Rocket Shoes

2011-10-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Wood Work

2010-10-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

Palm Frog

2010-08-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Newport Marathon Race Report

2010-06-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I ran my first marathon in Oregon and my second marathon overall. It was a great race and two days after finishing I can say that I would definitely recommend it and would do it again.

I decided to take Friday off work so I could sleep in then spend the morning getting my stuff organized and packed instead of rushing to do it the night before. After a nice relaxing morning I picked Jen up by her office and we headed out on the road to Newport. We took the turnoff for Bay Road in Toledo in order to drive the majority of the course (it was four miles in town then out and back for the remaining 22.2) and get some pictures of where I would be running.

Once we arrived at the hotel we checked in then walked downstairs to the packet pickup where I got my number (no chips) and asked about the shuttle in the morning. I wasn't sure if I was going to take it or walk (it was about a mile) but I figured I would at least find out where it was picking up. After that we went to our room, drove to the store to pick up some chocolate milk for after the race and regular milk for morning coffee, then walked around a bit and hit up the hotel restaurant where I ordered a great pasta dish and had an after dinner cocktail.

Race morning I woke up to clear blue sky and after having my toast and coffee we walked over to the start. It took about 20 minutes and was a really nice way to start the day. Once we arrived at the start I hit up the port-o-forest then walked over to the starting area and made my way to the front of the pack. Since this was not a chip timed race (it's a small race that is capped at 800) and I wanted to run a 3:10:00 I tried to line up as close to the front as I could. About three minutes later the countdown began and we were off!

Miles 1-5:
I knew that the key to me running my goal time was going to be even pacing and no miles that were unreasonably fast. I kept that in mind as we started out and tried to stay relaxed and run strong but easy. The first four miles twist and turn through town with a few ups and downs and at 4.5 we passed by the hotel for a short but steep climb (which we would come back down right before the finish) then headed out onto Bay Road for the out and back section.

Paces: 7:06, 7:18, 7:10, 7:06, 7:32 - 36:12 (0:03 ahead of pace)

Miles 6-10:
The next five miles went by fairly uneventfully. I got into a groove and kept pace with the few people that were around me. By mile 10 I was starting to wonder if I could hold the pace which started to worry me but I decided to take it one mile at a time and not let myself start to get negative this early in the race:

Paces: 7:14, 7:13, 7:19, 7:14, 7:15 - 1:12:27 (0:04 ahead of pace)

Miles 11-15:
Ahhhh headwind - how sucky can you be - let me count the ways - mile 12, mile 13, mile 14. At one point around mile 13 I passed one guy who tucked in behind me and breathed in my ear for the next half mile or so. I could really feel myself starting to get tired but I also knew the turn around would be coming up soon where I would see Jen and then be heading back to the finish line. Right around 15 I saw Jen and she handed me a new water bottle and shouted some encouragement (and snapped a couple of pics).

Paces: 7:11, 7:20, 7:24, 7:24, 7:23 - 1:49:09 (0:23 off pace)

Miles 16-20:
"On a long and lonesome highway east of Omaha, you can listen to the engine moanin out his one note song"
And the fade begins. After I passed by Jen at the turn around I could feel myself start to slow bit by bit. The sun was hot and the formerly stiff headwind was now a lazy tailwind that did nothing for me. At around mile 17 I realized that I wasn't going to make 3:10:00 and found myself not being upset about it at all. I remember thinking "this shit is hard" and "what did I get myself into" a number of times during miles 17 and 18. Finally at 19 I decided to take a 15 second walk break while I took a drink - that 15 seconds blew by and next thing I knew I was running along again. When we hit the water stop at mile 20 the guy in front of me walked through the stop and I thought "what an ingenious idea, I'm going to walk the water stop as well!" - I still only gave myself 15 seconds and again, it was gone before I knew it.

Paces: 7:33, 7:22, 7:36, 7:42, 8:12 - 2:27:33 (-2:31 off pace)

Miles 21-25:
Holy Hell what did I get myself into? These last miles were SO hard. A couple times I considered grabbing onto a car as it drove by and sort of hooky-dragging along for a while. I figured my arms weren't nearly as tired as my legs so I could hold on for a good 30 seconds or so which seemed fantastic. I didn't think any of the other racers would get upset, in fact I figured I would start a hooky-dragging chain reaction when people started realizing what a brilliant idea it was.

One of the best things about this race being small was that everyone around me at this point was suffering as much or more as I was. There were eight or ten people within a half mile of me and not a single one of them was consistently running. There was guy cramping way worse than me, guy with audible stomach problems, run fast/walk slow guy, and 'oh my god it's another patch of shade' guy just to name a few.

Around mile 23.5 my right quad started cramping with every push off and I thought that if I didn't stop to stretch it out I was going to be in trouble. I stopped and grabbed onto a pole and tried to do a quad stretch but my hamstring stated in no uncertain terms that it would not tolerate any sort of contractions. I immediately put my foot down and rubbed my quad then started running again. My last 15 second walk break was at the mile 24 water stop.

Paces: 8:23, 8:00, 8:34, 8:54, 8:22 - 3:09:46 (-8:29 off pace)

Mile 26:
The quad cramp hit me hard in the last mile and I had to stop one last time to shake it out. Audible stomach problems guy was right in front of me and I set the goal of beating that gassy bastard to the finish so I pushed it hard up the final incline then kicked it into high gear as I was coming down the hill to the finish. I could hear gas master's steps behind me so I gave it all I had and made it across the line before him.

Final Time: 3:20:23 - 7:39 AP

8/38 Age Group (30-34)

46/643 Overall

The guys in the chute asked me how I was feeling and my response (after a few moments of deep thought) was "thirsty". They gave me a bottle of water which I took a few drinks of before dumping the rest over my head. I walked over and got another bottle then saw Jen and she ran over and gave me a hug. She was kicked out of the finishers area a minute later so I stood in the shade and ate a few orange slices before walking over to where she was standing. I spent a few minutes stretching out then we headed back to our room where I took a shower and changed.

We walked over to Rogue Brewery and had an awesome lunch and a couple drinks then spent some time bumming around Newport.

Finishers Medal - made by local glass shop in Newport

Goodbye Marathon Beard

Overall it was a great race and even though it kicked my ass it made me hungry for more. Jen and I are talking about our next marathon but I'll leave the announcement to her as she is the family race planner.

Taper Time!

2010-05-25T21:55:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday I ran the last long run of this marathon training cycle and am now officially into my taper. I’ve been looking forward to this for the last couple of weeks as my mileage and speed work ramped up and my body started feeling the full impact of the training. At the end of my 21 miler last weekend my calf was pretty sore and after consulting with Jen I decided it would be best to take Tuesday off (as well as Monday my normal day) to let my body rest. On Wednesday I went out for a run and towards the end it was bothering me again. Admittedly, I probably ran faster than I should have (8 miles at 7:25 AP) and that likely played a role in the continued soreness. With another off day on Thursday, ice bucket, hot tub, Tiger Balm, compression socks, foam roller, and two easy runs on Friday and Saturday I felt fine by the time I started running on Sunday.

While I was out running I was thinking about my upcoming race and I realized that I was pretty nervous about and excited for it. Nervous because, well because it’s a marathon; and excited because, well because it’s a marathon. To ease my nerves a bit and to pass the time during the run I started thinking about the training I’ve done and the things I’ve accomplished over the last four months.

Races:
I ran three races during training; two half-marathons and a 5k.

The Shamrock Run 5k was in week four and although I had been doing hill work I had yet to do any speed work. This race features nearly a mile of incline and only about two-tenths of a mile of decline so it’s a tough one. I managed to push hard and set a new PR of 19:37.

One week later Jen and I were up in Washington for the Mercer Island Half Marathon which is on twisty, hilly roads for the majority of the race. Since I knew it was a tough course my plan was to run strong but not push too hard and then really try to hang on and pick up the pace at the end. I hoped that the hill training I had been doing would help me push through. It was a hard course but I managed to pull out a new PR of 1:32:38.

On May 2nd we were down in Eugene where Jen was running her marathon and I was running the half. This race was a good confidence boost for me and I ended up finishing with a new PR of 1:30:15.

Weekly Runs:
Even though there were a few days when I really didn’t feel like heading out the door I managed to complete every run except the one mentioned above and one in April when I was traveling for work. I still have a few left during the taper and while I hope to get them all in it is the taper after all and I’m not going to beat myself up if I have to miss one (although I’m sure I will spend some time agonizing over it).

Long Runs:
I used a plan that had me doing two 20 mile runs and one 21 miler which I was a bit intimidated by at first but as I completed each one it was a good confidence boost. I was able to run two of them point to point on the Banks Veronia trail and one of them on a new out and back route along the waterfront downtown. I really enjoyed the runs on Banks Vernonia because it gave me a chance to get out away from people and enjoy my surroundings. I felt progressively stronger on each run and was able to run the last six miles of my 21 miler at an average pace of 7:06. Granted that is likely the primary reason for my sore calf but thankfully that appears to be on the mend. My 21 miler was also only the second time I’ve run over 20 miles

Speed Work:
I felt confident in all of my speed workouts but there were definitely days when I wanted to quit on the second interval when I was scheduled to do six or eight. I pushed through the mental blocks and finished all of them on pace and feeling good; tired, but good. I think the hardest part of speed work is the warm up and cool down. If I’m at the track I don’t mind running fast intervals, but running a 2 mile warm up and cool down can be quite boring.

37 Miles:
As of this evening I have six runs left for a total of 37 miles. The majority of the miles will be at a GA pace or an easy pace and on the last two I’ll likely throw in a couple of goal pace miles just to remember what they feel like. Tonight I ran five miles at an 8:00 average and of course I was questioning the taper the entire time. Luckily I’ve had Jen telling me how important the taper is and to have faith in my training which I definitely do. At this point no amount of speed work or heavy mileage would do me any good. What I need now is to let my body recover so that come race day I am ready to roll.

The Weather:
Springtime in Oregon – I think that about sums it up.

Overall I think I am more excited than anything else. The visual I have is that I am a chocolate chip cookie with the cookie part being excitement and the chocolate chips being nervousness.

I’ll post a race report after I get home – since the race is on a Saturday I should be able to get one done sometime on Sunday.

Thanks for reading!

Eugene Half Marathon Race Report

2010-05-03T22:12:00.001-07:00

After running this race last year and enjoying the course and the city of Eugene so much, I was excited to head back again this weekend to run it for a second time. Jen had decided to run the full this year after debating between this and another race, but since I had already picked a marathon this was going to be a training race for me and hopefully a good indication of my fitness with five weeks of training left to go.

Saturday morning I got up and got in a short easy run before we packed up the car, grabbed a bagel and coffee, and hit the road. When we got to Eugene we hit up the expo, grabbed a sandwich downtown (I’m a big sandwich fan and am always looking for a good sandwich shop), bummed around for a bit, then went to our hotel to check in. After that we walked over to the University to scope out the start (they had changed it a bit from last year) and then walked over the river to find a spot where I could hopefully catch Jen at around mile 16/17 of her race the next day. Then it was back to the hotel for a nap followed by race day prep, picnic style dinner on the bed (chicken, pasta salad, and bread), then some reading and bed.

Sunday morning I was up at a little after five to have some coffee and toast, get ready, and hit up the rr a couple times before walking over to the start. Since our hotel was a four minute walk from the starting corrals (we timed it on Saturday) we were able to stay in the room until around 6:40 which was great. When we got over to the start I did a couple short warm up jogs then Jen and I got into the corral together before we wished each other good luck and lined up in our respective time zones.

Going into the race I my main goal was to have an average pace in the mid 6:50’s with an A+ goal of breaking 1:30:00. Leading up to the race I had been telling myself “remember not to go out too fast” and for the most part I stuck to that (although I did go out a bit fast and had a moment of “this is happening!” before reigning myself in.

The three miles are basically flat with a few downhill sections mixed in so I spent this time getting into a groove and constantly reminding myself that I was likely going a bit fast and needed to reign it in a bit.

Miles 1-3: 6:46, 6:43, 6:44

The next two and a half-ish are basically a slight incline capped off with a steep pitch at the end before the course turns and comes back down the incline one block to the west. During this section I knew that I had started pushing my luck with the miles in the 6:40’s but I felt like I had caught myself before doing any real damage. I was certainly glad to see the turn and the beginning of the decline after the climb.

Miles 4-6: 6:54, 7:02, 6:46

After the six mile mark I felt like I was getting into a good groove but at the same time I could feel myself starting to get tired and knew that it was going to take some mental effort to hang on and keep pushing. It wasn’t that I was ready to give up, I was just running fast and started to question myself and wonder if I could keep it up for another seven miles. When I hit 6.55 I shook out my arms, took my Gu, and knew that I was halfway done and that I could hang in there. After rounding a corner at mile eight and running by the water stop I saw Alisa holding her sign and cheering which was a nice pick-me-up before I had to tackle the biggest hill of the course. I kicked it down a notch and was surprised when the hill didn’t seem nearly as daunting as it did the year before. I don’t know if I had just built it up in my head or if I was just in better shape or what but it really wasn’t that bad. After reaching the top I used my strategy from last time where I didn’t push too hard downhill and let myself relax and recover until I hit the bottom. The rest of the mile was uneventful and before I knew it we were at the nine mile mark.

Miles 7-9: 6:53, 6:51, 7:09

The rest of the race was basically an exercise in perseverance and trust in my training. What really seemed to help me was thinking back on my speed work at the track and remembering how it felt running that fourth mile at 10k pace or my sixth 800 at 5k pace and I knew if I could do that I could hold on and make it through these last miles. There were a couple people who had passed me in mile ten that I managed to pick off over the last three miles and that gave me nice short term goals to focus on. When I got to about 12.6 or so I looked at my watch and thought if I was going to break 1:30:00 I needed to pick up the pace and push hard. Right after that another part of me said, in a very sarcastic tone “Sure, you go ahead and do that, just start running faster”. I pushed as hard as I could but when I hit the stadium I knew I was going to fall just short of breaking an hour thirty, but I was also very happy to be taking a sizeable chunk of time off my PR from the Mercer Island Half marathon in March.

Miles 10-13: 6:51, 7:04, 6:53, 6:51

After I was done I downed a couple bottles of water and ate a pancake then hurried over to the hotel to change, grab the camera and a water bottle for Jen, put on sunscreen, and hurry over the river to catch Jen at mile 16.5. I made it with about five minutes to spare and was able to get a few good shots of her as she ran by. I ran with her for a short bit to pass off the water bottle and let her know she was looking strong, and then I took a couple more pics and watched her run off to finish the race.

You can check out her report on her blog to get the full details and also to hear about the exciting conclusion. She ran great and I was really proud of her for tackling her eight stand alone marathon.

Final Results:

1:30:15
6:54 AP
17/185 AG
84/1,274 Males
109/4,056 OA

Shamrock Run 5k

2010-03-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I ran my first 5k since November, and only my second since 2007. I was a bit nervous going in since I really wanted to beat my PR with an A+ goal of breaking 20 minutes. But, since I haven't been training for a short, fast race I didn't really know what to expect.

As anyone who has run any of the Shamrock races can tell you the second mile is a steady climb up Broadway with a nice increase in grade for the last .2 of a mile or so. My strategy was to run the first mile to get into a groove and find my pace, keep it steady but not push too hard in mile two, then try to hold on in the third mile.

Once I was underway it took me a while to settle into a groove but once I did I felt comfortably uncomfortable and figured I could hold on, or at least try to, for the next couple miles.

The first mile came in at 6:10, then I turned onto Broadway and started the steady climb up to the mile two marker. My pace stayed fairly steady for mile two but I did feel myself start to slow a bit. I knew that pushing hard at this point would kill me in mile three so I just tried to hang on and keep moving forward. Mile two: 6:47.

Once I made the turn and started mile three the course was flat for a couple of blocks and so was I. Ever so slowly I increased my turnover and picked up the pace as we encountered four or five glorious blocks of decline. The crummy thing about the mile long climb is that the downhill lasts for less than a quarter mile as the course makes it's way back down to the waterfront. After we made the turn onto Naito I kept the pace strong and when I hit the 2.5 mile mark I picked up the pace just a bit. Once we passed the three mile mark I pushed it to the throw-up threshold and crossed the finish line at 19:36 (6:18 pace).

9/465 AG
62/2,631 males
72/7,076 overall

2009 in Review

2009-12-31T17:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!

As always, best viewed with the sound on - even better with the sound up loud:

Greatest Spectating Experience of my Life

2009-11-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

I've seen the Raiders beat the Broncos, I've seen the San Jose Sharks beat the Red Wings in the final seconds of the game, I've seen Barry Bonds hit the game winning home run, and I've seen Michael Jordan hit a game winning shot; but none of that compares to what I watched this past Sunday in Tempe, AZ when Jen became an IronMan. I was so proud and amazed that I really can't put it into words but I'm sure that my fellow spectators (Maritza, Deana, Dana, Inga, Josh, my Dad and Step-Mom, my Aunt Carol, and Arizona blogger Kelsa Lynn) all know what I am talking about. Watching the swim start was un-freaking-believable; seeing Jen come out of T2 to run a marathon after biking 112 miles was un-freaking-believable; and watching her run down the finish chute as Mike Riley announced that she was an IronMan brought tears to my eyes (Maritza was full-on crying and not for the first time that day). All of the details of the day will be revealed by IronJen in the days to come but let's just say that I was inspired by what she accomplished and I'm sure you will be as well.

This, That, and the Other

2009-09-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of summer and on my way home I really noticed shade where there used to be none, leaves showing the first hint of fall color, and it really made me realize that the short days of winter will be here before we know it. In fact, on November 1st, sunset is at 4:57pm in Portland. Now that my triathlon season is over for 2009 it's time to start looking to the future and deciding what's up next.

After Hood to Coast I suddenly found myself free from having to train for anything specific which at first was tough. 2009 was a good year for me - new 10k PR, new Half Marathon PR, the Hood to Coast Relay, and my first Half Ironman which was a great experience. Coming off of all of that really left me feeling aimless and like I wasn't doing enough every day. A few days after Hood to Coast I went on a run with Jen and about 6 miles in my knees really started bothering me, especially the outside of my right knee. That night in bed it was really hurting and whenever I would move it would cause me pain. The soreness hung around for a few days and right when I thought it was going away we had a fire drill at work and I had to walk down a LOT of stairs. Later that day I tried running again and within a half mile the pain was back and I ended up turning around at about one mile. After some research I determined the pain was likely due to my IT band and the only way to get better was to not run for a while. At first I took the woe is me approach but after a couple of days I realized that although it sucks I'm glad that I didn't have to deal with this during my training for the Lake Stevens 70.3. So I've been riding the bike, swimming, and going to the gym to lift - I've put together a "schedule" to follow but I'm pretty much just enjoying the end of summer, taking days to kick back when I want, doing some more cooking, and just enjoying not having to do a specific workout on a specific day.

This weekend we're heading up to Hood River for a wedding which promises to have good food, good drinks, good people, and great times. I'm sure Jen will have a great recap of her weekend training and the wedding and I'll try to take as many pictures as I can. I hoped to have a new camera for the event but I'm still hemming and hawing over where to order it from and what lens to get so I'll be shooting with our old camera - but I think that's good cause it's easier to get a lot of pictures without being "that guy with the camera".

One last item to note -I'm really proud my little cutie and her last two race performances - although anyone reading this has likely already read it over on Jen's blog - but if you haven't heard she placed 2nd in her AG at the Aluminum Man tri and 1st in her AG at the Timberline Half Marathon.

I hope everyone had a great last day of summer - get out there and enjoy these last days - unless you live in San Diego where summer never ends - bastards.

Also, it's almost hockey season - GO SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That Old Familiar Feeling

2009-09-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

While most of you are probably in the midst of training for some upcoming event - Jen, Kim, Aron, and Sarah just to name a few - I find myself in the no mans land of the off season. I am signed up to do a trail half marathon next weekend but I've been thinking of that as something fun to do and not really a "race" so I find myself drifting in the land of "I don't really have to do any specific workout". Fortunately I am Jen's training partner/coach/assistant for her IMAZ training so I will be doing some long bike rides in the next few weeks which are always a lot of fun.

Since my HIM and the Hood to Coast relay I have been sort of floating along not really doing much and getting all stressed out about it. After talking it over with Jen I decided that I would keep up on my swimming and biking with her but would shift my running focus to setting a new 5k PR with my goal race being the Father Joe's Thanksgiving Day 5k in San Diego. I'm going to run the Run Like Hell 5k in October to see what the ole legs have in them then figure out what a realistic goal is for San Diego. My previous PR of 20:30 was set in 2007 and I think that I have a good chance of going sub 20 if I put some effort into it.

At first I was stressed out about not really doing anything but once I came to terms with the fact that a little down time never really hurt anyone I realized that I should take advantage of not having to do any specific workouts this week. The timing has actually been pretty good since I've been really busy at work and instead of trying to get out the door right at 4:00 I don't mind sticking around a bit late to finish up what I am working on. Starting next week I'm also going to start going to the gym more often to lift weights and do some core work (and sit in the steam room).

Since I really don't have much to report I'll finish up with some pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Two legs down at Hood to Coast one to go:

The pile of wood I chopped for my parents - notice how you can see the fence in this picture; you will see it slowly disappear:
Making progress:
Almost done:
Two cords chopped and stacked - the folks will be warm this winter:
This shot gives you an idea of how tall the stacks were - and it was two rows deep!
I hope everyone is enjoying the last days of summer - before you know it the sun will be rising after you are at work and setting before you get off.

2009 Nike Hood to Coast Relay Race Report

2009-09-03T19:40:00.001-07:00

If I was to sum up the Nike Hood to Coast Relay in one word it would be Awesome. The experience, the running, the scenery, the volunteers, my teammates, pretty much everything about the weekend can be summed up with that one word. Let me elaborate.

I was first asked to be an alternate on the team after it was put together but within two weeks I was an official runner. Since it was with a group of my co-workers I was a bit hesitant at first – I mean I was going to be spending over 24 hours in a van with people that up to this point where just faces in the office (some of them I had never even met or seen before). It turns out that they are all very cool people and deciding to join the team was an excellent choice.
Since this was such a long event I will try to get in as much detail as I can but I may miss a thing or two which is bound to happen when you are up for nearly 24 hours, sleep for an hour and a half, then get right back into the swing of things.

I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning of the day.
The weather forecast for Friday was perfect – sunny and mild in the morning with increasing clouds in the afternoon. Since our starting time was approximated at 1:00 (the first van started at Mt. Hood at 8:15am) we had a bit of sun when we started but by the time my leg rolled around the clouds had really started moving in and the sun was becoming less and less of an issue.

I started my first leg thinking I would go out conservatively and then pick up the pace in my second and third legs. By the time I hit mile two I decided the hell with it; I was going to push myself on each leg and if I collapsed in the middle of the coast range so be it. This leg was along the Springwater corridor out in Gresham which is a trail I have run on a few times so I knew what to expect; a flatish path that was dirt for the first 2.5 miles. I cruised along and before I knew it I was halfway done, then three quarters, then next thing I knew I was coming around a corner to the exchange point where I would pass off the slap bracelet to the next runner on my team.

Leg 1 – 6.89 miles, 7.06 AP, 15 kills (passes)

After everyone in our van ran their first leg we stopped by the house of one of our teammates to take a quick shower and have some dinner (which was a great decision; there is no way we would have survived on snack food). After cleaning up, eating, and relaxing for couple hours we piled back in the van and headed out to the next exchange where we would meet up with van 1 who would be completing their second section of the day.

The next leg I was going to run was at 1:00am (give or take a couple minutes depending on where the runners before me came in) and I was really excited for it. Never before had I run at that hour and doing it in the middle of the coast range in the middle of the night while it was raining made it that much more exciting. When the slap bracelet was passed off to me I took off into the night and never looked back. The sky was misting and I felt as though I was running through space at warp speed. From time to time I would look up at the trees and the rain and think about how lucky I was to be experiencing what I was experiencing at this moment. Of course a few seconds after that I would remember that I was running down a dirt road in the middle of the night and I would look back down to make sure I could see the road and all the bumps and holes that were coming my way. A little after the first mile I could hear someone coming up behind me and right before mile two he caught me. We ran together for the next couple of miles and talked on and off – needless to say I was surprised when these miles beeped in around 6:26. By mile four I was starting to wonder if I could hold the pace when my new friend said “I’ve got to drop back, good talking with you”. Even though that was exactly how I was feeling I decided to push on and finish strong. Eventually I saw some lights up ahead and next thing I knew a volunteer was asking me what my number was so they could shout it down the road.

Leg 2 – 5 miles, 6:32 AP, 22 kills

After everyone had finished up their second leg we pushed on to the spot where we would be meeting van 1 at the end of their final section so we could kick back and try to get a couple hours of sleep. We finally pulled up into the sleeping field, parked the van, and were all asleep within 15 minutes. An hour and a half later I woke up feeling, not like a million bucks, but maybe a few hundred grand. I got out of the van, hit up the Honey Bucket, then walked over to the food area that was set up and got myself a Dutch Brothers Mocha and a hot ham and cheese croissant (which was SOOOO good).

My final leg of the day was coming out of the coast range and it was extremely beautiful. Although I ended up with a side cramp and had to slow down a bit it really didn’t matter to me because I was enjoying the scenery and the experience.

Leg 3 – 7.75 miles, 7:22 AP, 17 kills

At around 1:15pm on Saturday we reached the coast and crossed the finish line as a team.

This was one of the funnest (or most fun for you grammar nuts) running events I have ever done. For a van full of first timers we did a great job navigating, getting along, cheering for each other, and making sure that everyone was having fun the whole time. You make jokes that get stupider and funnier as the night goes on, you eat a random assortment of food, you make new friends, and you surprise yourself many times.

I have to give credit to the volunteers that sacrifice their time to help out their friends and family. Each local team is required to have three volunteers who are assigned random tasks at random locations at random times of day all the way from Mt. Hood to Seaside. Every volunteer I encountered was helpful, patient, and friendly even though they were getting all of the shit and none of the glory. One thing that I would tell any participant in the race is that a little bit of patience goes a long way out there. I saw quite a few people that showed up at the exchange only to find that their teammate wasn’t there to meet them due to traffic or some other circumstance – once that person showed up they were sent on their way with some bitching and complaining – all I could think was, what a way to start your leg!

