Well-Organized: Undeberg Invitational In Ritzville

Greg Whitmore deserves to be pleased. Race Director at the Undeberg Invitational in Ritzville, his meet may have been one of the smoothest and best organized I’ve been at in years. Every track athlete and coach has a horror story—sometime an entire pantheon of stories—about meets that ran two, three, four hours long with interminable pauses between events. Undeberg proves that a race can be both well-organized and athlete-friendly.

The timing was actually done by computer run by Dennis Sakmann,with volunteers providing backup. The system worked nicely with no apparent glitches even with several very close finishes (at least from a spectator viewpoint.) The starting crew (Bill Cox and Al McBroom were the starters with Jordan Bilodeaux the Marshall) offered clear directions to the fields of runners, mostly in the distance events where lane assignments were not rigid after the first turn or lap, to try and finish from Lane 4 or out so that camera would have the best image to work determine the finishing order. I thought this might give a slight advantage to a late finisher but, after running the numbers (high school geometry for folks interested, Pythagorean’s Theorem, using the top of the straighaway to the finish), decided the difference in distance was negligible.

The crew got runners into the blocks or to the line in good order. I only saw a single false start and, even then, the gentleman who explained it to the athlete was very sympathetic and considerate of the athlete.

Over on the field side, the volunteers kept the systems moving. Two announcers kept the flights on schedule and sounded warnings when jumper or throwers had failed to check in. A bit of observation at the long jump pit and I saw how the announcers knew what was happening in each event.

The young man running the pit would inform the announcers via radio to make the “second call for Flight 4, men’s long jump.” A minute later the same would be repeated over the speakers. It kept the two announcers busy but the whole day ran smoothly as each event sent in the status reports.

The young man gave the jumpers feedback on their takeoffs, especially if they faulted. Not required of the folks at the pit but I’m sure that athletes appreciated the extra input. (The souvenir program listed Dale Anderson, Dustin Kommes, and Rob Reottger as the team there, but they were busy, and I didn’t ask names to attach to the picture.)

Another point that I thought interesting, The Undeberg Invitational meet sold sponsorships to community businesses and had giveaways by some of those. A nice idea that shows a lot about the community and the support that the Broncos (the host team) enjoys, as well as help to defray the costs to the teams and the school. The $2 entry for spectators was less than I’ve paid at other, smaller, meets this year and the $2 for the program very reasonable.

Looking forward to coming back next year.

(Next up, the race report. Patience, people, I'm typing as fast as I can. And, if you see a typo, holler and I'll fix it. And you can follow me on my author page at Facebook)

Cover for "Trail of Second Chances"

So, while I'm busy doing the rewrite on Trail of Second Chances, the cover artist that I use, Kit Foster, a bloke that hails from the UK, has out-done himself by coming up with the design for the book. Kit Foster also did the cover for Finishing Kick which earned compliments (but, alas, no awards) from The Book Designer cover design contest.

When I sent an email asking for help on this new project, I sent along the back cover blurb and gave him a rough outline of what I was looking for since this book was different from the last in that it is an adventure story involving young Becca Hawthorne.

Kit came up with a bunch of ideas but one jumped out and, with a bit of tweaking, became:

And the Blurb on the back?

Trail of Second Chances

A high-octane adventure on a wild Montana mountain as one girl finds herself racing for her life against a malignant fire.

 It should have been the highlight of the summer, a training camp for elite runners in the mountains of Montana. Coached by her father, and frustrated by his efforts to hold her back, Becca Hawthorne dreams of competing in the Olympics. She earned her chance to test herself against the best runners in the Pacific Northwest. But now she faces a tougher opponent than even the fastest girl.

An action-filled roller coaster ride that keeps you turning the pages as the fire creeps closer.

I'll keep working on the rewrite. The editor (the same lady that worked with me on Finishing Kick) is waiting for it. It'll take her a couple of weeks to fix all my goofs. One more round of polish, then typesetting.

Expect it July 1, 2014.

