TriGals - TriMtSi girls team up at the Mt. Si Relay - and take 2nd!!

What a Blast! Weather-wise the day started out perfect; a nice balmy 48 degrees, overcast and no rain. We arrived at Snoqualmie Elementary School at 5:45am….yes AM! We danced to Diana Ross while making last minute gear adjustments in the back of the PK-Mobile (Patti’s Van). We cheered on the Ultra marathoners start at 6:00am. Our wave was set to start at 7:00am.
Heather Nugent was first on deck with leg one; 7.9 miles. “Everything felt great, nothing hurt.” Heather’s leg started on the pavement then broke into trails a mile later. The top was flat and she clipped along at a good pace. Heather was as a little disappointed that 3 gals passed her, but it only strengthened her resolve. The last part of the trail was all down hills and absolutely beautiful. At the bottom of the hill, Kathy Morrisson waited for the gentle touch of Heather’s hand to kick off the second leg of 5.6 miles. Kathy had the privilege of running back up the hills Heather ran down, so much for gravity. What a woman!!! Kathy raced on up, passing a few unlucky runners on the way and enjoyed the trail and lush habitat.

The PK-Mobile jetted off to the next exchange at Remlinger Farm. As we waited for Kathy, Patti warmed up for the third leg. Nature kidnapped Patti and she headed over to the Honey Buckets as the rest of us headed to the exchange area. Several minutes passed, then several more.…and no Patti. It was getting close to transition time for Kathy and still no sight of Patti. We decide to get Karen Nolting ready to run in Patti’s place. And thank goodness Karen was up for the switch. Kathy arrived shortly after and handed the torch to Karen for the third leg of 5.7 miles. Finally, we see Patti running up to us. Apparently, she had her own little relay going on. She survived and was primed for the next leg.

Patti got ready for the fourth leg of 5.6miles and took off after Karen came in. The PK-Mobile was’a rock’in again and off to the next exchange point. Somewhere in between dancing, laughing and general levity we blew right by the next exchange point and landed one ahead of the assigned spot. We headed back, laughing even harder now and arrived about 2 minutes late. Patti was anxiously waiting our arrival. But as Kelly Spangler would say, “It’s all Good!” Kelly bounded off on the fifth leg of 6.1 miles. Since we had already visited the next exchange area, we had no problem driving right to it and waited for Kelly to come in. It was a brand new race when Heather took off on the sixth leg of 4.4miles Everyone had completed their first round. Now it was time to see what was left in the tank. About a mile in the sky just opened up and dumped a short lived shower on Heather, but it stopped just as fast as it started….thank goodness.

Kathy “4x4” was next with leg seven. The 7.1 mile leg started flat then climbed 5 miles at a 2% grade. What a woman! Patti, cued up and ready to fly, ran an out and back of 4.1 miles up the Iron Horse Trail. Karen set the cruise control and punished her quads on the ninth leg, 7.1 miles downhill. Kelly finished out the day with a 3.4 mild jaunt back toward Snoqualmie Elementary. The rest of the crew jumped in the PK-Mobile headed back to wait for Kelly. We caught her about 10 yards from the finish and the team crossed the line together.

We had so much fun and Kelly and Karen had us in constant stitches. If we weren’t running we were laughing….what a great combination! We finished 2nd in the female-masters with a time of 7:14:57 with an overall finish of 24th/122 teams. And it was all finished up with Chili, biscuits and beer at Kelly’s house.

Teresa Moffatt's First Triathlon!!!

Teresa Moffatt is one of 12 women who make up the "RAISE THE HOPE" squad from Raise the Bar's Triathlon team. They are broken into 2 teams of 6 and are in a heated competition to see which group can out-health each other. Last weekend, 5 of the gals headed to TriFreak's Indoor Triathlon and Teresa submitted a great race report for any newbie or veteran to read. It's a story we can all appreciate. Congratulations Teresa and all the "RAISE THE HOPE" gals. Find out more about this program at www.weraisethebar.com/raisethehope.html.
"My First Time" - Teresa Moffatt

How many of you still remember your first? Was it special; was it memorable, or something you would rather forget? Ok - get your mind out of the gutters, I don't mean that first; I mean your first triathlon!

My first time was yesterday; April 22, 2007 at approximately 8:00AM.

