Beaver Freezer Triathlon Registration! Monday, Feb. 3rd at 8:00am

Well, this snuck right up on me. On Monday, Feb 3rd, right at 8:00am, they'll open up the registration for the super-famous Beaver Freezer Triathlon, put on by the awesome OSU Tri Team.

As you should know by now, this baby is way popular and sells out pretty much instantaneously every single year. I think last year, maybe, it was open until the afternoon on the day registration opened, but there have been years where it sells out in a couple hours.

So if you want to race the Freezer, get in front of your computer with your credit card in hand on Monday morning!

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.

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:

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 32 and 33 of 123

Hey, it's Wednesday - the official Hanson's rest day...woot!

So I'll catch up on the reports of the last two days of the schedule.

Monday was pretty basic, although my legs were still shot from the long run on Sunday - 6 miles easy. I ran from Dixon Rec on campus around town but ended back a little early, at about 4.5 miles. So I proceeded to do the remaining 1.5 miles on the strange .35 mile square track at Student Legacy Park.



Then Tuesday was speed work day. Here's the stats:

-1 mile warmup
-4 x .75m at 7:10 pace
-4 x .25m at 9:50 pace, recovery in between
-1 mile cool down

So right at 6.00 miles total. Six very tough miles at that.

Day off today, then more tempo work on Thursday. See you then.

Go buy the book:

Beaver Freezer Triathlon Registration - Feb 1, 2013

OK, this is your final warning.

Head over here tomorrow if you want to participate in the 2013 Beaver Freezer Triathlon on April 6th.

It will sell out, so don't dilly dally.

Beaver Freezer 2013 - Three Day Warning!

You know the drill. One of the first triathlons of the year. Well-run, organized, good competition, and a chance to support the OSU triathletes who organize the race.

Oh, and don't forget...

It sells out. Always.

If you want to race in the Freezer, you've got to sign up. Usually, right at 8:00am. No later than 9:00am. If you're signing up at 10:00am, you're taking a chance. If you're waiting until noon, it's likely trouble. If you forgot on February 1st, and come back on the 2nd, just forget about it.

The race is on April 6th...sure to be a glorious, sun-shining, birds singing, spring day.

So sign up this Friday, the 1st, at 8:00am. Do it!

Right here.

Five Years...Ten Posts

It's hard to believe, but we're coming up on the five year anniversary of The Two R's.

I know, right? Five years of running, writing and writing about running.

And what better way to celebrate than to reprint some of my favorite posts of the last five years! It only makes sense to do my top five posts for the five year anniversary...that's why we're going to do a top ten! Since when have we worried about making sense? Besides, I can't narrow it down to five.

So, let's count down to October 20th - the 5th Anniversary of The Two R's!

First up: a little tale of woe from August 12th, 2009. A visit to Dixon Rec Center at OSU. One of my favorite places in the world, but also a place where I've had a lot of strangely interesting adventures. Ah Dixon...

AS COOL AS ICE...

You know, it's really not that easy to be cool when you're working out with a bunch of college kids that are in the best shape of their lives without even trying. There's usually more posing going on at Dixon than exercising, but I'm always in there, sweating, panting, gasping for air while everyone around me flexes and tries to find a date for Friday night. But hey, I still try to be cool...

So I'm at Dixon last night, just got changed into my running stuff in the locker room and I'm walking out to hit the treadmill. They've got a nice full-length mirror just before you leave the locker room so you can make sure you've got your pants on. As I go by, I notice I've got a Bounce sheet from the dryer hanging out the leg hole on the back of my right leg. Jeez, how embarrassing - glad I caught that one before I made it out.

So I go do a nice little five miler on the treadmill, sneer at the college kids putting in their mini workout/poses. That's right, you want to see a man working out? Right here. Check it out, Holmes. You gotta keep these kids in their place.

So I finish up and strut out to the lobby. The basketball team is hanging out - Hey guys, how's it going? Man, I'm feeling good. I'm showin' these kids what an old man can do.

I head back into the locker room to shower up and glance in the mirror on my way through. I'm heading the opposite direction now, so the mirror is on the other side of me. Hey look! I've got a Bounce sheet stuck hanging out of my shorts on that side too! Ya know, if you just glance at it quickly, it sort of looks like toilet paper sticking out of my shorts. Nice.

Yep, I'm cool all right. Maybe I'll just start working out at home.

