame 5k - Hawaii Satellite Race

And for the 17th race on the EPIC 2011 schedule, we're going to be running the roads of Maui.

Well, I am anyway.

The unfortunate souls running the actual race, the Out to the Ballgame 5k to be exact, will indeed be running in Corvallis.

But I'll be on vacation. In Maui. Just wanted to mention that again.

But with luck, I'll have my race number and race shirt before the fact and I'll hit the Hawaiian roads exactly at 5:00pm on the 27th for a 5k. Satellite style.

I'm predicting a EPIC 2011 5k PR.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 25th TO JULY 31st

July 27th / Out to the Ballgame 5k / Corvallis, OR (Wednesday Night Race!)

July 30th / Bozeman Tritons Triathlon, Long Course and Sprint / Bozeman, MT

July 30th / Mt. Hood Pacific Crest Trail Ultra 50m / Timothy Lake, OR

July 30th / Bowerman AC 5k / Beaverton, OR

July 30th / Hardesty Hard Core 14.4m and Forest Five 5.5m / Oakridge, OR

July 30th / Olalla Lake Off-Road Sprint Triathlon / Newport, OR

July 30th / Mt. Tabor Doggie Challenge 8k and 5k / Portland, OR

July 30th / Liberty House Family Fun Run 10k and 5k / Salem, OR

July 30th / Anacortes Art Dash 10k and 5k / Anacortes, WA

July 30th / Ellensburg Sprint Triathlon / Ellensburg, WA

July 30th / Wildwood Trail Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k / Portland, OR

July 30th / Federal Escape Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Federal Way, WA

July 30th / Old Settlers 5k / Ferndale, WA

July 30th / Centennial of Naval Aviation Flightline 5k / Oak Harbor, WA

July 30th / Arc in Motion 10k and 5k / Vancouver, WA

July 30th / Seafair Torchlight Run 8k and 5k / Seattle, WA

July 30th / Run4Us 10k and 5k / Lakewood, WA

July 30th / Whale of a Run 4m / Silverdale, WA

July 30th / White River Trail Run 50m / Crystal Mountain, WA

July 31st / Dusty Toes Trail Half Marathon / Gig Harbor, WA

July 31st / Original Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / Loon Lake, WA

July 31st / Whisky Dick Olympic Triathlon and 10k Run / Ellensburg, WA

July 31st / Let'er Tri Let'er Du Olympic and Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon / Pendleton, OR

July 31st / Great NW Mountain Run Trail 12k / Mt. Hood, OR

July 31st / Mid-Summer Triathlon and Duathlon, Olympic and Sprint / Fairview, OR

Chris Horner Takes a Tumble!

Crap! Chris Horner, our own Tour de France homeboy from Bend, gets into one of the bad crashes today, and goes from 13th place to 119th!

That's not right...

Best Running Song for July!

Jumping into the Wayback Machine for this month's pick...and we're going way, way back.

Back to when I was in 8th grade! Now that's going back, back, back...and it's over the wall!

So the year is 1980 and a new band arrives on the scene that's a bizarre mix of England and Akron, Ohio. That's right, it's the Pretenders. In my opinion, you've got the best female vocalist of all time and, in this early line-up, an absolutely top drawer backing band coming together to make some of the best punk rock of all-time. And yes, although people these days would shove the Pretenders into "classic" rock, they were on the other side of the punk line back then, similar to the early albums from the Clash.

So the first two Pretenders albums had a lot to choose from, but how can you not want to run to "Tattooed Love Boys"? What a great, fast-burner of a song. Over 30 years old and it sounds fresher than 99% of the stuff you hear on the radio today.

This one is a 5k song for sure. You'll kill yourself if you try to keep pace to this on anything over 5k.

Try the album version first.

Then taste this awesome live track.

Also, "Precious" is a great running song. Check out the album version here.

And a nice live version here.

Rest in Peace James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon. They never did it better than you guys did it.

