Back in Oregon

Biking around NYC visiting my sis before I move 3,000 miles away.

Massapequa Park Long Island Visiting Grandma. 95 years old and still spunky.

Its great living 30 minutes away from Eagle Creek. Tunnel Falls here.  

Tunnel Falls again.

Weekend trips to the coast.  Here at a brewery in Cape Kiwanda.

Weekend trips to Mt Hood.  Running the 14 mile Paradise Park loop.  Can you spot Mt Saint Helen's and Mt Adams

Love this waterfall stop on the way to Paradise Park.

Paradise Park.  Camping here is the best.

Prince Edward Island Canada.  Posted up in Dalvay By The Sea all week.  Very isolated.  Beach runs, bike rides and kayaking kept me sane.

Prince Edward Island ocean.  Beaches forever.  

Camping at Crater Lake.  The clear night allowed for a beautiful view of the Milky Way.  Next morning was snow.  The shroud stayed over the lake all day.  Lucky to snag this view in the very early morning.

Its a long run around the Rim. Up at 8,000 ft elevation.  33ish miles around via the road. Trail Running around Crater Lake.  Snow wind and ice made for brutal conditions.  But also allowed me to enjoy my favorite place with almost no other people around.

October 1st and first snow of Autumn.

After my long crazy days of adventure nothing hits the spot like a campfire.

Bend Oregon in Autumn

Asics Beat The Sun Racing Adventure in France

Asics Beat the Sun Race Day Highlights link

Climbing. Via Ferrata.

At the new Asics+Haglofs store in downtown Chamonix, France. Thanks to the generosity of Asics I will be putting both brands to the test for a while.

I think this was up in the Italian Alps here looking across to the Swiss Alps.  At the peak of our trail run/rock climb. My favorite view. This was to be Leg 7 of the race.

Daily press and strategic planning meetings with all teams.  Communications were crucial for such a complicated race event.  Asics did as good of a job as possible considering all the things that could go wrong. Everyone was super friendly and supportive. We all felt very lucky to be apart of such an incredible adventure.

The heart of downtown Chamonix, France where the home base was.  So many delicious restaurants and outdoors events.  This is truly an outdoors adventure mecca in the shadow of Mont Blanc. Hope I can get back for more adventures.

The second day included a long run up to the top of the mountain in France.  Most people take the train or bus up.. we are not most people ;).  Got up close and personal with the Swiss Alps here.

Lunch at a beautiful restaurant in the mountains with all the teams.  Met so many talented athletes.  It felt so good to be around other crazies like myself.  Here getting to know the European teams while recovering from the hard run up the mountain.

Getting a lesson on climate change where we see a photo of the glacier 10 years ago while the current status of the glacier looms behind.  The glacier is said to be completely gone in another 10 years. The Alps have been hit hard by climate change turning frequent ski areas into regular trail running and mountain biking areas.

Day 3 included running up to the peak of Leg 2 of the race route in Switzerland.  These views were constant all day. Pure heaven! As you can imagine it was hard not tripping over rocks while being in awe of the beauty around.  The run took us roughly 1800 vertical meters up the mountain, just 8000 meters distance.. that's STEEP! Some areas simply too steep to run. This was hands down my favorite trail run of all time.  And I got to do it with a bunch of awesome people too.

Day 4 was in Italy where we ran/walked/climbed to the top of that peak.. almost. We strapped up with climbing gear and helmets for this adventure.  The Petzl gear, needed for the climbs, was so lightweight and comfortable to run with I wouldn't of known I had it on if it wasn't for the clips rattling around.  This route was Leg 7 of the race and was unfortunately canceled during race day due to it being too dangerous because of wet weather.   It was special to do this at least during training.  The Via Ferrata was a once in a lifetime experience.  We ended up doing a brutal run/climb straight up the mountain for Leg 7 during the race instead.  I think it was 2200 meters of vertical over 7000 meters distance.. something insanely STEEP!

One of my favorite photos after making it to the top going up the via ferrata. 

