Mt Hood Comm College swim

A sure sign of summer is the outside pool at Mt Hood Community College being open. Normally I swim inside in the 25 yard pool, but now the outside 50 meter pool is open! So I swam 2200 meters with the first 1500 in surprise 39 minutes just like my last two Olympic distance tris. At about 1300 meters my shoulder-neck did a bizarre spasm that made me stop and walk for a few meters. Started back up when I didn't feel anything hurt and was much looser and relaxed- I guess I had some built up tension. I like swimming and looking up at the trees and sky- it means summer's here!

Pacific Crest Triathlon

Sunday I did the Olympic distance Pacific Crest Triathlon in Sunriver Oregon. This is part of the premier triathlon event of Oregon with a Half-Ironman on Saturday and the Olympic distance on Sunday. Drove down Friday night and stayed in a 3-bedroom trailer owned by Keith S who retired form the Air Guard a few years ago. Saturday was my first day off in 3 weeks and I knew it would effect the race, but I grossly underestimated how much. Did packet pickup Saturday and then went to the lake to set up the bike transition and get body marked. It's a point to point race, so the bike transition is 28 miles away from the run transition. Saturday night, my friend Kevin, Keith, and I went to dinner at a new bar and grill on the edge of Sunriver and a couple at the next table saw our markings and asked which race we were doing. Turns out they had come up from San Fran to do the half-iron, but decided not to. The woman said she did it 2 years ago and said the run was horrible. Keith told her Sunriver is at 4800 feet, that made her feel better. Kevin had come down a couple of days early to get acclimated to the altitude. Sunday started already warm, someone said the forecast was 97-103. Set up the run transition and got on a bus to the lake. While waiting to start, I saw Jessica the pretty girl from my lane in the Hawthorne Farms tri. She was there to watch her friend, so I talked to her for awhile, she did the half iron the day before. The race started and I had a very hard time breathing and thought I wanted to quit and didn't want to do this race- I'd never had those thoughts before in a race! At the first buoy I let the group go and got in my own comfortable rhythm and eventually finished the swim in 39:58 the exact to the second time of the swim in my last race the Onionman and five minutes faster than last year. The transition was a little long because I had to put everything in a labeled bag and tie it for transport. Got on the bike and started strong. It's over rough pavement forest roads at first, but I went pretty fast and felt like I was zooming because I passed gobs and gobs of people. At 8 miles is a curve with a burned clearcut clearing and a beautiful view of South Sister and Broken Top. At 12 miles is the 450 foot climb, rode up it at 11-13 MPH and passed people like they were standing still. After the hill is a small downhill and then some flats and gentle rises that normally I fly over, but there was a headwind. At one point I went around a curve and the wind was like a wall. It was so strong the girl in front of me slowed so fast that I almost ran her over. Pushed on as strong as I could and drank both bottles and came in with a disappointing 17.4 average, one mph slower than last year. Then for the dreaded run of Pacific Crest- it has kicked my butt 3 years in a row- make that four now. I started out and had nothing, breathwise or gaswise. Jogged along at a slow survival shuffle and hit mile one marker at 5:05- huh? They shortened the run by a half mile because of the heat. At mile 2 the watch said 15:00, so I was creeping along at 10:00 per, but my mouth was so dry it hurt so I stopped at the water stop and drank 3 cups and then started up again. At one point after 3 miles I counted 11 people on the path with tri numbers all walking and I was the only one running. For some reason I can't remember and can't even fathom now the sight of everyone walking demoralized me and I started walking too. For the next 2 miles I did a walk run mix and then at the mile 5 marker I saw a guy with 69 on his leg. Last year I finished right after a 68 year old guy who everyone cheered for so much they didn't notice me finishing and didn't announce my name until I was long past the finish. I asked him if he was that guy and told him the story as we started jogging. He said he was the Sunriver bike rental store owner and all his employees come out to cheer for him. He started walking again and I had decided to do the last 1.2 miles non-stop. So I jogged on and saw a girl that I had leap frogged with on the bike and said hi and she could only nod. We ran together for a little bit and she started walking. So I jogged on with only breath in breath out in the head and made it to the end and at the finish line were tons of spectators and I heard "Jeff!" and saw Keith. So I went over to the edge to give him a high five and that set off a chain reaction of about 6-7 people leaning over, so I ran the rest of the way in along the edge high-fiving. Got in the finish tent and while waiting for food started getting lightheaded so I downed a couple of sports drinks in rapid succession. Final result was 3:29:10 which is 5 minutes faster than last year, but a 1/2 mile shorter run. Kevin beat me by 14 minutes an improvement for him of over 20 minutes from last year. The strange part is he said he didn't walk on the run and I still beat him on the run by 3 minutes- he was barely running, but running. My run pace was 11:13 per which is the worst pace for me in any race ever and the worst pace since I've been keeping track of time. But I passed so many people on the run it's unbelievable. I thought the drive home would be hard, but there wasn't a cloud in the state of Oregon and all the mountains were lined up in a row. As I left Sunriver the Jeep said 87 degrees. Got to Bend and it was 94 degrees. Per tradition Kevin and I caravaned to Madras and ate at the Black Bear restaurant. They have HUGE portions, the kind you want after a race. I had pecan-crusted trout. When I got back to Portland, my daughter said we need air conditioning- it was 101 in the city on Sunday. Uploaded several pictures, but they don't show up- oh well.

