Dipsea 2012 Results and Recap...with Video!

The ultimate bucket list race, the Dipsea Race, is done for another year.

This year's winner: 72 year-old Hans Schmid. Yes, 72 years old. If you didn't know already, Dipsea uses a handicap start where the very old and very young get varied head starts.

Here's the recap of the 2012 Dipsea.

Here's a great video of the entire start - every single wave. It's a good primer video if you want to run the Dipsea in the future. You can see everyone you'll have to pass...unless you're six...or past retirement age.



Here's a fun time-lapse vidwo of the infamous stairs. Man, those stairs - 688 of them, I do believe.



It's tough to get in - you have to send it on the right day, get lucky in the lottery, etc, but this is one every serious runner should enter.

Let's race!

Fourth of July and Independence Day Races - Running and Triathlon Calendar

Wow, does any holiday have more races than the Fourth? I don't think so. Only Thanksgiving could come close.

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 JULY 2nd TO JULY 8th

July 7th / Chuckanut Foot Race 7m / Bellingham, WA

July 7th / Mt. Misery Mania Trail Ultra 57m / Astotin, WA

July 7th / Scott Cougar Mountain Trail Run 10m / Newcastle, WA

July 7th / Lord Hill Trail Run 50k, 20m, 10m and 5m / Snohomish, WA

July 7th / Grey Rock Trail Race 50k, 25k and 12k / Yakima, WA

July 7th / Let's Climb a Mountain Trail/Road Ultra 34.3m / Spokane, WA

July 8th / Timber Town 10k / Port Gamble, WA

July 4th / Foot Traffic Flat Marathon, Half Marathon and 5k / Portland, OR

July 4th / Firecracker Half Marathon / Elma, WA

July 7th / Smith Rock Half Marathon / Terrebonne, OR

July 7th / Women's Moon Run Half Marathon and 4k / Olympia, WA

July 8th / Langley Half Marathon and 4m / Langley, WA

July 8th / Missoula Marathon, Half Marathon and 5k / Missoula, MT

July 4th / Firecracker Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon / Elma, WA

July 7th / Hagg Lake Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic and Sprint / Forest Grove, OR

July 7th / Clear Lake Triathlon Sprint / Burlington, WA

July 7th / Martha Lake Open Water Swim 2m, 1m, 800m, 400m and 200m / Lynnwood, WA

July 8th / XTERRA Vashon Off-Road Triathlon Sprint / Vashon, WA

July 8th / Valley Girl Triathlon Sprint / Liberty Lake, WA

July 3rd / Firecracker 5000 5k / Seattle, WA (Tuesday Night Race - Midnight!)

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

July 4th / Edmonds Fourth of July 5k / Edmonds, WA

July 4th / Butte to Butte 10k and 5k / Eugene, OR

July 4th / Ashland 4th of July Run 10k / Ashland, OR

July 4th / Miles for Meso Memorial 5k / Federal Way, WA

July 4th / Monmouth Mini Marathon 2.6m / Monmouth, OR

July 4th / C.A.T. Fun Run 5k / Hillsboro, OR

July 4th / Freedom 5k / Molalla, OR

July 4th / Firecracker 10m, 10k and 5k / Elma, WA

July 4th / Lopez Island Fourth of July 10k and 5k / Lopez Village, WA

July 4th / ORRC 4th of July 4m / Wilsonville, OR

July 4th / Kingston Fourth of July 5k / Kingston, WA

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

July 4th / Camp Patriot 4th of July Run 5k / Pasco, WA

July 4th / Stayton Old-Time Run 10k / Stayton, OR

July 4th / Spokane Indians 4th of July Pennant Run 5k / Spokane, WA

July 4th / Run for the Pies 5k / Carnation, WA

July 4th / I Ran From the Cops 8k / Centralia, WA

July 4th / Great Sedro-Woolley Loggerodeo Footrace 5.17m / Sedro-Woolley, WA

July 4th / Ridgefield's Independence 10k and 5k / Ridgefield, WA

July 4th / Four on the Fourth 4m / Steilacoom, WA

July 7th / Smith Rock 10k and 5k / Terrebonne, OR

July 7th / Lostine River Run 10k and 5k / Lostine, OR

July 7th / Run of the Mill 5k / Mill Creek, WA

July 7th / Ocean's Edge 5k / Lincoln City, OR

July 7th / FC5 - Funhouse Commons 5k / Eastsound, WA

July 8th / Jacey's Race 5k / Sandpoint, ID

July 8th / Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / Issaquah, WA

July 8th / Gladiator Rock 'n' Run 6k / Kent, WA

Lance Armstrong Banned from Triathlon

Well, not so fast.

