Run and Not Grow Weary

Fallen, but not Forgotten Quadzilla

2010-11-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

Fallen, But Not Forgotten Quadzilla

When I first decided to run the November quadzilla (4 marathons in 4 days) I figured it was going to be just for a birthday present to myself. Something fun to do, a real challenge to tackle. But as I began to really think about running four marathons in four days and over the Thanksgiving holiday, I began to realize that there was so much more to this endeavor. First, Thanksgiving this year is also my birthday. I am thankful not only for another year of life, but for the ability to run and run as much as I do. Thankful that God has blessed me with life and a family that supports and loves me. family that I get to love and be with everyday. Family that loves me even when I screw up. I realized that there are four families that do not get to have this experience with their whole family and that I need to cherish every moment I have with my family and every opportunity I have to run. It is truly a blessing to be thankful for. Then I began to think about how others who might wish to be out running cannot for whatever reason. Second, this weekend is also the one year anniversary of the shooting of four Lakewood police officers. Now I did not know any of these officers personally, but was deeply moved, outraged, angered, and saddened by these events. My husband grew up with in the same neighborhood, played sports with and went to school with Officer Ronnie Owens and one of my best friends and running partners works for the Lakewood police department. My husband and I spent a very emotional day with the LPD at the public memorial for these officers and my husband also attended many remembrances and the funeral for officer Owens.
As so many felt at the time, I wanted to actually do something tangible about this horrific event. I wanted people to value police officers and all they do, I wanted people to never forget what happened. I organized the tying of blue ribbons over I-5 along the South Tacoma Way overpass, close to both the shooting and the Lakewood police department as a reminder to those who see them to never forget.
I realized that I could use these four marathons as another way to remind people of these four wonderful officers and the sacrifice they and their families made. That I can run and that they cannot. I choose to run each marathon in memory of each fallen officer, to in some small way keep them in our memories. Fallen, but not forgotten.
Thursday, November 25th Wattle Waddle Marathon In memory of Sergeant Mark Renninger
Friday, November 26th Wishbone Marathon in memory of officer Tina Griswold
Saturday, November 27th Ghost of Seattle Marathon in memory of Officer Ronnie Owens
Sunday, November 28th Seattle Marathon in memory of Officer Greg Richards

Support the Lakewood PD

2010-01-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

Help suppot the Lakewood Police Independant Guild and the families of the fallen officers Click on the link below and purchase an Honor Band bracelet
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A few photos from the Memorial for the fallen Lakewood Officers

2009-12-10T20:20:00.000-08:00

Canadian Mounted Patrol. There were over
1000 Canadians dressed in red.
Waiting to enter the Tacoma Dome

Just a glimpse of the Lakewood patrol cars
and the thousands of cars that followed.
Outside of the Lakewood police department, the procession began under the flag with the fallen officers
vehicles, the hearses, the family and then
the LPD.

The most moving day of my life.
Grace and Peace to the fallen officers families and to the Lakewood police department
Grace and peace to you.

Cascade Crest story part II, "The Climb"

2009-09-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, here goes. After much reflection I can finish my story.
I left Hyak wishing I had more time. I felt rushed there partley because of the cutoff and partly because Hyak was the aid station my friends were hosting. I really needed to take the time to attend to my feet, blisters and change shoes and socks but I just couldn't with all those people there. So I changed my shirt and kept on moving.
Along the paved road section out of Hyak I noticed a cramp in my foot. It came and went so I thought nothing of it. Rob and I we doing 50/50's which was good, but I really knew I needed to be running more. My feet just hurt. I was sleepy. I was wishing for a rope to tie myself to Rob so he could pull me along and I could sleep as I climbed the road to Kacheelus Ridge. I took a few breaks on this road just for a minute or two while Rob attended to nature. I was thankful. At one point the cramp came back and was very painful. I began looking along the sides of the road for a place to sit and rub my foot. There weren't any so I saat on the road. It really didn't help, but the pain subsided some and I was able to move without limping. On up the road. It really seemed we would never get to the top. That 5 miles seemed like 10. Once we did get to the top it was cold and we had to put on jackets. We arrived at the aid station and had a quick bite. It was around 5am. When we left the aide station we passed a pacer coming back in and saw the runner sitting attending to blisters.
The way down the mountain was an 8 mile downhill. This would be easy on any other run. Not so here. What was beautiful was the sunrise over the mountains with clouds below in the valley. Gorgeous. Breath taking. Rob had me continuing to run with some breaks. My feet were hurting and that cramp was still off and on. The downhill pounding on the road was taking it out of me. My legs felt good though, my feet felt beat. I knew now that I had a big blister on the bottom of my right heel. I felt it every time I put my foot down. Soon we were joined by Bill Barmore and a runner he was pacing. We leap frogged some and ran together some. We worried about making it to Kachees Lake before the cutoff together. I began to walk more. It felt better to walk fast than it felt to run slow.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that we made it to kachees by 7:15am, 45min ahead of the cutoff. My race was still on.
I really needed to take care of my feet, but we chose to push on. I took off my lights and jacket and did not stop at the aid station. Rob called "12 in, 12 out" as I kept moving along up the road. My wonderful crew was a bit confused but still took my pack and filled it and gave Rob food for me and Jamal ran up the road and brought me the pack and food. Rob caught up and we scrambled up the side of the hill onto "the trail from hell" as it is lovingly referred.
I have run the last 27 miles of Cascade before so knew exactly what to dread. What seemed like hundreds of giant logs, like Lincoln logs strewn about for weary runners to try and climb over as fast as they can. I tried to just take them as they came and made my way over as best I could. I am sure Rob was laughing to himself watching me do this.
My wonderful pacer was convinced that I would be able to move fast enough to get through this section, to mineral creek and up the next logging road to No Name Ridge by the cut off at 11:30am. We really had to be moving to do this. I appreciated his efforts to get me to move, but I was really going as fast as I could. My feet were really hurting, but the rest of me was willing to go, go, go.
I wasn't going fast enough. The end of the lake and the turn off wasn't getting any nearer. I began to realize I would make it to mineral creek, but I would not make it to No Name Ridge by the cut off. I knew I needed at least 2 1/2 hours to make it up that 7 mile climb by 11:30 am. Rob kept up the faith that I could and we kept moving along.
By 9:30am though, together we knew that I would not make it and my finish line would be at Mineral Creek and not at the Easton Fire station. Rob said we could keep going and not worry about the cut off and just keep going anyway. I was torn inside about that. I have run this section before and knew how hard it would be to continue. I knew my feet needed attention and that would take more time due to my ankle braces coming off and going back on, besides the cleaning and draining of blisters. So I decided I would finish at Mineral. Rob ran ahead to let Michelle and Sonja know to bring the car down to the aid station so I wouldn't have to go an extra 2 miles to the car.
I was feeling good about the decision. Happy to even be this far and to be a participant. I really enjoyed the event..there were moments of misery but I loved even those. I was happy to be done, to sit down, to take off my shoes and see those blisters. The giant bubble one on the bottom of my foot. I was happy to know that I had gone farther than I had ever gone before and that I still did feel really good, despite my feet feeling crappy. I'd have gone on if there wasn't a looming cut-off to tell me I couldn't go on. I wasn't ready to say I'd ever do this adventure again, but now I'd say I would. I know now what I would have done differently and what other kinds of training I would do to be better prepared for those super loose and rocky sections (especially int he dark). I can't say that it would happen next year or even the next, but someday I'll come back and tackle those climbs again.

The Climb....(has Miley Cyrus taken up running ultras?)

I can almost see it.That dream I'm dreaming,
but There's a voice inside my head saying
You'll never reach it
Every step I'm takin'
Every move I make
Feels lost with no direction,
My faith is shakin'
But I gotta keep tryin'
Gotta keep my head held high
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb
The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down,
butNo I'm not breaking
I may not know it, but
These are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most
I've just gotta keep goin', and
I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on, but
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb
Keep on movin'
Keep climbin'
Keep faith baby
It's all about, it's all about
The climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith

Grace and Peace to you

My Cascade Crest Story...part 1

2009-09-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday began early. With a 4:15am wake up call, I was a bit worried at the sound of pouring rain. I knew the forecast in the mountains was not for rain, so I wasn't too worried. Then I was into the shower and making those final getting dressed preparations. I headed downstairs to make some toast and stretch a bit before crew member Sonya arrived at 5:20am. When Sonya arrived, we loaded up her gear into the back of the car and set out for Starbucks. I already had Michelle's order so we could make just one stop. We saw crew member 2, Rick pulling into Starbucks as we were pulling out. He was to pick up my pacer, Rob (who would also require a stop at Starbucks of course!), and then head up to Easton. We got to Crew Chief Michelle's at about 5:50am and loaded everything up into the backseat. We decided to wait until we were in dry Easton before trying to get everything sorted out and into the box on top of the car.
We arrived in Easton at about 7:15am after pouring rain at least half of the drive up. I decided to drive as my nerves were getting the best of me and I felt I needed something to do or I would go crazy. Once we arrived we tried to eat some of the awesome breakfast the volunteer firefighters had made for the runners and crews. Huckleberry pancakes, fruit, eggs, ham, sausage...the works. I couldn't eat much. We went back to the car and got all the stuff organized and I started to get my feet ready to go. I started with the Anti-Monkey-Butt Powder on my feet to help with heat rash, then lubed up the toes and heels with Body Glide and put my injini's and ankle braces on. I had to adjust my left brace a few times before it felt just right. Then I checked in with Rob who needed a pacer bib and I picked up my #12 bib and goodie bag. Lots of runners and crews were arriving now and I got a chance to talk with lots of people. Soon it was time for the race briefing and I was really beginning to feel nervous! Finally we were set free to use the porta-potties and get the final gear on and line up to start. I got my pack on and my water-bottle with orange-ginger Nuun ready to go and hit the bathroom line. I was feeling goo. 10 minutes later I went to the potties again! Then it was time to toe the line. With literally 20 seconds before the start I realized I didn't have my two gel flasks and wonderful crew Chief Michelle went flying into action and got the gels to me as I was jogging at the start!
I quickly caught up to Karen Wiggins who I would be with for about the first 25 miles. It was great to have company. We we at the back of the pack and taking it nice and easy which was fine with both of us. We came into the first water stop at Goat Peak at 10:50am and headed out to Cole Butte. We were thinking we were getting away with an easy first climb right about the time the climb really began! It was too bad though as our legs were fresh. I am not sure what times we came into Cole Butte or Blowout Mountain, but they were within the range I had on my expectation and notes sheet. I was very glad to hit the Pacific Crest Trail as it seemed to be well groomed and very easy to run on and feel we picked up time on this section. We came into Tacoma Pass and I got to see my crew for the first time. It was great. They gave me a new bottle with Sustained Energy and I ate some watermelon. I need to thank Jon Yoon also for fixing my watch so the timer was rolling at 45 minute intervals. I had been eating gel or food every 30 minutes but felt it was making me a bit nauseous along with my nervous tummy already. It proved a good move. I think I made some good time on the next section and even passed several people. I enjoyed being greeted by a high school boys cross country team at Blowout Mountain and appreciated the help the coach gave me about getting real food into my body as I was feeling a bit low at this point. I was glad to see it was only 3 miles to Stampede, but it turns out it is really 3.9. I thought why is it taking me so long to run 3 miles (as I was running the whole time)? Well, because it was just about 4 miles!
Coming into Stampede Pass I felt great, but really wanted company. Karen had left me earlier, eager to get to her husband and change her shoes at Stampede. I wanted my pacer and to have someone to talk to! I sat down too quickly here and got light headed and felt a bit ill. I kept asking for my lights. My crew took care of me, getting me solid food to take with me , a new bladder and bottle and put a jacket on me. They were worried about me. I assured them I just needed to go and get moving. I really did feel better as soon as I was moving again. They told me they would wait 15 minutes at the aid station in case I needed to come back. I was good. I ate the sandwich piece they gave me and a Snickers bite size bar and felt good again. I decided to listen to my Ipod and run as much as I could before it got dark. I knew there were some people behind me and as soon as it was really dark I was glad to have some company besides the music. for 5 miles out of 7 between stations I was alone and the last two I spent with a man named Mark. I found that as soon as it was really dark, the trail also became very overgrown and big chunky loose rocks took over the trail. It became hard to run and have good footing, so I was reduced to more walking here which I didn't really want to do. I was surprised to find my crew at Meadow Mountain as I forgot it was a crew point. This perked me up too as I knew I would find Rob at the next aid station. I was faster than I thought, but I didn't like what time it was. Too close to the end of my time range. Mark and I had to walk most of the next section, as it had lots of climbing at the start and steep, chunky rock descents. Rob and another guy came out to meet us from Olallie. This helped pick up the pace into the aid station which was good. I needed to have a blister taken care of here on my heel of my right foot. Michelle and Sonya got started and then thee aid station crew kinda took over. Scott examined the blister and brought over a big knife, wiped it with an alcohol pad and began to pop and scrape my blister. I distracted myself by drinking an apple juice box and having Sonya get my blister band aids out of my pack. After deliberating about what was best, vaseline or the band aids, I decided I wanted the blister band aid and kiniesio tape covering the band aid. Scott didn't think it would stay but it did! With perogie in hand and Rob in the lead we were off to discover the new rerouted section into Hyak...........to be continued!

On the Eve of Cascade Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run

2009-08-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here I sit, a bundle of nerves. I've been going crazy from anxiety and nerves all week. trying to rest and pack, get lots of sleep. Now it is finally here.
"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go," not standing at the door quite yet, few more hours to wait. Now the questions just nag and persist. Will my ankle braces cause me grief, just how bad will the blisters be? Will be fast enough up the climbs. Actually, the running and climbing questions I know I can do, It's the other things I wonder about.
The training is in, the playlist is downloaded, the checklist is checked off.
The praying has begun at full strength, please pray for me too. These are my requests: Strength, Endurance, energy, positive attitude, staying awake through sleep deprivation, keep moving through the aches and pains in my feet and muscles, safety and FUN!
Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate all of them and all of you. Hopefully a race report will be published on Monday or early next week. God bless you.
Grace and peace to you.

Taper Time Ramblings

2009-08-19T16:50:00.001-07:00

As I approach the week and a half left to go mark, I am beginning to get excited and nervous. Do I have enough gels, extra socks, etc to make it to the finish? What's the weather going to do? All these questions. Did I train enough? Will I be fast enough on the climbs? I rest in the knowledge that I listened to seasoned runners and followed their coaching advice (thank you Rob, Eric and Steve as well as many others out there).
As I begin to make little piles of clothing and gear, trying to decided which bag for which aid station I want my crew to have this or that ready for me, I am thankful for all the help i have been given to even get to this point, the ready to toe the starting line point. Who would have ever thought I'd run 100 miles? I just ran my first marathon about 3 years ago. "What a long strange trip it's been." Albeit a great trip. I can't wait to find out all the things I have learned about myself over the last 9 months. Yes it has been a 9 month journey from the first time I felt called to even consider running Cascade. It has been along journey that my loving husband blessed and has endured. Many weekends with the kids while I was out training in the mountains or up at 4am and back at 9pm and he got all the kid duties...baseball games and swim lessons etc... Thank you Hun. I know I have grown as a person, stronger mentally, physically and spiritually through this journey. Next Saturday, the 29th it all comes to fruition. And as I look back after on the adventures I have had in getting there and in tackling the 100 miler, the lessons will begin to emerge and I'll know then who I am after 100 miles and why I was called to run the Cascade Crest 100 mile endurance run.
Until then, Grace and peace to you and a prayer request for me for peace, endurance, strength, health, and good weather!

Plain Painful Adventures

2009-08-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

I know I'll post my version of the story, but until then, please read Eric's version as it is so close to mine!

Grace and Peace to you!

The Weekend Double, Recovery and the Upcoming 50 miler...Whew!

2009-07-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer is heating up! With very warm temperatures, lots of family fun going on, and training ramping up, I am one busy mom!
Last weekend was my return to hard training after vacation double. Saturday I ran the Crescent Forest ultra at 27+ miles in Gig Harbor at a nice easy pace not worrying about my time and finished in 5:53. It was a nice variation of terrain and trail. Single track covered in foliage to old service roads.
I was trying out a new pair of Montrail Hardrock mid o9's. Thanks to my trail work requirement for Cascade Crest I spent time with Van Phan and Linda Barton working on trails. Van and Linda suggested I try these shoes instead of my Cascadias and lace up ankle braces. I have felt that I need the extra support after my ankle sprain in January. The Montrail Hardrock mid's are essentially a high-top trail running shoe. They felt good on my ankles but definitely need more breaking in. My right ankle was rubbing a bit on the side and becoming sore and the balls of my feet hurt pretty bad. I spoke with a sales person at a running store in Fairview, Wa who said that it takes about 50 miles or so to break in the hardrocks, so I am hoping that is so! I purchased some metatarsal gel pads to wear and hope that they will offer some comfort after long miles. I plan to wear the Hardrocks for at least half of this weekend's WR 50 miler.
After the run on Saturday I picked up Michelle and headed north to Seattle and Margaret's condo. We shopped at Title Nine, Road Runner and Super Jock and Jill then had coffee at Peete's and dinner at a Mexican Restaurant across the street. On Sunday, Margaret, Michelle and I headed north to Bellingham for the Wild Thing Summer Fling marathon at Lake Padden.( See Michelle's blog for photos, or my FB page) It was a great day. Beautiful weather and fun times wearing silly dresses and headbands for the first loop. I had a great time running with Michelle and Margaret in our sparkly green gaiters I made for our silly run! At the end of each loop we had to do a task of some sort. After the second lap we had to do "mountain climbers." Once we began running again, I noticed a tightness in my right calf and had to stop and massage it. Turns out to be a strained soleus.
Monday morning I woke up to find some bruising on my calf and decided to call my Chiropractic sports physician and have her help my with the best way to tape it with Kinesio tape. She also did some Active Release (torture) Therapy on the muscle which really helps. She suggested massage with comfry gel then to wrap with saran wrap and an ace bandage to reduce swelling, and to take Wobenzym supplements. Tuesday I woke with the bruising almost invisible and today it is all gone. I visited Dr. Doyle again and had more ART and a new kinesio tape job and was given some strengthening exercises. I'll see her again on Friday to be taped up for Saturday's 50 miler.
Another cool thing we found at the Wild Thing Marathon was Nuu-Muu exercise dresses! We tried them on at a bike shop in Fairview and I came home and ordered the Fleur Nuu-muu! I think I might wear it for White River this weekend!
After White River, which I hope to complete pain free, I have two training runs on the Cascade Crest course and then Eric and Rob are taking me up on the 2nd loop of the Plain 100 course for some crazy climbing torture, which I am told if I survive, Cascade Crest will be a no problemo! Then just about three weeks to recover with easy runs and then the big weekend. I know it will go super fast and I'll be done and back to school before I know it.
Grace and Peace to you.

quick "what I've been up to" update

2009-06-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

It seems that every weekend I am out doing some sort of training run and too tired to report about it.
Here's the update:
The last race I wrote about was the Capital Peak 50 miler April 25 and the Tacoma City Marathon on May 3
Next up was:
May 16th Watershed Preserve 12 hour, 50 miles
May 23rd and 24th, runs with friends totalling 30 miles
May 30th Blanchard Mountain 33 miles
June 6th Rainier to Ruston relay and Ultra 51.71 miles
June 13th Lake Youngs Ultra 28.8 miles

Whew- that's plus running midweek. My legs are beat and my feet are sore. I've learned a lot about pushing through the pain and what to eat and what not to eat. All good lessons, all great runs with great people! I'll be out of town for a couple of weeks after school ends in a few days. I plan to rest up before it all starts again mid-July for the final ramp up towards Cascade Crest the end of August!

Grace and Peace to you.

Capital Peak 50 miler and Tacoma City Marathon

2009-05-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

Myself, Jessica and Michelle getting ready for the Tacoma City Marathon early start. More TCM photos at the end of this post.

It's been a busy week and a half. It's been a tiring week and a half.

First, April 25 I ran the Capital Peak 50 miler. This was my first real trail 50. I have run 50 miles at Autumn Leaves and at the Pacific Rim 24 hour both in 2008. So, I like to say this is the first one with mountains thrown in. I was a bit nervous about running on these particular trails because it was along the same trail that I sprained my ankle so badly back in January. With that weighing on my mind I chose to wear lace up ankle braces for the run, on both ankles just to ease my nerves. Steve, Eric and I carpooled down Friday night and camped with Lesa and her husband in a nice camper so I could take the 5am early start Saturday morning. Now I knew I could run 50 miles in the regular 12 hour limit as I have done so before, BUT I felt I needed the extra hour as I would be being very careful on those trails as well as it being the first real trail 50 with mountains as I said earlier. Turns out I did as I finished in 12 hours and 43 minutes. I was nervous about running this mostly by myself too. I thought I might get discouraged or talk myself out of completing the 50 miler and opting for the 55k instead without having someone to talk with. It turned out okay. I saved my ipod for the last 12 miles and it saved me and helped me keep up my pace.

I started out in the dark with Karen Wiggins and Tom Riley. I used a headlamp and a small handheld flashlight. I found that using both made it brighter and I could direct the light without moving my head. I stayed with them until I needed to make the first of three adjustments to my right ankle brace (this is the ankle not used to wearing the brace) I think I had it on too tight. It felt better but the others were ahead now and I didn't want to push it catching back up. It was getting lighter and I was noticing what a beautiful day it was. The birds were singing and I was so happy to be outside. The trail was in great condition and I was thinking how great it was that the trail was so runnable and not covered in mud and giant puddles as it has been every other time I have run in Capital Forest. Soon I took a right hand turn and stopped to check my directions. It didn't seem right. The first regular starter passed me here as I was on the side of this trail. I mentioned I didn't know if this was the correct way or not, but he just flew right on by! I kept on going and soon met Tom again and another runner standing on the side where the trail ran into an old road. They too were confused as to if this was the correct route. Another front of the pack from the regular start came off the trail and ran one way, soon to come back and say it was a dead end. We just stayed there for a while (Here I adjusted my brace for the second time, removing shoe and all) He went up the road the other way and soon returned with the first front runner and all of us headed back down the trail. One of us fixed the trail markers to point in the correct direction so no one else would get lost and we were on our way again. I stayed with Tom for a mile or two until we hit the first real climb of the day and then I sped up and he slowed down. He hadn't run more than 14 miles in a while so he was taking it easy. It didn't seem too much longer and I was at the start again at the 19ish mile aid station and on my way again after getting a few bites of potato.

This next loop starts with about 6 miles of climbing to the top of Capital peak. I tried to run as much as possible, but ended up power hiking as fast as I could leap frogging a couple of hikers on my way up. They seemed to be going a little faster than I on the steeper climbs, but as I mentioned to them I had already gone 23 miles by then, they had come 3 miles. It was along this path too that I was almost taken out my a mountain biker flying down the trail. I was overjoyed when I came out of the trail and onto the road and into view came the aid station! Jess Mullen was a sight for sore legs! I took a new to me route to the top of Capital Peak. The trail wound around the backside and then up a steep and rocky climb to the top and Glenn Tachiyama's camera waiting in the frigid peak to capture the joy on each runner's face. Then it was time to run down the long maintenance road back to the aid station....and the choice to drop to the finish and take a 55k or head on for the full 50 miles. Of course I knew I was moving on for 50 miles. Whether I finished before the cutoff, I was going to conquer these trails and run 50 miles doing so. I dropped off two empty gel flasks and grabbed two fresh ones from my drop bag and was on my way. I knew this section would be rolling hills and that I would get a chance to rest a bit. It was funny to me the last few miles as I encountered every kind of weather imaginable. Wind, rain, hail, snow, sleet, and blazing sun. It only lasted about 5 minutes or so each time, never enough to be bothersome.
Once I made it to Wedekind aid station I headed out on the 6 mile (12 miles total) out and back. This was a nice rolling section with some kinda weird terrain mixed in. There was rocky sections, nice single track sections and these parts where it seemed like someone just dumped bunches of broken sticks all over the place. I hated these sections both times I went through them. I knew I had developed blisters on my big toes and it seemed I never failed to kick a stick into the other foot and right into those blisters. It hurt so bad. It was along this section that I first ran into Steve and Eric. They were a sight for sore eyes. Just that brief encounter helped to pick up my moral. I also ran into Shawn again and close to the turnaround, Karen. IT was good to see them and have contact. Of course I had passed along this section most of the 50 milers, but seeing the people you know makes a big difference when you are out there alone. I kept thinking how it's good that during Cascade Crest that I'll be able to have a pacer to talk me through those last difficult 50 miles or so. I could have used one at Capital Peak! I tried to keep up the positive talk and make it to the end. I was elated to see the aid station tent through the trees and head back in the other direction! I knew I still had 12 miles to the finish, but 6 to the Wedekind aid station again. I popped on the ipod and let Bruce Springsteen carry me and remind me that "Baby you were born to run." My uphill legs by this time were done and I power hiked anything that resembled an incline. I ran on the flats and downhill sections, but was slower this time. Once I reached the aid station I knew it was mostly downhill to the finish and I was looking forward to that, but not so much the "V Trench of DOOM" I had to run down. Thank God that Laura informed me that the trail was being rebuilt and they had filled in the trench with gravel. Let me tell you it was SO AWESOME to run down that trail all nice and rebuilt. It was still hard as I was so tired, but a bazillion times better that the previous times I have run there.
Soon I was nearing the end and I couldn't wait. I felt very emotional about finishing within the cut off time on my first real trail 50 miler. I passed through the clear cuts and back into the forest and kept thinking I'd see the tents at the finish. Man that was the longest 6 miles ever. Soon I saw the "finish this way" sign and literally teared up and had to control my breathing to clam myself down to avoid being a blubbering mess when I crossed the finish line. Lots of people were there cheering for me when I came out of the forest and into the clearing. Lesa, Dave, Shawn, Steve, Eric, Karen, and many others I now I am forgetting now. Thanks. It meant a lot. I just wanted to sit down. I sat and took my shows off to examine the damage of the blisters. They were giant on the insides of my toes. I wore Drymax crew socks in hopes that I wouldn't get any blisters. I did. Next time I'll put a little body glide on my toes. Which is what I normally would do, but heard you're not supposed to do with drymax. I will also give Injinji's a try.
Anyway, I spent the next day resting in bed and being lazy around the house. Monday I felt a lot better and walked for an hour at the Y. Th rest of the week I felt fine besides nursing the blisters. I just wanted them to heal and be ready for the Tacoma City Marathon coming on Sunday. I worked out on Wednesday and ran again on Thursday. Volunteered at the Marathon Expo on Friday evening and rested and hung out with the family on Saturday. Sunday brought the Tacoma City Marathon.
This event was fun for me this year. I took it easy on my tired legs and started at 6am for the early start. I had a fabulous time running with Michelle and Jessica who made the race just fly by. The weather was perfect and I didn't even mind the course changes that took us up the Vassault mile long hill (minus the fact that there was no police and no runners on road signs and there was a lot of traffic that honked and caused some near misses on this hill) and the new finish was great. Check out Michelle's blog for more detail.

