Visualize whirled me's.

I've received relentless complaints from friends and family regarding the inability to post comments here without registering.  I'm finally caving into the "peer pressure" and relocating my primary blog local HERE.  I LOVE Vox, and adore many of the "friends" I've made here, it's just difficult to imagine that I'll be able to maintain two blogs, let alone one. 

 

I'm not abandoning my little slice of heaven here just yet.  We'll see what happends.  But, I'm litterlly so tired of hearing people say "I wanted to post a comment, but I just don't want to sign up for yet another site."  *sigh* 

Okay, so maybe I should change it from runners to plodders.

I'm running again.  Yes sir ree!  I'm running again.

I did 37 minutes non-stop after taking a ..... one, two, three .... month break in running.  Did I mention I'm running a half marathon next month.

Yah, I suck.  But, at least I know it.  LOL.

I'm extraordinarily jealous of my girlfriend in Arizona, she's found several running friends through her blog (I'm a dork and I don't have the link to put here right now).  And I'm just astonished.  How did she find all these people?  Where did she find them?  How?

I've tried for YEARS to find running companions.  I'm not picky.  I don't need to run with the person.  I don't need to converse, but I will if someone wants to.  They can run faster or slower.  I just don't care, I just want someone to go do a run with.

Alas I whine.

Well, a couple weekends ago, Chet ran the Cascade Crest 100 miler in 28:02:15.  Despite running the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miler a month before, running through the rain for 3/4 of the race and being on a totally new, unfamiliar and challenging course.

It was a lot of fun, and I'm really proud of Chet, not only did he have a great race, but he ran the last 1/4 mile with Gabriel on his shoulders.  I should have taken more pictures, but alas, that is not my strong point.  Here is what I do have.

This is the regular and common question every night at our house.  Lately it's been getting a bit odd.  The other day he wanted a water truck for breakfast.  Didn't quite know how to make that for him, nor how he would eat one if I could get one.

Tonight, it was "motorcycle." 

Here's how it went.

Me: "Hey, Bubba, what do you want for dinner?"

G: "motorcycle"

Me: "What?"

G: "Motorcycle"

Me: "You want a motorcycle for dinner?"

G: "Yesss."

"Okay, I'll fix you motorcycle.

So, here is his "motorcycle" dinner.

When one is and is not having fun.

Life has been amazingly busy, and blogging just has not been a priority.  My family has. Can't feel bad about that, now can I.

So, I'm here.  I'll make a bunch of posts today, maybe a few more over the next few days, then it will likely slow down until sometime next week.

I'm on week 8, and I'm 12.8 pounds down since I re-started at the beginning of June.  I've made the switch from the Flex Points (tm) program with Weight Watchers to CORE (tm).  The difference for those whom are not familiar with Weight Watchers today, flex is you eat what you want, everything is assigned a points value (i.e a beer is 3 pts.) and you are limited to the number of points you can consume in a day.  CORE is different in that you are more limited on the foods that are in the program, basically, there's a list of foods that are "CORE" foods and you eat anything you want from that list (this is a very oversimplified explanation) to the point of being satisfied, and there's not counting points or anything.  However, things that are not on the CORE list, you have to count points for (i.e. beer) and that comes out of a weekly "allowance."

CORE seemed to be a little better choice given the fact that most of what we cook is already made of CORE foods, and it seems more like a program which fits my lifestyle more than counting points until I'm 80.  I mean, I can "limit" my choice of foods (which really isn't much of a limit thus far) and recognize that certain other items are not good for me and should be enjoyed in moderation.  So, it seems to be a good choice.

The GREAT news is that I am down to a weight that I have not seen since before Gabriel was born.  ROCK ON.

So, just to document where I've come from (shortly after I started) here are some Pictures documenting the starting point.  I'll be taking pictures again on Monday, so we'll see if there's any noticeable difference in photographs.  The good news is that my close are fitting MUCH better (and some are nearly too loose) so that's all good.

Okay, well, I'm not proud of these, but hey, they are pictures of me in my past, thus it's okay.  I'm moving beyond now.

Well, we're finally recovering from the weekend.  Well, maybe.  We're working on recovering.

