Today’s Outdoors page in The Roanoke Times featured a listing up upcoming races in the region. There was a long list of running races, and a not-so-long one featuring bike races, triathlons and the like.

This was not a complete list. I had sought input, but some race organizers who didn’t see my calls for submissions missed out. At least on this list. I run events listings in notes columns, the weekly outdoors calendar and the like.

Speaking of running, in an earlier post, hard core endurance athlete and hunter Brandon Lindsey made a comment about Wild Lifers getting together for a post-race photo after the Blue Ridge Marathon, which Lindsey is tackling again this year. I know Ralph Barton has done the half before, as has Steve Stone. I don’t know about Ralph, but I’m pretty sure Steve is running because I’ve passed him in training a few times out there on the road this winter.

Anyone else?

I’ll help Brandon coordinate a post-race photo and be happy to post it here. Unfortunately, I won’t be in it. Nor will I be able to take the shot.  I wasn’t planning to run this year as last year’s half really trashed my legs (the downhill; not the uphill) and, while I love the race, I was worried about that happening again.  I can’t afford that as I train for that July Ironman I’m committed to.

Anyway, as it turns out, some Roanoke Times-related travel  came up and I won’t even be in town. That’s a bummer as I love covering the event.

Even if you’re not tackling the Blue Ridge half or full, take a look at the list and sign up for an event or two (such as the fun Run with Grace, pictured here).Training for a race is a great way to get in shape for hunting season, which will be here before we know it.

We are in the process of overhauling Roanoke.com, and we’ve been reaching out to readers for feedback on what they’d like to see with the new site. We even have a blog, The Refresh RT blog, to keep readers in the loop.

So, let me pose that question to you all: How can we improve the Outdoors content on Roanoke.com? What are we doing well? What can we do better? What else would you like to see? Are there other outdoors sites we should look at for ideas?

Be blunt and honest. Your input will make a difference.

First, some basic background on what we have now.

–Outdoors stories and columns that appear in The Roanoke Times comprise part of our online Outdoors package. I write nearly all of these.  Read more »

I actually know the answer to this question for many of you. You’ll be in the turkey woods. It will be the second Saturday of the spring gobbler season, and that’s always a big hunting day — weather permitting, of course.

I’ll be in the woods, too. Sort of.

I have  entered the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. So I’ll be trotting up and down Mill Mountain. I’ll be on the road but it’s still pretty woodsy.I wouldn’t be shocked to hear a turkey or two gobbling up there.

Why put myself through nearly two hours of pain when I could be sitting at the base of an oak tree with my Browning Gold Hunter across my lap and a slate call in my hand?

Good question.

The truth is I pretty much have to be in town to cover the half marathon and associated marathon anyway. So I figured I’d run the half marathon, catch my breath, grab my notebook, jump on my bike and roll out to cover the end of the really tough race — the 26.2-mile marathon.

I was expecting some carnage on the marathon course last year, but it didn’t really happen. Seems folks who enter what may be the hardest road marathon in the country don’t do it lightly. They were prepared. And they were helped by cool weather. If it’s hot this year it could be a different story, especially with the addition of another major climb (and painful downhill).

Though I’ve been running for a good while I’ve never run in a half-marathon. Or at least a stand along half-marathon. I ran a 13.1-mile race last Oct. 30, but it came after a 1.2-mile swim and 56-mile bike ride, the first two legs of the Washington (N.C.) half-ironman triathlon.

That kind of event may sound a bit nutty, and it is, to a degree. But it really wasn’t horrible, which, I guess, is why I’ve signed up for another half-ironman, this one on May 14. That’s the race I’m really training for so the Blue Ridge Half Marathon will mostly be just a training run, albeit a pretty intense one.

I happen to know that a couple of you are pretty serious runners. How ’bout putting off a day of turkey hunting and join me for 13.1 miles of fun?

Not sure how to train for a half marathon? You’re in luck. I had a super simple 12-week half marathon training plan on my Outdoors page in The Roanoke Times today. If you’re a total couch potato you’re better off starting with something like the No Boundaries or Couch to 5K program. But if you can run 12-15 miles a week right now, you can get in shape by April 16.

Not your deal? That’s cool. Good luck with the gobblers.

A friend recently sent this trailcam photo from one of his hunting spots.

I suspect a lot of mentor/youth hunter groups will be in ground blinds tomorrow, the debut of Virginia’s youth deer hunting day. A lucky few may even have a buck like this walk by their blind.

Blinds are great for younger hunters because kids tend to move a lot. Tomorrow, with rain in the forecast, a blind will have the added advantage of providing some protection from the rain.

I won’t be hunting tomorrow. I think it will be a couple of years before my kids are ready, should they even want to hunt deer.

Instead of hunting, I will spend the morning at Smith Mountain Lake at the Big Lick Triathlon. And, for a change, I won’t be covering it. I’ll actually be doing it.

