More Soren

Ain't gonna lie, I'm going to miss this guy.

We had a lot of fun riding bikes at Banner Forest.

The Bug Museum in Bremerton was a big hit.

This is what I liked, getting him to lick the salt block.

This is what Soren liked the most, leading Joey around while everyone else rode Mack.

This is pretty much a fake smile, he didn't enjoy this pony ride. Mack is huge though and its really high up there.

Soren goes home to his dad tomorrow. He has to fly alone to Alaska and live in a new house and go to a new school. He makes friends very easily and that's good.

I helped his mom pack his luggage, made sure he had all clean clothes and when we weighed his bag it was still good for another 11 lbs so we added some toys. 

His mom got him a cute little carry on bag so we put 1 change of clothes into that along with a bunch of grub to munch on and toys to play with.

Carbon River Glacier Hike

Biked 5 miles uphill on the mountain bikes from the Carbon Ranger Station to Ipsut Campground, tented it over night, hiked 5 miles uphill to the glacier. 

WOW.

Hiked back down to camp, rode bikes back to car & rewarded ourselves for the 30,000 steps with burgers at the Wilkeson Saloon.

Ripping & Tilling

The arena was ripped 4-6 inches deep today

The footing is all clay so it came up in big hard chunks

After a few hours of circles, it looked like this

Then the helper came & the rototiller was attached

It took a few runs each direction to get it good

Looking better already

But its just going to compact again so Builders Sand will be added and mixed in. After its compacted, more sand will be added on top and I HOPE to add 1 inch rubber crumble to the sandy top for better footing.

This morning we turned the big horses on the front pasture 24/7 while the back pasture is sprayed for weeds. All of them napped together.

First Wifi stood guard.

Then she laid down beside Joey for a while

And Mack had a good snooze

I signed up for the FINAL SEASON of Tribabes and last Saturday was the first BRick; 5 miles bike/1 mile run. I took my mountain bike because my shoulders/back/neck were very sore with a big lump in my muscles. 

I guess I'm going to need to spend time each day running or riding. I'm not thrilled about the swimming, my wetsuit fits someone that's 20 lbs lighter than I am now.

And Now, Triathlon

Went to the doctor today for the pain in my foot and the ultrasound showed the tumor is practically gone, which is a very good thing. But he couldn't find any explanation for the pain in the top of my foot.

Now for something weird: There is a tiny spot on the second metatarsal bone of my left foot, the foot that hurts and its an old stress fracture.

See the small gray spot here? This is where it is.

And something different, where the 2 small bones are circled in red on my right foot, I have 3 small bones. Obviously this isn't my right foot.

He said there isn't any arthritis in my feet at all, that the xrays show my feet looking

very good for my age.

So while there is no reason for my foot pain I do have the go-ahead to train for IMCDA 70.3 on June 24th so I've got 144 days to train.

That Was Different

When we decided to not take our bikes to Vegas, it opened up a whole new world for us. 

This trip wasn't about getting up at 4am, loading out backpacks and packing the bikes on the bike rack, it was about sleeping in, sitting around doing nothing, enjoying the sunshine. We went to the hot tub every day & jumped into the lazy river to chill and splash each other.

Went out to Lake Mead on the one day it was 86*, got lost in the desert, enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous sunset at the top of a mountain at the perfect time.

While in town we found other things to do, like meet up with friends from home and have a drink. Erik & Sharon were there for the Rock n Roll half marathon so we went out onto the strip to cheer for him as he ran past. 

We went to the 

I hadn't previously known about this museum so we decided to go and learn a little bit. Instead we learned a lot. We're going to the guided tour at Mercury and testing site next year and going through the museum before hand taught us  some of the things we will be seeing.

I felt kind of weird being there though. These bombs killed so many people.