Corvallis Fall Festival Race Results and Race Review

Another 2012 race and another PR in the books!

Hey, if you just want to see the results and could care less about my race; I completely understand. Here are the results for the 5k and 10k.

Now let's talk about me!

So I was on a nice little streak in 2012 coming into the Corvallis Fall Festival 10k. I had run four races and set three all-time PR's and one master's PR. So I was four for four. And since I had set my 10k PR last year, at the very same Fall Festival course, I saw no reason that I shouldn't go five for five in 2012. My PR coming in was 48:57. Nothing spectacular, to be sure. It was basically the same pace as my half marathon PR, so I definitely felt good about my chances coming in.

We actually had some rain the night before, but an hour or so before race time it was sunny and quite warm. A good day for a race!

I met my friend Manny B, coming up from Eugene, and we chatted, did a little warmup, chatted, hit the honey buckets, and chatted while we waited for the 10k start time of 9:15. Sort of late on a warm day like today, but there you go.

Now I know I've complained about this before, but I just don't understand...so I'm going to complain again. You've got a race with both a 10k and a 5k...why do you start the 5k first!?!? The 5k will always have the walkers and the kids and the joggers. The 10k will always have the more serious, faster on average, runners. So why start the 5k first? I just don't understand...

Anyway, they started the 5k at 9:10 and the 10k exactly five minutes later at 9:15. I don't need to tell you that we came up on the back of the 5k pack very, very quickly. It was never completely blocked like we were at the Red, White and Blue 5k, but you had to swerve back and forth around a number of walkers, both during the first two miles, then at the end as well when we merged back in together during the last mile. Big deal? No. But I still think you could solve the problem by starting the 10k first. Stepping off soapbox...now!

As usual, I ran the first quarter mile or so without looking at my watch. I like to try to find my pace and keep my breathing and heart rate at a decent level before I look at my pace and adjust.

And as usual, I went out too fast.

I mean, look at that first quarter-mile! I needed to average about 7:45 to set a new PR. I wanted to average about 7:30. I glanced down at my watch at about a quarter-mile and saw I was hitting about 6:15! Hey now! I looked up and saw Gerhard Behrens' back just ahead of me and then I really knew I needed to slow down. There's no way I should be running up with him at any point in the race.

I was able to reel it back in a bit and hit the first mile marker at 7:03. Quite a bit faster than my plan, but I felt OK so I just kept rolling. The second mile came in at a respectable 7:14 and I knew if I could just hang on for 6.2 miles, the PR was looking like it would go down hard.

Miles three and four are a long, straight out and back on the road that heads behind the OSU Dairy Barns and then under the Covered Bridge, until finally hitting the turn-around all the way out at 53rd. No 5k runners to worry about in this section, but it's not my favorite section, plus the sun was blazing in our faces on the way back to campus. My splits here were 7:33 and 7:28, which was just about perfect. I was feeling it a little bit, but was pretty happy that my pace was steady around 7:30.

We came back onto campus proper for mile five and my favorite section - a slight downhill and, importantly, shaded by huge trees as we made our way down to Reser Stadium. Overall, this is a very flat and fast course. That plus the late September date, which usually means clear skies, but not too hot, makes this a great course for a PR. I hit mile five at 7:36.

I was tired on mile six, and my 7:41 pace shows that, but there's a short hill in front of Dixon there and I was already dreaming of the downhill past Benton Hall and the finish line right after.

I came through the last .2 mile with a nice push at 7:14 pace to hit the line at 46:11.

The old PR was 48:57, so it was a nearly three minute slice off my old PR! Overall, I was 39th out of 216 runners in the 10k. Fourth out of 15 in my age-division...so close to that white ribbon! And 35th out of 105 guys.

So one more PR in the books for 2012! Next up is the Condor Run 25k...that's a very hilly trail run...although I don't think I've ever run a 25k before, so I guess that's a sure PR!

See you there!

Best in the West Triathlon - NW Collegiate Conference Championships

Leave it to superduper triathlon stud, and OSU grad, Blair Bronson to head up an awesome new triathlon.

Now in its second year, the Best in the West Triathlon Festival is Oregon's version of Wildflower! The Best in the West includes a Half Ironman, Olympic Tri, a Sprint Tri, plus it's hosting the NW Collegiate Conference Championships in Triathlon this year! Dude, you must be there!