OK, unless you've been unconscious for the last 24 hours, you've probably heard the news that Lance Armstrong is now facing doping charges from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Here's the actual 14-page letter from the USADA to Armstrong.

And here's a rundown of the whole thing from ESPN.

So does this mean Lance is banned from Triathlon while the investigation/hearing is going on?

Well, USA Today, and practically every other big news organization say "yes."

See last paragraph from USA Today.

But just a second. What about innocent until proven guilty and all that? Well, this isn't a criminal case and tri organizations like WTC, who owns all the Ironman races, could ban him during the investigation.

Hold on there, says Dan Empfield at Slowtwitch. Empfield thinks Armstrong will probably continue to race as he has been, at least until something more concrete is decided in some sort of official hearing, and/or appeals.

On this one, I'd trust Slowtwitch more than USA Today.

However, CNN says that WTC has already said he can't race in the upcoming Ironman France, so...

Most stories have the same basic info, but here's the take from:

A good Q and A from Bonnie Ford at ESPN.

Another look from Slowtwitch.

Sports Illustrated/CNN.

The Washington Post.

3 Wire Sports and Alan Abrahamson.

And here's a very interesting letter from Armstrong's lawyers before all this hit the news.

My own take on it is this: don't rush to judge either way here. We've seen Armstrong accused before and, believe him or not, he's never been proven to have doped. Let this play out. If the USADA has real evidence, then it will come out in time.

Until then, I'd say this isn't as big a story as people are making it out to be. Go ahead and move on with your lives.

Running and Triathlon Links Tuesday!

Don't know what happened to Monday, but here's a bunch of good stuff for you:

Biggest mistakes when racing triathlons in hot weather - as you'll see in later links, this is a theme these days

Shorter trail races - if you want to get on the trail, but don't want an ultra

What to do about a messy race course - some races, like Hood to Coast, get complaints about this around here too

England's Olympic Tri Team makes curious team selection decisions...and goes to court - this is getting more common, and these are weird decisions

Superstar Ellie Greenwood's race review from Comrades in South Africa - this is a great read

The Sports Scientists give you their take on Comrades - they were there too

Will global climate change make spring marathons extinct? - there have been a lot of canceled races in the past few years

Andy Potts and Leanda Cave win Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - this is a bucket list race, for sure

People coming and going from the Kenyan Olympic Marathon Team - who knows what they're doing? Not me

A tie finish at Boise 70.3 Triathlon! - they shortened the bike leg because of freezing temps

Emma Snowsill Olympic protest denied - she will not represent Australia in London

How to eat and fuel up for long runs - an old article, but well worth reading

Yeah, those are the London Olympic mascots...don't ask me...I don't even know.

Best Running Song for June - Joe Jackson - Got the Time

I can't believe I've been doing the Best Running Song of the Month for just over three years and have never featured a song by Joe Jackson....

Let's fix that right now!

We've got to step back a few years to when Jackson was just starting out and really wasn't afraid to rip through a song.

The album version of Got the Time.



And better yet, an amazing live version of Got the Time, from way back, way, way back. Like 1979 back. Man, they just rip it up here. They couldn't have played much faster or tighter as a band. Fantastic.



Then a much slowed-down live version that shows what a great pianist Jackson is...impressive bongo and harmonica work on this one as well.



Sadly, some metalheads think this is actually an Anthrax song, since the hair-metal band covered Got the Time in 1990. You can't really ruin that song, but they don't do justice to it.



Rock that Run!

Past Best Running Songs:
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"

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar

Sort of a short list this week - I'm guessing because all the Independence Day (Fourth O' July!) races are right after this week. The 4th is on a stinkin' Wednesday this year!

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 JUNE 25th TO JULY 1st

June 30th / Start of Summer Run Trail 50k and Half Marathon / Snoqualmie, WA

June 30th / Vashon Island Ultra Trail Run 50k and 10m / Vashon Island, WA

June 30th / Cook Park Marathon and Half Marathon / Tigard, OR

July 1st / Stars and Stripes Marathon and Half Marathon / Beaverton, OR

June 30th / Quest for the Capitol Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Boise, ID

June 30th / Five Mile Lake Sprint Triathlon / Auburn, WA

June 30th / Righteous Richland Sprint Triathlon / Richland, WA

July 1st / Spring Meadows Olympic and Sprint Triathlon / Helena, MT

June 27th / 5k on the Runway 5k / Eugene, OR (Wednesday Night Race!)

