TGIF!

  

Oh, yeah! :)

No. 16

Book No. 16 was Broken Prey by John Sandford. It was the third Sandford I've read this year, and it was a page turner!

It's fairly graphic but a good mystery that didn't reveal until the end.

That was the last Sandford in the THS library. I'll have to check out Tigard's selection :)

Beauty

Did you notice the sunrise the past couple days? Breathtaking!

:)

Spring is coming

Look what showed up in my yard this week:

Beautiful :)

Wanna see Eryn's nasty foot??

Eryn's surgery went well last week, and yesterday was the day to remove the cast and get a peek at the incision. Wanna look? It's kinda gruesome. You've been warned ;)

Waiting for Dr. Mah. Notice the guy with the boot in the background? Dr. Mah is a foot/ankle specialist, and the waiting room is packed with people in boots and casts! Eryn's bulbous cast protecting the wound:

Toes!

Ready to get this thing off!

A giant Dremel:

The doctor made the cuts:

Then the nurse did the reveal:

Pretty bruising:

And there it is!

Yikes!!

X-rays confirmed that the bone is, indeed, no longer there. Dr. Mah said everything looked great, then he wrapped her up and sent her home in a boot.

Here's to continued healing :)

New combo

The stars aligned and we had a fun new running combo this weekend:

Yes, that's right... I got to run with Mr. AND Mrs. Jolley - at the same time!

It was a gorgeous spring-like afternoon Saturday. Marc and I wore shorts and Connie wore pants, turtleneck and earmuff. Typical ;)

We did about 4.5 miles in the park, starting slow and ending way faster than I planned. After taking off the entire week to give my Achilles tendon a rest, it felt amazing to get out and stretch my legs. Stationary bike is great, but it's not running!

Feeling blessed to have good friends to play with :)

Fancy!

Sometimes you just have to be fancy!

Laura got the itch to host a Valentine's tea and put out quite a spread for us last night! She even put out her good crystal. FANCY!

I ate my share of cookies, chips and dip and trifle. Oh my. The trifle. 

Then I stayed WAY past my bedtime, chatting and enjoying the company of some wonderful ladies. Thanks for a lovely evening, Laura!!

:)

No. 15

I finished book No. 15 this weekend, Clive Cussler's Black Wind.

It was a good adventure about sunken submarines and biological terrorist attacks. And the coolest part was that it was partially set on the West Coast, including Oregon's Fort Stevens. I've actually been to the historical marker that Dirk Pitt visits in the book!

This was a long one, 639 pages!, but I enjoyed the adventure :)

No more sesamoid

My little sis has been dealing with foot pain for about two years. After a whole slew of tests, it was finally diagnosed as a stress fracture in one of the sesamoid bones at the base of her left big toe. 

The pea-sized bone was actually broken in half and, despite all the right treatments, did not mend itself. In fact, it was so traumatized that it died. No more blood flow. Pain continued, her body rejecting it as a foreign object. Time for surgery!

Yesterday we  took her bright and early to the Cornell Surgery Center for the simple procedure. Hanging out in the really nice waiting area:

Mom went with Eryn when they took her back for the prep work. Of course, she had to document the experience on her iPhone. They put Eryn in this funky gown that fills with warm air! 

Instructions:

The air port:

The pump:

Puffy, inflatable gown!

They eventually took Eryn in for the procedure, and Mom came out the wait. Dr. Mah finally came to tell us the everything went well, and she would be ready after waking up a bit more. (They used a block on her foot and "sleepy" medicine in her IV)

Soon, Mom was called back. More pics! (Eryn doesn't remember Mom snapping these ones.)

She looks pissed. And sleepy :)

Time to go home!

After no food since midnight, Eryn was happy to have the little bag of oyster crackers they sent her out with. She was awake but a little loopy :)

After helping get her strapped in Mom and Dad's car, my first assignment was to run next door for the Krispy Kreme doughnuts she was craving! (I bought two because I figured she might not remember the first one) I did that while they hit the Beaverton Taco Time for crisp bean burritos - her favorite!

We got her home and fed while Dad went to Bi-Mart to fill the prescription. He returned with a couple bundles of wood for her woodstove! Fire, Olympics and oxycodone - perfect for feeling better!

Here's to a speedy, relatively pain-free recovery, Sis!!!

:)

My magic number?

My goal was 2:00. A 9:10 average. I've been training for months with that in mind.

For some crazy reason, I thought I could hit that this weekend. Brad kept trying to remind me that it's a really hilly course. He was trying to help me avoid disappointment. And I kept asking him why he wasn't supporting me!?! ;)

So I ran my best and fell short of my goal. Way short.

But here's the weird thing. I've now done 11 half marathons. Of those, THREE of them looked like this:

Whoa! Mind blown.

So I think that instead of 2:00, I'm aiming for 2:05. Let's see if I can break this 2:06 streak :)

Headwinds + hills = yikes!

Sunday was race day - time to put my three+ months of training (long runs, tempo runs, intervals, pace runs!) to the test and see what I could do.

The Heart Breaker Half's 8 a.m. start meant I didn't have to get up too early. Ready to go!

It was above 40*, so I decided on shorts, T-shirt, arm warmers and gloves to start. And a hat because it was supposed to be showery. Other people were in long tights, jackets, stocking caps. I did some second guessing but convinced myself that I needed to stick with the plan. Good thing I did - I was dressed perfectly. And most jacket-clad racers around me ripped off those things right away!

Last year's race was a dream. I was hoping to recreate the magic, but it just didn't happen. This one was tough!

The weather was perfect - completely dry - except for the sustained wind. I had to run with my head down, and I grabbed for my hat a couple times when the wind tried to take it away.

And it was so hilly... way hillier than I remembered from last year. The course's only flat stretch faced directly into the wind, so no help there. (Because it was a double loop, we did that section twice. It truly felt like I was running with a parachute attached to my back!)

I kept on my target pace for the first few miles before it slowly slipped away. Positive splits, baby! I knew pretty soon that my goal of 2:00 wasn't going to happen. Then when I had to take a few walk breaks, I felt a PR slipping away.

I mustered everything I had and kicked across the finish line with friends and family cheering me on!

My time - 2:06:32, a 9:39 pace:

(Last year's time was 2:06:13 - SOOOO CLOSE!)

Oh well. I ran hard - and my time does not reflect my effort. I kicked butt :)

(Brad wasn't really making that mean face - he was eating!)

Brad also did the half while Sarah and Joel did the 10K:

And at the last minute, Mom and Eryn jumped in to do the 5K!

I love racing with my peeps :)

Half marathon #11 in the books!!

Lincoln City is in two weeks... maybe I'll get a little closer to that 2:00 mark :)

Let's do this!

Been training hard for months. Let's see what I can do :)

Family fun

A head cold hit Mom over the snowy weekend. By Monday, she decided she needed Chinese food (Eastern Medicine!) to soothe her sinuses. So we met up at Yen's in downtown Tigard for some yummies.

We'd been cooped up for several days, and we all got silly when my camera came out. Selfies all around :)

:)