Portland Triathlon Almost Sold Out!

Well, that's what they're saying anyway.

So if you're interested, you better get on it fast.

Marathon Training - Week One

And just like that, we're through Week One of my marathon training plan as I prepare for the California International Marathon on December 2nd. Only a 12-week plan this time around.

Finished off the week with 13 mile run today, giving me a total of 40 for the week. The Pete Pfitzinger plan that I'm following, and slightly modifying, had me running 13 miles with 8 miles at my marathon goal pace. Well, frankly I don't think I'm in good enough shape right now to run 8 consecutive miles at goal pace during a 13 mile run. So I figured I'd try to alternate goal pace miles (7:50, by the way) with recovery miles.

It worked out pretty well. I was well under pace on five out of the six fast miles. And a couple of them were on tough terrain, especially mile four when I was going through the trails at Avery Park. Maybe a little slow on a few of the recovery miles, but the 1:52:50 total for 13.25 wasn't too bad, so I'm good with it.

Week Two starts tomorrow. Tally Ho!

Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar

It must be October...first time since Spring that we haven't had at least one Triathlon or Duathlon on the calendar. Sad.

But we've got lots and lots of Trail Runs and Marathons, so time to put the swimsuit away and work on your endurance! Mush!

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 OCTOBER 1st TO OCTOBER 7th

October 6th / Mt. Spokane 50k and 25k / Spokane, WA

October 6th / Yellowstone-Teton Endurance Races 100m and 50m / West Yellowstone, MT

October 6th / IMTUF Trail 100m / McCall, ID

October 6th / Silver Lake Cross Country 5k / Maple Falls, WA

October 6th / Castle Rocks Trail Run 10k and 5k / Almo, ID

October 6th / Snoqualmie Ridge Trail Run 5m / Snoqualmie, WA

October 6th / Baker Lake Trail 50k / Concrete, WA

October 6th / Condor Trail Run 25k / Corvallis, OR

October 6th / Moon Tree Trail Run 10k / Cave Junction, OR

October 6th / The Great Pumpkin Cross Country 5k / Dayton, OR

October 6th / Run Like a Girl Half Marathon / Bellingham, WA

October 6th / Colbert Autumn Classic Half Marathon / Colbert, WA

October 6th / Leavenworth Oktoberfest Marathon and Half Marathon / Leavenworth, WA

October 6th / Run for the Hills Half Marathon and 5k / Fruitland, ID

October 7th / Portland Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k / Portland, OR

October 7th / Wolf Creek Canyon Relay and Solo 28m / Wolf Creek, MT

October 7th / Victoria Marathon, Half Marathon and 8k / Victoria, BC

October 6th / Missoula All Women's 5k / Missoula, MT

October 6th / Soroptimist International Run for a Life 10k and 5k / Albany, OR

October 6th / Grant High School Octoberfest Run 5k / Portland, OR

October 6th / Race the Reaper 6m / Yamhill, OR

October 6th / Dirty Farm Trek 10k and 5k / Bellingham, WA

October 6th / Harvest Classic 10k / Longview, WA

October 6th / Shuck and Run 5k / Shelton, WA

October 6th / The D&D 5k / Moses Lake, WA

October 6th / King of the Hill 5k / Spokane, WA

October 6th / Run Wild 8k and 5k / Eatonville, WA

October 6th / Rock the Beach 10k and 5k / Cannon Beach, OR

October 6th / Opera Bozeman Run 10m and 5k / Bozeman, MT

October 6th / Apple Fun Run 8k and 5k / Onalaska, WA

October 6th / Dash for Disabilities 10k and 5k / University Place, WA

October 6th / A Run Through History 5k / Kalispell, MT

October 6th / Run 10 Feed 10 Seattle 10k / Seattle, WA

October 6th / Barber to Boise 10k and 5k / Boise, ID

October 6th / Talent Harvest Festival Run 10k and 5k / Talent, OR

October 6th / Panther Pride 5k / Portland, OR

October 6th / Live to BFit 5k / Boise, ID

Ocotber 6th / Stuff the Bus 5k / Fife, WA

October 6th / Mattie's Miracle Mile 5k / Kelso, WA

October 6th / Run for the Cure 5k / Idaho Falls, ID

October 6th / Care to Share 10k and 5k / Pullman, WA

October 6th / Race for Education 5k / Bellingham, WA

October 7th / Boones Ferry 5k / Boones Ferry, OR

October 7th / Magnolia 12k and 5k / Seattle, WA

October 7th / Oktoberfest Northwest Stein Dash 5k / Puyallup, WA

October 7th / Ignite Change 10k and 5k / Bend, OR

October 7th / Set the PACE Run for Prostate Cancer 10k and 5k / Kirkland, WA

October 7th / Run for the Angels 5k / Coeur d'Alene, ID

Running and Triathlon Links - Anxiety and Panic at the Triathlon Start Line

Haven't had a links post in a while - need to get back into it. Some good stuff here, especially if you're a nervous swimmer and triathlete.

