'The Bachelorette's' Ryan Sutter raises more than $100,000 completing his First Descents Challenge

An update on Ryan Sutter, the Vail, Colo., Fire Department lieutenant likely better known to the public as the finalist on Season 1 of "The Bachelorette," who participated in the 10.10.10 First Descents Challenge.

Sutter was pushing to reach his goal of completing 10 athletic challenges and along the way inspire 10,000 people to contribute $10 each, hoping to collect a total of $100,000 for First Descents, a nonprofit organization that provides free outdoor-adventure therapy for young adults with cancer.

Sutter finished the last of 10 events, completing the Nov. 7 New York City Marathon in 3:20:39. He also reached and surpassed his fund raising goal, ending up with $100,424 donated, which will provide 100 young adults the opportunity to attend the weeklong First Descents camp.

"Going into this journey I expected a test of my physical endurance. What I did not anticipate was the profound affect the 10.10.10 Challenge would have on me as a father, husband and man," said Sutter. "Through the eyes of the young adults in the First Descents programs I was given a window into life’s tremendous potential and the importance of each day. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to give back to an organization that has given me so much."

'The Bachelorette's' Ryan Sutter has one more event to go in his 10.10.10 First Descents Challenge

Ryan Sutter spends his workday helping people as a lieutenant with the Vail, Colo. Fire Department. Sutter, however, is likely better known to the public as the finalist on Season 1 of "The Bachelorette," in which he won the heart of Trista Rehn in 2003 (they married later that year and now have two children).

Now, the 36-year-old Avon, Colo., resident, is out to help people -- specifically, young adults -- battling cancer.

To do so, Sutter is participating in the 10.10.10 First Descents Challenge, pushing to reach his goal of completing 10 athletic challenges and along the way inspire 10,000 people to contribute $10 each, hoping to collect a total of $100,000 for First Descents, a nonprofit organization that provides free outdoor-adventure therapy for young adults with cancer.

By the end of 2010, Sutter will have trained for 700 hours, traveled 8,500 miles and climbed the equivalent of Mt. Everest four times.

"The point was to really challenge myself, to see what I could accomplish and to take some of the inspiration that I've gotten from watching some of the campers at First Descents," Sutter said.

The Lazy Marathoner: So this is what V.I.P. looks like

Thank you, Mother Nature, for smiling down on my back-to-back half-marathons.

Despite all the cold and rainy weather we've had of late, the conditions were excellent for Sunday's inaugural Rock 'N' Roll half-marathon, which started in Griffith Park and ended up in downtown Los Angeles. I did this on a bit of a whim, feeling strong after last week's walk/run in the Long Beach half- marathon, and I'm glad I did. Those guys really know how to put on a race.

Perhaps that's no surprise, given the cross-country slate of marathons and half-marathons they put on under the Rock 'N' Roll banner. But this team has it down to a science. By the time I decided to do the race, I'd missed the online-registration window. I arrived at the L.A. Convention Center late Friday afternoon, dreading the possibility of long lines at the registration tables and at the Expo. All that worry was wasted: I registered, paid for my bib and had my race packet in hand in about four minutes. Seriously. It seemed like the race organizers had one volunteer for ever runner in attendance. Was it different on Saturday when the crowds were larger? What was your experience like?

While at the Expo, I met race spokesman Dan Cruz, who kindly invited me to visit the V.I.P. tent on race morning with others from the media who were largely there to cover the celebrity quotient of the race. Among the competitors: actors Jerry O'Connell, Jennifer Love Hewitt and James Marsden, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his girlfriend, KTLA TV reporter Lu Parker. (The mayor began the race but peeled off shortly after the start for work obligations: He was there to support Parker, whose charity, the Lu Parker Project, helps at-risk youth and homeless animals and raised more than $7,000 on Sunday. Perhaps even more amazing? The Miss USA 1994 looked as picture perfect at the end of the race as she did at the beginning of the race. Maybe even better, thanks to the post-workout glow. See photographic proof below.)

