Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Inaugural Beaver Fever Triathlon and Duathlon - Sign up August 1st



Yep, it's the first ever Beaver Fever Triathlon! And there is still the Duathlon if you like to go old school - although it looks like the course has changed...for the better!

Registration opens August 1st - tomorrow! - at 8:00 am, so get on it.

Check it all out right here.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Days 81 and 82 of 123



Monday's Workout:
-8 miles easy

I did the first six miles outside. My legs were really tired and it was pretty warm to boot. I went inside Dixon, under a Big Ass Fan, to do the last two miles. The cooler air kept me upright for two more miles...barely. That was not a fun workout.

Tuesday's Workout:
-1 mile warmup
-3 x 2 mile at 7:40 pace
-3 x .5 mile at 9:40 pace, in between as recovery
-.5 mile cooldown

For a total of nine miles. I somehow did this workout on three different treadmills. I did my warmup and first segment on a treadmill by the basketball courts at Dixon. I jumped off, for what was literally less than 10 seconds, to get a drink from the fountain, and some girl jumped on while my back was turned! Well hell.

So I headed to a different treadmill in the main cardio room. I ran about a mile of my second 2 mile repeat and the treadmill was rocking and rolling so bad I could barely keep my balance! They must have had it on an uneven piece of floor or they had the feet at different heights. Whatever.

So I headed to my third treadmill! Got a winner finally and finished up my second repeat and ran the third. I actually had a guy get on the treadmill next to me and start running at a 6:40 pace. Balls. It was sort of inspiring though - felt like we were racing, even though he was running about a minute faster than me. You don't get a lot of really fast people on the treadmills at Dixon, so it's fun when you do.

Tough workout. Ready for my day off tomorrow.

Go buy the book:

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 80 of 123



And here we go.

The Sunday workout - the last day of week 12 - was an easy 10 miles. My third 10 mile day in a row, as a matter of fact. My legs were tired but felt a little better than yesterday.

Here's the pace, in graph form:



It's been a while since I've had a nice consistent run. This one was pretty good. The little up spikes are glitches. The big down spikes are stoplights. So now you know why I need to use the average pace from the Garmin instead of the overall pace. Just in a short 10 mile run, I ended up waiting at 8 stoplights. A few are hard to see, but there are actually four lights in four blocks right around the 41:00 minute mark. I can usually only hit one for sure and have to wait for at least two and often three.

Here are all the stats, including the average pace:



Started out nicely, then hit a little lull mentally, but that happens on a 10 miler all by yourself. I was happy that I rallied on mile 10 for a solid 8:36 mile. I felt pretty good overall.

It also didn't hurt any that it was around 10-15 degrees cooler today than the last few days.

Go buy the book:

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method -Review in Progress - Days 78 and 79 of 123



OK, results!

You may recall, I switched up the Thursday and Friday workouts this week to try to give my legs an extra "easy" day, so I could perform a little better on the weekly tempo workout. To the chalkboard for science!

Or not. It did go well, I just don't have any good numbery, Garmin proof, since Friday was another mid-90s day and I didn't dare try to run a long tempo outside. So I headed over to Dixon and jumped on a treadmill. My legs did feel fresher right off the bat, there was no doubt. I blasted through the first 4.5 miles without any issue (the treadmills automatically turn off after 35 minutes, so that's about how far I can go before I have to start the whole thing over again). The second 35 minutes went pretty well. I made it to about 7 miles before I started having trouble keeping the pace. I was supposed to do 9 miles at race/tempo pace this week. The last two miles were a little over - more like 8:00-8:10 pace.

So the workout went something like this:

-.5m warmup
-9m at 7:50 (almost!)
-.5m cooldown

For a total of 10 miles.

I don't know...are the tempo's supposed to be easy to do? Should I be blasting through these? Because they're not easy for me - they're hard as hell. If you're wondering how I plan to run 26.2 miles at that pace...well, I'm wondering too. A little over five weeks left. Time to get into a little better shape, but I'm starting to worry a bit.

Today's workout for Day 79 was 10 miles easy. It was hot and my legs were pretty shot, so I didn't expect too much, but I got through it OK.



Back at it tomorrow with another 10 miler. That will make three 10 mile days in a row. See you then.

Go buy the book:

Friday, July 26, 2013

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar - August 2013



Another good slate of triathlons this week, but everything else seems to be trending down already. The end of summer?! Say it's not so!!

