Tuesday Mileage

Georgetown Loop (7-9 Miles) with hill bursts. Leaving 12th and Penn at 6:50 AM.

Dispatch from the Field

Janet sends the following dispatch during her vacation/super-intense training camp in South Africa:

"The view from this evening's run -- Chapman's Peak across Hout's Bay to Table Mountain. Hillier than I'm used to but it's stunning here..."

Wednesday Workout

3 x 2.5 at 10 mile pace, 400 jog rests.

Some will be doing an easy recovery run around Hains Point.

12th & Penn at 6:50 AM
Hains Point at 7 AM

Robert Gillanders and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet Give the Dojo Salute!

Robert Gillanders (team member and head of the team medical staff) with US Olympian and All-World runner Magdalena Lewy-Boulet.

Weekend Results

Fantastic results from this weekend.

***
PJ Martinez decided to jump in a half marathon to get in a solid workout. He ends up WINNING the NCR Half Marathon, running 1:18:45. Next fastest was two minutes behind.
***

Our team medic, Robert Gillanders, was third master and seventh overall at the Wineglass Half Marathon. 1:23:44 (6:24 pace).

Shawn Rumery came in 5th overall at the Run for the Parks 10k, with a quick 34:03. The scary thing is, this is basically tempo pace for Shawn, just readying for blast-off in Philly next month.

Geoff King ran 17:07 for 4th overall at the Glory Days XC 5k. Having run this same course back in my high school days, 17 flat is a pretty darn good time for this course.

Whew, lots of great results this week. Way to go everyone!

Tuesday Workout

5 x mile at 3K pace, 3 min. rests.

6:50 @ 12th and Penn
7 @ Hains Point

Thursday Workout - 8 Miles @ PMP

8 miles at PMP, leaving 12th and Penn at 6:50, Hains Point at 7.

Clarendon Day 5k/10k

From Henry:

If anyone is interested, the Clarendon Day races next Saturday appear to be fast courses with a downhill finish. If you cannot decide between the 5K and 10K, you can do both, since they start 40 minutes apart. I am doing the 5K and would welcome any fellow Dojoists who are not committed to other races or workouts.

Saturday Long Run

18 miles, with 6 at elevated effort. Leaving from PJ's at 8:30 AM.

Thursday Workout - 7 Miles @ PMP

7 miles at PMP, meeting at 6:50 AM, 12th & Penn, 7 AM, Hains Point.

Thursday Workout - 5 Mile PMP

Tomorrow is when we begin the process of tattoo-ing marathon pace into our cerebellums. Five miles at planned marathon pace.

6:50 @ 12th and Penn
7 AM @ Hains Point

Best Way to Spend Team Budget?

Perhaps by buying an Alter-G. Allegedly only $75K!!! Or perhaps by purchasing a pressurized egg that boosts "athletic performance by improving circulation, boosting oxygen-rich red-blood cells, removing lactic acid and possibly even stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis and stem-cell production." Also going for a measly $75K. Or maybe by getting some wristbands or something.

Tuesday Workout - 6 X 1000m

Tuesday's workout: 6 X 1000 meters at 3k pace.

6:50 at 12th and Penn
7 am at Hains Point

Breakfast of Pain - Saturday Long Run Recap

Dateline: Saturday, August 27, 2011. Silver Spring, MD.

As Hurricane Irene descended on the DC area, members of the Dojo converged on Alan's house. Beating the impending deluge, the team rolled through 18 miles down Beach Drive and through Rock Creek Park. The consensus, these miles were as hot and sticky as a tray of fresh-baked vegan cinnamon buns.

Afterwards, everyone was treated to "Breakfast By Brian." Savitch brought a waffle maker, vegan waffle batter, vegan margarine, and a whole bunch of buns. Janet chipped in some blueberries, and Reh-waldo had strawberries in tow. I provided a vat of Muscle Milk, which absolutely no one was willing to even open.

Turning Alan's kitchen into a beehive of activity, Brian prepared his all-vegan waffles:

Let's see how the waffles were.

Did PJ like them?

PJ says yes! Did Robert like them?

Not entirely clear, but given the satisfied expression and the empty plate, I'd say Yes! Did Alan and Brian like them?

Again, I am taking interpretive liberties, but I'd say Yes! (Or alternatively: "Daniel, instead of taking photos of us eating, maybe you could have helped make something, buddy?")