Shared the experience with a bunch of people almost as crazy as me.  Each of us would race this Leg of the relay for our respective team.  We wore TomTom Bandit (go pro) cameras during training. So much great footage.  We had professional Asics mountain guides throughout all training.  And I think I need to find another line of work.. Pro mountain guide sounds like my cup of tea.

After days and days of running up mountains and meetings it was finally time to relax.  Day 5 included trying to catch up on the very little sleep I got over the entire time there, exploring the downtown, and photo sessions, press meetings and dinner time with the team.  Here I am with Megan Kimmel - Badass Asics trail runner, teammate, and won this event last year with Team Americas.

Ryan Hall and I representing Team Americas 1 and 2.  Ryan holds the unofficial American Marathon record.  Very privileged to get to know him and everyone else during this event.  After a long time away from running this was his first event back  running and start at more adventure-type racing. Hope to do another adventure race with him in the future.

Teams and Press mingling.  Dinner in a cabin nestled in the shadow of Mon Blanc.. can't beat that!

Nature's toughest challenge! This is the elevation map for the race.  I had the privilege of running the most steep ascents. I fared well on the climbs despite the big cycling legs I have to carry.. must be all the strength workouts and trail running I do on the regular and all the cycling repeats uphill. I thankfully got myself into a really good strength to weight ratio condition for this race.

DRONES! IT MUST BE RACE DAY. Here at the race start bright and early! Summer Solstice, longest day of the year. Only 15 1/2 hours to run around Mont Blanc before the sun sets under the mountains.  The complete race adventure was filmed and will be televised later this year.

Getting stir crazy and having fun with my training team while waiting for hours and hours for my Team Americas 1 teammate to come into to tag me to begin Leg 7.  The amount of international press was something.  USA reps needs to show up next year though!

With the race over it was time to get the party started!  Both Americas teams failed to beat the sun by roughly 50 minutes.  I killed it on my sections and I was ready to celebrate my race and let loose and have a good time in Chamonix.  Asics treated us like royalty the entire time and I feel grateful for them helping select me to race such an incredible event.  The people I met were amazing and the experience is one I will remember forever.

On to the next great adventure.. I am finally moving to OREGON (again), the land of ADVENTURE. More info about that coming up..

Selected to the Asics Beat the Sun Team Americas

First off, Thank you Thank you Thank you to everyone who voted for me.  I would not be going on this extreme adventure sponsored by Asics in Mont Blanc France if it wasn't for the nearly 10 thousand of you who voted for me.  So much love and support! I will do everything I can to ensure I represent and kick ass for Team America's.  

The Story -

Back in February I applied to a little race called Asics Beat the Sun.  The race requires you to traverse Mont Blanc (highest peak in the Swiss Alps) before the sun sets over the mountain.. roughly 15 1/2 hours to run 150 km. It takes place on the longest day of the year on June 21st. In addition, there would be other teams repping Asia, Europe, Africa.  The second goal after beating the sun is finishing as first team.  Though this race is all about a race against nature!  I loved that concept and it didn't hurt that Asics would sponsor me for everything.. travel, hotels, food, gear, etc.  Being the adventurer/thrill-seeker I am and wanting to race the toughest most difficult endurance races in the world I submitted the application thinking I would never in a million years be selected, but I might as well try.  Though I don't specialize in Ultra Trail Running (most all my training is for Ironman racing) I do have solid running race and ultra marathon results to put me in that elite amateur category.

And well whatdoya know, I was selected by Asics and their partners in early May as a semi-finalist. 52 semi-finalists in the world of 60,000 applicants were chosen.  To be selected as a member of the official team I would need to gather as many public votes (via the Asics website) as possible as well as prove to Asics and their partners I was worthy.  To my surprise, more than enough people chose to vote for me, thousands and thousands of people.  I was selected to the Team Americas (covering North America & South America) last week. 24 people in the world of the final 52 were chosen for this adventure with Asics.  I will be on a team of Professional runners including Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor among others as well as few other Amateur trail runners.

