PFTW #6 / #SummerTrailRun, Mt Rainier, and the most beautiful place I've ever seen

June 28-July 4

Monday: Day 1 of some Fitness Blender Challenge I found - HIIT and lower body strength. 

Tuesday: Day 2 - Upper body and cardio

Wednesday: Day 3 - HIIT and abs

Thursday: Day 4 - This was a kickboxing video, but kickboxing confuses me (I spend so much time trying to keep the moves straight, I basically stop moving), so I did an upper body and cardio video instead

Friday: I worked, then PACKED FOR VACATION! (All of the pictures in the universe down below).

Saturday: 2 miles-ish hiking

Sunday: 7-8ish miles, hiking

July 5-11

Monday: nothing 

Tuesday: walked ALL OVER Seattle.

Wednesday: nothing (flight home followed by an all-day communications training class for me, because I'm the luckiest).

Thursday: Hold on to your hats. For the first time in almost 7 months, I pinned on a bib and RAN A RACE. 

The Renegade Summer Trail Run Race #2 was a great time, as always. It's super hard coming out of retirement (ahem not running in 10 days on top of that...), and this race was certainly challenging. 

But I've really really missed racing!! Super psyched that I made it out for this one, even if I was grossly under-hydrated and unprepared. Renegade Races are just so great. 

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: 6.5ish miles on trails while #1 was at XC hill practice - luckily, I ran into another mom who was kind enough to join me and my slow pace.

Sunday: 4 miles with ex-neighbor Will

I am working a wacky schedule for the next several weeks while I have some new hires working at night, so hoping I can fit some runs in after work (even if it's a little late). Before work is tricky, because Gab can't be left home alone, and the other kids are in XC camp until 10am. I keep making excuses in my brain about not having time, but I really just need to make the time.

I know, this is revolutionary. Don't steal my idea. 

This week!

Monday: Lower Body, HIIT 

Tuesday: Upper body, 4 miles

Wednesday: HIIT and abs

Thursday: Upper body, 4 miles

Friday: Lower Body, HIIT

Saturday: rest

Sunday: 6 miles

***VACATION!!!***

Saturday: In an effort to convince #1 that the PNW is obvs where she should spend her college years, we spent a long weekend in Seattle. #2 was dressed the part. 

We got into SEA at 11:30am, and spent the day wandering in the Carbon River area. 

Me, all weekend: Man, that is a Big Mountain. 

We trekked up a giant hill in search of a waterfall that was apparently all dried up. It was kind of pretty. 

Sunday: We headed around the north side of the mountain, stopping a gajillion times for coffee and pretty views, before landing at the Sunrise Visitor Center and doing the Frozen Lake trail. 

Aside from a bathroom incident with Gab and #2 trying to fling herself off the mountain to avoid flies, it was a lovely hike. 

After lunch in Sunrise, we headed to Tipsoo Lake, where the wildflower game was strong...

After my family was sick of hearing me exclaim, "LOOK! So many flowers!", we headed south to the Stevens Canyon entrance, and hiked Silver Falls and Grove of the Patriarchs. 

Monday: Drove up to Bellingham via Chuckanut Dr and Larrabee State Park.

We wandered around the Fairhaven district for awhile and ate delicious, delicious pizza (for real, Fat Pie Pizza in Bellingham, you should go there). We took a walking tour of Western Washington U, which #1 did not LOVE, but I kind of did, and then ate all the food in the universe at Boundary Bay Brewery, which came recommended by internet friend Alma.

The beer was great, the food was great, the desserts were great, the service was great, it was all great. 

Tuesday: So many hours of walking and drinking coffee, and farmers marketing, and monrailing. 

After a super quick coffee with Alma at the craziest library I ever have seen, we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, which was fun for a couple hours (and so peaceful, besides the part when #1 lost her mind because she thought we might miss the ferry back, and didn't accept that there were later ferries to be had). 

Wednesday: 3:30 wake up for a 6am flight that was delayed to almost 7am when the co-pilot's chair broke. No, really.