The weather in Vegas was perfect, mid 70's most days, up to mid 80's. One day we went out to Blue Diamond area and hiked/rock scrambled up into a valley where a lot of rock climbers go. It was 54* at start but in the sunshine & dry 'heat' it felt warmer to me. I didn't take a jacket and within a couple minutes was warmed up perfectly. Once we were climbing the BIG rocks I was thankful I didn't have to carry around a jacket.

When we've previously visited Vegas we've only gone to the strip once, to enjoy the sights, eat at 1 buffet and see a show. This trip we went to the strip more, no shoes but a buffet every other day. Our reasoning was that once we got home, we would be going on a diet.

Now we are home and on that diet. I have lost 6 lbs already and my goal is a LOT more.

Ironman Coeur D'Alene 70.3

I've decided to sign up for Ironman Coeur D'Alene 70.3 which will happen June 24, 2018. I'm kinda excited for it, I haven't done a tri since IMAZ so it will be a full 2.5 years. I've begun walking a couple times each week and will use my training plan to get in shape.

Lan bought a bike roller

and I plan on learning to use it. It doesn't provide resistance but gives you a better workout because you have to use your whole body and pay attention. 

I've been looking through my tri equipment and haven't been able to find my mini fanny pack I used for running. Sure was handy for carrying my car keys, ID and car keys when I ran so I'll have to get another if I can't figure out where this one is.

In horse news:

The cement has been ordered for Friday and I'm stinking excited about it!!!

Sunshower has been leased out to another family for a lifetime lease. I'm missing my girl so much but at least shes being used now. Shes got a 34 yr old mom who is horse crazy and a 7 yr old girl, plus a couple little ones. Couldn't ask for a better life for her. Shes close by and I can see her if I want.

Global Running Day

On February 2nd I found out I had the tumor, which measured 4.9cm, in my foot.

May 3rd, the day I had the injection into it, it measured 5.9cm.

June 6th I went in, planning on a 2nd injection. When the Doctor ultra sounded my foot he took a long time doing it and discovered the tumor has shrunk down to 3.7cm, a full 40% smaller than last month.  We decided no injection today (YAY) and I'll go back in a month for follow up and we hope it continues to shrink.

 June 7th was Global Running Day and I celebrated by going out to the forest for a run, my first in about a year. I ran for about 25 minutes and went about 1.27 miles with very little pain or discomfort.

Disneyland

 

I'm getting pretty excited for our upcoming Southern California trip.

 

 

We leave here Tuesday morning, go to Disneyland Wednesday & Thursday, then have 2 open days for whatever. Lan wants to go to Santa Monica Pier.

 

The weather is supposed to be in mid 70's, PERFECT for us.

 

 

No Wonder I Can't Run

I went to the doctor (Nurse) a couple weeks ago, since they wouldn't believe me that I needed to see a FOOT DOCTOR. She prescribed meds for the inflammation and sent me to the foot doctor. Not right away, you know, its got to take another few weeks. I finally get to see the podiatrist and he found a lump in my foot.

Plantar fibroma, a benign nodule that grows on the bottom of the foot. I have a single lump so he is sending me for an 'urgent' MRI, which is scheduled for 3 weeks out. I'm glad its not a regular one, geesh. Then he will probably want to do cortisone shots and when I get those I hope to hell they don't hurt like the dickens.

I just want to run again.

On a good note, Lan is turning 50 in 8 days so I'm taking him to Disneyland. I've purchased the flights, rental car, hotel & Disneyland tickets, now I'm counting down the days till we fly out.

Getting Back To Normal

After the busy summer and awesome vacation we just had, things are returning to normal for us. Farm work, rain, house hold repairs and chores, plus jobs and family issues.

 

Lan has been up on the roofs of the barns, garages and house for the last couple days cleaning out the gutters and making some repairs. I've been cleaning stalls since the horses are kept in nights due to inclement weather.

 

We are making progress on the barn with quotes for the cement for the floor (26' x 60' x 4") at about $2,100.00. That doesn't include rebar or wire mesh or forms but we can rent forms.

