Susan Kokesh-Life as a Crazy Running Mom

Observations on life this week--running and family

2012-01-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

I've been keeping up this blog since 2008, and for me it
serves as a sort of personal journal, and a family scrap book.

Since I'm not crafty, and I don't do the fancy scrap-booking thing,
Rich prints out this blog for me at the end of each year, as a
Christmas gift. Having the blog printed out and saved in a notebook
is such a good way for me, personally, to go back and reflect
on what we (as a family) have been up to during the past year.

Here are some of my thoughts and observations from this week.
I'm not feeling up to par today, and had to skip today's run
due to tummy issues and a few appointments and work.
I'll get back out there tomorrow to nail it!

Evan is off of school tomorrow, and he is going to ride his mt.
bike along side me while I run, to keep me company.
Then he and I are having a lunch date, just the 2 of us.

This Saturday is the first of my long (as in long long) training
runs for Umstead (CRAP, ONLY 65 DAYS FROM NOW!!!!!)

MY VARIOUS THOUGHTS TO MYSELF THIS WEEK..........

Hill repeats are much easier at 6 a.m., when it is dark and
you cannot see the summit of the hill each time.

Trails are much easier on the body, for a run,
than pavement. Pavement is hard and leaves you feeling
jarred and beat up.

Any run (or any workout) is much nicer with a friend.

It is easier to get out of bed in the morning for an early
workout, if you know you have a girlfriend meeting you
at a set time, set location.

Putting on my new "I LOVE DICK'S!" shirt (as in Dick's
Sporting Goods--get your mind out of the gutter) truly
makes me giggle each time I wear it. Thank you my friend
Sheri for this hilarious Christmas present. I think of you
(and dicks too!) each time I put the shirt on. Ha ha ha ha.

Awesome tunes on the ipod really do make a long run
easier. They distract you from whatever else might be
going on. And yes, I can unleash that INNER ROCK
STAR as I sing loudly to some awesome songs while
trotting my way down the trail.

Stress does disturb sleep, as do smallish children who would
like to be in your bed every night, rather than in their own
bed.

Mammograms would be much less painful if the front
edge of the machinery was soft, padded and rounded.
A man must have designed this uncomfortable machine.
The sharp front edge of this machine digs into your rib
cage, and hurts your rib cage like heck. A woman would
have designed this machine with softness and comfort in mind.

Girlfriends (true deep friends, not just surface stuff) are
invaluable. Acquaintances are great too. Both are awesome.
Just different.

I would be a wealthy person if I were to be paid for my kid
cooking, laundry and chauffeuring duties.

Real conversations are priceless. Those where you
can bear your raw emotions without fear of a negative
reaction or being judged by the listener.

I hate emotional conflict. Well, we've all known that about
me for a few decades now, right? Kind of goes along with
being a Virgo, as well as being the middle child.

A supportive husband is a gift from God. I truly do not
know what I would do without Rich in my life each day.

Putting on my cute, new lululemon pink long sleeve logo shirt
makes me feel really happy. And when I feel happy, I run
better, stronger and faster. Thanks Ronda! It is very motivating
to have some cute new workout clothes.

I am ready for summer to return. Why do I live in Oregon?
I hate the rain and the grey. I'd give anything to be in 70 degree
sunshine right now.

Making last minute plans is good for me. Such activities make
me climb out of my daily routine and my comfort zone.

Running makes me feel like a strong powerful independent
female. Irregardless of anything else going on, I am strong.
I may not be fast, but darn, I can run a LONG way.

I love my sport. I love Rich, Evan and Lauren. Enough said.
A good way to wrap up this post.
Cheers!

Gung Hay Fat Choy - Happy Chinese Lunar Year!

2012-01-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

January 23rd is the start of the Chinese Lunar New
Year celebration! This is the year of the Dragon!
The dragon is a lucky, strong and powerful creature.
Monday night we went out for a wonderful celebratory
Chinese meal with our good friends, the Ilg family.
Lauren was all dressed up in her red Chinese
finery! The meal was delicious and the company
was wonderful.

Lauren also took some books about the Chinese
New Year into her classroom, so that her teacher could
read them to the class. We also mailed off Li-Shi (red
envelopes filled with money, for good luck) to her friends
and fellow adoptees Jordan and Isabella, both of whom live in
Ohio.

It should be a great year!

Lauren (look at all those missing teeth!) and
her big brother Evan.

Lauren, with her American Girl doll "Ivy" in
matching costumes

Christmas morning 2011

2012-01-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

This post is a bit late, but we had a nice relaxing
Christmas morning opening presents at home
with the kiddos. Lauren was very excited
to get some "xia xia pets" from Santa -- they are
cute little hermit crab toys that move around and
live in a little house. They go crazy on the tile
floor in the kitchen!

And Big E was very excited to get pogies (hand
warmers) and a waterproof LOCR coat for
his upcoming spring rowing season.

Umstead Training - and exciting stuff for the New Year!!!

2012-01-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

I am signed up for the Umstead 100 miler, held in North
Carolina, at the end of March. How is it that it seems like
just yesterday, I sprinted to the fedex office to make sure
Ronda and I got our registration in, so we would be accepted
as 2 of the 50 mail in entries? (The 150 online entries closed
out in less than 2 minutes, we obviously didn't get in that way,
I must have typed too slow). Now, we are just a mere 82 days
out from the March 31st race day!!! Oh, boy.

After resting during the month of November (I got way too beat
up at the Pumpkin Holler 100 miler in mid-October), December
was a month of rebuilding and base building for my running. It
was nice to just run, and to get in a few more miles with each
weeks tally.

Now, I have started the specificity phase of training. 4 separate
3 week training cycles (build, peak, recover). Build and peak weeks
include specific hill and speed workouts. Those 4 cycles are followed
by a 2 week taper, and then we are at race weekend.

So, after a very successful build week last week, I'm right now heavily
into my first peak week. Running is going great!!! I've been running
lots of hills and the weekend morning long run is well on its way.
Tryon Creek, Forest Park, and even the Columbia River Gorge have
been on the training venue the past 3 weeks or so. Loving it.
After a hard experience in October, I finally feel like I am getting
my running groove back in swing.

On top of the training cycles, I decided at the first of the year that
I was going to try to change up a few other things in my life.

Cut out the crap calories
No desserts, no simple sugar
Eat complex carbs, no simple carbs
Eat brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole oats, etc. instead
of any white rice or white bread or white pasta
Eat a boat load of fresh vegetables and add in fresh fruit each day
Eat lean proteins several times a day
Eat smaller meal portions more frequently
Reduce alcohol intake
Cut out evening time nibbling
Cut out nibbling while I am cooking
Net a certain amount of calories each day (= total intake
less total burned through exercise)
Lose about 10 pounds through all of this

Have you ever strapped on a 10 pound backpack and tried
to head out for a run? Funny how hard it is to run with that
extra amount of weight. So I have to ask myself, why am I
allowing myself to be a bit more of a chub right now than I
should be? I should be maintaining more of a lean, mean,
race weight. That would definitely help me run faster.

So here we are, 9 days into the year. I'm down 2 pounds
and about an inch of circumference around the muffin top.
Probably all water weight? Who knows. I'll take it.

Have I been perfect about my goals in the last 9 days? Nope.
But I have done well. Each day is a new start. Each day I'm
going to work harder at this, and slowly, it will happen.

January 23rd is the Chinese New Year - the start of the Year
of the Dragon. I'm going to be "out with the old" and in with the
new, as CNY customs maintain. It may take a while, but I am
enjoying the journey.

Cheers for a wonderful 2012!!!

Year End Christmas Projects!

2012-01-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

Over the winter break Evan and I spent an afternoon
making 15 tie dye shirts! It was a fun project, but very
messy. We had a lot of fun picking colors and designs
for certain friends and family members. We were then able

to use some of the finished shirts for funny Christmas gifts.

Dave M., Reid M., Joe, Evan and Rich sporting
their finest colors!

The messy dye colors, all prepped and ready to go.

The shirts, pre-knotted with rubber bands

Our work area in the garage, soda ash solution
ready for pre-soaking the shirts

Once the dye is placed on the shirts, they have to cure for 24 hours.
Then the dye gets rinsed out in a hot water / cold water process.

The finished products, hanging to dry

My favorite design and colors!

Bright bullseye pattern

Alpenrose Dairy!

2011-12-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

Last night we bundled up, braved the cold, and went
to see the Christmas activities at Alpenrose Dairy!
This is a family owned dairy in the southwest part of
Portland.

This "dairy" is oh, just so much more than a dairy. There is
a velodrome for bike racing, a track for mini cart racing,
baseball fields for the little league crowd, stables, a pond, etc.

In addition to all of that, part of the grounds are set up like a
little false front "old town" which is all decorated up for
Christmas right now. There is a bakery, story book lane,
Santa, model railroads, caroling, etc.

The Santa line was way too long, but here are some
other fun photo shots from our cold evening at this
long standing Portland area Christmas tradition.

E loves the Oregon State Beavers!!!!

Lauren just loves her big brother! And life is just oh
so much better with a red sequined Santa hat on.

Lauren, Rich, and "Gingy" (from Shrek) :)

Gymnastics exhibition November 10, 2011

2011-12-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Lauren participated in the in-house
"mini nationals" gymnastics exhibition. The little
kids, and then the gymnasts levels 1-4 (Lauren is
in the level 2/3 class on Thursday afternoons) are
given the opportunity (if they choose to do so) to
perform 4 routines. Floor, beam, uneven bars, and
the vault. Lauren was very nervous and a bit teary-
eyed before the event started, as she wasn't quite
sure what was going on. Teachers Jena and Betsy were
right there to give reassuring hugs! Once Lauren got
started, she was all smiles and had a ton of fun! It is
great to watch how much stronger she has become
during the past year.

At the end of the exhibition, a few of the older team
gymnasts (levels 5 and up) performed some short
routines -- it is great for the parents to see where
their youngsters might get to someday, with a lot
of hard work and practice!

Evan's 2nd Regatta at Greenlake, WA

2011-12-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Evan's LOCR novice mens rowing team competed
at the Greenlake Regatta in mid-November. This was
a short course, sprint distance (1000 meters) where
each boat raced in a buoy marked lane. The park at
Greenlake is so beautiful! It was sunny, crisp and cold.
Evan really enjoyed making this trip with his team. We
were also lucky enough to meet up with my 2nd cousin
Dick and his great wife Kathy during the day, for a nice
lunch and catching up.

My favorite LOCR team member! Love this kid.

Evan giving the wave - heading out for race #2.

Halloween update

2011-12-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

This post is out of date and out of order, but it has been a busy
several weeks between Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now it
is early December already!

Pictures speak a lot of words, so here are a few cute shots
of the kids from Halloween.

Lauren decided to be a "Hawaiian Kitty"
for trick or treating, very cute.

Evan, rasta-mahn, dreads and tie dye. Love it.

The weather was crisp and cold, so we had a bonfire

out on the front driveway, and provided age

appropriate treats (candy for the kiddos,

adult beverages for those trick or treaters

over 21) A fun evening with family and friends.

