Blog Posts From Active Warriors Tagged With running

Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon & Half WA Largest Ever!

IMVoice — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:27:43 GMT

IT WAS A SEATTLE ROCK N ROLL PARTY!

CHRIS OCHS, Sales Mgr Active Events competed in the Great Urban Race, a scavenger hunt, (www.greaturbanrace.com) on Saturday. The hunt involved finding and photographing various landmarks around downtown Denver. The team with the fasted time wins the event and qualifies for the National Championship in New Orleans—He and his partner Kevin Davis (left) were not the fastest, but they had the most fun! On Sunday Chris ran the Lyons River 5K in Lyons, CO. His 5K time of 23:00 was more than six minutes slower than the winner. How do those high school kids get so fast?!?!

JAKE COONEY, Online Marketing Manager in Bothell set a PR at the Seattle Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. It was a great day and a beautiful course. My previous 2 marathons were right at 3:40 so my goal was 3:30-3:35 and somehow managed to knock out a 3:12. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t shave a couple extra minutes off and qualify for Boston but I’m not too upset because I wasn’t trying and I did much better than expected. Gross photos are always a fun part of the weekend report so I included my shoe after the race. I’d like to note that this is only the blood that reached the outside of the shoe after my thick wool socks became fully saturated. In the next couple weeks I expect to pull my foot out of my sock with 1 fewer toenails than it went in with but it’s all worth it.

Another RnR Roller CHRIS INOUYE (Implementation Analyst in Bothell, WA) PR'd in the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon this weekend with a time of 1:29:36! Also raised money for Peak7 Adventures. I need 10 more people to donate $10. Help a kid get ACTIVE this summer: http://www.active.com/donate/teambothell/Chris4PEAK7.

NICHOLAS BATTAGLIA Implementation Analyst in Bothell, WA ran the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon on Saturday. Nicholas didn’t give a time but I hope he liked what he ran!

ANDY BUCHANAN, Technical Sales Engineer - Bothell, WA On Saturday with his Church softball team from Overlake Christian Church played in the Owen B. Shackett Softball Tournament in Kent, WA. SHANE WHITEHURST (Implementation Analyst) is also a member of the team, and RYAN MCDONALD (Account Executive, University Camp Sales) filled in for this tournament. We started off the day at 10:20 a.m. and promptly lost our first game (barely). Not yet recovered from our first lost, we dropped our second game immediately after in extra innings. Luckily this tournament was a three game minimum (normally losing twice would mean an early exit) so we got another chance. With nothing left to lose we played our 3rd game and won, convincingly (10 run rule enforced). We rolled that into our next game which happened to be against the first team we lost to. We again won with the 10 run rule enforced and moved on. The next game was against the second team we lost to, and again won by the 10 run rule. So we moved on to another team and rolled through them. Somehow we know find ourselves in the championship playing against the top team and need to beat them twice in a row to win the tournament from the loser’s bracket. In the first Championship game we scored a bunch early and held them off late. So we forced a second championship game and only one win away from taking the whole tournament. The second game proved uneventful until the bottom of the fourth (we were the visiting team). We were up 3-1 before their offense woke up and scored a few to put them up 5-3. Heading into the top of the 5th we knew we had to score some runs. I came up with the bases loaded and proceeded to launch one (well) over the left center fence to put us up 7-5 and we ended the inning up 10 -5. Just as we felt the game was under control and had them beat, they rallied for a huge inning putting them up 14-10. We only got one run in our half of the 6th inning and then in the bottom they just ran away with it and enforcing the 10 run rule on us. All in all we played 8 games and spanned 10 hours in the 80-90 degree weather leaving us all sore and sun burnt. Yet we will do it all again gladly at the next tournament for another championship game!

SIJEN OLTHOF, Thrive Implementation Analyst Bothell had a wonderful weekend here in Seattle, WA. The weather was perfect for the Seattle RnR race. Ten people from the Bothell Office participated with the Active Team. 2 people, (Jake Cooney and Brian Cronrath) ran the full marathon, while the rest of the team ran the half marathon (Chris Inouye, Jason Karls, Joe Benoit, Matthew Wanamaker, Nicholas Battaglia, Nicole Pelley, Sijen Olthof, and Stephen Branstetter). Congratulations to everyone who ran the race. Thanks for participating in all the training and fundraising leading up to the event. Here is the photo I got at the race. People in the photo left to right (Chris Inouye, Nicholas Battaglia, Sijen Olthof).

For me the race is the first event after having a baby last fall. My goal was to run a 10 min mile and I completed the race at 2 hrs and 14 min. Great day, Great Race, Great Accomplishment. YES IT WAS SIJEN CONGRATULATIONS!

BRIAN CRONRATH, Thriva Application Support Bothell ran his first marathon. It was really fun but also ended in disaster. I started out fine, was hitting about 6 minute pace give or take a few depending on if the mile was an uphill or downhill. I was feeling great throughout the whole race really – I never felt overly exhausted, it was more of a fight against my legs cooperating with me. I had to stop soooo many times during the race it war ridiculous. I had to stop at least 3 times (as far as I can remember) to apply Vaseline to blisters on my feet. The nike Lunar road racers definitely didn’t treat me too well. Despite the blister setbacks, I was still doing pretty well for the whole race. It was amazing to me how even though there were 25,000 so people racing, it seemed that I was completely alone for 95 percent of the race. It was crazy when people would be so far ahead of me that I could barely even see them, and later in the race I would reel them in.

