TREE DOWN!!

As you can see, we had some fierce winds come through with a thunderstorm last night that took out our big tree in the backyard. The second picture is what the tree and treehouse/ deck looked like before the storm. We'll have a completely different looking yard without that tree there. I'm wondering if we'll be able to have more of a garden without all the shade from that tree. They boys will miss their tree house, but we were planning to get them a big trampoline for their birthdays this weekend, so I think they'll survive. The third pic with Eli in the fallen branches, shows just how big the mess is. We are all just grateful we were safe in our home during the storm. Some homes around town had trees fall on them, and several trees were down in the roads.
This morning Eli and Brandt, without me asking them to, went outside with long-sleeved shirts on and began moving branches out to the road. It was hot and muggy, but they saw something that needed to be done, and began doing it on their own. I savored the moment.
This afternoon, the four missionaries serving in our ward came over to get haircuts and moved a bunch of limbs out to the road. That was probably at the hottest part of the day, and they were in their shirts and ties. I set out a gallon of cold water and a half gallon of lemonade along with a plate of cookies for them, and they polished it all off!
I had a hard workout this morning. I had planned to do seven 800 intervals at a 6:30 pace like I did last week, but I kept getting a bad pain in the right side of my chest. I'm pretty sure it was indigestion, but it hampered me quite a bit. I still did the whole workout, but only one of my intervals was at my target pace, the rest were 10-20 seconds slower. Also, the roads were wet and had alot of debris on them, which made going in some places a little slower--but mostly I just wasn't feeling super. With my warm-up and cool-down, I ran a total of 6 miles.
Yesterday I did weights and biked for 50 minutes downstairs. I think I went 16 miles total while watching some of the 6th season of 24.
Monday I ran on the trails for 1:05 at an easy pace.
Friday night is the release party for Stephanie Meyer's fourth book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. It officially comes out at midnight, which means a late night on Friday, and probably not an early workout on Saturday. SO, I'm planning to do my longer workout Friday morning, but we'll see.... With all the work we have to do in the yard, I may want to conserve some energy.

little fruits

I've needed to have a pen in my hand all week to record all the funny things Brandt has said. He's entered that stage of saying "the darndest things." He found a picture of our wedding day. We were standing in a posed shot with Eric's parents. He said Grandpa, Dad, and Grandma all looked good, but I looked weird. I asked him why, and he said my dress made me look weird. I pointed out that I had a big white thing on my head that must make me look pretty funny, and he said, "No, it's your dress. It makes you look weird."
Then, today at a church activity, as my sister, Melyssa was taking her daughter to the bathroom, Brandt was going in, too. Melyssa's daughter pointed out, "This is the girl's bathroom, Brandt."
He replied, "I know."
So she asked, "Then, why are you still coming in here?"
"Because I just want to see if it's awesome."
'Nuff said.
Eric has been wanting to borrow my mom's dehydrator for a while to dry some fruits and veggies. We finally did it and they turned out great! We dried strawberries, apples, apricots and blueberries. We didn't grow any of the fruits ourselves, but hopefully eventually our strawberry patch and blueberry bushes will produce enough for us to put away some of our own harvest. The boys are loving snacking on the fruits. They are as sweet as candy, with no added sugars!

I don't know if this picture will really do justice to this cute scene Eric caught on camera. Eli set up his teepee and was watching tv with just his head poking out. Maybe you have to be his parent to love this pic, but I'm sharing it anyway.

Eric also caught a good (though a bit fuzzy) picture of Asher's concerned, "don't make me do/touch/eat that" face. It is so animated, we have trouble with giving him anything but positive feedback when he makes it.



I've had a great week for working out. Monday I tried out the "Virtual Training Partner" feature on the Forerunner. You program in your distance and time goals, and then when you press start, two little runners are on the screen and it tells you how far ahead or behind you are from your virtual partner. I programmed in 6 miles in 50 minutes. My partner was ahead about 300 feet for a good part of the run, since I didn't start very fast. I did the Sherman Oaks loop 1.5 times, plus some extra in the sports complex. By the end I somehow caught the opponent and finished in 49:52.
Tuesday I did weights and biked inside for 50 minutes. I watched the first half of "The Italian Job."
Wednesday I did intervals using the Forerunner. I warmed up for 1.28 miles (11:15), then did 6 800's with 2 minute rest walk/jogs in-between. I averaged a 6:30 pace on the fast intervals, which is what I was going for. I still just love being able to look down at my wrist to see my speed!
Thursday I did an easy 50 minute recovery run on the trails.
Friday I overslept a bit, but Eric was kind enough to stick around and watch the boys so I could get a quick and intense 40 minutes in on the bike. I watched the second half of "The Italian Job," which was perfect for getting me going fast--I love that show! I pulled down the resistance and really tried to hammer out a hard ride.
Today I felt that hard ride. I decided to use try out the "multi-sport" function on the Forerunner. I rode 10 miles, pushing my pace, down Happy Hollow and Mary Munger,then a bit down Hwy 11 and back home, averaging 17.7 mph, which I felt good about considering the steep hills. Then I quickly changed and went over to Trak Shak to run. About halfway through the 5.6 mile loop, I was feeling my hard rides, and slowed down. I averaged a 7:42 mile pace on my run.

home time

We have had a nice, relaxing weekend at home. We've been going so much this summer, it was refreshing to not have anything we HAD to do for once. Although it was hot, we spent time outside, passed the football with the boys and continued making plans for our work-in-progress yard. We also hung out inside, and I helped Eli finish his K-nex grill. It turned out pretty neato.