June 30th / Terrain Mud Run 5m and 3m / Portland, OR

June 30th / Bridge 2 Bridge 5k / Bremerton, WA

June 30th / Bigfoot 10k and 5k / Yacolt, WA

June 30th / Run for the Roses 15k, 10k and 5k / Sherwood, OR

June 30th / Rooster Crow 5k / Rogue River, OR

June 30th / Sweat It Up 5k / Portland, OR

June 30th / K-9 5k Fun Run 5k / Roseburg, OR

July 1st / Torchlight Night 5k / Olympia, WA

Justin's vs. Nutella

It's been almost two full years now since I made the decision to go Pescetarian, and I could not be happier. I don't miss beef, chicken, or pork at all (well...once in a while I do miss homemade pork chili verde that's been in the crock pot all day long...but that's the only thing).

Two of the big reasons I don't miss it: I can still eat chocolate and peanut butter!


And no, I'm not immune to the tastiness of Nutella. But let's face it, that stuff is evil in a jar. First two ingredients? Sugar. And Palm Oil. Ouch.

So we've been looking for a decent replacement. And we found it: Justin's!

Justin's is incredible. It's some of the yummiest stuff I've ever put on a bagel, or a pancake, or a piece of toast...or a spoon. And the first two ingredients in Justin's? Hazelnuts and almonds. Justin's is a little pricy, but I'll tell you a secret: the Justin's Chocolate Peanut Butter is just as good...and a lot cheaper.

Now I'm not going to try to tell you Justin's is health food. Anything made with nuts and chocolate is going to have a lot of fat and a lot of calories, but comparing it to Nutella, or most major brand peanut butter, isn't even a contest.

Justin's wins!

No, my friend, you win.

Running and Triathlon Links Monday!

No time to waste - let's get to it!

Newport Marathon Wrap-up - the only written report, besides my whining blog post, that I could find

Meb and Kim Smith roll at Rock 'n' Roll San Diego - Ryan Hall, on the other hand, doesn't look that good

Lance Armstrong wins another Ironman 70.3 - long course tris are all about the bike leg, and no one crushes the bike like Lance

Masters and Age-Grading - I have not yet gone there; I can still set lifetime PR's in many distances, but maybe never again in the 5k...

Yet another "barefoot and injured" article - this time from ESPN

Australians set their Olympic Tri teams - Emma Snowsill gets snubbed

Pre-cooling can help you run faster in summer weather - just a cool drink before the race can help

Rev3 Quassy photo gallery - Oregonian Jesse Thomas took fourth

Music for your run - reviews on audio devices of all kinds, from Runner's World

Why do some girls run shorter cross-country races than boys? - a good question; ten states still run different length courses for boys and girls

Is running good for you? Really? - And the important questions - what kind of running?

Farah and Rupp look strong at the Pre - could Rupp challenge for a medal in London?


Yeah, it was wet in Newport. Photo from David Morgan and News Lincoln County

Newport Marathon Review and Results

Hey, if you're just looking for results to the 2012 Newport Marathon - here you go.

If you're patiently waiting to read my horror story from the very same 2012 Newport Marathon - hey, let's get into it!

So let's start from the beginning, because I think my issues may have started months ago...when I registered for the race, and then shortly after, reserved my hotel room in Newport. The Newport Marathon weekend had originally been planned as a nice weekend get-away for the whole R's family. Unfortunately, we found out a few weeks after I made my Newport arrangements that Carson had her Girls on the Run 5k on the exact same day. Doh! So the arrangements were changed: Carson and Jen would run the GOTR 5k in Corvallis and I would run the Newport Marathon and take my photographer, Payton with me. And yes, I'm getting to the point. See, the start line and finish line were about a mile and a half apart. And my hotel was close to the start, not the finish. Since I didn't see myself wanting to hike a mile and a half back to the hotel after the marathon, I woke up at 5:00am to drive down to the finish line. They had buses heading from there back to the start line, but in absolutely typical runner fashion, about 50 of us were lined up waiting for the buses right in front of the host hotel...and waiting...and waiting...while the buses were sitting down the road about a quarter mile away from us! Finally, after about 15 minutes of standing and waiting, someone figured it out and we all moved down the road and got on the buses.

At this point, it was about 6:00am, and I needed to get from the start back to my hotel to meet a friend, my main man Manny, then walk back to the start line.

Long story short; this was not my usual, relaxing morning of a race routine.

Manny and I made it to the start line at about 6:30 or so and (hello foreshadowing!), the lines to the honey buckets were loooooooong. It's a fairly small race, about 1000 runners, but even so, they did not have enough bathrooms at the start.

The forecast was for rain overnight, then clearing skies by race time. Didn't happen. There was a heavy, fine mist falling at the start and through most of the race. It was sunny when we went to lunch though!