Big thanks to Alan for hosting the team today.

Saturday Long Run

We are going to try and beat the rain this weekend by going 18 tomorrow morning. Leaving from Alan's place at 7 am.

Thursday Workout - 2 X 3 Miles

Tomorrow (Thursday) morning, we are doing 2 X 3 Miles at half marathon pace. The last week of faster pace running before we get down to marathon-specific work.

Meet at 12th and Penn at 6:50 AM. Start the workout at Hains Point at 7 am.

Tuesday Workout - 6 X 800m

The workout for tomorrow:

6 X 800 meters at 3K pace. Meeting at 12th and Penn at 6:50, arriving at Hains Point at 7 AM.

Sunday Long Run - 18 mi

Long run this weekend, Sunday morning at 7 am at 3300 M Street in Georgetown. The plan is to go 18 relatively relaxed.

Alarms & Controls - The Big Debut

Tomorrow (Friday) night, Dojo member Chris Hamley and his new band, Alarms & Controls, will be playing their first live show at the Velvet Lounge, starting around 9:45.

Having won the GW Birthday Marathon and sporting a mid-2:30s marathon PR, Chris Hamley is almost certainly the fastest lead singer of a DC-area rock band. Come on out and show Hamley some love!

Tuesday Workout - 3 X 2 Mi @ HMP

3 X 2 Mi at half-marathon pace tomorrow morning, leaving 12th and Penn at 6:50, workout starting at Hains Point at 7 am.

Dojo Racing Singlets

For those who have not yet obtained a much-desired Dojo singlet for the upcoming racing season, send Dan an email. Singlets are black, with white ink, and cost $17 a piece. Consistent with our DIY ethos, these are hand-printed and built for speed.

Saturday Long Run

Alan, PJ, Brian, Christine, and I will be meeting up for a long run, 2.5 hours, starting from 26th and P in Georgetown at 7 AM Saturday (tomorrow) morning. I will be celebrating the conclusion of this run with a burger at Shake Shack or a similarly-themed location afterwards. Comment if attending...

Thursday Workout

Preparations for Philly 2012 start up this week. Tomorrow, we open things up with a relatively easy 3 mile tempo at half-marathon pace. Meeting at 12th and Penn at 6:50, Hains Point at 7 am.

Lots of early commits to this workout:
Janet, Alan, Chris, PJ, Brian, and me. Shawn Rumery makes his Dojo Debut tomorrow morning.

Tuesday Mileage

Final days of blissful calm. Easy mileage tomorrow, 6:50 AM at 12th & Penn.
Current attendees: Geoff, Savitch, Pruitt, me.

Saturday Long Run

Reh-Waldo and I will be going for a long run tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM, meeting at my house. Email for directions if interested in joining in

Rockville Rotary Twilght 8k

The Dojo did not go unrepresented at this weekend's Rockville Twilight 8k. After spending 6 weeks on the bike with exactly 1 run during his trip, our own Savicious used the race as a baseline fitness test for the upcoming season. He checked in at a more than respectable 29:55. Full results here. Way to go, Savitch!

Sunday Run

Some folks (Christine, Emily, Geoff, me, and I think Brian) will be out at the WRC run tomorrow, 7 am at 3300 M St., NW. Relaxed run, 10-12 miles.

Saturday Long Run

We are confirmed for a long run tomorrow morning (Saturday) at 6:30 AM, leaving from Candy Cane City.

Semper Fi 5k - July 2, 2011

Chris Pruitt checked in under the radar with a 15:42 (5:03/mile) 5k on July 2nd at the Semper Fi 5k. Chris placed 3rd overall. Great time by Pruitt, especially given the hot conditions. Congrats Chris!

Thursday Happy Hour / Fall Marathon Season Kick-off Event

The Dojo is hosting it's Fall marathon season kick-off event this Thursday at 6 PM at RFD. This is a great opportunity for everyone to come on out, even if you haven't made it out to a workout yet. Email Brian for more details.

Dojo vs. Duluth: PJ's Grandma's Race Report

Heading into this season, I was just getting over a stress fracture and had no plans to train for a marathon. Thanks to you, dear teammates, that all changed by the middle of April. I was healthy and training well, and I was inspired by the great Dojo performances at Charlottesville and Boston. I was especially motivated by Geoff's great race report from Charlottesville, which captured, better than I can, the thrill of competing in a race. Then, after Brian and Christine ran big PRs at Boston, I was so excited that, when Dan proposed training for Grandma's on an accelerated (and absolutely ludicrous) schedule, I signed on for eight weeks of punishment.

