Diary

I wonder if people who live on the Mediterranean look at that crystal-clear, turquoise-blue water every day with awe. I can’t get enough of blue water- in the mountains or tropical ocean (I’m not picky). Like, I have to take a picture of it whenever I see it! Such was the case, last Tuesday, at Lake 22! Gorgeous.

Lake 22 is, simply put, famous around Seattle. When you mention that you like to hike, people rattle off a list of hikes that are ‘just great when you have little ones’ or are just a great experience, for one reason or another, and Lake 22 is always on it, along with Wallace Falls, Ice Caves, Heather Lake, Little Si, Rattlesnake Ridge and Mt. Pilchuck. We had plans for Rattlesnake Ridge and Pilchuck, but our kids spoke up and said that the views are pretty, but they prefer a swim hole at the top, like a reward for all their hard work. We could hardly argue with that reasoning, so we are rethinking our end of season hiking this year. 😉

Lake 22 is in a nature reserve that was set aside in the 1940’s and left, pretty much, untouched from then. There are old growth trees, several waterfalls and the views along the ridge are gorgeous. The lake is pretty, but I agreed with the guide, the true beauty of the hike was the trail.

The trail was made up of a variety of walking surfaces- we walked through waterfalls, through sticky mud, over boulders, on fist-sized gravel and beautifully maintained bridges and boardwalks! It was a fairly intense trail. Sometimes I feel lame for saying things like that, so this time I kept track of my heartrate as I traversed the trail. I got about 1200 feet of elevation over 2.5 miles. It took us about an hour and a half to go up, and my heart was consistently in the upper 140’s- solid cardio! That’s a good workout! I hate it when people talk down hikes and downgrade them to a walk in the woods or whatever. Hiking takes work. I’ll admit it. It’s just work that I love. My most favorite form of fitness!

My daughter said that Lake 22 was her best hike ever. I think it had something to do with the fact that we also brought our nephew along. I sustained my first-ever-since-childhood skinned knee, complete with embedded gravel, which I’m strangely proud of. It was a really fun hike, one that we will happily return to.
We find most of our hikes in a book called Best Hikes With Kids-Western Washington and the Cascades. I’ve used it since before I had kids, mostly because it has a difficulty rating for kids (and overweight, middle-aged women, I’ve always added). If it says it will be moderately difficult for kids, I know it will be the same for me! If you’re looking for hikes with kids, this site from the Washington Trail Association has a pretty solid list of hikes to take with kids. While you may not have kids, I think that these are probably hikes with special features that make them either more accessible (easier), interesting (waterfalls and extra beautiful)and more fun (swimming)!

On those hot, 95 degree, August days, it is exceptionally difficult for me to get outside, in running shoes, to do much of anything. While I’m better about using my treadmill, the best and most pleasant thing I discovered this summer was to do laps in our little backyard pool! We bought a 15 foot wide, 42 inch deep paddling pool for the kids this year. On the days that were just too hot to exercise, I would go walk and run circles in the pool for 30 minutes. It is a great, progressive workout. At first I can only walk through the water, but as the current picks up, I’m forced to go faster and faster, if I want to keep up the thigh focus of the workout. Not only did the running-in-the-pool method of cardio help with keeping cooler in the hot summer days during a workout, it also gave me a fabulous leg workout! On top of that, the last time I did it, I kept track of my heart rate. It stayed in the 140’s the whole time I was moving, and if that’s not a good cardio workout then I don’t know what is.
My kids would say the best part of Mom’s pool workout is her stellar whirlpools! They love to swim along behind me on their paddleboards, swirling quickly around the outside circle or twirling like a leaf in the center. We all enjoy it!
That said, whenever I hit the pool with the kids, we have an agreement:
1. Stay out of my way. I only use the pool sometimes and appreciate the ability to get a solid workout in… Plus, I will kick you out if you mess it up! Mostly I don’t want to hurt you (or me) by tripping on you and landing on you!
2. If you find yourself in front of me, go to the middle. It’s the fastest way to support staying out of my way!
3. No splashing. I’m a major killjoy in the pool, I guess, but I am usually wearing my pedometer and it can’t get wet.
4. After 30 minutes of letting me get my cardio in, I’m a really fun mama who will dive in, splash, continue the whirlpool, make up dance routines and generally have a good time. I need it by then- I’m all hot and sweaty and need to cool down! Ironic, huh?

