Lots going on lately

Last weekend was crazy.  My Dad came into town on Thursday to watch Damian compete in track and stayed the weekend to watch Maddox play t-ball.  I went to Damian's track meet, where he had two PR's, one in the javelin throw with a throw of 121.7 feet and then in his pole vault, with a height of 11 ft.  It was a good meet, even if we had to sit around forever waiting for his pole vaulting.  Javelin is one of the first events they do and pole vaulting is one of the last, the previous week, my sister and I sat for a couple hours between the two.  Last week there were less schools there, so we didn't have to wait as long.

Saturday was Maddox's t-ball game, however, Damian also had a invitational track meet at the same time, so I ended up going to Damian's track while my Dad and sister went to Maddox's game.  Damian did not do great at track, he was very focused on Prom, which was Saturday night.  Plus, the weather was rather crazy, raining one min and sunny the next, plus windy at times, it was just awful. 

Sunday was a run, grocery shopping, tulip festival street fair and ice cream with my dad.  I don't think I sat down until 7pm.  I was soooo tired.  I really enjoyed the time with my Dad.  It's not very often that he comes to my house without my Mom, and even rarely does he stay at my house.  My house is pretty small, so if he stays there Damian sleeps on the couch, which I think my Dad feels guilty about.  But it was nice to spend one-on-one time with him.

Prom.  My son is old enough for Senior Prom, and he went, with a girl, and paid for it all with his own money.  Did I mention he has a job?  He has had one for about 2 months now, maybe 2 and a half.  He's been so busy I barely see him lately.  School, track, work, by the time he gets home I'm in bed. 

 Yesterday Damian had another track meet that I was able to go to.  He's beaten his pole vault record at every track meet except Saturday's.  Yesterday he was able to get to 11'6" and I think he could have gotten 12' but by that time he was the only one still vaulting so he did his 3 tries in a row and I think he was tired.  There was one other guy competing after Damian, but his starting height was higher than that, so he hadn't even started by the time Damian was done.  I don't know what his starting height was, but 12' is really high, so that's impressive!

I hope you can see that.  I made a GIF with "burst shots" and I've had problems sending it via text all day.  I was able to post it on Facebook, but not anywhere else.  =(

My week in running has been pretty good.  Last Saturday I ended up not running because I got too late of a start to my day and had to leave to go to Damian's track meet.  However, I ran 6 miles on Sunday, 4 on Tuesday and even managed 3 last night after Damian's track meet.  That was a late run in the wind, but I was happy I did it.  I haven't decided if I'm going to run tonight or not.  I was supposed to go walking with my sister, but I'm exhausted today and don't want to walk 6 miles.  She wants me to go tomorrow instead, but I hate getting home late on Friday night.  I don't know.


Last night's run.  My fast time for awhile.

Oh, and on the way home from the track meet yesterday I finally saw some tulips.  They were my first and probably the last I'll see.  We tend to not go see them every year because of the craziness of the Tulip Festival.  There is an evening that some of the tulip farms open for free for the locals, but I always miss it.  (You can see the tulips just driving by the fields, but some farms have "special" areas that you have to pay to go in, I've never paid to go in.) 

I stopped as we drove by the one field we saw to take a picture.  I figure I need at least one picture of the tulips, they are pretty, even if they're boring because they bloom once and then are done.  ; )

Hot springs

Once again last week was a bust running.  I just can't get it together.  Last weekend I decided to work on increasing my miles.  Sunday is a run day, Monday is a no run day, then Tuesday and Wednesday are run days, Thursday a walk/spin day with my sister, Friday and Saturday are run days.  I haven't completely decided, but I think I'm going to go back to long runs on Sunday.  I really do prefer that over Saturdays.  Well, it didn't work out that way this week.

Tuesday Maddox had t-ball pictures, but I still went for a run, even though it was kinda late.  Then Wednesday was t-ball practice and I didn't run.  Thursday was Damian's track meet, so no walk or spin.  And Friday when I got home I was the only one home with Maddox so couldn't go run.  So after Saturday's run, I ran a grand total of 13 miles.  Not what I'd call increasing my miles. . .

