Never cold when you are in the saddle

It has been cold this month. But it hasn't stopped us from riding! It's funny how the cold air just disappears when we are at the stable.

 

 

We have been spending a lot of time with our mare. I haven't had time for running. I am starting to wonder if I'll ever run again :(

New Hobby!

My daughter loves to ride horses. She has been to a few horse camps but it's not enough riding time. So, this fall I resolved to lease a horse and allow her to ride every week. At Thanksgiving, we got a call from our friend who heard that a family was giving away their registered Arabian mare. Sweeeeeet! We checked her out, found a stable, and moved her all within a week. She is adorable. Her name is Tama-Faye. We call her Tamra. We are now owners of a horse.

It's a Dog's Life

Three weeks ago, Hero went in for surgery. His scar tissue has been abscessing and getting infected for the last 9 months. The infections are resistant to antibiotics. The poor boy has been uncomfortable for a long time. We went to a dermatologist who took biopsies to make sure he didn't have cancer. Then, he referred us to a surgeon.

 

The surgeon said she could remove the scar tissue and put the edges of the good tissue together. We hope this works!

 

Hero came home the day after surgery. Most of his hair was shaved off! He couldn't lift his leg to pee. Poor kiddo.

  

He was pretty groggy for a few days. It was the pain meds for sure. We needed to keep his activity to a minimum so the stitches would not rip. He seemed content with the kennel situation.

 

After a few days, the bandages loosed and we got our first look at the stitches. He looked like Frankenstein!

 

At two weeks post surgery, he had his stitches removed. He is healing up just fine!

Orca Half Marathon

 



My neighbor invited me to run the Orca Half Marathon last weekend. It is just down the hill from our homes and it was only a half marathon so I signed up. I found out that it has not taken long for me to fall out of shape. I have taken a month and one half off from running and it was a little bit hard to run 13 miles! Luckily, I had my trusty canine friend with me to keep me company because my neighbor was somewhere very far ahead of me!

With fast neighbor, Emily, before the race.

The course was along the water in West Seattle.

The sun was out but the air was brisk. It surely felt like fall was in the air.

White River 50 mile passes me by

Update on White River 50 Mile Endurance Run

I'll start off by saying I didn't run it today :(

But let me go back a few weeks and get caught up. On July 10th, I did the second training run on the course. It was the first half of the course. I didn't bring a camera with me so I didn't get any pix. My run went really well. I felt good--strong, in fact. No blood in urine or abdominal pain. It was an overcast day with a little drizzle.

We parked at Buck Creek campground. The course started out by crossing Hwy 410 to the north side and running west on a trail along 410 for about 5 miles. Then the trail turned north and started heading uphill. It was all under the cover of trees. Near the top of the climb, we passed the location of the Ranger Creek aid station. There is a trail junction here (go left) and a lean-to and hitching post for horses. Beyond Ranger Creek, there was a bit more uphill climbing and then we emerged from the forest on hillsides where I could imagine harvesting blueberries in the fall. I could also imagine gazing upon majestic views of the Cascade Mountains if the weather was a bit nicer. We ran to Corral Pass and turned around. Forty-five years ago, my parents hauled their horses to Corral Pass to take horse pack trips from there on the very trail I was running! The road to Corral Pass is closed now so it wouldn't be possible to do that any more.

After turning around at Corral Pass, we ran back to Ranger Creek and stayed left at the junction to head back down to Hwy 410 on a different trail. It felt like I ran downhill FOREVER. I couldn't believe I had run uphill that far. Eventually, I made it down and crossed 410 and found my car parked at Buck Creek Campground.

So, why didn't I run the race?! Husband has been working out of town all summer. I have been having a hard time these last couple of weeks fitting in training runs while being a single mom and working. I felt like I had tapped out all of my child care options on training runs and had no one to watch my littles while I was at the race. I was feeling very anxious. When I decided not to run the race, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I have no doubt that I will do this race one day. It just didn't happen this year.

Backpacking in the Cascade Mountains

I have been training for a 50 mile trail run at the end of the month.

 

My hubby has been working out of town most of the summer.

 

Between work, kids, and running, I've been busy! But I managed to squeeze in a backpacking trip with friends and my kids. We drove to Crystal Mountain on a Thursday and parked. We started our hike under a chair lift heading east. There was a lot up uphill involved and many rest/snack breaks. After 7 miles, we arrived at Basin Lake.





 

As a 5 year old, I hiked to Basin Lake with my family. It brought back so many memories. It was just as beautiful as I remembered it.

After the kids got ready for bed, they played cards in the tent. And us moms stayed outside with a cup of wine! 

Family photo on "the rock."

Same rock in 1973 with my dad and sisters. I am the one in the red sweater.

 

The next day started out cloudy. We packed up and headed up the trail to our next camp spot, Big Crow Basin. It is the most amazing meadow with streams meandering everywhere through it.

This lean-to was in much better shape 45 years ago. I was amazed that it was still standing!

Meadow at sunrise.

Eating breakfast in the "kitchen" that the kids made.

We hiked out on Saturday via the Norse Peak trail. It was a wonderful, restorative, but short, trip. We did not see anyone else out there. I can't wait to go again.

