You're a Runner. Be Proud!

Photo from Active at Altitude

As a runner, it's sometimes easy to lose sight of the big picture. We're constantly chasing something: a new PR, qualifying for a big race such as Boston, trying to move up to a longer race like a marathon or a ultra. Always trying to grab the next gold ring.

I'm guilty of it as well. I mean, I love to talk about my own running exploits, but if I'm talking about other runners, it's usually someone like Max King, or Kara Goucher, or Shalane Flanagan. The NW runners that have made it big. Like most "average" runners, I like to look at the elites and think, "Wow, what would it be like to run that fast? How would it feel to hit the tape first?"

Well, back up for a moment. Take a look at what you've accomplished. Yes, you. Not the elite runners in the magazines, but you. And me. The normal runners out there.

Around 13 million of us finished a road race of some distance in 2010. Yes, 13 million. Are you thinking, "why should I be proud to be one of 13 million?" Well, remember that there are over 310,000,000 people living in the United States. And only 13 million ran a race last year. You're one of the 4% of Americans that ran a race. Be proud!

You're out there training. Daily? Maybe. Weekly? Definitely. Are you in shape? I'm guessing you're in better shape than most. Almost 70% of Americans are overweight and/or obese. Yes, 70 freaking percent! You're out there running, biking, swimming, doing whatever you can to be the other 30%. Be proud!

So you didn't get a PR at your last race? So what? Did you finish? Did you beat someone? My daughter did her first 5k last week on Thanksgiving day. She didn't break any age-group records. But she was out there running. And she finished in front of quite a few people. And she's nine years old. Nine. Be proud!

Ignore the individual trees once in a while. Step back and check out the whole forest. It's beautiful. You're a runner; maybe not elite on the clock, but definitely elite in a bunch of other ways.

Be proud.

Cross Training at Wings and Waves

Did a little cross training workout yesterday at Wings and Waves Water Park in McMinnville. If you're looking for a good workout, just grab your children (borrow some, if you don't have any of your own) and hit the waterslides. According to the signage at the park, it's exactly 111 steps to the 747 sitting on top of the building where you jump into the four main slides. I went up those stairs 13 times. Yes, 13 times. If you don't have your abacus sitting next to you, that's 1443 steps.

That's a workout.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF DECEMBER 12th TO DECEMBER 18th

December 17th / YMCA Christmas Run 6.1m and 2.5m / Boise, ID

December 17th / OAC Holiday Multisport Classic 5k, Aquathlon and Swim Meet / Corvallis, OR

December 17th / Frozen Trail Runfest 50k, 13m, 8m, 6m and 5k / Eugene, OR

December 17th / Holiday Fun Run 15k, 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

December 17th / Santa Runs Tacoma 10k and 5k / Tacoma, WA

December 17th / Cable Bridge Run 10k and 5k / Pasco, WA

December 18th / 12k's of Christmas Holiday Run 12k and 5k / Kirkland, WA

December 18th / Winter Solstice Run 5k / Eugene, OR

OAC Turkey Trot 5k Race Review and Results!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, I'm impressed, Corvallis. On a cold, but not raining, Thanksgiving morning, at the early hour of 8am, over 500 runners braved the elements and toed the line for the OAC Turkey Trot 5k and 10k. Nice work!

Let's get right to the action!

So the entire R's family ran this one. Everyone decided to run the 5k. Payton and I wanted to see how fast we could go and Carson and Jen and Jen's Knees wanted to see if they could finish in front of someone.

Missions accomplished!

The 10k was supposed to take off at 8am sharp, but because of the huge crowds (unexpected?), they started about 10 minutes late. Only about 75 or so people in that race. Check out the results right here.

And the 5k. A whopping 446 runners for this one. Nice.

Somehow, this little Corvallis 5k was the first race I've done with the disposable chips that are attached to the race number itself. Seemed to work well. My online results looked to be correct and they got them up super-fast. I like it.

So my last words to Payton before the start gun were, "don't go out too fast. I'll check my watch and let you know how we're doing." Holy moly, can you say "foreshadowing?"