One additional observation – the Honey Buckets were the cleanest and best stocked of any I have ever seen at an event this large (17,000 participants including 3,000 volunteers).

If you want a visual of what it was like or just something to make you consider putting together a team for next year check out the video in my previous post.

2009 Hood to Coast Relay

2009-08-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

Full report coming soon, but for now, enjoy the show:

Lake Stevens 70.3 Race Report

2009-08-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

Lake Stevens was my first HIM and overall it was a great experience. The race was great - nice lake, beautiful bike course, and a spectator filled run course that passed through downtown four times.

Saturday:

Saturday morning we slept in till around 7:30, got up and had some coffee, then loaded up the car and headed out. We made a stop for bagels at Kettleman's before hitting the road to get some additional carbs in (and because bagels are freakin delicious). We wound up hitting some traffic once we got near Tacoma and hit some major backup outside Seattle. Since we've moved from CA and don't really drive much anymore I forgot what a "joy" it is to sit in traffic and deal with the idiots that have somehow been issued a drivers license. Once we were past the I5/I90 junction the traffic thinned out and we made our way up to Everett where we were staying the night. We met our friends at their place (that's where we were staying) and dropped off our stuff before heading out to grab some lunch. Afterwards we headed out to the expo and bike drop off.

At the expo we sat through the mandatory pre-race briefing then went and picked up our numbers, bought a parking pass for downtown Lake Stevens, and made our purchases at the expo. Although the expo was pretty bare bones it did have the three things I wanted (coffee cup, bike jersey, and a hat) so for me it was just fine. It is nice to browse around a large expo looking for deals but really the only deal I ever found was at the Boston expo (I was not a runner but merely a spectator) on a pair of shoes. Other than that it's really just the same things you can find in a store or online. After that we drove to Lake Stevens to drop off our bikes in transition (dropping them off the day before the race is great), checked out the ins and outs of transition, then drove the bike course to see what was in store for us on Sunday. I knew it was a hilly course going in so it was no surprise to see some climbs and some downhill sections that would be pretty fun and potentially dangerous. After that we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some dinner supplies, headed back to our friends place, made dinner, organized our stuff, and were in bed at 10 with our alarms set for 3:40.

Race morning:

Nothing too exciting here - we arrived at transition at around 5:30 and milled around setting up our areas, hitting up the blue boxes, and talking with the other athletes. The start was delayed due to heavy fog on the water so each wave was bumped back 10 minutes which wasn't a big deal at all. Jen and I put our wetsuits on then walked over to the swim start to pick up our chips and get ready to go. After watching the pros start and wishing each other good luck (and sneaking in a final good luck kiss) I walked over to get with my group and get going.

The Swim:

The swim started in AG waves and mine was going to be the fourth group into the water. We walked down the pier and out onto a floating dock before jumping into the water – one thing I did that I shouldn’t have was I just jumped off the dock into the water and kept my legs straight. My feet hit the muddy bottom and although I didn’t get hurt I realized that I could have landed on a rock, stick, log, etc. that would have really hurt my foot and possibly ended my day before it began. So from now on I am going to sit on the edge of the dock and lower myself in if I can’t see what’s on the bottom.

Once in the water everyone fanned out into a line and I had positioned myself on the far end away from the buoy line. I figured that I didn’t want to fight it out with the main group and I would slowly make my way over once the melee was over. Although this meant I would likely end up swimming an extra 50 or so yards it was worth it to me.

Once I had been swimming for a couple minutes I could see that there were plenty of pockets of open water to my left so I started swimming towards the buoy line and the main group. Eventually I saw the white line holding the buoys and I swam along keeping it in the corner of my left eye. After a couple more minutes I decided to swim a few more feet to the left and get right above the line – I can’t say enough good things about having this to “sight” on. The only time I had to lift my head out of the water was to see who was in front of me and to look for the large buoys marking the middle of each out and back and the turns.

By the time we started catching swimmers from the wave before ours (M 25-29) I was in a line of swimmers and we were moving along at a pace that felt strong and comfortable. At this point we were about a quarter of the way through the swim and this is where the battle to maintain a buoy line spot began. The guys from the wave behind us (M 35-39) started catching up and I was also passing quite a few guys from my wave and the wave before mine. At this point I started looking up to see who was in front of me then I would look for an open spot and surge forward to move into it – this strategy worked great.

At the turn I got onto some faster feet and kept pace with a guy from the wave behind me – we swam side by side (the furthest we were apart, other than to go around another swimmer, was two feet) for the entire second half of the swim.

Finally I could see the docks and blue banners ahead of me and I knew we were getting close so I put on a final surge and swam in as far as I could – I stood up and ran into transition.

Swim: 35:40 – 25/69 M30-34

T1:

Transition was pretty uneventful. I ran over to my bike, peeled off my wetsuit, cap, and goggles, and put on my socks, shoes, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses.

T1: 2:55

The Bike:

Since we had driven the course the day before I had a good idea what I was in for and that was a fair amount of climbing with a few steep descents thrown in the mix. I spent the first few miles spinning at a high cadence and mentally preparing myself for the next three hours (my goal was to finish in 3 hours sans any mechanical issues).

The first lap was fairly uneventful – I passed a couple guys on the bike but was getting passed at a fairly steady rate. This didn’t come as too much of a surprise – although I am a pretty solid biker I am by no means fast and I know that this is one area where I could see quite a bit of improvement with a few hundred more miles under my belt. The highlight/lowlight/shake-me-up-light of the first lap came at about mile 17 when I was nearing the top of a climb and getting ready for the big downhill on the other side. I heard a loud screech/squeal from up ahead and thought “wtf was that?” Once I crested the hill and started down (it was a large sweeping downhill turn to the right and the road was lined with trees) I saw a volunteer up ahead standing in the road with a flag waving us to the left. I slowed down and when I came around the corner I saw a cop with a mangled bike tire in his hand, several pieces of a bike frame and water bottles in the road, and a dazed biker sitting on the side of the road with what was left of his bike still clipped onto one of his feet. There were so many pieces of bike in the road that I thought there must have been two cyclists involved. I later on found out that a dog ran out in front of him when he was approaching 60 mph and he had no time to react. He ended up with a ton of road rash but other than that he was fine – the dog was ok – the bike was a complete loss.

Towards the end of the first loop I had my first experience with the “death wobble” and it scared the shit out of me. I was coming downhill at probably close to 40 mph when the guy ahead of me decided that even though he was going slowly he was still going to weave all around the whole lane so no one could pass. I made a quick movement to get out of my drops and up onto my hoods when all of a sudden my front wheel started violently wobbling. I applied firm pressure to my breaks and after slowing down to about 20 mph my bike settled down. This was my second note to self of the day (after the dock jumping) – when you’re hauling ass downhill, stay in your drops.

On the second loop an earlier suspicion I had was confirmed; I was going to have to pee. Now for those of you that can pee while riding, more power to you. I don’t see how it is possible and with the sheer volume of urine I tend to release I don’t really think I want that all over my legs, shoes, and water bottles. I finally saw a port-o at a water stop/penalty tent and I stopped and ran over to it. Since I was curious how long this would take I was watching my watch – I kid you not, I was peeing full stream for 40 seconds – not exactly the sort of piss you want to take all over yourself, at least in my opinion. Once I was back on my bike two minutes had gone by but I felt 5000% better. I felt like that port-o was a cocoon and I was emerging from it as a new person ready to push hard through the end of the ride (which I did).

Note to self number three occurred on the second loop of the bike: Always have back-up nutrition plans. I knew that I would only need three bottles of liquid for the ride but I carried an extra bottle of water with me (I didn’t want to deal with the bottle hand off) – one bottle of Perpetuem to drink first, a bottle of water to drink second, and a bottle of Mandarin Heed to finish out the ride. I had decided to carry a Hammer Gel to take during the second hour with my water and decided to throw an extra one in my pocket just in case I needed it. Well, when I went to grab my bottle of Heed at around mile 40 I bobbled it in my left hand and dropped it while climbing the biggest hill on the course. The drop really didn’t register until I was about 15 feet past the bottle and by the time I thought about stopping to get it I was a good 30 feet beyond it and I knew there was no way I was going to ride back down the hill, stop, then ride back up. The main reason for this decision was the extra gel I had with me. One bottle of Heed = 100 calories; One Hammer Gel = 90 calories; aka – it was all good.

The next thing I knew we were turning off to head back to transition and about 15 minutes later I was riding through downtown and starting to think about the run. The final stretch into transition was lined with people and I felt pretty cool swooping around the corners on my bike.

Bike: 3:05:34 – 43/69 M30-34

T2:

Basically the same as the first one – bike gear off, run gear on, quick hammy stretch, off we go.

T2: 2:29

The Run:

Going into this race I knew that the run was going to be a challenge but I also knew that this was my strong point and I could do well if I paced myself. A special thanks to Jen here because throughout training she consistently reminded me to go out easy and run at a pace that seems slow for the first couple of miles.

When I was leaving transition I felt like I had to pee again but it wasn’t that bad and I figured I could stop on the course if necessary – since there were aid stations every mile I knew this wouldn’t be too much of an issue. My pace for the first mile was 7:50 and I was feeling good. I saw someone run over to the port-o so I kept going and figured I would stop at the next one if it was empty. For some reason stopping to pee really wasn’t an issue for me; I knew that there was no possible chance I would place in my AG and since I had no PR to beat I just didn’t care about the few seconds it took to stop. So when I saw an empty blue box at the mile two aid station I ran right over to it – total stop time: 45 seconds – not nearly as much fluid in me as there was on the bike.

By the time I was at mile four I had made up the stop time and was back on a 7:50 AP – mile five was the last time I would be able to check my pace as the distance on loop two was off from the loop one markers and they hadn’t marked anything over mile five.

One thing that was really amazing to me was the number of fit looking people that were walking, cramping, and looking miserable in general. I was very happy that I wasn’t having any issues when suddenly it hit – the dreaded side cramp. I ran for a few hundred feet then decided to just stop and stretch it out. I started running again at a slower pace and although my side still hurt it never got to the excruciating point that it has in the past. It started at approx mile 7.5 and hung in there but suddenly at around mile 10 it just went away. I picked up the pace a bit but was still cautious because I didn’t want it to come back full force. At around mile 11 I saw Jen coming towards me waving and we high fived as we ran by each other – I was so happy to see her because I knew it meant she was more or less on pace and she looked great too! At this point I really picked up the pace and knew that if I pushed hard I could cross the line in under 5:30:00 – the last half mile I really kicked hard and even got a couple “nice stride” shout-outs from the crowd. I looked at my watch and saw 5:28:XX as I was nearing the turn to the finish and I knew I was going to make it. I heard my name announced as I came down the chute, threw a fist into the air, and crossed the finish line.

Run: 1:42:31 – 13/69 M30-34

Total Time: 5:29:07 – 24/69 AG – 260/882 OA – 213/591 Males

An Interesting Observation from the Numbers:

Of the 23 people in my AG with a better overall time:
1. 12 of them beat me in the swim.

2. All 23 beat me in the bike (I was 7:55 behind the slowest of those – he beat me by 5:04 overall). To reiterate: Everyone that was faster overall was faster on the bike, every single one of them.

3. 12 of them beat me on the run (everyone that ran faster than me had a faster OA time).

After I was handed my water bottle, Gatorade, and medal I walked over to the food and had a slice of pizza and some grapes. My stomach was a bit tight so I stretched out in the shade then walked over to the store to get a chocolate milk. I was able to see Jen come through on her way out for the final out and back then I saw her come flying around the last corner charging towards the finish. She was running down her PR and she looked really strong – I cheered her on then ran (aka hobbled) into the finishers area and gave her a big hug. She had a great day and is well on her way to an awesome race at Ironman Arizona.

It's Go Time

2009-08-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to a great time. Goals = Have a lot of fun and enjoy the experience.

Peaches for you, Peaches for me

2009-08-06T18:16:00.001-07:00

Hagg Lake Olympic Race Report

2009-07-13T16:46:00.001-07:00

This weekend was my second tri of the season and my first Olympic ever. This was going to be a test of my fitness going into the final weeks of my Lake Stevens training and I was happy with the results.

Pre-Race:

We were up at 4:30 race morning to have our breakfast and get ready. Of course everything was packed and ready to go so after eating and getting dressed we put our bikes on the car and headed out to Hagg Lake.

One of the things I really love about getting to the race site early is getting a good parking space (or a parking space at all; they were turning people away eventually and having them park about a third of a mile away in another lot), getting a good spot on the rack, having time to set up in transition, hit up the rest-room, visit with other folks, and not having to rush.

At about 7:50 Jen and I walked down to the water so I could get in the water before my wave started.

The Swim:

I walked out into the water with the 63 other guys starting in the 39 and under category and after about thirty seconds of waiting we heard the countdown from five and we were off. After having my goggles knocked off in the last race I was again expecting fists and feet of fury so this time I swam the first 50 yards or so with my head above the surface. I would occasionally put my face under for a stroke or two but then it was back above the surface again for a few more strokes. By the time we were at the first buoy people were starting to thin out but there was the occasional physical contact as I would swim up into someone’s legs or someone would swim up onto mine.

After the first turn I would get onto a set of feet for a few strokes but then they would veer off (or I would), slow down, speed up, etc. etc. After about 500 yards I settled into a groove and focused on swimming strong but not hard.

Total Swim 1,500m (1,640y): 27:19 – 1:40/100y – 71/232 OA

I pulled down the top half of my wetsuit as soon as I was out of the water and began the long run up to transition. I’m always amazed that my feet keep moving forward and I am able to produce some sort of rational thought during this part of the race. Coming out of the water is strange – for me it’s sort of like having to answer a complicated question right when you wake up from an afternoon nap.

Once I made it to my transition area I followed my usual routine, goggles and cap on the ground, wetsuit off and on the rack next to my bike, helmet on, glasses on, shoes and socks on, and get going!

T1: 2:46

My plan for the bike was to ride strong on the first loop but not to push it too hard and burn myself out for the second loop. Having ridden Hagg in training I had a good idea of where the hard climbs and long downhill stretches would be which helped a lot. On the first loop I passed a few people and was passed by the 40+ guys that started in the wave after me – man, those guys can hammer. Almost every time I was passed it was on a climb and these guys just came cruising by me making me wonder if we were climbing the same hill. I played the passing game with these two nineteen year old guys that had on lifeguard shirts; eventually they pulled ahead of me but I just thought “see you on the run” and rode my own race.

The second loop was pretty much the same as the first only by this point my freakin ass, hamstrings, and other parts were on fire. Let’s just say I am in desperate need of some new tri shorts or my reproductive capabilities might be in serious jeopardy. The highlight of the second loop was seeing a weasel. He ran up to the side of the road saw me coming at him and decided it would be best to race back into the cover of the trees. I finished the ride wondering exactly how I was going to run a descent 10k with my hamstrings burning the way they were.

Total Bike (40 km): 1:19:29 – 18.76 mph – 103/227 OA (looks like we lost some folks on the swim)

I ran my bike to my rack and allowed muscle memory to take over again – shoes off, shoes on, helmet off, hat on, pick up race belt, start to run, race belt on, here we go!

T2: 1:25

I knew, er hoped, that if I ran smart in the first half of the run I could run a negative split on the second half. I started out at a comfortable strong pace and let myself settle into a groove; I backed off a bit on the uphill and picked up the pace but didn’t go all out on the downhill sections. I had just checked my mile split when my eyes settled on two red shirts about a hundred feet ahead of me; it was the lifeguard shirt guys from the bike. I passed by them and knew that unlike on the bike leg I would not be seeing them again anytime soon. A few minutes later I saw Emily ride by and about 70 seconds later Jen came zooming by sporting her beautiful smile. We shouted some encouragement to each other and I kept on running. I hit the 5k mark and turn around at 22:30 (7:14 AP).

After turning around we had about a half mile of uphill but I was ready to roll and I picked up the pace and started pushing myself. I passed a few more people in this section (I was only passed once by a 41 y.o. guy in the last mile) and at the four mile mark I saw Emily again. We high fived and about 30 seconds later I saw Jen sporting an even bigger smile than the last time I saw her! She gave me five and I told her she was doing great and that I would see her soon. When I felt like I was within a half mile of the finish I picked up the pace to almost puke level and pushed hard to the end. I crossed the line with a 10k time of 44:30 giving me a second 5k split of 22:00 (7:04 AP).

Total Run: 44:30 – 7:10 AP – 48/225 (looks like two more fell out on the bike).

When I was done I snagged a bottle of water and walked over to my transition area to grab the camera so I could get some pics of Jen and Emily coming in. After standing around in my wet tri top for a few minutes I ran back over and put on a dry shirt because I was getting cold.

Jen came in a few minutes later followed by Emily a couple minutes later. We hung out for a bit and talked before packing up our stuff and heading back into Portland for a great breakfast at Mother’s.

Total Time: 2:35:30 – 6th place in AG

Hagg Lake Olympic

2009-07-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

Race Report coming soon!

Blue Lake Sprint Race Report

2009-06-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my first race of the season and it went well. I was happy with my performance in all areas but it also made me realize that I have some work to do in the bike and the swim.

We arrived at Blue Lake around 6:45 and after a quick stop for body marking we made our way into transition to set up. After putting everything in its place I made a quick bathroom stop then put on my wetsuit and headed down to the water to get in a warm up swim before my wave started.

There were 95 guys starting in my wave and since it was a water start I found a spot to float towards the front and a bit off to the side. I adjusted my goggles, got ready to start my watch, then 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and we were off! The first few seconds were madness as they usually are and for the first time in a race I had my goggles knocked off my face. I calmly lifted my head out of the water, put my goggles back over my eyes, and started swimming again; I don't think I even had time to think about what had happened until later on in the swim. After rounding the first buoy I settled into a groove and was able to get on some feet for a while; also another first for me in a race. By the time we came around the last buoy I was towards the middle-front of the pack (maybe 25th or 26th) and I pushed hard for shore.

Swim time: 14:17 (I have a feeling it was a bit long, but what can you do?)
Overall swim: 95th of 628

I ran up into transition, peeled my suit off, threw on my bike necessities, ran to the mount line and headed out on the road.

T1: 2:30

Since I was in the first wave there wasn't too much passing taking place on the bike. I did pass a couple guys and was passed three or four times (a couple of those were by guys in their 40's that came blowing past me). There was a bit of a headwind on the way out but nothing too bad and from the glances I took at my computer I seemed to be averaging around 20 mph for most of the ride. Looking back on this portion of the race I really realized that I need to focus more on the bike this year and keep up on the riding throughout the off season to get stronger. I pretty much stopped riding last August and didn't start again until this April and although I rode faster than I have in any other races I still felt like I could be riding even faster. All in all I rode as hard as I thought I could and I was happy with the result.

Bike: 35:49 (20.1 mph)
Overall bike: 144th of 628

When I was running back into T2 I was feeling it a bit in my legs but what really hurt was my ass - I forgot how stingy the padding in tri shorts is compared to bike shorts. Anyway, bike gear off, run gear on, hit the road.

T2: 1:38

My plan for the run was to start out strong but not push too hard for the first mile then start picking up steam in mile two and go for it in the last mile. I have to say I am happy with my run time which turned out to be my second fastest 5k (only my stand alone time is faster). My legs felt great the whole time and aside from my right shoe feeling a bit loose (first time in quick laces in a while) I didn't have any problems. I passed four people on the run and was passed once but I got back ahead of him in the last 100 feet of the race.

Run: 21:16 (6:51 AP)
Overall run: 28th of 628

Total Time: 1:15:30
8th of 32 in males 30-34
45th of 628 overall

Next up, Hagg Lake Olympic in July - a nice hilly course that will prepare me for the hilly Lake Stevens course in July.

(Happy with our great day! Jen was 9th in her AG and she had an awesome race)

Another Year in Books

2009-06-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still here I just haven't had much time to post lately. I've thought about it a few times but never really get around to it.

The training is going well and my first tri on the 13th is almost here. Last weekend Jen and I went out to Hagg Lake for our first OWS of the year and it went great. We both swam the 800 and I finished in 12:57; if I swim that same time or a bit faster at Blue Lake I will be very pleased.

We've been consistently making it out to masters lately and we've been getting in some miles on the bike but the bulk of the riding has been on the weekends. In the next few weeks as I gear up for the Hagg Olympic and Lake Stevens 70.3 I will definitely be riding longer during the week.

In May I finished another year of books and although I didn't read nearly as many as last year but still quite a few. Following is the list of the books, the author, and the date I finished them:

At Play in the Fields of the Lord - Peter Matthiessen - 06.15.08
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho - 06.22.08
World War Z (An Oral History of the Zombie War) - Max Brooks - 06.28.08
The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey - 08.21.08
The Last Oracle - James Rollins - 09.20.08
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley - 10.05.08
The Family - Mario Puzzo - 10.14.08
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair - 10.26.08
Lord of the Flies - William Golding - 10.28.08
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - 11.03.08
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tale of two Cities - Charles Dickens - 11.28.08
Animal Farm - George Orwell - 11.30.08
The Black Hand (The Bloody Rise & Redemption of "Boxer Enriquez" A Mexican Mob Killer) - Chris Blatchford
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey - 12.18.08
Nineteen Eight Four - George Orwell - 12.24.08
Brisinger - Christoper Paolini - 01.25.09
A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin - 02.22.09
A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin - 03.13.09
A Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin - 03.22.09
A Feast for Crows - George R.R. Martin - 04.02.09
Watership Down - Richard Adams - 04.24.09
Skin Tight - Carl Hiaasen - 05.04.09
Basket Case - Carl Hiassen - 05.15.09

So not nearly as many as last year but I suppose that's what happens when you aren't riding the train for 90 minutes every day. Once I stopped working in San Francisco I lost that time and once we moved to Portland I was busy checking out our new surroundings (which I am still trying to do although tri training is taking up a lot of my time these days).

Of those that I read this year I enjoyed The Family, The Jungle, and Watership Down; all the rest were good in their own way.

Sunny San Diego

2009-05-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I was down in San Diego for work so I wasn't able to make it out for any weekday riding but I did get in some good running and even made it to the pool a couple times. I found a pool that was a little over a mile from my hotel and to make it even better, it was located outside. I haven't swam in an outdoor pool for about eight months and I forgot how nice it is. For some reason I have always enjoyed swimming in an outdoor pool even though there are many times (really cold or really hot days) when an indoor pool has its advantages.

The first day I walked over and paid only to find that I had left my goggles back in my hotel room. I didn't have time to walk back to the hotel and then back to the pool so I decided to do some kicking - it really sucked with no goggles. I checked with the desk to see if there was a pair in the lost and found but no such luck. After 50 more yards of no-goggle, no-fun swimming I decided to call it a day. As I climbed out of the pool I noticed a bin on the deck and some part of me thought there was a small chance that there might be a pair of lost or discarded goggles lying in wait. Sure enough, it was the latter, a pair of goggles with a broken strap. I quickly pulled a MacGyver (POW!!) and tied the strap in a knot thus over riding the faulty strap that had hindered the previous owner and I claimed them as my own. They lasted 1,250 yards before springing a substantial leak. I tried messing around with them for another 250 before calling it quits. At this point I was doing quite well for a guy that was just recently trying to eek out a kicking swim workout with no goggles, so the day was a success in my book.

My next swim was much better; I had my goggles.

Total yards swimming: 4,000 (1,500 and 2,500)

I managed to remember my shoes when I went running which worked out great so there isn't much to report there. It was nice that the marine layer didn't go away until around one it was never too sunny but it sure was warm and humid. I got out three times for a total of 17.5 miles while I was in town:

5 miles @ 7:21
7.5 miles @ 8:00
5 miles @ 7:57

Saturday Jen and I went out for a great ride; you can read all about it here. She is really rocking the bike this year, it's like night and day compared to last year - on our last ride she rode strong on the inclines and attacked the downhill sections. I think her max mph was 31.something - awesome.

Sunday I took off from our place for an 8.75 mile run (I was going for eight or nine depending on how I felt). My legs were a bit tired but I managed to keep an 8:00 min/mile avg. on the Springwater which is nice and flat.

Overall a great week.

Anyway, here are some pics from the trip:

Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Eugene Half Marathon

2009-05-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon Jen and I headed down to Eugene to pick up our race packets for the half marathon. We arrived at the expo and headed in to pick up our numbers and chips. Somehow Jen's number was not in the box and they were unable to find it; so after a quick stop at the registration desk she got a new chip and number and we were on our way to the hotel. The place we were staying at was a couple blocks away from campus so we walked over to check out the start line and grab a bit to eat. We grabbed some pizza then headed back to our room to relax and watch some TV.

Sunday morning I woke up around 5:20 and looked outside to see sheets of rain falling on the parking lot. By about 6:00 the rain had started letting up and after some breakfast and a cup of coffee we headed out the door and ran over to the start. Since we were so close to the hotel we were able to hang out in our hotel room until 6:40 so we stayed out of the rain for as long as possible (and had our own bathroom). Once we arrived at the start I ran around a bit more, stretched out, found a spot to climb the fence and got in line with Jen. She stood with me for a couple minutes then headed back in the crowd a bit to find a good place to start. After a couple U of O folks sang the national anthem we were off.

Going into the race I knew I wanted to start off easy and pick up the pace as I went along. I lined up with the 3:10 marathon pace group and stayed with them for the first mile. A couple minutes into mile two I decided to pull away from the pace group and run on my own. I passed quite a few people in the next couple miles as the crowds started to thin and people started getting into their groove. I was going a bit fast on my second mile so I dialed it back a bit and tried to find a nice comfortable pace. Around mile 4.5 we hit the first hill and I slowed down a bit but at this point I wasn't too worried; I wanted to bank energy to use later, not time.