Not long after that, Dan and I were on the starting line in Two Harbors, with temperatures in the low 50s and Pink's "Raise Your Glass" on the loudspeaker. (Not ideal, but better than "Cotton-eyed Joe" by Rednex, which was playing while I shivered in line for the porta-john). As we waited for the race to start, I tried to think of all the good workouts we'd had, and I realized that, for the first time, I was ready to race, not just survive, a marathon. So, when the moment of truth arrived, I gave Dan a fist-bump, wished him Godspeed, and we were off.

The early miles were nice and easy, which was fine with me, as my mantra for the first quarter of the race was "do no harm," or, translated into Dojo-ese, "don't F this up." Somewhere around mile 3, I stumbled across a pack of six to eight other runners, including two elite women. These fine gentlemen and ladies literally changed my race. Not only were they super-friendly -- the women were sharing their water bottles as we passed the elite fluid stations -- they also knew what they were doing. This was a bonus for me, particularly given my struggles with mental midgetry during previous marathons. It also enabled me to do what I always do during workouts -- draft off of smarter, more experienced runners and hope for the best.

As the miles went by, we managed to hold a steady 6:05 pace and stay mostly under control. The only exception was a 5:50 split on the downhill 11th mile, which, while probably not the best idea, was actually quite a nice confidence boost. We came through the half in 1:19:30; at that point, I thought sub-2:40, and maybe even a negative split, was possible. By mile 16, we'd dropped the pace to 6 flat and caught another group that had been lurking up ahead of us for most of the race. With our new friends in tow -- there were now more than 12 of us -- we cruised into suburban Duluth.

Things got interesting in the last 10K. I felt strong at the 20-mile mark, which we passed in 2:01 flat. Then, unfortunately, our pack started to break up. Three of the men and one of the women took off, and once that happened, everyone else spread out. At that point, I realized that I'd only taken two gels, the second of which barely went down, and I was starting to have trouble swallowing water. The reckoning was swift and unmerciful. I ran out of fuel about a mile and a half later, and, by the time I hit "Lemondrop Hill" at mile 22 (the only semi-legitimate hill on the course), old Highway 61 had gotten very cold, very dark, and very lonely.

The rest of the race wasn't pretty, but it definitely could have been worse. I struggled through a 6:30 mile after Lemondrop Hill, which, short as it was, felt like a punch in the gut. Then, just as I thought the wheels were falling off, I got one last lift of energy -- I wouldn't really call it a second wind -- from some college kids in Duluth who were shotgunning beers and playing "Like a Rolling Stone" on a boom box. This made me smile, which was all I needed to reverse my mental tailspin and pick up the pace. I was able to manage 6:15 miles for the rest of the race, which got me to the finish a few seconds over 2:40. Dan was waiting at the line, looking like he'd just finished an easy run. We stopped for a photo shoot (see above), hit the massage tent, and went straight to the hotel pub for cheeseburgers. All in all, an excellent ending to an excellent day in Duluth!

Brian and Farah have reached the end!!!

Breaking News - Wigglesworth Takes the Top Spot

After an absolutely prolific road racing season, Henry Wigglesworth has returned to the top of the Washington Running Report rankings for the 50-54 year old age group. Henry would like to clarify for the record that he is 53, not 54. Aside from that one issue, he otherwise has no quibbles with WRR's reporting.

Brian and Farah's bike trip. Or-a- (going, going) gone.

Oregon is Ore...gone. The quick recap: amazingly beautiful coast line, Portland the capital of bike and vegan-friendliness, great weather (except maybe 1 1/2 days of rain), 0 bike problems, 350+ miles of lovely biking.

Crossed into Oregon from Washington via the Astoria bridge - 4.2 miles with a pretty steep uphill, traffic and an OK shoulder. Being bike-friendly Oregon there was a button to push at the beginning that started a flashing sign to alert cars: "Bikes on Bridge." Cruised down the hill into the cute town of Astoria and found a great brew pub (Fort George) with over 15 microbrews and lots of vegan food on the menu. We love Oregon. After dinner and a few beers, we biked in a semi-drunk state nine miles to our campground.