So we lined up for the start and were off right at 7:00am. I'm not sure what it was, but I didn't feel great from the start. Maybe it was that the first five miles were more hilly than I thought they would be and maybe it was just the start of the issue that would hit me hard in a short time, but I was having trouble keeping my Boston Qualifying time even in the first five miles. I needed to average about 7:50 pace for my BQ and I averaged about a 7:58 in the first five miles.

Miles 1-5 pace: 7:58

Yes, there's half of my body running around the two or three mile mark. I had taken off my sunglasses because they were so wet and fogging. That's easily the best I looked during the entire race.

The second five miles was where the trouble really started. First, my stomach. Ugh. Around mile 8, I just started feeling bad. Upset stomach, rumblings of needing a bathroom soon. Plus the rain really soaked me in the first ten miles. The front of my shirt was soaked through and heavy. And my shorts were so wet and full of water, plus the Mint Chocolate GU in both pockets, that they kept slipping down onto my hips! So I had to tie them tight to keep them up, even though it made my stomach feel worse.

Miles 5-10 pace: 8:20. Going downhill fast.

Miles 11 and 12 were a bit slower, but not terrible.

Mile 13 is where the bottom dropped out. I suddenly, scarily suddenly, needed a Honey Bucket. Or a tree. Fast. On the left were lots of trees...behind a barbed wire fence. On the right, beach. Oh boy. I had to stop and walk before something terrible happened. My stomach was just rebelling. I actually had to stop walking at a few points and let stomach cramps pass. And there was still nowhere to go to the bathroom. If you're not a runner, you probably don't understand this, but I was having visions of the picture. You know, the picture...(I'm warning you, don't even look at this, you don't want to see...but this was the picture going through my head at this point in the race). And there STILL WASN'T A HONEY BUCKET IN SIGHT! Finally, after hobbling through about a half-mile, there was a water stop, and a Honey Bucket. One Honey Bucket. With somebody already in it. Lord.

I finally got in there and took care of business, but while it took care of emergency issues, it really didn't make my stomach feel any better and I made yet another stop at the next Bucket I saw.

Miles 10-15 pace (including two porta potty stops): 9:30.

I felt a little better over the next couple miles and only made one more stop at a Honey Bucket (thankfully my last) around mile 18.

Now the problems were mostly mental. My BQ try was out the window completely and totally. It was a depressing thing to think about and I was having trouble getting myself inspired to work hard. Another thing working against me here was my marathon PR was so slow coming into this race (4:37) that I knew I could walk in from here and still get it, so the whole "run for the PR" thing wasn't helping much either.

I know it sounds like I'm a walking complaint, but the marathon is a long, long race. And when it's not going well, it gives you lots of time to think negative thoughts.

Miles 15-20 pace (including one porta potty stop): 9:50.

So the last six miles, I both died physically and mentally, just wanting nothing worse than to get off the course. I slogged through the last bit to a completely uninspiring finish.

Official time: 4:12:55.

Ugh. So a 25 minute PR and 40 minutes away from my BQ time. Ouch.

Two things: I never had a shot at the BQ because of my stomach, but also I don't think I had a chance anyway because I'm not in good enough shape. I think if I had run with no stomach complications, I would have been around 3:40-3:45. Which is still a long way away from 3:25.

So I think I'll spend a couple weeks deciding on a plan. I know I'm going to run some shorter stuff through the summer and early fall. Maybe start on another marathon training plan around September to be ready for a December marathon (CIM maybe?). One nice thing - I had to walk so much during the race yesterday, I'm not nearly as sore as I probably should be after a marathon.

If you're wondering about trying the race, on a drier year, know that it is pretty flat, but the first five miles are up and down. Also, know that there's basically no fan support, which some like and some don't. Finally, I was a little worried about the road being sloped (I had read some complaints about that), but it wasn't bad. On the way out to the turn-around, I really didn't notice it at all. On the way back, on the inside of the outside lane, since runners were going in both directions in one lane, it was a little worse. But it was never terrible. A lot of people asked me if it would be windy, but apparently the Bay, away from the actual coast, doesn't get that much wind. And true enough, there was very little wind yesterday.

So that's that. Now let's look at the booty.

The race shirt is pretty cool. I don't think I've ever had a yellow race shirt. Ever.

The handmade glass medal is very cool. Best medal I've ever received, for sure.

Congrats to Glen Tucker, who crushed the field with a 2:32:56, and to everyone who finished the race. I hope you had a better race than I did!

Newport Marathon Pre-Review

Imagine a race where absolutely every little thing that could go wrong, did. A race where setback after calamity after disappointment stacked up and up until it toppled over on your head. A race where you would immediately erase the entire thing from your memory for all time if you had the power to do so.

Imagine that race.

Yeah, my run at the Newport was worse than that race.

Race report coming tomorrow.

(Yes, the Honey Bucket is foreshadowing...)