The race at Smith Mountain Lake State Park, is basically a mile swim, 25-mile bike and 6.2-mile run. When I was doing these in my mid 20s that distance wasn’t too scary. But I haven’t done anything that long since, well, my mid 20s. But I’ve been training a fair amount so I should get through it. The rain will make things interesting, especially on the bike.

It will likely take me just short of three hours to do this race. I won’t be able to go home and veg the rest of the day, either. Another couple invited me and my wife to the Tech-Miami football game. The guy is a triathlete, so I talked him into racing. After the race we’re going straight to Blacksburg to meet our wives, hopefully with enough time for a little tailgating before kickoff. (Here’s hoping the showers at the park beach are open tomorrow!)

Anyway, tomorrow has potential to be a mini-epic!

Good luck to everyone heading out tomorrow with a youth hunter. Be careful, have fun, and send reports and pictures!

It’s Monday and I’m still here, which means I survived my return to the world of triathlons. My last one was in 1992. Time flies.

As expected, my performance in the Smith Mountain Lake Triathlon on Saturday wasn’t pretty. But it could have been worse. My times for the swim, bike and run were actually about what I expected I’d do, which was good considering what I went through the day before the race.

About mid-morning Friday I started feeling some rumbling in my gut and I spent the next five hours within 20 feet of the bathroom. And let’s just say that while I had been teetering on eligibility for the Masters Clydesdale division (200 pounds, minimum), by the end of the day I was well under weight.

In all my years of competitive racing way back when, I had only one case of nerves-induced sickness. And back then I was actually trying to do well. I had no reason to be nervous about this race. So I can only figure I ate something bad.

Read more »

A couple of months ago, after a sobering trip to my doctor, I signed up for a short triathlon to help keep me motivated as I worked to get back into decent shape.

Other than a two-week layoff during a particularly nasty cold, my training has been going reasonbly well. I’ve been swimming, biking or running about five or six days a week.

I’ve lost about 7 pounds, which isn’t as much as I’d hoped for but better than nothing. I just broke under 200 pounds, which means I could probably have made weight for the masters clydesdales class if I drank a big jug of water before the event. (Actually, do they even weigh you in for that? Or is it just on the honor system?)

But everything almost all came to a crashing halt today when I nearly died — trying on a wetsuit.

After a couple weeks of digging I finally located the old Wavelength suit I wore back when I was doing these things in the late ’80s and early ’90s. It was in amazingly good shape. It is also a medium tall. Medium? I didn’t think I ever wore medium.

I knew it was going to be a rough one. So I stripped down and got to work. The suit was tight on my legs, but it got really ugly when I got the chest. I got the thing zipped up, but it was so tight I had a flashback to those old football practice fumble drills when I’d end up on the bottom of the pile. I could breath, but barely. I was even a little claustrophobic. I wasn’t much under 185 even back then but I guess 15 pounds is enough to make a BIG difference.

Bottom line, there’s no way I could swim 25 meters in that thing, let alone 750 meters. So I’m loaning it to a skinny co-worker who’s also doing the race.

I’ve got an full-body surf suit that’s larger, but I expect the lake will be too warm. So I guess I’ll wear the neoprene shorts and shirt I use for cool-water kayaking. It’s not exactly sleek, but it’s not like the extra drag is going to be the difference between me finishing on or off the podium. I could wear the best wetsuit in the world and ride the best bike and I’d still finish way back.

But I will finish, which is the goal at this point.

I went to my doctor Tuesday morning for a regular check-up.

It wasn’t pretty.

First, I had to step on a scale. I was 210 pounds. Some of that was clothes and shoes, but I’m still over 200 pounds. I’m 6-foot-2, but given my gangly frame I should be between 170-180, according to my doctor. “Even 190 would be OK,” he said.

My clothes have been feeling tight. This confirmed that the clothes weren’t shrinking.

Next came the blood pressure test. My BP has been borderline for a few years. Tuesday morning it was beyond borderline. I also had blood drawn for a cholesterol test. Don’t know the results yet, but I’m not hopeful.

I’ve never watched what I eat, which meants I get too much salt (BP) and fat (cholesterol). So I’ll have to watch that, now. But the bottom line is I’m just in bad shape, which not only elevates those bad numbers, but just doesn’t fit well with the stuff I like to do.

So I’m going to try turn this around.

I’ve always found I do better with this kind of thing when I have a specific goal. So not long after that appointment I got on line and signed up for the Smith Mountain Lake triathlon, which is May 5.

The race is a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike ride and 5-kilometer run. Back when I was doing triathlons regularly, that would have been cake. But that’s been 15 years. Still, as long as I stick with my self-imposed program, I’ll be alright, although I might not be ready by then to be seen in public in a Speedo.

I started Tuesday night with a 400-yard swim session. I had to stop twice. But it was a start.