Get out there and grab a race in the sunshine while you still can. You know you'll be complaining about running in the rain in just a couple days - guaranteed!

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 19th to AUGUST 25th

August 24th / Redmond Watershed Trail Marathon, Half Marathon, 10m and 5m / Redmond, WA

August 24th / Cutthroat Classic Trail Run 11.1m / Winthrop, WA

August 24th / Cascade Crest Endurance Run 100m / Easton, WA

August 25th / Shop to the Top Trail Run 6m / Ketchum, ID

August 24th / Canby Dahlia Run Half Marathon and 10k / Canby, OR

August 24th / Highway to Well Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Pendleton, OR

August 24th / Snow Cone Scamper Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Eagle, ID

August 24th / Mesa Falls Marathon and Half Marathon / Ashton, ID

August 24th / Vikingman Half Marathon / Heyburn, ID

August 25th / Eugene Women's Half Marathon / Eugene, OR

August 24th / Mountain Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / McCall, ID

August 24th / Priest Lake Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Priest Lake, ID

August 24th / Lake Sammamish Triathlon Sprint / Issaquah, WA

August 24th / Triathlon for Hunger Sprint / John Day, OR

August 24th / Vikingman Triathlon, Duathlon and Aquabike Half-Iron, Olympic and Sprint / Heyburn, ID

August 25th / Bitterroot Classic Triathlon Sprint / Hamilton, MT

August 25th / Triathlon Eugene Olympic and Sprint / Eugene, OR

August 25th / Aquarun for a Child duathlon and 5k / Tacoma, WA

August 25th / Swim Across Suttle Open Water Swim 1.3m / Sisters, OR

August 25th / Lake Meridian Triathlon Olympic, Sprint+ and Sprint / Kent, WA

August 23rd / Great Day of Play 5k / Redmond, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 24th / Radiant Run 5k / Vancouver, BC (Saturday Night Race!)

August 24th / The Color Run 5k / Boise, ID

August 24th / Healthpoint Family 5k / Bothell, WA

August 24th / Muds to Suds Mud Race 5k / Ferndale, WA

August 24th / Run from the Cops 5k / Renton, WA

August 24th / Seattle Marathon 10k / Seattle, WA

August 24th / Parkland Pace or Race 5k / Tacoma, WA

August 24th / Apple Festival 10k and 5k / Federal Way, WA

August 24th / Brave 5k / Seattle, WA

August 24th / Brett Jensen Memorial 5k / Everett, WA

August 24th / Camano View 10k and 5k / Camano Island, WA

August 24th / Miles 4 Smiles 4m / Richland, WA

August 24th / Pub Crawl 5k / Olympia, WA

August 24th / Robinson 10k / Moscow, ID

August 24th / Run-a-Muk 10k and 5k / Mukilteo, WA

August 24th / Run Like a Dog 5k / Olympia, WA

August 24th / Strides4Students 5k / Kent, WA

August 24th / Run for Your Lives Zombie Race 5k / Olympia, WA

August 24th / Walk and Wag 5k / Pullman, WA

August 24th / Rotary Duck Race Run 10k and 5k / Roseburg, OR

August 24th / The Color Run 5k / Medford, OR

August 24th / Run the Race 10k and 5k / Columbus, MT

August 25th / Dog Days of Summer 10k and 2.6m / Bellingham, WA

August 25th / Alki Beach 5k / West Seattle, WA

August 25th / Global Backpack Project's Back to School Fun Run 5k / Portland, OR

August 25th / Be Great Blue Out Run 5k / Lebanon, OR

August 25th / River City Roots 4m / Missoula, MT

August 25th / Muds to Suds Mud Race 5k / Ferndale, WA

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 77 of 123



Thursdays in the Hansons program are Tempo Days and today is Thursday. Therefore, today must have been a tempo day, yes?

NO!

I just had too many bad tempo days, week after week. I couldn't do it anymore. So today, I changed things up a bit. I moved Friday's workout to today.

This is not what the Hansons recommend. I repeat, this is not what the Hansons recommend. The Hansons run speed/strength days on Tuesdays and tempo days on Thursdays, period.

I've been feeling like my legs are still dead on Thursday from the speed/strength workout on Tuesday, so I'm changing it up.

