Comments for myself

It has been a very long time since I posted anything to this account.  So long, in fact, that I had forgotten how to sign in and how to edit this blog.  Likely, noone bothers following this and the only person seeing what I write will be me, hence the title.

My running is much slower than in previous years and I am still struggling to come to grips with that.  Hard to accept that my body can no longer cash the checks that my mind still wants to write.  Just need to realize how fortunate I am to be able to do what I can.

Miss having daughter Kelsey around to run with, but need to stay fit for when she finally does get back to the US.  It will be interesting to see if she extends her trip next December or if she decides that she misses us as well and comes home.

Happy trails.

Still alive and planning a come back

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I am trying to pick up my running in spite of a right leg that refuses to operate properly at anything under about an 8:00 pace per mile. Bowing to peer pressure, I have signed up for my first triathlon. I am entered in the Lake Stevens 70.3 Half Ironman next July 15th. This should give me barely enough time to train for the swim. Reading all the great reports for Cascade Crest have convinced me that I need to return and run there again. In that spirit, I am posting my plan/events for this fall and next year:
September 2 - Loowit Trail with Maximum Bob. 33 miles total with ~7,500' of gain.
November 5 - Co Race Director for Ron Herzog 50k near Granite Falls
November 26 - Ghost of Seattle Half Marathon
December 18? - Dumb Ass run 2-3 loops
January 7? - Western Washington Fat Ass Run 25k
January 28 - Orcas Island 25k
March 3 - Invest in Youth Fund Run
March 17 - Chuckanut 50k -
April 22 - Mt Si Relay and Ultras - 50k or 50 mile
June 2 - Wenatchee Apple Century bike ride (tentative date)
July 15 - Lake Stevens 70.3 Half Iron - already entered and committed
July 28 - White River 50 mile trail run
August 25 - Cascade Crest 100 Mile run
By CCC, I should either be back in shape or completely broken down. The question is, can I beat my daughter Kelsey in the Half Ironman?

Limited running, lots of volleyball

It's been a while since I last posted, so I figured that I should at least make a small pretence of still being a blogger. I did manage to run the half marathon at the Ghost of Seattle and two laps at the Dumb Ass event, along with one loop at the Western Washingto Fat Ass. Last weekend found me carpooling to the Pigtails run where I managed to finish two laps in a respectable time. Not fast, but I was happy with the effort. The next morning my wife, youngest daughter Larisa, and I left the house at 5:30 to drive to Lari's second Powerleague volleyball tournament of the season. Her team was in the strongest flight of eight teams. They were ranked 8th out of 69 U14 teams, based on their performance at the first event. After a very long day of volleyball, they finished in fourth place. The team played tough and was in every game, scrapping for points. They actually led every game at some point, even those few that they couldn't hold on to win. Next up, Powerleague tourney #3 on February 6th. For my running, who knows.

Change of Seasons

Since most of my blogs have been about daughter Kelsey lately, I will continue the trend with this one. At the Trek Womens Triathlon on September 19th, Kelsey competed for the first time as an elite athlete. This meant that she got to start in the first wave. She crossed the finish line in second place, but ended up in fourth overall as two age group competitors finished with a lower total time. Nonetheless, it was a good race for Kelsey and she was happy with her time.

Cross country season is now underway and she is focused on that. I am trying to get back out on the trails some and increase my running mileage beyond 25 miles per month (yes, per month, not per week). Hope to see some familiar faces at the Ghost of Seattle and other runs through the end of the year.

Kesley kicks butt

Daughter Kelsey continues to impress and amaze me. In her first season of triathlons, she has placed first in her age group in every event and finished no worse than 5th for the women. Last Sunday was no exception. In the 2010 Seattle Danskin sprint triathlon, Kelsey competed with over 4,000 entrants and once again won the 20-24 age group. More impressively, she was third overall, beating all but one of the elite athletes. She started in the 25th heat and had to contend with 2,400 participants on the road in front of her. Kelsey took it out hard on the swim and picked up the pace on the bike. She looked for competition on the run to keep her motivated and was never passed. The funny part is she was disappointed by her run time.

August Update

Managed to finish STP respectably. Our time wasn't too fast, but it was better than last year and Kelsey was much stronger when she finished than last year. We got picked up and driven home than night, arriving at the house about 12:30 Sunday morning. After starting the day about 3:30 AM on Saturday, it made for a long day. Kelsey got up Sunday and left before 9:00 AM, headed to White Pass to volunteer as a counselor at the XC camp there. She ran all week on the trails with the campers and came home on Friday. Saturday morning we both ran the Aquafest 10k. She ran 44:06 and I ran 44:24. So she was tired and still beat the old man. Unfortunately, my right quad and hip did not work well and I had to walk a few times. Doesn't help the pace much.

Kelsey's rookie summer of triathlons continues to go well. She stepped up to the Olympic distance recently competing in the Whiskey Dick triathlon in Ellensburg. This is a tough event, with the swim (1 mile) in the Columbia River at Vantage. The bike portion climbs for 12 miles to Whiskey Dick Ridge and then is slightly down or flat on the next 16 miles into Ellensburg. As is often the case, the 16 miles were all into a solid headwind. The 10k run is in Ellensburg and Kelsey ended up with the fastest female time at 45:30. She was third female out of the water, but lost ground on the bike, ending up 5th female. Too much time lost to make it up, although she gained back over 4 minutes during the run on the winner. She was once again 1st in her age group.

Next up is Danskin this weekend. This will be a sprint distance, but will be MUCH larger than any event so far, with upwards of 3,500 participants. This will be her last event prior to XC season beginning at CWU. Looking at her times versus previous years times, I believe she has an excellent shot at the top 20; perhaps even top 10 with a strong race. We'll see on Sunday.

Likely no CCC

My motivation for running continues to be low and consequently so are my miles. Didn't run at all last week. I have been doing spin classes and trying to get in some bike rides in preparation for STP on July 17th. The weather has definitely not been cooperating there. Daughter Kelsey is doing extremely well in her sprint distance triathlons. She was fourth woman and first in her age group in her initial triathlon in Moses Lake. Two weeks later, she was 7th overall and first woman in another sprint triathlon, also at Moses Lake. She is signed up for a women only tri in Auburn on July 3rd, so it will be interesting to see how she does in a bit larger event. Now if she would just put the same effort into finding a job for the summer.