It's dry...ok, it's dry...IT'S DRY!

A truly great invention to appear in the last decade or so is the swimsuit dryer. I know, creative name, right? But you know what I'm talking about - the little square machine. You lift the lid and throw your suit in the basket, it shakes and rattles and rolls and ten seconds or so later, your suit is relatively dry. All good, right?

You'd think. But you'd be wrong.

I actually go swimming tonight. I've got a long run tomorrow, so I figure I'll take a nice, easy swim and rest my legs for the run tomorrow. I finish, go shower up, and head to the "spinner." Only one guy in front of me. No problem, he's already spinning his suit, I'll be up in seconds.

Nope. Still spinning.

And spinning.

And spinning.

No joke. You know how you have to hold down the lid to make it work? This guy was practically taking a nap laying on the thing!

About two minutes later, his suit was probably on fire from the friction, he finally stops the spinner and pulls out his suit.

Thank the lord.

And then he shoves another suit from his other hand into the machine and starts all over again.

Oh for the love of Pete!

Nothing like a nice relaxing swim...

Super Bowl Race Schedule!

Yeah, I'm watching the Big Game...but I still love ya! So I'm posting a race schedule - during the game!

The sacrifices I make...

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 15th TO FEBRUARY 21st

February 20th / Hagg Lake Ultra Trail Run 50k and 25k / Hagg Lake, OR

February 21st / Historic Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k / Fort Langley, B.C.

February 21st / Birch Bay Marathon and 25k / Birch Bay, WA

Best Running Song for February!

It's bilingual education time, kids.

You know, there once was a time when lyrics were about 60%, maybe 70%, of the song for me. Those words of pain and anguish sounded like TRUTH!

Yeah, but that was when I was 13 and my girlfriend had just broken up with me ("Damn you, Patty Krienke!"). Now, the lyrics are lucky to be 10%, maybe 15%, of the song for me. It's all about the music, and the beat, to get my feet moving at that mystical 7:39 pace (my Boston pace).

So when I first heard Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and El Matador on the Grosse Point Blank soundtrack, it really didn't even matter that the lyrics were in Spanish...that song rocked! And it's fantastic on the iPod as well. It's got that full sound with the huge band - drums, guitars, keyboards, horns - it's got a bit of a ska sound to it that a lot of Latin music has. It's all good.

Now the video? Well, I don't know what the hell is going on there...

Looking for a few other cool Latin tunes to run with...or just need to study your Spanish? The R's is here for you:

Try Circo, or Crisantes, or Manu Chao, or Pastilla.


Past Best Running Songs:
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 R's Jumps Into the Barefoot Running Fray!

That's right, in the latest issue of RaceCenter magazine, the R's alter ego takes a hard look at the new fad of barefoot running. You heard me, I called it a fad. Hey, I tried to be very nonjudgmental in the article, titled "Running Barefoot Like Abebe," but I truly believe barefoot running is trouble for about 95% of the runners out there. People that never should try running without shoes: the overweight, the undertrained, the beginners, the impatient - they'll all see these articles and studies that are coming out, and they'll try it.

And it won't end well.

It's an injury waiting to happen for the average runner. Now if you're an elite runner. If you have perfect form. It you weigh a buck-ten. Yes, you may try barefoot running. Although, most of the elite runners will stick with their lightweight trainers that they've always worn anyway.

I just don't see more than a handful of runners being happy going barefoot over the long haul.

Now, go grab the new issue of RaceCenter and watch me take 1500 words to say the same thing!

Two Hours...

That's all it took for The Beaver Freezer to sell out...two hours.

Did you get in?

Hey, I gave up my spot, as I'll be about four weeks away from the Eugene Marathon when the Freezer is running...so don't blame me if you didn't get in!

Of course, that means I won't be able to defend my fourth-place, age-division title...DOH!

Ah well, good luck to all you Freezers!

Sign Up for Beaver Freezer Tomorrow!

All right, last warning.

