Tuesday, July 31, 2012

New RaceCenter Article Out Now!


Yes siree, Bob. We've got a new issue of RaceCenter NW Magazine out right now and in between the cover pages, we've got yet another fantastic article from the R's Article Warehouse.

Check out the completely free, completely digital version right here.

Women's issue and the article this time around is about Women-Owned Businesses in the Northwest, including cover girl Lauren Fleshman's company, Picky Bars.

If you haven't joined the Kindle generation yet, and still enjoy the feel of paper in your hands, go pick up a copy of the actual magazine at your nearest Jamba Juice.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Seafair Torchlight Run Results and Race Report


Subtitled: Another PR goes down!

If you're just looking for race results, here you go.

Now let's talk about the race itself!

A little history first. It seems absolutely impossible to me, but going through my old race numbers, I think this is my first Seafair 8k since 1990! Wow. They called it the Seafair Henry's 8k back then. I don't recall the first thing about the race or course from that long ago, but it was downtown, which means we probably ran along the Viaduct, because of the Washington State Law that says any race in downtown Seattle proper must be run along the Viaduct.


Weird race prep for this one. Me and the kids drove all the way from Corvallis to Gig Harbor, WA on Saturday morning. After I deposited them at the Grandparents' house, I then drove on to Seattle for the race. No, five-plus hours of driving is not recommended for pre-race strategy.

So I wanted to get to Seattle Center a little early, as I had find parking on Torchlight Parade night, pick up my number and shirt, take the shirt back to the car, then get back to the start line and get warmed up. Oh, and the registration said packet pickup was at "Seattle Center." Period. Ummm, it's a pretty big place. Could we nail it down a little better than that?

Anyhoo, I found a few folks that already had their numbers and got directions on where to go. Long story short, I got the parking, shirt, number, put away the shirt, found out the race started a half-hour later than I thought and had a WHOLE lot of time to kill.

But then people-watching at Seattle Center is a pretty decent way to kill time, so that's exactly what I did.

With the race starting at 6:30, I knew it could be a hot one, and I had no clue of where exactly the course went. I figured we'd have a little shade from buildings, but I didn't know how much.

So with 5k runners and 8k runners all lined up and running together, we were about 3500 strong. I knew we took off down 2nd, went down a decent hill immediately, and would eventually finish going back up that same big hill. And that's all I knew.

With KIRO copters filming overhead, we were off!

I wanted to beat my lifetime 8k PR of 37:40. My only plan was to keep the pace under 7:30, but as fast as possible while keeping my heart rate at a decent range (I don't wear, and never have worn, a heart rate monitor,but I can tell by my breathing and shortness of breath when I'm going too fast).

We ran from 2nd to Denny then right to 4th Ave and headed downtown. That's where all the crowds were waiting for the Torchlight Parade and it's pretty amazing running in front of that many people. They estimated the crowds at between 200,000 and 300,000 and they're mostly very positive with a lot of kids looking for high fives. It's pretty fun.

I enjoyed the shade between the huge buildings on 4th very, very much. I also liked the slight downhill for much of that stretch. The only problem at all along this stretch was the bad surface of the roads. Lots of potholes, huge metal grates, metal construction plates, etc. Reminded me of the horrid downtown streets from the Portland Tri a few years back. I clocked 7:07 on my first mile, which I thought was a little fast, but not too bad. Then I ran the second mile in 6:52! Wow.


OK, that's too fast, and I knew that was too fast, but I felt pretty good. And it was on a section that had a lot of downhill. So I didn't check myself too much. I just figured I'd keep it up as long as I felt it.

We finally turned down toward the water and moved onto 1st, still running south. We went past CenturyLink Field, otherwise known as Seahawk Stadium, and I knew the good times were just about over. It was also around here that everyone in front of me cut off a corner. Hey, we weren't up in the front with the leaders. And it was only about 20 feet everyone was cheating going around a corner without getting to the cone. No biggie.

But it still bugs me. I ran all the way to the cone before making the turn. I don't know what the people behind me did, and don't really want to know. I do know that the 20 or 30 people in front of me cut the corner. Every single one of them. Irritating.

So we made the turn to head back to the barn and, of course, we headed onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Yep, and it's uphill when you're heading north. Now, I know the elevation doesn't look like much, but it's a steady climb going onto the Viaduct there.