Vancouver Lake Regatta - Evan's first rowing event

2011-11-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Evan has taken up the sport of rowing (crew) this
fall for Lake Oswego Community Rowing (LOCR).
He is on the men's novice team and really loving his
new sport. He is working out 6 days a week for crew,
and then has basketball sparq training on day 7. Evan
is in the best shape of his life, and is eating us out of
house and home!

None of us have any prior experience with rowing,
so it was very fun to be a spectator and cheerleader
at the regatta. It was a great event to watch, and just
take it all in. Here are some of the best pics from
the day.

Prepping for the 4+ men's novice 3200 M race

4+ race

Getting the coxswain into the boat

4+ race - heading out to warmups

Love this photo of happy Evan!

Heading out to warmups - men's novice 8+ 3200 M race

Crossing the finish line in the 8+ race

Getting the coxswain back to shore

A happy athlete at the end of a great day.

Pumpkin Holler bling

2011-11-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite 100 mile belt buckle so far.
Gotta love it! I'm pretty proud of it.

Pumpkin Holler 100 Miler! Whew!

2011-11-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 10/14 - Sunday 10/15 I ran in and completed
the 1st annual "Pumpkin Holler 100 miler" in Tahlequah, OK.

My finish time of 26:40:11 put me at 9th place for the females,
and at 22nd place overall.
Out of the 68 people who signed up to run the 100 mile race,
there were 57 starters (19 females, 38 males)
and only 31 finishers (11 females, 20 males).
That is only a 54% finish rate!
The remaining 26 people who did not complete the 100 mile race
dropped down and took the 50k or 100k distance.

This race was my 49th event at the marathon distance or longer.
I've been training for several months now, with a new approach
vs. what I've done for training in the past. This round of
training was focused on much more speedwork, and much less
on the long distances.

I flew from Portland to Denver and then on to Tulsa. Then it was
about an hour drive south east to Tahlequah. It got dark before
I reached my destination, so I was thankful to have brought
directions along and didn't make any wrong turns. People drive
FAST on the turnpike!!

Friday morning I slept in and then headed the 12 miles north to
the race headquarters. I peeked around the campground and
then drove around a loop of the course to get my bearings.
When the drive was over, I went for my 25 minute warmup,
shakeout run, with some speed strides thrown in for fun.

Thursday evening there was race check in, packet pickup,
and a pasta dinner at the Methodist church in Tahlequah.
There I was happy to see Claude, Debbie and Cathy (all
of whom I'd met the year prior when I ran the Heartlands
100 miler in Kansas) and then also the race director Ken
(who I met when I ran the Arkansas Traveller 100 miler
back at the end of 2008). Everyone was so friendly
and making jokes and catching up. It was a nice crowd.

Race day morning, I woke at o'dark thirty, ate, got my
drop bags together, and headed out for my adventure.
I felt like my speed was up heading in to this race. The race
had an 8 a.m. start time, which has both pros and cons. Pros:
it is nice to sleep in a bit later, and you don't have to start out
with a coat or headlamp. Cons: you hit the heat of the day
much sooner into the race mileage.

This race course was an 8+ mile out and back, with then 3
50k loops. The course was 101+ miles long, and was mostly
hard gravel roads. There wasn't a smooth soft dirt tire track
to run on in most of the race, it was just rock rock rock all
the way across the road.

I ran up the hill on the out and back, was feeling great on the
return down the hill. I then headed out on my first loop. The
temps started rising quickly -- it got up to about 90 that day,
and there wasn't a lot of shade on the course.

I started feeling nausea around mile 15, and threw up for
the first time around mile 19. Coming into the aid station
around mile 20, I had a bloody nose. They were a bit
alarmed at my appearance and they wanted me to sit for
a bit. I took in some broth and some cola and slowed
my pace down. It is hard to be used to the heat, given
the lack of summer we had here in Portland. The heat
was really making me sick! I fought the nausea from mile
20 to about mile 48. By about mile 50? I was running
great again! By getting sick so many times earlier in the day,
I was running low on fuel, so I really had to focus on
putting in enough calories to get my energy level back
up and keep it up. But, I had to be careful and not take
in too much, and perhaps jinx my stomach issues into
starting again.

I was thankful for my ipod, great music, and the setting
sun. The temps started dropping when the sun went
down, and I was loving life. I ran and ran and ran.
Not fast, but I felt good. The people at the aid
stations were so helpful and kind. Kudos to the
volunteers!

Around 2 a.m. it got really cold, and my coat wasn't
cutting it. I grabbed a hefty cinch sack and popped
some arm holes and a head hold and put that on over
my coat. That kept me warm until about 6 or 7 a.m.
when the temps started warming back up. I would have
loved to have a photo of that!

I was happy to have the sun come back up, and I
shuffled my way along the last 10 miles and headed
into the finish line. I finished to cheers, sat for a bit,
gave Rich and the kids a call to let them know I had
made it, and then took a shower at the campgrounds.
My quads were destroyed from the down hills, and
my feet were very tired from the rocks. My abs were
sore from being sick, and my rib cage hurt from the
pounding of the hard terrain. I was BEAT UP!!!
Tired, but oh so happy to have a finish under my
belt. That was 100 miler #6 for me!

Illinois river from the race HQ

Scenery from about mile 18 on the loop, the colorful
leaves were so pretty!

An example of the rolling terrain

This is a Nature Conservancy wildlife preserve
that sits in the middle of the 50K loop.

Nature Conservancy entrance to the preserve

Bath tub rocks - very pretty!

More views of bath tub rocks. These were fun to
have to navigate through in the dark, on tired legs,
in the middle of the night.

The last major climb on the loop. This hills
seemed like it went on for ever!

Quaint little country church at about mile 2 on
the 50K loop.

The bridge! The race HQ and finish line is
about 1/4 mile after crossing the bridge. What
a welcome sight for a tired yet happy runner!

Ballet!

2011-10-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Lauren decided that ballet (in addition to gymnastics) will
be her new love! She is taking a class every Wednesday
from lovely Stephanie Anderson, Trail-Blazer (pro NBA
team) dancer and newly appointed director of the Metro
Dance Academy! Stephanie and her team member Rea
have been a wonderful addition to Metro, and Lauren loves
both of them dearly. Too much fun watching Lauren try to
contain her body into this new, more refined athletic adventure.
I love watching her try to nail each position, and learn
something new each week!

First week of high school - Evan "BMOC"!

2011-09-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

The Big E started high school! How has this happened?

It seems just like yesterday I was walking his chubby-
cheeked, soft, little boy body into "Missy Drews" class
to start kindergarten. Wow, how time flies. Now he
thinks he is "BMOC" (big man on campus).

Evan has turned into such a nice young man, he is
active in sports, and gets great grades at school!
Right now, he has just started up the sport of "crew"
through the LO community rowing program, with
several of his classmates. He is busy learning the basics
of rowing and river safety along with his team-mates.

We are proud of him!

Training and fall race plans

2011-09-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've been busy training for the past few months for
my upcoming fall race adventures. I've hired a coach
to put together a training program for me (hats off
to my great coach Ronda) and I've been doing such
a variety of running, speed work, hill climbing, tempo
runs, progression runs, etc. More speedwork than I've
done in a decade or so. I'm also incorporating "yoga poses
for runners," as well as various stretching routines into
my weekly regimen.

On 10/15-10/16/11 I will be near Tulsa, Oklahoma
running in the inaugral "Pumpkin Holler" 100 miler.
This race is a 3 loop course on the Talequah wilderness
preserve.

http://www.tatur.org/pumpkin-holler

Then, on 11/12-11/31/11 (exactly 4 weeks later) I will
be heading down to Scottsdale to run the Javelina Jundred
100 miler. I ran this race in 2009, and then crewed Carrie
and Ronda there in 2010. Now I'm going back to run it
once more and see if I can break that 24 hour mark.

http://www.javelinajundred.com

I've never run 2 longer races like this so close together, but
coach assures me that there will be plenty of time to
recover and get the legs rested and ready to go again
in such a short time span. This is a new, challenging
undertaking, so I'm really excited to see how this all
turns out!

Bye for now - gotta go get a run in!

Family photo

2011-09-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is, not great, but it is an actual picture of all
4 of us! We so rarely get a photo that includes all 4
of us, because I'm the one who always pulls out the
camera and makes everyone else "strike a pose". I thought
this was a nice shot, Riverside golf course (Portland, OR)
is in the background. Photo by Debi Martin.

Evan (15), Susan, Lauren (7) and Rich

Mom and Dad - 50th anniversary party!

2011-09-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Debi and I organized a party
to celebrate mom & dad's (Bill and Sharon Carlson)
50th wedding anniversary. It was a nice, sunny afternoon
for a party out at Riverside Golf & Country Club. Friends
and family members made for a wonderful celebration!

Anna and Evan decorated Grandma & Grandpa's
car -- too funny!

50 years - wow!

1st day of 1st grade!

2011-09-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Lauren had a good first week as a first
grader at Bryant Elementary! She is busy making
new friends and figuring out her new school.

Evan's 15th birthday!

2011-09-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Evan turned 15 this summer, and had a bunch of large,
noisy boys over for the evening to help celebrate his
special day! He also managed to pass his drivers' permit
test on the first attempt, so now we are beginning the
process of teaching him driving 101 as well, which is
really weird! How can my "baby boy" be ready to
be behind the wheel? Here are a few photos from
his party.

Major water fight action!

The aftermath of the water fight

Happy kids! Evan is very lucky to have
such a great group of friends. LtoR Ben, Greg,
Toby, Nick, Brad, Evan, Brady, Nick and
Kyle (in the hammock)

Suttle Lake

2011-09-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

The weekend of Labor Day (also my birthday) we
stayed in a cabin at Suttle Lake, near Sisters, Oregon
for 3 nights. It was nice and sunny, we had some
relaxing family time. Evan and I both got new Droid3
smart phones for our birthday gifts, so we got to spend
some fun time figuring out how to actually use them!
Here are some fun photos from the trip.

Big E led the way on our canoe trip

Restroom break at the far dock! Jr. paddler Lauren

Rich steering our canoe from the back

Forest fire to the southwest side of the lake - it
was pretty smokey!

The crew! What a nice sunny afternoon excursion.

Mt. Hood camping trip Aug. 2011

2011-08-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Aug. 8-11 we had the fun experience of camping for 3 nights
at Timothy Lake up on Mt. Hood. We had a nice mix of
hanging out around the camp, while also heading out and doing
various activities nearby.

It was also nice to head out and do some running each day
on the beautiful, peaceful trails that Mt. Hood has to offer.
My favorite trail running in the entire world is up on the
Pacific Crest Trail near Mt. Hood and I always feel
energized and happy when I get to go for a run up there.

Little Crater Lake - Evan + Toby

The kids played horseshoes for hours
at the camp site - what fun!

Lauren had her own little play area under the
"sunbrella" and got a little sleepy one afternoon.