PS. The next novel, The Lonesome Mile is started. It'll be done when it's done. No promises on dates until I get way farther along the path.

Why are there so few novels about running?

I was muddling along thinking while sleeping - I do that a lot - when it occurred to me that there was a reason there were so few novels about running. You could spend the next ten years reading books and manuals on every aspect of running from foot strike to hat attire for winter weather and still not exhaust the material available. New books on how to run, how to avoid injury, which shoes (if any) are best, VO2 Max, and the Daniel's Running Formula, which I consider to be the running 'bible' for performance. For us old school runners, Dr. George Sheehan is the runner's philosopher.

The common thread on all those books is an interest in running faster, better, longer, stronger. It's about the act of running rather than runners and, even when we move into biographical territory, as Christopher McDougall did with Born to Run, we tend to follow the running exploits of the runner instead of looking at the whole runner. Mostly, though, people want to run better, so the technical books sell and nobody tries to write novels around running or running themes.

Even John L. Parker's classic Once a Runner is focused on the training and racing aspects. The hero of the story, Quentin Cassidy, stays a one-dimensional character throughout. What Parker does nicely is show the inevitable blowing off of steam by the track team through the goofiness of their indoor Olympics, showing the touch of humanity that the book needed to stay interesting between the bits of running.

Parker originally had to self-publish Once a Runner, long before it was fashionable to do so. For all the success he's had with the novel and the follow-up, Again to Carthage, they've never been blockbuster hits. They're cult favorites for a self-selecting tribe of people that would rather run in the rain than veg on the couch. Or, at least, run first, then veg.

Novels about running are never going to be blockbusters like the Harry Potter series or Twilight. Those are about escapism, slipping into a mythical world. Running is grittier and more real in the sense that they reflect a different choice in this world, instead of offering a different world altogether. (Though I'm open to arguments that our feet can take us to places so pristine and pretty that it feels surrealistic.)

And publishers know that fantasy (not the genre, the concept) sells. Want to take on the Mob as a young lawyer? Read Grisham's The Firm. Want to play Quidditch? Off to Hogwarts you go. Want to know what it's like to love a vampire? Stephanie Meyers has an answer.

All those books were best sellers and made millions of dollars for the publisher. Novels about running would be lucky to break even in the traditional world of publishing.

Fortunately for us, that world is turning upside down right now and all the loose change from the pockets is dropping to the ground. And by loose change, I mean all those ideas and stories that are cool and inspiring and un-mass-marketable that still have an appeal to a core group of people, what Seth Godin calls a 'tribe.'

The barriers to self-publishing are gone and the stigmatism that accompanies it is fading. John L. Parker hand sold his books to running shoe stores and at meets, one book at a time. Today, we have Amazon and Smashwords and a dozen other ways of getting our stories  out to the public.

So, why are there so few novels about running? Because until now, there was no money to be made and, like it or not, that determines what got published. But it's early in a new age of publishing and storytellers have more options.

A some of those storytellers will see their tribe and want to tell its story, all the little facets of it.

And, now they can.

Windy day at the District 9 Meet, Sun and Good Sportsmanship Breaks Through

I had a chance to get to the District 9 meet in Clarkston yesterday, mainly by ignoring my usual activities like work. It wasn't the best weather for a meet-the wind was definitely a factor, gusting to 20 mph-but I'm sure the athletes weren't complaining about the mid-60 temperatures. Almost any of the seniors can rattle off a list of races where the skies soaked them with 35 degree rain, pelted them with hail, or lit up the skyline with lightning. A little wind can be tolerated pretty easily, even a headwind into the home stretch.

I snuck in early, Goldfish in hand for the Asotin gang, and settled into the stands to watch Coach Sal Lopez directing the kids on getting the field events set up. He had them organized and the 'work' ended early, leading to a couple of athletes tossing a football in the infield. Turns out that the girls can throw a pretty tight spiral.

