oregon adventures

2011 Recap

2012-01-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

Spreadsheet numbers for 2011 show 773 miles of running with a 5.9 average run. 1661 miles of bike riding with a 38.6 average. 167,200 meters of swimming for 103.9 miles and a 1689 average swim. Also threw in 38.1 miles of hiking with 7500 feet elevation gain. Ran in 6 different states and 1 Canadian Provence. Added three new state capitals visited. Two sprint triathlons, 1 olympic distance, 1 half distance, and Ironman Cananda.
Next year so far I am signed up for Vancouver Lake half marathon, Shamrock Run, Ocean Shores half iron in Washington, and the Oklahoma City half marathon. Trying to decide between the Des Moines half marathon or Minnesota marathon in October. Twin Cities marathon is supposed to be the prettiest marathon in America, but Des Moines has a half and would be cheaper. Either one gets me a capital. Also thinking of the Big Climb in Seattle in March where you climb the tallest building in Seattle.
Read a Pulitzer winning history book about Paul Revere, so I'm looking at Boston in September as just a vacation with my daughter Debbie. Airfare is cheap, hotels are trough the roof expensive, so I haven't committed to that yet, but pretty sure I will. Maybe even throw in a Fenway Park game while there.

Library and Other Dreams

2011-12-04T21:30:00.001-08:00

For most of my adult life I had dreamed of having a library in my house. Several years ago, I bought a bunch of $39 Dania white bookshelves and had a library/computer room. At one point I even tried rope lights on the back of the shelves for accent lighting, but it never looked the way I dreamed of. Then in late 2006 I got promoted to supervisor at work and joined the Headhunters gym. The pay increase and confidence boost has changed my life in so many ways it's hard to imagine the way things were. One change I can see is the library room my daughter designed and made for me with Ikea shelving and accent lights. She also designed and put together a spectacular Vineman Ironman themed dining room. I've completed three full ironmans and five half-ironmans since 2006. Before joining the gym I had never run more then 8.5 miles and my knees and ankle hurt so much I thought I never would go more. Now 8 miles is a normal maintenance run during the off-season.
In 2010 I went back to see the Phillies at Citizen's Bank Park with my son and then went to New York City and Gettysburg with my son. A huge fantasy come true, one I would have prefaced with "someday if I win the lottery", just a few years ago. This year I played the Banff golf course, another fantasy from years back.
So as another year winds down, I'm very thankful for where I am and who I've become and how my kids turned out and here's to more fantasies coming true next year!

New Mexico Running 11

2011-11-21T13:40:00.001-08:00

For the second year in a row, my daughter Debbie and I flew to New Mexico to see my Dad and Stepmom. Got to Albuquerque late Thursday night and went to the Standard diner for dinner- great food. It was on one of my new favorite shows- Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Veteran's Day we went to the Very Large Array down in central New Mexico. It's a radio observatory using giant antennas on railroad tracks. We got really lucky and the antennas were all in so we could see them lined up close. Ate at a small diner in the town of Magdalena that had a bunch of abandoned buildings, but a great diner run by a German couple with great food and good prices. Saturday I got up early and ran by the airport in Albuquerque through a neighborhood and a park for 3 miles. Then we went to Jemez Pueblo for their feast day. Got to the pueblo and it was jammed with parking a long ways away. So we continued on and stopped at the Jemez State Monument and toured the ruins of a 1630 church.
Then on to some sulfur falls and then ate lunch at a remote mountain resort that had elk stew. Passed the new Valles Caldera National Preserve, very pretty. Then into the town of Los Alamos. Had to drive through a security checkpoint to enter the town. Went to the small museum and they had exhibits about life in town during the bomb building. Saw a t-shirt on display and asked if they sold it, the guy said downtown at one store. So we went there and I got a mushroom cloud t-shirt. Really impressed with Los Alamos, running paths all over. Hiking paths galore from the town. On the way back we stopped for dinner at Sadie's in Albuquerque and had to wait 45 minutes for a table. It was featured on another great show- Man VS Food. The portions were huge, but I still finished my plate no problem. Sunday it was cloudy and rainy, so we went to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and then just Dad and I went exploring the Sandias Mt roads. Ended up at a ski area about 8500 or 9000 feet and the snow was getting thick and had just a car so back to town. Monday morning I ran a new road by the airport to Mesa Del Sol on a great bike path, except it was littered with glass. Did 6 miles. Then we went up to Santa Fe to revisit the capitol building.
I tried to go in the chambers, but they were locked and the closest I could get was the viewing gallery above them. Went up to the second floor and they had an art gallery around the halls with some great paintings.
After lunch we visited the Georgia O'Keefe museum and the photography gallery beside it. Then on the way back we took the long way and drove the turquoise trail back for great scenery. At a tiny town of Madrid I think, I saw a bunch of strange shacks with a very 60's feel to everything. I expected to see tie-dye. Almost to town we stopped in a new shopping center at a great diner that had good food, good coffee, and two really cute waitresses. Tuesday morning before I flew out, went to Sophia's Place which is the other Albuquerque restaurant featured on Diners and had their blue corn pancakes. Then the flight home.

Albany Sprint Triathlon II

2011-10-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Back around the 9th of October (same day as the Portland Marathon) I did the Albany Sprint triathlon for the second time this year. The first one was back in April, this one was the same pool and same course, just a lot fewer people. Rode down in the Headhunter van and it was misting and sprinkling the whole way down. Got to the High School and set up the bikes and got numbers and t-shirt and it was only misting at that time. Watched Terri's wave and then it was our time to swim. I was in a lane with coach Denise and a guy named Kirk Rose. He's over 60, but has been at almost every Oregon tri I've raced and he usually wins. There was someone in our lane from the last wave still, but they wanted to start our wave anyway, so she said "get him out" and said "go". We were still on the deck so we all three jumped in and took off in a line about 10 seconds after our wave started. Denise led the whole way and I stayed right there. I think we did a 12-13 minute 750 yard swim. Since Canada I haven't worn my watch and they didn't have splits at this race. Ran out to transition and it was wet, but not raining. Took off on the bike and tried to stay at 19-20 the whole time. Passed Matt and said hi. After about 8 miles of pedaling along at a good clip but not zooming, coach Denise caught up to me and said "jump on", so I sped up and we pace lined for about 2 miles until she passed someone and I couldn't accelerate to stay with her. Came into transition about a minute behind Denise, but threw on the shoes and knee braces and took off. Saw Denise up ahead and stayed within sight of her. Matt flew past running like the wind, then Kirk Rose passed me just a little faster than me. When he got up to Denise I heard her say "hey lane mate" and speed up to stay him. I sped up to keep the same distance as before, but I was pushing it and couldn't close the gap. Anytime there was a curve, she would see me back there say something and speed up. I stayed within sight, but finished about 40 seconds to a minute behind her. A big enough group of Headhunters were done that they did a loud "moo" as I finished. (I moo at cows on bike rides) Stayed for awards and every Headhunter (8 of us) got a ribbon. I got 2nd place in my age group and coach Denise and Terri got 1st in their age group. Then we went to Chipotle in Salem for lunch and Starbucks for the ride home. Probably the first time the whole group has gotten a ribbon, fun day even if wet.

Indian Heaven

2011-10-05T13:13:00.001-07:00

Sunday Terri and Jim took me horseback riding through the Indian Heaven wilderness area in southern Washington. The weather forecast said it was supposed to be nice, but of course it was wrong. Got to an old trailhead by the road to Lone Butte and saddled up. I hadn't been on a horse since 1999 or so. I was on an 8 year old called Mister. Jim led us up an abandoned trail to Placid Lake. It was fun try to pick up the trail as it vanished and reappeared. It was easier to do from a horse because you could see ahead. Made it to Placid Lake and there was a large group and an older guy came over and asked about the trail. He said he was George Acker and had a lake in the wilderness named for him. I had to ask him what he did to get a lake named for him. He explained that he was a logger and had built most of the roads up around the area. Luckily they stopped before cutting Indian Heaven. He was 83 and still hiking and going strong. We took a trail that launched straight up the mountain and had to rest the horses periodically. It was nice climbing and not having to work hard at it. Got up to the Pacific Crest trail and took that to a junction and went to Clear Lake where we stopped to eat lunch.
By then it was sprinkling and pretty cold at 4900 feet. Ate an apple and gave the core to Mister, he seemed to like me better after that. Got back on and took the loop trail back to the Pacific Crest trail. It was muddy and the horses had to work to find good footing. Got to Junction Lake where three trails come together and took a fourth trail, the abandoned old Pacific Crest route. It took us through beautiful meadows to Acker Lake. Then we rejoined the new route of the Pacific Crest at Bear Lake and then took a newer trail back to Placid Lake that was longer but more gentle. By then we settled into a rhythm and the only sounds were the soft clop of hoofs, the creak of the saddle and the tinkling of a metal strap on Terri's horse. The woods and meadows were beautiful and so quiet. The whole trip we saw one couple backpacking with their dogs, that's it. When we almost back to the truck, I realized I had never ridden more than an hour (rental rides), this had been almost 6 hours. Legs felt a little sore, but I felt great. On the drive back to town, I conked out for awhile from the fresh air probably. Great day and a lot of fun- Thanks Terri and Jim!

Montana Running

2011-10-01T12:02:00.001-07:00

After doing Ironman Canada, I went to Banff for three days and then on the way home I decided to go down through Montana since I was even with it and had never been to Montana. Crossed over the border at Eureka Montana and filled the thirsty Jeep up with 3.69 per gallon gas after paying 1.19 per litre at Banff and 1.30 per litre at Penticton. Drove down to Kalispell and checked into a really nice Hampton. It was dinner time and I had read in a guide book about a good pizza place, so I found the Moose saloon and it looked rundown on the outside. Walked through the door and had to stand there a bit to get used to the dark and saw sawdust floor and tons of people. It was standing room only and loud. Ordered a pizza and found a seat as someone left. Really good pizza. The next day I headed for Glacier National Park and went in the west entrance to drive the Going to the Sun Road. Not too crowded at first, I would let anyone coming up go around so I could look around. Views kept getting better the farther I went. Then it started climbing and the views got incredible, but the road was on the edge and was dizzying to look over. Got to the high point, Logan Pass, and had planned to hike the Highline trail, but it was Labor Day weekend and the parking lot was swarming with circling cars looking for a space. So I continued down the road to Mary's Falls and did that hike to Mary's Falls and Victoria Falls. Then stopped and hiked to Sun point overlooking St. Mary's Lake. Beautiful park and great drive. Then out the east side and down to Helena to another Hampton that was not that nice. I was beat by then and didn't see anyplace to eat nearby, so I walked over to a Walmart, which I try never to go to, and got frozen lasagna and cooked it in the room and ate the whole thing.
The next day I went to the capital and it was open, so I walked around and admired the art. The house and senate chambers were locked but I could look in. Then I decided to run for the first time since the Ironman. They had a "healthy heart" path marked out around the capital and a nearby park for a mile loop, so I did that and then again and felt great so a third time for 3 miles that felt fantastic. Then it was time to leave Helena, which other than the capital area looked pretty ghetto- hundreds of casinos, every gas station and cafe was a casino. The capital area was very pretty and casino free, so I found downtown and it was very nice and casino free. The tale of two towns, they have a problem there. Radio, billboards, TV, all talked about a huge meth problem in Montana, get rid of 90 percent of the casinos and they'd still have too many. On the way out of Montana I drove through Missoula and downtown and by the college was nice and the rest was not. Then in Idaho, I had to drive through the town of Kellogg since I'm from Battle Creek. Nice little town with a dead downtown, but I saw a beautiful bike path through town and noticed it running by the highway for awhile. It's a 73 mile long path that crosses the top of Idaho and is maintained really well. Have to go back over and ride that one.
Got to Spokane and checked into the downtown Doubletree, the picture is from the room on the 14th floor. Walked over to the large park with the Spokane Falls that was really pretty. They were having a big concert, food event going on in the park, so I got crepes for dinner from a vendor and walked around the fair. Nice downtown in Spokane. Next day the long scenic drive home. Now that I've been to Montana, the only states I haven't been to are North and South Dakota.

Banff

2011-09-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

After doing Ironman Canada, I took that Monday to relax with everyone. Tuesday I packed up and checked out of the motel and when everyone else went south, I turned north and headed up highway 97 to highway 1. Drove along Lake Okanagan for 80 miles or so and ate lunch at Kelowna at a place called De Dutch that looked interesting. Then after the lake it got cloudy and rainy. I stopped to get gas at the last town near the lake thinking it would go up as I got in the country. Five miles later the gas went down 20 cents a litre. Got to Highway 1 and it was a two lane twisty road with trucks. Through Mt Revelstoke and Glacier parks it was raining, but clear enough in the distance I could see mountains and it was beautiful. Got to Yoho park and turned off the highway and took a twisty road to Takakkaw falls, which one book said was Canada's highest.
Then back on Highway 1 up to Banff. Once past Yoho park the road became a divided highway just like an American Interstate with one cool exception. I got to see the wildlife overpasses I had read about. Didn't think to get a picture of them. Got to Banff and checked in to the Banff Springs. Cheking in the guy said "Mr Macey I see you've been upgraded to a King suite", I said "ok". Got to my room on the 8th floor and it was pretty big, I had heard the rooms in that hotel were small. In the top picture my room was at the top of the left tower with the dormer windows. I'd never stayed in a place with valet parking and instant service. I would pick up the phone and a girl would say "yes Mr. Macey". Woke up the next day and it was 37 degrees F and rainy. Oh well, decided to drive up to Jasper on the Icefields Parkway. Several books called it the most beautiful drive in the world and from what I could see of it I would have to agree. At one point I saw a black bear in the road, so I stopped and while getting my camera a pick-up roared around me and scared him off. After that I kept the camera out and ready, but the only other chance was on the way back I saw some cars stopped and I got there just in time to see a mother bear and cub go into the trees. Stopped at all the viewpoints. When I got to Bow Pass, I pulled into the parking lot and hiked up to the viewpoint of Peyto Lake.
It was around 7000 feet elevation and started softly snowing. Drove up to just inside Jasper park to Athabasca glacier which is the start of several rivers including the Columbia. I was still 60 miles from Jasper so I decided to turn around and go back to the hotel.
The next day I had a tee-time at the Banff Springs course for 8:30.
Got there and was teamed up with a guy from Ontario and another guy from Manitoba. It had warmed up to the low 50's and only partly cloudy so I could see the mountains framing each hole. Did ok, lots and lots of sand. On the 15th hole a wolf sauntered down the side of the fairway, saw us and went around past some hikers on the trail beside the course and then back on the fairway like he owned the place. It was the most I'd ever payed for golf, but the only computer golf game I ever had back in the 90's came with the Banff course and I told myself "someday I'm going to play that course". After golf I drove the scenic highway 1A up to Lake Louise.
The books raved about it and the hotel there. The lake was pretty, but the hotel wasn't as nice as the one I was staying at. Hiked around the lake to the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse. That hike made the whole trip worth it- amazing views and it got better with every step. From the other side of the lake looking back at the hotel was when Lake Louise became really impressive. The teahouse was 3.3 miles and 1200 feet up from the lake with great views of the mountains and glaciers. The girl who served the tea and sandwich said she hiked up and worked 5 days and hiked back for two days off and had to carry anything she needed. It started softly snowing at the teahouse, so back to Banff for some Alberta beef. The next day I packed up and checked out and said goodbye to Banff. Took highway 93 through Kootenay park and stopped and hiked Marble canyon and later the Paint Pots. Ate lunch at Radium Hot Springs and then the long drive past golf course after golf course with the Rockies on the left all the way to the border crossing into Montana.

Ironman Canada

2011-09-07T10:12:00.001-07:00

Back on Aug 28th I finished my third Ironman. Left for Penticton Canada on the 23rd. Julie rode up with me and we caravaned with the Headhunter's van and then Jim and Terry joined the caravan in Yakima. Nice drive up with only one incident. Just south of the border, I saw Jim brake hard, I braked hard and then saw what caused it, a big horn sheep in the road. As he walked away, Julie said "he's smiling", sure enough the big horn looked back at us and appeared to smile as he sauntered off. Got to Penticton and checked into the Slumber Inn right on the beach. My first thoughts were, "what a dump" and "I paid how much for this". By the end of the week it proved to be worth the money and the perfect location.
The rest of the week we rode the big hills and drove the whole course. Swam some in the beautiful and warm lake. Ran a little around the town. Mostly though I sat outside Jim, terry, and Denise E's room because it had the view in the picture on top and it was in the shade the whole time. Did crosswords or just sat. Got in vacation mode and didn't even wear my watch. My phone's data plan didn't work in Canada, so I was cut off from Facebook and Phillie's scores, just relaxing. My right knee was acting up until Saturday I took the bike over to transition and put it on the rack and then set the transition bags in place. When I stood up from setting the last transition bag in place my knee didn't hurt and I teared up a little thinking "I'm going to do this!".
The motel was right across the street from the swim start, couldn't get any closer. Got ready and soon was standing on the beach with Julie and Mark and the gun went off and it was time to swim. I'd heard about Ironman swims being crowded. The ironmans I'd done had under 500 people, this one had 2800 people all starting at the same time. It was combat. At one point I got frustrated and when another person swerved in front of me kicking, I grabbed their foot and pulled down. Then felt really bad, that was uncalled for. So after that I just tried to keep my line and hit and got hit. After what seemed to be forever I reached the first turn at 1600 meters and then a short 450 meter part that flew by and then the long home stretch of 1800 meters. I was going buoy to buoy and trying to figure out if they were 200 or 150 meters apart. It seemed to be 150 meters, but there were too many by the end, so not sure. Finally the swim was done and it was time to ride. Started out good and zoomed through town seeing lots of people I knew watching. The first 40 miles were fun, but I held back and didn't hammer with the thought "have to run after". After 40 miles it turns onto the Richter pass climb and my stomach was complaining by then. I ate a sandwich and took some e-caps and climbed really good, then the downhill. All year training I had been terrified of downhills, but this time I just tucked into the aerobars and flew down the hill. Then the seven bitches as they're called. I think there were more of them. Fun downhills, but lots of momentum killing steep short climbs that sap your strength. By now my stomach wouldn't let me stay in the aero bars more than a few seconds. Got to the long out and back that was pretty rolly and seemed to go on forever. I stopped at the bike bag stop and the volunteer girl refilled my bottles for me because I was a little loopy. Took some Pepcid Ac's and going back out the out and back I was belching really loud. Always just as a pretty girl was passing so it seemed. But the stomach was getting better. I looked around and noticed the ride wasn't jam packed any more. I must have really slowed down. Turned onto the Yellow lake climb and just slogged up the hill popping Pepcids and e-caps and drinking like crazy. It was well over 90 by now. Or in the 30's since it was Canada. At the summit of Yellow my right leg started cramping really bad, so I tried riding and stretching, but it got worse so I stopped and shook the leg out for awhile until it stopped and then took off again. The downhills here were really twisty and I was flying , but had to slow for some guy riding in the middle and then weaving all over even after being yelled at "on your left". Not worth the effort, so I just relaxed and waited until after the curves and got past him. Then down into town and I wanted off the bike. I was hoping I could run, the stomach was better, but still bad. Off the bike and into the run tent. Asked a volunteer if he was doing the race next year, he said no his wife was and he had just done Leadman. That started a conversation with another guy sitting there and after a 10 minute transition I was off on the run. Flew through town and the giant crowd. Then slowed to my race pace of 11 mins/mile or so. Walked through the aid stops drinking water and then at the last trash can would walk 10 steps and then start running again. At 6 miles I took some more Pepcid and e-caps and changed it to 15 steps. At mile 10.5 was a big hill and I came up to Jason and John, so I stopped and walked up the hill with them. They were having a great time and I walked a while with them and then coach Denise passed on the other side and said "come on Jeff catch me". So I ran the downhill and then it went back up even steeper than before and something in my snapped off and I said "screw it" and walked up the hill. Then a slow jog into the bag stop. Read a letter from Sarah she had given me to put in the run bag. Then started up again, but not with much enthusiasm. Just then I hear "Jeff" and it was a girl I had run a couple miles with before she had gotten nauseous and had to slow down. So I stopped and waited for Trisha and we walked and ran together the rest of the way. She was nauseous still, so we would walk about half a mile then run half a mile to the next stop. One time we came up on Brian, so we walked with him for awhile, Then we came up on Chris, so we walked with him awhile. By mile 22 or so we tried running for longer periods to get it over with and were like zombies by then. She had thrown up at one of the stops and was feeling a little better. We ran the last mile past the crowds and out and then you turn around and come back the final push past the crowds again. Trisha said, "I have to stop" so with .3 left we stopped and she dry heaved on the side of the road. Then we ran the last part and high fived along the side of the chute and came across the line hand in hand.
Finished at 14:42:32 good for 2029th place. Trisha was married with kids, so we said goodbye and the I met up with Julie and we went back to the finish line and got to the front row and banged on the sides of the chute cheering on the last hour finishers.
I finished and felt great afterwards, but didn't leave it all out there. First time I walked more than a tiny portion of a race, but wasn't beat up and could hike no problem later on my vacation trip home, but that's another post.
Great job to all the Headhunters!

Onionman Olympic Triathlon

2011-06-01T10:49:00.001-07:00

Sunday I did the Onionman over in Walla Walla. Usually it's really warm over there, but not race morning. Drove over Saturday and it was in the 60's in Eastern Oregon and Walla Walla. Checked in to the Hampton and drove down to Milton-Freewater Oregon about 8 miles south of Walla Walla. Found the Milton-Freeman country club and payed for 9 holes and zoomed through on the flat course in an hour and 5 minutes. Looked at the watch and decided to pay for the back nine. The back nine was up on a hill that had a very steep path up to the top and then up and down on every hole. On hole 16 or so my legs were saying "you know we have a tri tomorrow?" Nice community course and scenic up on top for the back nine. Went back to Walla Walla and got a pizza and some pasta and ate way too much. Then setting out my stuff for the morning I realized I didn't have a water bottle, 25 miles with no water may be bad.
Got to the lake an hour and a half before the start and I was four cars from filling the parking lot. After that people had to park on the dam and walk a long ways. The Jeep said 42 degrees and it was sprinkling. I set up transition and sat in the Jeep trying to warm up. The water was 59 degrees which is cold for Walla Walla area, so they shortened it to one loop, so about 850 instead of 1600 meters. Got in and put the face in and got used to the cold. Started out and it was freezing, but quickly forgot about it and just swam. Got out at 15:51 which was a little slow, I zig zagged a lot. Put on my Headhunters jacket and started to put on long gloves, but struggled with wet hands so took off and left after a 3:53 transition. I was shaking at first and miserable on the chip seal lake park road with speed bumbs, but then got on the main road which was smooth. Warmed up a little and cruised along in what felt like legs in sand. It looks flat to down hill, but is really uphill and 16-17 takes effort. Got passed alot, maybe the extra nine holes wasn't a good idea. Got to the turn around and it was downhill then and my attitude changed to what a beautiful ride in the country. Cruised at 18-26 all the way back for an average of 18mph for 25.2 miles. As I was putting on the run shoes the sun peeked out and it was noticeably warmer. Got to mile 1 of the run and hung up the jacket by a volunteer and ran nice and comfortable and picked up the jacket on the way back and finished with a 56:19 run for a 9:04 pace over 6.2 miles. Total time was 2:41:36 good for 120 out of 213 overall and 11 of 14 for 50-54 age group. Got some good bbq'd chicken and salad and tried one cookie from a table full of them. Then back to the hotel for a long hot shower. By then it had opened up and was in the mid to high 60's and was beautiful. Drove towards home and stopped at a small winery of the hundreds around Walla Walla and it was jammed inside, so I tried a couple wines and left. Decided too many wine tasters, so looked at the map and took a long detour to Heppener Oregon to the Willow Creek golf course and played nine holes there. Nice course in a town of a couple thousand with brown hills around and lots of wind. Ate dinner in a little diner in downtown Heppner. Then drove an almost empty highway back to I-84. Then on the interstate it was white knuckle driving all the way to The Dalles because of the wind pushing me all over the road and dodging the swerving semis.
The race gave a really nice bag that says 2011, I noticed afterwards that the number says 2010. Overall good race, scenic area and a road trip. Now have golfed 113 Oregon courses.

Eugene Half Marathon and Rides

2011-05-08T15:47:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I did the Eugene half marathon down in Eugene Oregon. Started the day Saturday doing the group swim at the club I go to in Camas for 3000 meters and then a 33.5 mile bike ride called the bridge to bridge loop crossing over the I-205 bridge and the I-5 bridge. Then hopped in the car and drove down to Eugene for packet pick-up and the expo. Decided late to do this race, maybe March, and by then the only hotel open in the area was the Downtowner. It wasn't bad, but wasn't too nice either. It was about four blocks away from the Hilton where the shuttles ran from, so in the morning I walked down there to ride to the start. Got in line with several hundred others and got on the third school bus to stop. Got to the start line and got in corral B and heard a young girl singing the anthem, although I couldn't see her. Then it started and about two minutes later we started moving and finally crossed the start line. Sort of ran a slow jog for awhile as the walkers who had lined up in front clogged things up. After a couple miles it thinned enough to get a good rhythm. Love seeing the sea of people before it thins and all the colors bobbing up and down in a solid mass. This is the fourth year in a row for me, three years in a row for the half. So I knew the course and what to expect. Went nice and slow and comfortable. Got to mile 5 and really had to pee, so I got in the porta potty line and timed it- 2 minutes to get through the line and done. I was under a 10 minute pace before that stop. Finished with a 2:11:36 for a 10:03 pace and 79 out of 123 for my age group and 1936 of 3882 overall. Got some pancakes and hopped a shuttle back and just had time to shower before checkout time. Then off to Armitage park in the north part of Eugene to do a bike ride. Decided to ride the southern most end of the Willamette Valley Bike route from Armitage park to Brownsville and back. Got out on the flat almost empty country roads north of Coburg and got hit by a hard wind.
Slogged along as fast as I could and made it to Diamond Hill road 13 miles out. The route turns right and has a couple of hills, but I had done the Cherry Pie bike race from this spot a few years ago and went left on the race route on flat roads and saw two cars until mile 24. Then into Brownsville which is a great looking historic town, but all the interesting cafes were closed because it was Sunday. So I stopped at a coffee stand and got a latte and sandwich. By then it was in the high 60's and sunny in what seems like the first and only nice day of the year. Rode back the WVB route over the hills and then got back on the flat roads with the wind and just cruised at 19-22 all the way back to Coburg and then 3 miles to the park in Eugene for a total of 50.5 miles at a 16.8 mph average. Threw the bike in the Jeep and drove up to Coburg and stopped at a historic house inn I had seen on the ride and ate a late lunch. Then the drive home. For the weekend, 3000m swim, 83.5 miles on the bike and 13.1 miles running.

This Saturday I did the RACC (Ride Around Clark County) for the fourth time. This time though I did the 100 mile ride instead of the 67. Denise, Bob, Denise E, and Allen and I ended up riding together and it stayed dry most of the way. The sun even peeked out a few times. Ended up doing 98.3 miles at a 14.3 average with Tons of climbing. Felt fine afterwards.
Next up is the Onionman triathlon in Walla Walla Washington over Memorial day weekend.

Albany Sprint Triathlon

2011-04-24T11:51:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday I did my triathlon of the year the Albany sprint tri in Albany Oregon. Rode down in the Headhunters team van on Saturday and stayed at the Phoenix Inn. Ate at a nice Italian place in Albany. We had 12 people and it was prom night, so we had to wait for a table, but the food was good.
Packet pickup was the morning of the race. Got the number and set up transition, then into the pool area to watch for 2 hours until my wave. They have a 50 yard pool, but have a bulkhead to make it two 25 yard pools so you start in the middle and get out in the middle. Finally it was time to swim and started out third of four in my lane. The guy in front of me was a little slow, so after two laps I passed him. The girl behind me hit my feet, so I tried to let her pass and she said go. She was drafting me. 750 yards later, I got out at 13:56 and jogged outside to the bike. Almost took a header because I missed the dropoff of the curb and stumbled. Got on the bike and it is a flat, fast ride. But that day was very windy of course so I just tried to go as fast as I could the whole time. The bike was a rectangle course and three sides felt like a headwind. Finished with a 19.7 mph average. Got to the transition and coach Denise was going out on the run and yelled for me to catch her. Started out slowly on the run and was alone the whole run so I would speed up. Finally saw a mile marker at 2.5 and I was on an 8:30 pace. Sped up and ran really good the last part that took forever. Finished the run in 28:52. It was at least 3.5 miles instead of 3.1. Overall time was 1:24:28 good enough for 3 of 5 for my age group and a ribbon. Coach and her husband Bob both won their age group. Good first tri of the year.