The Lazy Marathoner: Well, that was easy

I registered for the Long Beach Half Marathon with zero expectations. My running and fitness hit the skids a while back, and although I've been trying to get back on track, I have been bedeviled by a nagging, compelling, overwhelming desire to lie on the couch and watch TV instead of working out. I also had a painful foot injury. I used it all as an excuse to take months and months off. Ugh.

But I've rallied back by trying to follow Dr. Phil Maffetone's fitness plan. You can read more details here, but, briefly put, Maffetone bucks conventional wisdom by opposing the "no-pain, no-gain" philosophy that has been so ingrained in me and others. Instead, he focuses on improving aerobic conditioning -- and fat burning -- by slowing down and keeping your heart rate in check. He has urged me repeatedly to enjoy working out and not to focus on the clock. And although I have been skeptical about it at times -- it feels so easy, I can't believe I'm actually getting a "good workout" -- I'm here to say that it has worked for me in a big, big way.

The proof came Sunday, when I took part in the Long Beach Half Marathon simply as a training run. The cool temperatures and overcast skies made for perfect running weather for the roughly 24,000 people who took part in the day's events. Jason Gutierrez, 26, of Bogota, Colombia, came in first among the men, with a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes and 41 seconds. Lindsay Nelson, 25, of Chico, Calif., won the women's division with a time of 2 hours, 45 minutes and 8 seconds, a time that qualifies her for the 2012 Olympic trials.

For me, it was, by far, the easiest, most enjoyable, relaxed race I've ever run. (I've competed in a total of about 10 half marathons and marathons.) I felt like the gun went off, and next thing I knew, I was at Mile 11. I felt so great that when the race split off for the marathoners, I ever-so-briefly considered trying to do the whole thing.

And then I came to my senses and stuck to the half-marathon course.

Teva Mountain Games begin Thursday in Vail, Colo.

The Teva Mountain Games will kick off its eclectic mix of adventure sports, art and entertainment Thursday in Vail, Colo. The ninth annual event taking place through Sunday expects about 2,000 athletes to compete in 24 disciplines in eight sports, all vying for portions of a prize purse totaling more than $100,000.

Hosted by the Vail Valley Foundation, sporting events will include IFSC World Cup Bouldering competition -- the only World Cup bouldering event taking place in the U.S. -- as well as stand-up paddle boarding events, a discipline new to the games this year.

The games will also host competitions featuring some of the world's top athletes in each sport, competing alongside amateurs of all levels in trail running, kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, road cycling, amateur climbing, fly-fishing and a half-marathon.

In addition to all the adventure sports, there will be a photography competition, an interactive exhibition and demonstration area, DockDogs canine competitions, the Serac Adventure Film School, concerts and mountain lifestyle parties.

The games offer a family-friendly atmosphere with myriad free activities for all ages, including an adventure clinic on back-country and mountain preparedness, hosted by First Ascent guide Erik Leidecker; a mountaineering clinic hosted by First Ascent guide and mountaineering legend Peter Whittaker; a zip-lining course; the Eukanuba Doggie Dash obstacle course; outdoor film series screenings; free Parkour demonstrations with a hands-on beginner clinic; and the chance to try stand-up paddling with C4 Waterman team member and stand-up paddle surfing pro Charlie MacArthur.

A schedule of events is available on the Teva Mountain Games website.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: A pro kayak freestyle competitor at the 2009 Teva Mountain Games. Credit: Shane Macomber Photography

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Surf City USA Marathon takes off on Super Bowl Sunday

More than 20,000 runners are expected to converge on Huntington Beach for the Surf City USA Marathon, half-marathon and 5K, taking place on Super Bowl Sunday.

Formerly known as the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, the 14th annual run is the largest oceanfront event of its kind in California.

The marathon gets underway at 6:30 a.m. in a two-wave start from Pacific Coast Highway and Huntington Street. The 5K -- a three-wave start -- begins at 6:50 a.m. at PCH and Main, and the half-marathon will get underway at PCH and Huntington at 7:45 a.m., with a nine-wave start.