The meet started on schedule with a unique opening by Lucas Johnson, one of the English teachers at Asotin (most of the volunteers were Asotin teachers and parents since they were hosts.) I pestered him, and he agreed to let me print it, so it's below, in its entirety.

“Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome this fine spring day to the district 9 1B/2B track meet. I am the illustrious and ever-humble DJ Johnson, the voice of Panther Athletics. Join me and my melodious voice as I narrate the trials and tribulations of the dozens of talented athletes you see before you today. You can expect to see running in an oval pattern, various dangerous projectiles being hurled (usually in a safe direction) and even those brave souls who hurl THEMSELVES forward in gravity-defying acts of valor. It is my hope that you will make some noise as these athletes battle gladiator-style for  honor, prestige and glory with the ferocity of warriors, but with the respect, sportsmanship, camaraderie and humility that makes the events of track and field all the more special and unique. Give these fine folks a hand!”

Probably a good time to slip in a disclaimer. I'll be doing these posts this year in preparation for setting up a website to do cross country. Essentially, these are practice posts. It took something over a nanosecond but less than ten minutes of the meet to figure out that track and field can't be covered by one person. I didn't get to all the events and, since I'm not yet very good with my new camera, I have some pictures but not many really good ones.

On to racing. The first race was the lady's 4x200m relay. Asotin won the race but the athletes battled for the remaining placements. Pictured are of TO-GP in the yellow unis, with of St. John to the right and WWVA in maroon to the left at the second exchange. It was the first of a host of solid hand-offs. No one dropped a baton or missed a handoff in the transition zone all afternoon.

Field events were going on simultaneously. I missed a lot of these, unfortunately, though I did watch some of the discus (my event in high school) while the women's 3200m race was under way.

The 3200m was a little thin on competitors with Heather Siegel of St. John winning, a result she's familiar with. Several of the Asotin runners that normally participate were spread out in other events. WWVA didn't have a runner in the 3200m, nor did Rosalia. (Rosalia, which used to be part of the TOR - Tekoa, Oakesdale, Rosalia - has formed their own team this year. Garfield and Palouse join Tekoa and Oakesdale to round out their side, hence the TO-GP.) Zoe Robertson of TO-GP took second place.

Men's and women's hurdles came next. I always considered hurdles to be the NASCAR part of a track meet. Lots of speed and grace, with a constant threat of catastrophe lingering. Part of playing around with the camera led to the discovery that head-on pictures of hurdlers  are tough to nail and a good side on picture can be pretty darned good. Even if it was a "what the heck" attempt from the far side of the track. No disasters to record. Walla Walla Valley is very strong in the hurdles with Wesley Hendrickson and Abbie Underhill winning both the high and intermediate hurdles.

Back to discus. Results were announced and Asotin dominated both the men's and women's result. Coach Sal Lopez, a former collegiate thrower proves that he has a knack for imparting the technique to his younger athletes. Dirk Whitmore won with a nice throw of 131'6", edging his teammate Jacob Swearingen. Piper Loop won the women's side with a hurl of 104'10".

Over in the long jump pit, Nate Prior won both the long jump and triple jump on the men's side. The women were split, with Abbie Underhill winning the long jump to complete a trio of first place finishes while Olivia Pakootas of TO-GP edged her out in the triple jump.

TO-GP women javelin throwers came close to matching the standard set by the Asotin discus throwers. Annie Bailey of St. John-Endicott won but the next five placements were all TO-GP. The Asotin men toss javelins nearly as well they do the disc with Dirk Whitmore winning with a throw of 145'3" and the Asotin men taking the top three slots.

The most competitive race of the day took place in the women's 800m. The two young ladies paced each other around the track and jockeyed for the lead coming out of the final turn with Madeline Eggleston swinging wide to pass her sister, Lucy Eggleston. Lucy matched the kick, though and won by a half second. The next finisher, Katarina Stephenson of Asotin, was 17 seconds back of the Eggleston sisters, holding off Katie Holbrook of TO-GP.