Chet ran the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile race, and I staffed the Tunnel Creek aid station.  I elected to staff the aid station this year because I got to see the 100 mile runners 6 times as opposed to the 3 times I would have seen Chet if I crewed him for the race.  It is also something special to be out there as a part of the race we really do love for so many reasons.

The long and short of the race report for Chet is that he finished in 28:36:30 and 32'd overall.  Very good in my opinion.  But, that's not even all of it.  He shaved four hours...count them FOUR.... from last years finish time of 32:34:23!!!  That's freaking AWESOME!  And he's in great condition.  He's gotten out for a couple jogs this week.  The bottoms of his feet are sore and he had a blister/toe nail pop on his left foot today, which is causing significant pain (no jogging tonight).  But, otherwise he is in tip top condition.

Working Tunnel Creek was a blast.  It was amazing to see all the different runners come through.  Those who were doing awesome, like Jasper Halekas, the winner of the race who shaved two hours off his record and finish time last year.  Working with legends like Norm and Helen Klein.  Watching Norm in action, getting people back on their feet, coming back from the mental place where they were determined to drop out of the race, and he would talk them into getting back on the trail.  It was just a blast to be out there. 

Unfortunately (and something to keep in mind for myself next year) is since I was in charge of the medical check (i.e. weigh in) at the Tunnel Creek aid station, I touched each 100 miler six times (well, a handful only 5 times since I did take a two hour break from 2am to 4:15 am).  And, well, I've come down with one heck of a stomach bug.  Bleh.  So, gloves and even more hand cleaning methods will be employed by me next year.

Well, that's the long and short of the report.  Now, I've actually got some pictures. Enjoy!

So total cheese of a title, but it was a blast. We spent a week on the north coast of California.  My parents and us rented a house in Trinidad and then we stayed in town for the week culminated by the wedding of my dear cousin, Amber.

Here are some pictures.  Again, I didn't take nearly enough, but oh-well.

Well, I DID IT!

It was a lot of fun.  I'm really excited to report on my run. 

Just a background reminder, I tore the deltoid ligaments in my left ankle early May.  As a result, I wasn't able to start running again until the beginning of June.  So, my goal was just to run a majority of my legs and finish with a smile.

So, my first leg, leg 5 (5.8 miles) I ran the whole thing, except for one large and relatively long uphill.  Even after turning my ankle!  I'm so happy.  And, all this after turning my ankle on the run. 

The story about turning my ankle is pretty funny.  It totally annoyed me.  I had to go pee so bad at the start, but the one porta potty was very busy.  And there was very little cover to jump into the woods.  So, I decided if I really needed to I would just duck off the trail and pee on the run.  So, when I finally get to a point where there is cover and not a steep hill down, I start to walk off to the side and turn my damn ankle.  I was irritated.  So, I cuss a bit, don't go pee and start to try to jog it off.  Later I finally find a road off to the side and I get my wiz break. 

And considering my limited training, turning my ankle, and 5.8 miles, I did it 10 minutes faster than my projected time!!!!!!

Due to the Angora Fire, the middle leg was dropped from the RTO this year.  So, my second leg this year (which would have otherwise been my 3rd leg, was from Mound House, NV to Silver City, NV...3.4 miles.  Not bad.....but I only ran one single down hill.  The rest of the flipp'n leg was UP HILL!  And, considering all my training had been on the treadmill or track and I didn't have a lick of hill training....I "ultra'd" it as we say around here, which basically means I hiked the heck out of it.  And honestly, I hiked it faster than I could have ran it.  It was a TON of uphill, I mean a lot!! 

So, I did that one 11 seconds faster than my projected time.  ROCK ON.

I didn't take any pictures.  But, it was fun.  When I get copies downloaded from my team mates, I'll post some (if I remember).  But it was fun and I can't wait for next year.

I suck at taking pictures.  I need to take twice as many as I do and have my camera more often.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't take any finish pictures.  Maybe it was hardly any sleep.  Maybe it was the fact we did the last 1.3 miles with Goerge on his way to the finish with Gabriel on my shoulders.  Who knows.  But here's some pictures from Forresthill.