NIRCA Regional Champs

I did a club running race in Harrisonburg last weekend. It was a pretty hilly course, right next to some mountains in a town called Penn Laird. Awesome place.

At the start I ran pretty hard trying to stay close to the front, and I got in a group of three a couple hundred meters ahead of the main pack. We slowed down a lot though after 5k, and a few Clemson and UVA guys came up and went right to the front. I tried to stay with them, and did for about a mile, but I started cramping at the start of the last mile, and pretty just hoped not to get caught by anyone.

4th place with a time of 27:11, pretty dissapointed with this one, I was running really solid until that last mile, and I would have liked to see this time in the 26:'s

Good news is I've found some more XC races!

After the Hokie Open next week, depending on school I really want to go to Richmond for the Ntelos 8K Nov 14, then instead of same lame Turkey Trot, I'm going to the Footlocker South Regional on November 28 in Charlotte, NC. This is a big race, I'm hyped.

New Schedule

I had a solid plan mapped out for the fall, but unfortunately after a week off from sickness, I've had to adjust some things. Last week I overtrained a little, and then went to a show full of hipsters (not known for having strong immune systems, no body fat, too much coffee and cigarettes, no sleep), and the next morning I wake up and I'm wiped out.

Haven't felt that bad in a long time, felt like I had just gotten out of a dentist appointment, totally drugged up.

So a week later I'm feeling ok, but I won't be racing this weekend, and I've changed the schedule to extend the season a little since I lost a pretty important week.

Oct. 24 JMU Invitational 8k

Nov. 6 Hokie Open 6k

Nov. 26 UofR Turkey Day Race

After Turkey Day I'll start training for the 2010 triathlon season. My goal is to win the Virginia Triathlon Series which starts in April and go's through October. In preparation for summer racing I'll do some local running races and some early season bike races with the VT team.

BTW in running news, have you heard Ritz broke the American 10mile record in TRAINING.

http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2009/09/dathan_ritzenhein_runs_faster.html

I'm on record as saying he will be a better marathoner when his career is over than Ryan Hall, believe it

watch him move, it's so cool

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

he races tmw in half marathon champs.

Too Good to be True

Thom Yorke's new sideproject! AND Flea's in the band!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/arts/music/06yorke.html?_r=1

check it.

Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational

7.6k on the VT xc course. Really beautiful night, lot's of sun, and temperatures around 70's. I got to the race on my mountain bike and started to warm up.

After 30 minutes of warm up I was putting on my road flats, feeling very unsure of where I was at fitness wise. I've only been training for two weeks, the training has been consistent, but I've done just three workouts so I wasn't sure where I'd be.

I started on the far side with all the unattached runners. Right behind the guy who would eventually win the race. VT xc started on the complete opposite side, (the better side) and at the gun ran hard to take the first turn on the inside, by that time I was already at the back of the field, but the pace was pretty easy, I came through the first mile in 5:23, and I felt good. I started to make some moves, and attack as many people as I could and I was able to move up a lot during the second half of the race. Finished 46/94, at 25:53. Here's the results.

.

XC runners seem to race a lot differently than triathletes. Most of the running I watch is ITU triathlon, where guys run in packs, surge, and attack eachother constantly. I don't have any experience in xc running so I emulated the ITU style of running. All the XC guys seemed just run hard and steady the entire time. This probably comes with experience of how to hold a threshold pace in a race, something I want to learn before I race the Ntelos 8k in Richmond.

For those who don't know about ITU check this out. My favorite triathlete Simon Whitfield, taking a win in the states.

Another bad ass race comes compliments of Alistair Brownlee at World Champs this year. An ultimate goal in sport for me would be to line up a Continental Cup/World Cup so it's cool to watch these.

Anyway fun night tonight, season should be good.

Rest Well.

home race

Thanks to Justin Morrison, triathlon club president and mtn bike stud I got to race the VT Home Race this weekend.

Saturday morning I woke up and rode down to the base of Old Farm for the uphill TT. Old Farm is about a mile and a half, and it has a few really steep and technical sections. I hungout in the B field waiting to go off and happy/nervous to be racing.

