For the second time, I rode in the Seattle-to-Portland (STP) Bike Ride. This is an enormous, organized group ride that traverses the 200+ miles separating these two awesome cities in the Pacific Northwest. Normally, I don’t blog about events that aren’t races or training camps, but I thought I’d capture my thoughts for the next time I have to do a really long ride in the middle of race season. I’ll try to keep the report brief and focus on my observations and tips at the end. Continue reading
Race Reports
USAT Duathlon National Championship (Bend, Oregon) – A Race Report and Lessons Learned
This wasn’t my greatest race result by a long shot, but it was the result that I deserved. As I mentioned in my last post, my body has been a house of cards this year. Maybe a teetering stack of Jenga blocks is a better metaphor with each race being like pulling out another supportive block from the bottom. Any way you look at it, I’m frail this year; one tiny mistake and everything comes toppling down. That happened in Avilés when my back went out and boy did it cost me. This time everything held up—consequently, Nationals were definitely easier and faster than Avilés even though it was at about 3,500 feet of altitude. But I was also definitely racing well within my already compromised limits.
I’m going to write this race report a little differently because I don’t want to focus as much on the actual race as much as what I’ve learned from doing the race and what I’m doing about it. Even though I’m not in ideal shape, I am excited and I have a plan. Also towards the end, I’ll mention some of the longer term challenges that affected both this race and Avilés—as well as what I’ve learned from going through this darker period. So let’s dig right in! Continue reading
Race Report: ITU Duathlon World Championship 2016 (Avilés, Spain)
This was the most improbable race! A week ago, I said I couldn’t do it. The night before the race, I said I couldn’t do it. And, entering T2, I said that I certainly couldn’t do it. Never in the 35+ years that I’ve been a competitive runner and cyclist– and in all the hundreds and hundreds of races that I’ve done– I have never faced so much doubt about my ability to do a race. Yet somehow it came together. It wasn’t pretty or gloriously fast, but it came together nonetheless. This race report won’t talk about all the amazingly cool things about the race—it will focus mostly on my injuries and how a World Championship somehow came together despite it all. Continue reading
Race Report: Mount Rainier Duathlon (Race 4 of 2016)
Here is my race report for the Mount Rainier Duathlon– a race I told myself I’d never do again. This time, it didn’t turn out so bad (3rd in my age group and 29th overall) but it sure hurt. Continue reading
Race Report: Spring Classic Duathlon (Race 3 of 2016)
This is a quick race report for the 2016 Spring Classic Duathlon in Portland, Oregon. Continue reading
Race Report: Spring into Action 5-K
I just got back from running another one of the monthly Magnuson Series races– the Spring into Action 5K. Here is my very short race report. Continue reading
Race Report: President’s Day Weekend Run 5-K
This morning, I ran my first race of the year– the President’s Day 5-K race in Magnuson Park. Not much to say– it was a slow, early season race that felt harder than it should have. Here’s the race report. Continue reading
2015 ITU Duathlon World Championship Race Report
This race report comes a bit late. On October 18, I had the privilege of racing for TeamUSA in the ITU Duathlon World Championship in Adelaide, Australia. As this was a race in the southern hemisphere, October was early summer for Australia but the end of my race season. This posed a few unusual race challenges. Here’s how it went down. Continue reading
Race Report: Washington State Time Trial Championship
For the past five years, I have raced the Washington State Time Trial championships and my results each year follow an odd up-and-down pattern that usually reflects my level of dedication in preparing for the race. This year was no exception as it was a down year. Here’s what happened.
Race Report: Duathlon Nationals 2015
For a few months now, my friend Mary Craig and I have been planning to race Duathlon Nationals in St. Paul, Minnesota. After a long flight in, we made it on Thursday and raced on Saturday. Here’s a race report. Continue reading
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