One Way

I did something new this weekend for my long run. Zach was up in Washington golfing so I didn’t have a car. I didn’t feel like running the waterfront/Springwater loop from home again, so I got creative. I took the Max (light rail) from downtown out to the Gateway Transit Center and ran home. I mapped it out and figured it would be just over 15 miles. Here is a little photo essay:

 

Started about 9:30 am. The train ride took about 25 minutes.

I found the I-205 trail and headed south. Just like it sounds, this trail follows the freeway. Most of it looked about like this- the road is up over the hill on the left and there is neighborhood to the right. Not too scenic! But it was new to me, so that was fun. This was about mile 3:

After 4 miles or so, that trail intersected with the Springwater Trail, where I took a right and headed toward downtown. This is a very familiar stretch of trail to me, although it was recently repaved which is cool. Still not too scenic. There were a lot of people out enjoying the sunshine. This is around mile 5 or 6:

A more scenic stretch of the Springwater around mile 8: 

I started getting pretty tired so I took a break. I was getting super close and could see the city just a few miles away. I texted Zach and Alisa to complain and they told me to buck up and get er done. This was about mile 12:

Thankfully I felt OK for the last few miles on the homestretch. I took this with about a mile and a half to go:

 

Finished! I ended up with 15.5 miles at a 8:56 pace. Yay! I’m loving doing long runs for no reason. :)

I made myself an omelet and rested up for a couple of hours, then got ready for a party at Emily’s. We got up there shortly after 4:00 pm and left after midnight, so needless to say it was FUN. A few select pics:

 

   

 

Thanks for reading!

Last Call!

This will be the very last time I bug you, I promise! The Yogathon fundraiser ends at the end of August, and so far I have raised $470! My goal is to raise $500 so I am VERY close! If you haven't donated yet, here is your chance!

Here is the link to my donation page:


http://www.firstgiving.com/jbarnesyoga

No donation is too small, $5 or $10 is great!

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed already. :) I will update when the fundraiser is over with the grand total. Thank you for your time!

Crater Lake Weekend

We spent this last weekend down at Crater Lake National Park with Deana and Dana. We’d been planning this trip all summer and everyone was super excited. I went for a long run Friday morning and then we loaded up the stuff, picked up bagels, and were on the road by 10:00 am. We stopped in Eugene to pick up more beer and ice and got to Crater Lake in the late afternoon.

The views from the rim of the crater are absolutely amazing. The lake is the deepest in the U.S. and the 7th deepest in the world at almost 2000 feet. It is some of the purest water in the world and the result of these two things is that it is SO blue. Like almost fake, technicolor blue. It’s amazing. We took pictures and marveled at the sight before heading down the road to our campsite. We set up our tents and had some beers and food. It’s a huge campground with bathrooms and a store, which is a first for me. In Montana, you’re lucky to have an outhouse! It was nice though for sure. We walked down to this little amphitheatre where a ranger was telling stories and leading campfire songs. We were obnoxious and sang the loudest of anyone. It was a blast. The party continued at the campsite until we were finally told to be quiet and we turned in shortly after that.

Saturday we slept in and while the others made breakfast, Deana and I ran the short trail loop (3 miles) near the campground. It descends down to a creek and runs along the creek before climbing back up. The trail was gorgeous but the elevation made for a very tough run! The campground is at about 6000 ft and there was a pretty significant climb in the last half mile of about 500 feet which was an asskicker. Very fun though. After breakfast I did the loop again, this time with Zach. We were just walking but I did run a bit of it too. Later, we drove back up to the lake and did a hike down to the water which was a couple miles with significant elevation gain (it’s about 1000 feet down to the water from the road). I got a lot of miles in throughout the day! That night, we partied again. This time our friend Monica joined us – she happened to be camping with her family just a few spots down! We had a great time and talked a lot about climbing which Monica is very into. We made some plans for next year to do some trips together.

Sunday we had breakfast in the little restaurant and packed up our stuff and drove home. We played car games and talked the whole way. The highlight was almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere, and then finding a tiny gas station at the last possible second. Whew!!! We had so much fun every second that even that was fun. Those girls and hilarious and Zach and I love spending time with them. My face hurt from laughing so much! We dropped Deana and Dana off and I got home just in time to take a nice long shower and go to yoga at 7pm. It was a perfect ending to the weekend. :)

Lots of fun pictures, it was hard to pick the best ones. Here are a few but definitely check out the rest in the album.

 

      

 

 

View Full Album

Long Run

Today I ran 16.5 miles point-to-point on the Banks Vernonia Trail. I’ve wanted to do this run for a while and figured this was as good a time as any. I’m not training for anything so it was a little ridiculous, but whatever! I have been doing a long-ish run of 10-12 miles each week for the past couple months with weekly mileage in the low to mid 20’s. So this was a bit of a stretch.

