Shamrock run and Vernonia half

A couple of weeks ago I had a pretty good race at the Shamrock 15k run in Portland, it was a pretty big race with a combined 20+ thousand people in the 5k, 8k and 15k... But it was nowhere near as memorable as the Vernonia half marathon that I ran yesterday...

In the week leading up to the Vernonia, the weather forecast was for a big storm coming into the PNW with low snow levels of around 1000 feet. I'd never been to Vernonia, but a co-worker of mine lives there and he said the elevation is around 600 feet, so all week I was mentally preparing for battle with rain. Car-pooling to the start with Jerry M, we decided it was a good idea that we left 15 minutes before our planned time, because we were actually getting into some snowy driving conditions. We drove by the finish area, which looked pretty snowy, more like a springtime scene common around central oregon, not Vernonia. We were going to a running race and not a nordic ski race right? The race is point to point, and you get bussed back to the starting area after you finish (sorta like some big midwestern ski races - vasaloppet, birkie).

We made it to the starting area with plenty of time, and although it wasn't snowing, it was damp and low to mid 30s. Not sure how many people there were, but it was alot, They said it was the biggest vernonia 1/2 ever despite the rough weather conditions. The race started and it promptly started to snow! There's a short out and back section for the first 2 miles and then we headed out to Stub Stewart State Park rails to trail trail.

The first 6 or so miles was like running on the springwater trail except there was a feeling of being a bit more back in the woods. As we progressed the snow got a little deeper and although it wasn't snowing or raining hard, it was a steady precip most of the way, with alot of drops and snow clumps falling from the trees. Right around miles 8-10 is where it got more interesting. The pavement turned into a gravel rail bed, and there was mud, snow and big (unavoidable) puddles. it was possible for a while to keep the feet from getting drenched, but after a while the straight line mentality took over and just running right through was the most efficient (and most fun) choice. I was impressed with how my new Nike Lunar Glides drained water though! The last few miles included a steep downhill, cross a road and then a steep uphill in the snow slickened loose gravel, and then a gentle descent to the state park where the finish line was, but not before one last but very unexpected climb in the last 1/2 mile up to the finish line.

The Vernonia 1/2 was definitely a battle this year. There were not very many PR's here today, but I'm sure that everyone that ran Vernonia this year had some pretty good stories. It was definitely a run I'll remember for a while and I'm sure you'd agree if you were there. I managed to run it in 1:25:24 which I was really happy with, considering the conditions. I was shooting for 1:22.5 which would have put my pace faster one of my friendly rival Sean's winning pace at yakima marathon the week prior.

On the bus ride back to Vernonia, the bus driver told us how high the water got during the major flooding the area went through this area a couple of years ago. It was astonishing (it was a really major flood), and aside from some houses that appear to have been raised up, you wouldn't know it. All of the folks helping out were very friendly and the soup at the finish was hot! THANKS VERNONIA! see you next year.

Columbia Gorge Marathon saga

Since I've been meaning to write a post for over a week now to recap the columbia gorge marathon, well, here goes! This year, I really wanted to do a fall marathon. Since my MN days, running the twin cities a few times and chicago, I really wanted to get the feel of another marathon. Running in the fall is just the best. The cool air, the leaves on the trees, can't beat it. I ran Portland marathon in 2004 (our 1st year in Oregon), so that was the last road marathon for me.

I found out about the CG marathon way back last spring when we were having breakfast with our friend and neighbor Susan and her sister Leslie and her husband. Leslie lives in Hood River, and said that they were thinking about organizing it, they found a sponsor, this and that... So I told her to keep me posted. Pretty much immediately when I got word of the race being on, I registered and started thinking about how sweet it was going to be.

Well my training plan was working pretty much perfect. We got back from spain, and I started doing long runs and even some speed work, and I was in pretty good shape, even though I wasn't doing many races, but I was planning on running a 1/2 marathon in Bend 2 weeks before CG marathon. Then, two weeks and six days before the race I was doing a 'recovery' run in Forest Park, and tripped on a rock or root or something, and smacked my ribs pretty hard. I tried running on that Thursday, and was in too much pain. the next week I took it easy but biked one day (felt crappy, ribs hurt). The weekend before the marathon I was able to do some easier running, but it was still hurting. The days leading up to the race it really started to feel better, each day, which gave me confidence that I should at least be at the starting line.