My effort was ok, and I came in at 8th place in the B's. I know I can climb better I just need to start working out. Ride down the mountain was fun, I pushed a few sections and took some risks. I like it.

That evening was the short track race around the cyclocross course. The B field got on the course as the sun was setting and it made for a really cool race. all the photos are from the short track thanks to Nick Shoemaker, here's his gallery.

I took a really good lesson from the race's that I'll need for some upcoming xc races. Attack the start. I need to be ready to go as hard as I can from the very beginning and try and hold that effort. I wasn't aggressive at the start of the short track race and couldn't make up the time I lost soft pedaling on the first lap.

My next race is an 8k in a couple of weeks. So hyped, get to race with the xc team.

back in the game

back at school. new apartment. the semester is going ok so far, all the classes are good, i can ride to campus in a few minutes, and the the golf course and xc course are within about a mile run.

a few things are new:

Kyle and I are starting a band, for real this time, first practice tomorrow

I've been climbing a good amount, but nothing like this summer, I went to the rock gym in Christiansburg a couple times this week, and did pretty much all the problems I'm capable of, sadly it's nothing like Peak in Richmond and it gets boring. we compensated by making up games, like "Sasquatch" pick a bottom starting hold and a hold near the top of the cave, you have on foot to start and four holds to get to the top hold

it makes people climb like Sasquatch, all big moves, hand foot matching or no matching at all, i probably won't climb at the gym much more though, it just makes me miss Peak

i have a race schedule for the fall, all xc races with an 8k road race at the end of the xc season

Sept. 18 VT Alumni Invite 8k
October 11 Homecoming 5k
October 24 Southeast Regional Champs at JMU 8K
November 6 Hokie Open 6k ( YEAH BABY)
November 14 Suntrust 8k in RVA

all my training is geared toward 5k, and the volume is pretty low cuz of school so I'll see where I turn out in some of the longer races, probably do some cross training for endurance

mtb race this weekend EVERYONE is doing it, seriously

project

A few summers ago I put up a tag that I'd sketch all over my school notebooks on my wall. It's a peach color, because that's the only color I had available, and once I finished I wanted to out some color around it to highlight it but I let it just sit, as I was never sure what to use.

Last week I had the idea to add to it using a design I painted on a table in my apartment in Shenandoah last year. It's all these arrows spilling from the left side of the table and splitting

into these smaller things. On the table the arrows were black, and I wanted to put some lime green around them, to accent it. I've thought about putting something like this on the wall of my room in my apartment this year so I'm using my wall as a kinda rough copy. I'm going to put this design next to the tag I have. So far I've cleaned it, and sketched it in pencil on the wall, and the proportions look fine.

Here's a detail of some of the pencil lines on the right side of the wall. I wanted to get the whole thing, but when I step back the lines are to faint for the camera to pick the markings up.

Or I have a bunch of chalkboard paint maybe we'll just paint the entire kitchen black and tag it up like that?

James River Park

Philip and I explored some boulders at James River Park close to our house. We found a few fun lines. Nothing that hard.


































I've gone to Manchester Wall the last couple of evenings and done a lot of traversing all in hopes of sending the Morman's Boulders "Ring of Fire" travese in Charlottesville on my way back to school. I've read it's rated 5.11, so it should be doable. On my way home from school after the spring semester I stopped at these boulders, they're right on the Morman River, and the traverse is a filled with big athletic moves to jugs and pockets, the sort of climbing thats really fun to me.

I'll be there in less than a week. Here are some photos from James River Park, and of course that afternoon's lunch. Solid day.

Here We Go

I was at the river the other night and there was a lot of fog and mist.

Really cool I had my camera and shot these, pretty straightforward, good colors.

Rest Well

Reminds me of that Regina Spektar song "Blue?" It has a few really neat parts especially the second verse, like Amanda Rogers

Hey Cool

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/17/sports/cycling/20090718-tourfood-audioss/index.html

it's garmin's chef featured on nytimes audio slideshow

not cool, garmin chased down Hincapie this morning, what's the deal?

this is tight

my friend christian showed me this

River Day

done.done

Boogieburg tonight, my ears are ringing, i'm reminded of the Children of Men line.

