We are breaking from our normally scheduled program to bring you a proud mama moment. 🙂
Ready to go!
The Peanut had her first cross-country meet today! The past two years she has sworn up and down that she had no interest in running let alone running on her school’s team … but throw a popsicle after every practice, some good friends and a great coach into the mix? How can you say no to that?!
With the massive fires we’ve been having lately, the first meet was cancelled as well as quite a few practices leading up to today’s event. The Peanut has not run in a few days but today, she ran!
Hi Mom!
The weather was perfect! Cool temps and a slight breeze made for the best racing conditions.
The 2nd and 3rd grade kids only have to run 3/4 ths of a mile but the Peanut has been struggling lately to run the whole thing without stopping.
Today, she ran the entire time. She said she never stopped once!
Here she comes!
The meet today was on home turf so that was a great way to build confidence. She knew exactly where to go.
When we practiced the night before her and I talked about pacing, the start and the finish. Hoping she wouldn’t go out too fast but praying she had enough in the tank to sprint at the end. She knows that her school (and her mama) loves to sprint to the finish line.
Turning on the sprint!
I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when she entered the finish chute. There were three girls in front of her but sure enough, I saw her dig deep and turn on the jets!
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My eyes were misty well before this, actually, just seeing her in her cross county singlet was enough to make my heart melt.
Watch out, here I come!
But to see her actually try really hard to run past these three girls AND succeed, just opened the flood gates for me.
Later gator!
The Peanut doesn’t have a competitive bone in her tiny little body but she didn’t want to let her coach, her team or me down by not sprinting to the finish. If anything, she is a rule follower. 🙂
Finisher!
She was so excited to tell me that she didn’t walk during the race. She could care less about her time or place, until other kids were asking but even then … I don’t think she really cared all that much.
She’s a team player through and through. I see it on her swim team and I saw it today with her cross-country team. She is happy for everyone no matter what. For herself, she’s just happy to be a part of it all and today, she was a big part. Today, she was a cross-country runner!
Proud Mama and Peanut with her post race treat
So incredibly proud of you kid. You never gave up!
Sunday welcomed the first road race that I actually “raced” in quite a while. I did not intend to race it per se, but well, things just happened along the way. 🙂
I am officially in CIM (California International Marathon) training. I have run CIM for a number of years, almost every year since I started doing marathons back in 2004. However, the last 3 or 4 CIMS have been ran for different reasons. Whether it was ankle surgery or running to keep a friend company, I just have not “trained” for a marathon in quite some time.
I know that sounds weird. Who goes out and just runs a marathon without training?! I do, that’s who but the end result is never one for time or PRs … I have done it this way for various reasons. Much the same way I am running a trail marathon in about 2 weeks with little to zero training under my belt for such a tough marathon. It is a bad bad habit of mine and I fully admit to it.
After my last marathon in Oregon last June, I just can’t escape the feeling that I am done with “half-assing” races like this. I want, more. That is not to say in two weeks I will kill this trail marathon, no. No, that will be a training run and pure JOY to experience trails once again amongst this road racing I have been doing. 🙂
But I have set my sights on the 2015 CIM as the year I would LIKE to get back to running with some heart and soul. So, in doing so, I have actually been, you know, training! What a concept!?
Sunday was the Buffalo Stampede 10 Mile race. I have been doing this race since I lived 4 miles from the start with Vans in our little condo after we were married. I wasn’t blogging then but I do have my race report from 2010 and 2011 if anyone cares to read. Actually, I encourage clicking above because the photos of the Peanut are just too precious. 🙂
Okay, on to the race report. The above drawing is the Peanut’s rendition of the Buffalo. 🙂 I kinda dig it and think it should be on the race shirts next year, just sayin. 🙂
The best part about road racing is that there is no excessive packing of a hydration packs or thinking about fuel. You just dress, eat and go. The worst part is that the WHOLE family has to wake up with you because generally, it doesn’t take as long to run a road race and therefore, they have to leave when you leave … which means waking up early.
