Gratitude - 8/31

I am grateful for 13 miles.

I am grateful for a long weekend.

I am grateful for THS football.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17 NIV

Oh yeah, I'm ready!

One last shot at a long run before my half marathon in two weeks. And I nailed it!

I got up before 5 a.m. to eat and prep for a couple hours on the road. Then I set out as sunlight was beginning to fill the sky, lighting up the underside of the clouds. Gorgeous.

I felt fairly strong and kept a good pace as I looped through King City and Summerfield.

I only planned to do around 10 miles, but it was too tempting to just keep going. SO... I did 13.11. It took 2:10:52 - that's a 9:59 average.

And that is a 7-minute PR! Oh yeah, I'm ready :)

After having a less-than-stellar Rock 'n' Roll Half, I told myself that I would set aside my goals and just do my next one for fun. But now I'm feeling confident! If I have a good day (which you never really know how things are going to go until you get there), I could have a very strong race!

Speaking of that race...

My outfit for The Giant Race is coming together nicely. Lots of orange and black!

:)

Are you ready for some football?!?

There's a chill in the air as I drink my hot tea, cuddle in my new shawl (thanks, Laura!!!!) and watch some football :)

Go Seahawks!!

Gratitude - 8/29

I am grateful for my sister.

I am grateful for Gungor.
I am grateful for like-minded friends.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17 NIV

Gungor

Do you know Gungor?

We sang a new song Sunday, and I Googled it later in the day to hear more. Down the rabbit hole I went, clicking from one Gungor song to the next. 

After some time on YouTube, I went to iTunes and purchased a bunch of tracks.

I like this band a lot! And I really appreciate that they are real musicians - talented musicians. Their music is powerful.

Check them out!

Gratitude - 8/28

I am grateful for an invite to a Jesus Party.
I am grateful for plans to see Sarah.
I am grateful for a little fall in the air.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17 NIV

Sunset/sunrise runs with new kicks

I laced up my new kicks last night before heading out on a sunset run with Brad.

My last pair of shoes, which I started using in March, just turned 300 miles. With my half in just 2.5 weeks, I wanted to start breaking in my latest pair now and have fresh ones for the race.

I would never have picked out the all-black Sauconys, but they were on deep, deep discount - and I can't pass up that!

I've been carefully planning my outfit for the SF Giants race, and I thought neon-orange laces would be perfect with my black shoes!

We both got bad side aches during our run. Not sure where mine came from, but Brad's was definitely from eating a pile of bacon for dinner!

Urp:

I had a great run until the side ache hit. I walked a couple times to try and calm it down but finally gave up. 

I still ended up with 4.08 miles in 40:32 - a 9:55 average, including my walks.

Since it wasn't a great run, I tried again this morning:

I didn't have much time before work, so I managed 3.02 miles in 28:36, a 9:27 average. I'll take it!

Not a bad way to start the day :)

:)

Dad on a bike

Dad joined us yesterday for Sunday Parkways, a monthly bike ride in various Portland neighborhoods, this time in southeast.

We caught up with Brad's folks at Laurelhurst Park: 

Friends of Trees:

(Do you love my new jersey? Half price at Performance!!)

Lots of random on-course entertainment:

All done and looking forward to next month's ride in east Portland.

:)

Gratitude - 8/27

I am grateful for Steve F.

I am grateful for free breakfast with friends.

I am grateful for the drumline.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17 NIV

It was the best of runs, it was the worst of runs

Today is a good day!

We got up at 5 a.m. to go running as soon as the sun came up, planning to do a big loop into King City and Tualatin, logging around 10 miles. BUT... I felt a little barfy. And my legs were crampy. And I was working way too hard.

It wasn't my day, and I threw in the towel after about 3 miles and headed home, telling Brad to go finish on his own.

BUT... then I started to feel better. So I kept going.

And after another 4 miles or so, I was actually feeling good! So I kept going!

I ended up running 11.31 miles in 1:57 - on track to break my half-marathon PR!

I am thrilled! I turned a really crappy run into a really strong run. I feel great and would absolutely have finished off the 13.1 miles if we weren't on a tight schedule this morning.

PLUS... my odometer turned 400 while I was out there doing loops around the neighborhood:

Yippee!!!

Today is a good day :)

Back in business

I'm an egg-selling machine!

For several years, I've help my farmer friends unload their beautiful eggs by selling them to my hungry co-workers. 

With the school year getting under way, I brought my first load to work this morning. Mind you, the teachers aren't even back yet. I sent out the e-mail, and within 2 hours, 15 dozen eggs were claimed :)

I really should start charging a delivery fee :)

Crosswalks

Do you know the law?

In Oregon, "A crosswalk exists at any public street intersection, whether marked with paint or unmarked." (source)

Did you catch that? EVERY intersection is a crosswalk.

So next time I stop to let an older guy cross a busy street, please don't ride up on my bumper and then repeatedly honk at me. Please.

Thank you.

No. 31

Flew through Into the Dark, the third Echo Falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams. And a special bonus: a picture of my foot:

Great mystery. I hope he writes more in the series, which follows a 13-year-old girl who solves mysteries in her small town. Fun reads :)

And another bonus: Linus watching the squirrels outside my window:

:)

Three-peat

Three in a row, baby! I am on a roll :)

I dragged my butt out of bed before dawn yet again to get in a run before work. It was sunny and cool out there... lovely!