Mile 1: 7:48
Mile 2: 6:56
Mile 3: 7:10
Mile 4: 7:19
Mile 5: 7:28

After mile five the course turned to the right and we headed down one steep street before making another right and heading down a slight decline for the next mile or so at which point the road flattened out. The toughest climb came at mile 8.5; I could see it from about a tenth of a mile away and it was maybe eight blocks long. Being able to see the top of the hill was one of the toughest things about it because you could see just how much further there was to go during the entire climb. I made the decision to dial it back a bit on the climb and conserve my energy. At the top I made another decision that paid off; I was going to let myself slowly pick up the pace but I wasn't really going to get going again until my breathing was back to normal. By the time I hit the bottom of the hill my heart and lungs had calmed down and I fell back into a nice groove.

Mile 6: 7:00
Mile 7: 7:06
Mile 8: 7:06
Mile 9: 7:21
Mile 10: 7:09

At this point I knew I was on track to set a new PR but I kept telling myself that anything can happen in the last couple miles and not to get ahead of myself. I could feel myself getting tired and I felt like I was slowing down just a bit. At mile 11 I picked up the pace a bit but tried not to go too hard since there was still two miles to go. I felt pretty strong so I focused on picking up the couple people in front of me to kill time to mile 12. At 12.5 I started pushing myself and I was fairly confident in a PR at this point. I turned the corner and finished with a strong kick.

Mile 11: 7:19
Mile 12: 7:08
Mile 13: 6:54
Last .08: :30

Chip time: 1:34:12 -- 7:12 AP -- a new PR by 1:59!!

We headed back to the hotel to take a quick shower and change clothes before grabbing a quick bagel and heading over to the finish area to watch Aron finish the marathon. We saw her come in then met up with Alisa and Amy who had made the drive down from Portland to cheer us on. They made some great signs and screamed loud for us and all the other runners out on the course.

After that we made the drive back to Portland and spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying a couple cocktails. Tomorrow is an off day then it's back to tri training and getting ready for our first race which will be here in a few short weeks.

Jen had a fun time and although she didn't PR she ran a solid race and enjoyed her training more than I have seen her enjoy it in a long time.

No race pics posted yet but Jen posted a few good shots from the last couple days over on her blog.

Overall it was a great race and although I'm ready for tri training and tri season I am looking forward to my next chance to better my time.

Domingo

2009-05-02T10:39:00.001-07:00

Running the half on Sunday - after all the recent Portland races it will be nice to be running a race with different scenery.

Hooked on a Feeling

2009-04-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

You ever get that feeling that you are totally slacking even though really you are basically keeping up on your workouts and sticking to your schedule? For some reason I’ve had that feeling since my birthday week. Am I possibly just suffering from the effects of old age? Am I just feeling like I am not reaching my full potential now that I’m out of my 20’s? Would I feel better about myself if I bought a new, um, well not a new car since I don’t really ever drive, but, let’s say a new, uh, ah hell, I dunno; how about a new – set – of –tires? For my bike? LAME-O. Or maybe if I just started getting back out to the pool then I wouldn’t feel like I’ve been slacking – huh, go figure.

Anyway – so yeah, I haven’t been out to the pool since before my birthday and I’ve missed a couple of short runs (which admittedly isn’t that big of a deal and it was probably better for me to miss them and do something fun). I’m planning on getting out to the pool after work today and Thursday which will put me back on the right track mentally.

Coming up this weekend is the Eugene Half Marathon which both Jen and I are running. Right now there is a 40% chance of rain for race day but I’ve learned that in the Spring in Oregon the standard operating procedure is to start the week with a forecast of doom and gloom then lighten it up as the days go by. So for all I know it is actually going to be sunny and in the mid 70’s on race day even though now it looks like mid 50’s and raining.

This last weekend Jen and I rode 26ish miles in Forest Park (20 miles in the park, 6 to and from) on Sunday and on Saturday we went out to Hagg Lake for a run. We started out on the trail which lasted for all of a mile when we decided that running on the road would be a much better option since neither of us was in the market for a twisted ankle, a broken wrist, or any other fall related injuries. So after my first mile at 11:47 we hit the road and I was able to get in 10 hilly miles with an AP of 7:46 for those 10 miles. I finished off the run with a 6:44 mile; it was a solid run overall and it will be nice to get back out there for more training runs and rides in the coming months. The single track would also be fun to ride sometime as well.

Speaking of riding single track – I am leaning more and more towards buying a pair of mtb shoes and pedals. When I’ve been up riding in Forest Park my feet are constantly sliding around whenever I hit a bumpy section which totally throws off my balance which leads to me keeping a death grip on my handlebars. I need to get the bike in for a quick tune-up sometime soon so maybe I’ll have them throw some pedals on there as well – although it’s more likely that I’ll balk at paying for them and just end up bitching about it for a few more months.

Getting Caught Up

2009-04-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well it’s been a while since I updated but that’s not due to a lack of things going on; more just because I haven’t really had time to sit down and type anything out.

Last Thursday I turned 30 and celebrated with some friends at one of our neighborhood spots. It was a lot of fun thanks to the organizational capabilities of my beautiful wife.

Speaking of the cutie; she started her new job today and from the short report I received a while ago it sounds like she had a great day. I’m looking forward to hearing all about it this evening.

Sunday morning Jen and I walked across the river to line up for the Bridge to Brews 10k which started at the wonderful time of 9:00 which allowed us to sleep in a bit. It was a beautiful day and I was fairly confident in my chances of breaking my old PR which I set in 2005 (55:24). My fastest mile was 6:41, the slowest 7:28 which included a 25-30 second hold up to let a train go by. Yeah, that’s right, a train. We were running along and I could hear it coming up behind us but I was still a good quarter mile from the crossing. As the train got closer people started dashing across the tracks and running along the crushed gravel on the far side of the tracks. There were actually people running in front of the train with only 15 or 20 feet to spare. I saw one guy turn back only when it was obvious the train was going to run him down. All I could think was, Really? I mean, none of us were in contention for first place and there was no prize money anyway, and let’s be honest; another day of living is worth much more than any race purse. Anyway, after waiting for the train to pass (it was only a passenger train) I finished the last mile and a half or so and came in at 43:13 for a 6:57 AP.

Race Stats: AG: 15/120 Males: 67/543 OA: 74/1243

Eugene is coming up fairly quickly (May 3rd) and I think I’m prepared both mentally and physically – I guess we’ll see where the cards fall come race day. This will be a tough PR to beat for sure.

The weather in Portland has been so awesome lately. We’ve had some days in the high 70’s, the leaves and flowers are coming out left and right, and the days are getting longer. I think sunset is at like 8:05 these days and will soon be closer to 9:00.

In misc. racing news I am now on a Hood to Coast team which I am pretty excited about. I don’t know what legs I will be running but I’m hoping that I get one of the really random times like 2am or something just for the experience (I’ll be running at least three legs so chances are I will have some random time for sure).

People on the Track go Round and Round

2009-04-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

After the race on Sunday I took Monday completely off and slept in then kicked back after work and enjoyed the nice weather. I've had a pretty good week so far and have been able to get in all my workouts even though a couple were changed around.

Tuesday morning I was up and on the trainer for an hour before work; I got in the big ring for a while but still tried to keep it pretty easy as I'm just starting to build a good bike base. That evening I was out at the pool for pm masters where I had a solid swim getting in 2,600 yards in the hour I was there.

Wednesday I decided to switch the schedule around and instead of running in the morning and swimming at night I decided to go to the track workout with Jen and Emily. Since it was my first track workout since, I dunno, 1995, I decided that I would just do a shortened version of Emily's workout. After a warm up mile and some drills to get our legs warmed up we headed out:

Warm up mile: 8:20
1200m: 4:30 (6:00 pace)
3:00 rest
400m: 1:08 (4:32 pace)
3:00 rest
1200m: 4:31 (6:00 pace)
3:00 rest
400m: 1:12 (4:48 pace)
3:00 rest
Two miles cool down: 16:27

Since I was supposed to swim Wednesday night I pushed that back to tonight which worked out great. I had a good break through at practice and really felt like my stroke was coming together. Granted it was only in little spurts but I could really feel when it felt right so now I know what to shoot for whenever I'm in the pool. This morning I was up for a trainer ride. I was supposed to ride for 1:45:00 but I ended up doing 1:20:00 - oh well, I wasn't too broken up over it.

Looks like rain in Portland this weekend which is a total surprise. I mean rain in Portland in April; whoda thunk it. Certainly not me.

Sunshine on my Shoulders

2009-04-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last week was great – I hit all my workouts, including swimming, and capped the week off by running the Race for the Roses half marathon with Jen on a beautiful Portland day.

Saturday was a weather preview for Sunday and we took full advantage of it. Jen and I got up and had a quick cup of coffee before heading over to the race expo to pick up our packets. There weren’t too many people there when we arrived so we grabbed our stuff then headed back to the west side to grab a bagel at Kettleman’s. After breakfast we strolled down to the river and met Emily who was walking back downtown from the expo. We walked along the waterfront and ended up grabbing some lunch at this little café in the south waterfront called Bean & Tree. There were a lot of people and dogs out enjoying the day so we watched everyone walk by for a while then headed back up towards our neighborhood. After a quick stop at Whole Foods we got home and kicked back and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday morning I set my alarm for 5:05 so I would have time to get up and have some breakfast and coffee before heading out. I opted for a long sleeve shirt and shorts since I knew that even though it was going to be a nice day it would start out crisp and would likely only be in the 50’s by the time we finished the race. We walked across the river to the start and got there with about 20 minutes to spare. After a quick port-o-stop we checked our bag and I went for a quick warm up jog. Since I was running this race as a training run I planned on running the entire thing with Jen. It was a solid run for me with an AP of 8:01 (I spent quite a bit of time thinking about how “fun” it is going to be running approx :45 faster per mile in Eugene).

After the race we met up with Emily and our friends Deana and Dana and we waited around to see if Emily placed in her AG in the 5k. After the awards (Emily came in fourth) Deana, Dana, Jen, and I walked over to Starbucks and sat out in the sun enjoying a nice cup of coffee. It was such a nice day that we opted for walking home instead of hoping on MAX or taking the bus. We got home, changed clothes, and headed out to meet up with the Portland crew for brunch and cocktails at Mother’s Bistro. After brunch Emily, Jen, and I walked down to the waterfront and did some people-watching for a while before we headed home for a nap. Later that evening we were back outside heading over to a local Mexican joint for some dinner. By the time we got home (8:30ish) I was ready for bed.

Overall it was a great weekend – for a full recap and pics of the race and post-race activities check out Jen’s blog.

Here’s a recap of last week’s activities – I totally slacked on the push ups but two days of swimming in a row threw a Monkey Wrench in my plans:

Monday: 4.5 miles in pm with Jen and Emily – 8:38 AP; Push Ups: 160
Tuesday: Rode 60 minutes on the trainer before work
Wednesday: Ran five miles before work – 7:21 AP; Swam 2,200y at pm masters
Thursday: Rode 60 minutes on the trainer before work; Swam 2,000y at pm masters
Friday: NADA
Saturday: NADA (aka pre-race rest)
Sunday: Race for the Roses Half Marathon – 1:45:12 – 8:01 AP

Two weeks till the Bridge to Brews 10k, Four weeks till the Eugene HM.

The Friendly Factor

2009-03-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

And a Good Morning to You

This weekend I had a friend coming down from Seattle for the day so I was up at 5:45 on Saturday morning to have some coffee and breakfast before heading out around 6:50 for my long run. I had 12 miles on the schedule and wanted to run them at a GA pace that felt comfortable. When I stepped outside it was chilly and just starting to rain, but the time I was done the temperature had fallen a few degrees and the rain was steadily coming down.

Typically when I’m out running I try to nod or wave at the other runners and cyclists I see out on the trail and I usually get a 50% return on my investment. On Saturday I received an almost 100% salutation return in the first hour of my run which surprised the hell out of me. I guess people that get up early to run on a cold rainy day are happy to see someone else out there getting their miles in. Towards the end of the run I started encountering larger groups and weekend warriors who were not as quick to provide a return greeting or salutation.

After my first mile I stopped for a quick stretch then settled into a pace in the high 7’s with a couple miles creeping down into the 7:30’s and a couple right above 8:00. The run felt good and before I knew it I was on the home stretch.

Total = 12 miles in 1:34:12 – 7:51AP

Tired Mid-Week Legs

Wednesday morning of last week I was up for my first pre-work run in a long time. I had changed my schedule around a bit and ran eight miles on Monday evening so I would only have to do four on Wednesday morning. Once I headed out I was glad I had switched the miles around this way. My legs were feeling very heavy and I never felt like I was able to loosen up; I trudged through the run and ended up with an AP of around 8:35.

Wheels on the Bike Keep on Turning

Last week I got out on my road bike for the first time since August; Jen rode with me after work on Thursday and we did 20 miles at an easy pace. It was fun to be outside riding and I was glad that Jen decided to join me.

Every Pirate Loves a Wine Party

Saturday night we went to a wine party at Emily’s place where we enjoyed some great food, friends, and wine. Since I’m not a big wine drinker I filled my glass with Captain Morgan and managed to have as good of a time as everyone else. The bottle that Jen picked out ended up winning which meant that we were going to take home six bottles of wine as the prize. Of course we decided that sharing was the better course to take and by the end of the night everyone managed to finish off all the bottles of wine. So yeah, 12 bottles of wine, 10 people drinking wine, four of which were driving and/or racing the next day, so basically six people drinking 10 bottles of wine…………let’s just say that everyone got their antioxidants and then some.

What’s on Tap

This week I’m scaling back the running to do a sort of mini-taper for the Race for the Roses Half on Sunday. I’m planning on running it as a training run with Jen but I still think taking it easy this week is a good plan; even though I’m not running it at full bore it will still be fast enough to regret trying to run it on tired legs. Tomorrow morning I will be on the trainer again but I hope to get out for a road or mtb ride on Thursday after work. Of course swimming is in the cards a few times this week as well. I’ve really been slacking on my swimming lately and the May 31st ows will be here before I know it.

Quick Recap
Run: 30 miles
Ride: 60 minutes trainer, 20 miles road
Swim: 1,100 yards
Push ups: 509

Have a great week and remember to question everything you hear on Wednesday!

Let the Games Begin

2009-03-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Today is the start of my training plan for the Lake Stevens 70.3 in August and since Monday is going to be my OFF day I was able to sleep in this morning. I’ll be running after work today and every Monday for the next few weeks so I won’t actually have an official rest day until after the Eugene Half Marathon in early May.

Last week I took it pretty easy (aka I was lazy) and didn’t get in any yardage at the pool. I only got in a couple short rides on the trainer as well. However, I didn’t slack on my running and had some great weekday runs capped off with a really good run on Saturday. Before I get into the weekend run, here are the stats for the mid-week miles:

Tuesday – Seven miles, 53:19, 7:37 AP
Wednesday – Seven miles, 55:50, 7:58 AP
Friday – Four miles, 33:47, 8:27 AP

On Saturday I had 12 miles on the schedule and I wanted to run two warm up, four at 7:30 AP, four in the 7-teens, then two as a cool down. I really wanted to run the second four mile leg in the low 7’s but I was a little freaked out by that goal so I settled for something in the 7:15 range. The weather was great – high 40’s and partly cloudy, by the time I was done it was in the mid-50’s and sunny. I kept it easy for the first two miles and about halfway through the second mile I started picking up the pace so that the transition to my first faster mile wasn’t so abrupt.

Miles one and two: 8:19 and 7:47

I settled into a nice relaxed pace which felt easy but fast. As the miles went by I was really happy to see how consistent I was running. My paces used to be all over the place on most of my solo runs but lately I have been able to keep them all within a few seconds of each other; Saturday was no exception:

Miles three to six: 7:31, 7:32, 7:29, and 7:36

I ate my Vanilla Bean Gu right before the turn around so that I didn’t have to mess around with it when I started picking up the pace. The next four miles were tough but once again I was able to keep a consistent pace and get them all done; and they were all in the low 7’s!

Miles seven to ten: 7:04, 7:02, 7:06, 6:59

I slowed down to run out the last two miles nice and easy and when I was done I took my time stretching out. After that I blended up a recovery drink which was a little over a cup of chocolate milk, about 12 ice cubes, a tablespoon of peanut butter, and a heaping tablespoon of vanilla protein powder from Whole Foods. I forgot how good recovery shakes can be.

Miles 11 and 12: 7:50 and 8:00

Total Run: 12 miles, 1:30:19, 7:31 AP

While drinking my recovery shake I knocked out my push ups and am happy to say that I’m finally confident enough to move onto week five of the plan. Week four was pretty tough for me but after repeating it four times I was able to complete all the sets.

This week I ran a total of 30 miles, rode the bike for an hour on the trainer, and did 423 push ups.

Sunday we drove out to the coast and spent a fun day hanging out, checking out the beach and the ship wreck at Fort Stevens, and enjoying the drive along the Columbia and the ocean. I’m sure Jen will post some pictures of the trip on her blog.

Two weeks till the Race for the Roses Half Marathon where I hope to pace Jen to a PR. She has been having some great workouts lately and I am confident that if we follow the plan of taking it easy in the first part of the race to bank some energy she will be able to push hard through the second half and set a new PR.

Red Rain (Shamrock Run 15k Race Report)

2009-03-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today was the Shamrock Run 15k which turned out to be a bit tougher than I thought. A large part of that was due to the first 4.5 miles of hills; a painful side cramp at mile eight played another part. I sometimes get very painful side stitches on my right side and today was one of those days. I knew it was bound to happen in a race eventually but since today wasn't an A race day I wasn't too bent out of shape when it happened.

The day started out rainy and windy and fairly cold. We walked over to the start line around 8:00 and had time for a warm up run before giving our sweatshirts and rain jackets to my parents. We lined up toward the front and ten minutes later we were on our way.

Mile one: Getting in a groove

I new I didn't want to start out too fast because of the hills; and because that's just a stupid thing to do even if there aren't hills. I settled into a groove and was passing quite a few people. AP: 6:58

Mile two: Let's start climbing

Mile two slowly climbed uphill along Broadway which runs right through downtown from north to south. I kept reminding myself not to push too hard and I did a pretty good job at that. I was still passing people at this point but not as many as during the first mile because the crowd was starting to thin out. AP: 7:23

Mile three: Welcome to the Jungle

Mile three started climbing up Terwilliger (sp?) and I knew that this mile and the next would be pretty tough; and they were. I slowed down a bit and tried to keep a solid stride as I climbed. By this point I wasn't passing many people at all but no one was really passing me either. AP: 7:40

Mile four: More of the same

Mile four was just as tough as mile three but knowing that the hills were nearly over really kept me going. AP: 7:39

Mile five: Hmmmmmm, still hilly

At this point the constant climbing stopped but now the hills were rolling. The elevation at the start was approx 22 feet and at the highest point, which is right around mile 4.5 was approx 550 feet so at this point any downhill stretches were nice. I tried to relax on the downhill stretches and keep a solid pace on the uphill sections. AP: 7:15

Mile six: Time to pick up the pace

Mile six started with a nice downhill stretch then it flattened out and started a very slight downhill. I wasn't too tired but could feel a bit of a side cramp starting on my left side which isn't the source of the mega-pain cramps so I didn't worry too much about it. AP: 6:53

Mile seven: Ah shit, here comes the pain

Towards the end of mile seven I felt a cramp starting on my right side and I started to worry. I had been cruising along pretty well and was on track to get a pretty good time but I knew that if the cramp in my right side got any worse I was going to have to stop. AP: 6:58

Mile eight: Walk it out

I decided right away that I was going to walk and stretch my side a bit to try to get the cramp to go away. In training I have tried to gut it out and push through the pain which inevitably leads to the cramp getting so bad that I have to walk for a few minutes and then it bothers me for a few days. Today I decided to just deal with it and walk when I needed to. In mile eight I walked three times and when I was running I kept a very easy pace. AP: 8:51 (boooooooooo)

Mile nine: Turns out walking was a good decision

Well, I wasn't able to pick the pace back up to pre-cramp levels but the cramp never got any worse and I was able to push out a descent mile nine. AP: 7:36

Last little bit: Well, it wasn't what I wanted but..............

The last leg of the race was fairly flat and I was keeping a pretty good pace to the finish line. I was glad that my cramp didn't get to Defcon 5 (which means that SOB sticks with me for days). AP: 6:58

My final time was 1:10:43 and the distance on my Garmin was 9.51 for an AP of 7:26 - my AP on the posted results will be a bit slower but whatever, it's a PR since it's my first; and this will give me a chance to beat that time next time around.

Pre-race raingear:

Coming down the final stretch - me in white:

Me again:

Finisher's Donut:

Jen had a great day and I think it gave her a nice confidence boost for the Race for the Roses HM which is coming up on April 5th. Check out her blog for the full report.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

2009-03-13T16:59:00.001-07:00

This weekend is my first race of 2009 and my penultimate race in my 20’s. Since it’s a new distance (15k) I’ll have a PR for sure which is always cool. I would like to run an average in the low 7’s to give me a confidence boost for the half in Eugene. The first four miles are a climb but it really isn’t too bad till miles three and four. After that it should roll a little bit then decline for the last three or so miles. The last mile is basically flat so at that point I’ll just try to hold on to my pace and not die.

This week I didn’t make it to the pool but I wasn’t too torn up over it – Tuesday we went out for dinner and drinks with friends and yesterday my parents arrived for the weekend so I opted to hang out with them instead of hitting up the pool.

Quite a few Portland bloggers are running Shamrock this weekend – the majority of them are running the 15k except for Emily who is running the 5k and should smash her old PR. After the race it’s breakfast with the folks then a nice relaxing day of whatever we feel like.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Another Brick in the Wall

2009-03-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I read something that I’ve really been trying to keep in mind during my workouts. Basically it said “To be a good runner you can’t think in terms of days and weeks, it takes months and years to reach your full potential”. Of course it was written much better than that but you get the gist. I’ve been reminding myself of this every time my goals start to get a little out of control. For example, my goal for the Eugene half is a sub 1:35:00 but when I’m feeling fast and running strong in training I start to think that going sub 1:30:00 is totally reasonable. This of course is a total recipe for disaster. It reminds me of a dream I had recently where I had talked myself up as an awesome tennis player and next thing I knew I was facing off against Pete Sampras. I remember thinking “what in the hell did I get myself into”. Luckily I woke up a bit later and was relieved that it was just a dream; pushing too hard in the first miles of a race to hit an unreasonable goal can be a nightmare that unfortunately, you can’t wake up from. But I digress – back to training talk.

Last weekend Jen and I ran up at Lacamas Lake in Camas and had a great run. She had some goal pace miles lined up in the middle (14 miles total with 7 at race pace) and she totally nailed them. I was responsible for keeping tabs on our pace so we ended up with a difference of about 35 seconds between our fastest and slowest miles; yeah, I’m not the best at keeping a steady pace – that’s Jen’s expertise. The trail had some little rollers in it and in the last couple miles I could really feel it in my hip flexors when we would run up them.

Sunday we headed out to Multnomah Falls and hiked to the viewing platform at the top. The trail is a mile long and climbs 700 feet; a perfect trail to try to run up sometime in my opinion. Since it was the day after a long run, and I had jeans on, and I really don’t think I could do it right now, I decided that this was something to keep in mind for the future. Here I am on the bridge that crosses the lower falls:

Before I get into this week, here are my totals from last week:

Swim: 0 -- Bike: 75 min on trainer -- Run: 31.5 mi -- Push Ups: 366

And my Feb totals:

Swim: 10,100 yards -- Bike: 5:30:00 trainer -- Run: 107.5 mi -- Push Ups: 1,370

This week I started with six easy miles Monday evening after work followed by a repeat of day one, week four of the pushups challenge. I’ve really hit a tough spot with this week and I have a feeling I’ll be repeating it a couple more times before I move on.

Six miles – 49:04 - 8:11 AP

Tuesday morning I was up before work for an hour on the trainer – nothing exciting to report here. I watched the end of Alien vs. Predator II – Requiem. It was pretty good, but then again I’ve been hooked since Arnold, aka “Dutch”, battled the original Predator in the jungles of Guatemala. After work I headed out to the pool for masters.

Trainer – 60 minutes
Swim – 2,250 yards

Wednesday after work was another Tempo run of six miles. I felt good through the miles and never felt that I was working so hard that I would not be able to complete the distance.

Last week I ran five tempo miles at 6:28, 6:57, 6:48, 6:48, and 6:56.

This week’s miles came in at 6:42, 6:55, 6:44, 6:46, 6:35, 6:41 – miles one and eight were 8:30 and 7:44.

I was really wore out after the run so I only did two sets of 25 push ups before making a quick sandwich and heading over to the Rose Garden to meet some co-workers for the Blazers game.

Eight miles w/ six at Tempo: 56:36 - 7:04 AP

I hope everyone has a great Friday and a fun weekend – if you are racing, good luck!

Against the Wind

2009-02-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

I’ve been runnin – against the wind – I’ve been runnin against the wind.

Last night I set out for seven miles with four at tempo pace and was “delighted” aka devastated to find myself running into a very strong headwind during my warm up mile. I stopped to stretch and turn on DJ Tiesto before picking up the pace and starting the first tempo mile. Of course as I picked up the pace the wind picked up in intensity so I pushed hard thinking that the wind would be slowing me down into the mid 7’s. Since the plan was to run the five miles of tempo without a break I was a bit worried that the wind combined with the extra effort required to maintain a tempo pace would wipe me out. Well, turns out I pushed a bit harder than I thought in the first mile and it came in faster than expected.

Mile 1: 6:28

Once I saw the time I let off the gas a bit since my goal tempo pace is in the 6:45 to 7:00 range. Even though I let up a bit I was still running into a headwind and I was breathing hard from the first mile. I knew I wanted to slow a bit but didn’t want to slow too much this early on in the miles:

Mile 2: 6:57

Ok, that wasn’t so bad and at this point I knew that I only had three left. I told myself that if the fourth mile was total hell I would call it a day there and jog out the last two miles as a cool down. The wind was only a factor on the first half mile since I turned around halfway through the third tempo mile. Once I turned around I noticed an immediate difference and settled into a nice comfortable groove for the rest of mile three and mile four.