There will also be all sorts of other activities going on in conjunction with the marathon. 

Surf-rock bands aplenty will be performing along the course and in the post-race beer garden.

The Active Lifestyle Exposition, located oceanfront across the street from the Hilton Resort, will have exhibitors representing a high-end cross section of active lifestyle products and services such as yoga and Pilates, nutrition, health, apparel, and sports and fitness.

And don't worry -- for those interested in watching the Super Bowl, all races will be finished in plenty of time to make it to the chips and salsa at pregame viewing parties.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Runners taking off at the 2009 Surf City USA Marathon. Credit: Run For Mobility

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Sal Masekela has 'never been more scared' but will run in New York City Marathon

Well-known action sports figure Sal Masekela is scheduled to run in Sunday's New York City Marathon and, because long-distance running is not his forte, he's understandably nervous.

"I've never been more scared to do anything in my life," said Masekela, host of E! Entertainment's "Daily 10" program and longtime TV host of the winter and summer X Games. "In fact, I think I'd rather paddle into 20-foot Waimea Bay by myself than run in the NYC Marathon. However, this isn't about me. This is about the at-risk and disenfranchised teens desperately in need of the opportunities 'Stoked Mentoring' provides. I'm doing this for them."

Stoked Mentoring was founded by Masekela and Steve Larosiliere and its mission is to provide teens "a supportive, encouraging mentor along with a team of people determined to see them succeed."

The 'Stoked' mantra continues: "By introducing mentoring pairs to action sports, the very things many of us were warned against are now creating a positive environment and a foundation for teens. And one teen at a time, counterculture WILL change the world."

The Lazy Marathoner: Wait, what do you mean, 'No weights'?

My least favorite part of working out is cardio. That might be funny for a runner to say, but it's true. I need zero motivation to go to the gym for a weight workout -- barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, squats, Turkish get-ups, pushups, Arnold presses, you name it, I'm fascinated by anything new and different in the weight room. Now, I'm not telling you I'm great at it -- I'm just telling you that I love it.

Cardio, though, is another thing entirely. I always feel like cardio is work. And I also feel like unless I am killing myself and doing cardio as hard and as fast as I can, that I'm not doing it right. So, of course, I skip it as much as possible in favor of the weight workouts. Fitness guru Dr. Phil Maffetone says that schizophrenic approach to working out is what got me here. I'm someone who can easily do 50 pushups (five sets of 10!) and finished the L.A. Marathon, but isn't really all that fit.

So I'm back at square one, and Dr. Phil has me focusing solely on aerobic conditioning. And that means no weights, as weightlifting -- even the relatively light single-digit weights that I lift -- is an anaerobic exercise. And for right now, I'm supposed to avoid that. So it's all been about cardio: Walking and really slow running. Dr. Phil promises that if I keep it up, he'll have me back doing Zottman curls in no time. For now, I just wave to my gym-rat friends in the weight room as I go on my way to the treadmills and stair-steppers. I hope the kettlebells don't forget me. I miss them.

-- Rene Lynch 

Photo credit: New York Barbells

San Clemente Ocean Festival this weekend

Those looking to beat the heat this weekend might want to check out the 33rd annual San Clemente Ocean Festival, taking place Saturday and Sunday adjacent to the pier.

There will be a myriad of things to see and do, including fishing clinics and derbies, surfing and body-boarding contests, a woody car show and a pancake breakfast each morning griddled by San Clemente city lifeguards.

The main event will be the California Waterman and Waterwoman Championships, with competition taking place each day in sports such as distance and stand-up paddle-boarding, ocean kayak racing and biathlon.

There will also be plenty of activities for kids. A special pavilion will offer carnival games, face painting, ocean crafts and relay races. The Discovery Science Center and the Ocean Institute will also have booths offering various educational activities and projects.

The finale event will be the Great Rubber Duck Race at 4 p.m. Sunday. Festival attendees can purchase and decorate rubber ducks, which will be turned loose near the pier, with prizes awarded for ducks that reach the shore first.

