Running in the rain

How is training going? Very good.

This morning I was able to catch Buds YMCA spin class, 45 minutes. We 'rode' from Gig Harbor to Green Bay to participate in the big Super Bowl Party. Warm up from here to Snoqualmie Pass then fast spinning over to Boise. Then up & over the Rockies then more up over the Matterhorn. Then down & fast spinning through Dakotas then we were almost there.
Bud always has good 70's & 80's rock music and has a theme, like todays. Before Thanksgiving he had us working off our Thanksgiving meals, one item per week.

I came home & cleaned the whole barn, chased a few horses around the arena, relaxed. The weather was nice, dry and not windy at all. Then I went out to run my required 5k (5k in 45 minutes) and it was pouring! So I bucked up and got it done. I thought I had enough road to run on neighborhood roads; go to the end, turn & go half way back, turn & go to the end then come home but I was .05 mile short. Dang. But I did 3.05 in 33:16 and I was happy with that. I wasn't trying to go fast and there were a few hills to go up.
I got soaked and my hands were cold for the first 2 miles but then I got hot.
I'm glad I did it and running in the rain really isn't any colder than running in just cold weather. They are saying its supposed to be dry for the next 3 days so lets hope so.

Tomorrow I hope to catch Torreys YMCA spin/strength class then I'm heading out to Enumclaw with my small horse trailer to pick up a mare & haul her to Moses Lake. If I get to Vantage in time I'll stop by the rest area and visit with Cindi.

Cindi and I became friends 31 years ago and we got reconnected last year on FaceBook. I had seen her a couple times over the years but now we 'talk' all the time. Last summer Abby & I went on a fun 4 day weekend with Cindi & the 'Pussy Posse', I can give you details about that another time.

Suntop Trail

Our ride up to Suntop Trail

Nearby Town: Enumclaw, Washington

Ride type:        loop

trail type:         single track 75%

                          fire/gravel road 25%

Distance:          18 miles

Elevation gain: 4000 feet

Climbing:          long

skill level:         Advanced skills

Trail Description:
If you like spectacular scenery and amazing views, then this is the ride for you. It starts with a grueling 7 mile 4,000 foot climb, but rewards you with the most breathtaking view of Mt. Rainier you won't soon forget. At the top, take in the sights and an energy bar and get ready for miles of amazing singletrack. The beginning of the decent is steep and technical, but the challenges ease as the trail descends.



See the zigzag marks in the trees on the mountain beyond Lan?
 Thats the 5 miles of gravel road we rode up. And up and up and up.
There were no breaks in the UP on this gravel road, not even
a dip.
Lan sure has sexy legs in this photo.



How to get there:
From Enumclaw, drive East on Highway 410. After about 30 miles, keep your eyes out for road #73 on the right. (if you see the Visitor's Information Center, you have gone too far. But since you're there, you might want to pick up a map of the trail). After turning onto road #73, cross the bridge and immediately turn right into the small parking area. If you have two cars, you can drive a second car to the top of Sun Top Mountain and then ride back down to your first car.

Lan and I went up near Mt Rainier on August 27th, 2010 to ride this trail. Lan had been there before so he kinda knew what we were in for but he must have had a fuzzy memory.    We thought we had plenty of time for this ride but later I'll tell you about our timing.

After we got up the 5 miles of gravel roads we got to this point, not the beginning of the trail but the part where Lan said I would be able to do it. I guess the top is way technical and steep and I wouldn't be able to do it. We thought we were home free at this point, all ready to go down now...

 Going down wasn't an option there though; we had to climb up the single track trail for another mile! We passed a few guys at this view point, they took our photo and that was nice of them.
Side note: a couple days later Lan and I went to Tiger Mtn Summit and those same guys were there.

 The trail was steep on the sides, it was just like this photo and I really did ride along the trail but I was so careful not to look over the edge. I always steer where I'm looking and I didn't want to go over the edge.

 Another point a ways farther up the road. It was getting chilly here.

I love these kinds of trails. They challenge me to the extreme but as I do more and more of them I am learning new tricks and skills. In the video below you see one of the guys who we passed on the trail. He was the last one to pass us and he was slow, I was actually faster than he was but only by a split second. The other guys BLASTED  past us on this section of trail and it took me too long to get the camera out to get video of them.