It's just outside of Corvallis, at Lewis Creek Park at Foster Lake, near Sweet Home, Oregon.

Plus, the Best in the West website has the most amazing, incredible, just unbelievable, FAQ section about triathlons that I've ever seen. Wow.

Sign up now!

Save this treadmill for me!

Just minding my own business, going for a little run on the treadmill...or so I thought.

So I head over to Dixon Tuesday night after work. Needed to do some speedwork: a mile warmup, four 1-mile segments at Half race pace, six 200m segments at 10k pace moving to 5k pace, and a mile cool down. I have a hard time keeping pace for that many segments out on the roads. Plus the hay fever thing. So...Yo Treadmill!

Since finals were last week at OSU, the crowds are pretty light. Which I lurv. So I walk into the main cardio room and there are only about two people on the treadmills. Cool.

I step up to my favorite machine and hop on.

The first mile is always tough. The 45 year old body just doesn't warm up as fast as it used to. I feel like Phoebe from Friends only not as cute and I can't play guitar.


But I get through it and start the faster stuff. Begin a mile repeat at just under 8:00.

I'm only about a quarter-mile in when a girl...young woman...college-age female student...(give me a break, I'm old), hops on the treadmill next to me.

Quick glance. Cute enough. Almost fall off the treadmill. Act cool. All good.

I don't really try to make much eye contact when I'm on the treadmills at Dixon. Mainly because they have big stickers on them that say "Keep workout to 30 minutes." Which is a joke. Sometimes I'm on there for 60 minutes, hardly ever longer than 90 minutes, but it has happened. So I don't even look around. Ignore the plebeians giving you and your treadmill longing looks and soon they'll wander over to the stationary bikes. That's always been my theory.

So cute or not, I don't really look at her, cause I'm busy using the hell out of this treadmill for the next hour and a half, so everyone else can just beat it.

But she's only on there for about five minutes before she's waving her hand in front of my face. What the hell?

"WHAT?" I scream.

She winces and everyone else in the room turns to stare at me. Whoops. Still have the iPod going full volume in my ears. I take off the headphones.

"What?" I say, turned down to about six.

"Can you watch my stuff for me while I run to the bathroom?" she says.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me?" I say in my own head where I always say lots of cool stuff.

"What? Really?" I say out loud in the real world where I never say anything at all to cute college age young female type people.

"Yeah," she says. "I'll just be a second."

And she takes off.

I mean, who does that? I don't want to watch her stuff. I'm trying to do speedwork here. This isn't easy for an old man!

Oh, whatever! So I glance over there. She left her stinking iPhone or iPod Touch or freaking huge old school iPod with a big old screen right there on the treadmill. Who does that? Is she afraid she'll get cooties on it in the bathroom? So now I'm responsible for her damn iPhone?



I'll show her cooties. I'm going to lick the damn thing.

So I tell myself to forget about her stinking iPhone and concentrate on my speedwork. I look down at the screen on my treadmill and see that I'm at 1.18 miles. Sweet humpin' Moses. I've run almost a quarter mile past my mark. I'm totally off my game here.

I belatedly slow my treadmill down for my recovery between mile repeat one and two to almost a walk. I glance around and notice that every treadmill is taken now except for the one beside me. The one I'm watching. The one I'm saving. For the girl I don't know. And her iPhone.

Un.

Believable.

So I'm just about read to crank up the treadmill for the second mile repeat. About a 7:50 pace for this one. The treadmill has a touchy button - you've really got to lean on it for about 30 seconds to get it to start going faster. I'm leaning on the damn button with everything I've got when an Asian guy in bright red nylon Adidas sweat pants and a huge fleece hoody gets up on the girl's treadmill.

First, it's about 80 degrees in Dixon during the summer. There's no way this guy is going to actually run dressed like that. Second, about 90% of the students at OSU during the summer are International Students because, well, who can afford to fly around the world every couple months? And third, dammit!

"HEY, SOMEBODY'S USING THAT!" I scream.

He looks at me like it was only a matter of time until some American freaked out on him. He's searching me with his eyes. Probably looking for a handgun. I mean, America, right?

I take my headphones off and say in a normal voice, "I think someone's on there." Which is clearly a lie. "She'll be right back." Which I hope to God is true.

"Are you almost done?" he says.

"No. I just got on," I lie. "I got 30 minutes left."

He frowns at me and walks over to the stationary bikes. That's right, buddy. Just keep on walking. Nothing to see here.