Edison Festival of Lights 5K

2011-03-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

President's Day weekend I flew to Florida to see my mom just outside Fort Myers. She lives on an island, Pine Island. Going I flew through Chicago and had window seats all the way. From Portland to Chicago I was over the wing and it was cloudy. From Chicago to Fort Myers, the windows didn't line up with the seats so I had a bulkhead and I was over the wing, so I couldn't see anything. The first day I ran from Mom's house out to the main road and down a sidewalk/bike path for 3 miles each way for 6 miles of 77 or so degree running in a short sleeve shirt. Went on mom's computer and looked up running paths in Fort Myers and saw they had a 5K Saturday evening with a big crowd to watch you. So after a beautiful 80 degree day on the island, we drove into Fort Myers and parked downtown at the start of the Edison Festival parade route. The 5K started at 5:30 or so and it was still very warm and 1400 people or so did the run with thousands lining the street waiting for the parade after the run. Took off pretty fast and just stayed fast. It was a flat run and I was wearing a Phillies running shirt, so I heard at least 4 people yell- "go Phillies". Crossed the finish line with an 8:21 pace, 25 minutes something I think. Good for 460 something place of 1400. Mom was waiting at the finish line and we were both hungry so we didn't stay for the light parade. Sunday we went to the Episcopal church on Pine Island. Then after lunch drove down to Naples and walked out on the pier. Great view and interesting crowd on the pier. Naples was a strange town to me. Pretty, but everything is behind locked gates with guard houses. Either they have the worst crime in America or they are the most stuck up people in America. Never seen anything like it.
President's day we took a boat ride first to Cabbage Key to a restaurant with dollar bills on the ceiling. The girl said they had $70K on the ceiling. I added one more to it after signing it. Then another boat to Caya Costa state park island. Laid on the beach for a while in sunny blue sky 80 degree weather. Nobody was swimming or even in the water, but I decided to swim anyway. It was nice, not warm, but not cold. Swam out for a few minutes and then back in and repeated for about 20 minutes with a little floating in between.
Probably about 600 meters in all. Then a tram back to the boat and the 2 hour ride back to Pine Island. On the boat ride back, I looked up in time to see two dolphins leap right beside the boat about 5 feet away from me. Tuesday before I flew home we stopped right before the bridge off Pine Island at a very crowded and loud breakfast place that had a fantastic crab omelet and whole wheat pancakes, grits, whole wheat toast and really good coffee. I was stuffed. Flying home I went from 80 plus degree Florida to 13 degree snow piled everywhere Minneapolis and then landed at 40 degree rainy Portland, ahh home wet home.

Fairview Path 15K Run

2011-02-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning I had set the alarm intending to do the Zena Road Run in Salem. It's a 15K in the hills west of Salem by some wineries I haven't been to yet. The alarm went off, I turned it off and rolled over. A couple hours later I got up and was going to veg the day away when I saw a Facebook message by Brian saying he had run 12 miles. It is an Ironman year, so I got ready and thought I have time for 7 or 8 miles before the Super Bowl. Took Cedrick (my running partner and my Daughter's dog) and went to Gresham city park and started running west on the Springwater trail. Got to the new junction with the Fairview path and turned onto that path over a new bridge over Powell Blvd. Ran a mile down that and crossed Division St and then another mile later it seems to end, but went on the sidewalk around a corner and it started up again for a couple more miles. Got to the Glisan St crossing and the GPS said 4.65 miles- perfect- 9.3 is a 15K, so I guess I was meant to do a 15K. Turned around and went back the same way. Really nice path with only a couple of bad crossings. So ended up with 9.3 miles at a slow 10:04 pace. Cedrick was one happy puppy to get outside and run in pleasant 54 degree weather.
A couple weeks ago I ran the Vancouver Lake half marathon. It was in the 40's this year instead of the normal 30's. Met up with the team van and rode in the team van to the race. Lining up to start I saw Ben who did the Grand Columbian full iron with me in 07. We ran together to start and he said he hadn't run over 6 miles in a long time. I hadn't run more than 9 miles since July last year, so we just went slow and steady and talked and all of a sudden we were past mile 12 and just ran it on in. Finished at 2:10 which is the slowest I've ever run the Vancouver Lake run, but I finished and was happy with it and my right leg only hurt a little.
This year I've also decided to do the Albany sprint tri in April, the Shamrock 15K run in March, and the Onionman Olympic tri in May. Also thinking of doing the Eugene half marathon again this year in May.

Icy Georgia Running

2011-01-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Last week I flew to Georgia for a conference. First flight was cancelled, second flight was cancelled. At one point Delta had us routed through Detroit and DC and then Atlanta. Finally one opened on Salt Lake City to Atlanta, so I got on that. At the last minute Doug, the guy who was also going to the conference also got on that flight, so we were on the same flight the way it was supposed to be. Got to Atlanta and the plane couldn't get to the gate because of ice. After 15 minutes of reving he backed the plane up and got a running start to get over the ice berm. Welcome to Atlanta. The conference was at Warner Robins AFB about 90 miles south of Atlanta. So we got to the rental car place and the counter girl said "there's no way you can make it in a compact", so she gave us a Chevy Equinox SUV. Got out on the snowy-icy roads and made it onto the highway and after a few miles it was stopped with a sign saying salting. After about 20 minutes it started up again and once out of Atlanta, the roads were clear of ice and down towards Robins the snow on the side of the road went away. Still took about 3 hours to go 90 miles.
The next day after the conference drove over to Macon to a nice Italian restaurant that had good food and a cute waitress from Cincinnati. Got back and it was dark and 25 degrees, but I decided to run on base near billeting. Ran 4 miles and was frozen afterwards, but at one point saw a ton of stars. After the next days conference end, went to the air museum in town and then went to the gym on base and started swimming. Got to 1300 yards and they turned the lights out. The pool closed at 6, even though the gym was open all night. Ate dinner at a place that looked good, Catfish House. Turned out everything was fried- surprise. (everything in GA is fried I think)
The next day was the normal fly home day, but we had decided to stay the weekend. Doug had never heard of Andersonville, so before going up to Atlanta we drove over there. They have a couple of sections of wall and the Providence spring and lots of memorials. Then lunch in a small town and up to Atlanta. Got rooms at the Embassy Suites at the airport and then took the car back because the government was paying for that one and got a Ford Fusion. Went to the capital and the ice and snow was off the roads by then, but the grass and sidewalks in Atlanta were still icy. The capital was surrounded by ice, but it was open and we toured the chambers and the museum on the top floor. We went to a sports bar near the hotel to eat dinner and I noticed on ESPN that the Flyers were playing at the Thrashers. Looked up the Thrashers on my phone and sure enough- that's Atlanta's hockey team. So we took off for downtown and made it to the Arena and got tickets with a military discount and only missed about 8 minutes of the first period. 0-0 after the first. In the second Atlanta scored, but the Flyers answered a few seconds later. Then Philly scored again but Atlanta tied it at 2 with 30 seconds left in the second. In the third period, Philly looked like a really good team and attacked everything and won 5-2. Tons of Philly fans in the stands, so I was nowhere near alone cheering for the visitors. Really cute girls in short skirts skated out to clean the ice at breaks.
Saturday we drove to the Atlanta Cyclorama which is the largest cyclorama left. 40+ feet tall. Personally I thought Gettysburg's cyclorama was better, but Atlanta's was still nice. Then going downtown we saw tons of parking garages filling up for the Falcons game that night, so we went to the Georgia dome and parked. Then walked over to the CNN studios and took the tour- free when we showed the military ID. Ate lunch at CNN and then over to the world of Coke- also free when we showed the military ID. It was fun and the gift shop was amazing. Had some time left and didn't want to move from the parking, so we took the subway up to the art museum. The subway station had a really long steep escalator. The art museum was also free to military and had a great American art section and a nice building. Then back on the subway to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and they gave us a 15% discount for military. Then it was time for the football game. We walked into the Georgia dome and it was really nice. Two giant screens and we walked all the way around the lower level and down to the seats 19 rows up from the 5 yard line. The Zac Brown band sang the anthem and the first half was a good game, but right at the end of the half Green Bay got a pick six that deflated the crowd. The second half Atlanta fell apart and the stands emptied out except for a ton of Green Bay fans who were chanting and cheering so much it seemed like they were the home team.

Sunday drove up to Kennesaw Mt to the civil war battlefield. Unfortunately the snow and ice hadn't melted up there yet and we couldn't get to the top. So back to Atlanta and the Westin building and rode the elevator up to the top and saw the city and went ahead and ate in the revolving restaurant. Then down to the Georgia Aquarium which they bill as the world's largest. Saw sharks while walking through a clear tunnel and they had giant windows to see them also. Also had Beluga whales. Had kid overload quickly, so left there and I decided since it was MLK weekend, how about King's birthplace monument. Drove through a rough looking part of town to the National Monument area where camera vans were set up ready for Monday's holiday. His birth house tour was sold out, so we toured the museum and book store and saw his grave. Very powerful museum, taking about the Jim Crow stuff and Montgomery bus boycott. Got back to the hotel with about 30 minutes of light left so I ran from the hotel down industrial roads and going around ice patches and using street lights at the end for 4.5 miles and then into the hotel weight room. Ate dinner at an old gas station converted into a restaurant.

Had thought about going to Chattanooga to the battlefield there, but thought it was probably still snowy. So we decided to drive over to Montgomery to see the capital and Dexter church where MLK preached. Got to the capital and it was inauguration day. Watched the parade for awhile and walked around the capital to the back entrance and got in, but a woman stopped us and we weren't on the list, so we had to leave. Saw Dexter church and walked down to Rosa Park's bus stop memorial. Then walking back to the car saw a fountain with names in it and it was the Civil Rights memorial. Went in and it was free for MLK day and toured that museum. Then the long drive back to Atlanta and the flight back home.

California Dreaming

2011-01-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my daughter Debbie and I flew down to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with my son. Flew down on the 23rd and got a car. Took an hour and a half to go 13 miles to Jeffrey's place because of traffic. Went to dinner at a Japanese place where you boil meat and vegetables in a pot.
The next day we went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. It features fried chicken with waffles, sounds strange, but is a great combo. Although not very healthy, but good. After that we drove out to the Getty center. Paid $15 to park, but the museum itself was free. Good collection and layout, but the best part was the amazing city view from the balcony. They also had a great garden with paths and even though it was Christmas Eve, it was in the high 60's and sunny. Stopped in an Italian neighborhood of one of the suburbs and had a really good lunch, then shopping and a home cooked dinner.

Christmas day we drove to near downtown to see the house used to film the TV show Charmed, my favorite show. Then went to Santa Monica to see the ocean, but so did many other people. It was way too crowded, so ate lunch and headed out. Decided to run, so I parked in West Hollywood and ran down a dirt path through Beverly Hills. Turned down a road when the path ended and it went along side a golf course and had gigantic houses that looked like several millions. Turned around and went back the same way for 6 miles total. Then walked next door to Jeffrey's place to an Italian place that was pretty good and had wine bottles built into the booths.
Sunday morning we ate at a Pancake place that was just like Voodoo donuts in Portland. The Gridle as it was called had HUGE pancakes with anything you can think of in them. I was able to finish only half of my plate. Then we drove down to Long Beach and went through the Queen Mary. Very interesting, although costly. But they did give me a military discount for all three tickets. Ate lunch over in Long Beach and on the drive back Debbie saw a sign for Compton and wanted to see it since she'd heard of it. So I drove Compton Blvd all the way through Compton. What a different world. Lots of idle people and bars on all windows and lots of abandoned buildings. At one point I saw what looked like an abandoned old school and across the street all the houses looked empty and had no windows behind the bars. Back at Jeffrey's I used his apartment weight room and then we walked down Sunset Blvd to a healthy pizza place for dinner.
Monday Jeffrey had to work, so Debbie and I just hung out and I went running from the apartment up to Runyon Canyon and to two viewpoints and back for 4.5 miles and lots of climbing. Then the flight home.

Sharkey Swim and 2010 Recap

2011-01-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

For the 5th year in a row I did the Sharkey swim at the club I go to. 5000 meters in a lane with Brian, Bob, and Denise. About an hour and a half or so, just turn off the brain and swim. Getting easier every year. Then pancakes afterwards.
For the year my spreadsheets say, 760 miles of running at a 5.2 avg run. 1664 miles biking with an average of 34 miles per ride. The 1664 is the lowest bike mileage since I've been doing the spreadsheet. For swimming I did 193300 meters for 120.1 miles at a 1611 meter average swim. 45.6 miles of hiking with 12550 feet of elevation gain. The most hiking since 2005, felt good hiking again. For the year, I call 2010 the year of travel. Ran in 8 different states- OR, WA, CA, MI, PA, DE, NJ, NM. Thought I had also run in Idaho, but remembered I forgot to bring my running shorts, so I walked a block or two with Sarah instead. Visited three new capitals, so I have 8 or 9 visited. New life goal is to run in all 50 states. Since I became a triathlete and got the GPS running watch, I've run in 11 different states so far.
Next year, Ironman Canada, Pacific Crest half Ironman, and Pacific Crest Olympic as a family relay with me swimming, Debbie riding, Jeffrey running. Happy New Year to all.

New Mexico Running

2010-12-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Day my daughter Debbie and I flew to New Mexico to see my Dad and Stepmom Faith. Got to Albuquerque and Faith took us to see Dad who was sick. So we said a hasty hello and went to dinner with Faith and stayed in Albuquerque at the Best Western. The next day, Debbie and I tried to go on the Sandia Mt tram. Got to the gate and the man said they were closed for a week for maintenance. So we stopped at REI to get Debbie a jacket and I asked the girl at the counter where to run and she told me about a river path. First though, Debbie and I decided to go see some ruins. So we drove down to Abo and Quarai ruins.
They are ruins of Spanish missions and towns from around 1630 and still in pretty good condition for being 400 years old. It was a blue sky day, but in the high 30's. We took the long way back on a road that topped out around 8000 feet and 32 degrees, then down to Albuquerque and we saw several bike riders climbing the hill. Got back to the hotel and Debbie didn't want to run, so I drove downtown and found one of the trailheads for the river path. Started out and didn't see anyone and the pavement was uneven, so I was just getting worried when a bike went by. Then tons of bikes one at a time and some runners and then the pavement got better and a couple miles into it the path crossed the newer I-40 path. I kept going for another mile and then turned around and went back to the I-40 crossing and turned onto that path and crossed the Rio Grande on a beautiful pedestrian bridge and then back to the start for around 7 miles.
The next day Dad was feeling better, so we picked him up and went to Sante Fe to show Debbie that town. We stopped for lunch at a nice place and then Dad was having trouble with the 7500 elevation, so we drove around the center square and the capital and stopped for coffee and a break at Flying Star, nice place. Then back to Dad's place. Sunday we got Dad and Faith and drove to Acama to see the Sky City. It's an old city on top of a rock. Have to ride a bus to the top and take a walking tour. Debbie said let's eat first, but I said "after". Should have listened to her. The tour was very interesting and the 1600's intact mission church was incredible. However it was two hours long and by the end I was starving. So we ate at the visitor's center and then took off for El Moro National Monument. We got there 45 before closing so we couldn't climb to the top, but we could go about halfway up. Beautiful place and the rock itself is inscribed by civil war and Indian war era soldiers. Then the drive back in the dark.
Monday Dad tried to take us to the New Mexico Art and History museum, but it's closed on Mondays. So we went to the Rattlesnake museum instead. Tourist trap looking on the outside it was actually pretty good. Rattlesnakes from all over the world and maps showing their range. Then lunch at another Flying Star and then dropped Dad home and off to the airport for the ride home.

Philly Redux

2010-11-07T20:44:00.001-08:00

When the Phillies beat the Reds and went on to play SF, I bought world series tickets and made reservations to go back to Philly. When they didn't make it to the world series, my son and I decided to go anyway since we had plane tickets. This time I used my free Alaska ticket. Got to Philadelphia a few hours before Jeffrey, so I decided to get the car and check in to the hotel first. Didn't even get out of the rental car lot before someone hit me. I was in line to get out and a guy rolled into me. As we were filling out paperwork he said that he was loading his GPS and didn't pay attention. The Ford Escape I had was unscathed, so I went and checked into the Sheraton downtown that Jenna got us a discount for. Right downtown and on the 12th floor. From the window by the elevator on the 12th floor I could see the William Penn statue on top of city hall. Picked up Jeffrey later that night.
On Wednesday, we drove up I-95 to Trenton New Jersey to see the capital. The security guards said we could only do a tour which started in a half hour, so we walked around the capital complex to a coffee shop. Really pretty park with a fountain and old buildings. Took a tour of the capital and got pencils from the governor's office. As we left it started to sprinkle, so we ate lunch at a bagel place on the Pennsylvania side. The counter guy, when he found out I was from Portland, said he wanted to go there to see Voodoo donuts. I told him about some of the donuts I'd seen at Voodoo and he was impressed. Then over to Washington's Crossing state park to see where Washington did his famous Delaware river crossing. Unfortunately it was pouring so we just looked from the Escape. Then back to Philly and we did spin and weights and a 3 mile run from the hotel to the Philadelphia Art museum and up the stairs for the "Rocky" run again. It had stopped raining by then but there was still a line for the Rocky statue, so we didn't take pictures with Rocky this time. Then cleaned up and I asked the hotel concierge how to get to the Wells Fargo center by Citizen's Bank Park and he said "subway". He gave me a map to the subway entrance right around the corner, so we paid $2.25 each and got on the subway. In less than 15 minutes we were at the sports complex and went in to see the 76er's play the Miami Heat in the season opener. They were giving out t-shirts at the gate. Philly lost, but made a run at the end and almost came back. Rode the subway back and even at 11PM it was safe to walk around.

Woke up early Thursday and drove the 90 miles or so to New York City. Went through the Lincoln tunnel and into the garment district and parked in the first open garage we saw. Walked to the Empire State building and luckily I had bought tickets on-line. Bypassed the giant ticket line and then got in the giant elevator line and eventually made it to the top. Weather was high 70's and fairly clear, but windy. Beautiful view of NYC. Had tickets for the Statue of Liberty at 2PM, but decided to eat lunch instead, so we found a place without lines and that had seating and had a good lunch. Then to the Rockefeller center and then through Time's Square where we were featured on the Forever 21 screen. It's a 2 story video screen with shots of the sidewalk and a girl takes a Polaroid and holds it up and she held up a picture of just Jeffrey and I for about 30 seconds.
Then on to Central Park and through the park to the Met. Went in and went through the American wing and the weapons section. Then it was time for dinner, so we took the subway back to Time's Square and went to Gallagher's across the street from the August Wilson theatre were we had tickets for later. Had steak from 21 day aged beef and spinach and a great port. Then across the street to see Jersey Boys. We had brought a change of clothes, but that was back in the car so we went in tennis shoes and jeans and fit in fine, they get more dressed up for a show in Portland. What a fantastic show, especially from the third row. A gorgeous young girl next to me was alone, so I had to talk to her and it turns out she was a roommate of one of the singers and she was a chorus girl on her way to do a show in Indianapolis. Then we walked back to the car through Time's square at 11PM. Tons of people! The 21 screen showed a mass of people so we weren't visable this time. Great light show! The guide book said NYC had become one of the safest big cities and I agree. Then out through the Holland tunnel and the long drive back to Philly and the New Jersey turnpike stores close at midnight, so no diet pepsi all the way back.

Friday we woke up a little later and drove out the Pennsylvania turnpike to Harrisburg and the state capital. Amazing building! Very, very ornate with amazing senate and representative chambers. After touring that we saw people heading to a small pizza place, so followed and got a great lunch at a small row house place. Then down to a place I've dreamed of visiting for many years. I have read tons of Civil War books and have a two shelf section in my library for Civil War books. Have watched the movie Gettysburg countless times and heading into town it started to look familiar. Went to the Gettysburg park center and saw the short movie and Cyclorama. The Cyclorama is worth the trip by itself. Spent a bunch in the book store-gift shop and then took the auto tour. Stopped at Cemetery Hill and the Copse of Trees and Big Round Top and Little Round Top. That was almost spiritual for me standing on Little Round Top after studying the Civil War for so many years. Then down to the Devil's Den and the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield. By then it was getting dark and the temp had dropped to 50 something with a cold wind. So we looked in the guide book and it said there was a great restaurant in Bird-in-Hand. Turned out to be a long drive to just past Lancaster and we got there at 7:58 and they closed at 8PM. The girl said sure come on in. Absolutely amazing food. The place mat said farm fresh and they weren't kidding. It tasted like it came from right out the back door it was so fresh and good. She even talked us into staying and having desert with a sugar-free pie that was great. Bird in the Hand restaurant in Bird in the Hand town in Amish country if you're in the area some time.

Saturday we slept in later and I did weights and ran from the hotel over the Ben Franklin bridge to Camden and back and around the Liberty Bell building and back for 6 miles and my 8th different state running in this year. Got Jeffrey up and we checked out and went to the Philadelphia Art Academy. They feature American Art and had some of the best paintings I've seen in a museum. Then to round out the trip we drove to the south side of Philly and went to Pat's and had cheesesteak with cheese whiz. It's right across the street from Geno's which we had gone to on the last trip. Pat's was much better tasting. As we were at Pat's a tour bus pulled up to Geno's. Then to the airport and the plane ride home.
This week my daughter Debbie and I are going to New Mexico to visit my Dad and Stepmom. If I run there, that will be 9 different states run in this year. Then I'll have to fly somewhere just to run to make 10. Next year, Pacific Crest half iron and then Canada Ironman in August.

Ode To Citizens Bank Park

2010-10-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, my son and I flew to Philadelphia to see two Phillies games in my new favorite place on earth- Citizens Bank Park.
I’ve been a Phillies fan since the late 60’s when I lived in Newtown Square for 2nd grade. But in all of those years I had seen the Phillies in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Diego, Atlanta, and even Seattle, but never in Philadelphia. This year I got the MLB package on cable and recorded every Phillies game and would watch the highlights and think how great it would be to see a game at Citizens Bank Park. One day it hit me- why not? Found reasonably priced flights on Southwest, found great seats on StubHub, room at the airport Embassy Suites, and off we went.
I got there at midnight on Thursday and Jeffrey was arriving Friday evening. So Friday morning I got up early and drove down to Dover Delaware to see the state capitol. Went inside and walked around the chambers- very nice building. I think that makes 8 capitol buildings I’ve been inside. Then I ran from the capitol to Dover Downs speedway and back for 6 miles. Back to Philly in time to pick up Jeffrey and go to the south side and walk until we found Geno’s and had cheesesteak with cheese whiz.
Saturday morning we went to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the new Constitution museum with life size statues of the signers you can walk around and pose with. Then we drove to the art museum with a detour to go over the Ben Franklin Bridge to Camden. Went to turn around and ended up on a street that looked like a ghetto movie set. Got back to Philly as soon as possible. Went through the Philadelphia art museum- very impressive.
Then it was time to get ready for The Game! For Saturday’s game I got first row baseline seats right by the rolled up tarp.
The most amazing seats I’ve ever had a sporting event. But first we went shopping at the stadium store for Phillies shirts, hats, etc. Did I mention it was perfect blue sky and mid to high 70’s all weekend? What can I say about Saturday’s game except “magical”. First row is amazing! That stadium is amazing! 45,000 people all cheering for the Phillies- there are no words to describe what that meant to me. A lifetime of never fitting in- suddenly I belonged- I was with my kind! Oh yeah, Werth, Howard, Ibanez all hit home runs and the Phillies won.
Sunday we slept in and made it to the stadium early for a 1:35 start. Walking from the car I saw a metal first base that said “this is where first base was in Veteran’s stadium.” I ran over to the metal third base and told Jeffrey “I’m standing where Mike Schmidt used to stand!” Someone heard me ran over and threw a pitch to his son at the metal home plate. Took a picture with the Mike Schmidt statue and then into Citizens Bank Park again. What an incredible stadium. We walked around the whole place looking at plaques and displays. Then to our seats 4 rows back from first base. Could see the Phillies players up close. Saw the Phanatic up close also. Got to the ninth inning and the Phillies were losing 6-3. Most of the 45,000 had stayed and it got loud when Polanco singled, Utley doubled, and then Howard singled them in. 6-5 with no outs and a man on with Werth up. We were all standing and yelling as he fouled off several pitches. Then Boom- over the 409 foot mark for a game winning home run. Everyone screaming and high-fiving, couldn’t have scripted that better!
The stadium parking is set up perfectly- 10 minutes and we were on the road. We went back to the south side and walked to Marra’s Italian restaurant. Got a booth and the waitress saw our Phillies shirts and giant smiles and wanted to hear details of the ninth inning. Great food! Then I saw on the rental car map that highway 13 did a loop through north Philly. So we set out to drive that and ended up on Germantown Road to Chestnut Hill instead. Road signs are weak there. Looked on the map and saw I-476 went back to the airport area so we got on that. As everyone knows, there are reasons for everything. A couple exits later I saw a sign for Newtown Square and knew what I had to do. We drove into town and I found a house on the main road Hwy 3 that perfectly matched my memory. Texted Dad and he answered that he thought it was on 320 and had a 12 foot driveway. We drove up and down 320 a little bit and all the houses had steep driveways. The other house matched my foggy 2nd grade memory though, so I said goodbye to it and at that moment Miranda Lambert’s “House That Built Me” came on the radio. Drove away from Newtown Square fighting back the tears but finally able to start letting go of the last place my parents were together.
Monday morning we decided to run. When in Philly you have to run Fairmont Park by the art museum, so we did. Ran 7 miles past Boat House row and along the river and back and finished with the “Rocky” run up the museum steps. Had to wait in line to get a picture with the Rocky statue. I had planned to go to Trenton and see the capitol, but after Camden we were leery of going to New Jersey again so we decided on Valley Forge instead. Ate lunch at a nice Italian place in King of Prussia and the toured Valley Forge. Then it was time to go. Jeffrey and I flew to Denver together and then took separate planes from there. Right now I’m looking at creative financing alternatives to be able to go to the World Series if they make it. But I had the best vacation ever a few weeks ago.

Camas-Eugene Half Iron- Sort of

2010-05-03T13:34:00.001-07:00

This weekend I did the distance of a half iron over two days. Saturday morning did 2000 meter group swim and then saddled up and rode the RACC (Ride Around Clark County). Started from the club I go to because it's on the route. The first 20 miles or so it rained, but then it started to clear up, but never did get warm. Had a big group to ride with and raced sometimes and rode social pace most of the time for 65 miles. Then off to Eugene for the half marathon down there. Because of the bike ride I missed meeting up with Lizzie Lee. Luckily Sarah picked up my packet for me, so when I got there met up with her and Ken and Sondra and Rusty and Tom and went to McMenniman's for dinner.
Next day the run started at 7 AM. I was right across the street in a motel so I waited until 10 minutes till and walked over. Almost 7000 people between the half and full, so I had to push through just to get to the 12 minute pace shute. Saw Sarah and someone sang the anthem and they started. I'm tall enough I could tell they had started, it took several minutes until we started moving. I ran with Sarah for a couple miles and then sped up and weaved my way up in the crowd. At one point on a slight hill you could see a sea of runners ahead and behind in all the colors- love seeing that. My knee started hurting a little pretty early, so I just ran a nice comfortable 9-10 pace the whole time. At mile 11 sped up a little, but it was too much effort to weave in and out of the crowd, so I didn't speed up too much. Finished at 2:09 which is 14 minutes slower than last year and good for 73/125 for my age group and 1716/4057 overall. They had pancakes with sugar-free syrup and Subway sandwiches and cookies and chips, etc. Cleaned up and went to three wineries south of Eugene and then ate lunch at a country cafe. Then back to Eugene for nine holes of golf at Oakway golf course. That makes all the public courses in the Eugene area that I've played now. Then on the drive home I remembered the Phillies were on ESPN, so I went to AM on the radio and I turned it on with 2 outs in the 4th inning with the Phillies down 5-3. The next 9 batters scored while I was listening and the Phillies won 11-5. Good weekend!
Next up- Reach the Beach on May 15th. It's a 100 mile bike ride from Portland to the ocean.

Daughter Climbs Hood

2010-04-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

My daughter Debbie climbed Mt Hood today and has a panoramic video from the summit on her blog. Good job Debbie.
It was a beautiful 72 degree day, best of the year so far. So I took Debbie's dog Cedrick (my running partner) and went out to Cascade Locks and ran the Gorge trail for 10.6 miles. Pretty hilly paved bike path and the first time I've run with hills in awhile. Cedrick and I did 11 miles last weekend- his farthest run so far. Next week easy and then Eugene half marathon in two weeks.

