Waiting on the Bench

This week is turning out to be a bit frustrating in terms of my training schedule. I'm out of commission for a few days due to a cold.

My neighbor did brave a morning run with me on Tuesday which was great.

Hope to be back in the game soon. Does anyone have experience exercising while sick? Good or bad? Maybe I'll go for a short run to sweat this cold out...

Brick Workout with Family and a Long Run

The workouts this weekend helped me to feel ready for the upcoming year of events. Stacy, Gabe, (my sis- and bro- in laws) and I did a swim/run brick workout at the Shadow Cliffs Regional Park yesterday, in Pleasanton, CA as a rehearsal for the 22nd Annual Tri For Fun happening there on August 15th (my first of 30 events over the next year!).

The brick helped me to visualize and acclimate to the open water swim (my least favorite part of triathlons), and it was a lot of fun to exercise with the family. Shadow Cliffs seems like a great training ground for more triathlons in the future.

Today's workout marked the second-longest distance I've run continuously: 12.8 miles! The highlights: listening to a couple of Santana albums, feeling in the zone on several occasions during the run, a high-five with another runner at the lake doing multiple laps, shouting "Go Hawks" and experiencing a knowing look of University of Iowa pride from a runner wearing an Iowa Hawkeyes t-shirt, and checking off another great run in preparation for the Portland Marathon in October.

Here's how the schedule of events is shaping up so far. I don't yet have 30 events on the calendar. Send me ideas for more events and sign up for some with me.

Year 30 Events:

Event Date Time Type of Event Fees Location of Event Distance Reg? 22nd Annual Tri For Fun 8/15/2009 7:00 a.m. Triathlon $59.96 Shadow Cliffs Regional Park; 2500 Stanley Boulevard; Pleasanton, CA 400 yard swim / 11 mile bike / 3.1 mile run yes . Time Is On Your Side 10K 8/23/2009 9:00 a.m. Run $8 Lake Merritt, Sailboat House, 568 Bellevue Ave.; Oakland, CA 10K no . Windmill 10K 8/30/2009 9:00 a.m. Run $5 Golden Gate Park; San Francisco, CA 10K no . Redwood Park Trail Run 9/5/2009 8:30 a.m. Run $35 Redwood Regional Park; Oakland, CA 20K no . Lazarex Cancer Foundation Hope in Motion Half Marathon 9/13/2009 8:00 a.m. Run $50 Lake Merritt; Oakland, CA Half Marathon no . 2009 East Bay Start! Heart Walk 9/20/2009 Walk $0 Danville Livery and Mercantile; Danville, CA yes . Portland Marathon 10/4/2009 7:00 a.m. Run $100 Downtown Portland, OR 26.2 miles yes . East Bay Front Runners Pride Run & Walk 10/10/2009 9:00 a.m. Run $20 Lakeside Park, Lake Merritt, Downtown Oakland 10K no . Rocky Ridge Trail Half Marathon 10/24/2009 8:30 a.m. Run $49 Las Trampas Regional Park; San Ramon, CA Half Marathon no . US Half Marathon 11/1/2009 7:00 a.m. Run $60 Aquatic Park & Muni Pier; San Francisco, CA 13.1 miles no . Mermaid San Francisco Run 11/14/2009 8:00 a.m. Run $50 Crissy Field - East Beach; San Francisco, CA 10K no

Pleased to support Students Run Oakland

Well, the early morning runs are taking a bit of extra mental toughness because I'm not a morning person and usually prefer to run in the afternoon. Today's run was easier than my first morning run attempt yesterday, so hope the pattern continues.

Although I'm not too excited at this point to rewire my brain and schedule for morning runs, I'm very happy that I've found a great main cause to support over the next year.

Students Run Oakland is a fantastic local program for youth that provides structured physical fitness training, mentoring, and nutrition education. They do this while training for the LA Marathon.

I've set up a giving campaign on active.com to raise money for Students Run Oakland, and hope to raise $6,000 during my year of 30 events. Help support a great cause: http://www.active.com/donate/year30events

Ran before work today against all odds (although hit snooze a few times still)

Running, Rowing, and Roasting

In the last week I've heard a few people mention books by Hal Higdon on marathon training, and I don't have a lot of time left for the Portland Marathon on October 4th. Melanie found a link to a marathon training schedule that I'm now using, from Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Guide. According to the guide, I needed to run 9 miles today. So we packed up the jogging stroller and went to the lake this afternoon.

By the 8.5 mile mark I ran out of water and the heat/sun was starting to wear me out, so I walked the last .5 miles and called it a day. Mel and Finn made a couple of laps around the lake too, and were watching all of the boats in the 2009 United States Rowing Association Southwest Masters Regionals.

Music of the day: "Rubber Soul," by the Beatles and the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

Headed out for a 9 mile run at Lake Merritt w/ the fam

Taking Turns

Mel went out for a run around the lake today while Finn and I were still sleeping. After sleeping in, breakfast, and a bit of coffee, it was my turn to run. The weather was cool and overcast-- just right for a longer weekend run (7.1 miles today).

Highlights of today's run: listening to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (great, laid-back music for a longer moderate run), running by the Grand Lake Farmer's Market with all of the good smells and sights, trying out my new Under Armour compression shorts from REI, running with the seemingly hundreds of Oakland residents around the lake, and getting back to a decent pace at this distance.

Listen to "Angel Band," by The Stanley Brothers, from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

Headed out for a seven-miler

Gagged by a Gaggle of Gnats

Went out for a run without a destination in mind today, and cut through Dimond Park to run down one of the Dimond Canyon Hiking Trails. My efforts were temporarily thwarted by a gaggle (pack? pride? herd?) of gnarly gnats. As I ran along the scenic, shaded, cool trail, the gnats formed a moving cloud around my head. Making a 180 degree turn after about 1 minute of this attack, I decided to run through the better manicured neighborhoods of the Oakland hills, among the lavender bushes and bougainvilleas. Today's run: 5.5 miles. Does anyone have a good 3 month marathon training plan?

Lake Merritt is a great training ground

Lake Merritt in Oakland, California is the setting of many training runs and some of the events I'll participate in over the next year. It makes for a great running location due to the beautiful scenery, excellent weather conditions, lots of folks walking and running, it's flat, and one lap is 5k. Join me for a run there on some weekdays after work or on weekend mornings.

Doing the Tri for Fun in Pleasanton on Aug. 15 w/ Stacy!

Help me raise money for the American Heart Association. Will do the Heart Walk on Sun., Sept. 20. Find out more: http://heartwalk.kintera.org/eastbayca/year30events

Just set up my Blogger, Twitter, and Facebook accounts to receive mobile updates on my year30events progress.

Gearing Up

I'm turning 30 next month, and my wife issued a great challenge to me: to compete in 30 events during my 30th year. Sounds like fun to me! So I'm gearing up for the year ahead by starting this blog, building a race schedule, seeking sponsorships, updating my Twitter account, and looking for ideas to make this happen. Stay tuned and stay connected by clicking on any or all of the "Follow Me" social networking tools in the sidebar to track my progress.