I try to get back into a rhythm, but I've only got into the mile for about two minutes when another guy walks up to the treadmill and points at it. Looks at me. Points at himself. Then at the treadmill again.

I hate people.

Yeah, I get it buddy. You want to get on the treadmill. Tough luck for you. He's some older schlub like me. Probably on staff. No faculty person is dumb enough to be on campus this time of year - they're all on vacation.

"Someone's using it," I say. No other explanation. I've just about had enough of the whole "saving seats" deal here. I mean, it's not easy for me to run under 8:00 pace on a treadmill in the first place. It's all I can do to not shoot off the back. I don't need to hold a freaking conversation with every person that walks in!

"Where is she?" he says.

"Bathroom," I shrug.

He shakes his head at me like he's picturing a bus running me under the tires.

"You almost done?" he says.

"Just got on," I say. "30 minutes."

I haven't talked this much to the general public at large in months. I'm going to have to take a sick day tomorrow.

The guy sneers at me and walks away. Like I care, buddy. I'm getting all riled up like it's my fiancee that I'm saving the treadmill for. I try to focus my anger in the correct direction.

I'm going to wait 60 more seconds, then I'm taking her iPhone and stepping on the damn thing.

How long does it take to go to the bathroom anyway? Does she have some kind of issue? It's been like 10 minutes, I swear. Maybe 15.

People on the stationary bikes that are trolling the treadmills keep turning around and staring at me. I pretend I'm watching the NCAA baseball world series game on the TV on the wall. Good Lord, I could absolutely not care less about anything in the entire world than Florida State and UCLA playing baseball.

The Seminole pitcher has a damn fine moustache however.

The girl comes strolling back down the hall outside the cardio room. She's talking to another girl. She's actually standing outside in the hall now, chatting. I look down at my treadmill screen and see I've gone past a mile. Again.

I'm this close to losing it. If she ever wraps up her conversation and comes back in here, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind. Her parents clearly did not do their jobs on the responsibility advising side. I'm going to step up to the plate.

She finally giggles her way back to the treadmill and steps on. She checks her phone for a minute before she even starts the treadmill back up.

That's it. Bull. Horns.

She turns toward me. "Thanks so much. I really appreciate your help." She smiles. She is pretty cute.

"Sure," I say. "No problem."

I'm never working out at Dixon again.

Ever.

Running and Hay Fever

Damn, that Tom Selleck had a nice-looking hairy chest, am I right?

Yeah, that's foreshadowing.

So anyhoo, when you've got a bad case of hay fever, every single year, from about April to July, you can't really just put running on hold. I mean, that's the meat of the running year right there. In the Northwest, that's damn near the entire running year. Outdoors anyway.

So basically, you just pop your favorite pill every morning and hope for the best.

So after a little Fexofenadine fix, I hit the trails this morning for a nice ten-miler in the Corvallis sunshine. And apart from a little wind (which hay fever sufferers never want to see), the weather was just about perfect.

So off I went. A nice little loop by campus then back to Bald Hill Park via the Midge Cramer Path.

And even though my pace slowed down considerably going up Bald Hill, I was pretty happy with my overall pace, especially the few miles after the hill. I felt good.

My splits for the ten+ were:
8:17
8:32
8:34
8:54
8:58
8:31
10:21
10:07
8:13
8:03
7:58
Can you tell where I was going up?!?

And while my hay fever didn't cause my throat to close up, like it sometimes does when I run through Avery Park, it was clear when I went to take my shower that the pollen was going through my lungs pretty good.

No, I don't have chicken pox. Those are hives from breathing in too much pollen during the run. Makes you wonder what my actual lungs look like. I don't really want to know. And no, I don't have quite the hairy goodness of Magnum, P.I., but I'm getting there.

And you wonder why Galen Rupp wears that dorky mask? Well, that's why.

Galen Rupp photo from Thomas Boyd and the Oregonian.

Boston Marathon 2012 Heat Test

I realize the rest of the country has been suffering from a heat wave for weeks now, but this weekend was truly the first time this year that Corvallis has had hot weather.

Unfortunately, I needed to do a long run today. After last week's Corvallis Half Marathon, I had taken five days off to rest my legs and my ouchy oblique muscle. But I couldn't stall any longer, so I did a short six-miler in the heat yesterday and had a 20-miler scheduled for today.