Because it was held indoors at a local YMCA, I much less intimated than a 'real' outdoor triathlon, at least when I first signed up. I have trained for the last few months, and could absolutely not have done this without the help of our RTB swim clinics! A few days before I started to get very nervous, not because I didn't think I could finish, I really believed I could...but I wanted it to be a good event. I wanted to feel good and confident. I went through it over and over again in my head - trying to make sure I was mentally ready as well as physically ready. I kept thinking that since I was out of town the week before I was at a huge disadvantage, then I realized I was making excuses and decided to do it no matter what. I even stopped calling it a triathlon and started calling it a practice run - how can you possibly fail at a practice run?

The day before I had a little breakdown because my pool was closed on the 21st to lap swimmers, so no last swim for me. Then I ran all over Bonney Lake looking for a buoy and couldn't find a sports store to save my life, by the way if you are wondering, neither Target, Wallmart, or Fred Meyer carry them, I know because I checked them all that day! I finally decided I should go home and get some rest, not spend the whole day in panic mode, because after all I was indoors and really couldn't drown or get lost on the bike or run routes.
I managed to sleep well the night before and felt pretty good on the big day, my bike and gear were all packed and ready to go. I met our teammate Tina Marin there first and we were checking in when Elizabeth McCarty came in. Then we walk to the trainers with our bikes and that is when I saw it...a scale sitting right in front of the trainers. "Do I have to get on that thing?" I asked already looking around for the nearest exit. This was my worst nightmare coming true; no one told me they weigh you at these things...visions of Girl Scout camp when Danny Binner yelled my weight to everyone echoed in my brain. "Yes, we have to weigh you and your bike together in order to properly set up the bike trainers". I think the girl saw the panic in my face because she quickly added, "don't worry no one else will see or know, except the guy setting up the trainers". No big neon board, no P/A announcement, not in the results online, ok I guess I can handle that and I 'graciously'
stepped on the scale with my bike.

The swim was great, thanks to Elizabeth who lent me her buoy, I didn't have a care in the world and took a leisurely pace and hummed to myself the whole time. It flew by and I didn't really feel that tired, honestly it felt like a good warm up at my Tue/Thu swim clinic! Many many thanks to Patty and Rick for that!!!! On to the bike, I hopped up on my mountain bike and started to pedal like crazy, here is where my dreams of an 'easy' tri come to a screeching halt! I was facing a wall, pedaling and feeling like I wasn't going anywhere...for ever! Thanks to Luis Diaz for trying to help Tina and I find the right gears, we have a lot to learn! Needless to say I was very aware of all the shiny, pretty, road bikes surrounding me, while I pedaled away on my big blue Schwinn mountain bike! Just when I thought I couldn't go on any longer, Tina jumped off and was done, I still had almost two miles to go. Ok, everyone has smoked me on the bike; I can either get off and quit or start pedaling even faster and harder and get off and continue on to the run. I hunkered down and start pedaling as fast as I could, for the next several minutes...finally 9.3 clicked over and I was done! It really is true about the wobbly legs that I have heard so much about, I thought at first that my legs wouldn't hold me when I jumped off the bike. Trusty legs though, they didn't let me down. Then I took off for upstairs to the running track and started off on my 18 laps. Now I was giddy, so happy to be off the bike that I couldn't keep the smile off my face, I knew I had it now, even if I walked the whole time I didn't care, I knew I would finish! I did finish and even ran a few laps just to prove to myself that I could!
They don't have our official results posted yet, but I did it in approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. I had hoped to finish in less than 2 1/2 hours and I came in under that!

I am so happy I did it, now I have a great baseline and I know what to work on for the next one.
Thanks to Elizabeth, Jenn, Tina, Melissa and her wonderful family! It was a blast and a great first time!

Teresa Moffatt

Busy triathlete...

Cheryl Iseberg does some pretty cool things - and gets involved in some pretty good causes. Last year she blogged her experience as a volunteer in Kona at the World Championships and the impact that John Blais had on her. He had competed in 2005 and has since become very ill with ALS - Lou Gehrigs disease. He is championing a fight against this disease and Cheryl has decided to help by racing her Ironman in Coeur d'Alene to raise money for the Blazeman foundation. (Remember that Cheryl herself has Multiple Sclerosis) Please read on and consider helping!!

You can also find Cheryl competing in the CEO Challenge. Scroll to the bottom of this link to see her and her finish line buddy. http://www.ceochallenges.com/article.asp?c=181

I am raising money during my training this season and for my Ironman race in June at Ironman Coeur d'Alene which will benefit the Blazeman Foundation. This foundation has been established in the name of Jon "Blazeman" Blais who has been diagnosed and is battling ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Jon has been a true inspiration for many triathletes and many of us watched him during the 2005 Ironman World Championship become the first person to finish that race with the disease. Jon is now in a wheelchair and fighting for his life. Jon has a goal to try to raise awareness for this deadly disease so that one day we may know how to fight it. I was lucky enough to met Jon in 2006 at the Ironman World Championships and he continues to provide great inspiration to me and he truly is a hero to many.Jon finished his Ironman by rolling over the finish line which has become a trademark for many of his followers and supporters when finishing triathlons.