Fierce horse shoe competition in camp

Gone Creek campground, Timothy Lake. Rich sets up
a great campsite, it must be the former boy scout in him!

View of Mt. Hood from High Rock.

Lauren fell asleep on big brothers arm - gotta love a car nap!

View from Timberline Lodge

Snow pack, Timberline Lodge, Mid-August

Hike on the pacific crest trail, south of Wapinitia Pass /
Frog Lake / Hwy 26

Chair lift up at Ski Bowl, to ride the alpine slide!

Toby zooming down the slide

Chairlift up to alpine slide

Big E going fast on the alpine slide

Lauren on the chairlift

More photos of Seattle trip

2011-08-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Waterfront fountain in Seatle

Lauren/Evan, Seattle waterfront

What a beautiful sunny afternoon on the Seattle
waterfront. This is the day before Susan's "Light
at the end of the Tunnel" marathon at Snoqualmie.

Tunnel Marathon - Snoqualmie Falls 7/24/11

2011-08-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Rich, the kids and I headed to downtown Seattle
last Saturday morning 7/23. We spent time wandering
around Pike Place Market taking in the sights and
enjoying the crazy people watching! Then we had a
lovely waterfront lunch on the pier with Rich's brother
Chris and his wife Kelly -- they live close by and
it was nice to meet up with them for a yummy
lunch and great conversation. We don't get to see
them often enough, so it was a nice get together.

Saturday evening we headed over to the North Bend/
Snoqualmie Falls area, checked into the hotel. North
Bend was having their annual "block party" in the down
town area, so we headed to that, walked around a bit,
grabbed a bite of dinner and headed to bed pretty
early that night.

Saturday morning, early, I got up, got ready, and Rich
drove me east about 20 miles to the Hyak trailhead
past the summit at Snoqualmie Pass. We checked me
in, I hit the restroom 3-4 times, and then off we went!
It was a cold brisk morning, as we were at 4500 ft in
altitude, but as we were to descend into the valley
over the course of the morning, the temps climbed
into the low 80's which seemed like baking hot, since
we've had such a cold spring and summer here so far.

After about a 3 minute warmup, we hit the 2.3 mile
long "tunnel". This course is on a rails to trails
bike path conversion, so in order to get "under"
the mountain pass we were in pitch dark trail for
2.3 miles. It was cold, damp, foggy and creepy.
I have to say my heart rate got really elevated, and
I felt panicky, a bit sweaty, the whole way thru. There
were other people around, everyone had headlamps
on, but I just couldn't seem to get my balance or
bearings or settle down into a smooth, flowing run.

After the tunnel, there was an aid station where you
could drop your coat and headlamp. After that, I
cranked on the tunes and hit a great running pace,
just under 9 minute miles. All was good, there were
people around. The terrain was chunky gravel road,
beautiful mountains all around, the occasional lake,
very scenic and pretty.

This marathon runs the lower middle section of
the "20th Century 100k" which I ran in 2009. That
day in 2009 had been an awesome race day for me,
I came in 3rd female, just over 12 hours, and had
a rockin great race day. So, even though on that day
we had to climb up / over the tunnel (it was closed for
repairs) and route around on the PCT and then rappel
down to access back into the trail system, for this year,
I was very familiar with this race course as I'd been on
most of it just 2 years prior. This is an absolutely
gorgeous rails to trails conversion system, beautiful
lakes and craggy mt. passes all around.

I've been fighting some major clutziness issues
over the past few years. This day would prove no
exception. Bleh! Around mile 8 I took a clutzy
stumble forward. In the process of flailing around
and trying to right myself, in order to not take a
face plant, I felt a very sharp, deep pain about
2/3rd the way up my left outer femer/quad.
Hurt like crazy! I caught my breath and tried
to run on.

From miles 8-13 I just tried to continue on and ignore
the pain. It wasn't working. I had some hard
decisions to make.

This marathon was not a "goal" race for me, this
was a long, catered training type of day. My big
goals come in the form of 3 races -- mid August,
mid October, and mid November.

I ran a fast first 1/2, and then stopped running at
mile 13. I walked the entire 2nd half of the race.
The aid stations were far apart, and they were mostly
self service. To wait for a ride would have taken all
day, and I had no way to call Rich. So, I walked
and I walked and I walked. It takes a while to
walk 13.1 miles, even at a brisk 14 minute pace!

So, I ran a fast first 1/2 in 2 hours (fast for me,
because this included dropping items after the
tunnel at the aid station, and filling your own water
bottle at the self service aid stations). I then walked
the entire 2nd half in 3:08. Total finish time of 5:08:11
234/287 overall. Not too bad for walking half of it!

The xray on Tuesday morning showed no femur
crack, which is what I was worried about. Just a
muscle strain. So, after a week of icing, stretching,
light massage etc. (and of course the magic gel) it is
feeling better.

Aug. 1st (today) starts my training program for
the next 3.5 months. I've got a warmup race
(long catered training day) in mid-August and
then 2 key long races -- Mid-Oct & Mid Nov.
This should be a fun and challenging adventure!

Lauren's 7th Birthday!

2011-07-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Lauren just turned 7 years old!
She celebrated her big event by having some
of her friends over for a hawaiian/luau themed
party. They had snacks, cupcakes, played
with beach balls over the badmitton net,
did a ring toss game, a bean bag toss game,
and of course bashed in a candy/treat
filled pinata. It was really fun to see all
of the little kids enjoying themselves. Many
of these photos were taken by my sister
and my neice -- thanks for being there
to help with her party!

More photos of Rich's Ironman Utah!

2011-07-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

This is a delayed, out of order blog post.
Rich's younger brother Chris was kind enough
to send us these photos he had taken while they
were down at Ironman Utah. It was fun to
see all of these pictures, since I couldn't be
there in person to cheer him on. I'm still so
very proud of Rich for his Ironman finish on
a very, very hot and hilly day.

pre-race check in

pre race pasta dinner

THE FINISH LINE SHUTE!!!

One happy but tired Ironman

Whew - glad that is over!

Post race call home - what a relief

Post race carnage to the neck - ouch!

Visits with friends-waterfalls-Columbia River Gorge

2011-07-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Right after the 4th of July, our friends
Teri, Bat and their son "little Bat" came to
visit from The Woodlands, TX. One of the
days they were here we played tourist and
drove the waterfall route through the Oregon
side of the Columbia River Gorge. We
stopped at Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah
Falls, one waterfall which I can't remember
the name, and then ended up at Horsetail
Falls. The scenery and the company was
great!

After our tour we headed to Cascade
Locks for a yummy lunch. On the drive back
we stopped at the fish hatchery at Bonneville
Dam, to see the huge "Herman the Sturgeon".

After a fun day of hiking and sight seeing,
we headed back to Lake Oswego.
It was great to see them (it has been a whole
year) and little Bat has gotten so tall!

E & L at Wahkeena Falls

Below Multnomah Falls - so pretty

Horsetail Falls

Susan, Lauren, Evan, little Bat & Teri
photo by Bat

Photo by Bat - this shot is
worthy of a coffee table book!

Herman!

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Bryant Woods has the annual tradition
of a neighborhood parade, and a pool-side
bbq. One of my favorite afternoons of the
year!

Evan celebrated the holiday weekend
by going to the beach with his long
time friend Stephen -- Stephen left right after
the beach trip to move to the Phoenix, AZ
area.

So while we missed Evan at the 4th
of July festivities, he had a ton of fun with
his friend, and Lauren enjoyed decorating
her bike, riding in the parade, and of course
the relay games (crab walk, sack race, etc.)
after the bbq. Fun for all!

The more bling, the better!

My sweet little American girl.

Lauren in the sack race, she came in 2nd,
and had such a determined look on her face!

More missing teeth!

2011-07-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

The tooth fairy has come to our house
quite a bit lately! Very exciting. Lauren
has an "extra" lucky tooth on the top in
the front, which will need to be removed
at some point this fall. I just love these
photos of kids with the missing front
teeth!

The craziest baseball season ever!

2011-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

This year, the baseball season for Evan, seemed to
drag on and on and on. We had such a rainy spring
and so many of the games were rained out, re-
scheduled, and rained out again. Evan play well,
his team struggled a bit. Baseball is one of his
favorite activities and I love watching him play!
He played a lot of first base, pitcher, and some
outfield. His team played in 4 tournaments over
the course of the season, the highlight of which was
taking 2nd place in the Salem tournament.

Kindergarten graduation

2011-07-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Lauren officially "graduated" from kindergarten in

mid-June. She has such a wonderful year at

Sonshine Express. Teacher Kathy was such a gift

and Lauren made many great friends.

They had a 15 minute ceremony on the last

morning of school, with paper graduation hats.

Too cute!

Lauren getting her "diploma"

Gymnastics for Lauren - What Fun!

2011-06-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

Lauren started gymnastics in January at Metro,

after a year long tumbling-only class at a

different location.

She is loving her life of flipping and flopping!

She has a lot of fun, and seems to be super

flexible. Bravery also helps -- having no fear

at the balance beam, the bars, the vault, etc.

seems to be working in her favor. It is fun

watching her grow stronger and confident,

all the while having a ton of fun! We just

added a gymnastics mat to the family

room -- yes, it is an icky decorating item,

but it keeps her safe while she is practicing.

Balance beam fun

Run approach to the springboard and from
hand stand / roll vault

Mid air of a cartwheel

So proud of her very first trophy
received from her first mini-event
held in-house for the younger gymnasts

Fun tricks in the back yard

So flexible!

This is my favorite of her photos, I just love
how she has the girlie pointed toes!

Rich - Ironman Utah - 5/7/11

2011-06-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

Rich completed Ironman St. George Utah
on May 7th and we are all so proud of him!
He trained hard over the past several months,
in preparation for this huge undertaking. We
have had a cold and rainy spring, so most of
his long (like 6 hours long) bike rides were in
45 degree, rainy, windy weather! Race day
came and it was 93-95 down in St. George,
and windy. He did a great job and finished
his race, despite not being "heat trained"
for such hot race day conditions. It was
also a fun weekend for him, as his much
younger brother Chris went to Utah with him,
and they got to have a lot of fun together. The
kids and I had fun watching Rich cross the
finish line on the live stream from the race
coverage!

The quality of these photos below is pretty poor,
as they are from the race website.
I'll hopefully get some better pics from Chris and can
upload those later on.

Rich Kokesh - You Are An Ironman!
Very cool.

Easter 2011

2011-06-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite shots from Easter!

Dying the eggs

What a messy process

The finished product

Easter baskets before heading to church

We got "egged" (thanks neice Anna) overnight
and had to search out the plastic eggs
on a rainy Easter morning. It was so funny!

Anna the Easter Bunny was clever in her egg hiding
techniques in the front yard. She and a girlfriend
came over around midnight and hid eggs in the
front yard.

All bundled up to search out eggs in the rain.

Catching up - mass photo essay type of update

2011-06-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

I'm so far behind in blog posting! The next few posts
will be more of a photo essay type of mass update.