You'd think after 25 years of running competitive road races, I would know how to pace myself in a race. That I would know how to NOT go out too fast in any length race, even a 5k.

You'd be wrong.

See, I have this new problem. I'm actually in decent shape. Not amazing shape, but decent. I can run fast for short bursts and not pass out. And that's a problem. After we had gone around the first two corners (and there are a lot of corners on this course), I knew we were going sort of fast, but I didn't check my watch because I didn't feel that bad. When I did check my watch after about a half-mile and we were well under a 7:00/mile pace, I knew we were just being silly. There's no way Payton or I can keep up that pace for even a 5k. I told him to slow down and tried to notch it back myself, but we still hit the first mile at 7:17. Not that much faster than I was hoping for the first mile, but it was only because we had slowed up considerably after the first half-mile. I knew there would be a price to pay later.

The second mile was at about the pace I was looking for, 7:26, but by the end of that mile, I was starting to feel a bit tired. And my stomach. Oof. If there had been a Honey Bucket sitting around, I would have been in there without a second thought. That's not a good thing in a short, little 5k, but something was just not sitting right. The second mile was also where I got a reminder that runners are horrible at paying attention while they're racing. We were coming up to an intersection. We were clearly turning left. There were runners just in front of us turning left. You could see them going around the corner. There were also 10k runners coming from the left and turning left up ahead of us on the same street we were currently on. It was all pretty clear.

The two runners just in front of me didn't turn left. Didn't even think about it. They just kept going straight, right into the back end of the 10k pack. I yelled, "Turn! Turn!" and they got it back around fairly quickly. It always amazes me. People just get locked in and don't look around at what's going on.

So, mile three. Stomach not right. Lungs feeling that first half-mile a bit. Definitely slowing down a bit: 7:41. Still, I headed into the Linus Pauling Middle School track looking like I had a pretty fair shot at breaking my Master's 5k PR of 23:11. Just had to get around one lap of the track to the finish. No problem.

Holy crap, that was a long lap. As Maxwell Smart would say, "missed it by that much." A 23:18 - seven seconds off the PR. I wish I had felt a bit better in the second half of that race, because you won't find a flatter 5k in Corvallis. An total elevation gain of six feet for the race. Shoot-fire. Check the results here. I did manage to snag 8th place in Masters and 29th overall in a slow T-Day crowd, so that's not too bad. Payton did quite well with a 3rd place out of 33 runners in his age group, and 67th overall. And Carson and Jen did, in fact, beat a few people, so it's all good!

Ah well. I guess the 5k record will have to wait for number 28 in the EPIC schedule: the OAC Holiday Multisport Reverse Aquathlon. Pow! See you there.

Here's the shirt. Like most Turkey Trot races, it has a cute cartoon Turkey. I mean, that's almost a guarantee, right? And it's white, so I've got no issues with it.

One left. See you on December 17th.

Draft Legal Triathlon? In the Northwest?

Apparently so. Check it out right here.

The Tri Monroe, in Monroe, WA, on June 12, 2012. It's got a pretty small limit capped on the race, so if you're interested in a draft-legal tri, get on it fast.

I'm not sure if this would help sub-par bikers, like me, or help the elite bikers. I think it would probably bring big groups to T2 together, then it would just be a running race.

Interesting...

Best Running Song for November!

I've been taking it way too easy on you guys lately. It's time for some good old-fashioned rock! Some rock that will get your feet moving. Some rock that will get your legs pumping. Some rock that will give you an bitchin-awesome white guy afro like the main guy in this band!

When you name your band Wolfmother, really, what can you do but rock...and rock hard. This song is called Joker and the Thief. Just turn it up.

Here's a great live version.

Here's another great live version.

And here's one put to the Joker from the Batman cartoon!

It's amazing that this song can rock so hard with just three guys playing, and no bass, but hearing is believing! Strap this one on the iPod for your next run - you won't be disappointed.

Past Best Running Songs:
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"

Clif Bar Seasonal Flavor - Peppermint Stick

It's energy bar review time!