The following are some shots of the Tacoma City marathon course including Stadium High School Castle and it's bowl stadium (This is where they filmed the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You.") the water front, the entrance to Point Defiance Park, the awesome volunteer, mad Monkey Steve, the Tacoma narrows bridges and getting close to the finish...enjoy!

Thanks for reading my LONG update!
Grace and Peace to you.

Tiger Mountain Adventure

2009-04-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

The plan was to run Tiger Mountain 12 Summits, about 34ish miles. I think we ended up with 4 summits and close to 20 miles. The problem was snow and lots of it.

The day began with a carpool of Rob, Eric and Steve. We met at 5:45 to pick up Rob and head up to Tiger to begin by 7am. It was a bit rainy but I was prepared for whatever the day brought. I was excited to be trying out a new pack I just bought, an Ultimate Direction Wink. It has lots of pockets in the front to keep all your goodies so you don't have to take off the pack to get to some food or your s-caps etc. I loved it by the way. Anyway, we parked at the High Point trail head lot and headed up section line which is a pretty steep ascent to the first summit. I felt like I might puke once we made it to the top, but didn't. We crossed over the top and headed to the next summit not too far away and had our first encounter with the snow. I had to take it easy and baby my ankle as this the first major test on trails (I did run at Mt. Peak, but the trail is only about 2.5 miles, although tough!). So I slowed up on the icy snow. On our way to the second summit we encountered another set of runners 3 male and 1 female, "token female" as Eric said she and I both were. :) We took photos of each other's groups and I'll try to post them here once Eric posts them. I was feeling pretty good, tired of climbing but good. It was a whole new ballgame now with the snow. It was deep! At first it was pretty funny trying to walk in it, trying to stay in the already made foot holes, or post holes as we called them. We'd sink to our knee or higher every once in a while, then sometimes you'd just fall because you lost your balance trying to stay in the holes. After a while it got old and we were ready to be out of the snow. It lased a long time though. We took a short break at the next summit and put on jackets and ate. Then we had to try and go down that snow we just climbed up! Again it was funny at first, but most of the time it just hurt. My shins were bleeding from cuts the ice made. I tried to pull up my sock and down my capri's to shield my open skin from the ice without much success. So much for my Easter skirt tomorrow!
After much discussion from the guys we altered our plans and they figured out another route down a road and some other trails to get us back to section line and to our car without having to go back through the snow from which we had just come. There was some nice run-able sections on that road and I was glad to use new muscles. My feet felt really weird, like I had snow stuck under my heels. It was the strangest feeling, but faded quickly. Maybe they were just thawing out. Once we made it back to section line and an elevator shaft down, I told the guys to go ahead and wait for me at a trail convergence so they could go fast and I could go slow down this super step and rooty section. I wore a sturdy lace-up ankle brace, but I still feel timid about hurting myself again and wanted to take it easy on the downhill. I know my quads will pay dearly for being in full brake mode all the way down, but hey, I need to train those muscles too don't I? The guys waited, but really weren't that far ahead anyway. Once past the super steep section I was able to run with the guys and not feel like I was slowing them up anymore. Then...we were down and done. 6 hours Plus or minus a few and about 20 miles. They were slow miles, but very difficult too. I know I got a great workout. The mountain kicked my butt. I'll be stronger though once healed and that's the point. It was beautiful, the weather held for the most part and the company was good. I can't really ask for a better day.
My husband got to take the kids to the Easter egg hunt at church and got most of their candy as a reward! Tomorrow is Easter and will be spent at church and with family. I may not be moving very quickly but will enjoy the day from the couch! He is Risen!

Easter blessings, Grace and peace to you.

Pacific Rim 24 hour

2009-03-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

Michelle and I made it. 100k plus 1.5 miles according to Mr. Garmin. The 1 mile loop is a tad long and over 40 miles you earn an extra mile or so.
It's hard to post a report after reading Michelle's very eloquent account of our time together.

It was a great drive down with Steve, Rob, Jamal, Michelle and I riding together in the Yeti and pulling the trailer. We got set up and ourselves ready to run. I tried to warm up my ankle with one of those therma-care wraps, but it just didn't warm up hot enough, but within a couple of miles my foot was feeling fine. By 30 miles though I knew something was wrong with my feet. Blisters were forming on the soles of my feet and around my toes. I discovered that taking my shoes and socks off and massaging with Vaseline felt wonderful and energizing and I was able to put my shoes and socks back on and continue running without problems. I repeated this at a few other rest breaks.
The day was beautiful and the company as well. I was joined by Michelle and Abi and Jamal, who's strategy was to go slow for several hours and then pick it up. We were joined by Jessica who ran 13 miles with us and then cooked fabulous pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches for all of us and anyone who wanted them really. Thanks Jessica they were SOOOOO good.
I was feeling really good throughout the day, with only a couple of bouts of nausea. I fought it off with Orange ginger Nuun and made it through. I took Succeed S-Caps and Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps which really do the trick. Other than being cold and having sore feet I felt great when we stopped at our 100k. I really recommend the anti-fatigue caps! Anyway I had a great time.
I was so happy to see Stan and Esther Holman at the race. Esther finished her first 50 miler looking strong and smiling! Way to go!
The people at these events are so awesome, truly welcoming and encouraging whatever their level. Thanks for taking me in to the community. It's really a family of sorts. We all have our ups and downs, our teasing of one another, our moments to carry one another and to lift one another up. Ultimately we cheer each other on and experience each other's success and/or failures without any true judgement. I love it. I can't wait to go back and do it again.

Grace and Peace to you

On the Run Again...Whew! Finally!

2009-02-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I successfully completed the Yours Truly 50k on Sunday. I was having doubts earlier in the week that my ankle wouldn't hold up. I am still having some pain on the medial side and didn't know If I'd make it past 6miles (my previous longest run during recovery). Thanks to Michelle for letting me run with her even knowing I might not be able to go the whole distance! Thanks to Eric for being willing to come pick me up if I couldn't make it and for being great support along the course! Even two days later my foot feels fine. I am taking two days off to let the ankle have a good recovery and will hit the smooth and flat road surfaces again on Wednesday.
I really needed to get that 50k off my back. I have been feeling depressed about not being able to be out running and like I am losing fitness and things will just go downhill. I have been very good about continuing weight training and cardio on the stair climber and elliptical as well as aqua-jogging, but it's not the same as actually being out there running.
I was also pumped to finally see my name on the Cascade Crest entrants list. Makes it feel real. I am feeling better now too, with knowing I can still run ( on flat smooth surfaces anyway). I'll be rehabing my way to those rough and uneven trails in no time! Currently I am looking forward to the 6hour Fund Run and the Pacific Rim 24 hour with a goal of 100k+ running with Michelle again after our awesome 50 miler there last year.

My Quest for Cascade is back on! Whoo Hoo!
So, there's a quick update...gotta take care of the kids...Homework calls! :)

Grace and Peace to you

Okay! Sheesh, I'll update!

2009-01-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

As I just said, I'll update.
I haven't posted anything new because I haven't wanted to talk about it.

Last weekend on the 17th I sprained my left ankle pretty bad at Capital Peak. I spent a week on crutches. Nothing broken, but lots of swelling and pain. Today it is still a bit swollen and tender and lovely colors (although much of the color has gone now too).

The doctor's prognosis on the 19th was 3 weeks with no running, stay off trails for a while. He did say I could swim, bike, elliptical etc... after a week. My husband says I still need to wait a few days until ALL the swelling is gone before I do those activities. My husband did clear me to return to the weight room with nothing that requires weight to be born on my left ankle. So that is where I am headed in about 45 minutes.

I am anxious to get back to running, afraid to lose too much more fitness, that it won't come back. Afraid I will gain weight and be a slacker if I don't hurry up and heal. I know I need to let it heal. Of course I just want it to heal faster. Patience, I know, patience. It's hard though and I don't want to.

There. An update. I am grumpy. I want to run.

Grace and peace to you (and I need some too)

Light and Darkness

2009-01-11T17:24:00.001-08:00

Bridle Trails was run in both the light and the dark. Both had their challenges. Light brought more speed and the dark, well, rain, water and mud of all degrees of sloppiness.

First I'll say that I fully intended on running a 50k, but somewhere along the third of the 6 loops I managed to just barely step onto a root or rock. I didn't put all my weight on it at all, but I felt my left knee wibble wobble just a bit. I even said out loud, "woa, that coulda been bad." I kept going, along with Steve and Rob, having a grand time sloshing through the dark and wet mud.

By the time we completed the 3rd loop and 15 miles it was pretty messy. We headed out and I could begin to feel my knee tighten up. No pain, but I would have to really be careful as I put my feet down. As we progressed and the trail progressed in sloppiness, I realized that I could be in for real trouble if I landed wrong or slipped the wrong way just once and twisted my knee I'd be done and out for a while. So while I still felt good and strong I decided I should be done at the end of the loop with 20 miles of wetness, darkness and muddiness. It was hard to stop when I still felt like I could keep running, but I chose to look ahead....to next week and another round of sloppiness at Capital Peak, and even further to Cascade Crest. So I knew it was a good choice.

On to the light and darkness of the run. As I said earlier, the light brought more speed. Rob and I had a fairly fast first loop, got caught up in the pack. 49 minutes. Not super fast, but fast when you saw the conditions and knew you had to keep going for 25 more miles and conditions were sure to change. In the light I could also see very well. I could see where to jump to and how to maneuver and get around the stumps and roots. I could run behind Rob or another runner and track well. You could see where the trail went and knew you were in the right place.

By the 3rd loop it was pitch black, raining and super puddley and muddy. I had two lights. One on my head and one around my waist. Now the fact that it was dark didn't bother me. I wasn't scared or anything. It was just plain hard to see. I figured out that I had to be several steps behind Rob or Steve or else my lights shone on their feet and I would focus on their feet instead of the terrain and where to place my feet. I had to concentrate very hard on myself. I had to get into a zone. It was interesting, but being in the dark like that and focusing on my light I felt out of my body. I was aware that I was moving but it was like my brain and my feet and the light. Nothing else. If I glanced at the runner ahead or at an ambient light in the distance I would stumble. It was about that intense focus on the light in front of me at my feet and following only it, no diversions. I was totally dependant on that light. I couldn't succeed without it.
Today as I thought more and more about last night and as I sat in church and listened to the pastor talk about the "light (Christ)" I put some things together. As a Christian I have always tried to "shine like a light in the darkness." But last night I had to follow the light and be super focused on the light or I could be in trouble. I had to be totally dependant on that light. I think that goes for the life of Christian as well. Be focused and follow the light and be the light for others or you could find yourself in a bunch of trouble. A favorite song of mine came to mind as I was pondering today:

"Let It Be Me" by the Indigo Girls

Sticks and stones battle zones a single light bulb on a single thread for the black sirens wail history fails rose-colored glass begins to age and crack while the politicians shadowbox the power ring in an endless split decision never solve anything from a neighbor's distant land i heard the strain of the common man

let it be me (this is not a fighting song) let it be me (not a wrong for a wrong) let it be me, if the world is night, shine my life like a light

well the world seems spent and the president has no good idea of who the masses are well I'm one of them and I'm among friends trying to see beyond the fences of our own backyard I've seen kingdoms blow like ashes in the winds of change but the power of truth is the fuel for the flame so the darker the ages get there's a stronger beacon yet

let it be me (this is not a fighting song) let it be me (not a wrong for a wrong) let it be me, if the world is night shine my life like a light

in the kind word you speak in the turn of the cheek when your vision stays clear in the face of your fear then you see turning off a light switch is their only power when we stand like spotlights in a mighty tower all for one and one for all then we sing the common call

let it be me (this is not a fighting song) let it be me (not a wrong for a wrong) let it be me, if the world is night shine my life like a light.

I love this song. "Let it be me, If the world is night, shine my life like a light." Sorry I coulnd't get it to write in stanzas. It keeps jumbling up into paragraphs making it hard to read.

So, running in the mud and darkness have their lessons too. It was a great run and a good time. I struggled to stay warm for a while afterwards, but warmed up by staying in the bathrooms while I waited for everyone to finish their 6 loops. I know now how to focus in the dark, a skill I look forward to applying!

Grace and peace to you...and a little light.

Cascade Crest 100 mile Endurance Run

2009-01-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well, my entry form for CCC 100 is officially in the mail! Woo Hoo!
On to lots of training!

Grace and peace to you!

Doing the Double

2009-01-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well I finally completed a double. The Last Chance marathon in Bellingham on New Year's Eve and the First Call to Run 50k New Year's Day.
Today I am a bit tired but feel pretty darned good. Michelle and Rob have written great reports of how the races went so I will direct you towards their sites. I plan to come back an d write a bit more, but I have to get caught up with housework after being gone for essentially three days! With a husband and two kids, the task can sometimes seem as big as running the double! :)
So I'll try to add more to this post soon!

Grace and Peace to you.

Pigtails frozen Flat A** and Life

2008-12-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

Well, It has been a rough last few days. Not only with all the snow, missing school, holiday rush etc... but my father-in-law passed away on Thursday after a 2 year battle with esophageal cancer.
I made sure it was okay with my husband to run Pigtails with all the hullabaloo of planning and preparing for the memorial and graveside services. He assured me he wanted me to still run. It was good to be out on Saturday, my kind of peace. Bright, sunny, snowy, 26.2 miles and great friends. Sometimes it just helps to run.

Rob, Me and Steve nearing the finish. Rob needed lots of
"motivating" to make it to the end. Photo: Rich Walter

Today was the graveside service in a foot of snow. It was beautiful and peaceful. To me it offered a serene sense of calm. A stillness to reflect upon what we hold most dear... those we love. I was filled with awe watching my mother-in-law surrounded by her grandchildren. My daughter Annika on her left, 11 month old nephew PJ in her lap, my nephew Jacob to her right, and then my son Michael. She kept grabbing back for my 12 year old niece Emily's hand to be sure to include her too. Other family and friends surrounded the canopy. Baby PJ clapped, cooed and tried to reach out for the flowers. It appeared like he was waving goodbye to Grandpa. It was very sweet. My son Michael put his arm around my nephew when he became sad. Grandma hugged them all close. It was a beautiful display of unconditional love and support. Then we all went out for a big lunch together, just as my father-in-law would want. Just being together, enjoying one anothers company. Laughing and having a good time.
Tomorrow is the memorial and then we will focus on Christmas. It seems so far away after the other events of the last few days. I am not ready, but I never am.
My parents will try to come up from Portland if they can get out from all the snow, otherwise we will celebrate after we all thaw out. I hope they can make it, all I want is to be together with the ones I love. We all need to be reminded to appreciate one another and to remember to tell those we care about how much we love them.

I look forward to running more this break. I ran today in a foot plus of snow. It was like doing high knees training for over a mile until I could get onto trails where quads had been. It was a tough run, but very pretty. Coming up I will try to get to the First Call to Run and the Western Washington Fat ass. I'll have to run with the guys to be sure I keep up and make any cut-offs. I hope they don't mind me tagging along!

Well, I am off to read (my other escape) and finish my book- Brisinger... A good read.
Grace and Peace to you.

Secret is Out

2008-12-06T14:38:00.001-08:00

My secret is out.

I have been called to a quest. The quest for Cascade. That's what I am calling it. I have felt compelled, drawn, called.... for the past few weeks to run the Cascade Crest 100 mile endurance run. I think I am crazy. Totally over the edge. But, totally willing to go for it. I am freaked out at the thought, but excited for the challenge.

First, I told Michelle that I was having crazy thoughts, that's it. She read my mind. She knew it was Cascade Crest 100. She told me she'd be my crew. Then we let Eric in on it and he said he'd pace me. I then asked Rob to also pace me. They'll each take 25 miles of the last 50. They'll use it for training for the Plain 100 a couple weeks later. This way they both get to be a part of the CCC without having to run the whole thing. Perfect for all of us.

So, the planning has begun. The mileage build has begun. The increased weight lifting has begun. It will be a long haul that my husband has given his blessing upon. He said he'd need reminders though. :) So all of your advice, comments, concerns and prayers are welcome for this crazy quest I am taking on. So, I will try to direct my posts to training an how it is going.

Coming up I have planned for December:
Lots of long runs
Pigtails Flat Ass 50k, Dec. 20th
Tiger Mountain Dumb Ass (half ass) Dec. 21st
Last Chance marathon Dec. 31st if they'll let me in, I am on the waiting list. If not, then, the New New Year's day marathon

Grace and Peace to you....I know I need it!

Another Year Older

2008-11-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today is my 35th birthday and a new age group.
I never know if moving into a new age group is a good thing or not. Another year older is okay, I can handle that it does not bother me. It's the age group thing. I was doing pretty good in my old age group, top of the class. Now I am at the bottom again and will have to find my way through. We'll see how it goes.

The day itself was ho hum. No one remembered at school until someone asked why I had brought cupcakes to school. "Well, It's my birthday" I said, and it is a student in my last class of the day's 18th birthday too. So I brought cupcakes to celebrate. I was everyone's favorite teacher in that class today. They even sang to us. It was fun. The student who's birthday it was brought me an apple. It was sweet.

My favorite was this morning when my 6 year old daughter gave me the card she had made for me. It essentially read, in learning-how-to-spell-6-year-old-speak- Happy Birthday mom, For your birthday I give you love. Annika. I'll keep that one forever.

I have a twin brother who lives close and our families went to dinner at Red Robin to celebrate our birthday. It was really great. Even though we live close, it seems this year anyway that we haven't gotten together as much as we usually do. I'll make it a point to do dinner together WAY more often. I miss hanging out with him and his family. Our kids are about the same ages and they love to play and be together.

My husband, Paul, gave me a weekend getaway voucher for anywhere I want to go, whenever I want to go. I am excited for this one. I 'll need some suggestions and a bit of time to think it through before cashing it in. Although I am ready for the getaway right now.

I'll send a shout out to my mom and dad on my birthday, they are cruising the Nile in Egypt. Rough, I know. But thanks mom and dad for giving me life and raising me well. I appreciate all you have done and continue to do. Happy Birthday to you too. I know it was hard work for you!

And now may you also have a great year in your age group... the best one yet. I am looking forward to many new and exciting adventures and challenges that this year will bring (I'll talk about some of those later.)

Grace and Peace to you.

Autumn Leaves 50 Miler

2008-11-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

Short and Sweet:

Awesome trip with awesome people.
Thanks Steve for driving.

Woke up early Saturday from my parents house and drove the 25 minutes to Champoeg Park and ran 6 loops or 35 Miles with Rob and most of that also with Steve and Lesa. Ran next 3 laps or 15 miles alone, contemplating life. Margaret, who had just completed her 1st 50k, came and ran my last lap, miles 45-50 with me. I was very glad because I wasn't looking forward to the long out and back section alone as there weren't many people out there anymore and I was missing the "other people" distractions. Margaret wonderfully kept me going talking to me and keeping me distracted. Once that out and back section was done though, I tried hard to pick it up as my feet hurt and I just wanted to be done and sit down! Finally I was done! 9:37 was my time. I was very happy as I thought it would take between 10-11 hours. I felt good and strong the whole day. The weather was great and the scenery beautiful. I got to run through the leaves which is my favorite thing, over and over again. Not jumping in the leaves this year as they were not in neat piles this year.

Now I feel pretty good, tight but good. I am very tired though so will go rest some more.
Grace and Peace to you.

Carkeek photo Gallery

2008-11-06T20:20:00.001-08:00

Carkeek 12 hour (8.5 hour) run with Rob ( and Margaret the last few loops). I had Margaret take photos along the loop. It really was a beatiful day. My legs are feeling better on the stairs now :) Check out Rob's account of the day too! By the way.... WHOO HOOO! I am a proud American at having witnessed and been a part of history this week. I never thought I'd cry over politics! Let's hope we can all come together and build hope and a better nation together. "Not as Red states, not as Blue states, but as The United States." Okay, photos now!

Grace and Peace to you.

Carkeek 12 hour, well 8.5 anyway

2008-11-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

I made it, along with Rob (and definitely Margaret's help the last 3 loops) for a 50k at the Carkeek 12 hour. It was a beautiful fall day and the leaves were spectacular. I'll try to post some photos I got Margaret to take for me.

I met Rob at 5:30am and I drove. Rob brought the Starbucks. We made it in just under an hour and had plenty of time to organize, check in, use the restroom and chat before the race began at 7am. We headed out for the first loop in the dark. We used headlamps and could see fairly well. The trail is fairly clear, but there are stairs I would have killed myself on with out a light. I was lucky to be with Rob because he ran this race last year and knew the course. The trail was marked with tootsie roll pops hanging from trees and leaves brushed across trails you were not supposed to go down. They said there would be rock cairns, but I never saw any. Many people went straight at one point instead of turning due to lack if marking, but we never did.

The 1.93 mile long loop with 430 feet of gain ( and loss too I am sure) starts out flat then you come to the commando hill with lots of stairs going up. This was fine for about the first 8 or 9 loops, then it was just hard I decided once you made it to the top that the rest of the loop was recovery. By the end though I would have preferred those stairs to going down the steep un- evenly placed stairs trail on the other end of the loop. It was rolling hills for quite a while through beautiful forest with giant broad leaf maple leaves in all shades from green to bright yellow to reds and browns all over the ground and in the trees. Eventually you came down to a fish hatchery for about a quarter mile. This was the flat section before going up again. This part was shorter and at first didn't seem as steep as the first hill section, but again by the end was equally difficult. The last downhill section was steep and had steps that became hard to navigate towards the end with tired quads. We found ourselves trying to go around the steps along the side to avoid them altogether. Sometimes we were successful, sometimes not.

Running with Rob kept the conversation flowing and topics ranged from family- (how was your family gathering today Rob?) to school, to the elections to other runners. It was good times. We kept each other going and reminded each other when to eat. We quickly found that loops were either difficult or easy depending on how much you ate at the aid station. The soup was the best. I felt great after eating hot noodles and broth. I tried to also eat pb and j, potatoes or candy each loop and took an S cap and gel every two loops. It seems to work, but there were still some low energy loops where it was very hard to climb up those hills.

At about noon we kept looking forward to finding Margaret waiting for us at the aid station. We were bummed when she wasn't there. Then one loop we got to the top of the last climb and started to go down and I said that I wasn't going to get my hopes up this time about Margaret being at the aid station. Rob said he had had his hope us for about the last 15 minutes. Then not 10 seconds later we found her waiting for us along the trail! It was perfect! She helped us get through the last three loops for our 50k. It was great to have her talk to us and tell us about her MBA program she just started. Just having a person fresh and full of energy gives you energy to keep going. Thanks so much Margaret for coming out with us! It made my day!

Rob teased me as I climbed the stairs again and would say "Only two more times up!" He'd say yeah but we still have three loops! Yeah, but I only have to climb this stair two more times! Then the next time it was "one more time" then finally, this is the LAST time I have to climb up these stairs!!!" It was great!

Carkeek really was a fun 50k, or 8 hours of a 12 hour. Beautiful, great aid, and great people. I had a fantastic time. I don't know if I could have made it for 4 more hours on those hills. Today my legs are pretty sore and the stairs are painful. But I got what I wanted. A tough 50k for training for the 50 miles I want to run at Autumn Leaves. I am thankful for the soreness I feel today as it leads to the strength my legs will have tomorrow.

Grace and peace to you.

Quick Portland Marathon Report

2008-10-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

Whew! After not feeling well in the days ahead of the run and my Garmin batteries being dead and having to go naked without a watch, I sure did well! I went into the race thinking I would have to walk a lot due to not feeling well. I felt great! The weather was a bit sprinkly but pleasant. I didn't have a clue what my times were the entire race, but knew Iwas feeling well and ahead of the 4:15 pacer, but behind the 4:00 pacer. I ended up crossing the finish line with the clock reading 4:04:45, I knew I was under that beacuse of where I started. I was happy because I thought I at least matched my best time of 4:04. I was shocked (and am still shocked)when I found out I actually finished in 3:58! Whoo Hoo! I finally broke the 4 hour barrier! It was awesome! I had a great time! Praise God! Quick thanks to George K. for surprising me around mile 21 (?) You pumped me up to finish strong!
Grace and peace to you!

Panther Running Club

2008-10-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

Well, new for me this year is having both of my kids in the YMCA before and after school care program. This means that I don't have to rush out of school to pick up the kids by 3:30pm. So I decided to start a noncompetitive running club at my High school.

