Nanowrimo Starts Tomorrow!

Yes, tomorrow.

Well, I have my page all up, but I have to admit...I'd be shocked if I get much written this year.

Never say never...yet. Hmmm, sounds like a James Bond movie.

C'mon Spokane! Really!?!?

Hey, I know we're all excited for Christmas, but this is just taking it a bit too far...the Spokane Jingle Bell Run is on November 20th.

Yes, November 20th.

That's before most of the turkey trot runs. It's before Thanksgiving.

It's just wrong.

Now maybe they have some kind of scheduling difficulties, although I don't see a whole lot of races in Spokane in December, but still...

What's wrong with having Jingle Bell Runs in December?

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF NOVEMBER 14th TO NOVEMBER 20th

November 19th / A Very Poplar Run 10k and 5k / Boardman, OR

November 19th / Grand Ridge 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon and 5m Trail Runs / Issaquah, WA

November 19th / Turkey Trot 4m / Lewiston, ID

November 19th / Turkey Trot 5k / Vancouver, WA

November 19th / GBRC Turkey Trot 5k / Bellingham, WA

November 19th / Jingle Bell Run 5k / Spokane, WA

November 19th / Poultry Predictor 4m / Redmond, WA

November 20th / Fall BEAST Adventure Race Trail Run and Mt. Bike / Snoqualmie, WA

November 20th / Run To Drums 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

November 20th / Green Lake Gobble 5k / Seattle, WA

November 20th / EWEB Run to Stay Warm / Eugene, OR

Epic Leadman Triathlon Debuts in Bend!

In a few short days, November 6th to be exact, you'll be able to sign up for the absolutely brutal Leadman Triathlon...in Bend, Oregon!

Last year, the first ever Leadman was held in Vegas. This year, they're rolling one out in both Vegas and Bend.

If you're interested, here are the totals. Read them and weep:

Swim: 5k
Bike: 223k ("OOF!")
Run: 22k

Yeah, that's a 139 mile bike ride. Clearly, with a short swim, fairly short run and horribly long bike, this is a race made for bikers. If you're not a star on the bike, I'm not sure why you'd even want to try this one.

Should be interesting. Pencil it in for next September.

Nanowrimo in five days!?!

Whaaaaaaa?

Holy Happy Crappy, Nanowrimo really snuck (sneak, snake, snuck) up on me this year. Where does the time go?

So are you writing a novel during November this year? I have not decided. I'm really not ready. The wife and I were thinking about RE-writing our novels from last year's Nanowrimo. Well...certain people that shall remain nameless (yeah, the wife) would have to finish first, then rewrite. But whatever...

What a dilemma. Somebody talk me into it. Or out of it. Not sure what I want here...

So are you writing this year?

Kara Goucher Sticks With Oregon

Yay!

Oregon's sweetheart, Kara Goucher, has indeed switched coaches, but will remain in Oregon, according to her latest blog post.

So apparently many of the recent rumors about Kara's plans were just that, rumors. Kara will remain in Oregon to help keep the Northwest as the hottest hotspot for pro and amateur runners alike.

Go Kara! Go Oregon!

Best Running Song for October!

Phoenix rising!

Usually I have no problem picking one awesome song for the Best Running Song of the Month, and then finding one or two by the same band that are also good but not equal to the original pick.

Can't do that here. These two songs from Phoenix - also known as the best thing to ever come out of France - are both incredible songs to run to...I can't pick just one.

1a:
1901: Official Video
1901: Even more awesome live version from Letterman

1b:
Lisztomania: Official Video
Lisztomania: A HD live version from Glastonbury in 2010

Enjoy.

Past Best Running Songs:
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"

Unlucky Number 13

Well, usually I put together a schedule of the Northwest races for a weekend, sometimes, mostly during the summer, even a race here and there during the week...

But this one is a schedule for one, single, lonely day. November 12th.

Apparently, there isn't a single race in the NW on the 13th. Not that I could find anyway.

Maybe people were worried about the bad luck. Although it's not a Friday...

