Discovery Run shakeout

This month's Discovery Run was the night before Hood to Coast. But we needed a shakeout, so we decided to go anyway and just take it nice and easy.

The spots were mostly concentrated in two areas, so we were able to hit all but one location - 4 miles in 1 hour.

Hot, sweaty evening!

No winners in this group:

Bummer! Still, a good way to spend an evening :)

Weekly Wednesday: donation time

Yesterday was our annual school-supply shopping at Bi-Mart!

Each year we fill the car with paper, pens, notebooks, backpacks, calculators and Kleenex to donate to the Tigard-Tualatin School District. The supplies go to help students right in our town who don't have what they need to start the school year.

We choose Bi-Mart because it's a local store, and that means our money does even more by staying in the community.

This is one of my favorite things all year :)

If you want to donate to your community, I know school districts everywhere can use anything you can offer! :)

Double double

I decided to do a little double action yesterday in the run department.

I got up way before dawn for my morning run, then again strapped on my reflective gear and went out with Brad about 9 pm.

Since the forecast now calls for rain, I needed to practice with a hat and a headlamp - a tricky setup. But I think we got a system to work for me.

We did just another easy 3 miles around the neighborhood - for a total of 6 for me.

Rain certainly complicates the Hood to Coast experience, but purely from the running standpoint, I'm thrilled! I always do best in the cool, damp conditions. I am an Oregonian, after all :)

55 degrees!

A gorgeous backlit Mount Hood was my view this morning on my run.

Hood to Coast is this weekend, and I hadn't yet run with my new headlamp and vest. So I strapped on both before sunrise and hit the road. Everything worked well (though I looked like a nerd!), and I had a comfortable 3-mile run on this cool, clear, smoke-free morning.

We planned to do a test run over the weekend but skipped it when the horrible wildfire smoke made the air unhealthy. I'm very glad the wind shifted and pushed that smoke out of the Portland area!

Well, on to work... :)

No. 29

No. 29 was What Men Say by Joan Smith. 

I had a hard time following this one at first, but since I mostly read while falling asleep, that's expected. My brain fades away while I read.

This one was set in England, and some of the expressions were unfamiliar. And there were some cultural differences that were fun. The plot wasn't anything award-worthy, but it was a good mystery to fall asleep to :)

Adventure Thursday: trail running Tryon

After some summer hiatus, Dad and I finally made it out yesterday for Adventure Thursday.

We hit the trails at Tryon for some hiking and running. Dad is a really good trail runner, able to push himself way more than he always thinks he can! We ran an entire mile over rolling hills, plus some other running. We did 2.75 miles in all.

I keep forgetting to bring my heart rate monitor so we can work on keeping him in the zone as we workout. No point in working harder than you have to!! Hopefully I'll remember next time :)

PS - I showed him how to post a picture to Facebook on his phone. When I asked what he wanted the post to say, he said, "Liz is trying to kill me!" He becomes SO dramatic when we workout together ;)

Photos: Jill and Maroof's Reception

After the wedding came the reception at Cibo... here are some of Brad's photos:

Nighttime rooftop view:

Thai dinner:

:)

Photos: Jill and Maroof's Wedding

Here are some of Brad's photos from Jill and Maroof's NYC wedding: (click on the photos to enlarge)

Signing the marriage certificate: 

 The West Chapel:

Lunch on the rooftop: 

The view: 

:)