I believe I was like 1:18 at the halfway point, and feeling great. Things were going very well until about mile 23. I believe a large blood blister on my right foot was causing me to favor one side of the foot slightly, and it just caught up with me at that point. The pain was only mild at mile 23, but it was enough to cause me to slow up a bit. I had had many various aches and pains throughout the race, but usually just backing off for a bit would allow them to go away after a little while. Unfortunately, the pain in my fight foot just kept getting worse and worse. To the point where I was hobbling the last two miles. My mentality went from away from trying to get a good place, to now I was just telling myself to “finish the race and not care about time or place”. To give a little insight about how slow I finished, a friend (of a friend) of mine passed me during the last mile, and he finished in I believe 2:41, and I finished in 2:46. The last mile I swear felt longer than the entire race before it, I couldn’t believe how long it took me to finish the last mile. I had to walk a lot of it. Surprisingly I think I only got passed by around only 8 o 9 people during my problems with my foot. After I finished the race, I went straight to the med tent and got all my blood blisters lanced, and got ice packs immediately applied to my foot. I could hardly walk, so I had to have my dad (who was spectating) drive around through traffic and pick me up behind the med tent. Since traffic was so bad, this took around 40-50 minutes, I’m not gonna lie it was kind of miserable… haha!! This whole weekend I basically just stayed off of the foot, it hurts immensely to put any pressure on it. Originally I thought my foot may have been broken, but now I just think it’s a really bad strain. I’m going into a doctor later to get a proper diagnosis.

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MEGAN HOLLSTEDT Web Designer Burnaby reports. Thanks so much for continuing to do such a stellar job with the weekend warrior report. Here's the goods for what went down here in Burnaby, BC this weekend:

ActiveX Team Burnaby made their inaugural appearance this weekend at the Scotia Bank Half Marathon and 5k. Together the group has raised $4052 so far for KidSports, a Canadian non-profit that provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport. A big thank-you out to Janette Kim for leading the way in organizing the crew and running with a hang-over at the same time.

Team Site (go ActiveGiving.com!!): http://www.active.com/donate/teamburnaby

Half-marathon runners:

Jamie Haaf - best time: 2:11:30

Jason Slusarchuk

Darren Jensen

Lorna Jensen

Matt Hoffman

Paul Hiller

Stanley Ulmer

5k runners:

Mathew Cox - best time: 25 min 30 sec

Janette Kim

Jennifer Saalfeld

Tamara Lee

Megan Hollstedt

Top Fundraiser goes out to Jason Slusarchuk $930.00 and change. Way to go Jason!!

Some team members thoughts on the day: From Matt Hoffman "Ran with Darren and his wife, Lorna, the entire way and had an absolute blast chatting away with Lorna J."

From Stanley: "This was my first attempt at that distance."

Janette & Jason: Ran with injuries!

Paul Hiller: New dad as of a few days before the half marathon, probably ran without much sleep!

Janette's comments "Absolutely loved the vibe of the run and having done this as a team. Next year will be even better."

Megan's comments: "My time would've been better is I wasn't tweeting the whole way."

Way to go team Burnaby!

JASON SLUSARCHUCK Acct Mgr Burnaby did the Scotia bank Half Marathon in

2:46:39 in Vancouver, BC.

JIM HINE Mountain Biking in Ketchum, ID. On Saturday the family road the 'Rip and Tear' loop near the Galena Lodge 25 miles North of Ketchum. Our dog Lewis was on point the whole time on a trail that serves double-duty to xc skiers and snowshoers in winter. We had great views of the Sawtooths, checked out a couple of the rental yurts, and returned to the lodge for 'adult' grill-cheese sandwiches. http://www.galenalodge.com/ On the way back to Sun Valley I got 'dropped off' at the trailhead for Oregon Gulch. I rode the lower Oregon Gulch loop and connected to Fox Creek. Trails around Sun Valley right now have high-run off so some of the creek crossings can be deep and I had to climb over a half-dozen downed trees. But the 13 mile ride was 100% single track and the descent was fast and smooth.

MICHAEL WILSON, Sales Mgr Endurance & Giving and Brandon did the SD International Tri this weekend…beautiful day and great course! I finished in just over 2 hours and felt great. Saw some other Active-ites out there as well as some Active spectators. Beautiful day for a triathlon in San Diego!

MIKE DOBRANSKY (Team Lead, LeagueOne – San Diego) participated in the San Diego International Triathlon this weekend in sunny San Diego. There were a handful of Active folks out there and we had way too much fun.

Yours truly MIKE REILLY finished up 3 event weekends in a row with the Buffalo Springs 70.3 Triathlon in Lubbock, TX. It was there 20th anniversary. The event directors Marti and Mike Greer are among the best in the Country and produce a world class event. In the picture with me are Jamie Whyte top NZ triathlete, Cameron Brown 8x winner of Ironman New Zealand and Mike Greer race director and youngest 70 year old I know!

Scott Friesen, Business Analyst at the Burnaby office, travelled south to participate in the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Half Marathon on Saturday. He had a great time being apart of the largest running event in Washington State history. He also enjoyed bumping into several members of the Bothell team along the route and at the finish line. Scott ran his first half marathon in a time of 1:47:26.

March Warrior Weekend

Active Toby — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:25:31 GMT

PATTI ROSENTHAL, Cycling Account Manager, Durango, CO. Another great backcountry trip up in the San Juan Mountains. This time to the Wolf Creek area to a spot called Lobo Lookout. Wolf Creek had just gotten 12 inches of fresh powpow. Well over a 1,000 feet of climbing up with skins on our skis but the fresh powder runs down was well worth it. Skiing with great friends on a sunny blue bird day!

