Run Like Hell 5K

Went downtown and ran the Run Like Hell 5K. Met up with Frank and his son and Kriss at the tent which was a couple of blocks from the start. Checked my jacket and camera and got in the back of the starting group. There were all sorts of costumes, 3 girls had on a white material shaped like a cup with a Starbucks logo and one girl had on a Starbucks apron as the server. There was a guy in a gorilla suit, we remarked to each other that that would be hard to run in. There was also a guy in a ketchup bottle outfit. Anyway, it started misting right before the start and then stopped shortly into the run. The first mile we stayed at Ian's (Frank's son) pace and couldn't have gone much faster. People who were walking got in the front of the pack and there were almost 600 runners, so it was crowded. We hit mile one at 8:55 and it opened up a little so Kriss took off. I stayed with her for the next mile and was breathing really hard- maybe I have exercise induced asthma. Kriss told me later I sounded like a freight train. At mile 2 I fell back from her, I wish I could have kept up with her she finished in an 8:05 pace which would have been a personal best for me. She said later that she had meant to run with the group and then the competitive spirit took over- I know exactly what she means. I realized after mile 2 that I'd forgotten to take my power bar gel- I never run without taking one first. Made it across the finish at 26:25 for an 8:30 pace. Which means the mile with Kriss I must have been under 8 which may also explain the breathing. Results just got posted and I finished 135 out of 565 and 10 of 21 for my age group. Kriss finished 2nd in her age group and Frank and Ian finished at 30:10. After Frank and Ian came in we headed to the tent and I got my camera, but didn't feel like going back to the finish line for a picture, so I took one of our table. Then we headed up to Starbucks for a Chai Tea Latte (my new addiction).

Champoeg Bike Ride

Saturday was a perfect day weather-wise so I headed out to Champoeg State Park and did a solo bike ride. There was very little wind so I was able to cruise at 20 most of the time. It was just a beautiful day to be out riding- 57-61 degrees and blue sky. Stats: 24.2 miles at an 18.6 average.

Sauvie's Island Ride

Monday I had the day off, so I went to Sauvie's Island to ride with a group from work. Frank, Steve K, Kriss and myself met up just over the bridge (top picture) by a store. It was slightly overcast and chilly, but dry. We started clockwise on the island loop road. It was a social pace ride so we just sauntered along through the farms with me mooing at the cows. When we came to the beach road, we turned and did an out and back to almost the beach. Hadn't seen Kriss since the Seattle to Portland ride so it was nice catching up with her. Steve K said we should start a base tri club, I agree. Frank wanted caramel apples, so we stopped at a couple of the pumpkin farms and at the third one found caramel apples. I had a latte and pastry instead of the apples. While we were eating a guy from my shop with his family showed up to buy a pumpkin, small world. The workers said the traffic on Sunday was unbelievable, three hours to get off the island with a policeman directing traffic. I think there's 4 pumpkin patches with corn mazes on the island. Frank and his son and Kriss and myself are running the Run Like Hell 5K this coming weekend, so I asked Kriss what her 5K pace was knowing she's faster than me and maybe I could pace her and do a pb. She said she would just run at whatever pace Frank's son Ian ran at- that hadn't even occurred to me! So I guess Sunday will be a social run. Stats for the ride- 23.4 miles and an average of 14.1.

Beaches ride

When I got home it wasn't even 2 o'clock- I wouldn't even have to be at work yet if it were a workday. Anyway, I decided to go to Beaches restaurant in Vancouver to do a training ride with the Headhunters tri club. My friend Kevin was painting his house so he couldn't make it so it was just Denise (swim teacher) myself and Bill. Bill is an older guy who arrived in a Porsche with the bike in the back. Denise said he has a plane and flys to all his races. He told us about a double century next weekend in California he's doing then a couple weeks of slight taper and then the Silverman full ironman. We sauntered through downtown Vancouver at 9-11 mph talking about various races and then once on Vancouver Lake road we it kicked out.
I was in the lead at first and set the tempo into the wind at 21-22. We took turns in a three person paceline at 19.5-22 all the way to the end of the road. Turned around and did 20-24 back to where town starts again. Great practice, must find a way next spring to be able to do this ride more often. Afterwards, Bill left and Denise and I went in to happy hour for shrimp salads and diet Pepsi. Stats for this ride- 24.5 at a 16.6 average. For a total of 47.9 miles for the day. Drove out to Vancouver lake afterwards and took a picture of the lake and a part of the road with cows.