This is a massive event for Asics and the running community. There will be 50-­60 international journalists at ‘ASICS Beat The Sun’, ranging from broadcast media, national newspapers, core running titles and lifestyle media.  The entire event will broadcast live on the Asics website and other media outlets.

Home base will be in Chamonix France.  Chamonix is a trail runners paradise.  The 152 km run around Mont Blanc will take us through Italy and Switzerland as well.  For a more detailed explanation of this crazy race against Nature view the video from the 2014 and 2015 races. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJt7-XLWV50

Before being selected to the Team I was fortunate enough to train in the rugged mountains of Banff Calgary.  I punished myself running up and down the steepest routes I could find and trying to get a bit of exposure to altitude.  It took me a solid 10 days to recover from that training. I would have done the same exact training whether I was selected or not.. I do have triathlon races coming up this year.  2 weeks following that training I raced a short 2 hour Duathlon. I happened to win that race, though I had a terrible run off the bike, simply due to not training too much due to pulled calf muscle.  I was super lucky to finished that race without injury.  

So how do I prepare for this ultra trail race around one of the toughest most challenging ultra trail running courses in the world in effort to beat the sun.. I continue to do what I always do - TRAIN.  Asics basically gave me 3 weeks notice that I made the Team prior leaving to Chamonix, France. If I'm not fit enough now, I wont be that much fitter in 3 weeks.  I will do a bit less cycling, a bit less swimmin and more running than normal, but other than that I continue to swim, bike, run, strength train and stretch.  Cycling will be less power focused, swimming will need more kick drills and in order to put in more running mileage I'll need to start running in the morning as well as the afternoon or evening. The most significant change will be to my diet as I need to ensure I am as lean as possible to conquer the challenges of running around Mont Blanc.

More updates about this event to come.. GO Team Asics America's!!!

Catching Up On Life

Wow it has been a while! Things have been ultra busy with graduate school and living the college life. I am currently on Spring Break, and while all of my friends are visiting California for break I am tucking deep in to my 'triathlon training camp'.  But before I get into any triathlon talk I want to throw up some pictures and whatnot.

I finished another quarter with all A's and high Passes.  This quarter was extremely time consuming with: 

Bike Economy Studies, Reports, and Presentations

GHG Emission studies and calculations and reports and presentations on the future of Sustainable Electricity 

Writing my thesis paper on stormwater quality treatment at Hayward Field and the University

Programing software that simulates scenarios of what the future landscape will look like based on Climate Change Impacts and Planning Decisions.

Last but not least Leadership in Critical Conversations in the workplace (and life).

I had fun and really look forward to this coming quarter as it will be less intense, which will allow me time for other things (not partying ahaha).

THIS IS A PICTURE OF MY BACKYARD ON A CLEAR WINTER DAY. IT'S THE WILLAMETTE FOREST.  I DON'T GET TO GO INTO THE MOUNTAINS A LOT, BUT THAT WILL CHANGE AS SPRING AND SUMMER ARRIVE. SURROUNDING EUGENE ARE ROLLING MOUNTAINS AND OAK PRAIRIES.

I TRAVELED OUT TO MOUNT BACHELOR A COUPLE TIMES.  HERE I AM AT ONE OF THE PEAKS, OR AT LEAST THE HIGHEST PEAK AT BACHELOR.

SNOWBOARDING OUT IN OREGON IS INCREDIBLE.  I COULD LITERALLY STAY OUT HERE FOREVER. THE TWO PEAKS IN THE DISTANCE ARE APART OF THE 3 SISTERS MOUNTAINS.  I CAN'T WAIT TO HIKE THEM IN THE SUMMER!  BEND, OR IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE AND MY NUMBER ONE PICK TO MOVE TO IF I CAN FIND A JOB OUT THERE.  OUTDOOR REC IS CRAZY THERE, NOT TO MENTION THERE IS SOMETHING LIKE 16 LOCAL BREWERIES THERE.