Life is good, but filled with a lot of fun activities right now.
Baseball rainouts for Evan, gymnastics for Lauren, Rich's
Ironman training and then his race in Utah in May, spring
basketball kicking in for Evan on the side, and I'm trying
to ramp my running back up for the summer and fall races
I have planned. Getting the yard spruced back up after
a very rainy spring, oh, and work. :)

More Disneyland Photos Part 3

2011-04-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Part 3 - more fun Disneyland photos!

Lauren crashed out in the stroller the first afternoon.
It was an early morning flight!

Rich and Evan - teacup ride fun!

More lanterns at the teacup ride.

A great photo of the 2 missing teeth!

Rich--not too sure about the Matterhorn.

The big log slide at the adventure course -
California Adventure.

Another big kid coming down the slide!

Lauren loved the China section on Small World.

The music was really wonderful at the Disney
Channel Rocks show. These entertainers were
very talented! What a fun job to have.

Lauren starting out on the zip line at the adventure course.

More zip line fun!

3D trickery at the back lot of Cal. Adventure.
Most of that is a painted wall that makes
you look really tall!

The Disney Pixar Pals street parade was
very cute.

Tired girl after a long day of fun.

More Disneyland Photos

2011-04-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

Round 2 of the Disneyland trip photos. What fun!

Look mom - no hands!

Golden Zephyr at California Adventure

A brave but soaked rafter! Grizzly River Run was hilarious.

Happy kiddos!

Cage the beast!

Mini-beast in the cage.

Toy Story Midway Mania - I love this 3d shooting gallery.

Lauren rode the merry go round
while Evan went on Screamin'

You just gotta love Pluto!

Monsters, Inc. ride at California Adventure. "Kitty!"

It's a small world, after all........

Lilo & Stitch - Small World

I love this photo of the kids in
front of Sleeping Beauty's castle

Evan and Lauren near the entrance to
Frontier Land

Superhero toy in a box!

Evan pondering what super power he would choose.....

Disneyland - Truly the Happiest Place on Earth!

2011-04-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last week we escaped the rain and grey and were
lucky enough to travel down for 4 days at Disneyland!
We had a wonderful time going on the rides, seeing
the sites, and enjoying the 68-72 degree sunshine!
It felt like such a wonderful treat to get out of the
grey for a few days, for some R&R time.

A really fun part of this trip? Lauren was just now
tall enough to enjoy several new rides -- including
the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and Grizzly
River Run.

L & E - jungle cruise

Lauren - happy to pose with Sleeping Beauty

Buzz Lightyear! The funny alien is about to put a finger in
Evan's ear!

I just LOVE the lanters at night, above the teacups!

Rich and Lauren on the Dumbo ride

Thunder Mt. Railroad!

Evan and I goofing off by taking self photos, mid-
ride, on Thunder Mt. RR. We were screaming
and laughing so hard!

Lauren & Susan - Bugs World

Ready to hang-glide at "Soarin' over California" - I LOVE this ride!

Evan and Rich ready to do some rafting at
Grizzly River Run

I love these clovers overhead - Bugs World (one of them
is a 4 leaf clover, the game is to try to find it!)

Life is good at the "happiest place on earth"

Back at it - a fun but humbling morning in the gorge!

2011-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I got humbled. I had to laugh
at myself.

Heading out for a trail run in the Columbia River gorge
those first few times each spring, is so very motivating.
A chance to break free from Forest Park. A chance to
get in some good hill training. To see the first trillium
in bloom. Ah, a little spot of heaven, here on earth.

On Friday, I was excited and filled with anticipation.
It was going to be a great Saturday morning running
a loop which included Wakheena Falls, Devils Rest,
the back road, and Angels Rest. Also, running with
Ronda, Michael, Darin & Jim is great fun!

Yes, it was only 13 days out from my 100 miler at
Pac Rim. I thought I had eaten well, slept well, and
that I was recovered. I had gone for a few short,
flat, easy runs during those 13 days, and all felt fine.

Right away, as we climbed the switch backs up
Wahkeena, I knew something wasn't quite meshing.
My mind wanted to go go go, while my quads were
saying "WTH"?

As we got to the big major trail intersection, I made
the choice to take the slightly shorter route of the loop,
while Ronda, Darin & Michael chose the longer route.
I ran back down to get Jim, and he and I headed up
Devils Rest. At about 1800 feet, we hit snow flakes
coming down! It was cold, but pretty. At the top of
the hill, we hit the back access road, and began
the long descent over towards Angels Rest. A huge
section of this access road had gotten washed out
over the winter - it was amazing to see!

At the bottom of Angels Rest, Jim and I headed back
on the 3 mile flat stretch to the cars. There would
be no further climbing for these shaky quad muscles
on this day. I WAS DONE! It was humbling to
not tackle the last hill climb, and to take the flat
route back to the car instead. I just had to laugh at
myself and take the day for what it was worth. It
was a beautiful day, the company was great, and I
did get in a great trail fun. It was just shorter than
my over-eager mind had planned on.

After a few more days of recovery this week while
we are in Disneyland, I will get back at the training.
After yesterday, I now have a great base level
benchmark for the hill work I need to get busy with!

Pac Rim! Breaking the 24 hour benchmark

2011-03-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

At the first of the year, I decided that one of my
big hairy goals for 2011 was going to be as follows:
I WILL BREAK 24 HOURS AT THE 100 MILE
DISTANCE!

I had first signed up to head back to Huntsville, TX to
run the Rocky Raccoon 100M in early February. But due to
some family circumstances, and the cruddy weather, I
cancelled my trip plans and backed out of that race.
It was a smart decision for our family, but also, about 25%
of the runners couldn't even make it to the start line in
Huntsville, due to ice and snow storms. So, it all
worked out for the best.

Late February came around, and I went ahead and signed
up for Pac Rim -- a loop course, 24 hour race, held each
March up in Longview, WA (only a 65 minute drive away
from home!) So nice to sleep in your own bed and get
up well rested for race morning.

When I mailed my form in, I wasn't sure about what distance
I was going to attempt to tackle. Training went fine in
late January and February. I got some long runs in of 19, 20,
21, 23, 24, 26 and 30. My weekday running was consistent
as well. But my weekly total mileage just didn't
inch up above 80 -- which is much lower than my previous
training peak weeks for 100 mile distance races.

Ronda and I did some chatting -- she said to just
go for it. My body already knew how to run long, and my
knees, muscles and joints would be "well rested" going into
race morning. I laughed -- this plan was either going to
work great and I'd have my breakthrough race, or, it would
backfire, and I'd hit 60 miles or so, and have a long
night's walk ahead of me. This would be a crazy
experiment, to say the least.

So, based on all of that, I just decided to go for it. I arranged
for Rich to be on kid patrol (he had to re-arrange some of
his ironman training sessions). Michael also graciously agreed
to come up and run some/most of the overnight with me.

Race morning came around -- I left well prepared. I had a
huge bag of clothing options -- whatever the day would
bring, clothing wise, at least, I was going to be prepared.
No excuses due to bad weather.

I arrived early, and set up base camp of a tarp, tent, rain
shelter, chairs, table, etc. Beverages, food, etc.
Luckily for most of the race, the weather held and we only
received a few sprinkles here and there.

Rich and the kids arrived around 4pm Sat. to cheer me on,
and then Michael arrived a bit later. Evan ran a few laps with
me, then Michael ran a few laps. Rich put the kids to bed,
and then Rich came back out to run I think 13 or 14 loops
with me. Then Rich headed off to sleep, and Michael took
over.

Fueling was strange during this race. Solid food really
wasn't sounding good or tasting good. For about 90% of
the race I relied on liquid fueling, some boiled potatoes,
pretzels, and part of a cup of noodle soup. Oh and some
red bull shots and coca cola for caffiene!

The day went well. I had some tummy issues and had to
make 7 stops in the 12 miles between 50 and 62. That really
slowed my progress down for that section. But other than that,
no muscle issues, no sore feet, no real fatigue. I was the
tortoise and tenacity paid off. I just kept trotting along.

After the sun set, a lot of people wrapped up their day.
There really weren't a lot of people still out there running
loops at 3am. Michael was so amazing in his ability to
keep my head focused! Funny how you can find things
to talk about for hours and hours on a dark gravel path
through a city park. Over, and over, and over.

So glad to see the sunrise Sunday morning.

I ended up blowing out my goal for 2011.
I came into the finish line -- 100 miles in 23:07:30!
3rd overall female, and 6th place overall (69
total finishers).

This is my personal best at the 100 mile distance by
about 75 minutes (24:22 had been my previous
PR at Rocky Raccoon in 2010).
All in all, not too shabby for a slow chick. :)
I was very pleased.

I'm really grateful and thankful to Rich, Michael,
Evan and Lauren for cheering me on, keeping me
focused, chatting with me while pacing and crewing,
and just for being so supportive of me during
this event.

Here are some photos of this really well-organized
event.

Base camp for race day.

Rich cheering me on!

Lauren and Evan, close to bed time.

Late Saturday evening, before the temps dropped.

The finish line! Happy to be done. 100 miles, 23:07:30!

Basketball - team photo from Seaside Tournament

2011-03-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

I thought this was a great photo (photo credit to
one of the moms on the team, Ana Ryan). This is
Evan's team, happy and celebrating, after their 2nd
place in the Seaside tournament last weekend.

L to R: Coach Burg, Keondre, Henry, Trent, McKay, Evan, Matt,

Quincy, Michael, Coach Givans, Scout and Jacob. Pacer 8th

Grade Boys AA Team.

Basketball - Seaside Tournament

2011-03-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

Evan has been enjoying a great basketball
season so far. He plays on the Pacer 8th grade
boys AA team, and truly enjoys the sport. This
past weekend his team ended up taking 2nd place
at the Seaside, Oregon tournament. Evan was
quite excited about how well the tournament
went! Evan though the weather was horribly
cold and stormy at the coast, we did make it
to the carousel,the arcade, and the aquarium
for some fun play time.

E with his 2nd place medal

Lauren loves the carousel at Seaside

SNOW DAY!

2011-03-01T06:57:00.000-08:00

It is always fun to have a quick snow storm
and a day off of school for the kids (Evan was
especially happy about this!) This snowfall last
Thursday was pretty much melted by lunch time,
but we got out and enjoyed some play time in the
morning.

I don't believe all of these reports about
"global warming" because we certainly aren't
seeing it here!

24 hours of "Old Pueblo" - crewing a MTB race

2011-02-28T14:25:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I flew down to Tucson to crew

Ronda and Michael at their 1st mountain bike race.

These 2 are amazing, experienced ultra runners. So,

nothing like jumping in with a small, shorter race for
these 2! Right into the fire with a 24 hour event. The
warm sunny weather we had hoped for in Tucson
turned out to be 50 mph wind gusts, torrential rains,
and temps in the mid-30's on the overnight.

Isn't it supposed to be warm in Arizona?

This race was a 17 mile loop course through varied
desert, rocky, cactus filled terrain. I ran a loop of
the course on the Friday B4 the race, and the race
was then Sat. noon-Sun. noon. Racers could ride
in teams of 2, 4, or solo.