Beaver Freezer Triathlon

2010-04-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

Did the Beaver Freezer sprint triathlon this weekend and getting old is good. Got second in my new age group. The highest I've ever finished in a triathlon.
Rode down to Corvallis in the Headhunter van on Friday. Ate at American Dream pizza and then hot tub. Saturday was cold and damp and setting up my transition, I couldn't find my timing chip. After searching and panicking I found Barb just arriving, asked her to take me back to the motel and I searched the room- nothing. Got back to transition and in desperation shook my bag and it fell off the strap. The Velcro of the timing chip was black and my bag strap is black- it blended in.
The swim was in a pool and was 500 yards. I started second of 3 in my lane and the first guy was fast and I left the last guy behind, so I was in my own zone and got a good speed going. Finished the swim at 7:56 a pr by one second. Out on the bike course for 12 miles with wet pavement but not raining. The last two years I've averaged 20.2 at this race. This year it was windy and wet so I was careful and I guess slow because I only averaged 18.8, but felt great and not winded or tired. The run I tried to go fast, but didn't go anaerobic like the last two years. Finished the run in 25:03 an 8:06 pace. Overall I did a 1:17 which is 4:30 slower than last year, but good enough for 2nd in my age group (50-55). The winner of my age group was Richard Earle a guy who always won my age group when I was a beginner and I remember wishing I could be like him. He beat me by only 1:30 and I was faster than him on the swim. I guess I've gotten a lot better.

Raven Time Trial

2010-03-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! Saturday it got up to 71 and was blue sky, so after the 2000 meter group swim in Camas I didn't ride with the group and instead went to McMinnville for the Raven Time Trial. This is the first year for this time trial and it is out in the country on rolling hills. Start was time trial style where they hold you up, count down, and let go. I didn't drive the course so I didn't know what was ahead. It turns out the hardest hill was 500 yards or so into the ride. Had to go to my small chain ring it was so steep. Then down and back up and down and back up, etc. Then turn around and go back the same way. I tried to hammer as much as possible in a warm up for the Beaver Freezer triathlon April 3rd. Finished with a 19.6 mph average over 12 miles and 18th out of 22 for Cat 5. Then went to the Jeep and changed shoes and still in my bike clothes ran for 3.1 miles as the day started to warm up. Then in town got some lunch and visited Panther Creek, Stone Wolf, Anne Amie, and Alderbrook wineries. Also stopped at Erath, but there were ten people waiting to get up to the tasting bars so I left. Hundreds of wineries out there- wow. Took a picture with my phone at Anne Amie on top of a hill with the Coast Range view but couldn't download it- have to work on that. Took backroads (some dirt) back to Portland and just enjoyed the sun and views of the mountains.
Did the Vancouver Lake half marathon in January, Shamrock 5K last weekend. Been training alot and good training. Feeling good and down to ironman weight after gaining some after Vineman full last year. Decided to drop down to the half marathon at Eugene in May. Doing the Vineman 70.3 in July and then family reunion in Michigan. If I could afford a week of leave more there is a 70.3 in Michigan at the end of July. Two weeks in between that and Vineman- could do it if I had the leave.

Sharkey Swim

2009-12-31T21:47:00.000-08:00

For the fourth year in a row I did the Sharkey swim at the club I go to. It's a 5K swim in the pool that in previous years it was on New Years morning. This year it was eve morning. Swam with Jon and Tom using a wetsuit and I talked my personal devil incarnate who was swimming in the next lane into joining us halfway through, so she did. Felt great and it was the easiest 5K swim ever. Went to Rose's afterwards, but I had to get my food to go because I had to work today.
Recapping 2009- I did 143.1 miles of swimming, 2094 meter average, 2506.1 miles of bike riding at a 36.7 average ride, ran 913.3 miles at a 6 mile average run. Did three half marathons, a sprint tri, half iron and full iron tri. Put a new roof on the house, new carpet, cut the trees in the yard, my daughter repainted the house interior and redid the dining room and kitchen cabinets. Still have more to do to get to selling shape. Spent alot of time moping because I lost my dream girl.
2010 I plan on at least one half marathon, the Eugene full marathon, Vineman 70.3 half iron and a sprint tri. Other than that the year is wide open.

picture for Lizzie Lee

2009-12-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

I don't have any pictures from the run. The run site has two pictures of me, but they come up broken- I think that's a sign. I went to the Halloween party as a murderer, that explains the blood. Me on the far left.

Run Like Hell Half Marathon

2009-11-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

Did the Run Like Hell half last weekend. Rode to the race with Sarah and she had made me a costume with a blue tutu and wings and a halo. The wings were too big for a run, so I wore the tutu and halo. Got lots of looks and tons of laughs. While waiting in line some guy came up and said"got a date for you" and showed me a picture of a guy in a pink tutu. Didn't know what to say to that one so I just let it go. It was cold, but dry and we had done an 80 mile bike ride the day before, but I still felt strong. At one point a pretty girl passed me and said "angel where's your wings"? Wanted to speed up and talk to her, but no speed in me at all. It's flat for 5 miles and I was doing about a 9:20 pace and then it climbs for a few miles. Then after OHSU (med college) it was downhill into downtown and the finish. Came across the line at 2:10 which is better than my last half, but second worst career wise. Sarah said she would probably be 2:30 to 2:45, so I went to the car and left the costume and got a dry shirt and went back to run in the last quarter mile with her and talked to a girl on the sidewalk watching her twin sister. Found out we had a friend in common- what a small world. When it got to 3 hours I figured maybe I missed Sarah and went back and she had finished at 2:25 for a pr for her. They had water in cups and beer, but you had to wait in a huge line. 1600 did the half and they also had a 5K and 10K and walk, so a few thousand crammed into Pioneer square. So we just went to Starbuck's and then left. On Friday, I went to a Halloween party, but decided on a murderer and showed up bloody. But everyone had heard of the tutu and wanted to see it, so I got it out of the Jeep and was a bloody angel. Facebook has the pictures.
Been training when I can with the folks doing the Arizona ironman later this month. It's been fun doing the long rides and not having to worry about all the long runs also. I have tons of endurance, but my speed is gone and I sleep in alot now.
For next year I've signed up for the Vancouver Lake half marathon and the Eugene full marathon. There are several people talking about Vineman 70.3, but I haven't signed up yet. Probably do Oceanside 70.3 in 2011. Would love to do the Kansas 70.3 this year also, but money and leave time from work will probably limit it to Vineman and/or Boise 70.3's.

Black Diamond Relay

2009-09-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

Went up to Emenclaw Washington and did the Black Diamond half iron relay. Julie did the swim, Brian did the bike ride, and I did the run. Julie is a much better runner than me but can't run so I did the run. Drove up the night before and had Italian food and beer. Made it to the race the next morning and watched the swim and ride with lots of fast riders including Brian doing a 2:41. Then it was time to run. Since Vineman iron I've been very slow around a 10 minute pace and it feels like I'm going 8 minutes. The first mile I did 9:25 even though it felt much faster. Waved to some of the girls and around mile two or three a girl started to pass me and then slowed and asked about my shirt (Lake Stevens 70.3). So we talked races and training and kids for several miles. Unfortunately she was married. Julie had run with Sarah for 4 or 5 miles and saw me and turned around to run back with me. So the three of us ran back in and at about 1 and a half miles out we passed transition and yelled at Brian so he ran the last 1 1/2 with us in his sandals. So for the finish picture our relay team, Beer View Mirrors, is running in together. I ended up doing a 2:12 half marathon run- my slowest ever! We missed getting a ribbon in the mixed 106 and over group by 6 minutes, so I felt bad about that should have run harder. Jason, Ian, and Cory from the club had a relay team also and won the all male 105 and under group. After Sarah finished we went to Ramm brewery in Olympia and had lunch and drinks.

The next day I went hiking on the east side of Mt Hood on a 80 degree sunny day. Did the Fret Creek trail to a rock overlook called the Palisades.
Have a new running partner. My daughter's Cavalier King Charles Terrier. He ran 3.5 miles with me and the next time I went he jumped in the Jeep and wouldn't get out so he ran 8.4 with me and tonight he ran 5 with me. Lots of energy being only about 10 months old.

Vineman Full Ironman

2009-08-10T19:56:00.001-07:00

Completed my second full ironman triathlon on the 1st of August. The training was hard, the race was fairly easy as far as an ironman goes.
Drove down on Wednesday the 29th of July and my daughter drove the whole way so I could rest and prepare mentally. We spent the night in Medford at a Homewood Suites- very nice and with military discount it was very cheap. Two rooms, two TV's and a kitchen. I ran three miles in the morning on the Bear Creek path which goes from Medford to Ashland. Very nice path and a lot of people using it on a weekday morning.
Had lunch at the Turtle Bay museum in Redding because I saw the top of what looked like a cool bridge and it was- we walked across and took pictures. It's called Sundial Bridge.
We made it to the hotel in Windsor in the early afternoon and checked in and unloaded, very small room and over twice the price of the Medford hotel but a mile from the finish line. My son was arriving in Santa Rosa at 8 so we went over and waited and picked him up. Had dinner in the Old Railroad section of Santa Rosa at a really nice small Italian place with great food and good prices and a waiter who spoke almost exclusively Italian.
Friday we went to the expo and packet pickup and set up the run transition. Then we did a practice drive for the morning to Guerneville where the swim is. It took a long time because the town was full of tourists. I don't remember what we did for dinner that night.
Saturday morning my daughter stayed in bed and my son drove me to Geurneville and we had to park quite a ways away. Walked the bike up and set up the bike transition got in line for the porta-pottie while my son dropped off my bike needs bag for me- then it was time to line up. Started the swim and it was crowded, but I just swam along. Not in a particular hurry I just swam along and soon I was surrounded by other color caps. Did the turn around and sped up with the current. What seemed like a long time later I turned at the start and onto the second loop. Did this loop a little faster I think. Finally neared the end and thought I'll just stay here in the water and swim some more. But got out anyway and saw a 1:18 swim time on my watch- six minutes slower than my first ironman. Felt like I was going faster, oh well onto the bike.
What can I say about 112 miles except it was in Sonoma county CA and grapes everywhere. Also holes and bumps, so I couldn't look around much, had to watch the pavement. I had forgotten suntan lotion, so at the first bike water stop I waited in the porta-pottie line behind six people and then put on some lotion I got from the volunteers. I had what I would call a leisurely ride. Stopped at all the stops and then would pass all the people I had passed before who passed me while I was stopped. At the end of the ride my leg started cramping so I rode with one leg down stretching it out and drank everything I had left and it got better. Did a 6:28 bike with all the stops.
Then for the hard part. Three out and backs over most of the 70.3 route I did last year which means up and up on the way out and then down on the way back. Kept a good comfortable pace through two laps stopping every mile to get water, cola, chips, peaches, whatever I felt I needed that mile then start back up and slowly increase to cruise speed. On the third loop my right leg seized up and I slowed to a shuffle so it would only spasm sometimes so I would hop then. The uphills hurt, but I took banana pieces each stop and took more e-caps and going real slow but still running I made it to within a mile and sped up. Saw the kids and said "meet me at the finish". Seeing them at the bike transition and on the run loops was so uplifting. When I saw them almost at the end I started to really run and then I sprinted down the shute and the announcer said "look at this wow". Did a leap and hit the clock and finished the run in 4:54 for a 13:02 finish time! Felt great especially compared to the first ironman where I had to be led to the food. This time I talked to people and then ate and then the kids and I went to Applebee's by the hotel and had steak and beer.
The next day instead of doing wineries, we decided to go to San Francisco. So down 101 to the Golden Gate and walked a little in Fisherman's Wharf and ate in a crab restaurant in The Cannery. Had chocolate at Giradellie's and then went to Coit Tower and rode the elevator up and had a great view of the city. Then found the twistyest road in the world and lined up and took the Jeep down it with people lined up at the bottom taking pictures of us and the other cars going down. Then after getting lost and buying a map we found the walking ramp to the Golden Gate bridge and walked across. That may have been a bad idea. At the other end my legs hurt and I didn't want to walk anymore, but had to walk all the way back. Beautiful views and a perfectly sunny day. Then I had a hankering for pizza so we ate at Mary's Pizza in downtown Santa Rosa on the way back.
Monday said goodbye to my son and we visited four wineries taking only one sample at each and bought a painting in Santa Rosa that my daughter said would be perfect for my dining room and it does!
We actually stopped at an In-n-Out for lunch and I had a burger for the first time in years. Stopped in Corning at the Olive Pit just to see it. Spent the night at Medford and went back to Ashland to look at the Shakespeare festival place and Lithia park and ate at an Italian place and got this evening shot.
Then Tuesday drove home eating at a sushi place in Eugene and making a short stop at the Ankeny winery outside Salem.

Off To Vineman

2009-07-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Off to the Vineman full ironman this Saturday. My daughter is driving me down and my son is coming up from LA. Hopefully I'm ready for this!

Boise Half Ironman

2009-06-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I did the Boise 70.3 half ironman triathlon. The picture is at about 1 AM after the race in downtown Boise- but first we really had to earn those car bombs!!
Drove over with Jason as we followed the van with our bikes on the van trailer. Ate lunch at the Wildhorse casino in Pendleton Oregon and made it over to Boise by late afternoon and did packet pickup and bought jerseys, socks, etc at the expo. Then dropped the bikes off at the Lucky Peak reservoir were it rained and was cold. Luckily I had a bike jacket packed for the trip. Then to an Italian place where we closed it down. The next day the race didn't start until 2 PM, so we had time to sleep in and go slow. By the time we got to the lake parking was almost full and we had to walk a ways. Got in line for the bike pump top off and Natalie had to go find the porta-pottie, so I wheeled both our bikes through the line and got air and she got caught in the porta line. Then they were saying "everyone out of transition" so we finished up and the pros started. I was about 35 minutes after the pros and Natalie was 40 minutes after, so we got ready and hung out saying good luck to everyone. The wind started to kick up and then into the water- omg cold. So I dunked my face to get over the initial shock of it being cold. Bob said to draft him and we'd switch after the first buoy. Started out and instantly forgot about the cold water and never thought of it again. Stayed with Bob about 30 feet and my left goggle filled up, so I was one-eyed and lost Bob. The waves had come up by then, so I found seeing the waves and spray was dizzying, so I closed my eyes and counted five strokes and looked up one-eyed for the buoys all through what seemed like a forever swim. Got a mouthful of water a couple times as the waves got bigger and bigger. Later I found out that a buoy had come loose and we did several hundred meters extra going around it. A kayaker was yelling to not follow it- but I didn't hear him and others didn't until they were almost to the buoy. Oh well! 2 buoys before the end someone kicked my arm at the exact right spot and off flew my watch- I felt it hit my leg and then off into the depth- so no watch the whole race. Came out and ran up the ramp to a large cheering crowd. Then something new for me- wetsuit strippers! Wow she was fast, laid down feet up stand up and the suit is draped on my arm all in seconds. I found out later I did a 43 minute swim- many others were over 50- roughest swim I've ever done.
The bike should have been great, it was a somewhat hilly course, but some speedy flats too. The problem was the black from sky to ground everywhere you looked. The ride started out great going 22-23 and then as the climbs started it started to rain. Then the course goes up a really steep hill to a birds of prey park. It was torrential downpour by then. People were flying down the soaked and riverlet crossed road. Me- I was braking in terror the whole downhill at a very slow speed. I have a full ironman in a couple months, so I didn't want to wipe out. Then we climbed up onto a mesa and the wind just beat everyone down on top of the on and off downpours. Then with it streaming down rain the last 6 miles or so were downhill into town. Got dicey in spots but I cranked as best I could safely go and finished with an 18.7 average for 56 miles.
Then to the run which was a two loop run along the river path in downtown Boise. Had to make a pit stop and when I came out Bob passed me. Saw everyone from the club that had come over to do the race on the run as it had a large out and back. The second loop started 50 feet from the finish line which should have been disheartening, but wasn't because you got to see the crowd and get cheered on. Jessica was there taking pictures and I slowed down to pose. The rain stopped for the run so you only had to dodge the big puddles left. At the end I sprinted along the edge high-fiving everyone and then did a flying leap and slapped the overhead finish bar. They got a great picture of me in mid air, but I haven't bought it yet. Finished with a time of 5:59:11. Good for 55 of 104 for my age group and 606 of 1186 overall. Great event and fantastic volunteers. They were out there in the pouring rain all day cheering and staying on course. After having pizza, myself, Natalie, Anita, Julie, Tom, and Jason found a bar and had car bombs and I also had 4 beers- very happy after that.

Crowley Movie and Decorating

2009-06-02T18:14:00.001-07:00

I decided to start fixing up my Very neglected house. So my daughter is my decorator and I'm the payee. I found a really cool black glass dining room table at Dania, but she said "no" and we went to Furniture Connexion and found this glass wine rack table. The perfect table for a Vineman (I did the 70.3 last year and am doing the full Vineman ironman this year)themed dining room. She got inspired and we shopped and she painted and assembled while I was at work and these are the pictures! Since then she has done window treatment. Putting the centerpiece inside the table under the glass was genius to me and makes the whole thing. Then she picked the colors and painted the whole upstairs in a rush because I'm having new carpet installed as I write this. To sell I should have gone hardwood floors, but after I quit triathlons, I can do the hardwood myself. The only reason I wanted to sell and move to Camas was because that's where I work out all the time. Since losing Natalie, I don't go to the club very often. Still train with the Headhunter's, but not everyday anymore. So when I meet a girl who will accept a ring, then I'll worry about moving. Enough weird ranting.
Did my first film job since 2007 this week. The project is called Crowley and is a CBS movie with Brandon Frasier and Harrison Ford. I was in a hospital scene where Brandon Frasier runs in looking for one of his kids. I started out at a flower stand in line with the camera with a beautiful woman and ended up walking in front of Brandon as he rounds the corner instead. Since I'm as tall as him I think I'm just a block so they know when to switch scenes- probably won't be seen because I was right in front of the camera and between Brandon and the camera and no make-up. Talked to one incredible girl on set who was also an extra. She models and had done a shoot in South America and does mostly hiking pictures. She was really pretty and animated.
Two weeks until the Boise 70.3!! I feel ready. It's the Vineman full that I don't feel even remotely ready for- we'll see. Two months until that- but one race at a time. Boise here I come!

Eugene Half Marathon and Ride Around Clark County

2009-05-04T22:12:00.001-07:00

Did the Eugene half marathon Sunday after doing the 67 mile Ride Around Clark County ride on Saturday.
Started out with a 2100 meter group swim Saturday morning and then after a short hot-tub sit, we saddled up and started on the RACC ride from the club I go to which is on the route. Had a group of about 12 people and rode along with it mostly dry with a couple sprinkles here and there. It was raining hard when we started swimming, but it stopped for the ride. The ride goes out in the country north of Vancouver and has some hills, but is a fairly easy ride. Afterwards 6 of us decided to run an easy 2.5 mile brick run and we started out slow, but sped up by the end. Then showered, dropped the bike at home and off to Eugene. Packet pickup closed at 6, I made it by 5:30. Checked into the motel and went to find Laurelwood golf course. Got lost, but eventually found it. Really nice 9 hole course with lots of hills to hit off of and then walk down and back up. Did really good for me and found that I could hold my front knee steady and really hit it straight. Ironman training has given me more control of my body! Finished as the rain started and it was getting dark.
The next morning I woke up to the sound of heavy rain but it stopped right before it was time to go. Walked over to Hayward field for the start. Alot more people this year than when I did the full marathon last year. Started out in a crowd and went the speed of the crowd until the second mile or so and was keeping a 9 or so pace for the first 4 miles and then it opened slightly and I could move up and get a good rhythm. A little more climbing this year than last year. At mile seven I heard my name and looked over and saw Dedee who was there to cheer on a friend. Pushed myself to stay steady and then at mile 10 started to speed up. Started slowing down after about a hlaf mile, but pushed it back up and by my Garmin was around an 8 minute pace from mile 11 to the end. Came in at 1:55:52 which is 40 seconds off a pr, but I was thrilled with my time. Good enough for 59/113 for my age group and 719 out of 3077 overall. An 8:51 pace. Then I drove south of Eugene and visited three wineries which were very good. Ate lunch at a small cafe in the tiny town of Lorane Oregon- it was very good. Then back to Eugene to RiverRidge golf course and got to do the back nine without waiting for a very good bogey round which for me is great golfing.

Oregon Masters Swim Meet & Beaver Freezer Triathlon

2009-04-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I drove down to Bend and did my first swim meet. What a blast! Got there on Friday and signed in for the 1650 yard swim. I asked the girl if I had time to go and come back and she said "sure they haven't posted the start times yet." I didn't know how meets worked and didn't know that as soon as the sign in ends they post the start times and start no delays. I drove back to the hotel and unloaded my bike and got lost going back to the pool and walked in and saw my name on the scoreboard and Mikita was swimming two lanes from where I was supposed to be! They wouldn't let me swim a later heat, so Friday and my 1650 swim were shot. The next day I did a 50 yard freestyle (34 seconds) and 200 yard free (2:44.61) and a 50 yard backstroke (57.42 my first backstroke swim for time). Did a 4-person relay freestyle and I led off. Dove in and my goggles came off- I have contacts- so I swam with my head up and out of the water for 25, fixed my goggles and finished. Naturally, we finished last in the relay. Sunday I wore my glasses instead of the contacts and met Mikita and got a picture with her. Swam the 500 yard and was in a lane beside Bob C and his wife coach Denise. Bob and I battled the whole way and at the last 25 I sprinted all out and beat Bob by one second for 3rd in my age group with a 7:32.25. Mikita took a picture of me starting the 500 yard swim (lane 3). Swam the hundred and another relay. Just a fun meet. Saturday I was done early and did a 20 mile bike ride up Awbrey Butte and saw a road called Starview Rd, so went down that one and saw my dream house, very nice. Then ran 4.3 miles along the river in the Old Mill District- very pretty.
Early April I did the Beaver Freezer sprint triathlon in Corvallis. Drove down by myself. Natalie dumped me back in Feb, but I had already paid for her to do the Beaver Freezer. She rode in the team van and refused to even talk to me at American Dream Pizza. For the race it was blue sky, but 32 degrees. Luckily it was a pool swim. I was one of the last waves, so by the time I got to the bike it had warmed up a lot. Swam with Julie and Ruth Ann in my lane and we switched at the hundred to draft, but the other person in the lane got in between and messed us up, so I just swam and did a 7:58. Got on the bike with my new aerohelmet and zoomed along with a 20 or so average and then to the run where I was anaerobic the whole time- at one point Sarah said "don't die before you finish" because I was gasping so hard as I passed her. Did a 7:48 pace for the run. Finished at 1:12:29 about a minute slower than last year.
Last year I got third, this year seventh for my age group. Julie got second female overall. Coach Denise won her age group. As I crossed the finish line Natalie was waiting and gave me a big hug, but still wouldn't talk to me. I also paid for her for the 70.3 at Boise in June- oh well. On the drive home I saw a sign for Ankeny Hill Winery and stopped there. I was the only customer, so I talked to the owners for a bit and met the dog Hershey who has a Pinot Noir named for him.

Jack Frost Time Trial

2009-02-28T16:40:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday I did the Jack Frost Time Trial bike race. It's at Vancouver Lake, the same place as the half marathon in January. In past years we had the Headhunter van and a tent set-up, not this year. Borrowed a trainer and warmed up (top picture). Sarah and Julie came by to say hi and cheer everyone on, so they took pictures, didn't get a start line picture. Started off and kept the same pace pretty much. A little windy going out and a little windy coming back. Finished with a 22.7 average fro 12.4 miles and good for 34 out of 44 for my age group and 20 seconds slower than last year. In spin class coach Denise had made a bet that whoever won between the two of us would have to bring donuts for the class. She was sick, but still showed up and I beat her by two and a half minutes.
Feb was a bad month for me- hopefully March will be better!

Vancouver Lake Half Marathon

2009-01-26T16:14:00.001-08:00

Sunday I did the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon. Woke up to the yard and roads being covered in snow and a 31 degree temperature. It wasn't a problem driving though and made it to the lake and got the packet and t-shirt. Lined up and Natalie got up front and I stayed back with coach Denise and ran a medium pace to start and then about a 9 pace until the halfway point and then my right leg got stiff so I had to fall back from Denise. She yelled back "come on- you're faster than me." Kept running, but it felt like a crawl.
Came in at 2:05 for a 9:36 pace and ten minutes slower than last year. It was really fun saying high and high-fiving all the people from the club I go to that were doing the race. The club had a van and tent/awning type thing set up and had a stove with turkey soup made by Brian and hot chocolate. Got back to there and found out Natalie had won her age group!!
She smoked the course at a 1:36 even with slush on the path part of the course.
The day before Sarah, Julie, Natalie, and I went up to Mirror Lake by Mt Hood and did a 5 mile snowshoe. Natalie and I were first time snowshoeers, but Sarah and Julie were pros. We had to walk for almost a mile each way on the plow hill just to get to the trailhead because of no parking at the summer trailhead. Got to the lake and it was beautiful and we were alone. Sarah pulled out a flask and hot chocolate and we drank and made snow angels.

Then on the way down we did follow the leader going off trail in silly ways. Saw about 20 people coming up as we were going down. At one point we met a group of about 6 or 7 young girls, so Julie took their picture and they took our picture. Got back to the cars and went to the Huckleberry Inn in Government Camp for unhealthy, but filling food. That whole day was a blast- but may have tired my legs for the run. Pictures are courtesie of Sarah.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Since my last post- I lost the girl. Made tons of plans for the year and then bam.
Today (Jan 1st) I did the annual Sharkey swim at the club I go to for the third year in a row. It's a 5000 meter swim in the pool. Had five people in our lane and we each pulled a hundred meters 10 times. Rotating through the five people made it easy to count. At 3500 we stopped for about 30 seconds to regroup. One girl smashed her finger on someone's foot early on, but kept going and finished with a purple swollen finger. This was Natalie's first year doing the Sharkey, she had never swum over 2800 meters. Forgot to look at the time when we got out so I don't know how long it took, but I felt great and could have gone for a 112 mile bike ride no problem. The club had pancakes and sausage, but a group of us went to Rose's restaurant and I had a spinach and swiss cheese omelet.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-18T10:29:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!!
Since my last post I met a girl! She's done an ironman and 15 marathons and is Very pretty. The day after Thanksgiving we did a bike ride and my camera is bad, so all I had was my phone and I didn't realize until I sent the photo to the house that I had my fingers in the picture. Very nice ride- she's fast and can do hills. Middle picture is of us at my daughter's apartment with my daughter's camera.

On the training front- still going. Natalie and I passed a 1000 miles running together this year with somewhere around 146 runs with her. Signed up for the Vineman Full Ironman in August and the Vancouver Lake half-marathon in January. Planning on the Boise half ironman in June, but haven't signed up yet. Hopefully the Monaco 70.3 in September also.

Portland Marathon

2008-11-10T10:50:00.001-08:00

Last month I ran the Portland Marathon. It was a partly rainy day, but I was very comfortable on the run and felt great. Well, as great as you can feel running 26.2 miles.
Started out driving downtown that morning with Sarah, Tom W, and Natalie. Tom works downtown and his building has a gym in it with showers. Unfortunately his parking garage wasn’t open, so we parked in a Smart park garage. Got to the start line and found the porta-potties and then bag drop. Then it was time to get in the massive crowd to start. Natalie was in front and she kept going. I got stuck and lost sight of her. She ended up in the first wave. I was in the third or fourth wave.
Started out and stayed within sight of Anita, Doug, and Dr Tom for two miles and then fell back and just ran at my pace and looked around. Saw a beautiful girl about Natalie’s age, so I used not having a watch (let Natalie use my GPS) to ask the girl how long we’d been running. She said she somehow turned off her timer on her watch. I said ok and started to move on. She sped up and asked me a question. This was at mile 3 or 4. Form then on we talked and yelled at the musicians and did random high-fives with the spectators and talked some more. At about mile 6 or 7 on an out and back I happened to catch a glimpse of pink at the 3:20 pacer group going the other way and saw Natalie. Yelled and we both went back a little to high five each other. Holy cow- 3:20 pace!! Saw Tom W and high-fived. Saw DeDee at one point. We stayed within sight of the 4:15 pacer the whole time and going up to the St John’s bridge we passed him and then going down the bridge he passed us.
Middle picture is of us on the St John's bridge. We were keeping a very steady 9:20 to 9:40 pace the whole time. I think I yelled encouragement at the musicians one time too many though. At mile 21 I gave her a big hug and had to slow down. She was a ton of fun and made that a very enjoyable marathon. After that I just ambled along by myself, but kept running even though I saw tons of people stopped and stretching or walking. At mile 22 I saw Angela at a water stop. Then about a half mile later I saw my old training partner Ceselie, gave her a hug and she said Natalie was way up there and flying. At mile 23 or so they were giving out beer outside a brewery, but that didn’t sound good, so I kept going.
At mile 24 crossed over to downtown and then at mile 25 I wanted to speed up, but didn’t have anything left, so I just kept running the same pace. Got to the finish at 4:24:06 good for 270 out of 432 for my age group and 3247 out of 7665 overall and a 10:05 pace. Got some chocolate milk and a crèamsicle and saw Tom W. Then found Natalie and that amazing woman did a 3:27:11!!!! Good for an astounding 16th in her age group out of 618 and 564th overall out of 7665. Top 2% of women! A 7:55 pace. We went to Tom's work and took a shower- that was nice having that only a block away. After that we went to the Vida café on Alberta street and had beer and organic food and Natalie had their famous bloody marys. Top picture is of Natalie and I at the finish line picture place.
Oh yeah, signed up for the Vineman full ironman next year. Also plan on doing the Boise half iron next year.

