Pedal faster! I see the light!

Yes, OSU and the Dixon Recreation Center have hit the big time.

See here.

Or here.

Here.

And here.

Oh, and right here.

Yep, now you can pedal "green" at OSU. It was only a matter of time, really. I just wish they'd put them on the treadmills, so I could do my part!

Photo by Casey Campbell of the Corvallis Gazette-Times. Thanks for the photo and yes, I already subscribe...please don't put me on the call list!

I SEE A CROCUS!!!

Yes, my friends, it is (almost) Spring again. A time when a young man's thoughts turn to, well...it ain't flowers, I know that. But anyhoo, Spring also means that the ol' race schedule starts to get a little longer. More choices on the race scene: long races, short races, Ultras, Winter Triathlons! It's time to get serious - just take a look at my Nike+ mini-me...yes, nearly five miles, but who's counting!?!

Get out there and race. Now!

RACES FOR WEEK OF MARCH 2nd TO MARCH 8th

March 7th / Spring Fever 10k and 5k / Corvallis, OR

March 7th / Run for the Honeywagon Half-Marathon and 4 miler / Everson, WA

March 7th / Snake River Canyon Half-Marathon / Pullman, WA

March 7th / Run for Luck 10k and 5k / Lacey, WA

March 7th / Spring Forward Against Autism 5k / Tacoma, WA

March 7th / Methow Winter Triathon (Mt. Bike, Ski, Run) / Winthrop, WA

March 7th / Centennial 37 Mile Trail Run / Spokane, WA

March 8th / Chapel Hill Run for Relief for Burma 5k / Gig Harbor, WA

March 8th / KCBA YLD 5k Run (can't figure it out? Sorry - hit the link) / Seattle, WA

Thanks to the teachers in the UK that run this site. Sites that actually come right out and say "please use these photos" are OK with The Two R's.

Where's Spell-Check When I Need It?

So I'm looking up the Osbourne Aquatic Center in Corvallis, right? I head over to Google and punch it in...Hey, look at that! My Two R's post on the Osbourne Aquatic Center is number 4 on the list! Holy Schmo, I'm even more huge than I thought. As Mojo Jojo would say, "I rock so hard!". But then I noticed that the actual Aquatic Center didn't have a listing on there...hmmmm. Is it possible that the Aquatic Center doesn't know how to spell Osbourne? Yep, it's possible. I punch in "Osborne" and hey, there it is.

So, needless to say, The Two R's will be huge with idiots that can't spell. Hey, those are my people!

Thanks to these guys for the photo. Apparently, they built the Osborne/Osbourne Aquatic Center...nice work!

Tomato-Tomahto, Walnut-Martin Luther King Jr...

So I took the Kona out on the Beaver Freezer bike course today - the Softride is still in storage. Since I've never done the Freezer before, I printed out a handy little map and took it with me. So 26th, Campus Way, 35th, Harrison, Walnut, yada, yada...so far, so good. OK, now we turn around at "Walnut Park". Says so right here. Right here. Hmmm, I don't remember any Walnut Park on Walnut...I remember a park on Walnut, but I sure don't remember a Walnut Park on Walnut. Don't see one either. There's Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Yep, that's the one I remember. Don't remember a Walnut Park. But then, I've only lived here six months...what do I know from Walnut Park?

Five minutes and a good mile later, I knew I wasn't finding any Walnut Park and turned it around.

So anyway, I'm pretty sure the good people at the Beaver Freezer meant the turnaround is at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, not Walnut Park.

The course, you ask? Not bad. A little up and down on the two out and back spokes, but nothing serious. Of course, I've honed my hate of the bike leg by participating numerous times in the Lake Padden Sprint Tri in Bellingham, and Padden has what is perhaps the steepest hill in all of the sprint tri world, so anything besides that feels pretty nice. Probably will ride the course four or five more times just to get a nice feel for it before race day.

But first!

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 23rd TO MARCH 1st

February 28th / Fall Lake Run Around 20 mile, 15k and 5k / Lowell, OR

February 28th / Heart N Sole 10k and 5k / Longview, WA

February 28th / Skagit Symphony's Smelt Run 10k and 5k / LaConner, WA

March 1st / Red Lizard Five Miler / Lake Oswego, OR


Thanks to the OSU Triathlon Club for the map.

Drug Addicts LOVE The Two R's!

No, really. See it's like this - you can track a number of stats about your blog through Analytics on Google and take a wild guess which post I've written lately that's the most popular. That's right, it's the post titled Cyclobenzaprin, Percocet, and Chlorzoxazone. Now, do you really think runners are searching for those terms on Google? Um, no. So...be sure to turn in for my next post, titled: Valium, Lithium, and Prozac - Run Happy!

Let's race.

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 16th TO FEBRUARY 22nd

February 21st / Hagg Lake Trail Runs 50k and 25k / Forest Grove, OR

February 22nd / Birch Bay Marathon and 25k / Birch Bay, WA

And...that's it. Apparently, everyone is still tired from Valentine's Day at this point.

It's Full Up!

