Motor Tabs Evangelist!!

I am now an official evangelist for MotorTabs. For anyone that is not familiar with that, they are a company that produces tablets to drop into water for endurance athletes. (my speil) They taste great and work. I love them. I am also a fan of some other tablet drinks, but the others seem to have an aftertaste. Motor Tabs are great, and they taste like Kool-Aid.

You can view my profile on their website at http://motortabs.com/Endorsers/BrandEvangelists/tabid/84/Default.aspx

You will have to scroll down to the middle of the page to see me.

I'm also pacing my boss tomorrow at the Helvetia Half Marathon. He wants to break the 2 hour mark, so I'm gonna run with him and push him to his limit. :-) Just kidding, I'm there for moral support and to keep him motivated. It should be fun, and I'm really looking forward to helping someone reach their goal!

Look for a post race report this weekend.

I've been running

So after 2 weeks of no posts, the only thing I have to tell you is that I've been running. Actually, more than usual. I did 21 miles total over the weekend, and so far for the week, have 31 miles tacked on. I've also been doing a lot of weights, and have noticed a difference in my body. It seems, that according even to our bathroom scale, I somehow lost 10 pounds. Not sure if the scale is wrong, or if my previous weight was wrong, but hey, I'm not complaining too much. I've noticed that I am getting leaner and some of the body fat is coming off. I'm curious to see if my training and times are going to improve.

One other thing I have been working on a lot is my stretching. I'm trying to get myself in the habit to spend as much time stretching as I am running. (Not literally of course) I have been foam rolling as well as some basic static stretching as well. I'm hoping I will see an improvement in my training and times as well.

A couple runs I would like to note were my two runs last weekend. Saturday, I went out on Wildwood, which is a trail system of about 32 miles. I did 10 miles on it and it was great. Weather was in the 60's and overcast. Beautiful run. Kept it at an easy trail run pace, averaging around a 10 min mile. Felt great after the run. Sunday, I went running with Nick. He needed to do 11, and I figured that would be fun. So we met and did not really have a route planned, but just ran. It was great, I think it ended up being around 10.8 miles and we kept it around a 10 min pace as well. Feeling great after the long weekend. Only pain is in my calf, but that can be assumed with so much mileage. I'm hoping that this weekend helped in my training, and i'm sure that once I heal, it will be even better.

This weekend, I'm running a half with Nick, well, more pacing him during the race. His wife registered, but is now injured, so I'm going to take her place and pace Nick to his first sub 2 hour half marathon. I know I can get him there, it will just take some motivating. A 2 hour half marathong is a 9:15 pace, which on a hilly course, can be difficult. But we will mash the downs and the flats, and hopefuly without any injuries. (knock on wood) It should be fun though.

Well that's all I have to report this week. I'll try to get another post in about this weekends race. Enjoy the rest of your week!

A month of updates.....

So, I realize that it's been a month since my last post, and I apologize to all you readers (if anyone even reads this). Not much has happened to be honest. Still running and cycling.



Really, the only update is my 10K I ran a couple weeks ago. It was my best race yet, in my running career. Great weather, my mom was in town to cheer me on, and I finished 9th. It was incredible. I had a blast running it, but also feel like I could have been in better shape. I didn't get to my normal week before routine, because my mom was in town, but it was great. I could not be happier with my finish and time. With close to 500ft of climbing, I finished in 44:40, which is a personal best of mine. Can't help but think that with less hills, that could have been much faster. I also like this picture, I'm in the front and center of the group, and managed to line up to the kid who finished first, notice the difference:


Yeah, you can see why he won. It was still fun. And at the end, they had about a 150m chute to the finish, and me and another guy were tied going into it. I asked him what his 100m time was after 6 miles, and challenged him to a race. He accepted, and we took off at the cones. I won and managed to finish in the top 10.

That weekend was great. After the race we went downtown and took my mom to the coast. We picked up some crabs of course and feasted for dinner. The next day, we took a day trip up to seattle, and visited family and even celebrated a birthday. We also broke out the wiffle ball and Stephanie grabbed that bat and stepped up to the plate with her prego belly. Needless to say, she was amazing. She hit that ball like a pro, and i'm not being sarcastic. She may have done better than me. Here she is swinging like a major leaguer.

So that's all that's going on with me for now. Hopefully will have another 10K in a couple weeks and it should be a fast one. It will be flat and hopefully the weather will hold out.