I am not sure I will have the energy to do that in CDA this year but I plan to give my training, the race, and raising money for this incurable disease, my best shot.Any donation would be greatly appreciated and it is tax deductible. Thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Livestrong,Cheryl

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Janus Charity Challenge

Some email systems do not support the use of links and therefore this link may not appear to work. If so, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://januscharitychallenge.kintera.org/cda2007/ciseberg?faf=1&e=937510791

Being Uncomfortable

Submitted by teammate and Raise the Hope member Teresa Moffatt - she'll inspire you!!

Having just begun my road to becoming a triathlete, I started where most of us seem to need the most practice...in the pool. My first workout at the clinic was great, I felt I could really do this, we worked with kickboards, fins, and I felt very comfortable and good. Well subsequently each workout has increased to a level where most of the time, I feel very uncomfortable. You see in my life, I am somewhat accomplished, I am pretty good at what I do and I am one of the few 'answer people' in fairly large office of over 100. They ask questions or need help and I have answers, and good one's too! My personal life is very comfortable, on an even keel both financially and in my relationships...not perfect, but pretty darn comfortable!

Two weeks ago the workout took an especially scary turn - we were doing "50's hard" or something like that (I am still becoming familiar with all the pool jargon). Now, here I am in this pool gasping for air, my heart pounding, thinking "what the hell am I doing here"? Just then, Patty comes over and tells us that one of her early coaches told her "it is time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable" and something hit me - maybe not quite lightning bolt worthy, but pretty darn close. My whole life has been about being comfortable, being good at what I do and not pushing too far into that scary, unknown zone, called "uncomfortable". At that moment I decided NOT to do the math in my head when Patty called out some long distance, NOT to figure out that I had not gone that far yet and I might not make it, and NOT to think about how tired I might feel at the end...but just to start swimming!

So that is what I did, I started swimming until someone told me to stop (ok I had to take a few breathers in between), me, Comfortable Teresa has begun swimming into uncharted waters, frightening and very uncomfortable - but I hear once you get to the other side - it is sunny and warm :-)

Oh - and want to hear the best part, it is Tuesday morning and I had a very uncomfortable swim workout last night...and for the first time I want more! I am going to see if Patty has room in her Wednesday class for me to drop in and get an extra workout! So if you see me there huffing and puffing don't worry about me, I am just "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable." I am looking forward to standing on that sandy beach for my first triathlon, sun shining down, knowing that I am ready for this and all those rough seas were worth it!

What a Triathlete learned at Cyclocross Nationals

First of all, I went to WATCH Cyclocross Nationals, not race. I am nowhere near brave enough or talented enough to race there. I went with 17 junior cyclists from my son Benny's team, Rad Racing, and some cool adults. In the last two years, I have dabbled in Cyclocross enough to know that triathletes are way behind cyclocross racers in terms of bike handling and anaerobic efforts. I've never hurt on my Time Trial bike to the extent that I've hurt on my Cyclocross bike. And even though I can do a pretty spiffy rolling dismount into T2 on smooth pavement, it can't compare to the dismounts I saw in Rhode Island that involved a downhill 180 degree turn, a tree, mud, loose dirt, a steep staircase, fencing, and the distraction (for some) of a guitar-playing mermaid in a coconut bra........WHICH WERE HAPPENING ALL IN THE SAME SPOT.

Cyclocross is a curious form of cycling that I will conquer someday - I've resigned myself to it. The athletes of this sport can do some pretty neat things on a bike that I'd like to do before I get really old and the brave courageous ones go deep into the "Hurt Locker" for 40-60 long tortuous minutes. This sport has my attention and my respect and I suspect I would grow as an athlete and as a person if I was willing to open the locker..... Luckily it's months away right now :)

In the meantime, this is what I learned (and a few things I had forgotten and re-learned) at the 2006 Cyclocross season & National Championships that I'll take with me into the 2007 triathlon season: There's no particular order here...

