Boulder Marathon.

Putting on a marathon is no easy task. A lot of people really came together to make it all possible. I worked for what feels like 4 days straight. It was the night before the race that was the most brutal. Building the finish line at 2 am so that we could put out mile markers at 4 am. I had to make sure that all of the aid stations were fully stocked by the time that the runners got there. I hate being on the course when the race begins, but it was necessary this year. I have a lot of changes that I want to implement for the Spring Half Marathon that we will put on in March. Most of the changes will make my life easier, but the runners probably won't notice.
I drove a lot of different vehicles over the weekend. We had cargo vans, pickup trucks, 17' trucks, and 26' trucks. U-Haul execs must be bored. They put fun facts on the side of every big truck, but they also play the U-Haul version of "Where's Waldo?" All the big 26' trucks with the pictures have a hidden U-Haul guy somewhere in the picture. Here are a couple that I found.

Boulder Peak

Last weekend was the Boulder Peak Olympic distance triathlon.
Swim: 25 minutes
Bike: 1:18:22
Run 43:17

My bike still needs lots of work and I feel like it always will. The most exciting thing was that I hit a fox going about 35 mph down the back side of Olde Stage Rd. He jumped out right in front of me and I clipped his back end. My front wheel wobbled and I screamed as I wondered which side of my body was going to get the worst road rash. Things worked out and I didn't crash. I looked back and saw the fox lope across the road. Looks like we both made it! I was probably a bit more cautious after that than I would have liked to be.
Nearly at T2 three guys were riding side by side and a car was trying to pull out perpendicular to them. I passed them as the car nearly took us all out. One of the guys crashed into my rear wheel. We both stayed upright and almost doesn't count.
So a couple of close calls and I was happy to be out on the run. I ran hard and passed more people than passed me. My run kept me just under 7 minutes per mile and I am very happy with that. Today I rode my bike and I look forward to the 70.3 next month!

New job.

I am the race course manager for the 2010 Boulder Marathon. Come and run with us. BoulderMarathon.com

Run Rory Run.

I have signed up for the Bolder Boulder. My 5k time from the Summer Open last week qualified me for the fastest Bolder Boulder wave I have ever been in. At first I was nervous and considered starting in a slower group. Now I am excited and look forward to trying to keep up with the people in my wave. I ran 6:27s for 3 miles after swimming and biking last week. Hopefully, I can that pace for twice the distance on fresh legs.

I also signed up for my first ever fly fishing competition. I have no idea what to expect, but just realized that I don't have the equipment necessary that they require. I have a 9ft 5/6 weight (thanks Steve), but need a 9ft 5 weight. Here is more info about the fishing competition at the Teva Mountain Games. The idea is that you have to cast for accuracy and distance before you are allowed on the water to try and hook a fish. This weekend is the absolute mayhem of the Boulder Creek Festival. We took the dogs and felt like real Boulderites.

1st triathlon of the season.

After a week of injury and a week of illness, I am happy with my results from yesterday's Summer Open sprint triathlon.
I swam a 10:53 750 meter swim. I love wetsuits. I never got on anybody's feet. That was frustrating. I had a few strokes behind somebody, but then they would start breaststroking. Being out in no man's land feels inefficient.
After a quick (:52) T1, I was onto the bike. There were a ton of Triads and even one Triad SL. My 12.4 mile bike was completed in 32:32 for an average speed of 22.9 mph. For me that is pretty good, but compared to the rest of the field, it sucks. We are going to work on the bike for the upcoming season.
T2 (:41) went well and I took off quickly on the heels of some guy hauling ass for the first half mile. Realizing that pace was unsustainable, I settled into my own rhythm and tried to pick people off. The run felt good and I was happy with a 19:58 (6:27 pace) 5k.

I ended up 3rd in my age group out of 33 and 28th of the 353 total.
I am still not feeling 100% and it was difficult to pick up the pace at some points in the race. I had a blast none the less and got to play with the dogs in the lake after the race. Time for a busy day off now.

Like Jay-Z

What do the U.N., Donald Trump, and I have in common? We will all be in New York next week. Moj and I have been trying to plan what we want to do for our week on the East Coast. Looks like we will be eating a lot since we will be there during restaurant week. I will bring my running gear to run in Central Park. I practiced by running in South Boulder this morning. Time to take Lando for a walk!

Cold Blue.

