DaCrizzow

  change, metamorphosis, death, re-birth, whatever it is, whatever you wanna call it. sometimes it's a long, long process of events and then at some point we look behind us and realize we're nowhere near where we started and have no idea how we got here. other times we're rolling along, living our lives and then one morning we wake up and everything has changed without a warning. of course, after a while we can look back and see it wasn't all of a sudden after all.   about a year ago i went through a major life change and personal tectonic shift. i played it off like it was just part of life, which it is i guess, but apparently it impacted me so much more than i would've ever imagined.     over the last 10-12 years, i had been immersing myself deeper and deeper into the cycling culture. starting with commuting, then venturing into some long rides around my city. then working as a bike messenger and becoming obsessed with mountain biking which trickled it's way...

  another Hagg Lake 25k notch on the belt. this is my third time around and after my first time i said i'd never do this again. i think we all do. my last race is usually a cyclocross race somewhere between thanksgiving and the first weekend of december. this time it was the Silver Falls Marathon on november 2nd so as usual i was getting a little itchy for a supported run with fun food and hot chocolate at the end.   i crewed for someone years ago and it looked pretty miserable so it was pretty much taken off the table. but...being a cyclist the last several years, this is one of the few trail races that offers a fun distance that won't take up half my season and doesn't clash with my bike season so there's always a couple cycling friends that are willing to jump in there with me for a good challenge. this year i dragged out a running newbie.   "don't worry. it'll be fun. just a little muddy, that's all." i said it so much i was almost believing ...

    snow days! woo hoo!! finally! the whole country's been getting it now we're finally getting ours!   after my espresso and some "super green" juice (kale, apple, lemon, ginger, E3 live, macca powder and spirulina) i headed out into what is basically right now a ghost town. an awesome ghost town. the 2+ miles it took to get to the park had me seeing more people on cross-country skis, bikes, running and walking than in cars. the way it should ALWAYS be. ironically, the biggest part of the cars i saw were the ones at the trail head with people getting out to go enjoy the snow.   by the time i got here, i was already feeling it. the snow made for an uneven surface so between that and already adjusting my stride due to my pulled calf, it was a bit of a struggle. nothing to bad just not as carefree as one would like.   there was a group of cyclists on cross bikes. not sure how far they went but i watched them heading out and the whole thing looked pretty shakey....

  a somewhat stressful week but in a positive way. began a new gig along with a new schedule and new demands on my body. the schedule isn't so bad. really awesome, actually but kind of intense. four 10 hour days beginning at 6:30 am and ending at 5:00 pm. which means it's already dark when i get to the trail head. that in itself isn't so bad. i've got good lights and i actually enjoy night trail running but i'm realizing i need to take a few minutes to stretch and clear my head between work and the trailhead. the new gig is only a bout 1/4 mile from the trail.   the new gig isn't so hard but it's very detailed oriented and requires a lot of focus. also a lot of standing and machine work so my body has been really tense for several hours. i was told during orientation to drink a lot of water and do some yoga stretches from time to time but i've kind of blown it off. turns out that was a stupid decision.   it was week 1 of 3 of my final training block he...