I ran 5 miles yesterday.  My legs were a little sore after 10 miles in 2 days, which is a bad sign. Means I'm not in great shape.  =/  I did get a roller stick to roll my legs with.  I was having a hard time with the foam roller in certain areas.  I'm not sure I'm sold on it though.

After my run we did our weekly grocery shopping and then went up to a hot springs about an hour and half away from our house.  It took quite a bit longer though because of road conditions.  We were chugging along on a "forest road" up a  mountain.  About 2 miles away from the hot springs we ran into some snow and a very muddy road.  It wasn't horrible, but the center of the road was quite a bit higher than the tire ruts, Chris was pretty worried about the car getting stuck. 

Chris told me that it was a maintained trail with about a half mile walk from the parking area, and there was even a changing room.  So not knowing anything about where we were going or the conditions of the place but thinking it was a well maintained "park-like" spot, I wore flip flops.  I thought about tennis shoes, but decided that if it was an easy hike, flip flops would be fine. 

Well, when we got to this snowy part of the road, we got out and walked the small spot where it was troublesome, in flip flops.  (At least I had clothes on and not just a bathing suit with a coverup over it.)  We discussed driving over the area, and I was mostly for it, I thought that the car would be okay, but Chris was really worried.

While we walked in the snow, Maddox kept
saying he was the smart one because he was
wearing tennis shoes.  =)

After about 45 min and walking the road several times, we discussed what would happen if we got stuck up there.  Both of us were in flip flops with no other shoes, no other clothing options.  We had no shovels, and no cell service.  Chris decided we'd turn around and go somewhere else.  We were just getting in the car when a jeep came by and said it wasn't that bad.  The spot we were at was the only snowy spot in the road and there was a car about the size of ours up there.  So Chris decided we could make it, and we did.  =)

Maddox's dam

The trail there was not a well-maintained "park-like" trail, but it wasn't too rough, so my flip flops weren't that bad.  There was no changing room, nor was there a bathroom of any sort.  I had worn my bathing suit on under my clothes, but Chris and Maddox had to change. 

This was my first experience with a hot springs and it was pretty smelly.  Chris couldn't stand the smell (the smell of eggs, and he hates eggs) so we were only there about 20 min.  I swear, we debated the road for a lot longer than we were actually in the hot springs. 

We had met a family coming down, the family of the car that was the deciding factor to keep going, so we were the only ones there.  We got out and I changed Maddox and then was about to change myself when Chris said some people were coming.  Yep, 3 people were walking up the trail.  I will change in a women's locker room without much hesitation, but there is no way I will get naked in front of 2 men on the side of a mountain, so I just put my clothes back over my wet suit and we left. 

We got part way down the trail and far enough away that they were out of sight, so  I decided to change behind a tree.  We kept going a few feet further, I realized my travel wallet had fallen out of my sweatshirt pocket at some point.  I turned around and walked back to where I changed and then all the way back to the hot springs.  Thankfully I found it, it just had my ID in it, but I didn't really want to worry about having to replace it. 

Like I said, I've never been to a hot springs before, so I was caught off guard by the lack of visibility in the water.  The "pond" was only 3 feet deep, or less, and I couldn't see the bottom.  I don't like not knowing what's under me in water so it was a little intimidating at first.  Plus, whenever I stood up I had black silt all over me.  I was the only one this happened to, so I don't know what that meant. 

Cars!

This last Sunday was a nice day weather-wise.  We were going to go to some hot springs north of us, but Damian had to work and then it was decided that we'd wait for another time to go.  I ended up doing some yard work. 

I did go for a run.  I decided to do an easy 5 miles, not worrying about my time or anything, just a nice 5 miles.  It was so nice outside that I would have kicked myself if I hadn't. 