 

In the house I'm getting caught up on the cleaning that wasn't done while I was away, dusting and stuff. I don't know where all the junk comes from but it seems I constantly have a box of stuff to donate and if I had the gumption I'd be able to fill 4 more boxes today. Purging once in a while is great. 

 

I've also been working on a few rainy day projects that I held off during the warm summer months and I'm enjoying getting these finished. Pictures of Wifi mounted on old stable boards, Joey & Sunshower horse shoes hammered into strategic spots.  I have several more things to do in the next few months, more pictures of Wifi, painting more walls, possibly a mural to mount on one wall.

 

I've been back to work a few nights, love it there. I have all the time in the world to do my own things, like reading and cleaning tack. Lol, I have my bridles packed and ready to go tonight.

 

R2 is doing well. On the day we came home from Hawaii he posted on FB that he

ONLY fractured his neck.

WTF??

He was climbing a ladder to work on his roof and the ladder slipped out from under him. I guess there is video, which I haven't seen yet.

 

Brandan has been dealing with car issues, first the started has been going out for a month, luckily he can clutch-start it. But now the radiator is also leaking so Lan will be spending some time on his car tonight. He was all ready to take it to a shop but I stopped him in time. Lan can do the work for a fraction of the costs of a mechanic and Lan probably knows more than most of them anyway.

 

Lessons with Delicia resume soon. Working with Wifi again has been great. Shes loving the attention and remembers everything she was ever taught before. And shes SO LOVING, that girl loves to be hugged and get attention.

Getting Ready To Run

I'm getting mentally ready to run the Iron Horse Half Marathon on Sunday. I've had yesterday and today off, I work tomorrow morning & then I have 2 days off.
My feet have been giving me pain and I think its Plantar fasciitis; if so, I'm in for a world of hurt if I'm not really careful. I'll be losing some weight this next month and I sincerely hope this helps.

Fort Ebey Kettles Run 13.1 Half Marathon

Fort Ebey Kettles Run 13.1 Half Marathon was the 2nd HARDEST half marathon I've ever finished, (1st hardest being Tacoma City half marathon, which was my first ever half marathon)

with 2750 feet of elevation gain.

This was all trails at Fort Ebey State Park, Whidbey Island, Washington.

 

Views of the beautiful Puget Sound and trees.

 

 

ALL UPHILL, all the way, barefoot, in the snow, hungry.

 

We rode the ferry over in the morning. This is the Kennewick, it holds 64 cars. 

 

Linda, Steve & Brayden

 

 

Before the race. Lan did the 5k, he was smart but he still had 660 feet of elevation gain.

(UPDATE: Lan finished 8th overall with a time of 37:23.8!!)

 

The weather said rain all day but we were so lucky and didn't get rained on at all. The trails were mostly all just wet and a little muddy, only 1 puddle we couldn't go around and it was at mile 1. I'm sure there are a lot of people with blisters from running in wet shoes for 12.1 miles, or the people who did the full marathon, twice on the same course.

 

Start of the race, big bottleneck because 200 people want to all get onto a single track trail. That's Linda in the pink.

That's Walking Stick Dude in the yellow. He wacked my leg with his stick cuz he was stupid.

 

See, UPHILL. Steep uphill.

 

And here is at the end, after we finished and DIDN'T GET A MEDAL because they didn't give any out. Maybe should have stated that in the registration process?? I mean, come on, I paid $42 just to race, didn't get a tee shirt either.

I'll never do it again and will strongly suggest no one else do it either but that's due to all the hills.

Oh, and no porta potties on the course, except the old shed outhouse near the very end of the course but none at the aid stations.

 

I did have a good time, got to spend 4hrs 28 minutes with my bestie. Who sprinted the last 10 feet to beat me but I still finished. And I had to wait 10 seconds for her to even cross the START line since she was tardy getting to it. so I technically beat her but if it makes her feel better...

and she did have to go slow for my sorry ass the entire second half.

