Double Digits Baby!

I haven't written about every run. Just the highlights. And man is this a highlight!!

Last weekend I accomplished 9.4 miles so I decided that THIS weekend would be the very exciting TEN mile run! Except it was supposed to rain :(

Dad and I checked several weather sites several times and concluded that we'd get up Saturday morning and assess. It was not actually raining yet and for the most part, it looked like if it did rain, it would be later and not much. So, I decided I was going to start on the trail. We had a backup plan of sorts if the radar, etc was wrong.

It was cold and wet - nothing falling, but wet. I'm sure you know what I mean. And really, it wasn't THAT cold... it's all relative! I started in a long sleeve shirt and a rain jacket (it's an old one from my bike days, I think it's supposed to be for rain...) with light gloves and earmuffs. When I saw Dad the first time after 2 miles, I took off the jacket and gloves but kept them with me. I left on the earmuffs. Those were removed (and worn around my neck) somewhere before I saw dad again at just under 4 miles total.

There we also saw two women who were section hiking part of the PCT. They were finishing where I had last seen Dad. For now. They planned to start there in April for another few days. Fun, fun. I was tempted to ask them "book or movie" but they seemed like legit hiker people. (Watch the Gilmore Girls revival - that'll make more sense)

The plan was to get to 2N02 and turn around and go back almost to where I started. Each segment was about 2 miles (segments being runs between seeing Dad) so I was doing 5 - not finishing where I started. Once I got there, it was confirmed that as long as I made it back to Highway 18 as planned, I'd have my 10 miles! We were both pretty jazzed!! I was hot so there I took off the long sleeve shirt but kept the jacket tied around my waist. I also ditched the earmuffs for good.

About halfway back to seeing Dad again (mile 8 or so), I put the jacket back on, over my pack. The clouds were rolling in and there was a nippy breeze. Once I got to Dad, I took my pack off and put the jacket on proper. We also discussed the fact that at some point, I'd be running in a cloud. It looked like possibly the rest of the way. Also, we knew I would definitely make my goal. It was fun that Dad was excited as I was!!

I never did run in a cloud. When I got to where I had just been so sure I would, I looked back at where I was and THAT was in a cloud. Weird. But probably good.

I knew this section held a very steep hill before I got to the last half mile or so which was all downhill. I got to the steepest part and ran into a family out for an adventure. It was so steep there, I didn't care; I walked. Also, I had just crossed into having gone further than I ever have. I was tired. And the blisters had arisen.

I pressed forward, running when I could but not much. I kept an eye on my watch so I'd know when I was approaching 10 and so I could make sure I was running at that point. Right?! I was about 10 yards from the top of the hill when my watch beeped 10 miles. I radioed to dad. I stopped and praised God a moment at the top of the hill. Then I let it rip all the way down! Hehe. I'm never very fast.

WHAT A DAY!!! I never really got wet, just damp at the beginning. Never saw mud. My bad toe never hurt! The blisters held off until the very end. As always, I was happy to stop, but had fun while I was doing it!!

Dad took this at almost 9:

Dad is so awesome! He spent his day roaming around the mountain but mostly just waiting for me! It's great having a crew along, but it's even better when they're experienced in this madness and know what to ask, etc. If I'd been on my own, with the threat of rain and all, I might've just sat on the couch all day!! This was SOOO much better :)

I'm the pink line. Dad's the blue line. I'm not sure what the teal line is!
The green/red dot is where I finished. I started upper left. 

Guns? Sanity?

I posted this on Facebook on 2/16 - 2 days after the Parkland FL school shooting. 

As my students took a quiz, I pondered how I could make my classroom safer, harder to penetrate.

As I graded papers, I considered who might target and who might be targeted.

As I watched these teenagers work, I questioned how on earth I'd be able to keep them quiet in a scary situation. 

As I stood at the classroom door welcoming my students, I wondered how many I could fit inside in the middle of a spree of gunfire.

As I took precautions, I wondered if other people ever have to worry about these things. 

Do the people who think anyone should be able to buy an assault rifle ever think about these things?

Do the people who own firearms and worry about government taking them away ever wonder how they'd keep 35 teenagers safe? 

Do the parents of the shooters ever ask themselves what they could have done differently? 

Do parents ever consider their actions and what reaction their kids might have?

(That last one, I'm guessing, from my friends anyway, are yes)

Know what? I'm not staying silent anymore.

It's not a gun issue. It's not a mental health issue. It's not a discipline issue.

IT'S AN ISSUE!!! It is ALL of the above!!! It's my issue and yours. And WE have to do something. 