I drove out there on race morning, and was a little intimidated by some of the strong winds in the gorge in the amazingly dark early morning; if it was going to be that windy, the race would not be fun. Finally I arrived at the start area and a few people were around, but it was calm and non crowded as ever. Had a good chat with Leslie, Win (fellow pdx runner) and Kelly (pdx run oregon blogger). Finally made it over to the staring line and found Sean, good buddy (and rival) from central oregon. We chatted, took some photos, and then it was getting time to start. Chad (race director) did a little speech and then he said GO! The 7 or so miles were nice, just chatting with Sean and Win like it was a wednesday noon run or something. Rather uneventful, except that we noticed some of the mile-markers didn't seem right. We got to Mosier and Sean picked up a gu and put the hammer down. I tried to keep him in sight, but was only successful in keeping the 2nd place guy in sight. However, it was at this part of the race where I knew I was going OK (ribs weren't going to stop me today).

One of the coolest moments of the race was near the 1/2 way and high point on the race profile there was a helicopter hovering really low and taking some photos. It felt like we were getting tour de france style coverage! Then it was a right turn and downhill back to Mosier, where I arrived in 2nd place, with no sign of Sean. The long climb back up to the bike bath to hood river was a real grinder, and I was taking it at my pace and went back to 3rd. I did not lose too much time however and still had intentions of trying to catch Joel for 2nd place with even 2.5 miles to go. Then I just said to myself, you are having a great race, just hold on for the finish. The last 2 miles flew by (maybe a little short), but the feeling of finishing this race in sub-2:55 fashion was pretty outstanding, especially after my lack of any workouts that felt decent in the three weeks prior.

Since the marathon, Laurie left for a 2+week trip to Vietnam for operation smile, and I've been really busy with work and school, and it started getting dark really early. What is the point of daylight savings anyway?

Pre classic

I had the opportunity to go to a professional track meet last sunday. The Pre-classic in Eugene is one of the best meets in the USA, in terms of the world class competition. There were no less than 34 Beijing Olympic medalists there... Here are some photos below. The rest are on flickr.

shot put winner below. He attempted a victory lap, but only made it 1/4 of the way around the track:


bowerman mile winner. His victory lap was complete in about 60 seconds, and yes he is as skinny as he looks if not skinnier. About 13 guys went under 4 minutes in the mile. Pre would be proud:


Lashawn Merrit breaking the sea-level world record in the 300m.


Dwight Phillips just after jumping the 5th longest long jump ever, 8.74m (or 28 feet 8.25 inches) holy crap.


Sanya Richards, just before going sub 50 in the 400m.

2008 is gone

Just for the archives, here's the results... with most recent listed first.

• Autumn Leaves 50k, 3:40:14 (PR!)
• Vancouver fall 5m, 29:27
• CGRC Pumpkin Run 5m, 32:27
• McDonald forest 15k, 1:04:35
• Overlook park 3k XC
• Timberline 1/2, DNS
• Pints to Pasta 10k, 37:34
• Twilight Crit, DNF
• Old River Ramble 10k, 38:53
• Starlight Run 5k, 19:04
• Hagg Lake 50k, 4:24:50

Autumn Leaves 50k

Race prep usually includes resting and hydrating and eating pasta. Some people are different, do different things... but usually those three things are pretty common. Well in Minnesota, I had many a race (mostly xc ski races) on the morning after watching a hockey game, and well, why not try to replicate past routines! I attended the winterhawks game Friday night, with some friends from school, some of whom had never been to a hockey game, we had a good time. We heckled the cougars from Prince George, and they heckled me when I left w/ 5 minutes to go in the third, but I had to get home to rest! Running 50k tomorrow. Many of my non-running friends think I'm certifiably insane, no question about it. So anyway... I was not getting the rest that I wanted, but they always say it's the night before the night before that really matters right?

Alarm goes off at 5:30 and I hit snooze. Twice. So that basically made me behind my planned scheduled departure. I ate breakfast a little later than I wanted, and I usually forget things when I'm in a rush. I made it out the door, and was on my way.

I had plenty of time before the race to get my stuff to the right spot, and well wait for about 10 minutes. Today, my warm up was going to be during the race. We got going and a "Team Eugene" guy took off. Seriously fast and he didn't let up the whole race. I guess that's why he's on team Eugene (they are fast). So, I was running with my new friend Win, (that's his name), and basically, he was talking and I was wanted to say, shutup, or slow down, but i did neither and just ran next to him.

