Old school

Look what Brad found in a box in his closet:
I think that was our first cell phone!
It's a little bigger than the one Brad has now :)

Alien Brad

After stocking up at WinCo and REI for supplies for an upcoming backpacking trip (only the essentials: candy, cheese, bean dip, Fritos, biodegradable soap), Brad took me on his 3-mile route around our neighborhood.

Our training called for running 15 minutes, walking 1 and running 15. Since it was a short distance (compared to Monday's 9 miles!), I sped it up.
My first interval was 9:25-minute miles. And my second interval was 8:44!

My average, including my walk break, was 9:12. My 5K PR is 9:10. So even with walking a minute, I almost set a new PR!!!! WOOHOO!

Without the flash:
With the flash:
I love all the reflectors. Brad looks like some kind of alien :)

No-TV Tuesday: motorcycles and portobellos

No-TV Tuesday was spent in Vancouver this week.

We loaded Brad's motorcycle into my folks' pickup and drove up to the dealership for its first service. I neglected to take any pictures.

Then we met Brad's parents for a Father's Day dinner at McMenamins on 162nd.

Brad and Steve ordered Newton's Third Law: Pulled pork, Hammerhead BBQ sauce, smoked mozzarella, jalapenos, frizzled onions and bun. They said it was too dry - sorta disappointing.

Donna went with Maria's Masterpiece: Hot turkey sandwich with Swiss cheese, bacon, grilled onions, & secret sauce on a rustic French roll. She said it was really good.

I settled on the Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich: With melted smoked mozzarella cheese, roasted red pepper & herb aioli on grilled rustic bread. VERY good!

Still, I neglected to take any pictures. Oops. I don't know what I was thinking. Oh well :)

Happy Wednesday!!

Another 9... with much less dying

I set out for another 9 miles tonight. Last time was a bit painful, so I had a couple goals for this one: start slower and have negative splits and finish strong. Check and check!
Instead of weaving through our neighborhood for 9 miles, we drove to Portland and parked under the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge. We first crossed the bridge and ran through Waterfront Park and the Eastbank Esplanade - just under 3 miles. Then we headed down the Springwater Corridor for another 3 miles before turning around at Oaks Park.

The route was flat and mostly shady, a big bonus since it was actually sunny and warm today! There was a fair amount of other runners and lots of bike commuters, but it wasn't so crowded that it affected our run. Construction closed a small section of trail around OMSI, but the detour was well marked, and two workers even pointed us in the right direction.

Oh, and the sun was setting behind the West Hills... gorgeous!
My training plan called for running 20 minutes and walking 1 minute until I reached 9 miles. Negative splits: 10:26, 10:24, 10:22, 10:14 and 9:57!! I averaged, including walk breaks, 10:32.

Last time, I did it in 1:36:42. Today was 1:34:49. I also finished strong, feeling pretty good all the way to the end.

But I did have one big problem: chaffing. I've never had any trouble with chaffing before, but I sure did tonight. The inside of my right thigh was rubbing on the seam of my shorts. And both arms rubbed on the tank top. And I have a large blister on one of my little toes. Ouch!

I hope it was just a fluke, maybe because of Saturday's very soggy Mud Run. I guess we'll see.

:)

No. 14

Another Michael Connelly book done. I really liked this one - lots of twists :)

I'm taking home some CE2 books to read this summer... we'll see how I do.

:)

Solstice Stupidity 2011: MS Mud Run!

The tradition continued Saturday with Solstice Stupidity 2011!! (2010, 2009)

We were intrigued with we first read online about the MS Mud Run. And when we saw that it was solstice weekend, we knew it was the event for us... we had Solstice Stupidity 2011!
After lots of preparing and anticipation, including shopping for the perfect team uniform, the day finally arrived.

Clean, dry and ready to leave the house:
We arrived at the equestrian center in Sherwood and immediately spotted Andy. We shared our warrior paint:
Then we went to watch the race start with the 9 a.m. wave:
Then we checked out the only obstacle we could see from the start/finish line:
Looked like it was the last thing we had to do before crossing the finish line.

I loved this sign: In case of a medical emergency call... Your location is Low Crawl.
Soon, we met up with Team Solstice Stupidity - Mike, Luann, Tyler, Brad and Liz:
We watched Andy's 9:30 a.m. start:
Then we made our last-minute preps, including a trip to the potties, before our 10 a.m. start:
I stopped taking pictures because I was busy running and rolling around in the mud. Mom, Eryn, Steve, Donna and Andy all have some pics, and I hope to get copies very soon and post them for everyone to laugh at :)

And away we go!

We're headed out for Solstice Stupidity 2011... the MS Mud Run!
Hopefully we'll have lots of great pictures to share with you after :) :)