"Y'know that ringing in your ears? That 'eeeeeeeeee'? That's the sound of the ear cells dying, like their swan song. Once it's gone you'll never hear that frequency again. Enjoy it while it lasts."

neat line, meeting Coach Jim tomorrow morning for a coffee then getting out of town, Annuals show Saturday night, can't wait

Are You Serious?

Whats it Worth

I'm like this NY Times blog.

http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/dear-graduate/?em

I'm not graduating but some of the advice is helpful. I'm moving in too many different directions right now, playing too many different chords.

Rest Well.

SNAP Program in Blacksburg

I'm really into this project. All semester a group of four others and I have been working on promoting the Blacksburg Farmers' Market to those of lower income. The market has a goal of serving the entire Blacksburg community. Market managers see the market as a gathering space and a food source for the entire community. But after conducting a sample the Blacksburg Market found that those of lower income are underrepresented in market sales.

How can we attract low income shoppers to the market? By implementing a SNAP (the updated food stamps) program at the market. We gathered data on the demographics of Blacksburg to identify the number of low income households, and the number of SNAP benefit participants, and analyzed some of the other components of why the Blacksburg Market hasn't attracted low income shoppers. We then laid out an implementation model for the SNAP program in Blacksburg.

Our group spent a lot of time on this, and I think we met the expectations of the professor, Dr. Sonia Hirt, and Jenny Schawnke, the Market Director.

Excited to see where this gos in the next few seasons.

Man's Run

Man Run tonight!

5:30 chapel

What is it?

Rules of the man's run, as said by Chris Brown,

1. do not talk about man run
2. you do not talk about man run
3. and of course don't stop for cars

lost.in.the.same.places.

try listening to the requiem for a dream soundtrack while studying

and try not to feel like something is looming over you shoulder preparing to pull you into something a little strange

spinning out of control into abyss, is there a blackhole in my room

with the training, some things are falling into the right places, some things are not, speed is up, endurance is down, first race is a few weeks out

i added a picture of this mornings inspiration. really it's that simple. same thing for breakfast everyday. that's almond butter, on a cinnamon raisin english muffin. mmm.

whats happening

putting in solid training, RIDING the bike, and even building a new one, who knows what's going on

i posted so i could plug this race, benefits will go the the triathlon team, it's a "sustainable" race i'm quoting here:

Registration is $15 and includes a non-sweatshop made race shirt. Organic, local post-race food will be provided and look for composting and recycling stations. We have a recycled shoe drive, so bring your old running shoes and donate them (R-REUSE-R). Come out and support the VT Triathlon Team, Environmental Coalition and Green Team


Rest Well.

caught in the rain

the edge of the storm
stirs with thoughts, like the sky is wondering
which way to turn,

running through a blanket of rain,
splitting dreams with sweat and shivers
wet grass, and the gray evening light
oozing over tree branches

awesome run tonight, one of those nights you feel happy just to be outside enjoying it all, thanks for the day. and the soaked shoes

rest well.

Hmmm

Just found out Dave Eggers co wrote Where the Wild Things Are, the movie I talked about in my last post. And Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeah's (I don't listen to them) and Bradford Cox of Deerhunter (I do listen to them) wrote some of the score with help from someone from the Coen brothers camp. Should be good.

Tonight was tight. Good run, good music, and good laughs.

Off to sleep, not cuz I'm tired, I'm pretty sure I'm becoming nocturnal, but because I can't wait to wake up for breakfast, and a coffee.

"It really sets the tone for the day"

Next race/workout - 5k cross course Thursday night April 23rd, trainings going ok, this should be the last fun/workout race before the Carytown 10k in May.


Rest Well

WorthALook

I saw a preview for a movie based around the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are." I hoped whoever was directing it would do the story justice. I looked up some of the other work of the director, Spike Jonze.

In addition to film, he's done some cool music videos. I attached a few of them, you're never quite in reality in his work. Always slomotion, or backwards/reversed, and obviously the subject matter is abstract, so I guess he's the right man for a story like "Where the Wild Things Are."









When I was skateboarding I remember this clip from a skate video, just the coolest way to do an intro.

