Race report: Pt. Defiance 50K (I ran the 15K)

Today was my first trail race back since the sprained ankle this summer.  I ran the Pt. Defiance 15K (the past 3 years I've always run the 30K so this was a step down).  All in, the race was terrifying, exhausting, beautiful, and awesome. 

I placed 1st female in the 15K at 1:23 (an average of 8:20 per mile), and 6th overall.  And yes, that was AWESOME. 

The race started with a packed group of runners - more than I've ever seen for this race - but no-one wanted to step up to the starting line.  I stood ~10ft away from the start at the get go, and wound up being first off the line.

One of the greatest parts of doing this course year after year is I remember it, and I look forward to different turns and views.  There's the view of Vashon Island, the in-forest portions where all I can see, smell, and hear are trees, and the views of the mountain sloping straight down into the ocean.  At mile 3 I finally warmed up and my muscles and breathing remembered what racing is. 

In the forest, especially on the downhill left turn portions, I inwardly freaked with anxiety about my ankle turning again.  Towards the end I came to almost a complete standstill with ropes guiding me down the hill and roots and steep slopes jutting down. 


At the end, I saw Matty and was happy.  Happy to be back on trails, happy to have placed, and happy to see my awesome hub at the finish cheering me on.

Pumpkin patch

Today we made our way to Snohomish to hit up The Farm for pumpkins and Halloween fun with our friends.  It was awesome - a perfect way to celebrate kids and the kids inside us grown ups.

We started at the petting zoo where I tried (unsuccessfully) to convince Matt to let me buy a rabbit.  Then we made our way to a giant bouncy zone where the boys went NUTS bouncing.  Jonny's little sister was the cutest sitting near her mommy on the corner feeling the residual bounce.  The boys on the other hand kept trying to figure out ways to fling themselves off the bounce zone.

 After a lot of bouncing, then more bouncing, we made our way through a giant, dark, scary corn maze.  Post-maze, the boys found horse-swings.

 While the kids picnic'd on hot dogs, chips, and fresh made kettle corn, us moms (JoAnn, Mica, and I) snuck off for some quick picks.

We ended the trip with the pumpkin patch where we gathered way too many pumpkins.  The fun part was you could see they were fresh cut off the vine.  

Good times.

Multi-family trip: Ft. Worden

Last weekend we got outta dodge with 6 other families (yes, 6!) all with our 5 year old boys, and some younger tots in tow.  The weekend was amazing and surprisingly not too kid-drama.  We left Seattle Friday afternoon for the Everett Ferry to get over to Ft. Worden (which BTW is where An Officer and a Gentleman was filmed).  At the Ft. we rented two old houses on officer's row.  I thought we'd be cramming in, but the houses were giant - so big that when I got lost in the rooms of one I got a little freaked.

Our days were a mix of playing at the beach:

 Mommys goofing out:

 Scootering around the house, and just hanging out as a big giant bunch:

 

On Saturday we walked down to the forts and the kids went wild running through long hallways and playing on the walls.  We're already trying to plan for next year, but believe it or not it's booked through Sept 2015!!  Crazy.