The next morning, we headed out to Tillamook where our bus to Portland was leaving from the next morning. We rode through picturesque Cannon Beach and checked out the seastacks (big rocks coming out of the ocean) then headed up some serious hills and through our first Oregon tunnel. Immediately after crossing into Tillamook county, the road quality diminished. We googled a campground in Tillamook which ended up directing us to the forestry services building - not a campground. We asked some locals hanging out across the street where they would suggest camping and they directed us to a field behind the fairgrounds down the street (or the backyard of a sibling's former foreclosed house). It was starting to rain a bit and we needed water to cook with and a dry place to cook and eat dinner. Luckily, the Quickmart (though closed) offered all of these things! We made use of their water spout and covered picnic table and fired up the campstove to make a lovely dinner. (This was the first of a few ridiculous cooking spots brought about by rain which also include a town gazebo during lunch and under a bridge with a great view of the ocean.) Then, headed to the fairgrounds to sleep with the slugs and listen to Ranchero music from a nearby barn party. Worked out quite well.





Headed into Portland - hit up one of their fine vegan bakeries and headed out again to bike the Columbia River Gorge. So beautiful! In just 25 miles we saw about 12 waterfalls, hiked through beautiful forests and through the gorge. Amazing views of the river from the vistas along the bike ride. The view of the river valley from the first vista seriously rivaled Deception Pass as the best view of the tour. The next day, our friend Shayne picked us up to return to Portland giving us an extra day of biking (without touring bags) and hiking through the forests. Portland was awesome! Shayne and Melissa were amazing hosts - taking us on a vegan culinary tour of Portland (Melissa introduced Brian to wiffie pies which he continues to dream about every night), hooking Farah up with clipless pedals and shoes at the bike coop and then driving us out to the coast and camping with us at Cape Lookout where we all - including Misha, cutest dog ever - played on the giant sand dunes nearby and saw whales off the coast!


Continuing South along the coast Oregon was non-stop amazingly beautiful. It seems like almost the entire coast is part of the state park system. There are state parks and campgrounds (with free showers - thanks Oregon) every few miles and it seems like most of the coast is preserved and undeveloped - other than a few towns here and there. As we biked down the coast of Oregon we stopped to explore and hike - we visited estuaries, tidepools, sand dunes, beaches, lighthouses, giant rocks coming out of the ocean and a swamp of carnivorous plants. One of the more amazing places was Devil's Churn where violent waves crashed and churned along a chasm of volcanic black rock - and we saw a starfish in a tidepool (while keeping an eye out for killer Sneaker Waves.) We also liked Thunder Rock Cove where we climbed out over the ocean on the arch of a giant rock (and Brian only sort of slipped.)

Oregon was also super-hilly - one infamous area was Seven Devil's Rd where we rode along the crests of a mountain with 7 peaks. (Oregon likes naming things after the Devil...) On the day we saw our longest hills in Oregon, we also saw the "Worlds Shortest River" ("D" River) and the World's Smallest Harbor and lots of rain except at Cape Foulweather where the weather was perfect. Oh, and dolphins off the coast! We learned that Cape is code for really freakin steep hill that sometimes, like in the case of Cape Arago, have amazing views and beautiful hills and often has very fun downhills. Cape Arago also had sea lions barking off the coast and seals swimming about. Coming down Cape Sebastian traffic was only able to go one way at a time - we ended up behind the lead highway car riding our brakes so as not to pass them at 36 MPH.

Other random highlights: baby skunks on the beach (so cute), awesome tailwinds, meeting lots of other folks bike touring and hanging with them at the campgrounds (including 2 who happened to have a coffee grinder - yes, on their bike tip - just when we needed one), riding on the Old Coast highway which was beautiful and carless and watching a windsurfing competition at Pistol River.

The downsides: strong crosswinds that threatened to blow Farah into traffic, a school bus trying to run Farah off the road and not finding Puffins.

All said: an awesome time.

Brian and Farah just hit 1500 miles in marin county, 50 miles north of san francisco!

Friday Drills 'N Strides

Leave 12th & Penn at 6:40 AM

Drills and strides on grass. A chance to work on form and efficiency.