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7th TO NOVEMBER 13th

November 12th / Cheadle Challenge Adventure Run 3.6m / Lebanon, OR

November 12th / Run for Kyron 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

November 12th / Stumptown Cross Series #4 / Portland, OR

November 12th / Fowl Fun Run 10m / Mount Vernon, WA

November 12th / Winter Pineapple Classic 5k / North Bend, WA

November 12th / Columbia River Classic 10m / Richland, WA

November 12th / Carkeek Park Trail Run 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

November 12th / Snoqualmie Ridge Turkey Trot 5k / Snoqualmie, WA

November 12th / Kevin's Cup XX Trail Run 8k / West Linn, OR

November 12th / Pioneer Run 15k and 5k / Phoenix, OR

November 12th / Veteran's Day Run 5k / Salem, OR

Lauren Fleshman's Abs Squeeze Coal Into Diamonds, Feed the Hungry, Then Take Break By Solving US Budget Woes

No, really.

Check out the post by Lauren right here, on her completely awesome and fun running blog. If you send her a copy of the latest Runner's World, with none other than Lauren herself on the cover, she'll sign it and send it back to you!

What a sweet girl!

Personally, I'm going to send her my copy and request that she not write anything that might cover up those awesome abs. Rowr!

Mighty Oaks Acorn Run 5k Race Review!

We're getting close now - on Sunday the 16th, we had the Mighty Oaks Acorn Run 5k, the 23rd race on the EPIC 2011 schedule. And a fine race it was. The race was a benefit to raise funds for the Mighty Oaks Children's Therapy Center.

So we lined up at Willamette Park in Corvallis on a foggy, cool morning. No wind at all and it didn't look like rain - perfect running weather. We started out north, toward the baseball fields, for just under a mile. I had a lot of kids around me for the first few hundred yards (more on that later), but got by most of them before the turn-around. I still had one boy in front of me, setting a decent pace, at the turn-around.

These out and back courses at Willamette Park are always interesting, because the bike/running trail really isn't wide enough for a lot of passing, and when you've got people, and strollers, going both ways, it gets tricky. A little boy, around four years old maybe, totally took out a kid running beside me with a nice, no-look, swerve across the entire path on his little bike! Good times.

But my pace after the first mile was good, 7:16, and I felt all right. Of course, the first half of this course is as flat as it gets. The second half is a touch hillier, so I knew I would have to save just a bit. We made it back past all the walkers and strollers, and the girl on stilts (no, really), and passed the start/finish line heading the other way. Clear sailing. At about mile two, I got past the only female in front of me, but couldn't quite catch the kid that was just in front of me the entire way so far (one Nick Graham, 14 years old, according to the results). I would reel him in on the flats and downhills, then he would just toast me going up the hills.

I actually could have went by him at the second turnaround, as Nick kept going (to touch the fence, about 20 feet away?), instead of just going around the tree, as we were supposed to do. But who does that? I yelled at him to turn around and get going, then waited for him to get just by me and started the chase again (see the pace chart - that steep down spike into the 12:00 area is me waiting).

So we headed back, and I thought I could maybe get by him, as it's mostly downhill back to the finish line at the park...but I forgot there was one last, steep uphill. My man Nick just left me in the dust, as you can see clearly on the pace chart. Ah well, nice run, Nick.

Check the results on this one. Very, very weird. It was like an invitational for Masters and runners under 18. Note that there isn't a single runner in the top 28 finishers that was between the ages of 17-37! That's just bizarre. And there were some decent times. A 51 year old running an 18:11. A 16 year old running an 18:24. But not a single runner from the prime age groups at the front of the run. Just strange.

Personally, I was happy with my time. At 23:15, it was my fastest 5k of 2011, although if I had looked at my watch just a little before the end, I could have taken off five seconds and had a Master's PR of 23:10. Doh!

Interesting shirt. The colors and butterfly design were in honor of Cassie-Jo Robinson, an 11 year old that passed away earlier this year. Her family was at the start of the run and gave a moving tribute. Read an article about the race and the cause in the Gazette Times. Thanks for a nice shirt, Cassie-Jo.


So we're definitely getting close to the end now. A small, on campus, 5k this Friday afternoon. Then a twofer, yes a twofer, on October 30th, with a 5k and a 15k Trail Run.

Rollin' on!

100 Year Old Man Finishes Marathon!

This week, it's a 100 year old man finishing a marathon.

Last week, it was the woman who ran a marathon and then gave birth later in the day.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling like I need to get off my lazy ass and do something already.