Rest Well.

its on

looking at SXSW photos. i come by datarock. i ain't hatin, but MY stunner shades lost all their appeal immediately













more datarock nonsense, and some photos/music from worthwhile bands at SXSW here

http://stereogum.com/archives/cat_photo.html

this is not an endorsement, i mean Norwegian pop c'mon, but i do think they're a good alternative to "barbie girl," get on it JZ

i'm compiling some dance music/remixes right now, best so far the Bloc Party mashups, here

Dance Well

InCheck

Ben Bernanke, CBS 60 Minutes at 7pm.

He's been saying the economy will be in recovery by next year. Wonder if his opinions changed? I've also heard him say that unemployment may be in the double digits this year. Right now its at 8.1%. I'd like to hear him talk about how he can stabilize the financial system. That seems to be place to start, banks lending.

UhHuh

home for break. exploring old places, feeling refreshed

a while back I read about Andrew Bird's album "Noble Beast," critics were loving it, (even though he seems to lack the ego that drives a lot of musicians, and feeds fans/critics) he is a really hard working, sincere guy so I paid attention, his music kinda reminded me of early rufus wainwright, cigarettes and chocolate milk/across the universe...ish? (relax if you just looked rufus wainwright up, I only have Poses, so stress I early)

anyway my interest was compounded when melanie mentioned Andrew Bird a few times, so I've taken a look at one of his songs "Oh No."

the BEST thing about this song isn't any instrument or piece of the song itself (though, yes the whistling is an 11), it's that the NY Times interviewed him about this song, a great look in a songwriter/musicians head,

http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/words-will-tell/

really I'm not that big a fan, but the music's good, and I needed something to write on to assure all that I'm still on the scene, do we have a blog scene?

best tip I've gotten from Andrew Bird is not being afraid to repeat lyrics in a song, I shared his fear that repeating yourself is unoriginal and dull, but it's really one of the tenets of pop music and music in general, no one wants to listen to a novel right?

Rest Well.

On Igloos

it's snowing now... I'm reading Reid Coolsaet's blog and thinking of making an igloo (take a look at his posts around early February)

I've only had the chance to do this once in my life, it was unforgettable.

I remember spending the evening in the igloo with friends. Shivering, sipping cocoa, and watching the snow take a red hue the color of sunset. Listening to the wind, muffled into a murmur by the hard packed walls of snow. We were too proud to go inside.

it's something fun to think about


Rest Well



BTW i was passing a friend on my way home tonight, and I see him lean down and begin making a snowball. in response, i do the same, hastily scooping wet snow into a snowball the size of grapefruit. by this time he's playing it cool walking towards me with his girlfriend

i think...do I try and catch him off guard, and throw early, do I desperately threaten to throw my snowball at the girlfriend unless he backs off, is there proper game theory for a snowball duel?

but as I'm about throw my snowball I see his girlfriend hand him another snowball! so what am I supposed to do now, he has twice the firepower! fortunately instincts took over, as he's cruising towards me I reach over to a car hood next to me, get a big handful of snow and throw it into the air right above him

the sucka looked up, and i planted a snowball right on him, simply awesome...till it came to me that this wasn't a gun fight, and i got a couple snowballs myself...too fun of a night

awkward

This evenings track workout was classic. I show up at the track and realize that there's an indoor meet in the field house. So ACC track and field athletes from what seemed like nearly every school in the conference are all down on the outdoor track warming up.

"Well, here we go"

I warm up on the xc course and then got on the track workout, tempo 800's with a 400 recovery, followed by a couple miles tempo. What's great about this is the fact that I'm storming by these ACC TRACKSTARS! Sprinters, distance runners, everybody was jogging around the track, and aside from the occasional striders no one was running. Except for that kid with the red hair(ME). Everybody kept looking at me, like who is this guy? Who does he run for? WHAT is he doing?

It felt like a sin passing the same distance guys over and over. But I stayed on it and had an ok workout. And it was all made better by watching the sprinters warmup. I took notes.

The Sprinter Warm Up:

1. Make sure you have every ridiculous piece of equipment on. Receivers gloves, bling, sunglasses (oh, it's 5:30pm), headphones, towel.