Vans dropped me off with about 20 minutes to spare before the race started. I jumped in the porta potty line and saw LOTS of familiar faces including Dasie and June! Porta potties at road races seem to move faster too … it was pretty miraculous how fast that lined moved.
I wasn’t sure where to position myself at the starting line. I told Vans to expect a pace between 8:30 and 9 minute miles because honestly, that’s how I felt I have been running lately.
When they let us go at the start, I just ran. I tried not to think about pace too much. I figured I’d wait and see what my Garmin said.
Mile 1 – 8:01/mi : Mmm, really?! That’s what I am doing? Doesn’t feel that hard. Let’s stick with this and see what happens ….
Mile 2 – 8:01/mi : Ok, ok. Not too bad. This doesn’t feel that hard to me right now. Just going to go with it.
Mile 3 – 8:06/mi : Aaaah, okay, this must be where the slowing down happens. I did stop for water though, which I normally don’t do so early but it just seemed right and I was thirsty….let’s just keep running right between this group here.
Mile 4 – 7:58/mi : What!? I am speeding up because I know I am going to see my family in about 20 yards, that’s it. That’s why I am sub 8 right now.
Hi girls! Thanks for the high-five!Such a boost to see them!
Mile 5 – 7:59/mi : Okay, I stopped to high-five the girls and I am STILL under an 8 minute mile. What is going on here?! Oh no, wait! What is that!? Holy crap those are TURKEYS! BIG HUGE turkeys! Quick move to the other side of the road! Who cares about cars!
Oh crap, turkeys ahead.
Mile 6 – 7:58/mi : Well crap, I have to keep this up now! I am over half-way … maybe the turkeys made me run faster?! I could have a sub 8 average if I can just keep going at this pace!
Mile 7 – 7:57/mi : Ugh, that turn around kinda sucks but now I can see people cheering for everyone. That’s kind of nice.
Mile 8 – 8:02/mi : Yup, through my old neighborhood where I would cool down after all my runs … that’s what is going on here. But it is mile 8, I can handle this for 2 more miles! Come on! Pick it up!
Mile 9 – 7:54/mi : Okay, 1 mile. You can do this. This is a super flat course, nothing in your way. Run to the 9.5 mile sign (yes there is a sign that says 9 1/2 that makes me laugh every time) and then sprint! Hold on and then go!
Mile 10 – 7:42/mi : go go go go! I passed this guy who cheered me on and told me ‘good job’ but then I could hear him really trying to turn it on himself. Never saw him again.
Go Mommy Go the girls yelled!
I saw the time on the clock and I knew that I was within seconds of my previous PR from 2010. This medicine is now making some of the foreign country. effects of levitra professional There’s nothing pathological about the generic cialis usa progression. In the IIEF test, the buying cialis cheap men were to answer 5 questions which were worth 5 marks each. What makes tadalafil 20mg for sale expensive is the brand that comes with hosts of other problems.
I just couldn’t move my legs fast enough!
I crossed the finish line just in time to hear them mutilate my last name! 🙂 I did it! I had a PR. It was within seconds (like 40) of my last race but definitely not a planned situation at all.
I wanted to just run this race and see how I felt on a flat hard road … I had no intentions of racing let alone PR’ing for this race. I am not complaining, I am just in shock.
Just days ago I had begun thinking that CIM may not be what I want this year and that maybe I will have to settle for another marathon where I just run it to run it … but now, now I have hope. Big hope.
Final stats
After my race was over, we waited around for the kids free half mile race to start.
My two runners
Rio Americano High School is where Vans went to High School so he had a nice time sharing with the girls all the spots where he used to get into trouble or eat his lunch. 🙂
Stretching
But the girls had a race to put on! I think the Rio Americano High School Cross Country Team was in charge of managing this race for the kids. It was cute. They had them do all sorts of drills to warm up.
All lined up ready to go!