I-5 Bridge Run

Had to work this weekend and of course it was the most beautiful weekend weather wise of the month. When I left work at 3:30 (dayshift on weekends) my Jeep said 69 degrees, so I drove to Subway on Marine Drive to run the I-5 bridge. The Marine drive bike path has a clover leaf by the interstate cloverleaf as it branches off to the I-5 bridge path and near the cloverleaf is where I started running. As soon as I started, I could tell I was tired and not very fast. Past the cloverleaf it goes along the highway over a small bridge and the exhaust fumes from the highway were overpowering. Then the path goes past a Hooters and they were blowing their greasy exhaust onto the highway and the smell of fried food added 2 pounds of fat to me just running by it felt like.
Then the path goes on the I-5 bridge and that was cool- good view of Mt Hood and the Columbia river. After the bridge I ran down the Vancouver riverfront trail until my GPS said 2.5 and then I turned around and headed back. There were tons of people on the Vancouver trail. Back over the bridge, through the Hooters smell, through the car exhaust and back to the Jeep at 44:04 an 8:48 pace for 5 miles. If I do that bridge again running, I'll start on the Vancouver side and turn around just on the Oregon side. It was a nice run for that part.

Elvis Infomercial

Tuesday night I was part of an Elvis collection infomercial. We filmed at the Kiggins theatre in Vancouver, they blocked off a whole block and had a searchlight going in front of the theatre. There were 11 of us paid extras and one host and a bunch of people who showed up for a free screening of Elvis clips. Us "pros" were used in front of the crowd by the camera. Of the 11 extras, 6 were Beautiful with a capital B women. The first scene we filmed, the extras were going across the street and into the ticket line. The girl I was teamed with for those scenes(married 3 kids- but very pretty, I was actually the only single person of the 11) it was her first film job and she was excited. We walked across the street arm in arm and she was shaking from excitement the first three takes and then she calmed down. Then while the crowd watched the free screening, us extras did some small walking through the lobby shots. All night long the director wanted high energy and having a good time- we didn't have to act. It was a great bunch of extras and the girls were a blast and if you see an Elvis collection infomercial someday with people having a good time in the background- we were having a good time! The pitch man or host was Tom and he said he did the Travel Channel show, extreme vacation homes. He said we were much better than LA extras. After the crowd came out they interviewed some people and us extras walked and mingled right behind them in the camera angle. We had a blast then, the director said just have fun and we could talk we didn't have to pantomime. So we got pretty raucous at times. Then after the crowd left we were the crowd behind Tom in close-up shots. Craft services had a table set up with fruit and veggies and candy and cookies and Chai Tea Latte mix and more. Midnight we were done.

Ran 5 miles around base yesterday in an 8:31 pace. Total Immersion class is hard- I panic breathing on the other side from what I've always done. We do drills of three to five strokes and breath, I've always swam at 2 and breath. When we do 2 and breath drills I'm fine. Starting to get more of a swimming feel to it and less of drilling and I can feel more power in my stroke already.

Run For The Cheetah

Ran the Run for the Cheetah 8K this morning at the zoo. Got to the parking lot and it was chilly and misting. Met up with my friend Frank who was doing the 5K with his son. We got to talking and suddenly I heard "9,8,7" so I dashed over and got in the group about 3/4 of the way back. Being a chip timed event it was ok because my time didn't start until I crossed the mat. It started out slightly uphill and then straight down through s-curves. Crossed mile 1 at 8:24 and on the really steep downs I had to do a stutter step to keep in control and not slip on the wet road. Went down to the Japanese garden and around that and then to a circle in a neighborhood and then at mile 3 my watch said 24:15- an 8:05 pace! But then the uphills, I'm guessing 400 to 500 feet. I was chugging along and a pretty girl said "do you have an inhaler?" What- she explained that the way I was panting was the same as when she has an asthma attack. Of course that freaked me out, so I walked up the 3 really steep parts. Finished about 10 seconds behind Frank and his son as they finished the 5K which started 15 minutes after our 8K. The race clock said 44:44 when I passed, but I forgot to stop my watch until after I met up with Frank after the finish. So just under a 9 minute pace for the whole 5 miles. 8:50 something. By the end the rain was coming down pretty good, so they cancelled awards and I gave Frank a ride to his car which was a mile away by a Starbucks. Stopped in and had a Chai Tea Latte to warm up. Went back and bought a stuffed Cheetah that purrs, ostensibly for my daughter, but it looks good on my printer. Now that I think about it, I did the Thanksgiving run last year at the zoo on the same roads in an 8:59 pace, so I'm probably just aerobically down a little because the Total Immersion swim class I'm doing, the thing is to not swim- only drill- to get rid of bad habits. As a result I haven't been swimming in awhile. Before I was swimming 2000 meters, 1 or 2 times a week. So that plus I had been running at an 8:05 pace explains my huffing and puffing, maybe? This race had a really good T-shirt also, even the number was good.

