Trails for Two

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: About 30 minutes

Weather: Partly cloudy dawn, 60 degrees. Gear: Bare tootsies.

Out a little earlier this morning trying to avoid the elementary school bus stop crowd as I did barefoot laps around the block. Watching a middle-aged barefoot guy padding by is either inspirational or creepy, and I'd rather not have them call the cops on me. So... earlier it is. 

The run went okay. I had to walk down my HR a few times, thanks in part to the rolling nature of my neighborhood. I know that'll level out (the HR, not the neighborhood) in time, so I'm not concerned. 

Average HR: 128 Max HR 149. Walked first and last 5 minutes.

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One extra note: Alita smacked her pinky toe into a piece of furniture the other night, so she's on the DL just as we were getting started again. Augh! Hopefully it's just bruised and battered and not broken. Cross your fingers!

Mark's note to self:  That piece of furniture is the first to be sold in the garage sale.

Oh, c'mon.  You're not long for the neighborhood!  It's not like you're streaking!

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: About 30 minutes

Weather: Partly cloudy dawn, 60 degrees. Gear: Bare tootsies.

Out a little earlier this morning trying to avoid the elementary school bus stop crowd as I did barefoot laps around the block. Watching a middle-aged barefoot guy padding by is either inspirational or creepy, and I'd rather not have them call the cops on me. So... earlier it is. 

The run went okay. I had to walk down my HR a few times, thanks in part to the rolling nature of my neighborhood. I know that'll level out (the HR, not the neighborhood) in time, so I'm not concerned. 

Average HR: 128 Max HR 149. Walked first and last 5 minutes.

###

One extra note: Alita smacked her pinky toe into a piece of furniture the other night, so she's on the DL just as we were getting started again. Augh! Hopefully it's just bruised and battered and not broken. Cross your fingers!

Mark's note to self:  That piece of furniture is the first to be sold in the garage sale.

Oh, c'mon.  You're not long for the neighborhood!  It's not like you're streaking!

Hm.. Good points. 

Tell them you're doing an investigative story for The Columbian.

ounce wrote:Tell them you're doing an investigative story for The Columbian.

I prefer to think of it as a semi-subversive act encouraging people to throw away their preconceived notions and think for themselves.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:Tell them you're doing an investigative story for The Columbian.

I prefer to think of it as a semi-subversive act encouraging people to throw away their preconceived notions and think for themselves.

Oh, you're part of that right wing, southern Washington bunch that saunters into Portland to hob knob with their opposite fellow citizens to break bread, windows, and heads as a training exercise for the PPD.

Got it.

 


Switching gears, what songs do the HS and Coog Coug bands play these days?

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:Tell them you're doing an investigative story for The Columbian.

I prefer to think of it as a semi-subversive act encouraging people to throw away their preconceived notions and think for themselves.

Oh, you're part of that right wing, southern Washington bunch that saunters into Portland to hob knob with their opposite fellow citizens to break bread, windows, and heads as a training exercise for the PPD.

Got it.

 


Switching gears, what songs do the HS and Coog Coug bands play these days?

Funny you ask!



Pregame event.



Halftime show.



Pep band song.



Fight song. 

I got more if you want 'em!

So, how much more volume and quantity of bodies are on this band versus the high school band?  And is Alec enjoying learning new routines or is there some carryover from HS?

ounce wrote:So, how much more volume and quantity of bodies are on this band versus the high school band?  And is Alec enjoying learning new routines or is there some carryover from HS?

More than double the size of the high school band. He seems to be enjoying it. Their routines are less theatrical than in high school, which I think he prefers greatly.

Low HR Run: 30 minutes

Weather: Overcast, muggy, 60° Gear: Topos.

A little better HR discipline this morning, which was nice to see. I am definitely at the 30-minute run level right now, though. But that's OK.

Well...catching up on your blog was interesting.     Doug always keeps things interesting...

Nice to see you posting a run as well.  And 30 minutes is probably fine for now.  How is Alita's toe?

nkrichards wrote:Well...catching up on your blog was interesting.     Doug always keeps things interesting...

Nice to see you posting a run as well.  And 30 minutes is probably fine for now.  How is Alita's toe?

Yes, he does keep me on my toes, doesn't he? 

Alita's toe is doing better. It's pretty clearly not broken, but it's still a little battered and swollen, so we're still maybe a couple of weeks out. I'm being careful to not get *too* far ahead of her, since that'd be kinda demotivating.