This is not without risk. First, if there is a "two-day" theory going on here with my tired legs, then I'm setting myself up for a tough long run on Sunday by moving my tempo day to Friday. It could be a mistake - I realize that. Second, if I still have bad tempo days over the next couple Fridays, then there's something else going on - maybe I'm just not in good enough shape - and that won't bode well for me mentally.

Still, I feel like I had to do it. I need to get in a few decent tempo days. We're in Week 12 here - it's coming up fast.

So today - the Friday workout which I ran on Thursday - six miles easy.

It was HOT...



But the pace was all right...I faded a bit at the end, but in 95 degree weather, I expected nothing less.



So tomorrow...on Friday...we'll run Thursday's tempo workout. Wish me luck.

Go buy the book:

Can't Sleep the Night Before a Marathon? Don't Worry About It



If you're anything like me, you toss and turn the night before a big race. I've gotten to the point where I'm fine before 5k's and 10k's and even half marathons...but triathlons and marathons still keep me up the night before.

Well, according to a new study just out - it doesn't matter. Check out the whole story in Runner's World right here.

The greatest thing about this study isn't the fact that the performance stayed the same, it's that the tired runners thought their performances were bad. That totally makes sense! Just think about when you're tired at the start line - all you can think is, "I'm so tired...I got no sleep...I'm going to suck." Not true!

But two nights before? Yeah, try to get some sleep there.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Best Running Song for July - Fitz and the Tantrums - Out of My League



Going with a little bit of old school jazzy funk and soul this month. This is Fitz and the Tantrums with "Out of My League." Just a happy song with a great summer feel to it. This one is always fun when it comes up on the iPod during a run.

And live on Letterman!



And live on Jimmy Kimmel!



These guys did have a bit of a hit a couple years ago called "MoneyGrabber." It's got a WHOLE lot of Motown to it. Pretty good stuff.



Rock that Run!

Past Best Running Songs: June: Atlas Genius / "Trojans" May: The Mowgli's / "San Francisco" April: Spacehog / "In the Meantime" March: Youngblood Hawke / "We Come Running" February: Yolanda Be Cool / "We No Speak Americano" January: The Naked and Famous / "Young Blood" December: Of Monsters and Men / "Little Talks" November: The Black Keys / "Little Black Submarines" October: Cold War Kids / "Hospital Beds" September: Bloc Party / "Octopus" August: Matt and Kim / "Let's Go" July: Gemini / "Blue" 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"

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Days 74 and 75 of 123



And just like that, we're into Week 12 of the Hansons plan.

Yowza.

The ol' legs were feeling pretty sore after my steep downhill adventure on Sunday, so the Monday run wasn't that fun. They felt a little better today for the "strength" training.

Let's check it out.

-Monday: 6 miles easy
--We've been back into the 90's again, so I've done the last two days on the treadmill. My quads were very unhappy with me, but I slogged through this one.

-Tuesday: Strength Workout
--.5m warmup
--4 x 1.5m at 7:40 pace (10 seconds under my goal marathon pace)
--3 x .5m at 9:40 pace, recovery between the faster segments
--.5m cooldown

I actually had to readjust slightly when I realized I had only run a mile on my second segment instead of 1.5m. So really, I ended the workout with a .5m recovery, then a .5m at 7:40, then a .5m cooldown to make up for my error.

All in all, it was 8.5 miles of fun.

You can see that the Nike+ pace is taking into account the two times I had to get the treadmill restarted (the Dixon treadmills only work for 35 minutes before they turn off automatically) and the one time I had to run to the bathroom. Yeah, I don't pause the Nike+. Just let it run, that's my motto.

Day off tomorrow. See you back on Thursday.

Go buy the book:

Five Ways to Become a Faster Runner



Triathlete magazine/website has a new article just out about some different strategies to improve your running. It's written for triathletes, but there's no reason these tips couldn't work for anyone. Yes, that was a double negative. Let me rephrase: good article, read, run fast.

Check it out here.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar - August 2013



Yes, that's Payton giving me a high-five and yes, I can still fit into those shorts. I still run in them!



So that's about a 10-year stretch there...admittedly, there were a few years in the middle of those two photos where I couldn't have fit into them, but still.

Why are we talking about my running shorts? Umm...I don't know. Moving on...

Just an awesome batch of triathlons here. Not too many trail runs or ultras, but then, this is about the hottest part of the entire year. So...it's sort of strange that we have a couple endurance runs. I don't know about you, but I don't want to run for 12 hours straight in the middle of August.