Both Ronda and Michael surpassed their original
goal of 100 miles (7 laps) with Ronda doing 9 laps
and Michael doing 10 laps. They did so great!

During the race, I had to stick close to our
"base camp" (there were no hosted aid stations) in
order to rock down our tent to keep it from
blowing away. I played "momma Susan" and kept
them filled with food and beverages after they
finished riding each lap. Also, because of the crazy
winter stormy weather, they had to make
frequent clothing changes (thank goodness for
the tent and the battery powered lantern!)
Between the 3 of us, we used every scrap of
warm clothes, ponchos, gloves, space blankets,
sleeping bags, socks, etc. that had been brought
with us.

I was so proud of them for gutting out such
a tough race, and their 1st race, in such bad
weather conditions. These 2 are always great
fun to travel with. And Michael's parents were
so nice to let us stay at their beautiful home!
We were all 3 so punchy and tired on our drive
back to the airport that we almost ended up
missing our flight! But we made it with about
5 minutes to spare, so all was okay. I had such
a fun time playing crew momma to these 2.

Pre-race happy campers!

The race was started using a "le mans" style start. The
bikes were racked, and the riders started from 1/2
mile away. The gun went off, and a mass of athletes
started running towards their bikes, to get out
on the course. It was crazy to watch!

The solo riders were given their choice of an
individualized "license plate" of sorts, so that
the team riders could tell who was out on the
course as a solo rider (the team riders were going
much faster than the solo riders)

Momma cholla cactus, right next to our tent. If you get
too close, she sends off a baby cholla burr......

And this is the baby cholla burr that ended up implanted
into my butt cheek! OUCH!! I had to get a plastic comb to
get the quills out of my bumm. It stung like a bee sting pretty
much the rest of the day. Note to self: when bending over
to place rocks around the base of the tent (to keep the
tent from flying away) don't get so close next time!

Valentines Day "celebration"

2011-02-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

Lauren's countdown to Valentines Day started pretty
much in the middle of January. She had her valentines
for her classmates purchased well ahead of time, and
looked at the cards (with attached temporary tattoos)
daily. So cute. She couldn't wait to get the names
written on them. And she wanted to do that ALL by
herself, thank you very much. :)

Lauren and Rich decided to make some Valentines
day heart shaped sugar cookies. They had fun
destroying the kitchen in the process. It was truly
a baking project of love - these were some heavy,
brick like cookies! But, Lauren was very proud
of her cooking endeavor.

Tuh - duh........the final product!

Sunday evening, "Valentines Eve" as Lauren would call it,

she decided that she wanted to have a Valentines Day

celebration for dinner on Monday. She brought it up about

100 times, or so it seemed. So, while she was at school on

Monday, I rounded up some Valentines Day decor and

livened up our dining area with hearts, doilies, ribbons,

streamers, red and white glitter, red and white candles, etc.

Lauren was so excited to see all of this when she got home from

school! The look on her face was so worth taking the time to

put up the special decorations. So then we had some special

Valentines Day pizzas, in order to make the day complete.

Chinese Lunar New Year & a visit from the tooth fairy

2011-02-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

Gung Hay Fat Choi! Happy Chinese Lunar New Year!

Posting to my blog is yet again a few weeks behind schedule.

2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. Each year we celebrate this

special holiday by heading out for a yummy Chinese food dinner.

This year we met our good friends and their son D. and enjoyed

the celebration together at Hunan Pearl. They have such

great food!

Lauren also celebrated the holiday by wearing her pretty red silk

Chinese outfit into kindergarten, and by taking red envelopes full

of coins and stickers (Li Shi envelopes) into school for all of her

classmates.

Lauren and her friend D. after celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year
with a wonderful Chinese food meal at Hunan Pearl. We enjoyed
several dishes, but hands down the pot-stickers were a hit
with these 2 kiddos!

Lauren lost her 3rd tooth on the first evening of the Chinese Lunar
New Year. She was so excited to go to bed that night so that she she
could put her tooth under her pillow. The tooth fairy brought her a
whole dollar - she was so excited to find that in the morning! Lauren's
theory of the tooth fairy involves the "recycling" concept -- the
tooth fairy takes the tooth, leaves some $, and then gives the lost
tooth to some baby who is just getting in his/her teeth. To hear
Lauren tell the tale is very sweet.

Way past due update! February 10, 2011

2011-02-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

Well it is now February 10th, 2011, and I've been very delayed in
any blog posting since we got back from Hawaii! I'll try to do one
mass catch up of our recent activities in this post, to get things up
to date.

Evan and Rich - finally launching the rockets Evan built from model kits

The rockets went really high! I was surprised. We had to wait until
the soccer fields cleared over behind Waluga Jr. HS so that we
didn't end up injuring any little kids with our flight plans.

Rocket and parachute - post launch - a very cool activity!
Evan is so in love with anything scientific. He can't wait
until the weather clears and we can go launch some more.

Our cute little hummingbirds come and visit the feeder
many times each day. If you are out on the front porch,
they will come buzz around you, they are not shy at all!
We have several that nest in a large tree/shrub in our front yard.
Even though we need to cut that shrub back a bit, we
can't imagine threatening their little habitat. So we have
held off on any pruning.
Our little buzzing friends go thru about 1 feeder full of nectar each
week, they are such little piggies! But they are so cute and I love them.

Lauren with her stocking on Christmas morning - what fun!

Happy Evan with his stocking on Christmas morning.
Note the "festive" xmas socks!

Happy Ya-ya in front of our tree

Each year, the kids and I have the tradition of decorating a
gingerbread house. It is a messy process that totally destroys
the entire kitchen, but they enjoy it, and it is a lot of fun. Here
is a photo of this year's creation. We were quite proud
of our coconut "snow" in the yard. :)

Evan's experiment for his 8th grade science project -- making
"milk plastic" by cooking milk and vinegar and various
other chemicals on the stovetop. He got an A+ on his
project. His hypothesis was proved wrong, but that is all part
of the learning process. He also learned the difference between
a simmer, a boil, and a TOTAL SCALD! Our house
smelled for days after he took over the kitchen for the
entire afternoon it took him to complete his project.

Evan's ingredients and supplies for his science project. Stinky!

More Maui photos, part 3

2010-12-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

More Maui photos, part 3

Beautiful tropical fish - Maui Ocean Center

Cute little seahorse - this was my favorite!

Gotta luv the jellies!

Lauren, entranced by the big sharks

Tired puppy - she is done! The water is cold and the salt tastes "double yucky"

Crabbie patty!

Lahaina Pali Trail - big girl trail running! This climb was hard, steep, hot and technical.

View looking back towards Lahaina area, from the trail

Kam III beachfront park - for friend Kenny's birthday party

Susan and friend Kenny

Girls morning - fun and relaxation - while the boys went scuba diving

Rich and Evan trying out scuba diving for the first time - thanks Kenny!

More Maui photos, part 2

2010-12-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

Maui photos, part 2. These are all taken on the evening
when we dressed up and went to the amazing
Old Lahaina Luau! We had such a wonderful evening.

Maui trip - fun in the sun!

2010-12-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

We had to opportunity to head to Maui for Thanksgiving and

the first part of December - what a wonderful trip! 82 degrees each

day, the perfect mix of relaxing and fun adventures. It was nice

to not set an alarm clock the entire trip - I feel rested and refreshed.

Here are some fun photos from the trip.

Kings fish pond and snorkeling beach by Menehune Shores Condos

Beach fun in Kihei!

Evan and Rich teaching Lauren how to snorkel and boogie board

Maui Tropical Plantation

The "needle" in the Iao Valley - Central Maui

Lawn/beach front Menehune Shores Condos

Heartlands 100 Miler - Cassoday, Kansas

2010-10-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've been busy playing catch up, and rest up, since I got
home from my trip to the mid-west. The Heartlands 100
miler totally kicked my butt, due to the heat on Saturday.
But, I was very, very happy with my finishing
results. I'll include photos in this post, and then I'll
do more of a detailed race write up in a 2nd post.

MY STATS
25:04 overall time - my 2nd fastest
96 starters (20 females and 76 males)
55 finishers (12 females and 43 males)
41 drops (8 females and 33 males)
I finished 20th overall,
and was the 4th female!!

AWESOME FINISHERS BUCKLE!

Tornado monument in Graham Park (where I did my warmup
run). El Dorado, KS.

Tornado monument - Graham Park, El Dorado, KS

I spent a few hours Friday morning learning
about the oil industry in Kansas.

I could see a few of these oil drills
from my hotel room.

Windmill, tall grass prairie, near Cassoday, KS

Race course map and topo.

The cattle guards/crossings were very
difficult to navigate once my legs got tired! These
are a frequent site on the open range land in
the tall grass prairie.

Drop bags all prepped and ready to go for race morning!

Pre-race foot taping for blister prevention.

Fall family fun at the pumpkin patch

2010-10-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

On the first weekend in October, we ended up with a sunny
Saturday afternoon-so we decided to take advantage of the
weather while it was nice and head to the corn maze/pumpkin
patch. We had a very fun time winding our way around the
rocketship/moon corn maze design at Baggenstos Farms, and
then we took the hay ride out to the pumpkin field to pick
the perfect orange pumpkins. Since the rain hit the
following morning, we really felt like we had gotten
away with something big! Here are a few photos
from our sunny afternoon adventure.

Rich hiding in the corn maze.

Fun times at the kids play area.

Always smiling YaYa!

I love this photo of Evan and Lauren - such happy faces!

It was a beautiful afternoon in the countryside.

My clutzy fall, the week before the Kansas 100M

2010-10-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

How much clutzier can 1 person be? I went with Gail earlier in the

week for a short, easy tapering run in the neighborhood. Running

along, easy pace, chatting, BAM! I took a hard fall, and ended up

sprawled flat out on the pavement! I skinned the palm of my hand

in 2 places, and my left knee took it in 4 spots. Thank goodness I had

capris on, not shorts, which saved my knee from being even

worse off. I appreciate my friend Gail for getting me up + putting me

back together!

Bashed knee!

Bruised forearm!

I've been a bit achy and sore, but today (Thursday) despite
the bruises and scabs, I'm starting to feel better. I'm really
hoping that this doesn't in any way impact Saturday and
my upcoming adventure in the tall grass prairie!

Sierra Nevada Endurance Run - aka the ultra that turned into a marathon instead

2010-10-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

On the 3rd weekend in September, I flew down to Sacramento
CA to run the Sierra NV Endurance Run "double marathon"
52.4 miles. I had planned on running this race months ago, as a
last long training event to get ready for my 100 miler in Kansas.
I wasn't going to "race" but to treat it as a training "event" -- a
long day on my feet on the trail.

Kristin, Ronda and I flew down Friday morning and it was so
nice that we were able to stay with Kristin's brother Eric and his
wife Tina at their house in Fair Oaks. This was about a 20 minute
drive from the race start, and they were such warm and welcoming
hosts for the 3 of us.