Grandma's Marathon - Dan's Recap

Marathons are crazy things, at least the way some people (i.e. me) run them. How you do in those two-plus hours is decided by and also passes judgment on a rather large chunk of your life during the previous four to five months. Most shorter races are these local affairs where you might show up the morning of, slap on a number, and sketch out a vague notion of a plan moments before the gun goes off, all the while knowing that if things don't go all that well, it's no big deal because another 10k is right around the corner. Their frequency and mundane nature allow you to avoid investing completely. A marathon is totally different, because it is undeniably the final and only product of months and months of blood, sweat, and more sweat. If you fail, there is no safety net, there is (for all practical purposes) no chance for redemption the next week, there is only tearing down and building it all back up six months later. And no matter how many good workouts you do, no matter what sort of training splits you hit, the only "indicator of fitness" that is really convincing is the clock at the end of the race. Given all the stakes in a marathon, I am more than happy with how Grandma's turned out for me, and am also ecstatic with how it turned out for PJ.

Going into Grandma's, the build-up had gone great. Relying on the mad genius of Pemberton in adapting a Hanson's-style plan into a rather compressed period, PJ and I did workouts that were more ambitious than anything I had done before. 11 mile tempos, 4 X 3 mile intervals, 2 X 6 miles, 9 X 1 mile, 26.2 km, were just some of the highlights. Based on these workouts, I thought that if things went well at Grandma's, I'd have a chance to run 5:55 pace through the race (2:35), which would be almost a two minute PR. The weather forecast called for perfect racing conditions. All systems were go...except for a cold, cough, and sore throat I picked up a few days before the race!

On the pre-dawn bus ride from Duluth to Two Harbors, my body was swimming with the snake oils taken to ward off the cold. Echinecea, 2000 mg of Vitamin C, B vitamins, Eye of Newt, on top of the usual cocktail of Ultra Fuel, gel, and bagel. I didn't feel great getting to the line, but I knew that race adrenaline can make a big difference in overcoming minor setbacks. And sure enough, while the cold caused a healthy river of mucous to run down my face (for ample evidence, just check out the race photos!) and some minor breathing problems, I'd say it was an annoyance but not a huge problem.

For me, the race divided into four major segments. The first was the 13 miles heading out of Two Harbors on a tree-lined Highway 61 ("...you can do want you want Abe, but, next time you see me you better run...") that I knew going in would have sparse crowds but great views of Lake Superior. Well, I don't remember too much of the lake, to be honest. What I do remember was thinking right after the first mile, when I had gone out in 6:03 (m1), 'man, there are a LOT of people running faster than me.' I spent most of this time running near the super fast Dot McMahon. It was a real kick to see the Hanson brothers (one of the big inspirations in our own training) tracking her progress and shouting out encouragement every couple miles. My splits over the first stretch: 5:53 m2, 5:51 m3, 5:54 m4, 5:51 m5, 5:50 m6, 11:39 m7-8, 5:55 m9, 5:48 m10, 5:56 m11, 5:51 m12, 5:53 m13. 1/2 Marathon split of 1:17:10 (probably a PR, not sure). A little quicker than what I had originally planned, but I didn't really feel like slowing down a couple ticks per mile was going to make a difference at that point.

The second segment of the race was from mile 13 to 18, which represented the last stretch of scenic Highway 61. From my scouting of the course the day before, I saw that starting around 19 or so (as we entered Duluth proper), there was a very slight but steady rise in the course that seemed to last a few miles. As a result, I knew that staying controlled over the second stretch would be key to getting over the next part unscathed, so I focused on fast but controlled running. By this point, McMahon was off in the distance, the result of her kicking it into 6th gear and dropping some 5:40's, but I still had plenty of other folks breathing down my neck and also strung out in front of me. My splits through this stretch: 5:43 m14, 5:50 m15, 5:46 m16, 5:50 m17, 5:48 m18.

The third segment of the race was from mile 19 through 23, which was the beginning of Duluth. We ran through some suburban neighborhoods and up a very slight incline, culminating in Lemon Drop Hill and Mile 22. The moderate incline actually felt great, given that it seemed to activate some other leg muscles that had otherwise gone unused. And Lemon Drop Hill was not too nasty or brutish but it was short. Meaning not too bad. Splits were: 5:46 m19, 5:53 m20, 5:54 m21, 5:55 m22, 5:54 m23.