Squeaker wanted me to run with her so I quickly got behind all the kids. Little did I know, that really she didn’t need me for support but instead, she wanted to race me!
Off they go!
They ALL took off like a rocket! The Peanut was up front for a while and I feared that she’d had gone out too fast. Squeaker was just smiling ear to ear and looking behind her to see if I was there.
The Peanut however did not fare so well. She had a rough race. I think she went out way too fast but Squeaker! Man! That kid passed her sister and just kept going!
Medal winner!
She wanted that medal, more than anything, she wanted it! 🙂
Post-Race
Don’t let this photo fool you, she wasn’t tired in the least! The Peanut did finish and then went around two more times with me make it a full mile. We talked a lot about breathing and pacing, both of which she will have to do during cross-country season.
After all the girls racing events, we went to visit Grandma and Pappa who live in the old condo complex that we used to live in. The kids got to play with their cousin and I got to just sit. 🙂
Overall, it was a great race and I am pleased with the results. It gives me the boost to continue with the way I have been training thus far and shows me that what I have been doing is working more or less.
My trail marathon in two weeks will be something fun, a mental break from the pavement on some incredible trails with a good friend. Trail running also makes for better blog posting sometimes. 🙂
With school starting in two weeks for the Peanut, in a last minute decision (more or less) Vans and I decided we wanted to take one more family getaway. We originally had planned that Sunriver, Oregon would be our only family vacation this year, but we managed to squeeze in one more weekend (truly a weekend) getaway and it wasn’t easy.
One random day while driving around to one of our various swim team events, Vans mentioned Santa Cruz. I did a quick google on my phone and found a trail race the very same weekend he was considering! His response, “Well, we have to go now. You can run and I will ride.”
So, a few more days of finding hotels that fit our needs and dates … we were set. Another Run-cation (as Vans likes to call them) was in the books!
We left on Saturday (not as early as we would have liked which would have been a better idea) and sat in the massive amount of traffic that is the bay area. I was “scolded” (in a humorous way) by a friend for the fact that my girls have never seen or been in the ocean (Peanut has seen the ocean but probably doesn’t remember it).
What can I say? We are Tahoe people through and through. Our girls have been in Lake Tahoe more times than I can count and built many a sand castle on the golden beaches of Lake Tahoe but the bay area? Ugh, sorry, I just cannot stand the drive that way as it is NEVER free from traffic.
So we left Saturday morning and was hit immediately with bumper to bumper traffic getting into Santa Cruz. What should have been a 3 hour drive was slowly turning into 4+ hours. We made some diversions along some local streets but in the end we arrived way later than we had anticipated.
The Beach!
But, we made it and hit Davenport Beach which is a nice quiet, semi secluded beach up Highway 1. Although we were all fully dressed and not in swim suits, the kids were free to do what they liked. The Peanut, albeit a little bit naive about the ocean, loved every minute of it. Squeaker? Not so much. She hated the cold and the noise. The ironic part is that the Peanut (a notoriously terrible sleeper as an infant) was put to bed with wave sounds whereas Squeaker who was always a great sleeper, was not… guess who was afraid of waves!? 🙂
Still, it was so amazing to see their excitement even if they complained about the seaweed. Tahoe doesn’t have seaweed. 🙂
We checked into our hotel and then departed looking for a place to eat for dinner. I had done a little Trailmomma #plantstrong research before we left home finding a few places that we could visit. The first was the Saturn Cafe which came about because it was closest and we saw it while driving around.
Basically picture a real diner but made entirely vegan and almost 100% gluten free. That was this place. While not 100% healthy (anything fried, is not healthy) it was pretty incredible.
The Peanut and her camera skills
Unfortunately, with a race looming early the next morning, I couldn’t go too crazy with all the plant based foods (I have a sensitive tummy) so I kept it low(er) key by sampling a lot.
Sunday morning came faster than I anticipated and so I woke up and snuck away to the lobby with my gluten free oatmeal in search of some hot water. I managed to make a good breakfast. Soon we were on our way to the starting area.