Eli did great at his swim meet on Thursday. His freestyle form has improved immensely since last summer. And his kick is much more efficient. He won the 25 freestyle, and got 2nd or 3rd in the breast and backstrokes. I think not using the kickboard and flippers as much during practices with this new team has really strengthened him.




I've been loving being a Garmin Girl. It's so nice to wonder what pace I'm running and just look down at my arm to see. Thursday I tested it out on the trails--it lost it's signal a few times when the tree cover was very dense, so I'll have to wait till the trees are bare in the winter to measure the lengths of the trails (sorry, Callie!). I ran 47:30.
But it was right-on with the distances on the roads around town. I know the lengths of a few different stretches, so I tested it out on Saturday. I ran 9.6 miles. It took me 1:19. The middle part was my fastest portion. I was averaging about 7:40 for the middle 5-6 miles. I started pretty slow (about an 8:45-9:00 pace on the hills in the sports complex), and ran the last couple miles at about an 8:30 pace. The Forerunner has a feature where you can split your workout into "laps" to keep up with the specifics of separate portions of your run, but I hadn't learned to use that yet. I guess I'm becoming a real geek...

Asher is too cute for his own good. He loves books. His favorites are ones with real pictures of animals in them. He'll just sit and look at pictures of dogs or farm animals for several minutes at a time (except in church when we really want him to). He has also added some new boogie-ing to his repertoire of dance. He'll still break dance--he did today in-fact, but he's also learned to "shake that thang."


I was so proud of Brandt at his swim lesson on Friday. He was learning to touch the bottom at the deep end of the pool. His teacher was in the water with him at the ladder. She would go down to the bottom, then he would go down, holding on the the ladder if needed for security. I would see him go down, then come up and tell his teacher he wanted to try again, then immediately take a big breath and go back down. He did this 5 or 6 times (all while other kids are waiting for their turn to try). I think it surprised his teacher so much that she didn't stop him. Finally, he touched the bottom and was very pleased with himself. This was one of the most diligent, determined efforts I've seen Brandt put forth. I worry about his maturity for kindergarten, but this gave me a little hope!

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Yea, verily. Twas the Dawning of a New Era.

Eric came through on his promise to give me a Garmin Forerunner!! He surprised me with it today! I will no longer have to guess how far I went on the trails. I won't have to be hoping I'm keeping a certain pace for intervals. Alas, Google Maps and I won't be spending as much time together.
Needless to say, I'm pretty fired up about my new little gadget.

So, here are the last few workouts in the "old era" of my workouts: Monday I ran 1 hr 6 minutes. I didn't mean to go quite so long, but I ran an errand, in the literal sense, for something I needed from a pharmacy, but the first store I got to, CVS, was closed, and the second, Food World, didn't have it, so I had to run to Winn Dixie. It turned out to be a pretty good run, though.
Tuesday I biked for 40 minutes at an easy pace (averaged about 19mph), and did weights.
This morning I did intervals on the treadmill. I warmed up for about 15 minutes (it always takes me a while in the mornings to feel loose enough to do speedwork), then did about 25 minutes of intervals, the first few were 2-4 minutes each at 8.8-9.3mph pace, with 1-2 minute rests in between. The last few were 1-2 minutes at 9.5-10mph pace with 1 minute rests. I cooled down for about 6-7 minutes.

Tomorrow is Eli's first swim meet. He is pretty excited about it. Today he did really well at his lesson--he kept up with and even passed kids twice his age. It should be fun to see him compete.

Brandt is enjoying his swimming lessons. He is the smallest (and I suspect youngest) in his group, which I think he was a little uncomfortable with at first. He seems fine with it now. Today, after much encouragement, he jumped into the deep, deep end of the pool and swam to the ladder.

Asher has entered a stage of extreme separation anxiety. He goes berserk anytime he thinks Eric or I are leaving him (even if the other is still there!). He does like goggles, though.

Back to the hills...

This has been quite a week. It seems like we've been home from WA much longer than just 4 days. Eli and Brandt got letters from their teachers for next year today. Eli is super excited for his--she is from Washington and likes to read and exercise. Brandt's teacher sounds like she'll be great. She has been teaching kindergarten for 22 years and has a Master's degree. Both Eli and Brandt's birthdays are in August, so they are young for their grades. Reading has not come easily to Eli--he is doing well, but we have had to work at it a lot. I have really been praying for Brandt to get a teacher that will build a strong foundation of reading fundamentals in him. I think he'll do fine. He's still not writing his name too well, but I think that will come as his fine-motor skills mature.

