No. 24

Looking for a fun, easy mystery, I picked up Susan Wittig Albert's Hangman's Root from the THS library. I read it in just one day... then went to the library to check out her other books.

Now that break is almost here, I'm thinking about my summer reading list!

:)

4 outfits already

When my alarm went off at 4:55 a.m., I desperately wished Dad hadn't responded to last night's text about running this morning. I hit the snooze and stayed cozy in bed for another 9 minutes. Then I dragged myself up - time to get ready!

Really, once I get up, it's never too bad. And then I was rewarded with this beautiful sunrise after last night's rainstorm:

I ran toward Dad's house and met him along the way. He ran 2 miles without stopping before calling it good. Nice job!

I finished up for a total of 3.77 miles.

I grabbed a quick shower and hopped on my bike for the short ride to work. I love to start my day by getting the blood flowing :)

Fun fact: Including my PJs, I'm currently wearing my fourth outfit of the day!

Holiday highlights

Our holiday weekend was fun - full of little adventures. And we didn't have to work for three days!!

Some highlights:

A Saturday-morning run:

And an ice bath!

Big thanks to Brad for accompanying me :)

Brad's had two climbing trips canceled because of weather, and he's itching to get outside. We hoped to go backpacking, but the torrential rain forced us inside for a campout:

 

Yep - we slept in the garage!

Monday we explored a new-to-us hiking trail in the Gorge. Sean joined us for the very wet trek at Coyote Wall.

It was a bit drier out past Hood River, but it still rained steadily almost the whole time. Still, it was great to get out - and play with Sean!

Per our tradition, we celebrated with Mexican food.

End-of-the-year duties have me really busy at work. And the three-day weekend and mini adventures have me itching for summer break! It's coming soon :)

Beauty - 5/24/13

This rain is insane! I can't believe how much is coming down this evening.

But look at this beauty Brad spotted right outside our front door:

Of course the picture doesn't do it justice. But it was amazingly brilliant with bright sunlight coming from the west and heavy rain right behind it in the east.

:)

"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 

No. 23

I just finished the third Tana French novel, Faithful Place. There's a fourth book, which I have requested that the THS librarian purchase ASAP :)

I love a good murder mystery that keeps you guessing! :)

Hippie Chick Half Marathon (5/11/13)

For the third year in a row, Eryn and I ran the Hippie Chick race on Mother's Day weekend.

The all-women event is so amazing. The atmosphere is completely supportive to all runners - every ability, shape and size. As always, it was a very positive experience!

Up early, ready to run!

 

 

And we're off...

Brad, acting as my official photographer, hung out while the fam ran. But he was ready with the camera when we came into sight at Hillsboro Stadium. 

Eryn was up first:

Cousin Kayla and Aunt Vicki - Kayla's first 10K!

Mom's turn:

Because it was just two weeks after my marathon, I was originally signed up for the quarter marathon. But I was feeling good and decided to transfer to the half. I'd done the quarter the previous years and wanted to try the longer race.

The course was great! It's fairly flat, but because it's farm land, it was wide open - no trees or buildings for shade. It ended up being 87 degrees that day, and the sun was blazing hot! 

I started this race thinking of it as a fun run - no expectations. My body was still recovering, so I took it comfortable. I actually turned over my Garmin and only looked at it when it beeped for my mile splits. And when the temp started to spike, I slowed down and took a couple walk breaks when I normally would have pushed through.

Overall, I felt good. I had fun - and that's what matters. That's what was lacking from my marathon and what made it miserable.

I had a big group of friends and family at the race. And since I finished last, they were all waiting to cheer me on at the end. I LOVE this picture. If you look to the crowd on my right, there's at least a half-dozen people with cameras and cheers pointed straight at me :)

Hand over heart for Boston:

My overall pace was 10:28. No land-speed record there, but that wasn't my goal for this one.

I spotted co-worker Kati at one of the later water stations (she was a couple miles ahead of me :)). I hear she had an amazing kick at the end!

It was so hot! I checked out the mister. Trying to keep my Garmin out of the water:

Because of my current no-gluten experiment, Brad was the lucky recipient of my reward pancakes and cookies. He always happily steps up and eats whatever I can't ;)

Instead of medals, this race gives necklaces:

Congrats to Mom and Eryn for great races!

I would love for all my female friends and family to join me for next year's race!! It's an awesome tradition. Let's do it :)

Dad helped me top 400

Dad joined me for a pre-church run at 7 this morning. What a difference an hour makes:

We ran down into Cook Park - a real treat since I don't run down there by myself except during really populated times. 

He did about 2.75 miles with me. 

Then I ran home and finished 4.48 miles, putting me over 400 for the year! 

Yippee!! :)

Council Crest

We had an urban hiking adventure in the rain Saturday!

We parked at the Marquam Shelter on Sam Jackson Road and headed uphill to Council Crest. Surprisingly, it was my first trip to the historic Portland landmark.

Low clouds, and just a little view to the south:

Trying to get us and the sign with the camera that doesn't have a front viewfinder. Fail:

Fail:

Oh - good enough!

What do you get when you cross a black lab and a basset hound? A very odd canine!

There are a ton of trails in the area, and we had to stop several times to consult the map. I'd like to go back sometime and explore more.
 
:)