An important item to note here is that Vans’s phone died and I wasn’t about to leave him with the girls and no phone while I was off running in a race for a few hours. I gave him my phone which is why this race report has limited photos. HOWEVER, I want to return to this race because the photos would have been amazing. 🙂
This would be the second Inside Trail Race that I have done. The first was the Mt. Tam 50K last November. In typical Inside Trail fashion, the course markings were definitely something you can’t ignore. Once again, I printed the course map and threw it in my pack. I know better with these guys. 🙂
There was a 10k option, half marathon option and 30k option. I signed up to do the 30k. The first few miles of this race were up hill in sand. Not just sand, but deep beach sand where you sink about 3 inches and slide back a few as well. By mid race, my calves were screaming at me but I was loving every minute of it.
Within the first 4 miles you are also crossing the San Lorenzo River which was about knee high for me. The race director had said in years past, the river was well over his waist!
I started out with a fairly fast pack and was not thinking too much about pacing or anything. I was just happy to be running on new to me trails. Some people may think I am nuts for finding these races and running them solo, but I love it. It really just sets your mind up for something and it is up to you to conquer it. You also really take in your surroundings this way. I kind of love it. 🙂
At mile 2.5 I happened to run past a porta potty that wasn’t intended for the race (I think it was for some workers actually) but I took advantage of it and then lost my spot. When I emerged from the porta potty, I was stuck in a conga line. Oh well. I passed when I could and eventually found myself spaced out from other runners.
Along the way I had helped two men find their way. They didn’t have a map on them and I guess did not listen to the pre-race talk as they had no idea which ribbons to follow at one point. I told the Half Marathoner that he had to follow the pink ribbons only and if he sees orange ribbons, he has gone the wrong way. The other guy was running the 30k like me. I helped him a few other times along the way when the paths were some what confusing. Ironically, this will come back to me later in the race.
A 30K is just a smidgen over 18 miles and so they only had 3 aid-stations on the course, one of which you passed twice. They are very efficient with the way they set up these races and have the course. I relied a little too heavily on the idea that the aid-stations would have something for me to eat and therefore I didn’t bring too much in the way of my own fuel. That was not a well planned out idea as the aid-stations didn’t have any gluten free options for me. They had sugary items but no gluten free salty items and the items that I brought with me, were sugary in nature as well. Oh well. I made due and continued on my way never staying long at any of the aid-stations.
Vans and the girls were wandering around the grounds
At the second aid-station I caught up to the woman who had been in front of me. She seemed extra paranoid that I had caught her. We talked briefly and then I started out on the trail before her. She was very quick to follow and then she started up a conversation with me up a hill.
As she was talking we noticed a group of mountain bikers. Between the mountain bikers and her talking, we missed our turn and realized it about a mile later, that we were going backwards around the loop that we needed to run. The girl panicked big time and started running away. I kept telling her that I had a map and we could figure it out. Then we ran into another girl who was also going the wrong way … she too was kind of freaking out. I was calm as can be and was intent on figuring out how to get back to where we needed to be in order to do the correct loops.
Both of these girls would not listen to me and took off back towards the finish. In the end, they skipped a whole loop of the course (about 4 to 5 miles worth) and I betcha anything, are the two girls listed on the finish list in my age group as 3rd and 4th place. Karma was not good to me there. I had been helping other runners all day and then got myself lost! ha! Oh well. I was smiling the entire time.
I did the right loop and tried to make up time. I did as I eventually caught up to the guy who had been running behind me the entire day. He laughed that I got lost (he was the guy I had helped earlier).
The way back was fun. It was SO humid outside that I even contemplated taking off my shirt and I NEVER do that. The river felt amazing when I had to go through it a second time.
Eventually I realized that I must have been close to the finish. Luckily, we avoided the sandy section on our return. Soon enough, I saw Vans and heard the girls! They were on the trail cheering me on.
