group mentality aka rocket fuel

Now I've never been a morning person, I more like a late-ish morning person... which is almost worst the not being a morning person at all. My silly body wants just 30 minutes more sleep then I want to give it- It's like I'm chronically late to my own party and I'm the only one to blame. So. Obvious lessons of is whine feast include the following 1. Go to bed earlier 2. Stop being a lazy slug and run in the morning 3. Motivate yourself to not be lazy by spending time around people who are not lazy.

Group mentality is a powerful thing... It's the driving force behind things like pot smoking or maybe eating one-too-many pieces of pizza because you wanna throw the box out. Looking back at the list, group mentality may seem like it sinks good intentions rather than boosts them however this weekend helped reiterate just the opposite.

Leaving Portland and heading into the woods of Leavenworth Washington with friends for a weekend getaway proved not only relaxing but enlightening. Some groups of 20 & 30 somethings would spend their Memorial Day weekend with activities such as beer games with ping-pong balls, grilling massive amounts of meat and sleeping until the start of Happy Hour the next day, my weekend unfolded very differently.

Don't get me wrong, we still corked a few bottles of wine and ate meat in excess however we also still worked toward our goals and trained for our upcoming races. We ran, biked, hiked, ate well and talked through our training issues, all the while laughing and enjoying each other’s company. The group mentality in this case was to get your ass outta bed and hit the pavement... the mentality to enjoy the surroundings you see in front of you and live the life you wanna lead. I could have so easily snoozed all weekend... and with hot dog in hand, played beer pong in excess... Instead I met people who understood my love of athletics and my training schedule and pushed me on. My 7+ mile run turned into an almost 10+ simply by a friend asking for a running buddy. After that run, the group hiked... so my ass when too... sore legs and all.



Moral: Groups (the right ones) can be more like rocket fuel.. they can help blast your past your lazy voice that's in your head and make your that much better.

Month off

Greetings oh ye fine followers. With the craziness of life comes the departure from my journalistic tendencies resulting in a monthish-long hiatus from writing. With a renewed sense of purpose and excitement I hit the blogging world head on once again.

The past few months.

It's been an exciting past four weeks for me. They've included like a weekend at the coast, Bridge To Brews 8K, Bridal Showers for the bestie and more.
Here's a few snaps from this month in my life:



A new PR for the 8K. 48 Degrees outside and this outfit was slightly lacking.


Some running. With race season up and running "crappy pun" my workout schedule has changed. More track workouts, less long runs


Lots of work. Things at Hood To Coast are picking up which means more time out from behind the old desk... time doing things like supporting our sponsors and unwinding how I can... for example, I dominated in an Iron-chief style Meatball faceoff!


First Timbers Game of the year!


Remembering old times. I decided not to run this years RnRPDX Half and cheer for a friend instead.. so glad I did. It's important to get out and support others achieving their goals and finding out their kickass potential. Here I am with friends at the 2012 event, what the hell am I doing.