JULIUS DAGOT and the [Burnaby office Social Committee |

http://intractive.active.com/Teams/social_committee.html] organized Saturday’s Snow Day—involving 40 employees, family, and friends. The participants skied, snowboarded, and snowtubed at Cypress Mountain. The event was a huge success, and the participants enjoyed a day of fun with the snow, in true Canadian style.

ADNAN ZAIDI played the “Al Mills Memorial Championships”, a USTA sanctioned tournament, in the Men’s 35 Singles. I played well but ended up losing to the #1 seed in the finals. Here is a link to the tournament’s home page (no results have been updated yet):

STEPHEN MATSUBA (Foundations) took part in the 2nd Annual British Columbia Kendo Federation Kendo Tournament as a member of the Vancouver Kendo Club. The competition hosted participants from B.C. as well as a team from Washington State. I competed in the individual shodan (1st black belt) division and was a member of the Vancouver Kendo Club’s B Team. While our team did not make it into the medal round, our club’s A Team came in second.

NICO REIS, Active International, Munich, Germany, went to see the Harlem Globetrotters on the World tour in Germany! Now clearly this is one of the Basketball teams, every fan or Player should see at least once in their life. Amazing ball handling, ridiculous dunks, alley oops, etc. but foremost: Great entertainment. Needless to say they won their game against the Washington Generals (whom the Globetrotters defeated in the past 50 years, by the way).

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) was a victim of the State of California budget woes. He hit a major pothole on PCH in Malibu while riding up to Ventura. This time it was really only the bike that broke and not his shoulder. He also discovered that although very cool, the Active riding kit was not road rash resistant. Hey Arnold…how about throwing some $ towards road repair!!!!

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TOBY GUILLETTE ran 26 miles on the Noble Canyon trail on Saturday morning and then joined up with AIREY BARINGER and JESSE HAMMOND on Sunday for a mellow bike ride through OB, Point Loma, Harbor Island and Little Italy.

Active Warriorfest Weekend

Active Toby — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:32:27 GMT

Chris Wheeler, Account Executive, Blue Bear Software

I did the Fiesta Island Time Trial on Sunday morning. It was a brisk morning with just enough wind to make it hurt that much more. It was my first cycling race, so it was way outside my comfort zone, but a fun experience none-the-less. Afterwards, I went on a 40 mile cool-down ride up the coast with friends.

Steve Mazza

I rode my mountain bike at Mission Trails Regional Park (with former Active-ite Matt Codling) on Sunday. After some sweet downhill sections, we pedaled up South Fortuna Mountain as far up as we could, then carried our bikes up the west face to the top. Incredibly clear views to the east of the San Diego backcountry, and to the southwest of the Coronado Islands and Mexico.

Bill Bliven, Account Executive- Major Accounts

Twenty two riders from all over the country descended on Lake Tahoe for our 12th annual “Old Guy Mountain Bike Camp” As in previous years, the trails, and the weather and rider entertainment were outstanding. The weather for the weekend: sunshine, rain, snow and wind were the order. As for our rides the scenery, workouts and crashes were better than ever! We spent our days on four fantastic, but different trails.

An update from last weekend on behalf of Emily Ogata Application Specialist, NFL and me Kirstin Hartos, Implementation Analyst:

Our rugby team, the San Diego Surfers, secured our region’s only seed for the USA Rugby National Championships in a decisive 24-0 win over our league rival Belmont Shore in the Southern California championship last weekend (please note: no ambulances or trips to the ER this time). The first round of the tournament is held in St. Louis, MO on October 25-26 with the potential to advance to the finals in Sanford, FL on November 8-9. The Surfers are one of only 16 teams that get the chance to compete at this level. Since we are a non-profit organization, funded almost solely by player dues, we are asking everyone we know to make a donation to help defray the cost of traveling and competing at a national level. All donations are completely tax deductible. Any support would be greatly appreciated and will assist us in bringing recognition to Southern California women’s rugby. Visit our donation page here: http://active.com/donate/sdsurfersrugby2008. Or check out our website for more info on the team: http://sdsurfersrugby.com. Thanks in advance for your support!

Mathew Henry

I ran the 2008 Chicago Marathon with my sister after a rough 2007 outing. We made it to the halfway point in 2:20, but the 80 degree heat got the better of us and we finished together in 5:07. All in all, the marathon went much better for Chicago this time around. Lots of water and much less busy medical tents. All the better as they go for the Olympics in 2016!

Patti Rosenthal

Did the annual 55-mile mtn bike ride from Durano to Farmington. A beautiful mtn bike ride on back oil roads & ends on 12 miles of awesome single track. There were 8 of us & I was the token female on the ride. It took us 6 hrs & 45 minutes which included 2 lunch stops

Mike MacDonald, Web Developer

From Tuesday to Friday I visited my aunt and uncle that live in a remote area of Mono Lake. Wednesday I did some manual labor for their landscaping business in about 35 degree weather. Thursday I drove 10 miles on an unpaved road to visit the ghost town Bodie, where I hiked around for 7 hours taking pictures and finding cool artifacts in 30 degree weather (and 50 mph wind!). Friday morning greeted me with 14 degrees on the thermometer, and a blizzard between Mono Lake and Reno. Tons of fun!