Hood To Coast

2008-08-25T13:31:00.001-07:00

Ran the Hood to Coast relay race this weekend. It's a 197 mile relay with 12 person teams and each person does three legs. I was in van 2 this year and had leg eight. Started out by Sandy running towards Boring by some nurseries. I started good and passed some very cute girls and tried to keep a constant pace with some small rollers and only 4.55 miles. Came in with a low 8's pace. Then to Saint Helens where we got some Burger King (only thing open- yuck) and tried to sleep at a fairgrounds. It was way too noisy, I lay on top of the van and looked at the stars and listened to the exchange cheering and port-a-pottie doors slamming. After a couple hours of that it was back in the van and running leg 20, my second leg. it was somewhere around 3-4 in the morning, but a half moon gave pretty good light. This leg is called Pittsburgh hill and it goes up somewhere around 1100 feet in 5.75 miles. I just got in a good zen mode and ran up it at a 9:37 pace. Half-way up the road turns to dirt and the vans going by kicked up tons of dust.
The second rest area was out by the town of Mist in a field with tons of other vans. Couldn't sleep there either because it was morning and starting to heat up. It took 20 minutes or so to go through the porta-pottie line. Layed up on top of the van again and one jaw dropping gorgeous girl said "that looks like a good setup". I replied "perfect". I guess I should have said something about the van setup. My third leg was on the outskirts of Astoria on a pretty back road. We saw the girls Headhunters team van 2 and knew we would pass them soon. Everyone said I should slap her butt if I passed her, but at the two mile point I saw Juliette and as I passed her I touched her shoulder and said "you can draft me", but she couldn't go that fast. This leg had some rollers and I got to the point of wanting to throw up and stayed at that pace. 20 road kills on this leg- that's when you pass someone. 4.09 miles at an 8:23 pace. Then into Seaside and showers and to the beer garden. Last year we had a place to stay and partied. This year we had to drive back so we only did an hour and a half in the beer garden, not as fun. Then the long drive home.

Vineman Half Ironman

2008-07-30T20:49:00.001-07:00

Drove down to Guerneville California on the 17th of July for the Vineman Half-Ironman race. Natalie and I drove down in the Jeep and Jon and Julie went in Jon's truck with Gigi (my bike)in the back as we caravaned for 13 hours. It was a 100 degrees in Redding for a gas stop and smoky around Lake Shasta and down I-5 for awhile. Got to Guerneville and there wasn't any smoke down there. We rented a beautiful 1600 square foot 3-bedroom house with a hot tub and giant HD TV and beautiful master bedroom with glass shower and jetted tub.
Friday we swam in the Russian River from the start for about 7 minutes out and then back. Then rode part of the course for a total of 15.5 miles in very hot sun. Race day came and it was overcast and slightly misting, so it was perfect race weather. The swim was fun, a little bit of combat swimming as my age group was the largest according to the announcer. It was an out and back using two sides of the river with a sand bar in the middle. When I got to the turnaround, I got up and ran across the sandbar and then back in the other side and on the way back I had to watch out for people standing up to rest (it was shallow in places). Got out of the water at 33:49 and got on the bike and out of transition it goes up a ramp which was hard. Lots of rolling hills on the course through the vineyards as I tried to keep a good pace. At 30 miles I noticed my watch was blank. Then my speedometer started reading 15 then 21 then 9. Then the mileage went to 63 miles, so I had no technology the rest of the way. Rolled in at 2:52:39 for an 19.5 average. In the run transition I had to use the porta-pottie, but had to wait in line for a 6:21 2nd transition. Got out on the run and hit that zen place for a slow but comfortable pace. The run course was very hilly, but I ran the whole time and just grabbed drinks while not stopping. Finally finished the run in 2:10:16 for a 9:56 pace. So overall I did a 5:47:02 and finished somewhere around 83rd in my age group.
The race was on Sunday and we stayed until Thursday just relaxing and drinking and eating. For Natalie's birthday on Tuesday we went up to Calistoga to a mud bath place. That was different, we were floating in hot mud. I looked over and just her head was sticking out of the mud. Then we rinsed off and they had hoses to spray each other if you wanted. Then into a mineral hot tub, then into another room where they wrap you in blankets and put cold towels on your head and turn out the lights. It was relaxing at first and then I started sweating like crazy. We did some wineries and that was fun. Hop Kiln Winery was my favorite one. Then the long drive home on Thursday.

Off To Vineman

2008-07-16T22:34:00.001-07:00

Leaving for Vineman in the morning. The race (half-ironman), is on Sunday and then Natalie's birthday is Tuesday- winery trip in order. Should be fun!

Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon

2008-07-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

Drove down to Sunriver Oregon and did the Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon last weekend. I've done this race four times before and have never done under 3:20, but I haven't done it since training for ironman last year. My goal was to be under 3 hours, but the week before I came down with a cold, so I was just hoping to finish by Sunday. We drove down Friday night and then Saturday did packet pickup and put the bikes at Wickiup Reservoir overnight. Had Italian food at a place called Marcello's, pretty good. Then to get ready for Sunday. Sunday morning we set up the run transition and got on a bus that takes us to the start. It's about a 45 minute bus ride, so lots of time to get nervous. The water is usually really cold for this race, but this year it was 64! Didn't need the wetsuit jacket or polar cap. Got in and got the face and body used to the water and finally it was time to swim (last wave). Started out strong and stayed there- just a really zen swim- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, sight. That was all I thought about basically. People would hit me or be in my way and I just kept going and they had to move. Got out of the water with a 27:51 time. Then a pretty quick 2:48 transition and out on the bike. The bike course is the reason for doing this race. Absolutely beautiful and some hills the first half and then fairly level and downs on the second half. I passed Natalie and she said she had lost her timing chip in the lake, I yelled back as I passed her to tell them her number at the end. Thought about it later, could have given her my watch it has laps. Kevin caught me at mile 12 or so and I stayed within sight of him for a good 10 miles after that. The bike is 28 miles instead of the normal 25, so I came in at 1:26:58 for a 19.3 average. Then while in the run transition, Ken, Sarah's fiance was taking pictures so I stopped to pose and he yelled "get going". So I started up and ran the whole time, but at 4800 feet and 88 or so degrees all I could do was a 10:04 pace for a 1:02:35 run. Total time was 3:03:12 my best Pacific Crest by a good 20 minutes and good for 12th in my age group out of 28 and 109th overall out of 451. Very happy with this race considering the temps and that I had a cold. Natalie came in at 3:18 for her first Olympic distance. We met up with Sarah and Ken that evening and tried to go to the Deshutes Brewer, but it was closed, so we went to Mcmenamins instead. Then the long drive home.

Helvatia Half Marathon

2008-06-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday we did the Helvatia Half Marathon out in Hillsboro. It was a beautiful morning for a run and a few thousand runners thought the same thing. Started out thinking we'd be almost an hour early, but got a couple miles from the exit and traffic was stopped trying to get off the highway for the race. We had to park over in the Intel plant parking lot and walk over to the Hillsboro stadium for the start. Natalie and I met up with Jen who has been running with us on Wednesdays since last year and this was her first half marathon. While the girls got in the prota-pottie line I went all the way into the stadium and across the football field to bag drop. As I was heading back the race started. I got back to the porta-potties as the girls were coming out and the last of the walkers were starting. Jen said she'd wait for me if I wanted to go to the bathroom, but I made a bad decision and said "no I'll go at one of the stops". Natalie took off running and Jen and I started up slowly weaving through the walkers and then picked up speed. She wanted to do a sub- 2 hour run, so we were doing great when- you guessed it- I had to go at the second water stop. Jen said she'd jog along the left and I could catch her. I never did catch back up with her, so I ran almost the whole thing alone, with three thousand other runners, but you know what I mean. At an out and back after the big hills I saw Natalie and high fived, then I saw Jen and she was a ways ahead so I sped up and realized how slow I'd been going. So the second half of the run I went much faster. It was a beautiful course and two to one girls to guy ratio, so it was a very scenic run. Came into the finish and saw Natalie- yeah! Came across at 2:01:52 good for 867 out of 2607 overall and 50th out of 97 for my age group. Jen actually ran a 1:56 for her first half on a course with alot of hills.
Speedster Natalie did a 1:41:07 good for 175 out of 2607 overall and 12th of 272 for her age group and the amazing one- she was 36th female out of 1670 girls, that's the top 2.2% for females! Afterwards, they had Helvatia tavern hamburgers or gardenburgers (Natalie and I had gardenburgers). Then to the beer garden where Jen bought us each a Drop Top. Race pictures were taken by Kevin who came out to cheer for us.

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The next day six of us met up at the club for a bike ride. We ended up doing the Mt Pleasant loop which is around 36 miles and goes along the Washougal River and then climbs a country road up Mt Pleasant that has a really good view of Mt St Helens on a clear day. At one point we stopped so Kevin could take a phone call and I unclipped one side and leaned over the other side to see if my back tire was flat and didn't realize I was on a slope and started to go over. Natalie was next to me so I put my arm out to steady using her, but I weigh 80 pounds more than her so I took us both down. Only the second time Gigi (my bike) has been laid down. And yes, my tire was flat. Next week Pacific Crest Olympic tri and one month from today the Vineman Half Ironman!!

Pendleton Training Weekend

2008-05-18T19:23:00.001-07:00

It's May, so time for a road trip ride and run. Coach Denise had said we were going to go to Hood River, so I took the weekend off work, but the trip fell through. So Natalie and I decided to go do our own training weekend. I found a really good looking ride in Pendleton Oregon which is a four hour drive away. So we talked Kevin into joining us and after a 2100 meter group swim on Saturday morning we started out with the temperature expected to hit record levels. When we were passing Hood River Kevin called me and said he wanted to stop at Pro Motion a wetsuit company in Hood River and try on a suit since we were passing. I said "it's a road trip of course we can make stops". Anyway, while in the shop Natalie found a wetsuit and bought it and Kevin's on call work phone rang. An hour and a half of phone calls later, he had to turn around and go to work. So Natalie and I continued on stopping in Arlington Oregon for lunch. I asked the waitress if this was the town that had the mayor recalled for posing in her underwear on a fire truck. It was and a couple customers chimed in- "it wasn't about the pictures, she made some businessmen mad that's why". We got to Pendleton and the Jeep said it was in the mid 90's, so we checked into the motel and unloaded all but bike stuff and found a Shell station to park at on the edge of town to shorten the ride. The Jeep said 98 degrees by then. We started out along the Umitilla River on a quiet country road with gorgeous scenery. We got about 10 miles out and Natalie's breathing became ragged, so we stopped in the one shady spot we'd seen and rested and she downed a half a water bottle and some e-caps. Then we took off for 5 more miles or so and saw maybe one car per hour, so we were able to ride side by side the whole ride- very fun! We turned around at 16 miles out and she must have been feeling better because we were zooming along with me mooing at the cows (cattle country- loved it) and baahing at the sheep. Some of the cows had tags, so I would moo and then say "how's it going 568?, etc" Got back to the Shell station done in by the heat at 32 miles, but very happy with a great ride. Checked the phone book for restaurants, very weak selection, so we did what probably most people do- went to the nearby huge casino (Wild Horse) with 4 or 5 restaurants in it. We walked in and the smoke almost knocked us over, we covered our noses and ran to the non-smoking section by the restaurants. Had a great Salmon with morels and sauteed potatoes and asparagus with Oregon wine of course. Then we stopped in the casino bar for one drink, but smoking is allowed and someone walked in with a cig and that meant time to leave.

Then next morning we went to the Umitilla River Parkway which is an asphalt bike path through the town of Pendleton and goes in back of the Pendlton Round up rodeo grounds. It was a beautiful path that only had a couple of street crossings over it's 2.6 mile length. We did an out and back and decided to stop at 5.2 instead of doing 6 to 8 miles like we had planned. The Jeep said 86 degrees and that's hot running when 60 something is as high as it's been all year I think. Pictures are of Natalie at the start of the path.

Eugene Marathon

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

Did the Eugene Marathon this weekend for my first stand alone marathon. Drove down Saturday with two others (Natalie and Vern) and stayed at the Days Inn right across the street from the University of Oregon where the start line was. Met up with a couple from the club who were also running and tried to go to an Italian restaurant called Ambrosia. Last year we had only a short wait for a table, so I didn't think of reservations. Got to the restaurant and there was a hour and a half wait. Went to another Italian restaurant nearby and it had an hour and twenty minute wait. Someone suggested Olive Garden, so I did a 411 call and found an Olive Garden. When I asked the girl on the phone "where are you", she said, "at the Olive Garden restaurant..". So we eventually found it and they had an hour and a half wait, but we lucked out and got five stools at the bar and ended up eating there. Then back to the motel and getting everything ready for the race.
The next day really early, we walked over to the start line and it was fairly cold. I had planned on meeting Mikita at the start line around the 9 minute pacer, but it was a sea of people and I couldn't find her. We went to bag check and put our long sleeve shirts in the check and then to the start. Natalie wanted to qualify for Boston, so I let her use my GPS watch to keep track of pace and time for her. We were off to the side of the main line, so we had to blend in for the start. Natalie took off, and Vern who has run lots of marathons, but had gotten back from Costa Rica on Friday was going to pace me at a nine minute pace using his GPS watch. About a half mile into the race, Kris from the base caught up to us and said hi. We talked for about a mile or two and then we separated. We did a 10:16 first mile because of the crowd and then surged for two miles and were on a 9:03 pace for a good 8-10 miles and then I had to go bathroom really bad and stopped at a porta-pottie in Springfield for 3 minutes. That ruined the 9 minute pace, but I felt much better. Vern said Kris passed us and the pacer for 4:05 passed while I was in there. We got to the halfway point at 2:01 and just ran along the river path admiring the beauty of the course and the area. There was an out and back separated by trees around miles 4-6 or so and at one point the trees stopped and there was Natalie, so we yelled her name and she waved. It was a beautiful day and they had good crowds- just really nice running. Between mile 18 and 19 I hit a mini wall and had to slow down from the 9 minute pace to probably 10 something. Vern would say, "just cruise", "pump your arms", "stay aerobic", "don't accelerate". He was like running with a personal coach it was great! When there were crowds, Vern had lots of energy still so he would wave his arms and say "come on let's hear you" and get the crowd pumped up and hi five the kids. At mile 23 Vern started telling me we were on the UL loop which is a 3.2 mile loop by the club we run all the time. He would look at his GPS watch and corelate it to the loop where we would be- that helped because I was a zombie by then. We came up to the finish finally and came in at 4:15:06. That was good for 1002/1741 overall and 100/134 for my age group. Found Natalie who had run a 3:38:01, good enough to qualify for Boston which had been her goal for many months. She was 19th of 107 for her age group and 400th overall.
Picture is of the Boston bound girl, Natalie. Saw Kris, so sat and talked to her for a bit and then we hobbled around trying to find the shuttle bus. Finally one came and we had to stand it was so full and imagine a bus filled with sweaty runners- it smelled slightly. Got back to the motel and the clerk gave us 20 minutes extra to check out. Then off to the King Estate winery outside of Eugene for a really good lunch and wine. It was a beautiful place that looks like a castle on a hill with a good view. Then the drive back to Portland.
For a report with pictures see Mikita and for a report on the half-marathon see Kara.

Beaver Freezer Triathlon

2008-04-08T13:18:00.001-07:00

Saturday I did the traditional first triathlon of the year- the Beaver Freezer sprint triathlon in Corvallis Oregon. It's put on by the OSU (Oregon State) triathlon team as a fund raiser and is really well done and supported. The registration for it opened at midnight on February 1st and closed at 9PM that same day- for a sprint tri!
Anyway, I rode down Friday in the Headhunter van with about 10 others. We were staying in a Holiday Inn express and checked in and I had reserved a two bed room as Jon and I were sharing a room. They didn't have any two bed rooms left and after I threw a mild fit, they gave us two single bed rooms for the price of one. After putting the bikes in the rooms, we headed over to packet pickup (middle picture with training partner Natalie).
Then we drove the course to let the new people see it. Then per tradition we went to the American Dream Pizza place and took over several tables. Natalie and I shared a Margarita vegetarian pizza and a pitcher of Mirror Pond pale ale- very good. Then back to motel for hot-tubbing and pool volleyball. So eventually I went to bed pretty well lit and very late for having a race in the morning.
Put the bikes on the van and left the motel at 7AM. As per tradition, we moved the barricades and parked the Headhunter van with bike trailer just outside the transition area. Set up transition and went in to the pool area to watch and wait for my heat. Cheered for all the Headhunters in the other heats and finally at 945 it was time to hop in the water and get racing! I was in a lane with coach Denise and her husband Bob. We did a draft line and traded off every 100 yards. Got out of the water with a time of 8:10- a new sprint tri PR! Ran at full speed to the bike and spent too much time putting on a jacket over my tri top that I had worn in the swim, so I didn't bother to zip it up. Took off on the bike at a reasonable speed and caught up to coach Denise and Julie and stayed with them for about 1/4 mile and then decided to kick it in and took off. What a change from other years! My bike Gigi was in heaven- going fast.The turnarounds appeared in what seemed like no time at all and the hills seemed really small this year. At one point it started to rain and the wind that was present the whole time made the rain feel like ice pellets hitting my face. But the rain was short lived and I was soon done with the ride with a 20.2 mph average which is my second best triathlon bike average.
Then a quick change of shoes and off on the run. Started out fast and tried to stay there the whole run. You do three laps around some buildings on campus and it has one short steep tiny hill, which didn't even feel like a hill this year. Waved to the other Headhunters and came sprinting down the sidewalk to the finish at 1:11:57- a sprint tri best by four minutes! Waited for Natalie to finish and then we went and got a bagel and took a shower using the collage locker room and then into awards. I actually got third place in my age group and was only 53 seconds from the winner of my age group. I have never ribboned at the Beaver Freezer before!
Then to a Mexican restaurant using two for one coupons that were in the packet and then the drive home. Very pleased with this race and felt great the whole time. The next morning Natalie and I did the Race for the Roses half-marathon, but that's a different post. Thanks to Sarah for all the pictures!

Shamrock Run 5K

2008-03-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! Last weekend I did the Shamrock Run in downtown Portland. The day before was a 20 mile run day, so 5 of us started out after the 2000 meter group swim. My right leg was cramping up all week, so I ended up turning off at 14 miles and taking an alternate route back to the club for 17.5 miles instead of 20.
Then Sunday morning I met my training partner Natalie and her sister who was also doing the run at the club and we drove downtown. Met up with Natalie's sister's running partner and went to find a coffee place (not hard to find in Portland). Natalie had shorts on even though it was a little chilly, but it was supposed to warm up and after coffee and back to the start line I wished I had shorts on too by then. We were in a huge group and realized that it was the 5K line-up, so we stayed there. Natalie's sister was doing the 8K which started an hour later, so she held our stuff while we ran. Someone sang and the race started. It took two minutes for Natalie and I to get to the start line and cross the mat. We started out and it was jammed, so I got in front and acted as a wedge to get Natalie out into the open so she could zoom after about a mile. I stayed with her for about half and then slowed a little up the one long hill. Then a downhill zoom back to the waterfront road and then a flat run to the finish. I crossed at 25:10 for an 8:07 pace, which considering I ran 17.5 the day before and we were in a crowd of 5000+ runners that was a very good time. Good enough for 28 out of 118 for my age group. Natalie did a 23:41 and was 16 of 583 for her age group. While her sister ran, we met up with a group of Headhunters and had chowder and stood around and talked and waved to other Headhunters doing the 8K. Sarah wore a green tutu and had flashing green lights on her breasts and a green wig while she ran the 8K- very festive. After Natalie's sister finished we headed out to find somewhere to eat and ended up at the Rock Bottom cafe which is a great beer and food place- very fun and great food. The announcer said there were 16,000 people there, Natalie heard later that it was 18,000. Very well organized and plenty of beer and chowder- excellent event.
This weekend was easy- 2100 meter swim and then a 13 mile run. Since Saturday was my birthday, Anita brought in cupcakes and a candle and her and Natalie sang happy birthday to me while we were stretching after the run. It's been years since I've had a cake on my birthday so thanks Anita!! Then later Saturday night we went to Top Shelf, a martini bar in downtown Vancouver, and I had many blueberry-lemon drop martinis with about 15-18 people from the club.

Jack Frost Time Trial

2008-03-01T17:56:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday I did the Jack Frost Time Trial at Vancouver Lake. This is my third year doing this event, the second time with the Headhunter's. We rode in the Headhunter's van to the lake and set up a canopy and trainers. Later a barbecue grill and portable fire place were set up to make a very comfortable base camp. Last year I signed up in cat 5 men and went after lunch and was starving on the ride. This year I signed up in 40-49 masters which goes earlier, plus this year coach Denise brought food, so it was ok. Socialized for awhile and then warmed up on a trainer and went to the start line. (top picture) They hold you up while you clip in and then let go and you're off. I started out good and just tried to keep a 22 to 23 average on the speedometer. I would look down and if it was at 21 I would speed up. I don't think it got below 20 the whole ride except at the turnaround. One K from the finish I tried to sprint but didn't have it in the legs (ran 20 miles the day before). Wasn't tired at any point like previous years where I would poop out at ten miles (it's a 12.4 mile race). This year I felt fine, just no super leg power because of the run the day before. I came in at 32:31 and came in at 45 of 59 in the 40-49 masters category, with an average of 22.9 mph for 12.4 miles. About three minutes better than last year and 185 out of 338 overall. My training partner was doing her first ride in a long time at this race (we've been spinning alot because of weather). She had only her everyday sunglasses and an old helmet, so I let her use my Rudy Projects and my helmet.
Middle picture is her styling while waiting in the start line. I wore her sunglasses while she had mine on since I was already done riding. They had a row of stones on each side which I didn't think about and after socializing for a half hour or so with strange looks every once and awhile someone finally asked me about the bling on the sunglasses and why I was wearing them. For a really good report and some fantastic pictures see Sarah's blog, she even got some great pictures of a bald eagle circling over the parking lot.
The day before, Saturday, we did a 2100 meter group swim and then instead of spinning we did a 20 mile run because Natalie and I were doing the time trial on Sunday and wouldn't be able to run then. Anyway, we took a route that I take on the bike all the time- around LaCamas Lake. Running the roads made them seem alot longer at running speed instead of bike speed. It was a beautiful day out and with 6 people running along it was a blast. Came in at 3+ hours and I felt good, didn't bonk at all like the week before doing 18 and finished strong and with the group.

Wauna Viewpoint and 18 Mile Run

2008-02-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday it was blue skies and 50's for the first time in a long time, so I went hiking. It had been a year to the weekend from my last hike so my friend Kevin and I and my dog Spencer went to Wauna Viewpoint and started out slowly. After about a mile and a few hundred feet of climbing Spenser just stopped and looked around with his sides heaving. My poor guy is 11 and 1/2- 80 years old in human years. So we turned around and went back to the car having only hiked the bottom half without the viewpoint. Stopped in Cascade Locks to get a Diet Pepsi and the girl behind the counter gave me three dog biscuits for Spenser.
Then today four of us started in the morning cold (35) for an 18 miler. I wore shorts even though it was 35 because the weather report said 50-60's later. Ran and ran with lots of hills and ran out of Gatorade at 8 miles, so had to fill up with restroom tap water at a park, guess I need more than 2 bottles on my belt. At around 12 miles we were on a road in the open and it was around 60 degrees, so I shed one of my two shirts and hid it behind an electric box and picked it up later. At around 15 miles I was done for and had to walk up a hill- did an Ironman last year and didn't walk. The others came back to get me going but I could only muster an 11 or so pace, but finished running the rest of the way and did my longest run since the Ironman in September. Next week- 20 miles!

Vancouver Lake Half Marathon

2008-02-01T10:58:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday I did the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon in 30 something degree weather. But it wasn't raining- yeah!
Rode to the race in the Headhunter's van (top picture). My training partner Natalie, (refered to as running partner 1 in previous posts) in the pink sleeves had never ridden in the Headhunter van before so that was fun. Eveywhere you go, people point and look at the van. Anyway, got to the start line and Natalie was shivering so I rubbed her arms to keep her from shaking- it was cold!
In the middle picture I'm helping her work my GPS watch so she could see what pace she was doing. The gun went off and Natalie and some other fast runners from the club took off and I went slow, I thought. Scott from the club caught up with me and we ran together for the first 7 or 8 miles at a blistering 8 to 8:10 pace which is close to my 5K pace last year. It felt good and I wasn't winded, just tired legs. At the second turnaround around 7.5 or 8 miles, I told Scott I had to fade and I slowed to a 9 or 10 pace and just slogged to the finish. At mile 11 I wanted to speed up, but didn't have any extra energy. They only had water stops and I didn't bring a Gatorade bottle or GU thinking they would have it on course, oh well. Got to the finish area (bottom picture)at a pr of 1:55:11. I came in at 162 out of 324- exactly 50% for the race overall. I think I started too fast because I hit the 6 mile mark at 49 minutes which would be an all time low ten K time. Natalie came in at 1:39 and took 3rd in her age group and 19th overall female. We stayed for awards and talked to other Headhunters who ran and then piled in the van and went to Applebee's for lunch. For a really good race report see Sarah's blog, she rode in the van also.

Still Here

2007-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

I'm still here! Haven't been blogging much obviously. Training alot and doing long runs on Sundays. Counting the Seattle half I did 13 miles four Sundays in a row. A couple of Sundays ago we only did 7 miles and last Sunday we did 8.7 and then did 4.2 miles during the Waffle run on Christmas eve which is a yearly event at the club I go to. Spinning two or three times a week and doing weights about two times a week. The best part is that they are fairly easy workouts, mostly social. That's what it's all about- the social part. My son came up from California for Christmas and we had a great visit. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Seattle Half Marathon

2007-11-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I did the Seattle half marathon. Drove up Saturday with three others to do packet pickup and go to the really good expo. Had dinner at the Pike Street Brewery and dessert at the Fox Sports bar just in time to see the dramatic end to the WSU- UW football game. Then spent the night in the Westin on the 28th floor- that was nice with the night-time downtown Seattle view out the window.
Got to the Experience Music museum in the morning and it was COLD, somewhere in the low 30's. We had met up with one other person at the start and they all wanted to do a 1:45 pace, which would be a social pace for them and a 5K pace for me. They had enough porta-potties that there was no line even with thousands of people- everything about the race was well organized. We moved up until we were standing with the 1:45 pacer for the start. I stayed with the others through downtown and onto a highway bridge that felt icy and then I started to fade at 3 miles having kept an 8 even pace for those 3 miles. So the rest of the time I ran by myself in the giant group at my pace. Through a tunnel where some people yelled to hear the echo. Then along Lake Washington on a road I recognized from the Seattle to Portland bike ride. Then up some hills and then up one steep hill and past some big crowds and into an arboretum. After that it went slightly uphill for a long time past big trees and was pretty, but tiring. Then towards downtown with a great skyline and space needle view (it was a perfect blue sky day). About 3 miles from the finish I was at a 9 mile/minute pace so I just tried to keep it there and 2 miles out sped up a little and then with 1 mile left it goes steeply downhill, so I opened it up, but then it goes back up a ramp and that hurt. Then the final push into the stadium, so I ran strong, didn't sprint, and saw the timer at 1:58 and knew I was going to beat my goal of 2 hours. Crossed the line at 1:58:55 for a 9:05 pace. The others I came with did 1:46. We met up at the finish and went in to get soup and drinks, they had a great spread, but it was wall-to-wall people. Took the bus back to the Westin and used the hot tub and then went to the Bell Street Cafe on the waterfront for a great crab-shrimp-cheese sandwich. We had planned to go up in the space needle since it was a perfect day, but everyone started to wind down by the end of lunch so we drove back to Portland instead.
For some great pictures of the day, check out Lizzie Lee.

