Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar

Yes, you're seeing it correctly...there is one race this week.

Sort of an odd quirk, with Christmas Eve on a Monday and Christmas on a Tuesday, when no one runs races. Then the days when there are races, that would be New Year's Eve and New Years, are also on a Monday and Tuesday, so all the races move off the weekend schedule and into the next week.

So...one race.

Hey, go run it already.

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 DECEMBER 24th TO DECEMBER 30th

December 30th / Sporty Diva's Half Marathon, 15k, 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

Note: I'm having trouble making the text colors work...no idea why. I'll try to get it fixed soon.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Yes, I have completed my 50,000 words for my novel in Nanowrimo!

Although I'm actually not quite done with the novel yet. But I'm over 50k, baby!

Best Running Song for November - The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines

Yikes, I'm really late this month! We almost had to do two Best Running Songs for December, but I just made it under the wire.

This month we've got the amazing Black Keys and Little Black Submarines. This is just a plain old-school rock song. Sometimes that's what you need, right? This one feels a little Led Zeppelin and a little Jack White. All good.

Live version:



I realize some people don't like to run to songs that start slow, then pick up tempo - that some prefer a more even beat and tempo to run to, and to that I say:

"Suck it up, Buttercup! This is an awesome song!"

Another live version:



Rock that run!

Past Best Running Songs: October: Cold War Kids / "Hospital Beds" September: Bloc Party / "Octopus" August: Matt and Kim / "Let's Go" July: Gemini / "Blue" June: Joe Jackson / "Got the Time" 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"

Weather Forecast for California International Marathon

It's not good, my friends. Not good at all.

Check it out right here.

Rain, floods, 30 mph winds, more rain, more floods, more wind.

Sounds like a great time to run a marathon, right?

I'm not too happy about this. Not that I'm expecting great things here anyway, but I've already had to put up with torrential rains at my last marathon (Newport) and my last Half Marathon (Runaway Pumpkin). I'm sick of running in the rain.

Think good thoughts, runners. Maybe the wind will be blowing in our direction. Remember, it's a point to point course.

Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar - Christmas Races

Just a few more Christmas Runs to finish up the Holiday...

Then we're on to the Resolution New Year's Runs!

See you then.

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 DECEMBER 17th TO DECEMBER 24th

December 22nd / Operation Jack Northwest Run 6hr, Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Tigard, OR

December 22nd / Reindeer Marathon, Half Marathon, 10m, 10k and 5k / Rochester, WA

December 22nd / Eugene Holiday Half Marathon and Holiday Hustle 10k and 5k / Eugene, OR

December 22nd / Reindeer Duathlon Sprint / Rochester, WA

December 21st / Longest Night Mile 1m / Medford, OR

December 22nd / YMCA Christmas Run 6.1m and 2.5m / Boise, ID

December 22nd / Jingle Bell Jog 5k / Lincoln City, OR

December 22nd / We Survived the End of the World 5k / Tumwater, WA

December 23rd / Hard Core Runners Club Winter Race Series 3.3m / Yakima, WA

December 24th / Jingle Bell Run 3m / Tacoma, WA

Seattle Marathon 2012 Results - Uli Does It Again!

There are lots of fast runners out there. But there aren't nearly as many fast, tough, runners. You know the kind - they never have a really bad race. When they don't run particularly well, they end up taking 3rd or 4th. DNF's just don't happen for them. They excel at one type of race, but throw them in something new - trail, ultra, road, whatever - they exceed everyone's expectations.

You know these runners, right? People like Meb Keflezighi. People like Oregon's own Max King. These guys just never disappoint. Like Canada's Ellie Greenwood.

Well, there's one more name you need to add to the list of Toughest Fastest Runners: Uli Steidl.

Hey, Seattle's Steidl has been around for a long time - he's now 40 years old. But damn, he's almost as fast as ever. Yesterday, he won the Seattle Marathon for the ninth time. Ninth! I know some people think that there isn't a lot of competition at the Seattle Marathon, but there's a reason for that. It's a tough, tough course! Most elite runners are too damn scared to run it. They don't want to work their asses off on a tough course and just have an average-looking time to show for it.

But that's what I'm talking about with Steidl - he's not afraid to go out and earn it. Congrats to Uli.

-Seattle Times article on Uli's win in the Seattle Marathon.

-Seattle Times Photo Gallery of the Seattle Marathon.

-Chat with Uli and his wife, Trisha (another great Seattle runner).

-Results from the 2012 Seattle Marathon.

Max King and Ellie Greenwood Take JFK 50

Oregon's Max King does it again. The guy is practically invincible when you get him off-road. King set a new course record in the 50th running of the oldest and largest ultra in the US.

BC's Greenwood continued her torrid winning streak as well, slashing nearly 20 minutes off of the women's course record.

And here's an article about what happens to normal people that try to run a 50 mile race.

I'm Back! Let's Get It On!

Well, sort of.

I went running for the first time in three weeks. Woot!

A four-miler on Friday and an eight-miler on Sunday. And the foot felt OK.

Unfortunately, the rest of my body felt like hell, but you take what you can get.

I should be able to get in eight or so runs before the CIM.

Let's get it on!

Northwest Running and Triathlon Race Calendar - Christmas Races

A few more Holiday runs. Get them in while you can because we're about to head into the dead part of the year very soon.

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 DECEMBER 10th TO DECEMBER 16th

December 15th / Frozen Trail Run Fest 50k, 14.2m, 8.5m, 6.7m and 5k / Eugene, OR

December 15th / Pullman 50k and 25k / Pullman, WA

December 16th / Holiday Half Marathon and 5k / Portland, OR

December 15th / Calli's Run 5k / Salem, OR

December 15th / Cable Bridge Run 10k and 5k / Pasco, WA

December 15th / Jingle Bell Jog 5k / Sumner, WA

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

December 15th / Santa Runs Tacoma 10k and 5k / Tacoma, WA

December 15th / Jingle Dash 5k / Keizer, OR

December 15th / Jingle Bell Jog Free Run Run 5.4m and 3m / Bozeman, MT

December 16th / 12k's of Christmas Holiday Run 12k and 5k / Kirkland, WA

December 16th / Winter Solstice Run 5k / Eugene, OR

The Day of Your Marathon Race

My homeboy Pete Pfitzinger wrote up a nice article of tips, hints, and tricks to follow for your day-before and day-of your next marathon.

Of course, it helps if you've actually put in the training before that day comes, but let's not go there.

Check it out here.

Don't think Pete knows what he's talking about? Here's a different list.

And one more.

Last one.