Sleeping Beauty Hike

Monday, Columbus Day, I had the day off and it was a perfect blue sky day, so I talked my friend Kevin into doing a hike. He wanted me to do the Beaches ride with him and his tri club which would have been perfect race training. But it was one of the last good hiking chances probably, so off we went. Drove out to Hood River and crossed the bridge and then up to Trout Lake and then some forest roads. A couple miles down a dirt road we came to a tree across the road. It wasn't large, but big enough that you couldn't go over it and cliffs on both sides. Oh well, an hour and a half drive for nothing. No, we're here, so we took one end and managed to snap it and then maneuver it off the side of the road after about 20 minutes of strenuous lifting. Then about 6 miles of dirt to the trailhead where there were 2 cars- huh? We thought the tree had been there for awhile. Started out and this is a very steep trail, so it was a good workout. Saw a mom and her teenage son coming down and asked them how they drove in and they came the same way we did. They said there wasn't a tree in the road then. After they left Kevin and I looked at each other and said "that's the purpose of our being on this hike today". There's no way they could have moved that tree. Got to the top and it is a top of the world view with a front row view of Mt Adams. (top picture)
Heard voices when we got to the summit and then I saw a couple coming out of some rocks below, they waved and started down. Kevin saw some rocks that he wanted to climb to, so he did.
I took pictures of Mt. St. Helens and some others, here's St Helens. Stats for the hike: 2.8 miles (round trip) 1400 feet gain.

Week's workout
Swim class on Wednesday and then Wednesday evening I ran the Marine Drive path for 4.6 miles at an 8:33 pace. Thursday I rode from the base to Marine Drive and back for 16.7 miles with an average this time of 16. Had a coworker ride with me and 16 miles is a long ride for him so we took it fairly slow. Before work Thursday I took a picture of the Marine Drive path showing Mt Hood, but Mt Hood didn't show up too well.

Great Columbia Crossing Bridge Run 10K

Drove over to Astoria this weekend to run the Great Columbia Crossing which goes across the bridge between Oregon and Washington. You get on a bus at the Red Lion hotel in Astoria and ride over to a rest area in Washington and start there. My friend Kevin came along, his friend Denise (my swim teacher) was going to come also, but couldn't. Stayed at the Red Lion (picture is out the back door), so out the door and on the bus, that was great. Had to wait for an hour over at the rest area and a young girl kept looking at me, so I asked her some question and holy cow- she was off and running so to speak. She told me her life history about running with minimal input from me. She managed to mention her husband after a couple minutes even though she looked too young to be married. Later as I was getting lined up to start I saw a girl with iron-girl on her shirt so I asked her if she'd done an ironman. She laughed and said no, that'd be nice- that threw me- I'd been ready to talk tri's, so I just said oh, ok- smooth! The race started just after the rain started, only in the Northwest would people cheer when it started to rain. It was a light mist and once I started running I didn't notice it anymore. Kevin kept up with me for at least a half-mile, that's new. Him and Denise have been doing track work once a week. At mile 1 we turned on to the bridge which is 4.2 miles long. The kid standing by the mile 1 cone was reading off times and I heard 8:11 as I passed him. Up and over a short up part and then several miles of flat running.
at mile two the kid said 14:52- whoa. At mile 3 I heard 21:04 and that matched my watch- 7 minute miles!! No, bad mile marking as it turned out. Mile 4 I was still keeping a 7 minute pace and then the 205 foot climb according to one web site. I tried to not stop, but almost to the top my heart rate was soaring and I walked for about 100 yards and then started back up. Passed mile 5 right before the top and had a 7:42 pace between 4 and 5, but the bridge is 4.2 and mile one started at the beginning of the bridge, so 5 should have been right before the end of the bridge. At the end of the bridge was a cone with mile 6, but nobody there reading time. After the bridge the run wound around some streets before heading back to the hotel to make the last 1.2 miles. At the end I could see the finish and was slowing I guess because tons of people passed me. Then I saw the clock and it was at 51 something, so I kicked it in and finished at 51:57 a new pr by over a minute!! An 8:23 pace for a 10K- yeah. In the results I finished 198th out of 609- top third!! 24th of 35 for my age group and only 24 seconds ahead of Kevin. I really like this run because of the scenery and being able to go across the bridge on foot. It was super foggy, so no full bridge pictures. In the finish line picture you can see the walkers still on the bridge. They had over a 1000 walkers. They had chowder at the end and the hotel had free hot chocolate and since they sponsored the race, check out time was after you cleaned up. For lunch we ate at the Silver Salmon cafe and had a fresh grilled tuna special. I was going to look for the Goonies house, but it was too foggy.