The duel between Katarina and Katie was a repeat of the 1600m. Both of these runners are underclassmen so we should have a lot more to look forward to over the next couple of years.  Lucy Eggleston won the 1600m in a time of 5:42.

The men's side was far less competitive with Chandler Teigen winning handily in both the mile and 800m. Asotin  took the top three spots in the 800m and the top four in the  1600m with Thomas Weakland placing second 800m, and Brian Strobel and Spencer Williams taking second and third respectively in the 1600m.

The top three finishers in the 100m, 200m, and 400m for the men followed the same pattern. Eli Richardson of Rosalia won all three, closely followed by Caleb Atkins of Walla Walla Valley. Chasing them in all three races was Jacob Koerperich of Asotin.

The women's races were a little more diverse. Julia Ristau won the 100m while Rebecca Reyes of WWVA took second, beating out her teammate, Rachel Thiel. Sarah Nicholas from Asotin won both the 200m and 400m with Reyes pulling another second in the 200m and Megan McCain from Asotin taking third. Second place in the 400m went to Maddie Bogenrief from TO-GP. Alyssa Hendrickson was third.

The wind made for a tough day high jumping but Olivia Pakootas, state runner-up last season, seemed to be the only one unaffected and slightly limited by gravity as she easily won the high jump to add to her win in the triple jump. Jessica Ford of Rosalia and Rose Debruin (Asotin), competing in the event this year for the first time, rounded out the field.

I somehow managed to miss the men jumping but Connor Madden (Asotin) won with two TO-GP jumpers, Tanner Dingman and Tristan Smith, pulling second and third.

The highlight of the meet, though, didn't occur in any single event. Brady McKay of Asotin raced and won the 3200 meters in 10:46. I checked with him after the race as he was grabbing his knees but he said he was just "a little tired." Understandable. What he did next was more impressive than his race.

He started cheering for his competitors, not just his teammate Brady Mulikin, but all the other athletes in the 3200m. He was loud and enthusiastic, drifting down the track to meet them as they finished. It reminded me of a small snippet from Born to Run by Christopher McDougall who tells the story of Scott Jurek, one of the truly great ultrarunners. Jurek won almost every ultra he ran but would wait at the finish line, wrapped in a sleeping bag in cold weather, to cheer every one of the competitors to the finish. He'd be out there hours after his race ended. It also reminded me of the Asotin coach, Tim Gundy, who I've had the pleasure of joining on a couple of relays teams.

Brady McKay was, whether he knew it or not-and I think not because he looked surprised when I high-fived him for being so classy-was exemplifying sportsmanship. I don't think it crossed his mind to behave any differently.

And he wasn't the only one. I saw a couple of the WWVA ladies doing the same thing. Ditto for a TO-GP runner.

And those were the ones that I saw or heard. I'm betting that others, our of my earshot, acted just as openly, honestly,  and enthusiastically in supporting their fellow athletes.

This is my first effort at writing up a track meet. The plan is to build a website for cross country that will give race reports, course information, and a little bit of recognition for these young athletes throughout the Inland NW. If you like what you see, or have suggestions for making it better, please let me know. Leave a comment or send me an email at thatguy at paulduffau dot com. Just insert the appropriate symbols - many, many thanks. Paul Duffau

Madeline Eggleston, Prep Athlete of the Week

Congratulations to Madeline Eggleston, named the P1FCU Prep Athlete of the Week on KLEW-TV! Great young lady.

Here is the piece that KLEW-TV did on Madeline.

KLEW-TV also has a piece on the first District 9 1b/2b meet of the season. Kudos to both the men's and women's teams for a terrific meet. Pretty dominating performances.

I'm planning on being at a couple meets this year, plus one for the junior high. I'll try to get some more details of the athletes and their performances when I do. Plus pictures.