Mile 3 & 4: 6:48

Once I had four miles done I knew I could make it through one more but it was pretty tough; the slight incline for the last quarter mile didn’t make any easier either. I hit the mile mark and slowed down to run out the last mile for a cool down.

Mile 5: 6:56

Cool down mile: 7:57

Overall it was a great run and I was pleased with my pace but I learned a good lesson about pushing hard just to spite a headwind. Next time I have to run into the wind I’ll try to remember to scale it back a bit and not burn up too much energy too early in the run. Of course that is much easier said than done.

Monday after work I did 6 easy miles – my average pace came in at 8:07. It was a nice run and I chatted with Jen while she rode her bike along with me. It’s great having someone along with you no matter if they are running or riding and the run went by fairly quickly.

The push ups challenge is going fairly well – I’ve moved onto week four now and the first day was challenging with the following set (21, 25, 21, 21, and a max of 29 of the suggested 32). Last night I moved onto day two of week four which was quite a bit harder. I was able to get the main set done (25, 29, 25, 25) but was only able to do 19 of the suggested 36 for the max. I’ll be doing this week again for sure then it’s time for another test to see how many I can do in a row. My initial test was 25, two weeks later I did 35, so I’m hoping that this time I can do 45. I guess we’ll see what we see.

Time Keeps on Slippin Slippin

2009-02-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

Another week has come and gone and I'm now one week closer to my running goal race, the Eugene Half Marathon. I feel like the miles I have been putting in and the faster paces I have been running are starting to pay off; my easy pace is faster than it used to be and I feel like I can hold a faster pace for longer distances which I suppose is the whole point of training.

Last week I had some good runs and got my two trainer rides in during the week but only made it to the pool on Tuesday. Thursday I was planning on heading out after work but Jen was sick so I decided that good husbandry was more important than hitting up the pool. I stayed home and made dinner, did the dishes, and took care of the cutie so she could get better and get back out on the road with me.

Saturday I was out on the East Bank Esplanade for a 12 miler in the sun. The weather has been really nice here lately and it was great to be out enjoying the day with all the other runners, riders, and yes, even the walkers. When you head out for your run at 11:30 on a Saturday on a popular trail you've just got to expect that there will be a ton of other folks out enjoying the day and you've got to take it all in stride. I had to slow down a couple times to pass a couple groups but it wasn't that big of a deal and it wasn't like I was shooting for some type of training PR.

The push ups challenge is going pretty well - last week I decided to do week three over again and I think it was a good decision. Tonight (Monday) I started week four and felt better about the sets I had to do. At the end of this week I take a test to see how many I can do in a row - if it's over 40 I stay in the same level I'm in now, if not then I move down a level and keep on keepin on.

Weekly totals: Swim 1,950 yards -- Bike: 90 min on trainer -- Run: 28 miles -- Push Ups: 322

Fun Week, Short Post, and oh yeah, I'm a Barge in the Pool

2009-02-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

This week was the beginning of week three of the 100 push ups challenge and tomorrow I will be starting week three again. I think getting to 100 in six weeks is a bit ambitious so I'm planning on doing each week twice going forward. Overall I can tell that it is getting easier to increase the sets every other day but on the last couple of days I haven't been able to hit the max on the last set.

Swimming is going well but I when I'm in the pool I feel like this:

Instead of this:

But I really can't expect to get right back to how I felt five months ago when I was swimming three times a week every week. I'm sure with time and yardage I'll get back to a lean mean middle of the pack swimming machine.

I'm still on the trainer for my rides but hope to be outside riding on the weekdays soon. I was able to get in 45 minutes on Tuesday but after going out on Wednesday night I only got up for a quick spin of 15 minutes on Thursday morning (yeah, weak, I know).

Running was great this week. Monday I went for a nice easy recovery run with Jen down along the river. We ran five miles and our average pace came in around 9:30. Wednesday was a GA/Tempo run for me; not quite GA pace, not quite tempo - my average for the six miles was a 7:17. Friday I took off because it was only going to be four easy miles and my left heel was a little sore. Since we were planning on running 11 on Saturday in Forest Park I thought it would be a good choice to take the day off and just rest. On Saturday we headed up to FP for what was to be a goal pace run for Jen (Race for the Roses Half Marathon) and she kicked ass. We ended up with an average pace of 7:51 and the last mile came in at 6:28 which is one of her fastest miles ever. She really worked hard on this run and I think it was a big confidence boost for her.

Saturday evening we had Valentines dinner at home and I baked a cake for us to enjoy for desert. Here are a couple pics of the cake (Chocolate Brownie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - all made from scratch):

It turned out great but man was it rich! We each had a small slice then took half the cake over to our friends that live in the building.

Overall it was a great week capped off with a wonderful Valentines Day with a beautiful girl - doesn't get much better than that!

Have a great week - I've got to work tomorrow (Monday) but for those of you that don't I hope you enjoy your day and make the most of it!

Weekly totals - Swim: 4,450 yards -- Bike: 1hr on trainer -- Run: 22 miles -- Push Ups: 291

Ooooh That Smell

2009-02-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

Another week has come and gone and as much as I wanted to put off a couple of workouts throughout the week I got in everything I had planned along with a couple spur of the moment activities.

Last Sunday evening Jen and I did our push ups challenge workout and a core workout which gave me the opportunity to sleep in a bit on Monday morning. I've got just a handful of Monday mornings left in which I can sleep in and I think I am going to take full advantage of them. After work I ran my four mile route along the river and took it nice and easy. It was pretty warm out so for the first time in a while I wore just shorts and a long sleeve shirt.

Monday - Four miles: 33:30 - 8:22ish

Tuesday morning I was up in time to get in a full hour on the trainer. I watched an episode of Knight Rider then for the last 15 minutes (KR is typically 42 minutes long without commercials) I started Scooby Doo and the Mystery of Zombie Island. As easy as it is to get up and hop on the trainer in the mornings I am really looking forward to being able to get out in the mornings for an actual ride. Tuesday evening I walked home from work, had a snack, got my swim stuff together, and headed out to the pool for masters. The new group I am swimming with only has an hour session in the evening so at this point it looks like I will typically get something in the low 2,000's each time vs. something in the low 3,000's like I was in CA. Hopefully as I get back into swimming shape I'll be able to get in more yardage in the hour we swim.

Tuesday - 60 minutes on trainer - 2,200 yards @ masters

After swimming Tuesday evening I did my push ups so Wednesday morning all I had was core and abs work which doesn't take me too long. This gave me a chance to relax a bit in the morning and watch some TV while I ate my breakfast. Wednesday after work I headed out for some speed work; I had six miles total with three consecutive miles at tempo pace. I ended up running them slightly faster than tempo with the three miles coming in at 6:52, 6:53, and 6:42. I had to take a quick break after the third mile because it ended right at the beginning of what I call "manure mile". See, the parks department recently put new topsoil and fertilizer out along some sections of the river and one of them happens to be right at the spot where my tempo miles were ending. Needless to say the overpowering smell of fresh pungent fertilizer can be very vomit inducing when you are sucking in large gulps of air at an elevated rate. Thankfully everything stayed where it was supposed to and after 30 seconds of recovery I was off and running again.

Wednesday - Six miles, three @ tempo pace, 44:35 - 7:25AP

Thursday morning I was up and on the trainer again for a 45 minute spin before work. Jen and I had dentist appointments that afternoon so I got off work early to go meet her and walk to the dentist's office. It was our first appointment there so I wasn't sure what to expect; let me just say that it was awesome. The first thing they had us do was take x-rays and boy was I surprised when right after taking the 360 image
the hygienist told me that I could turn around and see the x-ray on the screen behind me. That's right, they take digital x-rays so there is no film, just an image on the screen. Later on in the exam she took what appeared to be a pen but what was actually a small digital camera and stuck it in my mouth and took close up pictures of my teeth! It was the first time I had ever seen a pictures of my teeth and it was pretty freakin cool. The rest of the exam was great and we have definitely found our new dentist. After then dentist we headed out to the pool to get in some yards - I ended up doing 1,500 before we wrapped it up and headed to get some dinner.

Thursday - 45 minutes on trainer - 1,500 yards non-masters

Friday morning I was up early to do my push ups and core work. Tuesday evening I had done my push ups after swimming and I felt tired so the last set was pretty hard. Today they seemed a bit easier since I had given my arms time to rest over night. After work I had an easy four on the schedule then we ate a quick dinner and had some friends over for drinks. Towards the end of the evening the push ups challenge was brought up and next thing I knew it was a push ups showdown. I was able to do 35 which was an increase over the ten I did in my initial assessment. The next test I have is in two more weeks and I'm eager to see how those results turn out. Today I start week three of the challenge and I have seen that a lot of folks fall off the plan after this week. I'm hopeful that I will be able to stick with it but 100 in a row still seems like a shit-ton of push ups to me.

Friday - Four miles - 31:00 - 7:45AP

Saturday was our long run and we ended up getting a late start since I decided to start working on our taxes after breakfast. Filing a two-state return was a little strange but I got it figured out thanks to the folks at Turbo Tax and by 1:00 we were heading out to do 12 miles. I was planning on running the first few miles with Jen then running ahead on my own for the second part of the run. This worked out well for us last week and this week went much the same. We ran the first 3.75 miles together at which point I made a pit-stop and Jen continued on. I hooked up my iPod and for the first time in many months I listened to a DJ Tiesto Club Life mix - I forgot how much I like listening to him while I run. The weather was really great on Saturday and for the first half of the run we were running towards Mt. Hood which gave us some great views.

Saturday - 12 miles - 1:39:41 - 8:18AP

Sunday we walked up to North West to have some breakfast and do some grocery shopping in the morning. After relaxing around the house for a while we decided to go walk around in the neighborhood in North West and check out the houses that are up in the West Hills. Once we were up in the hills I started noticing quite a few sets of stairs; at one point we stopped at the top of this long mother and decided to see how fast we could run up them.

We walked down to the bottom of the stairs (three flights with 51, 51, and 52 stairs respectively) and peeled off some layers before making the run to the top. I was wearing jeans but figured that they wouldn't hamper me too much since I wouldn't be trying to take long strides. As we were getting ready this guy walked by us and started up the stairs - I decided to time him and see how long it took someone walking at a steady rate - 78 seconds later he was at the top. I thought I would take
the stairs one at a time to start then pick up the pace on the second flight and push hard to the top. I took a couple deep breaths, hit the start button on my watch and started up. Three steps into it I realized that taking one step at a time would slow me down and I took off in a full two-at-a-time sprint to the top. At the end of the first flight I felt good, at the end of the second I knew I was going to have to
dig deep, by the time I was halfway up the third flight my quads were burning and my heart was pounding. I reached the top and stopped my watch, 30.97 seconds! I turned around to watch Jen come up the last flight and encouraged her to push it to the end. Once she was at the top we caught our breath and continued on our walk. About a block away was another set of stairs; we didn't run up this set but after seeing them I knew I would be back to this spot to run both sets and see how I hold up. Next time I'm going to bring my HR monitor and see just how hard my blood pumper is working.

Weekly totals: Run 26 miles, Bike 1hr 45 minutes, Swim 3,700 yards, Push Ups 270

FYI - Sunset is at 5:29 today in Portland - four weeks from today it's at 7:08!!!

Ready for Warmer Weather

2009-02-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

Another week in the books, building up my miles and picking up the pace. I was able to get in all of my runs this week even though it was really cold on Monday and the last thing I wanted to do was head outside for a run. I decided to get my speed work for the week out of the way so I took off for three tempo miles. I work my tights, shorts, a long sleeve, and gloves and I was still cold for the first part of the run. The nice thing about my shorter runs is not having to wear my Garmin since I know where the 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 mile marks are on the route I usually run.

Monday - 3 miles in 20:51

Tuesday morning I was on the trainer in the morning for a 45 minute ride before work. As I have for the last couple of rides I watched an episode of Knight Rider and before I knew it the ride was over.

Wednesday morning I got up to do some strength training before work. This was the first day of the 100 push up challenge for me but I was planning on doing a sort of modified schedule. I was able to do 25 in the initial test so I could have started on week three but I figured I would give myself a couple days of week one then start on week two this Monday. After work I took off for a six mile run; it was a bit warmer (maybe 46) and lighter than it had been on Monday so it was a nice run. I felt heavy for the first three miles but on the return three I was able to get in a groove and felt much better.

Wednesday - 6 miles in 47:13 - 7:53 AP

Thursday morning was pretty much a repeat of Tuesday morning; trainer and Knight Rider. I thought about going swimming but decided that I have many weeks of swimming ahead of me and it would be nice to have one more evening of relaxing.

Friday was day two of the push ups challenge and a short run after work before happy hour. I took off right after work to get in four miles then ran up to our apartment and took a quick shower before heading out to meet Jen and some friends for some drinks.

Friday - Four miles in 31:27

Saturday morning we slept in and took our time around the house before heading out for our long run. This was Jen's first long run since last week's half marathon and it is a hilly run so we decided to do nine miles. Jen wanted to run a quick pace which was fine with me. When we got out to the trailhead it was in the mid-40's but felt pretty freakin cold in the shade (and most of the run is in the shade). We ran the first half together and then on the second half I ran ahead on a couple of the hills and also in the last two miles where I ran ahead to get some pictures.

Saturday - Nine miles in 1:09:40 - 7:45 AP

Here are some pics from the run and also one of the desserts I made this last week. Lemon Bars and Brownies, from scratch. They turned out really well - I could have eaten the whole pan but decided instead to share them with my co-workers.

Back in the Pool - Still a bit Sore

2009-01-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

After the three day weekend I decided that getting up early to ride the trainer wasn't really something I was looking forward to so I set the alarm for 7am and got some extra sleep. Tuesday evening was our first masters practice; it was great to be back in the pool after such a long break. We're planning on going two or three times a week for the next few weeks and then maybe increase to four times a week in the summer. Well, that's my plan at least. Jen may have a bit of a different plan for her Ironman but I'm sure that no matter what we will be putting in some yardage this year.

Tuesday swim - 1,850 yards

Wednesday morning I got up and climbed on the trainer for 40 minutes. I watched a new episode of Knight Rider to pass the time. I am really looking forward to the longer days so I can get outside to ride more often. Right now it's 5:25 and just about dark. Anyway - Wednesday night I went for a quick run after work before meeting up with Jen and the Portland blogging crew for a few drinks up at The Blue Moon in NW. On the way home we grabbed some dinner at Laughing Planet and made it back just in time to catch the season premiere of LOST. It is such a good show and if you watch it then I know you know what I mean; if you don't watch it then I know you don't know what I mean and you wonder why everyone makes such a big deal about a confusing show. Well, I understand how you feel but it really is really, really, good. Anyway, I digress.

Wednesday trainer ride - 40 minutes
Wednesday evening run - 6 mi w/ four .5 mile tempo repeats - 44:13, 7:22 AP, .5 mi tempo intervals: 3:24, 3:24, 3:16, 3:11

Thursday morning I had every intention of getting up for an hour ride on the trainer but I was really tired so I decided to sleep in again. Jen was meeting Emily for happy hour which meant we wouldn't be going swimming so I decided I would make up for my missed ride in the evening. Turns out that happy hour sounded much better than a trainer ride when I was walking home, so I ended up at the bar with Jen and Emily.

Friday morning I was up early for some strength training before work. That evening I went for an easy four miles after work and made it home in time to take a shower and have some Chicken Tortilla soup that Jen made. It was really good, especially after a cold run.

Friday - 4 miles - 31:15

Today (Saturday) I got up and watched some TV, ate breakfast, and slowly got ready for my ten miler. Once I was out the door I settled into a nice groove and warmed up after about a mile. The muscles on the right side of the lower part of the front of my right leg got tight around mile two but by mile four they had loosened up a bit and weren't bothering me anymore. I kept the miles pretty even for the most part but did speed up in the last three miles. Jen rode her bike along with me and was able to get some good pictures as we rode/ran along.

Saturday run - ten miles - 1:21:20

Tomorrow Jen and Emily are running the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon which is in Vancouver at Vancouver Lake. When they signed up I thought it might be more fun to watch Jen run and get some pictures. Besides, it's been pretty cold out there and a jacket and warm cup of coffee always make spectating fun. I think Jen is going to have a good day because she hasn't put much pressure on herself for this race. Stay tuned for her race report coming tomorrow afternoon to a blog near you.

Sunny Skies

2009-01-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

This past week we have been treated to some sunny skies in Portland and it has been great. Everyone keeps saying that this is not normal winter weather for Oregon but since we just moved here in August this is normal for me and it's what I will base all future years on when making a comparison. The clear skies have made for some nice views from the office:

Friday evening we went over to have a couple of drinks with some friends and have a bike maintenance clinic to learn how to change breaks - it was cool to see and answered a few questions I had about the process and brakes in general. I made some cupcakes to take over and they turned out pretty well:

Saturday we slept in the after breakfast headed out for a ten mile run (1:27:28). We were thinking about driving somewhere for our run but decided to run close to home since we needed to go look at computers after our run. Friday afternoon our old computer decided that it was no longer going to cooperate with it's human masters and refused to load the operating software. To make matters worse the computer refused to respond to keyboard commands. So Saturday we headed down to Fry's and picked up a new laptop. It has twice the memory of our old computer, is faster, and takes up way less room. This is the first laptop I've owned and it's pretty freakin sweet. Jen has wanted to get one for a while now so she really loves it. The wireless internet is pretty nice as well.

Sunday we headed out to the coast to visit some friends and go to the beach for a hike. We ended up going for a hike to take a tour of our friend's property and hanging out for longer than we thought we would (which really wasn't a surprise)
We made it to the beach for sunset before heading back to Portland:

Today (Monday) we went out to Beaverton to run some errands and stopped by the pool to pay our fees so we can start going to masters tomorrow night. I'm only planning on going a couple nights a week for the next few weeks then plan on going three times a week starting in March. After signing up we took off for a short four mile run on a trail near the pool. Total time for today: 32:18.

Back to work tomorrow and back into the pool!

Dirty Riding

2009-01-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

This weekend Jen and I got out for a nice ten mile run on Saturday and then rode ten miles in Forest Park on Sunday.

Saturday morning we woke up to a balmy 36 downtown so we knew it would be at least that cold along the river where we planned on running. I wore tights, shorts, and a long sleeve shirt and I was still pretty cold for the first couple of miles. I brought gloves with me too but didn't end up wearing them. We ran a nice pace for the entire run and ended up with an 8:25 AP.

Sunday we slept in a bit then decided to go for a bike ride in Forest Park before meeting some friends for brunch downtown. Our plan was to ride right to the restaurant to meet them but it didn't quite work out that way. We only rode a couple of miles into the park but by the time we got back to paved roads we were covered in mud. We decided that the restaurant most likely wouldn't like us in (or allow us in) when we were caked in mud so we decided to stop by our place first and change our clothes and wash the mud out of our hair.

Totals for the week: 24 miles of running; 10 mtb miles, and 85 minutes on the trainer

Random Post

2009-01-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

Getting back into the swing of training - slowly. This week and a couple days last week I got out of bed a little after six to do some strength training or ride the trainer. I figure this will be good conditioning for me (the getting up part) so when I have to start waking up at 5:00 or 5:15 or whatever it's not as painful.

Monday I got up for some am strength training then ran four easy miles after work (8:13 AP)

Tuesday I was up around 6:15 for 40 minutes on the trainer - don't know my mph because I still need to move the speedometer to the back tire

This morning I got up again for strength training then ran six miles after work (8:10 AP)

My plan is to get in some good base miles over the next couple of weeks then start to ramp up my running along with my swimming before my full tri training starts in March. Jen and I are going to start going to masters in the middle of January. I'm looking forward to getting back in the pool while at the same time dreading the dead arms that I know will come with it for the fist couple of weeks.

Today I had one of those moments when you realize that something has changed in your surroundings. I walked outside to catch the bus after work and noticed that it was still light outside. Even though it was just barely light I thought I remembered it being dark just a few days ago. Spring is definitely on it's way and I for one can't wait.

Last night when we were hanging out we added up our miles for 2008:

Swim: 131,900 yards or 82.44 miles
Bike: 939.2 miles of riding and 10.5 hours on the trainer
Run: 1,080.15 miles (and 23.1 miles of post-surgery walking)

I was pleased with my totals but one thing that really stood out was my swing in monthly swim totals - my lowest was 500 yards, my highest 42,000 - so yeah, not the most consistent swimming last year but hopefully that will change in 2009.

Muddy River

2009-01-03T17:25:00.000-08:00

Turns out my previous post was the last of 2008 instead of second to last - oh well, what can you do?

Wednesday I got off work early and headed home to get in four miles before heading out to enjoy some drinks and dinner with some friends. I pushed it a bit on the run but tried not to run "too hard" - ended up with an AP of 7:45.

After we got home (Jen rode her bike along with me as I ran) we got ready and had a couple of drinks before walking over to our friend's place. I also baked some cookies to take with us:

Me trying to climb the blue route at the NYE party - turns out it wasn't that easy:

Climbing the much easier orange route:

2009!

The recent rains have really filled the river up with logs, logs, and more logs; as well as some tires and other crap:

Great Blue Heron enjoying a nice mid day nap:

Portland Fire Department removing log jams from the bridge supports:

Me and the cutie:

Today we got out for eight hilly miles which was a lot of fun but pretty tough - AP was 8:43, last mile 7:31.

Happy 2009!!!

Penultimate Post of the Year?

2008-12-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

Finally back outside running after Winter Storm 2008 swept through Portland on December 14th. I ran three miles on the treadmill once and that was enough for me. Luckily this storm corresponded well with my time off after the marathon so I wasn't too worried about running anyway.

The storm started pretty small but the snow was coming down steady:

Walking to Starbucks on Sunday:

Willamette River:

Walking to work in the first heavy snow:

Busses stuck on 12/22/08:

MLK Jr. Blvd - 12/23/2008:

Side street near the Rose Garden - 12/23/08:

Tuesday December 23 - Usually these three parking lots are full of cars and there are at least some cars driving on the street, today no cars in sight: Max Line shut down due to the ice and snow:
Out for a walk downtown:
Verifying that the Magic is indeed in the Hole:
(it is)

Pig Pink:

I finished off the weekend with a round of Kitty Dentistry - he handled it well:

It helps that the toothpaste is chicken flavor:

Recent workouts:

Sunday - ran four miles @ 8:52AP
Monday - Weights in the morning, ran four miles in 30:48 - first two miles 16:34, second two miles 14:14
Tuesday - rode the trainer for 40 minutes (still need to put my speedometer on the back tire

Getting up early to workout is about as fun as it sounds - the getting up part at least. Once I'm done I feel pretty good, and I really do need to get used to it sometime.

Jen put a complete schedule of this year's races on her blog, the only differences are that I am not doing the half marathon in January, and might run the half marathon instead of the 5k at Race for the Roses, and I'm not quite as crazy as Jen so although I will be at IMAZ it will be in spectator/family coordinator/photographer/coffee drinker role.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

2008-12-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

The winter weather finally hit Portland in full force last night. We woke up to two inches of snow and it just kept on snowing all day and into the night. Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same along with some freezing rain.

I haven't done much since the marathon - a couple days of strength training and a lot of days of eating cookies and relaxing. I'm planning on getting back into more of a routine this next week with some more strength training and some days on the trainer. I was planning on heading to the pool today but the icy roads put a damper on that idea.

After CIM I started thinking about what I wanted to do for my next marathon. I would like to run one next fall but I don't know how that will work out with my schedule. The only races that would really work out for me would be Las Vegas or CIM, both of which are in the first week of December. Both of them would fit in with a 12 week training plan which would give me around 4 weeks of recovery after Lake Stevens 70.3, but, Vegas isn't all that great from what I hear and Jen isn't keen on going back to Sacramento again, especially since she won't be running (her Iron Man is on November 22nd). However, the biggest thing for me is that running a fall marathon would put me into a similar situation as I was in this year; I didn't have much of a base going into training. Instead of training for a fall marathon I think I will train for a couple of half marathons to build a solid base. Hopefully this strategy will set me up for a solid London race in Spring 2010; and really no matter what, running a marathon in London will be pretty freakin sweet. I'm also excited to train for a half marathon and see just how fast I can get. Although I know it's next to impossible for me, I would really like to try and qualify for the New York Marathon with a half marathon time. For me that would be 1:23:00 which I believe is around a 6:15 AP; and that in my opinion is smokin'.

In the here and now triathlon season is almost upon us. I'm planning on doing two Olympic distance events (Blue Lake in June and Hagg Lake in July) and one 70.3 (Lake Stevens in August). There is an open water swim event at Hagg that I would like to find out more about as well. I believe that is in late May or early June.

Overall I had a great 2008. I ran three half marathons, setting a new PR at each one, completed three sprint triathlons (I placed in my age group in two of them), and ran my first marathon. All of this after having hernia surgery in February. Overall it was a great year and I look forward to another great season in 2009. I am however, very aware of the fact that I will now be competing in one of the toughest age groups for the next ten years so I definitely have my work cut out for me.

Here are a couple additional pictures from today when we were walking around the city enjoying the snow.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

California International Marathon

2008-12-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

Running a marathon is tough. I had heard that many times from Jen and other marathon runners but I never really knew what they meant. Looking at this statement now it reminds me of another conversation I used to have with a friend of mine; we would be talking about the stock market and then the conversation would inevitably go something like this:

Him: “You’ve never been through a Bear market right”?
Me: “Nope”
Him (smiling): “You will, you will”
Me: “It can’t be all that bad”
Him (still smiling): “You’ll see”

Then I would combine the appropriate facial expression with the appropriate verbal response to try to show that I understood what he was talking about and could relate to it somehow.

Looking back at all of Jen’s marathon stories I now realize that I did a lot of combining a facial expression with a verbal response such as Wow, or Ooohhhhh, or Man, or just a facial expression that said Yikes. I was doing this to try to relay that I knew what she was talking about and could relate to it – turns out I had no clue what she was talking about and would never understand it until now.