And the sun was blazing into our faces now that we were out of the downtown area.

And there were no more cheering crowds now that we were on the Viaduct.

And we met back up with the 5k runners...and walkers...who had branched off a while earlier...and they meandered in front of the 8k runners at random points...while they took photos of themselves in front of the new Seattle Great Wheel.


It took some concentration here. I was tired, I was hot, I was annoyed at having to dodge walkers...and I knew I was slowing down. Mile three time: 7:14. That's OK. Mile four time: 7:45. Uh-oh.

When we finally took the exit off the Viaduct onto Western, I was a happy guy. I knew we were getting close there. I just needed to hold on a bit longer. I also knew we had that very last hill at the end, but didn't know anything between here and there.

I found out soon enough.

We took a right onto Broad St. and OH MY GOD...it went straight frickin' uphill to the sky! It was only a block long hill...but sooooo steep. Just before that hill, I knew I had the PR in hand. After that hill, I knew I had to keep the pedal down or I might miss it.

Got back onto 2nd, fought through a huge mass of walkers on the last hill and made it to the finish line with a 37:17. A full 23 seconds off of my now-previous PR.

Woot!

That was good for 224th out of 1872 8k runners. And 17th out of 105 runners in my division.

So the go-out-too-fast-and-hang-on plan works once again.


All I can say is, it's a nice feeling to set a lifetime PR when you're 45 years old. I was smiling for a good couple hours after I finished the race.

Next up on the PR pain train? The Fall Festival 10k, right here in Corvallis.

See you there.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar


Too hot for marathons, too hot for trails, too hot for just about anything in the dog days of August here. Grab some water and do your best!

Let's race!

-Green Text for Trail Runs
-Red Text for Marathons and Half Marathons
-Blue Text for Triathlons and Duathlons
-Orange Text for everything else, the normal 5k, 10k, etc

RACES FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 13th TO AUGUST 19th

August 16th / Bush Park Cross Country Series 5k, 3k and 1m / Salem, OR (Thursday Night Race!)

August 18th / Where's Waldo 100k / Willamette Pass, OR

August 19th / Mud and Chocolate Trail Half Marathon and 4.5m / Sammamish, WA

August 19th / Big Wild Life Runs Marathon, Half Marathon and 5k / Anchorage, AK

August 19th / Every Girl's Half Marathon and 5k / Ridgefield, WA

August 17th / RTB's Friday Night Swim Race 2.4m, 1.2m and .5m / Kent, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 17th / Aquaman Duathlon Sprint / Richland, WA

August 18th / Polson Triathlon Olympic / Polson, MT

August 18th / Beaver Lake Triathlon Sprint / Sammamish, WA

August 19th / Columbia Muddy Buddy 6m / Portland, OR

August 19th / Triathlon Eugene: The Oregon Challenge Olympic and Sprint / Eugene, OR

August 19th / Whitefish Lake Triathlon Sprint / Whitefish, MT

August 16th / Deschutes Brewery Twilight 5k / Bend, OR (Thursday Night Race!)

August 17th / Salmon Creek Sunset Run 14k and 8k / Vancouver, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 18th / Good Samaritan Challenge 12k and 5k / Corvallis, OR

August 18th / Silvan Ridge Twilight 5k / Eugene, OR

August 18th / Pineapple Classic Obstacle Course 5k / Portland, OR

August 18th / Run for the Fallen 5k / Portland, OR

August 18th / Friday Harbor Loop Run 8.8k / Friday Harbor, WA

August 18th / Foster Kids 5k / Redmond, WA

August 18th / Tillamook Bay Run 10k and 5k / Tillamook, OR

August 18th / Skamania County Fair 5k / Stevenson, WA

August 18th / Ruff Run 5k / Bend, OR

August 19th / Blackberry Festival Fun Run 10k and 5k / Sutherlin, OR

August 19th / Lake Union 10k / Seattle, WA

August 19th / Kelly Butte Classic 8k and 5k / Springfield, OR

Photo from 52 Kitchen Adventures.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Eugene Marathon Registration Discount


Hurry up, it's only good until August 1st!

This will save you $10 on your registration, so get after it.

Use code: EUGENE13

This is only for e-mail subscribers, so if you're not already, head over here and sign up.