Summer Solstice 5K Run

Ran the Summer Solstice 5K put on by the Oregon Road Runners Club (ORRC). It wasn't until 7:15 at night, so I made a huge smoothie instead of eating dinner. When I got there and signed in, I started talking to a pretty girl named Tori. They had a kids race (1/4 mile)first, that was really cute with really little kids running. Then the 5K started and I tried to go all out, but am still tired from last week's long work hours. Hit mile 1 at 7:57 and at mile 2 I was at 16:21 and the smoothie rebelled and I wanted to give it back, but fought that down and put it out of my mind. Then at around 2 1/2 miles my left hamstring tightened- great I have a tri in 3 days arrgh. Pushed on and at one point Tori came up beside me, so I ran with her and we did the last .3 or so together and finished together. I let her go first to the number rip off guy of course. Afterwards we talked a little and she left, someday I'll learn smooth moves. Anyway, finished at 25:51 for an 8:20 pace and almost a minute faster than last year. Results won't be out until tomorrow and I go to Bend for a tri then, so no idea where I finished.

Gresham to Country Ride

Started a week of OHSU acting playing a high blood pressure patient in the finals for the fourth year students. So afterwards crawled through traffic to Gresham city park to get in a bike ride. Have an Olympic distance tri this weekend, so I wanted to do at least 30 miles. As soon as I started though, I was really tired and didn't even feel like riding, but pushed on and added some hills since the tri has a 450 foot hill in the middle of the ride. Got to where I could just see Mt Hood through the trees and took a picture and headed back picking up steam in the second half of the ride and finishing with 25.3 miles at a 16.3 average. Went home and got my daughter Debbie and went out for Thai food, I love that peanut sauce.

Glendoveer Golf Course Run

Happy father's day! Got off work unexpectedly early today and since it was Father's day but too late to golf, I went running at a golf course. Glendoveer is a 36 hole municipal course with a 2 mile bark dust trail around it with mile markers every quarter mile. It also has a 60-80 foot hill in the beginning. Powered up the hill to start and after one mile the watch said 8:45, that's pretty slow for a first mile. On the second lap powered up the hill no problem, but then the weekend (working nights with only MRE's to eat) started to get to me and I hit mile 3 at 27:00. The third lap the hill was steeper than before. As I approached mile 5 the legs felt like they were really heavy, but I kept going and finished 6 miles at 55:55 for a 9:19 pace. Afterwards I soaked the legs in an ice bath and I bought some flax oil to make a smoothie after I post this.

