Monthly Archives: April 2017

We Have Arrived…

33 Replies

… in Reno, that is.  I probably mentioned it like once a long time ago, but we are here for the Reno 5000 Series Downtown River Run.  I may have even possibly mentioned (or not) that both James and I have dropped down in our categories… him to the half, me to the 10K… this won’t count towards our 50-state goal for either of us.  James wants a PR this spring, so we’re holding out for a race closer to home… the North Olympic Discovery Marathon and Half in Port Angeles; one that is at sea level as opposed to 4800 feet.  (Reno is in the mountains… I never knew!) We’ll go to Las Vegas to eventually conquer Nevada, but for now we’re just here to have a good time.

We’re staying at Harrah’s Downtown, right at the start line and super close to the river.  After getting off our little propeller plane (I kid you not) and checking in, we took a lovely walk to see what the downtown had to offer.

I’ll say this… Reno is clean.  The only other downtown that I’ve seen this clean is Tulsa.  But downtown Reno is a happening place.  It’s beautiful, and it’s so refreshing to see people and government officials taking pride in their city (as opposed to Seattle which… never mind, don’t even get me started).

Anyway, the river overfloweth.  A dam floodgate near Lake Tahoe has been released to allow for melting snow over the next couple of months; therefore, the river is flowing high, fast, and furious. Wouldn’t want to be on it, but it is a beautiful sight:

#spottedthebird!  He was patient and posed nicely for me until I was done taking his picture. I’m out of my element, so I don’t have a clue what he is… where is my Sibley bird-watching book when I need it (and if any of you actually know what that book is, you’re my new BFF)!

As for news from the home front… the child is leaving Sunday on his first trip without Mom or Dad. He’s going with a friend to Maui for the next 2 weeks. I think I forgot to tell him he’s not allowed to grow up.

Now I’m off to go explore Reno and the raging river some more.  After two leg cramps in the middle of the night last night from being poorly hydrated, I’m sucking down the Nuun and water, and need to stretch out the tightness.  I logged 4 miles yesterday… we’ll aim for another 4 today, then the race tomorrow.  Should be a great time!

#spottedthehusband 🙂

 

Week In Review… with Pictures!

32 Replies

I’m not feeling very wordy about last week’s training, but I do have some pictures to share!

Skunk lilies! Pretty, but stinky!

Okay, truth be told, marathon training started last week with The Motivator… although that is certainly not what I was calling him by the end of our 5K together.  From here on out, until I run my marathon in October, he and I will be running together at least once a week.  This is not going to be fun, nor is it going to be pretty.  But because of it, I will succeed at crossing the finish line in the allotted time.  So I will suck it up, get pissed off, and get over it.

The Motivator’s 5K PR is 23:16, whereas I’ve not even left the chute yet. Training is about to get ugly.

But hey!  Good news!   Last week I was also able to get outside on the bike for the first time in 2017! Yay!  That means we had sunshine!  The other good news?!  My sit bones didn’t hurt!  I’m so pleased about that.  The god-awful mind-numbing bike trainer did its job… at least for now. As the weather improves, hopefully my distance and speed improve.  Then possibly I will ultimately have a picnic at the barn (my 50-miler)!!

See the above trees?  We’ve had lots of rain and wind here, which in turn have resulted in fallen trees as the ground is saturated. It won’t be long before the above fallen tree that is leaning will cause the standing tree to collapse as well.  Right across the trail.

And yes, the Easter Bunny made his annual appearance.  Probably not good to have all that chocolate in the house, but I’ll try hard not to complain.

I also have to thank Renee from The Revenge Wogger for the beautiful tulips!  She visited the Skagit Valley Tulilp Festival in my area and sent some to me as we didn’t get a chance to meet up!  So very sweet!  Thanks Renee!  They’re gorgeous!

I #spottedthe… game:  A bunny.  He was too quick to get a picture though.  Not that a bunny is on the list, but I do challenge anyone to get a good picture of a bunny.  😀

Daryl, above, is not wild, he’s domestic. I bunny-sit him during the day at work. #shakaears #imhisfavoriteauntie

Week in mileage:  20.  Keeping track so I can watch the number climb.

Hope everyone had a nice Easter, Passover, and weekend!  For those running Boston, may God bless you all!  Happy running!

 

 

Just Another Day

31 Replies

Baby season is in full swing at the rescue and rehab center.  Things are kicking off a bit late this year because of our cold winter and cold spring.  But the cold ain’t gonna stop Mother Nature now, is it!  We currently have abandoned baby squirrels, abandoned baby bunnies, baby opossums who’ve lost their mom, even 2 little owlets being raised by our resident foster owl mama… and I just received my very first fawn call of the season today.  (“There is a fawn sitting in my yard that has been abandoned.” “No, it hasn’t been abandoned.  Please leave it alone.”)

That being said, I also received a call today that sent my blood pressure to stroke level.  If I could’ve gone through the phone to slap some sense into this a-hole, I would have:

HIM:  My dogs were in a fight with a raccoon a couple of days ago and they chased it up a tree. It’s been up there for 2 days and I would like it removed before it dies.

ME:  The raccoon is in the tree because he’s afraid of your dogs.  Where are the dogs now?

HIM:  Barking at the raccoon in the tree.

ME:  Can you place the dogs in their kennel?

HIM:  The kennel is right underneath the tree.  Should I put them in there?

ME:  No.  Can you bring the dogs inside for a few hours?

HIM:  No.  They’re outside dogs.

ME:  Can you put them in the garage to give this raccoon a chance to come down out of the tree?

HIM:  No.  I’m not willing to do that.

I had to put him on hold after that answer.

“No.  I’m not willing to do that.”  