Lan and I finally got to ride down for about a mile or so when we realized we were running out of daylight. It was getting quite chilly even with our leg warmers and jackets on. We had our backpacks with us with a limited suply of food but no more clothes and we were getting cold, really cold.

After riding single track for only a couple miles total Lan made a decision that we needed to get off the mountain and that we were basically lost so we rode to the next logging road and headed down it. It was not the same one we had come up but after a while he figured out it was the one that is just uphill from where we started out.

We rode for about 25 minutes and got so cold that we had to get off our bikes and jump around to warm our fingers as neither of us was able to feel our fingers (for steering or breaking). At  one point we came around a blind corner and I almost hit a car head on, he didn't have his head lights on yet and with out bike tires on the gravel road we couldn't hear him.

We rode down the logging road as fast as we could but it was past dusk when we hit hwy 410 and headed down. We had to go along the hwy for a few miles and we hauled ass but without any head or tail lights none of the cars could see us and we were risking our lives. Several times cars would pass other ones right beside us and it was scary. Finally after dark we got to our car.

Here is a map of the trail, quite small but you can kind of get a hint of it. We promised ourselves that someday we will go back and we will complete the ride again, but we will get there earlier in the day, make it a warmer day, shuttle to the top and ride all the way down to the car on trails.
And I can't wait to do it.

The Pie is not better yet

How is training going? Better.

I went out to the barn this morning and saw that he has been laying down a lot and he is dirty but I didn't see him rolling. But I'm sure he has been.  I brought him into the barn & put the heat lamp on him, his hay is soaked and I'll make sure hes got plenty of wet hay all day. His flanks are getting a little sunken in & thats not good so I'm keeping a close eye on him.

For my training I ran 3.5 miles of hills this morning then my 4x100 yard striders. Glad its done.

Choke in a horse

How is training going? I'm not feeling well. Didn't run today, yet.

Just as C was leaving tonight, I mean, she wasn't even out of first gear pulling away, I realized The Pie was choking. I had to run up to the house and yell for Lan to come help me in the barn. Poor Pie, he had snot all over & was rolling outside in his run. Lan & I brought him into his stall and spent 5 minutes trying to give him some mineral oil which Lan was finally able to get into The Pies mouth. I think all the stress of fighting us about the oil is what finally dislodged the food in his throat. Now for dinner The Pie only gets a handful of soaked grass but I'll go out later and give him some more, and he'll get his usual amount in the morning~ but still soaked.

The first time I experienced Choke I wasn't even there. Wifi was staying over at Amys house with Argo. I had been by to visit that afternoon & on the way home Andy called, said the vet was on her way there. I went back and there was snot everywhere but by then Wifi was much better. The vet came out, gave her a gallon of mineral oil, supplied me with 10 days SMZ's and charged me $350.

The second time it was Sunshower. This time I had a clue what to do and I had also just read an article earlier that week in a magazine, which just happened to still be out in the barn. So I tried to clean her throat by hand but she wasn't having any of that so Lan then helped me shoot some water into her mouth with a syringe. It worked, it got dislodged. She got wet food that night too and the days afterward.

It has happened to Sunshower a few times since then so I always keep mineral oil on hand for choke and colic. The vets charge $20 for a gallon of it and I can get a quart for $2.50 so I stock up regularly. I know they can still get pneumonia but I can't have the vet coming out once a month for this. The only thing the vet does that I don't do is the SMZ's and if they don't get sick then its wasted money. If he does get sick then I will call the vet.

As for training, I am feeling exceptionally tired and am not motivated to run, not at all. I'll go get my clothes on now and get on the treadmill but I wont be happy about it, lol.

Oh yeah, LOVE our new bed. I woke up during the night and the first thing I realized was that I was warm underneath me, not just on top. I felt like I was in a heated nest, cozy and everything. Yay new bed.

Spin & Strength went well...

How is training going?  Started the day out well and then it went to hell.

I wasn't able to do my run, just could not get into it & my left ankle kept cramping. After the Achilles tendon issues I 'ran thru' last year, only to injure them badly, I do not mess around with burning pain. When the pain started I just walked and completed a measly 1.6 miles, mostly at a walk. My training called for a 40 minute run so I'm going to complete it tomorrow.