 

Tuesday's workout was a recovery from my long weekend run. Wednesday was a fast one. 

I wanted today to be just a shakeout to keep my muscles warm before attempting another long run this weekend. I stayed comfortable the whole time, just riding it out and never pushing. 

When I finished, I was happy to see that my comfy run was a 9:29 average - 3.01 miles in 28:36:

(Let's see if we can get Bill dizzy again!) :)

I think I'll let myself sleep in tomorrow and enjoy a rest day :)

Maybe Mom was right!

Mom has always been a morning workout person. I always argue that my body hates to work that hard so close to being unconscious. I feel sick and unproductive.

But when the hot weather hit a couple weeks ago, Brad and I bumped up our workouts to beat the heat. And I've sorta gotten used to it... in fact, I might say I like it!

The temp is cool. The sun is low. Traffic is light. Most everyone you see is very friendly, including other runners/walkers, people putting out their trash, and folks leaving for work.

It really helps to lay out all my stuff the night before. And getting to bed early is very important.

Today I ran 3.11 miles in 27:21, an 8:48 average:

And as a bonus, I saw Rachel and Rick as I ran past THS!

OH, and I also saw Phil, but he was all plugged in to his tunes and didn't hear me yelling across the street :)

It felt great, and now I'm done with my workout for the day :)

Morning recovery

It was time to get up early this morning and hit the pavement for an easy recovery run.

Brad went with me for 3.28 miles in 31:21 - a 9:33 average:

It was cool and comfortable as the sun was rising. I'm LOVING these cooler mornings :)

After cleaning up, I rode my bike to work, something I'm really trying to do more this year. Then I had an all-day training at our online school in Tualatin, so I decided to ride there, too. Figured it wouldn't take much more time than driving :)

No. 30

OK, so I may be addicted to young-adult fiction, specifically Peter Abrahams's Echo Falls Mystery series.

There are three titles in the THS library, all right on the first shelf - the one I'm zipping right through. I read the first one in just a day or so and did the same thing again with Down the Rabbit Hole.

The main character is a 13-year-old girl who finds herself in the middle of mysteries that she's compelled to solve - on her own. I have one more to read, then I might have to try the Tigard Library and see if they have more :)

Update: Upon further investigation, I learned there are just three books in the series! But Abrahams has other works - I might look into that :)

Family picnic, live music and a bike ride

With Saturday's early, long run, the weekend was just getting started!

After some eating, showering, foam rolling, stretching and napping, we were off Ma and Pa's annual picnic.

Good food, family and friends :)

The clouds were still breaking up, and it started to drizzle for just a few minutes. Brad was prepared:

But soon the sun returned.

Brad and I rocked the compression-sleeves-with-sandals look!

Then it was home for another nap for Brad. Getting up at 4 a.m. and running 20 miles apparently makes you very tired :)

Mom and Dad picked us up a bit later to go to Mississippi Pizza for eats:

and to see the The Jamblers:

Gene and I go way back to my first day at KOIN-TV in 1998 and enjoy supporting each other's musical endeavors. (He's in another awesome band, Back Porch Revival)

We slept well and were ready for more adventure Sunday!

After church, we "explored" the back roads between Newberg and Wilsonville (notice that spin?? we were actually fairly lost after missing a key turn and just felt our way around). We were headed to Wilsonville Sunday Streets, a bike event similar to other rides we've done in Portland.

It was a fun afternoon, and a good way to stretch out our legs after the run.

The event was obviously new(ish) with not a huge turnout (though we were there early - it might have picked up later in the afternoon). But I saw lots of potential as word spreads and more people get involved

We did score some free popcorn at one of the parks!

And we got some rad bike reflectors/lights and temporary tattoos from TriMet and SMART - woohoo!!

So what did we do after all this excitement? We both laid around and read, counting down the hours until an acceptable bedtime (we decided 5 p.m. was too early!)

:)

Do you see it?

As I gazed upon the beauty that is Mount Hood's north side (Elk Cove backpacking trip), I spotted something totally unexpected:

Do you see it???

:)

20 miles!

My husband decided to run a marathon in October, and that means some LONG training runs. Today was 20 miles!

Hallelujah... it was cool and cloudy this morning!!!

With all the recent heat, we wanted to make sure to get out early. So we got up at 4 a.m. and drove to the Manning trailhead on the Banks-Vernonia Trail. We were the first people there at 6 a.m., and it was only about 65 degrees as we started together on the first 10 miles.

I know it's not 20, but 10 is a lot! And I was pooped when I finished.

10.2 miles in 1:39, a 9:48 average. I feel so good about that! It was hard work, but I'm very happy with that pace. (I turned it off for a short potty break after about 4 miles and a quick fuel/water break at about 8 miles)

SO thankful that the clouds rolled in as the sun came up. The temp never rose, and the humidity stayed low. Can't express how happy we were about that!!!! 

After a short rest and refuel, I jumped on my bike to go catch Brad, who was doing another 10 on his own.

I caught up just about the time he needed the gel I was carrying, then I followed him back to the car.

He was deliriously happy with his performance. He's doing great, and I'm so proud of his hard work and determination :)

:)