Past Best Running Songs:
June: The Wombats / "Moving to New York"
May: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros / "40 Day Dream"
April: Foxy Shazam / "Unstoppable"
March: Pharrell / "Fun Fun Fun"
February: Puff Daddy / "Come With Me"
January: We Are Scientists / "The Great Escape"
December: Cee Lo Green / "F**k You"
November: Tokyo Police Club / "Breakneck Speed"
October: Two Door Cinema Club / "Something Good Can Work"
September: Stone Temple Pilots / "Cinnamon"
August: Louis XIV / "Guilt by Association"
July: Devo / "Fresh"
June: Saliva / "Your Disease"
May: Metric / "Gold Guns Girls"
April: OK Go / "This Too Shall Pass"
March: The Hours / "Ali In The Jungle"
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"

Red, White and Blue Riverfront Festival 5k Race Review!

You know how some races just align with the stars? You line up at the start line and your legs feel fresh, your mind is totally focused and you're ready to push your body harder than you ever have before?

Yeah, this was not that race.

Hey, it wasn't the fault of the...man, I don't want to type that whole thing again...let's just say the Red 5k. It's not you, it's me! I mean, if you think I'm going to complain about a race that costs $4, think again.

But as I head farther into the abyss that is the EPIC 2011, and this was my 16th race of the year, I'm starting to realize it's very much a double-edged sword. While a bad race is easily forgotten, since the next race is never far off, I'm realizing it's pretty hard to get mentally prepared for every race. Sure, a 50k or a Half Marathon, heck, even a sprint tri, gives you enough to work with. You can see the challenge there and prepare yourself mentally and physically.

But another 5k, on a course that I've raced, honestly, three times already this year? Man, I was standing on the start line and I just wasn't there mentally. I had a bit of an upset stomach since the night before, my legs were a bit tired, it was hot, and frankly, I had absolutely no reason to believe I was even going to approach a EPIC PR.

Sheesh.

Really, the best thing I can say for my performance here is I managed to hang on to beat Payton. Let me tell you, when he gets his lungs in good enough shape to beat me in a race (and it will happen sooner rather than later), I want it to be memorable for both of us. I want him to earn it. So we both still have that to look forward to.

Ah well, maybe I just need a vacation...

Out to the Ballgame 5k - Hawaii Satellite Race coming up!

Natural Break?

Just watching the first day of the Tour de France and they showed a guy pulling off the side of the road for a "natural break." Umm, ok, nice euphemism, I guess. But the thing that surprised me is that they actually stopped. I'm used to seeing Ironman Triathletes just hang it off the side of the seat as they hit a straight spot in the road. I guess that's the advantage of having teammates in the Tour de France - they can help you catch back up.

And congrats to Chris Horner, our own Homeboy from Bend, OR, on finishing the first day in 9th place - just six seconds off the lead.

Let's race! (what's with all the Thursday races?)

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 18th TO JULY 24th

July 20th / Seward Park Aquathon / Seattle, WA (Wednesday Night Race!)

July 21st / Soaring Eagle Midsummernight's Trail Run 10m and 5m / Sammamish, WA (Thursday Night Run!)

July 21st / Valley of the Rogue 5k / Grants Pass, OR (Thursday Night Run!)

July 21st / Cherry Pickers' Trot 4m / Mead, WA (Thursday Night Run!)

July 21st / REI Peak Challenge 10k / Eugene, OR (Thursday Night Race!)

July 23rd / Bancroft Pioneer Days 5k / Bancroft, ID

July 23rd / Mountain Mania 10k and 5k / Castle Rock, WA

July 23rd / Run for Congo Women 5k / Portland, OR

July 23rd / Arlington Airport Run 10k and 5k / Arlington, WA

July 23rd / Kla Ha Ya Days River Run 5m / Snohomish, WA

July 23rd / SpoKenya 7k / Spokane, WA

July 23rd / Bluegrass 5k / Stevenson, WA

July 23rd / Spokane Indians Pennant Race 8k / Spokane, WA

July 23rd / Padden Sprint Duathlon / Bellingham, WA

July 23rd / Enumclaw Street Fair 5k / Enumclaw, WA

July 23rd / Shoreline Run 10k / Richland, WA

July 24th / Yakima Half Marathon and 5k / Yakima, WA

July 24th / Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove, Olympic and Sprint / Cottage Grove, OR

July 24th / Lacamas Lake Half Marathon and 4m / Camas, WA

July 24th / Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon at Seafair, Olympic and Sprint / Seattle, WA

July 24th / Swedish SummeRun 5k / Seattle, WA

July 24th / Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon / North Bend, WA