Marine Drive Path Run

Did a training run on a section of the Marine Drive bike path. There are five sections to the Marine Drive path and the one I ran today is a quiet 2.6 mile part that doesn't have any designated parking, so it doesn't get used as much. It had been cloudy and dark all day, but dry. As soon as I started running it started to mist. Did the whole section for 5.2 miles and felt ok, so I did the first half mile again and back to make 6.2 miles(10K)in a time of 53:45 an 8:39 pace and the fastest 10K by 5 seconds since I started timing my runs. Of course it doesn't count as a personal best until I do it in a race, but I'm happy with it considering I've been working late since Saturday and have to keep working late until Monday. Friday I go to 2PM to 2AM shift for 3 days, hope I don't lose too much of my fitness level. (whine-whine)
Talked to my sister tonight and she said she reads my blog so- Hey Jennifer!

Airport to Blue Lake Ride

Took the bike to work today and afterwards rode around the airport to Blue Lake and back. Normally I would go over the bridge on 33rd Ave, but got there and it was gone just signs and barricades were there instead. Should have turned around and gone back the way I came (42nd), but wanted to find another way. Ended up in the industrial district on Columbia Blvd with no shoulder and semis going by. Finally got past that and on Marine drive which goes along the Columbia river and has a great bike lane shoulder and no lights. On Marine drive I was able to cruise at 22-23 and saw the grass bending with me, so I knew it would be hard coming back. At Blue Lake where there's a huge tri this weekend, (but I have to work) turned around and started into the wind. Decided to make it a real training ride and pushed myself against the wind at 16-18 and kept it there. Got back to my work at 28.1 miles with an average of 17.5.

PIR Bike Race

After last weeks race where I feel off the group at the Portland Raceway bike race, I wanted to try again this Tuesday. Thanks to some amazing assistance, I have redemption! Each week they reverse the route, so this week we went counter-clockwise with the s-curves in the beginning. As I lined up at the start I noticed a girl on a pink Trek, so I went over and introduced myself- it was Eryn from NoPoGirl. She did a stage race this weekend, so I was surprised to see her. She pointed to a fast guy and said "stay on his wheel". The whistle blew and we started and all of a sudden I'm in the back and pedaling like crazy just to stay connected, but I stayed with them. Eryn stopped after one lap and yelled for me to stay with the group. At the end of lap 3 I heard her yell "grab a wheel", so I did. Then my naturally careful tendencies took over and I backed off to get a comfortable distance. But during the 4th lap I heard two guys behind me talking about doing full ironmans and they would periodically tell me to close it up and grab a wheel. I think they were cat 1/2/3 guys doing the cat 4/5 race as a warm-up. As lap 5 started they got more serious about guiding me and pushed me to close the gap and grab a wheel and when the wheel I grabbed started to fade they said "go around and catch the group", so I did. As the 6th lap started the group accelerated and I was fading, but I heard "push it- they'll slow down- you can catch them- give it all you have- it's the last lap give even if it kills you". So I pushed and I did catch the group and as I did I heard "get on the inside and pass people as you catch them- you have big legs, use them!". So I did and started moving up the group and at the last turn I went a little wide because at 26 MPH it seemed extremely sharp and I heard "get to the inside", so I started to move in and heard "don't worry about it- GO!" So I stomped on it and went all out and finished 15th out of 26 and in the front finishing group! After the finish line it took me about a half a mile of coasting and slow pedaling to go from heaving to gasping to panting to normal breathing. I had been so focused on racing and doing what they said that I had no idea what the guys looked like so I couldn't thank them. Some things to work on, riding inches away, high speed curves, and really pushing it when it counts. Afterwards I talked to Eryn awhile, she's doing a half ironman in Victoria in a couple weeks and she gave me some tips on riding close and leg recovery. While I was warming up before the race in the infield, there was a yellow DHL race car out of it's truck and the crew were doing something to it with a buffet table set up for them. As I rolled by I wondered how many millions that car cost. It was cool seeing it close up though.