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 12th to AUGUST 18th

August 17th / Hamster Endurance Run 24hr and 12hr / Bellingham, WA

August 17th / Where's Waldo Trail Run 100k / Willamette Pass, OR

August 17th / Top of Idaho Trail Run Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Mackay, ID

August 17th / 6 Hours in Hell'na Trail Run 6hr / Helena, MT

August 17th / Forest Park Marathon and Half Marathon / Portland, OR

August 17th / Albany Half Marathon / Albany, OR

August 17th / Pound the Ground for Ultrasound Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Lakewood, WA

August 18th / Every Girl's Half Marathon and 5k / Ridgefield, WA

August 16th / Aquaman Duathlon Sprint / Richland, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 17th / Beaver Lake Triathlon Sprint / Sammamish, WA

August 17th / It's About How You Live Triathlon Sprint / Lakeview, OR

August 17th / Polson Triathlon Olympic / Polson, MT

August 17th / Rush Triathlon Sprint+ and Sprint / Rexburg, ID

August 18th / XTERRA Wild Ride Off-Road Triathlon Sprint / McCall, ID

August 18th / Whitefish Lake Triathlon Sprint / Whitefish, MT

August 18th / Athleta Iron Girl Women's Triathlon Sprint / Seattle, WA

August 18th / West Plains WunderWoman Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Medical Lake, WA

August 18th / The Coeur d'Alene Crossing Open Water Swim 2.4m / Coeur d'Alene, ID

August 18th / West Linn Triathlon Sprint / West Linn, OR

August 15th / Deschutes Brewery Twilight 5k / Bend, OR (Thursday Night Race!)

August 16th / Lumaglow Fun Run 5k / Lakewood, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 16th / Electric Run 5k / Puyallup, WA

August 17th / Good Samaritan Challenge 12k and 5k / Corvallis, OR

August 17th / Silvan Ridge Twilight 5k / Eugene, OR (Saturday Night Race!)

August 17th / Philomath Shrine Run 10k and 5k / Philomath, OR

August 17th / Neon Glow Run 2.75m / Portland, OR

August 17th / Friday Harbor Loop Run 8.8k / Friday Harbor, WA

August 17th / Benton Franklin Fair Rodeo Run 5k / Kennewick, WA

August 17th / 12k for K12 Run 12k / Monroe, WA

August 17th / Foster Kids 5k / Redmond, WA

August 17th / Bonney Lake Days Fun Run 5m / Bonney Lake, WA

August 17th / Catapult Rock n Roll Run 15k and 7k / Anacortes, WA

August 17th / Lise and Faith Memorial Run 10k and 5k / Puyallup, WA

August 17th / Miles for Memories 5k / Bellingham, WA

August 17th / Run in Color 5k / Oak Harbor, WA

August 17th / Skamania County Fair 5k / Stevenson, WA

August 17th / Snoqualmie Railroad Days 10k and 5k / Snoqualmie, WA

August 17th / USA Freedom Run 5k / Portland, OR

August 17th / Strides for Strong Bones 5k / Medical Lake, WA

August 17th / Scramble for Ethiopia 15k and 5k / Bozeman, MT

August 17th / Tase T. Lentil 5k / Pullman, WA

August 17th / Cady Run in the Spirit 5m and 5k / Idaho Falls, ID

August 17th / Thunder Rumble 5k / Tumwater, WA

August 17th / Get Your Run On! 10k and 5k / Lewistown, MT

August 17th / The Zombie Run 5k / Seattle, WA

August 17th / Jordan Crouch Memorial Scholarship 5k / Vancouver, WA

August 17th / Muddy Frogwater Fun Run 5k / Milton Freewater, OR

August 17th / Run for the Fallen 5k / Portland, OR

August 17th / Tillamook Bay Run 10k and 5k / Tillamook, OR

August 17th / Run the Big Hole 10k and 5k / Wisdom, MT

August 18th / Serious About Fitness 8k / Redmond, WA

August 18th / Columbia Winery Charity Run 10k and 5k / Woodinville, WA

August 18th / Lake Union 10k / Seattle, WA

August 18th / The Daedalus Project 5k / Ashland, OR

August 18th / REI Muddy Buddy Seattle 5m / Issaquah, WA

August 18th / 5k9 Run 5k / Portland, OR

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Days 71, 72 and 73 of 123



These three workouts were done in the blazing heat and dry, dry air of Ellensburg, Washington. Tough place to run.