1. There are no demons for an athlete that gives 100% - no matter what his/her place is at the end of the race.
2. Red Bones Barbeque is probably worth crossing the country for.
3. Nobody really wants to hang around (or be) a self-absorbed, whiney athlete.
4. Spectators reward athletes who race passionately
5. There is tremendous honor in a sprint finish, especially if you're all alone.
6. Intelligence, determination, and focus can't win a race, but you can't win without them.
7. What happened in the past (no matter how recent) doesn't matter any more unless you let it mess with you.
8. Nothing has a greater impact on growing athletes as the examples of a few that have traveled the road before them with dignity and purpose and are willing to go out for a ride and pass it along. Jim Brown, Dale & Ann Knapp, Dave Schilling, Joe Sales, Chris Johns.
9. Any one race - no matter how big it is - is only part of an athlete's journey.
10. If Cyclocross started with a rough open-water swim, they would have something.

Mary Hanna's Seattle 1/2 Marathon report

My Seattle Half Marathon Report 2006

Short version: 1:27:52, 5th woman, 2nd master behind former Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson.

Long version:I was "training through" this race. I need to focus on speed for Club Cross Country Nationals on December 9th, without totally giving up my long run training for the Rock and Roll Marathon in Arizona. That meant that this was not a week for me to rest up and race fresh. My very achievable goal was a sub 1:30.

Before leaving my house, I noticed that it started snowing and blowing outside, so I left 15 minutes earlier than I had planned. On the way, it turned to snow mixed with rain, then a cold, lumpy rain. I got to the race in plenty of time to get good parking, see Angela, Jodi, and Shaun, warm up, use the bathroom, and decide what to wear.

As I was having a Gu at the start, about 5-10 minutes before the gun, a KING 5 TV guy asked if he could ask me some questions. I agreed, and he asked me my name and home town, then he asked about the weather conditions and such. I didn't think they would put me on TV, because many of my answers were one or two words. They apparently liked one of my answers, and I was on the local NBC affiliate for every newscast that day. Basically, they took a quote where I said that this was my ninth consecutive year, and we had had nice weather for the last few years, so it was time for something like this, but that it would be fine. My little 15 seconds. :)

Once the race started, things sorted out early. I don't think I passed, or was passed by, a woman after about the first 5K. I saw Joan Benoit Samuelson go by me in the first mile, and I knew I wouldn't make first master - darn. There isn't prize money at Seattle, but one year for being the first master, I won a very nice set of stainless steel barbecue tools and utensils in a briefcase that was engraved "First Place Women Master Seattle Half Marathon 2004" or something like that. They don't seem to announce the overall prizes in advance, so it's always a surprise. Age group awards go 10 deep in 5 year age groups, and they are acrylic paperweights with this year's logo - a nice momento.

I didn't think the weather was as bad as it could have been. I didn't have any trouble with wind, which could have made things miserable. I wore shorts, a short-sleeved Underarmor, long-sleeve light weight running shirt, vest, gloves, and beanie. I was glad to see that Joanie was very similarly attired. I saw one gal in a singlet and gloves, no hat even.

I hit the halfway mark in 45:15 or so, and thought I wouldn't even break 1:30. I ran the Yakima River Canyon Marathon last spring with a friend who was pacing me. With 10K to go in that race, I needed to go under 45:00 to achieve a sub-3 hour marathon. He said that I could run a 45 minute 10K in my sleep and that I might as well hurt a little. Those words reverberated in my head, and I decided to "hurt a little" and picked it up.

The last 5K, I was thinking that given the conditions, it was good practice for cross country, and with no other women in sight, I pushed it for the training value. I even quit trying to avoid the puddles after a while and splashed right through them, enjoying the fact that at the age of 45 (yikes), I can run in the rain and splash through puddles with abandon. What a blast! I finished in 1:27:52, a little slower than last year, but I placed higher. I was the 5th woman, 2nd master, a minute and 5 seconds behind Joan. I changed into a complete set of dry clothes soon after the finish and hung around watching the marathon finishers and visiting, then five friends and I went out for beer and pizza.

I love the Seattle half. I have run it for 9 consecutive years. It has become part of my Thanksgiving tradition, my reward for all the housework and cooking. The weather is usually pretty nice, although the official forecast is sometimes iffy. Even this year, I expected more wind. It was not my favorite running weather, but I dressed appropriately and was fine. What a great way to wrap up a four day weekend, especially one that involves some extra eating. :)

Seattle ½ Marathon 2006 Race Report – Angela Meeks

Raise the Bar loves to publish the race reports of our athletes. This latest installment from one of our newest members: Angela Meeks. Angela recently wrote a report from the Danskin that you can read here: http://www.weraisethebar.com/meeksdanskin.html

Her story is inspiring and incredible and continues....read on.

