Northwest Trail Runs - Winter Series

My daughter wanted to do the Winter Trail Series again. She won her age group last year so she was motivated to try again this year. Unfortunately, she didn't run the requisite 4 races to actually be ranked. But she had fun anyway!

December 3, 2016 - Redmond Reindeer Romp

At the Redmond Watershed and feeling festive with reindeer antlers.

December 17, 2016 - Seward Solstice Run

 

At Seward Park with Dad. Mom was recovering from a cold.

January 21 Frost Eagle 5 Mile

At Soaring Eagle Park.



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.