Have 10 minutes? Watch these videos.

1. A hilarious set of short video-ads by Brooks: http://www.runningsuperfans.com/#/videos

(I wish the Super Running Fans were in my life....)

2. A short animation from Nike on the wonders of running: http://www.onwards.tv/

Thanks to Sam and Teresa for passing these on to me!

--Phylly

A Relay Well Done

As my blaring alarm awoke me from my peaceful sleep at 4:40 Sunday morning, all I could think was, why do races start so early? As a sprung out of bed (yes a spring was required to get up in the darkeness) and began to make breakfast and wake up, I began getting excited for the day ahead. Finally, it was here again. The Mt. Si Relay.

Last year, our Husky Running Club women's relay team won our age division, and this year we were returning to defend our title. Last year we won with an average split around 8:45 min/mi, and our fast team this year wasn't to concerned about being able to set a new record.

The sun began rising as we drove out to North Bend, WA. The nerves in me were beginning to build. I was running the first leg (and the 6th), and needed to start the team off right. By the time we got to the race start, it was light out and was the perfect temperature in the PNW: just warm enough for shorts, but not to cool to need gloves.

When the gun went off, the mass of runners and I left the high school to begin our epic (7 hour!!) journey on the trails in Snoqualamie.

I set in behind to guys and fell into the perfect rythm, enjoying the forest scenery around me. I knew I was near the front of the pack, but since its a small race, the group was pretty spread out. One of the guys was playing obnoxious music so loud in his headphones that I could here it from at least 7 feet away. The other, slightly older, had the same watch as me (Garmin 305) and as I was running, I really appreciated him turning off his beep-beep-beep-beep at ever mile, seeing as we were doing 8 miles together.

The transition came swifty, as I passed off to Caryn, and I took note of race numbers whose members started their second leg. The race for First had begun.

We looked up who was leading our category, the Running Divas, and dubbed them the green team. Also, Moms in Motion (in light pink) was leading the women's relays.

We couldn't have asked for a better race. After pasing the Running Divas around leg 5, we looked to Moms in Motion as our next target, making each of our second legs stronger than the first. Laury was the lucky runner to pass the Pink team on the 8th leg. As we looked towards the finish, we were excited to be leading the pack.

After the last transistion, we meandered over to the finish area to wait for Shannon to come into the shute, and snack on a few delicious bagels from Panera Bakery, after all, I had been telling everyone on the team about how delicious they were since the start of the race. As we stood there talking and enjoying hte sunshine, Moms in Motion appraoched us and said "Did all 5 of your runners run the right legs? We're curious how you guys ran so fast in the second half and passed us." We looked at them funny and replied that we had in fact ran our race fair in square.They continued to ask us about each of our split times, repeated that it was weird/curious/interesting that we all ran our second legs faster than the first. After the Moms walked away, having essentially accused us of cheating, someone mentioned that maybe we ran faster becuase we ere each about 20 years younger than them, so we could recover better in the 4 hours between our legs then they could.

Soon after, Shannon came into the finish, after I began the race, 7 hours and 2 minutes before then. As we recived our custom made first place tiles, we marveled in the fact that not only did we win our age category, but we also were the first women's team to finish. period.

I think the Moms wanted the honor of saying they were the first to finish, and were in fact faster than everyone not only older than them, but younger as well. Alas, our fast collegiate legs were able to out run them.

Happy Trails!