Overall this was a great experience from beginning to end. Training with Jen was a lot of fun and running the race with her was even better. If it wasn’t for her I doubt I would have ever even started running longer distances. It all began with me agreeing to run with her on longer runs so she had some company for a while. I would run 10 or 11 miles with her then wait while she ran a few more. This worked out great because I was getting some exercise and also getting out of the list of chores she used to leave me when she would go running and I would stay home. Eventually I started thinking I could run a half marathon and after completing a couple of those I thought there was no way I would ever consider running a marathon. But, you know, you watch your wife and thousands of other people finish a few marathons and you start to think, maybe, just maybe.

After three months of training, a PR half marathon, and some really strong training runs, I felt ready. The week before the race I was worrying about my side cramps and sore calf muscle and I started to let those things get in my head. Little did I know, those would turn out to be the least of my problems.

Friday evening I got home from work with my stomach feeling sort of off and my body starting to ache. I laid on the couch for a while then ate some dinner but by the time I finished eating I felt horrible and had to go lay down in bed. My stomach really started hurting and my body was really achy and sore. I was getting hot and cold and by 10ish I knew I was going to throw up. I thought about trying to fight it but eventually gave up and by 11:00 my stomach was empty. I spent the rest of the night feeling like hell and trying to get what little sleep I could. I thought I was going to have to stay home and miss the race.
Saturday I woke up feeling a bit better but still not that good. I was able to eat most of a bagel and have some coffee before we headed out to the airport to catch our plane. Once we arrived in Sacramento I was ready to get back in bed and try to rest some more. My stomach was still very unsettled and I was now starting to get a headache which just made it worse. For lunch I had some room service chicken noodle soup (same for dinner) and Jen went out and got me a juice, some Tylenol, and also picked up my race bag at the expo. Once she got back to the room she spent the rest of the afternoon and evening taking care of me and trying to get me to eat and drink as much as I could. I tried to fight her every step of the way on this but looking back the calories I was able to force down likely saved me from a complete bonk the next day.

I woke up Saturday night around 11:00 and could tell that I was feeling much better and every time I woke up after that I was thankful to still be feeling ok.

Sunday morning I was out of bed at 4:00 and was able to drink my coffee and eat my breakfast without feeling crappy. We got our clothes on, met up with Aron, and headed down to the busses to be taken to the starting line. We were on the second bus which got us to the start at around 5:40. The driver parked the bus and told us we could stay on it to keep warm which was awesome. We got off for a few minutes to hit up the port-o-johns then got back on until 6:20. We hit up the johns a couple more times then threw our sweats bags in the truck and headed to the start line. (Side note: there was this poor kid standing up in the sweats truck yelling “Please pile your bags on the ground” over and over. While he was doing this people were throwing their bags into the truck and they were whizzing by this poor kid’s head while he was yelling. I kept wondering if I was going to see him get hit in the face with a bag, fall backwards, and get buried in the swarm of bags that was flying into the truck.)

The race was, well it was a race. This was the first race I have actually run with someone so in a sense it was much like a training run, only we were running much faster and with a lot more people. We ran the first few miles faster than the next few which were faster than the next few and so on. By mile 16 I knew I was going to have to walk but we were still pretty much on pace and I wanted to keep going with Jen so she could get her goal. I could tell she was going through a bit of a rough patch brought on by the well known Gu+hill ≠ good breathing equation. I stuck it out till mile 19.5 where I told her that I was going to walk at mile 20 but she should keep going and do her best. I gave her a last drink of the water I was carrying then stopped to walk.

At first my plan was to walk for 30 seconds then start running again but before I knew it 45 seconds had gone by. I then decided that two minutes was a much better time frame for walking so I drank some more water and finished my Gu. My stomach had been feeling funny all day so I was forcing the Gu down and wasn’t enjoying it or looking forward to it like I did in training runs. I was able to get down a total of four and I’m sure they helped me out even though I didn’t enjoy them.

I started running again after my two minute break and made it to mile 22 where another walk break was mandated by my brain. I saw people trying to walk fast during their walk breaks but I decided that a nice slow saunter was much more to my liking. I walked for a minute then started picking up forward momentum to get back to a running pace. Every time I started back up I felt like I was pulling a shopping cart full of cinder blocks. After each quarter mile I felt like someone was throwing in an additional cinder block just for good measure.

Next up was mile 23 and I was really looking forward to walking again when who should appear but my cute little wife and her big smile. She said that she started feeling like crap after we split up and had slowly fell off the pace so she decided that finishing with me was more important that trying to grit it out for a BQ. I was sooooooooooo glad to see her. I had been alone in a no man’s land for the last three miles and seeing her gave me a bit more energy to finish out the race. We took a couple more walk breaks and around mile 24 Aron caught up to us. The three of us ran the next mile and a half together and split up when Jen and I took our last walk break in the last mile.

I crossed the finish line, got my space blanket, had my chip removed, and was given my finishers medal. After the race we headed back to our hotel to shower and pack up since we had a noon check out time – the shower was great because not only was I very sweaty but I was really cold. After that we met up with Aron and her family as well as Maritza and her friend Tara for some post-race food and drinks.

Overall it was a great experience and one that I think I will do again. With my triathlon schedule the next reasonable time for me would be Spring 2010 so we’ll see how everything works out.

Here are a few random tidbits that didn’t get into the main body of the report and I really don’t feel like going back to re-write and add them:

I had a toenail cut into a toe in like the first mile, but the end of the race my whole toe-box was saturated in blood.

I saw a guy dressed up as Tigger cheering on the runners.

The crowds were awesome – I’ve never run a race with crowds like this.

I am very thankful that I was even able to run the race after being so sick.

Putting my sweatshirt on the sweats truck was an excellent idea – I was very happy to have it after the race.

Something that made me laugh was when I saw a group of people with a “Dienetics” sign standing in front of a scientology church handing out oranges. I thought it was funny that they were handing out “little slices of Scientology”.

Bumping into other runners in the airport was pretty cool; especially when Jen would tell them it was my first marathon.

I think that instead of having a DJ every mile for the last six miles they should just have a continuous string of speakers so there is never a moment without music.

Shout spray does indeed work on blood stains, even in shoes.

Some pictures:

Checking into hotel on Saturday, feeling awful
A pic Aron's family took during the race. It was cold and foggy (perfect) the whole time.
After the race:At the restaurant:
Bloody shoes:

The Final Countdown

2008-12-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

With the marathon less than a week away my training is winding down and I'm trying to eat good and stay really hydrated throughout the week. I did a pretty good job eating over the Thanksgiving break, and by that I mean I ate as much as I could and helped myself to a lot of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top.

Jen signed us up for a local Turkey Trot in Helena so I took my cool weather running gear (aka tights and a long sleeve tech shirt) thinking that was going to be enough. Chances are it would have been fine if the weather would have been in the 30's like it had been earlier in the week, but it didn't exactly work out that way. It was 16 when we woke up Thursday morning. I borrowed another long sleeve tech shirt from my Step-Dad and my Mom found an old ear-warmer for me to use (she found one for Jen too). Jen had bought some gloves for us earlier in the week so I threw on a pair of those as well. We drove over to Jen's parent's house to park then we ran the five blocks up to the start. There were around 300 people standing around outside many of which were jumping up and down or running up and down the block to keep warm. I did a few warm up blocks to get my legs warmed up and to avoid any side or shin cramping and before I knew it everyone was lining up to start. Since this was a small benefit race there were no numbers and no awards (other than pies given out via drawing at the end) and it was timed with a stop watch so Jen and I lined up near the front to get a jump on the crowd. The first few hundred feet were a jumble of bodies sorting themselves out but after making the first corner Jen caught up to me and we ran together for a little while. She told me to go ahead so I picked up the pace a bit and noticed I was not that far behind the leaders. Over the next mile or so I picked off the runners in the pack ahead of me so by the last mile I was in the string of runners out in front. We were spread out pretty far but I was still able to pick off two more people by the time the finish line was in sight. I picked up the pace a little bit for the last three blocks to make sure no one was going to pass me and I crossed the finish line in 20:34 for 6th place overall. I was shocked to see I had finished sixth overall since that is usually done with a time in the 17:00-18:00 range! I saw my Mom and talked to her while watching for Jen - a couple minutes later she crossed the finish line and we met up with her Dad and my Step-Dad who had been a few blocks down taking pictures. After stretching our sweat started to freeze and we were getting pretty cold so we headed down to Jen's parents to hop in the hot tub.

This week I've got a few easy runs on the schedule but my main focus will be stretching, eating well, and getting mentally prepared for the marathon.

Almost Turkey Time

2008-11-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

Another week in the books and one week closer to my first marathon. This week will be a short one with only two days of work before a nice long Thanksgiving weekend. Last week I was able to get in some good runs along with one where I got a bad side cramp and had to slow down for my last two miles. I get these randomly but more often than not they come on when I am running hard.

Monday: 5 miles w/ four half-mile intervals

1 mile warm up: 8:31 -- .5mi 4:02 -- .5mi 3:06 -- .25mi 2:04 -- .5mi 3:19 -- .25mi 2:04 -- .5mi 3:03 -- .25mi 2:34 -- .5mi 3:13 -- .75mi 5:42.

Tuesday: 5 miles @ 8:20 AP

Thursday: 6 miles @ 8:02 AP - after a warm up mile I picked up the pace but after three miles at an average of 7:27 my side cramp started acting up and I had to stop for a couple minutes before running the last two miles at an 8:40ish average.

Friday: I decided to ride the trainer and watch Knight Rider since my legs were hurting a bit and I was still a bit worried about my side starting to act up again. I set up the bike and turned on the tv then spent the next 45 minutes working up a sweat and watching Michael Knight save the day (with the help of Kitt of course). Sometime soon I need to move my speedometer sensor and receiver to the back tire so I will be able to see my average speed on both the trainer and the roads.

Saturday: 16 miles in 2:17:17 - 8:35 AP

This was the longest run I have done by myself so I was really focused on keeping a relaxed pace and not going out too hard and regretting it in the end. I started off nice and easy then eased into a nice rhythm; my pace for the majority of the miles was pretty consistent. Here's a breakdown of the miles:

8:59; 8:38; 8:40; 8:46; 8:35; 8:41; 8:46; 8:44; 8:29; 8:23; 8:35; 8:32; 8:30; 8:20; 8:22; 8:17

My left calf started bothering me around mile 10 but it never got really painful; it sort of hurt but wasn't painful. Once I got home I ran a nice cold ice bath and sat in it and read for a while. After that pleasant experience I took a shower and went out to grab some breakfast.

Two Very Different Long Runs

2008-11-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Jen and I ran 17 miles for our long run and it was tough for me. It wasn't the rain or the route, it was my calf muscle. At around mile seven it started feeling a little tight, sort of a mild charlie horse. As we progressed through the miles it steadily got worse. Every time we stopped to cross a street or fill our bottles I tried to stretch it out. By the time we were at mile 15 it was really hurting me; I was very happy when we finally got back to our apartment and I was able to hop in the ice bath, take some aleve, and use the foam roller. The next day we rode our bikes about sixteen miles in North Portland to check out a new route and my calf didn't bother me too much - I think the riding was a good way to get some blood flowing without stressing my muscles too much.

Monday I had five miles on the schedule but thought it was in my best interest to bag the run and instead ride an hour on the trainer. I was excited to watch an episode of the new Knight Rider but I had forgot that I was already up to date so instead I settled for the last half of Lawnmower Man and some Jeopardy. I had Tuesday off due to Veterans Day so I partook in a few recovery adult beverages; after a couple my calf started feeling a bit better.

Tuesday I got back out on the trail with Jen to do tempo miles with her - we ran seven total with three at tempo - she did great and it was nice to push her along. I always have to remind myself to tone down my inner high school track coach and use positive reinforcement instead of good ole fashion yelling (combined with positive reinforcement).

Wednesday was an off day so I spent the evening stretching and using the foam roller; my calf was starting to feel better but I was a bit worried about how it would hold up on the weekend long run.

Thursday I was back out on the East Bank Esplanade for 6 miles - I think my pace was around 8:14 (yes, I know what it was I just don't feel like getting up and looking at my Garmin). My calf was feeling better but for some odd reason I got one of my painful side cramps. Always on the right side, always in the muscles - it's different than a normal side cramp and it really sucks. I stopped and streched a bit and a little while later it was feeling fine.

Friday my calf was still a bit tight so I cut my run short from the planned five to three easy miles - I felt fine the whole time which was great. One of the factors making this run good was the new shoes that were delivered - check out the comparison between the old and new:

I still need to change out the laces but other than that they are perfect.

This morning Jen and I got up early and headed out for our last 20 mile run. We decided to run up along the Columbia River in North Portland (right across the river from Vancouver). It was cold and foggy to start which was nice because we stayed nice and cool and the fog helped save some of the scenery for later in the run. We kept our pace in the 8:40's for the first 10 miles and just cruised along. My calf was bothering me in that way where something is in the back of your mind but in reality it is just fine.

The fog lifted around mile 11 and a few minutes later we could see Mt. Hood in the distance. It's a huge mountain that seems to loom over the Portland area; even though it is 60 miles away it seems like it's much closer. This picture doesn't do it justice but you can see what a beautiful day it turned out to be (the girl in the foreground is always beautiful no matter what the weather is like):

By the time we got to mile 15 I was feeling great; the leg was fine, no side cramp, and I was about to have my Vanilla Bean Gu which always puts me in a good mood:

We continued on and picked up the pace each mile for the next five miles. Around mile 17 my legs were getting tired but overall I still felt great. I pushed hard on my last mile and it came in at 7:20. By the end the sky was completely clear and we could see Mt. Adams and Mt. Saint Helens in addition to Mt. Hood. This was a great 20 mile run, especially since the run last weekend was so tough on me. I'm getting excited about the marathon which is just three short weeks away.

One Week Closer

2008-11-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

This week is the second to last in my training for CIM which means I have one more 17 miler and another 20 next weekend then the taper begins. This week I cut my Monday run short because I was a little sore but then I made up the miles on Wednesday on an interval run with Jen. Here are the stats for this week so far:

Monday - four miles in 33:18, 8:20 AP
Tuesday - nine miles in 1:12:36, 8:04 AP
Wednesday - eight miles w/ Jen (intervals) in 1:09:30, 8:21 AP
Thursday - OFF
Friday - six miles in 49:35, 8:16 AP

Tomorrow we are heading out from our house which means we will be able to ice right after our run and make a nice breakfast of french toast with fresh berries, powdered sugar, and whipped cream - and a nice big cup of coffee.

The forecast calls for rain but I'm already learning that the weather forecast in Portland is really only accurate if they are talking about an exact point in time; as in "it's raining outside" or "it just stopped raining"; other than that they are just offering up a best guess.

It's 10:30 here in Portland - I wonder how many folks in Clearwater are lying awake in bed staring at the ceiling thinking about their race tomorrow. I'm rooting for Potts but he just did Kona so he might have a tough time winning this year.

Holy Darkness it's Cold in the Northwest

2008-11-06T17:53:00.001-08:00

Soooooooooooo, it gets dark early in Portland; and it gets cold too..............and it seems to rain quite a bit as well. Looking at this in a more positive light I realized that this means that the days are long in the summer and c+r=s or cold + rain = snow, so it's not all bad.

Monday morning I was standing at the bus stop reading my book (currently reading The Great Gatsby) and I noticed two things: 1) my bus was late; and 2) there were a lot of buses crammed full of people. A little while later I noticed that these buses were Max shuttles which made me realize that something was wrong with Max. I figured that this was somehow delaying my bus and I wondered just who these people thought they were. Did they somehow think that their getting to work was more important than me getting to work? I mean of all the low-down things. A few minutes later I was back in my book glad for the delay since I was able to get in some additional pre-work reading. Around 8:10 another passenger found out that the Steel Bridge was out of commission and that was the cause of the bus delay. He said that another bus should be there in about 15 minutes; since it is only a 20 minute walk I headed out via the Broadway Bridge. The following picture is looking at downtown Portland from the Broadway Bridge:

The training has been coming along well (other than running in the dark and rain after work) - we ran 20 last weekend and so far this week I have done four, nine, and eight. This weekend will be 17 in the rain (according to weather.com) then we have another 20 next weekend before the taper starts.

I'm looking forward to taking some time off in December and January before starting to base build for the upcoming tri season - my training officially starts in March. I'm also looking forward to eating a ton of food for Thanksgiving - we will be having Thanksgiving in MT for the first time in seven years.

First Time at Twenty

2008-11-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend Jen and I ran our 20 miler on a nice flat route. It was still a tough run once we got to about 16 miles. It was raining lightly the whole time which actually wasn't too bad. Sure we were wet, but our feet never really got soaked through and we both had our hats which kept the rain out of our faces. Here I am at the turn around:

Our average pace for the run ended up being 8:54, the first half was 9:13 and the second half was 8:34.

Today we took our mountain bikes out for a ride down the west side of the river. Like Saturday, the weather was overcast but it did not rain nearly as much. After our ride we spent some time in the hot tub then watched the new Indiana Jones - meh. It was pretty good but I didn't think it was nearly as good as the old ones. Following are a couple of pictures I took today when we were out riding.

Looking up the river to the South Waterfront:

Fallen leaves in a park on the ride today:

This week I ran five times; three miles on Monday at a 9:15 pace, seven on Tuesday at a 7:41 pace, seven on Thursday w/ Jen at a 7:49 pace, three on Friday at a 7:45 pace, and 20 on Saturday. Overall I am getting a little muscle sore but nothing is bothering me that bad; I hope I can say that in a couple weeks. After this weekend we have one more 20 miler then we start our taper for the race on December 7th.

Tagged by Marathon Maritza

2008-10-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

10 years ago:

1. I was smoking a pack a day (ah Camel Lights, you will always have a special place in my heart).
2. Running was something I did to get to my car when it was cold outside.
3. I was given my first fake ID and learned that people went out and got wasted on weeknights.
4. I learned just how horrible a hang over can be (I didn't drink that much in high school).
5. I said mean things about road cyclists wearing spandex.

5 Things on tomorrow's to-do list (today is almost over):

1. Dig into some reading I have been putting off at work.
2. Play cards with some co-workers at lunch.
3. Run five miles.
4. See David Sedaris at The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
5. Get my long run stuff ready for Saturday's 20 miler.

5 Things I would do if I was a billionaire:

1. Buy a large piece of land and establish a sanctuary for Big Cats that have been held in captivity and outgrown their space. Not large Tom-cats but Leopards, Mountain Lions, etc.
2. Buy a house in Jackson Hole.
3. Fund athletic and music programs for the local school districts.
4. Travel.
5. Build an adult sized pool of plastic balls like they used to have at McDonalds.

5 Places I have lived:

1. Helena, MT
2. Missoula, MT
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Dublin, CA
5. Portland, OR

5 Jobs I have had:

1. Assistant Manager at Fuddruckers
2. General Ledger Accountant
3. Client Service Associate
4. Investor Relations Analyst
5. Portfolio Finance Analyst

The training is going great - my hamstring isn't bothering me much lately, I think the foam roller and extra stretching is helping out. This weekend will be my first 20 miler of two in this training plan - should be interesting. Hopefully it isn't raining, or if it is hopefully it's not raining too hard.

Picture Post

2008-10-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Training has been going great - legs are getting a bit sore but it's not so much pain as just soreness. My hamstring has been bothering me a bit but I'm hoping that stretching and foam rolling will help it. This weekend Jen and I ran our 18 miler, my longest run yet. We ran along the Old Columbia River Highway which is now closed to cars in some sections. It was a fairly hilly run which led to the usual recipe of me feeling great for the first 10 miles and Jen getting in her groove around mile 11 when I stop talking and start focusing on keeping up. Tomorrow I have a nice short 4 mile recovery run then 7 on Tuesday, 7 on Thursday, 4 on Friday, and 20 on Saturday.

Now that Fall is officially hitting the Portland area I took some pictures from my office and also on our recent runs.

Dirt hill we ran up on our recent long run - we gained approx 600 feet in elevation over 1.25 miles:

Jen and I running along the Old Columbia River Highway:

Hike in Forest Park:

Mount Saint Helens from my office:

Red leaves in Portland:

In other news I've decided, well 85% decided, to aim for the HulaMan Half Ironman as my A race for this coming season. Really nothing is holding me back from saying that I'm 100%, it's just a little strange for me to think about training for a HIM. The plan I picked out is pretty intense but not overwhelming. One thing that will be different from my sprint training is that this plan does not have any bricks - well, it does have some bricks but they are short. I've read quite a bit about bricks and like pretty much everything else in tri it's split 50/50 as to how beneficial they are. The plan has a lot of running, just not any long bricks. I guess all I can do is give it my best and see how I do (and maybe see how many times I can use the word bricks in all my sentences).

Run Like Hell Half Marathon

2008-10-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend Jen and I ran the Run Like Hell Half Marathon in Portland. Last week after looking at the map we drove the course to check out the hills and get an idea of when they would raise their ugly heads in the race. We had been on a portion of the course during one of our training runs and we knew that section would most likely be the toughest part. The first few miles were flat then at about mile 6 the course starts slowly climbing until about mile 9.5. At this point we were to turn onto Terwilliger Blvd for a steep climb of about a mile then the course would turn into rolling downhill to the finish.

A little over a week ago there was a small landslide in Portland and a house slid off of the hillside and onto a residential road. It turns out this road was Terwilliger and the house was essentially blocking the course. When we picked up our packets on Saturday there was a note posted stating that the course had been changed due to the slide and we would now be turning around at the point where we would normally turn onto Terwilliger and heading back to the finish from there. Needless to say this was huge.

Sunday morning the alarm went off at 6am which was very very early. I haven't been up at 6 for two, two and a half months so I didn't realize that it would be so freaking dark and cold. Luckily we had stopped by the Salvation Station earlier that day and picked up a couple of throw-away sweatshirts (which we ended up giving to my parents at the start so they will be making the pilgrimage to CIM in December (the sweatshirts, not the parents)) so we were able to stay fairly warm while waiting for the race to start. We ran about a half mile to warm up then got into the starting chute with everyone else and got ready to run. It was still pretty dark when we started but I decided to wear my sunglasses because I knew if I didn't I would have dry contacts in a matter of minutes.

My strategy was to break the race into two five mile segments followed by a 5k to finish. I wasn't sure if a PR was in the cards due to the hills but I also knew that on my last HM I really didn't train for a running race at all since it was right in the middle of tri season. I wanted to run 7:40's for the first five miles, assess how I felt at the first five mile mark, run the next five miles at the same pace or a bit faster if possible, then push it hard for the last 5k if I had it in me. I knew that it would be in my best interest to run miles 6 to 9.5 at a steady pace but not push too hard due to the incline.

The race started out with a block of uphill followed by a quarter mile of downhill - I kept my pace nice and steady for the downhill and thought I would settle into a stride once we turned the first corner and hit the flat roads. The first mile is always a strange one for me, I don't know if I'm going to fast or too slow so I just tried to get into a comfortable stride and see what my pace was. Mile 1 = 7:35

Ok, not too bad on the first mile. My legs were feeling good and my shin muscle was not bothering me at all. I was starting to settle into a groove and figured the second mile would come in about the same as the first. Mile 2 = 7:16

I told myself to slow it down a bit. 11 miles to go, no need to push it too hard in the beginning of the race and suffer on the incline which was now only four miles away. I came up on a group of four and slowed down a bit to hang with them and relax. It felt like they were going a bit slow but I figured they weren't going that slow and it would do me good to take it down a notch at this point anyway. Mile 3 = 7:47

At this point one of the members of our group started pulling away so I followed suit and fell into step behind him. My shin was starting to feel tight in the most minuscule way, fortunately, my foot was also a bit sore so I just focused on that pain which took my mind off my shin and allowed me to relax. I could tell we had picked up the pace a bit but I was feeling good so I just kept with it. Mile 4 = 7:24

I was in a good groove and was feeling good so I decided to go with it and not try to slow down. At this point I passed the guy that had pulled away from the group but I didn't feel like I had increased my speed at all so I figured he was slowing down. Turns out I was right. Mile 5 = 7:25

Mile five - check. I was feeling good but knew the incline was coming. I figured I might as well keep this pace going for now and see what happens at mile six. I knew I was going to slow a bit but since I was feeling ok I wasn't too worried about it taking too much out of me. The following picture is at around mile 5.5 - at this point I could see the start of the incline but I wasn't going to let it get in my head. Mile 6 = 7:25

Ugh - climbing - slowing. I didn't think of much during this mile other than "get it done and see what your pace is". Mile 7 = 7:49.

Ok, so I had slowed a bit but that was to be expected. I didn't think I was going to speed up on the hills and I was still feeling pretty good. A little way into this mile we passed through a tunnel that was maybe a little over 100 yards long. It was very quite in there, I thought it would be cool to yell out to hear the echo but I wasn't sure if that was appropriate. My next thought was along the lines of "that's stupid, you know everyone is thinking it, just do it", so I did. "Whoo"! I yelled loud and it echoed through the tunnel startling those in front of me. After their initial shock they laughed and we all kept on running back into the daylight. Although the road was still climbing at this point it didn't seem as steep and I felt like I was maybe picking the pace back up a bit. Mile 8 = 7:43.

I knew we would be getting near the turn soon so I decided to have my gel. Mmmmmmmmmmm - Vanilla Bean - tastes just like frosting. A little way into mile nine I saw the sign for mile ten and knew it was out of order. After cursing the sign placers I realized that the sign was most likely in the right place, it was just facing the wrong way which meant the turn around was going to be approaching soon. A few minutes later I saw the sign for mile nine and knew that in a few minutes I would be heading back down the incline towards the finish. Mile 9 = 7:41.

Sure enough, the turn was just around the next corner. I made the turn and sped up a bit; I was feeling relaxed and very glad to be heading downhill. I settled into a groove and waited for the next mile marker before making the final assessment for the last 5k. Mile 10 = 7:20.