Three Things Thursday

1. Y'all, it's hard to figure out what to blog about when I'm not running.

I LOVE my job so far, and everyone here. I really, really didn't like my last job. I'm at the end of my fourth week here, and it's so great being trusted to handle the responsibility I was hired for. The work I'm doing is certainly nothing earth-shaking, but it's engaging and really fun. AND THE PEOPLE ARE SO GREAT. Also, fun fact, it's a restaurant marketing company, so they keep us really well fed. Which really makes the not running extra trecherous....

But after spending a year+ having allthetime, I totally feel like now, I have NONE of the time. It's befuddling to me how I ever trained for marathons AND worked full time.

I recognize that I'm just making excuses and being whiny, because in reality, I'm working great hours, I get to take the kids to school, and my commute is half of what it used to be. I just can't seem to get it together. Yet. I'm sure I will. I'm just adjusting still, I guess.


2. Would you like to see my kids instead?

First day of school!

ignore the dining room that is currently in remodel phase...

Me: Take a quick picture I can send to grandma.

#2: Like this!

Um. Okay, then.


3. Cross Country season is in full swing, and there are so many numbers and statistics and man I love it! For the first time in years, #1's girls' varsity team was not ranked in our division, and the coach was very sad about that. To be fair, they lost the three strongest runners when they insisted on graduating and going off to college or some nonsense.

But the new team is working hard, and they're doing pretty well - they're all better than they were at the start of last year, so hopefully that trajectory continues.

I was SUPER excited to hear that they were going to be bussed to the races this year, so we didn't have to go so so so early, and STAY all day.

I was SUPER excited to hear that, until this news was followed up with instructions to have them at the school by 5:45am on race days. That is less appealing to me.

Anyway.

Our school hosts the third largest invite in the country - this year was the 34th year, and it's AN ORDEAL. The kids head over on Friday before lunch, then work to set up the course and act as course monitors, leaving after the last race around 11pm. The next day, they race while parents are course monitor, from 2-10. AND THEN we get to break down the entire course, and transport everything back to the moving trucks. It's a pretty special time.

I don't even get to watch her race!

The highlight of the evening was when the company that supplied the timing chips advised a group of 50 kids at 11pm that all FIFTEEN THOUSAND chips needed to be sorted into numerical order. That was really fun.

The next morning, a friend alerted me to this cool shot in the local paper.

Which was followed by 20 minutes of me driving all over Irvine looking for a copy, only to be thwarted by Late Sunday edition I could find being different from the home delivery edition he was showing me. It's all cool, though, because I totally snagged some killer coupons, so it paid for itself, because last night I used it to buy 10 yogurts for $3. #ExtremeCouponing

Week in Review / PFTW

Last week!

Monday: XT
Maybe reverse psychology works on me, because once I said I was just resigned to resting on Monday's, I did arms and abs. Clever trick, me.

Tuesday: Tempo
7 miles total with 4 at tempo. Goal was 9:22-9:07, actual was 9:22, 9:20, 9:13, 9:09. Skipped run club because it was 97* and I enjoy being alive.

Every Tuesday, I do speed on the treadmill, and every Tuesday, there's a guy in the gym that "runs" for 45 minutes. And by "runs", I mean, he turns the belt on, and occasionally runs, but spends most of the time standing on the edges playing on his phone. It's so bizarre. Do people that do this know that those miles don't even count???

Wednesday: Run/XT
Last week was HOT. Like, over 100* for most of the week. In fact, it was so toasty that I decided to go to the gym for almost 2 hours, because at least the gym has AC (and my apartment DOES NOT). 3 mile run, a couple miles walking leisurely, and lower body circuit. It was so cool and lovely, I hated to leave.

Thursday: XT
Arms, Core, and stretch

Friday: Run
Woke up to tons of smoke and firey smelling air from the San Diego fires south of us - was intending to do a long run, but the air was awful. Made it 3 miles with itchy eyes and scratchy throat and called it. After I got home, I saw on the news there was an air quality warning, advising to stay indoors. Ha. Too late, suckers.

Saturday: Long!
This run was so great! 6 miles easy, 6 at "goal" pace. Goal pace felt a teeeeeeny bit challenging, but certainly not too hard, so I'm maybe optimistic about the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half. Maybe.