Anxiety and panic at the triathlon start line - it happens to the best of us, although good swimmers fare better

How to blow your nose during a run - no, really

Review of the action at the Ironman 70.3 Championships in Vegas - the heat was absolutely brutal

Ryan Hall still injured and may get a coach - at first, I thought it said "couch," which also made sense

Racers who didn't have a good day at 70.3 Vegas - Oregon's Jesse Thomas was among them

Dathan Ritzenhein prepares to run Philly Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon - and is looking to run sub-60

Finally, here's the race report from the Vegas 70.3 from awesome blogger Frayed Laces - from the trenches, so to speak

The Boston Marathon 2013 rolling registration has now opened - if you're really, really fast, you can sign up now

Javier Gomez wins the big money at the Hy-Vee Triathlon - Hunter Kemper takes second

Answers to your questions about elite runners - you had questions, right?

And Lisa Norden wins the big bucks on the women's side at Hy-Vee - Sarah Haskins grabs second, giving the US the almost-big money for both men and women

Vin Lananna out (up?) at Oregon - Robert Johnson in

Mental Toughness and the Long Run

There's nothing else you can do that proves how much you want it. Nothing that shows how interested you are in getting a good time in a marathon that's still 12 weeks away. Nothing that shows how bad you want to get into the Boston Marathon.

Yes, I'm talking about the weekly long training run. Two or three hours out on the roads and trails, usually just me and the iPod, trying to put away 12, 15, even 20 miles.

It's amazing how many different ways you can think "I'd rather be doing anything else but running" over the period of two long hours.

So today I needed to churn out 14 miles. I mean, the mileage itself isn't really the issue. I know I can run 14 miles anytime, anywhere.

But then why is it still so hard to actually do it?

Let's check out the old pace chart from the run and see what it tells us:

I need to hit 7:50 pace in the CIM in December to qualify for Boston, so that means I should be doing most of my long runs in the neighborhood of 8:35 to 9:20. You can see from the map above, if you know Corvallis at all, that I pretty much steered clear of the hillier parts of town. It was basically a flat run, so I don't have that as an excuse.

I start out fine, maybe even a touch fast, but that's to be expected early, when the legs still feel good. I get into a bit of a rut in mile seven and eight, but that's not too strange for me either - that's about the halfway point. I always drop off a bit around there, until I can start to smell the barn, then I usually can pick it up. Which I do in miles 9-11, keeping the pace under 9:00.

But then I started to feel 45 years old. I started to wonder if I really wanted to do this for the next 12 weeks. I mean, really? And once you start asking those kinds of questions, you're in trouble.

So Mile 12 was 9:18, at the very top end of my needed training pace. I completely fell off the cliff on Mile 13 with a 9:49. Not that it was a surprise - I didn't want to be out there any longer. I was done.

No, the surprise was Mile 14. I was actually able to make a deal with myself. One last mile hard. Show yourself you want it. Show yourself you can do it.

I even found a mantra for Mile 14, "Lock it in," I told myself over and over.

And what do you know? It worked. I hit 8:24 for the last mile - mile 14 on the day. That was as fast as any mile for the run.

Did I feel good? Strong? Powerful and fast?

Yeah....no.

But I did it. And in the end, no matter what you have to say to yourself to get there, if you can say "I did it," than you had a good run.

Twelve weeks to go.

Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar

The Bellingham Bay Marathon is getting quite a reputation for great looking race shirts. The blue one is the 2011 shirt and the green is this year's version. They're just great looking shirts. Sign up while you 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 SEPTEMBER 24th TO SEPTEMBER 30th

September 29th / Multnomah Falls Trail Run 5.6m / Corbett, OR

September 29th / Tread Lightly Trail Festival Run 8k / Helena, MT

September 29th / Enchanted Forest Wine Trail Run Half Marathon and 5k / Grants Pass, OR