The final stretch of the race wound through downtown Duluth. After cresting Lemon Drop Hill, I was still generally on pace, but was taken a little by surprise when two guys went roaring past me around Mile 24. Given the way I usually run marathons (with fairly even splits), I haven't run too many where I get passed in the second half. The thought occurred to me, 'wow, this is a REALLY good unseeded field.' I responded as best as I could and let their momentum tether me along for the next mile. (Mile 24: 5:54) Hitting Mile 25, we started winding back and forth along the Duluth waterfront and I was really starting to fade. The two guys who passed me were long gone, but I did see two others who were still in striking distance who seemed to be struggling. Deep in the tank, I remember a little negative thought creep in: 'do I really want to go after these guys and make the final half mile a do-or-die sprint? That is really going to hurt.' Summoning one last bit of willpower, I pushed the thought out of my foggy brain and decided to go after them. I closed on the first guy fairly quickly, and about 600 meters from the finish, I caught and passed him as decisively as I could (to discourage him from responding). I made the final turn and saw the last runner some 20 or 30 meters in front of me, with only 200 meters left. I gave one final push and with my...limited...version of a sprint, I managed to nip him just at the line. (Mile 26: 6:08 - those turns really took it out of me!, 26.2: 1:10. Final time: 2:34:03. Previous best: 2:36:52). A great way to cap the my best marathon so far, with an unprecedented (for me) successful sprint finish. I was stumbling around the finish area when PJ finished a few minutes later in 2:40, checking in himself with a huge 9 minute PR.

A big thanks to Alan for being the architect of my training plan, riding support on so many workouts, and generally fulfilling his role as our group's Yoda. Also, a big thanks to PJ, who pushed me in every hard workout this cycle. Looking forward to a big fall season training with Geoff, Chris, Brian, Richard, Sarah, Christine, and the rest of the Dojo crew. Look forward to seeing new members and injured members make their (re)appearance as we prepare for Philadelphia!

Grandma's results

PJ takes a quantum leap in his marathon performance, with a 9 MINUTE
personal best at 2:40. PJ has been running seriously for only 2 to 3
years, and is already running some legit times.

For me, I went into this race with some serious trepidation given I
felt a cold coming on the past 3 days. Conditions were fantastic,
however, and I ran a 2:34 flat. About a 2.5 minute personal best.

About to crash now

No stopping or standing!

Grandma's Marathon Après Le Deluge

Tomorrow is the moment of truth. Four months of spilling blood and
sweat on the streets of Hains Point. Four months of doing the workout
that helps you do the workout that helps you do the workout that helps
you do the workout that may possibly help you get five seconds faster
a mile. All for 2.5 hours in Duluth, Minnesota.

PJ and I scouted the course today. Weather conditions are favorable,
with temps expected to be in the 50s, with a fair tailwind, and
possible rain. The course also looks great, gently rolling.

Buses board at 5:30 tomorrow.

Farah and Brian have made it to california!

Brian and Farah have passed the 1000 mile mark on the west coast bike trip!

Lawyers Halve Heart

Someone should do a race report, and it should mention the following facts:

 

1) The race was shortened to a 5K due to the heat, even though many of us can remember running it as a 10K in much hotter weather.  So our litigation-wary culture loses 5K multiplied by countless lawyers' legs to skittishness.

 

2) The Covington team, even without Geoff (and it could easily have included Geoff if we had allowed registration by frequent users of the firm locker room, or if Geoff had merely agreed to run as my date), was the massive overall winner of the team competition this year, and will win the grand team prize of a laminated piece of paper.  A far cry from the days when a charity fundraising race could give out a $5,000 grandfather's clock to a mega-law firm. Our average time for the four top runners was 17:18, and the next ranked team was 19 minutes flat.   Admittedly, that did include an 18:27 from "Anne Feldman," a person who is unknown to any of us, but even if you include the well-known Sarah Burnham's extremely good 19:42, we would have won by a handy margin with a 17:37 average and would have had an all-Dojo or at least all-Dojo-and-Dojo-in-law scoring quartet.  (With the hypothetical Geoff and the possibly-hypothetical Ms. Feldman we would have averaged 16:49.)

 

3) The following signicant times were run by Dojo members and honorary members:

 

Dave Burnham -- 15:34 (5:01 pace), fifth place overall and first in whatever "age group" you are in when you are 27, and just one second off of my self-timed world age-group record, set just two weeks ago on the Alter-G.  The idea that someone can do that not suspended by a big air bubble is amazing.

