Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

I only wish I could say, "Go sign up before it's too late!" Unfortunately...it's too late. The race registration is closed for the Half and 5k coming up this weekend.

The only reason I bring it up at all is because the R's was just there on vacation - and I think it's the most beautiful National Park I've ever been to...and I've seen a bunch of them. To run a race through there would just be unbelievable.

Book it for 2011!

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 19th TO JULY 25th

July 24th / Lake Como Sprint Triathlon / Darby, MT

July 24th / REI Peak Challenge 10k and 5k / Eugene, OR

July 24th / Granite Man Sprint Trail Tri and 10 Mile Trail Run / Jacksonville, OR

July 24th / Manzanita Beach Run 10k and 5k / Manzanita, OR

July 24th / ORRC/Oregon Trail Series My Hood PCT 50 mile Trail Run / Mt Hood, OR

July 24th / Padden Duathlon - 1/3 Less Race / Bellingham, WA

July 24th / Bluegrass 5k / Stevenson, WA

July 24th / Samish Bay Bivalve Bash Low Tide Mud Run 250 yards (way harder than it sounds!) / Bow, WA

July 24th / Old Settlers 5k Run / Ferndale, WA

July 24th / Enumclaw Street Fair 5k / Enumclaw, WA

July 25th / XTERRA Wild Horse Creek Triathlon / Bozeman, MT

July 25th / Lacamas Lake Half Marathon and 4 mile run / Camas, WA

July 25th / Headwaters Half Iron Triathlon / Three Forks, MT

July 25th / Swedish SummeRun 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

July 25th / Bowerman AC 5k / Beaverton, OR

July 25th / Original Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / Loon Lake, WA

July 25th / Heart of the Sound Sprint Triathlon / Vashon Island, WA

July 25th / Girlfriends and Dudes Sprint Triathlon / Vancouver, WA

Best Running Song for July!

And it's Fresh!

Which is amazing considering their last album came out...20 years ago!

Yeah, it's Devo. I mean, who else could it be? And the song, called "Fresh," is a great, great running song. Yes, two "greats" for this one!

Take it from someone that owned "Are We Not Men?" on vinyl and "Freedom of Choice" on cassette - this song gets back to Devo's roots. Right out of the chute, we get guitar, which was a mainstay of Devo's early music, but was sadly forgotten after a few albums. Also amazing, is that these guys are pretty much all AARP age, yet the song is fast, tight, and very suitable for running!

A few fresh live takes of the song:
On Kimmel!
On Colbert! (and without the silly masks, for some reason)
On Letterman!
At the Winter Olympics in Canadia! (again without the masks)

And if you're one of those people that came to the Devo party late, and never realized they were anything but a synthesizer band; please check out this clip from their early days. At about 2:30, they get going on a guitar jam like the band I remember from my childhood. Even more awesomer - Devo brings back the triple guitar attack for a version of "Secret Agent Man" at the Winter Olympics. Devo rocks!

Past Best Running Songs:
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"

Ah, the cool, green Northwest

Yes, we're back! The R's is fresh from the blistering 104 degree temps of Las Vegas and is pleased as punch to be back to the cool, green, moderately temped Northwest!

Oh yeah, it was 98 degrees in Corvallis today.

Holy crap! I'm dying here!

Be smart out there - hydrate!

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 12th TO JULY 18th

July 17th / ChelanMan Long Course Tri, Olympic Tri, Half-Marathon, and 10k / Chelan, WA

July 17th / Deschutes Dash Olympic Triathlon, Olympic Duathlon, and 10k / Bend, OR

July 17th / Seaside Beach Run 10k and 5k / Seaside, OR

July 17th / Soaring Eagle 50k, Marathon, 10 mile, and 5 mile runs / Sammamish, WA

July 17th / Tiger Tri Sprint Triathlon / Colville, WA

July 17th / CHC 10k and 5k / Covington, WA

July 17th / KlaHaYa River Run 5 mile / Snohomish, WA

July 17th / Shoreline Run 10k / Richland, WA

July 17th / Sage's White Rose Memorial 5k / Newport, WA

July 17th / Bill Burby Inspirational 10k and 5k / Vashon Island, WA

July 18th / Benaroya Research Institute Sprint Triathlon at Seafair / Seattle, WA

July 18th / Steve Omi Memorial Open Water 1 mile swim / Coeur d'Alene, ID

July 18th / Deschutes Dash Sprint Triathlon, Sprint Duathlon, and 5k / Bend, OR

July 18th / ChelanMan Sprint Tri / Chelan, WA

Ah, the KlaHaYa Frog...gotta be the best race mascot out there.

The R's Takes a Powder...

Summer break and all that - don't fret, just a little vacation.

Don't stop running! Just pretend I'm in the bathroom or something...be right back!

Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Results!

Or as I like to call it, "the good Seattle Marathon," as opposed to "the evil Seattle Marathon" that they run in November.

If you finished yesterday, congrats! Looks like there were about 27,000 in the Marathon and Half combined. Was the half 75% female again this year? If it was, congrats again to the guys!

Results here!

I Call It The "Floppy 5k"

Or the "Happiest Race in the World".

