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.

The Firm with the Dragon Tattoo

In honor of exactly one month separating us from Nanowrimo, let's discuss the hugest blockbuster to be published in quite some time: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

First, kudos to the American publisher that decided to rename this baby. The original title in Sweden was "Men Who Hate Women." Accurate to be sure, but that title is a touch lacking in flair. "Men Who Hate Women" never would have sold 30 million copies, I can tell you that.

Anyhoo, I really had no plans to read this book. Probably because I'm sort of weird that way. Hey, I admit it! When something gets so popular that EVERYONE is reading it, watching it, talking about it...I just don't want anything to do with it. I still haven't seen Avatar! So that's my issue, and I know it's not reasonable, but there you go.

Still, people just wouldn't leave it alone on this one. "You'll love The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the best thing I've ever read!" "You have to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!"

Fine!

So I got on the Corvallis Library site (thebestlibrary.net...seriously) and put The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on hold.

And got put in line behind 120 other people waiting for it. Crap. And they've got like 20 copies of the damn thing!

Anyway, last week it finally came.

And yesterday, I finished it.

And here's my official review (spoiler alert):

I've read this before.

Nineteen years ago.

It was called "The Firm."

And I've met Lisbeth Salander before. Back in 1991, her name was Mitch McDeere.

OK, there are some differences. But now that you're thinking about it, the two books actually have a lot of similarities, don't they? Go ahead, admit it, you're among friends here.

Anyway, it's good. I'm not saying it's not good. But it's not great. It's not 30 million great. It's not even "The Firm" great.

I'm gonna say B. No way more than a B+.

And now let's bring it all the way around. In one month, you've got a chance to write 50,000 words. If you can come up with 50,000 that grade out at a B+ or an A-, maybe you could sell 30 million copies as well.

Only one way to find out.

What will you choose? Four 10's or Marathon Sunday?

Ah, yes. The second weekend of October - otherwise known as the day where marathons go to die. You've got Spokane, you've got Victoria, you've got Walla Walla, you've got Elma.

And of course, you've got the Granddaddy of them all: the Portland Marathon.

If you can't find a marathon to run this weekend, you're not trying.

Or find a 10k on Sunday and do a 10k on 10/10/10 - woot! You won't be able to do that again for a while.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF OCTOBER 4th TO OCTOBER 10th

October 9th / What Women Want Fun Run 3.5 miles / Great Falls, MT

October 9th / 2010 Domestic Violence Awareness 10k and 5k / Salem, OR

October 9th / Miles for Midwives 2.8 mile / Seattle, WA

October 9th / Autumn Leaf 10k and 5k / Omak, WA

October 9th / Astoria Parks and Rec Sprint Triathlon / Warrenton, OR

October 10th / Portland Marathon, Half-Marathon and 5 mile / Portland, OR

October 10th / Spokane Marathon, Half-Marathon and 10k / Spokane, WA

October 10th / Royal Victoria Marathon, Half-Marathon, and 8k / Victoria, BC

October 10th / Great Pumpkin Run 10k and 5k / Corvallis, OR

October 10th / Pace Race 10k and 5k / Kirkland, WA

October 10th / Eugene Race for the Cure 5k / Eugene, OR

October 10th / Run Vera Run 10k and 4k / Seattle, WA

October 10th / Free Flight Run 10k and 5k / Newport, OR

October 10th / Sun City Half-Marathon and 5k / Yakivegas, WA

October 10th / Runningshoes.com Trail Sprint Duathlon / Bellingham, WA

October 10th / Columbus Day Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10 mile, 10k, 5k, Sprint Triathlon, and Sprint Duathlon / Elma, WA

October 10th / Bog Jog 10k and 5k / Grayland, WA

October 10th / Walla Walla Marathon, Half-Marathon, and 10k / Walla Walla, WA


No, I don't know where Bukit Bintang is...but if you get there to run on 10/10/10, we will salute your perseverance.

Black Diamond Results Are Up!

Well, for Saturday anyway.

Find them right here.

The Sunday races will have results at the same spot...but it's usually hard to get them on Saturday night.

Good luck out there on Sunday!

Limbering Up for Nanowrimo...

So we're almost through September. That means we're almost in October. And that means November is right around the corner.

And that means you need to be thinking about Nanowrimo.

One month, 50,000 words. How could it be any more simple?

But you've got to be ready. You've got to be prepared. Trust me, 50,000 words in 30 days (31 days? I don't know...I never learned that stinking rhyme) is not a walk in the park. Start thinking about your plot now. Today. Think about it today. Then think about your plot unfolding. Think about your characters getting in trouble, then getting back out of it.

For God's sake, don't think about vampires. Don't write 50,000 words about vampires! I'm begging you!

Where was I? Oh yeah, I'm planning on limbering up the writing muscles in October by writing my 25 part Christmas Card, called...wait for it..."Advent". I was supposed to write it last year. Didn't happen. This year, I'll work on it in October, hand it over to Jen for Art and Design and to get it ready to post to the web in December. In 25 parts. Maybe we'll mail the first part and the 25th part. Still working out the details...but it will be awesome.

Then in November...

It's Nano time!


Yes, yes I do want to write a "million dollar adventure novel." I think that's a great idea and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter, um...Dr. Ray, is it?