Feeling good, time to pick up the pace. I knew I had to keep it under control and not push too hard because even though I was going down I could still push too hard and burn myself out for the last mile. I saw Jen coming up the hill and we ran towards each other for a high-five. I started running a bit faster because I realized that a PR was in the cards but I still knew that I had to run up that quarter mile decline from the start of the race so I wanted to keep something in the tank. Mile 11 = 6:59

Two miles to go, time to pick up the pace again. Back through the tunnel - "Whoo"! I came out of the tunnel and could see the city and I knew I was getting close. I could tell I was running faster than I had been all day but I was feeling good so I stuck with it. Mile 12 = 6:41

That mile was faster than expected but I was still feeling good and only had a little over a mile to go. I knew that barring any catastrophic event I could make a PR. We turned onto the climb to the finish and I pushed hard to the end. My hamstring started hurting and for a moment I thought I might have to stop and stretch it out - fortunately I was able to grit it out and push on. Mile 13 = 6:38

I pushed up the last part of the hill and made the turn to run down the last block to the finish. I crossed the line and stopped my Garmin. Total watch time = 1:36:14; Total Chip Time = 1:36:11; 7:20 AP. I walked over to the chip takers and got my finishers medal; I had beat my old PR by 4:31. I was 10/54 in my AG and 78/1009 OA.

I walked back up the block and found my parents and we all cheered for Jen as she passed. We met up with some friends who came to cheer us on then we grabbed a cup of coffee and walked back over to our neighborhood for breakfast. When we got home we kicked back and relaxed for a while.

Although this guy didn't run he is demonstrating how I spent part of the afternoon.

Overall it was a great race - the weather was nice and cool and it was nice to have my parents and some friends there to cheer us on. It will be interesting to possibly run it next year when the course is back to the original layout with the big hills.

X is no Y

2008-10-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

As I started writing this I thought of the statement "Oregon is no California" to describe the triathlon scene. After typing it I realized how simple statements can be construed in several ways. Depending on who said it and in what context it could be a positive or negative statement. For example, if you were discussing a training ride with someone for the upcoming weekend and they mentioned keeping an eye on the weather due to possible rain you might say "Oregon is no California", meaning that in California it's more than likely that the weather is going to be good and you don't even have to worry about it. However, if you were talking about driving 30 miles to meet up for a training ride and someone mentioned that it takes less than 30minutes to get there because there will be no traffic you might say "Oregon is no California" meaning that in California it's likely that traffic will be an issue. When I wrote "Oregon is no California" referring the the triathlon scene it instantly stood out to me as being "something a Californian would say". I didn't necessarily mean it in any particular way, I was just stating the facts - there are many more races offered throughout the year in California than there are in Oregon.

After looking over the posted races on trifind.com and Slowtwitch I found a few options that are the distance I am looking for and are within a reasonable driving distance. Based on what I said above it would seem like there would only be one or two races on this list but there are actually quite a few. I was hoping to find a May race but the first one I could find was in the middle of June. Actually, I did find a couple in May but they have pool swims and I just can't get on board with those. Once I read through the races and checked their locations on the map I came up with a list that has one event in June (Sprint or Oly), two in July (Sprint or Oly), three in August (HIM and two Sprint/Oly options), and four in September (HIM, and four Sprint/Oly options). The spacing of these events really only allows for one in June, one in July, two in August, and two in September.

Now that I had my races picked out I started to think about what I wanted to do with this basket of options. Do I focus on sprints? Should I do a couple of sprints and an olympic or two? How about a sprint in June, an olympic in July, and the HIM in August? What if I focused on shorter races in the first part of the year and ended the season with the HIM in September? Last but not least; isn't it a bit early in the year to be thinking about this? I discussed the options with Jen since she is planning on another summer of triathlon and I wanted to get her opinion since she did a HIM last year and is most likely going to do another one this year. She echoed my statement about it being a bit early in the year to really make a decision but she did make a very valid point when she said I should see what I think after running the marathon and then decide. See, up until now I have always been a fan of short events. I like to go hard and be done as quickly as possible. Of course this begs the question "why not apply that same principle to a longer event"? It's not like people that are racing long events are out there taking their sweet time. They train hard to race hard, it's just that they train a lot more and race a lot further than I have in the past.

For now I'm just going to focus on the marathon and after that I'll focus on skiing for a while, which is something I am very excited about. It used to be a three hour drive to ski if there was no traffic, now it should take just over an hour - of course, that's because "Oregon is no California".

Still Running Strong

2008-10-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I've done two long runs - 16 miles and 17 miles - average pace on the 16er was 8:38 and 8:37 for the 17er.

So That's What She Was Talking About

So in the past Jen would talk about how you hit a point in your marathon training when you will feel tired at the strangest time during a run. Lately I have been feeling a bit tired when starting runs but after a mile or so I get in a groove and feel ok. This weekend I hit a point on mile 11 of the 17 mile run where I just felt tired and wished I could stop and be done. I pulled it together and a couple miles later I felt a bit better but it was the strangest thing. The run wasn't really all that hilly or hard but for some reason I was just burned out. Of course Jen was hitting her stride at that point and was bouncing along like "la dee dah" - if she hadn't been there to pull me along in that stretch it would have been much more challenging for me. It really is nice having someone to push and pull me along on these longer runs; and it really helps that she has done this before and can really relate to the things I notice on these longer runs.

The Foot/Heel is Better - Now it's the Ankle and Front Calf Muscle

My right heel really isn't bothering me much anymore but on the last couple of runs my front calf muscle has been tightening up like it used to. Finally today it got to the point where I had to stop and stretch it out for a moment before starting up again. It's a bit frustrating with the HM coming up this weekend - I had hoped to go for a fast time but I might just settle for running it at marathon race pace and making sure I don't injure myself. It is the strangest thing - I have two bumps on the muscle on the outside front of my leg next to the shin bone - right leg - pretty much right here:

Hopefully some ice-bucketing and foam rolling will help solve the problem. Tomorrow I was supposed to run again but I think I will ride my bike on the trainer instead.

First Portland Guests
My parents are coming over from Montana this weekend to stay with us and watch us run the HM. We're looking forward to seeing them and showing them around town. My Mom lived here for a while (I was born in Portland) so I am looking forward to seeing what she thinks of our neighborhood. When she lived here it was just vacant lots and warehouses.

Longest Run

2008-09-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-20T16:42:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

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

In Between Phase

2008-08-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Now that I've wrapped up my tri training for the season I'm sort of in that in between phase where I don't really have anything specific to work out for so my motivation is at a low point. I am starting to ramp my running back up in preparation for my marathon training which officially starts in mid-September, but after two-a-day tri workouts running once a day doesn't seem like a "workout". I'm sure that once I'm running 18 mile long runs I'll be singing a different tune and will miss the days of a 14 mile bike ride in the morning and 3,000 yard mid-day swim.

Last week I was on a six mile run and at about mile four I was nailed by a painful side cramp - it wasn't really a traditional side ache but more of a muscle issue. It got so bad that I had to walk quite a bit and then ended up cutting my run short by 3/4 of a mile. Since we were in San Diego for the weekend I didn't do any running on Fri, Sat, or Sun but did go Monday morning before work. Once again my side cramped up at around mile three so I stopped and walked a bit; it wasn't as bad as the previous cramp but it still hurt. This morning I ran six miles and started feeling it come on around mile four - I pushed in on the muscle and massaged it as I ran; it never got bad enough to stop so I'm hoping that next run it won't bother me at all. Today in the pool I got a side ache in the same area as the cramps but I couldn't tell if it was a true side cramp or the issue that has been bothering me while running.

Friday is my last day of work then next week we pack up and head out for Portland. I'm looking forward to the move but there are definitely some things I will miss about California. I'll keep up on the running throughout the move and am planning on finding a pool once I'm up there for Jen and I to swim at. We'll also try to get in some rides before the days get too short (and rainy!) in Oregon. I suppose I'll be getting quite a bit of use out of my trainer this winter (gotta get my legs in shape for skiing after their six year hiatus in CA).

Santa Cruz Sprint Race Report

2008-08-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I was up at 4:45 and had a piece of toast with peanut butter and jelly along with a small glass of chocolate milk. I had put everything together the night before so I just grabbed my bags and bike and was out the door at 5:05. I arrived in Santa Cruz at 6:20 and was checked in and setting up my transition by 6:35; I was able to set up on the outside end of a rack right in the middle of the run in, bike out, run back out exits. After eating a Power Bar and hitting up the port-o-john I put on my wetsuit and make the quarter mile walk down to the beach – yeah, that’s right, quarter mile walk. When I was crossing the last street before the beach I looked to my left and saw Jen coming across the street with a coffee which I am holding in this picture:

I headed down to the water and zipped up, put my goggles and cap on, and jumped in the water for a quick warm up swim – holy crap was that water cold. My forehead went numb after a couple minutes so I got out of the water for the pre-race meeting. After five minutes of trying to hear what was being said the meeting was over and I was walking back down to the beach to get back in the water; suddenly I heard a countdown and then people were shouting go, go, go. I ran into the water with five or six other guys and started swimming. As I rounded the first buoy I got stuck in a bit of a jam because there was someone that must have gone out too fast and was now clinging to the buoy for dear life. I navigated my way around him and a couple other guys and swam on. A few moments later I looked up to sight and noticed that I was on the outside of the pack 6-10 feet away from the nearest swimmer. This was the only time in the swim I thought about sharks and within four strokes I was back in the pack with a safety in numbers mentality. After rounding the second buoy I tried to pick up the pace a bit and pushed for shore – I believe I was in sixth place in my AG after the swim – total swim time 12:05, including the .25 mile run up to transition, so my swim was most likely around 9:30.

This isn't me in the following picture but it gives an idea of what we had to run on from the beach to transition - my feet are still a bit sore today:

T1 was pretty smooth - I pulled on my socks, shoes, helmet, and sunglasses then grabbed my bike and ran to the mount line - T1 1:28.

The bike ride was pretty much flat for the first three miles of the loop then curvy with a very slight incline for the second three miles – we did this twice. I was passed by three guys on tri bikes and passed three guys myself. After the first couple miles the moisture from the fog started building up on my sunglasses making it difficult to see very well. I tried riding with them pulled down on my nose but then my contacts started drying out. Finally I pushed them back over my eyes and settled for running my finger over the lenses every few minutes to clear away the moisture buildup which actually worked pretty well. On the flat part of the ride I was averaging around 22/23 mph but on the curvy/incline section I was averaging around 18//19 mph for an overall average of 20.5 for the 12 mile ride. Total bike time 33:38. Here I am coming to the dismount line – it came up very quickly and we were flying downhill on a wet slippery road so I was only able to get one foot out of my shoe – I just clicked out of the left pedal and ran into transition with one shoe on:

I ran my bike into T2, pulled off my one shoe, took off my helmet, threw on my shoes, grabbed my hat and race belt and hit the road – total T2, 0:47.

The beginning of the run was a small uphill then it was basically a flat out and back. I kept a strong pace and passed two guys within the first mile. A few minutes later I was passed by one person but he was 50 so I didn’t stress on AG competition. A little bit later I saw the leaders coming back from the turn around and of course they all looked like they were 25-29. I hit the turn around and picked up the pace a little bit but didn’t want to push too hard and die out at the end. Once I reached the downhill before the finish I took a glance over my shoulder and saw one guy coming up on me. I pushed hard but he passed me near the end and I couldn’t catch back up. So this is the point in our story where we run into a bit of a snag – since I crossed the finish line basically right after the guy who passed me the timing equipment didn’t pick me up and I didn’t get a run time. Luckily I talked to the guy who passed me right after the race and Jen had a picture of us together so I have his race number and name. I talked to the race director and she is going to check the system manually to find me at the checkpoint before the finish, or something like that, and update the results. UPDATE - race director contacted me and let me know that she found me and my overall time was 1:09:05 which put me 3rd in my AG and 21st overall. Turns out the guy who was third in my group was actually in another AG so that moved me into third and she will be sending my award! I was under the impression that my total time was 1:09:41 but even if that was the case I would still be third in my AG so it's a time issue, not a place issue which is a bit of a relief for me.

Total time: 1:09:05 - 3rd in AG, 21st Overall, 19th Overall Male

Overall Male Results

Another Month in the Books

2008-08-06T14:25:00.001-07:00

July totals:

Swim: 42,500 yards
Bike: 331.5 miles
Run: 49.35

Clearly I have not been running all that much this month even with a half marathon thrown into the mix, but whatever. I have on the other hand been swimming quite a bit and I am eager to see how it impacts my swim this weekend at the Santa Cruz Sprint. The highlight of the month was my new PR at the Jungle Run Half Marathon on July 13th - 1:40:42.

This week I've been taking it easy due to the pending race but I've still managed to get in a brick w/ a fast run on Sunday (3mi, 6:53 average), a fast run Monday evening (4mi, 7:12 average, last mile 6:15), a swim yesterday, and an easy 14mi ride this morning.

The race this weekend is a 650m (approx) swim, a 12 mile bike, and a 5k. I haven't thought too much about my goals but I think the course is fairly flat so I hope to have a pretty fast bike and run. The swim is always up in the air for me but if the distance is around 650m (they say it's variable due to the current, tide, etc) I would be happy with a time around 11 minutes. I would like to average around 19/20 mph on the bike and have an average pace in the low 7's for the run.

A Tale of Two Zachs

2008-07-27T15:24:00.001-07:00

Well it's official - Jen and I are moving to Portland at the end of August. We've been talking about moving for a couple years now but it's always been "in May" and when May rolls around we have a variety of reasons for sticking it out for another year, mainly the races we have coming up in the summer. When Jen was laid off a few weeks ago it got me thinking that this might be a good chance to take the plunge and move away from the Bay Area. We had been talking about moving to Boulder or to San Diego but when we thought about it neither of those really seemed to jump out at us. Boulder is getting expensive, it's a pretty small town, and we don't know anyone. San Diego is great for tri training, weather, and my Dad and Step-Mom live there; however, it's just as expensive as the Bay Area, there are tons of people, and really it's pretty much the same as living where we do now. A few weeks ago Jen went up to Portland to visit her best friend Deana and she mentioned that she thought Portland was cool. I was born there and have always liked it - the skiing is much closer than it is here (1 hour vs. 3.5 hours), it is a bike friendly city, it is a fit city, and the tri scene is just starting to develop which might offer some opportunities to get involved more than I have here. So when Jen lost her job I said "let's move" and here we are. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous, change is always a bit hard for me - I take a day or ten to get used to a new chair at work so a move like this is a big thing. This takes us to the story of the two Zachs:

Conservative Zach is worried that this move is going to be tough financially - he's known for saying things like "I need to get a job right away even if it's something I don't like" and "How are we going to afford to do X" and "I don't know if I can give up my current lifestyle". Conservative Zach is prone to keeping the status quo because that's the easiest thing to do. Living in California has been good for conservative Zach - he has a job that is a means to an end, aka pays well and lets him do things he wants to, he has his running and cycling routes, a masters team he enjoys swimming with, and a couple buddies he enjoys hanging out with from time to time. Conservative Zach knows that the move is going to happen but he can't help but look at everything in a worse case scenario view - what if the apartment in CA doesn't rent out right away and we have to pay for an extra month, what if we have to move into a smaller apartment and it isn't as nice as our current one, what if, what if, what if.

Fuck it, let's roll the dice Zach thinks things will work out and we might as well have fun while we can. He says things like "It would be cool to have a couple chill jobs that pay the bills but still let me do the things I want to do - aka ski, triathlon, backpack, and just enjoy life". He doesn't worry about things cause what the fuck is the point - we're young, don't have kids or a mortgage, and we can scrimp by for a few months if we need to. He is fond of saying "when you are lying on your deathbed you aren't going to look back and think - man I wish I had more money - NO! you're going to think, man I lived such an awesome life and did some awesome shit!" This Zach knows that if he follows his heart things will work out in the end. He knows he is responsible and when the time comes he will be sure he provides for his wife and kid(s) but right now is the time to enjoy life, not to live like some old fuddyduddy and not have any fun.

As we get closer to the move these two Zachs are finding some common ground - they are looking for jobs that are interesting and will pay pretty well. Accounting/Finance jobs are out for now - Investment management jobs are in. They know that if they have to get a job they can work in a bakery or at a bike shop but if they have to be somewhere everyday it might as well be something that pays well and offers the opportunity to move up. Conservative Zach learned something from FILRTD Zach and that was that they both like jobs that award ambition. They don't like working in an office that doesn't give a shit how hard you work and just thinks you are there to fill a cube. They want a job that is fulfilling and rewarding and conducive to ambition. They both agree that being able to drive an hour to ski is pretty awesome and that having numerous opportunities to backpack is pretty sweet as well. Both Zach's are excited about the emerging tri community in Portland and they are looking forward to being involved in it - maybe they will end up putting a race together in the next couple of years, who knows?

Four and a half weeks left in California, after that it's new running routes, new cycling routes, new swimming places, new everything - I'll end this post with some pictures.

More Swimming, Less Running

2008-07-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to play last week by feeling since my knee acted up during the HM. What that ended up meaning was that I did 0 running but swam 9,550 yards, about 2,550 more than I had planned on swimming. I manged to get in two short rides (14mi each) which wasn't too bad considering I took three days completely off.

So far this week I've ran four miles and rode 14 - I was planning on swimming yesterday but had some meetings at work and was not able to make it. I'm planning on going today, tomorrow, and Thursday, and possibly swimming a 1 mile OWS on Saturday.

For some reason I feel like I've fallen out of the workout groove the last couple of weeks. I'm not really sure why but for some reason I've just felt like taking it easy - I guess you've just got to go with the flow and not push yourself too hard.

Jen is heading out of town this weekend so I'm solo for the workouts. That actually works out well since I was planning on doing a brick on Sunday and the swim on Saturday. Since she is in her taper for the HIM she wouldn't go with me anyway. This will also give me some time to kick back with a book and a cigar and maybe go check out The Dark Knight or Hellboy II - or maybe both.

Jungle Run Pics

2008-07-18T09:15:00.001-07:00

Jen out on the course:

Co-worker Tim at the half-way mark:

Jungle Run Race Report

2008-07-14T15:26:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning I was up at 5:05am to eat a quick bite, get dressed, and head down to Los Gatos for the Jungle Run. Jen was doing this event as a training run but I was shooting for a PR. More importantly, I had convinced a co-worker to train for and run the race and from the sounds of it he was going to be running a pretty fast pace. I knew that if I wasn’t able to beat him I would be hearing about it at the office for a few days so that was in the back of my mind leading up to race day. I “trained” for the event but with my tri training going on at the same time I knew I hadn’t done quite as much running as I would have with a run focused plan.

We arrived at the start around 6:15 (7:00am start time) so I had some time to walk around, hit up the port-o-john, and find Tim my co-worker. Jen, Tim, and I stood around for a while talking then headed over to the start and lined up. It wasn’t a huge race so there were no pace signs for people to line up at. We got in the middle of the pack and wished each other good luck before the gun went off and we headed out on the course.

The first quarter mile has a steep hill that was full of people due to it being so close to the start. This was probably a good thing since it forced me to keep a slow steady jog while we ascended. After a couple hundred feet the hill leveled out and the crowds started parting so I was able to settle into a comfortable pace. My first mile came in at 8:31 then fell to around 7:45 for the next two miles. At mile four I noticed I had picked up to a 7:36 so I made an effort to slow it down a bit then pick up the pace again around mile six. At mile five I saw that I had slowed to a 7:54 and right about that time I was passed by my co-worker Tim. I fell in-step behind him, ditched the water bottle I had been carrying, and paced him for the next mile. At the six mile mark I ate a Gu (Vanilla Bean), took a drink of water, and kicked it up a bit to pass Tim.

For the next few miles I averaged in the low 7:40’s and thought that once I was at mile 10 or 11 I would try to pick up the pace a bit. Turns out that at mile 10 the trail follows a slow steady incline for the next mile and a half so I just maintained my pace until the turn around to head back down the incline. Once I hit the turn around my knee really started bothering me. Every time I put weight on it a pain would shoot through my leg; I really thought I was going to have to stop. Right about this point I saw Tim heading up the trail towards the turn around and that gave me the push I needed to keep going. I did stop once to rub my knee (probably about 10 seconds) then I took off for the finish line.

The finish was on the high school track so we ran into the stadium for one loop around the track to the finish line. I passed a couple of people in this last stretch then hit the finish line. My previous HM PR was 1:47:27 – my time at the Jungle Run: 1:40:42, a new PR!!! AP for the race was 7:41.

1:40:42 – 7:41AP – 12th of 67 in AG – 79th of 757 OA

Jungle Run Here I Come

2008-07-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

The Jungle Run HM is this Sunday; seems like I just started training for it a couple weeks ago. I've missed a couple short runs here and there but I think my cycling has made up for the misses as far as leg strength goes. I started thinking about my goals for the race last night and based on what I have run in training they seem reasonable - granted anything can happen on race day but at least I don't have to worry about getting a flat tire :)

A Goal: 1:45:00
B Goal: sub 1:47:00
C Goal: sub 1:50:00

Perfect day, perfect conditions, perfect everything dream goal: Sub 1:40:00

I'm planning on going out strong but steady for the first four miles then picking it up for the next five miles and racing the last four. Jen is running it with me so I know starting with her will help since she has much better pace control than I do.

Now that Jen isn't working and is more confident on the bike she has been doing some of her HIM training on her own which has freed me up to focus on the August 10th Sprint in Santa Cruz. I feel like I've been slacking a bit on my training and eating so this week I'm focused on completing all my workouts and eating right. Yesterday I took a long lunch and went to masters with Jen which was great - it's nice to be out in the sun for a while and to get a workout in at the same time. Best of all I can shower right after and get back to the office.

We skipped the 5k on fourth of July and went to masters instead - neither of us was feeling the race that day and why pay the $$ if you aren't in the mood to run hard. That evening we went to a party with some masters folks (one of our coaches was hosting it and it was her birthday) and had a great time. We walked over to the park at dark and watched the fireworks then headed back to her house for some more drinking and then more drinking. She gave us a wine and scotch "clinic" which was cool - I've never been a big scotch fan but some of them were pretty good.

So far this week I have ran six miles, swam two miles, and rode 25 miles. Tonight I think I will just lift some weights at home since I don't have anything else on the schedule. The rest of the week looks like this:

Wed: Run 6mi in am - 4mi Tempo; swim masters at lunch
Thurs: Ride 25mi in am; swim masters at lunch
Fri: Run 4mi easy in am (optional); OWS after work
Sat: off or possible masters in am
Sun: Jungle Run

Smoke, What Smoke?

2008-06-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, That Smoke

So it's been a bit hazy here in the Bay Area for the past week due to the fires in Northern California. Of course the warnings are out about the health consequences of exercising with the smoke in the air, but come one, can it really be that bad? I mean I used to smoke close to a pack a day (maybe two packs on bar nights) when I was in college (ahhhhhh Camel Lights, I miss you so); can this smoke really be as bad as that? I don't really know the answer but I tell myself no because I'm going to be out running or biking in it anyway.

The only thing that I really missed this week was one day of Masters; instead of swimming I did a home lift which of course is not as good as swimming but at least I did something.

Monday - Ran 6 miles w/ 4 at tempo (tempo averaged around 7:15ish)
Tuesday - Rode 14 miles in the morning w/ Jen, swam 2,600 yards at Masters after work
Wednesday - Ran 8 miles in the morning, AP 8:13
Thursday - Rode 30 miles after work with Jen
Friday - Ran 4 miles in the morning, AP 8:00

Tomorrow I have my last long run before The Jungle Run which is on the 13th. Next Friday I'm planning on running a 5k then heading to some BBQ's for some drinking and eating.

Less Heat, More Smoke

2008-06-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well the temperature has cooled down into the 80's but the smoke from the nearby fires has steadily increased since Sunday. The sky is hazy and you can really smell it in the air but it's not that bad.

Weekly totals for last week:

Swim: 5,700 yards
Bike: 91 miles
Run: 26.5 miles

Last Thursday evening I had eight miles on the schedule but when I got off work it was close to 100 and I was really tired so I took a nap on the couch and just spent the evening relaxing. The next morning I got up and ran five easy miles to make up for what I had missed the night before. Luckily I didn't have anything on the schedule for that evening since it was 103 when I got off work. I spent the evening relaxing, watching The Rundown, and eating some pasta and garlic toast.

Saturday morning I knew I should plan on getting up at 6:00 and heading out for my run; instead I slept in till around 7:30 and hit the trail a little after 8:00. When I started the temp was in the mid 70's. The first 4.5 miles I was keeping my pace around 8:10/8:15 and was feeling good. I decided to do a loop that includes a large hill because I was tired of the same ole out and back route. While approaching the hill I noticed that the cross walk indicator was about to go to red and the light would be changing so I picked up the pace and dashed across the street. The hill starts right after the crossing so like an idiot I kept up the increased pace and pushed hard up the hill - yeah, that didn't work out so well. I did learn a lesson about pushing hard in places where I should be conservative even if I feel like I have an energy store because chances are I will need that energy later on in the run. I stopped at the top of the hill and had a drink and my first ever Gu (I usually have Clif Blox); I have to say it was pretty darn good. Tasted just like vanilla frosting. About a mile after having the Gu I started getting a side ache but I can't say if that was from drinking too much water during my break, pushing hard on the hill, or because I was heating up. The next six miles of the run are shadeless and I could tell that the air temp was heating up fairly quickly. I looked at my Garmin and knew I was going to come in over the 10 miles that were on my schedule so I tried to slow down a bit and take it easy. In the last three miles I took a few breaks and finished my water. I thought about taking a diversion to a park to refill my bottle but I was really starting to feel burned out so I decided to stop at 11 miles, buy a bottle of Gatorade, and walk the remaining half mile back to the house. When I got home I checked the temp and it was 95; by 12:30 it was 105. I spent the afternoon napping in the air conditioning and watching TV.

Sunday morning I woke up rested (thanks to the eight hours of sleep that night and the four hours of napping I did Saturday afternoon) and headed out for a group ride on a new route. The ride was supposed to be 47 miles so I figured I would get around 51/52 by riding to the meeting spot. We headed out a few minutes after 9:00 for what turned out to be a great ride. The forecasted high that day was 88 and it felt wonderful compared to the previous days. The ride had some long steady climbs which led to some really great views of the surrounding area. We got out onto some winding roads which are primarily used by locals and motorcyclists so the traffic was very minimal and the road condition was pretty good. The last 20 miles of the ride I pushed really hard because I needed to pick Jen up at the BART station a little after 12:00. I'm not sure what my average pace was for those miles, or the ride in general, because my computer died about five miles into the ride. I checked the route out on Google so I could remember the turns and plan on taking Jen on it sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Train on you Crazy Trainers

2008-06-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't been very good about posting my weekly totals or really any workout specifics at all lately but what can you do? ("There's nothing you can do" - "Yeah, that's what I said" - Tony Soprano circa 2007).