We had an interest meeting a couple of weeks ago and 5 kids showed up! I was thrilled. Last Thursday was our first run. Again, 5 kids showed up, but two of them were new! Two others weren't at school that day. We had discussed that we would use the walk-run method to build up into running 3 miles. The kids are at varying levels so I decided we would stay on the track. We are using pretty much the Cool Running: Couch to 5k program. We warmed up with 5 minutes or walking, We ran a 200, walked a 200, ran 400, walked 400 then repeated. Then a cool down walk to the bus! The kids were very enthusiastic! Today is run number two! I can't wait!

I'll post again this afternoon with an update!

So, now it's 5:20pm instead of am when I wrote this morning. I had 8 kids today!! Two new today too! It was great. We ran/walked for a total of about 2.25 miles. I had some of the kids move to run the straights walk the corners after they took the first 5 minute run too fast. All in all, the kids are enjoying themselves and we are having fun!

On to The Portland Marathon on Sunday. I'm feeling a little fall allergyish and might take the day off tomorrow to rest up. I about lost my voice by the end of the day today and feel like an interesting evening of Vice presidential debate and hot tea and sleeping in on Friday might do the trick!

Grace and peace to you!

Timberline Marathon

2008-09-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

Whew! I finally have a chance to write a report! A whirlwind trip to Mt. Hood and a visit with friends. In the bag.

I did manage to stop off at the bike shop for some Nuun before heading out into Friday night traffic and a long drive south. We left at 4:30pm and pulled into our friend's home in Underwood, Wa. On the Washington side of Hood River, Oregon at 8:30pm. We kept checking in with them as we drove because there was a fire in Hood river along highway 84 and they kept thinking they might have to close the road and we'd have to take The Bridge of the Gods closer to the Bonneville Dam than the toll bridge in Hood River to cross back over into Washington. Anyway, no roads were closed, but we did get to see the fire up close and tons of firefighters working to contain it.

Once we arrived, essentially we said hello and worked on getting all the kids to bed. I laid out all my gear for the morning and went downstairs to hang out with our hosts, Jim and Mari. At about 10:50pm Mari and I called it a night and left the guys to go to bed. I set the alarm for 5:30am. I slept well, which you never know about when you are in a strange bed.

I awoke before the alarm went off and got myself ready and went downstairs to eat and wait for Jim to take me down the road to meet my ride. Jim works with a gal named Anna who was also running the marathon so he hooked me up with her to carpool. I ended up with some new running buddies, Stan and Ester Holman and Anna Bates. Cool people. As with most crazy distance runners, we were fast friends. Photo of Mt. Hood as we crossed the Toll Bridge from Washington into Oregon.

Top of Mt. Hood from parking lot outside Timberline Wy'east Day Lodge before start.

Me before the race. It looks warm out, but it was chillly at 6,000 feet! I started in sleeves, beanie and gloves!
Runners heading up to the staggered start. One runner started at a time every 30 seconds or so. More waiting in line to get to the start.
This is the trail at the start...the rocks are just some of what's to come!

Just after the start was this barren moonscape where it was basically sand and a fast downhill (with an amazing view).
Linda from the Y run club is in the pink.

Looking back up at the mountain.It quickly gets too rocky and rooty to have my camera out, but every once in a while I'd take it out and chance a look back towards to mountain for a beautiful view.
It seemed as if we had run so far from the mountain here, but it must have been only about 10 miles or so. I kept the camera put away until the end. Once in the trees it just became too difficult to run with a camera in hand for fear of falling and breaking it. The course was gorgeous, but tough. There is a 3000 foot net loss in elevation, but there was still climbing to be done. I think I may have gone too fast on the initial downhill section and my quads were not trashed, but very tired during the climbs. I preferred the flats and downhills still because they made it easier to maneuver around all the rocks and roots. I never fell, but came very close about 6 times. I think I caught myself each time by taking my knee in the chest and then regaining my balance.

Linda and I ran together off and on as well as another woman, Tracy I think. It was nice to have solitude as well as some chatter those rough last miles to get to the finish.

Linda and I crossed the finish line together in 5:08, slower than I would have liked, but it was a tougher run than I really anticipated.

Finishing with Linda. Photo courtesty of Rich walter, Linda's husband. Thanks for your volunteering out there too! It was nice to hand off my hat and gloves to you!

Marathon finish at Clackamas Ranger station.

I got some food and drink and then went to watch the finish and was able to see a friend from high school finish her first marathon! A tough first effort! Well done Jen! Soon after I ran in to Anna again who ran a fast 4:18, but she was bummed because she got the same time last year! I asked her to direct me to the nearest COLD water to sit in. She walked with me over to the creek where there was a waist deep pool and I went right in! I stood there for almost 15 minutes, until my toes were about to freeze off! But it felt sooooo good.

Just before I went in another runner was going all the way under! I couldn't barely even put my hands in and I was wishing I had my sleeves! The sun helped, but not too much.

Overall I had a great time. I went for a long walk the next day, was able to run on Monday a few miles and took a yoga class on Tuesday. I was pretty sore going down the stairs on Monday, but am fine now.
Here are some photos from the long walk on Sunday with the God family. Left to right, my daughter Annika, God Daughter Sidra, Son Michael and God Son, Jed. We took a hike down a closed road towards the White Salmon river near a closed bridge and power house.

We tried to take several photos of the kids, Jed is in the "no photos of me" stage.

My family, Paul, Jenny, Michael and Annika. A very blessed weekend, Family, Friends and a marathon in a beautiful part of the world.

Grace and peace to you.

Getting Ready for Timberline

2008-09-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, as the week has progressed I have looked more and more forward to the weekend.

School is super busy and I find myself swamped. I actually have more time to spend at school this year with both kids at the YMCA daycare after school. Which is good and bad. I can get more done, but who wants to stay at school beyond contracted hours and work for free?

Anyway, the kiddos are also keeping me busy. My daughter who just started 1st grade and my son in 3rd grade are busy with reading homework after school and other homework too. Annika, my daughter also started ballet and tap dancing lessons on Mondays and soon flag football will rule for my Michael. Ahhh, back to school.

Actually, I am really looking forward to running the Timberline Marathon this weekend. The family is coming down too and we are staying in Underwood, WA. It's on the Washington side of the Columbia a bit west of Hood River, Oregon. My husband's best friend and my son's Godparents are the host. My husband and I are also their daughter's Godparent's. So we call them our God Family. :) We are excited for the visit as we haven't had a chance to see their new house (they've lived there for a while now so it's not really new anymore, we are just slackers in the visiting department). Paul's best Friend, Jim actually works with another gal who is also running the marathon and hooked me up for a carpool. So we've been emailing and I am excited to meet her.

The Marathon is point to point so there is a parking spot and a shuttle to the start at Timberline Lodge. The weather looks to be warm at about 75 for the high at the nearest town, Government Camp. That'll be a bit warm. I'll have to think about a tank. I'm not really a tank fan. I'll also have to decide between two 10oz. handhelds or two 20oz handhelds. The aide stations are about 5 milesish apart. I'll take both. OOHHH I just remembered I'll need to make a stop at the bike shop for some Nuun on my way home from school before we leave. Mental note made. Besides the water bottle and tank issues Everything else is ready, but of course I'll double check! I plan to carry the camera and take lots of photos along the course. I grew up skiing on Mt. hood and some hiking but I've never been on the Pacific Crest Trail on Mt. Hood as far as I can recall. So I am totally pumped! I don't really have a huge goal, just to be under 5 hours. I know this is not a problem in a regular marathon, but I've never been on this course and trails are slower. I'd really like to be under 4:30 But I don't want to push it too hard either. I've been having an issue with some medial shin tendinitis on my right leg and don't want it to flare up too bad as I do have a time goal for the Portland Marathon on Oct. 5th. So I'll probably tape up with my favorite kinesio tape before the run just for added support.

Okay- I'm rambling now so I'm going to go check on the kids and their chores.

Grace and Peace to you.

Michelle's Grande Ass Marathon

2008-09-03T17:08:00.001-07:00

It was Venti sized fun at the Grande Ass and post race BBQ.

I'll do my best to relive the run a few days late. School has begun and things are quite hectic!

I showed up at 5am to help Michelle and Eric out however I could. I ended up following Rick down to the second Starbucks aide station for him to leave his car after he ran 11.5 miles. Once back at the home Starbucks and race start, I helped Michelle check runners in while she used the facilities. I signed up two more unregistered runners! Whew! I think we had 35 runners with just a few no shows!

After the official race photo, I needed to drop my bag at the car, as I came back the official start cow bell rang and I had to scurry to catch up! After making way to into "sweep" position with Michelle, Rob, and Margaret we settled in to a nice conversation pace. It was fun to actually run down a few new roads through Puyallup and Sumner on our way to our first Starbucks aide Station in Downtown Sumner.

Making our way to the Downtown Fred Myers and the Starbucks there, we encountered a bit more drizzle. Nothing too heavy, just enough to keep us cool. It was great. The stop here took us a few more minutes as we refilled our bottles and chatted with the volunteers. We decided not to dawdle quite so much in the future!

I enjoyed the next section from Downtown Puyallup into Fife. We ran along the Levee road. It was pretty cool to see so many people salmon fishing along the river. Not only along this section, but into and out of Sumner as well. Coming into Fife you run through a myriad of landscape, from farm fields and neighborhoods to industrial parks and city. By this time, around mile 17 I think, my knees were beginning to feel the wrath of running on concrete and I tried hard to run on the asphalt road or in the grass/dirt as much as possible to give the knees a break. It was difficult but I was only achy. It was great to be greeted by Mike at the Fife Starbucks as he and all the other volunteers are always so eager to help fill bottles and get the photo of all the runners.

Arriving at the downtown Tacoma Starbucks was a welcome change from running along the seemingly endless Puyallup Ave coming out of Fife. Not the world's greatest neck of the woods and straight as an arrow. It also meant that we would hit the waterfront of Commencement Bay soon. Downtown Tacoma is really a pretty place to run. We were welcomed here by Eric and Michelle's son Riley and his roommate. They did a great job, especially because some of us made them carry gear back!

We headed out towards Dock street where there was a non-Starbucks aide station put on by Tony Philippi of the Marathon Maniacs and a friend. It was nice to have him out. Thanks TP!

Now, on to the waterfront! It was getting sunny and a bit warmer out now. We slowed a bit a Michelle was feeling tired. We chastised Rob for dawdling back with Tony at the previous aide station. He must've had to sprint (or run as fast as his hundred miler a week before legs could carry him) at least a mile to catch back up to us! He was ready to take it easier too! We were getting closer to the last Starbucks, which we had to pass by and do a 2.2 mile out and back to complete the marathon. Michelle needed to run/walk about every 50 yards now so we were taking it pretty easy. Michelle had been sick earlier in the week as well as having no sleep last weekend crewing for Rob during his 100 miler at Cascade Crest.

We made it to the fire boat turn around and headed back. I noticed a co-worker and her family taking a walk and she asked me "what is up with this grande ass thing?" I had to stop a moment to explain before catching up and heading to the finish. There were still plenty of people hanging out to see the Race Princess finish official DFL or "Sweep" as we like to claim. We received our precious medals made from Starbucks cup sleeves and had our finishers photo taken. It was time to get a cup of Starbucks coffee! I did, and we headed home to clean up for the awesome BBQ aat Cat's.

Here we ate and ate and ate and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a fabulous time. I can't wait to do it all again.

On to Timberline Marathon on September 13th and then the Portland Marathon on October 5th. There will be others to come I am sure! I think Rob even heard me say I'd like to try for 50 at Autumn Leaves if I can get my husband to drive down too so I don't have to drive back!
We'll see.

Grace and Peace to you.

Cascade Crest 100--Hyak Aid Station

2008-08-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

What fun it is to work at the mid-way aid station for a 100 mile endurance run! Above is the snowman and candy cane lane that greeted runners and directed them to our aid station.

Here you see several of our Y running club members waiting on runners in the middle of the night as they took a short stop at mile 53 on their way to 100!

Mrs. Claus was a memorable part of the station for many weary runners!

Even the Pugs were in the spirit!
The Y run Club's favorite 100 mile runner Rob and his awesome pacer, Eric come into the aid station that Rob originally organized.

Rob being tended to by Olga at Hyak.

Watch Rob's strong finish for his 2nd 100.

It was a blast working at the aid station, marking the trail from the rope section to Hyak with glow sticks, hanging out with friends at the aid station and finish line. Can't wait till next year.

Grace and Peace to you.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2008-08-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

What a cool (not literally) marathon! Literally it was HOT and HUMID!

Woke up at 3am thanks to a thunder and lightning storm and lay in bed until 4am. Left to meet the gang at Michelle's house stopping for an americano along the way and was loading up the vehicle at 4:45am. Also along for the ride was Cat (whose vehicle, named Sully we piled into), Michelle, Margaret, Abi, and Marco. We got to see lots more beautiful lightning on our way up to North Bend about an hours drive away.

I wasn't really ready to go when we arrived. I hadn't had much time to organize because I was in Seattle for a meeting/training with my new judge partner for teaching Street Law at the Washington State Bar Association. So when they said the bus was leaving I had to take everything with me.

Once at Hyak and the start, I was able to get organized and was able to leave my bag for it to be transported back to the finish. Whew!

Here we are at the start, from the left: Cat, Margaret, me, Marco (back), Michelle, and Abi.

Unfortunately it was already just under 70 degrees at the start. We knew it would only get warmer. We just hoped it would stay overcast and we were thankful we decided to take the early start.

Here we are in the tunnel, which is 2 miles long and begins within the first mile of the marathon. It is pitch black inside and lights are a must! I switched mine over to the red lens for the photo only. It was very humid inside and extra drippy. I think it is always somewhat wet, but it was extra wet on Sunday!

Here it is, "The Light at the End of the Tunnel!"

It really was neat to run through this old train tunnel, it's name is the Snoqualmie Tunnel and was built in the early 1900's prior to the first world war.

View outside tunnel at first aid station.

Much of the trail was surrounded by beautiful fir trees. We are blessed to live in such a beautiful place. Wow!

One of the many bridges with awesome views.

A self portrait along one of the tressel bridges.

Cat was "product testing" Michelle's pack (she tested mine too), and Michelle had to "nurse" when she needed a drink!

The day was really a great day. Albeit a difficult marathon due to the warmth and humidity the company was the best! I would definitely run this marathon again. What is better than being surrounded by breathtaking views, the wonderful smell of the forest in the warm summer, running and being with friends? Doesn't get a whole lot better! And lastly, a thank you to Paul for hanging out with the kiddos for the weekend while I had both a full day meeting and the marathon. I Love you!

Grace and peace to you.

Tacoma Narrows Half

2008-08-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've been super busy lately! Painting, painting, cleaning and getting ready for family visits.

My 11 year old nephew is visiting with my parents and came up to spend a couple of nights with us. Grandma and Grandpa took my son and my nephew into Seattle for a trip up the Space Needle and to a Mariners game. They had a blast. Now it's the other side's turn. Paul's sister and family are in town from Arlington, Texas. Later today we are off to Northwest Trek. A wildlife park to see all of the animals native to the Pacific Northwest. Should be a great day.

Saturday was the inaugural Tacoma Narrows Half. I ran with Rob and Margaret. The weather was perfect and we had a nice run. No one was out for a race, so we took it easy. Rob sped up after about 9.5 miles to get in under 2 hours. I decided to wait until I knew all the hills were completed, and picked up the pace just after mile 10 to finish (my slowest, but Really I wasn't going for any time) in 2:02. Margaret took it easy and finished a few minutes later. There were also some other familiar faces running... Monica did well, Jesse and Anna too. The race was pretty good. I took the first shuttle from the finish to the start and had lots of time to hang out and use the port-a-potties. Overall it was fun to run over the new Tacoma Narrows bridge and get in a good run as well with friends to boot!

I'm now focusing on continuing to build strength by trying to squeeze in another day of weights, from one to two along with running. I am trying to avoid injury and lose a few pounds at the same time. I think I am down 5 pounds now. Still struggling to lose with my hashimoto's Thyroiditis. My husband is doing really well in this department, almost down 20 pounds! 2 hours and the gym and golfing tons is doing well for him! I wish it were so easy for me!
I'm trying to squeeze in Light at the End of the Tunnel into my schedule and helping at Cascade Crest 100 in addition to Michelle's Grande Ass. I am squeezing these in around Paul's golf tournaments and the kids' activities. Should be okay. I wanted to join the group this weekend for the Cougar mountain 13, but again, Paul has a golf tournament, and as it is his birthday too, I'll let him have the fun that day. :)

So, all is well.

A shout out to Eric Barnes for doing AWESOME at the Canadian Death race! Well done!

Grace and peace to you.

All's Well

2008-07-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

The whirlwind is over and I am feeling recovered.

Friday, I set off early for the relay and had a blast. It was far too short for me and I was sad at having to leave my team. Pictured is Margaret, Michelle, Rob and Rick. Steve is out running, so I included a photo of him driving the Yeti. I decided I wanted to increase my mileage because I'd miss three legs, so I ran 3.7 of Michelle's first leg with her and 1.5 miles of Rick's second leg with him. So I ran approximately 20.5 miles of the relay.

After my third leg of the relay into Rochester, my husband Paul came and picked me up. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. I took a shower and got some sleep for a few hours. By 3:00am we were on our way to the airport and Nashville, Tennessee.

The flights were thankfully uneventful and the 2 hour drive into McKenzie went quick. Paul and I did a quick change of clothes in the front seat of our car and headed into the funeral home for the viewing. It was good to see family and have a quick update since the last time we saw each other or spoke. My aunt and Uncle and cousins drove in from the Houston area, my older brother and his family drove in from the Atlanta area and Paul and I, as well as my brother flew in from Washington and my parents from Oregon. There were lots of other relatives form the local area, second cousins, great aunts and uncles etc... Family was surely one of the most important things to both my grandfather and grandmother. This value has been passed down through the generations and hopefully will be present in my own children's lives.

We had a great dinner after the viewing at a local Mexican restaurant. I really wanted a margarita after the long trip. It was then difficult to swallow that the establishment had no liquor license.

Sunday came and I managed to get my husband out for a run with me. Now the roads in the south have no shoulders. It's the white fog line and then grass or bushes of some sort. There is usually a steep grade into a deep ditch to collect the storm runoff. Paul was skeptical of running on these roads. I just told him to get behind me. Now we left at about 6:55am. It was already 80 degrees and quite humid. I had tried to get my twin brother to come out with us, but he wanted to run at about 8am. Later he commented on how hard it was to breathe. That's the humidity. It sucks the breath out of you. You never feel like you can get a full breath. Paul and I ran 6.2 miles at his pace. I was tired at the end. The road was rolling hills. I think the locals thought we were nuts. They went around us and I gave the customary wave and in the south they actually wave back without giving you the finger too.

When it was time to eat breakfast, we wanted to go to a restaurant. But the thing is, this is a pretty small rural town. EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays. Most restaurants don't open till 11am for the after church rush. We found our choices to be either Sonic or McDonald's. Since we had to be back at the funeral home by 11:30am, we chose Sonic. This one even has an inside sit down area in addition to the regular drive in areas.

We proceeded to the church for the funeral service after one last viewing session. My Dad, the eldest son spoke after the pastor and then my Uncle. Each of the grandchildren were given the opportunity to speak and most of us did. We relayed our thanks for teaching us the values of family, Church, frugality, education, travel, living by the Boy Scout law, community, volunteering, and loyalty. My grandfather was an amazing man. He lived a full 95 years, was married to my grandmother who passed away one year ago for 67 years. He was many things to many people. An amazing man.

After the internment service we headed back to the church for a meal. This is where I really needed to remember the phrase "portion control." I love southern food. I limited myself and let my brothers and cousins eat all the extra corn lite bread. I only had seconds on the delicious homegrown tomatoes and sweet tea.

It was time to say goodbye to my cousins who were headed home early in the morning to get home by 6pm the next evening. We plan on getting together in Estes Park, CO at the YMCA of the Rockies as we used to do so long ago in the summer of 2010. It will be great to play together again as we used to do as kids.

Paul and I helped my parents and aunt and uncle clean out my grandpa's apartment and move furniture into storage to be moved in about a month. Most of the work had already been done after my grandmother's death, but it was still a bittersweet job to do.

Paul and I then said our goodbyes to the rest of the family and drove back to Nashville to head home. Thankfully the flights were again uneventful and we made it safely home very late Monday night.

Tuesday was for recuperation. Today I hit the road again with Michelle, Rob, Jamal and Laurie. They filled me in on the rest of the relay and we pushed through the hill run. The kids and I spent some great time together today too. They had been with Paul's parents over the weekend. We went to story time at Borders and had ice cream treats afterwards, then came home for lunch and had some craft time. Yesterday we bought some treasure boxes to paint and decorate. It was good together time fun.

Grace and peace to you.

Whirlwind Weekend

2008-07-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, as all things are in God's time, my grandfather passed away yesterday. He was 95 years old and is now at peace and at home.

As this puts a bump in my plans as life often does, I have made some changes to my plans. The viewing will be on Saturday , late afternoon and the Memorial service and internment service on Sunday afternoon. I will participate in the relay on Friday, but only the first half. I will be able to complete 3 of my six legs and have my husband meet me as I complete my 3rd leg. Luckily this happens in a very convenient location, near an off ramp of I-5 about 45 minutes from where we live. We will then head home for about 4 hours of sleep, a shower and then we are off to the airport for a 5:52am Saturday flight that will have us in Nashville by 2:04pm (million dollar flight by the way). We will then get our rental car and drive the 135 miles west to McKenzie, Tennessee. We should be just a bit late for the start of the viewing.

We'll head back Monday evening. I do plan to run on Sunday and Monday morning to get those miles in that I'll lose from the relay. It will be early too, It's hot in Tennessee!

Keep us in your prayers as we travel and remember the life of a beloved grandfather, father, friend, and community member.

Grace and peace to you.

Keepin' Up

2008-07-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

All is continuing to go well with summer efforts to eat and train well. For remainder of my week I was able to stick within my points range for Weight Watchers and I am down two pounds. I used probably 10 of the 35 flexpoints. I kept track of the points and food well and will continue to do so.

I met my workout goals for the week also- Monday- Circuit training class with about 2 miles of running, Tuesday run 5.3, Wednesday Hill run 6.2, Thursday 5.3 in the AM and 4.2 in the PM for 10.5 total. Friday- Pilates, Saturday 5.1, and Sunday Circuit training on own with 4 miles running. Total Miles run: 32.1 miles

This week will be a bit different. I did Pilates this morning and will run on Tuesday and Wednesday. I am contemplating taking Thursday off because on Friday morning I will begin the Rainier to Pacific Relay and run a total of 27.6ish miles in 24 hours or less. There might be an easy run on Sunday along the beach. It depends on my sleep deprivation level. I am very excited for the weekend!

I picked up the Michael and Annika on Saturday and had a great lunch with the kids at McDonald's with my dad. We met in Kelso, Washington. It's about an hour and 45 minute drive for me and an hour and 1o minutes for my dad. My kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for the week and attended Willowbrook, a arts, drama, music and dance day camp in Tualatin, my home town. They loved it and are ready to go back. It is great to have the kids back, but my house is already a mess again. Such is life. Gotta love it! One thing I did learn is that my Grandpa, who is 95 and lives in Tennessee isn't doing to well and may go home to the Lord in the next couple of weeks. We are surprised he has lasted this year after my Grandma passed away almost a year ago. So I am mentally preparing for this trip.

I continue to have Jury duty this week. I do hope to get on a small trial this week. All I need is to get on a big trial, miss the relay and have to serve for another few weeks by getting on a big trial! Too much I would miss!

Gotta go...laundry calls!

Grace and Peace to you.

Out with the Old, In with the New

2008-07-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

Just messing around today.... got excused from jury duty and have been playing around on the computer. All of the 60 people called for the pool on Monday and asked to come back today were released. The person must have plea bargained. I waited around for about an hour and a half but wasn't called onto any of the cases beginning today, so all of us leftovers were sent home. And, I don't have to come in Thursday or Friday!

As you can see I decided to lighten things up a bit and changed my blog template. Hope you like!

Last week I had my TSH levels tested for my hypothyroidism. Just been feeling out of whack lately and feeling like I am gaining weight despite all my running and eating well. I was low so they reduced my Synthroid dosage from 125 to 100. Hopefully this helps. I also purchased the book Living Well With Hypothyroidism by Mary Shomon and it talks about ways to battle this weight gain despite proper diet and exercise. One of the many things she advocates is a low glycemic diet. So I'll be trying this out. I'll let you know how it goes. I also plan to do it within the boundaries of Weight Watchers which is a program I am familiar with.

My Tuesday update:

Weight watcher points goal for weight range= 22points
earned for exercise=8 Ran 5.3 miles with Michelle
total points used=33
Used 3 bonus points out of 35 allotted for the week. Paul and I went out to lunch at the Powerhouse for a date while the kids are at Grandma and Grandpa's. I ate the Black bean burger with bleu Cheese and mushrooms. I only ate 3/4 of the french fries and drank 1.5 glasses of strawberry lemonade. I think I did pretty well.

Wednesday update (so far)
Weight watcher points goal for weight range= 22points
earned for exercise=8 ran 5.3 miles on my own
spent 16 so far and have 14 left over for dinner.
I plan not to use all of them and to eat salad with grilled chicken. Paul is out golfing so I only need to cook for one!

Grace and peace you you.

I know, I know.....

2008-07-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while, I know, I know.

My apologies.

School, life, school, kids...etc.. it all gets in the way.

Now for a brief update.
Still feeling pretty well! Currently preparing for the 186 mile Rainier to Pacific relay 6 person ultra relay. Normally a 12 person relay with three legs. I am a part of a 6 person team with 6 legs each. A great summer challenge. I am also planning a few marathons. Michelle's Grande Ass Marathon and the Portland Marathon at least. If plans allow, I'd like to also run Haulin' Aspen and the Timberline 26.2. We'll see.