I'm starting here: https://gunsensevoter.org/

Thank you for reading.

Long run with the runs

Yup, you read that right! You might not want to read this! I won't be graphic, though, promise.

Today I set out on what I hoped would be 7-7.5 miles. I ran to the aqueduct and then down the path (paved side). My goal was to go to the end but I wasn't sure how far that would be. I didn't want to overdo since I had to turn around and go back.

I got to the last road crossing and had gone 3.75 miles. I could see the little building at the end, but again, I didn't want to push myself. So glad I didn't!!

About half a mile later, my gut decided it didn't like me. Unfortunately I was three miles from home!!  I found that it was actually worse when I walked so I ran more than I might have otherwise. I knew there was a porta potty at a construction site about a mile from home. Could I make it 2 more miles?! Ugh!! I was on the aqueduct and couldn't exactly "step off" so I had to try. At the next road crossing I looked as far as I could see to make sure there wasn't a construction potty there somewhere. There wasn't. So I plodded on.

I made it to the porta potty just in time. After that, I was fine. I have NO idea what caused the issue. I didn't eat the second half of my Bloks on the run, just in case. I ate them later and was fine. Actually, I've been fine ever since. Last night, I ate Panera. A turkey sandwich. So, guess what? I'm not doing THAT again!! In fact, I'm going back to eating right - i.e. vegan. With occasional eggs and shrimp (SO not ready to give up my shrimp fried rice addiction). We'll see if that helps.

Now I'm recovering with the pooch. Iced my toe. It hurt most of the run. Which is interesting cuz it DIDN'T hurt until the end of my trail run last week. It's all a learning process. Still loving that process!!!

Attempted Yoga

In Texas I visited a yoga studio right down the street from the house as often as I could. The last several times I went, I went to a "restorative" yoga class. It was awesome but more about stretching and relaxing than balancing and such and what most people think of with yoga.

There aren't a lot of options for yoga here in the High Desert. There is a studio several miles from our house. Cost plus distance just doesn't seem worth it. BUT there's a gym not too far away that has yoga (and other) classes as part of membership. And it's cheap - for a gym. $20/month. So I decided to do a free-trial and try a class.

I came home and walked Slugs a little (got the mail) and watched Ellen. I wasn't sure how long signing up for the free trial would take, nor how crowded the class would be so I left earlier than I needed to - 4:30. I fed Slugger right before I left.

The class was great. I liked the instructor very much. Unfortunately, I didn't like the gym atmosphere. Even though we had soothing music on, we could still hear their obnoxiously loud music. And I jumped every time someone dropped a barbell/weight.

I did find it interesting that I was MUCH better at balance poses than I had been previously. I'm blaming the running! I could actually almost feel like I was doing tree pose instead of floundering like I used to. So YAY!

When I got home, Slugger had eaten an entire bag of potato chips. Guess he doesn't like me being gone in the evening either.

I have the exercise room all set up now so I'm going to try yoga at home for a few weeks. If that isn't working for me, I'll try the yoga studio.

Getting Motivated

For Martin Luther King Jr weekend, I decided to go to Big Bear to see Dad and go for a trail run. Since I had a 3rd day, I'd still have time to do household chores and such.

Dad got into the planning for my trail run and ended up being my crew! He dropped me at the dump road and I headed toward Canada. He would then pick me up where the PCT crosses VanDusen Canyon Road, about 6 miles later.

First, I had to run through the burn area from the Holcomb fire last June. It was stark and bare and just sad. Dad and I have hiked this section before and it's like a completely different place. I have pictures somewhere of the foliage that was so prominent and beautiful. Now I felt like I was on the moon or something. Sandy ash everywhere. I could see Baldwin Lake the entire way. Until I got to the side of the mountain that I needed to go up.

The trail went up with a couple switchbacks for about 2 more miles. It was rocky which I hate. I did a LOT of walking. I felt like I was dancing along the rocks, kinda power walking. But I did it and I knew that once I got to the top it would be worth it. And it was!!

Once I went over the top, I was able to run quite a bit. It was SO pretty and peaceful. There were quite a few snow patches. Some just a stride or two, others longer. I think the longest might have been 20 yards. And mushy snow because it was warm. My shoes got a little wet but I'd prefer that to scary icy snow.

It was mostly level or downhill at that point. It was AWESOME!!! Man, I want to live there so bad so I can run on trails all the time!!! But really, I think that running roads is good for me too. One, it makes me appreciate trails when I get to them. Two, it's different so it exercises muscles differently. Three, life isn't perfect.