THIS IS SAHALIE FALLS.  THE WATER THAT FEEDS THIS RUNS FROM THE 3 SISTERS MOUNTAINS.  WE GOT LUCKY AND GOT HERE ON A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY IN THE WINTER.  YOU CAN'T TELL BUT WE ARE STANDING ON 3-4 FEET OF SNOW.  LAVA ROCK SURROUNDS THE AREA.  THE WATER IS THE BLUEST YOU WILL EVER SEE. THE RAINBOWS ARE COOL TOO.

MORE OF SAHALIE FALLS.  IT IS IN THE WILLAMETTE FOREST. ITS ABOUT 90 MINUTES FROM ME IN EUEGENE.  ANOTHER GOOD SPOT RIGHT NEAR BY IS THE COUGAR HOT SPRINGS!

THIS IS TAMALITCH POOL, JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM SAHALIE FALLS.  ITS A GLACIAL POOL FED THROUGH WATER THAT TRAVELS IN LAVA TUBES AND FEEDS THE POOL FROM UNDER.  IN THE WINTER IT IS REALLY DEEP, THE WATER COLOR IS A BIT DARKER THAN USUAL.  THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL RIVER THAT IT DUMPS INTO. TO GET HERE YOU HIKE ALONGTHE RIVER FOR A COUPLE MILES.  I CAN'T WAIT TO VISIT IN THE SUMMER AND JUMP IN!

THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT CONCERTS THAT COME TO EUGENE.  THIS IS BONE THUGS N HARMONY. FIRST TIME SEEING ALL FIVE OF THE GUYS LIVE AND PROBABLY MY FAVORITE CONCERT EVER.  BUT I'VE BEEN TO MANY OTHERS LIKE IRATION, SOUND TRIBE SECTOR 9, EXCISION, MATISYAHU, AND NOT TO MENTION TECH N9NE IN A WEEK FOR MY BIRTHDAY!

SOME OF THE CRAZY KIDS I HANG OUT WITH.  WE HAVE ABOUT 5 BARS THAT WE REGULAR HERE IN EUGENE. LOCAL BEERS ARE ABUNDANT AND REALLY TASTY!

So on to Triathlon...

The hard truth is I haven't legitimately trained in 10-12 weeks.  The toll of the triathlon life was heavy.  Triathlon is a very very lonely sport.  Training to be a professional triathlete made me miss out on a lot of things in life like friends, love, and hanging out and just having a beer or eating a burrito (veggie) at 3am and sleeping in!  I needed to breakup with triathlon to enjoy life in other ways.. sometimes unhealthy ways but fun ways! All I did for 2 or 3 years was work and train and race.  Having said all that, I loved being in elite triathlon shape and the way it made me feel and being outside all the time.

The break from training so hard was needed though. All I could think about was training and I wouldn't let myself give time to important people like I should have adn I regret that.

Also, overuse injuries were building up.  My shoulder was a bit injured from overuse as I was sore from time to time after swimming, and my right foot was still giving me problems even after the shots I received.  My injuries started last May 2012 after winning the Half Ironman in Charlottseville.  My foot was not healing and it was causing other problems in my run stride.  I would come home from every long run with foot pain.  I raced through 70.3 World Championships over-trained, tired from travelling and hiking, no rest, no recovery, and just unprepaired.  I was in the best shape of my life going into World Championships, but I didn't rest my body enough to utilize that fitness.  Lesson learned!

Currently I am all healed with no injuries.  Rested is an understatement, obviously...

I did not exactly plan to dive deep into the college life as much as I did.  I didn't think graduate school would be so demanding of my time outside of class either.  There is a reason why there aren't many elite triathletes that go to school and race at the same time.  Also I am broke as a joke, triathlon is crazy expensive!  I finally joined the Triathlon Club here at UO a month ago.  The majority of the kids on the team have never actually done a triathlon. The club unfortunately doesn't offer much in regards to training partners. The team is not very competitive and the direction is not great and I have no time to fix the team or help coach. I also have no time to go to training meets either (I am hoping that changes this coming quarter).  But, nontheless I get great deals on races, like I get to race Wildflower on May 5th for free and travel is free, well free minus the steep club fees that cover things like uniforms and whatnot.  