Happy to see Alec loving his school experience so far and love the band pictures!  Glad Alita's toe is not broken, but it will need some rest, I suppose, and yes, watching a middle aged man running barefoot in the neighborhood probably does post a lot of questions.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Happy to see Alec loving his school experience so far and love the band pictures!  Glad Alita's toe is not broken, but it will need some rest, I suppose, and yes, watching a middle aged man running barefoot in the neighborhood probably does post a lot of questions.

I think it's the 3 or 4 or 5 year continuation of his mid-life crisis.

SOMEONE LIGHT THE FUSE

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Happy to see Alec loving his school experience so far and love the band pictures!  Glad Alita's toe is not broken, but it will need some rest, I suppose, and yes, watching a middle aged man running barefoot in the neighborhood probably does post a lot of questions.

I've always liked to think of it as encouraging people to challenge conventional thinking and accept people who see/do things differently, which is great, but if you're doing laps in front of the bus stop with a bunch of little kids and their parents watching... well, that starts to feel less an existential statement and more of mere exhibitionism... 

Alita's toe is better now. Still sore, but close to being ready for a test. Soon, I hope.

ounce wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Happy to see Alec loving his school experience so far and love the band pictures!  Glad Alita's toe is not broken, but it will need some rest, I suppose, and yes, watching a middle aged man running barefoot in the neighborhood probably does post a lot of questions.

I think it's the 3 or 4 or 5 year continuation of his mid-life crisis.

SOMEONE LIGHT THE FUSE

Pfft. I've been having these "midlife" crises all my life. 

As Calvin says, I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul. 

Run reports??  Waiting for Alita to accompany you?  Kids at the bus stop got you spooked?  Running secretly?

Heard you were getting some rain.  Light over here but probably more over there.

A human being that naturally produces his own undetectable THC!

nkrichards wrote:Run reports??  Waiting for Alita to accompany you?  Kids at the bus stop got you spooked?  Running secretly?

Heard you were getting some rain.  Light over here but probably more over there.

No running lately. Not wanting to get too far ahead of Alita in terms of fitness. Her toe is mostly better, so I'm hoping we'll be able to get back to it soon. (And I can always just avoid the bus stop, or not do laps in front of it. "Hi again! See you in a few minutes!")

We're having some big distractions right now, though, as we move closer to getting our house ready to sell. We had somebody come and spruce up the yard (that rain is coming in handy for the new sod), we've just selected somebody to reshingle the roof, and we'll have somebody coming in to install a tile shower in our master bath. Our hope is to trick the house up just enough to get homebuyers in the mood to...


... because that'd be very helpful in our goal to downsize into a decent place in a nice location with a lower monthly cost to get more money for college costs, eventual retirement funding and whatever sort of other adventures we want to pursue.

The rain has been good for the new lawn, but it's making me a little crazy, since I need to do a little exterior paint touch-up and it needs to be dry for a few days to make that work. 

ounce wrote:A human being that naturally produces his own undetectable THC!

I've seen enough photos of me after long, long runs to know how stoned I look after those natural cannabinols have done their work. Duuuuuude.

Not much running to report right now, other than running around to home improvement stores as we try to pimp out various parts of our house before selling. We're having a guy replace our lime-encrusted master bathroom shower with a nifty new tile job, and we just picked up a fancy showerhead that'll hopefully make potential buyers eyes go  when they see it. We've also had the yard cleaned up and the ratty, rutted old lawn replaced with fresh sod ... and we're getting a new roof on next week. 

Crossing my fingers that all these investments are worth it. Place is looking pretty sharp!

One running-related note: Alita and I pulled an all-nighter last weekend helping out at an aid station at the Mountain Lakes 100 up near Mount Hood. We were at Mile 66.6 at Timothy Lake Dam (yes, they finally got to the dam aid station), and we worked from about 4:30 in the afternoon until about 4:30 in the morning. We saw runners in all sorts of conditions, including a few who dropped, and one guy who proclaimed to everyone around that the cup of chicken broth/mashed potatoes I'd whipped up for him was THE BEST THING HE'S EATEN IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE. It must have been pretty good -- he came in a little loopy and left revitalized, enthused and en route to a sub-24 finish. Woot!

We drove home after the event -- nothing like going to bed at 7 a.m. and sleeping 2-3 hours and spending the rest of the day as a couple of zombies -- and while we had a good time, we *might* not be so enthused with doing the overnight shift again. But we'll see.

Mornings have been off this week, but I'm hoping to get out there soon once things settle down. We have got a lot to work to do before we can show this place.

One other thing: There actually is a place were interested in to purchase, and the sellers decided to leave it on the market once they found out that they had someone interested but having to wait until their house listed. So if our house sells fast, we (hopefully) won't end up having to rent something until we can find a place. It's a little stressful in the short run, but the long-term strategy is solid.