Friday afternoon we went to packet pickup and then Ronda and I
did our best to get lost during a "warmup" run trying to find our
way down from their house to the American River trail system. We
ended up turning a 20 minute run into a bit longer, saw wild turkeys,
some live deer, and then the carcass of a deer (cougar kill). Scary!
Of all times to be the slowest runner around.....we had to call
Kristin and her SIL to come get us. What dorks we were!

Nothing about race day turned out as planned.....

THE HEAT
Saturday morning came early, with record heat predicted for the
day. True enough, it happened. Since we basically had no summer
to speak of in Portland, all of my long training runs had been done
between 65-72 degrees. And the heat climbed to 98 degrees
in the canyons during race day! I was a baked potato chip.

THE COURSE
The other laughable issue about this race was that the RD had
emailed me that there was 4000 ft total climbing in the double
marathon.......which somehow turned into 3640 ft of climbing
in just the first 1/2 of the race. And since it is an out and back,
that amounts to over 7300 ft total! Crazy! And, we had also
thought that the course was going to be along the flat American
River smooth bike path, but this was 100% technical single track.
And several miles of it were very difficult -- the 6 miles of huge
rocky up/down technical stretch near Granite Bay, the mile
high climb straight up from the bottom of the river canyon to
the top of the hill in Auburn, and then the climb up the back
of Robie Point. From Auburn (mile 22) to the finish line, the
course followed the Western States Endurance Run trail.
The turn around/finish line was at the far side of
No Hands Bridge.

A HARD BUT SMART DECISION
I was having a really hard time managing my breathing and
high, fluttery heart rate, given the high heat of the day. I was
completely draining both hand-helds between aid station,
and my heart rate was erratic, fluttery, and very high. At
mile 19, I headed up the mile long climb from the bottom of
the river canyon, up Cardiac Hill, at a snails pace. Even going
so slowly, my heart rate was just too high. I reached the
canal at the top (finally), took off my ipod, doused myself
and dunked my head. I needed to cool myself down.
I trotted to the next aid station at the Auburn Overlook,
which was at mile 22 on the course.

I trotted my way into that aid station, and downed 2 cups
of water and 2 cups of cold coke. I was breathing hard,
and the medic stopped me to check in......then he made me
sit in a chair in the shade for about 20 minutes, until my HR
got under 100 bpm. It took that whole 20 minutes to
get it back down there! CRAZY. "Pete" the medic was very
helpful, sweet and cute. He sponged down my neck and
head with cold water, and did his best to get me feeling better.

In order for him to let me continue on, I had to promise
that I would walk/jog my way to the turn, and stop at the
single marathon finish, rather than making the turn and trying
to run the whole way back to the start line. Based also on the
time of the day, my slow pace, and my 20 minute "forced sit"
I ended up not getting to the turn / finish line until a time of
6:13 and change. OMgosh I was so happy to be there!
I told the timer that I was "just" finishing the single marathon
(6 of us apparently did so), and would not be making the return
trip. It was a hard and disappointing decision for me, but it
was the smart one to make. Had I made the return trip, I
would have been out there on the trail for about 13 hours+,
in 98 degree heat. This was supposed to be my last long run
before my taper started the next morning. Continuing on
would have left me too depleted. Tapering is supposed to
be about resting and replenishing. But, I would have spent
too much time recovering from deep tissue depletion, had
I gone on. So, as mentally hard as it was, I stopped at 26.2.
And then I had the most amazing tasting popsicle that I've
ever enjoyed in my life-time. :)

I rested for about 1/2 hour at the finish line, and then many of
us caught rides back to the starting line. Once there, I got my
bag from the car, took a shower, and called Kristin to let her
know I was back and what had happened. Kristin then started
her drive to come meet me and keep me company while we
waited for Ronda to finish.

I called Rich the first time to let him know what had happened
and that all was ok. It was good to chat with him. But once
I went to sit in the shade and rest for a few minutes, then the
tears hit, and they hit HARD. I was feeling a huge sense of
loss, un-finished business, and disappointment in how the day
turned out. I knew I had made the wise choice, but it seemed
like a huge let down. I called Rich back, sobbing, hard. I'm
sure it was a hard phone call for him to take--I was just so
depleted, physically and emotionally. It was the end of a hard
3 week training cycle, a several month training program,
and I was raw, tired, and finished. He (as always) was so very
patient with me on the phone, and he just listened and let me
vent and cry. I do love that man!!! He is so supportive.

Kristin showed up, and we rested in the shade for a while.
Ronda rocked on and finished the double marathon--even
she said it was the hardest 50 miler she'd ever completed.
Ronda has a ton of race experience, so that being said from
her carries a lot of weight. We got her showered and cleaned
up, and headed back to have a late meal on the patio at
Kristin's brothers house.

It was a very fun girls weekend trip, but a crazy race. I'm
glad I went, but I wouldn't go back without heat training.

First day of school and Evan's 14th birthday

2010-10-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit behind with my blog posts, but better late than never.
With September came the start of the school year for Evan
and Lauren. Evan is now "big man" on campus as an 8th
grader, and Lauren is really loving her kindergarten class
(11 kids) 5 part-days per week. All of this means slightly
more freedom for mom!

Lauren with her Disney Princess backpack - all ready for her big day.

Lauren's first day in kindergarten! She chose her
outfit 3 days prior to the start of school. Cute!

Evan's first day of 8th grade - happy boy!

Evan's 14th birthday get together -- pizza, wii, foosball, and
cupcakes. All topped off by roasting marshmallows by the campfire
in the backyard. A fun night spent with buddies!

Follow the yellow brick road

2010-10-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I fly off to Wichita, KS, drive to El Dorado, KS,
for my ultimate race destination at Cassoday, KS. I will embark on the
Heartlands 100 miler "spirit of the prairie" ultra run at 6am central time
Saturday morning. Send positive wishes for an "uneventful" run (meaning
no crazy weather, no tummy problems, no trips and falls, etc.) for me.
I have trained hard and I am really looking forward to this adventure,
whatever it may bring. Prayers for a safe run and finish are welcome.
I appreciate all of my friends and my family who have trained with me
and supported me during this past few months of race prep.
Here we go!!!!!

My first race trip without family, friends, crew or pacer. Alone. A curse and
a blessing -- too much to explain here. I will be lonely and frightened
on the overnight, but I will get better sleep the night before the race.
I will have thoughts of all of my "peeps" driving me towards the finish
line. This is all a mixed bag for sure.

I took a big fall onto the pavement during a small short easy training
run a few days ago. My taper has such turned into a "super taper" as I have
been sorer than heck and feel like I've been hit by a freight train. I am
scraped and bruised but all seems to be superficial. I should be back to
normal and feeling like superwoman by race morning.

I am taking my laptop with me to KS as I will have some extra time
on my hands. I'm hoping to get caught up on my blog postings.....

Love all of you, amazingly, each day, with all my heart. I am blessed
with a life filled with such wonder each day.

With all of my heart,
Susan

Sunriver family vacation fun

2010-09-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

We picked Evan up from his week at a Christian summer camp
(Camp Tadmor, in Lebanon Oregon) on Friday the 20th, and
from there we headed over to Sunriver for 7 nights of family
fun and retreat time. We go over to Sunriver 1-2 times per
year, and for us it is a huge family favorite vacation spot.
Sunriver is the perfect mix of relaxation, and fun activities too!
Thanks to our friends Pam and Troy for once again letting us
rent your cozy comfy cabin -- we had such a great time. The
mornings were chilly (28-35 or so) and the afternoons were
warm and lovely (70-83 or so).

It was also nice, that being on vacation, I was able to sleep
in a little bit and was still able to get in a high quality run each
day and stick to my training schedule for Kansas. I had to
laugh though, at how poorly my lungs function at altitude. SR
isn't hilly terrain, but it ranged between 3900-4280 feet when I
was running. The first 2 days of running I was sucking wind
something fierce, and even had to take a few walk breaks!
After that, though, I settled in and adjusted to the thinner air.
Rich, Evan and Lauren kept me company both with the jog
stroller and on their bikes, which was really great too.

Here are some photo highlights of our week.

Making tye die t shirts at the Sunriver Lodge - they have different
craft projects each afternoon. And no, Rich isn't really wearing
a gaudy printed shirt - that is a "paint shirt" they have you put on
to protect your clothing.

Lauren loves the pony ride!

Bambi - resting right near our cabin

Lauren (all bundled up) fishing at North Twin Lake.
Doesn't every girl need a pink Barbie fishing pole???

Smiling Evan trying his luck as well!

Rich starting off an open water swim, while we waved from shore.

Brrr! Brave kids! The lake water is so crystal clear!

Evan (YaYa) - Deschutes River canoe trip (Sunriver Marina)

The twin waterfalls near Paulina Lake, Newberry Crater

Rich and Lauren on the Deschutes -- all she cared about
were the snacks! We saw river otters playing in
the shallows while we were paddling.

Lauren running in front of the "BIG TREE"
at LaPine State Park.

Timothy Lake

2010-08-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a common theme here lately - long

training runs, open water, fun times away with the family.

Rich has signed up to swim the Great Columbia Crossing

1.25 mile swim on Labor Day. It is great to see him put a

goal out there. He has been bike commuting, running with me,

taking spin classes, and swimming a lot of laps to get ready.

Saturday 8/14 I needed to get a long run in, and Rich wanted to get

in an open water swim. But, in Ptld, it was supposed to be 94

degrees, with a pollution/bad air advisory. We decided to head up

to Mt. Hood / Timothy Lake for the day. Cooler temps, cleaner air.

I got up early to start my run - dawn patrol. 6:30, put the tunes on

and ran over to run club in downtown LO. Then at 7:30 I ran some

more with my Lululemon girls during run club. Rich and the kids

picked me up there, and we headed out for the rest of our day.

At 10 a.m., they dropped me off at the Frog Lake snowpark to

hook into the PCT, and I headed off southbound on my favorite trail.

I climbed uphill for a few miles, and then the trail consists of up/down

rollers down to Little Crater Lake, and continues on to join in the

Timothy Lake trail.

They lovingly stopped off at LCL, and being great trail angels, they

set out a spare water bottle, some wildflowers, and a motivating

note for me. While the mt. was cooler than Ptld., and there was a

good breeze, it was still in the 80's and I was just about dry when

I reached my refill. I was very thankful for that!

After LCL I continued south on the PCT and hooked into the trail

that connects over to the campgrounds at Timothy Lake. I headed

out on that trail and made my way around to the day use area

where they were all set up for our day trip. A turkey sandwich

and cold beer never tasted so good!!! All in all I got in a 28 mile

day, in 3 sections, and felt strong, steady. No trips and falls,

another good thing. A great training day to get ready for Kansas.

The kids and I hung out while Rich got in his long lake swim. It was

too cold for the rest of us! Lauren climbed in, and then decided the

warm rock was her friend. She then proceeded to get out, dry off,

and take a snooze in my lap. Evan and I just simply sat there and

had a few hours of really great, bonding conversation about silly life

stuff. I just love my kids, it was so nice to simply relax and watch

Rich while he was out conquering the waves in the lake. Glad also

that it wasn't me in the water. :) Here are some fun photos to

share from our day.