(BTW, if you want to run, you can register at that link, and use HEATHERDISCOUNT for an extra 10% off.)

Sunday: Rest?
We spent the day spectating #2's track event, while #1 and her team volunteered with the operations.

This is how Gab feels about track time.

The H took her home between events. She was a joy to bring to the track.

#2 ran her teeny tiny heart out for her 100m, but she watches everything happening around her instead of looking forward. It's so weird!

Rare shot of her looking forward.

She was also supposed to run the 400m later, but DNS'ed due to an ankle injury she acquired while goofing off on the bleachers. More accurately, an "injury". Since I saw her later bounding up the stairs, I am skeptical of this claim. This was not the highlight of my day.

It was WARM, and despite reapplying sunscreen a billion times, I have some fancy sunburn lines everywhere. #blessed.

So now, FOR REAL, track is DONE until next January. GOOD RIDDANCE, TRACK.

***************************************************************************
PFTW

It's taper!

Monday: rest
Tuesday: Run club! Arms, core
Wednesday: Speed - not sure what, yet, but likely 400's/800's?
Thursday: XT, legs
Friday: 5 with strides (or maybe trails, weather dependent), arms/core
Saturday/Sunday - rest

I'll talk more about my goals for Laguna later this week..... Honestly, a lot of it just depends on the weather forecast. I am a fair weather runner.

Four Things Thursday

1. One of the most frustrating things about job hunting is finding a job that sounds great, going through multiple rounds of interviews, and then getting turned down with a "You're tooooooo qualified". On one hand, yes, in fact, I AM too qualified for the job - which I knew, and pursued anyway, because I (this will shock you) wanted that job. On the other hand... I mean. Presumably you read my resume before I spent time talking to you. Why are my qualifications surprising? 

2. This summarizes exactly why I can't take Runner's World seriously.  

‘Just because you’re married and have young children and a job doesn’t mean you don’t have time to run…You need this time. Taking it for yourself (by letting your husband baby-sit while you run, for instance) will benefit the whole family.’Question: can you babysit your own child?

Seriously. 

3. I'm incapable of refraining from a challenge, so when Fitness Blender announced their five-day challenge for this week, of course I accepted. Day 1 was a 40 minute butt/thigh video, Day 2 upper body with cardio, and day 3... Insane HIIT. 

It's befuddling to me that I can run, but 30 minutes of some cardio kills me dead. 

4. SPRING BREAK. We went to the beach for the first time in... gosh. Four years?! That sounds ridiculous since we live so close, but cancer and ports and chemo and whatever. 

Seriously, 15 minutes down the road from this, and yet... 

The girls had absolutely no fun. 

Three Thing Thursday

1. Hi!

2. It's been awhile, eh? This is what I've generally been up to, starting from most recent backwards:

look! Sunny, in SoCal.

Collecting eyeball lasers from #1 at track events

spring has sprung on the trails

Coaster Run at Knotts! Another great Renegade Race Series event.

#2 is training, too!

Beautiful beachy weddings

ZION!

And, #1 won the 1600 and 3200 in her first pre-season track event. This qualified her for Indoor State Champs, which was a FREAKING DEBACLE. 

3. And now we're all caught up!

I've finally started coming out of the running funk, and have a couple races on my calendar, so I thought I'd dust this sucker off and get back at it.

What have you been up to?

And then I retired

First: Any local friends planning to run the SoCal Half Marathon?? 

**************************************************

With 2 new PR's in December (5k recap here and half marathon recap here), I figured there's nowhere else to go, so I should just quit running while I'm high, right?

I took the last 2 weeks pretty much off. I was expecting to feel a bit sore and achy, but man alive, the first few days were rough. I did zero running until 6 days out, and finally felt pretty good then. I got SUPER motivated to hit 100 miles in December, and calculated that I would need, like, 36 miles in the next 9 days to do it.

Last week, I ran a few more times, and did a couple days of cross training. I did not come ANYWHERE close to 36 miles, and... that's a-okay by me. Running double pr's was hard, man.

I spent a lot of time baking things....

this was sticky bun test, take 2: Browned butter variation. This was a success!

and skyping with family in Florida...