Another Good Run

Today got another good 3.1 mile run in at Jackson Park. Love that running is finally happening for me again.

Its been brought to my attention that Sarah Goathouse has been blaming people for injuries happening to her own horse in the last few months. Since I haven't seen either of them in a year I have no idea what the fuck shes talking about but wish she could just accept that bad shit happens to horses and 'Someone better not be doing it to her horse' is BS. Sarah is a psycho that needs to be on her medication but self medicates, making her a worse person than if she didn't take it at all. I feel sorry for her oldest daughter that she hates, she gets so much crap and abuse from her asshole mother. One day I hope the daughter goes to the authorities.

My horses are turning in to art. Got these photos made into cartoon type drawings and printed out.

This one of Wifi is a fave of her, I'm picking up a 36x48 print to tomorrow. Its going to be made into wall art for our home.

Recovery

In triathlon, you take recovery very seriously. When you're training hard, 4-6 hours on an easy day for 6 days a week, you need to rest and recover. Sleep and down time. Then it's even more important when it goes up to a couple days of 8+ hour days.

Being injured from the car accident has been an entirely different kind of recovery. I am having a hard time doing it and I want to get back to training. Chiro and massage visits 5 times a week have gone down to 3 times and that makes it way easier to accept.

I have a half marathon in 2 weeks and I'm just not going to be ready for it. Its going to be extremely hilly, cold and wet. But at the same time, it will be a lot of fun. Its on the islands at Fort Ebey Kettles and the views there just can't be beat. Lan is doing the 5k and I will do the half with Linda; Steve and Brayden will do the half but finish way before us girls do.

The horses are doing well, finally. Joey is getting over the pigs and will now go out of the arena and back in much easier. Last night he still wanted to come in the back gate but at least he's coming in.
Wifi and Sunshower don't care about the pigs and are thriving. Wifi's butt is getting so big from walking up and down the hill in the back pasture, she's going to look amazing when she finally gets to go to her first show this year. She's also doing GREAT long lining and prepping for carting.

The pigs are getting friendlier. This morning the boy let me pet his back before he scooted off slowly. Eating is more important to him than not being touched.

I ordered an enlarged 16 x 20 print of Wifi from a show, a 3/4 view of her head looking away, on a bright sunny day. I've found another photo that I'm going to get made into a 36 x 48 watercolor of her and make into art for the living room. So excited for these things happening.

Made this sign the other day out of an old barn board:

I have so many more projects I want to do and with slow work hours I can do these at my leisure.

Post Ironman

I am an Ironman. I love being able to say it out loud and I brag as often as I can. Because I can.
I have ran just twice since the race and both times it felt wonderful but its dang cold out and I'm lazy so I don't do it often. I want to get my house in order but its cold in here because I'm too cheap to turn on the heaters.

But I have signed up for another race so I'm up to 3 again. I didn't do Yukon Do It half marathon, with the accident I seriously wasn't in shape to run but I did volunteer at the club aid station.
next race is Hot Chocolate 15k in Seattle, with Lan, on March 6th. Then Tacoma City Half May 1st and Harstine Island half June 16th.

I was thinking about doing a half each month, there is one at the end of January on a Saturday in Seattle, its free or $10 donation to the local food bank. Unsupported, you bring your own food and water and you know the way, no medals or tee shirts. But it is timed and a Boston qualifier if that's your thing. That's not my thing. But I could use it, if needed, to qualify for Half Fanatics if I wanted to and if I were to run 2 others within a 90 day period. I can't use the time & bib number 'I' had for Yukon because I sold my bib to Sandy. I want to qualify for HF's on my own.

So if I'm going to run a half each month I have to start looking for a February run that I can afford and that's on a Sunday and local, or at least in Western Washington. OK, make that within 50-100 miles from home. I really don't want to drive to Bellingham for a half marathon.

