Running Update: Rob and I are virtually racing along the Oregon Coast

On July 1st Rob and I started a virtual race along the Oregon Coast.  I committed to doing ten races in 2020 and had no idea I would be racing in this format.  I have to admit that it has been pretty fun. Rob and I chose the duathlon category which is running and bicycling.  NOT a biathlon. A biathlon is that event from the winter Olympics where the athletes ski and then shoot at a target.  

So far we have banked 205.24 miles and are 58.64 percent of the way there.  As a team we virtually started at Brookings, passed through Coos Bay and are approaching Newport. We are in sixth place out of  twenty seven teams.

That is fantastic considering Rob had quite the long weekend battling diverticulitis in Salem Hospital in mid July and had to rest from his workouts after his discharge. Virtually he made it to about Gold Beach.    Then virtually he rode in a bike trailer attached to my bike or I pulled him while I ran (can you imagine if that REALLY happened). 

 It was also very difficult to workout in Michigan due to the humidity our bodies are not used to, no access to a gym, and a somewhat full schedule. I did squeeze in an eleven mile bike ride with my sister on the Kent Trails.  I rode my Dad's 1986 Schwinn 10 speed that sat dormant for a few years.  He said, "I can't promise you that you won't get a flat tire."  The gears were a little wonky.  Derek rode my dad's current bike and he was barely tall enough to reach the pedals.  Kara rode my mom's bike that reminds me of Mrs. Gulch's bike from The Wizard of Oz.  It was a little too big.  She could get off it pretty well but it was more difficult for her to get back on.  She was a real trooper.  We were the quite the crew.

Derek, myself, and my sister took a bike ride in Michigan.

  Now that we are home we are back to our workouts.  Me mostly running outside and riding Orange Mango.  Rob rides the stationary bike at the gym and goes for long walks on his day off.

 We did go on a fifteen mile round trip ride a few days before Rob landed in the ER.  I have the endurance and Rob is better at navigating through traffic and planning routes.  So together we make a pretty good team.  

My bike to the left is a rebuilt Schwinn and I am told the frame is from around the year 1982.  I named it Orange Mango since I love the color orange, Orange Mango Cascade Ice drink, and it reminds me of Sunkist Orange soda I loved in the 1980's.  Rob's bike is also rebuilt but the frame is the same one he had as a high schooler.  His bike does not have a name.  The kids called it Cobweb because he did not ride it much but I think it needs a new name!

I also forgot to share about the 10K I did in June with my friend Emily.  The Salem Paddy Pint race I was supposed to run the doom and gloom weekend when COVID 19 shut everything down went virtual.  I still got all the swag and had to download a race app to record my time. We picked a Saturday morning and chose Minto Brown Park as our race destination.  All week the weather predicted cool and cloudy which is perfect for running.  Needless to say it rained hard the entire time.  We were pretty soaked.  But we saw a cool owl perched in a tree.  There were many runners out there and the dog park was packed.  So we were not the only crazies. Our time was 59:09 which is not my PR.  I believe it is 54:44. Considering the nasty weather we did pretty good.

Emily and I ran a 10K at Minto Brown Park

Rob and I have until September 30 to virtually reach Astoria but I think we will make it there by Labor Day weekend.  I am not sure what race I will be doing late summer/early fall but I am almost certain it will be virtual.

Week 5 & Week 6

I had no idea what this summer would be like with all the cancellations and restrictions.  Then God lead Rob down the path of diverticulitis and a three night hospital stay at Salem Hospital.  We navigated through that all together and were grateful for his quick recovery.  We were blessed he could join us in Michigan on vacation.  At one point when we were in the ER we were not even sure that would be possible. So here are my photos from Weeks 5 & 6 this summer.  I did miss a day...the day Rob came home from the hospital.  It proved to be a full and somewhat challenging day therefore taking photos was not on my mind.

Saturday, July 4: Sparklers on the 4th of July!

Sunday, July 5: Barbecue at friend's house near Albany.  Beautiful views of Mary's Peak

Monday, July 6: Rob and I took a bike ride to Yard food trucks

Tuesday, July 7: Blueberry picking!

Wednesday, July 8:  "Fast food picnic" at the park by our house

Thursday, July 9:  Introducing my children to walking tacos

Friday, July 10:  I spent much of this day in Salem Hospital with Rob who was dealing with a bad case of diverticulitis.

Saturday, July 11: Taking a break from the hospital to swim with Kara and watch her practice her dives.

