Hanging on

Do you ever feel like life is going so fast that you are just hanging on for the ride? The last month... 6 weeks or more have felt that way to me. It is all exciting and enjoyable, in fact I'm basically loving every minute of the craziness and finally feel like I found a few moments to reflect a bit (sitting in the Atlanta airport on a long layover).

(if you click on any of these pictures you will be taken to flickr photo albums that have a bunch more to look at!)

Yosemite 10/14-22/07

Dagan and I loaded up his truck and headed straight for Yosemite on October 14. Not that I need tons of reasons to take a road trip, but to justify this one… 1) I am a firm believer in a definite break between jobs 2) I had not seen this beautiful National Park before and 3) my special someone wanted to share a week there with me.

We had a great time in all aspects of the trip. We headed straight there, broke up the driving with Frisbee breaks
and slept in the back of the truck near a river in Grants Pass on the way down. In Yosemite we got to visit with Patti Haskins on Monday night and then headed out into the back country with heavily loaded packs. We camped Tuesday night at Quarter Dome, just below Clouds Rest and woke up to snow.



Wednesday we found a warmer spot along the Merced River. We squeezed in a few runs amongst hammock reading time, picture taking and eating creative camp food.



Thursday and Friday we camped in the well-known and used Camp 4 amongst many climbers. Friday we did a few routes on the west apron of El Cap and finally showered (after ice cream from the store) in Curry Village. Saturday morning we got out for one more run up to Glacier Point which provided a great view of the valley and we could see the various places we’d been in the previous days. That afternoon we headed out of the park through Tuolumne Meadows so I could at least capture a glimpse of the rest of what the park has to offer. I can’t wait to return!

Birthday weekend
October 28 I turned 30 years old and decided to spend the weekend celebrating. Roch and Catherine and my sister and brother-in-law flew in to help me celebrate joining a new age group.


On Saturday we met at the Clayton Beach parking lot to run what I hope to be next year’s Chuckanut 50k course. Four of us ran the full distance and Dagan joined us for the tough section from aid station 2 to 3. Doug, Brie and Catherine drove from aid station to aid station providing us with water, eats and extended stops.

The loop starts and finishes at Clayton Beach and measures 28.4 miles with 7k feet of gain. I will add on a few miles to make it the true 50k distance for the March 15 race (assuming I get the permits for the new course).

To make it 30 for my 30th Devon humored me by running around the reservoir.


After a fun run we returned to Moehl Manor and were greeted by an amazing feast prepared by Ma. Seafood stew, vegetarian chili, salad, bread, pumpkin pies, baked potatoes, it was an endless feast. There was so much food that Dagan and I packed up and fed many more people at the Seattle party the following evening. Friends from all walks of life stopped by both parties to say hi, happy birthday and bye. These parties were not only birthday celebrations, but also my moving on parties.

Moving days
Monday morning I’d scheduled movers to come pack up my belongings from my Pa’s condo. They were late then weren’t prepared to do the job…and now I was supposed to trust them with my things for a month? I sent them away and called in the troops. Dagan showed up with boxes, packing materials, tape and amazing support… friends George and Elizabeth, Portia and Devon showed up and were amazing in helping me pack my stuff and store the rest around the condo on shelves and in closets.

Tuesday I had a few things to wrap up around condo and had a couple of stops to make, including a ping pong match, before finally driving a fully loaded Ms. Alice south on I5 and on to Bend.

Landing pad

Kindly greeted by Ani and Logan (standard poodle) at my late arrival, we unloaded the car and I was hit by the emotional and physical exhaustion of the move. I slept 10 hours solid and after breakfast with Ani I unpacked and settled into my blue room. Emotion overwhelmed me as the reality of where I was and what I was doing set in. I found my computer and put on music to help fill the space and after unpacking took pen to paper (a great way to process). I took Logan for a run to get a feel for my new surroundings, and then hurried home to head to Portland for dinner with friends and an early flight Thursday morning.

A Masochistic weekend
This past weekend celebrated 25 years of David Horton Masochism. Horton has been directing the race since 1982 and once again pulled off a full weekend event. I was greeted at the Raleigh Durham Airport by Clark (new RD for 2008 Masochist), a friend and runner I haven’t seen in over two years. We filled to 2 ½ hour drive to Lynchburg with chatter and catching up; always great to reconnect. We stopped by for dinner with his family and then on to Horton’s where I stayed the next couple of days and helped a bit behind the scenes of this special event.

With all of the life changes and admittedly a lack of motivation to seriously train, I went into this race knowing it wasn’t a day to race, but instead looked at it as supporting a good friend in his 25 years of accomplishment and, for me, a great day of running and time to process the last couple of weeks. It is hard when the gun goes off and the ponytails quickly move away to let them go, but with over 250 runners I found chatter, we sung happy birthday to Meredith and made our way to the trail from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was a clear, cool day and with trail chatter and the music from my shuffle the miles went by pretty quickly (uncomfortably but quickly) and I found myself surprised as the familiar places along the course passed by. With a silly goal of breaking 9 hours (because all of my other finishes there are under 9) I finally started to feel good with about 10 miles to go. Enhanced that with a Clif silver bullet (espresso shot) and made it to the finish line in 8:56. The Masochist results show the stacked field for both men and women, and the pictures show the fun those 50 Horton miles bring on an early November weekend.

A new home
I am now flying in to Portland and driving back to Bend. It was a reality check looking at my boarding passes and checking the flight screens as I automatically looked for Seattle.

I start my new job with the Conservation Alliance tomorrow 11/5! I’m looking forward to this next phase of life; learning, exploring and sharing. I’ve definitely had some reservations and moments of “wait a second” and even tears as I think about leaving Seattle. But I am an extremely lucky girl with amazing friends and family that love and support me as I continue to challenge myself in life.