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I finished in just over 3.5 hours which I was okay with considering I ran an extra mile or so when I got lost and spent all that time trying to figure out the course (and porta potty stop). It was fun and I would totally do this race again.
My Medal was stolen by Squeaker
Vans and the girls had a blast exploring Henry Cowell State Park while I was off running. They have some amazing red woods here and the girls were just in awe over them.
Big Tree!
Post race we wandered the grounds as a family which was good and bad. Good as I enjoyed seeing everything, bad as I didn’t take enough time to stretch post race but the walking felt great.
The rest of the weekend we spent doing all kinds of fun things. We hit the Santa Cruz Boardwalk which was a blast. The Peanut is like me and likes rides a lot, especially somewhat scary ones. 🙂
Our view from the Ferris Wheel – amazing
Squeaker was able to ride her first ever ferris wheel AND she went on a (small) roller coaster – not sure how she feels about that now (she was a little freaked during).
On the roller coaster!Strange creatures roam the Santa Cruz Boardwalk
On Monday, before leaving town, we had a few other things that we needed to get done. One of them was for Vans to visit the Derby Skate Park in Santa Cruz.
Found it!
This park was odd (to me) and full of local kids who were chatting it up with Vans. It was funny. Post skate park, we had to find the Santa Cruz bike shop hub …
Found it!The girls liked it
Then it was time for more strange plant-based eateries for lunch … the girls and Vans were not a fan of Dharmas. It definitely takes some getting used to.
The Peanut is drinking a mint chocolate coconut vegan smoothie that she actually liked
After lunch, we headed to Capitola Beach for one more jaunt into the ocean. This time we all put on swim suits and went in. Well, everyone except Squeaker. She was content to play in the sand the entire time.
Over all, it was a great short trip. The traffic in both directions was incredibly terrible reminding us why we never head to the bay area. We are mountain people at heart and luckily, the traffic to Tahoe is usually manageable. Still, our last vacation before school starts was a success. The girls had fun and were happy to get home to our two new fur babies.
Jersey & Reagan
TiggerT was a great auntie cat sitter for us. The kittens were in great hands the entire time.
Not sure when my next blog post will happen. I have to figure out this blog transfer stuff and fast. I am also doing some traveling to the east coast next week for something I am crazy excited for. I was hoping to do a whole blog post related to it so I better figure out this blog transfer thing and fast!
How is that for a funny blog title? I have not been posting much because I have until August 19th to figure out how to transfer my hosted files from GoDaddy to my new domain host (I think I got that terminology right) but I have had so many things “pop up” in the meantime that solving that issue is the farthest thing from my brain at the moment.
The Trailmomma household has expanded. We decided to finally adopt. Not a baby baby, but two adorable fur babies!
Kittens!
Jersey is the grey kitten and he is 3 months old and Reagan is the black kitten and she is 2 months old. So stinking cute and so much work. Still, it is kind of nice to have “babies” in the house again and my girls are totally smitten …. Vans is almost there. 🙂
New Kitten Toys!
So with the addition of Jersey and Reagan, real work, and crewing for Pigeon at Tahoe Rim … life was pretty busy. I spent a week or so after TRT trying to edit a silly little vlog kind of video of my day crewing for her. I have a terrible camera and I didn’t plan well for it, but I had fun trying to do it … maybe something I may try and do more in the future. It took a lot of time to edit together and I am not 100% thrilled with the outcome but I don’t mind sharing. This medicine with lots of attributes is available at the cheapest prices. online prescription viagra without check out these guys Kamagra Oral Jelly is the generic sort of cialis no prescription https://www.supplementprofessors.com/help/. They build up the libido level in person (sexual wish). orden 50mg viagra The ideal viagra soft pills is one pill a day.
Anyway, that’s what has been going on here. I may have more to write about next week as I have a few exiting things coming down the pipeline that I am VERY excited about so please stay tuned!
It has been a while since my last post. I feel like I say that all the time and maybe I do. Sorry about that. I know consistency on this blog isn’t my strongest asset. Most of the time it is due to the insanity that is sometimes my life but this time around, it stems mostly from me taking a step down. Backing away from some things and focusing on other things.