The "I'm not dead!" Update

Sorry about a lack of blogging lately but I've managed to contract a sinus infection from a flu bug. So, from March 3rd until I broke down and went to the doc on the 20th, I've been slowed a touch. Now that the meds are kicking in and I'm feeling better, I thought I'd do a little housekeeping. First, to the kids who want to know if I'll be showing up to their track meets - yes. It's already baked into my schedule. Can I be at every one? No. The dog likes to eat and I'm partial to red wine so I should work at least a bit. That said, I've raised my rates because working six and seven days a week is not part of the life plan I have going forward. My problem, no worries, it's fixable. I'll see you guys at the meets.

Second, marathon training. Losing nearly three weeks of training when you're already under-trained is a prescription for a tough marathon. Meh. It'll hurt - or Adric and I can drop at the half, give each other a high five, and drink a beer while planning next year's assault. Still planning on being in Pagosa Springs in June.

On the writing front, I've submitted Finishing Kick to the Washington State Book Awards. It is highly unlikely that I'll win. The book can have wide appeal but is pretty narrowly targeted. The folks that I wrote it for have already read it, loved it, and pestered me for more. From here everything is gravy.

The new novel, Trail of Second Chances, is getting close to done on the first draft. I'll need to blow some stuff up in the beginning as the story changed a bit while I was writing but I'm getting excited. Also figured out the opening scene for the next book, The Lonesome Mile. Still looking at an August release date for Trail and hoping for a February release on Lonesome Mile. I'll have a better idea on that one once I get busy writing it.

I also have some plans on for a non-running series - three actually. Two action/adventure and one sci-fi. (See why I need to stop working so much - I have too much other 'work' to do!)

By the way, Hugh Howey has a great post on how to make it big as a writer - or most other things. In another post, he links to a NPR article on what makes great 'art'. The answer might depress you - luck. Not great writing or painting or virtuoso technique. Luck.

I like to make my own luck. Will I create a blockbuster? Unlikely. Can I sell enough to eventually do this full time? Probably. It'll take a lot of hard work, putting in the time to write, and to write better. Luck doesn't count if you don't show up. Many people who count themselves unlucky aren't unlucky - they've tried to find a shortcut to hard work, sacrifice, and, most importantly, caring.

John Denver, in a concert in L.A. back in the seventies, talked about his old guitar, about how he'd go to the beach at night and practice his songs, and long for an audience to sing to.

If you don't care about something, want it so bad you'll run through walls, ache to put your work in front of people, to put up with the laughter of your friends who tell you to be reasonable, if you don't pour all your heart into it, you probably won't get 'lucky'.

That much - and only that much - you have control of.  It's up to you to seize it.

The Sun is Shining!

The sun is shining. It's been ages since it came out. . . And I am supposed to work? When I have new trail shoes and can run under pristine skies?

One of the bummers about becoming an adult is we're suddenly supposed to develop 'responsibility' which usually means doing things far less pleasant than blowing off a day of work or school to go for a run. These less pleasant things tend to grow in number until they take over every waking minute.

Some of them are absolutely necessary. I need to make enough money to support a family and feed the dog. I need enough money to buy the books I want, new or used. I could use the library but I prefer not to warehouse friends and I do think of many of my books as friends.

And I have an obligation to my clients. I work hard to make sure that they get everything they need to when they're buying a home - that can't be done in twenty minutes. Usually it takes hour for each one, with additional hours of follow-up. It would be easier if I were less successful at building a clientele. I've been trying to shrink the business for a couple of years as I move onto new projects - writing books for runners, designing a website for small town xc where the teams can get the coverage that the local paper will never give them. I'm better a growing things than pruning them.

As my wife put it, I'm never at a loss for ideas. It's time and money that act as limiting factors, mostly time.

So, the sun is shining. I'm going for a run, just not right now. I've checked the weather - it'll be sunny all day, supposedly. I've got the run gear packed next to my work gear and swapped out time on the schedule from report writing to running.

I'll work late tonight if I need to get caught up but the afternoon after my inspections is mine.

And sun is shining, the trails are calling, and my inner child wants to play in the dirt.

