Return to Routine

Rob, Jenny, me, Margaret, First Call Marathon (photo by Rich Walter)


A view of the trail at Last Chance Marathon. I don't know who the runners are!

It's been a quiet week around here. Eric and I are both back to our regular routine of running and work. We also made an effort to give up on all the junk food we've been eating and get back to our normal patterns. I even managed to shake my chocolate habit! Hallelujah cupcake!


Birthday party.

We had a fun evening with the Run Club on my birthday, followed by a couple of five mile weekend runs for me. I tried to go easy this week, skipping my usual second run on Thursday and accumulating 27 miles total. Since I've had heavy and tired legs all week, I decided to pass on the mudfest that Eric and the others are participating in today. When Eric told me that Bridle Trails would be like the shoe-sucking upper section of the R2R course that I ran last spring, with the addition of a thigh-high pool of water and horse poop, skipping it seemed like the logical thing to do. Especially since I have the half-ass at Capitol Peak next Saturday, which is a mud-fest in it's own right. I ran 7.5 this morning and my legs still felt fatigued - I really hope that clears up before the race!


Birthday party.

As you probably heard on the news, we had torrential rains (for well over 24 hours), high winds and warm temps (around 50) this week, on top of our recent snowfall, which led to flooding all over our area. All three mountain passes to the eastern side of the state were closed due to slides and high avalanche danger, plus a 20 mile section of I5 south of here was flooded, as well as sections to the north, effectively cutting off all road routes to or from our corner of the world. The trains were also halted between here and Oregon, leaving air travel as the only way in and out. And, of course, Riley needed to get back to Pullman to start classes next Monday. The original plan was for him to drive back on Wednesday, but by then we were cut off. Thursday evening we made alternate plans, making plane and shuttle reservations for today. Friday morning Stevens Pass was open (way out of the way, but do-able) and the prediction was that Snoqualmie would open soon. It wasn't long till the announcement was made that the pass was open, so Riley loaded the car and headed out. I'm happy to say that he and Heather arrived safely last night. WSU is a good six hour drive from here, and I always feel relieved when I hear that they are safe in the dorms.

By the way, we are quite safe from the flooding, as we live on a hill above the river valley. You've read about our runs in Orting - which is in the valley that lies between the hill we live on and the hill Rob lives on. The valley takes a turn just to the east of us, turning into the Puyallup valley - where the original town of Puyallup (and the world-famous fairgrounds) lie. We live on what is known as the South Hill, and of course, the valley runs between us and the North Hill. All of the rails-to-trails routes we run lie in the two valleys. Last years flooding caused damage to the Orting Trail section, and that area was covered again this year, as well as the River Walk section in Puyallup. We'll soon find out if the trails were damaged. There's been a lot of damage through out the state, particularly in Lewis County, which was hit hard by flooding just a year ago.

And the last thing I'll mention, is that I thoroughly enjoyed running in the downpour, with blowing winds, yet oddly warm. I love running on stormy mornings!