No. 20

I am zipping through the Sue Henry books Dad loaned me!

No. 20 was Deadfall:

While the last one I read focused on the trooper, this one went back to the musher as the main character. I like that better!

The mystery was on practically from page 1 and kept me guessing as Jessie hid from her stalker! I thought this was a great book :)

Adventure Thursday: Tualatin walk

Dad and I walked to Tualatin for Adventure Thursday:

The day's forecast called for showers, but none had materialized by the time Dad left home to meet me for my lunch break. He was about halfway to THS (on foot) when the skies opened up and the rain arrived. Dad arrived in my classroom a bit damp :)

I wrapped up some very important duties (we graduated FOUR CE2 students Thursday!), and we left for the park. We bundled up in rain gear, but it didn't rain again while we were out.

We walked across the bridge to Tualatin (you can barely see the river in the upper, right corner ^^^) and then returned to the school so I could finish my work day and Dad could get back to his chores at home.

This next week is the monthly Discovery Run, so I guess our adventure is already picked for us :)

No. 19

Book No. 19 was Termination Dust by Sue Henry:

Dad really likes this author and loaned me several titles. This was about a Colorado canoeist exploring Alaska. He stumbles into some trouble and ends up wrapped up in some murders. 

I enjoy Henry's writing style, and this mystery was a good one. And I really like reading about Alaska - where I get to visit next month!! :)

REI Trail Run Series: Silver Falls 10K (5/15/16)

REI held a trail run series this year. The first was last month at Champoeg State Park, and the second (and last) was this weekend at Silver Falls State Park. Is it a series if there are only two??

We couldn't make the first, but since our calendar was open on May 14, and registration was only $15, we couldn't resist!

Dad came, too!

While last Friday neared 90 degrees, Saturday was cool and drizzly - so much better! In fact, it was just about perfect for me.

It was supposed to be a 5K loop, so us 10Kers just did it twice.

I knew I was in trouble when I realized we were going down, down, DOWN. That meant we'd have to go back up at some point. After going behind (!) Lower South Falls, we started chugging up some stone stairs. And they just kept going! A woman in front of me said she counted: 150.

After the never-ending stairs, the trail leveled off along the creek. It was gorgeous!

Then we came to South Falls, ran across a little bridge, and headed up a very steep dirt trail. At the top, it was a short distance to the start/finish line. Then I did it all over again!

The stairs  - Round Two:

Of course, Brad finished first. Not far behind was Dad finishing his 5K. Then me... in just under an hour.

BUT... the course was no where near a 10K. I had it a mile short - and Brad had it over a mile short. Dad's 5K was about a half-mile short. What the heck?! Good thing it was just for fun :)

We stuck around for all the food we could eat, goodie bags and a raffle (no winners in this group).

We had a good time! It was a very casual, fun race on new-to-us trails. A perfect way to spend a Saturday morning :)

Happy 96th birthday, Grandpa!

May 7 wasn't just Hippie Chick day. It was also Grandpa's 96th birthday!!

So after our hot, hot, HOT race, we headed to Newberg for a party.

Grandpa's hat sings and dances! It's quite entertaining :)

Ice cream cake:

The siblings - John, Cynthia, Grandpa, Patty and Dad:

It was a really nice gathering to honor the guy responsible for it all :)

Hippie Chick Half Marathon (5/7/16)

We ran our sixth Hippie Chick earlier this month!

Our first was cool and gray. This one was HOT and bright... not a cloud in the sky!

It's become a Mother's Day weekend tradition for us McKee ladies:

And Lynn!!!!

Eryn and I trained for months for this one. She was returning from injury and getting her long-run legs back, and I was looking for structure. But as the day neared, and we saw predictions near 90 degrees, we threw any plans for a PR out the window.

It was already 65 degrees at the start. That's about 15-20 degrees warmer than I'd prefer.

Still, I felt fairly good for the first 8 miles or so. I kept it casual with a little push. Nothing too crazy. Then I turned around for the last 5 miles - directly into the sun. I can't tell you how quickly my energy tanked. That sun was a killer!

A couple walk breaks later, I sprinted onto the turf and across the finish line in 2:12:07 - a 10:05 average. That was good enough for 48 out of 154 in my age division and 239 out of 856 overall. I wasn't the only one hit hard by the heat!

My splits - so even until that sun zapped me:

• Mile 1: 9:39
• Mile 2: 9:31
• Mile 3: 9:26
• Mile 4: 9:30
• Mile 5: 9:30
• Mile 6: 9:35
• Mile 7: 9:36

• Mile 8: 10:04
• Mile 9: 11:11
• Mile 10: 11:03
• Mile 11: 10:40
• Mile 12: 11:00
• Mile 13: 10:20
• Last .09: 7:27

There was a temperature readout on the big screen, and I think it was 76 when I finished. When Eryn finished, it was 82! NOT good.

Speaking of...

These besties walked the quarter marathon:

Pancake breakfast:

Honestly, this race isn't nearly as good since Paula sold it to the Hood to Coast Race Series. But at half price (super, super early bird), it's still a fun way to spend the day celebrating moms and girl power!!

Hopefully 2017 will be cooler! :)

Anniversary run

What better way to celebrate 18 years of marriage than with a morning run with your honey?!

 

We got up early for 3.5 miles around the neighborhood. We both ran a really killer trail race this weekend, and our legs were shot. Fortunately we were both hurting, so we took it slow.

Here's what we looked like 18 years ago:

Yes, we were babies :)