Snake River Canyon Half Marathon

Working an aid station at the Snake River Canyon Half Marathon in March has become enshrined as a ritual for Asotin Cross Country. Normally it's a warmer ritual, not 29 degrees with a stiff wind. Tough day for the runners and workers alike. The kids at my station - Jessica, Megan, Kyle and Nate - worked hard and were awesomely upbeat with the runners. It was cold enough that ice was freezing back in the cups. Gatorade, too. By the time the first rush was over, our hands were resembling the ice, so I fired up the FJ, turned up the heat, and rotated kids into it. My youngest daughter fired up the iPod and speakers to treat the runners to some classic rock as they came back with the wind.

The runners were wonderfully appreciative and sported great attitudes. The leaders didn't slow down long enough to do more than grab water but the middle and trailing packs freely indulged. Many of them probably pushed too hard into the wind and were a bit worn by the time they made it back on the return trip.

I grabbed some pictures of the leaders but after that, it got too busy to pull someone out of the line. I'll post them when I get a chance. In the meantime, I'm awfully proud of the kids for helping out and giving back to their sport.

A side note: great job by Morgan Willson taking second overall in the women's division. It was just a couple of years ago I watched and cheered for her as she won the 2B State Championship. Nicely done, Morgan.

GECKO Turkey Trail Marathon Training Update

Training was been. . . inconsistent, mostly because I'm a weenie in winter. When the weather gets cold and damp, my motivation drops through the floor. I've started compensating for this by mixing things up a bit. First, I'm making more of an effort to get the run done in daylight. That seems to be a big component. The other thing I've done is to hit the gym more. Instead of running on a treadmill, which I truly hate and occasionally do at the house (my treadmill is primarily a walking desk), I mix it up with cycling and stairclimbing. Throw in upper body work and I am getting stronger. I finally have my weight below 180. Starting to add leg lifts now that some of the systems are coming back. Ran in Hells Gate yesterday and, for the first time in a few years, powered up a hill instead of grinding. I had forgotten what that can be like. Exhilarating. I was cooking right along until some knucklehead put up a sign in the middle of the trail - Dog Trial. Shooting in Progress. That torqued me off a bit. Not that they were having a Trial but for putting the sign in the middle of the trail instead of at the junction. Let me know early and I'll grab another route. It would have been a quarter mile of extra walking for the guy. In the meantime, I went off-trail and explored. I didn't realize that Hells Gate was using old Christmas trees for wind-breaks. Should be spectacular the next time there's a fire over there. I'll watch from the porch. .

Lungs still need a lot of work but that always trailed legs so I'm following a pattern I know. Perpetual forward progress

Also had one of those random occurrences that brighten a day. A puppy was running around Hells Gate. His owner, an older dude, was keeping a pretty good eye on him and tried to call him over when they both saw me. The puppy ignored him - he had a new friend that he could run with. Sammy - that was what the owner was calling - leapt and cavorted and stopped for a pet so I grabbed his collar for the guy. He was apologetic and I told him "No worries." What I should have said was, "I'm out here to have fun. So is this little guy and he brings a big smile to my face, so no worries. Maybe even, hey, thanks!" But I tend towards slow-witted some days and I just kept running. I got to keep the smile, though

To counter the Sunday long run blahs, I've moved them to Wednesday afternoon, into a better energy time for me. This week it means an inspection, long run of 10 miles, and then another inspection. Work is busy as heck and I don't know quite why.

In a week, I'll be in Seattle and planning to hit REI for trail shoes. We'll see how that turns out. Open to advice. .

Run  gently, friends.

Jump rope training

"Jump rope training," I told one of the girls that I help coach during the cross country season. She's in junior high, so there's plenty of time for big miles and all the other components that go into developing as a runner. The young lady is already a good runner and was competitive against competition a year or two older than she was. At this age level, a year of development is simply huge and she was frustrated that she was getting out-kicked at end of the race. She wanted to develop a better kick.

So I told her to do jump rope training.

And she went, "Hunh?" Not a fan, at least at first.