I think Robin Williams’s passing is the first celebrity passing that has effected me profoundly. For some reason, it feels like family has passed- my brother or uncle. It’s true- anytime I saw him on a late-night talk show, I would cringe. He just seemed like he had a spout that he would open and it would all just come pouring out. I would cringe because I feel like that sometimes- my spout opens and four hours later I’m horrified at the things I let out of my mouth, what others might think of me! It’s never that bad, but I worry, nonetheless. I would worry that he was the same as me and would have regret and anxiety, while also admiring his willingness to be so raw in public. Robin Williams came to me as Mork, but earned a place in my heart with Dead Poets Society. Through the vehicle of that movie, he made education seem more valuable than the diploma or job at the end, and that little, knowing smile he used so well drove the point home. He was just good. As a person too. I’m sure you’ve heard the comic book shop tales of how he connected with anyone. He was a good man.
Then, today, we heard that Chris Walla is leaving Death Cab for Cutie. Chris is a good man, too, for many years he was my husband’s BFF, he Dj’d our wedding… And he’s an amazing artist. The things he does not only as a musician, but as a producer in his own band on his own records are just incredible, and I feel so selfishly sad that he needs to be done with Death Cab. On the way home from Idaho last week, we put Death Cab in, looked at one another and started singing along. You know the kind of singing I mean- the kind like you’re alone in the shower? That kind. Loud! With soul. It was fresh again and we got all excited about seeing them the next time they played. I love DCFC and it suddenly feels like one of our children suddenly grew up and moved out, that end of an era kind of feeling and our heads are spinning like we missed it all, somehow. We got busy having babies and building houses and didn’t pay close enough attention as his star rose.
In both cases, it was inevitable. Robin Williams couldn’t live forever, and I would hope that all the DCFC members would retire eventually. I just wasn’t ready. I wanted one more really good Robin Williams movie like Fisher King or The World According to Garp, I wanted another small theater opportunity to see Death Cab for Cutie. I’ll take solace in the fact that our friend is healthy, he is intending to enjoy his life now, and there is the very comforting thought that there another album coming soon. I’ll just have to continue to miss Robin Williams, as silly as it seems. We watched Jumanji the other night and said goodbye to him that way. I’ll admit to many shed tears during our viewing.

On the plus side? I got into my classroom today- a full two weeks before I thought I’d be able to! Woohoo! While I didn’t get very many of those boxes behind me unpacked, I did create a mental map and started sorting things out. I’m pleased to report that it is going faster than I expected. Phew!

{This is what the last three weeks have felt like!}
As my summer is winding down (TWO MORE WEEKS?!) I’m starting to take inventory of my summer weightloss and training schedule. Then I laugh and laugh and laugh! Oh my, let me wipe a tear from my eye… Seriously, though, my dirty secret is this: I’ve been writing all about these awesome dietary changes and before/after, non-scale victories and wonderful life- experiences, but I haven’t pushed myself as a runner and I still haven’t gotten under 208!. In fact, I’m still going up and down between 207-211, depending on the moment.
Regarding exercise, frankly, it’s flipping hot out. I don’t relish running outdoors when it’s anywhere over 80, running in the cool morning makes me sick- my stomach just can’t deal and I get horribly nauseous, and by night time, my tummy is all full of the day’s food and it’s like BLECH! Gross. The wah-wah-whiny-sneaky-lazy part of myself actually benefitted me a tiny bit for once, this time round. I figured out that if I walk just fast enough, I can keep my heartrate in the 130’s without running. While I’m not doing myself any favors as far as half-marathon training goes, I am moving, daily, burning calories and hopefully even some fat. Maybe. Lifting a little too, just not like I should be. My secret hope is that with all the raw food and all the treadmill walking, the fat will just melt away. I know this will not work, but it doesn’t keep me from trying. 🙂

Every day I ask my kids what their plan is for being active. I think, left to their own devices, the warm weather outdoors would go nearly wasted were it not for this question. My daughter can, very happily, lock herself into her room with her barbies and books on tape, while my son can build with Lego with the same attention, and forget it if Minecraft or Animal Crossing is involved! The day could be lost altogether! LOL!
Anyhow, they often choose the pool, which is great, but on Friday we headed to the very busy Bothell Landing trail that connects to the Burke Gilman Interurban Trail. When we left the house we didn’t have any big goals, but once we got on the trail (right by Wayne Golf Course, headed north) we walked into the tunnel and found that it had totally been made over and beautified! To us, it looks like a Mary Blair influence, and we just adore her (ala the designer/artist behind such gems as the Small World ride, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland)!
From there, we started spotting all kinds of wildlife. It started with the doe (a deer, a female deer) who was followed in short order by her two little spotted fawns. Soon thereafter we saw a snake, a robin and a raccoon! We challenged ourselves, then, to find as many critters as we could. By the time we got out of there, our list had grown to include a frog, heron, crow, beaver, ducks, fish and a few different insects. It was a very exciting walk to take with our nature explorers.