I had a radio with me so I was listening to the BB Repeater the whole time. I chatted with Dad at about 3.5 miles. He was going to meet me along the trail to see how I was doing. I hadn't been on this trail though so I didn't really know where that point was. It was so much fun to be running strong down a hill and look up and there's Dad!! We walked a bit and chatted. I had a mile or so to the road. I set off running. He walked back to his car hoping to beat me to the "finish"!

This part I'd been on and recognized several portions. I finished with 6.9 miles!! I felt FANTASTIC!! I was tired and was happy to start but that "runner's high" had already settled in and I'm still feeling it!! I could almost forget about the mountain I started out going up!

It SO motivated me!! Let's DO this!!! Whatever THIS is 😉

One of the snow patches. The only pic I took cuz I was having so much fun!

Winter Break ending

Slugger and I thoroughly enjoyed our 17 day break together. To celebrate our last day, we went for a hike. We ventured off to the PCT near here. Dad and dogs and I had found it earlier in break. Slugger and I decided to head "south" toward Big Bear. We were probably 30-40 miles of trail from being anywhere near there.

It was an interesting trail with interesting people. I'll leave it at that. We went about a mile and got to a very big water hole. Slugger REALLY wanted to go in. I chose to turn around. We even saw some horses on our way back!! Slugger did VERY well, considering.

Here are pics from the outing.

Christmas in CA!

 I would not trade the many holidays I spent with just G or Slugs, or with my transplant family in Texas. But THIS year was extra special.

Dad and I were invited to my brother's for Christmas Eve but didn't really know what we were doing for Christmas day. I had planned a birthday/Christmas party for 12/30 to which I had invited some friends and my brother and SIL. Dad was in charge of seeing what was happening with the rest of the family.

On the Wednesday afternoon before Christmas (4.5 days) it was decided that my aunt and uncle and their three grown children would come to MY house for Christmas day! I was SO excited!!!! I immediately started making lists 😀 (also totally just learned how to put emojis in here!). Luckily school was out early on Thursday and we had Friday off. BUT Dad and I had plans in Big Bear on Saturday night, plus Christmas Eve (Sunday) with Dave and Loni. The decision was made that I, at least, would return to the desert after tamales at Dave's Sunday night.

Anyway, I thrive in busy-ness so it was great fun for me. I had several lists going and every minute was planned out. My favorite! No sarcasm there - I love doing nothing but I also love being busy and having a tight schedule, every once in a while. I already had the table ready (or planned) for the party on Dad's birthday so that part was easy. I have made a traditional Christmas dinner several times, so the food wasn't difficult. And I had it all scheduled out so it was a matter of just doing it.

Saturday night, Dad and I and two of his neighbors went to a fun Christmas "play" - A Christmas Carol Askew or something like that. Very very funny. Audience participation and singing and lots of laughs. Dad even got singled out in the crowd. He played along very well!! Sunday morning I went for a trail run. That evening we went off to Dave's. Yummy tamales and good company. Then we went and picked up the dogs and made our way to the desert.

Dad and I had a quiet but fun Christmas morning with the pooches while I periodically did something in the kitchen. Charlie, Patty, Steven, Tyler, and Samantha showed up right on time and the party began. The turkey was moist, the potatoes mushy, and the yams (a new dish for me) were quite yummy. I made the stuffing in the crockpot. I thought it was kinda dry but somebody (don't remember who) said it was just right. I don't like stuffing so whatever! I had made a cream cheese pie, a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie. Why all the pie?

Over the weekend, I had invited Joanna and her mom and brother to come over for pie on Christmas Day evening. With 7 people at dinner, plus 3 coming just for pie, it seemed I need a 3rd pie. Right? Eh. Could've done without the pumpkin cuz it wasn't very good. BUT I FINALLY got the cream cheese pie right!!!

Once Christmas was over, I could concentrate on the birthday party. I had decided on a Mexican fiesta. I made enchiladas, sopapillas, "refried" beans, etc. There were supposed to be 9 of us, but Dave and Loni came down sick so they didn't come. The 7 of us left enjoyed the meal and then we had a gift exchange (I ended up with a new fuzzy blanket!) and played some games. It was a good evening. I think Dad felt celebrated. Oh, there was a birthday cake (which has a story but I'll keep it to myself for now).Seventy-five never looked so good!!

All in all, it was an EXCELLENT Christmas week in California!! I was ready for a low-key first week of January, which I got 😄

Opening Gifts from Santa 

Grandpa was trying to help with the packaging 

The first hiding spot 

Downtime between parties!

I really should take more pics of stuff. I guess I was having too much fun!!!