Are you f’n kidding me?!  I was so not prepared for that response.  You can’t lock up your dogs?? To let another living being, one of God’s creatures, who is scared to death, come down out of a tree and have a chance at survival?? Then why the f*** did you call me?!!  Do you really think I’m going to track all the way out to your drug-infested meth-lab ‘home’ and remove a raccoon from a tree when you won’t even put your hell hounds up?? 

I was now done with this phone call.  I had to pass it off to my director as the veins in my head were frantically pulsating.

The director then proceeded to calmly explain the risk of diseases that a dead raccoon would pass onto his beloved outside dogs who were never allowed inside, if he didn’t remove his dogs from the area to let the raccoon down.

Alas… we will never know what happened to this poor raccoon, whether the above idiot decided to put his dogs up for a couple of hours or not.

I guess I’ll chalk it all up to another “day in the life of…”

Baby season is upon us.  Time for me to step up my game and get ahead of all that’s about to come…

 

 

Seahawks 12K At The Landing

44 Replies

One of the funnest races ever!

We had spirit.  We had a rockin’ atmosphere.  We had dogs everywhere.  We had bagels.

One does not run this for a PR… one runs this for fun.  And spirit.  Which we had (as stated above).

9 a.m. start time for James and the 12K.

As the race was in Renton, about an hour away from us, we opted to get up at 5 (on a Sunday… so I guess you know what I DIDN’T do last night… like drink).  Meep (cat) was none too impressed and didn’t understand why we weren’t following routine… like sleeping until 9.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to get through a morning when a half-Siamese cat is following you around and screaming at you the entire time, telling you to go back to bed??

Ignoring the cat and focusing on the task at hand, leaving promptly at 5:58, we arrived in Renton around 7 a.m.  Score! No traffic!  Empty parking lot!  Barely any people!  No line to the port-a-loos!!

A fabulously relaxing Sunday morning (#truth) as we sat in the Target Starbucks, warm and cozy, having coffee and tea, until it was time to head to the start line.  BTW… this was the line to the portables 20 minutes before my 5K race started at 9:20.  Somewhere in the distance you can see the potties (#runnersproblems).  Surprisingly, it only took me 15 minutes:

One Seahawks player, three Sea-Gal cheerleaders, and Blitz (the mascot) were on hand to send the runners off, along with the Seahawks Drum Line, Blue Thunder.  The energy was high.

Yes, it was cold at about 42 degrees.  I had my hoodie on, which I took off for the race, although I did have a warming long-sleeve underneath my Seahawks tee.

And oh yeah… a thermal warming blanket.

The start line looked like this:

And this:

And everywhere in between:

Faux-hawks, puppies, and 12th Man Spirit abound:

Somewhere amongst the 5000+ people out for a little run today, I earned this:

… the coveted 12th Man Bling!  The race tee was probably one of the best ever:

A lightweight hoodie.  The only shirt that even compares to this is Tulsa’s Route 66 Half-Marathon long-sleeved jacket, which I wear all the time:

Post race was a bagel, banana, and water.  Okay, I would’ve loved some chocolate milk AND water, but I won’t complain.

The race was great, the people were awesome,  swag amazing, and in the end, I got my chocolate milk once we got home.  That, and potato soup, courtesy of Subway.

A really great day!

Mind-Numbing

34 Replies

Having to be on a bike trainer is painfully mind-numbing.  I use one on XT days and because I need to build up for that 50-mile bike ride I want to accomplish this summer, you know, to celebrate turning the big 5-0 (nope, still can’t put those two numbers together… don’t want to, don’t have to).  Donna over at Running To Travel just confirmed that cycling makes one a better runner as well.  As I won’t be able to hit the trail on my bike until about July when it stops raining, I have to settle for the trainer right now (and as I said, it… is… mind-numbing):

Going for a bike ride in the great outdoors, however, is quite stimulating:

This, unfortunately, is mind-numbing:

But this is quite stimulating:

And this is positively stimulating:

Kinda stimulating too (and possibly a little cute?):

Mind-numbingly stimulating:

I think you get where I’m coming from.

AND… the song I’ve chosen for this week’s MMM is stimulating.  This post, however, is fantastically mind-numbing.

Anyway… on to the music… I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard that the drummer (Rick Allen) from Def Leppard had been in a serious car accident and had lost an arm. Okay, in reality, I don’t really remember what I was doing… it was the ’80s after all, but I do remember being devastated when I heard the news, thinking Def Leppard was done and/or would never be the same again.  But they came back… and with a vengeance I might add, bigger and better than before. I do actually remember seeing the following video and being awestruck, which was after that fateful accident.  Rick had learned how to adapt and improvise and succeed regardless of what life dealt him… and for that, he will forever be someone I admire.

This song has always been and will always be a mainstay on my workout playlists…

Race season is about to begin for me, with Sunday (09 April) being race #1 of 2017.  It’s going to be a fun little party with nothing but 12’s for miles and miles.  It is Seattle’s one and only Seahawks 12K Run At The Landing!  I’ll be running the 5K while James is running the 12K.  Okay, I won’t lie… I’m really hoping that a couple of the Seahawks football players come out to cheer us on.  OMG… that’s when all time goals go out the window…  “Seahawk spotted at aid-station 6K in the 12K… I’m there!!!  Doesn’t matter that I’m 0.1 miles from the finish line of the 5K!!!”

Hope you’re having a fantastical weekend!!  And for those of you racing (including my father-in-law Alan in the UK), I wish you a happy and healthy finish!!

One Day of Sun

29 Replies

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.

–Henry van Dyke

Apparently the theme for spring this year is pink.  I’ll take it.  It looks kind of pretty against a blue sky.

Any sign of spring in your neighborhood yet?  (Or autumn, whichever the case may be? 😀 )