As I mentioned last time, the runs were as follows:

Friday:
-7 miles easy
--We were staying at a camp up in the foothills, so the Friday and Saturday runs were downhill for the first half, then uphill for the second half. Also tough.

Saturday:
-8 miles easy
--Down, down, down...up, up, up. On this one, I had the additional pleasure of a seriously upset stomach during the last few miles of the run. The camp food was NOT agreeing with me.

Sunday:
-16 miles at 8:30 or better.
--Well, for the first 10 miles, I dropped about 1000 feet, so I didn't have any issues making pace through ten. It got a little tougher after that, although I didn't turn around on this one, I just kept running right into Ellensburg proper, then had my brother pick me up and drive me back. Otherwise, you would have seen the vultures picking at me along the side of the road somewhere along the uphill return.

Back to Corvallis and back to normal for Monday's workout.

Go buy the book:

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 70 of 123



Yep, next week I'm moving the tempo day from Thursday to Friday. That's all there is to it. It can't be any worse.

So today's workout was 8 miles at tempo pace, or for me, 7:50 per mile. My legs were so dead. I did maybe half the miles at the correct pace. Maybe. I'm going to spare you the whining, but it wasn't pretty.

So with warmup and cooldown - 9 miles total.

The updates will be sporadic for a few days, so here is what's coming up:

Friday: 7 miles easy
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 16 miles at 8:30 or less

Fun times dead ahead. I'll be back with a full report soon.

Go buy the book:

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 68 of 123



So starting off on Week 11 here, we no longer do "speed" work on Tuesdays. Now we do "strength" work, although it's still plenty fast.

To make it easy to figure out, the Hansons call the Strength pace like this: goal marathon pace less 10 seconds. So for me, since my goal pace is 7:50, all of my Strength runs for the next 8 Tuesdays need to be run at 7:40 pace.

Easy peasy.

Well...

So today the workout consisted of six 1-mile strength runs at 7:40 pace, with .25m recovery in between at 9:30 or so pace. Throw in a half-mile warmup and a half-mile cooldown and you've got an eight and a half mile day.

I actually felt really good through the first four. The last two were more of a struggle, but I hit the pace on every single one, so I earned my day off tomorrow.

See you Thursday.

Go buy the book:

Monday, July 15, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 67 of 123



Remember how I whined yesterday about how tired and sore my legs were? Ha!

The yesterday me wouldn't have known tired and sore if you hit him upside the head with a wooden leg!

Now the today me? Yeah, he knows.

For some reason, I went outside after work today to run my 8 miles easy...right into the 91 degree furnace. Lord, it was hot. Why I didn't just stay at Dixon and run inside, I have no idea.



Lots of stoplights on this route, so the adjusted numbers look a little better. Still, you can tell by the wild pace swings that I was really suffering on this one. I cut it about .75m short because I was about ready to pass out.



I gotta say, I'm not sure how I'm going to get through my first Strength/Speed day tomorrow with these oh-so-done legs. Should be interesting.

See you then.

Go buy the book:

The Oatmeal and Matt Inman Go Running



If you're not already familiar with The Oatmeal, what exactly are you waiting for?

I've been a fan for a long time, but many people became aware during the Funny Junk dispute, which is rightly now in the Internet Hall of Fame.

Now The Oatmeal is taking on sport of running (Matt is actually a pretty good runner in the Seattle area) and as expected, it's glorious.

And yes, I will soon be the proud owner of a "Blerch" running shirt!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Hanson's Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 66 of 123



And just like that, we're done with week 10.

So we followed up the 10 mile easy Saturday with, yes, a 10 mile easy Sunday. I'm going to have to say the Hansons Cumulative Fatigue theory was definitely taking hold today. My legs were beat going out, beat during the bulk of the run, and beat coming home. Just beat.

So frankly, I'm happy that my pace wasn't really too bad.



Two miles at 9:17, everything else under 9:00 and I finished off the run with one of my faster miles of the entire run. I'll take it.

Back at it tomorrow for the start of...gulp...week eleven. Man, this training is flying by.

Go buy the book:

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 64 and 65 of 123



And we've got another installment of "Do as I say, not as I do!" for your reading pleasure!