A year ago I was complaining about sand flies at Nelson Lakes. It was an early New Years' Eve. This year, I am excited to have launched TropoDesignz.com and have a job. We headed up to Vail last weekend to work at a snowshoe race which was a lot of fun. We stayed in Silverthorne the night before. Thanks to my last job, we have accumulated some points to give us some free nights at the Quality Inn. We fished Saturday afternoon. I think that it was 8 degrees. It was amazing to see the fish active and rising in that freezing water.

I was surprised to actually catch something on a size 24 fly. (It is about the size of the tip of a pen.) Sunday, we got up early and worked at the race. They don't go fast, but apparently, they have fun snowshoeing.
I am not a fan of resolutions, but every time that I bike or run, I remember how much I like it. Getting paid soon may allow me to join the recreation center near our house. Then I can swim as well. Maybe it is time to pick races for 2010?!
It turns out that Santa is a Persian woman in New York! We got a check that is specifically to be used for the purchase of a KitchenAid. I am excited. One year ago while living out of my backpack, I never would have thought that I would have a KitchenAid!
And if you didn't receive a Christmas card, here is what they looked like:

Is it "blog worthy"?

Being the first day that I have no job, I wasn't sure what to do. There is always time to help out Mom. And there is always lots of work to do for the team. Ben kicked ass this weekend in Mexico and it looked like a fun race. I went for my 2nd run of the week trying to keep up with my offseason training. I am supposed to ride my bike 4 times a week, but I am a wuss when it is cold out side. I hate being cold

especially out riding my bike and I am a couple hours from home. So the plan is o ride on trainers. But I don't have a trainer yet. Craig said that he would drop them off yesterday or today, but he hasn't. Now he has rescheduled for Friday. It looks like I will be riding outside tomorrow. I need to get out anyway because it is supposed to snow this weekend. Maybe that will actually force me to pay for a membership to the rec. center.

From right beside the library. Downtown Boulder.

The car search continues. The occasional fishing is always happening. I am starting to think that I should only write blogs when something exciting happens in my life. But I think that everything is exciting. I mean I love living in Boulder. It feels like cars come second to pedestrians and cyclists here. I can run for an hour and use the paths, tunnels, and trails only having to run across one road. The library is fantastic. And free. Despite the body odor smell from some of the homeless people that hang out in there, the place is amazing. There are great restaurants, coffee shops, climbing gyms, or anything else within bike riding or bus taking distance. I could be in school making Roomba PacMan with these guys:

Update.

This blog is usually about all the cool things that I do. I am still not sure why I keep writing things here. Maybe it is for my own records in the future. Maybe it is so my friends far away know what I am going through. I like reading other people's blogs so that I don't have to call them to see what they are doing. It feels like Facebook for adults. The egocentric part of me checks my Google Analytics to see if people actually read this.
This week has been pretty crazy. A couple of days fishing Cheesman Canyon with Ed resulted in  two huge rainbows for me. (But only one picture.) I rode my bike a couple of days and realized that I like riding my bike more than I thought. My mother went into the hospital with severe cramps and ended up having a hysterectomy and colostomy. She was released yesterday and things seem to be going well for the recovery.
In two days I will be finished with my contract with Endurance Sports Marketing. Then I can go out and find another job. I am really looking forward to next year. Actually I am really looking forward to today. Moj will be studying so I will have a Sunday to mess around. That is not unlike every other day. Yesterday, we looked at a car in Denver that we found form Craigslist. Piece of crap. It was good to see it because it seemed too good to be true. That search will continue.
The off season training plan is to swim twice a week, run twice a week, and ride my bike four times a week. The bike is my weakest so I want to spend more time in the saddle. Hopefully I will have a couple of trainers for the snowy days. I also need to get a membership somewhere with a pool.
Until next time my friends, life is good.

SOMA pictures.

Thanks to Red Rock Co. for putting on a great event! Thanks to Rudy Project for a great dinner this weekend. We bought our ski passes today. Now it is time for some winter activities! The resorts are opening and I am excited.

SOMA Half.