And get out there and start training!

For Liberty...for life...for Eugene!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Running in Ellensburg, Washington


Or to be more exact: Running to Ellensburg, Washington.

So the R's family spent the weekend at the Lazy F Campground near Ellensburg for the yearly summer family reunion.

And since the days were filled with family fun, that meant I had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 5:45, after not sleeping all night on a thin prison-type mattress, upon a solid wood bed frame made for someone 5'6", to go for my daily runs.

And so I did.

Now the Lazy F is at the tail end of a dead-end road about 12 miles away from Ellensburg, nestled in the foothills near the Cascades.


So that means you only have one way to run - away from the mountains and toward Ellensburg.

The first day, I just needed to run a quick six miles. I figured I'd head out for three and turn around. Easy peasy.


Oof.

Yeah, it's a nice, steady 100 feet per mile downhill, which means, coming back, it's a nice, steady 100 feet per mile uphill.

I needed to do a 16 miler on Sunday morning...

There was just no way I was going to run eight solid miles uphill. No. Way. So I made a little deal with Mrs. R. Five bucks from my wallet for a Starbucks latte on Sunday morning in Ellensburg. Oh, and on her way there, she could pick me up at the end of my run!

Sometimes I'm so smart it actually hurts. But I deal.

Bright and early Sunday morning, I took off with the sun just beginning to peak over the jagged rocks and cliff faces. It's very interesting looking country up there.


Luckily, there's very little traffic at that time in the morning...or basically at any time on that road...so you don't have to worry too much about going around blind corners like this one.


Although the amount of road kill on the pavement left no doubt that accidents happen...and people drive way too fast on that curvy road to nowhere.

Although it felt good at the time, that 100 feet of drop per mile was bound to play havoc with my quads. Still, at the time, I was really enjoying reeling off easy 8:15-8:40 miles. It was pretty effortless. And except for the one spot where I stopped dead-still for a minute while I pondered whether the growling pitbull off its leash was going to actually kill me, I kept my pace fairly steady.


Finally, coming out of the curvy hill section and into the straight farm section, I was lucky enough to have a somewhat mundane, yet very babbling and soothing, irrigation canal at my side.


After about 10 miles, I made my first turn onto a new road and headed toward Ellensburg. About a mile from town, right by the Yakima River, I saw these two Osprey in their nest. One flew over me with a fish in his talons. Nice.


So after getting to Ellensburg proper, I was only at about 12 miles, so I had to do a little back and forth to get over 15, and that's when I saw the wonderful sight of the Prius coming in for a landing to pick me up.


And while the pace looked pretty good...


...the elevation profile screams "quad killer!"...


And indeed, I am feeling it today. Ouch.

But hey, another good week of training in the books. And only five days 'til the Seafair Torchlight 8k.

Let's race!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Kara Goucher in London - Running and Triathlon Links Monday!


As always, lots of news out there in the running and tri world. Read, learn, race - let's go.

Interview with Kara Goucher - the Oregon marathon superstar gets ready for London

Lake Placid Ironman results and recap - Andy Potts rolls yet again

Olympics Viewer's Guide
- check out running previews from former Olympians

Photo Gallery from the last Tour de France TT - yep, bike porn...if you're into that kind of thing

Will the Olympic Marathon be hot? - history, and the crazy start time, say "yes"

A very interesting chat with four-time Olympian Hunter Kemper - he's as fast as ever...maybe this is the year for a medal

Rock n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon recap and results - two Olympian marathoners, the non-U.S. variety, take the wins

How to keep your speed while training for a marathon - I need to read this one closely

How much should you drink during your next run - it matters less than you might think

School boards banning Five Fingers shoes? - sure, why not?

Should you run at 180 steps per minute? - once again, it's probably not as important as people make it out to be

Interview with Chris Lieto - it's a little dated, but still a good read

Bradley Wiggins wins 2012 Tour de France - pretty damn easily, I might add

Ironman Hawaii pro starting spots to be handed out in a week - and here are the current standings!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar


Lots of trail runs and lots of tris - not so much on the marathons and half marathons. You'll have to wait for the Fall for those.

Let's Race!