After grocery shopping I decided to mow the lawn.  I don't think I've ever mowed a lawn without a self-propelled lawn mower before.  I've mowed my parents lawn many times, and one notable time last fall.  And I've mowed the lawn at my home with a different mower than what we currently have.  Let me tell you, mowing tall, wet grass with a push lawn mower that is not self-propelled is hard!!  And even though I weight lift, I am obviously not strong enough to pull the string thing (whatever that's called) to start the mower.  I had to ask my neighbor to do it to begin with (Chris and Damian went to lunch).  He said once it warmed up it would be easier, but with the wet, tall lawn the mower kept stalling out, so I'd have to start it all over.  I swear I pulled that thing at least 50 times, at least 5 tries to start it each time, and my arm is sore today. 

But my lawn looks nice now, and not so jungle like.  The lawn mowing was harder than my run yesterday. 

After mowing the lawn I did a few other things, I don't even remember all I did, cleaned house, worked on some stuff outside.  Anyway  I talked to our neighbor about a car.

Just before our family trip our neighbor asked us if we were interested in a 1997 Toyota Corolla for $600. His boss had bought the car for his daughter, but then she decided to keep her Mustang (why buy a Corolla to replace a Mustang for a teenager? seems silly).  Anyway, he had already put some work into the car, tune up, new belts, new stereo, I don't know what all.  We wanted to look at it and hopefully have my brother-in-law, who knows more about cars than any of us, look at it, but the guy was out of town the week before our trip, and then we were out of town.

Thursday before we went to Long Beach, our neighbor told us that his boss had sold it to someone else for $1500.   I was pretty bummed, because we really do need a second car, but we couldn't compete with $1500.  Well, on Sunday our neighbor told me that the other deal fell through and the car was still available and we could still get it for $600.  So we bought it. 

We also have a Dodge Neon SRT-4 that is not working but Chris told me this weekend that he thinks that he sold it to a coworker, so that will be nice to not have that broken car in our yard, although I really like that car and will be sad to see it go (I hate my current car).  Oh and I also have a 1989 Toyota Camry that doesn't work in our driveway.  I was going to donate that one two years ago, but taking it off our insurance would have made our insurance go up more than double because of the discount of being a 2 car family and having Damian being a "primary" driver on the sporty Dodge, so after buying the Corolla I had decided I'd donate the Camry and then we'd have all broken cars gone.  I think it'd be great to have all cars that don't work gone and have 2 actually working cars.

Well, Chris called the insurance on Monday to take the Camry off and add the Corolla and I was going to work on getting it donated again . . . ha!  So apparently there is a 3 car, 3 driver discount, and once again, taking it off our insurance would raise our insurance. If we keep the Camry, our insurance goes down $20, but getting rid of the Camry our insurance would go up $8. . .  Chris even kept adding things that we don't have, like collision (I don't know why we don't have that) and rental (if the car breaks down and we need a rental for a week), plus, we didn't change our address from Burlington from 2 years ago, so moving to Mt. Vernon added money on the insurance.  But even with adding all that we are still $6 cheaper keeping the Camry than we were before we bought the Corolla.  Oh! and I forgot, currently the Camry is insured for storage, not for driving, so Chris tried to decrease the storage to the minimum amount, and the lady told him we didn't want to do that because it would be more expensive.  So the Camry (the worthless car that doesn't work) is insured for the maximum amount of storage, and our insurance is still $6 cheaper than before. 

I will never be able to get rid of that car!!  But if we can get rid of the Dodge, at least we'll be a 3 car family with 2 cars that work instead of a 3 car family with 1 car that works.   Although, right now we're a 4 car family with 2 cars that work . . .

Tulip Run

In the last few months I've gotten slow.  I haven't been running far or fast or often, and that definitely showed in my time at the Tulip Run on Saturday.  Last year I ran a PR at 42:12 min/mile, getting first place in my age, at 39 (granted the age groups go in 5 year increments for this race). The year before I felt like I was dying in mile 5, but was still faster than this year.  In 2014 I won first place for my age as well.  In 2013 I didn't run it, and in 2012 was the first year I did it, where I walked with my sister.