I guess I just revealed that I am racing Wildflower.  How can I do this when I have gained 10+ pounds over the winter and haven't swam in 12 weeks? I am not exactly sure, but it involves focus, eating extremely healthy (no beer) , training my brains out, and pain and pain and more pain.  I started up training again the first day of Spring Break.  I am so out of shape!! This is all relative to the way I was in August-September 2012 at the peak of my condition. But I feel like I am starting all over. Especially in the pool.  I could barely swim 200 meters without getting tired my first day back.  And my stroke feels like shit.   I have been biking on the indoor machine in the UO rec center as well as running here and there, but nothing specific for a long while.  I am not completely starting over. But for the races coming up..

Racing Wildflower will be more about putting my ego aside and enjoying the experience of the historical race event.  Wildflower is the mecca of triathlon also known as the Woodstock of triathlon. Me and the team will be camping out there for a couple nights.  Also, my triathlon buddy tells me Long Course Duathlon Nationals  are at the end of April in Washington.  If I can get my ass in decent shape I will also race that.  

I can only train so much (my body can only handle so much training) and I cannot expect to get back into shape like I was in September over a month.  Oregon is an amazing place to train for triathlon and I will use the environment as motivation this coming spring and summer.  The sunny days have finally arrived after 3-4 months of darkness and rain.  My bikes are getting all tuned up and I cannot wait to explore my new environment for everything its worth (as long as I have time).  I hope to surround myself with people that love training as much as me by getting more involved with the Team and the Cycling Shops.  It all just requires time.  After three or so years of dedicating my time to work and triathlon, I now know I need a more balanced life and if that means I cannot be a professional triathlete one day then I am okay with that.  I need to balance classes, studying,  my relationship, spending time with friends, and triathlon all together to be happiest.  This is certainly not a rare conundrum I need to deal with as many athletes struggle with this balance.  I just hope I can stay motivated to get through the rough training ahead of me.. I know what I need to do, it's just a matter a making a few sacrifices to make it happen.

So much to do, so little time. This spring quarter is going to go by fast and I want to enjoy every minute of it before I graduate in the end of June!

Eugene EWEB Half Marathon

The EWEB Run To Stay Warm Half Marathon was the first race of mine in my new home, Eugene, OR. EWEB is the local energy provider here. All proceeds benefit EWEB's Customer Care Program to help income-eligible customers who are having difficulty paying their utility bills. Each year the Customer Care program helps thousands of families stay warm throughout the winter months.

Due to my personal lack of any real training I had no expectations of myself for this run. I have been able to bike once or twice a week as well as complete a long run once per week with additional treadmill runs at school. The University of Oregon gym is always calling my name to train and sometimes I get in there for some speedwork, but my time has been consumed by graduate school. In addition to the lack of training, I have not been completely healthy. Getting drinks at the bar with my new friends has become the norm, great for my social life, but terrible for my athletic life. I was hoping that this race, my first race since 70.3 World Championships, put me back on track and light the fire under me once again. The morning was a chilly 45 degrees and cloudy. I biked to the start from my house 2 miles away. Love that! The race started inside EWEBs abandoned property, currently under planning development, which houses an old steam plant in addition to toxic soils due to old energy practices. As part of my Urban Ecology Design class I am designing this 30 acre redevlopement property as well. My concept of a velodrome track site has been embraced, to my surprise, so I'll have to see how far I can take that and perhaps get EWEB to build a Velodrome on the property. But I am getting way off track here.. back to the race. I started the first mile or so with the leaders then fell in to a comfortable sustainable pace. I ran through the 6.5 mile mark in 39 minutes. By mile 10 I was starting to get anxious and wanted to find that finish line as I felt my legs might be running out of steam. After about mile 5 it was a very lonely race, and there was I time I questioned whether I was on the correct path. The course basically ran us along the Willamette River and over 3 bridges that crossed it. I was able to draw energy from the river. The portion of the river which runs through Eugene is breathtakingly beautiful. I lost a couple minutes on the back half of the race and finished in 1:21. Though it was nothing spectacular, I was very pleased with the result since I did this race on a whim to assess where my running fitness is at. Considering I am not it elite condition currently and I am easily 5 lbs heavier since I started school and the lack of any planned training, and the lack of rest, averaging a 6:10 min/mile pace for a Half Marathon is a good starting point for me this winter.