I am also making public my quest to lose some pounds. I struggle with Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism which can make weight lose difficult. So, I am relying on old Weight Watcher's materials and a homemade journal/points log to track any loss. I officially began on July 1 with the challenge of Family camp July 3-6 with my fam where choices weren't really given, but portion control was the issue. I think I held steady. I ran 5.3 miles from the camp into town and back on Friday and on Saturday ran 6 miles total, 5 of which was on the beach. That was a good workout.

So, I'll be trying to track my progress here as a way of being accountable. I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, but really don't want to pay or take time to attend meetings. I may find I need to go back and do just that, but we'll give it a shot this way first. I guess I'd like to drop 10-15 pounds. I had my blood drawn for the hypothyroidism on July 1st. I've been feeling like maybe my medication dosage has been off, I haven't heard back yet. So I'll try to keep things up to date here.

Today my plan was to run to the Y for Michelle's Pilates class and then home, but my husband and I didn't return home from camp until past 11pm. I felt I needed to sleep, because I also have the challenge of beginning jury duty today in Pierce County Superior Court. I just filled out a questionnaire today and have to return on Wednesday. I'll be able to fill in on those details later. So the plan was altered to this...

Monday-Circuit training class at the Y 5:30pm
Tuesday- Run with Michelle at 5:20 am
Wednesday- Run
Thursday- Run
Friday- Pilates
Saturday- Up in the air as I have to pick up my kids from my parent's house in Portland.
Sunday- Run

Wish me luck!

Grace and Peace to you.

PS Catch me over on Facebook! I'll be your friend!
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update for Monday 7/7/08:
Weight watcher points goal for weight range= 22
points earned for exercise=8
total points used=28
leftover=2

Pretty good day, hard to not snack, tried to drink lots of water instead.
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Healing Up and Feeling Fine

2008-04-20T19:39:00.001-07:00

So for about the last two weeks I have been feeling pretty good. I rested up after the 50 miler and let all my achy muscles and joints have a break. It seems to have worked. I have been running lower miles and cross training with spin classes. I even have been able to pick up the pace and take walk breaks and keep my pace under 10 minutes per mile! The best part is that nothing aches or hurts by the end of the run or the next day!

I have no big runs or races scheduled for a while, but I decided to take over a fellow Y run club member's' Tacoma City half marathon entry. She hurt her back and can't run. So I'll run. I haven't decided if I'll just run for fun or go for a certain time. I haven't run too many half marathons. 2 as a matter of fact, one road, one trail. My fastest was 2 hours, the Capital City half. We'll see how I'm feeling. I'll be volunteering at the Expo for Rob and then at the finish line too.

Well, I pray that the running continues as it has the last couple of weeks, progressively getting better! Now, If I could only get spring to arrive and stay! It's April 20th and it has snowed for the past three days! No real accumulation here, but north of Seattle had a few inches. It supposed to be warm! Oh well, at least it is pretty.

Grace and Peace to you.

Six Word Memoir

2008-04-14T19:17:00.001-07:00

I've been tagged and I am not quite sure whom to tag off too. The tagging may come later.
I was double tagged by Lorri and Michelle.

Here are the rules: 1) Write your own six word memoir
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post,
and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links
5) Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I've spent the last day or so going through the old fashioned writing process to come up with this memoir.
Here is my brainstorm:

Guided, guiding, living, giving, loving, serving, light, strength, path, rooted in God, friends, mission, adventure, challenge, competitive, family, footsteps, Paul, Michael, Annika, unbound, forward, motion, molding, shaping, touching, compassion, entwined, precedent...

I put some together into phrases.

Guided and guiding, light in darkness, molding lives, shaping minds, guided by light, live to love, unbound by life...

Tis difficult to put one's life into six little words. Should it sum things up, should it be a mission statement? Should it say where I've been, where I am going or where I am? Tough to say.

Here goes, it's hard to let go....

Entwined yet unbound; guider, shaper, lover.

Grace and Peace to you.

Pacific Rim 24 Hour Run

2008-03-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

What a day! After meeting at Michelle's and then carpooling over to Steve's (and getting lost doing so) we made out way to Longview, WA about 2 hours south. We got ourselves all registered and checked in and made our final clothing choices and got drop-bags ready. It wasn't necessary to have everything out as the trailer we were using as our headquarters was about 25 yards off the course. We dropped out goodies, gels, and drinks off at the lap counter's tent and chatted until the start.

There's not a whole lot to say about the course. It was a one mile loop around a very beautiful park and lake. The path is mostly crushed gravel over packed dirt with a couple of concrete sidewalk sections. There were bathrooms about a half mile apart. IT was a pretty cushy race in terms of the amount of support. No need to carry a bottle as you went through the aide station every mile. It was nice not to have to carry a full camelbak.

The company was fantastic. Michelle and I ran the entire 50 (50.91 read my garmin) miles together. We had loops where we were joined by others running, Cat who ran a marathon ran with us a bit, but at her own pace for the majority of her time at the event. Super fast Jamal ran with us after he had run many more miles than we and was getting pooped, Rob ran with us to get away from taskmaster Steve (who by the way ran the entire 24 hours and 105 miles WHOO HOOO!!!) And we were passed by just about everyone several times and had lots of fun telling everyone how well they were doing.

The weather held for the most part. I had packed a huge bag of clothes to change as often as I needed. Rob said to pack "everything I own" to be able to get out of wet clothing whenever needed. I wore shorts and a short sleeved shirt with a lightweight windbreaker until mile 32 when I changed into a new layer on top including a long sleeved shirt for the evening. It rained on us a few times. I swear every ten minutes the weather changed. Sometimes calm, sometimes windy, sometimes misty, sometimes rainy, sometimes bright and sunny. It was pretty good for the most part. Michelle cracked me up as every time she would put on her vest it would be too warm, then next loop she'd take it off and it would rain for a loop, same thing with her hat. I just left my hat and jacket on the whole time and I was fine!

The first 26 miles seemed to go by slow as there were lots of people running and lots of people accruing miles much faster than us making us feel really slow. We took a couple of breaks to change our shoes and socks and then after 32 miles we took a 10-15 minute break and we felt great. We got our groove back and were ready to get our last 18 miles in. We began to look for our pacers ladies who were to show up sometime between 6 and 7pm to run 7 miles with us. As we were heading out on number 37 we spotted them and told them we'd meet them the next time around. It was so nice to have them there to distract us in those later miles. Wendy ran 7 miles with us and Jessica finished with us for 13. The last five miles, Eric joined us after his Chuckanut 50k and 5 hour drive down. It was nice to have him along too. Sometime I'll get Michelle to send me the photos he took as we crossed the finish line for our first 50 miler.

At about mile 43 my left upper quad began to feel really tight. Like after a bad charlie horse. There was no fast tightening up like you get with a charlie horse, just the soreness you get after. I stopped to tape it and get some Advil and was determined to finish those last miles. It was sore and I limped when we walked and even considered just going ahead and keeping with a run, but I wanted to finish with Michelle, not ahead as we had come so far together. So I managed. The beginning running again after walk breaks took a minute to ease into, but once I was running it felt okay. My quad is about the only sore spot today. Otherwise I have tight calves and some blisters that are tender, but no major issues to speak of.

We finished in 14 hours and 11 seconds. We took lots of walk breaks and a few longer rest breaks. It was a fun event overall. I was skeptical of running a 1 mile loop 50 times, but it turned out okay as it was new scenery where I had never run and didn't really get old. 14 hours is a long time to run, but it was also nice not to have a cut off time to worry about. I am please with the time and the fact that I actually ran 50 miles. I never thought I would ever run that far. Maybe someday I'll do it again! It was a blessing to reach such a goal.

Grace and peace to you.

Pokey Recovery

2008-02-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, last week proved to be quite tiring in recovery zone. I was exhausted all week. My body felt fine, but I had no energy. I ran on Thursday and Sunday but that's it. I was busy all week and I am sure that was part of it.

I had an exciting day on Saturday. Friday the 8th was my 11th anniversary and I was looking forward to the kids being gone at Grandma and Grandpa's for the night for an evening out with my husband. The day started out though with getting things ready for the Washington State caucus'. I was asked to be a Precinct Caucus Chair, which means you run the caucus for your precinct. I had to make sure I had all the necessary materials to get people signed in- so pens, cardboard type clip boards, tape, signs for my precinct, and all the important directions, tally sheets, delegate info and materials.

Then it was off to my son's swim lessons where I get in the water with him. He has been afraid of the water and the family swim lesson style has been good for him. Once we were out of the pool it was, hand off my son to Dad, waiting at the entrance to the locker rooms, and off to the caucus. I arrived by 12:30 pm to set up qwishing I had gotten there earlier. There were already lots of perople milling around and technically they weren't supposed to be let in until 1pm. So I found my precinct's spot and managerd to get one table and a few chairs from the other precincts whio had arrived earlier to set up. There were 8 precincts at my location. I was a bit worried as we were expecting a larger turn out than the last caucus. I also participated then and we had only 6 people then. This year we had 45!

I few kinks in the process, but all went well. Probably my biggest frustrations were: 1. being located next to the main entrance. People thought I was in charge of the whole thing! 2. Too many people don't know their precinct and need help figuing it out. 3. Explaining that you can't sign into a different precinct than which you are assigned. 4. Speaking over 45 people in my precinct and the 60+ from the neighboring precint!

I was able to get volunteers to be the secretary to record minutes and a tally person to help do the math and the delegate allocations. It was fun to see and listen to people share during the "persuation time." we started with 4 uncommitteds and ended with only one. We also had a person switch candidates for the final tally. True democracy in action!

So, it was tiring and inspiring and I was glad I volunteered. I would do it again.

The anniversary dinner was nice, quite and relaxing. We went to a small Italian restaurant near Pacific Lutheran University where I worked before Paul and I got married. It is a fabulous restauraunt. Tiny and quaint with excellent food. You have to make reservations a week or more in advance if you don't want to eat at 4:30pm or 8pm. I took home their bread pudding for dessert because I was stuffed, but can never pass up their bread pudding. We had planned on going to a movie, but it would have had to start ater 9pm, so we opted to rent and chose Ocean's 13. The Ocean's movies hold a special place for us, since my water broke as Ocean's 11 started on our Pay-per-view 5 1/2 years ago and my daughter was born a couple of hours later. So it was a great evening of celebrating 11 years of marriage.

On the running front since the weekend I have been pokey. MOnday my husband went golfing as the rain had let up, Tuesday I had to stay at school till after 8pm for a curriculum showcase. I will go out soon tonight after my husband gets home from his golf outing this afternoon. I feel like I have to let him go, he coaches high school baseball and the season is just about to start and he will have no free time for 3 1/2 months. So I can sacrifice a run or two now. I still call it in the name of recovery but really I think I have the post long run run let down and hae found af ew reasons to not go out and run. I'll get my groove back today and the rest of the week.

Tomorrow am I will run because I am taking a day off to volunteer in my daughter's kindergarten class for Valentine's day. I'll run before I go to the school. Friday we don't have school for President's weekend so I'll run again then. Saturday will be the usual club run, then SUnday after church and again Monday morning! So I think I'll be back on track!

I ran across a great quote this morning in my morning quiet time. It is from a book called Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado
The Voice of Adventure
There is rawness and wonder to life. Pursue it. Hunt for it. Sell out to get it. Don't listen to the whines of those who have settled for a second rate life and want you to do the same so they won't feel guilty. Your goal is not to live long; it's to live.
Jesus says the options are clear. On one side there is the voice of safety. You can build a fire in the hearth, stay inside, and stay warm and dry and safe.....
Or you can hear the voice of adventure--God's adventure. Instead of building a fire in your hearth, build a fire in your heart. Follow God's impulses. Adopt the child. Move overseas. Teach the class. Change careers. Run for office. (Run the race) Make a difference. Sure isn't safe, but what is?

Grace and peace to you.

Lord Hill

2008-02-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Lord Hill. Yup, it's got hills. Boy, my legs can feel it today. Upstairs is not so bad, down, I make a few noises.

Let's just say on the way home it was slushy rain and I started hoping for a two hour late start for school today.

My prayers were answered this morning at 5:14 when the phone rang announcing a two hour delay. I changed the alarm and slept in till 7am. My body was thankful. Sorry Rob. I survived the rest of the day. I am very tired. My body is okay, I feel like I could go for a short jog. I am just super tired. I will go to bed early tonght. As soon as I am done typing.

For my report: I met Steve, Eric, Jamal at Eric's house at 5:15am and we were off to pick up Rob in SUmner on our way to a fabulous run. We also picked up karen in Bellevue for a packed car! It was already a fun day, just on the car ride up!

I was excited to try running with my husband's Ipod. I knew I'd be alone for the majority of the race and I wanted to not have the negative self-talk I had on Capitol Peak. The batteries died at 12 miles into the race just into the second loop. I sang to myself and kept things positive!

I divided the course into mini-sections. First was the rocky out and back hill, next was the rocky mud puddle road section, third was the big hill/barn/elevator shaft/big hill section, then the foresty section with some mud to the end. I checked them off my mental list each time I went through.

The first loop I mostly ran except on the big hills. The second loop I tried to listen to my garmin beeps and take regular walk breaks on the runable sections to keep my energy up. On the third loop I tried to run as much as I could. I mostly hiked up the bigger hills but ran as I could. I had to walk down most of the hills in the rocky mud puddle road section as I didn't want to break an ankle going down hill on the giant rocks. I enjoyed passing by people throughout the race on the out and back sections. On the last loop I pretty much only saw Karen and Arther who was doing his last lap backwards.

I had two sorta scary encounters with people in the park when I was down towards the barn. First was a man walking his german shepherd. The man was nice, but his dog wanted to play with me! He pan along and beside and around me all the way up the hill towards the elevator shaft hill. The second was a scary man walking up the hill as I was going down towards the barn on the last loop. I jan along waiting for him to jump out from behind a tree and assault me in my time of no muscle control. He didn't and I was happy. I tackled that elevator shaft in 4 minutes on the last loop! I side stepped each time I went up to use different muscle groups. I had a vision here of the scary guy at the top waiting to knock me over backwards and watch me roll all the way down. Didn't happen. One more big hill left and I could coast my way in to the finish! I made it and was determined to run the last two miles. I pretty much did and was estatic to see Steve coming to greet me about a half mile from the finish. He ran in with me and we made it till just before the end is a steepish hill. We walked up the last bit of it and the I ran the very last incline to the finish line! Whew! My glutes and left hip were bothersome, and the regular achy knees, but other than that I felt fine. The achyness is gone today and I can tell I worked hard yesterday and am exhausted still but I don't hurt anywhere.

It was a really great day. I am happy with my time and know that I can run a tough 50k. I still look forward to running a 50 miler sometime in the future!
So, Lord Hill was a blessing on a cold Sunday morning. The weather was good, the people were great, the course was challenging and I met it head on. I was blessed again with a chance to get some extra rest this morning. I couldn't ask for more.

Grace and peace to you.

Capitol Peak Mega Fat (half)Ass

2008-01-21T06:52:00.000-08:00

I was prepared to run 34 miles on Saturday, determined to complete two loops on Capitol Peak. After checking the times of previous races, I had given myself a cutoff time of 4:15 for the first loop. If I came in after than, no second loop. What I did not factor in, was that they changed the course this year into figure 8 loops. And another issue I did not factor in because I did not know about it, was their own noon cutoff time. I am a bit unhappy with the outcome or Capitol Peak because I would have done things differently (walk less), but I can live with it. I have already signed up for Lord Hill, hopefully to complete my mudfest.
Besides the being told I was past the noon cutoff, (which meant you had to finish in 3:55, because the started at 8:05am) The day went well. I enjoy running in the mud, it just makes me laugh. I feel like an 8 year old making mud pies to sell in the front yard. I discovered that it is much easier to plow right through the middle of the muddy trail than to zig zag around. You put your feet into the mud instead of slipping along the sides. Once or twice in the big likes of mud i thought I would loose a shoe. The mudfest was pretty much over once through the first part of the figure 8. I did loose the chest strap to my camelback somewhere along that trail, and twist my left ankle pretty good. This cause me to walk extra for a few minutes which probably cost me my 2nd loop.

The next part of the course was more snowy and had more elevation. I had done the majority f this trail last year and remembered quite a bit of it. I felt really good body wise. I did have some negative self talk while climbing a few times and thought how can I do this? I started to sing to myself and things went better. I had intended to grab my husband's Ipod to run with since I knew I would be alone, but I forgot it. I prefer to run without it anyway.
I began to anticipate the muddy "trench of doom." I kept thinking it has to be worse than last year because the rest of the trail is so muddy. When I got there it was bad, but not as bad as last year, I think anyway. This year you could actually put your foot down flat. It was more of a U shaped trench of doom than the V shaped trench of doom from last year. It also seemed much shorter. The trail had been fixed up a bit it seems with gravel and the bikers ruin it into what becomes the runners trench of doom. So I actually ran through the trench, stopping once to try and scrape the pound and a half of mud from my shoes and continued on.
Once at the finish, in 4:15 and trying to get over not being able to go out again, I settled by the fire and had a great time hanging out and talking with fellow runners and keeping warm.
The others from the Y trickled in, Abi, Jane, Michelle and Cat, then a couple hours later, Eric and Steve and Rob came in having completed the 34+ mile course.
Eric, Steve Rob, Michelle and I went to eat at Red Robin and headed home.
It was a great day in the mud. I am disappointed that I didn't get to meet my challenge of 34+miles at capitol Peak. There's always next year or another race. It wasn't my day. I am okay with that. My body doesn't hurt and I can plan ahead to Lord Hill in two weeks during the Super Bowl!

Grace and Peace to You.

Tiger Mountain 25k and a Surprise

2008-01-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Saturday I went along for the ride with Eric, Steve and Rob up to Tiger Mountain for the Western Washington Fat Ass. I only planned on running the half ass version for 25k. I knew I'd have to wait it out at the end for the guys but I didn't want to drive up in the snow if it was going to be poor weather.
I enjoyed my solitude. It was great being out in the forest. It rained a bit, but it was mostly good. Once I was up high enough it was snowing and beautiful.
The start is mostly flat for the first few miles, but then there is a long climb, maybe two and a half miles ( or at least it felt that long). I had to stop and take off my jacket. I have been battling a sore hip at the crest and it was burning on the way up. I was in need of some varied terrain! At last there was some flat and then a bit down and it felt good to run again. I played leap frog with a few runners and discovered that one of the men was one of the organizers of the run that comes down from Alaska to help with the event. He took my picture in what I called the gingerbread forest. As you ran on the packed snow trail just before emerging out on T1, you run through a dense forest that is fairly dark. The light on Saturday with the snow made it beautiful. If you looked downhill all the trees were white from the snow and if you looked up, they looked dark brown almost black, silhouetted against a stark white sky. He took my photo along this trail, and said he was trying to capture the effect of the forest. It was beautiful.
The climb to T2 was short and steep. I tried to go up it backwards for a while just to use different muscles. I tried to run some too up that hill, but it was very hard. Once at the top, you have to go down a skinny trail through the bushes. The snow was packed and quite slippery here. I used an old backpacking/climbing trick I learned many years ago, I call it the "veggie belay." I hold onto the trees and bushes as I go down so I don't slide on my tush! It worked to my advantage. I passed a couple of people in this section and was quite surprised. I thought I was pretty much the last person, but I really wasn't! I knew it wasn't far to T3 and then the 3 miles of down hill to the finish.
I was feeling good, although ready for flat or downhill. I also knew that halfway through the last downhill section I would have had enough downhill! This was true. This last section is quite tough. I like to run downhill and just let go ( although not as much as Rob does, that guy can fly downhill). Sometimes on this section you can feel like a runaway train. I just didn't want to fall and roll down. At this point it was hard to hold yourself back. You just go. Quads get trashed. It has been two days now and I think my quads hurt more today than yesterday!
I passed Steve running with Shawn and not too far away was Eric and Rob. I mentioned that I was glad I was not going up. I knew I'd have a long wait for them back at the car, but that was okay. I'd take a nap.
I got down, signed in at 4:04. I'm not sure how great a time that is, but I was happy. I was using it as a training run for the Capitol Peak mega-fat ass on January 19th where I want to complete the 34 mile run. It was a very tough but good run. I am happy I went and would do it again.
Last night I hosted a surprise party for Michelle's 50th birthday. I was trying to help Eric out who had spent much of the week with his Dad in Bellingham after surgery. It was a success. Michelle was surprised! I think we had about 20 people present to celebrate with our princess. I was happy to find "Birthday Princess" items at the local party store and even a pink and black boa for the "Over the Hill" Princess! :) I actually found the boa in the "Sweet 16" section. I made an ice cream cake after interviewing Eric to find out what Michelle's favorite ice cream was. I layered chocolate graham cracker crust, coffee Ice cream, chopped up dark Dove Chocolate, milk chocolate Dove syrup and another layer of coffee ice cream. It was yummy! We had lots of great food and great people to celebrate.

Have a great week!
Grace and Peace to you.

Been a long Time

2007-12-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry that it has been a long time. Sometimes I just don't feel like I have too much to say. That, and I have been incredibly busy as you have probably been too this time of year.

That said, on the running front, I have been trying to increase strength and build up runs to ultimately complete the Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass in January. Along the way towards capitol Peak, I ran in Yesterday's Pigtail's Flat Ass 50k. It was challenging, wet, and wet and wetter yet.
The day began with Rick picking me up at 5:40 and hitting Starbucks before meeting Linda at the Y and then down to the train station in Sumner to meet Rob and Steve. It wasn't raining yet. I was expecting it to be colder and was dressed for cold. I regretted not wearing shorts because it was warmer out than I had planned on (regret didn't last long). Once at the train station we learned that Steve needed to drive himself so Rob ended up with driving duties.

We checked in and made final clothing choices. I was feeling bad for Rob who didn't have a waterproof jacket and would be soaked in no time. I decided on the gortex jacket as it had begun raining steadily. We headed o the start and gathered together with all of our Y buddies, even seeing Ray who would run the marathon and start a bit later than the ultra.

We were off and when I noticed Rob was wearing a jacket and I was commenting to him on it when I ran right into a pole in the middle of the trail to keep motorized vehicles out. Let's say it left a mark. I shook it off, knowing it would hurt later and kept on going after Linda caught me from falling. A lesson to always look where you are going, especially in the dark and when in a crowded pack of runners!

The first half of the run was wet and I contemplated turning around at the marathon turn around. My hips were bothering me because the entire first half was a gradual uphill. When the trail turned from paved to gravel it became a bit more uphill. Nothing too steep, just 15 miles on a steady incline. Because of the rain, it wasn't long before the water was dripping from my pants onto my socks and into my shoes causing my feet to be waterlogged early on.

Rick decided to make that turn at the marathon mark, but I kept on. We had picked up a runner in our group who wanted to try running a 5/1 run walk ratio that I have been using to keep my ITB at bay. Her name is Vivian. I kept going with her by my side. We passed Steve and Rob on their way back down and then Linda not too far behind. I was really ready to turn around and stop going uphill. After what seemed like forever, we made it to the end of the trail and turned around.

Vivian mentioned she wanted to put on dry clothes at the bag drop area. I really didn't want to wait for her because I knew I would get cold being so wet and I just wanted to keep moving. i had decided I would tell her this once we got to the aid station, but before we arrived, she asked if I would wait for her. I said yes, I felt obliged. It took 5 minutes and I will be removing that time from my overall total. I wasn't happy about stopping. I did end up freezing for a while after that.

I felt good on the downhill and wanted to pick up my pace. I was determined to run the way I wanted to in this run. Slow if I needed to, faster I f I felt good. Now, going down, I felt good and better with a quicker pace. After a while, Vivian said she would try to keep with me until there were 6 miles left. She did, but was behind me about 15-20 feet for a mile or two before that. I was trying to keep a 8:50-9:50 minute pace on the way down between walk breaks. This lasted until I had to go to the bathroom really bad and had to slow down a bit to not wet my pants! I had to wait a while till the next porta-potty. Probably for a mile and a half I had to go and hold it in! The path here was along a main road and there was no where to go! So I suffered for a while, but made it! Best of all, I knew there were only about 3.5 miles to go after the park where the porta-potties were. I decided to skip some walk breaks just to be done quicker. I was ready to be done. I wanted dry clothes on and to eat some real food.

I finished in 6:03, but in 5:58 with the 5 minutes withdrawn for Vivian's clothing change. I am happy with that.

I feel pretty good today. Yes I have some sore muscles but I could go for a slow short run, or a long walk. I will probably run tomorrow morning with Michelle, before the hullabaloo of Christmas eve family dinner preparations begin.

I am looking forward to spending Christmas with my family, sharing time with my parents and brother and his family. I will wake up early and sit by the lit up tree in the quiet with the fire roaring and a cup of coffee in my hand. Enjoying a moment of peace and solitude before the excitement of the day begins.

Through it all, we will take time to remember the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ. Who was born to take my sins upon him and pay a debt I could never pay and be my savior. Thank you.

Grace and peace to you this Christmas.

Turkeys, Ghosts and Birthdays

2007-11-26T19:02:00.001-08:00

What a fun title. Sums up my long weekend. What a great weekend it was.

With my parents in France, In-laws in Texas, Local Brother in Eugene and Older brother in Atlanta, I was left to fend for my own family this Thanksgiving. It was wonderful.
I woke up to a very cold morning and went off to run with the Y group over at the track and park. It was a nice, pokey run.

Then it was home to start cooking. My husband Paul took our 8 year old son Michael and went off to meet another dad and son for a 9 hole round of golf. 5 year old daughter, Annika, stayed home and we watched Sleeping Beauty while preparing dinner. It was good bonding time. Dinner was ready by 3pm and we sat down and gave thanks. As we do at every meal together we share our blessings of the day. This time though we tried to go a bit deeper and share bigger things in life that we are thankful for. It went well! Ya never quite know what an 8 and 5 year old will come up with, but they did well. Later we went over to the family that Paul and Michael had golfed with's home for pie and conversation. It was a great day. Both families called it an early evening in order for some of us to prepare for an early morning of shopping!