This year was slow.  45.31 min/mile slow.  I usually find someone to run behind as a pacer.  I never really found that person.  I was behind a girl with a stroller for awhile, but she slowed down when we went on the muddy trails, and I passed her.  When we got back on the pavement, and then the hard packed gravel she passed me and I couldn't keep up.  I stayed pretty close to 9 min/mile for most of the run. I was fastest in mile 2, at 8:36 min.  Well, here's my splits according to mapmyrun.

According to this I was just under a 9 min/mile, but previously I have been closer to a 8 and a half min/mile.  I can't beat myself up over the run.  It was not a bad run.  It was pretty average for my running lately.

It was cold before the run.  Windy and rainy and in the low 40's.  The wind is what kills me, I hate the wind.  I have hated the wind since I was a kid.  Eastern Washington has dust storms more often than any other storm, which is probably why I hate the wind so much.  Anyway, I didn't want to wait around outside for the start.  I was only about 20 min early for the race, but I decided to sit in my car for most of the time after I picked up my race packet.

I have never stuck around after the Tulip Run before.  I usually get my tulip (the only one I see) and go home.  This year I decided to stay.  I don't know why, I didn't think I'd win any awards.  But it was okay, they had food, which I didn't know they had.  =) 

Looking at the official results online that night I was 7th for my age, so not even close to a medal (top 3 in 5 year increments).  Even if I had run with the same time that I did last year, I still wouldn't have made the top 3, the third fastest female in the 40-44 age group was 41:28, my best time is 42:12.  Which makes my slow time seem better somehow.  ; )

Even though the weather was not good on Saturday, after the run I decided to plant seeds for my garden.  I was thinking that I was getting a head start on them, but looking at old pictures, I'm pretty sure I was a week or two later than last year.  The weather has just been so bad it's hard to realize it's already April.  Anyway, Maddox has been bugging me for 2 or 3 weeks (whenever we bought the seeds) to plant them, so I decided we should do it.  I did it inside, of course, it was way too cold outside. 

Sunday was a pretty eventful and busy day, so that will have to be a separate post.  =)

Long Beach 2017

Last weekend we went to Long Beach with my parents and my sisters.  I don't really know how to talk about my weekend.  Nothing exciting happened, and nothing bad happened, it just wasn't my favorite family vacation.  I don't really know why. I love my family, but last weekend I just felt antisocial.  Maybe it was because of the drama with my sister before we left (the one that didn't go).  It might have been because my niece (the daughter of the sister that didn't go) went and was more than a little clingy.  It isn't so bad when she's the only one hanging on you, but I also had my son, Maddox, who only ever wants Mommy.  Thankfully my sister, Nancy, was there (she's the one that lives close and I see often) and my niece liked to hang on her too.  If I had been the only one she was hanging on, I would have gone crazy.

We did our normal stuff, antique store shopping and going in and out of the tourist stores.  We went back to a house that we've been a couple times, but this year they had a new hot tub, something we weren't expecting.  Saturday we went looking for swimsuits and thankfully found one.  Swimsuits in a tourist town are expensive.

I think I'll just do a photo dump.

Bottom left is my sister and her husband, they were standing
looking out the window and my brother-in-law saw I was about
to take a picture so he put his hand down.  I snapped, and my
sister yelled at him.  =) I thought it was funny.

I'm not sure why there are very few pictures of my Mom.  I guess there aren't that many of my dad either, but I went for a walk with him so got one with the two of us.  =)

When we got home on Monday I went for a run.  It was a beautiful day and I was itching to go run the whole trip home.  I was really happy that I didn't miss the sun.  I ended up running along the river about sunset time, which was perfect.  =)

This picture doesn't do it justice, but while I was running my shadow looked pregnant.  I was so bloated from the salt and eating out all weekend.

This week didn't feel like I was very active but after looking at mapmyrun, I did something every day.  Monday run, Tuesday I went to the gym and lifted weights, Wednesday was a 4 mile run, Thursday was a 5 mile walk with my sister, back to the gym on Friday for leg day, and today was the Tulip run (5 miles).  Not a ton of running, only 13 miles, but maybe I'm too focused on my mileage.

I'll write another post about the Tulip Run (which I almost forgot to register for).