The first lap was 10k, and the next 5 are 5 miles, and we did the first 10k in about 41 minutes. That was faster than I wanted to, but hey, I was doing fine, so I stopped for some gu, and continued on. The race morning was awesome for running. at most 50 degrees, and sunshine, calm winds. So after that first lap, I took off one of my (3) layers. Now overall, the course was really good, with about 2/3 of the loop being paved trail, and the other 1/3 being real trail. The one gripe I had started during the second lap, when we hit the 1 mile out, 1 mile back section on the same path, so essentially we covered this 12 times over the course of the race. boooring. But you could see the competition which is good (if your 'on') or bad (if you're fading). At this point I couldn't really tell, but I knew I was in 3rd place after the 2nd lap, which I covered easily in about 34 minutes. So that was my planned pace (35 minute 5 mile loops).

This was my first time doing this run and the flyer says 'the loop can be considered very flat and very fast' I'd tend to agree with that. If you want to run a fast ultra this is one good chioce. They did add a small hill this year but it's really small, so it's not really a factor, unless you slip on wet leaves... So I didn't slip on the leaves, don't worry.

The third lap I considered the half way lap, which thinking about this, was really not half way until the 3rd lap is complete. but I needed to think it was half way for moral support. I was still feeling really good, and I think I was down to my sleeveless T at this point, because it was so nice out. It must have pepped me up, because I did the 3rd lap in about 33 minutes. Yea! ahead of pace. Maybe I could turn this into a sub 3 marathon!??! The end of lap 5 is the marathon split. But first I had to do lap 4. Each time going around the loop, I kept seeing the same people... So some were doing the 50 miler, some the 50k, and some even started at 6am... but on the return stretch I saw some of the same people. So I thought Hmmm, he must be chasing me. At this point I knew I was in second place (Win quit after lap 3), with the first place guy, way way out front. So anyway. Lap 4 was just under 35 minutes. I was slowing a bit, still running 7 minute miles. Good enough. still ahead of pace. Honestly my goal today was sub 4. I'd be happy with that. I also thought, it would be cool to run boston pace for a 50k (3:10 marathon pace). I also thought it might be awesome to run sub Meissner in 2006, when he did this same event in 3:40:18. AH HAA a challenge. We're pretty good rivals, at least from 2004-2007 in the bigfoot 10k in Bend, but he usually wastes me in the long stuff, but he's also got way more experience with them. And come to think of it, we only raced a 50k together once. Anyway, I hit the marathon in about 3:01. pretty sweet. Sean said if I hit the marathon in 3:00 I'd have no trouble going under his time. My pace however was slowing. I had 39 minutes to run the last 5 mile loop, after running 26.2 already. My split after the first 2 of the last 5 miles was 15:30, so I was beginning to think I could do it, sub 8 minute miles. We got to the out-n-back section and I saw Stan pacing his wife running (Stan who put together the pumpkin run in N. Bonneville a couple weeks ago) and I asked "would you tell anybody if I turned around now??, we got a laugh about it, but I knew, that 3rd place was not far behind me, and sure enough i got passed right before the turn around, oh well. I was still well ahead of planned pace having a good time (suffering).

The trail section was hard on this last lap. I wasn't running fast, but I was really fighting for it. I got to the line, and the clock said 3:39:59, and then 3:40, and I was like Shit Yea. I guess my 'official' time was 3:40:14, Pretty unbelievable. The ultra running crowd is second to none, it's sure a welcoming and friendly bunch.

So it was a really struggle, those last five miles, but it just goes to show you... keep on keepin on!

Also, I did this run with no ipod. I had planned to bring along the shuffle, only to figure out I left it in the car right when the guy said "1 minute 30 seconds to start", so, maybe that's just as well. Lots of solo time out there in these ultras compared to bike racing and other shorter events.

Anyway! Happy running!

the break in review

Six weeks off, well sorta. I still managed to work under 20 hours per week so it wasn't complete off time, if you know what I mean. The spirits are high and the future looks good, despite continued possible world financial melt down and eminent government bail out. The break started out...

with a day trip to the coast. It was one of those 100 degree days inland, where it's about 60 at the coast. Pretty special for the dogs who pretty much

The macbook just crashed a while ago (and the blogger autosaved the above, so I'm just leaving it), and now I'm on the PC. Sux for me. Hopefully the macbook comes back to life tomorrow, but it's not looking good right now.