Toby Guillette, Community Development Specialist

This weekend marked the end of my peak training for Silverman (my first Ironman) in November. Saturday I ran 22 miles from La Jolla Shores to Fletchers Cove in Solana Beach and ran into Michele Ulrich who was out for her final long run before her NYC Marathon next month. We ran together for ~6 miles. On Sunday, Ryan Drew, Airey Baringer, Rebecca Divita and I froze on our bikes in 32 degree temps at the start of our ride in Pine Valley. We rode the Laguna Triangle route which included over 30 miles of climbing in the mountains east of San Diego. Here’s the shot of the day:

Tri's, runs and rides -- another Active Warrior Weekend

Active Toby — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:36:55 GMT

After some last minute tips from triathlon legend Michellie Jones, JIM GARFIELD (AMG) PR'd in the Santa Barbara Long Course Tri. This in spite of last Wednesday's ActiveX hate-a-thon work out!

TAWNYA BORDALO and her husband ran the End of Summer Fire Run from La Jolla to PB on Sunday. This was our first event together and we had such a great time! The conditions were nice and cool in the morning and the course was easy and quick. I was able to decrease my average mile time by 54 seconds! Big thanks to ActiveX and the weekly trail running group!

BROOKE KIRKPATRICK and her fiancé Jim ran the Copper Mountain Half marathon this last Saturday finishing at 2:10. Out of the women, I was the 14th to finish, but there were a total of 82 people for this race!! The first half of the race took us around Copper Mountain Village and the second half was climbing up Vail Pass and then a nice run down to finish!

TOYA REAVIS competed in the Wild Duck 5K Cross Country race this Saturday. It is the 1st race of the Dirt Dog Cross Country series. It was very very competitive as most of the best runners in the region come out for the series. I was 17th woman overall and won 3rd in my age group. My time was 20:22 on a tough hilly course and it was warm and humid. 20:22 was same time I ran last week in the AFC 5K which was a flat road race on pavement - I am getting stronger.

HANNAH SANSONE made the long drive South to Imperial Beach for the IB Sprint Triathlon on Sunday. I placed 4th in my age group and was 20th overall out of a field of 152 women. This was such a fun day - everyone at the event was happy and positive and stepping up to cheer each other on. And I ran into another athlete from Active, Emily Ogata, which was definitely a highlight of the morning!

NUNO COSTA also competed in Imperial Beach Tri this weekend - finished 2nd in my age group - 25-29 Best finish in a race for me ever

ARCH and Christy Fuston moved this weekend with the help of some ActiveX’ers. We had a moving dolly, but we all agreed it would make it too easy, so we left it in the truck. Ahh, the intrinsic benefits of ActiveX!

LIZ & Scott HARRELL (San Diego office) rode with Team in Training this Saturday. Liz rode her bicycle for 21 miles!!! First time ever. Was even able to clip in and out with out falling down (not as easy as it sounds). Scott tackled 26 miles and discovered that padded bike shorts really do help!!! We are training for a century ride, El Tour de Tucson with Team in Training. They train us; we raise money for a really great cause.

TRISH OBERHAUS did the Accenture Chicago Triathlon for the second year and had a great time. We had beautiful weather for race day and I improved my sprint distance time from last year. I was also able to meet and hang out with Toby this weekend which was very cool. My wave started the race more than an hour before Toby’s did, so when I finished I went back to the part of the course where the run begins. I ran with him to cheer him on (but only for a little bit because I couldn’t keep up)

TOBY GUILLETTE raced the Olympic-distance Accenture Chicago Triathlon against 4,088 others and finished 262nd overall. The highlight of my trip was finally meeting Trish, my fellow Online Community Specialist, who I’ve worked with for over a year.

Summer Solstice Weekend: 6/21 6/22

Active Toby — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:24:08 GMT

Renu Bhushan, ran 5K yesterday!! My fellow 'Diva's' and I participated in the Scotiabank Marathon over the weekend. It was a beautiful (and easy!) course, with lots of stunning views of our BC mountains and ocean. It has only been 6 weeks since I joined Active Burnaby and I am already running marathons! !

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Paul Cheung, from LeagueOne dev team, completed Scotiabank Half-marathon on Sunday with a time 2 hr 02 min, knocking down my last year record by 28 minutes.

Arch Fuston and The ActiveX Charity Team completed a mock triathlon on Saturday at Glorietta Bay Park on Coronado. Nearly 30 came out to charge the 500m swim, 15-mile bike, and 3-mile run. It was a great event made even greater with a visit from Jessi Stensland, providing a transition clinic for the team.

Carrie James, Account Executive, Education. I did the triathlon workout with the ActiveX Charity training team on Saturday in Coronado. It was fun to put all three aspects of the race into action and actually finish a full “triathlon” on Saturday morning! Sunday I finished my FIRST 10K EVER in 71 minutes. Not bad for my first, I guess. It was HOT out and took everything I had mentally to finish, but thanks to some awesome encouragement from Karen Hardy and the other Active ladies at the race I made it to the end! It feels incredible to cross that milestone for myself. I barely notice the pain in my legs. HA

Jenni Miller, Janean Nation, Sari Rudy, Caitlyn Barker, Laura Hilts, Emily Chan-Norris, Hannah Sansone, Erika Winter, Melissa Cohen, Carrie James, Amy Sutton, Karen Hardy, Amber Martin, Caitlyn Barker, Tawnya Bordalo, and Andrea Rishmawi all ran in the Iron Girl 10K this weekend!