So after another horrible tempo day on Thursday, I went out Friday with a bit of a bad temper. So even though the official Hansons plan called for 6 miles at an easy pace, no faster than 8:50 per mile, I couldn't stop myself from pushing it pretty much all the way through. I won't tell you the things I said to myself during the run, but they weren't complimentary. So even though it was another warm day, the pace looked pretty good for an easy day.



Take out the stoplights on the route and it was even faster.



Not a single mile even close to the pace I was supposed to be running.

BAD SCOTT! NO COOKIE!

Obviously, the reason that you don't want to push it on the easy days is that you'll have nothing in the tank for the next few days.

And so...Saturday.



Strangely enough, I felt pretty good today. The Hansons workout for today was 10 miles easy. Again, my pace was supposed to be in the 8:50 to 9:50 range. I had no problem keeping that pace today.



Well, until the last two miles. Around mile 8, I suddenly got a severe case of the Newports. I had to seriously tighten it up over the last two miles. My stomach just went south in a hurry.



My legs felt pretty good though, so luckily my stupidity from yesterday didn't hurt my run today.

But don't be like the R's! Follow the plan!

See you tomorrow.

Go buy the book:

Friday, July 12, 2013

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar - August 2013



If you like to run your trail runs in the stinking hot middle of summer...well, there's a whole bunch of them to choose from right here! Seems odd to me - I'd rather do a trail run in May or September or October - but to each their own. I suppose on a few of these, they might actually be worried about snow except in the middle of summer...

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 5th to AUGUST 11th

August 10th / Squirrels in the Headlamp Trail 5k / Great Falls, MT (Night Race!)

August 10th / Mt. Ashland Hillclimb Run 13.3m / Ashland, OR

August 10th / CCC Trail Runs 25k, 10m and 5m / Umatilla, OR

August 10th / Ed Anacker Bridger Ridge Run Trail 20m / Bozeman, MT

August 10th / Dogathon Trail Run 5k / Portland, OR

August 10th / Rock the Green Trail Run 10k and 5k / Auburn, WA

August 10th / Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series 25m and 13m / Newcastle, WA

August 10th / Breathe Deep Seattle Trail Run 5k / Seattle, WA

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

August 11th / Timberline Mt Run Trail 6.97m / Mt Hood, OR

August 11th / Haulin' Aspen Trail Run Marathon and Half Marathon / Bend, OR

August 11th / XTERRA PDX Trail Half Marathon and 10k / Hagg Lake, OR

August 10th / Huckleberry Half Half Marathon and 10k / Welches, OR

August 10th / Race the Reserve Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Coupeville, WA

August 10th / Crater Lake Rim Runs Marathon, Half Marathon and 6.7m / Crater Lake, OR

August 10th / Magnuson Series Summer Fitness Day Half Marathon, 15k, 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

August 10th / Run with the Guys! Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Soap Lake, WA

August 11th / Mud and Chocolate Half Marathon and 4.5m / Sammamish, WA

August 11th / Transcendence Ultra Endurance Run 12hr / Olympia, WA

August 10th / Emmett's Most Excellent Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Emmett, ID

August 10th / Lake Tye Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Monroe, WA

August 10th / XTERRA PDX Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Hagg Lake, OR

August 10th / Coeur d'Alene Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic / Coeur d'Alene, ID

August 10th / Wild Hare Triathlon Sprint / Allyn, WA

August 10th / RAT Race Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Redmond, OR

August 10th / Seeley Lake Challenge Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Seeley Lake, MT

August 10th / Zootown Triathlon Sprint / Missoula, MT

August 9th / Friday Night Stampede 5k / Auburn, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 9th / Striders Benefit Run 5k / Asotin, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 10th / Cosmo Women's 7k / Vancouver, WA