Tomorrow at 8:00am, the registration for the Beaver Freezer will open. And I'm here to tell you if you're not signed up by noon, you will be shut out.

It's only $45, so get on there and get signed up. Then you'll have good reason to get out there and run!

A New Contender?

Yes, there's a new contender for hottest runner...and once again, it's an Oregonian!

If you're not familiar, that's Jenn Shelton, from Ashland. She may not have the same speed as the R's other favorite Oregon runner, Kara Goucher, but the two don't often hit the same courses. Shelton is more comfortable running 50 and 100 mile ultras, although she has run marathons in the 2:50 range, so she's hardly slow at the shorter distances.

And Shelton has the attitude to go with the looks: "I started running ultras to become a better person. I thought if you could run 100 miles you'd be in this Zen state. You'd be the Buddha, bringing peace and a smile to the world. It didn't work in my case. I'm the same old punk-ass as before, but there's always hope," she told Outside magazine.

As a reference to her speed, the bikini pic came from the finish area after she won the Frederick, Virginia Marathon with a 2:53. Why the bikini? Hot, I guess. Personally, I feel it's a fashion trend other female runners should get behind.

And if any guys out there are thinking of breaking out the Speedo suits for running, please just say no.

Go Jenn!

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 8th TO FEBRUARY 14th

February 13th / Rotary Run 2 miler / Portland, OR

February 13th / Love 'em or Leave 'em 5k / Seattle, WA

February 13th / Matchmaker 5k / Centralia, WA

February 13th / Cupid's Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10 miler, 10k, and 5k / Rochester, WA

February 13th / Two for the Road 5k / Bellingham, WA

February 13th / Erik Anderson Memorial 4k / Spokane Valley, WA

February 14th / Valentine Fanconi Anemia 8k and 5k / Portland, OR

February 14th / You Knock My Socks Off 4 miler / Gig Harbor, WA

February 14th / Worst Day of the Year Ride (bike) / Portland, OR

Beaver Freezer Is Coming!

I know, I know, I already told you. But let's face it...you don't listen.

So let's go over it one more time. On Monday, that's February 1st, the registration for the Beaver Freezer is going to open at 8:00am.

And on February 1st, at about noon, it's going to be too late for you. And why, you ask? Because you're a loser? No! Because you didn't listen to the R's! And maybe because you're a loser...I can't help you there.

So get over to the site...Monday...at 8:00...don't dilly dally.

And if you need a little inspiration, check out the race report from last year. Good race, good times.

Ahhhh! Old guy on the loose!

Treadmills were all full up at Dixon last night. This girl (woman? college...age...student?), this girl stood in front of the treadmills and stared at me like she was going to step on my face and take my treadmill. Like what's the old man doing on our treadmill?! I seriously thought she was going to hurt me for a minute there. Luckily, the guy running beside me with the b.o. and cologne cocktail got off and the rumble was averted. Double bonus.

Let's run.

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 1st TO FEBRUARY 7th

February 6th / Friendship Run 5k / Olympia, WA

February 6th / Frosty Four Miler / Yakima, WA

February 7th / Zena Road Runs 15k, 6 mile, 3 mile / Salem, OR

February 7th / Truffle Shuffle 4 miler / Eugene, OR

February 7th / Geoduck Gallop Half Marathon and 10k / Olympia, WA

I Can Outrun Usain Bolt!

Well, in theory.

Interesting article over at LiveScience.com: apparently, humans have an upper-end speed limit of about 40mph. Yeah, that's fast. Considering that Bolt hits about 28mph when he breaks world records.

Of course, running 40mph in theory, and doing it in practice, are two very different things. Still, the fact that the 100m record was 10.6 100 years ago and is now 9.58, or the fact that the marathon record was 2:55:18 100 years ago and is now 2:03:59, has to give runners hope that we'll just keep getting faster and faster.


Thanks to the University of Wyoming for the cheetah. And no, even at 40mph, you couldn't outrun the cheetah. You'd still be cat food.