Remember when I said the Beaver Freezer was coming and the sign up was today? No? Well never mind because you're too late anyway. That's right - it sold out in one day. One day!

Sorry if you missed it. I'll tell you all about it...I'll be like a double-secret agent - reporting from the inside! Like an embedded reporter...except without the war and sand.

Anyway, if you missed getting in the Beaver Freezer, head on back to my list of other similar triathlons around the valley and sign up for a different one...FAST!

At long last...some new ink!

Yes, it's true. The Scott Lommers Writing Factory, a limited liability corporation, which has yet to ask for a bailout from our already overextended government, has produced a new RaceCenter Magazine article. And there it is...on the top of the cover, baby! And yes, I did come up with that fantastic play on words title: Long Running Show. You see, the article is about the longest continuously run races in the NW...man, I'm impressive at times. No, really.

So if you're ever going to pick up a RaceCenter magazine, this is the issue: the 2009 event guide. This issue is really indispensable. Lots and lots and lots of race listings. This is the one to keep handy.

Oh, and for those of you who read this article, you know that I spaced on the Zena run, but hey, there it is in the article! That's my boy, Brook Gardner, otherwise known as the RaceCenter Editor, getting my back. Thanks Brook!

ARGGGGGHHHHH.......

So I'm running around and around and around the Dixon indoor track. Ten laps to a mile...that's a lot of corners, right? I like to go out and do the first mile as fast as I can and then let my overall horrible conditioning bring me right back to a slow jog for the other three miles or so (more than four miles and I'm missing the bus home, so that's it). So tonight I'm zooming around the track pretty good, feeling good...probably looking terrible, but feeling good. It usually takes me about two songs to finish the first mile. So the iPod gets through the second song and heads to the third and I'm thinking, "that's ok. The second song was Bloc Party - pretty short." But by the time I'm halfway through the third song, I'm a little worried. I know I'm not going that slow. I do one more lap without hearing the Nike+ chick call out "one mile" and I can't take it any more. I hit the button on the iPod to check my mileage and time. "You've run .24 miles. You've run 12 minutes and 34 seconds."

What?

Point two four what?

I can't count laps on that tiny track - I always lose count. But I know I had run between 15 and 20 laps. The track at Dixon is exactly .10 miles per lap.

Point two four, my ass cheeks!

I try to pause the iPod and re-start it. Nope.

I try to re-calibrate it. Doesn't work. It says I'm not running as far as I say I'm running. I say I am so running as far as I say I'm running. It doesn't respond. I tell it to check it again. People start to stare.

Very long story short, the sensor in my shoe was not in the little hole exactly right. It was sort of sticking up sideways. You'd think I'd feel that running around the track for 40 minutes. Nope. I sure didn't.

I know it's hard to believe, but I've been using the Nike+ for a couple of years now. Since it first came out. And yes, I've managed to mangle up two runs in less than a week.

It's just possible I'm not as smart as I think I am.


No, I don't know who the bird is...some BBC thing. Crazy Brits. Head over there and say thanks for the photo for me.

Oregon is crazy about their indoor triathlons...

I'm not sure why, but it was very difficult to find spring triathlons up in Washington, especially triathlons with an indoor swim. Not so in Oregon. In fact, you can barely go a week in Spring without hitting one! So find one, or two, now and sign up as soon as you can. It will give you a nice goal to work to, you'll have 8-10 weeks to get ready, and you'll be buffed and oiled when the longer triathlons come up in the summer. Hey, it's a plan! Triathlete Magazine charges you $3.95 for this kind of stuff.

April 4th - Beaver Freezer Sprint Tri in Corvallis
April 19th - Albany Sprint Tri
April 25th - WOU Sprint Tri in Monmouth
May 3rd - Hawthorne Farm Sprint Tri in Hillsboro
May 9th - Canby Gator Grinder Sprint Tri
May 16th - Lebanon Sprint Tri
May 25th - Heart of the Valley Sprint Tri in Corvallis

All seven of these are on different dates, so potentially you could do all of them. In fact, if anyone does at least five of them, let me know and I'll do an interview post of you, you and only you!

Thanks to the HOTV Tri and the Osbourne Aquatic Center for the photo of their sweet pool.

Beaver Freezer is coming!

That's right, the Beaver Freezer, OSU's own Tri on the beautiful, if chilly, Corvallis campus on April 4th. Why am I telling you now? Because you can sign up starting on February 2nd. Let's do it!

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 9th TO FEBRUARY 15th

February 14th / Sweetheart Run 4 mile / Lewiston, ID

February 14th / My Muddy Valentine and Single Mingle! 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

February 15th / Geoduck Gallup Half-Marathon and 10k / Olympia, WA

You know, I hate to be a slave to technology and all...but I had a great run yesterday, a little over four miles, nice pace, felt good...then my iPod went wonky and didn't save my run on the Nike+. I was depressed for hours.

Thanks to 96.7 FM, deep, deep, DEEEEP, in Kentucky for the Beaver cartoon. Just looking at their website makes me glad to live in the Northwest.