2. OK now just tip toe around for about 800m, follow these with a few 100m striders/sprints/skips

3. Feelin it? Good...DANCE! Dance with friends, dance with coach, dance alone, or with the FSU sprinters because the best dancers attract all the other dancers

4. Keep dancing until your event, you should be listening to krunk, remembering to shake it out as much as possible, and jumping straight into the air every so often

so dance skills=speed...just ask Usain Bolt...I couldn't be more jealous of fast twitch guys right now.


Rest Well

Im gonna

run fast this afternoon.

Finally a real track workout on the program, let's see what the legs can do, the turnover definitely isn't there, but it's a tempo like workout so it'll just be about strength

I'm also gonna find a cool steel frame and build it up, the weather's starting to turn around, I need something for riding to class.

Can anyone help me out with the bike? Something to buy, or should I be looking at Keirin Culture?

eh hem

swim.bike.run.

not. pulled an audible on the workouts today, big mistake, I'm going stir crazy right now

Been studying for this exam for too long. I'm sick of it.

I find solace in Stone Cold,

"the darkest part of the night, is just before you see the light." this line really isn't theirs, but they say it better than anyone else.


while I'm plugging, let me introduce Philip, or Big Red. he's working on a better name, any ideas? Not everyone can be blessed with the brilliance that is "backhand." EDIT: hmm... is alliteration contagious?, someones skills maybe rubbing off

...even Timbaland started small, and in Virginia Beach, who knew that?

Rest Well.

NPRatVT

NPR shows up for a scoop on a co-ed Pritchard Hall.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101062974&ft=1&f=2


"...because Pritchard is going to change!"

hahahaha...who is this?

BTW, that story about throwing a vending machine out a window is NOT "folklore." Ever wonder why there are no vending machines above the first floor!



We roll hard.

BlacksburgClassic

Blacksburg Classic 10 miler, 2^nd place on the day.

Number 517, (Billy?) and I were in 2,3 for the entire race. I was able to drop him in the last mile after a few surges on downhills, but I didn't make my move early enough to get to number one who came into the finish chute just before me. Tech Triathlon had a huge showing, making up five or so in the top ten or fifteen in both the men's and women's races.

Thanks for the sun, and the stories.

Rest Well.

TrackClub

Let's get this rollin!

This morning I was on the tready warming up for the swim, and a sophomore here at school named Aiden, approached me to talk running. He is starting a track club at VT, and is simply looking for people interested in competing, it sounded like the focus would be the cross country season next spring.

I have some family in Bloomington, Indiana, home of IU, and last time I was in town visiting I met up with a group of runners that pretty much did the exact same thing he's trying to pull off here. These guys/girls were part of the Indiana Track Club. The track club that has access to a lot of the university's varsity facilities, travels and races as a team, and has structured training throughout the year as a team.

The ITC has expanded to youth, and masters runners as well.

There are so many fast runners on the triathlon team, if we get together with Aiden's squad we could really make something good happen.

So if you're on the triathlon team, look for an email on the listserv from Aiden, if you're not, email me if you want some more info.

Rest Well.

Lame

No bands I'm interested in ever come to Blacksburg. Then the one time a DJ who's ok, and I'm kinda interested in books a show here, the ticket sales open while I'm stuck in a lecture, and are sold out within twenty five minutes.

We've got the lantern, but it hasn't brought any of the bands I want to hear. Living in Richmond is so much more interesting if your looking music/art/food, although the sports here are solid.
(UNC, Duke, FSU to round out the bball season, I'm praying to the lottery gods right now)

I've had a two week break from serious training, which meant I had a lot more time for hanging out, and while it's been fun, I realize that without training I would probably just be really bored living here. Looking for NEW stuff to do, is not easy, and frequently I just get sick of whatever scene I'm stuck in here.

I ran the Blacksburg classic ten mile course yesterday and put down some really solid times for the second half. As long as it's not windy/cold next weekend I think I can do something good.

Rest Well.

Subtle

Curling my moustache and hatching a plan...

Unfortunately JZ had a mechanical and had to finish with the B's, but I'm pretty sure he knows what I'm thinking about in the picture.




Maybe next year. jk

Owen Cup Pictures and Report

Owen Cup was Saturday.

