DaCrizzow

on the way to the race the day before. not expecting this     Ultra season is on! This past weekend I headed to Sisters, Oregon for the Peterson Ridge Rumble 20 & 40 miler. Of course I signed up for the 40. This would be my second time running this race and although it being 40 miles, it's relatively easy race. Relatively. There's a few portions of either dirt or soft gravel roads that you can take advantage of and either pick up a little speed or just give your mind and eyes a break from scanning rocks and roots that are just waiting to grab a toe. I think I almost ate dirt about a dozen times. actually ate some dirt twice.     This is the beginning of my third season as an ultra-runner, so as it should be, my third different approach to training. This time around, I started my training the first week of November 2014 after a two month hiatus. I've been pretty regimented. Two 5.5 mile runs to and from work four days a week with my long run on the weekend....

    After the last couple years of having all but stopped cycling altogether, I decided recently to dive right back into the deep end and do the Gorge Roubaix Gravel Grinder. An organized ride covering 85 miles and about 7,000 feet of climbing with about 35-40 miles of it on gravel, in The Dalles, Oregon. About 75 miles east of Portland. There was a race version on the same course but i KNEW I wasn't in "race condition." Turns out as I was having my ass sufficiently handed back to me, I was barely in "ride with my friends" condition.     It's funny how running 45-65 miles a week doesn't transfer to the bike, just like a few years ago cycling 200-250 miles a week didn't transfer to running. I mean, you'd think, "it's all legs," right? Wrong. It is, it's "all-a lot-of-things" and a lot of the same things but they work differently. Legs, heart, lungs, back....     It was myself, my brother and two friends, all of us use...