Run For The Roses 10K

Sunday morning I ran the Oregon Run for the Roses 10K in Sherwood Oregon. It's one of the many events around town for the Rose Festival. Having rode a century bike ride the day before, I wasn't sure how I'd do. Got to the start 35 minutes early in my mind and as I was putting on my shoes I heard the PA announcer say "everyone line up we've got two minutes till start time"- ohoh. I hurried down and the gun went off while I was registering, so my official time is about 2:00 different from my watch time. Started out late and caught all the walkers and slow runners and just past mile 1 saw some 5Kers on the return of their loop, probably 5-6 minute pace runners. This run would have been hard for me had I been rested. If you lined up all the level spots in the route, they would equal maybe 20 feet. Up and down and up and down, then up some more. The last mile was a winding hidden bike path behind a housing development in big fir trees. Very pretty and you'd never know it was there. Crossed the line at 56:19 for a 9:05 pace, my slowest run since March. Officially 58:07, but that's ok, at the finish line there was a woman handing everyone a rose and a bottle of water with a church label on it. As the guy ripped off the bottom of my number for time placement I noticed my number was 142- I'm in the 142nd Fighter Wing- never had that number in a race before. Talked to a volunteer about the hilliness and he said "that's Sherwood, imagine the farmers farming these hills." Kudos to anyone who has ever done an ironman, it was hard doing a 10K a day after a century let alone a marathon right after! Had enough time afterwards to just make it to church.

Spring Century Bike Ride

For the third straight year I did the Spring Century bike ride put on by the Portland Wheelman Touring club. I did the ride with my friend Steve. Started in Canby and went south trough the farmlands and small towns. Fell in with a couple of lone riders and we formed a small paceline and soared along in the low 20's. At the first food stop they had watermelon and cantaloupe and pineapple and one of the volunteers saw my Ride Around Washington jersey and said he was there, so we reminisced about the ride. After that stop is the "hill" about a 750 foot climb. The first year I did the ride I had to stop partway up to settle the heart and breathing. Last year I plodded on up without stopping. This year I think someone took a bulldozer and shortened it, the hill was still hard (small ring, 6.5 mph) but it was over in no time. Hit 44 mph coming down the other side, then flat farmland soaring along at 20-22 with our small group. At the midpoint food stop I had more watermelon and cantaloupe and then strawberries at this stop instead of pineapple. Since it was lunch time I made a peanut butter bagel sandwich. Steve and I figured we couldn't keep that pace another 50 miles, so we went on by ourselves. I checked and we had averaged 17.6 for the first half and that's with stops and a hill. Rolled along at about a 17-20 pace and I mooed at the cows and neighed at the horses and baaed at the sheep and goats. Saw some buffalo, but I don't know what sound they make. At the last food stop they had tons of strawberries, so I had to eat a lot of them. Took a picture of the stop and then asked a pretty girl standing closeby to take a picture of Steve and I.
Rolled on to the end and actually seemed to get faster after 80 miles. Got to the end and it was 95.7 miles, the first year I did this ride it was my first ever century, so I turned around and did 4 more miles to make it an even 100. Last year I did 6 rides over 95 miles, so I was happy to stop at 95+. Stats for the ride- 95.7 miles with a 17.4 average. That's .4 faster over 96 miles than I averaged over 25 miles in my last tri! Had my GPS on the bike, so here's the map and profile.

Patient Acting- OHSU

Yesterday I had the bad news case, which is the hardest case they have at the med school. Both for the students and for the actor. One student acts as the doctor and 4 students observe and one doctor grades them and they are first year medical students. The bad news case is where the student has to tell me that I have metastatic renal cancer and will die in six months. The first time I did this case, I was twirling a pencil wondering where I could find the emotions I would need when the student told me I had cancer and I snapped the pencil and said "what!". After that I've always broken a pencil when they first tell me. Students from past years remember me as the pencil guy. The grading doctor tells the students that they will have to do this scenario for real many times in their careers and it never gets easy. After the rollercoaster emotions of hearing that twelve times it was time to run.
Stopped at the Dunniway track at the bottom of the hill from the medical school and did 1 mile on the track and then took a path that led up to Terwilliger Blvd. which climbs up and up. In the picture, the road goes up the hill in the trees and continues up the next hill. It has a nice wide running path sidewalk all along it and on nice days it's full of runners. Nike sponsers weekly runs that start downtown and run up Terwilliger and back. Wednesday it was lightly raining, so only a few people besides me were running it. I went up about a mile and a half and turned around and came back down to the track and did one last mile for a total of 5.1 miles in 44:27 at an 8:43 pace which is good for a hill run.