Here's some pictures compliments of Matt Phillips.

http://picasaweb.google.com/labratmatt/OwenCup2009?pli=1&feat=directlink#

As for my ride it went pretty well. I rode pretty conservatively knowing the group was pretty strong and the course would take its tole on me. A few times during the first and second laps I thought about attacking, or bridging to some people up the road but I was feeling good and I wanted to keep it that way as long as possible. Just kept thinking about that last lap.

On the last lap the legs got heavy. I finally got kicked off the back right at the end of the last roller on Tabor before Sandy Ridge. Really should of held on until Sandy Ridge and tried to get some recovery, but that's a lesson for next year I guess.

The ride back on Blacksburg was windy and lonely. All I really wanted to do was take a nap. I got to the top of Harding took a deep breath and cruised through campus just enjoying the weather and then back to my place, I was seventh on the day.

Rest Well

ThereGoesMyHero

Canadian Rider Has Made Unorthodox Climb to the Top

Matthew Staver for The New York Times

By JULIET MACUR

Published: February 7, 2009

Here's the link to the NY Times article, I love it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/sports/othersports/08cycling.html?_r=2&ref=othersports

Rest Well

Pictures

Owen Cup was Saturday, awesome weekend catching up with people, and trading stories.

Here's some pictures compliments of Matt Phillips

http://picasaweb.google.com/labratmatt/OwenCup2009#

LiveFast

uhhh lots going on this week

I was in the library Wednesday night and in my path to collecting a book I found this huge collection of maps

all of them where of places on the east coast, but it was a huge collection with some of them dating in the early 1900's, it was neat to see downtown D.C., Richmond, and New York at that point in their development

I looked at them for almost an hour

Owen Cup's tomorrow, who feels like terring legs off? "theres beauty in the breakdown," that's a
Frou Frou lyric

I'm not really in a "killer" mood right now, I've made the good decesion to stay in tonight and I just wrote one the popiest songs for the band, I'll throw it at them when they get back

Rest Well.

The "Best" Way

I read an interview with Taylor Phinney recently. One insight he had really stuck with me.

On riding the pursuit in the Olympics, Taylor said, "it sucks so much and it’s so hard. It’s sort of like stabbing yourself in the legs and you have to figure out what the best way to stab yourself is."

It seems a lot of cycling is like that, you want to hide behind someone, keep your nose out of the wind, but if you're there to race, then inevitably you're there to hurt.

Here's the whole Velonews interview http://www.velonews.com/article/86485.

Awesome ride today, thanks for the laughs, and the sun.

Rest Well.

Photos

Finally got a hold of some pictures from the Hokie Open in the fall. I'm also going to hop in the Blacksburg 10 miler coming up in late February.

That one should hurt a little more than this race.


Rest Well

rock.and.roll.

I'm in a new band. Jim and Kyle both my roommates are in it too. Stay tuned for shows, probably at our place, maybe an open mike on campus.

We're still thinking of names, possibilities include backhand, deathstar, and blitzkreg.

This band will be for fun, small sets, small egos.

Rest Well.

Van Jones The Green Collar Economy

Just watched the CSPAN Q and A. Finished his book faster than anything I read over break, although I don't have Fox Soccer Net at school, and sadly I have to pay for the movies I rent too.

But his book was really well written, and his explanations of the technologies and policies that will be needed to pull our country away from dependence on oil, natural gas and coal are clear, and convincing. He's a Oakland based civil rights activist, and a lot of his motivation is based around green jobs to fight poverty, as well as pollution.

The "green collar economy" plan: Electric cars, smart appliances, and a clean, efficient grid.

Open landscapes. VA, FL

Passing time

The hot tub was nice, right on the water it only took about fifteen seconds to run from the hot tub to the ocean, we did this a couple days until, we started just hoping in the pool. This hot/cold to another level.

Steven and I also had a few rounds of twenty questions to pass the time on the ride back. I'll post the video later, here's round 1.

Good food

The best meals of the week. First Frink's take on steak and eggs, Thursday night. Steven enjoyed Frink's meal as well. I was hoping to savor the dessert, but he really started put it down. Frink made a fruit and granola vanilla yogurt. I had to match Steven's pace if I wanted my share. In the end I didn't have it, and Steven took control.

The week ended on a perfect note when my dad threw down some beef stew last night.