Swim 33:43
T1 1:06
Bike 2:38:10
T2 1:09
Run 1:47:12
Total 5:01:21

While I am happy with my overall result, I feel like I made a lot of mistakes.
The swim was the most brutal swim that I have ever been in. I was kicked, hit, punched, slapped, pushed, and everything else that could happen. That being said I think that I violated quite a few people as well. It was a swim start and all the guys under 30 were in the same wave. It was pretty aggressive. I made my way towards the front of the pack, but it did no good. I had to stop to fix my goggles a couple of time. That never happens. The women started a few minutes before us and we quickly caught them. Then I caught the group in front of them. A couple times I ran into some massive person that was sitting still treading water and trying not to panic. My wetsuit was rubbing on my neck. That also never happens, I must have put the strap in a funny position. Another rookie mistake. I am such an age grouper.
The first transition went well although I have still never tried the flying mount. Mounting my bike, I put my foot on top of my shoe and somehow pushed it off the pedal. I had to stop and put my shoe on like everyone else. Come on Rory, get it together! I took off pedaling and realized that I had no liquids. No water bottle, nothing. I knew that at mile 9 there was an aid station so I just hoped to make it there. The bike was 3 loops. I started pretty conservatively because I don't think that I have ridden 56 miles at one time this year. At the aid station, I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade. While trying to take a sip and thank the volunteers I somehow managed to squirt the Gatorade up my nose and into my eye. I guess I was squeezing the bottle really hard. I was very thirsty! The first bike loop was faster than I expected. The course was flat and we had a bit of cloud cover so the temperature was perfect. The second loop went well except for my penalty. The three lanes came together to one lane with no shoulders. A dozen people came together and as we tried to get in front of each other two guys in front started talking and going the same speed. There was no way to go forward, back, left or right. The ref pulled up and gave at least 8 of us either drafting or blocking penalties. We were all yelling at these two guys to move, but it was too late. Whatever. The bike ended well and I was excited for the run.
The run started well with the first mile a 7:04. Mile 2 was a 7:10. I was hoping to run 8 minute miles, so this was feeling good. I know that my last two half marathons that I ran were a 7:10 pace. Then it all slowly deteriorated. 8:00, 8:30, blah blah blah. The last four mile were hard. I was definitely shuffling. I think that people were cheering for me because I looked like I was hurting.
Overall, I am really stoked about the time though. 5:01 is almost 15 minutes better than my last half. Of course comparing Kona to Tempe isn't really fair. I will post pictures as I get them!

LA Triathlon.

I was able to race the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon presented by Herbalife. I should rephrase that. I participated in the race this weekend. Checking the results, I was not too disappointed. The only thing that I have to blame is my lack of fitness. My guess is that it might be a direct result of the lack of training. I did swim with Courtenay a couple of weeks ago, but apparently that didn’t carry over to this race. I felt like my arms weren’t pulling me through the water, but were just going through the motions. There was a little swell and plenty of people had some difficulty. I hate when people complain about conditions in the ocean. If you are scared, don’t enter a race in the ocean. Know what you are signing up for. There were plenty of lifeguards and I never felt like it was too dangerous. I was able to catch a couple of waves in at the end of the swim so that must have saved me about 4 seconds.
The bike wasn’t as exciting as I thought that it would be. I love racing in cities where everything is shut down. There were lots of volunteers, cops everywhere, and the plenty of people wondering what was going on when they woke up Sunday morning. We rode through Korea Town and ended near the Staples Center. My legs felt constantly tired and I am hoping that it was uphill most of the way. After all, we were heading away from the ocean. It looked pretty flat however.

The run was great. Except for one big hill. Up was bad, down was scary. I loved the run though. I never felt like I had any “pep” out there. I felt very flat the whole day. Like I was just going through the motions. I liked the run course because we got to run past a Disney building that I saw in the movie “The Soloist”. It was also fun because it was pretty close to an out and back and we did two loops. I like out and back courses. There is something that makes me happy when I know that I am on my way back. After the first half, everything seems easier, no matter what the distance is. I was glad that I got to do the race. We left LA a couple of days later and now I am sitting in the Honolulu airport. When I publish this, I plan on being on my lanai looking over the warm part of the Pacific thinking about how hectic this next week will be and how happy I am that I am not racing. I look forward to a full week with a few thousand friends.

Kirland and last WA races.

We are now in Los Angeles. The only thing nice that I have to say about it... well we are leaving in 3 days. I can't wait to a) get out of here b) go to Hawai'i. We drove for 3 days straight to get here, have been busting our butt at work and tomorrow I get to race the LA Tri.

This is from the sprint in Kirkland a couple of weeks ago. I was laughing with my new friend Cody. He used to be stationed on O'ahu so we got to talk about Hawai'i while racing. I think that it made me faster, but he still beat me. I like talking to people while racing. Sometimes they like it too.

