How Fast Was Hood To Coast? 3:11 PM

Below is the breakdown in projected times and actual times for the Hood To Coast team that got duped into accepting me as a team member. Projected times are in black and are based on a personal 10k time. The actual times are in red. The team did pretty great. Everyone was actually really brought their shit for the run or everybody was just really horrible at projecting their 10k times.

Hood To Coast 2:13 PM

Hood to Coast is a 190 some odd mile relay race that starts at Mt. Hood and ends at the Oregon Coast at the Seaside Promenade. It's a pretty huge event and I was able to get on a team with Tal, Danny, and Anna.

Basically, you get 12 to a team and each person runs 3 legs(36 total if you used your multiplication tables). Generally, you split up into 2 vans. The first van runs through the first 6 legs and then gets some "chill" time while the next 6 legs run.

Here's van 1 at the start.


To exchange between runners, you pass off a......wait for it......slap bracelet! Yeah, seriously....a slap bracelet! I also totally left my pogs at home. Here's Danny handing off to Debbie. Good slap!


This whole race was unlike what I thought it was going to be. It was a lot of doing stuff. Constantly, doing stuff. Parking(surprisingly, this can be a bitch). Driving. Running. Eating. And, not sleeping.

Tal had leg 1 and the profile is pretty appealing until you realize how steep downhill the entire run is. His legs were pretty thrashed by the end of it. Debbie was real smart and brought a rolling bar to relax the muscles and counter soreness/tightness. Rolling out the muscles became a common theme. I wanted the full on rookie Hood to Coast experience, so I opted not to "roll".

I had leg 6 and overall it was pretty sweet. I really liked how I was the last to go and the handoff to the other van. I didn't like how I was the last to go and everybody was done. You get anxious to run when you see all your other teammates doing their runs. I just wanted to go out and start my leg.

My 1st, 2nd, and 3rd legs were 7.42, 4.15, and 5.35 miles respectively. They ended up going down at approximately 2 PM, midnight, and 8 AM respectively. All in all, really favorable times to run. I didn't have a crazy early morning run or a dead of the night run.

During the race, it was all business. You're always doing something. Driving. Parking. Running. Eating. There's always something going on. The first van exchange was the only time we were able to unwind. Tal was gracious enough to host us at his place for some pasta. What a fine young domestique!


We watched the last parts of Tropic Thunder. From what I saw, Jack Black makes that movie. He probably saves it from being one of the most awful movies around.

The 2nd van exchange was less relaxing. We were to drive the last van exchange where there were fields for us to sleep in. Too bad we took a wrong turn and made it to the exchange point pretty late. Jonathan, Tal, and myself stayed in the car, while Danny, Anna, and Debbie took to the field. I'd say most of us got less than a wink when the walkie talkie went off saying that they would be coming in in a few minutes. It was like Tal switched from off to on. He just ran out of the car, slapped on his shoes, headlamp, and reflective vest and was off. I was still rubbing my eyes and searching for my contacts.

Once our van finished, we drove out to seaside for breakfast and then played the waiting game. I'll be frank. That game sucks a fat set.

We passed the time by walking around seaside. Anna really got excited about taffy.


I'd say the most fun was when we went and just hung out by the water. Literally, Hood to Coast. Rejoicapalooza! Throwing sand, though?


The other van got in and we crossed the line together. Then we headed home. We didn't have any patience to stay for the party/ceremony. We were tired and there's something to be said for spending 30+ hours in a van with the same people and never wanting to see their faces again.....for a couple days at least.

Shaq VS 9:16 PM

I had nothing but rock-bottom expectations for this show, but it's actually pretty solidly entertaining. A lot of it has to do with Shaq's personality. The guy is actually really funny and personable.

The dimmest light of the show is the announcer with dark hair. His name is Pat and he's a douche. Rather than just state the facts(I just want the facts), he feels the need to bring the color. His proficiency as a color man likens my burning desire to listen to Nickelback or Creed....they're the same anyway.

You Say Tuh-May-Toe, And So Do I 11:30 PM

My first tomato. A red zebra. My tears of joy and rapture could not be salty enough.


Oh, how they grow up so fast.

Mt. Adams 9:44 PM

On the first weekend of this month, Melvin, Anne, and I took a trip out to Mt. Adams for a day hike to the summit. For the most part, Mt. Adams is done either as a 2-day summit or a day hike. We arrived at the trailhead campground Friday evening and tried to get as much shuteye as possible. An early alarm of 3:30 AM got us up and moving. The hike itself was pretty fun. We reached lunch counter at a pretty good clip(took about 2 hours). Lunch counter is a camp area for those pursuing a 2-day summit. Seeing all the tents was pretty sweet. We had enough daylight at this point to take off the headlamps we were wearing.