-Green Text for Trail Runs
-Red Text for Marathons and Half Marathons
-Blue Text for Triathlons and Duathlons
-Orange Text for everything else, the normal 5k, 10k, etc

RACES FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 6th TO AUGUST 12th

August 9th / Bush Park Cross Country Series 5k, 3k and 1m / Salem, OR (Thursday Night Race!)

August 11th / 12 Hours at Corban 12Hr CC Run / Salem, OR

August 11th / Hamster Endurance Runs 24hr and 12hr / Bellingham, WA

August 11th / Angel's Staircase Trail Ultra 60k and 35k / Carlton, WA

August 11th / Scott Cougar Mountain Trail Run 13m / Newcastle, WA

August 11th / Wild Woman Trail Marathon / Trout Lake, WA

August 12th / XTERRA Trail Run 22k and 10k / Portland, OR

August 11th / Crater Lake Rim Run Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k / Crater Lake, OR

August 11th / Emmett's Most Excellent Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Emmett, ID

August 11th / R.A.T. Race Triathlon Sprint / Redmond, OR

August 11th / Coeur d'Alene Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic / Coeur d'Alene, ID

August 11th / XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon Sprint+ and Sprint / Portland, OR

August 11th / Bellingham Youth Triathlon Sprint / Bellingham, WA

August 11th / Lake Tye Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Monroe, WA

August 12th / AquaRun for a Child Sprint / Tacoma, WA

August 11th / Cosmo Women's Run 7k / Vancouver, WA (Night Race!)

August 11th / Scandia Run 10k and 5k / Junction City, OR

August 11th / Running is for the Birds 10k and 5k / Sunriver, OR

August 11th / Crawfish Crawl 5k / Tualatin, OR

August 11th / Stilly Fun Run Footrace 5k / Arlington, WA

August 11th / Fleet Feet Bonney Lake Matterhorn Madness 5k / Bonney Lake, WA

August 11th / Charity Health Run 10k and 5k / Federal Way, WA

August 11th / Orting Summerfest 10k and 5k / Orting, WA

August 11th / Breathe Deep Seattle 5k / Seattle, WA

August 11th / Goldfish Gallop 5k / Tacoma, WA

August 11th / Garlic Festival Run 10k / North Plains, OR

August 11th / Walt's Run 5k / Woodburn, OR

August 11th / Butte Falls Run 5k / Butte Falls, OR

August 12th / Run for Your Rights 5k / Seattle, WA

August 12th / CMY5k Seattle 5k / Seattle, WA

August 12th / Ladybug Run for CDH Awareness 10k and 5k / St. Paul, OR

Photo by Rosemary - check out her incredible photos here.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Jenn Shelton on Twitter


What do you mean you're not following Jenn Shelton on Twitter? She's one of the fastest women in Oregon. She's awesome on the trails. She's the sweetheart of "Born to Run." And she's funny as hell.

You could be seeing all sorts of great running tips...and fashion advice. Don't forget about the fashion advice.

Don't wait - follow Jenn now.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Spokane's Don Kardong Posts Open Letter to US Olympic Marathoners


Running Times has a fantastic open letter from Spokane's own Don Kardong. If you're not familiar with Kardong, he took fourth in the Olympic Marathon in 1976, missing a medal by four seconds.

A great read, and a reminder to everyone...don't throw your water bottles!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Donald Sobol, author of Encyclopedia Brown Books, Dead at 87


Story here.

Bugs Meany was asked for an alibi at the time of death. Bugs said he couldn't have done it because he was at the North Pole, studying penguins.

Hmmmm.....

Seriously, these books got a lot of love from me during my grade-school years. I wanted to be Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown so bad when I was younger. I mean, the guy was smarter than all the adults in his town, had a tough, and pretty, girlfriend, and ran a successful quarter-per-job business! What a guy!

You will be missed, Mr. Sobol. But your stories will live forever.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar - 2012


You should be able to find something interesting here. We've got the Tacoma Narrows Half, the CMY5K, and Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon...and a WHOLE lot of other races.

Good stuff. Pick one...or two.

Let's Race!