Runyon Canyon and I-5 Bridge Runs

2007-11-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

Met running partner 1 after work this afternoon at Beaches restaurant to do a run over the I-5 bridge (picture is from last year). We started on the riverfront path on the Washington side and ran over the left side of the bridge and went under the highway through a tunnel and back across the bridge on the other side. Then down the path until it ends and through a parking lot to another path that goes for several miles. We turned around when it got to Marine park and back to the cars at 7 miles at nice conversational 9:09 pace. It was a beautiful 63 degrees out when we started and blue sky. As we finished the sun was setting behind the hills of Portland with the glow of dusk on the river- very pretty. Need to start bringing my camera again. Since I had to work this weekend, of course it was perfect weather-wise. Saturday I heard they had 25 people for the group ride at the club, oh well. I rode after work by myself up and down Marine drive for 25 miles with a 21 average. It was my first solo ride since June- 58 rides in between solo rides! It also put me over 3100 miles for the year riding.
A couple of Thursdays ago I flew down to Los Angeles to visit my son and had a great time. We went to some really nice restaurants and saw lots of sights and hiked a canyon by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory compound. Then Sunday the smoke and smog lifted, so we went to Runyon Canyon state park in the Hollywood hills and ran up to the top. My son was able to stay with me for 1/2 a mile and then he had to fall back. I looked at my GPS and I was only going at an 11 or 12 pace- but it was a steep path. If I were a nice Dad I would have walked a little with him, but I was wearing my 70.3 shirt, so I kept running. Climbed to three viewpoints and did a total of 5 miles. The view was great of downtown LA and at the highest of the viewpoints you could see the valley on the other side (San Fernando?). Didn't have a camera and my son didn't bring his picture phone on the run, so no pictures of the views. The reason he picked this trail was apparent all along the trail. A whole path filled with beautiful 20 something year old girls in running shorts (80-90 degrees that day). I said hi to all the girls I could of course, about half said hi back. Also went through the LA art museum and saw one picture in the American art section that was amazing. It was called "The Baptism" by Julius Stewart and was a good 6 or 8 feet tall. I stood a few feet away from it so it filled my vision and I felt like I could walk right into it and I swear I could almost see the women in the foreground breathing- very lifelike. The picture of my son was taken on the Santa Monica pier, the fog was rolling in as we walked out there.

Riding in the Rain and Sun

2007-10-21T21:17:00.001-07:00

Two of the people on the club triathlon team qualified for the world half-ironman championships in Clearwater Florida in November. So, we use them as an excuse to keep training because they need support. So last Wednesday they needed to do speed work, so I went with them out to the Vancouver lake area to do flat speed riding. We got there and it was cloudy but the pavement was dry, but off in the distance the hills of Portland weren't visible. So just as we started to ride the curtain that had hidden Portland hit us. It poured for about five miles of riding, then stopped and a small circle of blue sky showed up and between the sun and a very strong wind, the pavement was dry again by the second ten mile out and back. I led during the windiest section so they wouldn't get worn out too much with only weeks to go for their race. We ended up doing 25 miles at a 19.2 average, the top picture is of Gigi (my bike) in the back of my Jeep when I got home. She was not happy about getting that dirty. Saturday after group swim it was pouring out so we did 1 1/2 hours of spinning inside instead of riding outside. But today it was really nice out so after a 10.2 mile run at a fast for me 8:50 pace three of us decided to ride outside for a nice 20.2 miles at a 16.8 average. Tomorrow is supposed to be 60+ and sunny, so we're thinking of doing at least a 30 mile ride. I need 60.4 more miles to reach 3000 miles riding this year.
Thursday I'm flying to Los Angeles to visit my son. I'll take my running shoes and do some warm southern California running.

Working Out in October

2007-10-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

One thing about being a recent Ironman- in pretty good shape. So with nothing really to train for and maybe not peak shape anymore, but still up there I've been having fun with the workouts. Last Wednesday driving to the club to run the ground was covered in hail pellets in the Camas area, so my main running partner who was doing the marathon on Sunday stayed inside on the treadmill while running partner number 2 and I went outside and ran up Dahlia Road twice for hill repeats (picture is from last March). We ended up doing four miles and doing the hill twice which was very hard. Got the heartrate over AT (anaerobic threshold) on the second climb. Then on Saturday during group swim coach Denise said, "no wetsuits". So we did 2000 meters of speed work without wetsuits. Then it was ugly outside, but not pouring, so 7 of us decided to go ahead and ride outside. Started out cold and misting, but after crossing the bridge into Oregon it was dry and cloudy. Rode out to Troutdale and back to the I-5 bridge and the pavement was starting to dry out by then. Got back to the club at 49.5 miles, everyone was surprised at how far we'd gone- seemed easy. Sunday I went downtown to watch my running partner in the marathon. Saw the start, but with 7800 people I couldn't see her. It was a nice 61 degrees out at 7:00 AM. Anyway, got a map and drove to mile seven and waited and yelled for her there, got a smile and wave. Went to mile 12 and stayed on a curve and yelled for her and she gave me a tired smile. Saw a girl that I knew a couple years ago and she said "wow, you've lost some weight". I guess the iron training did something (17 pounds lost). Drove over to the other side of the river and walked out on the St. John's bridge around mile 17 or so. Saw her and she broke into a giant smile and put up her arm for a high-five, so I high fived and yelled encouragement. Then the dash for the finish line. Had to park miles away and walk over there and then push into the crowd to get to the fence. Watched her finish and then went over to where they give the blankets and she came over and I congratulated over the fence. She did a 3:43 for her first ever marathon. After seeing runners all morning I went to the Springwater trail and ran 7.5 miles at a 9 something pace in dry 66 degree weather.
Monday, Columbus day, I had the day off being a government worker. So swim drills at 8:00 and then we were going to spin, but it wasn't raining, just foggy. So 3 of us put on yellow jackets and did 21.1 miles integrating 2 minute up to AT sprints and then 2 minute rests and repeat. Then as we got back a couple of guys who usually swim at 8 showed up to swim and said they'd go to lunch after the swim, so I decided to swim with them since they were only doing 1000 meters. We ended up doing 2000 meters instead. Then during lunch we saw half a sky of blue and high clouds, so back on the bike for 22.1 miles that was supposed to be social pace, but ended up being at an 18.2 average! Then drive home change out clothes and back to the club for ab class and then running partner 2 and I ran 3.2 miles using streetlights and a flashlight at a nice comfortable 9:30 pace. So Monday I ended up doing 3000 meters swimming, 43.2 miles bike, and 3.2 running with an hour ab class also- the perfect day off!

Post Ironman and Pictures

2007-10-01T13:25:00.001-07:00

Here's some pictures from the Grand Columbian from the photographers they had at the race. Took a week off and then started back up with easier training. Not sure what's next or what direction to go in. I do know that I feel like anything is possible after doing an ironman!
My running partner has been training for the Portland marathon this coming Sunday, so I ran with her a couple times last week and felt great. We were supposed to do 10 miles yesterday, but she cancelled with some excuse- it was raining out. So I went and did my first solo run since August when I hooked up with her. Anyway, did 8.6 miles in the rain along the Columbia river and over the I-5 bridge. It was nice and with a baseball cap the rain didn't bother me. Did a nice comfortable 9:30 pace.
I've found that the heart rate has a limit since ironman, during Saturday's group swim I did a 100 meter sprint and had to stop at 75 meters for a few seconds to get the breathing and heartrate under control. Still hit the wall at 1:29, but it was hard. Then on the 32.7 mile bike ride I tried to sprint once and had to back off, have to give the body awhile to recover before trying sprint type stuff.

Ironman Jeff

2007-09-18T20:56:00.001-07:00

I did it- I did it!!!!! I am an Ironman!!!!
Standing on that beach with only a few more minutes until the start I was the most scared I've ever been in my life that didn't involve the kids and accidents. We had a plan to draft with Coach in front and then me. The horn went off and we started swimming- the ironman had started!!! After about fifteen feet I lost Coach Denise's feet and everyone looked the same in caps and wetsuits, so I pushed people out of the way and made my own lane and just swam. Could smell smoke from a nearby forest fire, but only slightly. At the first buoy I started to relax and realize that I'm in an Ironman race and this was going to take awhile. It was a two loop swim and I would see a buoy or landmark off in the distance and think- "next time I see that I'll be 2/3 or 3/4 done". Surprising how little thoughts I had, mostly listening to the rhythm of my body and the water and sighting. The second loop I settled in to a nice rhythm and the buoys were flying past. Got out of the water and hit my watch at 1:13, official results show 1:12:59. That's two minutes less than double my half-iron swim.
I had planned on changing into bike shorts for the ride, but as I was in the tent a couple of the Headhunters came in and competitiveness took over, so to save time I kept the tri shorts on and off to the bike. Julie (won her age group in the half-iron that day) was out there taking pictures for the full-iron people before and after her race. She got a picture of me carrying Gigi out of transition- I didn't want to get rocks and dirt on Gigi's tires. Because of the Forest fire nearby, the bike route changed to a two loop ride and the run was on a hilly highway instead of the flat path by the dam. The fire was in the mountains right above the dam, so we didn't even ride in the dam area. Anyway, there is a big hill at mile 2 for 2 miles at an 8% grade with three 14% curves. That was fun, but luckily it was short and on top of the mesa was rolling hills with chip-seal pavement and farmland. No trees or people or much of anything but vistas. I saw a couple fields of cows so I mooed at them and got some tail swishes and blank cow looks. The first loop was fun, people would say hi and nice bike and stuff like that, by the second loop nobody said much or even looked up as you went by. Then a long downhill off the mesa and a flat road where I was flying along at 22-24. Then 22 miles along the Columbia river on a highway that has cracks every ten feet. Cacunk-cacunk-cacunk for 22 miles. The least amount of jarring was out on the road, so I tried to stay out there until the trucks would honk. Finally after 3 hours or so I passed the start line and started the second loop. At mile 60 or so was a rodeo grounds and that was where the bike special needs was. I stopped and got a fresh bottle of Accelerade and a candy bar, used the porta-pottie and started back up. I had sandwiches and tons of stuff in the bag- didn't take any of it. I had been drinking Accelerade and water alternately and taking 3 e-caps every 20 miles or so. Climbing the Elmira grade as they called the big hill the second time was not fun. About 2/3 of the way up though I saw a guy from work who was there to cheer on his girlfriend Sandy and he saw me and ran along beside me like they do in the tour cheering me on for about 20 yards- that was great. It's amazing how much little things pump you up during this thing. As in the swim, I really didn't think about much on the bike other than listening to every part of the body and looking at the scenery. At the aid station on the mesa I stopped and got water and asked what they had and when I heard Snickers, took one of those and ate it and added a Nuun tablet to my water (Nuun is a fizzy flavored salt tablet). The first loop I had just done a rolling grab for water, the second loop I stopped. Started back up and after a few miles of sipping the Nuun I didn't feel so good. Slowed to 13-14 because a headwind had sprung up and the stomach was not happy. The only comfortable position was with my hands on the aero pads. Down the big hill and I stopped at an aid stop and asked if they had Snickers, but they only had cookies and bananas, so I moved on. Then onto the flats where on the first loop I was flying at 22-24. Not this time, the wind was smack in the face and strong. 15-17 this time and I talked to others afterwards and they all said the same ting- "the wind on the second loop ____ed". At the river turn I stopped at the porta-potties and relief came in the form of a large gas emission. That combined with actually getting off the bike for a minute helped my stomach and turning onto the river highway I was able to cruise at 19-20 on the flat bumpy parts and go fairly good up the steep hills. About 6 miles out from the transition area I started seeing runners on the left side of the highway. Most of them were the half-iron people. There were some very cute girls doing the half! I probably lost some time waving and nodding. Finally the bike was over- 117.6 miles later at 7 hours on the bike for a 16 average officially, the officials said because of the route change it would be 114 miles. Everyone I talked to said their speedometers said 117 also. Gigi was tired, but she didn't have a single mechanical problem and no flats on the longest ride of my life (previous long was 113). I got to transition and sat in the tent drinking and eating bars and gel and drinking Ensure (I drank an Ensure before each event and at bike special needs). I really didn't want to run, but I got up and went out and started running and magically, I felt fine. After about a half or quarter mile I met up with Doug from the club who is part of the fast group of runners I tried to keep up with each Sunday. Without saying a word about it we fell in together and did the whole 26.2 together side by side. That was fantastic, the first loop we talked, the second loop we got in a zone and we would wave and thank the people stopped on the side of the road to cheer. We stopped at each stop and would drink a bunch of water, Gatorade, and Pepsi. Sometimes use the porta-potties and later they had chicken broth that was really good and eat potatoes. We would start up slow and find a rhythm and fly along until the next stop which seemed to keep coming faster as the run went on. At the beginning of the second loop as we bypassed the finish and started back out, the whole half-iron Headhunter group was there cheering and clapping us on the back and video taping- that was a huge boost! We got about a half mile out and realized that we had missed the run special needs with the flashlights, oh well. When we got to the turnaround of the second loop I told the volunteers that I was 3/4 of the way done with my first ever marathon. I took my sunglasses off at that point and it got dark fast with a beautiful sunset over the Columbia river and the rocky cliffs lining it. The original run course by the dam had one hill, this highway run had several hills. One very pretty girl would pass us and then walk up the hills and we would pass her, etc. So I asked her some question to talk to her, so she ran with us for awhile and she and her husband were doing the full-iron together and had met at a triathlon. When it was pitch dark it got interesting without lights. The headlights from cars when they came was about it and they had given most people glow-sticks somewhere- we didn't get any. Finally at a food stop, they gave us some glow sticks so people could see us at least. At the food stop that was 3 miles from the finish, I got a little dizzy, so I thought "better get this over with". So we stepped it out and it felt like we were going mid 8's or faster- who knows. We agreed to skip the last stop and charged up the last big hill into town and then down towards transition. When I could hear the announcer and some music I said "I'm getting a tingling feeling- we're close". Turned down a grass path through an unlit area and then the finish shute. Doug had done an ironman before, so he motioned for me to go ahead so I could have my first iron finish moment. I sprinted at full speed down the shute and did a leap up to smack the finish line bar. Julie got a picture of me in mid-leap (top picture). I did a 5:00:59 marathon for an 11:29 pace. 13:31 for a total time and 6 of 14 for my age group and 38 out of 91 overall. We had 13 Headhunters do either the half or full and every single one finished the race. I can't imagine doing this thing solo- afterwards the euphoria wore off quick and disorientation took over. The half-iron team members helped me put on the blanket, got my bags for me and steered me to the food. I got some enchiladas and took one bite and went back and got some chicken soup. Two bowls of that and I felt much better and went back to watch the rest of the finishers and look up at the amazing star display out there.
The next morning they had awards and a pancake breakfast. Some people were walking funny that day. I felt great and had tight legs of course, but only blisters on the ends of the toes so I am walking fine and can probably run again without too much pain. We stayed an extra day to relax and drink in the experience and then drove back on Monday. Today I went in for a recovery swim and did maybe 300-400 meters in half lap intervals and then into the hot-tub. Back to work tomorrow- then the dream will be over and I'll have to find another dream to chase.
Thank you all who have supported me in this journey and given your well needed and very helpful words of encouragement!!!

Ready To Be An Ironman!

2007-09-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning I will head out for Grand Coulee Washington for the Grand Columbian Full Ironman race! So far this year I've swum 191,000 meters (118.7 miles), Ridden 2559.3 miles, and run 439.2 miles. But that's just raw numbers- I could tell you by seeing a location who I rode with past that point and sometimes I can actually remember what we were talking about at some locations. The people I've trained with this year, the memories, the changes- it's all part of becoming an ironman. Now to go out and do it and do the best I can and leave it all out there. Emotions are running high, patience is running low. Gigi (my bike) has new tires and a lubed chain and tune-up, I think she's ready and itching to show her stuff- I hope we're still friends after 112 miles.
Saturday night after I finish the people doing the half said they'll have drinks waiting for me at the finish and we'll have a finish party. Hopefully I'll be coherent and able to party!
I think we're staying an extra day and coming back Monday. As soon as I get back I'll let you guys know how I did.

Hood To Coast

2007-08-31T19:12:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I did the Hood to Coast relay race, 197 miles from Mt Hood to Seaside Oregon by the ocean. I was in van one this time, when I did it in 2004 I was in van 2. With van one we started at Timberline lodge on Mt Hood at around 6000 feet. I had leg 4 which was down in the town of Rhododendron. It was still light out when I took off for my leg (top picture). It was slightly downhill, so I bumbed the heartrate up to 85-90% and soared along for 7.2 miles at an 8:06 pace just as the sun was going down. We had the special Headhunter Adventure van for the first six legs and then van 2 took it. It is decked out with headhunter pictures and tiki torches and skulls and speakers and a PA system and neon lights underneath. We had AC/DC playing on the speakers, the green neon on underneath and when we pulled into the Sandy Fred Meyer store which is the first van switch stop, flashbulbs galore started going off. We felt like rock stars arriving, people came over to get pictures and pose by the van.
We moved all our stuff to the plain van which is much more comfortable and went to OMSI by the river downtown to try and sleep, but I just rolled around because I-5 was right overhead and it was loud. For my second leg it was out by the town of St Helens on Highway 30 and it was 2 or 3 in the morning. It was only 3.5 miles so I tried to keep the same exertion level and heart rate as the first leg without getting nauseous from using a flashlight to run with. I tried turning it off, but worried about turning an ankle, so I ran with the light moving around. Looked up sometimes to see a beautiful star display. Finished the 3.5 miles in an 8:19 pace and that includes about 20-30 seconds waiting at a stop light with a volunteer before I could cross. Instead of trying to sleep, some of us went to a school and took a shower and had a breakfast made by a booster club. Then sat at the van switch place and napped for about 40 minutes. It had a huge porta-pottie double line. The further out in the country, the fewer porta-potties it seemed.
For my third and final leg it was a rolling 4+ miles and I took off and got the heartrate to the same place as the other legs and just cruised. In 2004 I had two road kills (passing people) the whole 3 legs. This year I had 6 the first leg and 5 the second leg and then on the third leg I had 12! People were tired I think, because I passed four on one hill. One of the four was a pretty girl in a plaid skirt, so I said "nice skirt", she thanked me and said good running. About 100 yards from the finish I saw a really pretty girl (black shorts girl in the middle picture which is at the start) about 50 yards ahead and thought "I can pass her", so I kicked it in and passed her right before the end. Came in at an 8:30 pace with small hills- very pleased with my running in this event and the fact that I could keep the same effort level in each leg.
Then to Seaside and after a shower at the school, to the beach party. The girls team had already finished and were at the beach in the beer garden so we joined them. Most of the guys went back to a team member's mom's house for home cooked food. I stayed and drank with the girls and had an expensive vendor's salad. I don't usually drink, but after 5 beers I was feeling pretty good. By then 6 of us went to a bar in Seaside for another beer and some food. As soon as we sat down the girl from leg 3 that I had passed came over and sat next to me and said "Jeff?" I put my arm around her and said "yes" (on my 6th beer, ok). She said in a stern voice "you know you passed me right at the end, I'm mad at you". Blew me away- how did she know my name? Found out her name was Erin and she had 2 road kills that leg and I told her that by passing her it gave me 12 so I had to. Later I found out that she was in the bathroom line with one of the guys on the team and he told her my name because he remembered me passing her. After that 3 of the girls and I walked back to the mom's house we were staying at and I ended up on a cot in the dining room.
The next day we went to awards and we took the Headhunter Adventure van which won best van decoration. In downtown Seaside coach Denise asked if anyone wanted to ride on top, so 4 of us went on the roof and rode through town while Denise was on the PA system. After awards the girl who did the Windy Ridge ride with us in July came over and wished me good luck on my Ironman and I wished her good luck in Ironman Wisconsin in 2 weeks. She said "remember, it's about the journey and the wonderful friends and memories you've made along the way". Couldn't have said it better- It has been an amazing year! Back in May while riding in the van up to the Grand Columbian training ride, my ex- training partner and I were talking about the best years of our lives and for her it was when she was 19. I thought about it and said "47" (my current age), she said she didn't believe me, but it's true this is the year- this is the time- this is the journey! Hopefully there will be better and more later, but so far- this is my time to shine.

Anyway, as we were leaving awards after buying fudge, a policeman stopped us and said no music or using the PA system, luckily no one was on the roof. People drove by yelling encouragement to us while he had us stopped. Then to Norma's for chowder and fish.
This week on Wednesday the weekend caught up with me and I slept through a swim and only woke up just in time to go to work after 13 hours or so of sleep. First time I've missed a workout with people waiting for me.
Two weeks until the gun goes off- I'm terrified, pumped, and numb all at the same time!

Hood River Ride

2007-08-22T14:46:00.001-07:00

Saturday we drove out to Hood River after the 2000 meter group swim and rode from Hood River to The Dalles and back and then some more. Last week was the last long week before the ironman, so after the 2000 swim I had 9500 for the week, so I told coach if we do 500 more we'd have 10,000 meters for the week, so we swam 500 more. For the ride we parked the van at the Full Sail Brewery in Hood River and rode from there. We had a group of 7 and rode through Hood River and up onto the Mosier tunnels trail which is a 5 mile or so paved bike and pedestrian trail that used to be part of the old Historic Highway in the Gorge. Passed lots of people on the trail and had some good views of the Gorge and then into the town of Mosier. From there we rode on the road as it climbed up to Rowena Crest which has a lookout point and hiking trails. We stopped and took pictures and then for the wild hairpin turns descent. At one point 7 or 8 motorcycles roared past inches away from us on very sharp turns and they must have been doing at least 80MPH or so it seemed. Then a long flat part to the town of The Dalles. From there we took a road I'd never been on that goes back to Mosier a different way. Now I know why I've never been on it. The road is simply called Seven Mile Hill road- can you guess why? Holy cow was that hard! Seven miles later we came to a sign that said summit, 1802 feet and we started by the river at 0 feet. What made it hard was the very, very strong headwind. We were going 6 miles per hour up the hill and then it would switchback and the wind would be blocked and we could go 8-10 MPH for a tiny bit, so it was a bad hill, but not the worst until you add the wind. Then the very steep, should have been fast, descent. I got in the aeros and took the lead and on the first curve the wind hit me and I was out of the aeros and fighting Gigi like she was a bucking bronco. After that I went down the hill with my brakes on and very slowly. I guess that's why the Hood River area is the wind surfing capital of the world. At Mosier we stopped for ice cream at a store that has a Porche collection inside. That's where the top picture is taken of some of the bikes. We took the tunnel trail back to Hood River and then 4 of us rode some more, but it was climbing anyway we went, so we only did 20 more miles and got back to Full Sail with only 60 miles, but tons of saddle time because of the climbing. Had to go in Full Sail for lunch and brews.
Totals for last week were 10,000 meters swimming, 162 miles bike and 28 miles running. Now for three weeks of tapering, with Hood to Coast relay run this weekend being our last long run equivalent. My first leg is leg 4 around 8PM on Friday and is 7.8 miles long.

Sauvie's Island Ride

2007-08-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday after the 2000 meter group swim, one group was going to Crown Point and one group was going to Sauvie's Island. I went to Sauvie's a flat long ride. Started in Camas and across the I-205 bridge into Oregon and along the Marine drive path and then down a path I hadn't been on in a long time. It was built on an old landfill area and has eagle nesting pavilions and sculptures alongside the path. Then over the St. John's bridge (top picture). Then along highway 30 to Sauvie's Island. We got to the island and did one 12 mile loop around it. It was bike central, they have a large parking lot and port-a-pottie just for bicyclists and the lot was full. We saw tons of riders on the loop and even saw a group of runners. That would actually be a nice flat pretty 12 mile run. After the loop we decided we were starving, so we stopped at a restaurant in Linwood and ate lunch with our bikes parked against the booth next to us.(I had a shrimp sandwich). While eating we saw groups of riders pass by- it was a day for riding a bike. Rode over the I-5 bridge on the return trip and back to near the club at only 70 miles, so we did a small extra loop to get to 83 miles for the ride. Got back to the club and found out that my ex-training partner had crashed on the Crown Point ride and broke her arm. Almost a year of ironman training... but it could have been much worse.
Sunday I did my long run with a group of three others and I stayed with them for over 6 miles and then fell back. Trudged along then just trying to finish. Got back to the club at 13 miles, so I switched out my empty bottles for full and ran 3 more miles for 16 total at a 10 something pace.
Took time off work so I could swim with a group this morning as we did 4500 meters. September 15th (Grand Columbian full) is exactly one month away- I am starting to get really scared and excited- sometimes both at once. Lots of emotional swings that will probably get more intense as I get closer.

Nike Run & Bridge of the Gods Ride

2007-08-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the Headhunter team had to do packet pickup for the Hood to Coast run as our volunteer job. It was different being on the other side of the table at a packet pickup. Because of that, the long ride was switched to Sunday and Saturday was long run day. The group I tried to keep up with a couple weeks ago were going to Forest park to run the Leif Erickson trail to run 20 or so. I was only scheduled for 13, so I ran by myself at the Nike campus (top picture was from last year) where the packet pickup was. I started out by doing two loops around Nike for 4 miles and then out a paved path I saw and then down the sidewalk to a huge park that had softball and soccer games going on. Then around the office park beside Nike and I saw a runner at a corner and asked him if there were any paths nearby. He pointed over by the Max tracks (our local transit train) and said over there. Found a beautiful nature park with paved paths and wooden walkways that looked like swamp paths you see in Florida. Got back to the Nike campus at a little over 9 miles, so I did two more laps around Nike and a little more for 14 miles. Very slow, 11 minute/mile pace, but it's about time on the feet right now and they didn't have any food or water at the packet pickup so I was very hungry by the time I started running.
Sunday it was misting and cloudy so only 5 of us were there for the long ride. After about 15 miles, Julie and Dave turned to do a shorter ride, so Kevin, coach Denise, and I rode on the Washington side of the Gorge to the Bridge of the Gods at Cascade Locks. It's a beautiful bridge and Kevin took a good blog picture for me, but didn't email it to me yet. Rode across the bridge and it is a metal grate bridge that is very high- so you can see through the road to the distant water. It felt like riding on ice, the grating was pushing Gigi around. Went to a deli and ice cream store in Cascade Locks for lunch. Then since Denise is still hurt we decided to skip the climb to Crown Point and just rode highway 84 back to town. She suggested taking each exit and then getting back on so we didn't have to try and race across the exits and entrances, that worked great. Down Marine Drive and over the 205 bridge and back to the club at 80+ miles, Denise had to go so Kevin and I rode around LaCamas lake once for a total of 97.2 miles.
Monday coach said to do 10 miles running to keep building, so after a 2000 meter swim in the morning I ran at work from the base down past the new Ikea and onto the Marine drive path and when my GPS said 5 miles I turned around and ran back for 10 miles at around a 10:03 pace. That's 2000 swim, 97 ride and 24 run in three days- now to add some more and compress it into one day- no problem!!!
Wednesday Jon and Julie graciously decided to join me for a late morning swim for 3500 meters so I didn't have to do that distance by myself. That was nice having others to swim with because it gets sooo boring swimming long distances. Then I took some time off work that night and joined them for the Clark County Running Club's weekly 3 miler. It was along a beautiful flat dirt path along the Columbia river in Washougal Washington, Julie said it goes about 6 miles and would be good for long runs. I did it in 24:09 for an 8:03 pace. Jon and Julie both did it under 20 minutes for low 6 minute paces.
Yesterday was a social recovery ride and most of the time it's just two or three of us, this time there were 9. That was a lot of fun and we did 32.9 miles at a nice talkative 14.5 average.

