• Good luck to Code Black team members this weekend! Ryan will be running the Kalamazoo Half-Marathon and Tom is running the Kazoo Marathon! #

• Wired.com has a bunch of new reviews for outdoor gear! http://www.wired.com/reviews/2011/04/springtest2011/ #
• Tough Mudder coverage on the travel channel tonight! #
• Tune It Up Yourself with Bike Repair (via @Gizmodo) http://t.co/tLzI3Rp #
• This Titanium Bow Could Be the Next Great Bike Lock (via @Gizmodo) http://t.co/QYH8BZ3 #

• Dusted off the Trek MB and rode to the beef place down the road. Used some muscles I haven't used in a while. Also, got some good jerky! #
• 12 Lust-Worthy Toys From Bike Fest | Gadget Lab | Wired.com http://t.co/cTYrhGF #
• I was stopped by every single stop light on the way home tonight, I thought about ditching my car and just running home. Wife would be mad. #
• 16 days until the Kalamazoo Marathon! #

• Aaaaaannnnnd we are back! http://j.mp/h7V4u7 via @AddToAny #
• A Touchable GPS Watch for Runners (via @Gizmodo) http://t.co/atStPN6 #
• Might be a good time to get a Flip camera cheap! Film your adventures! The Flip Camera Is Finally Dead (via @Gizmodo) http://t.co/dPe01x2 #
• VelEau, The Most Complicated Bike Drinking System You Could Possibly Imagine | Gadget Lab | Wired.com http://t.co/LyaJXYS #
• Good list, agree with shuffle, Nike watch looks nice – 10 Tools to Help Run Your Way Back Into Shape (via @Gizmodo) http://t.co/gfocvvS #
• Code Black and family are running the Triple Creek dash this weekend. Should be a good time! #
• Code Black members Ryan and Tom finished 2nd and 3rd in their age group @ the triple creek dash in Three Rivers, MI! #
• Anyone have a good guide to tuning-up your mountain bike for newbies? #

Seeing how this is the 1 year anniversary of our last post, it only seems right that we post something!

The last time we saw our intrepid heroes they were running the 2010 Chicago Marathon.  It was Tom and Ryan’s first marathon and very nearly their last. Temperatures skyrocketed into the high 80s and both runners were hit hard. They struggled through and managed to finish. Afterwards there was much pain and little desire to do anything ever again.

Fast forward and we have started running once again. Code Black returned to the 5k scene and ran the Kalamazoo Shamrock 5k which has one of the best after-race food tables around. The race is put on by Hackett High School and appears to be getting bigger every year.

Here is what we are thinking for our upcoming events:

1. Triple Creek Dash 10k (4/16)- Ryan and Tom
2. Kalamazoo Marathon – Tom
3. Susan J Komen Race for the Cure 5k – May 15th? (Probably will run in with my daughter… if I can move after the marathon)
4. Tough Mudder (July 23rd) – Wisconsin, we may be crazy, but who doesn’t want to run through fire?
5. 2011 Chicago Marathon – The Revenge. Ryan and I attempt to avenge Code Black’s proud name… hopefully it won’t be so hot!

• Interesting article – packing the perfect backback 4 camping http://bit.ly/9DOLtl #

I think that one of the hardest things to train for in adventure racing is orienteering. Unless you live close to an orienteering course there are no real good options for training. Since you cannot really set up your own course as you would know where all the points are it would be a rather pointless exercise. The closest permanent course to us is about an hour away which is not very convenient.

Luckily, I think that I have come up with a fairly simple solution to this problem. (note: I am probably not the first person to think of this) To help train for orienteering, you can leverage the popular new outdoor sport Geocaching! So what is geocaching? According to the website geocaching.com: Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches.

 Essentially you go to this website look up a location and it gives you a map with a bunch of plotted geocaches on it. There are over 1 million geocaches around the world. Chances are good that there are some in your area. We have a lot around here, and we live in the middle of nowhere. Once you look up the geocaches in your area, you would normally use a GPS to locate the treasures.

 The awesome (and key) part about this site is the ability to select topographical maps by clicking on the MyTopo button on the map portion of the website. This then overlays a topographical map. Bamn, instant orienteering map! You can then print the maps, grab a compass and go orienteering!

Then the hardest part is getting it to print correctly. You probably will not be able to get it to print at the correct/normal orienteering scale but luckily it comes with the map scale printed on it.

I took a screenshot and cropped it around the image and printed it out so that it filled the page.  If you need help and are using Windows Vista/Windows 7 you can follow this tutorial to take a screen shot and paste it into Microsoft Word. If you are using Windows XP, try this tutorial.

I would still recommend bringing a GPS unit with you as well as a printout of the list of checkpoints that you are looking for along with their GPS coordinates. You can use this info to check whether you are on the right course. Unlike Orienteering checkpoints, geocaching caches are hidden under leaves or rocks and are camouflaged and can be quite difficult to locate.

So there you go, instant orienteering courses, pretty much no matter where you live!

• Can't get my #ergon grips to stay on Trek 6k, which is bad. Wrapped electrical tape around the handle bars and put grips on. So far so good! #
• Believe it or not, we are still around. In the midsts of training for Half Marathon @ the end of April. #BorgessRun #

• Had a OK race. Working on a race recap! #
• Google Maps added Bike lanes/paths ! http://bit.ly/dc6RNq I really want to start biking into work a few times when it gets nicer out. #
• Just got our brand new Kodak HD PlaySport rugged digital camcorder. It is so cute! Will work up to 3m underwater! #kodak #

We are looking to do an adventure race in Las Vegas this year. Why? Because its VEGAS. The only thing that is going to be a royal pain is getting the bikes out there in one piece. So when I saw this post for the inflatable bike case over on Gizmodo, I was pretty excited… until I saw the price: $600. That’s a bit out of the Code Black price range (We make our own map cases for god’s sake.) It is a pretty neat concept though. Perhaps some day when we get a sponser… hint hint.