Helping out the Couv economy!  Well done, sir.

Nice that the Fed dropped the interest rate a 1/4%.  Good for a fresh mortgage on the buyer and seller sides.

Is it a slow market up there?  Are you in a better position to sell due to a larger need for single-family dwellings in your area vs. multi-family dwellings you showed us a couple of weeks ago?

A 4:30 to 4:30 shift.  Not my cup of chicken broth, I don't think.  But, I'm sure the RD was tickled to have y'all.

ounce wrote:Helping out the Couv economy!  Well done, sir.

Nice that the Fed dropped the interest rate a 1/4%.  Good for a fresh mortgage on the buyer and seller sides.

Is it a slow market up there?  Are you in a better position to sell due to a larger need for single-family dwellings in your area vs. multi-family dwellings you showed us a couple of weeks ago?

A 4:30 to 4:30 shift.  Not my cup of chicken broth, I don't think.  But, I'm sure the RD was tickled to have y'all.

Thanks! We are doing our best to keep the economy going.

We're hopeful that the Fed helps keep rates down and that the 10-year T bill stays low, since that's the benchmark used for a lot of mortgages. We want it to be easy for a potential buyer -- and for us as buyers ourselves.

The market is slow in the sector we're looking to buy -- condos -- but faster in the sector we're looking to sell -- houses. A house very similar to ours sold in less than a week about a month ago. (Others in the same neighborhood have been lingering, but they back up to an arterial and appear to have spent at least part of their lives as rentals, so...)

We're still looking at that one unit I mentioned earlier. The owners have dropped the price and were about ready to turn it into a rental when our agent told them there was someone interested who just had to get their house listed before they could make an offer. They decided to keep it on the market and see. We're taking that as a hopeful sign. The unit with the nice view of the park sold for way more than we would have paid, so we can live with that. (And we can live without the large HOA cost and separate parking cost, too.)

The race shift was fun but boy, were we wiped out the next day. And a cold Alita was just starting to catch beforehand got its hooks in her, and she had to take two days off from work this week. Oops. The RD was pretty happy we were there, especially since the aid station captain caught some godawful bug and was sweating and shivering in his sleeping bag the whole time, and that two people who were going to show up didn't (one had an excuse - he broke his wrist), so it was just going to be Alita, myself and the assistant aid station captain (field promoted to captain) until the RD shanghaied an extremely meticulous, energetic and extroverted woman to keep track of the runners coming in. That left Alita and I as the kitchen crew and servers, and the assistant aid station captain (an experienced ultra guy) as the secondary greeter and runner evaluator. It worked. We also had a ham radio operator who relayed information to race central, but they pretty much kept to themselves, except when they came over to liberate a few Oreos.

One fun thing about the aid station. Since it was next to a dam, and it was at 66.6 miles, our recordkeeper-greeter would holler out "Welcome to the DAM AID STATION." and gleefully point out how previously, the aid station was at the other side of the dam, at 66.4 miles, but that it was moved because, well, yeah. 66.6? How can you pass that up? Anyway, the assistant aid station captain had arrived early and strung up thousands of lights along the dam and up the trail leading from the aid station back into the woods. When it got dark, it was a sight to behold. Oh yeah, the Milky Way was pretty awesome, too, until the clouds rolled in sometime around 2 a.m.

We also had three types of beer in little shot glasses. A lager, a hazy IPA and an espresso stout. All three were yummy. When we offered it, runners would either back away as if they were cups of leper spit, or went "Oh heck yeah!" and had several. The pacers were generally more interested in the beer than the runners. Which surprised exactly no one. 

I tried the broth (it was instant) and it was pretty dang tasty. Since we didn't know when runners would come in, I kept an air pot full of very hot water (I boiled so many kettles I lost count) so we could quickly mix up broth, coffee, instant potatoes, etc., to order. I also helped fill bottles, greeted and encouraged the runners. Alita did the greeting thing, ran the grilled cheese operation (very popular) and kept all the rest of the goodies stocked. We make a good team. We're just so glad they could find someone to keep track of the runners and do the paperwork, because it would have been rough, and not as good for the runners.

Best quote of the night: Dad to daughter/pacer: "Did you have a grilled cheese? They're really good."
Daughter to dad: "Uh... gluten and dairy? You really want to share a room with me? Yeah, no."

I remember working an aid station a couple of years ago, with my duck hat covering the dome.  It was daylight and a bunch of fun.  Well done.