We’re at the beginning of a heat wave in the Portland area so Zach and I tried to get out as early as possible. We got out there about 9:00. Luckily, it was much cooler up in Vernonia where we started, with temps in the upper 60’s. This trail is good for a hot day because it is mostly shaded. So even as the temps warmed up into the 80’s, it never felt that hot. The last mile was the only  hot spot because there is no shade and the temps were above 90 by then!

Zach started out with me and ran 5 miles before turning around for a total of 10. I kept on and made my first stop at the Tophill Trailhead at 8.5 miles where I had a water bottle stashed. I refilled and stretched and continued on. The trail climbs very slightly from about 600 feet in Vernonia until about mile 10 which is about 1,000 feet.

My next stop was at the Buxton Trailhead at almost 14 miles where Zach was waiting. He had water for me but I also wanted the option to stop the run here. However, I was feeling great and knew I could keep going. The trail descends for these last few miles from that high point to about 400 feet at the end. That helps!

I finally made it to my “finish line” at the Manning Trailhead at exactly 16.5 miles. I felt surprisingly good, even though that last hot mile was rough. I was very hot and thirsty but proud to have finished!

It was tough run but I loved every minute of it. I kept the pace slow because I knew that was the key to doing such a long distance on minimal training. I ended up with a 9:16 pace which I’m very happy with! I am probably going to keep doing long runs and maybe another super long one now and then, just for fun. I’ll definitely share when I do!

Here are some pics we took along the way. Zach was the photographer for the first couple, then I took a few while running, and then he took the last few pics after he had finished and drove down to meet me. Enjoy!

 

Mile 2:

Mile 4:

 

Mile 7:

 

Mile 8.5 pit stop:

 

Mile 9:

 

Mile 11:

 

Mile 14 pit stop:

 

Mile 15:

Mile 16 survival mode:

Mile 16.5 DONE!

Yogathon Reminder

The Yogathon fundraiser ends at the end of August, and so far I have raised $311.50! My goal is to raise $500 so I have a ways to go. If you haven't donated yet, here is your chance!

Here is the link to my donation page:
http://www.firstgiving.com/jbarnesyoga

I have attended 17 yoga classes since the beginning of July and plan on going to several more before the end of the month. I love my local studio and all the instructors so that will not be a problem!

Emily has been volunteering for Living Yoga for a few months now and they are doing such amazing work. She has been teaching yoga at a rehab center and it has a real positive impact on their lives when they need it the most. Living Yoga is all volunteer and donation based, so anything you can contribute will be greatly appreciated!

No donation is too small, $5, $10, or $15 is great! Perhaps you can donate $17 for the 17 classes I have attended so far? Or whatever you can afford!

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed already. :) I will update when the fundraiser is over with the grand total. Thank you for your time!

Idaho Family Reunion

We got back a few hours ago from a long drive across the great state of Oregon. We spent the weekend in Cascade, Idaho which is just across the border near Boise. It was about 9 hours driving but well worth it.

My aunt Arlene (Mom’s sister) organized this after too many years since the last family reunion. None of the family actually live near Cascade but they figured it was a good central location for everyone. We had family from Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Canada. There were about 30 people there over the course of the week but we only got there for the final weekend so we missed a lot of them. Luckily there were about 12 relatives still staying at the house and in campers at the house. We had such a great time visiting. It was nice to see the extended family members, young and old. And of course it was wonderful to see my mom and dad again so soon, we just saw them last month!

We spent the weekend relaxing and visiting, but we did a lot of fun stuff too. It was a very small town and lots of classic Montana-type things to do. It definitely took me back to my roots.

One of my favorite parts was going to the small county fair. We saw the livestock and heard the country music and I had a snowcone. The highlight was that my mom and aunt and I got our picture taken at one of those old-timey picture places. If you don’t know what I mean, check out the photos. Zach snapped a few while we were getting ready and then I took a picture of the final result. So awesome.

Besides the fair, we swam in the lake, sang karaoke, shot arrows, had a talent show, ate tons of bbq, played cards, sat around the fire, and caught a frog (ok, Zach caught it). I went for a run on the country road and Zach went golfing with my dad. I was awoken several times last night by howling coyotes. Oh, I got attacked by a thousand mosquitos which seems to be the theme of the summer for me! But it just means I’m spending time outside, so I won’t complain. 

Lots of pictures, so here are a few and then there is an album linked at the end. Thanks so much for reading everyone! :)

 

View Full Album

Anniversary Weekend in pictures

Our 7th anniversary was Sunday, August 1st. We finally had a whole weekend with no travel plans, no visitors in town, nothing to do but spend time together relaxing and indulging ourselves. We had such a great weekend. We have been married for 7 years and together for nearly 13 years and I’ve never felt more in love.

Here are a few pictures from some of our fun weekend activities!

Saturday- 10 mile run on Terwilliger:

Farmers Market:

 

Roof beers:

 

   

Spa surprise:

    

Dinner date:

 

 

Ice cream for dessert:

Sunday-

Hood River flower picking and wine tasting:

 

   

sunset at the bluff with good friends:

  

What a fun weekend with my wonderful husband. :)

Thanks for stopping by!