View of Mt. Hood, PCT, a few miles south of Frog Lake

PCT, between Frog Lake and Little Crater Lake.

My favorite place. Lush, green, peaceful. Mt. Hood

is truly one of God's great creations.

My trail angels left me a water refill, flowers,
and a motivating note!

Ya-ya saying the water was just too cold for him.

Rich getting ready for his swim.

Lauren with medusa hair, after announcing the water
was just too cold for her.

Tired puppy fell asleep on my lap, after a few

minutes of wading in the cold lake.

Haulin Aspen Trail Marathon - Weekend in Bend

2010-08-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

The weekend of August 8th we headed over to Bend for
a few days of R+R, and also I ran the Haulin Aspen Trail
Marathon on Sunday morning.

Friday on the drive over, the smoke and haze from the forest
fires had me a bit worried for breathing on race day. But by
Sunday morning it had all cleared up, the skies were blue and
clear. What luck! We spent quite a bit of time at the pool Friday.

Saturday we slept in, no alarm clock! After a relaxed breakfast
we headed to a nice grassy picnic spot along the Deschutes River.
We splashed in the water, played a bit of frisbee, relaxed, and
had a nice lunch. Lauren made some "mud pies" and didn't under-
stand why I didn't want to play too. :)

Lauren having fun in the Deschutes - brrrr!

I like this smiley photo of Big E at the river!

Lauren making mud pies - gross!

Saturday afternoon was packet pickup. Evan and I drove into
downtown Bend and saw quite a bit of action for a Saturday
afternoon. Some teenagers shoplifted candy at the candy
store, and then they were chased down by the owner. Stupid kids!
We also saw a very tall, garishly done up, male cross dresser
walking around. Too funny! Saturday evening we met up with Bret
and Gail Henry for a fun dinner--they were both in town to run the
marathon as well.

Race morning went really steady. I had 3 goals for the day:
Make the turn in 2.5 hours, stay upright/no trips and falls,
and to finish in under 5 hours.

Miles 1-10.5 went really well for me. This was a mix of
rolling hills that gradually climbed up + over the nice high desert
terrain. Bret passed me at about mile 6, we chatted for a bit
and he went on his merry way. He was a bit too quick for
me to keep up with.

From mile 10.5 to mile 13.1 at the turn, you hit a monster hill
on a gravel road that climbs, and climbs, and climbs some more.
My altimiter topped out at 5720 feet, not sure if that is wholly
accurate, but close enough. I fast walked most of mile 12-13, the
hill was so steep, that I was at a high heart rate just race walking.
I reached the turn in 2:32. Close to my goal, but not spot on.

I ended up feeling SUPER on the 2nd half of the race, and
ran negative splits (2:32 + 2:15). The last 1/2 of the race
is nice--rolling downhills, to flats the last few miles. I fueled
and hydrated well, and I didn't feel tired or low at all. I
finished in 4:47:23 which was a 9 minute 3 second PR on this
course for me. Yay! 90/156 overall, 30/65 all females, and
amazingly grabbed 2nd place for my age group! Friends
Bret, Gail, Sarah and Marc all had great races as well.

Climbing strong, at mile 6 or so. Photo by Bret Henry.

Gail (left) + Susan happy after a hard day on the trail.

.
So, I met 2 of my 3 goals. I was pleased with my finish time,
and it is always a good day when you stay on your feet.
We had a really nice weekend, and we mostly enjoyed the
total relaxation of having a few days of down time.

Hagg Lake - training + family fun

2010-08-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

We decided to celebrate the start of August with a fun
day spent out at Hagg Lake! I needed to get in a long
training run with some rolling hills, and the kids wanted to
hang out and go fishing. So I headed out early, got in my
23 miler on a mix of road and trail, and the kids and Rich
(along with Evan's buddy Kyle) met me out there mid-
morning.

I felt strong running on the uphills at Hagg. Once you have
spent time running and climbing the steep hills in the Columbia
Gorge, you realize that other routes you used to think of
as "hilly" just really aren't so hilly. It is all relative. :)

Evan and Kyle - no fish today!

Buddies! Building a rock dam was more fun

than the fishing, as nothing was biting!

Evan on his walk back up to the picnic table

Happy faces - Lauren and Rich

August 1st is also Evan's "gotcha day" which is a very

important day for us! To celebrate his big day we

capped off a very fun jaunt at the lake with a yummy

lunch at the McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove.

Dundee Hills - Fine Wine 1/2 Marathon

2010-07-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (on 7/11, also free small slurpee day at mini-mart
chain of the same name) I "ran" in the Dundee Hills - Fine Wine
1/2 Marathon. Whew! While it was a beautiful course - they
were correct on the race website by saying "you won't run
your fastest time". I got my butt kicked! I ended up coming
in at 2:19, which was 300/776 overall, and 153/541 for all
of the females. That puts me at the 28th% for the chicks - not
bad CONSIDERING that I hardly ever focus on or run this
short fast stuff. Only 28/541 (5%) of the females even broke
the 2 hour benchmark!
.
Downhill to the finish line! Note the cute, color-coordinated
clothes by lululemon.

.
Anyway, the run started in Dundee, and you ran down to
the river and followed the orchard roads along the river bed
for a bit. Then you started to climb and climb and climb -
miles 6-8 were straight up hill (I heard 6-7% grade). And
then you climbed some more - mostly on gravel road and
soft dirt in and amongst the grape vines. There were a few
short "grunt" sections up a steep hill over just mown grass,
with no road/trail at all. I ran a few 8 minute miles, and then
there were a few VERY slow miles at over a 12:30 pace
up that steep 2 mile climb.

I would highly recommend this event - it was very
well organized. I think they could improve it by adding
in a few more water stations, given that the race was held
on a warm July morning. The views were amazing!

This was a great training event for me, as I'm ramping
up my hill climbing and training distances to get to
Kansas on Oct. 9-10th! I've got Haulin Aspen in
Bend in August to look forward to - they have just
announced a new course - it will be interesting to see
what that holds. And then the Sierra NV double
marathon (Sacramento/Auburn area) in September.

All of these interim events
are "training" for the ultimate goal of Kansas. I am
enjoying the summer weather that finally got here, and
spending some great time with Rich and the kids!

Lauren's 6th BD

2010-07-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Lauren just celebrated her 6th birthday! ALL she wanted to do
for her big day was to go to Chuck E Cheeses for a party. Nothing
else would do in her mind - so off we went. Weekday mornings are
a perfect time to head there - not too crowded, not too loud. Much
better than a weekend or evening. She has so much fun with
some of her pre-k friends, big brother, and cousins. Yummy
pizza, chocolate cake, tokens, fun games, and exchanging prize
tickets in at the counter for "amazing" prizes ended up being such
a fun way for her to enjoy turning 6.

At first - not too sure about the whole
mouse thing - but then she got warmed up!

Watching CEC come into the room!

Big smiles - chocolate cake too!

More birthday songs!

Grabbing at those floating prize tickets in

the booth was a ton of fun!

Guns!

2010-07-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

After his last regular season game on Thursday 7/8,
Evan was especially dirty and grimy from all of the sliding
and action in the field. Who picked white pants for a
baseball uniform??? He had to show me his "guns" (haha)
after we got home. We were all cracking up.
He made a gun noise, and then said "fire power" as
he flexed and posed! Too funny.

4th of July!

2010-07-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

4th of July is always such a fun event in our neighborhood (Bryant
Woods, south part of LO). There is a kiddie parade, then a bbq
lunch at the neighborhood pool! Then it is a series of fireworks
extravaganza in every cul de sac. Here are a few cute photos from
the day.

Evan and Lauren before the parade.

Crazy ya-ya in his tye-dye!

Lauren chose to decorate her battery powered car!

After the bbq, there were fun relay games for the different
age groups of kids. Evan took a spill in the sack race and re-tore
open his knee (it had been badly scabbed over from sliding in
baseball). So he went to get that band-aided back up, while
Lauren did her sack race and the crab walk. What fun!

Evan after his crash!

Airborne! The face of determination!
All for the prize of a red-vine licorice rope!

Timberline 1/2 marathon

2010-07-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

On June 6th I drove up to Mt. Hood with my good
friend Jacki. We braved the horrible wind and rain to
make it to Timothy Lake and the trails! I ran the 1/2
marathon (14.2 miles) on part of the PCT and then
the trail that circles the lake. Jacki went for a hike on
the PCT. It was a ton of fun to drive up with her, but
the weather sure made the day a challenge. Since I had
taken it VERY easy with my running during April and
May, I was treating this as an event, not a race. I ran a
very slow time, as was to be expected. It was a good
base measurement - now I know what I need to work
on during these next few months to get me to the Sierra
Nevada double marathon in September, and then on
to the Kansas "Heartland" 100 miler in October.

Base training during June has been going quite well - I've
been getting out there with friends, Rich, and Evan (he
goes with me on his bike). I've been working on speed,
hills, and ramping up the miles.

As of yesterday, the Kansas race has reached 85
registrants - it will close at 100. Only 15 females
have entered so far! This will be a much smaller
race than the Rocky Raccoon 100 in Huntsville, TX
that I ran in February. Should be interesting!

Baseball, baseball, baseball!

2010-07-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

Evan's baseball team is coming into the home stretch of their
season, before district playoffs begin. Much depends on this
week! The were so many rainouts in May, that they have
been playing 3-4 games per week these last few weeks, in
order to get all of the league games in, so that the team
would even be eligible to get to district! Evan has been
having a lot of fun playing this season, and he is glad to be
on a team with some of his buddies!

Getting ready to steal home (Evan in white, #20)

Ready to make the play at 1st base

Waiting in between innings

Pitching

Evan - end of school year awards

2010-07-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was really proud of Evan's 7th grade year - he managed

to pull a 4.0 all 3 terms, play baseball, basketball, and also
piano for the first 1/2 of the year. At the end of the school
year, he was selected by the teachers as 1 of the 7 "Super
Students" for the 7th graders. This award is based on grades,
leadership, behaviour, community volunteering, and a few
other factors. We got the call from the school inviting us to
the awards ceremony, and we even managed to keep it a
secret from him! He was very happy and pleasantly
surprised to receive this honor. He is such a great kid,
and a super big brother to Lauren.

Look mommy no training wheels!

2010-07-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

So very exciting - Lauren is just about to turn 6 - and in the
past month she has finally shed the training wheels from her
pink glamorous barbie bike!! Huge milestone in the life of a
little one. She is very nervous about crashing and tends to bale
off the back of the bike seat at a moments notice - but this
will get easier with time.

The red, white & blue ribbons are still on her bike from last
year's 4th of July kids parade!

