Not only do all the pro bikers dope w/ blood, they cheat with batteries too. This is actually pretty convincing. he just takes off from the rest without even looking like he's attacking.
01 June 2010
08 April 2010
UND Fighting Sioux
The Souix are losing their name! Even though I rooted for their hockey team to lose, I liked their logo. I bet the sales for their hockey jerseys will benefit next year (the last year of the Sioux) I even want one!. And football games at NDSU won't be the same either because (at least when I went there) the home crowd often yelled 'Sioux suck shit', even when the team wasn't even playing the Sioux.At least Ralph Engelstad had around 2,000 Sioux logos embedded into the 100+ million dollar arena the team plays in. Good luck covering up all of them! Now they can replace them with the UND prairie dogs, or UND ground hogs or something.
04 April 2010
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.
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.
20 February 2010
lost (shoes)
This was to be my 3rd attempt at Hagg Lake to complete the 50k. The first was my best, and also the least muddy. Last year will be remembered as a disaster, and this year I decided to switch to the 25k (only one lap around the lake). The weather was fantastic and we had about 4 sunny and dry days leading up to the race, which lessened the mud situation, but there was still a good amount of mud, which there will always be at Hagg pretty much no matter what.
On the way to the race I had to get gas, and during the fill up with the engine off, i left the car lights on. Upon attempted re-starting the engine, it barely turned over, and I thought, oh crap, come on car!! so after I shut off the lights and waited a few seconds, it still turned over real slow, many times, but eventually fired and i was on my way.
After getting through Forest Grove, I missed the left turn on to scoggins road for Hagg lake, oh crap and it was no big deal, because I wasn't late. And I arrived with plenty of time to chat with the local crowd and jog a little bit. The race started, and the out and back was short, and then we hit the trail. I think I took a wrong turn in the first spot it was possible to take a wrong turn, and didn't lose much time, but it was kind of a bummer. I also realized while trying to make up time, that I have not been racing on trails much and you can't just put it in cruise and hammer out miles like you can on the road, you have to pay more attention on the trail or you'll fall down. So even though I didn't fall down, I attempted to miss a couple of significant mud puddles and pretty much completely failed, getting both shoes wet on the first half.
The second half on the run around the lake I was going OK, and had lost all hope of trying to keep the feet dry, and was monster trucking straight through the mud sections, which was great for the mentality and enthusiasm. But then I missed another turn, and didn't really go too far off course, but did add some distance. You'd think this was my first lap around Hagg lake, but it was actually my 5th (counting the last 2 years).
With about two miles to go one of the dudes in the 50k that we were passing told me I was the 10th one, so I decided to hold that position. Or try to hold that position. I could hear people behind me, but was feeling pretty good as running through the mud (instead of trying to awkwardly avoid it) was great fun. Then on what I thought was a huge mud section (that I didn't remember from years past) with about 1+ mile or so to go, I was racing through it, and it was deeper and stickier than I thought and I lost a shoe. I went a couple more strides before I could turn around and retrieve it, but this thing was buried, and another 25k-er was right there. So I left it and continued with one shoe. I got about 40 yards, and figured out that it really was awkward running with one heavy mud soaked shoe so I took the other one off too, and went minimalist style (socks only) for the last maybe 3/4 mile into the finish, holding off the dude who passed me when I lost the shoe, for an official finish of 9th.
Then, as a slight reward, I was handed the medal for the age group winner for the 30-34 age group!!! wait, I'm 35!??!?! I tried to say, "Well I'm 35" but I think they used the age that you were, when you registered, which I apparently did when I was still 34. So that was pretty cool, even though the dude that I out raced while barefoot in the final mile, who was 10th, was actually really 34 years old and probably should have got the medal, so it was a bit awkward, but the race people told me to keep the medal so I did.