Another Update.... to my countdowns

If you look at my countdowns again, you will notice that they have changed. I have, after long thought, pushed back my goals one year. I have made this choice because of everything that is happening this year. I am having a daughter in two months, and am trying to buy a home. Most of my determination and money, will be going into those. This is not a hard decision for me, because I have a great goal this year, the Chicago Marathon. But time and money are a constraint, and Steph and I have agreed to push the Ironman back one year. I will continue to train for the triathlon, and keep up as much as I can with the training. I will be cranking it out next year, and I know that I will have the support of my friends and family throughout this decision and the grueling regimen required to train for an Ironman.

Long Run #2/Long Ride #2

Saturday's long run this week was 10 miles, but mine ended up being about 10.3, not much different. My total elevation gain was just under 1000ft, which is an incredible training tool. I love the hills out here in Portland, not only am i faster up the hills, but also on the flats. Overall, it was a great run. Not very hot in the morning, but I believe the high hit about 82 during the day. We've been having great weather out here and it's been putting everyone in a great mood. Had a hammer gel around mile 5, or halfway. Trying to test out my nutrition during the run. Seeing what works best is better to do in my training, then during a race when it counts. It didn't upset my stomach at all, but I'm interested to see how it works when I take 3 or 4 of them. My 20 miler will be the true test.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. I went out for a bike ride with my boss, Nick. He took me out on his side of town, and put me to shame! We went out for about 33 miles and over 1000 feet of climbing. I felt slow and out of shape. It was always me just trying to keep up, forget about pushing the pace. I was just struggling to keep up. The weather was great though. I think when we went out at 2, it was about 80. I got a nice sunburn too:


My legs were burnt as well. Not as bad, but you can see my fabulous farmers tan now. At least I don't look like a complete ghost now, and I got a little color.

It was a great weekend and I was feeling it Monday morning. It's been since last season that I have put myself through that much in a weekend, and my body was not used to it. I love that feeling though, because you know the next time, it will be slightly easier.

Tuesday was a team run with H2C, although it was also the chili cook off at work, so it was only Tim and I that went out for a run. It was super hot, so we cut the 4.5 miler down to 3.5 to get back and hydrate before we passed out.

Great week so far, and I'm looking forward to another weekend of sun.

Long Ride #1

Last Sunday was the first long ride of the year, and I felt FAT!! I was slow and the hills felt harder than ever. I'm hoping this changes quickly with all the work I'm putting in during the week, including weights and time on the stationary bike.

About the ride: Cold and wet! It was raining the entire ride, but would change amounts. At some points, it was a slight drizzle, and others; a downpour. Good thing I brought my vest, it kept me minimally dry. I had only shorts on as well, and that kept some more water away as well, but it was cold. My feet were soaking wet and numb when the ride was over.

I went out with Mike, Dianne and her cousin Mark. We did the usual 27.5 loop, but skipped some turns, to edit it a little. None of us were up for making it any longer than it had to be. :-)

After the ride, I got into my car, with a towel on my seat (thankfully I remembered my towel) and turned the heat up full blast to get the feeling back in my feet. I think I'm going to need to get some booty's to keep my feet covered in the cold and rain.

Overall, it felt awesome to be back on the bike and out for a ride. Not saying I liked the weather, but I can't wait for this weekend. Temps in the mid 70's and sunshine. With a long run on Saturday and hopefully a long ride on Sunday with Nick, it will be a fantastic weekend.

Long Run #1

Today was my first long run for my marathon training plan in preparation for the 2009 Chicago Marathon. It actually went really well, considering I only did 8.5 miles. I have been training for a half marathon for the past 3 months, and my longest run this year has been 14 miles. The hills were brutal by my house, but I managed to make it up, hitting about a 14:00/mile pace. The run felt great, and I managed to stay hydrated with my fuel belt. Next week I'll have to start trying out different ways to get my carbs/sugar/sodium down. I'll grab a few different gels this week and give them a try. Most of the time, Gu has worked for me, but I've also had bad things happen with Gu. I'll try some hammer gel, maybe some powerbar gels, and a few accel gels.

Tomorrow I'm going for a ride with good ole Mike Green. It's been a long time since we've gotten a ride in. As long as the rain stays away for a couple hours in the morning, we'll be great. I can't wait to get an actual ride in, and not a "joy" ride. I'll report on that tomorrow.