This year’s race was a new course, starting and ending in the Del Mar Fair grounds. The race as a whole was great, however the combination of starting and finishing on the soft dirt of the horse track and the grueling heat, definitely took its toll on the 3,000 women running the streets of Del Mar. The Active girls that ran the race met up afterwards – here is a picture attached.

Francis Dupuis and his wife (Faye Dupuis) competed in the International Dragon Boat festival this weekend in vancouver, and her team finished third in their division.

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/local/article/72280

(She’s in the second row obscured by the arm)

My older son D'Alton competed in an indoor Roller Hockey tournament (6-9 year olds) this weekend to finish off their roller hockey season. They finished second, and had a great time.

Tina Wilmott in the Public Relations department. Headed up to Ventura this weekend to visit a close friend, and on a whim we decided to compete in a Splash & Dash. We came in second and third and I won my age category. But I much confess, this was the first time they’ve held this particular race so there weren’t many participants. In fact, there were only eight women in the short course which we did (400m swim and 2K), but who’s counting! It was followed up by some great horseback riding in the hills.

Jim Hine, Director Database Sales, rode the Cycle Idaho Mountain Bike Tour from Boise to Idaho City this weekend. We had a group of four riders that did about 102 miles and +12,000 feet of elevation over two days. We camped overnight in Idaho City and drained a few kegs of New Belgium with the small group of 85 riders, then tenting it with light rain around a big campfire. We detoured on Day 2 in search of extra single-track and added 10 miles of pines to the ride.

Marea Blue and Kirstin Hartos (Implementation Analyst, LeagueOne) played in the Las Vegas Midnight Sevens Rugby tournament on Saturday. Sevens is a variant of rugby where teams of seven compete for seven minute halves on a full size pitch. Basically it’s fourteen minutes of sprinting (harder than it sounds) per game. We started our games at 5:00 pm in 104 degree weather and finished around 1:00 am. We held the first two teams we played scoreless and defeated our league rivals in our third game to finish as the top seed going into the finals. We won our semifinal match against a motley San Diego team and then lost in the championship to a Canadian team that frankly just seemed less tired. As usual, we went on to win the party, making us undefeated in social wins this year. J

Jim Garfield, proudly swam with Toby Guillette and Rebecca Divita (who had a PR of longest swim) in La Jolla Cove. I also waved the Active banner high training with the HerSports magazine team with a two hour costal ride on Saturday!!

Jesse Hammond and Jesse’s girlfriend Emmy went on a three-hour, hot, hilly bike ride through North County (San Diego) Sunday morning and joined up with Toby Guillette along the way. The ultimate goal was the Golden Spoon frozen yogurt store in Del Mar. However, when they got there at 9:30 a.m., they discovered it didn’t open for another hour and a half. If anyone knows where they can get frozen yogurt that early in the morning, they would be much obliged.

Active Warrior: 3/29

Active Toby — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:09:23 GMT

MELISSA EISLER, Content Producer for Consumer Media checked in with an update from her South American adventure. “I just got back from the four-day trek to Machu Picchu. It was absolutely the most amazing experience. Day two was a little rough on the legs, but I made the 28 miles without any problems. These photos are from the very end of the Inca Trail. I did the hike with my brother (in photo). You would love this place! I have a million more photos and videos to share when I get home. Hope you’re well!”

ROB KLINGENSMITH, Vice President of Active Marketing Group, attended a party hosted by Sharon Worman and Richard Bryne, the owners of locally-based Speedplay Pedals on Sunday. What made it fun was that the guest of honor was pro cyclist and 2006 Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso. After a lively 35 mile ride through Elfin Forest (****, that guy can climb!), we settled into a multi-course Italian lunch and listened to Ivan talk about how he got started in cycling, racing against Lance and his plans for the future.

JUSTIN LAKIN, Software QA Tester, met up with a friend and his friend’s 6 year old son for a half day trek around the tide pools and children’s pool of La Jolla Shores on Saturday (03.29). The landscape is ideal for beginners and spans roughly 1.25 miles from the southern-most point of the tide pools to the children’s pool. Seals, sea anemones, hermit crabs, and other cool ocean dwellers added to the entertainment during the trip. Below is a short video of the seals that congregate in the children’s pool this time of year.

The weather was nice and the tide was low, perfect for an enjoyable day at the beach. 

On Sunday, Justin ventured out on a solo run around Lake Miramar to test his problematic Iliotibial band. A short history, Justin experienced pain in his left knee following the Carlsbad half-marathon and found that running short distances (1.5 miles) would easily aggravate it. After adopting some additional stretch techniques, Justin is happy to report there is no pain following his 4.92 mile run and he is encouraged to resume training for future half/full marathons.

EMILY CHAN-NORRIS, Account Manager for Active Trainer in San Diego, did the Race for Autism 5K in Balboa Park on Saturday and then hiked Cowles Mountain.

ANDREA RISHMAWI and some friends took the Active Hiking group out of state this weekend. They climbed Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, AZ - though it's only a 2.2 mile hike, you gain a SICK 1200 feet of altitude. The views are amazing - check out the Active Hiking Blog, the pictures will be posted tomorrow morning.

http://community.active.com/blogs/activehiking

WIL FLUEWELLING, Staff Accountant in San Diego, played 18 holes of golf with a couple of friends out in Escondido @ Eagle Crest. (Thanks go to Mike Carran for the suggestion!) It was my first time out in over a year since my motorcycle accident last February. My score was very indicative of how out of practice I was--nearly doubled par, but it was great to get out on such a beautiful day.