Well Yesterday marks another first for me. I ran the Seattle ½ Marathon. Yes, in the snow and rain and man it was cold. This was not in my plans for 2006 but after finishing the Danskin this last year I knew I needed another event before the next season of Tri’s to keep me moving and motivated and someone (thanks a lot Jodi) asked me to do this. I decided to do it. Up to that point I had only ran two 5K (3.1 miles) without having to walk (in my entire life). Shaun I found a web site with Hal Higdon's running plans for ½ marathons. I printed it off and decided to take it one week at a time. Every time I looked farther than that I would panic. Week by week I continued to increase mileage and completely followed his twelve week plan. Every week I was amazed that I could run that far and thought how will I ever do farther than that. My goal was to be able to do the 13.1 miles without walking. So during the last 12 weeks I ran 252.5 miles. The Wednesday before at the Raise the Bar running class with Mary Hanna she asked for out goal times, I said my fasted training time for that distance was 3 hours and 26min – she said lets say 3 hr 15min. I said okay, wondering if that was possible.

Back to the race: We got there around 6:00am – it snowed all the way there and then stared turning to rain and snow. We checked in our change of clothes and our coats in the stadium for after the race. To try to stay dry we put on garbage bags. We did a warm up and stretched and headed to the start line.

A few minutes before the start, I ripped of the garbage bags and an extra sweat shirt and disposed of them. I waited for the count down and at 7:30 we were off. It took about 4 minutes just to get to the start line. By mile one my body felt warm (finally), at mile two I disposed of my gloves, mile 3 and mile 4 were good as well. I meet up with someone I knew at mile 4 and we ran together for about ½ a mile – that was fun. I would pick something different to think about every mile and someone to do it for – I would dedicate each mile to someone and what I wanted in their life and that would be my motivation to not quit. Mile 5, I felt good and strong and knew and was surprised I was right on with my goal and a little a head, but 13.1 miles is a long way – could I continue the pace with all these hills and this weather.
Mile 6, Mile 6.6 (1/2 way) – still felt good and was so happy to be half way done. Mile 7 – tried to eat part of an energy bar. And then the hill – I knew it was short so I just looked in front of me and kept going – reached the top and turned the corner and more upgrade of a hill – Made it to the top and tried to recover on the down hill. At mile 10 - I was starting to struggle, my legs were so cold and feeling numb in the quads. I tried to rub them to warm them up, my hips were hurting and so I tried to concentrating on being loose and relaxed. This mile marked the race changed in my head and now it was time to use mental strength as well as physical strength. I concentrated on my goal of not walking and. I repeated things over and over. I have trained, My body is strong, I can do this, I have done this distance before I know that I can do it(once), My big heart tells my little brain what it can do, and my favorite Lance Armstrong Quote, Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." And my favorite Jodi quote – if it was easy everyone would do it.
About this time I round the corner and they have chariots of fire theme song playing and I started crying –Don’t Laugh the lady next to me did too. I realized I am doing this and two years ago walking up a flight of steps was a lot of effort. The next few miles they had lots of people encouraging us and lots of people with music playing and that was very helpful.
At Mile 11 you can see the space needle, I was so tired but just kept thinking keep going don’t quit, and tried to remind myself how short two miles is and how I wanted to be a good example to my family and other people – when things get tough you win if you just don’t quit.

Mile 12 finally came – one short little hill left. Then finally the sight of the stadium – I knew I had less than .25 mile, I was so tired then I saw, Mary and she was cheering me on and that helped me, I round the corner, then I saw two other friends Foster and Liz, then the most wonderful moment – I saw the finish line and knew I had done it. I ran the last 100 yards and wow what a wonderful moment to cross that line. It was an emotional moment, I had done it, something I thought I could never do, I did not quit, I was so happy. I had done it without walking, I beat my goal by 1 min and 5 sec – so it was my fasted 13.1 miles and it had more hills and was more miserable weather than ever.

I learned something through this. The power of your mind is just as important as the power of your body; it has to be trained too. It was amazing to me that when I was doing a 5 mile run that my body was tired at 4.5, if I knew I was doing a 8 mile run it was tired at 7. I realized that a part of what I can do is based on what I think I can do, and thinking positive. And that sometimes you just have to tell your head to shut up.