Like many young runners, she wants to be good now. No-can-do. You have to build to peak performance. One problem that I see on a frequent basis is a young athlete trying to improve too quickly by increasing the miles too fast, or adding extra speed work.

They'd be better off building the foundation first, especially the at the junior high level.

Jumping rope will develop the systems that will deliver that faster kick. The feet will become much more responsive and quicker off the ground, the calves will strengthen, posture improves, and so does balance.

Along the way, there's less impact and potential for joint damage when done correctly.

Buddy Lee has a great book on jump rope training that can lead you through a program. I had my runner focus on the workout for 200/400 meter runners even though she's destined to be a distance girl.

In a cross country race, the last 200 meters are the kick. I've also encouraged her to run some shorter distances during the track season to understand that level of effort better.

I think the young lady is going to surprise herself. Jumping rope is for kids - and runners.

Starting a new Pacific NW Cross Country News Network?

I was contemplating trying to build a website around Cross Country news in the Pacific Northwest – kind of a one stop, here’s what happened this week at the meets and maybe the occasional feature on a runner. The question is (well, one of the questions, anyhow) would runners and their parents be interested?

The easiest option is just to run it through my author blog but I could create a site dedicated to the idea.

Anybody that has some ideas is free to comment. Share the idea around with runners you know and see what they think.

If you prefer, you can send me an email at that guy at paulduffau.com. Just combine it all, swap the @ into it. You get the idea.

Eventually, I’d like to cover the whole region which means building a network of volunteers to help with the reportage but in the meantime, we could at least spotlight our little corner.

Run gently, friends,

Paul

PS. Somewhere in the midst of all these plans, I need to figure out how to keep making a living.

Races around Asotin

Time to look at some local races around Asotin. The holidays are over and, if my scale is correct, the damage was minimal - except to the habit of running. Since I have a marathon that I need to be ready for (running, not racing), I need to get it going. The nice thing about marathon training is missing a day won't break you. Trying to do too much, too fast, might. Patience, perseverance, and a good sense of humor will get you to the start line. In the meantime, we have a bunch of local races on the calendar. I'll only probably do two, one as a training run, the other as a benchmark to see where I'm at.

Here are all the races I could find in the area for the late winter/early spring.

Feb. 8 - Sweetheart Run, Lewiston ID - 4 mile run or 2 mile walk, benefits local youth charities.

Feb 15 - Edge of Hell, Lewiston ID - 4 or 8 mile trail run in Hells Gate State Park. Beautiful scenery and one of my favorite areas to run in the Lewis-Clark Valley. If you look across the river, you can see my house.-and most of Asotin.

Feb. 22 - Celebrate Life, Lewiston ID - 7K run, 3K walk, benefits kids with cancer.

Mar. 1 - Snake River Half-marathon, Pullman, WA- 13.1 miles of running beside the Snake River, sponsored by the Palouse Road Runners. No traffic and a course elevation chart that looks like this: ________________. If you run it, I'll be at the 4 miles aid station cheering you on. The rest of the Asotin cross country team will be there along with Coach Tim Gundy, manning the 4 and 6 mile stations.

Mar. 15 - St. Patrick's Day 5/10K, Clarkston WA - Your choice of distance on a fast course. You have to wait for the holiday itself for the green beer.

Mar 21/22 - Snake River Triathlon, Lewiston ID, The swim is Friday, the evening before the ride/run. Check the website for details. The race is put on by Lewis-Clark State College's Cross Country program. Mike Collins, the coach, does a great job of organizing the event and it is chip-timed.

Mar 22 - Hells Canyon Adventure Run and Ultra, Idaho - A self-supported run of either 15 or 28 miles depending on which version you choose. 100 percent on trails in Hells Canyon. This is the one on my list as a training run.

Mar 30 - WSU 100K Relay/Solo, Pullman WA - Got some friends? Grab them, put together a team and have some fun with a relay. If you don't have friends crazy enough to join you, you can always run it as an Ultra. I heard a rumor that since this is the 25 Anniversary, the Palouse Road Runners are planning  25 percent weather. We'll see how that goes.