Anyway, the dogs loved the beach. Then it was on to Minnesota for Labor day weekend! It was some great weather (in the 90s), and we got to spend some time at the lake with family. Too bad we couldn't stay longer, but we both left with a little bit of a chest cold.

Then I planned to do some 10ks and a half marathon (Laurie did the 1/2 marathon along w/ Kelli and Kyle above!), to get back into shape. I did the first 10k, and it was pretty good. On the Tuesday after the P2P 10k, I sprained my ankle ending all hope of running any other races during the break. Oh well. I've been getting some rides in at least, and the ankle is finally feeling better.

I got to go sailing w/ a friend from school in his catamaran and after several hours of fun sailing we were nearing the end of the day, and caught an unusually strong gust of wind and flipped the thing. I ended up sitting on the top cat up in the air, and he was in the drink with his son. So we did manage to get it upright, but it wasn't easy. All in all, it was fun.

Then last week, we went to Bend for the weekend, after not being there much at all for the last year (and then some). The whole weekend, we hardly went anywhere without running into someone we knew, which felt kinda good, (but admittedly was a little weird), but just reinforces the small town-ness of Bend (that we miss) and that we don't get much of here in Portland.

So school starts on Monday, so it will be good to get back in the mix with the other clowns /er students again, we have a pretty good group. I'm looking forward to new classes this term. It's like a chance at a new start. Also, Laurie is going to be in Thailand (w/ OpSmile) in November for 3 weeks so send care packages around halloween. :D

And I watched the debate the other night, and I found it real interesting how Mc-Cane (sic), basically ignored Obama when Obama said we have to restore America's reputation in the world, because the world view of the USA is basically pretty shitty. McCane (sic) is an old timer that has all this 'experience', but I'm saying that all that experience he's got, is just what got us into this mess (or all of these messes) and we need some new life running the show up there. holla if you hear me! WORD.

Now lets just hope the bail out works.

P2P

Battled through a strong chest cold for days, I didn't know how I would feel, but I felt good enough to run the pints to pasta 10k. The name implies there's pints at the start and pasta at the finish, but that's not quite accurate. Both are at the end of the race, but it goes from (near) the widmer brewery to the old spaghetti factory in portland. A more accurate name would be strips to pints and pasta, because the actual start is at the North American Adidas headquarters (Adidas = 3 stripes) and there's free beer and pasta at the end (at 9am!).

Since it was point to point, and I didn't want to ride the school bus to the start, I decided I needed another training run to prepare, so I ran to the start (a tradition at bigfoot 10k in bend). The race is downhill for the first mile and then mostly really flat after that. I took that as a free fast mile, just was going to pace it easy down the hill to 1M and then start to race. With that tactic, I essentailly turned the 6.2 mile race into a 5.2. mile race.

It was a really hot day, and I felt slow, but hit three miles in just under 18 minutes. I just tried to hold on, and amazingly the miles just clicked by, but I still felt slow. The final time: 37:34! 6:03 pace. woo hoo.

Race 1 of 3 is complete in my 'fall weekend footrace before school starts' season. Next up Timberline half marathon next sunday. Sean says I should run the marathon the day before, but it's filled up! So there that's my excuse. The next weekend is bend bigfoot 10k.

Old river ramble

Well, I got back into the scene today with a 10k in West Linn called the old river ramble. I have not been racing much and certainly not training for any racing but when the race number gets pinned on, all bets are off. But expectations were low (but Sub 40 was a must ;). It was a pretty nice day, after 2 days in the 90s it was in the 70s with full sun. The course was along the willamette river in West Linn and Lake Oswego, and wound through Mary Young state park.

My only race strategy was to not start too fast and get passed by 5 people during mile 3, when I couldn't go any faster. I saw Wendy (a local all-star), and i decided to pace myself with her. It was a good plan, but I probably would have started a bit slower than the 5:39 that we ran. But it felt ok and I just went. The race sort of reminded me of a Nordic race in Bend, only you can replace XC-Oregon, with Team Red Lizard. I think all the people in front of me had red lizard shirts on, which is cool. They have a strong club up in here. So anyway... back to the race, it seemed to fly by all of a sudden we were going up hill and it was mile 5. I heard a guy breathing hard in back of me and I decided to drop that fool, and try and catch Wendy. I didn't quite catch her, but I turned in a solid 38:53. Not a PR, but hey, it's a course PR!

