Indian Point (7/29/12)

Part of our fun weekend was exploring a new Gorge trail.

James and Jeff took us to Indian Point, a place Brad and I had never been. (There aren't many steep trails we haven't hiked  in the Gorge!)

We went up, up, up, and then came to the point:

It's one of those rock spots where you're not going to fall, but if you did, it's a LONG way down. So for safety sake, James and Brad put up a fixed line we could all tie in to.

The view from the top was awesome!

Mount Adams:

Mount St. Helens:

It was a bit gusty, so we donned our jackets and hung out at the top for a bit.

Great hike - steep but fairly short, with a good payout at the top.

Thanks to James and Jeff for being our guides for the day :)

Weekend roundup

Fun weekend :)

I treated myself to a Slurpee - yummy!

And I ran errands in my neon-green compression sleeves after my 8-miler.

Then the doctor took me off my super-restrictive diet, so we immediately went out to dinner at Native Foods Cafe, my favorite:

Saturday, we went to the Banks-Vernonia State Trail so Brad could run 16 miles as part of his marathon training. He did awesome!!

I rode my bike and brought him stuff to eat along the way.

Sunday, we went hiking with friends in the Gorge. More Indian Point pics to come:

A good weekend :)

New toy

Playing with my new toy, a Nexus 7 tablet :)

I should probably go to sleep now!

No. 24

I learned the key to reading lots of books quickly: young-reader novels from the library!

I read this almost in one sitting, Ten Things I Hate About Me, by Randa Abdel-Fattah:

It's the second novel by Abdel-Fattah. I read her first one last week on the plane.

It's a separate story with different characters - not a sequel. But again, it's about a Lebanese-Australia teen trying to fit in despite vast cultural differences. 

I liked it a lot, though I thought the writing style was a little strange. It was written in first person, present tense, and it read like stage directions on a film script: "Joe enters the room. I see him and think he looks sad." It was slightly distracting.

Still a good teen read :)

Weekly Wednesday: new furniture

Thanks to generous gifts from Grandpa, Eryn and Mom decided they needed to upgrade their furniture. So this Wednesday, we took the big truck to Ikea!

It happened to be Portland Ikea's fifth anniversary - in 2007, we were at the grand opening for another Weekly Wednesday!

This time we were shopping for a new living room and dining room for Eryn and a bedroom set for Mom.

Had to take a snack break:

Eryn's grand total:

And then she ran back in for another piece of furniture!!

With the truck loaded down, we were singing the Beverly Hillbillies song :)

I'll post some before-and-after pics as soon as she's all set up :)

8 cloudy miles

I love the clouds! I'd choose a cloudy day over a sunny day any time - especially when I'm running!

It was cool(ish) and gray as I set out for a long run this morning. I wore sunglasses just in case the sun poked through, but I made it all the way home long before the clouds broke. Nice :)

With vacation and shorter races the past two weekends, I haven't done a long run in several weeks. With another half marathon in just seven weeks, I figure I need to start upping my mileage again.

So I  decided to try for at least 7, maybe 8 miles. I did a variation on my King City loop and ended up with 8.14 miles, including a walk break at about 4.75 to eat a gel.

8.14 in 1:22:39, a 10:09 average, including my walk break. (not including stopping twice to cross the highway)

It was slow but felt pretty good. The cooler temps helped a lot. I probably could have gone farther, but I was ready to be done.

Tuesday night, Brad and I filled up on homemade veggie burgers (SO GOOD!) and french fries (Brad also ate a bunch of potato chips) and then went out for a run. Urp.

We ran 2 miles to THS, then Brad rested his pukey tummy while I did stadiums for 15 minutes. Then we ran 1 mile home. We averaged 9:00 for all 3 miles.

Another good workout, though we learned that we need a little extra settling time after dinner before lacing up the running shoes :)

Nos. 21, 22 AND 23

I am on a roll!

Being on cross-country flights last week meant lots of time for reading!

Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbot, was the next book in my quest to read through the THS fiction section in order. 

Definitely NOT my style - it was written in the 1800s and is about a world in which everything is only two dimensional. I had to concentrate hard to follow it, but I got through it. Fortunately, it was just 100 pages!

Next was Does my Head Look Big in This?, by Randa Abdel-Fattah:

This one is a young-reader story about a high school girl dealing with being Muslim in Australia. It was a very interesting look into Muslim customs and culture. I enjoyed it very much - and it was a good way to pass the time on a long flight.

Then I stepped away from the THS fiction section to read Positively False, the autobiography of Tour de France winner Floyd Landis:

Loved this one!

I love bike racing and enjoyed learning some of the inside stuff. His story is fascinating, and his (apparent) false accusation of doping is maddening. I read this one in just two days - a very quick read.

:)

Another destination race!

Our super-exciting vacation so far: flying to Toronto, exploring Niagara Falls, 8K race and the Blue Jays, swanky hotel and the Tigers, The Henry Ford, family history and the Nationals, the Senate, long travel day.

So why not fly home to Portland? Why a stop in Seattle? Because we had another race to run!

Since spring, I'd had my eye on the Refuse to Abuse 5K - inside Safeco Field! I ran part of my Disneyland Half Marathon in Angel's Stadium, and in September I'll run in ATT Park, home of the SF Giants. I was excited to run in another MLB park.

We planned the end of our trip to coincide with the race.

After a short night in Tukwila, Wash., we boarded a bus for Seattle:

Friends Larry and Leslie, who now live in Seattle, met us there. It was their first 5K race!

So thankful for the cool, cloudy morning!

The Mariner Moose made an appearance:

The start line, next to the parking garage: 

The course went around the outside of the stadium before heading in. We ran through several levels, including the exclusive boxes! Then we ran a bit up and down the parking garage before returning to the stadium.

Then we went underneath - very exclusive access!

I brought my new camera so I could snap pics as I raced! Lovely :)

Then we turned and ran right onto the warning track. Sweet!

I paused for a quick pic in left field:

All done... sucking wind:

Then we exited the field through the bull pen - right through the door where the pitchers enter!

It was the inaugural race - so medals for everyone: 

I decided to run well but easy enough to take it all in - including stopping for a picture on the field. Still, I finished in 27:38 - 27:39 chip time, an 8:56 average. (official results) Felt great - especially after last week's 8K sauna fail :)

I grabbed my goodies and waited for the others. Here comes Eryn:

There's Dad:

Larry:

Leslie:

Mom:

Mom is coming back from an injury and was thrilled to complete the walk in 50 minutes!

The race was capped at just 1,000 runners, and they had a wave start. So the course was wide open the whole time. I had a blast and can't wait for next year!!

We returned to the hotel for quick showers and then hopped on Amtrak. Cards and more blogging:

Finally, home at last :)

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for taking us on a fun family vacation!! :)