August 10th / Stilly Fun Run 5k / Arlington, WA

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

August 10th / Foam Fest 5k / Portland, OR

August 10th / Ladybug Run for CDH Awareness 10k and 5k / Tigard, OR

August 10th / Crawfish Crawl 5k / Tualatin, OR

August 10th / Hoquiam Summer Run 10k and 5k / Hoquiam, WA

August 10th / Loggers' Jubilee Run 10k / Morton, WA

August 10th / Miracle Run 5k / Port Orchard, WA

August 10th / Ucon Founder's Day 10k and 5k / Ucon, ID

August 10th / Park to Pint 5k / Tacoma, WA

August 10th / Run 4 the Light 5m / Westport, WA

August 10th / Glendive Badlander Road Race 10k / Glendive, MT

August 10th / United Way 5k / Ellensburg, WA

August 10th / Island Park Blues Cruz 10k and 5k / Springfield, OR

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

August 10th / Aurora Colony Days 5k / Aurora, OR

August 10th / The Bite of East County Fun Run 8k and 5k / Fairview, OR

August 10th / An Ri Ra Irish Festival 10k and 5k / Butte, MT

August 10th / Walt's 5k / Woodburn, OR

August 10th / Celebrate Life Run 5k / Sandpoint, ID

August 10th / Color Vibe 5k / Idaho Falls, ID

August 11th / Shriners Run for a Child 5k / Bend, OR

August 11th / Cedar Creek Beach Challenge 10k and 5k / Pacific City, OR

August 11th / The Great Kilted Run 5k / Seattle, WA

August 11th / The Dirty Dash 10k / Boise, ID

August 11th / Portland Parks $5 5k / Portland, OR

August 11th / Mt. Tabor Doggie Dash 8k and 5k / Portland, OR

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 63 of 123



So when was the last time I actually had a decent tempo day? It's been a while, I can tell you. And today's run continued the streak of suck.

So Thursday's workout was supposed to be an 8 mile tempo run at my marathon pace of 7:50. Add in a half-mile to a mile warmup and cooldown and you've got about a 10 mile total run.

So I took off from the OSU campus and headed north on my usual tempo route. I think this will be the first thing to go. I've got to find a new route. It was hot, in the low 80's, which was fine at first, but definitely hit me toward the end.

So I should have had one slow mile, eight fast miles, then one more slow mile. Of course, because of the route, I knew going in that my third "fast" mile would be slow because of the large hill, but other than that, there was the plan.

Instead, it looked something like this:

-Mile 1, warmup: fine. Although after speed work on Tuesday and an off day on Wednesday, my legs are never quite happy on Thursday. I'm wondering if I should shift an easy day to Thursday and my tempo day to Friday. Maybe.
-Mile 2: 7:55. Good enough. I felt OK. Not great, but I wasn't struggling either.
-Mile 3: 7:56. Good. Had to push a little on this mile. It finished going on a slight uphill.
-Mile 4: 9:45. Yeah, I admit, I stopped and walked through some shade on this mile.
-Mile 5: 7:37. Had to check my speed back here. Going downhill and felt fast.
-Mile 6: 7:39. Still mostly downhill. I was getting pretty hot at this point. Not much shade through this part of the route.
-Mile 7: 7:47. Probably my best mile. Basically flat, heading back toward campus. Should have been carrying water. I was dying.
-Mile 8: 9:30. Apparently, I was done. Stopped to get a drink of water from the fountain by Legacy Park, and never really could pick it back up after that.
-Mile 9: 9:15. Struggling. Just trying to get home at this point.
-Mile 10: 9:50. Cooldown. Brutal.
-Mile 11: 8:40. Actually, this was just .40 of a mile. Why did I speed up? I don't know. Just ready to get home, inside and out of the sun, I guess.

So that's that. I've got to change some things up the next couple Thursdays and see if I can get in a couple good tempo days. I mean, if I can't keep this pace for 8 or 9 miles, I'm not keeping it for 26.2.

I'm thinking of trying to run on Friday. Maybe a new course, which has shade and is mainly flat, not up nor down. Skagit Flats is pretty darn flat, so I don't really need to work much on hills. Even though it's only an hour and a half, maybe take water and a gel, so I can keep the pace longer.

Gotta try something new.

Here we go.

Go buy the book:

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Nike Free Toy Claw Game with Ashton Eaton and Allyson Felix



I've never been a huge fan of the Nike Free, but how can you not like an ad that combines Ashton Eaton with the greatest game of all time!?!

I'll just leave this here...



"Beeeeee the crane..."

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 60 and 61 of 123



And just like that, we're in week ten. Week Ten!

Almost over the hump and closer to the end than the start. Amazing.

But not so fast. Let's check out the last two days. It's been hotter than hades here lately - over 90 again today - so I've done the last two days on the treadmill. Because I was on the treadmill, the Nike+ numbers above are totally wonky. But look! Pretty colors... It's supposed to cool down...a little...over the next few days. I have an off day tomorrow and will definitely be on the roads for my tempo day on Thursday, hot or not.

Let's see what the last two days looked like.