I woke up at 5am and didn't really hurry out the door. I brewed some coffee while the car defrosted and left about 5:30am. I didn't think I'd ever hit Toys R Us on Black Friday again, but there I was. It makes a huge difference in attitude and demeanor when you are not shopping for electronics the day after Thanksgiving! I found a few of the items on my list and patiently waited my 40 minutes in line. I only got after one small group of people who were trying to merge into our line. I said," You know, there are going to be some very angry people if you try to get into this line when these people have been waiting over a half an hour and started at the end of the line." They replied that they had been waiting a long time too. This was not true, they just kinda made their own line where there wasn't one. They did merge, but they made sure they waited till I was past them and then merged! Then it was on to Target and a few other stores. I was pretty successful and only have a bit of shopping left to do. I am trying to get less "stuff" this year and focus on experiences together. So I did purchase a few more board games than I might otherwise have.

Anyway, on to the Ghost of Seattle Marathon. It was awesome. I loved it. Again I wasn't trying to go for any speed as my ITB is still on the mend. In fact, according to my therapist, I am supposed to be on a hiatus and focusing on strength training. She is unaware of my recent 50k and marathon! Sssshhhhh! Don't get me into trouble! I am taking it easy and am running less than I would like to be and still using the 5/1 ratio for run walk. I'll send you over to Michelle's blog for her detailed report that included photos. It was a great day. Thanks for the great report Michelle!

Sunday the 25th was my 34th birthday. I spent it with the kids and the going out to dinner as a family. It was low key and restful. A good day. I made sure I spoke with my brother after I figured he made it home from Eugene. He spent the day driving, Yuck! It was a good year and I look forward to an even better one, God willing.

Grace and Peace to you this Christmas season.

Turkey Trot 5k..... and I was Tagged

2007-11-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry that it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy with school and family.

I decided for my run today, that I would go to a local race. The last time I ran it, it was a five miler. Today though, it was only a 5k. I decided I would take part of the loop again after I finished to make it at least 5 miles.

This is a small race put on by the Fort Steilacoom Running Club and was held at Fort Steilacoom Park on mostly gravel, grass and dirt trail with a little bit of asphalt thrown in. It happened to be the High school Cross country district championships course. I opted for my trail shoes as it had been fairly rainy this week. It is a great park for running. The problem was, it is a small race and the course wasn't clearly marked. If no one was ahead of me I didn't always know where to go. I literally stopped twice to ask people behind me which way to go! Once a volunteer made sure you made a turn to go up a steep hill, he said to turn left 2/3 of the way up and go down, problem was I had no idea if I was 2/3 of the way up! I just chose a path and went down. I could hear people follow me a ways back. Finally I came out and found a marker. People could have come down a different way, but I think I had the correct trail. I also stopped close to the finish, I could see a volunteer, but there was about three different paths I could take to get to him. He yelled and waved which way to go and I made it. So overall, it was a confusing race, but it was a good run. I ended up with first place for my age group and a 17 lb. turkey from the drawing! I'll save it for Christmas. I already bought a much smaller one for my family of 4.

After finishing, I went back out to make my run 5 miles total. I went back up to the trails and down around a small lake. Here, on the asphalt my trail shoes felt slippery. The path is an old road and was trying to grow moss.

I'll slow down for the rest of the week. I am running The Ghost of Seattle Marathon on Saturday and need to rest up! It should be another great run with Michelle!

Now, on to the tagging business....

Michelle tagged me. Here's the deal:

Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 3 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I am half a set of fraternal twins. I have a twin brother who also lives nearby. We have only spent one school year apart our freshman year of college. He stayed home, then joined me at Pacific Lutheran University, Go Lutes!
2. I love the fall. The colors, the smells, the falling leaves, running through the fallen leaves, the weather, wearing cozy clothes and pumpkin spice lattes return to Starbucks and egg nog coming soon!
3. I am not a morning person, I enjoy getting up early, but leave me alone. I will most likely be grumpy.
4. I cannot wink. I think I deserve a special parking permit. It is a handicap.
5. I love creating. From painting, or photography, to clay, to sewing to cooking. Anything that involves making something. I don't get to be crafty too much, but I do love it!

There's so much more I could say, glad I only had to choose 5 things...I 'll save the others for long car rides and long runs, so come along for the ride!

I tag: Rob, Wendy and Joe. Have fun!

Grace and peace to you.

Autumn Leaves 50K

2007-11-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

What an awesome day.

First of all Michelle, Eric,( see Eric and Michelle for photos of the event) Steve and I had a great drive to Portland where we were able to stay at my parent's house the night before the race. They have been gracious enough to host us three times now, from 4 people to 11. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Photos courtesy of Tom Riley

The day began quite early with wake up at 4:00am. We left the house by 5am for the 19 mile drive to Champoeg State park where the race was being held. I grew up going to this park nestled along the Willamette River. It has wide open fields and forested areas for day and overnight use. It was as beautiful as I remembered.

Michelle, Steve, Rob and I took the early start, with Rob and Steve running the 50 miles and Michelle and I the 50K. The first loop and out and back were pitch black. I decided to wear my headlamp like Eric did for the CCC, around my waist as I had on both a baseball cap and wool ski hat. It was COLD! It was very cool to look up and see the crescent moon and a sky full of stars as you ran along and had bobbing headlamps coming towards you. It was hard to distinguish lamp from star. We could also tell that parts of the course were quite foggy. Aside from tripping over the roots that had pushed up the asphalt, running in the dark, having no clue of your surroundings was very cool.

During the first loop as we encountered the single track trail portion we noticed what we thought were giant piles of leaves along the side of the trail. Now, one thing about me, I love Fall and running through leaves. It is my absolute favorite. I wanted to jump into the pile of leaves, but was afraid there was tree branches or other hard things under the leaves. I joked about getting impaled by a branch. Michelle told me it would ruin her race if I got impaled and couldn't continue. So I told her we'd have to check out the pile in the light to determine it's level of softness for jumping in. Then we proceeded to the potion of the trail where we ended up taking a wrong turn twice. The trail just led right into a wooded section, so we went. Then there was Michelle, stopping right in front of me with her arms out wide. I ran into her laughing because it looked like she had run into a bush. Apparently at this point the trail took a turn to the left and Michelle didn't notice, she just saw a drop off to the river ahead and didn't want me to fall. It was very funny though and I enjoyed imitating her for a while, just randomly stopping in front of her with my arms out wide.

My favorite part of the entire course was a section in the out and back of the main loop. We would cross this wood bridge and meander along the trail where the trees turned from mostly oaks, to mostly maples. The trail was covered, ankle high with gigantic yellow and brown leaves. It felt like running in snow, only much louder and crunchier, because it was so deep and you couldn't see what was underneath. This section just didn't last long enough for me and I was always surprised to see the turn around cones.

The 7 hours passed by quickly with many minutes filled with laughter. Michelle would imitate someone and we'd both crack up beyond control. After 20 miles it becomes hard to stop laughing! I'd imitate Michelle and we'd crack up laughing again. Then there was the 10 miles with Rob and Steve! Whew! It was a wonder we made it! Rob was as entertaining as ever and he needed our company. He'd say he was being nice and doing us a favor by keeping us company for our last tough 10 miles, but it was really us who saved him by giving him a fairly easy 1o miles in the middle of his 50! Love ya Rob, just had to set everything straight! During the second loop, when we passed the big pile of leaves, we decided the big one was safe for jumping in, but only on the last loop, in case of accidental impalement by hidden objects. I swore I would still run the last 1.5 miles if I did get impaled. So during the last loop I jumped right in, made some leaf angels,tossed some leaves and rolled around a bit before getting out. I had been worried that getting out would be tough after running 30 miles, but it wasn't. The pile was high enough that I wasn't actually on the ground, so getting out wasn't too bad! It was great fun too! What would a race called Autumn Leaves be without some rolling around in them? It made my day. Sorry, no photos.

After Michelle and I completed the 50k, we changed and ate and rested while we waited for Rob and Steve. After they came in again we went to Starbucks in nearby Newberg. We also got Rob some Doubleshots as we knew he would need the pick me up of some good caffeine. We arrived just in time to give Rob the coffee and hang out for their last loop. We hung out and chatted with other racers and volunteers and ate more food. The atmosphere at ultras is vastly different from traditional marathons. Some of the best camaraderie around.

When Rob and Steve came in we cheered and cheered! They ate some food and gathered their things and we were off. Back to my parent's house for a shower and to load up for home. A not so quick dinner at the packed California Pizza Kitchen with all the high school kids before the big homecoming dance ( Steve freaked some girls out here, telling them how nice they looked) and we were off, back to Puyallup. We dropped off Steve in Longview at his in-laws home and we made it back to my house at 11:30. I dropped off my things beside the door, changed my alarm clock and went to bed. Everyone was already asleep. I was thankful for the extra hour of sleep that daylight savings would bring.

I woke up and headed to church by 7:40am so I could stop at Starbucks before my volunteer nursery duty began at 8am. I got to play with the little ones for an hour and a half before I decided to head home instead of go to Sunday School. I forgot to bring advil. Not for my aching body, but for the abscessed tooth I have been fighting for the last couple of weeks. I opted for a stronger drug the dentist prescribed, which due to my fatigued state, totally knocked me out! I slept for a couple of hours. Besides a tight hamstring which I can only feel when I walk up my hilly driveway, I feel great. No painful spots, not really tight, my hips even feel good. I didn't try to run of course. I'll wait till Tuesday or Wednesday. I don't want to push it. The last time I ran two marathons in two weeks I ended up with a very bad case of ITB. I think I have been wise to take it slow and easy the last 6 months. I have been consistently using the run/walk method and have been stretching and strengthening. I will continue this as I want to get stronger, not let up.

To the future: I am seriously considering the Ghost of Seattle Marathon on the 24th as a birthday present to myself(birthday is the 25th). I didn't sign up for the Seattle Marathon and don't really want to for over $100.00. So this one will be smaller and cheaper. I like that! Besides, I bet there will be some good company out there to run with!

Grace and Peace to you.

Long Awaited San Francisco (short) Report

2007-10-30T16:41:00.001-07:00

Photo Version, Text coming as soon as life calms down! Oh, I forgot to add a link to my favorite race photo!

Hipster

2007-10-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, my hips have had quite the week.

I was very sore on Monday after the 5 miler at the Portland Marathon and took both Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate. I decided I needed to run on Wednesday and ran an easy 5 at the Y indoor track. I again always run too fast at the track. It is hard to judge my pace when you have to go around 6 times to make a mile. I tried to lose count and go by time as I did not have my lap counter.

My hips paid for it as soon as I stopped running. I knew right away I was in trouble. It hurt to go down the stairs. I made sure I did all of my stretching and strengthening exercises before picking up the kids from the nursery and games room, but I hurt.

All I could do was take Advil and look forward to my appointment with my Doctor/therapist on Friday. It could not come too soon. Friday I left a bit early and arrived a bit early to my appointment and had to wait a bit. That was okay. I knew relief was on the way. Dr. Doyle is a chiropractic sports physician. I told her how things have been going. She had me lay on my side with my top leg hanging back and my top arm stretched out over my head. She used her Graston tools ( I call this torture therapy) from my ribs to my knee. It hurt really bad in places and I knew I'd be very bruised, but I knew it was going to help tremendously. Same for the other side. Then a little A.R.T or Active Release Therapy (which can also be torturous) and an adjustment of the hips and I was done. I could already fell the difference of not being so tight, and quite sore. The bruises were already forming.

Saturday I was quite tender, but I slept so much better and after a warm up period I felt pretty good on my run. The true test came after the run. I felt good still. That afternoon, during my daughter's gymnastics class I went and did some strength exercises for my glutes, quads, hams, lower back, and core. Still felt good.

Sunday came and I knew the therapy was working. I woke up feeling great. After church I went for a short run and felt great. Things are looking up in my hip world.

I have a massage scheduled for Monday and another Doctor/therapist session on Wednesday. Then it is off to San Francisco on Thursday night. I'll run a little this week, stretch and continue my strengthening exercises and take it easy during the marathon on Sunday. I think the worst part will be the long drive down and especially home on Monday. Keep us in your prayers!

I am looking forward to this trip and pray that all of the ladies will have a fantastic and safe time.

Grace and peace to you.

Portland Adventure

2007-10-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I was in Portland to run the 5 miler that coincided with the Portland Marathon. It was really hard not to register for the marathon during the expo. It was a fun weekend that included trips to and from Protland with my Y running buddies Michelle, Eric and Rick. What entertaining rides we had!

The 5 miler was really fun. I felt kinda dorky just doing the 5 miler, but Ireally did enjoy myself. Portland is my hometown, well, I grew up 15 minutes south of downtown, so it feels like home. I loved getting to watch the marathoners and even caught Michelle and Rick at their 5 mile point. I decided I'd stick to my own recovery regime of 5 minutes run 1 minute walk intervals. It was tough to do this for a five mile race, but I wanted to continue to give my ITB the breaks it was used to. I finished in 45:30. 11th in the 30-34 age group. It was too fast and my hips paid for it. I hurt the rest of the day. I had planned on at least 50 minutes but Igot caught up in the excitement andrace atmosphere. I did have fun and thats what counts.

I had a blast watching the marathoners finish with Sonja and Patch. So, no regrets for not registering for the marathon, yet anyway.

The reason I registered earlier for the 5 miler was due to the fact that I am Runnning the Nike Women's Marathon in San Fransisco on the 21st. The last time I ran two marathons in two weeks I ended up with super duper IT Band issues. It felt like a burning hot knife was sticking out the side of my knee. Funny, It didn't bother me until a week after the marathon though. Needless to say, I did not want the same thing to occur, so I opted for the 5 miler. I know it still sounds weird, but I wanted to be able to have fun in San Fransisco and then be able to run the Autumn Leaves 50k two weeks after the Nike. I realize this sounds wacko, but it makes sense to me. I am not going for a certain time at either, but if I would have run in Portland, I would have really wanted to best my time from last year and I know my IT and hips would have paid dearly for the run.

So, as I just said, my hips would pay. I am having pain after running and for the next day at the top front crest of my hips. I can tell it is muscular and not the joint. I am told to stretch my quads, hamstrings, and IT and to strengthen my glutes. I am using the big white foam roller which is quite painful as well as the Tiger Tail hand roller. Any more suggestions? I have been trying to cross train more, doing hour long spin classes and run slower. I find that the faster I try to run, the more my hips hurt. So, slow and steady for SF and Autumn Leaves.

Grace and peace to you.

A Year of Marathons

2007-10-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

Two years ago this month (October 26, 2005), I had knee surgery to repair a torn left lateral meniscus. For one year I had to wear a Bregg knee brace, otherwise known as the "bionic leg." I ran with that thing and wondered if I would have to wear it forever. It was supposed to even out the compression of the compartments of the knee so that my knee would not collapse to the left side that was minus 40% of it's meniscus. My recovery goal was to run the 2006 Portland Marathon. My short term goal was the Capitol City Half in May of 2006. I met both goals and I did run the Portland Marathon with that dang brace and swore it off and haven't worn it since for running. I do wear it if I am say playing flag football with my school staff due to the side to side motion.

Anyway, with my knee recovered, I went on to run and run and run. I haven't kept a tally of the races I have completed along the side for no particular reason, but I guess I don't want to brag, or be a show off or whatever. I completed several middle distance races and did fairly well, I placed first in the Steilacoom Resolution run series this year and completed 5 marathons and one ultra. I wanted to do even more, but family duties and a new ITB injury benched me for a while.

Monday, October 1st was my one year anniversary of completing my first marathon and completing my post knee surgery goal. As I reflect on that accomplishment and look forward to the 5 miler at the Marathon this weekend and the Nike Women's Marathon in a few weeks, I am grateful and thankful for the recovery that has taken place and hopeful that my current injury will heal and leave me all the stronger.

It has been a long and trying road to recovery the last few months. Patience is difficult when there is so much you want to do. I found it tough to drive along country roads and not imagine myself running the same route. I felt jealous of those I did see, that I could not join them. It was hard to drive where my familiar running routes were knowing I could not always run them. As I was able to run more and more, it was difficult not to run at the same pace and to be at peace with using the run/walk method to lessen the stress on the ITB. Giving all up in prayer and learning to be patient and to follow the dr.'s orders has led to improvements. I am still getting there, but I feel like I can see the end. I know it will take more deliberate rest and time off, (or cross training ) and I think I can manage the discipline to get there.

Reflecting on my first marathon has taking me through a journey I never thought I'd take and one I cannot imagine living without. Running is so freeing, it provides an intense feeling of solitude and completeness, yet is so intertwined with the people with whom I share the experience. It is difficult to describe.

I run, and I talk and I listen. I take all of the words I hear and tuck them away. They change who I am and maybe I change who they are. I hear what the people say and I pray for them. It is how I offer what I have to others, a bit of me for them, a gift I can give. A moment of my day given to others.

Through running I find peace, through running I find quiet, through running I find companionship and a place to live, laugh, learn, grow and be challenged. Most of all this year I have found these things. Through struggling with my own injury and others', through experiencing the training and completion of not just one, but several marathons I learn the lessons of life's marathon. To just begin, to have a goal, to train, to learn from mistakes, to try new things to see what will work better, to change things that don't work, sometimes to start over, but most of all to persevere and that it cannot happen by myself.

This is the gift of my first marathon. Thank you to those of you who helped me get there. I appreciate you more than words can say.

Grace and peace to you.

Fully Recovered

2007-09-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, so last Sunday was the 6 Summit adventure, with Michelle, Eric, Jamal, and Linda. You can read about it over on Eric or Michelle's blog. It was a fun 17 miles of up and down on trails. The last three miles were downhill. After a few other steep spots of trying to go slow and brake, Linda and I decided just to go and not try to brake so much. Well braking or not, my quads were quite sore for a few days.

3 to be exact. Monday- Wednesday it was difficult going down. Down stairs, down hill, squatting down, anything revolving around going down was tough. I did a bit of running on Tuesday and gave up for the bike instead. Thursday I was able to move without any grunting or other funny sounds while going downstairs so I went for another short run.

Michelle asked if I was up for a 10 miler on Saturday, she felt recovered from the trail run too. Of course I was, but I also knew I really needed a 20 miler. So I met Michelle, Rick, and Linda at 6:30am for a nice 10 miles. After coffee for about 45min. I went home and changed and ran another 10 miles. I have never split up mileage like that. I have heard some people say it doesn't matter if it is consecutive or not, that at least it was 20 miles in one day. I kinda feel like I cheated, like it has to be consecutive miles or it does not count (Rob, would you say something like that?). Well, I got it in and we will see if I ever split up miles like that again. It did seem to work for the time constraint I was in, so If I had to do it again, at least I know I can. we'll see how it goes after the marathon in a month. I would like to get some more long runs in and I may have to do it with split runs. I don't know if anyone else wants that many miles in the next couple of weeks. anyway....

I ran a super easy 3 miles this morning with my son along on his bike. It was what Michelle would call a "grind" run. It was tough and my legs felt heavy from the 20 miles yesterday. I felt super slow and like I was just plodding along. I was glad when it was over. The stretching afterwards felt great. I am not sore anywhere, but I discovered some new tight areas.
I was glad that my right IT band held up for the 20 miles. I was achy in the usual places, knees and hips, but nothing painful and today I feel fine.

I am looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow and then to get in 25-30 miles next week. Wish me luck!

Grace and Peace to you.

Into The Groove

2007-09-15T15:16:00.001-07:00

Annika's First Bus ride to School on first day of Kindergarten

I wasn't as hard as I thought to watch my youngest child begin school this week. She loves it. She looks forward to riding the bus to school and spending the morning with her teacher, Mrs. Garrett. They grow up so fast.

She also lost her first tooth this week. The tooth fairy brought a nice crisp one dollar bill! I t has been very exciting around our house!

Another big deal around here, is the Puyallup fair. The kids, get free tickets at school as do my husband and I as teachers. So we make at least one trip to the two week long fair. We really just go for the kids. I do love to spend several hours looking at all the exhibits, barns, hobbies, quilts etc... but the kids won't last and my husband grew up in the area and now would rather not go altogether.

It was a fun trip this year. The kids were great and we were there for about 3 hours. Michael, my almost 8 year old, loves to do the dunk tank. 5 balls for a dollar and on his 4th ball, he dunked the poor girl on the left side! He was thrilled. Daddy, the baseball coach was thrilled. It was great. After the rides we

worked off all the walking with Krusty Pups and scones.

It's a good thing that I'll be running 6 Summits tomorrow with Michelle and Eric to burn off all that Fair food! We even came home with a dozen fair scones! You just can't make them the same at home!

I am really looking forward to tomorrow's run, 17 mikes of hilly trails. Getting out into the woods of Tiger Mountain will be just the thing to start off the week and bring this week's running to a close. I am still struggling with a tight IT band, but it is less painful and only achy sometimes. I am having some issues with my left hip and the illiac crest. I continue Physical therapy and stretch, stretch, stretch.

I pray all is well with you!

Grace and Peace to you.

short update

2007-09-08T12:15:00.001-07:00

Tired. School started this week. Tired. Run. Tired. Achy IT Band. Ice. Did I say tired? Busy. Tired. Physical therapy. Tired and sleepy. Run. Spin class. Tired.
Theme for the week. Tired and sleepy. It is tough getting back into waking up at 5am and standing on your feet all day talking. I'll be in a rhythm by next week and fully adjusted.

Run Rob, Run. Rob is attempting the Plain 100 as I write. So send positive thoughts not to get lost and to fuel!

Grace and Peace to you.

Back to the Grind

2007-08-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Before school teacher meetings began yesterday. The first day back is always interesting. Reuniting with co-workers you haven't seen since the end of June and catching up with others from around the district. It was a good day. Today was filled with department area professional development. The afternoon session was great, but the morning was a waste of time.

I am catching up on sleep lost while helping at an aid station for the Cascade Crest 100 endurance run. It was a blast to watch people who had just run 53 miles come into the station. I helped get soup and food, take garbage from runners, get drop bags, record who came in and who left and just talk with runner's crew members. It was very inspiring.

After the shift ended and we closed our station we went to sleep. It was 4:00am. I woke up at 7am and laid there till 8am. Eventually we cleaned up(in the pouring rain) and left for the finish. Several of us had planned on going for a run, but the weather and not wanting to be wet and cold for the remainder of the day kept us from taking that run.

The finish was fun. Even more inspiring to watch runners complete their 100 mile journey. Gets me thinking about doing a 50 miler. I'll tuck that into the dream files in my brain and see where it takes me.

I am doing PT now to help my IT relax and stretch out. I am supposed to run less days of the week and cross train. That means the 3 or 4 days I do get to run will all be longer runs from 7-10 miles or more in length. I overslept this morning and missed Michelle's Hill run +2 for 8 miles. I'll run 8-10 this evening. I am supposed to stay away from cambered roads which will be challenging. I plan to run through the park near my house on paved trails and do 5 figure 8 loops and around the sports complex twice. That will be 10 miles. That way I will stay on even surfaces. I'll try to make Michelle's shorter run in the morning, but we'll see. It may be another evening run for me!

On a side note, I found out a wonderful woman I have worked with for going on 6 years has an aggressive form of breast cancer. Her name is Brenda. Please pray for endurance and that her treatments will slow and eventually stop the spread of the cancer cells. She is such a dear and inspiring person. It is hard o see her so sick. I know God will use her and teach her and others many things through this experience. Thanks.

Grace and Peace to you.

Danskin update

2007-08-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it was raining the entire drive up and for set-up in the transition area. Luckily I know to bring garbage bags for everything and to cover my seat and handlebars the day before to keep them somewhat dry.

It stopped raining for the start of the swim (at least my wave and those right before and after). I think it just began to rain as I began the bike section. Anyway, the swim went well and I finished in 16 minutes.

For the bike, it was wet already, and so I had already decided that I would take it easy on this portion. There are so many people in this triathlon and a huge number of them are first timers, you never know what can happen. I was a bit ticked when the volunteers were getting people to get off their bikes at one point to go up a steep section onto the I-90 bridge. I just wanted to stand up and go. I hopped off and ran my bike up, going around as many people as I could, just to keep moving quickly. Once on the bridge, I found my cadence and keep to it, adjusting gears as needed. Once inside the tunnel it was quite warm. I had decided to wear a vest for added warmth on the bridge. I got to the turnaround and headed back. Once through the tunnel again, I found it to be pouring heavy rain and slowed up on the downhill portion and picked it back up on the flat. I could see a few people with aide who had fallen. Again, the volunteers were trying to get people to walk their bikes down off the bridge. I stayed on, just pushed along with one foot on the ground and took off once passed a gal who had crashed trying to get back on her bike. Another gal crashed trying to get off her bike once at the transition area. I made it around her and ran back to my rack. I couldn't get my bike on the rack due to the closeness of bikes, so I just stuck it in between the bikes. I bought a neat black race belt skirt at the expo and was eager to try it out. It is a wrap-style that lets you attach your number right to it. I liked it, though it did twist and my number did not stay in front. It velcros and buckles like a regular race belt. I thought it might be hard with both, but I was able to fasten it well while I was running. I left the vest on and my bike gloves. I didn't want to waste time taking them off.