I see a lot I like but this one http://www.rainiertoruston.com/FoothillsBOHalf.html is in my home town, or ends up there anyway. Only $60 and limited to 250 participants. If I could get the day off...

Back At It

Tomorrow I'm going to go trail running, it will be my first run since Ironman. Technically, I DID run on a treadmill on the 3rd or 4th day afterward but quit after about 100 steps, had that small blister to complain about, lol.

I've been a little sore since the accident that happened on the freeway on the way home from the airport. My left side is way tighter than normal and I've had headaches. Body tightness is one thing but having it bother me and create headaches is another and I don't like it. I've got a massage tomorrow and I hope it helps. I went to the doc and was prescribed massage and pain pills and muscle relaxers. I can't take pills when I'm going to be working, that is HIGHLY frowned upon.

I am signed up for the Yukon Do It half marathon on December 27th, the Hot Chocolate 15K Run on March 6th and the Tacoma City half marathon on May 1st. In April there is a 50 mile run in Port Gamble, on trails, and I am thinking about signing up for that too. I wouldn't do the entire 50 miles but I could certainly give it a try. Anita is doing it, this will be her 4th year and she's never gone more than 3 laps, which are 12.5 miles each. It would require running in the dark and I've never done anything that crazy.

HORSE NEWS:

Lan built 2 more stalls in the arena so there are 4 now. We were able to get 2 finished before Ironman and the other 2 he did last weekend. Now all 4 horses are warm and dry all night. And I am now turning all the horses out together in the pasture all day and they seem to be doing Ok with that.

Wifi, Sunshower, Joey & Roses

 

We had to buy 12 boards for the walls and fronts and 2 gates. I already had rubber mats for all the stalls so at least they aren't standing in mud every night. I need a few more bucket holders for their water, right now my girls are sharing a rubber thing for drinking but Joey and Roses each have 2 buckets.

 

I ordered more slow feed hay nets and that's saving us tons of money, as I knew it would. Who ever stole the old ones doesn't realize it but they were at the end of their usefulness.

 

Look, shit in the stalls already

 

We have to drag a hose all the way from the front corner of the house all the way out to the arena and that's a pain in the ass. Today I saw Joey drinking out of a mud puddle so I dumped the water trough that had a LOT of fallen leaves in it and moved it farther from the trees, cleaned it out and refilled it. I hope he drank at least a little water out of it.

 

We are planning on getting an excavator and digging a ditch from the house out to the arena to install a water line.  I am about done pulling the hose all the way out there or arguing with a frozen hose every morning.

 

It sure was nice this morning when it was above freezing and I got all my shit done fast and easy. Tomorrow all I have to do it put out hay and turn all the horses out, Julia and Tory will do all the cleaning, watering and feeding for me. I should set out hay nets so Joey gets alfalfa, Sunshower gets a bit less and the other girls get the right amounts.

 

I can't wait to be able to ride and take lessons again.

 

 

Run. Swim.

Today I run and swim.
Tomorrow I run and Bike.
Saturday only about 5 hours of running, biking and swimming.
Sunday Running and biking. Monday biking and running.
Or I can swim Saturday and nothing else but we're getting so close. Only 4.5 weeks away now.

On the home front:
Lan and I went to Olympia and met our new family member, a Brazilian Mastiff puppy, a little girl. I think we're going to call her Jenny.

Exhausted

I'm not the only one, I've read several reports from other FB people that they just can't get enough sleep. This is when injuries happen so I'm being very careful. This morning I slept in until 9am, unheard of for me lately.
Today the only exercise I got was a 22 minute walk at the YMCA after I renewed my membership. I need a place to swim and the Y in Bremerton is so close to work that I can't go wrong. I'll swim before and/or after work. But I need a new bathing suit, my old one that fits is threadbare and see through, my others are too small since I've gained weight in the last 9 months.
This morning I did weigh in at 149.2, the least amount I have weighed in about 3 months.
I am enjoying having the CompuTrainer, its getting used a lot. The bummer is that if I take my bike outside for a good weather ride then I have to reset the CT and I'm too lazy. So last week I rode the trainer for a 3 hour ride, and I've ridden it several times for 2+ hour rides. They say indoor training is better for you than outdoor.