From lunch counter, we hit the real ascent through the snowfields. We had ice axes with us, but no crampons. This was my first time using an ice axe and Melvin gave me some short lessons in how I should use it. Very well appreciated, but its very tempting to do something ridiculous and stupid with something as cool looking as an ice axe. Very tempting, indeed....

It was another brutal 4 hours of climbing until we finally reached the summit. Upon reaching the Mt. Adams summit, we also reached another summit of emotional disappointment. The recent heat wave that blasted the Pacific NW has encapsulated all the emissions and smog from the surrounding areas. The views were less than spectacular with the brown smog clouding up Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. The smog and haze completely obscured Mt. Hood and the range moving south(Jefferson and Sisters). But regardless, we made it to the top and were thankful for that.


We rushed down by glissading through most of the snow field. Unlike the nice plush soft glissading chutes at Mt. Rainier's Muir Snowfield, there were plenty of times when the chutes turned into hard rock and ice. It was painful at times and added to the let down of the summit. Glissading is one of the best rewards for doing an arduous climb up a snow field. This reward was snatched away and left us crying. Our frozen tears did nothing to comfort us.

I had borrowed my roommate's rollup sled to try down the chutes. Bad idea. I had zero control. The sled just goes way too fast and rockets out from under you. The sled goes one way, I go the other way, and unfortunately my ice axe finds itself somewhere else. I end up at Melvin's feet and look up at his disapproving face shaking left and right. Shame sets in. It still didn't stop me from having some fun with the ice axe though. The worst possible way to self-arrest is to do it like in "Cliffhanger". A power driven lunge and slamming the ice axe into the snow/ice like a hammer was too much fun.

Eventually we made it all the way down and now we can check Mt. Adams off of the list.

My Phone Is Dying, 4M Dollar Memorial Service Will Not Be Paid By The City Of Portland 5:28 PM

My phone has been loyal and reliable for nearly 3 years now. We've been through bad and good, rain and shine, and a whole lot of unexpected collisions with concrete. Unfortunately, it's on its way out. It started about a couple of weeks ago and has progressively gotten worse. At first, I could still do everything, but the buttons wouldn't always respond. Just a few days ago, I could no longer read or send text messages. And as of today, I can no longer send phone calls. All that my phone is capable of is receiving calls and speed-dialing...too bad I only have voicemail programmed into speed dial.

She's been a good phone and when I got her, I had just started my journey here in Portland.

Certainly an end of an era.

Mt. Rainier Is Less Fictional Than Rainier Wolfcastle 11:01 AM

This past 4th of July weekend, I had the privilege of doing some camping out in Mt. Rainier organized by Ian. Ian, Janel, Julien, Michelle, Melvin, Anne, Jason, and myself made the trip from Portland and met up with Kevin and Andy out in Seattle.

We went on a pretty sweet hike to Comet Falls. We were actually fooled for a little while. We reached a set of falls that we thought was Comet and spent a good amount of time there until Andy pointed us in the right direction. It was good to chill out by the water anyway. Melvin took the time to practice his modeling skills. Is that Melvin on a hike to Comet Falls or is it a budding young model in a remote tropic location doing an intense photo shoot? I can't tell.


Ian, Kevin, Andy, Michelle, Julien, and I took the extra adventure to really get to the bottom of Comet Falls. It was pretty intense watching the water crash into the rocks and see the snow/ice around it. We got pretty soaked from all the mist. Here's Kevin priming for a wet t-shirt contest at the falls....ok, maybe he's just enjoying the ambiance.


The next day, Melvin, Anne, and myself did a day hike up to Muir Camp on Rainier. Summitting Mt. Rainier is generally a 2-day affair. The first day is spent getting to Muir Camp(the base camp) before the really technical stuff starts. We ran into a sign saying only 2.7 miles to go. Melvin and I were like "oh shit" while Anne was more like "hooray!". The thing is we hadn't ascended all too much and with only 2.7 miles left, that could only mean some pretty steep stuff was up ahead. Every flatish step was another reminder of the impending doom ahead.

We reached the Muir Snowfield and that's when we really started to climb. I can't say I've ever hiked slower, but we did reach Muir Camp in the end. It was the 4th of July and Melvin's first as an american citizen, so he felt it was appropriate to bring an American flag.


The views all along the way were pretty amazing. We were fortunate to have a clear view of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood.

As strenuous as it was to get up to Muir Camp, the reward was nearly as sweet. Glissading!


Once we were nearly down, we tapped into our inner thespian. Michelle has kindly named this "Mort d'Allen".


That night was pretty great. We feasted and had some fun with sparklers especially since it was Melvin's first 4th of July as an American. We wouldn't be obnoxious self-absorbed americans if we didn't have fireworks of some sort. Sparklers are probably my favorite low-key firework representing freedom, independence, and secession from the land of tea and crumpets. We really shouldn't have had our only non-american(Julien) write the "S" in USA....but he got it right the 2nd time around.


Good times. Good trip had by all.