For my workouts this week:
Monday: Eric and I ran from his parents' house and just kinda explored their neighborhood area. We ran 40 minutes. We both picked up the pace, just for fun, for the last 5-10 minutes. Washington has mountains, but not too many hills in the neighborhood areas I saw. And perfect temperatures--just that darn rain always getting in the way. But when it's dry, you feel like you can fly along the sidewalks.
Tuesday: I skipped working out--which was a good thing since we didn't get home until 2 a.m. thanks to flights being delayed in Atlanta.
Wednesday: I worked out (yes, indeed, even after a heinously late night) downstairs on the bike. I rode for 1 hour and went 20 miles. I really pushed it for those last 3 miles, averaging (according to the bike's computer) about 25 mph. Obviously, I started out a bit slower.
Thursday: I ran 50 minutes on the trails at an easy pace.
Friday: I biked for 43 minutes and did a great weight workout: pushups, situps/crunches, triceps, biceps, lat-pulls, military.
Today: I ran 1hr.11min. It was about 8.5 miles. I was thinking I might try to add a couple miles of tempo into the middle of it, but it was too dang hot already, and my legs were tired from my biking. The last hill in the sports complex was so hard today. The way my legs felt going up it reminded me of when Ashley and I were training for a marathon. Ughhh.
Here is the elevation graph from my route today. Not flat.

Jerri

Jerri Gunter, a dear friend died very unexpectedly on Sunday. She was 47 and the mother of 11. Jerri and I visit taught each other for the past couple of years. She was one of the most giving, loving, fun people I have known. I will miss her vigorous hugs each Sunday. I'll miss hearing her answer the phone, "Hey, Girl!" when I called. She was the only person to ever tell me I looked "sexy" at church. Her compliments had a way of making me really feel beautiful, even on days when the kids were driving me nuts, and I was feeling exasperated. When Asher was born, he was in the NICU for 12 days. It was a tough time for me. Jerri called to tell me she was bringing over dinner. She not only brought an incredible homemade meal, but a week's worth of groceries and 3 brand new dresses. She endured adversity from many fronts throughout her life, but allowed the bumps in the road to strengthen her. She will be missed by all who have been privileged to call her friend.

sammamishing pumpkins

We've had a great time in Washington. We spent a day in Seattle, seeing some of the sights. Seattle has a beautiful downtown area and is very visitor-friendly. The highs have been in the mid-70's, with occasional rain showers. The kids have loved playing with their cousins and staying up late. Eli, Brandt, and Eric went kayaking one evening (I stayed home with Asher so he could go to bed), and Eli got kayaked for the first time in a couple of years. My parents own kayaks, so he has had the chance to go, but had some fears of open water. I was so happy to hear that he went voluntarily and had a great time.

We stayed in Redmond with Stuart and Kim for a few days, and I have decided Redmond beats Eugene for being runner-friendly. Well-groomed, wide trails wind miles and miles through the preserved forests that seem to encompass at least half of Redmond's land area. On Friday, we we had planned to run a race in Duvall, but realized the night before that the date of the race had been misadvertised on a couple of race-listing sites, and the race had happened a month ago. So, instead, we went to the Sammamish ("oooh, THAT's fun to say!") River Trail, which is a paved path that starts at a HUGE, NICE sports complex in Redmond and goes out about 11 miles, with mile and half-mile markers along the way. I ran about 9.5 miles. I watched my pace from mile 2 to mile 8, and was able to do that in 43 minutes! The temp was about 55 and the path is flat, so it was a perfect chance for me to really push it. I ran a total of 1:13 minutes.

Saturday I pushed Asher for just under an hour on some trails close to Stu and Kim's house in Redmond. I did 3 sets of 20-25 pushups, chair-dips and some ab-work when I got back.

Asher went to Nursery at church today for the first time and did really well. He won't be 18 months for a few weeks, but they didn't mind me sitting in there with him today. He walked around more than he crawled while he was in there. I think seeing all the kids his age walking gave him some positive peer pressure.

Yesterday we went on a little walk here in Tumwater, where we are visiting Eric's parents and sister, and saw this "monkey tree." I don't know what its really called, but look closely at it-- it's probably the funkiest tree I've ever seen.

memory loss

Workouts thus far this week:
Monday: I'm having trouble rembering what I ran--I think it was about 50 minutes at an easy pace, but I'm really not sure just where...
Tuesday: Melyssa and I biked out Happy Hollow to Mary Munger, then to Hwy 11 to Springville. I turned around at Matthew's Manor. We came back down Hwy 11 and through Sherman Oaks. I added in a few neighborhoods, so I'm thinking I went around 22 miles. We were gone around 1:20.
Wed: I had a really good weight workout--full body.
Today I ran 42 minutes at an easy pace. I am in Redmond, WA, and, fittingly, it was raining throughout my run. It felt good, though.