The run was good. I again found myself passing lots of people and decided to stick close to the center cones and just go into the other lane to go around until there were people on the other side. I noticed early on another woman who was able to keep a good pace. This is kinda rare, as it seems so many people walk or just go really slow. She must have been trying to stick with me because I slowed down a bit. I was having some interesting tightness in my left shin, like when you walk too fast uphill and your shins begin to hurt. I was trying to point my toe when I picked up my foot to stretch it out without stopping. She came up beside me and told me to pick it back up. I did, I lost her though for a while, I think she stopped for water at the last aide station. I powered it up the killer steep hill close to the finish and at the finish chute she came up behind and said "Alright, let's finish this, let's go!" and we sprinted in about 100 yards and finished together. It was neat, because I am usually the one to do this! I thanked her for pushing me and she was lost in the sea of thousands of people at the finish. My upper hamstring didn't really like that last push! It is tight now and I will be stretching it all evening.

So, I finished in 1:36:14. Not a PR, but I wasn't going for one. I finished last year in 1:29. So, not too bad for taking it easy in the rain. I was in the top 100 for my age group of 350., 99th to be exact and 689 of 3496 overall. I'll take it! Now I'll rest!

Grace and peace to you.

Danskin Weekend

2007-08-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

I took it a bit slower this week and plan to only run 25 miles( including the 5k in the tri). I did manage to get two practice swims in this week. It would have been good to get another one in, but it is so hard to give up scheduled runs.

Last year I did the Danskin Triathlon in Seattle and thought I would never do it again. Way too big, 7,000 women many of whom it is their first triathlon. The main problem was the expo and bike racking on Saturday. I had to drive forever to get there, park in BFE and then wait in huge lines, then drive not too far away to the bike racking transition area, but it took 1 1/2 hours in traffic to get there. I then had to park 1/2 mile away and ride my bike to the transition area and squeeze it on a rack in a sea of 7,000 other bikes. It took me about 6 hours round trip. I swore, never again.

But then Sunday came. Yes, there were thousands of people there, but the cheesy camaraderie was great. The event itself is very well supported and I had a PR. So, Come February 26th, I registered( this event closes in literally 2 hours).

I was dreading the expo and when an email came to attend a women's financial seminar before the expo and the attendees would get an early bird entry into the expo to pick up their packets, I signed up. It was well worth sitting through the seminar, it was good info. My husband and I already have a financial advisor, so I just ate the free food and listened. Then when it was over we headed down to pick up our packets. I was out of there just as they were letting people into the expo. There were thousands of people waiting in line to get in. I was thankful to be out of there!
Then it was off to the park to rack my bike. It was 9:45 and the transition area wasn't supposed to open till 11am. I thought I'd just wait, but when I got there, they were letting people in. Sweet! I was out of there by 10:30am!! There was a bit of traffic on the way home, but by 11:30, I was done for the day and ready to just double check my bag for tomorrow and to set my alarm for 4:50am.

I still plan on a just for fun race, no time goals. It might be pouring down rain. That's okay, I've done events in the rain before, just is a bit slower. It will be fun no matter what. I'll let y'all know how things turn out with an update tomorrow afternoon.
Till then,
Grace and peace to you.

Catching Up

2007-08-13T16:52:00.001-07:00

Since I have been home from DC, I feel like all I have been doing is catching up. Catching up on laundry, cleaning, emails, blogs, unpacking, running, and family time. Everything is moving so fast. I can barely catch up!

There is now officially three weeks until kids arrive at school, two weeks until I have to go back for meetings, and one week until an optional meeting. It's been a good summer, but as usual, way too fast!

I just want to sit on a quiet beach with my husband, sip margaritas and reread the entire Harry Potter series.

I was happy to run 30 miles this week, but my hips are entirely way to tight. My IT band has gone from stabbing pain to just utter and complete tightness when I am not running. All I do is stretch! I will slow down a bit this week and go for 25 miles, maybe ab it less. I will be doing the Danskin Triathlon this weekend.

It will be fun as tri's always are, but let me just say that I will not have a PR. I have not yet stepped into a pool for swim training and the event is 6 days away. I do plan to swim tonight and a couple more times this week, just to practice my stroke. All in all, I just want to have fun and not go for a certain time. I always want to do more triathlons when I am done, so we will see if I do indeed register for a few others this fall to end the season. It was only two summers ago that I completed 7 triathlons in one summer. I have not tried that since the marathon bug bit.

So, I hope all is well with you out there in the blogosphere. Oh, a new thing I wanted to pass on from my C-SPAN conference for all of you folks who like to You Tube or watch other video sites. If you like to download video a new, easy and FAST way to do it is to use the new Real Player 11 Beta. Just download it free from the Real Player site and anytime there is video a download option will pop up. just click it and it will download simultaneously to your hard drive. Or you can choose portions , make a library etc.. it is very cool and FREE! Check it out!

Grace and Peace to you.

Running Hot

2007-08-08T15:02:00.001-07:00

I returned very early this morning from Washington DC where it was 100 degrees plus humidity for what felt like 110. It is wonderful to return to75 degrees and minute humidity. I like going outside without breaking out in sweat.

Myself and Brian Lamb

The C-SPAN conference was amazing. We started out with greetings and a message from Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN and host of the fabulous show Q&A. Let me just say what a great person Mr. Lamb is, I was truly impressed. We learned so many useful ways to incorporate C-SPAN into education of civics, government, history and many other core subjects. Using the video they provide truly helps bring the people of politics and government alive for young people who have little concept of things they deem so far away from their own world. C-SPAN in the classroom truly can help me bring the adult reality of active participation in government into the techno-savvy world of today's teenager. And that is precisely my job. To bring my reality into their reality. Young people will have no interest if I try to bring them into my reality. It just doesn't work. With the world of technology at my fingertips and the 3 TV stations, radio station, and 14 websites, C-SPAN offers an endless list of resources just a click away.

That first evening, we were invited to take part in a press conference C-SPAN was holding to announce an upcoming series on Presidential Libraries. The series of 12 shows will look at never before seen or rare artifacts, video and documents from the 12 presidential libraries that are a part of the National Archives System. IT was neat to be a part of this press conference. Before the festivities, I had my photo with Allen Weinstein, the National Archivist.

Myself and Allen Weinstein.

As you can see it was a fancy affair, cocktails included! After the Press conference we had dinner. The entire evening was hosted by Johnny's Half Shell, a famous Washington hot spot. After dinner, we were treated to the hilarious stories of C-SPAN's Political Editor, Steve Scully. He currently finished being the journalist coordinator for construction of the new press room at the White House. So all of those press conferences by Tony Snow, White house press secretary are in the room in which Steve coordinated the design and construction. He told many stories of covering different administrations and events. It was a great evening.

Here is a shot of the two of us, Steve Scully and I.

Needless to say, I was feeling like I was rubbing elbows with many influential people!

This is a photo of my wonderful and very funny table-mates for the conference. They are, left to right, Dru Bescoe, Tipp City, OH, Becky Griffith, Newland, NC, Jenny Appel (me) Puyallup, WA, Brian Sirmans, Lakeland, GA, and Mary McCullah, Plantation, FL. There were 25 of us in all, from all over the USA, only two from the West coast though, mostly from the East of the Mississippi. It was a fantastic two days of learning and collaboration I will cherish and do my best to use everyday in my classroom. An amazing opportunity. All you educators out there should check out http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/ and see for yourselves (as well as the 13 other web pages C-SPAN hosts).

As for running in DC, well, it was hot and humid! Friday, Sunday and Tuesday I ran at 6am and it was almost 80 degrees already each day. Friday was a 5 mile run around The Mall. Here are some of the sites I had along the run (the photos were not taken while running, to much sweat to carry a camera and a waterbottle, but are taken along the same route).....

The Capitol, Senate side closest.

The Washington Monument, from the steps of The Lincoln Memorial, yes, I ran up the steps!

The Korean War memorial, which was much more impressive while I was there alone with no one else there early in the morning. I would say the same thing about the other memorials, the less people, the more awesome and intense.

The Lincoln Memorial, by far my favorite, I am a Lincoln fan.

Abraham Lincoln, inside the Lincoln Memorial.

This is a photo of the Jefferson Memorial, across the Tidal basin. On Tuesday, I ran down to the Lincoln Memorial and then around the tidal basin trails and up into the Jefferson memorial.

The front of the Jefferson Memorial.

Inside the Jefferson Memorial

The Vietnam War Memorial

The new WWII Memorial.

Some details of the Memorial.

The Smithsonian Red Castle(This is only part of the castle), The Archives, The Supreme Court and the Library of Congress are also buildings I ran past.

For those of you who know Michelle,I took this photo for her. These are the blisters I received the during the first day's run and endured the rest of my stay. By the way, I called Michelle from the museum of Natural history on Sunday morning just to ask her for blister advice, to drain or not to drain. I chose not to drain until I got home!

So, I think the combination of heat, humidity and sweating more than usual caused these blisters. I am not usually prone to blisters like this. But I endured! My week ending on August 5th contained 24 miles. I wanted between 20 and 25! I ran 5 miles around the Mall on Friday, 8.5 on Sunday, running around the Mall, across the Memorial bridge to the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery and back and 7.5 on Tuesday, running around the mall and the Tidal basin and back ( so a good start for this week!). I would say DC is a great place to run with so many cool things to see.

I was able to see and visit so many awe inspiring places on my visit. I started with the Russell Senate building and a trip to Senator Patty Murray's office for tickets to the Senate and House Galleries. A couple of fellow conference attendees were with me and one of them asked if they could take us on the Senate subway into the Capitol, they did! This is the train-like subway that the Senators (and House members) take from their offices into the Capitol without having to go out into public and cross the streets. That was cool. We sat in the Senate chamber, but they were on a recess, so we got to see pages sitting around and other aides coming in and out. The line for the House was very long because they were in session after the Republicans walked out the night before! We ran into Senator Spector (R-PA) as we were leaving the Chamber. And quite literally, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) ran into us! We were standing in a hall, outside the restrooms waiting for the men's to be done cleaning so my new friend Seth could use them. Apparently we were standing (a little too close) in front of a meeting room door and out came Rep. Murtha and another man. I stepped back in time, but poor Seth got the door in his back! We stood there for a few more minutes and Rep. Murtha came back. This time Seth asked for a photo. I'll post it when Seth emails it to me. We had a group shot.

The next day I went for a walk to the Eastern Market, the longest running public market east of the Mississippi, it has been running continuously since 1890ish (or so I was told by a vender). It was a neat mix of farmers, craft persons and flea market. On my way back I went to the Library of Congress and the House office building, the Rayburn Building. Sunday I went to the Museum of Natural History. Very cool museum. I wandered around for a couple of hours before catching the Metro subway out to RFK (Robert F. Kennedy) Stadium for a Washington Nationals baseball game. They were playing the St. Louis Cardinals. Nats won 6-3. Great game! Monday I took the Tourmobile. $25.00 for a open window narrated tour bus that goes around to all the monuments and Arlington national cemetery and you can get off and on as you like. This is the only bus that will take you on a tour of Arlington national Cemetery. Again, I have done this before almost 20 years ago. I stopped at the major monuments as well as took time to tour both the National Archives, that houses the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Emancipation Proclamation, the Magna Carta and many many more important national documents and the Air and Space Museum. Tuesday I went to the National Art gallery West and East Galleries before catching the MARC commuter train to Baltimore Washington International Airport. It was a wonderful trip. There are so many more places to visit that I would love to see. Next up is the Spy museum, Shows at the Kennedy center, Portrait galleries and so much more.

Another highlight of my trip was getting to have dinner with Amy, Tim and Kyle who are transplanted Y run club members. We had a good time on Friday night out in Pentagon City. Thanks you guys for bringing me back to my hotel afterwards! It was a great trip! That's all for now

Grace and Peace to you.

Running Again

2007-07-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

Since I have been back, and caught up on sleep ( those red eye flights are a killer. Especially when you take them two days apart, it seems you never quite adjust!) I have been able to concentrate on running again.

I have decided to take it slow, but try to get my miles built up again. My right IT is no longer sending stabbing knife-like pain into my knee, but is fairly tight. As my Orthopedic Dr. said" you could play a tune on your IT!" I have been continuing with the anti-inflammatory treatment, icing, stretching and massage. It seems to be helping.

After sleeping in on Tuesday morning till 9am, (we didn't get to bed until 3am) I ran 3 miles. I am keeping with the run/walk for a while to be safe. Wednesday turned out to be a hectic day and I was unable to get out for a run. Thursday I headed out early to the track to get in a couple of miles before others arrived. I wanted to run at least 5 miles and a typical Thursday night run only yields 3 or 4. I ended up with 6.12 miles. Friday I ran 4 miles and Saturday I ran 5.70. 19 miles total. I really wanted 20 miles, but I couldn't see myself going out and only running 1 mile today so I'll add it onto next weeks goal. I did walk a lot at the mall though. I am happy to get that many miles in.

It seems so long since I have been able to run with any consistency. Injury and life have happened and it is okay. My body needed the rest. Now, I want to feel fit and in shape again. It is amazing how fast it seems to slip away. For instance, on Saturday I ran with Rick and another woman from the club. They graciously agreed to take my self-imposed walk breaks. Although as we neared the end of our run, I was tired. My quads felt really tired. I could still keep a conversation going without huffing and puffing, so in that respect, things were feeling good. I was pooped all day though. It really has been a while since I have had a 20 mile week.

This week will prove interesting. I will run 5 miles on Monday, 6ish or so Tuesday, as I plan to run with Michelle and whomever else joins the run. Then I am headed to Washington, D.C. for 6 days. I applied for and received, an all expenses paid trip to the C-SPAN educators conference on Campaign 2008 held at their headquarters, 3 blocks from the Capitol building! I am very excited to see how I can incorporate all of the amazing things C-SPAN has to offer into my history and Law classes. It should be quite an experience. Then I am staying after for a few days to site see. It has been almost 20 years since I visited D.C. and I know now I will appreciate it so much more. Since I teach about so many of the events and happenings there, i will just soak it all in to take back to the classroom with me. I will also visit and maybe run with a relocated Y runner, Amy. I am looking forward to running around The Mall and other landmarks! Hopefully I will be able to get 20-25 miles in this week too and start on 25-30 for the next!

I have to get them in because my next marathon is the Nike Women's in San Francisco and I feel like I am starting from zero! I want to ramp up without aggravating the IT, so I need to be super careful.

Let me know if you have any favorite spots I must see, or restaurants I must go to while in D.C. I do plan to sit in the House and Senate chambers, visit the Smithsonian museums, The national Archives, Visit the monuments, the new WWII memorial, Go to a Washington Nationals baseball game Sunday afternoon and anything else that is recommended or that I can get to!

Pray for safe travels and a fantastic time!

Grace and peace to you.

A Celebration of Life

2007-07-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

The last week has been a whirlwind. I returned from the R2P relay on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning was ready for a week of volunteering at our church's Vacation Bible School.
On Wednesday morning, my Grandmother passed away. She was 89 years old and had Parkinson's.

My Dad called from Portland at 7:40am. He was having a very difficult time and so my Mom had to get on the phone. He managed to tell me that Grandma (his mother) had passed away. She passed away at 6:30am Pacific time. We knew it was coming, but it is still a shock.
I was thankful to being headed to church. When my first volunteer duties were over, I found a quiet place to reflect. I had just finished leading songs and felt some of the lyrics to be exactly what I needed. "Praise to the Lord, my God and King, His love endures forever. For He is good, he is above all things, His love endures forever. Forever He is faithful, Forever He is Strong, Forever He is with us, Forever, Forever."

Forever He is with us, Forever He is strong. These words are so encouraging. As a Christian, God is forever with me, strong, no matter the circumstance. He is able to provide enough grace to cover me, no matter the situation.

My Dad called again, later in the day with all of the plans he and my uncle had made so far. My parents live outside of Portland, OR. My Uncle lives outside of Houston, TX. and my grandparents live in McKenzie, Tennessee, 2 hours from either Memphis or Nashville.
I went upstairs and spent nearly 3.5 hours trying to find cheap flights, car rental, hotel and childcare for the kids. I was able to find very reasonable priced tickets without using a bereavement fare.

So, my husband and I were to fly out at 10:00pm Friday from Seattle and arrive in Memphis, with one stop in Detroit, by 7:30am Saturday. When we arrived at the airport, the leg from Detroit to Memphis had been cancelled. The new route was unacceptable as it put us into Memphis at 12:45pm. Not good with a 2 hour drive from there and the first family visitation beginning at 3pm. So I had the airline worker search for alternatives. After several tries, we agreed to a later flight and arriving in Memphis at 8:45am. At least they were nice enough to provide us with first class seats from Minneapolis to Memphis.
Once in Memphis, we met my brother who had left Seattle earlier on Friday and had spent the night in Memphis, at the car rental place and we were off to find a bookstore. My husband and I were not going to miss out on purchasing our Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the day it came out. My brother also wanted a copy. I had found a close by bookstore online before we left and printed out the directions.

After purchasing a copy of both the hardback and audio books, we were off to McKenzie. My brother followed along in his car and we made the trek while listening to Harry Potter.
Upon arrival at the retirement home in which my grandparents live, we met up with my cousins that Paul and I had just visited on our trip to Houston two weeks ago. It was good to see them again, we just had wished it was different circumstances. After a while, Paul and I went to our hotel to shower and change for the first Visitation. Oh, but not after my Dad came in with some of the BEST Tennessee pulled pork BBQ you have ever eaten. My family has always known how to eat and this was always a tradition when family gets together in McKenzie.
When we arrived at the funeral home for the visitation, I did not know if my grandfather, who is 94, had decided to have an open casket. They did for family only. I did not want to remember my grandmother that way and chose to enter a while after family members had entered. When I did enter, the casket was still open, but the angle was such that Grandma just looked peaceful. I sat with my parents and brothers and we talked about how peaceful she looked and how she was no longer trapped inside a body that did not allow her to be who she truly longed to be. Then the funeral director played a slide show of photos my Dad and Uncle had put together of Grandma and Grandpa.

My emotions really came to the surface here. As I saw many photographs I had never before seen. Photos of my grandma as a little girl, at school and getting married at her home. My grandparents celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary on June 16th this year. Wow.
Later, after the casket was closed and many other extended family members and friends came to visit with my grandpa and the rest of the family I took time to look at the many scrapbooks and items my Dad and Uncle had gathered for people to remember Grandma by. My brothers and cousins were able to remember so many wonderful summers spent in McKenzie at our grandparents' home. In the kitchen helping grandma snap beans, bake a cake, or eat until we were stuffed. Outside with grandpa digging up potatoes or peanuts( goobers as grandpa always called them) Sticking black eyed peas through Grandpa's homemade sheller, riding the lawnmower, swinging on the big swing or porch swings that hung from the huge grand old oak tree in the front yard or just catching lightning bugs in the evening. It was always a marvelous and wondrous time at grandma and grandpa's house. There was always an adventure.
I also took the opportunity to sit with grandpa near the casket as he greeted people who had come to the visitation.

Between visitors, I was able to talk with grandpa and let him know the many things that I had learned from he and grandma over the years. I let him know that it was from them that I learned to appreciate family and to let them know how much they mean to you. That i need to express my gratitude to my family. I learned from my grandparents what a Christian marriage looks like and how to be selfless in that marriage. I let my grandpa know that he and grandma were a shining example that my parents were able to follow and that I hope to be able to follow in my marriage also. I told him that He and grandma were my mentors when it came to being unselfish and compassionate, in helping others and perservering. I let him know that the lessons he and grandma conveyed in every letter or email they ever sent(which I have always kept every piece of correspondence) was to go to church and be an active member and participant in Christian life and the life of the church which they too were amazing examples, to work hard in everything you do, to always give 100%. I let him know that his life was a testament to this... having lived through the depression and hard other hard economic times you had to earn everything. My grandparents definitely ingrained this value into their children and grandchildren. I told him he taught me to save money and to spend wisely. He and grandma always expressed how important education was( they too, were both teachers) and how valuable of a tool it truly is. They always expressed to us in letters and i person, how important Christian spouses are and how happy they have been that all their married grandchildren have been so good to find such "fine spouses."

As i sat there with my Grandpa, I t was hard to tell him everything I wanted to. Hard to express all of the things that he and Grandma had given to me and the rest of my family and the gratitude I have for them. I didn't know if I was going to be able to speak at the funeral as my Dad had wished. If I didn't, I knew I had already said the things I could to my Grandpa.
The next day, Sunday, would be a whole new challenge. All the grandkids were to be pall bearers. I have never done that before and didn't know if I could manage it emotionally. I did, but it was hard. I was able to speak and say some of the things I mentioned here. I spoke first and it took me a while. I was very choked up and emotional. I cried and was probably hard to understand. But I said the most important things I had learned from my Grandma. My brother and cousins also spoke of the things they learned or most cherished about our grandma.

I think my Uncle summed it up best at the end of the service when he said that his mom, my grandma, was not in that box anymore. That was just a used up body, a bunch of bones that she wanted out of anyway. Ernestine, wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, and friend was with her savior Jesus Christ, free of her illness and laughing and that she had chosen that she would spend eternity in heaven as a small child. She lived her life waiting on God, following Christ's example, going where He led, sharing His love and compassion, teaching others and mentoring others to do the same. My Uncle concluded with,"and there is nothing more she would want than to see you there with her someday."

It was a beautiful celebration of my Grandmother's life and the legacy she provided for her family and community, for anyone she met. I hope something of her here has touched you too.

Grace and peace to you.

Rainier To Pacific Relay

2007-07-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

What's become an annual tradition for myself and the Y run club is as unpredictable as the weather! For our third relay, I was for the third time in the 2nd van. I was apprehensive about this as I really had wanted to be in the first van due to the timing. It was more of a regular schedule. But this year, with the addition of a twelfth leg and a 9am start time, these timing issues worked themselves out for both vans.

Some of our beautiful van decoration!

Just home from a trip to Texas to visit family and rest to hopefully heal up my knee issues, I was also apprehensive about running. A pre-relay run on Thursday improved my hopes for a pain free relay. I was able to run 4.65 miles with a run/walk painfree. I felt ready to go

Eric, Michelle, Rob and Steve picked me up and we were ready to head up to meet Van #1 at the first van exchange. We were lucky enough to meet up with Annette and Kristina, both from the blogosphere. We had a nice relaxing wait in the warm sunshine and cool shade before our exchange. We spent the time decorating the van and preparing our gear for our legs.

At about 1:30-2:00pm we were off. George K, in the first van had created a time chart with every one's paces and ETA's. Rob was assigned a 6:30 pace and he was determined to meet it! I believe he did too! I was assigned a pace closer to my normal pace of about 8:30, but I knew I didn't want to run that fast with my knee. I had already decided I was going to try and keep a 10:00 minute pace while running and the just power walk on my walk breaks.

The bloggers!

Rob handed off to me and I took off. My Garmin hadn't really set because i turned it on in The Yeti (our Expedition). So i turned it off and had to let it find the satellite while I was running. I had to guess at how long I had been running in order to take my walk break. After the first break, I had the satellite and could track my distance and pace. The plan was to run a half mile and walk 2 minutes. I realized I was running way under the 10:00 minutes I wanted and tried to slow down. It was difficult. My run felt really good. I was so happy to be running. The hardest parts were the hills. I haven't run much since the Tacoma City Marathon because of my knee and sprained ankle. I didn't want to overdo it. The temperature was also a challenge. Somewhere in the mid 80's. It felt HOT!

Steve cools down before his first leg into Yelm where he beats the van to the exchange.

Michelle cools off on her leg, with George C from van 1 cheering in the background.

Emily from Van 1, Me, and Rick all matchy matchy. Perils of all of us participating in the same events!

After Michelle's run, we headed to dinner in a rural area at a place called "The Red Barn." Here the waitress thought Michelle was crazy for asking if the had veggie burgers, and where most of Van #2 ordered normal hamburgers and Rob, our larger than life, out of this world, fearless trailblazer, ordered the "Mound" bacon cheeseburger Deluxe!

The "MOUND"

Burger

Watching Rob eat this burger was quite an experience!

I'll let you ask him about it!

After our beautiful meal, we decided to digest in Elma, where there is a high school that lets you sleep in their wrestling room, or in your vehicle etc... Problem was, it was like 6:30pm! We tried to rest, lay down and just talk, but it was too difficult to sleep. Here was the only major issue we had with the relay. The supposed layover. We debated among ourselves about taking it, and decided we must. We are people with integrity. So we did. First though, we had to take Rob to his first leg, then come back to the school for the 1 hour layover, then it would be my leg. Rob's dinner was trying to get the best of him, so we had to encourage him a little to be his old self. Along his leg, Michelle and I were his cheerleaders with bright green glowsticks as our pompoms. Rob came in even faster than his first leg, the Mound didn't get him after all!

After the layover, Rob ran my leg with me. He wanted more miles and the company was great. After all, I did have to run past a cemetery at 12:30am! I bumped up my run/walk ratio to .60 mile,two minute walk. It was hard to keep track while talking and paying attention to the dark road. I did kick what felt like a railroad tie along the road and just catch myself from falling flat on my face. I was glad Rob was there. If I was hurt, my van had already passed me. The next runner would have found me! This leg felt great. Rob and I ran slow. I kept my 10:00minute pace. We just talked and kept it easy. Lots of people passed us though. People who's teams did not take their layover.

The night legs went well and were fun. The night air wakes you up and refreshes you. Again, we had a snafoo with the Steve/Michelle hand off. Somehow, we missed Steve run past us. We thought it was because we were all looking for his waterbottle, but he said that he said hey to Eric as he ran past him. So, we went to look if he missed the tune and was running on the freeway. We didn't think this could happen, so we went to the exchange and there he was waiting for us! We don't know how we missed him the little speed demon! By the time Rick had run his leg, it was near 3:30am and I was getting very sleepy. We headed to the next van exchange and tried to sleep for a couple of hours. I had planned to sleep outside, but decided to stay in the van. I left my earplugs above the van in the box and had to manage without them. That is difficult as I listened to Rick snore in the back, and Michelle's stomach right behind me! Her stomach was growing at me I swear! I think I managed about an hour and a half. Every time a van would pull in, I'd wake up and make sure they didn't run over Rob, Eric and Steve who were outside. This didn't help my sleeping. When it was 6am and time to roll, I had to drink a Starbucks doubleshot and a mocha frappacino just to wake up!