Parking near the pier is limited, so complimentary parking and round-trip shuttle service will be available at San Clemente high school, located at 700 Avenida Pico.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Katie O'Keefe climbs the portable rock wall at a San Clemente Ocean Festival. Credit: Geraldine Wilkins / Los Angeles Times

The Lazy Marathoner: Um, is this thing on?

I'm getting off to an inauspicious start. I've been training at the wrong heart rate all week. You might ask how that could happen, because I own three heart-rate monitors. Well, it breaks down like this. My Timex needs a battery. And because I'm lazy, I haven't gotten around to fixing that situation for, oh, over a year now. But that still leaves two more heart-rate monitors, right? I lent my husband my Polar heart-rate monitor -- he's decided he wants to follow Dr. Phil Maffetone's plan along with me, and has dibs on reading Dr. Phil's new book, "In Fitness and In Health," as soon as I am done with it. So that still leaves my Garmin Forerunner. Which I have been wearing at the gym this week. And which has consistently showed by heart rate at 112-113 all week. I know that's lower than the 130 limit, but I was coming off a cold, I'm stressed because I'm in the middle of a home construction project and my parents are coming into town this week for a two-week stay, so I thought I would take Dr. Phil's advice about reducing stress, and give myself a break with an easier week. 

But when I was at the gym Sunday it suddenly dawned on me. The Garmin was still showing 113 when I slowed down. And when I sped up. And when I got off the treadmill and just stood there.

The Lazy Marathoner: You've got to run slow to get fast

 

The humiliation of the eight-hour L.A. Marathon is now safely in the rear-view mirror. And it's time to get back to work.

I've basically been a total do-nothing since L.A., partly because of a foot injury -- my doctor told me to stop running for a few weeks to let it heal -- and partly because, well, we all know I am lazy. So the only "exercise" I did in the days and weeks after the marathon was tooling around the Internet looking for a new training program to follow when I decided to get up off the couch.

And then I found this article by triathlon god Mark Allen, who gives all kinds of kudos to Dr. Phil Maffetone and his unconventional training methods. (Complete and utter aside: In addition to my dream of one day qualifying for Boston, I have delusions of one day making my way down the Queen K Highway and competing in an Ironman.)

But back to Dr. Phil, author of "In Fitness and In Health."  Dr. Phil's training philosophy is practically heretical to the no-pain, no-gain, Runners World-reading masses. He believes many of us mistakenly push ourselves too hard with workouts designed to push us to our anaerobic limits and beyond. Those workouts certainly have their place within a training program, said Dr. Phil. But we need to first lay a solid foundation of aerobic conditioning, and that means easing up just a bit and using heart-rate-monitored workouts. Best of all, these conditioning workouts have the added benefit of training our bodies to burn fat for energy, unlike the harder workouts that pull more heavily from our carb reserves. (Check out his website here for more details, as well as a look at Dr. Phil's newfound love in recent years: making music.)

As you might imagine, this was all music to my lazy ears.

The Lazy Marathoner: Better late than never

 

Now that's the way to throw a marathon.

The Los Angeles Marathon had been under fire for shifting from it's traditional March run date to May --  disrupting training schedules and leaving some runners concerned that the weather in May would be too hot.

Well, Mother Nature played along on Monday, serving up perfect running weather -- overcast, cool temperatures and a breeze that at times turned downright windy. (On the final stretch, I saw someone's cap blow off.)

The crowds were phenomenal. What the gallery may have lacked in spectators, it more than made up for in intensity. Onlookers shouted and waved to runners they'd never seen before as if they were cheering on their best friends.

The volunteers were terrific, too, underscoring how well-organized it all was. (One caveat: the long lines at Saturday's Expo, when volunteers seemed to fall behind on goody-bag duty leading to long lines. They also ran out of posters at one point. But the ultra-cool medal kinda made up for it.)

Best of all, there were port-a-potties EVERYWHERE at the start of the race, and placed every mile on the course.

Well done, L.A. Marathon!