Anyway, it was fantastic weather, and even though I lost the shoe deep in the mud, it was a good race. My next race is officially the shamrock run 15k (thankfully on the road, probably closed roads to boot), but I might go to silver falls next saturday for a low key trail run, and then I hope to run the April 3rd Vernonia half marathon. I will have a busy couple of weeks with important work meetings, job interviews and finishing up two classes at school, so the schedule is a bit up in the air, but the shamrock run is 100% on.
Here's the shoe that made it:
The other one will probably become fossilized and the next civilization will find it in a million years.
On the way to the race I had to get gas, and during the fill up with the engine off, i left the car lights on. Upon attempted re-starting the engine, it barely turned over, and I thought, oh crap, come on car!! so after I shut off the lights and waited a few seconds, it still turned over real slow, many times, but eventually fired and i was on my way.
After getting through Forest Grove, I missed the left turn on to scoggins road for Hagg lake, oh crap and it was no big deal, because I wasn't late. And I arrived with plenty of time to chat with the local crowd and jog a little bit. The race started, and the out and back was short, and then we hit the trail. I think I took a wrong turn in the first spot it was possible to take a wrong turn, and didn't lose much time, but it was kind of a bummer. I also realized while trying to make up time, that I have not been racing on trails much and you can't just put it in cruise and hammer out miles like you can on the road, you have to pay more attention on the trail or you'll fall down. So even though I didn't fall down, I attempted to miss a couple of significant mud puddles and pretty much completely failed, getting both shoes wet on the first half.
The second half on the run around the lake I was going OK, and had lost all hope of trying to keep the feet dry, and was monster trucking straight through the mud sections, which was great for the mentality and enthusiasm. But then I missed another turn, and didn't really go too far off course, but did add some distance. You'd think this was my first lap around Hagg lake, but it was actually my 5th (counting the last 2 years).
With about two miles to go one of the dudes in the 50k that we were passing told me I was the 10th one, so I decided to hold that position. Or try to hold that position. I could hear people behind me, but was feeling pretty good as running through the mud (instead of trying to awkwardly avoid it) was great fun. Then on what I thought was a huge mud section (that I didn't remember from years past) with about 1+ mile or so to go, I was racing through it, and it was deeper and stickier than I thought and I lost a shoe. I went a couple more strides before I could turn around and retrieve it, but this thing was buried, and another 25k-er was right there. So I left it and continued with one shoe. I got about 40 yards, and figured out that it really was awkward running with one heavy mud soaked shoe so I took the other one off too, and went minimalist style (socks only) for the last maybe 3/4 mile into the finish, holding off the dude who passed me when I lost the shoe, for an official finish of 9th.
Then, as a slight reward, I was handed the medal for the age group winner for the 30-34 age group!!! wait, I'm 35!??!?! I tried to say, "Well I'm 35" but I think they used the age that you were, when you registered, which I apparently did when I was still 34. So that was pretty cool, even though the dude that I out raced while barefoot in the final mile, who was 10th, was actually really 34 years old and probably should have got the medal, so it was a bit awkward, but the race people told me to keep the medal so I did.
Anyway, it was fantastic weather, and even though I lost the shoe deep in the mud, it was a good race. My next race is officially the shamrock run 15k (thankfully on the road, probably closed roads to boot), but I might go to silver falls next saturday for a low key trail run, and then I hope to run the April 3rd Vernonia half marathon. I will have a busy couple of weeks with important work meetings, job interviews and finishing up two classes at school, so the schedule is a bit up in the air, but the shamrock run is 100% on.
Here's the shoe that made it:
The other one will probably become fossilized and the next civilization will find it in a million years.
17 November 2009
Forecast
OK it usually doesn't rain all day everyday, but not a very sun-shiny forecast. Winter in the PNW. Snow in the mountains though!
06 November 2009
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?
18 October 2009
Probable
OK, here are a couple of spain pics (bike related). we were there for almost 2 weeks and saw alot of other stuff (no bullfights), but seeing la Vuelta was pretty memorable. 