Soph

impromptu

Today I told myself I wouldn’t go for a run. But then the sun came out. My homework was arduous. I put on my 2140’s anyway and ran out the door. I headed out on the Burke Gilman toward Fremont, enjoying a leisurely pace and the ample people-watching opportunities. As I was crossing the Fremont bridge, about to make my loop around Lake Union, a mid-30’s man said to me, “I guess I just should have followed you! You know where you are going!” He had passed me earlier, then I had passed him, and he was re-passing me…presumably because he didn’t know where he was going. I directed him down to the path, but we had fallen in stride despite the fact that his pace was quite a bit faster than mine. We started talking about running, and upcoming races, and our favorite routes in Seattle. I mentioned the Mt. Si relay (which is tomorrow!), and he is training for the Eugene half-marathon. I found out that he’s an attorney in Belltown, so I asked him, “How did you figure out that you wanted to be an attorney?” He replied with, “I didn’t.” He explained that he had no clue what he wanted to do with life post-graduation, so he took the LSAT on a whim, since many of his friends were taking it. ‘Phew’, I thought, ‘even if I don’t know what I want to do with my life now, something will work out!’ Toward the end of the conversation, he thanked me for the chat. He said, "I usually get bored about 30 minutes into a run and want to be sipping coffee and reading the paper instead." He turned off around Valley St., and I continued along the Lake Union loop, returning to my original pace.
I smiled broadly as I ate my chocolate GU. People can be so nice! Or maybe, runners can be so nice…? He was just a random guy out for a run, and I was just another random runner to chat with. It was pleasant surprise.

-Camper

Sun Mountain 1/10/25/50k - Winthrop, WA

I was awakened Saturday morning by the sound of light snoring and a beam of sunlight in my face. I lay there groggily, wondering why the hell my ass was so cold, and it hit me: I'm camping with 7 other people in a stranger's backyard in the middle of Methow Valley. Allow me to explain:

About two months ago, we (the TechnoRunner crowd) ran the Orcas Island Fat Ass 25k/50k directed by James Varner. This race could not have been more beautiful or fun; sunny skies, a varied and heavily forested trail, and an amazing post-race bash with food, beer, and live music. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity to register for Varner's newest race in Wintrhop, WA--the Sun Mountain 1k/10/25k/50k--when I heard about it, knowing that it would not dissappoint. By the time I registered for the 25k, a few of our other trail running friends had also registered, and it was only a matter of time before the whole crew signed up together. In the end, we had 7 runners registered for the 25k and 1 for the 50k.

True to college-student fashion, we managed to completely procrastinate on finding accommodations in Winthop until the week before, leaving us scrounging for a place to stay in Wenatchee, a 2 hour drive from the start line. We finally opted to camp 20 minutes away from Winthrop instead and avoid the drive from Wenatchee on Saturday. Lucky for us, our last minute decision to camp somewhere in Winthrop worked out, as Varner himself heard of our predicament and offered us a space in his yard to pitch a tent (or three!)...thanks!!! The night was a drafty one, to say the least, but race-day morning arrived with sunshine and clear skies. After fueling up on bagels, peanut butter, pop tarts, and nutella, we piled into our cars and headed over to the start.

The 25k and 50k were slated to start at 8am, right after the 1k kids' dash (we suspect that the winner of that race had been doping....ha ha....), and we stood in the starting queue awaiting our directions. Few of us knew what route we'd be running; last minute changes had been made due to the residual snow on the mountain. We were told that we'd be running a figure-8 course, with 50k-ers running it 3x, and 25k-ers doing 1.5x. As the race began and the runners plowed onto the narrow trails, I sent a silent thanks to the trail volunteers who cleared the first parts of the trail for us, as there were portions of the ice/snow-compact that were at least 6 inches thick.

The terrain and landscape of the course was beautiful, with a lot of low shrubs and a desert-y feel. Many of the trails were horse trails, and there were some barbed wire fences and dusty horse corrals along the way. Overall, the hills on the course were not incredibly difficult --mostly short hills--barring one behemoth around mile 6. This course ended up feeling much more painful to me than Orcas, despite the faster time. I blame my choice of shoes (Asics GT 2120 trail), which were too small and caused my toes to cramp up. The others did much better, with Camper getting a second wind about 3 miles from the finish and rocking her way to the end.

All of us runners were pretty much tired out after the race (accolades and accomplishments among our number include a 1st and 6th 25k finish, 5 25k PRs, and 1 "take-it easy" (his words, not mine) 50k at 4:48:30), so we loafed about and munched on pizza and gummy candies for the rest of the day. The 5 hour drive back to Seattle was cramped, but entertaining. There is nothing quite as fun as skippin' town to go trail running with your friends...now I just want to know, when's our next one?!?


Keep hittin' the trails,
Phylly