-Green Text for Trail Runs
-Red Text for Marathons and Half Marathons
-Blue Text for Triathlons and Duathlons
-Orange Text for everything else, the normal 5k, 10k, etc

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 30th TO AUGUST 5th

August 2nd / Bush Park Cross Country Series 5k, 3k and 1m / Salem, OR

August 4th / Steen's Rim Run Race Trail Run 10k / French Glen, OR

August 4th / Wild Idaho Endurance Trail Runs 50m and 50k / Crouch, ID

August 4th / XC12K Foothills Race 12k / Boise, ID

August 4th / Grand Ridge Trail Run 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon and 5m / Issaquah, WA

August 4th / Mt. Ashland Hillclimb Run Trail 13.3m / Ashland, OR

August 4th / Beast of Big Creek Trail Run 12.5m and 10k / Hoodsport, WA

August 5th / Port Gamble Half Marathon Trail Run / Port Gamble, WA

August 5th / Haulin' Aspen Trail Run Marathon, Half Marathon and 7m / Bend, OR

August 5th / Timberline Mt Run 6-8m / Mt. Hood, OR

August 4th / Circle the Bay 30k / Coos Bay, OR

August 4th / Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon / Tacoma, WA

August 4th / Catherine Creek Classic Half Marathon and 5k / Union, OR

August 4th / Boys and Girls Club Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Moses Lake, WA

August 2nd / YMCA Y-Not Triathlon Sprint / Boise, ID (Thursday Night Race!)

August 4th / My First Tri Sprint / Fairview, OR

August 4th / Whidbey Island Triathlon Sprint / Langley, WA

August 4th / Power of Pasco Triathlon Sprint / Pasco, WA

August 4th / Medical Lake Kiwanis Mini Triathlon Sprint / Medical Lake, WA

August 5th / Troika Triathlon Half Iron / Spokane, WA

August 5th / XTERRA Black Diamond Triathlon Sprint+ and Sprint / Black Diamond, WA

August 5th / Race Montana Triathlon Sprint / Great Falls, MT

August 4th / WillaMutt Strut Fun Run 5k / Salem, OR

August 4th / Run to the Border 5k / Blaine, WA

August 4th / SHOC Empowerment Day 10k and 5k / Gladstone, OR

August 4th / Run for Congo Women 5k / Portland, OR

August 4th / Trout Lake Fair Run 10k and 5k / Trout Lake, WA

August 4th / River and Rails 10k and 5k / Arlington, WA

August 4th / Once Around Lake Cavanaugh 7.8m / Lake Cavanaugh, WA

August 4th / Dirty Dash 10k / McCleary, WA

August 4th / Race for the Homeless 10k and 5k / Vancouver, BC

August 4th / Oly Run 10k and 5k / Bremerton, WA

August 5th / Cedar Creek Challenge 10k and 5k / Pacific City, OR

August 5th / The Great Kilted Run 5k / Seattle, WA

August 5th / The MLK Dream Run 15k, 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

August 5th / Race Against Crime 5k / Lacey, WA

August 5th / St. Jude Fun Run 5k / Mt. Vernon, WA

August 5th / CMY5k Portland 5k / Portland, OR

August 5th / Mountaindale Sun Resort Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / North Plains, OR

August 5th / Homer's Classic 8k / Silverton, OR

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Best Running Song for July - Gemini - Blue



 The R's picking a Dubstep track?!? What in the F'n F is going on here?!?

I hear you. I can barely believe it myself, but wow, this song is amazing. As the cool kids say, "Just listen to that drop!"

So the artist's name is Gemini. He's obviously not a superstar or anything - it's actually sort of hard to find much about him online. Here's his website. If you want to hear him perform live, you better head over to Europe. But this song, Blue, just rocks!

There's a bunch of Youtube vids, but none are actual vids per se, they're just the song with a different picture to stare at while you listen to it. But if you're into that kind of thing, here you go, and go, and go, and go.

And since we're in a bit of a electronica mood, here's another great song I've been running to lately. This one is called Midnight City from M83. It actually has a bit of an 80's feel to it at times...especially when they break out the sax at the end of the song!

 

 And here's a live version of Midnight City. Nice.

 

Rock that Run!

