::First race of 2012 ::

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Nathan

::Shot of the smaller lake...did a little 5km swim around this guy in 2010::

After gliding through October, November,and December with no real direction, I was using the Lake Samish 13.1 in Bellingham as a kick off to 2012 but also to see how things held up. With no serious running through these months and I was hoping that a little of 2011 to get me through. I was also hoping to surprise myself or at lease not disappoint myself. Overall I am sitting right where I thought I would be.

:: I think this is second loop, mile 9 or 10..not really having fun at this point::

As the race went on I felt alright and then after the first 6.5 mile loop I though I could push a little more. At mile 8, I quickly found myself hanging on with the group that was kinda the chase group. Then with about a mile left, after not running anything longer then 22 kms, it quickly showed. My energy was there but my legs weren’t. Of course I was hitting the wrong buttons on my watch throughout the race so I had no idea where I stood. As I came to the finish line, I was a little surprise that I didn’t fall off that much and was still a head of my last years time at this race by about 2 minutes. Can’t complain right?

::Started just before this bridge, and headed South::

As I said last year, this has to be one the the most basic and straight forward runs. It has two distances, the 6.5 and the 13.1 mile and is placed in my regular rotation for a few reasons… 10 dollar price tag is the main one!. Mile markers everywhere, and a great view for a starting line. This year got a bit better then last year with new timing system, and they had an extra van into their shuttle rotation so the race was only 10 minutes late instead of 20 Race site here and results here.

::Training with Brooks running shoes::

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Nathan

Been grinding it out for the last 3 weeks on getting myself ready for August 28th. The long journey to Ironman Canada started way back around February after I finished up my Marathon in New Orleans. Its amazing how much the body can progress after a year. I used the winter to get my marathon time battered down but also slaved a lot of my winter riding in the basement watching tv. So on the theme of progression, I have also been trying out different types of shoes. Wanting to get a bit more out of my run, and just out of pure boredom of regular running. I thought I would doing a bit of looking around for my feet. Constantly looking for new routes and new areas to run, I thought I would let my feet in on some new things as well.

::Brooks Adrenaline number 9:: I have two pairs of this same shoe...I hate buying the same thing twice...

I’ve been running in a brooks shoe for about three years, and haven’t even considered switching shoes. I’ve primarily been trucking in adrenaline shoe since I believe #7. I bought my second pair of #10′s at Christmas of this year and I think they are on #11 now. This shoe has been my race and training shoe…but not for long!

::Adrenaline number 10:: not worn yet, but do have another dirty pair...once again...

I get a little tired of dealing with traffic, traffic lights, junkies, shit drivers, old people in their scooters, and lazy people in their scooters taking up the walkways soo….I’ve been mixing some trail running. I was using an old pair of Adrenaline number 7′s on the trail but after a few longer runs, I wanted to see how much of a difference a trail shoe would make. Obviously I stuck with the brooks, and heard nothing bad about the Cascadia shoe. Naturally I went out, bought it, and took it out for a 1 hour run along the river. It was like night and day, gripping and more command on the trail was amazing. I did find this shoe a little heavy but something I could deal with. It probably didn’t help that I was running in the Green Silence the day before.

::my Cascadia trail blazer:: Trying to be my favorite...probably will be in winter.

With all this hype of barefoot running and minimal shoe design I decided to give the Green Silence a go. The first run in this shoe was done at the track and man I felt like I was flying. Super light, like I didn’t have a shoe on my foot. With that said, my arch could tell as well. I’ve been having some arch swelling for a few months now and the first run in this shoe made me feel it a little more in the morning.

I have since ran in this shoe 20 plus kms and enjoyed the light design. I am sitting on the face about using this shoe for more then a half marathon race, but thinking about using it for my marathon at IMC. I’ll probably with decide a few days before and see how the arch feels. I have been running in this shoe almost 2-3 times a week, trying to get my feet use to the minimal design. Any questions…ok good.

::These are my favorite, they come stock in Green and Black but you can order a few different colours. Such as this red and royal blue.::

Lake Samish half marathon

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Nathan

Trying out the camera on the new phone, 45 minutes from my door straight south after a 30 minute Seahawks border lineup.

Closing on the middle of February, I wanted to see where I sat before I go after the Rock and Roll marathon on the 13th. I’m finding it a bit tough through the winter months to push myself on the track so I was using this to give me a bit of a shove.

I was running late and showed up @10, which was suppose to be the start time. Thank goodness there was about 40 people waiting for the shuttle, so they delayed the race til everyone was at the start.

From January to about the middle of February there wasn’t much for half marathons around B.C. so I looked south to see what was around. Ended up finding an event put on by the Greater Bellingham Running Club down at Lake Samish, a place I am very familiar with after swimming an open water race back in August. For 10 dollars you loop around the larger lake @ 6.5 miles twice with a nice down hill finish to round out the 13.l mile distance.

nice calm morning, this was the smaller lake that had the swim in August.

Going around the lake on a non rainy day made it easier to lace up and felt like I was racing around a giant scenic track. I wasn’t a fan of looped runs but this running course it didn’t seem to bother me. I was impressed with how the event was put on for a small event, and would look at running it again. A chipped run for 10 bucks, and you don’t get “another” shirt unless you want to pay for it, something I think most runs should look into. Ended up running my 6:30 mile pace and pretty sure my time will be official @ 1:24.54, with non-fall classic timing.

event website, results

Half marathon, Run for Water.

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Nathan

No huge on getting up early on Sundays, but since there was a half marathon race right down the road from me, I thought I better get my ass in gear. Kept outa trouble Saturday night so I could walk over at 7:15 in the morning and pick up my race package, since I forgot to get it Saturday. It was a 8am start, and man was it hot out, had to be almost 20.

Had a pretty good run, course was a bit tough with a lot of hills. It looked like the heat caught the best of a few, but spending the last week working in the sun, it did really phase me. I would say the overall race was put on very well. Had a large group of volunteers, as well as a lot of police blocking roads with perfect signage. The race had a 5km, 10km, and the half marathon on the 2nd annual of the event which I would think will have a 3rd.

201 people did the half marathon, close to 500 did 5k, and over 600 did the 10km. I posted a 1:30 and came 5th overall, pretty happy with the time but under 1:30 would have been nice. Overall great event and good cause.

“By competing in the Run For Water you are helping villages in Ethiopia aquire the clean drinking water they need.”

Nathan Veldhoen

::A Lifestyle blog of what I enjoy :: running, Triathlon, Art, Design, Photography, DIY and Building.::

Tag Archives: half marathons

::First race of 2012 ::

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::Training with Brooks running shoes::

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Lake Samish half marathon

Half marathon, Run for Water.

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