White River 50 mile training run - Sun Top Mountain

I am getting ready for the White River 50 Mile Endurance Run! Last weekend I went on a training run that covered the second half of the course. We started at the west end of Skookum Flats and headed east on the Skookum Flats trail. It is a lovely undulating trail in the trees and along the White River. After about 6 miles we arrived at Buck Creek campground. From there, we started heading uphill - to the top of Sun Top Mountain. It was about a 2,000 foot climb. At the top, the clouds separated and Mt. Rainier came into view! There was also an aid station up there, and a lookout tower. I took advantage of the outhouse before continuing down the trail and back to the car. I peed blood and things went downhill from there. I'm not just talking about the trail either. My abdomen hurt so bad that I walked the last couple of miles. It was disappointing, to say the least. I was discouraged and wondered if I would be able to do the training run the following weekend the first half of the course). I decided to do the prudent thing and headed to urgent care to find out what was going on.

Our group gathered at the start of the run.

Beautiful trail along Skookum Flats.

Starting to climb up Sun Top Mountain.

View of Mt. Rainier at the top of Sun Top!

Aid station at the top of Sun Top.

The urgent care clinic sent me to the ER where I was chided for being a little dehydrated. But what can you expect after running 25 miles?! They confirmed I had blood in my urine and that it wasn't rhabdomyolysis, but it left me puzzled. Since I've had kidney stones before, it was possible that I passed a stone and it irritated the urethra on it's way out. I'm just hoping it doesn't happen again. I really don't like trying to run in that much pain! Before I left the ER, they gave me a sandwich and pumped me full of fluids.

 

Cougar Mountain 14 mile

My friend from Arizona, Lesa, was in town this weekend and invited me to do a trail run. So, I met her at the Cougar Mountain 14 mile race. I ran the Sedona Marathon with her in February.

Cougar Mountain is a beautiful, albeit challenging, place to run on trails.

Bridges.

Trail obstacles.

Aid stations!

Lesa is much faster than me so I only saw her before and after the race :(

Maybe I was also a little slow because I was recovering from the marathon the weekend before. . .

Teanaway Marathon

It was a bit of a last minute decision to run the Teanaway Marathon last weekend. But I ran in the Teanaway area in April for the Starlight Overnight and loved it, so I had to go back for more. It was about an hour and 45 minute drive over the Cascade Mountains to the east side for the race. I'm not a morning person and I don't see the early daylight very often, so it was pretty cool to experience the sun coming over the hills when I started driving. 

Race director giving instructions before the start of the race.

The race started on a gravel road along the Teanaway River. The course then turned on to a dirt road and started heading uphill. Eventually, the course turned again on to a single track trail. There were 2 aid stations. The first one was about 2 miles in and the second was at almost 8 miles.



Dirt road, not much shade.

The trail lead through trees. It was definitely cooler in the trees.

The course was 2 laps. There were half-marathoners doing one lap, and us marathoners doing 2. It was a beautiful sunny day. (I think they get a lot of beautiful sunny days on the east side of the mountains.) But then it got hot. When I finished my first lap, I questioned whether it would be smart to head out on the second lap. I heard that many marathoners dropped down to the half-marathon after finishing the first lap. My stubborn self had set out to do a marathon and, by golly, I was going to do it! On my second lap, the field of runners had thinned out a lot. I ran alone for almost the whole lap. I felt so exposed to the sun. I was worried that I would get delirious and go off the course, never to be found again. I ran from tree shade to tree shade and walked while I was in the shade. I was never so happy to see the volunteers still at the second aid station. I had gone about 20 miles and had 6 more to go. I gulped down water and poured it over my head. I ate potato chips and chatted with the guys for a while. To tell you the truth, I was afraid to leave that aid station. I wondered, can I do another 6 miles alone? What will happen to me if I pass out? But, off I went, still running from tree shade to tree shade. When I finally started heading downhill to the river, I figured I would make it.  

These videos were taken on the first lap while I was still feeling great and enjoying myself.

I was so happy to see these volunteers at the aid station. They don't know it but I felt like they were rescuing me.

After the race, I drove home. Well, almost home. I detoured to Alki Beach and walked into the water to ice my legs and hips. It felt pretty good to cool down!

Despite the high temperature, I loved this race and would really like to get over to Teanaway to run again.

View from my "ice bath."

Sun Mountain 50K

(Photo by Ross Comer)

I was looking forward to this run for a looonnng time. I had never been to Sun Mountain. What better way to see it than to run the trails around it, right? And it is a Rainshadow Running race. That, alone is reason enough to do the race. They have the most scenic, challenging, and well organized races.

 

I drove to the Methow Valley the morning of the race. I had to get up really early because it was a 4 hour drive and the race started at 8 am. My plan was to check in at the campground in Winthrop after the race and drive home the next day. I figured I would be too exhausted to chauffer myself home.

 

Arrived at the start with a little time to spare. Wearing a jacket to keep warm.

 

It was overcast all day, so I didn't get those beautiful, sunny pictures that I had seen from other years. It was actually a very nice temperature for the run! The course was on dirt roads and trails. One trail was actually a mountain bike downhill single track trail with banked turns. We ran in the trees, in meadows, along a lake, up a mountain, down a mountain. And there were flowers. They were blooming purple and yellow.

 

The trail was lovely, running along the bluffs.

Aid station, my happy place.

Some fence crossings involved climbing a ladder.

Others used a more traditional method, a gate.

 

Photo by Ross Comer

 

A view from the top of Patterson Mountain.

 

Selfie with the Ross, the real photographer.

Selfie with James Varner, the race director.

 

I finished the race in 6:43, much faster than I expected. It was still early and I felt good, so I drove home rather then staying overnight at the campground. I made it in time to see my daughter's performance in the school play! My car has served me well for almost 30 years, and on the way home we hit the 300,000 mile mark!

 

 

My husband calls my car "Precious" and believes I regard it a little too highly. How could he think such a thing?! Ha, ha.