The following week, I ran a half marathon. Here is the only (bad) picture that they took of me. I think that every race should have plenty of photographers and a coffee truck. I don't drink coffee, but they make a killing at every race where they show up.

Eating is good.

Being a guest at the Collins' house is amazing. Despite trying to eat everything that we can, they are still nice to us. There is amazing food and wine available whenever we want. Tonight's menu is set to include crab cakes on a bed of spinach with a white sauce and teriyaki short ribs for those of us that prefer not to dine on crustaceans and their ocean dwelling counterparts.

Just trying to get kicked out.

I raced in the Kirkland Triathlon this past weekend. Ben won and I was happy with my result. I will post pictures when I get them. Staying with Ben, I always jump on the opportunity to train with him. I am horrible at training on my own so having someone much better than me is motivating. Even if I don't see him for most of our runs. Today, the weather was in the mid 80's and sunny.
I was a little nervous when I opened a drawer and saw a container labeled "Carl's Gruel". I wish that there was a person named Carl here. Maybe even a dog. Either way, I wont complain about the food.

Almost there.

Thinking that we would be in Yosemite for a week, I started growing a beard that might help me fit in. Something scraggly, but not dirty. I did a dirty beard in the past.

Me with Rutger Beke with my dirty beard.

Now I am not in Yosemite, but I still have the beginning of my beard. Luckily, I still fit in here in Sonora. We were amazed (again) by the restaurant where we ate for lunch. This town has been a fantastic gastronomical gem. The people are small town people. Our waitress thought that Sonora (population 5,000) was a city. The town she grew up in has 200 people.

This is what we saw while getting lunch today.

Going for a run today, I saw lots of cigarettes, chew cans, and even spent shotgun shells. The trucks got bigger the further out of town I went, but I saw one other runner and I applauded the people that were protesting the was. That takes some guts in any small town in America. Today, the car repair place ordered us a new fuel pump. It is supposed to arrive this afternoon and they will fix it tomorrow. Then we can get camping! I am mostly excited for that because of all of the food that we bought at Costco. We have filet mignon, chips, salsa, salads, all kinds of stuff sitting in our cooler in the back of our van! At least the weather is getting better. It was over 90 for the last couple of days and has dropped down to a normal 70 degrees lately.

Going to the beach.

Tricia finished the Boston Marathon in 3:32! Awesome. I am trying to get serious about my half IM training. We bought new running shoes today. I got the Saucony Progrid Ride.  

I have worn the Mizuno Wave Riders forever, so this will be new. The bikes we have don't quite fit us. I am riding a medium triathlon bike which is a little too small for me or a large road bike which is a bit too big. 

I am hoping to receive a bike that is in between, but if not, I will have to get on my old bike for training and racing.

Stoked

Bree Wee has a great outlook on life. I read her blog often and I am constantly impressed by how humble this girl is while kicking some major butt. Trying to qualify for Kona IM twice, but not quite getting her slot, she just raced IM Kentucky. Just going there would be scary enough for me. This blog post of her inspired me, a lot. I signed up for the Buffalo Bicycle Classic (70 miles) and the Boulder Backroads Marathon (half marathon). I love to compete and it has been too long.
I recently got a shipment of my Bear Naked products. I was stoked to find out that there were over 3,000 applicants and only 100 athletes chosen. So far, the granola has exceeded my expectations. It gives me plenty of energy without any hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, or preservatives. The also outfitted me with a bunch of gear to wear while training and racing. Look out for pictures soon. Another great thing about Bear Naked is that they work with the National Arbor Day Foundation to help plant trees across the country. I like that.
I am currently reading Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods". It is about his hiking/camping trip across the Appalachian Trail. Inspiring.
Today I made peanut butter cookies with chocolates chunks after running 6.4 miles. Life is all about balance. Hopefully they will let me use the kitchen equipment at work to make pesto using basil from my garden.

Doe, Rey, Me

I came back from California this morning. After running some errands and sitting around waiting for the Olympics to start, I went out for a run, I love running beside Boulder Creek. When I came home, this big buck was sitting by my front door. I think that I was more scared than he was. Luckily, he stuck around long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few pictures.

 

Bolder Boulder race report

I just read this article claiming that political apathy is so high in Hawai'i, that city council members, the city prosecutor, and even the mayor have little or no opposition in the upcoming election. There are still eight weeks left to register for any of these positions, so if you are unhappy with the way things are going in Hawai'i, don't just complain, run for a position.