 

Pru (kind of like Pre) -- 16:09, 9th place, second in that same age group, first lawyer overall.

 

King Geoff -- 17:05, 12th place, damn good for thinking minutes before the race that he was gearing up for a 10K.

 

Sarah Burnham -- 19:42, PR (at least post-college), second Burnham, fifth lawyer.  That 6:21 pace is very fine, since her optimistic training pace for 10K was 6:30.

 

Pemberton -- 19:05, who pronounced it a decent fourth run since getting off the bike, out of the pool and away from the gravity-sheltered confines of the Alter-G.  A distant second in the age group, but at least no injuries -- yet.

 

Reeves Westbrook -- 23:28, third in his age group (behind two 60+ year olds who beat Pemberton), looking good and finishing strong.

 

If I had a picture of a person eating blubber, or a bridge, I would post it here, but lacking those things, I will stop

Iceland Sunday Update

Our final full day in Iceland...

• 65 min easy in the AM
• Noon soak in the Blue Lagoon, complete with silica mud mask
• Sampled one of Iceland's best known hot dog stands (a very popular treat hereabouts)
• International handball match between Iceland and Austria, among 3000 screaming and clapping Icelanders (Iceland won, 43 to 29) (see below)
• Tour of Harpa, a new concert hall/convention center in town.

Carbo-depleting starts tomorrow. Because of the travel schedule, my plan is to do the kickoff workout late tonight after dinner. Plan to eat lots of peanuts on the plane...

Iceland Update

Joined a local running club for a 17 mile long run this morning. We left from the World Class gym in Reykyavik and ran to the course of a 100 km ultra that was occurring over a 5km stretch of trail. Runners ran out 5km, back 5km, out, back, over and over again. It also so happened that the organizers put the race on the windiest stretch in the entire city, according to the folks I was running with. Throw in rain, 45 degree temps, and you have a tough race. Most impressive part was that there were 20 racers in the 100km race...out of a city with a population of 300,000. That is a pretty high rate of ultra-ing.

Afterwards, my running buddies snuck me into their gym (evading a retinal scanner in the process). The gym was incredible, with full sauna facilities and a huge field of treadmills.

This afternoon, we are walking around downtown touring the historic buildings such as the city's cathedral (see below) and doing some shopping. Tomorrow: the blue lagoon and the international handball match between Iceland and Austria.

Eating Whale Kabob Part 2

I, on the other hand, thought it was a dense and efficient source of protein.

Eating whale kabob part 1

Picture is self narrative

Iceland Update

Another cool, windy day in Iceland. Heard about the heat wave across the US, hope it breaks in time for Grandma's...

Today's slate of events:
• 60 min easy around the town of Heimaey in the Westman Islands.
• Explored homes covered by a 1973 volcanic eruption
• Ferry ride to mainland Iceland
• Visited Selfoss (huge waterfall north of Reykjavik)
• Visited Geysir (see below)
• toured the site of the first parliament in Thingfeller
• dinner in Reykjavik (whale, monkfish, shrimp, and vegetables, all on a stick)

Scheduled to do a little trail running with the Iceland Running Club tomorrow morning, and then some sightseeing around town.

Brian and Farah's bike trip - (the other) Washington! - a summary

Whoa! Washington was awesome (though not quite as bike friendly as B.C...). We came back into the U.S. via San Juan island - highly acclaimed as one of the best places to bike in the world. Though it did not make the very top of our list we can see why people love it. The San Juan islands are beautiful, small enough to do a weekend loop and very accessible by ferry. If that wasn't enough there was a bizzarly beautiful mausoleum / free mason shrine in the woods. Definitely the highlight though was the picturesque campsite - with a beautiful sunset overlooking the water and orca whales in the distance.

From San Juan we took a ferry to Anacortes on Fidalgo island and were soon greeted by possibly the most amazing view yet on the trip - Deception Pass whose bridge then took us to Whidbey. From our guide book or other travelers we were alerted in advance to most of the spectacular views, but this overlook of the Skagit Bay (Puget Sound) and the Strait of Juan de Fuca surrounded by state forests really took us by surprise.