This weekend Jen and I ran 12 miles on Saturday in the early summer heat; by the end we were both hot, tired, and ready for some breakfast. Sunday we rode 40 miles with the group and got in some good climbing. We rode up to Lake Del Valle which has a climb of approx 3 miles going up and 2 miles coming back. On the climb up I stood up out of the saddle at the bottom for a bit then decided to see how far I could go before sitting down. Once I approached the half way point I started to think I could get close to the top; at the 3/4 mark I knew I could make it. Sure enough, I climbed the entire time out of my saddle and was able to pass everyone but one guy in our group. The downhill after the climb was sweet - I hit 40.8 mph.

So today I decided to lay out my schedule for the Santa Cruz Sprint which is coming up in early August. I'm currently in a unique situation with my training because I'm helping Jen train for her HIM which is coming up on August 2nd while at the same time training for a sprint tri and a HM. Really I am just ramping up my running for the weeks prior to the HM but still doing quite a bit of riding and running. My volume never gets too bad but after the HM (July 13th) my riding volume increases quite a bit because I will be doing some faster rides solo in the morning then some longer rides in the evenings with Jen. I really need to be sure I keep up on my sleep and most importantly my nutrition during those weeks where two a day workouts are the standard.

I've considered picking up some tri shoes (leaning towards Sidi T2) for my next two races but lately I have been practicing getting out of my Nike shoes as I ride to my apartment and that has been working pretty well. The straps open to the inside so that's a bit annoying but really I only need the shoes for two more races this year and I really don't want to spend the $$ to get them at this point. One benefit from getting them would be that I could have them on my bike in T1 so I can just jump right on and get my feet in the shoes as I head out for my ride. On the flip side, that might only save me like 20 seconds and it's also just one more thing I would have to practice.

Coach

2008-06-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Last night at Masters I heard something that made me reminisce; the high school water polo team was practicing and the coach yelled "Swim it up Johnson, come on", or something to that effect. It made me think back to my track and basketball days in high school and make some comparisons to when I coached 3rd and 4th grade boys soccer and basketball in college and our Masters coaches.

High School Coaches

Every high school athlete, good or bad, has experienced the verbal abuse dished out by a coach at some point. Often, the better you are the louder they yell. "Show some effort", "What the hell do you call that", "Move your feet", and "Get your ass in gear" are all popular sayings for these coaches. I can still see my pole vault coach ripping his hat off his head, throwing on the ground, point and me, and saying "What kind of shit was that?!?" "Have you considered trying?!?". Ahhhhhhhh - nothing like a little verbal abuse to help get my ass in gear. At the time it pissed me off and I had a few choice words to yell back, which of course led to me running laps for the remainder of practice (this was when I hated running so it was pure hell). Looking back I realize that it actually was quite motivating and when I did have a successful jump my coach was the first one to pat me on the back and tell me what a great job I had done.

Coaching Youngsters, aka YMCA Coach

Ah, these were the days. "Hey, great job", "We'll get em next time", "Great effort", and "That's ok, try it again", are popular sayings with these coaches. This is the time for development and having fun. Sure learning some skills helps, but believe me, getting kids to do drills when they would rather scrimmage, or play tag, or do anything other than drills is impossible. Everyone gets to play equal time, everybody is a winner, and everyone (for the most part) has fun.

Coaching Adults, aka Masters Coach

Masters coaches are great. This is the time in life when you know you want to be there so you try your best and don't get yelled at. All you need to get motivated is a friendly "come on guys, let's go". You realize that you will only get better through training/practice and that's why you are there. The socialization with fellow swimmers is great, it's a good workout, and it's enjoyable. I guess it's sort of like college, you are paying for it but don't really have to be there so you only go if you want to. Our coaches are good in that they nag you just enough when you miss a couple of swims so that you make sure to show up at the next practice.

The Tri or Running Coach

I've never had a tri or running coach (other than Jen) so I can't offer any insight on this subject. I have to assume that a good coach would have an excellent balance of motivational "yelling", great encouragement, and good advice. I imagine the fact that these people do this for a living, and since there is not a lot of people chomping at the bit to get on the team like in high school, these coaches are pretty good people that can help you achieve your goals.

Finally, Are You Your Own Best Coach

Really, what it all comes down to is, are you your own best coach? Can you take the advice given to you and work on it? Can you get up at 5:15am to ride 25 or 30 miles before work? Then after work can you go swim 3,000 yards? Will you get up the next morning for your six mile tempo run? "It's cold", "I'm tired", "I'll go tomorrow" - can you tell yourself to shut the hell up and get out of bed? I can be my own best coach but I'll admit that I can, and often am, my own worst enemy. Having a wife that shares my interests and trains hard is a huge help, but in the end the choice to work out or not is up to me.

I guess the best way to sum it up is that what works best for me is yelling at myself in my head like a high school coach, listening to the advice given to me by those that are better than me at X discipline and putting it to use, encouraging myself in success and failure, and remembering to have fun.

Showdown at Sundown Race Report

2008-06-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Race day we headed out from our house for the drive up to San Pablo Bay around 12:30; transition was opening at 1:15 and we wanted to get there in time to pick a good spot, get set up, and relax for a bit before the race. Once we arrived we walked over to check in before unloading our bikes and gear. There weren’t too many people up there yet so we didn’t have to wait in line to check in which was great. After picking up our numbers (74 me, 225 Jen) we walked back to the car to grab our stuff then headed over to transition to set up.

The racks were assigned by bib number, I was the first person to my rack and there was only one other girl on Jen’s rack. My rack was right by the bike in and out and was a straight shot from the run in from the swim and run out from T2. I picked the end spot so I would have a little protected area to set up my transition items. We stood around and talked to a couple other folks in the transition area then we found a spot in the shade and hung out with Jen’s Mom who was down visiting from Montana.

After hanging around for a couple of hours it was time for the pre-race meeting where the course was reviewed and the rules discussed. One important item of note was brought up in the meeting – the extremely steep hill that was about 20 yards after the mount line. Jen and I had walked up it earlier to check it out and we both had our bikes in the easiest gear in anticipation of the hill. The dismount line was at the top of this hill to avoid people flying down the hill into a sharp curve. We discussed our options on this and decided it would be best to take our shoes off at the dismount line and run down the hill barefoot instead of in our bike shoes which wouldn’t offer much traction.

Once the meeting was complete it was time to get the wetsuit on and get out in the water for a warm-up swim. We had about 20 minutes until the first wave started which was perfect. The team competitors were starting first followed by all the men then all the women. We both swam about 200y as a warm up just cruising along by the shore then it was time to get out and get ready.

The Swim
I stood on the beach with my heart pounding in anticipation of our start and I took a few deep breaths to relax. I glanced off to the side and saw Jen who gave me a big smile and a wave which made me smile and relax a bit more. I had positioned myself near the front and to the left side of the pack; since this was going to be a short swim I knew I would be going pretty hard and didn’t want to get caught up in the washing machine in the middle. There were 112 other men starting at the same time as me and I figured it would be better to go out strong and get passed instead of having to fight my way through a bunch of people. The countdown began, the horn sounded, and we charged out into the water to the sounds of applause and cheers from those in the back of the pack and all the ladies on the beach. I ran out a few paces then saw an opening in the water so I took my chance and dove in and started swimming. The first few yards were like any other starts, head out of the water for a few strokes, head in the water for a few strokes. By the time we had gone about 30 yards the pack had started to thin with the fastest taking the lead and the rest of the lead pack stretching behind them. I noticed a lot of other swimmers out 10-15 yards from the buoys but I was holding a nice tight line which allowed me to pick off some swimmers once we started heading back towards shore (the course was a half moon). I was able to get onto a pair of feet and draft for a large part of the second half of the swim which was great. Not only did it make the swim a bit easier but this guy was also going in a straight line so I didn’t have to sight quite as often as I did in the first half. Once we rounded the second to last buoy I started kicking hard and passed my draftee and a few other folks that were ahead of me. I swam right up to the shore until I was clawing at the sand then I stood up and ran up the beach to T1. Swim time plus short run to T1 – 5:52.

I was pretty discombobulated coming out of the water and running hard up the beach didn’t help much. Luckily for me I had spent some time visualizing my transitions so I knew what I needed to do without having to think about it. I had my wetsuit off and biking gear on and was out of T1 in 1:41.

The Bike
They weren’t kidding about that hill – it was tough. Even after the talking about it during transition set up and the warning from the race staff in the pre-race meeting, some people still were geared too high and were having trouble with the hill. Luckily no one fell over in front of me but I did have to swerve around one guy who was struggling and near to tipping over. After the really steep part there was still a bit more of a climb and there were a couple of people that decided they would run their bikes up the steep part then mount on the not so steep part; turns out that wasn’t such a good idea after all. As I passed by I heard them saying “I need to get further up the hill before I can get on”. Mounting on a slope is tough enough, doing it after a hard swim and a run up a steep hill is nearly impossible. The course followed the side of the park entrance then turned onto the road and headed out along the beach. There was another short climb right away followed by a nice downhill stretch with a few flat sections thrown in. As I was flying down the road thinking “this is great” I suddenly remembered “oh shit, this is an out and back” and knew there would be some climbing in the last couple of miles. For the most part the course was rolling hills with short flat sections in between; the hills weren’t as steep as they were at NAPA but they were steep enough and frequent enough to keep me from really catching my breath for the first three or four miles. After I was able to get a couple drinks and settle into a rhythm I caught my breath and focused on picking off a couple of riders in front of me. I passed five people on the bike and was passed by three people. There was one rider who would pass me on the flats only to have my pass him on the climbs; this was nice though because it gave me a goal to work towards on the climbs and then again on the flats as I would try to keep him behind me for as long as possible. He passed me on the final descent back into the park area but I blew by him in T2 and didn’t see him again until about a mile into the run. On the final stretch before the dismount line I got my left foot out of my shoe then I clicked my right foot out at the line and quickly pulled my shoe off. I held that shoe in my hand and ran my bike down the steep hill back into transition. Several people in front of me didn’t take their shoes off and they were doing all they could not to slip and fall as they tried to run down the hill. Bike time – 30:21.

I ran my bike into transition, racked it, pulled my shoes on (quick laces are freakin sweet), took my helmet off, grabbed my hat and race belt, and ran to the exit. T2 - :59.

The Run
The run started the same way as the bike did, with a steep climb up some stairs and a dirt trail. I reached the top with my heart pounding and I was breathing hard but was able to relax a bit and get in a groove on the slight downhill on the way out of the park. The run course turned onto the same road as the bike leg had but it went to the left instead of the right. I was holding a good pace and could hear a couple people behind me for the first mile or so then I heard someone making a move behind me; guess who it was? That’s right, the guy from the bike leg. I recognized his outfit and finally got a good look at him – he was about my age so I picked up the pace a bit to stay a few feet behind him. On the final mile I noticed that either I was picking up the pace or he was slowing down a bit; as we made the turn back into the park he waved me by saying “it’s all you” or something like that. I pushed past him and headed up the final hill into the park which took all I had left in the tank. Near the top I started to feel like I was going to puke so I took some deep breaths and told myself that I was almost to the top and that it was all downhill from there. Right as I hit the top of the hill I could hear the announcer saying that the first place in my age group had just crossed the line. I didn’t know if anyone else in my AG was ahead of me but I knew that there was a good chance the guy I had just passed could be so I pushed the pace down the hill to stay ahead of him. At the bottom of the hill I glanced behind me and saw that I was a good 400 yards ahead of him at this point. The finish line loomed ahead of me and the final surge of adrenaline hit as I pushed hard to the end. Run time – 21:56.

Total Time: 1:00:46

I stopped at the end and congratulated the guy behind me. He said he just hit the wall and couldn’t go any harder when he waved me by. We talked for a few minutes then I went to stretch and watch for Jen. She came in a few minutes later and I cheered her on and told her push it and pass the guy in front of her, she did - (Sorry Robert Avery). I knew there was a chance I had placed in my AG so we hung around until the results were posted. Turns out I was 3rd in my AG and 15th OA. Jen also kicked ass and was 5th in her AG. The awards were three deep in 10 year age groups; the award was a bottle of wine in a cool customized box. Since I don’t drink wine I got the box as a prize and Jen got the wine. Final note – the guy who waved me by was named Jeff and he was in my AG.

3rd of 17 M 20-29
15th of 211 Overall

Bib...Name.......City,State.....Age...Gen....Finish.......AG...FO
74..Zach Barnes..Dublin,CA...29.....M.....01:00:46....3....15

Showdown This Weekend

2008-06-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the Showdown at Sundown up in San Pablo Bay. I'm looking forward to the race but will once again be a bit nervous about swimming in the ocean. The swim is a short 1/4 mile followed by a nine mile ride and a three mile run. The race starts at 5pm and the weather is supposed to be in the 80's - it will be different to start in the warm part of the day instead of the cool crisp morning.

Even with working late a couple nights this week I've been able to get in a good workout every day:

Monday - Swam 3,100y at Masters in pm
Tuesday - Ran 6 miles in am - 47:06 - 7:51 AP
Wednesday - Rode 14 miles in the am - 17.5 mph avg
Thursday - Ran 6 miles in am - 46:00 - 7:40 AP == Swam 3,100y at Masters in pm
Friday - I might go for a short run this evening to try out these elastic laces in my shoes to make sure they will work for the tri this weekend. I hope they workout because tying shoes in T2 sucks.

I really haven't thought too much about goals for the race this weekend but I do have an idea of what I will be shooting for. Of course my overall goal is to have fun and not get a flat on the bike leg.

A Goal: 6:00 swim; 19mph avg on bike; 20:00 run
B Goal: 7:00 swim; 18mph avg on bike; 20:30 run
C Goal: 7:30 swim; 17mph avg on bike; 21:00 run

I'm not really sure what the bike course will be like but I think it is small rolling hills. Hopefully I can get into a good groove but that just depends on how "rolling" the hills actually are. No matter what I'm sure it will be a fun race and I am looking forward to it. This will also be Jen's first race of the year and her Mom will be in town to watch and cheer us on as well.

Big Swim Week and First OWS Event

2008-06-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

This week was my highest volume swim week ever and it included my first ever open water race.

Weekly Totals:
Swim: 10,650 yards
Bike: 85.2 mi
Run: 25 mi

May Totals:
Swim: 30,350 yards
Bike: 264.2 mi
Run: 72.5 mi

This weekend Jen and I participated in our first open water swim race ever. The big difference between this event and the swim portion of a tri was the fact that you could not wear a wetsuit. I really didn't know what to expect for a time and I really didn't try to "race" it; I was just happy to survive. We both opted for the .75 mile course instead of the 1.5 mile course. Several of the people from our masters team did the .75 as a warm up then raced the 1.5 mile - that didn't sound the least bit fun to me, maybe next year.

When I swam the .5 mile leg of the NAPA sprint earlier this month it took me 13:49 or something like that. This .75 mile swim without a wetsuit took me 25:37 - granted I didn't try to race it but I was still surprised at the length of time it took me compared to the half mile swim in the tri. Something else I noticed was that I was not nearly as wore out as I was after the NAPA swim - this could have been due to the fact that I was not swimming all out but I think a large part of it was better conditioning thanks to masters practice. The real test will be this Saturday when I race the Showdown at Sundown - the swim is only 400 yards and I plan on swimming hard (for me that means 1:35-1:45 per 100) so we'll see how well conditioned I actually am.

Saturday Jen and I ran 10 miles up near Moraga on a paved trail that she really enjoys running on. It's an out and back with the first five miles on a consistent up-grade and the return slightly down. Our average pace ended up being around 8:57 w/ a significant decrease in average mile pace for the second half. That afternoon we relaxed around the house and I baked some cookies for the OWS event which was Sunday morning.

Sunday after the swim we grabbed a quick bite to eat then headed out on the Iron Horse trail for a nice 50 mile ride. There are quite a few sections of the trail that are very lightly used so we were able to get into a groove for some pretty long stretches. Once we turned around we ran smack into a headwind which lasted for 20 of the second 25 miles. Once we were home we relaxed with some chips and salsa, drinks, and a movie.

My evening swims are in limbo for a while due to the fact that I will be working late most nights for the next couple of weeks. I'll try to get them in on the evenings when I can and make the best of it - hopefully I can make it at least twice a week.

Big Swim Week (for me) and Some New Toys

2008-05-28T11:28:00.001-07:00

Totals for last week:

9,100 yards swim
34.5 mi bike
21.5 mi run

Another week in the books and only two weeks until my next race. I'm hoping to add at least one more tri this summer/fall but I'm not too hung up on it since I will be starting a run focused program to build up to CIM in December. I have a half marathon coming up in July then another one in the fall; throw in a couple 5k's and my schedule will be pretty full.

While everything is full steam ahead on the training front things on the work front are stagnant. I think I've finally come to realize that while I enjoyed the concepts I learned and the work I did in my finance and accounting classes in college, the real world application is pretty freakin BORING. Of course there are plenty of positives to the job I currently have; good hours, close to home so I can ride my bike to work, flexible, and my co-workers are pretty cool. What I notice is missing from that list is exciting work or something along the lines of how I enjoy going into work to find a new challenge or work on a new project. There are plenty of challenges at my current job but none of them are exciting to me. I could go on and on about all of this but I think the jist is that I'm not going to do anything radical and quit but I am going to start looking for something that sounds interesting in a different field - what that will be is still sort of a mystery.

Oh yeah, new toys - last week I picked up a pair of Zoomers Swim Fins which I love. I am now longer struggling to kick 25 yards for every 50 that other people are doing (well, maybe it's not that bad but it sure feels like it). This weekend I picked up a pair of Paddles which have both wrist and finger straps. The ones I was using at masters just had a strap for my middle finger and my fingers would be really sore after using them for just a few hundred yards. I haven't had a chance to use them yet so I'm hoping for some pull drills this week.

Swimming is fun - Kicking, not so much

2008-05-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Weekly stats:

Swim: 6,580 y
Bike: 91.5 mi
Run: 18 mi

Masters class has been great so far but it has shown me just how poor of a kicker I am. When it comes time for kicking drills I go from one of the fastest in my lane to the slowest. Instead of letting this really bother me I let it get me mad which in turn motivates me which makes me want to work harder to improve. I figure if I can get the kicking down it will help my speed in the water quite a bit. We've also been working on rolling, high elbows, reaching out, and a few other things that I'm sure will all come together in the coming weeks.

Biking is coming along well, I've been slowly increasing my weekly mileage but with running and swimming to fit in I am usually riding three times a week. The good thing is that Jen will start increasing her mileage in the coming weeks for her HIM training so my mileage should also increase as I continue to ride with her. On Sunday we rode with the Cyclepath group and Jen did really well. We were towards the back of the pack in the beginning as the A and A- groups took off ahead but eventually we settled in with some other riders and kept a good pace for the rest of the ride. There was about three miles of climbing followed by another ten miles of rolling hills and Jen did really good on those. I tried to stay in one gear for all of the climbing and was pleased to see that I could do it; I think I only got out of the saddle for one little stretch.

My running mileage will start to creep up over the next few weeks as I start ramping up for the Jungle Run Half Marathon on July 13th. Jen is running it with me and I've also convinced someone I work with to give it a shot. Jen made him a training plan and so far he has been sticking to it. His nutrition is somewhat questionable but that's another topic all together and I figure if he is sticking to the training and getting in the miles then that's good enough.

This weekend we attended a tri skills clinic put on by a local racing club - the main focus was swimming but we did a "mini tri" at the end where we rode a half mile and ran about a half mile. The purpose was to practice our transitions so the distance was irrelevant; still, I'm proud to say I won the mini tri :) In the water we practiced group deep water starts and knee deep water starts, drafting, and sighting. Overall it was a good class and I picked up a couple of things to use in the swim portion.

Here is a group photo taken when we were practicing the knee deep starts:

(As you can see I clearly did not get the "squat down" message)

Goodbye to an old friend; A year in books; and a week of non-schedule

2008-05-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

First and foremost I said goodbye to an old friend this weekend. It wasn't a tragic loss; it was a decision I made after thinking it over for a few days. He had been with me for a few months now and I knew it was time to say goodbye, at least for a while. I know that I can always welcome him back whenever I choose although he does take a while to come around.

Here he is before we parted ways:

And here I am without him:

This week also marked a year from when I started writing down the books I had read. I started doing this when I was working in San Francisco and riding the train into the city every day; I had about an hour and a half in total ride time every day so I got quite a bit of reading done. In November I started working closer to home but I was surprised to see that I kept up with the reading. I'm not sure if I will read another 62 books this year but I will try my best to get close. Here are the books I read in the last 12 months in order and with the date finished:

05.10.07 - Suttree - Cormac McCarthy
05.13.07 - Forever - Pete Hamill
05.16.07 - Sick Puppy - Carl Hiaasen
05.21.07 - This Book Will Save Your Life - A.M. Homes
05.23.07 - White Fang - Jack London
05.24.07 - The Call of the Wild - Jack London
05.29.07 - Time Stops for No Mouse - Michael Hoeye
06.04.07 - The Children of Men - P.D. James
06.07.07 - Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salenger
06.11.07 - The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells
06.18.07 - Meet Mr. Grizzley "A Saga on the Passing of the Grizzley Bear" - Montague Stevens
06.26.07 - Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper
07.03.07 - The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffinger
07.09.07 - Slaughter House Five - Kurt Vonnegut
07.11.07 - Triathlon 101 - John Mora
07.18.07 - No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
07.27.07 - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
08.07.07 - Young Men and Fire - Norman Maclean
08.14.07 - Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
08.23.07 - The Judas Strain - James Rollins
08.28.07 - Cannery Row - John Steinbeck
09.05.07 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
09.12.07 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
09.17.07 - The Prince and The Pauper - Mark Twain
09.24.07 - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain
09.25.07 - Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
09.26.07 - Alice Through The Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
09.27.07 - The Pearl - John Steinbeck
10.02.07 - The Red Pony - John Steinbeck
10.08.07 - The Giver - Lois Lowry
10.18.07 - The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
10.29.07 - Time and Again - Jack Finney
11.01.07 - Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
11.07.07 - The Orc King - R.A. Salvatore
11.14.07 - Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
11.16.07 - I am Legend - Richard Matheson
11.28.07 - The Golden Compus - Philip Pullman
12.14.07 - The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
12.20.07 - The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
12.20.07 - Homeland - R.A. Salvatore
12.23.07 - Exile - R.A. Salvatore
12.28.07 - Sojurn - R.A. Salvatore
01.19.08 - The Crystal Shard - R.A. Salvatore
01.21.08 - Streams of Silver - R.A. Salvatore
01.23.08 - The Halfling's Gem - R.A. Salvatore
01.26.08 - The Legacy - R.A. Salvatore
01.28.08 - Starless Night - R.A. Salvatore
02.01.08 - Siege of Darkness - R.A. Salvatore
02.06.08 - Passage to Dawn - R.A. Salvatore
02.10.08 - The Silent Blade - R.A. Salvatore
02.16.08 - The Spine of the World - R.A. Salvatore
02.28.08 - Servent of the Shard - R.A. Salvatore
03.09.08 - Sea of Swords - R.A. Salvatore
03.14.08 - The Thousand Orcs - R.A. Salvatore
03.20.08 - The Two Swords - R.A. Salvatore
04.01.08 - The Promise of the Witch King - R.A. Salvatore
04.11.08 - The Road of the Patriarch - R.A. Salvatore
04.19.08 - All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
04.23.08 - The Crossing - Cormac McCarthy
05.10.08 - Cities of the Plain - Cormac McCarthy

I found it to be a strange coincidence that I started tracking the books in May '07 with a Cormac McCarthy book and 12 months later to the day I finished a Cormac McCarthy book. In that time he has definitely become one of my favorite authors (if not my favorite). I also have to thank Jen for turning me onto a new style of book as I used to read action and adventure type books most of the time. Without her influence I most likely never would have read many of the books on this list and definitely would not have read The Time Traveler's Wife which ranks among the best books I have ever read.

If I was to recommend ten books from the list they would be: The Time Traveler's Wife, Forever, Time and Again, Water for Elephants, The Grapes of Wrath, Last of the Mohicans, Cannery Row, Suttree, Blood Meridian, and All the Pretty Horses.

Tomorrow I start book one of the new tracking year - At Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiessen.

This week was a week of non schedule since I start my training for Showdown at Sundown and the Half Marathon in July on Monday. I still got in a few workouts and went to my first Masters swim class which was awesome. We swam the same amount of yardage in that one night as I usually do in a week. I got out with Jen on the roads twice, one day she was a bit nervous due to the traffic but still did great and the other day we went with the Cyclepath group and she did awesome. On the second half of the ride she was setting the pace for our small split off group and we were maintaining an 18-19 mph average.

Totals for the week: 3,750 swim - 53mi bike - 8mi run

Tomorrow I plan on running four miles in the morning and going to masters in the evening.

NAPA Valley Sprint Tri

2008-05-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I was up at 4:45am and in the shower at the hotel for a quick wake up rinse off. I had packed up everything the night before so at about 5:10 we were heading out the door and driving up to Lake Berryessa.

We (me, Jen, Mom, and Step-Dad) arrived up at the lake around 6:20 and I was able to get a pretty good transition spot near the bike mount line. It would leave me with a long run from the lake to my transition but then when I came in off the bike I wouldn't have to run my bike very far. After setting up I walked over to the check in to get my swim cap, timing chip, and have my hands marked; my number was 38. We had about an hour to kill before the start so we walked down to the water and I hit up the port-o-potty while the lines were still short. At about 7:35 I decided to get in my wetsuit and head down to the water to do a quick swim and get used to the water.