Eugene is known as Track Town USA and I think I held my own in this race. I think this race has re-motivated me to continue to push my abilities as an athlete and start training hard again. I got a lot of love from the local community wearing the Team Wheaties jacket and singlet.   People on the side were yelling "Go Wheaties!" That was fun.  I will probably sign up for another local running race that takes place mid December.

70.3 World Championship Race Report & West Coast Adventure Photos

 This report is way overdue, but better late than never..
(Additional Redwood Forest, Oregon Coast Pics at page bottom)

I don't have much time to explain the race so I will keep this short and sweet and provide a few pictures..
Pre Race
I got into Las Vegas 2 days before the race.  I had just spent a week driving across the country and hiking and exploring some amazing national parks as my previous post and dropbox pictures obviously portray.  Before I left VA I had a solid month of race preparation.  Only a month because I spent June-August dealing with a multitude of injuries.  My mindset coming into this race was just to enjoy it and experience one of the toughest race courses in the world.  I was not in race mode at all.. mostly due to the fact my head was still in Bryce Canyon and Arches NP but also that I knew I was not in super great race condition.  Dealing with everything listed in my previous blog really prevented me from training like I needed. But it is all good.  I did not even shave my legs for this race ;)

 The Swim
I felt comfortable the entire 1.2 mile swim in the Las Vegas Lake.  I found some feet to draft off of for a good half of it.  Upon looking at my swim split apparently I was too comfortable. I guess I drafted behind a relatively slower swimmer.  I was a good 4-5 minutes off my usual 29-30 minutes.  Transition from the swim to the bike was a good 600 meters.

The Bike
I'm not going to explain how hard this bike course was, but just say that there were no flat sections.. mostly all uphills into the mountains. It was crazy hot and the dry air killed me.  I pretty much gave up biking hard at mile 35.  Everything else after that was just finish mode.. easy training pace.  I was done trying to "race", I lost all motivation.  The bike course was beautiful! I would enjoy training on it more.

The Run
Did I mention it was 107 degrees out during this race.  Yes it was that hot.  Truthfully I think racing in 95 degrees and 100% humidity like in Virginia Beach is tougher, but its never easy racing in extreme heat.  There was zero shade on the run course.  Also many many long uphills on the run course.  I started the run with debilitating cramps in my quads I had to walk almost the entire first mile. Unfortunately I did not bring enough salt tablets to last me through the bike and through the run. I walked a decent amount the first 6 miles.  I was more than ready to just be done.  As I has said, I was just going through the motions.  Although I finally woke up around mile 10 and stayed at a 6ish mile pace till the end.  I crossed the line feeling like I had just had a good training day in tough conditions.  I was not tired like I had raced one of the toughest courses in the world.

Finished

 The End
 I was a bit disappointed with myself for racing so shitty, but I did have a 5 page list of excuses.  Mountainous hills and dry, hot conditions are not my thing.. yet.  I'll be back racing the World Championships in Vegas again.  I'll be prepared next time to actually race.  It was a fun experience and I met some good people.

Crater Lake!!!!!

Just another day swimming in a dormant volcano!!!!!!!

West Coast Sunsets!!!!!!

The wild and wonderful Oregon coast!!!!!!!!!!

Exploring deep in the Redwood Forest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Redwood Forest!!!!!!!!!!!

Massive Redwoods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pacific Coast Caves!!!!!!!!