We crossed over to the mainland by ferry from Whidbey Island (Coupeville) to Port Townsend. Port Townsend was super-cute and people were incredibly nice - one woman even offered us a place to stay for the night. We appreciated the volunteer-run community coffee shop and the Better Living through Coffee shop and just generally that Washington shares our love of coffee! We definitely took advantage of quite a few of the bike-in (ok, or drive-in) espresso stands along the sides of the roads. Anyhow, we pressed on from the cute town and stayed in Old Fort Townsend State Park. We rolled up to a small grassy area in front of 2 port-o-potties and thought that was the area designated for hiker-bikers... then Brian spotted a trail into the woods and we found a lovely circular clearing in the forest where everything was covered in a beautiful green. After learning to ward off and fight cougars (stay on your feet) and agreeing that Brian would try deescalation if we encountered one and Farah would do the fighting we started a camp fire and settled in for the night.


The next day we headed to Seattle via the Bainbridge Island ferry. This was the first rainy day in Washington state and we ducked under the awning at a gas station to make our sandwiches and eat lunch. One of the typically friendly locals suggested that we change our route and head to the Bainbridge ferry instead of Bremerton - savings us time and hills! (thanks.) We arrived to Seattle with amazing views of the city, and snowy mountains above from the ferry and biked another 8 miles up the steep hills to Brian's Great-Aunt Rita and Uncle Jerry's. Rita and Jerry gave us an amazing tour of the city (we are going to have to send Jerry a porter cap and tip jar for his van) including Seattle's famous troll under the bridge, and hosted us in style - providing a hot tub, pool, great food and interesting stories - what more could the touring cyclist ask for?! They accompanied us all over - even to the punk, vegan diner. We also got to see Carol once again! She continued to give us great tips on excellent vegan eating along the Pacific coast. Unfortunately, we did not find Seattle to be very bike friendly - and it wasn't just the hills - bridges were slippery when wet (all the time in Seattle), drivers were aggressive and Brian was almost hit by a car - when riding in the bike lane - and then yelled at by a pedestrian for it.

We missed the ferry we wanted from Seattle and ended up with 40 miles to bike starting at 4 PM. The first (20!) miles were steep and harrowing - as we deviated from our guide book and used google maps (which has obviously never ridden a bike). The next 20 were beautiful though as we biked right along the coast of the Hood Canal. Heading to camp we rounded the canal and met the 101 (the main route for biking down the coast) for the first time since B.C. - ironically, though, it was to head north (though just for 1.5 miles). We ended at the Potlach State Forest and were greeted by 3 or 4 other groups of touring cyclists. This was the first time we met more than a couple other cyclists. At least some of them were using the same guidebook and we swapped stories and plans.

Potlatch to Twin Harbor State Park - an 80 mile bike day! We cruised in the morning with the wind to our backs. Topping over 20 MPH going up hill! By lunchtime we had biked close to 50 miles and then.... the flats started. Just after lunch, Brian's tube was punctured by a nail - in places! After finally putting on the 3rd patch, the tube exploded, thanks to a nice man's defective floor pump! All fixed up though we headed out on the road again - without the tail wind. 10 miles later we reached the 500 mile mark of our trip! As odds in Washington state would have it, right in front of a Starbucks. 10 miles later, Farah's tire was punctured! So, we have now proved the tire punctures happen, on average, every 500 miles. Yay, only 2 more flats each for the rest of the trip!



From Twin Harbors we headed to the coast and had our first views of the Pacific Ocean. This was the first day that it was really challenging to find good food - even "Everybody's Super Supermarket" / diabetes center did not have much to offer us. We are convinced that the diabetes center drums up business through the poor offerings at the market. We did find some good greens to go with our bulk items we were carrying and ended up with a delicious gourmet dinner of black bean and quinoa soup with garlic collard greens. We camped near the beach in Bay Center.

Last day in Washington! We headed down the coast and visited Cape (not at all a) Disappointment State Park. We took a 7 mile loop through the park. The views were so amazing they distracted us from lunch for quite a while. We finally ate near North Head Lighthouse - most photographed lighthouse in Washington. We hiked through the rainforest and saw amazing huge trees and beautiful preserved coastline. We finished out the visit by flying down - and then up - the snaking, roller-coaster roads.



We left Washington and entered Oregon via the Astoria-Megler bridge - a 4.2 mile bridge with a serious climb in the last 3/4 of a mile. Washington was beautiful and, despite predictions, the weather was awesome. Thank you, other Washington.