Thanks a lot to Shaun, for running all the training runs, Jodi (for begging me to do it), Mary, for all the great Wednesday training runs, and encouragement, and for making me set my goal for faster than I thought I could do, and to Patti for all the great opportunities and great people I have met through We raise the Bar. And of course to my biggest fan club, my husband, son and daughter – who were wonderful in encouraging and supporting me and I love them so much.

Seattle Marathon events - Congratulations!!

I enjoyed the start of the 2006 Seattle Marathon while eating a bowl of cereal on the floor of my family room in front of my TV and a gas fireplace.

By unofficial count, 15 members of our team did either the 1/2 or full marathon in probably the worst weather for that event in the last 5 years or so. Good for you!

One of the morning news channels had a cameraman out at the start and captured a smiling Mary Hanna, humbly telling Seattle viewers this would be her 9th consecutive tour of the course. She was quite positive - giddy almost. Mary went on to take 5th place overall in the women's 1/2 marathon. A great display of how a positive attitude can impact a race result.

Athletes' stories are trickling in. I've heard of a few personal bests, seen evidence on the results page of first-time finishers at that distance, and that a few of our athletes managed to cross the finish line together. Good stuff.

Our congratulations to the collection of runners and multisport athletes from Raise the Bar and beyond that braved the coldest conditions Thanksgiving weekend has dished out in quite a few years.

Patty

The Changing Faces of Raise the Bar

We often go on about how much we like people at Raise the Bar. Truer words were never spoken. Well, this week brought a couple of new people into the extended Raise the Bar family.

One of our coaches, Toby Mollett,his wife Susie had their 2nd little kiddo this week - Landon Russell. Weighed in at an impressive 9 lbs 3 oz. From his picture, I'm thinking they might have underestimated that a little....you'll have to judge for yourselves!

And the grandpa of the team, Jim Hutter (who, frankly, looks less like a grandpa than you might think) welcomed his 4th grandchild into the big beautiful world. Elijah Grant Hamlin at 6lbs 8 oz. Congratulations to Jim's daughter Jessica and husband Quinn.

It strikes me that often the best part of working out is who's waiting for our return on the other side of the door. While I'm all mushy and philosophical, maybe a famous quote....

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."- Ferris Bueller


Here's to our families!! And welcome Landon and Elijah!

Unpredictable Weather and Whether or not athletes are predictable....

It's sunny out right now and I've been content staying inside during all of today's daylight hours. (I did run with Mary Hanna's group at 6AM). I let the dog out once and stood in the doorway, but otherwise, I've been here at my desk clicking away at the keys of my Compaq.

The last two days,however, while the Seattle area has been showered with...showers....I had a hard time staying in. I ran a fun 8 miles in a constant downpour - soaked through before I got to the end of my street. I've done 2 cyclocross rides with my studly son and neighbor on trails that had far more standing water than dry land. The whole time I was wet and dirty (and warm) through every layer. It'll be a long time before I forget those workouts.

I've been asking around to my friends and fellow athletes about their workout adventures the last couple of days. There have been a lot of the usual fall reports of spin classes and treadmill runs and trips to the pool. Good for them for staying at it. An occasional story has surfaced, though, about knee-deep wading on the Lake Youngs Trail, or a Bike ride through a flooded stream. These stories are told by athletes who's eyes and inflections tell a story of adventure realized in their near-flooded neighborhoods.

The Seattle area soil is slowly taking up all that water, and I find myself a bit sad about the lack of rainfall today - but there's sure to be more and I'll be looking for some friends to train with!!

Now let's get out there.....

Raise the Bar Scientists report......

I like the concept of a blog - I like visiting blogs - we've even had a blog of sorts at Raise the Bar the last year or so. We're streamlining operations, though, and looking to make our lives a little easier and so it goes with the blog. This is where you'll find us blogging from now on.

After exhaustive research into bloggage, our Raise the Bar scientists have determined that blogging need not have much to do with the business at hand. Apparently, the blog-viewing public doesn't really require relevance or significance - just odd entertainment that can be viewed in 1 minute 14 seconds or less. (I'm guessing most have you have already moved on).

If, however, you are still with the Raise the Bar blog, treat yourself to this little puzzle passed on to us by an RTB coach and wise-guy, Brad Williams. It's a bit of a test of your powers of observation, and apparently only the sharpest of minds can get this. There are two identical pictures that will appear on the screen. Almost 8000 people were tested to see if they could find the 3 differences and only 19 got it. Let us know how you do.... we're confident in the intilleckchual kapabilitees of our clientell.

http://members.home.nl/saen/Special/Zoeken.swf

Till next time..... Get out there...