Larch Mt

2007-07-29T20:43:00.001-07:00

Saturday a group of seven of us rode from the club in Camas Washington over the 205 bridge to the Oregon side and up to Larch Mountain a 4200 foot peak that has a paved road up to about 4000 feet. The forecast was for 80 degrees and sunny, but it was cloudy and misting at times instead. First we did a 2100 meter group swim and then started out on the ride. We climbed and then climbed some more and then climbed some more. Last year I did Larch Mountain from the Women's Forum park which is about 750 feet up so less climbing and the total ride last year was 30 miles. This year I didn't get to the Larch Mountain road until almost 30 miles into the ride. Then 14 miles of steep climbing. Got to the top and the legs were shaking for awhile, went 7-9 MPH the whole time climbing. Passed a recumbent bike going up and I said "that looks too comfortable, it's supposed to hurt" he said "It hurts!" Saw 4 bikes going down as we were going up and passed 4 or 5 bikes going up. At the top we waited until everyone was together, coach Denise was very slow, she hurt her shin on the last Friday run with me when she went straight from running to teaching a step class. She got off the bike and was limping- very bad sign. We ate in the bright sunand headed down after awhile. It was misting at first on the descent, I guess the top was above the clouds, and at first Gigi wanted to go fast, so I zoomed and then some of the sharp corners were a little hairy, so I got nervous and slowed way down. Denise caught up and said "what's wrong with Gigi" and I said "she's scaring me." We passed around 15-20 bikes who were going up while we were going down, must have been a large club ride. After a 35 or so average MPH descent for the 14 miles we went down some more to the town of Corbett and stopped for a water refill. Then down to town and over the bridge and back to the club at 86.1 miles and a 15.8 average.
Today was long run day and coach Denise can't run, so I went with a group of four and they are all fast, so we started out and were soon zooming along at a 7:40 or so pace. I stayed with them for about 3.5 miles and then had to fall back and kept them in sight until about 5 miles when there was a turn along LaCamas lake and I a saw a really pretty girl throwing a stick in the water for her dog so I slowed down to say hi and then couldn't speed back up. Then the long climb back to the club and through a neighborhood and back at 10 miles in an 8:43 pace- very fast for me lately. I should run with them each time and try to hold on longer and longer.

Lolo Pass Ride and Sunriver

2007-07-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

Four years in a row I've stayed at a trailer in Sunriver when I did the Pacific Crest tri for free with the understanding I would help the owner build his house. Well it was pay up time so I went to Sunriver Saturday and then all day Sunday and a couple hours Monday helped build a retaining wall. My job was to mix concrete.
Because I was going to be gone for the Sunday long run, coach Denise decided to run with me Friday morning. She had a class at 1030, so we decided to start at 745 giving me a few hours to sleep (I work until 12 midnight). We were doing 14 miles and did a 7 mile loop from the club to start and then stopped in to see if another girl would run 3 miles with us and she couldn't get away. So back on the road and we did a smaller loop and Denise had to get to her class. Her foot pod said 11.5 miles done, my GPS said 10.5. So I did a 3.5 loop by myself to make 14 by my GPS or 15 by Denise's foot pod. I think her's was right because I came out with a 10:20 pace and I think we were going faster than that. Then she moved the Saturday morning ride to 6AM instead of swimming first, so I could ride and then go to Sunriver. So 6 of us drove to Sandy and parked in the Goodwill parking lot, by an espresso place of course. We rode out towards Mt Hood and the town of Welches by using country roads that went steeply up and down. It was misting on and off so the roads were wet making the steep downhills not so fun. Got to Lolo Pass Road and turned up that. 10 miles of constant climbing to the pass and end of pavement. We passed a beautiful viewpoint of Mt Hood, but could only see the bottom part of the mountain because of clouds. On the way down Gigi (my bike) told me she was going to leave me if I didn't go fast downhill, what could I do she's a temperamental girl, so I flew down Lolo Pass road and missed the group stopping for a great team photo. I hit a rock in the road wrong and flattened my front tire. Just as I finished changing it the others caught up. I explained what Gigi had said and after that everyone played along and Gigi has a personality now. We took Highway 26 back down to Sandy doing pacelines on the flats and downhills. Got back to Sandy at 58.1 miles and a 15.9 average and a ton of climbing. I got a Chai tea latte and left to go to Sunriver and here's a picture of the retaining wall, it's not done.
The rain stopped on the other side of Mt Hood and Bend and Sunriver were hot and sunny. The top picture is of the Three Sisters on Monday driving home. Drove back Monday in time to work and Tuesday rode with coach Denise for 20 miles and then saw Jon and Julie leaving on a ride and joined them out to the Troutdale airport for 30 more and ended up doing 56.8 miles on Tuesday. Wednesday I swam 3500 and then ran 8 miles at work that night. Thursday a nice 20 mile ride with Anita.
This is a picture of the house Keith has built over the last couple years, mostly by himself there in Sunriver.

Less than two months to the Grand Columbian full ironman (Sept 25th)- I was nervous before Lake Stevens, now I'm excited- I believe I can do it now!!

Windy Ridge Ride

2007-07-15T20:45:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning ten of us rode from the club in Camas to the Mount Saint Helens area and down to the town of Carson and then to Beacon Rock. The Headhunter van would be used for support and anyone who didn't want to ride the whole distance would switch out driving and riding. The ride started out along the Ride Around Clark County (RACC) route until about 20 miles and then we turned and went up a long 3 or 4 mile hill that finally crested and then a fast downhill into the town of Amboy where they were set up and waiting for a parade to start. So we rode down the parade route. (top picture) Then many miles of up and down and a short stop at Jack's store where you go to get a climbing permit to climb Mt St Helens. Then to the town of Cougar past a reservoir that had tons of ski boats on it because it was a sunny 80+ degree day. Then to a bridge over the Swift reservoir and a long climb up towards St Helens with good views down to the reservoir. I have driven this many times to go hiking in the area and it looked like a hard riding hill- but turned out to be not bad with lots of down also. Then we turned down forest road 90 and headed toward the Lewis river campground, but turned before that at a sign for Carson. We had stopped to regroup and there was a steep hill after the turn, but it looked short. We started up it and I ended up about third in line going up and we all spread out as it kept going and going. Each corner would revel more hill, all at a very grueling grade. Then it would get stepper and you would have to stand up and pedal for a tiny bit. I kept it between 7 and 8 mph the whole time. Some of the others said "you climb really good for a big guy." About the 4 1/2 mile mark of the hill there was a viewpoint with one of the best views of St Helens I've ever seen, so we stopped and had a water stop with the van and took an amazing picture, but I won't post it because I didn't get permission for some of the people and some were new who don't know me or that I blog. Then what looked like the end of the climb just past the viewpoint wasn't. It wasn't as steep after that, but we climbed for a couple more miles and the computer someone had in the van said we climbed 1400 feet to the viewpoint. Finally after passing some snowparks that I had used to cross-country ski before, we finally got the downhill. I stayed back and braked alot because of the sharp curves and screaming speed and not knowing what was around each corner. Miles of down later we came out by some hot springs and tons of motorcycle groups. Then the long slight descent into the town of Carson, but there was a headwind at that point. Then we were in the gorge along the Columbia river and we headed to the town of Stevenson where we hit the 103 mile mark on the ride. People training for ironman decided to do 10 more miles, everyone else got in the van. Some 5 of us rode along the river for 10 miles, but with the headwind we ended up in two groups. A girl training for Ironman Wisconsin and her husband were doing the ride with us and I had ridden with her about a quarter of the ride, so we were in front by ourselves and I went in front of her to break the wind for her and the two of us slogged the ten miles at 15-16 and then 21 on the downhills. She said I made such a good windbreak that she wasn't working that hard back there. We got to Beacon Rock state park and piled in the van at 113.1 miles at a 16.1 average speed. I had drunk uncountable bottles of Accelerade and water and Diet Pepsi- I'm so glad we had the van every 10-15 miles. Ate 7 e-caps for the heat, a pbj and one protein bar. The first thing everyone said in the van- "food". So we stopped at the Lakeside Chalet restaurant and ate dinner.
Today was long run day. A group was doing 14 miles, but they were all faster runners and hadn't done the ride, so coach Denise and I went on a separate 11 mile run at a moderate 9:30 pace. At one point towards the end I said, "can we slow down a little?" and she said "thank you, I was trying to keep up with you"- I had been trying to keep up with her- the viscous circle. It took us 1:44 for that run.

Lake Stevens Half Ironman

2007-07-09T20:21:00.001-07:00

Sunday I did my first half ironman distance triathlon the Lake Stevens 70.3 in Lake Stevens Washington which is north of Seattle outside of Everett. Rode up in the Headhunters van on Friday morning with a stop along the way at a Nike outlet store. Got to hotel and they had an expo and packet pickup in the same hotel we were at on the edge of downtown Everett. The expo was really weak- 4 booths and all the jerseys were too small. I bought a bike jersey anyway, but the XL was more like a M. For lunch we walked a couple of blocks to Buck's Grill which was in an old bank building with the old vault door intact. Really good food. In the afternoon we went to the Woodfire grill on the water by the Everett navy base. Huge windows with hundreds of sailboats moored outside and microbrews. I had two "blind pig" dark beers, they were good. Then when it was getting late we found the Vintage cafe downtown for dinner and we were the last customers in the place. Then to the hotel pool for games and hot tubbing.
Saturday up early and over to Denny's for breakfast because it was next door. Wow- after being around triathletes and then seeing the customers in Denny's. Then over to the lake to ride some of the course. We broke up into two groups and I was in the first group and we rode 6-7 miles of the loop to get a feel for it. Then got in the van drove to the halfway point and the next group rode some of it. It turned out to be pretty hilly, not big hills, but tons of small ones. Then we drove the run course which also was pretty hilly, but not as hilly as the lake trail by the club that I've been training on. Some of us didn't think ahead and put our numbers on our bikes, so we had to go back to the hotel to get numbers, then back to the lake to put the bikes in transition.
The race started at 630 so we needed to go to bed early. For dinner they had a pasta buffet in the hotel, but they said they had to set it back up when we got there so we went back to Buck's for a good pasta dinner.
Up at 430 in the morning and packing everything into the van because they didn't have late checkout even though that was the expo hotel. Then out to Lake Stevens to set up and do my first half. Nervous would be an understatement, but there were so many people from the club in this race that I was too busy saying hi and good luck to think about it. Then putting the swim cap on and down to the water for the 45-49 men wave. (top picture, I'm in the middle somewhere) They had some country music playing as we sat on the dock then in the water and the gun went off- I started. Face in and a great rhythm and feeling strong. Then around the first buoy I was on the inside having discovered that the buoys were tied to a steel cable that was very shiny and visible so I didn't have to look up- just follow the cable. Others discovered it and converged and I crashed into four people converging into one point. I lost my rhythm and the heartrate and breathing were way too high as I fought the panic and started swimming again. Because of that I was gasping and not feeling good and wanted to quit, so I dog paddled for a couple of strokes and said to myself- "get it together, you're not a pro don't worry about it, enjoy the day". Started back up and caught the group I was in and did combat swimming for about three buoys where I would hit people and they would hit me. Finally it worked out where I was following one guy and one guy was beside me and that's how we stayed through the halfway point and into the turn back to shore. That's when we caught the back of the wave in front of us- a first for me. I had to do a lot of weaving and going over people for a bit to stay over the cable. Then into shore and I went up the ramp and pushed my lap button on the watch and couldn't believe it- 37:23. The four previous years of doing tris that would have been a best for an olympic distance swim! Ran through the bike area to find Gigi and got my wetsuit off in record time for me got my stuff on and was off jogging Gigi to the mount area with a 3:03 transition time- most of my non wetsuit transitions aren't that fast. Started out and couldn't clip one foot in, so I stopped took a breath and clipped in and started up. Something new happened as I left for the bike- people were yelling my name and good luck- lots of spouses from the club plus some relay people. From riding the day before I knew it had about two miles of downhill to start, so I kicked it in and was doing 27 for a good part of that. Then the rolling climbs where if the legs started to feel the hill I would use the small chain ring- "have to save the legs for the run- remember the run". I was sipping my Accelerade every couple minutes and at the halfway point of the first loop (14 miles) they had a bottle exchange and I had just finished my aero bottle, so I took a bottle of water and squeezed it into my aero bottle and tossed the bottle they had given me. Then for some screaming downhills with a couple of short steep climbs in between. On one downhill a truck was in front of me and a rider who was slower then me was in front of the truck and it was curvy so he couldn't pass the rider. I ended up having to brake and it ruined a 40+ downhill. Then after a climb there was the best downhill of the course and I flew down it and it comes to a curve and a bridge with a bad seam with water bottles strewn everywhere and a right hand turn. I looked after the race and my max speed was 50.1- a new all time high- pretty sure it was on that downhill on the first loop. Then some flats were I did 22 or so, then a long curvy climb and a turn and the course goes along the lake back to the start where there was a straight for the second loop or a turn to finish. It is slightly down through that corner so I was in the aero bars and flying through a big crowd and I heard my name and cheering, talk about pumping you up, that was fantastic. One person got a picture of me there, but I haven't gotten it in email yet. The second loop was much harder. On the first part and the rolling climbs, I ate a couple fourths of a peanut butter sandwhich and half of a protein bar because my stomach started to growl. I had poured Accelerade into my aero bottle after the water ran out and at the halfway of the second loop, it was gone, so I got water and poured again. The downhills were not as fast this time it seemed, maybe I was tired or maybe because it wasn't new. Some of the pros passed me on the second loop- they went by me like I wasn't moving. They had P on their legs and low numbers. I had been leap frogging a beautiful 38 year old blond (ages were on the legs) on a Trek for a loop and a half and then she tired and I lost her on the fast downhills. She passed me on the run and said "good riding". Finally the bike was done- I was ready to get off of that thing but came in at 2:54:20 for a 19.3 average. Ran in and parked Gigi (there were TONS of Cervelo bikes, mostly P3's but also alot of P2's like mine- I've rarely seen P2's before) got my running shoes and braces on, hat and sunglasses, gels and was off. Didn't want to go too fast but saw some Headhunters and they called my name and cheered so I started out faster than I wanted. Went up a small hill where the Headhunter van was parked along the street and hit it with my hand like a high five as I passed. Got to mile one at 8:54 and got some water and kept going. Then a barren stretch of industrial land with no trees on the road and slightly uphill for a long time. Got to mile 2 and walked through getting water with a 9:22 split. To mile 3 was downhill and I had a split of 8:22. Just past mile 3 was a water stop and port a pottie which I used and then the hilly out and back portion. It was flat at first along the lake and really pretty with a split of 9:37 to mile 4 and then up and up, luckily not as bad as the hills I train on so it was just a matter of going up at a speed that was not taxing. Then it goes downhill to a turnaround and back up. Got a split of 9:52 for mile 5, by this time I was taking both water and Gatorade because it was hot out. Then back to the start area but along the lake they didn't have mile 6 marked, they had 10K marked so mile 6.2 split was 11:57. Then the second loop. High fived the van and my mile 7 split shows 7:52 because it was only .8 of a mile. Then the "badlands" as I called them the uphill slightly, no trees, and ugly part. I forgot to split mile 8, but I was flagging by then and at mile 9 got a 2 mile split of 21:09 for a 10:34 a mile pace. But I looked at my watch and I realized I could make under 6 hours if I keep running, so I slogged on. I had been leap frogging a young (28 or so) Portland tri club girl and when I started to flag, she said "come on Headhunter" (I was wearing a Headhunter tri top), but I couldn't stay with her. Hit mile 10 with a 10:24 split and was back to the double hill climb area. Looked up and most people were walking up the hill I thought- "come on it's not that steep" and ran slowly up halfway and my shoe lace came untied, so I had to stop and tie it and start running again. Hit mile 11 at an 11:05 split. I looked at the watch and knew if I could keep running I would make it under 6 hours. All during the out and back portion I had been high fiving or saying hi to people from the club and at one point coach Denise, Nicole, and Karen were all running together, so I high fived all three in a line. Then Bridget came right behind them. I saw my ex-training partner and put out my hand and said her name- she nodded and gave me the peace sign- " God I miss her". Hit mile 12 with a split of 11:06. By then I could hear the announcer and there was a woman playing a tambourine and I could sense that it was almost over!! So I stepped it out and around the corner and through the shoot and I finished. with a mile 13.1 split of 9:45 for the last 1.1. I haven't got the email with the finishing picture, but it's ok- I did 5:47:13 - 13 minutes under my goal, very pleased with each part of this race. Went around congratulating everyone and then went to the lake and stood in it to help the legs recover. They had cookies, fruit, and Coke's- but that was it, very weak for a major 70.3 event I thought. Loaded up the van after awards and some people had mentioned a brewery and grill on I-5, but first we went back to the hotel and they let us use the pool shower to rinse off- that was nice of them. We all put on our tech t-shirts they gave us and our medals- I'm on the far right with the sunglasses. Then to Olympia were we found the place called Ram. One person agreed to stay with the van and watch the bikes and we went in and had really good, huge gourmet burgers (I haven't had a burger in a long, long time). I also had one "butthead amber" that they brewed there, very good. Then the drive home and it was over. Stats: 5:47:13 33/61 for my age group- they don't have an overall ranking. I was 26/61 for the swim and 23/61 for the bike and 38/61 for the run in my age group.

Fourth Workouts

2007-07-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day! While my daughter cooks I thought I'd blog- not really. Last week logged 6200 meters swimming, 98.7 miles biking (first week under 100 miles since the first week of June), and 22.2 miles running. This week is taper, so a lot less. Sunday I ran 8.4 miles with Anita on a really pretty route that included the trail in the top picture. Ran it at around a 9 minute pace. Today joined four others at Home Depot in Portland and we rode up and down Marine drive to Troutdale and back for 19.9 miles at around a 20 something average. All of us had tri bikes and could go fast, pulls of 23-26 on Marine drive. Stopped for drinks at a coffee shop in Troutdale that has outside seating and a ton of bicyclists. One pretty girl was there by herself and of course I started talking to her- turns out she was from Kalamazoo Michigan- I'm from Battle Creek. I gave her my number if she needed someone to ride with. Supposed to be the other way around- I was supposed to get her number and everyone I was riding with gave me a hard time about it- they're right, but it feels so invasive to ask someone that. Must get over that, chances at my age are rare. Then after I got home decided I needed one last run before Sunday's race, so off to Glendoveer Golf course for an easy 5 mile run at around a 9:40 pace because it was in the low 90's by then.
Leave Friday for Lake Stevens Washington and the half ironman on Sunday. Pretty nervous about it- mostly the run. I've heard it's a really hilly course, but I'll give it my all and see what happens.

Multnomah Falls Ride and Long Run

2007-06-24T20:23:00.001-07:00

Saturday I did a group swim of 2000 meters and then we headed out for a long bike ride. We left the club and went over the I-205 bridge into Oregon and down Marine drive (top picture is a couple of weeks or so old- didn't bring the camera). Got into a long 12 person paceline and went at a moderate 21+ pace. Past Troutdale and up a 750 foot or so climb to Crown Point which is a viewpoint with a small building. Then down and down to Multnomah falls which is a 650 foot falls I believe in two tiers. It's a huge tourist attraction, so they had an espresso stand and an art sale going on and tons of people. After a small break we headed back up to Crown point and then the speedy descent to town. Saw lots of other riders and they all waved back when we waved at them. The weather was perfect- not hot and not cold and sunny, but not blazing sun- nice. Got back to the club and all four of my bottles were empty, something to remember for the half and full ironmans. Stats for the ride: 76 miles at a 17.3 average. Then six of us changed shoes and took off for a short run. We started out to do 3.5 miles, but coach Denise and I took a short cut after awhile because we had 13 miles planned for today. Anyway we did 3 miles or so - just ran for 30 minutes and stopped.
Today the weather had turned cloudy, but running in rain is no problem so off we went. It was coach Denise, another girl, and myself. We did a similar route that we did last week with a few differences, down to LaCamas lake and back through some woods on a trail. Lots of small hills and at one point it was raining, but the trees kept it out, then we came to a clearing and it was sunny and nice. Then out of the woods and it was cloudy again. Turned and went to the track near the club and did almost two miles circling the track while it poured down rain, but it stopped as we did the final mile back to the club. Stats: 13.75 miles at a 10:02 pace. That was a much needed run, last week coach Denise was surprised to learn that I had never run a half marathon distance before, so now I have and my half iron won't be such a shock. At about mile 9 the girls noticed my shirt had a red streak going down one side- bad nipple chaffing, luckily it didn't hurt at all.

Grover's Commercial & Long Run

2007-06-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughts- that means alot!! Did a commercial last night for Grover's Plumbing, a local plumbing and electrical store. It started at 6 o clock at night, so I had to take the night off work. During the day Tuesday it was a beautiful sunny day so I did a morning ride from the club to the I-205 bridge (top picture) down Marine drive and over the I-5 bridge and back to the club for 32.2 miles with a 16.8 average. There were four of us and we did a paceline on Marine drive for awhile. Then Tuesday night got to Grover's store and the first shot was a crane shot of the parking lot with all the extras either going into or out of the store. I was paired with a really pretty girl as a married couple carrying an attic ventilator to my Jeep. We were right in line with the camera the whole time in the shot. We made up a story for ourselves- we'd been married seven years and met in the west side tunnel during a rush hour traffic jam. Rolled down the windows and started talking and ended up going to a bar downtown and that led to etc. At first we were going home to install the ventilator, by the 6th take we were going home to have a barbecue instead with chicken and grilled corn on the cob. 10 or so takes later we were done with that shot. While they were setting up the next shot we went back to extras holding and they had a great food spread set up. There was a news truck across the parking lot set up with the antenna up, so my "wife" and I walked over to see what was going on- it turned out to be a rash of dumpster burnings in the area- the guy said there had been four of them. When we walked back to the store everyone was gone from the holding area- so we went in and got set up in the next shot just in time. We were in the back looking at some foam spray, then the director came back and said to take a break he would use us as the water heater couple later. So we went and talked and watched two more scenes film before it was our turn. Then they let almost everyone else go except two extras for our scene. We became featured talent! We were a couple walking along looking at water heaters while a clerk described them. The director said it was a tight shot so he wanted us to get closer- so I was forced to walk with my arm around her, the things I do for art. They had two extras walk across behind us and we did maybe 7 or 8 takes and that was a wrap for us. She was married in real life of course so that was that.
Sunday I did my longest run ever with coach Denise and another guy. We went from the club and down to LaCamas lake which has a trail around it and away from the lake down a trail that goes by a waterfall. There are some pretty good hills in the route and after about 7-8 miles I couldn't talk much anymore and just concentrated on going forward. Ended up doing 11.75 miles at a 9:31 pace- I think I started out too fast for a long run- anyway this Sunday scheduled for a 13 mile run.

Last Wednesday I did a local running club's 3 mile race at Frenchman's Bar park. Ran it in 23:31 for a 7:50 pace. Tonight I will take some leave and do the run again and the team will be there and have a cookout afterwards. I have to go to work now and can't access Blogger at work anymore, so either tonight or tomorrow I will start commenting again- thank you all for your support!!

Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon

2007-06-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back- sorry for the silence. Anyway, did the Blue Lake Olympic distance triathlon today. Yesterday it rained and rained and was supposed to be the same today, but it held off and the pavement was dry. Got in the water and it wasn't that bad temperature-wise. Started off and stayed with the main group getting banged around, but the goggles were not hit, so it was ok. Got to about the third or fourth buoy out of five and started to flag, so I consciously stepped it up and stayed fast. At the last buoy coach Denise and her husband caught up with me and said to draft them into the finish, unfortunately turning the last corner was hard and I lost them and pooped out and came in at 28:48 or so an Olympic distance best by over 7 minutes. Then up the ramp and onto the bike. The bike course is on Marine Drive which is flat and fast normally. My back was stiff, so I couldn't stay in the aeros for long stretches and the wind was a headwind both directions, so I guess it was actually a side wind. Anyway, just plugged along trying to keep it over 20 and when in the aeros I would do 21-22. Came across the mats and my speedometer said a 20.3 average- unfortunately the results haven't been posted yet, so I don't know for sure. Then a fairly short transition to the run. I started out easy and built up to a comfortable pace and kept it there. The first mile my watch said 8:48 and I sped up a little and would high-five each person of the Headhunters as they passed- that was fun. Flagged the last .2, but still came into the finish at 54:06 a triathlon 10K best, but not a 10K best. I had stopped the watch after the swim instead of hitting the lap button, so I missed the first transition, but my watch said 2:30, so if I had a 4 or 5 minute transition I did 2:35, an Olympic distance best by over 30 minutes!
As for my silence- I hit the wall right after my last post. I was fine when clipped into the bike or when running, but when not working out, not right. The buzzing in my head for a couple of days should have been a big clue. So I cut way back on the training and went to Warner-Robins AFB Georgia for a week long conference. They had a great running path on base there and I did 6.4 miles one day and 9.2 two days later. Also ruined my training diet- there was nothing healthy to eat there and tons of sweet tea to drink. Anyway, emotionally and mentally I was not right after the last post and I damaged a relationship with the most amazing person and friend I've ever known. That's why I stopped blogging and commenting, silly, my kids and family are healthy and well, I'm healthy and fine- but it hurts and I see no way to repair it.

Training Weekend

2007-05-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry no pictures, didn't even bring the camera out of the bag. Drove up to Grand Coulee Washington on Friday in the Headhunters van. There were 8 of us and 2 more in a separate car. Coach Denise had found a 5 bedroom house for rent in a resort, so that's where we stayed. The resort was in the middle of a remodel, so construction stuff everywhere and the cantina they had was closed. Anyway, we went to the swim part of the ironman course, put on the wetsuits and did 2 X 10 feet. The water was 53 degrees and was way too cold to swim in, but sort of invigorating. One of the guys on the team had made a turkey lasagna, so we heated that up for dinner. No kids, responsibilities, or driving, so I had a beer and some wine. The next day up and a 1.5 mile ride to the transition area. The race organizer gave out maps and said a little speech and we were off. About 4 miles into the course is the big hill- 7% for most with two 14% switchbacks. Overall the hill is maybe 1 1/2 to 2 miles, just took it easy at about 7.5 mph and it was over and then miles and miles of farm fields and rolling hills and not a soul to be seen anywhere. We were able to ride side by side almost the whole way. My training partner Ceselie said she wanted to do the ride by heart rate and stay back, so it was my job to be the conscience and make her stay back. I'm a bad conscience- I like being out front, just the two of us flying along. That's the way it was for most of the first 70 miles. We saw a grain elevator in the distance and guessed that it was three miles away- it was exactly 2.8 and then just past that was the best hill ever (bhe), 2 to 3 miles of straight moderately graded downhill with no cars and no potholes and perfect sighting. 44 miles per hour with a huge grin on the face. There was one town on the route with a port a pottie. The town had nicely manicured lawns and cute little houses- but not a soul outside, not even kids and the silence was incredible the whole ride. We had one person driving the van for support every ten miles- that was great because it was in the high 70's maybe even 80 and dry. The last 20 miles or so were not as hilly, but with huge cracks in the pavement every 10 feet or so. It was so bad it broke one of my rear water bottle cages- just snapped the metal. With about 10 miles left Ceselie decided she wanted to really soar and took off for a pull of 25, three of us did a small paceline at 20-25 for awhile, but I had lost my aerobar bottle straw on the trip up, so I didn't have enough to drink and started to be messed up at those speeds. Ceselie said she heard my labored breathing behind her and waited to the right moment and then pulled out and said "your turn", the look on my face must have been good because she laughed for a good two minutes and every time she related the story later would break down laughing- best look ever (ble). Stats: 108 miles 16.1 average. Then bbq chicken and broccoli and potatoes for dinner. Then downtown to a live band bar- dancing in a circle as a team, really fun. The next morning we went to the run course to do a run. They were having a sponsored run put on by the same people that do the ironman and they said we could run the course early since we had to go. It's a gravel path along the river and pretty with the start and end by the Grand Coulee dam. After about 2.5 miles Ceselie said my heartrate was too high, I guess she could tell by my breathing, so I turned around and did 5.8 while the others did 7.1 miles. Then the long drive home.
Monday we did a 1000 meter swim and then to Beaches for a paceline ride of 25 miles. Then Tuesday a 31.1 mile ride through the country side near the club. Then at work I ran around base and after three miles met up with Frank who did the Beaver Freezer tri and we ran together talking about tris and rides just jogging at 10-11 minute pace and I ended up doing an 8 mile run. Today just a 2700 meter swim- 3 X 900.