In all honesty, after all the pain I’ve endured just trying to keep this blog afloat, I seriously have been contemplating not having one. I know I will miss it and I know others will as well. I still haven’t figured out the problem with whoever is hosting my blog vs where my domain lives now. Apparently I need to do some kind of switch-a-rue with my “stuff” but I can’t figure it out and don’t have the patience (and time) to try and I don’t have the money to have someone else do it for me (sigh – woe is me right?).
What I have been toying with lately though is “vlogging” which is basically a VIDEO blog instead of a words and photo blog. I follow a few vloggers and I admire their ability to put it all out there. I’ve often toyed with doing one of these since they popped online quite a few years ago but I just never felt I was “vlog” worthy (I still don’t but I want to for other reasons – see below).
What mostly intrigues me about vlogging is the video editing process which is a small passion hobby that I have. Actually, that is what I was doing during most of my “away” time, editing a video or two from our trip to Oregon.
I’ve also been cooking. Or meal prepping. Okay, both. I’ve just felt the need to make sure we have healthy food. We ate well in Oregon so it wasn’t like I over indulged at all.
Edamme Pasta with a Red Pepper Basil Pesto
My pressure cooker has been on my counter almost consistently since we’ve been home. I’ve made and froze beans of various kinds and portions. I’ve also made potatoes which turn themselves magically into amazing little wedges.
Mmmm potatoes!
I’ve also “deactivated” my account from Facebook. I’ve ignored Facebook for a while. I’ve also tried the “only logging in once a day” method and “only posting on weekends” trick but last week, I pulled the plug and deactivated myself. My intention was only to do it temporarily. Although, I have a big weekend ahead so I may have to reactivate my account in order to keep people posted on my adventures in Tahoe (pssst, Tahoe Rim Trail 100 is this weekend in case you were wondering – yes, I am crewing Pigeon again woot woot!)
There is nothing wrong with Facebook and I can’t say I was obsessed with it. I just, needed a break. I am already “online” via this blog, via instagram and who knows what else since I put myself “out-there” on the world wide web that I just really needed to take a step back. Facebook houses a lot of drama. It is also a great communication tool but that darn drama and the games people play, just made me need a break. If it wasn’t for family missing out on seeing my girls and me seeing what is happening with Dylan, I’d probably sign off for good.
In the meantime, I’ve been doing other things! Adult drivers ed courses may also be patented to prevent sales of similar drugs where the patent may only djpaulkom.tv order viagra online extend for five or tens years or have no restrictions of generic sales at all. You can take this medicine with online viagra djpaulkom.tv or without food. The professionals use them cialis 100mg pills simply as “cues” in order to enhance an individual’s sexual desire. The most simple things in life are djpaulkom.tv levitra prescription perfect.
Okay, so I really was just goofing around but secretly I’d love to be able to have the ability to skateboard. 🙂
Vans in action.
Instead, I watched Vans skate with some friends one weekend. I love watching him skate and I love that photo above because his shadow reminds me of Peter Pan when he was chasing his shadow and made his way into Wendy’s room.
I have also been reading more which I started on vacation and realized I missed too much. So, I have made a point to try and read at least a few pages of a book daily.
All of this (reading, cooking, editing videos, kids, running, work) has made very little time for me to blog or figure out my blogging issues.
Don’t worry though, I will be back soon enough I am sure. Like I said above, Tahoe Rim Trail is this weekend so I will be out there with my camera taking race photos, crewing for Pigeon, supporting Stonegate and Burning Girl if I can and just enjoying myself in the amazing mountain air that is Lake Tahoe.
Happy Trails!
~Trailmomma
***PS: I am conducting an experiment and not TOUCHING my photos above. If they are sideways (like the one of me skating appears sideways on my PC) then I am waiting to see if blogger/whoeveritis – changes the orientation if viewed from a mobile device.***Â