As soon as I woke up this morning, I knew I had to get cracking - at 7:00am, the sun was already blazing into our bedroom window. I jumped into my shoes, had a quick Clif Bar and got going just after 8:00 to try to beat the heat, but...

As an aside, while understanding that the Boston Marathon folks had it tough last week in the heat, I must admit I sort of felt, "just suck it up and run already." This is called "foreshadowing."

So I took off and felt pretty good for the first seven or eight miles. It was still fairly cool and the sun wasn't high enough in the sky to worry about - still lots of shade. Still, I had gone through my water bottle and had to fill it up again at Dixon on the OSU Campus during mile eleven.

Then, the second half of the run...

As you can see by my pace times, it got hot. There was no shade anywhere. All the uphill sections were in the second half. And I ran out of water completely around mile 17. I was starting to feel a little queasy right around then - probably not a surprise since I was out of water. I was close to home though, so I figured I'd just keep struggling toward home. Stopped at a stop light during mile 18, I was feeling really light-headed. Oh boy...

As you can see by my pace, I had started walking, a lot, by then, but I was still feeling terrible. I limped home, grabbed three glasses of ice water and sat on the floor of the living room for about 20 minutes. I felt awful. Then I went to take a shower and had to sit on the side of the tub for a minute to clear my head. It was almost an hour later before I started to feel almost back to normal. Oof.

Which is all a long way to say, "Yeah, it's hard to run in the heat, and I have a lot of respect for all those people that made it through the heat in Boston last week. Congratulations on a great run."

Corvallis Half Marathon Race Review!

Yep, the 2nd Annual Corvallis Half Marathon is in the books. Check out the results right here and/or here.

So the race...the day started out just about perfect. Light cloud cover, temp at the start right around fifty degrees and absolutely no wind. Perfect. They were calling for 2000 runners, but it sure didn't seem like that at the start line - it was very thin towards the front of the starting chute. I guess everyone wanted to be in the back of the line. Whatever.

So the OSU band played the National Anthem, nice touch, and we were off!

Did I have a solid plan coming into this race? Yeah, not so much. I wasn't positive how I wanted to run this Half. A few weeks back, I was running very well...felt good, felt strong. Then I pulled something in my side, maybe an oblique. The last couple of weeks have not been as good. I've been cutting runs short, skipping days, just not hitting on all cylinders. So I thought I better go out conservatively, maybe try for an 8:15 for the first few miles, at the very fastest. The problem was my brain was having trouble communicating with my legs. I could not, could not, slow down enough in the first mile. I checked the Garmin...7:35 pace. Holy crap! Slow down! Checked it again a minute later...7:38. Are you kidding me? I totally put on the brakes and finished the first mile with a 7:54. OK. I mean, I know I can handle that kind of pace for five, six, seven miles, but for 13.1? Not sure. Slow down. Now!

Nope. Second mile...7:46. Nope again, third mile...7:46 again. Yowza. OK, I was getting past the point of this even mattering. I mean, I was already 25% into the race, might as well just run it now. If I died at the end, then there you go.

At least a couple slight uphills in miles four and five kept me slightly above 8:00 pace, with an 8:00 and a 8:03. And a slight downhill in miles six and seven, I kicked it back up to 7:43 and 7:42. I was feeling pretty good and was almost ready to stop worrying about my pace. But not quite. See, mile eight was the long, slow uphill. That was the only worry left. If I could get through that mile at a decent clip, I'd feel pretty good about the rest of the race.

Oof, long, slow, uphills. Not my favorite. But I got through it at 8:14. Good enough. Just a couple very short hills after that - almost all flat or downhill on the last five miles. The sun came out on and off to warm up the situation, but how can I complain about that? I've been waiting for sunshine for months! Bring it!

I got through mile nine at 7:35 - lots of downhill there. Miles ten, eleven and twelve came in at 7:49, 7:48 and 7:54. I was starting to feel it a little bit - my legs were wearing down. But I reminded myself that I was on pace to absolutely crush my Half Marathon PR and that kept me chugging along. Actually passed a few people that were crashing harder than I was during mile thirteen, a 7:46, and brought the last tenth home with a 7:05 pace. Considering they run you down into the stadium on an asphalt ramp that's at about a 15% slope, I'm surprised I didn't slide through the finish line on my face - my legs barely kept up with me going down that hill.