AIREY BARINGER, took part in the San Dimas Stage Race. Finished the time trial stage on Friday in 14th place out of 100 (1 minute and 18 seconds behind the winner). The stage consisted of a 3.8 mile climb up Glendora Mountain Road in Glendora, CA and I completed the course in 16:48. The road race was on Saturday and was 42 miles long. I crashed on the second of six laps when my left pedal hit the ground as I pedaled through a steeply banked corner. The crash took me out of contention for the rest of the race. I finished the stage but did not make the time cut (5% of winner’s time) and thus, could not compete on Sunday.

I will take a couple days off to heal up before beginning to train hard again. I will continue racing over the next several weeks so I can earn enough points to become a Cat 3 road racer. My training will also shift focus a little as I begin preparing for the San Diego International Triathlon (Olympic distance).

Keep the rubber side down!!

SCOTT EVANS, STEVE MAZZA and TOBY GUILLETTE took on the Ford Ironman 70.3 at Oceanside, CA on Saturday with the support of many familiar (Active) faces along the run course. They each had a great race and Steve says he “feels awesome”

Here’s Steve representing ActiveX:

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Scott enjoyed his race/training session for the Ironman Coeur d’ Alene on 6/22.

Toby had a blast in his triathlon debut and is very satisfied with his performance/training session for the San Diego 100 Mile Endurance Run on 6/7-6/8.

STEVE TWOHY in Acounting, was unable to make the Ford Ironman California 70.3 race due to IM Arizona training, "so I decided to test my limits otherwise. I did a nice Crystal Pier to South Mission Swim which was an ocean swim a little over 2 miles. Then, as most Ironman Trainees do, I ran for 2 hours up and down the beach to shake the water off…Best Regards to those of you who did the 70.3 this weekend. Congrats!"

TIM MCMAHON - Sr. Account Manager - Major Accounts (Running) ran the Shamrock Shuffle (8K) this weekend in Chicago and finished the race in 35:58. Extremely sore today, but happy to improve on my last year's time by 36 seconds.

TRISH OBERHAUS, Online Community Specialist for Team Sports out of Chicago also ran the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8k on Sunday morning along with 30,000 other participants. The course starts in Grant Park and winds through the streets of downtown Chicago before finishing back in Grant Park. It was a fun race and is known for kicking-off the running season here in Chicago. I’m looking forward to future events on the Chicago race calendar this year and nicer weather (I’m excited about the opening of baseball season, too!)

Active Warriors: 3/1

Active Toby — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:43:22 GMT

RICKY GRAY, Graphic Designer, did his first 30 mile group ride this weekend.

RAND RAGUSA, Group Director, Online Media Sales--I visited Mountain High ski resort for my first ever Snowboard lesson on Sunday. This was my first time @ MH…& was impressed with the area, instructors, conditions & cheap lift tickets. MH is a great beginner / intermediate snowboard mountain & only two hours away from San Diego! Check it out - http://www.mthigh.com/

JESSE HAMMOND, Content Producer--did the Bulldog Bike Race, a 26-mile road race at Camp Pendleton. It was a great day and a fun ride. I finished in 1:14:58 and improved by seven minutes on my time from last year. Ended up in the top ten of my age group (out of 22).

ALISON TERRY, AE Swimming--Saturday- went hiking for the first time at Mission Trails. Sunday- conducted a four hour swim clinic for adults that included lecture, drills, underwater filming and stroke analysis.

STEVEN TWOHY, Staff Accountant-- In preparation for IM Arizona I did a half-Ironman distance bike-run brick. The Gail Bernhardt IM training plan has worked well for me and it shows, as I went above and beyond the training requirement for the weekend by extending the brick to half IM distance. Surprisingly, not as beat up and sore as predicted, I am looking forward to continuing the GB Training Plan today in Sunny San Diego.

AMBER MARTIN, Senior Marketing Services Analyst--I ran LA Marathon in 4 hr 9 minutes, where I learned the pain of going out too fast. The first 6 miles were down hill and at the half marathon I was at my 2nd fastest time for that distance, which I knew would catch up with me. I ended up running through horrible leg cramps. Still a ways from qualifying for Boston, but I am going to try again at SD rock ‘n’ roll.

CHRIS CONNORS, Technology Consultant--A bunch of Active folks teamed up for some surfing on Saturday in Pacific Beach at Crystal Pier. BRETT HARRIS, MIKE DOBRANSKY, DIEGO ROVIRA, BETHANY DOMINICK, and I all enjoyed the water for about 2hours! Bethany is a surf instructor with Surf Divas if anybody needs a lesson!

STEVE SKINNER, Technology Consultant--My rugby club Seattle Rugby Club traveled to Denver, CO to play the Glendale Raptors in the newest and only Rugby-Only stadium in the United States for a pre-season warm up to the upcoming US Super League. The match was rebroadcast on Fox Sports Northwest on Sunday the 3rd and will be rebroadcast again on March 6th. It was the first US Super League match ever shown on a major us television provider.

In the first side match Seattle looked a little over-matched in the first half with a couple of long runs by the Glendale Raptors scoring tries matched only by penalty conversions for the visiting Seattle team and the home team took a 22 – 6 halftime lead. The Seattle coaching staff worried about conditioning in the second half in the thin Denver air but it was the Raptors that faltered first and with a brilliant possession-oriented kicking game we scored a narrow 3 point victory off a late converted try in the 78th minute of an 80 minute match for a final score of 32 – 29.

