After being informed about a special blog today, it has inspired me to get back on to this website. This special blog, which Ben Palmer (http://www.organicathlete.org/user/benjaminpalmer) showed me today, is about a vegan runner training for the Chicago Marathon. He has one of the top 100 seed times and is aiming for sub-2:30, so he is not your average runner. He started the blog about ten days ago and has written a good amount everyday ranging from his training (of course) to his thoughts on god.

Hello Organic Athletes. I just wanted to say hello to all of you since I joined this group. I have known of Organic Athlete for a while, but not until recently got around to joining. I am a runner. I ran for my college until the discontinued the program, but have continued my pursuits. Now I am training and eating the foods we all love. I plan to blog about my weekly training and race reports, so expect to hear from me again.

Went out to watch Ile Powell race in his first bout of off-road terror and Marc Romano in his first race in his OA kit. The race was the Kruger's Kermesse and it looked like a brutal run packed with bone jarring tooth chipping excitement! I was only there to catch their last lap so had no idea as to where they were in the field, as with any cross jam the field was shattered like a pint glass at a toga party.

Today was a good day. After months of planning and never knowing if we were getting anything accomplished, we seemed to have got through it. The Tour D' Organics Portland ride is history, for 2008. It is still to be determined on whether it was good or not so. As a chapter and a team it was a huge success. We came together and got the job done and made our chapter a closer knit group. This may not be visible to anyone but me, so I want to let everyone know; You All did a tremendous job and I thank you for helping me make this ride and chapter work.

Last night was the first cyclcross clinic associated with the Portland Cross Crusade. Ile, Marc and I turned up with hundreds of other enthusiasts and gave it our best. There were mostly beginners, with a few more seasoned racers looking to improve their skills. The very large beginners group broke into two slightly smaller large groups and off we went with three instructors each to try and learn how to dismount and run a barrier.

Riding to me is like jazz. Freedom from the bounds of automobiles, freedom into the groove. Like a Sun Ra awakening for the day, breathing rhythmic melody, essential life. Crank revolving from deep within, taking me somewhere, transporting me there…

It seems like we spend so much of our lives working on something:  Most of us spend a good portion of the day at work.  We come home and work on the house, or work in the yard.  When we have the time, we might work on our bikes, work on our relationships, or find any number of other ways to work.  Even when on the bike, those of us that race, end up working on sprinting, or climbing, or whatever our weakness might be.  I started putting in heavy base mi