Came across the 50 yard line in Reser Stadium at 1:42:24. That was good for 175th overall (out of 1634), and 10th in my age division (out of 60). But that's just the frosting.

The cake was the 1:42:24 was a nine-minute plus PR of a Half time I ran way back in 2004. And my 2012 Corvallis Half finish time was a full 14 minutes faster than my 2011 finish time! I'm feeling pretty good about that.

But is it Boston worthy? Well, that's the big question, right? After all the hemming and hawing, the 7:50 pace was exactly the pace I'd need to run in Newport to qualify for Boston. So that's good. But clearly, the pace I can run for 13.1 does not exactly transfer straight across to 26.2. The pace conversion at Runner's World grades me up to a 3:33:24 marathon time. Which is about ten minutes faster than my last approximation, but not quite up to the 3:25:00 I need for a BQ.

Ah well, I needed something to work on for the next six weeks anyway.

Photos by Jen Lommers - thanks!

169

Corvallis Half Marathon in 40 minutes...

Just sitting in my office at OSU, about 100 yards from the start line of the Corvallis Half Marathon.

Psyching myself up with a little Radiohead live at the Grammy's with 15 Step!

Be back later today with a race report. Wish me luck.

Let's race!

169

Get Your Daughters Running!

Yes, it's that time of year - time to get your kids active! And nobody does it better than Girls on the Run. This is a great program that's available in a number of different cities across the NW. It mixes social fun with exercise, which is perfect if you've got a daughter who is a bit "meh" about exercise, e.g. my daughter.

Get those kids out there and get them active while they're still young. They can start a mindset that can help keep them healthy for the rest of their lives.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27th TO MARCH 4th

March 3rd / Run for the Honeywagon Half Marathon and 4m / Everson, WA

March 3rd / Mountain Marathon and Hilly Billy Half Marathon Trail Runs / Olympia, WA

March 3rd / Winter Triathlon / Winthrop, WA

March 3rd / Champoeg Park 30k and 10k / Champoeg Park, OR

March 4th / Lincoln City Half Marathon and 10k / Lincoln City, OR

March 4th / Fort Vancouver 15k, 10k, and 6k / Vancouver, WA

That photo was taken about 50 feet from my office on the campus of OSU. Go Beavs!


173

Exactly One Week to Beaver Freezer Registration!

I know, I know, you say you'll remember, but you won't remember.

So here I am...again. Reminding you that the Beaver Freezer Tri will open up for registration at 8:00am on February 1st. That's next Wednesday.

And I'm telling you...again. It will sell out. Even though they're talking about expanding the field once again, it will sell out. And probably fast. Like a couple hours fast.

So get on it!


174

Beaver Freezer 2012 Registration Coming Up!

Has it been a year already? Apparently so...

As I do every year, I'm making a concerted effort to warn R's readers and triathletes that:

a) the Beaver Freezer is a well-organized, fast, early-season, sprint triathlon that everyone should aim to race, and
b) it sells out faster than frigging hotcakes.

So on February 1st, at 8am, you must, MUST, head over to the Freezer website and sign up immediately. It will, I repeat, it will sell out within two hours. That is, by 10:00am on Feb 1st, if you're not signed up, you're not racing in the Freezer.

Don't forget!

Photo: yes, that's me at the 2011 Freezer...looking sort of chunky, I must say.

175

New OSU Track Under Construction!

Yeah, we've talked about it before, but they're actually working on the thing now!

Yep, it's true, they're actually building a track at Oregon State University. It's a good day.

Here's the whole story.

Watch them build it live on this here webcam.

They haven't announced the name for the new track complex yet, but it's got to be Fosbury Field, right?

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!

Oregon State University Track and Field!

“They should have shot the athletic director who dropped it,” said Bell, 83, who was on hand for Tuesday’s ceremony. “I’m serious. There are idiots who sit in athletic directors’ chairs at times, and he was one of them.

“Any school that doesn’t have track and field is admitting it is a second-rate institution. It’s the center ring of the Olympic Games — always has been, always will be. To give that up, with the number of the kids who have gone to the Olympics from Oregon State, was ridiculous.”

Wow! That was former OSU Track Coach Sam Bell, who coached more than 90 All-Americans during his Hall of Fame coaching career.

He doesn't exactly mince words.

Check out the entire Portland Tribune article here.

But hey, Corvallis is getting a sweet new track. Woot!

OSU Track and Field! Sounds good.