Sunday, July 12:  Rob "zooming" with the kids from the hospital.  COVID 19 regulations did not allow them to visit him.

Tuesday, July 14:  I canned homemade salsa for the first time! (I missed Monday!  It was a very crazy day as Rob was discharged from the hospital and we processed through the last few days)

Wednesday, July 15:  Water fight in the backyard on a hot day

Thursday, July 20:  Making slime with preschoolers 

Friday, July 16: Traveling to Michigan in masks

Saturday, July 17: Tubing in Lloyd's Bayou near Spring Lake, MI on my brother-in-law's boat.

Scenes From Our Summer Week 4

At the end of this week (when I am currently writing this) some of us shared how we are sick of this COVID 19 pandemic and how it has affected many areas of our lives.  The cases are building again and the news seems to get more discourgaing.

But I think about the beautiful poppy field I saw this week while I was out biking.  I remember the breakfast picnic I had with my kids at the park and how excited my son was to order Burger King breakfast.  I remember how much fun we had exploring in the creek at Bush Park.  I remember the peaceful afternoons at the pool.  I remember hiking to ten different waterfalls with my family.  Yes, there have been lots of hard things lately that have disrupted our lives.  I will acknowledge them and not sweep them under the carpet.  There are joyous times too.  I will cling to those as well.

6/27:  Playing basketball at the park

6/28:  Frozen yogurt downtown at Frozation

6/29:  Breakfast picnic at Bryan Johnston Park and hiking/biking the trail

6/30:  Fly away, my son!   A great afternoon at Bush Park with the younger two and one of their friends.

7/1:  Beautiful poppy fields in North Salem I saw while riding Orange Mango with SBC

7/2:  Diving In!  All my kids have learned to dive in this pool.

7/3:  10 Waterfalls seen on a 8.2 mile hike at Silver Falls State Park.

Scenes From Our Summer Week 3

This summer is what you make of it.  That has been our ongoing theme.  We had to cancel our vacation but it opened the door for us to visit family in Michigan in a few weeks.  We are getting used to wearing masks in public and will get more used to wearing them in church.  There are uncertainties about what our fall will look like.  We are taking one day at a time.  We take breaks from the news and social media when we need it.  We try to stay connected with others.  On some days we have to navigate through deeper emotions.  Other days it feels like a normal summer and we forget about COVID 19 and all the world issues.  Here are my photos from Week #3.  One photo each day.

9/20 Virtual 10K with Emily in the pouring rain

9/21 Father's Day Lunch at the Bee Hive Food Trucks--everyone got mac and cheese!

9/22  Nice hot afternoon at the pool

9/23 It has not been difficult to "socially distance" at the pool and we kind of like sitting by the spray deck and feeling the wisps of spray on a hot day

9/24:  20 miles on Orange Mango with the Salem Bicycle Club!  A little detour to the Yard enjoying a rice bowl and Orange Mango soda!

9/25:  Pink Lemonade on the deck and enjoying some time at a friend's house

9/26:  Rode Orange Mango to the middle school track to run intervals in the heat.  Surprisingly it was a better run than my other two runs in cooler temperatures earlier this week.

Scenes From Our Summer Week 2

Nothing could have prepared us for the past few months.  Rob mentioned he has learned many things about ministry in the past few months that seminary could never have prepared him for.  They do not teach you how to usher a church through a pandemic in higher education or any education program for that matter.  I am sure many can say similar things about their careers or parenting in a pandemic or caring for the elderly or dealing with job losses.  We are charting new territory.

I am determined to make the most of this summer.  There are not many summers left until my children are older and will be working (my oldest started working her first real job this summer!) and might be living in different places.  We are in the times when we are not held down by nap schedules or activity schedules (especially because much is cancelled!).  We have been spending time quality time together.

So here are my pictures from this past week.  One photo for each day starting with last week Saturday...

Saturday 6/13: Apples to Apples

Sunday 6/14:  Family bike ride to get ice cream

Monday 6/15: Strawberry picking

 

Tuesday 6/16:  Good-bye my dear friends.  God be with you until we meet again.

Wednesday 6/17: Chocolate and strawberry sundae break on a 24 mile bike ride on Orange Mango with the cycling club.  I missed the people I rode with last summer and was happy they remembered me.

Thursday 6/18:  Neskowin Beach.  We all needed to go here today to bask in the refreshing Oregon coast and escape some of the craziness from the last three months.

Friday 6/19 Back to the pool!  It is officially open.  Our family happy place.