Today I did complete the spin/strength class at the YMCA and that whole class felt good. Thursday is endurance day so I surprised myself when i was about to do all of the 50 sit ups on the stability ball (even though I wasn't very stable) and everything else as well. I need to get some dedicated GYM shoes, the ones I wear from home always have chicken shit on the soles & leave messes on the gym floor.

Torrey asked who was going to do the Sound to Narrows so I raised my hand. Its Saturday June 11, 2011. 7.6 miles. Its 6 weeks after I will finish my half marathon so 7.6 should feel like a walk in the park. Its too early to register online yet but I've got it penciled onto my calendar.

Its a good thing I live in the same area as this race or I'd die from the hills. Could you imagine living in Nebraska and trying to run a hilly course? That would suck.
Here is the course. The top of it is where Fort Nisqually is located, I played there a lot when I was a kid. Mom used to take us out to Point Defiance (that's the name of this park, in Tacoma, Washington) to play when I was in elementary school. At least once a month we went there and I seriously thought we owned it. Most of it is surrounded by Puget Sound so there are excellent views everywhere you look. I can't wait for the race, I'll definately take pictures.

Thank goodness they aren't making us go down into Owens Beach, the climb out of there would stop any sane person from running in the race.

I need to go add it to my race calendar on here.

A much needed day off

How is training going? I feel good today.

I had the day off training today but had no access to internet all day so thought I was missing a training day so was a little stressed out. After I got home at 5pm I found out its my day off & now I'm relaxed. Whew. I hate making it up later.

I bought a new mattress and its sitting out in my truck, waiting for me to bring it into the house. Got some rearranging to do first. I can't wait to get it all set up so I can get a good nights sleep. I do plan on getting a memory foam topper for it too.

I also have a cold coming on, the kids were both sick plus their mom too so I have finally got it. They have been sick before and I avoided catching all their crud but not this time. I've got the scratchy throat, gravely voice, cough, headache earlier. This is going to suck because I never get sick so when I do I whine.

Sleep

How is training going?  I woke up in pain.

Because Lan and I have the worst mattress on earth. I hate it and have hated it every day since we got it. It is at least 3rd hand to us. But Lan liked it better than the BRAND NEW ONE we had before.
I have made the decision that we are going to go purchase a new bed this weekend. Lan wants a king size TempurPedic but I doubt we can afford that. But I can't afford to go to bed feeling good and wake up hurting any longer.

The TEMPUR-Cloud Collection

The Tempur-Cloud

Some people want more than a soft mattress—they want to feel like they’re “sleeping on a cloud”. The TEMPUR-Cloud delivers Tempur-Pedic support with wonderful “floating on a cloud” softness.
Feel: medium-soft

The TEMPUR-Cloud Supreme

If you believe that softer is better, step up to the TEMPUR-Cloud Supreme. The deep comfort layer means a pillowy-soft feel, along with body-aligning support. This is truly softness you can believe in.
Feel: soft

The TEMPUR-Cloud Luxe

With the most TEMPUR-ES material of any mattress, the TEMPUR-Cloud Luxe envelopes you in pillowy-softness. When you want Tempur-Pedic support along with ultimate softness, this is the perfect choice.
Feel: soft

I slept on a bed once, (mind you, just ONCE) that I need to have in my life. It was the softest bed on earth but also firm. I laid down on my back, crossed my arms over my chest and fell alseep. I didn't wake up all night and in the morning I woke up on my back with my arms still crossed and I felt more rested than at any other time in my life.

We will go to Sleep Country.

And we will go to Mattress Ranch. I hope the goofy old man is there, I'll get his autograph for my mother in law.

We're going to need a new bed frame also if we're moving up to king again. I like the one I have now, its queen and the head board has a built in light that I never use but there is room for lots and lots of books and I can shove my pillow into the headboard when I'm ready to sleep.

Getting better sleep is going to make my training go that much better.

I did cross training today, the spin/strength class with Torrey. I didn't go all out, my leg/hip is hurting just a little so I'm taking it wasy today. but Torrey informed us that shes going to be working us hard on tuesdays and easier on Thursdays so our weekend runs will be a little easier for us. Very thoughtful.