VBC Time Trial

2007-05-10T21:08:00.001-07:00

Did the Vancouver Bike Club time trial tonight. Last year I did two of them around the end of August, beginning of September. Usually work nights, but we're leaving for Eastern Washington to ride the full-ironman course tomorrow really early in the morning so I took tonight off also. Anyway, my training partner (Cecilie) and I had talked about doing the time trial sometime, so since I had the night off- it was time. We originally were going to run afterwards, but coach Denise said that would be too much and we should save ourselves for the weekend, so we dropped the run and backed up to Beaches restaurant in downtown Vancouver (just off the path in the top picture). From there we road out 4 miles to the start to warm up. We got our numbers- 32 and 33 and did circles to keep warm. Then it was time to line up. Cecilie said she was going to take it easy, I said I was going to go for it. Clipped in while being held up and then the countdown. Started my watch with ten seconds to go and then I was off. It was pretty windy, but I went to the aeros and stayed at 21-23 into the wind until the first turn and the wind abated a little and 24+ plus for awhile. Didn't want to go anaerobic, so I held back just on the edge. Around another corner and more wind. Last year this part would knock me down to 17-19, this year I stayed in the aeros the whole time and stayed over 20. Then the turnaround and where was the tailwind? It didn't feel like a tailwind, but I was able to do 24-27 for a good mile and a half, maybe two. Then the home stretch going 22-24. Came across the line and stopped my watch at 25:46, so minus 10 for the start and 6 for after the finish until I could turn off the watch and I did about 25:30- 3 count them- 3 minutes faster than last year for a 23.5 average! WOW- I love my Gigi (Cervelo)! A couple minutes later Cecilie came flying to the finish in a sprint with number 34, she didn't take it easy- said she felt good, so she raced it. We did a little circle and then rode back to cars. She liked it, so I think we'll be doing this more often and adding a run to the end.
This week we did a morning group Beaches paceline ride with a group of 8 on Monday for 24.5 miles. Then Tuesday Cecilie and I and another girl rode 29 miles through beautiful country and then did a neighborhood loop run around the club for 3.5 miles and then just Cecilie and I did another smaller loop for a total of 6 miles running- my longest brick ever. Wednesday was an easy day, just 2600 meters swimming and ab class.
I leave for the training weekend tomorrow, so I won't be able to comment on anybody's blog until maybe Sunday. Finding time for anything other than work, sleep, and workouts is hard. I threw away all shame and asked the girls if they could bring me some leftovers- I got a really good stew over pasta and some fantastic spaghetti.
Also, last year I did a commercial and they're showing it again, and often it sounds like. I don't have time for TV, so I haven't seen it, but several people have said they saw me on TV- I love that. I should quit my job, go study with Neese's husband and then become a professional actor- Jeff, time to wake up.

Ride Around Clark County

2007-05-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Did the Ride Around Clark County this morning with the Headhunters team. We started the morning with a 2300 meter group swim and then headed out from the club to do the ride since the route goes right by the club. The swim was supposed to be easy and was for the most part. But on Wednesday training partner (Cecilie) and I did 5X100's at the end of our swim to see where we were and did 1:43 or so without the wetsuit. Saturday's swim we always use a wetsuit, and on one of the 100 intervals I was the lead swimmer and did a 1:32. Bloggers Wes and Matt do those speeds without the wetsuit and I always thought it was out of reach- I'm getting there.
The day was chilly to start, but the sun was out and it warmed up to comfortable with the jacket on. The route goes over the same roads as most of the rides we do from the club, so it was familiar until around the halfway point. They had good food and peanut butter squares candy. Lots of small hills, Gigi (my Cervelo) was ghost shifting the whole ride, but was still like riding a sports car. 23+ around 90 degree corners without a problem, could actually speed up in the middle of the curve. It was surprisingly comfortable- 67 mile ride with a ton of it in the aeros and no discomfort at all. Couldn't help myself, sometimes I had to take off and go to the front of the group and fly. The bike demanded it- I wonder if that's what it's like driving a Porsche? Great country roads with good views, a fun group of 15+ serious cyclists, and an awesome bike- it was a good day. We only did the 65 mile route with a few extra miles instead of the 100 mile route because next week we're going to the Grand Columbian full-ironman site for a training weekend and we'll ride the 112 mile course or as much of it as we feel up to. Got back to the club and they had Margaritas, chips, and a veggie tray, I don't drink but it was still fun. Stats: 67 miles with a 16.2 average. The actual starting point of the ride was the Clark County Community College (top picture). Took Gigi back to the bike store and they found a bad chain link and replaced it, no more ghosting.

Eugene Marathon

2007-04-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

Went down to Eugene this weekend to be support for the Eugene marathon for my training partner. Cecelie, Julie, Steve, Derrick, and myself all rode down together Saturday. Went to dinner at Ambrosia's a fantastic Italian place in downtown Eugene. I brought my old bike to be able to swap out bottles for her at miles 10 and 21. At packet pickup they said bikes would not be allowed on the paths and looking at the map decided it would be easier to drive, so I didn't use the bike. Walked over to the start line in the morning and Celilie warmed up by jogging over to the start instead of walking and then doing a lap around the U of O track where the start was. It was 40 something, so everyone wore long shirts over and then I took those right before start so they didn't have to do the bag drop. Saw Jarod the Subway guy at the start and then a runner sang the national anthem really well and they were off. I went and got the van and drove to mile ten by many backroads because the course was blocked off. Actually found a corner just past mile ten and there were some people cheering, so I waited there. Hard watching a race- I wanted to be out there doing it. All four came by together at a nice pace and I swapped out bottles without making her slow down. I figured I had a little over an hour to get to mile 21 on the other side of the river, so I stopped and got paper and markers and made a sign with each of the four's names. Trying to find a side street that led to the bike path was hard, but ended up on a corner by mile 20. Julie and Steve came by first and then Derrick and then Cecilie, so I gave her her I-pod for the final push and bottle swap. Julie had said- "pictures?" when she passed, so I got my camera and drove to the next park along the path where there was a big cheering crowd, set up my sign and took each of their pictures as they passed. Then the mad dash for the finish line at Autzen stadium (top picture)- crawling through traffic at 5 miles an hour or less as runners went past- I was sure I was going to miss them. Found a parking space down a side street and ran for the finish in time to get Julie in green finishing her first ever marathon in 3:31. Derrick came in next and then Steve and finally Cecilie came in under 3:40 but over her goal.
Everyone was walking a little slow afterwards. We went downtown Eugene to the Nike store where the girls got free shirts for being in the top 100 women. Then to lunch where it took over an hour to get our food, so it was free. Then I drove home since I had the non-marathon legs.
Last Thursday I was supposed to ride at 9, but was running late by 10 minutes and as I drove up to the club a crowd of about 7 or 8 was riding away. I didn't think of it until later, but I could have honked. Instead I got my bike ready and tried to catch them, but that didn't work. So I did my first solo ride of the year. Didn't like it. Last couple of years about 30% were solo rides- not this year. I went 24 miles at a 17.8 average. The Cervelo rides really smooth and does 20 without effort on the flats.
Saturday morning after a 2300 meter group swim, the morning group girls were going to Sauvie's Island to do a flat ride so I joined them. Six of us caravaned in a car paceline to the island and did 12 mile loops around the island. During this ride Bridget said that my new bike needed a name and since Cervello is in Canada- she came up with Gigi because it's a pretty French girl's name. She can call it Gigi, I'm not sure. I had to leave after two laps to go back to the club for the Eugene trip, for 24.7 miles at a 17.8 average.

Beaches Ride

2007-04-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful spring day- finally! The forecast said sunny and 65, my Jeep said 66. The best part was I had the day off after working this weekend.
So to start the day in the morning I ran with Cecilie (training partner) and Diane (nitritionist from 3 posts ago). Cecilie is tapering for a marathon so we only did 5 miles. It was supposed to be a nice easy run but she was in a fast mood, so we ended up doing an 8:24 pace and that included walking at the traffic intersections. When we were stretching afterwards, Cecilie said I had improved alot and didn't even start breathing hard on the first hill like before. Then a small 1000 meter swim.
Then in the afternoon I was able to do the Beaches ride that is every Monday afternoon but at a time when I'm normally at work. Anyway, we start at the Beaches restaurant in Vancouver and ride through town to warm up and then out the Vancouver Lake road which is flat and has a great shoulder until the lake. There were six of us including coach Denise (the only girl there). Once on the lake road we got in a pace line and went around 23-25 taking 3-4 minute pulls. I was winded, but fine until the way back and 3/4 done when Brandon a 2006 Florida ironman finisher did his second pull. He bumped it up to 28, last year the Florida group would ride 30-32 on Beaches everytime so he was probably taking it easy, but I couldn't sustain that speed (28), so I fell off. Kept the group in sight for most of the rest of the way and even going real slow though town I averaged 19.2 for the whole 28.7 mile ride. Then into Beaches for a shrimp salad and a mango-chicken pizza.
On the drive home I realized I didn't have a picture, so I took a picture of Mt Hood while on the I-205 bridge crossing back into Oregon. I was going around 60 when I took that picture- good camera.

My New Baby

2007-04-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

Picked up my new bike today. A Cervelo P2C time trial bike with Dura-Ace derailleurs, shifters, and cranks. The carbon pedals came with a DVD from Look- haven't watched it yet. Took it out for a small 3 mile spin from the bike shop, then I had to go to work. Had a really good fitting by the Gateway bike shop guy. He lifted the aeropads a little to help my back and got the seat perfect. I can feel the speed in the bike just waiting to come out. Earlier this morning Cecilie and I rode 16.8 miles at a 17 average but I was using my old bike. Next time I'll be much faster!
Neese commented about naming the bike. My Bianchi is named "Scout". So I have to think up a name for the P2C, probably during the first good ride.

Race For The Roses- 5K

2007-04-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

Did the Race For The Roses 5K this morning in downtown Portland. This race has always coincided with a work weekend or with a tri before and I've never run it. They had a half-marathon and a 5K, both of which started at the convention center and went over the Broadway bridge into downtown.
Awhile back I mentioned to my training partner (Cecilie) about a 5K coming up and she said she doesn't do 5K's. Then this week I mentioned the 5K again and she said "let's do it, what's your goal?" I said an 8 minute pace. So this morning we met at the start line and something I've never done before, we did a warm-up run. She took us about 6-7 blocks at steadily increasing speeds and then back to the start with 10 minutes to go. Started out and passed by the Rose Garden where the Blazers play and I had to work to stay with her as she zipped around people and got into the open. After only a half mile or less I was gasping and unable to talk, so we cruised along with her giving encouragement and saying slow down on the uphills. Before I would charge up a hill and then take a while to recover. She had me slow down going up and then charge down the hill. Passed the first mile at 7:32, I was ready to start walking, but we held a steady pace as I just thought about breathing in and out and getting enough air. She would know somehow when I could take more and speed up and then slow when I was too far out. We passed the second mile with a 7:37 pace for that mile. She said "just do an 8 minute pace now and you've got 24 minutes." All I wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep or something to make the run stop, but this whole race she was doing just for me, so quitting was not an option. Up the ramp to the top level of the Steel bridge and then down to the home stretch. As we turned the last corner I knew I was going to make it!! Crossed the finish line, looked at my time and felt instantly better. 23:49 for a 7:40 pace- a new 5K pr and one of my goals for this year accomplished (a sub-8 5K). I think I was anaerobic the whole time, but it worked! I came in 80th out of 663 and 7 of 20 for my age group. Cecilie actually came in 2nd for her age group, but we didn't stay for awards, we got what we had come for- a pr! They had a Chipolte's booth and Tillamook smoothies and Gleukos- a pretty good post-race spread. They gave us a rose at the finish of course and a nice medal.

This Week and What Have I done!

2007-04-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no pictures. This week on Monday I ran 7 miles the same as the last two weeks. The difference this time was a girl joined Cecilie and I so I didn't have to talk. She was a professional nutritionist and has done Ironman Canada, so Cecilie asked her tons and tons of questions and that kept the pace where I could run no problem. Some good info and she's going to put together a presentation for the team. Then into the pool for 1000 meters.
Tuesday it was cloudy, but dry so Cecilie and I were standing in the club lobby deciding whether to spin or go outside when coach Denise said she would go if we could be back in an hour and a half for her next class. So off we went at a very fast pace in a basic around LaCamas lake route. Even the uphills seemed fast. At one point on a slight straight downhill, Denise took off. I saw this as a challenge for some reason and stomped on it to catch her- with Cecilie yelling "go get her!" 35 mph to pass her then I kept it there for a little bit and then it fell, 28,25,22. Denise had tucked in behind me and said I made a great windbreak and she was going to put me out front when we do the Seattle to Portland ride and everyone can draft behind me. Stats: 13.2 miles 16.8 avg.
Wednesday, I only did a swim. We did 2X1200 for 2400. Cecilie is leading a beginning track group for the club and a local shoe store at 6AM- I can't make that, so I have to find a new track routine for Wednesday.
Thursday it was raining, so just spin. Then at work the rain had stopped so I ran around the base 3 times for 5 miles. It was the first time I've run alone since early March.
Then today- how to say this. Several weeks ago I tried a size 58 tri bike in the model I wanted and the store ordered a 61 for me to try because the 58 was too small. Well, the 61 was in a word- perfect. I went to the aero position with no discomfort and the bike soared. Got back to the shop and said, "I'll take it". In my life I've bought a house, installed a sewer system, taxes of course, my Jeep and a mini van before that. Those are the only things I can remember more expensive than what I bought today. $3K for a bike!!! Plus a couple hundred for carbon pedals and some more for a Dura Ace crank. I'm in shock right now. When the cranks arrive and I get the bike, then it will be real. Of course there will be pictures then and then I'll tell you what kind it is. Ok, its a Cervelo P2C.

Beaver Freezer Triathlon

2007-04-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

What a difference a year makes!! Went down to Corvalis and did the Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon this weekend with the Headhunters team. Friday afternoon we loaded up the van in beautiful blue sky 75 degree weather. (top picture is of the van on Saturday) I think we had 11 people in the van and several more from the club drove down on their own. We got to the motel and put the bikes in the rooms, then drove the course. Then we walked the run course loop once and then to packet pick-up where we ran into Frank from the base so he went to dinner with us. We invaded American Dream pizza with 20+ people and had a loud dinner. Then back to the rooms and someone said "hot tub?". The hot tub turned out to be way too hot, so into the small pool for volleyball and underwater endurance competitions.
The next morning with so many people and different start times we had to be there for the start of the race at 7:30. My heat was at 9:30. When we got there it was sprinkling and they moved the barricades for us so we could park the Headhunter's van next to transition. I think there were close to 30 from the club who did this race. Set up the bikes in transition and went into the pool to watch the swimmers. After a while people would walk in soaked, it was pouring outside. Around 9 I went out to get my goggles and take off the shirt and everything was wet even though I had put towels over my stuff. There were 5 of us from the full-iron team, coach Denise, John, Julie, Kevin, and myself. Kevin was hurt so he came along as support and picture and video taker. We had all put down 8:23 as our swim time hoping to get in the same lane. As it worked out Julie and I were in lane one and John and Denise were in lane 2. So Julie and I decided to do what we had planned and trade off pulling each 100 yards. When we got in the pool there was Joanna in our lane who I had ridden with once last May. She remembered me and said "hey, we did a ride together". Joanna and the other guy in the lane had put down 8:15, so we told them our plan and they were ok with it. I took off third in the lane and then Julie. I was pumped and swam along at a good clip and looked back after 50 and Julie was a ways back, so I slowed and then waited at the wall for her when it was her pull. Then we did a smooth fast pace with good trade-offs. Got out of the water and started running for the bike and looked at my watch and it said 8:30 something- I showed Julie and we both did a woohoo! Afterwards I saw on the results that I did an 8:32 swim- 1 minute and 13 seconds better than any pool swim race ever and almost two minutes better than last year- one discipline down and one pr. Denise and John had gotten out maybe 5-10 seconds ahead of us so we were all in bike transition together. Denise went first and then John and then Julie, then slow transition guy- me. I started out fast and kept Julie within a hundred yards at the most for about 4 miles and then passed her and kicked it up a little. The course had a couple of hills that were pretty flat this year, didn't even go out of the big ring. Oh I forgot, it had stopped raining while we were in the pool so the road was wet but there was no rain. Just lots of spray if you got close to someone. I played leapfrog with a girl for several miles and we even joked about each time we'd pass each other. Came in from the bike and results said an average of 20.0 my fastest triathlon bike average! Two disciplines- two pr's.

In the run transition as I was putting on my shoes, Julie came in and said "Jeff, can you move over?" I moved over and saw that I had forgotten my knee brace. So in the time it took me to take my shoe off and put on the brace and put on the shoe and put on the other brace, Julie had parked her bike and put on her shoes all while standing- I have to work on my transitions. My being in the way turned out to be either bad luck or divine intervention because Julie tied for 1st in her age group- if I hadn't been in the way she would have won her age outright. She's a 6 something pace runner, so that's the last I saw of her until the end. I finally started out on the run.
I started the run the way we do when I run with Cecilie- start out slower and build up as we get warmed up. I used to go out fast to start and then tire. The run does three laps around a block with one small hill in it. I gradually ran a little faster and something new for me- I passed people. On one of the laps I saw a group of Headhunters and veered over to high five. The third lap came and I waited until after the hill and had about .4 to go and I stepped it out some and got to the edge of ragged breathing. As soon as I accelerated I felt like this is the speed I should have been running at. Got to the finish line and stopped my watch at 1:15 something. In the finish picture, Frank from the base is the guy in black with a yellow hat. When I saw the results on the wall it had me doing an 8:06 pace on the run- a new 5K pr- three disciplines- three prs. Plus it showed me at 1:15:01 a new sprint pr by over 4 minutes and over 5 minutes better than last year. We stayed for awards and Julie tied for first in her age group and coach Denise won her age group. In the women's overall Julie was number 4 and Joanna from our swim lane was number 3. Overall I think 3 Headhunters won their age group and around 9 ribboned. The winner in my age group had a 1:09 or 1:07, so I was probably close to a 5th place ribbon, results haven't been posted yet. The one they had on the wall showed me 64th overall. Last year I was 125th overall! It was very cool racing with a group and very fun riding in the van to an event.
Happy Easter- went to services with Friends and you know you're in Oregon when the church lobby has an espresso stand in it!
Ps- Annette and Matt asked about my foot- knock on wood, no pain.

7-Mile Run and Castle Ride

2007-04-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Monday I did a 7 mile run in the reverse route of last Monday's 7-miler with a slight modification. There's a small bike shop near the club and my training partner (Cecilie) wanted to see a tri bike they had on display, so we swung into the shopping center and looked at that. Then started up again and did a big loop. She very subtlety bumbed up the pace at one point and I found myself unable to talk. Looked at the Garmin and we were running at 7:41 pace, so I tried to keep it there as long as I could just gasping comments when needed. Then finally said "can you slow down just a bit". She said "I was wondering when you were going to say that". Anyway, she did that a couple more times during the run for tempo work, then down to a 10:00 pace so I could breath again. The third time she did that the Garmin said a 7:25 pace. Back to the club for 7 miles in 1:01 for an 8:43 pace. She had to go before the swim, so I thought I'd have to swim alone for the first time in months. But when I got to the pool a girl from the team was there and I joined here for 700, then a guy from the team joined us for 1000 more.
Tuesday Cecilie and I rode out past the castle (top picture) and out a river road and up some good sized hills. We had a headwind the first part of the ride and I still had to really push it to stay with her as she led. Climbing the hills I tried to keep her within pitching wedge distance (100 yards). This is a new experience, usually I'm waiting at the top for the people I ride with, not with Cecilie. Thinking of buying a tri bike, so I have made the granny ring (small front ring) off limits and some of the hills Tuesday I normally would have used it, but the tri bike has only two rings in front so I have to get used to that. Stats: 20.5 miles 15.8 average.
I must apologize for the last post. After a couple comments I realized I forgot a crucial bit of info. It should have read a very pretty married girl. If it had been a very pretty single girl, I would have tripped over myself ripping the bike off the trainer. As it is I still felt bad, because she is really nice and part of the tri group. I love working out with all the girls, but they are all married.

Ft. Vancouver Bike Ride

2007-03-31T18:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a beautiful day out, so a group of us decided to ride outside instead of spin. We started out with 7, but after a few miles 3 turned off to do a 2 bridge loop. Myself and 3 girls went out to Ft. Vancouver which is a restored fort from the Hudson Bay Company days when the Washington side was British territory. Then up through the more modern Fort area with officer's row- a bunch of Civil war and after officer's houses. Trust me they're really pretty, unfortunately I didn't have my camera on the ride and had to go to work afterwards. I was going to drive by and take a picture of the area today after the group swim, but it was pouring down rain. Anyway, the ride was very nice and mostly flat with one steep short hill. Stats: 24.5 miles and a 15.0 average.
Today was group swim and spin. 2200 meter swim and then into the spin room where the bikes are on trainers. We do 1 and 1/4 hours at high intensity and then the last couple weeks some of stay and do the 45 minute more normal spin class afterwards for a total of 2 hours. Then down to the town of Camas to Natalia's a really nice little place that makes great blueberry pancakes and veggie omelets. It was misty and foggy this morning which is why we stayed inside. Before spin though a very pretty girl I regularly spin with said "Jeff, will you ride outside with me?" I looked outside and saw the fog and mist and saw my bike already on the trainer and said no. I still feel bad about that- I can't remember ever saying no to a pretty girl before! So of course now in the late afternoon the sun is out and it's blue sky- so I took a picture out my window (top picture).

Dahlia Road Hill Repeats

2007-03-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up super early (I work nights until 12 midnight) and made it to the club by 0830 for track workout. Today was hill repeats up Dahlia Road which is near the club. It's between .35 and .4 to the top and is like climbing stairs without the stairs. We started out a little before the top picture and it gets progressively steeper. By the time we got to the curve at the top of the top picture I was doing just faster than a speedwalk with Bridget while Cecilie glided up. Middle picture is looking down from almost the top down to the curve, that's the steepest part.
We did 4 repeats with a slow jog back down. Bridget and I stayed together each time and did from 4:12 to 4:28 each time. Surprisingly the heart rate was high, but not anaerobic. The bottom picture is at the top of the curve looking down.
Then for the real surprise, Cecilie said "do 3.5 now?" Everyone said yes, and off we went around a known loop route for 3.5 miles more. I only had to beg Cecilie to slow down once. Then into the pool where we did 1500, then 300 doing different drills.
Monday I ran with Cecilie, she said she wanted to do 7 miles. We went at a fairly even pace, not fast or slow. She surprised me by taking two small walk breaks to drink water. The first one I stopped my Garmin and forgot to start it up until about .3 miles later. So I don't have a total time, but the Garmin says an 8:55 pace for 6.66 miles. We did a total of 7 with two pretty good hills in there. Then into the pool where we did 4 600's. Plus I did her ab class that night- very hard class.
Tuesday, just 1 hour spin class. It's a 45 minute class, but Cecilie and I stay and spin to make a full hour. Her husband does the class sometimes and was there Tuesday and had saved a place beside her for me- very cool. This time 3 girls stayed and spun with us for the extra 15 minutes.

Two runs and Three Bike Rides

2007-03-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

First I have to apologize for not commenting on other blogs as much this week.
Saturday the 17th after our group swim of 2100 meters we decided to go outside and ride. We broke into two groups and I ended up in the "fast" group with my training partner Cecilie (C). She had run 20 miles Friday, so I was able to keep up with her the whole ride and she even let me lead sometimes. We had a group of 7 of us and the route had a lot of hills and one big one called Mt Pleasant that after last Thursday's ride (last post) was quite easy and "pleasant". It was sunny but early enough in the morning that there was fog in places and the sun-fog mix with farmland and hill vistas was really pretty- sorry no pictures. The last part of the ride went down a great 41 mph hill and then through the town of Washougal so we had to go slow then and it turned into a social pace ride back to the club. Stats: 35.2 miles at a 14.8 average.
I was going to run Sunday, but C said she runs on Monday and wouldn't mind if I joined, so I ran on Monday. We did a 5.5 mile loop that starts up the road to the track (top picture). I had gotten a heart rate monitor and this was the first run with it. We started slow and then were flying along (it seemed to me) at a 7:50 pace and I noticed my HR was over anaerobic threshold, so C said "slow it down" and we did. The last part was on a windy two lane road with no shoulder and it was raining by then, but we made it no problem in 48:09 for an 8:45 pace. Then into the pool where we did 600,500,600,500. Notice I didn't mention anything about foot pain? None!!
Wednesday I woke up super early to be there by 8:30 and do track work. I haven't run on just 1 day off in awhile, so I was planning on just going slow while C and Bridget (B) did 12 800's. I kept to the plan at first and did 2 miles on the track at a 10 minute pace and keeping the heartrate at 154 or so. Then the urge to socialize with C and B while they walked in between 800's took over. Then they would start up and I ended up running with B at a 3:58 pace while C did 3:25 or so. I thought one wouldn't hurt, then one more and I'll stop. After 3 800's C said only 3 more, so of course I had to finish the last 3. So I ended up doing 6 800's at a 4 minute each pace. That's 3 miles on top of the 2 I did by myself and it's 1.2 to get to the track and we ran moderately fast back to the club for 1.2. I did a 7.4 mile run without intending to. The girls did 8.4, 6 miles of 800's. But that's only the beginning of Wednesday!! Then to the pool and the 3 of us did 2 X 1100. The cold water of the pool worked wonders on the legs. The weather was beautiful by then, so B drove home real quick and got some of her husband's bike clothes and a helmet for me and she made us peanut butter sandwiches! Then- you guessed it- out on the bike. Coach Denise and another girl joined us for the ride. They had fresh legs though. We went pretty fast and had some hills to climb up. Did 11.5 miles with a 15.8 average because of stopping to regroup. 5 plus hours of workouts and C remarked "at the ironman we'd still have 10 hours to go". Our legs were pretty much wiped though. I just had enough time to make it to work.
Then today (Thursday) when I got to spin, B and 4 other girls were going to ride outside, so of course I joined them. After 5 miles we came to a shortcut and B asked if I was ok or turn here and end it- "I'm ok- you?" "Fine", so on we went at a relaxing social pace with only a few hills for 30.1 miles at a 15.3 average.
I had planned to join C for the last part of her long run tomorrow because I have the day off, but I think I'm going to sleep in instead.

Camas Hill Ride

2007-03-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a blue sky day with the forecast saying 65. Got to the club in the morning and my Jeep said 38, but clear. Five of us (Karrie, Bridget, Karen, Nicole, and myself) decided to ride outside instead of spin. Karrie took the lead since she had a route in mind. She kept a really good pace around LaCamas lake and up the small hills. I stayed behind Bridget to encourage her up the hills. When we turned off the main road I led because there weren't anymore turns for awhile. The girls said go until you see a castle and then turn left. A castle? One of the girls had heard it was a fireman who really wanted a castle, so he built one (top picture). Past the castle we rode along a beautiful country road with meadows and cows, of course I mooed at them. Then down a long hill with sharp turns. Then through the town of Camas behind the large paper mill which I had only seen from the highway, never up close. Then Karrie said to turn up Forest Home road, she admitted she'd never ridden up it before. Nobody in the group had before. A couple of miles later and a heart rate through the roof, I made it to the top followed closely by Karrie and then Karen. Karen and I had triple rings, so Karrie is a strong rider with only a double. Nicole and Bridget had doubles so they took a while to get up the last part. I think I averaged 5 mph up that thing- great workout hill! Then down through the neighborhood above the club and back with 18.8 miles and a 13.7 average.
Monday I ran around the base 2 times plus a little more to swing by the mailbox and drop a letter in. I felt really good and before I started the foot didn't hurt at all, afterwards a lot. Came in at 27:21 for an 8:17 pace, and that includes slowing to drop the letter in. Tuesday the foot still hurt so I went to Kaiser and told my PA about some medicine I saw on Jodi's site (flurandrenolide). My PA had to look it up and found they had one- in tape form. Put the tape on at work and almost fell over a little later- very strong medicine. It made me very tired, but the foot stopped hurting and now just a slight pain sometimes when I move fast- thanks DR Jodi!

VO2 Testing Results

2007-03-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Here are the results from my test on Tuesday. Not sure what number to use- Peak on the run was 54, so is that the number? Anyway, his notes are right on target, I can ride centuries, but have a hard time staying with the peloton in a race.