Or the "Bounciest Race You'll Ever Run".

Or the "Holy Crap! You Should NOT Be Running In a Nude Race! 5k".

Officially, it's called the Bare Buns Fun Run, just outside of Issaquah, WA. The 19h Annual, I might add. I've always wondered...but (butt?) I've never been brave enough to actually try it.

Hey, I've got an idea! You run it...and tell me all about it!

Oh, and send some photos.

Let's race.

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 5th TO JULY 11th

July 10th / Hagg Lake Olympic and Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon / Forest Grove, OR

July 10th / YMCA Spudman Olympic Triathlon / Boise, ID

July 10th / Caledonian Games 5k / Athena, OR

July 10th / Chuckanut Foot Race 7 mile run / Bellingham, WA

July 10th / Turkey Trot 8k / McMinnville, OR

July 10th / McCleary Bear Festival Run From the Bears 5k / McCleary, WA

July 10th / Mildred's Trail Dash 9k and 5k / Oakland, OR

July 10th / Run of the Mill 5k / Mill Creek, WA

July 10th / Liberty Lake Loop 4 mile run / Liberty Lake, WA

July 10th / Race for the Animals 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

July 10th / Smith Rock Sunrise Summer Classic Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k / Ridgefield, WA

July 10th / Grey Rock 50k, 25k and 12k Trail runs / Tampico, WA

July 10th / Two Rivers Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Terrebonne, OR

July 10th / Clear Lake Sprint Triathlon / Clear Lake, WA

July 10th / Kent Cornucopia Days 5k / Kent, WA

July 10th / Ocean Shores Big Weekend Half-Iron, Olympic, and Sprint Tris, Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k Runs / Ocean Shores, WA

July 11th / Fueled by Wine Half-Marathon / Dundee, OR

July 11th / Jacey's Race 5k / Sandpoint, ID

July 11th / Spring Meadow Olympic and Sprint Triathlons / Helena, MT

July 11th / Go Girl 10k Trail Run / Portland, OR

July 11th / Langley Half-Marathon / Langley, WA

July 11th / Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / Issaquah, WA

July 11th / XTERRA Vashon Off-Road Triathlon / Vashon, WA


Yes, that's Nick Symmonds, superstar runner, in the photo. Wonder what he's doing all naked? Want to see more? Head over here where the R's talks all about it.

Ugliest, Most Terrifying Runner's Feet...Ever!

Yes, the Western States 100 is coming up this weekend, and just in case your stomach wasn't queasy and upside down already...well, take another look at those beautiful feet!

Why would anyone want to subject themselves to this? I'm not sure. I won't lie to you - I'm jealous of these Ultra Marathoners and hugely impressed by them...but at the same time, I'd never want to be them to actually do a 100 mile race!

So..go you ultra-crazy Ultra Marathoners! May I never, ever join you!


Vile photo by Luis Escobar from the Auburn Journal.

Team Sparkle!

Hey, check my new Advertisee! Team Sparkle!

I showed it to my daughter and she said, "I want one! Hot Pink!"

I know, there are lots of places to get running skirts, but how many of them sparkle?!?

And how many skirt makers advertise on the R's? Only the smart ones!

Go Team Sparkle!

On the Shelf...Again

You know, this getting old stuff really isn't all it's cracked up to be. So once again, I'm taking some time off from running to try to heal up this quad/groin...thing. Gonna take a full four weeks off this time. Hoping for the best.

By far, the most depressing thing is how unbelievably quickly I'm depressed when I'm not running! Don't get me wrong, I'm not turning on the gas range yet, it's more of a vague, anxious feeling. I so want to run, and it's killing me.

Of course that's what got me in trouble the last time. I only took a little over two weeks off. Felt better. Started running again. Was happy. Briefly.

Then the old pain started again. Sigh....

July 19th - I'm coming for you!

Ever run a race at midnight?

Well, here's your chance. The Firecracker 5000 is in Seattle, starting at 11:55pm on July 3rd, ending, well, shortly after midnight on July 4th. I've only run it once, years ago. Sort of odd to run a race in the middle of the night, but there's always a good crowd and it's festive. Something everyone should do at least once.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF JUNE 28th TO JULY 4th

July 3rd / Firecracker 5000 / Seattle, WA (11:55 pm start!)

July 3rd / Liberty 5k / Rexburg, ID

July 3rd / Lostine River Run 10k and 5k / Lostine, OR

July 3rd / Five Mile Lake Women's Triathlon / Auburn, WA

Jult 3rd / Firecracker Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10 mile, 10k, 5k, Triathlon / Elma, Wa

July 3rd / Righteous Richland Sprint Triathlon / Richland, WA

July 3rd / Ridgefield 4th of July 10k and 5k / Ridgefield, WA

July 3rd / Two Rivers Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Woodland, WA

July 3rd / Bigfoot 10k and 5k / Yacolt, WA

July 4th / Yankee Doodle Dash 10k and 5k / Everett, WA

July 4th / Foot Traffic Flat Marathon and Half-Marathon / Portland, OR

July 4th / Aquafina Butte to Butte 10k / Eugene, OR

July 4th / Spark Your Heart 5k / Bend, OR