I was in the water for about ten minutes before the race director came down to the dock and shouted for everyone to get out of the water and quite down so he could make some announcements. He talked about the course, directed everyone behind the timing mat, selected someone to lead the crowd in "America the Beautiful", then told those that wanted to be in the first wave to get out in the water. I decided to start in this wave figuring I would be MOP on the swim.

We swam out to the imaginary start line and 20 seconds later we were on our way. It was a water start so the initial crowd wasn't too bad; I swam with my head out of the water for about 20 or 30 feet before I was able to get into a stroke. About 150m into the swim I could feel that I was going a bit hard so I relaxed a bit and settled into a groove which I maintained for the next 650m. Sighting wasn't too much of a problem as there were swimmers all around me heading in the general direction we needed to go but I did sight on the buoys from time to time. After what seemed like a fairly short amount of time I rounded the last buoy and headed toward the shore - Swim 00:13:50.4

I ran up the boat ramp, up the road, turned right, and ran to my transition area. I was breathing hard and felt a bit discombobulated but I managed to remember everything I needed for the bike leg. The hardest part was putting on my gloves, this took me an extra 30 seconds or so but I knew the road was really choppy and I wanted to be sure I had a good grip on the bike - T1 00:03:01.2

After crossing the mount line and clipping in I headed out on what turned out to be a pretty hilly course. The hills were rolling and consistent, I was up to 34mph on the downhill and 11mph on the climbs; my average ended up being 18.2mph. I was able to drink about half of my water on the ride and found out that the best time to take a drink is right at the top of a hill before the momentum starts to pick up on the downhill side. I hit the turn around at 25:02 and headed back for the next 7.5 miles; I could see the leaders passing back by me right before I turned around and I estimated I was in the top 40 at that point. The ride back to transition was pretty much the same, rolling hills at the same pace. On the flats I was able to maintain 21/22mph which gave me encouragement for the next race where the course is supposed to be a bit flatter. I ended up passing three people on the ride back and was passed by one person - Bike 00:48:43.1

T2 was a bit faster than T1 due to the shorter run from the dismount line vs. the run from the water and I wasn't as discombobulated as I was when I came out of the water - helmet off, hat on, gloves off, shoes off, shoes on, grabbed my water bottle (had to run a quick down and back in transition to equal out the distance), threw the water bottle back to my transition area on the way back by, and headed out on the run - T2 00:01:55.9

I knew I wanted to take the first two miles easy and not go out too hard; after seeing the hills of the first two miles (pretty much uphill the whole way) I really knew that was a good idea. I passed a few people on the way to the turn around while keeping a comfortable pace; my split for miles one and two was 17:00. After turning around I had a really short uphill then it was pretty much downhill for the rest of the race. I really started picking up the pace at this point and was able to pass a couple more people; as I hit the flat stretch toward the end I kept pushing hard but knew that any harder and I would be puking so I maintained the pace I had - miles three and four: 13:22. I hit the finish area and saw my Step Dad, heard my Mom and Jen, and crossed the line - Run 00:30:22.9

Jen was there to give me a big hug right away; it was pretty cool having her there as a spectator as she is a great cheerer. This picture was taken about a minute after I finished; I'm still breathing hard:

Finish 01:37:53.6 - Sixth place in AG, 29th OA (out of 457 in Individual division)

488 Trevor Niblock San Francisco, CA ---28 M 01:27:34.1 --1 --5
378 Anthony Leonardini St. Helena, CA --28 M 01:28:03.5 --2 --7
537 Stephen Pons San Francisco, CA -----26 M 01:35:13.0 --3 --18
232 Brian Geraghty San Francisco, CA ---29 M 01:35:30.8 --4 --19
544 Lucas Priebe Napa, CA --------------26 M 01:37:42.4 --5 --27
38 -Zach Barnes Dublin, CA -------------29 M 01:37:53.6 --6 --29

First Race This Weekend

2008-04-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

My first race of the season is this Sunday so I have been tapering a bit this week - nothing too drastic, just taking the rides and runs easy. Tomorrow I will get in an additional swim and after that I think I'll just plan on doing an easy ride or two and another easy run (running tonight after work).

I am a bit anxious about the swim portion but I'm going into it realizing that the 1/2 mile is going to take me around 15 minutes. If it's a bit faster, great, but I'm not too hung up on it. I guess this is a good time to lay out some goals since I'm talking about the swim so here we go:

C goal: Have fun, race smart, finish the race feeling good
B goal: 15 min swim, 16mph avg on bike, 31 minute run
A goal: 14 min swim, 17.5mph avg on bike, 30 minute run

Surprise myself goal: sub 14 minute swim, 18.5mph avg on bike, sub 29 minute run

(And of course the goal I always have when racing, no flat tires!) :)

Next week we will go to our first masters class and I'll ramp up my training for the Showdown at Sundown in June. Not really sure what my goals will be yet but it is a shorter course so I can hopefully go harder in all three disciplines. After that I don't have any other tri events on the schedule, just the Half Marathon in July and then it's a clear calendar for the rest of the year. I might take some time to focus on swimming and running with some long moderately paced rides thrown in the mix. There are a couple of events I have thought about in the late August to early October time frame but haven't committed to them yet.

Recent workouts:

Saturday - ran 6mi on the Iron Horse, avg pace 8:20; Swam ~300m OWS in wet suit
Sunday - rode 25mi, stopped for lunch with Maritza and Jen
Monday - swam 1000m in am 18:58, rode 17mi in pm (Jen's first ride on her new bike)
Tuesday - swam 1000m in am 18:14, ran 3mi easy in pm 9:12 AP

Back in CA

2008-04-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

We returned from Boston Wednesday evening after relaxing for a couple of days after the marathon and doing some sight seeing. There is so much cool old stuff in Boston - it's amazing to stand in the exact place where something historic happened and picture the people and sights around at that time. I find it fascinating that I could have leaned against a wall where someone else leaned while listening to the Declaration of Independence being read for the first time. Whenever we are at historic sites I try to imagine what it would be like for someone from that time to see the world as it is now; could they even have imagined the things we see around us every day?

I only managed to get one run in during our trip, 6mi along the river. The first mile was in Boston, the next two in Cambridge, and the last three back on the Boston side of the river - here are a couple of pictures from the first bridge I crossed:

After the run I met up with Jen's friend Deana and we headed down to the finish area to watch the finishers come in. We wandered around for a bit then posted up in a good spot to watch the race and look for Jen. After cheering for a couple of hours we saw Jen in the crowd of runners looking great and smiling from ear to ear.

I'm always so amazed after Jen finishes a marathon - every time I have run a HM I can't imagine having to turn around and run back to the starting line. I guess I just like to get my suffering over as quickly as possible, that's probably why I choose to run HM or less and for tri I'll go with Oly or less (although I still have yet to do an Oly, but it doesn't seem far off). I'll choose OMG I'm going to throw up over OMG my legs feel like they are going to fall off any day of the week.

Last night I rode 17 miles on the Iron Horse Trail by our apartment and this morning I was up at the gym for a swim. I was feeling so sluggish in the water and just wasn't in the swimming mood so I did 750m (13:42). When I finished the lady I had been sharing a lane with was up in the shower and she said "you're a pretty fast swimmer". I looked around to be sure she was talking to me and sure enough she was. It made my day after feeling like crap in the water. Sometimes swimming is so freaking boring - I am really looking forward to joining the masters group.

On the book front I just finished All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing, both by Cormac McCarthy. He is one of my favorite authors and so far I have not been disappointed by any book of his that I have read.

Off to Boston

2008-04-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

We're heading to Boston tomorrow where Jen will be running her second Boston Marathon. The bags are packed (pretty much), the local eateries and bars have been mapped out, the co-worker orders have been placed (a jar of Fluff and a box of Dunkin Donuts), and the hotel has been confirmed.

This year the weather looks to be a tad bit better than it was last year which will be a nice change. Sunday we will watch the Olympic trials, head over to the expo, stop by the Pour House for lunch, meet one of Jen's friends for dinner, and watch the Sharks play game six against Calgary, and do a few other things I'm sure I am forgetting.

I hope to get in at least two runs along the river which should be pretty cool. I'll try to bring the camera along so I can get some pics but if not I'll take a couple with my cell phone.

Other than watching Jen kick butt in the race I am looking forward to having a few days off of work. The last time I had more than one day in a row off I spent the majority of the time in bed taking Darvocet and watching movies (not for fun mind you but to dull the pain from my hernia surgery).

Last night I rode a 25mi loop by my house in 1:21:41 - I think the avg mph was around 17.9. This morning I ran two miles with Jen and Martiza then took off for a couple of faster miles on the way back to the house while they kept an easy pace. I think my average was around 8:14 for the four miles; the first two were 9:18 and 9:22 - the second two were 7:22 and 7:11.

Birthday Brick

2008-04-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

Woke up a bit earlier than normal today to get in a brick workout. I will be going out after work for some birthday drinks and dinner so I knew a workout was not in the cards. It's still too dark to ride at 5:30am which meant I was back on the trainer for a 40 minute ride before heading out for a four mile run. Jen had seven miles on her schedule today so she woke up and got dressed right as I finished up my ride and I joined her for the first two miles of her run. We kept a nice easy pace for the first two miles (average was 9:02) then I picked it up a bit on the way back to the house; 8:08 for mile three and 7:35 for mile four. Overall I felt good and wasn't nearly as stiff or sore as I remember being on my brick workouts last year.

Last night Jen joined me on a road ride which I think was really good for her. She gets a bit nervous when riding on the roads so I thought it would be good for us to do a couple of road rides together on her hybrid since her feet are not clipped into that bike. She did great on the ride and I know that with more rides she will be more comfortable and confident. We rode 14 miles total and it took us 1:02:36.

Swimming why do you hate me so?

2008-04-15T15:42:00.001-07:00

Saturday am - run in Phoenix w/ Jen - 1:12:05 - 9:01 AP
Monday am - 1000m at the pool 19:06
Monday pm - ran 6mi w/ Jen on the hilly loop - 49:24 8:14 AP
Tuesday am - 750m at the pool - 500m 8:52 - 5x50 on 1:00 - :44avg

Often when reading I notice people talking about their swimming drills and they throw out things like 5x50 on :40 and 5x100 on 1:30 and I think to myself "holy crap self, that would kill us if we had to swim those drills". The other day I averaged 1:32ish on 100m drills but I was resting for 1:00 after each 100m. Same deal with a 50m sprint, sure I can do it in around :40 but that would leave me with no recovery time before the next set and after 200m or so I would be dying.

Recently Jen and I have been talking about joining a local masters group; and lately that idea seems better and better every day. I know it will be really tough for the first few weeks, especially when you consider the fact that we will be swimming as much in one day as we have been doing all week. However, the benefits far outweigh the initial suffering and in the long run I'm sure it will pay off.

Overall the training has been going well and I am looking forward to the first event. I haven't been out in the new wetsuit yet and won't have a chance to until the weekend after we get back from Boston (which is also the weekend before the race).

Taco Pizza on my Mind

2008-04-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight I fly to Phoenix to visit my grandparents, see some friends, and have some Taco Pizza at Godfather's. Jen is already in Phoenix for work so when she picks me up at the airport this evening she will have a taco pizza waiting for me in the car. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMm - I can already smell the delicious combination of delectable flavors. While growing up in Montana we had a Godfather's in my home town and I would enjoy the beauty that is taco pizza at least twice a month. Almost every birthday party I had in my youth was held at Godfather's where my friends and I enjoyed all the pizza, video games, and soda our little bodies could handle. Whenever I go back home (which admittedly is not often enough) I always make the rounds eating at the places I used to frequent and Godfather's is at the top of the list. I still enjoy a taco pizza, a soda or two, and some adult video games (aka video keno).

Yesterday after work it was beautiful in the Bay Area; high 70's, no clouds, and very little wind. I considered going up to the gym for a swim since I had already done a recovery ride on the trainer that morning. The problem with after work swimming is that plenty of other people have that same idea. I hemmed and hawed about it for a bit then decided with the weather being so great I would head out for my first post surgery outside ride. I took my bike off the trainer, changed out the rear quick release, and headed out on the road for a short ride. 14 miles later I was back at the house and feeling great. It was nice to be back out on the roads where the terrain and scenery are constantly changing. I'm not sure what my average speed was but I hit 30 mph on a flat section near my house which surprised the hell out of me. Previously the fastest I had gone on that stretch was around 25/26.

14mi - total time 47:04

I stayed up a little later than normal last night because I wanted to read after watching the hockey game (Sharks won!) and I also needed to get my stuff ready for my trip so it was a little difficult dragging myself out of bed this morning. I eventually got up around 5:55 and headed up to the gym for a swim. I felt so so for most of the swim, not really tired but not really great either. I stopped after 750 and took a nice long steam.

750m - 13:40

Time Keeps on Slippin

2008-04-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Tuesday pm
- 50 min on trainer - 1min sprint every 10
Wed am
- 1000m at pool in am 18:05
Wed pm
- ran 5 mi w/ Jen - 2mi warm up 8:52AP - 3x1mi; 7:04, 6:47, 6:54
Thurs am
- 30 min recovery ride on trainer

This morning when I was climbing on the trainer I noticed it is starting to be light enough to ride outside at 6am - I think I will start working in some morning brick workouts starting next week. My first event is fast approaching and I would like to get in three or four more bike to run bricks in before race day.

Last night's running felt good - we ran hard for three of the miles with short breaks after each one; I never found myself really hurting during any of the miles so I'll take that as a good sign that my body is mending well.

Not sure what the plan is for this evening; the Sharks play at 7pm so whatever it is I will try to be done by then.

Weekend cont. along with the first part of this week

2008-04-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday after waiting for Jen we went out for some breakfast at our LBS (Local Bagel Shop) then I convinced her to join me at the gym for a swim.

500m 9:15
5x50m hard w/ :45 rest - average :40 per 50m
50m breast
50m back stroke
150m free

The next day we took care of the grocery shopping then went for a short hike near our apartment. The wildflowers are coming out everywhere and Jen wanted to take some pictures - you can check them out here. After that we met my buddy Chris at the Sports Bar we frequent for some lunch and to watch the Sharks play their last regular season game. They didn't end up winning the game but it didn't really matter because they have already clinched the Pacific Division.

That afternoon I baked a strawberry pie then climbed on the trainer for an hour and a half ride. To kill the time I watched Hit Man and it definitely made the time fly by (well, as much as time can fly by on the trainer). Not the most original storyline (elite assassin betrayed by the organization he works for) but a good flick none-the-less.

Monday morning I was back up to the gym for another 1,000m - this time I just swam the distance and didn't do any drills. I completed it in around 18:25 then worked on my floating drills and did some flips to practice flip turns (not as easy as one would think).

Monday evening I ran with Jen - I had four miles on my schedule, was planning on doing five, then ended up running six. Total time was 51:55 for an AP of 8:39.

This morning I was back in the pool:

500m - 9:00
5x100m w/ 1:00 rest - average 1:32

I tried and completed one "successful" flip turn after the first 50m then decided to try it again after the next 25m - didn't really work out all that well as I ended up at the bottom of the pool (granted it is only like four feet deep but still). I tried a couple more throughout the swim but none really worked out that well - oh well, I'll keep practicing after each swim and get it eventually.

My kicking definitely needs some work as well - today there was a young girl (high school or college) that seemed to have a really powerful kick, mine not so much. I kicked 25m w/ the board and I felt like I was hardly moving at all.

Tonight I may take the bike out on the roads - we have been having some serious wind late in the day around here so that may keep me inside on the trainer. That sort of sounds like a cop-out when I type it so we'll see.

Saturday - and I go off on a book Tangent

2008-04-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Jen headed over to Crystal Springs for 16ish miles so I decided to run near the house since I was only doing six. This was my longest run since my surgery but for some reason I decided to also make it my fastest run since; not sure how that logic formed in my head. I started out feeling a bit sluggish and choppy in my stride but after warming up I fell into a good pace. My first mile came in at 8:17, I didn’t know that was the pace at the time because I decided to not look at my watch for the first couple of miles. Mile two was 8:03 and the only reason I noticed that pace was because I looked at my Garmin to see how far I was when I turned off of the sidewalk and onto the trail. Lately I have been running on the Iron Horse trail and I decided to run a course that I have done with Jen in the past. I could feel that I was holding a pretty strong pace through the next four miles but I didn’t look to see what the pace was until I finished up. Those four miles came in at 7:50, 7:52, 7:47, and 7:47; the last mile felt tough and that’s when it dawned on me that I hadn’t ran this far since my surgery but I kept pushing to the end.

Once I got home and stretched out I made a fruit smoothie (vanilla yogurt, frozen berry medley, and a splash of cranberry juice), brewed some coffee, and knocked out some chores. Jen sent me a text saying she hit some traffic on the way to her run so she got a bit of a late start; since I had some extra time I sat back with a cup of coffee and read for a bit.

I am working on the last two R.A. Salvatore books left in the series I have been reading. These two are an offshoot of the main series but are just as good. I have a bit of Dungeons & Dragons/Forgotten Realms fantasy dork in me and I really love these books. The main series starts with the Dark Elf Trilogy and introduces Drizzt Do’Urden, the main character who is present through all of the books. The tale of Drizzt goes from the Underdark where he forsakes the evil ways of his race (Dark Elves or Drow) and ends in book two when he makes his way to the surface world. He survives in the Underdark for years using his skills with the blade, finding many exciting and dangerous adventures as well as a couple of friends of other races that see past the evil reputation of his people (eventually – it definitely takes them some time since the other races of the Underdark have first hand experience with Dark Elves). His adventures on the surface pick and continue in book three as he struggles to find acceptance in a world that judges him solely on the reputation of his evil race despite never having actually met or seen a Dark Elf (Dark Elves are cruel, wicked, and very powerful and have rightly earned their reputation as one of the most evil races). He eventually finds a niche and a friend, a human ranger, who helps him come to embrace his differences and teaches him to use his skills (Drizzt was the finest Drow warrior in the city of 20,000 where he lived and is arguably has no match on the surface world) to defend those that can not defend themselves and to fight for what he believes is right in his heart.

The story picks up in the fourth book which is the first book of the Icewind Dale Trilogy and finds Drizzt making his way to Icewind Dale, an inhospitable land full of rogues and adventurers where only the strong survive. The three books in this trilogy introduce several characters who will join Drizzt on his many exciting and dangerous adventures in these and other books in the series; they include Bruneor Battlehammer, a Dwarven King, his adopted human children Cattie-brie and Wulfgar, and a Halfling named Regis. This group will come to be known as the Champions of the Hall and their adventures and battles against the evil races (giants, orcs, goblins, and evil humans) will play a large role in many people on the surface coming to accept Drizzt despite the reputation of his race. This trilogy also introduces Drizzt’s mirror opposite, Artemis Entreri, a human assassin that symbolizes what Drizzt would have become if he hadn’t fled the city of his birth. Even though Artemis is human and has only been alive for thirty years (vs. 70ish for Drizzt (Elves can live upwards of 1,000 years)) he is considered by many to be Drizzt’s equal with the blade and the battles they fight are amazing and terrifying at the same time.

One character that is present in all of the books (there are 18 in the main series so far) and deserves mentioning is Drizzt’s loyal companion and friend Guenhwyvar. Guenhwyvar is a magical panther from the Astral plane who can be summoned to the Prime Material plane through a magical figurine Drizzt obtained in his home city. The panther is with Drizzt through all the years and is his closest and most trusted companion. Even though they can not speak to one and other Guenhwyvar “understands” Drizzt and in the years he spent in solitude he would spend countless hours talking to the panther to sort through his own thoughts and inner turmoil. The panther has saved his life many times over and it was noted in one book that although Guenhwyvar has served several masters over several thousand years, Drizzt is the kindest and holds the panther’s loyalty above all others.

The next series, The Legacy, chronicles Drizzt’s capture by his sister and several other Dark Elves and their attempt to return him to his homeland to face sacrifice to the Spider Queen, Loth. Eventually he decided to return to the city on his own to face the demons of his past due to his fear that his family will always seek him out and harm those he holds near and dear. He returns to the city of his birth and is nearly killed but is saved by Cattie-brie and of all people, Artemis Entreri. They make their way to the surface where Drizzt and Artemis part ways vowing to continue their personal battle at another time. The Dark Elves eventually return for Drizzt but this time they come in the form of a large army with plans to dominate the kingdom of Bruenor Battlehammer (where Drizzt has been living all these years). A great battle ensues and eventually the Dark Elf hoards are driven back into their dark realm. Even though they are defeated they leave a swath of death and destruction in their wake. The series ends with Drizzt and Cattie-brie leaving Bruenor’s kingdom and traveling the surface world together in search of adventure.

The story resumes in the Paths of Darkness series which contains four books. This series follows the Champions of the Hall as they embark on another exciting quest and chronicles how the group falls apart and ultimately reunites. This series follows them across the surface world, onto the open sea where they battle pirates, and to Calimport the home of Artemis Entreri. A main character present from the beginning of the series to the end filters in and out of the story; Jaraxle, a opportunistic Dark Elf and the leader of a mercenary band called Bregan D’aerthe. Jaraxle is one of my favorite characters because he breaks the mold of what a Dark Elf is expected to be. He is not kind hearted like Drizzt but he is not narrow-minded like others of his race. He eventually befriends Artemis Entreri and their adventures spin off of this series into the two books I am reading now (Promise of the Witch-King and The Road of the Patriarch).

The penultimate trilogy, The Hunters Blades, chronicles the amassing of Orcs in the Spine of the World and their attempt to stake out a kingdom under the leadership of Obould Many Arrows. Obould is not what an orc should be; he is cunning, brave, thinks ahead, and has a vision of a kingdom on the surface. He is aided by a Frost Giant army and a quartet of renegade dark elves along with goblins and worgs. The dwarves band together to fight off the invasion and many great battles ensue leaving both sides reeling. Drizzt is off on his own throughout the majority of the books in this trilogy creating chaos where he can, eventually teaming up with two surface elves who begin teaching him “what it means to be an elf”.

The (current) final series begins with the continuation of the war with Obould and tells the story from the perspective of Drizzt looking back into the past. This is the first book that took that approach and it was an interesting change from the normal pattern of storytelling. The book follows the heroes as they search for the long lost kingdom of Bruenor’s ancestors, battle with the orc hordes, and ends with a surprise twist. The next book in the series, The Pirate King, is due out in October 2008 and I am looking forward to the continuing excitement and adventure that R.A. Salvatore and his cast of characters have always provided.

If you are looking for something different, something exciting, and something that will make you think (I find I can relate to a lot of what Drizzt has to say about the world around him, the way people think and act, and the different ways people view their lives); then pick up the first book in the first series – it’s called Homeland.

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Since I went off on a bit of a tangent there I will save the rest of the weekend for another post.

Still Here

2008-04-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

Haven't been posting much because my days have been full of work and when I get home the last thing I want to do is get on the computer. It's quarter close at my office so everyone has been working hard and slacking off much less than normal - oh well, I guess that's the price you pay for the easy days.

The workouts are getting better, I have been swimming, running, and biking on a regular basis and this week I did my first brick workout (30 minutes on the trainer followed by a three mile run).

This last weekend my Dad and Step-Mom were in town for a couple of days on their way up to NAPA; it was nice to see them. My Dad recently bought a new motorcycle after not riding for a number of years so he has become fully enamored of the biking culture. He walked the fine line of telling me about how fun it is to ride and at the same time explaining that it can be quite dangerous to ride (he was more on the side of how fun it can be). I of course have always in the back of my mind wanted to ride a motorcycle (chopper, not street bike) but I suppose that actually learning how to ride one is the first step I should take.

We are off to Boston in a couple of weeks where I will relax and do a couple of runs by the river and Jen will be a bundle of nerves for a couple of days then run the Marathon. Next weekend we are heading to Phoenix to visit some family; the thing I am most looking forward to is TACO PIZZA AT GODFATHER'S!!! I grew up on this stuff and they don't have a single Godfather's close to our place in the Bay Area - there used to be one down by San Jose but it no longer comes up in the restaurant location finder.

I will try to get back to posting more frequently in the next week or so once everything mellows out at work.

Glad to be Back in a Groove

2008-03-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Monday – ran five miles – 45:26 – 9:05 AP
Tuesday – swam 750m in the morning at the pool – 14:22 – rode the trainer for 45 minutes after work
Wednesday – swam 1000m in the morning at the pool – 18:43

I started the week with an easy Monday evening run on the Iron Horse Trail. My plan was to run four miles but Jen had five on her schedule so I tagged along with her. There was a bit of a breeze blowing while we were out; not enough to make a headwind, but just strong enough to keep most of the bugs down (the trail runs along a canal).

Tuesday morning we were up and out the door around 6:15 to head up to the gym for a swim. It was one of those mornings where I really didn’t feel like getting up but by the time I was in the pool I was feeling good. I have been focusing on stroke count and reaching out w/ each stroke to get as long as possible in the water and it seems to be getting easier each time. As I speed up my count goes up to around 34-36 for each 50m but I think that is fine as long as I keep good form. I think I will start incorporating some speed work and other drills into my swims in a couple weeks and see how that improves my performance in the water. Last year, and this year for the most part, I would just go to the gym and swim my distance for the day. I’m sure that adding more laps will help build strength but I think that mixing it up with some drills will help increase my speed in the water. My first tri of the season is in early May w/ a swim of 800m. Realistically I think I can complete it in 14 minutes based on my current swimming ability but If I work hard for the next month or so I might be able to take 30-60 seconds off of that time. (I didn’t think about any of this on Tuesday, this all occurred to me during my swim today – I just thought I might as well included it here)

I rode my bike home from work Tuesday evening, threw on my bike shorts and a technical shirt, and hopped on the trainer for 45 minutes. I watched the first part of Gone in 60 Seconds on the computer and before I knew it I was in my cool-down.

This morning I was up around 6am to head back up to the gym for another swim. I had 750m on the schedule but thought I would go for 1,000 if I felt like it once I was in the pool. There was only one other person in the pool when I got in and after a few minutes he was out and I had it to myself for a while. Eventually a couple more people got in and by the time I got out all of the lanes were full. I took a quick steam then headed home for some breakfast and a shower.