Metabolic Testing Results
Name: Jeff Macey
Date: March 6th
Age: 46 years
Weight: 215 lbs

Test Results:

Test Type: Run (7.0 mph)

Results:
Peak VO2: 54.3 ml/kg*min

Anaerobic Threshold (AT):
VO2 AT : 54.3 ml/kg*min
VO2 (% of Peak) 100%
HR AT : 177 bpm
Speed AT : 7.0 mph
Grade AT : 6%
Watts AT :
Aerobic Threshold (AeT):
VO2 AeT : 40.7 ml/kg*min
VO2 (% of Peak) 75%
Heart Rate AeT : 150 bpm
Speed AeT : 7.0 mph
Grade AeT : 0%
Watts AeT :

Test Type: Bike (30 watt step)

Results:
Peak VO2: 51.2 ml/kg*min

Anaerobic Threshold (AT):
VO2 AT : 45.0 ml/kg*min
VO2 (% of Peak) 88%
HR AT : 168 bpm
Speed AT :
Grade AT :
Watts AT : 300 watts
Aerobic Threshold (AeT):
VO2 AeT : 30.1 ml/kg*min
VO2 (% of Peak) 59%
Heart Rate AeT : 140 bpm
Speed AeT :
Grade AeT :
Watts AeT : 210 watts

Heart Rate Training Zones:

Threshold Training (z5a/E2): 171-180+ (to increase threshold)
Anaerobic Threshold: 177 bpm
Intensive Aerobic Tempo (z4/E1): 166-177 (to increase muscular endurance
and function of top-end aerobic)
Extensive Aerobic Tempo (z3/A2): 155-166 (endurance development)
Aerobic Threshold (z2/A1): 145-155 (easy intensity endurance)
Recovery (z1/R): <135 (easy recuperative training)
Threshold Training (z5a/E2): 168-178+ (to increase threshold)
Anaerobic Threshold: 168 bpm
Intensive Aerobic Tempo (z4/E1): 156-168 (to increase muscular endurance
and function of top-end aerobic)
Extensive Aerobic Tempo (z3/A2): 145-156 (endurance development)
Aerobic Threshold (z2/A1): 135-145 (easy intensity endurance)
Recovery (z1/R): <130 (easy recuperative training)

A Note on using Heart Rates for monitoring training: Use of heart rate within training to set and control training intensity can be a tremendously valuable tool. However, realize that heart rate values can be affected by a variety of factors (such as fatigue, anxiety, medications, dehydration, caffeine, etc) and heart rate values may change day by day or even within a day. As you begin using these zones, pay attention to the perceived exertion and be open to small adjustments of heart rate due to such factors.

Testing & Result Notes:
Jeff –
Great to see you at the club and have the chance to help test you out! Overall – nice job – looks like you’re in pretty solid shape.
To review your results –
Run – Fantastic aerobic conditioning but as you noted in the test – once you hit threshold you weren’t comfortable going beyond. Incorporating threshold and leg strength work is going to be key to prepare your muscles to handle working at higher intensities.
Bike – Again – great conditioning. I’m guessing that you’re able to ride solidly for time but going to higher intensities is a tough challenge. Again – a bit of leg strength to increase your muscular strength in prep for higher intensity activities.
Also, a touch of z3 (lower end tempo work) should help bring up your pace at aerobic threshold. A pace that you’ll be very comfortable hanging for very long distances.
Make sure to get that HR monitor and let me know if I can answer any further questions. I’d be interested to see what your data looks like after a few rides and runs while using your heart rate monitor.
Mark

Understanding VO2 Values:
Women (values in ml/kg/min)
Age Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent Superior
13-19 <25.0 25.0 - 30.9 31.0 - 34.9 35.0 - 38.9 39.0 - 41.9 >41.9
20-29 <23.6 23.6 - 28.9 29.0 - 32.9 33.0 - 36.9 37.0 - 41.0 >41.0
30-39 <22.8 22.8 - 26.9 27.0 - 31.4 31.5 - 35.6 35.7 - 40.0 >40.0
40-49 <21.0 21.0 - 24.4 24.5 - 28.9 29.0 - 32.8 32.9 - 36.9 >36.9
50-59 <20.2 20.2 - 22.7 22.8 - 26.9 27.0 - 31.4 31.5 - 35.7 >35.7
60+ <17.5 17.5 - 20.1 20.2 - 24.4 24.5 - 30.2 30.3 - 31.4 >31.4
Men (values in ml/kg/min)
Age Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent Superior
13-19 <35.0 35.0 - 38.3 38.4 - 45.1 45.2 - 50.9 51.0 - 55.9 >55.9
20-29 <33.0 33.0 - 36.4 36.5 - 42.4 42.5 - 46.4 46.5 - 52.4 >52.4
30-39 <31.5 31.5 - 35.4 35.5 - 40.9 41.0 - 44.9 45.0 - 49.4 >49.4
40-49 <30.2 30.2 - 33.5 33.6 - 38.9 39.0 - 43.7 43.8 - 48.0 >48.0
50-59 <26.1 26.1 - 30.9 31.0 - 35.7 35.8 - 40.9 41.0 - 45.3 >45.3
60+ <20.5 20.5 - 26.0 26.1 - 32.2 32.3 - 36.4 36.5 - 44.2 >44.2
Sample Values from Elite Athletes
Highest Recorded Female (Cross-Country Skier): 74
Highest Recorded Male (Cross-Country Skier): 94
Steve Prefontaine, US runner, 84.4
Frank Shorter, US Olympic Marathon winner, 71.3
Ingrid Kristiansen, ex-Marathon World Record Holder, 71.2
Derek Clayton, Australian ex-Marathon World Record holder, 69.7
Rosa Mota, Marathon runner, 67.2
Jeff Galloway, US Runner, 73.0
Greg LeMond, professional cyclist, 92.5
Matt Carpenter, Pikes Peak marathon course record holder, 92
Miguel Indurain, professional cyclist, 88
Lance Armstrong, 85
Does your VO2 really matter?
Not as much as we might give it credit. Make no mistake – VO2 testing measures the body’s ability to efficiently utilize oxygen and can give a glimpse into one aspect (genetic) of athletic potential. However, what we find is that athletes gifted with such high values often are missing in other critical factors of athletic performance. Those include factors that go into efficiency (strength, flexibility, and fundamental mechanics and skills at high speeds) as well as the psychological and physiological abilities of a strong work ethic (focus, discipline, consistency) and the ability of the mind and body to absorb higher training loads that their competitors.
As you can see from the values of some of the world champion athletes and former Olympians even athletes with lower VO2 values can out race their competitors. Economy at speeds has far greater impact on the results within a competition. Athletes who show great efficiency and economy of movement are able to complete the same workload without using as great of a percentage of their VO2, thus saving energy and having the ability to tap that ‘fifth gear’ in a race and surge past their competitors.
Ask Dr. Testa, a pioneer in VO2max testing and research, on testing and application and he will say – “Genes determine who makes it into the peloton (the "pack" in professional bike racing), but not who wins the race."
Happy Training!
Coach Mark Kendall
SpeedSHOT Racing & Coaching Services

VO2 Testing and 2 Runs

2007-03-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

VO2 Testing
Tuesday a guy came out to the club I go to and performed VO2 testing on a group of us. I started out on the treadmill and warmed up at a 3 mph walk and then put on a heart rate monitor and got hooked up to the breath tester (top picture). Started running and he would slowly increase the speed until I got to my 5K pace and then he added incline all the way to 6% where I felt like I couldn't breath anymore and waved to stop. As soon as I stopped and started to catch my breath I felt like a wimp and I could have gone a lot longer. Then onto my bike on a trainer and easy spinning trying to keep an 80-90 cadence while Cecilie did the running portion (middle picture). When she was done I got hooked up and had to spin at an even 90 while the resistance got slowly harder. Got to a point after awhile that it became hard and he coaxed me on saying "more, push it, go for it, etc." Finally the resistance got to a point where even standing I could only push at 40 or so and it was over. I was soaked afterwards (bottom picture). I had been putting off this post to get the results, but coach Denise told me the results will be next week. She said I was a monster on the bike part and nobody lasted as long as me. I had to go to work right after the test so I didn't get to watch the others.

Springwater Run
Saturday the 3rd I worked dayshift and had some daylight afterwards, so I went to Gresham city park and ran the Springwater trail in the same direction as last week. I had done hill running on the Wednesday before (last post), so I took it easy and went nice and slow. Did 3.2 miles in 30:37 for a 9:34 pace. Afterwards while stretching, my ankle on the foot with plantar problems moved- very, very strange feeling. Have you ever had a moment in injury recovery where all of a sudden you know it's going to get better? That was the moment for me. It stills hurts sometimes, but is rapidly getting better.

Base Run
After going to work on Tuesday after VO2 testing and not having my normal hour-long spin class, I decided to run during work for my exercise hour. This week both shifts are combined, so I ran with Mike who's on days and is a 5-6 minute pace runner. He said, "you set the pace". Towards the end of the first lap around I was getting winded and looked at the Garmin and it said a 7:54 pace, tried to keep it there for as long as I could, but couldn't talk, so I slowed it down a little. We did 2 laps for 3.2 miles and a 27:03 time for an 8:27 pace. The foot hurt a little, but more of an annoyance that wouldn't go away instead of a limp causing pain.

Hill Running

2007-03-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I decided to try and go back to track workout even though I'm still having Plantar issues. Got to the club and Ceselie and Bridget were ready to go do hill repeats. I'm a flat land runner so I need hill practice. Unfortunately or fortunately, it was 37 out and snowing huge flakes that didn't stick except higher up, so the hill they usually do that is very steep was slippery, so we started out for the hill in the top picture which is a road that goes the back way into Camas Meadows golf course. The snow stopped shortly after we started and turned to slight rain and then stopped. The hill is .3 miles long and the first time seemed really good. Ceselie went up smoothly while Bridget and I ran together breathing hard. I thought "no problem", then a slow jog back down and do it again, the second time it started to get hard. The third time reminded me of some of the summer olympic tris I did last year where I died on the hills in the run. The fourth time my foot started to really hurt, so I waited at the top while the girls did a fifth time. Then a nice social pace run back to the club for a total distance of 5.8 miles and I didn't keep a total time. I wanted to time the hill repeats, but was breathing too hard to remember to stop the watch. When we got back to the club we immediately changed and hit the pool and did 2 X 1000's with each of us doing 100 meter pulls and a 45 second rest between 1000's. With the three of us, it flew by and we were done in no time. We even remarked to each other how easy that seemed. Later my foot (left) hurt a little, but my right calf tightened and hasn't let go yet.
Yesterday during spin class, coach Denise told everyone to give me a hand because I beat her in the Jack Frost time trial (I beat her by 1 second). Then we had a very hard class- afterwards 3 girls told me to let her win next time- I think they joking? It was a good class, need to be at that level now that it's March.
Have to work this weekend (forecast says 61 and sunny) and next weekend, so I'll miss 2 swim-spin Saturdays in a row. Plus different shifts during the week next week, oh well, it's only one week.
Official results came out for the Jack Frost time trial (last post) and they had me at 37:10 which matched my watch.

Jack Frost Time Trial

2007-02-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

Did my first bike race of the year today, the Jack Frost Time Trial in Vancouver. It starts at Vancouver lake and goes past Frenchman's Bar park to the end of the road and back for 12.4 miles.
Last year I had a good race, but tired out around 10 miles and did a 20.5 average. This year I'm working out a ton more so I thought I'd do much better.
Yesterday it was pouring down rain, streams running down the streets type rain, so after swimming we did spinning also even though the race was the next day thinking maybe it would be too wet to race. Today it was slightly raining when we met at the club and I rode in the Headhunter's van. When we got to the lake and set up the tent and trainers it was still sprinkling. After awhile it stopped and Kevin and the others on the team went to ride. I was at 12:30 about an hour and a half after everyone else. Frank and Steve K from base were there also and they joined us at the tent. Everyone came back in and talked about a very strong headwind. I warmed up and went out to get in line.
Started out with clearing skies and slightly wet pavement. They hold you up for the start about 30 seconds ahead of your start and then let go at the start time and you take off. I started out (top picture) and hit the wind immediately- it was more than strong! Turned the corner and the wind was from the side and then another corner and the wind was at the back. So I bumped it up to 26-26.5 and cruised for awhile. Then I thought about food and how hungry I was and started drooling uncontrollably, very strange. It also knocked me down to 22-24, so I tried very hard not to think about food anymore. Got to the turnaround and took off back the other way into- WIND. Holy cow wind, it was like climbing a mountain. In the areobars I could go 16-18, out of the aerobars it was 14-16. Unfortunately my back couldn't take being in the aerobars very long- have to work on that. It seemed to take forever to finish the second half of the race- I don't like wind! Finally turned the corner to the finish line and pushed it up to 22 or so, but was worn out by then. Stopped the watch at just over 37 minutes. Last year I did 36:18, this year the results show 39:10, but everyone shows 2 minutes over what their watches said, so I'm going with 37:10 which matches my watch and a 20.02 average. Last year I beat Kevin by a minute or so and this year he beat me by 56 seconds. I did beat coach Denise by 1 second- I think her spin classes next week will be very hard! Afterwards we went to lunch at the Lakeside Chalet restaurant in Camas and I had a veggie omelet and side salad.
Things to work on- 1. Having food or snacks and drinks in the team setting, socialized so much I didn't eat or drink during the 3 hours waiting. 2. Get the back used to aerobar position for long periods of time.
First race of the year and very cool being part of a group at the event.

Wauna Viewpoint Hike & Club Run

2007-02-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

Wauna Viewpoint Hike
Sunday my Friend Kevin and I went hiking in the Gorge to Wauna Viewpoint. Got to the trailhead and realized I'd forgotten my camera- uugh! Clouds all around but clear at the trailhead. Started out and my foot hurt at first. We walked along a paved bike path that the trail starts at, but got to talking and missed the actual trail and did a half mile each way extra. The trail goes up through big trees and lots of moss. The trail had a few down trees to go over, but nice. At one point it started raining slightly and then the rain hurt. Looked at the ground and saw ice pellets- it was hailing. Got to the top and it had cleared again and there was a great view of the Gorge and Cascade Locks. Wish I'd had the camera- next time. Stats: 5.8 miles 900 feet gain. Surprisingly the foot felt normal afterwards, not even a twinge.
Club Run
Had the holiday off (Monday) so I went to Cecelie's ab-leg class and it was sooo hard that every inch of my clothes were wet with sweat. She said afterwards that she had missed her run, so we would run on Tuesday. Today (Tuesday) got to the club and it was raining, so we did spin instead. I had the day off so we decided to run in the early afternoon. As I left the club it was hailing- typical Northwest winter day. Went back at 1:30 and there was a clear spot over the club area (top picture) and the pavement was starting to dry. We started out really slow and then picked it up incrementally and Cecelie would ask if my foot was ok. She's normally a 7 minute pace runner, but she slowed it down and ran my pace. After a mile or so I was talking...like...this... Haven't got my running lungs back yet. At one point I looked at my Garmin and it said we were doing an 8:01 pace, so I checked a little later and it was 8:08. About 4 miles in I was getting winded and the foot hurt so we slowed way down and came into the club at 4.6 miles at an 8:55 pace. The foot is tender, but not painful.

Club Ride and Springwater Run

2007-02-17T18:03:00.000-08:00

First I have to apologize to Matt for not giving him credit as the one who tagged me in the last post.
Today's forecast was sunny and 60, so at swim-spin we decided to ride outside instead of spin. Unfortunately the sunny part hadn't materialized by the end of swimming. But 12 of us did it anyway. It was 46 and foggy when we started, but fun to be in a group that big. Ended up at the front of the group with my training partner Ceselie in front of me. Three weeks ago I had trouble keeping up with her and today I wanted to stay with her even on the hills and I did for 90% of the ride. At one point of the ride she went back to ride with her husband, so I thought, so I ended up in the lead position. Denise (coach) had me slow down to get the group together and then she said- go- so I pushed it up to 18 on a slight uphill and did a quick look back and saw someone behind me and thought the group was there. Pushed it up a little hill at 14-15 and at the top found it was only Ceselie and myself with the group about 30 seconds back. I think I'm getting better on the bike with all the spinning and leg workouts. About 2 or 3 miles from the end I tired out but finished out the ride at 23.8 miles and a 16 average. I had a black streak up my back that was worse than Tuesday according to some people (Neese: the wet road grime shooting off my back tire causes the streak), several people had black spots all over their faces. We were supposed to run afterwards for 2 miles, but I stopped to talk to Stephanie who works out at the base while she was on a stationary bike and ended up talking so long I missed the group run. By the time we went to coffee, the fog had lifted and the pavement had dried and it was beautiful and 64 out.
When I got home I couldn't stay inside and waste the nice day, so I decided to go run. Went to Gresham city park (same as my last run) and went the other direction on the Springwater from my last run (top picture). The foot hurt pretty bad at first, but then settled down when I slowed a little and I went ahead and went out 1.55 according to the Garmin and back for a 5K. Did 3.1 miles in 28:07 at a 9:04 pace and the foot is only a little tender now, no limping or sharp pain so far.
Stats for the day: 2000 meter swim, 23.8 mile bike, 3.1 mile run.

Tagged

2007-02-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

1: Describe a memory from your first triathlon ever: I remember being really nervous and making my back lock up the week before. Then at the tri I did the swim and had to go, so I ran into the locker room and couldn't find the bathroom part at first and had a long first transition. It was at the University of Oregon and the bike part went on a bike path in Eugene and there were people walking their dogs, had to slow down and stop a couple of times. Slowed down to say hi to the volunteer girls also, now I"'m a racer- I don't slow for anything. But that race still lingers, almost every moment even though my time was horrible compared to afterwards- can't beat that first time experience!!!
2: Describe a memory from your most recent triathlon: My last triathlon was in The Dalles Oregon and we swam in the Columbia river and the waves were high. At one point they washed over me completely. At first got mouthfuls of water, then I got the rhythm of the waves.
3: What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you in a tri? Knock on wood- nothing embarrassing. Of course I tend to wipe embarrassing moments from memory as soon as they happen. I guess the fact that I have yet to do an Olympic distance tri without having to stop and pee once, usually on the run would be embarrassing.
4: What’s the most thrilling thing that’s happened to you in a tri? The scenery- when I'm on the bike in a really scenic race and just looking around while flying along at a good pace- magical!
5: What is something you discovered about yourself by doing triathlons? That I was soooo out of shape all my life! I thought I was in good shape until I started doing tris- this is a whole other level of fitness. To do the full-ironman will be to ascend toward the top level.
6:What is The Big Goal that you’re working towards? I've signed up for the Lake Stevens half in July. Working towards the Grand Columbian full in September. With my Plantar still in healing, the full seems more like a distant dream- but I'll train and see what happens.

Tuesday LaCamas Lake Ride

2007-02-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no picture. Ceselie (girl I train with), said she wanted to do the Lacamas lake ride we did a couple of weeks ago every week on Tuesdays. So I got there and it was slightly sprinkling and no Ceselie. But Bridget was there and ready to go. She said she'd never ridden in winter type weather. It was 43 or so, but comfortable with layers. We did the same route that Ceselie and I did before, but I led this time. I had to wait at the top of the hills for Bridget to catch up, but downhill and on the flats she was right with me. About 3 miles from the end it started to really rain. By then it was ok, it was nice to be riding outside instead of spinning. We finished up and wiped the bikes down and hung them back up. I had a giant black streak up my back that got several comments from people. Stats: 18.2 miles and no idea what the average was- I forgot to look before I hung the bike up. Ceselie had also said last Thursday when we were swimming after spin that she wanted to do 2000 meters continuously during the week. So we decided on Wednesday after track, so tomorrow at 10 I'll swim, probably not track yet. Although Bridget said she missed me at track because we were the same pace running wise. Got called for availability for a commercial tomorrow, so I may miss swimming.

Short Run

2007-02-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

Went in to work early today, so when I got off it was light out and 52, so it was a good time to do another run. I ran 1 and 1/2 miles last Saturday, so I ran 2 miles today. Went to Gresham City park and did the Springwater trail from there. Rolled along at what seemed an easy relaxed pace and finished at 17:02 for an 8:31 pace. Foot hurt afterwards, but not too bad. Should be able to do 5K next and then try back to 2 times a week. Throw track back in and then up to three times a week, hopefully.

I can run again! I can run again.. maybe

2007-02-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no picture. Yesterday after swim-spin I decided to try a small run. It was exactly 40 days since my last run, the longest without running in almost 10 years. Went for a 2 mile walk on Friday and it only hurt a little. Saturday I went with the slower group, Denise (coach), Kevin, Nicole, and Mark. We started out and nothing hurt- I felt really good and hit an early runner's high and kicked it out a little and left everyone behind. You know that feeling of pure bliss when you accelerate in a smooth fast burst? Slowed to almost a stop at the corner after about .3 miles to see which way to go. At about a half mile everyone except myself and Denise went straight to do 2 miles and Denise and I ran in nice and slow and easy to finish with a mile and a half in 14:03. Not too bad painwise, at coffee afterwards I was limping slightly, but iced at home and could walk fairly normal after that. Today I took my dog for a half mile walk and only one spasm of the foot, so for now I say I'm back!! Probably try 2 miles next and work up from there. It's been 4 or 5 years since I've run any distance lower than a 5K, sort of been my minimum.

LaCamas Lake Ride

2007-02-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday after swim-spin Ceselie said she wanted to ride outside on Tuesday. Tuesday it was clear, but very windy, so we did spin-swim instead. Last night I did what Deb (Green Pea) suggested and just did 1/2 hour of Ceselie's ab-leg class, the part that wouldn't hurt my foot and she said let's try again Thursday. So this morning it was 36 outside by my Jeep, but clear and not windy. Three other girls beside Ceselie were going to go, but wimped, so it was just the 2 of us. We left the club and took off, she is a very strong rider. Ceselie knew the area, so she led and I tried to keep up. Around the back side of Lacamas lake on Lake Road it is a long gradual hill that wore me down. I'm spinning 3 times a week and swimming 3 times a week as a brick with weights on the inbetween days- should be in shape. The hills were hard, plus the cold air made me gasp and I didn't bring my inhaler that I got in December for running. Anyway, it was a beautiful ride even in the cold and other than the hills, very fast. Ceselie was having derailer problems so we didn't go up the huge hill on Lake Road, but turned and did a modified loop over some of the roads we did earlier. Overall it was 18.1 miles at a 16.6 average. Didn't swim afterwards, so no brick today. The top picture is of me looking out over the lake.
Injury update- my plantar gets better by tiny increments everyday, still hurts walking any distance over a mile, so I may wait to run until after that stops. In answer to Papa Louie's comment if it is better in barefeet- it's actually worse with barefeet. Which leads me to think it isn't the shoes, could be though. The literature Kaiser gave me says any change in exercise pattern or shoes. Ceselie said I improved way too fast during track workouts and she thinks that did it. I think a combo of things, adding track and my calf seized up four days before the last run, so maybe it was still tight when I ran and caused it to go when I forgot to stretch? Whatever it's done and I have to fix it with time, stretching, ice, etc.

Walk before Run

2007-01-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

My foot or Plantar problem seems to be getting better. I stress it and it hurts, but then it feels ok later fairly quickly. Not gone, but ok. So I thought about running when Ceselie, Denise, Nicole, Anita, Bridgette, Stephanie, etc all went running after swim-spin on Saturday, but I went and did the ski machine for 10 minutes instead. At coffee they said they ran 1.5 to 2 miles and that's how far they were going to run next week too, just to get the legs used to running after the bike. So maybe next week I'll go with them and try a short run. To test whether that would work, I decided to walk 2 miles, so I took Spenser, my dog, and went to the Springwater trail and did 2.6 miles. It hurt while doing it, but as soon as I got in the Jeep my foot stopped hurting and back to just the small dull pain that's been normal. Not a good experiment because it did hurt while walking and running is probably harder on it. Have to do more walks next week and see.

During the walk a young couple came by on roller skates with a small beagle on a leash who looked like he was having a blast. Naturally the beagle stopped to sniff Spenser and the guy said his name and gave a tug on the leash at the same time the beagle turned to bound after them. A great picture if I'd had my camera ready, the beagle flew about three feet and came down running- still as happy as can be. The last week it has been clear blue skies and 43-53 for a couple hours at mid-day, but a cold wind most of the time and 30's at night.
Oh yeah- signed up for the Lake Stevens half ironman on July 8th! $175 plus mandatory insurance and a sign-up fee made it $200. Never heard of mandatory insurance before. My OBRA (Oregon Bike Racing Assoc.) number came in the mail and they had a big letter about liability and having your own insurance- I think someone around here sued a race organizer and won?

Core Work

2007-01-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

Tonight I did a new class at the gym. Ceselie (pronounced Cecilia) who I train with started a new leg, abs, and back class that combines what we did after track and core work. I have been battling Plantar for a month now and had been babying it. Saturday I had to work and walked all over the base and was on my feet all day- my foot really hurt. Iced, Adviled and put inserts in my combat boots and it was better Sunday and was just a little painful today, so I went to Ceselie's class. We did jump steps and slides using a raised board, then lunges with weights and various other running build ups- my Plantar was screaming, but i could tell it would be incredibly helpful if I weren't hurt. The second half-hour is core. We did ball squats- holding yourself against a wall with the ball and squatting. At one point she said go lower and the "f" word popped out of me as I went lower and 8 or 9 people heard me, I apologized and was very embarrassed, I never cuss in public. Liz from track was beside me and said "it's ok, we were all thinking it." Later we were laying with the ball between the legs with the legs raised and Ceselie said to raise the hips- I couldn't do it. My core must be extremely weak, need to really work on it.
My plantar is still hurting, but I iced as soon as I got home- tomorrow at spin-swim I'll find out if it's getting better and needs to be worked or if I set myself back by weeks. I'm hoping for it needing to be worked after a month of babying.
During the snow days we had, I finally did something I'd been thinking of for years. I took 5 years of school pictures for the kids and matched them up and hung them climbing up my entryway steps. It looks ok in the picture, but in real life it turned out better than i had imagined it would look.

Hopefully I can get back to posting running adventures one of these days.

Portland X-Country Ski

2007-01-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

Here in Portland we only get snow in town once or twice a year at the most. This morning what was forecast as a dusting turned into a lot of snow. Somewhere around 2-3 inches which for most places would be nothing, but we don't use salt here (very glad they don't- hate that stuff) so the roads are all snarled. My work canceled swing shift so I don't have to go out in it. So I took my dog Spencer for a walk and saw someone cross-country skiing and thought I'd try it. I had a shoulder injury last year, so it's been 2 years since I've skied. Took awhile to clip in because it'd been so long and I skied out my driveway and up the street until Spenser who was tied up started barking like crazy because he couldn't see me anymore. Turned around and went back. Stats: .1 mile 0 elevation gain.
Unfortunately this hurts the workout schedule but it should only be one day.

Vancouver Lake Ride

2007-01-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been absolutely beautiful out, as long as you are looking out a window. 33-35 as highs is just way too cold. Hearing about temperatures elsewhere, wow it's cold all over the place. Anyway, my friend Kevin was going on a bike ride with a couple of guys from the gym, so I invited myself along. My bike is hanging on the ceiling of the spin room at the club since I spin 3 times a week- it's easier to leave it there. Had to drive to the club and get my bike and Kevin's pedals. He was going to test ride a guy's Kestrel that is the same model as a frame Kevin is thinking of buying.
Got to Vancouver lake at 1:30 and met Doug and Gorden and started out. Even with several layers- it was COLD! My Jeep said 31 at the lake. We just did an out and back around the lake roads, very similar to the Jack Frost Time Trial route coming up in February. Cruised along not going fast or slow. Haven't ridden outside since November, it was nice to be out, but I was starving (forgot to eat lunch) and cold. Gordon was riding a Merlin bike, he said it was from the mid 90's, still looked perfect. They're made of Titanium and one model is over $10,000 new, his wasn't that model, but still very nice. Kevin really liked the Kestrel although it's a tri frame and he wasn't used to that position. I got to try my new aerobars on the road, they were a little tiny bit unsteady, I'll have to move them in off the tape, I have them too wide. Ended up doing 17.03 miles at a 16.2 average.
Being very hungry I stopped at the first place I saw in downtown Vancouver and it was a small Thai place. They didn't have Pra Ram, so I asked and the girl turned to her mom and asked and the mom said" I can make just for you". So I had very good Pra Ram that wasn't on the menu.
Forgot to get a picture at the lake, so I took a picture of Mt Hood from the Vancouver side near the gym on the way to hang my bike back up.

2007 goals

2007-01-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

2007 GOALS

1. Half Marathon
2. Half Ironman
3. Sub 8 minute pace in a 5K
4. Sub 50 minute 10K
5. Do a road race and stay with the peleton
6. Finish in the top 3 or win a PIR race
7. At least 10 triathlons
8. 3 county highpoints
9. 2008- Full Ironman!!!

I wrote these back before I got roped into doing a full ironman this year, so #9 changes to 2007 full ironman!
Still haven't tried to run yet (3rd week), but I'm doing spin-swim on Tuesday and Thursday now that swim lessons are over. The lessons along with Saturday's very hard swim-spin have combined to make me a faster swimmer by a little bit. We'll see this race season by how much.