The day before, Saturday, was beautiful and we had brought our bikes, so we did a ride. Started in Warrenton across Young's bay from Astoria and rode by Fort Clatsop and then around though the back side of Astoria and back to the start.
It was clear, but only 62, so cold in the forest and warm in the open. At one point we went over a bridge that had a button to let the drivers know we were on the bridge.
Stats for the ride- 20.9 miles at a 17.0 average. After the ride we met a guy from work (Wayne) that bought a weekend home in Astoria and was there working on it at a restaurant by the water. Great seafood pasta.

Swing Shift Workouts

Being in the Air National Guard fulltime, I'm a civil service government employee during the week and one weekend a month military and we have to keep military fitness standards even though civil service retirement is at age 57. Because of that we get 5 hours a week to workout and have a small gym on base. This week I road my bike from the base to Marine drive and back on Tuesday with stats of 16.7 miles and a 17.1 average. Wednesday ran around the base 3 times for 4.8 miles in 41:45 an 8:40 pace. Thursday walked around the base and did some light weights at the gym. Have to see what I can do once the rain returns and the sun goes away at 4 or 5 o'clock. Going to Astoria Oregon tomorrow to run the Great Columbia Bridge Run-10K on Sunday, should be really fun and the forecast is sunny.

Nike Campus Run

Sunday I drove over to Beaverton and ran around the Nike campus on their woodchip trail. Last year on Portland Marathon day I had run the Nike campus, so I thought I'd make it a new tradition. This year though I stopped off downtown to see the marathon finish line and instantly regretted leaving my camera in the Jeep. A sea of people wrapped in Portland Marathon blankets after the finish line- wow! Two announcers going non-stop reading names as a steady stream of people finished. Saw Sandy come in at 4:32 and Frank was doing his first marathon ever and finished at 5:05. The web site said they had 70 entertainment groups along the route and 7000 runners. OK- next year I'll be one of the 7000.
Drove out to the Nike campus and the gates were closed so the guard said to park in the street and walk up to the path. It's woodchip even on the bridges except were they cross the road, then wood planks. I started out and was going slow and then had a Neese moment and had to go to the loo bad, not the kind where a guy can stop and water a bush. After the first lap I was only doing a 9+ pace, but couldn't really think about it, I had passed a block and a half both sides solid with port-a potties at the marathon site- oh well. After 3 miles, my heartrate and breathing were out of control trying to focus, so I saw the main guard shack and went down and he let me use his bathroom- talk about fancy and that's just the guardhouse! After that I finished the rest of the second lap and didn't feel like running more, but it was only 4 miles and I saw a path going between some buildings so I ran down that and then came to a big lake (picture) and ran around the lake. That was strange as the sidewalk path was all angles so I had to run 2-3 steps and turn all the way around the lake. They had statues that looked real- the picture has a fisherman, but he's hard to see. On the other side of the lake was a women sitting on the grass drawing and she looked so real I slowed down to look and realized it was a statue. Anyway, finished the run at 4.6 miles in 43:30 a 9:27 pace and a minute a mile slower than my last run.