Anniversary dinner

2010-07-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

For our 8th wedding anniversary (April 21st) we had Miss Iris
come over and watch the kids, so we could head out for a
grown up, quiet, romantic evening out. Rich knows I am a huge
Twilight fan--he surprised me by making arrangements for
a sunset dinner up at the Overlook Inn, out of Corbett, in the
foothills of the Columbia Gorge. This is the setting of the
beautiful prom scene at the end of the first Twilight movie.
We went for a nice stroll around the gardens, and then had
a delicious dinner, enjoyed each other's company, and
watched the sun set. I would highly recommend this cozy,
yummy place for a special night out! The food was amazing,
the service was friendly and welcoming, and the huge
fireplace was warm and cozy.

I had really hoped to get to slow dance with Rich in the
gazebo that they showed in the movie -- but alas, the gazebo
wasn't there. I love my hubby a ton and I am thankful for
him in my life every day.

SO FAR BEHIND!!

2010-07-05T18:46:00.001-07:00

Wow the past month has flown by. Getting my new laptop figured out,
the old pc contents transferred over, and spending time as baseball
mom (lots of rained-out games to make up) in between family, work
and running - I have a lot of posting to do to catch up! Things may
be out of order but here we go!!

Back at it! Time to train again. :)

2010-06-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so June 1st is here. My "resting" months of April and May
are now officially OVER!! Okay, so the term "rest" is all relative.
I ran 205 miles in April, + then 170 in May. But, these 2 months
were all about just running for fun, with no training plan in sight.
I ran shorter + faster. I ran what I felt like doing that day. Beach,
trails, hills, track. These 2 months were a considerable decrease
in mileage, considering I ran slightly over 3000 miles in both 2008
and 2009.

I sat down over the past few days and put together a running/
training schedule for June, July, August + September -- based
on my various race goals, family activities, planned vacations, etc.
I am really happy with how the training schedule turned out, and I'm
super excited to get this started! My body and my mind feel rested.
I am refreshed, the tanks are full, and I'm ready to hit it.

We were in Eagle Crest/Redmond over the long Memorial Day
weekend. Each day I luckily picked a non-rainy hour and headed
out for a beautiful trail run along the Deschutes River. It was
very scenic and peaceful. Evan's team was playing in a baseball
tournament there over the weekend, and while their team struggled
a bit -- it was a fun event and relaxing to get away from home.

The volunteer spirit

2010-05-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know about my fellow runners and friends, but when I
think back over the races in which I have participated during the
past few years - sometimes - oh yes - volunteers really do make
a difference in your race day.

It may something simple, such as a nice volunteer cheering

you on with a smile, a "way to go" shout out, or handing you

a cup of water. As a runner, these little guestures make your

heart smile. And a happy runner just simply runs faster!

And at other times, the kindness of a volunteer can be life

saving (drama, I know) but it seems so at the time. A few
examples come to mind.

At the mile 16.4 "Lake Sylvia" aid station, in my first 100
miler (The Arkansas Traveller) one such volunteer really did
make a difference in my day. I was a drowned, cold puppy.

I had just run thru 3 hours of a major downpouring thunder

storm, totally unexpected, and our first drop bags were way
far away at mile 31.9. She got me under the cover, fed me,
refilled my bottle, and cut arm + head holes in a hefty cinch
sack for me to wear as a coat. Her kindness and a simple
green bag provided me with a reprieve from the rain. I don't
know her name, but, she saved me that day. Saying thank
you didn't seem sufficient.

At the JJ100 in Scottsdale, AZ October, 2009. I
developed a few huge blisters on each heel. The podiatry

college was volunteering their time at the first aid tent. After

lap 3 I headed in for help, and I was so nicely cared for by
this complete stranger. She cleansed my feet, lanced my
wounds, treated me, taped me back up, and sent me back
out on my way. Again, she saved my race. After her help,
I was able to go back out and find that 2nd boost of energy
that seems to come after a down spot in an ultra race. I
thanked her many times, I hope she knew how much her
time and efforts meant to me that day.

So, in order to "pay it forward" and focus on how much

I am thankful for those race volunteers who have had a

positive impact on my races--I have had some goals for

the past few years regarding myself and volunteering:

A) I will verbally thank the volunteers at each and every

aid station I come thru during each and every race.

B) I will volunteer in some manner at a minimum of 2x per

year at local running events.

C) I will show and teach my kids the importance

of volunteering and giving back to others and

the community.

So, in sticking to that, I've gotten to do some really

fun things -- trail maintenance work around Hagg Lake,

(okay, so that was really hard work, but the work group was

fun) attending an ivy pull work party on Wildwood Trail up

in Forest Park, working a registration table on race morning, and

directing runners out on a 10k course thru Cook Park (Evan

got up early and volunteered with me that day).

Evan and his baseball buddies recently spend a whole

morning doing yard/field maintenance at the baseball

field behind Waluga Jr HS. I was proud of them. I kind

of expected to hear some grumbling, but they worked hard,

with smiles on their faces, and they seemed to have fun

doing it. They topped off a morning of hard work with

a hot dog BBQ. I was really proud of these young men.

Here is the crew - hard at work at the ball field.

A happy group of workers after the event. Evan is so

fortunate to have such a nice group of boys to hang
out with.

Over the past several weeks, as the running Ambassador

for the LO Lululemon Showroom, I have gotten together

with their employees and volunteered at both the

Lake Run, and then also the Lululemon 5k/10k. We

have poured water cups, handed out water, and cheered

tired runners along their way. I have actually had a ton

of fun doing this! This past Saturday at the 10k turnaround

aid station where we were volunteering, a lady grabbed

a water and told us all that this was her first race in 15

years! She received lots of cheering, encouragement,

and kind words -- and we in turn were motivated by the

huge smile on her face.

Here is myself, Berkeley, and Emily working at the finish

line of the Lake Run. We had such a fun morning, doing

something so simple as filling 100's of water cups, and

telling people "good job" as they came thru the finish area.

We were rewarded with many tired smiles and thank yous.

These girls are absolutely amazing, young, and inspiring.

I really enjoy being part of this organization.

In particating in some of these events, you realize just

how many people it takes to put on any one of them.

Tons of volunteers are needed, in many forms and fashion.

And most of the people I've encountered seem to just

love volunteering their time to help out, with whatever

the cause may be.

My challenge for you today? Take the time to tell at

least 1 person a sincere "thank you" for something.

Two simple little words that have such a positive impact!

It is official - I'm in. Updates.

2010-05-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

It is official - I'm in. Oct. 9 & 10, 2010. My
name is on their list of registrants. This is going to be fun!

May and June for me are spent being full on baseball
mom, so training for anything long during those 2
months would be a stressful headache of inadequacy
and juggling. So, you schedule around and work with
the needs of your family. I know for me and my family,
it is better timing to focus on training for longer distances
after baseball season ends, during the summer months,
when the weather is nicer, and time is much more free.
So, I've set my sights on a big hairy scary monster of
a race goal in October.

I've been having a lot of fun, running for fun, and throwing
in a lot of shorter, fun, faster days. I've even been doing
track workouts every Wednesday morning! Track is hard.
My lungs hurt. My nose runs. My legs ache the next day.
But oh, oh my, the track and some speed work is so good
for this tortoise. I need to shake things up.

During June, July, and August -- 2 times per month --
part of my stint as the Running Ambassador for the
Lake Oswego Lululemon Showroom will be leading
their run club, which will co-incide with the Saturday
morning LO Farmers Market. It will be a fun, social
run gathering. I'm hoping to meet some new running
friends from the LO area, and include current friends
in the fun as well.

So, my race plans include 1 or 2 half marathons during
the early part of summer, run PURELY FOR FUN, not
for a specific speed or PR. I'll be doing some hill training.
Then I'll hit a trail marathon over in Bend during August,
and a double trail marathon in Sacramento/Auburn during
September. All of these races will be training excercises,
increasing in distance, helping me to ramp up to my
main goal of racing the Heartlands 100 in Cassody,
Kansas on Oct. 9th.

On a side note - Rich did not get in to the Hawaii IM.
11 times running now. He is kind of bummed about it.
He has decided to just get out and ride his bike a ton,
and have fun with it! He started bike commuting this
week, thanks to the (finally!) break in the weather.

We ran how fast?

2010-04-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Early this morning I went on a "dawn patrol" run with my
friend Sheri-what fun! It was dark at 5:30 and very cold.
Luckily at that time, there wasn't any wind blowing. We
always have such a fun time running together, and usually
end up laughing our heads off over some crazy thing
during the course of a morning. Well, this morning was
no exception.

On the road just south of Tualatin High School, we
turned the corner and headed slightly downhill. Up ahead
we noticed that our speed (or lack of) was registering on
the roadside radar sign. Lo and behold, I just happened to
have my cell phone. I broke out the camera and we just
had to run back and forth a few times to see how fast of
a speed we could get to record on the sign!!! I'm sure we
looked like 2 completely dorky 43 year olds, but it was
amusing to us, and that is really all that matters.

According to http://www.runningforfitness.org/
11 mph=5:27 pace per mile. Wow! That would be about
a 2:25 marathon! Too bad we were only able to surge
to this pace for about 20-30 feet. I guess it doesn't hurt
to dream big, right?

Patiently waiting....and enjoying

2010-04-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

On April 15th, Rich will find out if his name is drawn for
a lottery spot for the Hawaii Ironman, a race to be held
in October, 2010. He has now entered the lottery 11 times!!!
I keep telling him that this is his lucky year! I really hope
that he gets a spot, because for him, participating in that race
would really be a long time dream come true.

So, until then, other race plans are on hold. I've got a folder
full of potentials, but no decisions to be made yet. Lots of
thinking and dreaming though! If he gets in, I'll scale down my
distances, so that he will have more time for biking + swimming.
And he and I can run train together. Some shorter speedier
work would be good for me. And it would be great for him to
have a very supportive "crew" behind his training.

The past few weeks since Pac Rim, I've been seeing the Chiro,
getting my hips stretched back out (I've stretched 1-2x each day!)
and running for fun. Putting the playfullness back into it - by
doing some shorter, faster stuff, taking a few spin classes, and
just enjoying a few weeks off from following a "schedule".
Training schedules are great - they serve a huge purpose to get
you to the starting line successfully - but it is also good to have
a few weeks of light hearted running, just simply some play time.
Good for both the mind and body.

Lululemon Running Ambassador

2010-04-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say I am very excited that I have
been chosen to be a "running ambassador" for the
Lake Oswego Showroom - Lululemon - Athletica stores.

I spent time leading their weekly run club during the
fall and winter, and have come to just adore the employees
who work at the store in downtown LO! 2nd & B Ave.
They are an amazing company and I love their clothing.
They have an amazing company outlook (manifesto) as well.

I wear their clothes pretty much 5 days a week, if you are
going to run (or work from a home office) -- you might as
well have darn cute + comfy clothing on while you do so!! :)
Their clothes are stylish, cute, designed well, made out of
amazing fabrics, and they are very comfy.

So, I'm kind of a late bloomer, late to find her niche of
ultra-running, long, slow, distances talent -- and now,
sort of a sponsored athlete. And darn happy to be so!
Life is good.