September 29th / Team Red Lizard Stumptown XC 8k and 5k / Portland, OR

September 29th / Lions Strides Trail+Road 10k and 5k / Springfield, OR

September 29th / Trails to Health 5k / Raymond, WA

September 29th / Wild Moose Chase Trail Run 25k, 10k and 5k / Spokane, WA

September 29th / Race 2 the Summit Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Horseshoe Bend, ID

September 30th / Bellingham Bay Marathon, Half Marathon and 5k / Bellingham, WA

September 30th / Kirkland Triathlon Sprint / Kirkland, WA

September 29th / Albany 2 Rivers 10k and 5k / Albany, OR

September 29th / Summer's End Fun Run 10k and 5k / Covington, WA

September 29th / Puget Sound Classic 10k and 5k / Olympia, WA

September 29th / Bite of Broadview 5k / Seattle, WA

September 29th / The Naked Foot 5k / Seattle, WA

September 29th / Ridges Fun Fun 4m / Albany, OR

September 29th / Riverbend 5k / Springfield, OR

September 29th / Great Columbia Crossing 10k / Astoria, OR

September 29th / BIG Run for Medical Teams International 5k / Redmond, WA

September 29th / The Epic Grind 10k and 5k / Gaston, OR

September 29th / CFC Fun Run 5k / Bremerton, WA

September 29th / Richard's Run 5k / Medina, WA

September 29th / Run the C Trail 10k and 5k / Lake Stevens, WA

September 29th / Hope for Haiti 5k / Helena, MT

September 29th / The Color Run 5k / Portland, OR

September 29th / Tough Mudder 11m / Black Diamond, WA

September 29th / Ramble for Recovery 5k / Roseburg, OR

September 30th / Issaquah Rotary Run at Salmon Days 10k and 5k / Issaquah, WA

September 30th / Run of Hope Seattle 5k / Seattle, WA

September 30th / Sunset Run to Drums 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

September 30th / Beat the Burn 5k / West Seattle, WA

September 30th / Scrubs Run 10k / Lebanon, OR

September 30th / Wilsonville 10k and 5k / Wilsonville, OR

September 30th / Run for Your Mama 10k and 5k / Bigfork, MT

September 30th / OTC Masters Ten Miler 10m / Eugene, OR

September 30th / CMY5k / Boise, ID

Paralympics Inspiration - Alex Zanardi and Brad Snyder

Well, if you've been reading the R's for long, you know that my sentimentality doesn't extend too far. I usually attend the "shut up, suck it up, and get running, Princess" School of running.

Hey, some people need to make things personal and mystical and magical, even when it comes to running. And some don't. Whatever it takes.

But once in a while even I can get caught up in the raw emotion of sport and the drive to compete.

In particular, a couple stories from the London Paralympics going on right now have really made me think.

Alex Zanardi, a former F1 race car driver and CART Champ, lost his legs in a horrific 2001 crash. Yet, here he is, competing in the Paralympics. Not just competing - fighting for the win. Never feeling sorry for himself and his circumstances - just driving for the finish line. An absolutely amazing story.

Then there's American Brad Snyder, who was blinded in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan last year. Now, just a year later, he's winning gold in the 100 meter Freestyle at the Paralympics. Incredible.

Few of us face challenges of the magnitude of the athletes at the Paralympics, but we still all do face small, medium, and even relatively large obstacles on our way to our goals, in running and in life.

Let's hope we can power our way past those obstacles with something resembling the courage and fortitude and bravery that Zanardi and Snyder have shown.

Photo from The Telegraph UK.

Ironman Champ Chrissie Wellington in Corvallis on Thursday!

Yes, indeed. Ultrafantasticalsuperduperawesomeastic triathlon studette Chrissie Wellington is going to be at Peak Sports in Corvallis on Thursday, September 6th, from 6:00 to 7:00pm.

See here.

And here.

And straight from Chrissie's blog here.

So grab your copy of A Life Without Limits and head over to Peak Sports to pay homage.

Let's face it...this is the best triathlete you'll ever meet...period.

And you've got to love that smile when she crosses the finish line.

Best Running Song for September - Bloc Party - Octopus

Another repeat entry on the Best Running Song list from this band, which can't not make an amazing running song: Bloc Party.

Let's face it, much like Matt and Kim from last month, these guys just make music that's meant to run to. It's perfect.

Their new song, Octopus, from their fourth album, titled, yes, "Four" is a jittery piece of running music perfection.

And here's a nice live version from KCRW.



Rock that Run!

Past Best Running Songs: 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"

The Two R's Reaches 100,000 Hits!

True story. We're over 100,000 hits on the R's. And we're still running.

Thanks for reading.