Apr. 5 -  Mike Jensen Memorial 5K, Lewiston ID -  Another charity run, this time for grieving children.

Apr. 18 - Twilight 5K, Lewiston ID - Another of Coach Collins events, it's a fast, flat course on the levee. This will be my "where-am-I-at?" race as I get ready for the marathon in Colorado.

Apr. 26 - Seaport River Run, Clarkston WA - I'd put up a link but the City of Lewiston hasn't posted it yet that I can find.

Apr. 26 - St. John Hog Jog, St John WA - I haven't done this one and maybe it's time I headed up. 2 and 5 mile options in one of my favorite little towns. Also the chief competitors for Asotin Cross Country girls and really nice kids.

So that gets us into later spring. Pick a couple and have some fun.

Running Quote of the Week

I'll see how many of these I can track down. Here is the redoubtable Dr. George Sheehan. I highly recommend his books, especially Dr. Sheehan on Running. It's not a book on how to run faster or longer or even better. It's a book on why we run, what moves and touches us to be runners.

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." - George Sheehan

If you are a sales person, I would suggest listening to Blair Singer (or reading the book but I like the CD I have) and his Little Voice Mastery Systems Audio CD.

Turkey Track Trail Run, Week 1

It's time to ask forgiveness from the trail gods for my hubris. A friend asked if I wanted to do a marathon with him. The race? The XTERRA Turkey Track Trail Run, 26.2 miles of mostly single track at 8,000 feet of altitude in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I haven't run a marathon in seven years, haven't sun more than twenty miles a week in more than a year, haven't been healthy for more than four months (I have gout and it's definitely a pain but improving), and haven't a goal in the world other than enjoying my regained ability to cover ground at a slow lope.

Naturally, I said yes.

I needed something to inspire me. I've done marathons and dealt with crowds and overpriced expos. I've done ultras and discovered how wonderful Vaseline can be and that I can run with sore feet for an awfully long time. I've solo-run trails in the Seven Devils, turning 30 or 35 miles in a day, just for the sense of awe-and I plan to do so again. But none of that was getting be past fitness-runner status and that was okay. I like being fit.

But something was missing.

Excitement.

I don't run just to rack miles or add to a marathon total. The Marathon Maniacs run aiming for totals, 3 marathons in 16 days, or 31 marathons in 365 days. Impressive, yes, but no more inspiring than the accumulation of blackened toe nails. Like the folks that keep track of their consecutive days running, the type that say "Oh, I haven't missed a day in eleven years, six months, thirteen days and," a pause to check the Timex, "seventeen hours."

I'm not that Type A.

I also don't like crowds so Chicago or New York are not in the plans. I got my fill of crowds at a couple of Rock 'n Rolls in San Diego. Dodging people for the first fifteen miles (do people lie or what to get into the first corrals - I always give a realistic appraisal of speed and ALWAYS end up passing a butt-load of slow-pokes. It's rude.)

I've done a lot on trails and, given an option, would never run on pavement again. A trail marathon is new but only because I haven't raced one before.

The exciting part isn't the race-it's that I plan on running with a partner. Most of the time, my running buddies are faster than me. If you've seen me run, it's perfectly understandable. In this case, we're pretty evenly matched. And, because I'm coming back from such a long way, I'm more interested in running than racing. (Though I checked the age group results, but only once - it's a habit!)

We'll be training separately since he's in Colorado and it's a bit far to travel just for the weekend long run. We'll follow different plans. I've been here before and I know what works for me. Lots of miles, a bit of speed, steady progressions. I've got time for two full cycles on the speed work - mostly tempo and enough striders to knock the burrs off my form and clean it up. Gradual ramp up on the long run, lots of them, one every two weeks so the legs can recover in between. It's all sitting in a spreadsheet.

Life will happen between now and race day so the schedule will get blown up at least once. Adapt and survive and get to the start line.

After that, it's all good.