Past Best Running Songs: June: Joe Jackson / "Got the Time" May: Tiesto vs. Diplo / "C'mon!" April: Grouplove / "Tongue Tied" March: Foxy Shazam / "I Like It" February: Foster the People / "Don't Stop" January: Hot Hot Heat / "Bandages" December: Camp Lo / "Luchini aka This Is It" November: Wolfmother / "Joker and the Thief" October: Phoenix / "1901" September: Matt and Kim / "Daylight" August: Collie Buddz / "Holiday" July: Pretenders / "Tattooed Love Boys" 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"

Monday, July 9, 2012

Oregon's Jesse Thomas Comes Up 23 Seconds Short at Rev3 Portland - and Other Tri and Running Links


Richie Cunningham Edges Out Jesse Thomas at Rev3 Portland - Angela Naeth wins the women's race

How to put in proper speed work over the summer - and run your fastest races this Fall

Lance Armstrong fights back against USADA - I'm so tired of drugged athletes, yet I'm also tired of the fight against long-since retired athletes

Can a sip of Gatorade help you in a 10k...or even a 5k? - amazingly, it looks like the answer is "probably"

Wetsuit reviews to check out before your next tri - I'd recommend getting the cheap wetsuit and spending the rest on swim coaching

How to run on the beach, correctly - just in time for your Summer vacation

Some pro tips on how to swim faster - it's the tri leg that most people hate...so work on it

Where should the US Track and Field Olympic Trials be in 2016? - Not everyone loves Eugene

Profile on US Olympic Tri Team member Manny Huerta - only two guys on the US team this year

Is this the year the US comes back into its own in Olympic distance events? - there are some strong runners on the team this year

Another view of the US Track Team - I can't wait for the Olympics to get here!

And let's end it with triathletes in swimsuits - why not, right?

Photo from Competitor.com

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Race Report: Red White and Blue 5k


And in the 2012 Race for PR's, the R's is three for three!

The first race of 2012 was the Corvallis Half. Got a nice PR there.

Then we had the Newport Marathon. Horrible, awful, just plain bad. Nevertheless, it was a PR...and I'm not proud. So that's two for two.

And Wednesday (who put the Fourth of July on a freaking Wednesday?!), we had the RWB 5k in Corvallis. And as I'll explain, I'm not too sure about the exact time...but I'm sure it was a Master's PR. Three for three, baby!

So we woke up Wednesday to a bright, sunshiny day. Which, frankly, has not been the norm in the Northwest so far this year. But it looks like our Summer is finally here. Jen, Payton and I all planned on running, and Carson made a late decision to join us about ten minutes before we left for the race, so the whole R's family piled into the Prius for the short drive downtown.

Considering it's the cheapest race of the year ($4 pre-registered and $6 day of race), there was a fairly good size crowd at the start - maybe 200, 250 runners and walkers.

I'm not going to complain too much about a four dollar race, but they put the walkers on the course 20 minutes before the runners...that's asking for trouble on a bike path that goes about three or four wide in most spots. Especially when, we found out later in the race, there was a drunk homeless guy sleeping in the middle of the path. Hurdle!

And the timing...I thought I had my Garmin 110 started up in plenty of time. It usually only takes a couple minutes to find satellites on sunny days. Unfortunately, we were lined up at the start line under a huge tree. The RD yelled "go" through the megaphone and my watch still said "Acquiring Satellites."

Damn.

So instead of using my plan of hitting around 7:15 pace and running through the 5k at a steady PR pace, I took off at what felt like waaaaay too fast, following some very speedy high school girls (see photo above, with me in my awesome new purple Oakley's and Payton peeking out behind me).

And of course, now that I was sprinting down the Corvallis River Walk, the Garmin could not find any satellites to latch on to. Hoo boy. Time to use the tried and true 5k strategy of...

GO OUT WAY TOO FAST AND HOPE LIKE HELL YOU CAN HANG ON AT THE END!

Here's Jen and Carson going out at a much more sedate and fun pace.


We came up on the back end of the walker crowd awfully quickly and started having to weave and pass many one-wide, two-wide and even three-wide packs. Which was OK at first, but then, even before we made the turn to head into Avery Park for the halfway turn-around, the leaders started coming back the other way. And now the bike path was really crowded.

By the halfway point, my Garmin had at least come to life, so I could see my pace and I slowed down just a touch to around 7:15 pace to make sure I wouldn't collapse with the finish line in sight.

Just after the turnaround, the path got really tight and I had a couple of spots where I had to swing into the weeds to pass and one spot where I just had to pull up and run slow behind a group of walkers for a few seconds until I could pass. What are you going to do, right?