It worked! The coffee was just what I needed to get going. We decided that Steve and I would trade legs for our third run. Mine was labeled hard and his was easy. I had run his leg before and I knew it was easier than what I was supposed to run. Even though the "hard" label should have been a "moderate." So that's what we did.

Rob started out with a 2 mile uphill and then down and handed of to Eric again. At that time, Rob was done and broke out his favorite running food, Raspberry filled powdered donuts.

Contemplating and worshipping the jelly donut, and then stuffing face with the jelly donut!

Somewhere during this time, Steve and Rick were providing aide to Eric and Rob decided he would also provide aide to Eric, in the form of a raspberry filled jelly donut..... here is the hand off

and here, a mile or so down the road is the frightening aftermath! Try to click on and enlarge this photo for the full effect! I am sure Eric scared away some of the competition with this one and gained us a few extra minutes!

I ran after Eric and had a great final leg. I felt good and decided to change my run/walk plan yet again. I did 1 mile run and 1 minute walks and would go back to the original if I needed to. I felt good and decided to run at a faster pace too. It felt like old times. I tagged Michelle this time and I did not beat her to the exchange! She had a record breaking run and you should visit her blog to read all about it! Rick brought us in with his first time run on the beach. Rob gave him a pep talk and told him if he ran in 45 minutes we could beat 24 hours! Rick did not let us down!

Rick ran well and we came in under 24 hours! We were very happy! Another mix up with our first van and they missed us at the finish. We'll have to get together for a group shot of all of us and then I'll post a complete group. For now, here we are under the finish line in Ocean Shores, Wa.
We had a fantastic time along the course and after the finish. We spent the night at Rob's family beach house and watched some old school running movies for inspiration. We ate and ate and ate. In the morning we went for a run on the beach. I'll leave you with this dancing starfish, a tribute to Rob. Maybe someday he'll tell you about it, maybe someday he'll share his dance. Then again, maybe it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. :)

Thanks Van #2 for a spectacular time. Van #1, you are not too shabby yourselves!

Grace and peace to you.

Good News!

2007-06-29T11:24:00.001-07:00

There is no torn meniscus or ligaments in my knee!

Essentially, there is inflammation, scar tissue and strained ligaments from overuse. A lot of technical terminology that I will bypass for layman's terms. I am to keep the appointment with Dr. Yamomoto, the arthroscopic surgeon as he may want to give me a cortisone shot and send me to PT for the laser and electronic therapies that they can offer. My treatment for now is as follows: Aleve and Advil to reduce inflammation, Vitamin C to help absorb and build tissue, and Arnica Gel to help reduce inflammation and achyness.

While we are in Texas I am to rest. Apparently it is all the pounding that is the issue. When I return I will participate in the Rainier to Pacific relay and go to my next Doctor's appointments and follow their orders.

I did run last night, 2+ miles, a quarter mile at a time, slowly and stopped at over two miles with NO PAIN! I was very excited and did not want to push it, so I called it a day. A blessing.

Grace and peace to you.
(I am feeling a bit more peaceful)

Mini Update

2007-06-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

After running on Saturday and having an achy IT all day, I decided that first thing Monday Morning I would ask for an MRI just to get it over with and get on with recovering if it involves anything more invasive.

My parents were in town for my daughter's birthday party on Sunday so things were quite busy. Monday was my son and husband's last day of school. So as everyone headed out, my parents and I went out for a nice breakfast before they left for Portland.

Before that though, I called my doctor as she starts seeing patients at 7am. I thought i'd just leave a message, but she answered the phone. She said she'd fax over the MRI order to the same place I went last time...Prosports Imaging and that I could call later in the day to schedule the MRI. Whew. That was the hardest part. Acknowledging that it might just be more that the IT.

Later on Monday I was able to schedule an MRI for Tuesday (yesterday) and a tentative appointment with my orthopedic surgeon at the same location as the MRI facilities for mid-July. Hopefully I won't need to keep this appointment.

The technician said they would send the report to both Dr. Doyle who ordered the MRI and my Surgeon, Dr. Yamomoto and that Dr. Doyle would share the results with me. I have an appointment with her on Friday. Last time, she called me at home to let me know the results. So maybe later on today I'll know the verdict.

Meanwhile, I did run on Monday. 1/4 mile run, 1/4 mile walk with the run as slow as I could go. I have a garmin now, so I tried to keep the pace at 11:00 minute mile. SO I ran for about 3ish minutes and walked for about 5 minutes. Unfortunatley, the pain still was there after a mile and a half of running. I walked longer and ran a bit more, stopping as soon as I felt any discomfort. I managed to squeak out a bit more bofore just walking home.

Yesterday I opted for spinning. This I will continue as I can get a good hard workout in without any pain. Plus, I am registered for at least one triathlon this summer.

So, a bit of an update. I am struggling with not running. I feel fat to say it bluntly. I weigh the same, even less maybe, but I have lost muscle. So I will lift weights that don't bother my knee and cross train to keep up my fitness. I'll post again as soon as I know the MRI results. I don't want anyone to fall off the edge of their seat.

Grace and peace to you.

On the Road Again

2007-06-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while, it's just been so hard to write when I can't run and I don't want to be a whiner.

I have spent time concentrating on other things, like finishing out the school year. I was happy with the way things ended this semester. Less failures, more undeserved grace ( and some deserved) handed out to get kids to pass my class. And so another school year is in the books.

Ahhhh, vacation. Except it does not feel that way. School ended on Wednesday, but I had two work days. One is regular and one was a make-up day from the Flood day we have in November or the Power outage in January. Take your pick. The students did not have to make it up, but teachers did in order to be paid.

So, today I spent trying to get ready for my daughter's 5th birthday party tomorrow. Although first my husband and I had to go pick out a new refrigerator. On Thursday I opened it up and it was not cold. The no frost freezer was quite frosty. It seems to be dying. So, lots of money later, a new "trio" will arrive on Tuesday. This is one of those with the "french" style doors on top and the drawer style freezer on the bottom. After we paid for it, the lady at Sears said this was one of the fridges they use in the Extreme make-over show. I am a huge fan so I thought that was pretty cool. I am excited. Then, as i was cleaning the kitchen, somehow, I managed to break the carafe to my coffee pot. I was feeling pretty stressed after just spending that much money on a fridge, and now my lifeline, the coffee pot was dead too. We have had the pot for about 7-8 good years. So I had to head out to Costco to buy a new one. I decided to get a stainless steel one to match the new fridge, so something in the kitchen would match the fridge. I found a Cuisinart one that was under $100.00 and went for it. Now I am hoping nothing else breaks!

As for running. Last Friday I got the go ahead to run a quarter mile at a time. There was no mention of if this meant a quarter mile total or what. So I took it for a quarter a mile run, walk a bit then another quarter mile! So on Monday I tried it out and walked 100 yards in between my quarter miles. After 1 mile I had knee pain (IT). I was depressed after so much time off. SO when I went back on Wednesday, the doctor worked some other areas that cross over with the IT. She gave directions to try again on Thursday. If I could go further this was a good sign. If not, MRI time. So I was ecstatic when I ran over 1 mile with no pain. I actually made it 2 miles before I had knee pain. I took this as a good sign. That is until it happened again today when I ran. 2 miles only. I am considering calling the doctor on Monday and asking for the MRI referral to my orthopedic who did my knee surgery almost 2 years ago. I just want to get it over with if there is a problem. Until then, I will take Linda's advice ( others offer advice too please!!!!) run a quarter mile and walk a quarter mile build up super slow. Maybe one minute run and 2 minute walk?

My patience is wearing thin. I think of Joe and to persevere. There are so many who have gone before and are excellent examples to follow. It is harder when you have to follow. I have promised to follow the doctor's orders and I am. I will be patient. I will persevere. With God's grace I will.

Grace and peace to you.

Still Practicing my Patience

2007-06-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

It's been another week of no running.

I'm getting itchy to run and a bit lazy too. If that makes any sense.

Thursday I had xrays taken and Friday I went to my chiropractic Sports physician for the verdict. No aparent acute fracture, but I still am supposed to not run for a week. On Friday the 15th she will then reassess and decide if I need an MRI to check for ligament damage and/or bone chips.

Yesterday I did a spin class. It bothered my ankle on the standing climbs. I think it was just having shoes on. I've been trying to wear Birkenstocks that are loose. It pinched on the top of my foot and on the side where it is still a bit swollen. I also could tell that I have lost fitness. I only made it 40 minutes of the 45 to 60 minute options.

I was good with the no running until today. I decided to go to the Y with my 7 year old son and walk a lap, run a lap. He's been begging to go up on the track and kids aren't allowed without a parent. So we did. Besides, I wanted to check out a few things, one, how does my ankle feel, two, how is my knee fairing with almost a month off? and three, I wanted to actually run in my pair of Brooks that I am testing.

So, the ankle felt okay, stiff and sore, but nothing worse than it already feels like all day. The shoes felt great, but my knee still hurts. I ended up with 5/6 of a mile running and about the same walking, alternating run one lap, walk one lap. It is quite depressing. I had my hopes up with so much time off that it would be good, no pain. No such luck. The pain was my IT, right leg on the outside of my knee. I've had two weeks of therapy, 4 sessions total. I am about to ask for an MRI on my knee, just to rule out a tear and calm my nerves. I am also getting fearful of not being able to run in the Rainier to Pacific Relay. I already have given up two events. I don't want to miss another. (a little pity party for me).

So it's rough this patience thing. I am having a tough go of it. I don't want to hurt anymore, in my ankle, but especially my knee.

I fell that God gave me the ankle injury as a sure way of forcing me into resting. I guess I better listen. I promise to really only to bike, swim, eliptical and the stregth excercizes I am supposed to do until I get Doctor's permission to run.

Patience is so hard to learn and accept. Keep me in your prayers! I need them!

Hope all is well with you in your running and in your life!

Grace and Peace to you.

Therapy Underway

2007-06-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

My first session with my Chiropractic sports physician on Wednesday was good. 45 minutes of evaluation and work.

I had my first knee adjustment. She sort of yanked on my lower leg like they do when it is your whole leg if you've had that done, but just focusing on the knee. She also did some active release and stretching of the IT.

Because of the sprained ankle, she wasn't able to watch me run or have me test out the kinesio tape that she did on my knee. Oh well. We chatted when I arrived about how I have been using the kinesio tape and taping myself. We talked about how the book I had bought, she had too, and we both decided it had little value and pretty much sucked. I have used it and modified several tape jobs. I must say it did come in handy this week as it did have a tape job for lateral sprained ankles.

The Doc decided towards the end of the session to try a "finger" like tape job over the ankle to help the lymph and reduce swelling and bruising. It looks like a basket weave on my ankle. feels good though. Other than lots of curious questions about what is on my foot.

Today's session was all business. It was torture day. She used the Graston tools. This is a heavy metal tool that is rubbed over the skin to get the scar tissue loosed up to separate the muscles and nerves to work properly( in a nutshell). Anyway, it can hurt like the dickens, but I know it does so much good. I'll be very bruised and sore from it tomorrow. She did this up and down the side of my right leg, quad, IT and hamstring. She then taped the entire IT with the kinesio tape. Oh, I also had my pelvis adjusted. It was a good, grueling half hour. I know a ton of good was done and I am on my way towards healing.

For my ankle, I am supposed to try to walk a bit on my toes. I can a bit. Not much. If I go too high it really pinches the back and under the ankle. If I cannot do this to her satisfaction on Monday, she wants x-rays. So, this is my goal this weekend. To be able to do these toe walking, toe lifts with relatively no pain by Monday. Keep the prayers flowing.

I did go against doctors orders and ran a bit on Thursday. My ankle felt very tired and just felt swollen. It was achy. I stopped after a mile. That was all I would allow myself, but my knee(IT) was stabbing me with pain anyway and I couldn't have gone farther even if I wanted too.

Not running for so long is hard. Plain hard. I feel like a slob. I let Michelle S. have my relay spot. It is hard, but good. I probably would have tried to run a leg even if I did go just to watch. So I won't even go along for the ride. There's no room in the van anyway. So, it is a good choice.

I'll decide next week about Lake Youngs Ultra on the 9th. Maybe I could try a loop. Or walk a loop. Who knows. Maybe I can transfer it to next year. We'll see. I don't really think I could manage 28+ miles on the ankle let alone the knee.

So, I'll go to coffee on Saturday and spend the day in the garden, a different hobby that needs attention. Sunday I 'll go to church and to my nieces 6th birthday party. I'll enjoy the other blessings of my life and be thankful for them and all the other gifts I have been given. I will continue to be patient and follow the doctors orders. It is a tough path, a path that needs my attention, a sometimes ugly and weedy, rock strewn path that I'll spend some sweat on for as long as it takes. It is my path though and I am thankful for it.

Grace and peace to you.

Patience Can Be a Difficult Lesson to Swallow

2007-05-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a lot to say in the last few weeks. It has all come to a stand still for me though.

After the Tacoma City Marathon I was feeling fine except for a tight Adductor/hamstring. I had planned to take a full week's rest.

My husband was going to be out of town for 8 days on a golf trip with friends and then taking his golfer to the Washington State High School Boys Golf Championships. So it would be a good time to just relax and hang out with the kids.

Last Monday, the 21st, I tried to run at the Y on the indoor track. After about a mile and a half, I noticed a twinge in my right lateral knee. That, along with being sick of running on the indoor track on beautiful days, sent me downstairs to ride a bike for a change.

I took the next few days of and ran again on Thursday night at the high school track. I went early to try to get in some extra miles before others showed up. What happened was, again after about a mile and a half, I had stabbing knee pain in my right lateral knee. It freaked me out. It was the same type of pain, in the same place that I experienced two years earlier in my left knee that led to arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus.

So, I ended up walking three miles with Wendy who had run earlier in the day and was happy to walk.

I came home totally bummed. I had my husband make an appointment with our Chiropractic sports physician for Wed. the 30th. She is a great Dr. who combines Active Release Therapy, chiropractic, kinesio taping and whatever else magical she can whip up. I am praying for it to only be my IT.

So I spent Thursday night and Friday massaging and kinesio taping it up to try and help it along.
Saturday I planned a short run from the Y to the lake and back for not more than two miles, just in case I needed to walk. I went slow and took it easy. It began to bother me after 15 minutes, but subsided after a couple of minutes. It was not the stabbing pain I had earlier in the week either. This cheered me some, but it began to bother me again by the time I arrived back at the Y. I went inside and rode a bike for another 20 minutes.

I have a relay next weekend, June 2nd and I signed up for the Lake Youngs Ultra the next week on June 9th. Here's the kicker. Sunday, as I was walking across a parking lot with my son, over a grassy knoll to a crosswalk, I somehow miss-stepped alongside a man-hole cover and sprained my right ankle. Luckily there was a pole there for me to catch myself from falling and for me to catch my breathe. I frightened my son as I held on to that pole for dear life saying "Oh, my God, Oh my God Oh, my God." over and over. He didn't really understand that I had hurt myself. I didn't know if I could walk, or if I should try to get help from someone. I sucked it up and found that I could walk, barely. An hour later I was home after finishing the errand mind you. I had my husband get ice and 4 Advil and put it up for and hour. It was already quite swollen and I could see the bruising beginning.

Later in the evening I got out a pair of crutches just to be able to keep off of my foot. I didn't know what was going to happen. I felt horrible that I might have to give up the relay and the ultra. I still might have to. I haven't had an injury like this since high school, playing soccer.

Luckily, Monday Morning I was able to bear weight and walk with a limp. It is still very swollen and bruised around the outside of my ankle. I have been and will continue RICE.
I will try to run on Thursday and make a decision then about the relay. I think we had discussed if someone had to drop, the team would not pick up an alternate, but just others would run more legs. I would still like to go and cheer on my team if I cannot run. Then see what the ankle is like the next week to try for the ultra, or a portion of it. That would make almost 4 weeks without significant running before the ultra. But hey, if Rob can do it, so can I.

So, patience is my lesson, patience to get back on the right track and to heal. To seek God's wisdom in which and how many events I should take on. I have been doing what I felt I could, perhaps too much so close together. But it is so difficult when you see that others can do it. I should be able to as well. But there are different plans for different people. I need to go by what is right for me. I will draw upon the strength of others gone before who have persevered in trying times and will rely on my faith to pull me through this rough spot. There are many examples out there of people who have endured much worse only to come out of it stronger and more determined. This is just a minor setback and a reminder to me to rest, to take it easy. To focus on my family for a while and to heal. God works in mysterious ways. I am reminded of his power and his shepherd's crook at times like this. I am being hooked prodded to go in a different direction, through a route I am seemingly reluctant to go. To get back on the path in which I am meant to be. Now I must give in and go, patiently healing, planning, praying and getting to where I need to be.

Grace and Peace to you.

Action Sports International - www.asiorders.com

2007-05-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Action Sports International - www.asiorders.com

Me! Yeah!

Tacoma (Extremely Hilly) City Marathon

2007-05-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Wow. I hurt all over. I just got out of a 25 minute cold bath, then a hot shower.

Let's just say that I knew this was a hilly marathon, but, man was it hilly! My hamstrings are killing me!

I had no goal in mind for this race due to the hills. I lined up wit the 4:00 pace group and decided I'd stay there as long as I felt comfortable. The pacer started out FAST! I started my watch as I crossed the start area and my watch read 7:38 at mile 1. Holy Moly! I just let them go ahead and eventually caught( she slowed down) up to the group around mile 5. I stayed with them till the first big hill inside Point Defiance park and knew I wanted to take it easy as this would be 5 miles of hills. It was mile 11-15.5 ish

Not soon after passing the 16 mile marker I caught up to Michelle, Rick and Melissa who had taken an hour early start. I didn't really think I'd see them. It was a pleasant surprise. At about mile 18, I passed Michelle S. ( also took early start) She said her knee was beginning to bother her. I kept plodding along, waiting for the hills to stop.

I think the last real hill was coming up alongside Cheney Stadium where the Tacoma Rainiers AAA team plays. There were a few other rollers, but I think that was the last. about 19.5, I think. Anyway, I started to fell fine on the flats and downs, but even a slight incline bothered my abductors and left hamstring. My uphill muscles were shot. I was able to comfortably hold a just under 10 minute pace so I was happy. I was very happy to start seeing the 23 and 24 mile markers. The last bit had no up hills and I was really looking forward to those downhill and flat miles to the finish.

I realized that the last .2 of a mile was not quite as evil as the Eugene Marathon, so I tried again to pick it up. I finished this tough course in 4:07:00 on my watch and 4:07:13 by the clock. Very satisfied with the time.

I headed straight to the medical tent for ice for my hamstring/abductor. I had them stretch me a bit, which caused my hamstring to cramp. Luckily the guy pushed on it and it didn't get too bad. I got Ice and went to find warm clothes.

Overall, it was a good race. Great people and nice weather, a bit too much wind, but the temp. was good. I am sure there will be some improvements for next year, but it will be a good event again.

Grace and Peace to you.

Eugene Marathon

2007-04-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

I had a goal to run this marathon in 4 hours or under.

My time was 4:04:13. I am very happy and it is a PR. I was on my way to that goal until about mile 17.

More of the story to come, I should start at the beginning!

Michelle carpooled to Eugene with me as her husband Eric was running a 50 miler on Saturday. Needless to say, she didn't really want to hang out all day then get to Eugene at 9pm. So probably way back in January we decided to ride down together. I took my 4 year old daughter with us and dropped her off in Tualatin (Just south of Portland about 10 minutes) at my parents so she could visit. My husband and son stayed home to go to my son's baseball game.

The weather was perfect and good company made the 5 hour drive a fast one. We stopped only twice at rest stops besides the 15 minute rest and drop off in Tualatin.

Once in Eugene, we headed right to the Hilton for the Expo. We picked up our own packets as well as Rob's, Eric's and George's. Then we met right up with everyone else form the Y group. Linda and her husband Rich, Monica and Mike, Amy, Lesa, Michelle S. and her husband Frank, Patch and Sonja. We wandered around, looked at all the cool stuff, sampled some goodies, and I bought another Marathon shirt, but a light green one this time with a different design.

Then it was time to get back to My hotel, The Campus Inn and check-in. I had a Margaret B. and Lesa staying with me and I wanted them to be able to get their stuff in and organized. Then it was off to get Michelle checked in at her hotel (which was kinda far away) and get back to order dinner. Albeit far away, Michelle and Eric were staying at a much fancier hotel than the rest of us. And as long as they were comfortable, that's all that matters.

We were back at the Campus in and basking in the beautiful sun in the courtyard deck area and were joined by a man named Dan. He asked if anyone could join our group and we of course said "Yes!" Dan and his wife had come all the way from Philadelphia,PA. Dan sat down and joined right in. Soon, we were joined by Darrel and Sarah from the blogoshere. It was a down right marathon party! We had great conversation.

Eventually the food came and we had a great pre-race meal.

Great people, great food and great weather! It was a perfect evening!

After dinner was over and cleaned up, most people wanted to drive over to Hayward field where the start was and walk back to see how far it was and how long it would take. This was to aid in deciding to either walk or drive to the start in the morning. I didn't go, but took Michelle back to her hotel to make her pre-race preparations and came back.

As usual, everyone got sidetracked by Starbucks and they never really figured out how long it would take to walk there!

So I went off to my room to get all of my things ready too.

My roommates came back and we had some great chatting before bed.

The alarm went off at 5am and we did all our morning preparations and decided to walk to the start. Most people drove or took the shuttle. I had one of the ladies take this photo for my dad, he received his doctorate from U of O and I grew up attending Ducks games at Autzen Stadium and rooting for the Ducks in all their endeavors. I had always wanted a U of O sweatshirt and I purchased one on my way home at the Nike store in downtown Eugene.

We met everyone outside of Hayward Field and took some group photos before heading off to the porta-potty lines.

I then left everyone and headed to my 4:00 pace group. Then the race began. I found myself running with Lesa and Rob. It was a nice first few miles and Lesa left around the 2.5 mile mark. Rob and I were together till about mile 6. He was doing well for having run 34 miles the day before!

He stopped for water at the 6 mile mark and didn't catch back up to me. I was ahead of the 4 hour pace group and feeling good. I had no idea how far behind me they were. I was enjoying the beautiful course and just reminding myself to relax.

At about mile 14 or a bit after I started to feel like I had really heavy legs. I wanted to lose my fuel belt. We were supposed to have our crew of Mike and Frank at mile 17. I could hang on till then, but I wanted to get rid of the belt and be able to breathe easier. I could tell I was slowing down. I walked through a water station. At about 16.5 Amy caught up, looking all fresh and said the pace group was about 300 yards back. I was a bit disappointed. really disappointed when they caught up to us at mile 17.5. I stayed with them for about a half mile, still trying to find our crew guys. At mile 18, I realized they probably hadn't gotten there yet. I couldn't keep up with the group. They seemed to be sprinting. I stopped to walk for 30 seconds to just relax. True relief came at somewhere near mile 19 or so. When you finally turn around, or so it seems you cross a bridge to begin to go back towards Autzen stadium and the finish. Maybe it was mile 20. Anyway, I spotted Rich, Linda's husband crouch up by the bridge. I asked him if he would be at the finish and could I please give him the belt. I took out another gel and e-caps and my chapstick, stuck them in my pocket and was gone.

I could finally breathe! Those last 6 miles were tough as they always are, but I got my second wind. I felt so much better. I could breather, and my legs felt like they could move. I tried to pick my pace back up. My new goal became under 4:05. Since I knew that was the next pace group still behind me.

Somewhere, around mile 23 I think, I saw George and seeing someone you know is always a pick me up. I ate some orange slices at the next aide station and tried to pick it up some more. I was a bit bummed at the 24 mile marker as the 4:05 pacer came up beside me. He did say he was about 45 seconds ahead of his pace and as long as I stayed with or ahead of him I would be fine. I had no problems staying with him. At mile 25 he pushed me on ahead. This reminded me of our friend Rick who often does the same thing. Gives you just the boost you need to get yourself in.

We were just entering the fields at Autzen stadium and had to go all the way around to the finish area. That last mile was run on the road next to all the traffic on one side and people walking on the other. I began to see people who had finished already wearing their medals so I knew I was close. Then the 26 mile marker. I hate that mile marker because the next 300 yards seems like it goes on forever! I wish they wouldn't mark it! Although, once you got within about 150 yards of the finish there were SO many people there cheering you in. It was great. I would have missed Sonja if she wasn't screaming at me. I just missed her high five.

So, again, I crossed the line in 4:04:13 by my watch. I was very happy and tired and as soon as i stopped, I got a cramp in my upper glute. I found Amy, Lesa and Eric still in the recovery area and we all went out to find Sonja, stretch and cheer the others in. Eric and I went back in for ice. Me for my cramping glute and my sore hamstring and he for his IT and ankle.

We watched the rest of our group come in, cheered for lots of other maniacs and had a great time.

I met up with Michelle, Rob, Eric, and George to have lunch with Darrell and his wife before heading to my parent's house in Tualatin. It was fun to be able to get together and talk in person and relive our marathons. Again, great people, good food and good times. Very fortunate to have the opportunity to run and to be able to run with such fantastic people.

I decided to only drive the 1 1/2 hours back to my parents house and spend the night there and drive the last 3 hours home today. My hamstring was really bothering me sitting in the car.

It was nice to get to rest before that last bit of driving. Today the muscles are a bit sore, but the drive home was fine and sitting wasn't a problem.
Overall the weekend was amazing. The course was beautiful. Except for the valley miles of 14-19, everything was perfect.