The second team for Seattle had a large percentage of players making the trip with first side experience and scored an easy 35 – 0 victory.

To top it off about 6 of us made it up to Eldora outside of Boulder, CO for some 2 mile high skiing and snowboarding (boy my low-lander lungs were squeezed!) rounding out an incredible and Active weekend! You all should have been there!

SCOTT ROBINSON—I’m the General Manager of a midget hockey team up here in British Columbia. The Greater Vancouver Canadians (www.vancouver-canadians.com) won both games this weekend after traveling 8 hours to Castlegar, BC. The Canadians won both games by a combined score of 16-2. Their next games will be the provincial semi-finals which the Canadians will be hosting at Ladner Leisure Centre the weekend Mar 14, 15, 16.

The Active Hiking group headed out to a new trail this weekend – ANDREA RISHMAWI, CARRIE JAMES, and LINDA MARKEY hiked the 6.5 mile Cuyamaca Peak Loop Sunday morning. I have three words for you: muddy and painful. We got slightly (read: REALLY) lost and are all pretty scratched up from climbing over (and under) fallen trees and hopping over streams. We had a great time, but would have loved to have had more Active Hikers with us – if anyone is interested, let Carrie or Andrea know!

Here are a few pics:

TOBY GUILLETTE, Online Community Specialist for Endurance Sports, was also in Cuyamaca SP this weekend, for a 30-mile trail run. I was training with my support/pace crew for the San Diego 100 Mile Endurance Run on June 7-8. It was good for us all to get on the same page and discuss our strategy for the race.

Sunday I did a 50-mile bike ride in the very WINDY Anza-Borrego SP. Here is a photo of the “desert bloom”

Sunny San Diego half-marathon weekend: 2/10

Active Toby — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:06:54 GMT

San Diego had a beautiful weekend and most folks were outside enjoying the sunshine. Congrats to those who ran the San Dieguito half marathon!

ALYSON TYSON ran the San Dieguito Half yesterday in 1:49:19, which was 7-minutes faster than last year!

SCOTT EVANS ran the San Dieguito half marathon in 1:45 on a beautiful day and a challenging, hilly course.

NUNO COSTA ran the San Dieguito Half Marathon yesterday in 1:28:52--this is about 6:47 pace per mile – 62nd overall out of over 1200. I was running with this girl for most of the race who happened to place 3rd overall for females. It was a beautiful course – hilly and tough, but it was great weather and awesome race overall for me personally and a new PR for this distance, only the second time I have ran a half.

AMBER MARTIN ran the San Dieguito half in just over 1:54. After running 3 half marathons, a full marathon, and a 10k in just 6 weeks I am excited to take 3 weeks off racing and gear up for the LA Marathon March 2.

PAUL HILLER ran his first ever half-marathon on Sunday, finishing with a time of 2:45:22. No training, no shoes, ran backwards, carrying eggs etc. I can hardly walk today, but I finished!

The daughter of the new CFO STEVE KEMPER, Marina Kemper, took 2nd in the San Dieguito 5K on Sunday with a 22:26 in the kids under 12 category. She is eleven. I will send a picture later today.

KIRK JENSEN from the Edmonton office. Our group training for the Boston Marathon this April ran 15 miles in a foot of snow and a -33 wind chill!!

JESSE HAMMOND, AIREY BARINGER and TOBY GUILLETTE raced in the TCSD Duathlon which was a 2-mile trail run, 11-mile road bike and 2-mile trail run format. Due to a poorly marked bike course, a group of cyclists including Airey and Toby, missed the final turn and covered 17-miles on the bike while Jesse stayed on course and finished 17th out of 45.

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DEANNA ORGERON, her cousin Angie, and ANDREA RISHMAWI did a quick Cowles Mountain hike on Saturday morning. Enjoy the “zen” poses

CHRIS CONNORS enjoyed the warm weather on Sunday and surfed the Ocean Beach jetty for 3 hours. The conditions were glassy and quite a few head high sets that came through!

A GREAT WEEKEND OF RUNNING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! 1/19

Active Toby — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:01:16 GMT

A GREAT WEEKEND OF RUNNING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! ON A PERSONAL NOTE MY WIFE AND I WITNESSED OUR 24 YEAR DAUGHTER FINISH HER FIRST MARATHON IN A TIME OF 4:40 HERE IN SAN DIEGO. Mike

ALAN COLE & his wife Jill completed the Keebler Kids Marathon Mile with their beautiful daughter Bridget (who turns 2 in March). This kid-friendly precursor to the Carlsbad marathon takes runners on a mile-long course through LEGOLAND. Just my speed…

STEPHANY CAVATONI (Cardenas) in SD said she is happy to say the Cardenas family (including Stella age 4 and Lucas age 5) successfully finished the Keebler Marathon Mile at Legoland this weekend!

CHRIS WHEELER School Finance ActiveEducate went skiing Friday and Saturday in Vail, Colorado. The snow was great with tons of fresh powder. It was freezing though with temperatures around or below zero the entire time. All in all it was an amazing weekend.

ANDREW COLE, CARRIE JAMES ANDREA RISHMAWI & JOHN PISCATTI (who found us on the Active Community Blog) hiked the 11.2-mile trail at El Cajon Mountain this Sunday morning at 7:00AM!! We didn’t get to finish all 11 miles – everyone wanted to get back in time for the Chargers game, so it ended up being about 9 miles. Nonetheless…we’re talking about some TROOPERS on a Sunday morning J

BROOKE KIRKPATRICK ran the Carlsbad ½ marathon with my college friend and fiancé. We finished at 2:07.