Next up is the starlight 5k at the end of the month. 3000+ people, along the rose festival parade route.

After the race, we biked downtown to see Barack Obama. Turns out, about 72,000 other Portlanders had the same idea. It was pretty cool, and you have to wonder if Hillary would have had the same kind of turnout. Here's the view we had. He started out the speech by saying wow like 10 times. It was a pretty massive crowd. (my first you-tube upload below).

Big News

The one car household is no more!!! That's right, we submitted to the pressure of the american way, and now Lgirl and I once again, each have our very own gas powered auto. We got a rally car!!! 1990 honda civic lx, with quarter million+ miles! It's not lowered but compared the the subaru, it's like a damn indy car. So far, it runs good (knock on hard wood), and the price was right. It even came with a sweet stereo and yakima rack and a seat pad that has a heater and vibrates, so who the hell could go wrong!? Bought it for less than my SAN JOSE for goodness sakes!!!

It should do the job to get me back and forth around town when conditions are not bike weather. One could argue that all weather is bike weather, especially here in Ptown, but the night classes in the winter that get done at 10pm, don't bode well to biking home.

If the motor dies in the next couple of years or so, I'm going to find an electric motor and some batteries and wire it up to be the electric car of the future. If someone wants to donate batteries and electric motor, I will expedite the EV conversion, and begin work next summer.

In other news (and the only other news besides the fact that I'm swamped in school and work)-
I'm running more these days. Maybe getting ready for this.

Next weekend: Cascade

Last year I completed the Cascade Classic (Cat 3), and managed to finish, but it wasn't very good. I'm hoping to be a little closer to the front, maybe top 20? Last year I was giving blood every week, so I was just a little bit off, as would be expected. We'll see how the Time trial goes on Friday. I ran a 1/2 marathon on the 4th, up at Sauvie Island. It was pretty big (over 1500 finishers), and it was a pretty hot day (at least a couple people required medical assistance.) I ran a steady race, finishing in just under 1:23. Not my PR, but pretty close.

And the Tour started today, on 7/7/07!

Ironman Update.

My de-ironing progress continues. I started out with a ferritin level of 1090, in June, and now, over 5 months and 23 phlebotomies later, I'm at a miniscule 231!!! Yea twenty freaking three pints in 24 weeks - one short of 3 gallons. But don't worry, I'll be hitting 3 gallons tomorrow (that's alot when you look at a one gallon jug of apple juice). A ferritin level of 231 puts me within the -normal- range for a non-iron overloaded person (normal range for ferritin level is somewhere around 30-300). WOO HOO!

This was nothing short of great news, but I'm not done yet. The doc said the goal will be to get the ferritin between 10 and 30. I'm still under going weekly phlebotomies, for a few more weeks, so it will be important to make sure I don't actually run out of iron, which would lead to anemia.

On the fitness front, I ran in yet another 5k run last weekend (the COCC turkey trot) and I made it to the finish in under 19 minutes. I was proud of my friend Sean, and my friend Erika, who were the overall winners of the race. That wraps it up for running races in 2006. In fact, probably racing period. I'm planning some big events for 2007, many of which include pedaling a bike.

Here is a teaser for my next post: [11/23 update: you'll have to wait a few more days :) ]



bye.

MacForest 15k

One of the best 15k trail runs is held each fall in Corvallis every year. The course has gains and loses about 1000 feet, so it's challenging, and it's held in MacForest which is resembles a rain forest after living in central oregon for the last 2.5 years.

The race is usually on the day that the clocks get switched back one hour. So basically you have tons of time before the race to get there, so you can sleep an extra hour. So for whatever reason, I had it in my head that the race started at 10:30am. We didn't get off to a super early start, but I didn't consider us running late. That is, until the gas light went on in the Subaru, (which means get gas immediately if the wife is in the car). So we got gas in Corvallis. As we were heading to the race, I glanced at Laurie and asked, 'it's at 10:30, right?' She replied: "I don't know, It's at TEN THIRTY, isn't it, Ryan?" in a sarcastic sort of way. I was the reason we were going to this race so obvioulsy I was the one that need to have the details right. So as we were pulling in to park, I was thinking we missed the start, because there were other cars parked, but there were only cars, no people. So we parked the car, and then like clockwork, Jazzy, our dog, ralphs all over the back of the car. (And I mean a big puke.) The plan was to have Jazz stay in the car while we ran, so no Lauire is stressing because the dog is sick, and we were thinking well should we just turn around, and go home? I think we both felt like doing that. We managed to get the car cleaned up so the dog wasn't laying in puke, and then jogged toward the start. Again, it was pretty desserted, excpet for the timer, and a few spectators, I knew we'd missed the start but I asked someone anyway. We went to get our race bib, and started about 15 minutes late. I ran the first mile w/ Laurie, and then proceeded to catch half the field, and Laurie ran the whole course passing a good amount of people as well. I'm proud of her finish, as she wasn't really 'pumped up' for this race (at all). So I didn't break any records but I did manage to run the last 8.3 miles in 58 minutes and 30 seconds.