My next marathon will be in two weeks, The Tacoma City marathon. I'll run this with no particular goal except to finish and have fun. It's a hilly course. It too, will be a great run with great people.

What a blessing the weekend was, truly a blessing.

Grace and peace to you.

Feeling Better

2007-04-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Wednesday and I am feeling "much better. "
Like the Very Hungry Caterpillar after he ate the "Nice, big green leaf" on Sunday, ready not to spin my cocoon, but to run.

I was pretty iffy on Tuesday. Still felt like I was kicked in the stomach and had to be careful what I ate. Today, I can eat whatever.

I knew I needed to try to run on Tuesday, so I took the kids to the Y and headed to the indoor track. It was busy. I decided to run three laps for a half a mile, then walk one lap and repeat. It seemed to have worked. I ran three miles this way and walked a mile and a half. With a couple extra walking laps at the end. I felt tired at the end, but my legs felt pretty good. I did notice my nagging left hamstring/abductor but I was finishing by that time. I think I'll tape up the area with Kinesio tape for extra support for the marathon Sunday.

Today is my crazy day. My daughter has swim lessons from 4:55pm to 5:25 and my son has baseball at 5:30pm. I drop Annika off and head up to the track. So I get to run from about 4:58pm to 5:15pm when I have to go get Michael from the games room, run him outside to the fields and drop him off 10 minutes early for baseball, run back inside to pick up Annika from swim at 5:25 and get her showered and changed and get changed myself after my amazing 2+ mile 18 minute run and head back out to baseball practice. Annika runs and I walk the outdoor track around the field during practice.

After practice, I decide I can actually eat meat today besides the bread and pasta I've survived on for the past 3 days. Because it is now almost 7pm, I opt for the evil fast food joint. The kids get their favorite, chicken nugget kids meal things and I got an angus burger. It was really good. I think I needed protein. Hopefully it won't still be sitting there like a gut bomb tomorrow. We rarely do fast food, so the kids are really excited.

I am getting pumped up for the marathon. I am still pondering my nonexistent "plan" for this marathon. I have never really been one for being good at pacing myself or keeping track of my pace. I vividly recall being in 8th grade at Hayward Field at University of oregon for the Junior Olympics and running in the 800m. I remember the girls talking before the race about pace and PR's. I had no idea what they were talking about. I always just ran and liked to be in the front. If someone got close I just went fast enough to stay in front. This strategy didn't work in the Junior Olympics. It did work until the last 200m when about 5 people passed me and I came in 5th out of 8. Apparently I didn't have much competition in the regular meets! I learned quickly what pace and PR meant. Still, I've never been good at it. I can't seem to judge whether or not I need to speed up or slow down to last the long haul. Maybe Mr. Garmin needs to find his way to my house to help me out? Alas, I still think my "plan" is to stick with the pace group and go from there. I guess I really need help and more advice in this arena. And practice.

So, an under 4 hour marathon is my goal, my "plan" is to finish and have fun!

Grace and peace to you.

Update on Life and Countdown to Eugene

2007-04-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

This past week has been one of sickness and low mileage.

It started out last Sunday when my 4 year old daughter woke up at 5am throwing up. She spent the day resting as much as a 4 year old can. She stayed in her pajamas and played quietly. She was upset when we wouldn't let her outside to play with her friends down the street.

By Sunday evening she seemed okay, and alright for preschool and daycare the next day. She indeed made it through school and swim lessons Monday.

I received an email Monday from an dear old friend, Ang. She lives in Blacksburg, VA and her husband is doing his Doctoral work at Virginia Tech. She wanted us to know she and her husband were okay and that they and the community really needed our prayers. This event has caused us, and the nation to stop, pray, wonder, and most importantly, cherish our loved ones and let them know how much we care and love them. Please take a moment to reach out to those around you and make a difference in someones life. It could make all the difference.

Tuesday we woke up to rain. My daughter was happy about this as her preschool class had been trying to go puddle jumping for the past few days. SO we packed her up with extra clothes and her rubber boots. But, in the middle of puddle jumping, she was throwing up again.

My husband went to pick her up, and took a half day substitute. He emailed me asking if I could be home by 2:20pm as he had an away baseball game to get to. Unfortunately, I was not, as my school day ends at 2:20 and I couldn't get someone to cover my class. So I left at about 2:25 and got stuck in the parking lot with all the students for about 10 minutes. No wonder we are supposed to stay for 30 minutes after classes end. It takes that long to clear out the lot!

So, no running Tuesday as planned due to taking care of a sick child.

Wednesday, It was my turn to stay home with my daughter. And my son had baseball practice at 5:30. my husband is one of the coaches, but I fill in when he can't be there. So, I was trying to help with practice, watch/hold my daughter and stay warm. I was able to get 17 minutes of running in while my daughter tried to go to swim lessons. She had felt fine, no throwing up, no fever and was very active during the day so I decided she could go. It was difficult to maneuver swim, running and baseball as the swim lessons ended at 5:25 and baseball begins at 5:30. Luckily everything is at the Y. I dropped Michael off early with the coach and went back to get Annika from swimming and get her showered and dressed before we went back to baseball practice. It was busy.

That night, my son Michael decided he needed some water and went downstairs. He set off the alarm by triggering the motion detectors at 2:10am. Needless to say, there wasn't much sleep after that.

Thursday, I was able to meet the Y runners on the trail after taking my cat, Texas, to the vet. On Wednesday, I noticed he wasn't putting his rear left leg down when he walked. Luckily, it was just muscle damage, and was prescribed some antibiotics and anti inflammatory medicine. He is doing fine now.

The Thursday trail/track run was an easy 4 miles, plus a few 100 repeats at the end.

Saturday, I met with a few Y runners, Rob, Linda and Emily for about a 9 mile easy run. Then we met Rick who was resting up for his first 50k for coffee at Starbucks. It was a nice morning and the end to an unintended low mileage week. Early taper.

Sunday I woke up I the middle of the night not feeling well. By 6am, I couldn't lay in bed any longer and went to lay on the couch downstairs. By 7am I was throwing up and feeling even more horrible. I didn't make it off the couch much all day. I managed to drink some 7 up and eat 3 pieces of bread and a bagel all day. I knew I would need to stay home sick so I emailed some lesson plans to my secretary and called in for a sub. So that's where I am today. Finally feeling like I can sit up for a while and have the energy to type.

I am looking forward to the Eugene Marathon this weekend. Rob had asked on Saturday if I had a plan. A plan for what? he replied with did I know what pace I would go out at for the first 8 or so miles, then the next 8? Did I have back up plans? Oh my gosh. No. I just figured I'd run. Stick with the pace group. I jokingly asked for a "plan" graphic organizer to help me set up this plan I needed to met my goal. Maybe he'll make one for me. Then I could feel organized, prepared and have something to measure my progress officially. :) If not, I'll just go with, sticking with the pace group.

My first marathon (Portland 2006) I finished in 4:29. The rest I have run with Michelle at a slower pace and had tons of fun. Recently I have pushed myself during training races and finished a 15 miler in 2:09 and a 20 miler in 2:57. Really, I'd like to finish in better than 4:29, but I'd be happiest with 4 hours or under. So I am hoping that this illness goes away, strength comes back and I feel great on Sunday in Eugene. Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers for a safe trip and a great race.

Grace and peace to you.
Go Hokies!

Happy Trails

2007-04-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

My week ended with an adventure with Rob, running on Tiger Mountain. Last Saturday, both he and Eric had invited me to run the "twelve Peaks" run with them for 34 miles. I thought they were joking at first, but I replied that if I could do half, I would join them.

Eric said there was a way to do half, so I was in. Later, Rob decided to just do half as well, and chose this alternate route for us. A route he had run before in the Western Washington Fat Ass.
It didn't really matter to me where we went. I guess, i had told them I just didn't want to hurt all week recovering from the run. They described the run as somewhat like Mt. Peak, but not just straight up and straight down like Mt. Peak. Okay, so I'll hurt a little, that's okay.

I'll send you over to Rob's blog to read his recounting of the day. He describes it so well.
It really was a great run, despite not always knowing if you are heading in your intended direction. We got back, had a hard workout, and spent the morning on the trails and that was what mattered. Besides, I had never run there before, so how was I supposed to know if we were heading in the correct direction? I just followed Rob!

Once we got to the point in the trail to actually head to the summit of West Tiger Mountain, I dubbed the trail the "elevator shaft." If I didn't have a water bottle in each hand, i would have probably been using them to help me climb up!

We didn't stay too long at the top. It was overcast and there were several people there. It was cold too. So we headed down a different, direct route down the mountain. It was comical how steep it was. This too was an "elevator shaft" down. It must have been washed out or something. Rob said there was another trail that was less direct somewhere. At one point I felt like a runaway train. I called out" I'm a runaway train" and decided to lean uphill and kind of sit down to stop myself! So I was muddy down my left leg and bottom. My left hand and water bottle were covered in mud too. Rob turned around and laughed. It was funny. I said I'd rather stop that way than fall and roll, or run into a tree and get really hurt. At least it was controlled that way! No injuries. I slipped earlier in the run too on a wooden bridge-type pathway. It was wet and slimy and on a slanted curve. My foot just slipped out from under me. No injuries there either.

Once we were down and finished we changed and headed back to my car that I left at Eric and Michelle's house. I had rode up with Eric, who was running 34 miles on the Twelve Peaks route with two other Maniacs. We stopped for a short visit and I headed home.

Later in the evening, my husband and kids and I went out to dinner with my parents and niece and nephew. My parents are babysitting this weekend while my twin brother and his wife spent the weekend in Seattle for the end of their spring break. It was a fun dinner. My parents had gone to all the Tacoma Museums on Friday while the kids were at school/daycare. They went to the Washington State history museum, Museum of glass and back here in Puyallup, the Meeker Mansion. They bought me a t-shirt that says "History is not for wimps." I love it!

We left dinner at about 7pm. I was exhausted. I wasn't feeling any pain, but I was extremely tired. That's pretty much how I felt today too. Not too sore, just a bit. I can tell I had a hard workout, but I am extremely tired! Hopefully, I can get to sleep early tonight and survive school tomorrow!

The rest of my running week looked like this:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4 miles at Y track
Wednesday: 4 miles at Y track
Thursday: 6 miles at and around Rogers HS track
Friday : Rest
Saturday: 14ish miles on Tiger Mountain
Sunday: rest and garden (and take care of my throwing up daughter)

My taper towards the Eugene marathon has begun. This week my running will look similar to this week, but no more mountains. Next weekend I want to run about 10 miles, but when and with whom I do not know. There is tons going on, The YMCA Daffodil Dash 5k and the Mt.Si ultra. I would like to go and be crew for some folks doing the ultra and run with them a bit. We'll see how it all pans out!

Have a great week!

Grace and Peace to you.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2007-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a Spring Break! I have been so busy, that going back to school is going to provide some rest!

I did almost all of my spring cleaning, which led to my 10 year old vacuum dying and buying a new Dyson. After using that today, I realized my old vacuum died a LONG time ago. Man does that thing have good suction!

I even managed to paint our master bedroom. Our house is about 6 years old. We have lived here for almost 4 years. It was "Construction worker off white" in every room when we moved in and I have gradually been painting each room. Our master is now robin's egg blue with blue and brown accents. I can't make it too girly, so I thought this was a good compromise. I'll try to clean up the room again and post a photo or two of my handy work.

Running this week was fantastic.

Monday: 4ish with Rob, Rick and Monica. It was supposed to be 5, but the guys were in front and "missed" the turn into the park for the extra mile. It was okay, we all had long runs on the weekend.

Tuesday: 5.8 (I drove it later in the day) with Monica mainly. We started with Eric, Rob and Lisa. Eric only ran with us till his turn to go home, and the Rob and Lisa took off for a fast run.
It was a run where Monica and I both felt we were going fast, but weren't in reality. Overall it was a good run.

Wednesday: I met Rob and we headed out to Mt. Peak. This run/hike is a killer, so I told Rob we needed to go slower and do the 3 mile loop first to warm up. My quads hurt for 3 days after I did it last time. So we went the back way up the mountain too. Up the service road. It was a long and tough climb, but easier than the trail. At one point I asked Rob it something up ahead was the turn off to the summit and he said "no, we are only about halfway up!" It is so different going the other way. Rob went ahead about 10 yards. He was very nice to slow up a bit for me. I know he can cruise right up. Once we got to the top, Rob share some water and we were off. Rob took off, flying down the mountain. I went a bit slower, okay, a lot slower, I am sure Rob waited at least ten minutes for me at the bottom. I have to favor my left knee as I had surgery about 18 months ago. Plus, the trail is pretty steep and switch backy that I felt like I'd run into a tree! I did get into just leaping and jumping down over the rooty sections and short stair sections. It was great. I had a ton of fun on this tough run. Only my right quad was sore, due to the favoring I suppose.

Thursday: I ran a 3.5 mile evening run with Michelle and my right quad was sore for about the first mile. Then felt great. It was a good recovery run.

Friday: Off, but worked at home so much I felt like I had a long run today!

Saturday: Nice and easy 8.3 miles with Michelle and Rick. There was a huge group that met at 7:30. We started early and looped back, but still ended up completing the run together. It was also a good recovery after a great week.

Sunday: ?? soooo busy, I'll try to get a 5 miler in sometime.

My husband and I took the kids to our church's Easter Eggstravaganza today. It is fun for me to go to these with my own kids, because I used to be the one in charge of putting the event on! I worked at the church for 5 years as the director of Youth Ministries. The kids had a great time. Crafts, games, Easter story, and an egg hunt. It was a fun morning.

I still have to fill the eggs for our own egg hunt here tomorrow. Who knows if the Easter bunny will have to hide inside or out. Our kids still believe, so, we try to make a big deal out of it. No fluffy, huge pre-filled baskets, no gifts, just jelly beans, malted eggs and a chocolate bunny, oh and Reeses peanut butter eggs- a 6 pack, 2 for the kids and one for Mom and Dad! The kids will hunt for all of it! I love it!

I hope you have a Happy Easter.
He is Risen!

Grace and Peace to you.

The week so far.....

2007-03-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well, this week too has flown by.

On Monday the count had begun for how many more times I had to wake up at O'dark thirty before spring break arrived. I am now down to two.

I slept in on Sunday a bit too much and didn't make it to church, for the church service, but did manage to get to church for Sunday school after dillydallying around the house.

We are doing a study on David. David has always fascinated me. "The man after God's own heart." It's hard to know what that means, or even what that looks like. David was a forgotten son, left behind to take over the family jobs no one else would do. He was chosen and anointed by God to become a King. He was a loyal servant of a brutal king. David endured circumstances with a heart and attitude that was of pure respect, (not necessarily for the King he served but for the position of King). Essentially this king was jealous of David and tried to kill him. He chased him all over, hunted him down and wanted him dead. It's quite the soap opera if you really get into it.

My point is that David really was a forgiving person and truly wanted to serve God and fulfill what God had planned and prepared for him. He was not revengeful as he could have been. He served the king that he would soon replace with a faithful and loyal heart all the while the king was trying to kill him. David sought God's will and earnestly followed. He prayed for his enemies.

I've tried to be like David lately. After the robbery, as you may know, I have had difficulty sleeping. One night last week, I just began to pray for the people who broke into my house. I prayed that somehow they would come to know that what they had done was wrong. I realize I will never know if this happens, but God will. I pray that the hearts of those people will be forever changed and that they will turn their lives around. And that I would not feel revengeful, fearful and anger.

I don't need my stuff back. I need these people to become different people and positively effect their world instead of harm it. That is my prayer for them. It has helped me let go. It has helped me sleep. It has helped me to know that I am not the one who needs to be in control. I've done my part of taking care of alarms and lights and locks and let it go. I can take a deeper breathe and feel the anxiety on it's way out of my life.

On to running....

What running? I took Sunday off and Monday, my usual day off. I ran at the Y for 45 minutes. I didn't keep track of distance...sometimes it is so nice not to count laps or keep track. Essentially I just wanted to get the kinks out from Saturday. It felt really good.

Today, my left hip was a bit tight. I decided to play it by how I felt after school. After being on my feet all day, I decided a rest day would be okay. I plan to run short runs Thursday and Friday afternoon and run longer on Saturday with some Y folks who are also training for upcoming events.

Grace and peace to you.

Run Update

2007-03-24T22:31:00.000-07:00

Well, just a quick update before heading off to bed. My family has been on the computer all day!

Today was the last race in a progressive series. The 20 miler. I has set out to finish in 3:10 or under and was very happy to come in at 2:57.

I took first place in my age group (30-34) for the race and for the series. SO that was kinda cool.

The weather was plain rainy. Very rainy. My hands were all pruny when I finished and I had to wring out my clothes! It was too warm for a waterproof jacket at 55 degrees.

All in all it was a good race. I ran hard and was tired when I finished. I like to feel like I worked hard.

Maybe I'll give a full report this week. Off to slumberland!

Grace and peace to you.

Call Me Tapered

2007-03-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been one of those weeks that seem to blur right on by.

I have been incredibly busy with school, kids and dealing with the aftermath of being robbed that I have hardly had time to run.

Monday: I had to take a half day off to meet the Brink's people between 12-2pm. They arrived at 2:30pm. They finished installing our new security system at 7pm. Then it was time to get the kids off to bed.

Tuesday: I felt incredibly sick this day. I looked forward all day to running in the afternoon, and when I got home I felt horrible. It was one of those kind that I couldn't quite tell if running could help or hurt, so I put cartoons on for the kids and curled up in my bed. I felt better at, you guessed it, bedtime.

Wednesday: Finally, I got to run. granted it was indoors on the track at the Y, but it was probably the best 5 miles ever on that track. If it were not for the time issue and ya know, feeding the kids, homework, etc... I'd have kept right on running for at least 5 more miles.

Thursday: My son has basketball practice, takes up all the time. If I didn't have to take my daughter with me, due to Dad having baseball practice, I'd run through the neighborhoods while he's practicing. Oh well.

And Friday: Well, I guess I didn't run today, because I'm running a 20 mile race tomorrow. Oh and it is raining cats and dogs. Which it will be tomorrow too. So not a very good excuse.

So the race will be what it will be. I would still like to finish in 3:10 or less, but 3:30 would be okay too.

I plan to try out my new Verizon "Chocolate" cell phone that I got when mine was stolen. I splurged in replacing the old phone. I figured I deserved a treat. I wanted to make myself feel better. Cause it pretty much sucked at that point. I downloaded some tunes and I think I'm ready to go! I was planning to run with Rick, but he thinks he's too slow and wants to start an hour early so he can finish at the same time as everyone else. I think my friend Rick will surprise himself and we'll have close times.

My life is settling back down and I am feeling better. Motion detectors in your house can help that you know. Also a half a little blue pill called Xanax. I am still having trouble sleeping, but it is increasingly getting better. I am okay being home alone and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The whole insurance thing SUCKS!!! What do those people DO anyway? They kept asking "did I help you in what you needed? I answered emphatically, "No!"
Anyway, that's enough complaining. I have all the important stuff and that's what I need.

I can't wait to run in the morning.

Grace and peace to you.

A New Kind of Recovery

2007-03-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a week I don't care to relive. I cannot count how many minutes I've been on "hold" this week and I am still not finished.

With all the inconveniences of having to cancel all financial ties, getting new licences, new keys, new locks, a new phone.... it all adds up to stress. Add to the top of that not being able to sleep.

If you have ever been in a situation where you cannot sleep, you know what I mean. For 5 straight nights I could not sleep. Every sound I heard had my eyes wide open, trying to figure out what had made the sound.

Wednesday night was the worst. At about midnight a car alarm went off. Animals fighting, dogs barking off in the distance, my son on the floor in a sleeping bag rustling the nylon, my husband snoring. The other nights were the same, but I think the car alarm going off had me set that there was another prowler in the area and he was going to break into my house through a window.

I say window, because we had already taken every other precaution we could in the house for the doors and garage.

I was a walking zombie all week. I changed my lesson plans and showed "National Treasure" as we had just began discussing the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. It is our state's major testing week too, so I had the students list every historical detail they could from the movie, as there are tons. This plan gave the students something relevant, historical, easy, and entertaining during this "must pass for graduation" test time. And more importantly, it gave me time to just recover and not feel like I was going to snap at any wrong doing a student might perform. They were happy with the film and so was I.

On Monday I had to register my daughter for kindergarten. We had forgotten to get the packet of forms to fill out earlier and so, I had to get it Monday afternoon. So, I spent what I needed to have as relaxation time, filling out forms and trying to dig out birth certificates and shot records. When I got it all done after an hour, I headed over to the school. My husband took the kid to the grocery store. After waiting for 45 minutes, I got to the nurse line and was told my daughter could not register without her 5 year old shots, she is 4 and will be 5 in June. Luckily, the nurse is a friend from church, so I didn't lose it there in the gym of the elementary school, but in the car in the parking lot. One more thing in an already horrible few days.

The bright spot in my daughter having to go in to see the doctor, was that when my husband took her Thursday morning, the doctor gave him a prescription for both of us to help us sleep.
Xanax. An anti-anxiety and panic attack wonder drug to help you sleep.

Finally, finally, finally I could sleep. I still wake up at noises, but the difference is I can fall back to sleep and feel somewhat rested in the morning. I took Friday off and had my husband do the same. I needed to sleep and knew I wouldn't be able to without him there. We took our kids to their usual daycare and were back asleep by 7:10am and we both slept until 1pm when my husband had to get ready to coach a baseball game. I felt much better. My entire body hurt. My shoulders and shoulder blades ached less after getting some sleep. I was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Running this week looked like this:

Monday: rest from Sunday's 19.4 miler
Tuesday: too exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically to run
Wednesday: 3 miles
Thursday: again, rested after a sleepless night
Friday: Sleep, sleep and more sleep
Saturday: 8.5 miles
Sunday: 5 miles

Not as much as I'd like, but I had more stuff to deal with this week than usual. I'll run shorter distances this week with a 20 mile race coming up on Saturday. The last in the Fort Steilacoom Running Club's Resolution series. I should place in my age group for the series as I've been in the top three in the two races I've already completed. I guess my goal is to be under 3:10, but who know with the way my lack of sleep has been. I'll just be happy to finish and do my best for that particular day.

I know one lesson from this week has been patience. Sometimes (most of the time) this lesson is taught in a manner that is not fun to experience, yet is incredibly valuable. Also, the value of friendship. The Y run club has been sincerely supportive so many ways. From a cup of coffee and hugs, to listening ears and offers of support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate all of your thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement and advice. I love you all. I may have experienced a loss of security in my home, but not in terms of friendship. That I gained.

I have held onto many verses this week, a couple of them follow: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore do not lose heart. Though inwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. And Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And lastly, 2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.

Maybe these words can be a comfort for you too.

Thanks you for being there for me this week. Continue to remember us.

Grace and Peace to you.

My World has been Rocked

2007-03-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

I usually sleep with earplugs, to help drown out my husbands snoring and other noises. I usually pull them out sometime in the early hours of the morning to wake to my alarm.

This morning however, I pulled one out at around 3am because it was bothering my ear. Just a few short minutes later I heard some noise. I thought it was the wind pushing the big swing on my deck, then I heard other movement downstairs like the cabinet door closing and footsteps on my deck. I got up to look outside and couldn't really see much. So I went outside my room to the landing area at the top of the stairs to listen. I didn't really hear anything, but turned and saw someone coming up the stairs. They were dressed completely in black from head to toe. I yelled "What are you doing, get out of my house." They turned and ran out. My husband woke up during this and I yelled "There's someone in the house!" He ran down and out the back door that was wide open.

My 7 year old son woke up too. I was standing outside his door as I was yelling. I went downstairs to find a door to a little cabinet where I keep cookbooks and bowls open and my wallet open and on the floor.

I called the police. It took them about 7 or 8 minutes, or so it seemed, for them to get here. They brought the canine unit. There were three patrol cars. They searched the back yard and tried to pick up a scent. It ended across the street from my house where their getaway car was parked.

I sat on the couch with my husband and son while they did their investigation/search. My insides were all tied up and adrenaline pumped through my body. My husband kept apologizing. My son was upset too. I am thankful my daughter slept through it. We've tried not to let her know.

I think all that is gone is my driver's license, debit and credit cards, a lot of cash that I was going to put in my check book to pay for a couple of marathons I recently registered for. My cell phone, both sets of keys to our truck(with house keys) and my digital camera. Just stuff. Oh, and my sense of security. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. I didn't go back to sleep this morning.

I'm waiting for the locksmith to come and change our locks and reset the car locks and give us new keys.

I don't understand the mindset of a person who would choose a home with two cars parked out front, go around the back and see children's play things, come inside rummage around downstairs and then have the nerve to come upstairs where it was obvious that people were home, where precious children were sleeping.

A very arrogant person. A cold-hearted person. A person who is lacking love in their life, that they have to steal from others.

I am very shaken up. I know that what is most valuable is safe. I can replace the other things and be inconvenienced for a while. I hope I can regain a sense of security and trust in people I don't know.

I know that God was protecting me and that I have some lessons to learn from this that will make me a better, stronger person. I know this won't happen overnight. I know I have a process to go through. It may take a while. I was jumpy still later on while making toast for my daughter. I jumped a mile when the toaster popped up. I heard something on TV and thought someone was jiggling my front doorknob.

I've been a passenger in enough serious car accidents to know that traumatizing events take time and talking to get over. Here is my start.

I was comforted some when after my run this morning, my crime scene investigator friend came over just to check and see if things were secure. He gave my husband some pointers about how to reinforce the locks on our french doors.

I've made all the cancellation calls and scheduled the locks to be changed. What is in my control is done. The rest is out of my control and I've given it up through prayer. Keep my family and I in your thoughts and prayers as we try to make sense and recover from this senseless action.

Grace and peace to you.
And, hug and kiss your kids, and lock up tight.

I'm pretty ti