KEVIN BEATTY also completed the Carlsbad half with a PR of 1:47 minutes

AMBER MARTIN Senior Mkt Analyst with another great running weekend! She ran the Carlsbad Half along with a bunch of other Active people. I ran it in 1:54:23 which was 1 minute off my PR on that course. I was proud because the last 2 miles where the hardest 2 miles I have run, because all the soreness and cramping from my marathon last weekend came back, but I was able to push through and keep at pace. Now it’s time for a break before I ramp up again for the spring.

MOLLY MUELLER ran in the Carlsbad Half…Her first half marathonJ way to go Molly!

MICHELLE ULRICH Event Sales said Carlsbad was fantastic yesterday. I don’t think I have ever felt that good in a race. Everything felt great! I ran a PR of almost 4 minutes. 1:28:22, 6:45 pace, 23rd female overall and 7th in my age group. I am still on a high this morning and woke up thinking what’s next J

KRISTIN HARTOS Impementation Analyst did the Carlsbad Half Marathon yesterday, marking my first endurance event. My IT band flared up right around mile 6 (which I expected from my training), but I still managed to finish the race in 2:49. I must thank Michelle Nation for getting me to sign up and helping me find my inner “runner,” and my friends for showing up on race day to motivate (and embarrass) me. Couldn’t have done it without them!! J

MICHELLE NATION ran the Carlsbad Half this weekend with my older sister Kristie and some friends from Active (Megan Duvall & Kirstin Hartos). We had a blast taking in the perfect weather and beautiful scenery, but missed my younger sister (and co-worker) Janean who had to sit this one out due to injury! Can’t wait to get together again for the La Jolla Half in April J

JOSIE DONNELLY Director Account Management said she didn’t break any records!!! I ran at a snail’s pace. But considering it was my first half marathon and I only trained for 3 weeks my goals was just to finish. I did it with my sister, which was wonderful.

Man, feeling pretty sore today!

SARAH MOOSBRUGGER ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon with a couple of other Active people (Molly Mueller, Mary Cecil, Arch Fuston, Mike Coleman to name a few)… crossed the finish line with Arch Fuston’s wife (Christy) with a 1:59 time…if she hadn’t been there to pull me through, I wouldn’t have made it in under 2! It was a really nice day, chilly at first, but a great run along the coast. I think Molly even saw some dolphins to help inspire her through the race.

ERIKA WINTER Endurance Swimming ran her first half Marathon in Carlsbad this weekend!

ANDI NEUGARTEN Active International had a beautiful day in Carlsbad for the ½ and is

Happy with her 1 hour 40 minute run as a beginning of my training season. And she just arrived back from a week long Europe sales swing.

MIKE COLEMAN Dir of training was at it again 2 weekends in a row. He did Arizona RNR last week, Carlsbad 1/2 this week breaking the 2:00 mark with a 1:57. Think I will take a break next week.

Favorite Advice and Activities from Trish and Toby

Active Toby — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:13:00 GMT

Hey everyone, Trish and Toby here. This month we've created a guide to our best seasonal articles to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle throughout the holidays. No matter what your active passion may be, we've got you covered.

Lifestyle:

With holiday feasts right around the corner and weather that can diminish our motivation to train, it is not uncommon to pack on a few extra pounds this time of year. Active Expert Charles Stuart Platkin’s article, The Diet Detective: Fall Into Healthy Eating Habits, offers valuable tips for maintaining fitness without a compromise in performance at winter races and ensures a return to peak form in the spring.

Endurance:

Have you ever heard the saying, “athletes are made in the off season”? Now's the time to target your weaknesses and build proper technique and habits to lead into a successful racing season. Check out Boost Your Endurance in 7 Simple Steps and get the most from your off-season training.

Team:

Basketball season is upon us and it’s time for fundamental workouts with and without the basketball. Mississippi State basketball coach, Sharon Fanning, shares a 45-minute Workout that will developing confidence, coordination, strength, timing, and stamina on the hardwood.

Action:

Indoor Climbing Gyms Offer Year-round Fun Fitness and a nice break from the treadmill and stationary bike routine. Don’t let the winter elements take you off belay—utilize indoor climbing gyms to build stamina and confidence in a controlled environment. When the weather warms enough to head outdoors, you’ll be in peak condition.

Activities of Interest:

Check out Sacramento Winter Softball Camp by Olympic gold medalists Tairia Flowers and Natasha Watleyto hone your softball skills at the plate and in the field. Focus will be on increasing offensive power, slapping techniques, defensive fundamentals and pitching development. This camp will also feature practice-structure tips and drills along with valuable college recruiting advice from the pros.

Take advantage of The Classic Y-100, one of the last century rides of the year on November 25 in Ormond Beach, Florida. Crank out 100 in this inaugural ride that promises a beautiful route leading north along the Intracoastal waterway through parks and along the Atlantic coast. This event features a great safe route for beginners as well as 65- and 35-mile routes.

Folks in Southern California have already begun to register for the 2008 Carlsbad Marathon and Half Marathon on January 20. This was Toby’s first half marathon back in 2006 and he recommends it for runners of all abilities because of the fast course and beautiful ocean view.

See your training bear fruit at the oldest Ironman-distance triathlon held in the continental United States. Check out one of five 2008 Vineman events: Ironman 70.3, full Vineman, sprint tri at sundown, women's half or Aquabike during this weekend-long triathlon celebration.