Maybe do another 10k this weekend in Powell Butte.

Until then.

Running lately

Not much new. I ran the Sisters Scramble 10k last weekend, and was pretty satisfied with how it went, considering. This weekend it's Mac Forest 15k trail run in Corvallis, and on Nov. 4th it's the Lords Acre 10k in Powell Butte. After that hopefully we have some snow? I heard it's snowing in the rockies, and there have even been reports of skiing in the midwest. We should be skiing soon. Speaking of skiing, there's some new technology in ski poles. I know, you're thinking it's that new swix pole that looks more like a blade and is really strong and really light. Nope, it's called a coldpole, and you can read about it by clicking here. It might come in handy toward the end of the birkie if you can manage to keep it thawed.

We're going to Portland for the weekend. Planning to stop at Silver Falls state park on the way out to see if the falls are really silver. I need some new photos.

Hasta Luego

Salmon

The salmon 10k went well. I finished 2nd place, about 2 minutes of the winning time, but I'm OK with that, I still had a pretty good time (37:49=6:05 minutes per mile pace). Between the bike races I've been doing, this was a good tune up for PPP. To finish 2nd in a 10k run in a town with a ton of great athletes, is pretty cool. My second podium finish in as many running races for 2006. We'll see if I can keep that pace up at Big Horn 30k.

Laurie has a friend from MN coming out this week and they're going down to the Redwood national forest in northern california, so I'm goin solo next weekend. It would be fun to go with, but they'll have a good time in the van.

That's all for now. (I know, a lame race report - sorry)

over.

RUMBLE

Yesterday was the Peterson Ridge Rumble. 32 kilometers trail running. 28 were pretty real smooth. 4 were pretty darn tough. They turned out to be the last 4k, and it was not because it was the hardest section of the course. The Rumble would be my furthest run this spring by about 8 miles, so it was a bit of uncharted territory. I was feeling good though until about 2 miles to go. My legs were real sore, so I was just going to survive to the finish line. I'm stoked about a good result (3rd overall). I jumped over a big log in the first 1/2 mile (that most runners were going around, I might add), and whadya know the guy from the local newspaper was taking photos, and I ended up on the front page of the sports section! Pretty sweet! Sorry for the quick report, I'll try to find more pictures and post later.

late-

Trail running.

I went for a nice trail run tonight. The weather was a cool 45-50, with clouds. It was just right for shorts, not too cold; great evening for a trail run. I did the 'shevlin loop' which from our house, is probably between 6 and 7 miles. The first and last .8 miles are on the pavement, and then you hit the trails and continue on to this ridge (that I think used to be forest, but it burnt down), before trail drops into a valley with huge pondorosa pines and Tumalo creek flowing through it. The sound of the water would have been really neat, if the iPod wasn't blaring in my ears. The creek is really cranking right now, because of the 130% snowpack up in the cascades. Last year at this time of year I guess there was less than 40% average snowpack.

So it startes sprinkling on my way home, and by the time I got to our block it was a COLD rain. When I got in the house I noticed what looked like big wet snoflakes mixing in the rain. I was pretty drenched and cold, but it was one of those runs, that I'll think back on in August when the trails are a dust bowl and it's been hot and sunny for a couple months.

Got the new issue of Trail Runner magazine yesterday. There's a pretty big article on the trails around Bend. My friend Sean has a few sweet photos in there, so check it out!

I'm doing a 3 day road bike stage race in Eugene, 3 weeks from today. I'm ready for that, like a fart in church. I need to ride like this guy, in order to be a fast biker. Oh well, I can ride w/ the Cat 5s right? I've got the fitness, I guess well see. I might need to get the road bike out this week. Days are longer, eh!

But one more ski race to knock down before that happens.