Monday:

-6 miles easy

Tuesday:

-1 mile warmup
-3 x 1 mile at 7:15 pace
-3 x .35 mile at 9:50 pace, recovery between the miles
-1 mile cooldown

I don't know what that works out to exactly, but I just kept running during my cooldown until I was at 6.50 miles total.

Well-deserved day off tomorrow.

Go buy the book:

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar - August 2013



Good batch of races here. I can't believe we're already into the August schedules. Man, the summer is flying by - get out there and sign up for a few races while you still can.

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 29th to AUGUST 4th

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

August 3rd / Beast of Big Creek Trail Run 20k and 10k / Hoodsport, WA

August 3rd / HURL Elkhorn Trail Runs 50m, 50k and 23k / Montana City, MT

August 3rd / Wild Idaho Endurance Trail Run 50m and 50k / Crouch, ID

August 3rd / Steens Rim Run Trail Run 10k / Frenchglen, OR

August 3rd / Grand Ridge Trail Run 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon and 5m / Issaquah, WA

August 3rd / Toaster Splash 8k and 5k / Deer Park, WA

August 3rd / XC12K Trail Run 12k / Boise, ID

August 4th / Whine on the Vine Trail Run 5m / Hillsboro, OR

August 4th / Port Gamble Trail Marathon and Half Marathon / Port Gamble, WA

August 3rd / Moses Lake Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Moses Lake, WA

August 3rd / Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon / Tacoma, WA

August 3rd / Catherine Creek Classic Run Half Marathon and 5k / Union, OR

August 3rd / Call of the Wild Run 50k, Marathon and Half Marathon / Bothell, WA

August 3rd / John Colter Races Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Driggs, ID

August 3rd / Greater Portland Half Marathon and 5k / Forest Grove, OR

August 3rd / Lake Samish Tri Sprint / Bellingham, WA

August 3rd / Power of Pasco Triathlon Sprint / Pasco, WA

August 3rd / Whidbey Island Triathlon Sprint / Langley, WA

August 3rd / Wahine All Women's Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Fairview, OR

August 3rd / The Great Snake Triathlon Sprint / Idaho Falls, ID

August 3rd / Sidney Duathlon Sprint / Sidney, MT

August 4th / Race Montana Triathlon Sprint / Great Falls, MT

August 4th / Mid-Summer Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic and Sprint / Fairview, OR

August 4th / XTERRA Black Diamond Triathlon Sprint+ and Sprint / Black Diamond, WA

August 3rd / Bridge to Adoption 5k / Bothell, WA

August 3rd / Foam Fest 5k / Issaquah, WA

August 3rd / Moxee Hop Festival 5k / Moxee, WA

August 3rd / Once Around Lake Cavanaugh 7.8m / Lake Cavanaugh, WA

August 3rd / Race for the Homeless 10k and 5k / Vancouver, WA

August 3rd / Run to the Border 5k / Blaine, WA

August 3rd / Running for Shelter 5k / Bremerton, WA

August 3rd / Spartan Race 5k / Washougal, WA

August 3rd / Spokane Distance Classic 20k, 10k and 5k / Spokane, WA

August 3rd / Trout Lake Fair Run 10k and 5k / Trout Lake, WA

August 3rd / SHOC Empowerment Day 10k and 5k / Gladstone, OR

August 3rd / WillaMutt Strut Fun Run 5k / Salem, OR

August 3rd / Agape Run 5k / Bellingham, WA

August 3rd / Feet on the Street Fun Run 5k / Elma, WA

August 3rd / Kilometers for Kids 5k / Edgewood, WA

August 3rd / Orting Summerfest 10k and 5k / Orting, WA

August 3rd / Sole 2 Soul 5k / Wenatchee, WA

August 3rd / Superhero Run 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

August 3rd / Run for Your Life 10k and 5k / Boise, ID

August 3rd / Wind Drinkers Stampede 10k and 5k / Bozeman, MT

August 4th / MLK Dream Run 15k, 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

August 4th / The Color Run 5k / Spokane, WA

August 4th / CRY Seattle 5k / Redmond, WA

August 4th / Mountaindale Sun Resort Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / North Plains, OR

August 4th / Homer's Classic 8k / Silverton, OR

August 4th / Spirit of Bellevue 12k and 5k / Bellevue, WA

August 4th / St. Jude Fun Run 5k / Mt. Vernon, WA