Here is a pic of big mig! We saw Miguel Indurain. My friend Sean (sorta jokingly) asked me if we saw Indurain in spain, and was surprised when I said yea!!! Other (cycling) stars we saw were Cadel Evans, Fabian Cancellara, David Millar, Tyler Farrar, Vinokourov, Valverde, and a bunch of others. Vino almost won the stage we saw the finish of (he ended up 4th), and why is it that these dopers are worshiped is beyond me sometimes. Especially when 34 year olds are still dropping dead. I'm as guilty a fan as anybody I guess. I hate Valverde, as he is sorta not just a suspected doper, but an actual doper banned in Italy!!! and he is the hero and love of all the spaniards, winning la Vuelta. I guess maybe Contador is a bigger spaniard star, but he didn't show up at la vuelta this year.
I thought Millar would have been uglier for some reason... He's a former doper, and now he's on the clean team Garmin, and I was going to say he never wins anymore, but he went on to win the final TT at La Vuelta, so maybe there's hope for the sport.
Here is a pic of big mig! We saw Miguel Indurain. My friend Sean (sorta jokingly) asked me if we saw Indurain in spain, and was surprised when I said yea!!! Other (cycling) stars we saw were Cadel Evans, Fabian Cancellara, David Millar, Tyler Farrar, Vinokourov, Valverde, and a bunch of others. Vino almost won the stage we saw the finish of (he ended up 4th), and why is it that these dopers are worshiped is beyond me sometimes. Especially when 34 year olds are still dropping dead. I'm as guilty a fan as anybody I guess. I hate Valverde, as he is sorta not just a suspected doper, but an actual doper banned in Italy!!! and he is the hero and love of all the spaniards, winning la Vuelta. I guess maybe Contador is a bigger spaniard star, but he didn't show up at la vuelta this year.
As for Cadel Evans, he is the man. I was glad he got world champion stripes, the media makes him out to be a dork, but I think in real life he's a good guy at least from my observation after stage 10. Too bad he got that flat tire at Vuelta.
I thought Millar would have been uglier for some reason... He's a former doper, and now he's on the clean team Garmin, and I was going to say he never wins anymore, but he went on to win the final TT at La Vuelta, so maybe there's hope for the sport.
We're going to the race across the sky movie showing on Thursday, to see the leadville 100 mt. bike race documentary. Should be pretty cool, and I think I'm going to wear the dopers suck wrist bands for fun, and it will probably give me a little inspiration for Sunday (columbia gorge marathon), and future goals, maybe even leadville 100.
Upgraded to probable for the marathon. I'm pretty sure it will be a struggle, but I'm pretty stoked, and have been looking forward to this for a while. The crash a couple weeks ago was luckily after most of my important training, but I still feel like I haven't done enough running (and ate too many donuts) in the last 2 weeks to make a good race out of it (sub 3?). Someday I want to go sub lance (which is somewhere in the 2:50 range). One thing is for sure: running through the tunnel on the way back is going to be awesome, but it's still a ways to the finish.
13 October 2009
Day to Day
After a long lapse, I'm updating the blog. Since updating, we took a pretty sweet trip to Spain, which I hope to post a recap at some point. In short I'll just say that southern spain is a very arid landscape and the weather is hot. We saw the Vuelta
In preparing for the Columbia Gorge Marathon on Oct. 25th, I had been getting into some good form. It's been 5 years since I've ran a road marathon(ran Portland marathon in 2004 in PR time) and I'm really looking forward to this one. The course is challenging and it's got a view of the gorge most of the way. If the weather's bad it could turn out to be an epic cold and windy death march. Two weeks ago I did yasso 800s averaging 2:46 per half mile, which (according to Bart Yasso) translates to the potential of being able to run a 2hr 46min marathon. I pre-ran the final 18 miles of the CGM course felt great. I was all scheduled to run a half marathon tune up last sunday, and then last week, on a 'recovery' run at forest park, I was running on the trail and instead of staying on erickson drive, I needed to warm up so I ran up to the wildwood on wild cherry trail and came back down dogwood, where I proceeded to crash on the down hill, tripping on a root or rock or something. It wasn't running fast, but running downhill that translated into a harder fall, and I didn't catch myself really at all, and basically landed on my side and managed to scrape both the left and right shins (very minor road rash). The worst was the impact to the lower right ribs, and if you've ever had a rib injury you know the drill. Hurts to laugh, hurts to sneeze, hurts to cough. Well try running. So I tried running 3 miles last week and it was not happening. Rested the weekend and got a couple hours on the bike yesterday in a desperate attempt to keep the fitness. Feels a little better this week than last week (but it's more sore after the bike ride), so my status is day to day for the CGM.