Last November (on election day) I drove out to West Texas (from mile marker 762 to mile marker 209 plus 45 more) to see all those stars at the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis.  I picked a good night because it was clear as a bell.  I saw the Milky Way for the first time and so many stars I couldn't pick out a constellation if my life depended on it.  Have I ever mentioned that I like to drive?  Left about 4 a.m. and got to 209 about 1 p.m.

Next year, I expect you to train for it, get hurt, and volunteer again.  DON'T LET ME DOWN!!

I wondered if you would decide to stay in the house you're in now that it's all spiffy.    You've picked a good time to sell based on the housing market in Central Oregon and in the Portland area.  I assume that your market is similar.  Good to hear that the unit you're looking at is still available.  Hope it all works out as planned.

Volunteering at a race sounds like a lot of fun.  The Canyon Rumble is a half that they put on in Madras every year in early December.  It's a tough race involving a climb to the "M" before dropping into Willow Creek Canyon and then returning the same way.  Awesome views.  I've run the trail several times but only done the race once as I'm often traveling.  It was icy the year I ran it so they decided not to run the "M" hill.  I'm not prepared to run this year and we will be in town.  Maybe I should volunteer.  It wouldn't be the same as an ultra but at least I'd be helping out.

You're staying busy even if you're not out running...

ounce wrote:I remember working an aid station a couple of years ago, with my duck hat covering the dome.  It was daylight and a bunch of fun.  Well done.

Last November (on election day) I drove out to West Texas (from mile marker 762 to mile marker 209 plus 45 more) to see all those stars at the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis.  I picked a good night because it was clear as a bell.  I saw the Milky Way for the first time and so many stars I couldn't pick out a constellation if my life depended on it.  Have I ever mentioned that I like to drive?  Left about 4 a.m. and got to 209 about 1 p.m.

Next year, I expect you to train for it, get hurt, and volunteer again.  DON'T LET ME DOWN!!

Um... okay? Yessir. But I'd rather get back in shape and do something really stupid like run something like this and get the chance to rhapsodize about the glories of a cup of instant chicken broth mixed with instant mashed potatoes...

Of course, my ankles were barking at me just standing up for 12 hours at the aid station, so running on them for 24-30 hours might take a bit of work.

The night sky up there was gorgeous. I wish I had a camera that could have done it justice, but I'm pretty sure an iPhone 7 isn't good for astrophtography.

nkrichards wrote:I wondered if you would decide to stay in the house you're in now that it's all spiffy.    You've picked a good time to sell based on the housing market in Central Oregon and in the Portland area.  I assume that your market is similar.  Good to hear that the unit you're looking at is still available.  Hope it all works out as planned.

Volunteering at a race sounds like a lot of fun.  The Canyon Rumble is a half that they put on in Madras every year in early December.  It's a tough race involving a climb to the "M" before dropping into Willow Creek Canyon and then returning the same way.  Awesome views.  I've run the trail several times but only done the race once as I'm often traveling.  It was icy the year I ran it so they decided not to run the "M" hill.  I'm not prepared to run this year and we will be in town.  Maybe I should volunteer.  It wouldn't be the same as an ultra but at least I'd be helping out.

You're staying busy even if you're not out running...

Stay? After dropping as much money into this place to make it a showcase? Ha! We need to sell to pay for the work we did to sell it! 

We did tell Alec about it, finally.  And we were relieved that he was happy for us and thought the new place looked good -- as long as it was going to be good for the cats, of course. Whew! We'd still fly him in before any sale closes for one last night here. 

We have the shower guy here today (he's sprucing some cat-damaged woodwork, too) and the roofer is supposed to start Wednesday or Thursday. After that, it's decluttering, photography, listing and seeing what comes next. Gonna be a wild ride.

You should definitely volunteer! It's a lot of fun. It's good karma. And its always appreciated by the runners. 

Quick update: We put the house on the market last Thursday, had two open houses over the weekend and got a full price offer on Monday. We're in negotiations with them over closing costs right now, but it's looking pretty good that we'll reach a mutually acceptable deal, probably today.

The owners of the place we are interested in buying are being squirrely, however, so we may need to go to a Plan B, which would also work. We'll see what happens.

More details later. Our brains are exploding.

Mark B wrote:Quick update: We put the house on the market last Thursday, had two open houses over the weekend and got a full price offer on Monday. We're in negotiations with them over closing costs right now, but it's looking pretty good that we'll reach a mutually acceptable deal, probably today.

The owners of the place we are interested in buying are being squirrely, however, so we may need to go to a Plan B, which would also work. We'll see what happens.

More details later. Our brains are exploding.

That's exciting!  All happening very quickly.  No wonder you don't have time to run!

Hope the negotiations on your house go well and that the owners of the condo you like calm down....or you find something else that works well for you.