Race Report: Conquer COVID 19 Half Marathon

I realize a whole month has almost gone by since I ran my May race.  I did the Conquer COVID virtual half marathon on Friday, May 15th.  I wanted to wait until I had some bling to show for it.  My medal and my t-shirt arrived this week.

I mapped my course and tweaked it several times.  I did some long runs on parts of the course in late April and early May.  I would highly recommend long distance virtual racers do this if you are running on city streets.  Even though you think you might know your neighborhood, there are things you might not realize until you are actually running it.  Like hills are much steeper than you realize, there are way too many traffic lights, and there is no shoulder where you expected one.

I wanted to run by people's houses and pray for them.  I do this fairly often anyway.  I did this on a somewhat regular basis when I trained for the Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix during the fall and winter of 2018.  As I mapped it out, it so happened I was running by ten different people's houses.  Which went along with my ongoing theme of running for 10/10 ministries.  

A portion of the funds for the Conquer COVID races goes to local running stores who are affected by the slow economy.  So yes, I was running for running.  

I picked May 15th mostly because the weather was perfect.  A slight chill in the air (but it got warm pretty quickly) and sunny.  No rain in the forecast.  I decided not to run with music or a podcast because I was worried of draining too much battery.  I found that I liked being more present and in tune with the sounds around me.  Lately I have been sick of my running playlists and I can only take podcasts for a certain amount of time.

More people at the beginning of my race were home and outside cheering.  One of my friends had a big sign with my name on it and encouragement notes in chalk drawing.  That was very sweet.  Another friend videoed me and was waving a pom pom.  Close friends of mine were my aide station and kept my sports drink at their house.  Rob and Kara were my other aide station and waited for me around the ten mile mark in a local park.  I was much faster especially the first half than I expected which is why the timings I gave people were a little off.  I also did not hit any lights at the beginning.

I finished in the local park by our house.  Rob was waiting for me at the finish line. It is a little funny to end a race by looking at your phone to make sure you exceeded the distance.  I passed him and told him I was not done yet.  I had to go another 0.1 mile.  

The day was beautiful, springy and nearly perfect.  We spent the rest of the afternoon working on our rock garden.  Rob and I walked to Subway for lunch.  That evening as a family we got Applebees Curbside to go and we have been watching old episodes of the Amazing Race.

I miss the hoopla of big races.  I miss running with packs of people and making friends along the race course.  I miss the crowd support and the scenic courses.  I miss trying to PR.  But COVID 19 has taught me to appreciate the small things.  The hidden joys we might overlook.  I don't even think I would have ever tried racing virtually had it not been for all races being cancelled.  Rob has been saying throughout this whole pandemic that we make the most of these times.

Scenes From Our Summer Week 1

We are not living "in the best of times."  Maybe it is reminiscent of the late 1960's or 1970's but this was before my time.  There are times I have to mentally separate myself from it.  Which to be honest is quite difficult.  Racial tensions and debates using degrading and aggressive language (on both sides of the issue) has invaded my Facebook groups. One of my groups was shut down because of it. The group was a triathlon group.  It had nothing to do with politics or the state of the world.

I have to mentally focus on something else.   Like summer.  But to be honest I do not know what kind of summer we are going to have.  There is still much that has been cancelled or is on the verge of cancelling.  There are many places that are still not open.  COVID 19 is still very real and present.  

 My oldest is taking a picture each day this summer and compiling it into an album.  I thought this was a splendid idea because it helps me focus on the present. Which to be honest I am not great at doing. It seems like I am stuck in the past holding on to things I should be letting go of.  Or else I am getting way too anxious about the future.   Children have a way of reminding us of today.  They have beautiful ways of helping us appreciate the small things.  

I am not ignoring the issues in the world right now.  Actually I am looking for positive ways to engage them.  But I am also going to focus on the little joys of today.  Here is my first photo diary of week 1.  Which technically not my first week of summer because I was still working.  

Day 1:  Shopping during a pandemic

Day 2: Strawberry season 

Day 3:  Another preschool class.  This year was memorable

Day 4:  Guitar playing in the evening.  Most evenings.

Day 5: During the COVID 19 pandemic I had to drive out to West Salem to deliver items to my preschool families.  I would often take a lunch break at the park by the river and sit in my car and look out at it.  This was my last lunch break of the year and a time of reflection for me.

Day 6:  Celebrating the end of my last full workday work with LIMEberry!

Day 7: New glasses!  Can't get used to shopping with a mask on.