A Trip Report for the Ragnar Relay, Northwest Passage, from team #15, the ‘Yellow Blazers’. (Official Site)
Some would call it a stupid kind of lazy. The Ragnar Relay sounded like a lot of fun, but organizing 12 people and 2 vans sounded like a lot of work. Why not enter as an Ultra team instead and run a little
farther? 6 people are easier to organize, and we all fit it in 1 van!
So that’s what we did: 189 miles, 24 hours, and *6* people.
Continue reading →
I’ve signed up for the Crossfit Gymnastics Certificate/Seminar, taught by Jeff Tucker, it’s being offered at the gym where I do my crossfit workouts: Crossfit Seattle.
It’s intended to help with Crossfit by improving your movement and learning good progressions while working on the high bar/pullup bar, paralettes, handstands, and rings.
At first I was not going to sign-up as I didn’t feel I was advanced (strong) enough to benefit, but then I realized that even as a beginner it’s good to learn the right way to do the movements, and that it would save lots of time and effort by doing the right way the first time instead of floundering with what you think is the right way.
I’m excited!
Becca and I are on an ultra team (Yellow Blazers) for the Ragnar Relay: Northwest Passage, a 180 mile running relay race from Blaine, WA (at the Canadian border) to Langley, WA (at the S tip of Whidbey Is.). It’s a 24hr race, going all the way through the night.
Normally each team has 12 people in two vans, but Becca and I were too lazy to coordinate that many people, instead we signed up an ultra team with only 6 people. Now we all run twice as far – 30 miles each.
My relay legs will be 14mi, 8mi, and 11mi, with 5-6 hours between each leg. It’s going to be challenging, but it will also be fun :) There are ~150 teams participating, and most of these are regular 12-person teams, so there will be a crowd of ~1800 people in 300 vans, with 150 people running on the course at a time for each relay leg. That’s a party!
My third STP ride ended in defeat – I’m no longer 20 and can’t ride 200mi without training :( I threw in the towel at the end of day as I was totally exhausted and had some serious road rash from a wipeout near the end of the day. But as I’ve completed 2 previous STP rides (2 day & 1 day) I don’t feel too bad about wimping out on this one.
Pieter and Joanne did complete the 2-day ride easily though (they trained!), it was very hot weather and lots of sun, their training showed as they flew through the miles.
Go running with your four-legged friend! Hundreds of dogs, along with hundreds of people, gathered at Seward Park to run the Furry 5k race Sunday morning.
I ran with Katherine, Tom, Stephanie, and Jacob – we kept a comfortable fast-yet-talking pace throughout the run, with Stephanie taking the lead with Socrates. Unfortunately Socrates will only go so far before stopping and waiting for Katherine, resulting in many breaks for Stephanie while the rest of us caught up!
My results – 18th in my class (30-39 Male) with a 24:40 finish!
The Pratt Fine Arts Center is having an open house this weekend, check it out!
Pratt offers classes and studio access for metal working, jewelry, glass blowing, stonecarving, welding, forging, bronze casting, flameworking, woodworking, painting, drawing, printmaking, book binding, glass fusing, and more. Pretty much everything except pottery.
My good friend Becca has been hiking the Appalachian Trail for the last many months, and she is finally nearing the end of her journey (only 700 miles to go!).
I thought it would be awesome to join her for a section of the trail, looking at my calendar and her progress (20mi/day), I’d better hurry before she finishes – that means I’ll be heading out for the last 2 weeks of November. She’ll be near the end of the trail by then, and I will join her for the last 160 miles from North Carolina to Georgia.
Looking at the map, I’ll be flying into Ashevill, NC & meeting Becca at Spivey Gap, then hiking with her to the finish at Springer Mtn (and then it’s another 8mi from Springer Mtn. to the trailhead!). I’ll fly back to Seattle from Altanta, GA.
The biggest challenge is avoiding the flying hell that is Thanksgiving – ticket prices increase >200% and the flights become hellish. If we finish early I’ll end up staying until after Thanksgiving anyway just to avoid all the mess.
The latest Warren Miller ski film is showing in Bellevue on Nov 10 & 11, and in Seattle on Nov 16 & 17 (schedule).
I’ll be at the Bellevue show as I’ll be hiking the Appalachian Trail later in November (no, not all 2,100 miles, only the last 160 miles).
Anyone interested in seeing the Bellevue show?