So the last mile is a slight uphill and the high schoolers pulled away from me a bit. I came up alongside a guy about my age and asked him what his running time was on his watch. He told me and I compared it to what I had on my watch. Then I tried to subtract my time from his time to see what I'd have to add on to my time at the end...and I tried...and I tried...

Trying to do simple math when running full out in the last half-mile of a 5k is a bit like doing advanced trigonometry to figure out the angle of attack when a tiger is leaping at your throat. I gave up and just hoped they had a clock at the finish.

Here I am about 50 feet from the finish line. I swear I felt OK, but good god, I look unbelievably stiff and upright and tight.


I don't know what to tell you. Obviously, I wasn't as relaxed as I would have liked to have been.

Still, I rolled across the finish line and the race clock said 22:22. A nice amount off my previous Master's PR of 23:11. Strangely enough, the posted results here show that I ran a 22:03. Since my watch was worthless, I'm not sure which to believe, but I'm sticking with the 22:22 that was on the clock unless I hear better.

So that's one more PR down. Next try for a PR is later this month in Seattle at the Seafair Torchlight 8k.

Wish me luck...and a watch that can find the satellites!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar


Fewer runs all-told compared to last week, but absolutely no shortage of triathlons. Wow! I count nine to choose from in two days!

Let's race!

-Green Text for Trail Runs
-Red Text for Marathons and Half Marathons
-Blue Text for Triathlons and Duathlons
-Orange Text for everything else, the normal 5k, 10k, etc

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 23rd TO JULY 29th

July 28th / Mt. Hood Pacific Crest Trail Ultra 50m / Timothy Lake, OR

July 28th / Wildwood Trail Run Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k / Portland, OR

July 29th / Hardesty Hardcore Trail Run 14m and 5.5m / Lowell, OR

July 28th / Anacortes Art Dash Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Anacortes, WA

July 28th / Frank Maier Marathon and Half Marathon / Juneau, AK

July 28th / Wahine All Women's Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Fairview, OR

July 28th / Lake Como Triathlon Sprint / Darby, MT

July 28th / Rolf Prima Triathlon at the Grove Olympic and Sprint / Cottage Grove, OR

July 28th / Ellensburg Triathlon Sprint / Ellensburg, WA

July 28th / Federal Escape Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Federal Way, WA

July 28th / Islander Aquathon Sprint / Mercer Island, WA

July 29th / Mid-Summer Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic and Sprint / Fairview, OR

July 29th / Girlfriends and Dudes Triathlon Sprint / Vancouver, WA

July 29th / Whisky Dick Triathlon Olympic / Ellensburg, WA

July 28th / Foam Fest 5k / Sherwood, OR

July 28th / Barnyard Dash 5k / Caldwell, ID

July 28th / Liberty House Family Fun Run 10k and 5k / Salem, OR

July 28th / CATnip 5k / Tualatin, OR

July 28th / Run 4US 10k and 5k / Lakewood, WA

July 28th / Seafair Torchlight Run 8k and 5k / Seattle, WA

July 28th / Dallas Summerfest Fun Run 10k and 5k / Dallas, OR

July 28th / Huff and Ruff Dog Run 5k / Corvallis, OR

July 29th / The Original Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / Loon Lake, WA

July 29th / 5 Alarm 5k / Lowell, OR

July 29th / Whisky Dick Run 10k / Ellensburg, WA

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher Movie Trailer - I Feel Sick to My Stomach

Yes, we've talked about this before...but now there's a movie trailer. And now...I want to see it even less than before. Holy smokes, just look at the scene where Cruise is surrounded by a bunch of thugs. He's the shortest guy there! That's not Reacher! Reacher's never been the shortest guy anywhere!

And then there's the car. I mean, what? Book after book, Reacher is shown as a drifter with no car. Even in "prequel" books taking place in Reacher's army days, he didn't like to drive, and was never shown driving anything but army vehicles.

I was actually contemplating giving Reacher the Movie a try, but not now. Not after seeing this trainwreck of a movie trailer.

Sigh...time to reread another Reacher novel and pretend I never saw this.

Lee Child!!! (((shakes fist)))

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Butte to Butte 2012 Results and Photos!


If you just want results, here they are.

If you're looking for photos of your amazing self, try right here.

And some video from the race, right here.

And more video and more photos, from KVAL, right about here.