I'm nearing completion of school and will be looking to land a job staring in 2010 (around Feb or March). What does that mean? I don't officially get done w/ school until June2010, but I only have one class for the spring term. So the job will probably be here in the valley (portland / hillsboro area). My plans are to get employment in the semiconductor industry as it relates to solar cell manufacturing. The outlook looks pretty good. The program at the school I'm in really could prepare a student for potential employment in the wind, solar (manufacturing), solar (residential), hydro, bio-fuel or electrochemistry (fuel cell) industries. At this point I'm hoping the solar manufacturing thing works out, as I already have an internship at the largest solar cell factory in the Americas. And my senior project (call it Bachelors Thesis) topic is studying the light induced degradation of mono-crystalline CZ silicon solar cells.
Hope somebody still reads the blog, and hope to write a killer race report for the gorge marathon. And if the race doesn't go so well, that's ok, but I should be on the starting line.
In preparing for the Columbia Gorge Marathon on Oct. 25th, I had been getting into some good form. It's been 5 years since I've ran a road marathon(ran Portland marathon in 2004 in PR time) and I'm really looking forward to this one. The course is challenging and it's got a view of the gorge most of the way. If the weather's bad it could turn out to be an epic cold and windy death march. Two weeks ago I did yasso 800s averaging 2:46 per half mile, which (according to Bart Yasso) translates to the potential of being able to run a 2hr 46min marathon. I pre-ran the final 18 miles of the CGM course felt great. I was all scheduled to run a half marathon tune up last sunday, and then last week, on a 'recovery' run at forest park, I was running on the trail and instead of staying on erickson drive, I needed to warm up so I ran up to the wildwood on wild cherry trail and came back down dogwood, where I proceeded to crash on the down hill, tripping on a root or rock or something. It wasn't running fast, but running downhill that translated into a harder fall, and I didn't catch myself really at all, and basically landed on my side and managed to scrape both the left and right shins (very minor road rash). The worst was the impact to the lower right ribs, and if you've ever had a rib injury you know the drill. Hurts to laugh, hurts to sneeze, hurts to cough. Well try running. So I tried running 3 miles last week and it was not happening. Rested the weekend and got a couple hours on the bike yesterday in a desperate attempt to keep the fitness. Feels a little better this week than last week (but it's more sore after the bike ride), so my status is day to day for the CGM.
I'm nearing completion of school and will be looking to land a job staring in 2010 (around Feb or March). What does that mean? I don't officially get done w/ school until June2010, but I only have one class for the spring term. So the job will probably be here in the valley (portland / hillsboro area). My plans are to get employment in the semiconductor industry as it relates to solar cell manufacturing. The outlook looks pretty good. The program at the school I'm in really could prepare a student for potential employment in the wind, solar (manufacturing), solar (residential), hydro, bio-fuel or electrochemistry (fuel cell) industries. At this point I'm hoping the solar manufacturing thing works out, as I already have an internship at the largest solar cell factory in the Americas. And my senior project (call it Bachelors Thesis) topic is studying the light induced degradation of mono-crystalline CZ silicon solar cells.
Hope somebody still reads the blog, and hope to write a killer race report for the gorge marathon. And if the race doesn't go so well, that's ok, but I should be on the starting line.
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