Pescatarian Ahoy!

Yes, I've lived the fishy life for a full three months now and I'm feeling pretty good about it. So far, I haven't had a true hankering for beef, chicken or pork. In fact, if anything, I've become more certain that I can live without those meats and I'm even, gulp, sure that I can skip the turkey this T-Day.

I know, right?

Now the problem is how to spell the stinking word! Wiki says pescetarian, but Merriam-Webster says Pescatarian. What the?!

I'm sure there's some kind of Latin root word in there somewhere, but I'm just going to go back to Spanish 101 at the UW. Pescar: to fish. That works for me.

Pescatarian it is!

Run With the President 5k

Here's a crazy idea: run a 5k...in the middle of the afternoon...on Friday.

I know, right?

You don't see too many Friday afternoon runs period, much less starting at the Memorial Union at OSU. Should be fun.

Oh, and the President? Yeah, that would be Ed Ray, the OSU President. Sorry about that.

Best Running Song for October!

When I think "Northern Ireland" I don't usually picture happy, bubbly, songs that were made for Northwest running the the Fall rain and wind...but that's exactly what we've got for this month's Best Running Song!

The band is called Two Door Cinema Club and the song is "Something Good Can Work." Here's an alternate, 80's style take, on the video.

The band consists of three guys from Northern Ireland and this jaunty little tune is from their first album, Tourist History. Even better, the band is hitting Portland, Seattle, and Eugene in early November!

If you're heading outside for another wet, depressing run, slip this one into your playlist and you'll be happy for at least three minutes of your run!

Past Best Running Songs:
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"

New Article from the R's Writing Group!

Yes, that's a new issue of RaceCenter Northwest you see on the newsstand. And yes, we've got a new article in there. And by we, I mean me, of course. Maybe you have an article in there too, I don't know. And I don't care...get your own blog already.

So anyhoo, it's the infamous "Winter" issue. Pretty thin. Not a lot of races advertising in the middle of the winter, ya know.

As such, I'm not even going to bother with talking about the other articles - it's all about me. Did I mention you should get your own blog if you want to talk about yourself?

So MY article is about Cyclocross and how cyclocross is pretty much headquartered right here in Oregon. Both Portland and Bend can make claims about being the center of the cyclocross world, and both would have a point. If you haven't gone to check out a 'cross race yet, you're missing out on a good time. Head over to the Cross Crusade site to find a race near Portland - and those are the ones to see. They're the biggest and the best in the nation.

Head over to your nearest running shop and pick up a copy of the new RaceCenter. Then go give cyclocross a try.

It's all about the PR baby!

Payton ran in his second cross country meet yesterday. Finished with a new PR! Not just a PR, but a PR of about 1:30 less than his previous best 3000 meter time! Awesome.

Of course, being eleven years old, Payton doesn't always see running the same way I see it. After 25 years of running races and trying to set PR's, I can definitely take the long view. Payton prefers a shorter view...

"How many people did I beat?"

"A few. But you set a PR!"

"Did I beat more people than last time?"

"Payton, you took a minute-thirty off your time from the last meet. That's great!"

"Yeah, I guess."

Ah running...it's all relative, right?

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF OCTOBER 18th TO OCTOBER 24th

October 23rd / Columbia River Power Marathon and Half-Marathon / Umatilla, OR

October 23rd / Regatta Run 5k / Tualatin, OR

October 23rd / Lake Sammamish Marathon and Half-Marathon / Redmond, WA

October 23rd / Black Cat Five Mile Run / Tacoma, WA

October 23rd / Howl n' Scream Scram 10k and 5k / Richland, WA

October 24th / Dawg Dash 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

October 24th / Run Like Hell Portland Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

October 24th / Columbia Gorge Marathon and Half-Marathon / Hood River, OR

Ford Ironman World Championship

They're on the bikes now and it's over 100 degrees in Kona!

Chris Lieto leads the men at the moment. Julie Dibens leads the women.

Check out the race here.

Portland Marathon Weather Forecast!

Yikes. Looks like rain. And lots of it.

Stay dry out there...if you can.

Good luck!

Tech Running Shirts - Cheap!

Dude, check out this great find!

Cheap running shirts from past Northwest races. A lot of cotton stuff that you probably don't want, but a few nice tech shirts in there too! And did I mention CHEAP!

Hey, who doesn't need a couple extra tech shirts to run in? It doesn't take long for them to acquire "the funk." Then what are you gonna do, right?

Head right over here, that's what!

October's No Slouch

I keep thinking one of these weeks the races will slow down. This is not that week. We're looking at mid-October here and the racing is still going strong.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF OCTOBER 11th TO OCTOBER 17th

October 16th / Desire, Direction & Determination 5k / Portland, OR

October 16th / Albany Fire Department Two Rivers 5k / Albany, OR

October 16th / Race for Education 5k / Bellingham, WA

October 16th / Pre's Trail X-C Challenge 8k and 5k / Eugene, OR

October 16th / Olympia DeMolay 5k for Public School Sports / Olympia, WA

October 16th / ORRC Blue Lake Runs 15k and 5k / Troutdale, OR

October 16th / Defiance 50k, 30k, and 15k / Tacoma, WA

October 16th / Fall Fest Foot Race 10k and 5k / Kennewick, WA

October 16th / Lewis-Clark Half Marathon and 5k / Clarkston, WA

October 16th / Chelan Chase 5k / Chelan, WA

October 17th / Girlfriends Half Marathon / Vancouver, WA

October 17th / West Linn WILD 10 and 5 mile runs / West Linn, OR

October 17th / Haunted Hustle 10k and 5k / Puyallup, WA

October 17th / Beaver Fever Sprint Duathlon / Philomath, OR

October 17th / Mighty Oaks Acorn Run 5k / Corvallis, OR


The guy is slouching...get it? GET IT? Nevermind...but go check out this fun blog by Patricia Storms. She writes children's books, so she's clearly "good people".

New Half Marathon in Corvallis!

Of course there is...as soon as I announced my intent to run every, single race in Corvallis in 2011, you knew there would be some new races coming out of the woodwork.

This one sounds fun: Corvallis Half Marathon.

Sweet.