Hope you had a great race!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Running and Triathlon Links Monday!


Coffee before your big race? - Yep, but time it right

Ironman stud Craig Alexander says you need to run slowly - Not always, but definitely once in a while

Do knee braces actually help your sore knees? - I'd say the question is usually: physically or mentally?

Kilian Jornet breaks more records
- If it's on a mountain, Jornet is the man

Linsey Corbin wins another Ironman - The girl from Montana is really showing her stuff lately

If you're a runner, here's what you should be eating - hint: it's not 7-Eleven corn dogs and Slurpees

Liz Blatchford narrowly misses making the British Olympic Tri Team once again - and thinks maybe it's time to try something new

Can Galen Rupp bring home some metal from London? - It's possible, but the competition will be at a whole different level from the Trials

Some French steeplechase dork takes out frustrations on mascot...after he won! - can you say "d-bag"?

Healthy habits of Triathletes - Again, corn dogs are a no-no

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Let's Compare the Big Race Registration Companies - Active.com, GetMeRegistered.com, and SignMeUp.com


Since I had recently decided on all of my races for the rest of 2012, I had to pull the trigger on the difficult part...registering for all of them.

So $210 later, I was registered for five races: a 5k, 8k, 10k, Half and Full. Unfortunately, I also got to experience pretty much every option on registration that you can have - from the good to the oh so ugly.

Let's take a look!

Red White & Blue Riverfront Festival Fun Run - 5k
In Store Registration
-This is why you should be racing locally. Sleep the night before in your own bed. Drive a couple miles, tops, to the start line. And fill out a paper registration form at Five Star Sports in downtown Corvallis. Save your money, save the Earth. It's a win-win.
Registration Fees: $0 (0%)

Seafair Torchlight Run - 8k
Active.com Online Registration
-And the frustration begins! Now I will say upfront, the Torchlight Run has been around for a long time and always offers quite a few options for in person registration at various locations in the Seattle area...which does me absolutely no good. But it's there for people in the Puget Sound, so that's cool. But it's a fact of life in 2012 that the huge majority of runners sign up online. It's so convenient that they bite their tongues on the "registration fees." Ah yes, "fees." It irritates me that so few races acknowledge these fees in any way. Look at all the information on the Torchlight Run website and it's clear that the race costs $30. And so it does...until you get to the last page of the Active.com registration and they let you know that they're taking a cut of $3.20, making your registration $33.20 in total. In case you're wondering, that's 10.67% added on top. Why not just a flat 10 percent? Hell if I know.
Registration Fees: $3.20 (10.67%)

Corvallis Fall Festival Run - 10k
GetMeRegistered.com Online Registration
-Now there was a paper form I could have filled out here and mailed in. And I would have, but now I was getting curious about these "fees." So yes, I took one for the team! Just make the checks out to "cash" and send them to the R's as thanks...and thanks. So the Fall Festival 10k is a very inexpensive race - they let you add the shirt in separately - so the actual registration is only $15. Not bad. But wait! GetMeRegistered.com would like to have a word with you. They'd like to remind you they're adding on $2.48 in registration fees. Well, cheaper overall than the Torchlight Run, but percentage-wise to the race cost, that's 16.53%. That's not good.
Registration Fees: $2.48 (16.53%)

Runaway Pumpkin Half Marathon - Half Marathon
SignMeUp.com Online Registration
-I looked for a paper form here, but couldn't find one. It looked like online or nothing. So I registered online. The race registration was $55 and the "fees" were $4.58. That's 8.33% on the fees. The lowest so far, but let's face it, the race costs $60, not $55. Why does it say $55 all over the website if you can't get in for that price?
Registration Fees: $4.58 (8.33%)

California International Marathon - Marathon
Registration handled by race director on race site
-Here's how all races should handle their online registrations - CIM tells you a price, and you get out your credit card and pay it. End of story. No hidden fees anywhere. Now, I realize that some smaller races can't handle the online registration on their own and need to farm it out. That's fine. Just say right on your race website what the total cost will be...with all fees added in. That's all you need to do.
Registration Fees: $0 (0%)

Winner? It's not the runner. Race directors need to be a little more open and honest with what they're doing. If you run a good race, people will show up - be confident enough in your race that you can tell people how much it actually costs to register.

Thanks.