First, let's start off with the two Clif Bar seasonal flavors that I'm not reviewing this time around: Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Iced Gingerbread. I'm really not a Pumpkin Pie type person, so I wouldn't be crazy about that one anyway, but the fact remains that all three of these seasonal flavors are acquired tastes. And barely energy bars. They're really more like a slightly healthy dessert than a pre-race snack.

But let's take a taste of the new guy - the Peppermint Stick Clif Bar. Pow! It's really peppermint-y! This has a super strong Peppermint taste. If you like candy canes, you'll absolutely love this Clif Bar. If you don't enjoy candy canes, then don't even bother with this one. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed that there was no hint of chocolate in this guy. I mean, who doesn't love peppermint bark? Even a few chocolate chips thrown into this one would have made quite a difference. For the better. I believe it does have white chocolate chips in it, but as we all know "white chocolate" is just another word for "not chocolate."

Good, but not great. A tad boring. If you're looking for a mint fix, I'd stick with the Cool Mint Chocolate. You know, this one right here.

Peppermint Stick Clif Bar: 6 Bonkers

Get Out That Ugly Christmas Sweater!

Wow, break out the ugly holiday sweaters and hit the Ugly Holiday Sweater Dash in West Linn. Yikes!

Let's Race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF DECEMBER 5th TO DECEMBER 11th

December 10th / Jingle Bells Run 8k and 5k / Eugene, OR

December 10th / Puddle Scuttle 8k and 5k / West Linn, OR

December 10th / Ugly Holiday Sweater Dash 1m / West Linn, OR

December 10th / Mac's Run 10k and 5k / Charleston, OR

December 10th / Solstice Run 5k / Bainbridge Island, WA

December 10th / Christmas Rush Fun Run 10k and 5k / Kent, WA

December 10th / Deception Pass 50k and 25k / Oak Harbor, WA

December 10th / Birch Bay Ghost Marathon / Birch Bay, WA

December 11th / Holiday Half Marathon and 5k / Portland, OR

December 11th / Ho Ho 5k / Tigard, OR (Free Hostess Ho Ho's and Snowballs - Woot!)

Race Ryan Hall...Virtually

Yeah...he's fast.

December Destination Marathons!

Looking for a December marathon? Preferably in a warmer climate? The R's is here for you.

First up, The CIM. Otherwise known as the California International Marathon. December 4th. Super-flat course in Sacramento, CA and well known as a great course to try to qualify for Boston. Usually dry and mild weather. Road trip!

Same date, just across the desert, we've got the Las Vegas Marathon. At night. On the strip. Cool.

Then on the next weekend, December 11th, 2500 miles away, we've got the Honolulu Marathon. Ah, Hawaii. How can you go wrong? This one can be muggy, but it starts early, 5:00am early, to get you out and back before it heats up too much. And it's Hawaii, how much are you going to complain, really?

If you're really looking to escape the cool Northwest weather, there's always the Panama City International Marathon on Dec. 4th. Yeah, not Florida...Panama! Trust me, you won't be cold...the average temps, year-round, are highs of around 90F, with 80% humidity. Woot!

And you thought you wouldn't get a hot, dry run until next July...

Marathon Training Plans!

Perhaps everyone in the world knows this already, but I just realized it, so pretend to be interested...

If you're like me, and why wouldn't you be, and love to run, but are basically broke at all times, you may need to get creative when trying to find decent training plans. You can always just Google "Marathon Training Plans" or "Half Marathon Training Plans" or "Marathon Training Schedule" or whatever, but that usually gives you a million links that are a)hard to sort through to find what you want, and b)often have a price tag attached to them.

But wait!

If you enter in those terms and then craftily click on the "Images" button...

BLAM!

Hundreds and hundreds of free training schedules.

Now I'm not saying they're all quality schedules, or really, even mostly quality schedules, but they are easy to browse and pick out one or two that might work for you. And of course, it works for any distance, or sport, just replace "Marathon" with "5k" or "Olympic Triathlon" and there you go.

Give it a try. Like this.


Plan up top brought to you by Elizathon's Blog!