Big Race Coming Up

I've got my first Half Iron Distance race this weekend, the Black Diamond Triathlon.

 

 

I've done a sprint out there, and the Olympic, this is my first HIM. Ever.

 

I've done a few practice halfs so to actually race it will be different. I'm not excited about the swim at all.

Swim- 1.2 miles

 

I AM excited for the bike ride, 56 miles in the countryside. I was out there the other day and tried to ride the course but the road signs don't work very well. I was going to right way but couldn't tell so I turned around and went the other way so I went about 2/3s of one loop. I was surprised because in the past even those hills were very trying to me but the other day I felt great and I got up them easily. They didn't feel like never ending misery mountains.

 

The run is 13.1 miles, mostly flat. I've been out there cheering for other people doing the HIM and it seems like they were always in the heat. I know two years ago it was about 90 out there. The current forecast is calling for 72* in the afternoon so a bit chilly in the morning.

 

The sucky thing about the race is that they will start the spring swimmers first, then the men HIM's & finally the women HIM's. I'm such a slow swimmer that I'll be the last out of the lake and last onto my bike. Its going to suck really bad.

 

Here is some good news:

Lan & I sold the old farm, it no longer is a cause for stress in our lives. We did get into an argument this morning about which bills to pay off because we didn't get all we had wanted and he insisted we pay his parents back. Meanwhile, I was insisting we pay off my VISA that we've been making house payments with. Fucker was up to $13,300 and I've never owed that much on credit cards before. It was freaking me out, especially since the payments were $354. But we didn't pay off my BECU and ALL of that was for fencing and crap over there so I'll still be paying $3300 to them, probably for the next 5 years. Ugh.

 

He insisted that we pay off his VISA and leave me with mine but no fucking way. I am the one who paid the $20,000 down payment for the old farm, I am the one who paid the Voses $15,000 cash plus $7,000 for their back taxes. That came out of the sale of my Tacoma house so he might think the old farm was HIS but we wouldn't have had it at all if I hadn't paid that shit. I also paid off the timeshare that he enjoys every year.

 

So we will get a cashiers check to pay off his parents for the $16,000 they loaned us for the new farm down payment, plus his dad made one farm payment for us $1,300 but after paying off the car and my VISA we are about $1,000 short in what we owe them. So they will have to wait for that last thousand.

 

And his dad will just go squander it anyway and that pisses me off. I mean, they can do whatever with it that they want but it came out of his moms 401k and should go back in to it but his dad will go to all the auctions and buy all the crap he can cram into his car or truck or fuck, why not buy another fucking RV or trailer?

 

They took this thing out ONE WEEKEND and until 2 months ago it was sitting over at the old farm. Now its sitting over at their own farm and its going to be destroyed. He paid $12,000 for it and right now it might be worth $8,000, if he was lucky. On the one weekend they did take it out after they got home they didn't clean it out. just left the blankets half on the bed, the sheets were half off and blankets half on the floor. There were dirty cups in each room and bottles half full of pop all over. They left garbage in it, food in the fridge. WTF?

 

 

 

Big Training Days

Tomorrow is a big training day for me.

3:30 bike

:50 run

:30 swim

On Monday we rode over 4 hours, 50 miles, 3338 Feet of elevation gain. Tomorrow I'm NOT going to ride hills, oh, there will be some but not that many.

Today I swam a mile in 44 minutes, there was a lot of 'Ewwwww' ing when we touched lake scum or came to plants. Yesterday I ran 6.25 miles with Suzie.

I'm already tired and haven't even done all of the workouts I'm supposed to get to.