Longest Run

The Training

My total mileage last week was 31 which was comprised of a four mile run on Monday, eight miles on Wednesday, another four on Friday, and a 15 mile long run on Saturday which was one hilly mother. For the most part it was a nice asphalt trail which followed the road and for a good six miles we were in a forested area away from traffic. Of course there were about four miles that cut through a fairly busy section of, ummmmmm, we'll call it outer Portland, which was on sidewalk and had a few street crossings. This was my longest run ever but that record will be short lived since we have 16 on the schedule for this weekend. It's supposed to rain that afternoon so we're going to try to get the run done in the morning.

The Sore Foot

My foot has been feeling quite a bit better thanks to these guys:

Happy Bouncy Ball is perfect for self foot massage while sitting at my desk:

I haven't had a sore heel in the morning for a few days and during runs it has not been bothering me much at all. I'm going to keep up the rolling and icing to stay on top of any potential return but I'm hopeful that it's not going to get any worse.

The Biking

On Sunday of last week Jen and I drove out to Hood River for a MTB ride on a trail she read about. It was a fairly flat dirt road with a bit of single track mixed with a couple of short semi-technical sections. We both had a great time and ended the day with a drink in Hood River before heading back to Portland for some Godfathers pizza.

This week I have nine miles on Wednesday and five on Friday (as well as the 16 miler this weekend). So far the marathon training has been great - it's really nice to have someone to run with on the long runs and Jen has also been riding her bike along with me on my shorter runs.

I really want to start swimming a couple of times a week but it has been hard to find a pool that is close, not too expensive, and nice/clean. It's probably not too important until next tri season but I know that if I don't go at least five or six times a month to keep up my "form" then I will be back at square one when I start up again in March/April. Cycling is going to be tough to keep up on in the winter but I'm sure I can get in some trainer rides along with some longer MTB rides to keep my legs in shape.

New Bike and the New View

First the runs from this week:

Monday - 4 miles tempo with Jen - 7:49 AP
Tuesday - short bike ride after work
Wednesday - 8 miles solo (Jen rode her bike along with me) - 7:47 AP

My heel is feeling a bit better - I've been rolling a frozen water bottle under my foot in the evenings and have been rolling a bouncy ball under my foot at work to massage my arch. So far I think it is helping. Today on the run I had a pain in my left hamstring for the whole run; I stretched out really well after the run and am planning on rolling it out on the foam roller in a bit.

Last week we bought new mountain bikes and have been riding them around. On Sunday we rode up in Forest Park and got caught out in a big rainstorm. We were soaked by the time we got home but had a GREAT time riding in the mud and rain. Unfortunately my phone was completely drenched and it is now resting in the phone booth in the sky.

Here I am on my new bike:

My new job has been great so far. This week I have just been reading and getting up to speed on the industry and trying to help out where I can. Here are a couple of pictures of my view from where I sit:

Downtown Portland:

The Pearl District w/ the Rose Garden in the foreground. The Red Bridge is the Broadway Bridge:

Catch Up Time

With all the packing, moving, unpacking, getting to know the new area, etc., etc. I haven't been keeping up on my blogging; fortunately I have been keeping up on my running. I can't really say the same for my swimming and biking but that's not a big deal since I'm starting my marathon training and running should be my primary focus.

Let me try to catch up on the last month with some pictures and a few words (this should keep the post short in terms of words but will make it a bit long in terms of pictures):

Last day of work in CA:

Loading up the moving truck in CA - this was one of the hottest days of the summer - I think it was around 108:

My buddy Chris stopped by to help carry a couple of really heavy things down the stairs:

The truck is pretty much full at this point - it went smooth at first while we loaded up boxes. Once we started loading furniture and random crap the going got rough, but we managed to get pretty much everything but the plants in the truck:

Driving North - I was in the Uhaul, Jen drove the car with the cat:

We arrived in Portland around 5pm and unloaded the truck with a little help from a local friend:

After acquiring the basic unpacking essentials we started digging into the boxes and putting our new place together:

Finally after a couple of days of hard work everything was in place and we had a home:

We headed over to the ocean for the day on Jen's Birthday:


Checked out the downtown area around our place:

And spent plenty of time in the rooftop spa:

We've also taken the time to do some hiking - here we are at Angles Rest in the Columbia River Gorge:

We saw a snake (Rubber Boa) on the way down to the car:

So I picked it up:

We also headed down to Silver Falls State Park to check out some waterfalls and do some camping:

So far it has been great living in Portland. We really like the area and have already found some great running routes. I've been out on my bike twice and swimming once but for now the focus will stay on running. We are running a HM on Oct 19 and the marathon is in December. Now that I'm caught up on the last month I'll start posting about running and my marathon training. I start work on Monday after having a month off. It will be nice to get back into a routine and I'm really excited about the new job; however, getting up at 6:30 is going to be a big change from 9:30.

Santa Cruz Pics

So far so good in Portland - more to come on that later - for now here's the Santa Cruz pics:

Hey - the water is salty and I wear contacts