This morning was the Bolder Boulder. I have been hoping to run a 42 minute 10k. All the excuses started of why I couldn't hit that mark as soon as I opened my eyes. I woke up to light rain. I rode to the race start wearing sweatpants and a long sleeve tshirt. I locked my bike, stripped to my cool running outfit, and waited in line for the bathroom. 45 minutes later, my wave was getting ready to rock. I overheard a few different kinds of conversations including,

"Don't run on your toes, it isn't good for you"
"Oh my god, look how badly I need to wax my eyebrows"
"Yeah I noticed your eyebrows a few days ago"

I maneuvered my way to the front of my wave and when the gun went off, I took off sprinting, exactly what I shouldn't do. Most people in my wave were walking or running the first mile before walking the next five. I signed up late so I was put in the back half of the 52,000+ entrants. The first mile was fine, I hugged the side and there weren't too many people in my way.
We passed the middle aged belly dancers that had no business showing their stomachs during mile two. The roads started getting thinner and the crowds began squishing together. It was nearly impossible for me to put my head down and find a rhythm. I slacked off a couple of times making the excuse that I should slow down and just enjoy the run. That seemed like a waste of time though. There was a pretty good Elvis around mile 3.
The weather was good for running. It was overcast and about 15C (60F). Some people had a slip and slide set up and a few brave souls dared to take the challenge. One guy that I was catching up to, veered off the course, slid down the slip and slide into the mud puddle, got up and continued running. I gave him a high five and was glad not to be him for the next few wet cold miles as I kept going.
What I noticed throughout the run was the lack of enthusiasm by the spectators. Everyone stood on the side of the road, silent until they saw the person that they were waiting for. They would give a little cheer and then leave the race to go home. In Hawai'i people are cheering for everyone.
Mile four was spent zig-zagging in and out of thousands of runners and walkers. Some people like to wear costumes which is always fun. There are a few bands on the course and some of them are decent. The fun ones are the people that probably only sing in the shower, yet on Memorial Day in Boulder, they decide set up a microphone and belt out their favorite tunes in front of all of us. It is hard to laugh and run, but I always clap for them. I wouldn't do it.
I saw my Mom at about mile 5. She was the obnoxious lady screaming at everyone. Telling everyone that they are doing a great job (even if they weren't racing).
When I hit mile 6 I thought that I spent too much time avoiding people to do as well as I wanted. There was a short uphill that made most people slow down (myself included) and almost throw up. We ran into Folsom Field, University of Colorado's football field that holds over 50,000 people. As we were sprinting to the finish, there were a boy and girl about 15 years old dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They were pretty quick so I tried to catch them. As I came up behind them, I was shouting encouragement, "Let's go Turtles!" Unfortunately, the boy slipped going around a corner and the girl didn't look back, she picked up speed and made sure to beat him as he slid on his shell.
I finished the race, not knowing my time and went home to eat a big breakfast before work. After work, I came home and saw my time, 41:43.33! Woo hoo. A 6:44 pace makes me happy. I placed 893 out of the 52,000 entrants. Looks like I will need to break 40 minutes at my next 10K.
Pics will be posted when they are released.
Pau.

pogue ma thoin

I suppose yesterday was a very Irish day for me. I woke up and my name was still Rory ("Red King" in Irish). I went to my first real day at work, selling Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian food (ok not Irish). Then I got on a bus. This might seem like no big deal, but to me it was heaven. It was the first time I have been on a bus where people speak English. I never had a problem on buses in other countries,
but it makes it so much easier when you speak the language. The buses here are efficient, cheap, and reliable. After 12 hours on a bus in South America, or trying not to get ripped off in Vietnam, this one hour jaunt to Denver barely gave me time to rest before going running.
I met up with a couple of new friends and we joined the Irish Snug Runners. This seemed too good to be true. It was an Irish pub that hosted a free run. With free pasta and salad after the run. And free t-shirts when you complete 10 runs. No catch. It was fun to see our table of sweaty runners in tiny shorts hanging out in an Irish pub.
Speaking of tiny shorts, I know that the anticipation has been killing a few of you, so let me thank Bree one more time for telling me about Splish.com. Although these are not custom made, I couldn't let them go by. I think that you will agree, this completes my Irish day. I am off to the pool.