Hiking

I've been trying to go hiking one day each week and so far Linda and I have gone 5 weeks in a row.

Banner Forest  7 miles
Lake Lena. 9 miles
Carbon River Ranger Station. 13.1 miles
Wildcat Trailhead. 6 miles
 Stottlemeyer.  8 miles
Mt St Helens. 8 miles

Some of these have been absolutely amazing hikes. Lake Lena has the Valley of Silent Men, OLD growth fir trees, hundreds of years old and many have fallen recently so we were walking under them. It was also all mossy and green, so cool.

Carbon River had Green Lake and an old mine.

Stottlemeyer is a localish Forest, many mtn bikers and trail runners like to go there.

And Mt St Helens. We went on May 18, 2016, the 36th anniversary of its big explosion. That was cool because we didn't have to pay the $8 hiking fee. We hiked out 4 miles, up onto Harry's Ridge which looks directly into the opening of the volcano. We lunched at the feet of geological equipment and saw steam coming up from the new dome. Spirit Lake was beautiful but weird with so many trees still floating in it after all see years.

All these trail miles are making my legs stronger and I think it's good cross training that is making me stronger and faster and stops my legs from hurting when I run.  I have Harstine Island Half Marathon in 2 weeks and I hope my legs don't hurt two days later like they did so badly last year.

Tacoma City Half Marathon

Well that's done.

The run itself went well, being a training run for me I was good until about 10 miles and then it was more walk than run. The weather was in the mid 70s by the finish and it was along the waterfront so an absolutely beautiful day.

I ran and walked with Kim for a while, then a Marine doing the full with a 50 lb pack on his back.

My finish time was 2:46:00 and I'm ok with that.

 This is the third time I've run the TCM half and this time it almost didn't happen. They moved the start to Gig Harbor airport and didn't make that clear in their email so we went to Tacoma to ride the shuttles and missed the last one. Then none of the volunteers knew where the start was at. Ugh! But we found it and got there about 10 minutes before the start and I was happy once again.

Midnight Ramblings

Once again I'm working the midnight to 4am shift and since its been a few weeks since I've had it, I've actually missed it a bit. Only a bit. I do like my sleep a lot more.

I've got the Taco a City Half Marathon coming up Sunday, been dreading it but realize it's coming no matter what. I looked at the calendar a couple days ago and found out its THIS WEEKEND, not another week away. Surprised me! Tomorrow is packet pickup and the race starts at 8am.

My half PR is 2:24 and for that course it's 2:28 so I hope to come in close to that time. I guess I should figure out my Garmin and set it up so I know my pace and plan on how fast I should go. Also, do I wear my old Browne down shoes or my brand new ones? Tough decision. I know, nothing new in race day.

I'm thinking that forn the Black Diamond half ironman race I might make it a duathlon and skip the swim. Not a final decision but if I don't have a wetsuit that fits then I won't be spending a lot of time in the lake. I'm ok with not swimming, I'd like to start out warm and dry for once.

Horse news: Sunshowers injury is healing so well, it's smaller than my little finger now.

She and Joey have both had a LOT of bug bites on them so I've been spraying them more. Wifi lets me do it, the others are turds but once I'm doing it every day they will come around. I can't believe the difference in the amounts of bugs from the old farm to the new one. Ugh, billions here.

The pigs are nearing slaughter weight, we have a date about 10 days from now. I wouldn't mind getting two more but Lan is dead set against it. He doesn't like to think about killing pets. I, on the Other hand, have made a huge effort to not make them in to pets. We shall see how the bacon tastes.

The azaleas are blooming and the front yard smells amazing. Next year they will be even more beautiful because I trimmed them quite a bit last year. This weekend I'll be digging up two of e regular small bushes and replacing them with a couple from alongside the fence. The beautiful gold one will look fabulous beside the porch. I'd like to replace the Hydrangea too, it just doesn't go well there but it IS big and oh so pretty.

I cleared out a lot of the blue bells and iris from the triangle garden, gave away a bush with small yellow flowers and two roses. I transplanted some of the iris and gave a million bluebells to friends. They will flourish and grow like crazy as long as they plant them. I left two roses and an azalea in the garden and they will be very pretty next year too, with all the new room to spread out.last year there was one single iris bloom,Mathis year there are about 6 and I hope to have a lot more next year. I need to dig them up and spread out the bulbs, I left a lot intact so the flowers wouldn't be messed up.

Hiking As Cross Training

I've been spending time hiking in the state and National parks. Last week Linda and I hiked up to Lena Lake and the Valley Of the Silent Men, about 9 miles and incredible. Moss on 600 year old trees and boulders covered in it.

Yesterday we hiked up the Carbon River and in to Green Lake. 13.1 miles, all UPHILL, both ways, in the snow, no shoes.... Ok, we had boots on. Forced to turn back when we ran into dozens and dozens of old growth trees fallen across the trail and no safe way over/under/around. We will go back later this summer, with bikes, and finish the hike up to Ipsut Lake and the Carbon Glacier, where we can stand with our feet on either side of the river. Can't wait.

The weather has been in the 80s for the last few days, unheard of in April in Washington. Meanwhile it's flooding in Texas.

I so wish I was able to add photos but am unable to with the iPad. Can't wait to get my PC up and running again.

Hobbies

I have too many hobbies; horses, triathlon, decorating the house, Little Red Camper... The list goes on and on. I want to ride the horses but rarely have time. I need to ride my bike but rarely do. I run a couple times each week.
But last night we pulled the Little Red Camper out of the garage and might, just might, go camping tonight. It could be a blast.

Great Bike Ride Today

I had a good time riding with Linda today.
We knew the weather would be perfect and we had planned on going at about noon so it would be warmer but I got scheduled to work at 2 so we left early. Planned on a 20 miler so went on Beach Drive up to Port Orchard Blvd and back. It took us too long because there were so many reasons to stop and take pictures, like with the double humper camel and on Waterman Dock. Plus we had to lower her seat a bit, that was when Steve passed us on the other road...
After the glorious ride we went for a 1.5 mile run, very slowly, just to get our first BRick of the season done.

41st Marine Corp Marathon

I've won the lottery into the 41st MCM, October 30 in Arlington, VA. Bucket list item!