#2 taking pictures of cousins = hilarious

Losing teeth ewwww

And some one-on-one time with each of these hoodlums.

she's so cute sometimes.

The H had to work on Christmas, so it was a really low-key affair around here, and I kind of liked that. I'm not a huge fan of big deals.


I have a few for-fun races coming up this winter/spring... starting with Tink in 3 weeks with Becka, then the Renegade Coaster Run at Knott's in March! I may throw in a sprint tri in February, but I'm not sure yet (PS, for either of those you can register using HEATHERDISCOUNT for 10% off).

I'm - still - on the hunt for a marathon. My travel budget is limited, we have some summer plans that are eating away my racecation budget this year - and none of the local races really speak to me. We'll see. I'd like to PR, but I want the right race. I'm weird. I also would kind of like to race another 5k and another half. Because I'm a glutton for punishment.

#1's track season is starting up already (they started practice immediately following CIF Finals, crazy), and our spring Saturday's are pretty booked. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ARE SO SO SO SO TIME CONSUMING, you guys. I can only hope that #2 joins the same sports so we can be efficient with our time.  (I am kidding. Kind of.).

In job news.... I'm still enjoying my funemployment, but I'm ready to get some stuff going. I've got some vague ideas swirling around, but they're like pieces to a puzzle that I'm kind of struggling to fit together.

A friend of mine posted this the other day.

Building the new.

Playing catch-up

Hi!

So, listen. Since I've been SAHM'ing, I've been a little.... lost? I don't necessarily "define" myself as a working-mom, but I have been working for a long time. The adjustment to being a full-time, at home parent has been jarring, honestly. Not bad, mind you, just.... different. I definitely enjoy the face time with the kids, and - DEFINITELY - the freeeeee time I have, now that the kids are back at school.

But for the first time in ages, I'm not really on a schedule, besides Gab's school schedule. I have so much free time, I kind of get overwhelmed and freeze because I don't know what to do with it all. That sure sounds like crazypeople talk.

Anyway, with all this freeeeeee time, you'd think I could at least be running some decent miles. AND YET.

This is what lazyass looks like

I'm partially convinced that my problem is that I had no races coming up - #1's cross country scheduling made fall plans mighty tricky for racing - so I've picked a December half, and start training..... Monday. Whee. 

With that, I guess, Plan for the Week is making a comeback!

Monday: 3 mi easy, XT

Tuesday: 6 mi, speed

Wednesday: XT

Thursday: 5 easy

Friday: 8 (with middle miles race pace), XT

Saturday: rest

Sunday: 3 easy or rest

I have kept up on the video trifecta (Tank Top Arms, Core, Glutes/Thighs), so at least there's that? (And, ps, I DO have muscle in my arms, and and AND I did full pushups - not on my knees - so I guess those videos do work....).

In other news....

As I said, #1 joined cross country at her high school, and is busy being so fast. They train hard, they train a LOT, and she's made amazing improvements already. When she started going to camp, her 5k time on July 4th was 24:xx (her 5k PR from Chapman 2011 was 22:08). At an invitational last weekend, she came in sub-20 in a 3 mile race. 

I would probably puke, if I didn't die first. 

I don't want to brag (lie), but she's killing it - she's already been asked to run varsity, and I'm really excited to watch the rest of her season. Which races every single weekend. All of the weekends. All over Southern California. 

Every weekend. 

Excitingly, #2 has expressed an interest in going running, too, so I am hoping to log some easy miles with her this week. 

And Gab has been accompanying us to some of the races, and mostly spends her time being like this. 

Grass Angels? 

And in non-kid news, remember my infatuation with Evan Dando last year? After an 18 month dry-spell in the SoCal tour front, Evan finally returned to OC this weekend, and man, it was glorious. 

Of note, that is NOT the infamous black shirt he wore for 6 months straight in 2011-2012, his voice sounds AMAZING, and he is seemingly clean and sober. Thank goodness. 

And, finally, I am for SURE an old, old, old person.

I have a really FUN story to share another day about annoying people. 

My favorite day of the week is grocery store circular day.