Last night, Bradley and I had an ever so rare opportunity to go on a date. Think I’m kidding? The last time we had a night without kids was in March. Before that? Probably December. All of this would be cool, in most circumstances, but I’m around kids all of the time. When I’m not with my own, I’m with a classroom full of them. 99% of the time, this is totally cool. But sometimes it’s really nice not to have to think about making dinner for someone else and the cleanup after and the always on alert with one eye looking and one ear to the ground… To let that go for a few hours every once in a while is such a blessing.
We made use of our time by dressing up in cute clothes, driving to Edmonds and walking around until we saw a menu that pleased us. We ended up at Epulo Bistro because, let’s face it, I’m into cooking shows lately and they’re all marveling about burrata cheese, and Epulo had some on the menu! They also had a watermelon/tomato/mint/watercress salad, grilled cauliflower and grilled green beans. We ordered and canoodled like two love-starved 40 year olds (let’s call it like it is!), but we kept it rated 1980’s-style PG. The picture above is after our food was served and we dove into it with complete (HONGRY!) abandon, only afterward realizing this was a rare opportunity to create our very own food photography in a restaurant! That never happens with us. Seriously. Clearly, we are at a Martha Stewart level of food photography here… lol! But it was tasty (ohmygraciousthecauliflower!) and mostly made of vegetables! Some raw! Woot woot! It is totally fine that by 10:30 we were laying in bed, listening to Beck (Morning Phase) and drowsing off to sleep, right? It was a good night. So good that I was ready for those kiddo hugs when they came!
And if you’re wondering, burrata cheese tastes like cream cheese and butter whipped together. It’s reeeeeally yummy, but I’m just as happy with some cream cheese. That said, side by side, I’d pick the burrata. Yum!

During my family reunion I had a number of people address my weightloss and the ‘how did she do it’ conversation happened often. My answer is always the same- lifestyle shift focused of healthy eating and lots of movement- but one question caught me off guard: how much raw food do you eat?
I think a lot of people confuse the wide variety of fringe-ish healthy diets and kind of lump them into one vegan/raw/vegetarian/paleo combo! It is true- I take pages from all of these dieting theories and combine them into my own little food pyramid, but the raw question actually got me excited. I answered, upon a little reflection, that I probably eat about half of my food raw… Then I kept watching my food intake to see if I was actually accurate or if I over-inflated my rawness prowess. Guess what? I observed that I actually eat more than half of my food raw. That was a pretty awesome discovery.
One of my goals this summer was to try out different eating philosophies. I wanted to try a raw food week, to follow a macrobiotic week, to be vegan for a week, but maybe it’s ok to adopt things partially, like I already seem to be doing with the raw. I am pleased, beyond measure, to realize the natural shift that has happened in my/our family diet.

I read online, recently, about how those little baby carrots that are ready to eat are actually treated with chlorine to keep the bacteria away. I intended to do more research, you know, to determine if this was a Facebook meme or truth, but in the meantime, we switched to eating carrot sticks made from whole carrots in our home the old fashioned way. I didn’t need to do any research, though. We had forgotten what real carrots tasted like! It turns out, carrots that we cut at home don’t need to be drenched in ranch dressing to cover up the lack of flavor! Carrot sticks, in fact, are so sweet and tasty that we eat them without anything. This was a nice rediscovery!

Every three years, my extended family gets together for a big family reunion. In my lifetime I’ve been to 12 reunions, which means that since I’m 40 years old, I have only ever missed one reunion in my entire life! Our family reunions are like sleep away camp for grown-ups, but our kids are there too- we all just run wild together. It is really fun. You should have seen my daughter’s face when I told her that she didn’t have a bedtime, she could have seconds thirds and fourths on licorice, she was encouraged to sing a dirty (but traditional) song and I wasn’t too concerned about how dirty she got! Needless to say we had a blast.
In my lifetime, I’ve always felt like one of the biggest girls around at any event. I have pretty consistently looked around any room in any event and always thought, “Welp, I’m the biggest girl here. AGAIN!” And when you’re consistently the biggest girl at any event, in any room, you just kind of accept it as the way things are. But secretly, in the secret little dark parts of my mind, as the big girl, I always wished for the opportunity to be different than the biggest girl. It’s like that chance to really show what I am instead of just the shell that held me all together. Sometimes as the fattest girl in the room, I felt marginalized or unimportant. Most likely that was just me putting those perceptions on myself, but it didn’t make me feel any better that I was thinking so loudly about what I was worried other people were thinking. Anyhow, it has always been a goal of mine to go to a family reunion not being big for once. And, of course, I need to say here that being big is not the worst thing in the world, I just wanted people to notice me- not my weight. I didn’t want my weight to define who I was to my extended family for always. Also? For some inexplicable reason, I have always wanted to have long hair at a reunion. The funny thing is, anytime I’ve ever lost weight, I’ve always gained it back in time for the next reunion. Whenever I’ve been growing my hair out to any decent length, I’ve always cut it off before I’ve gone to the reunion. So, at every single reunion that I’ve ever been to since passing through puberty, I’ve had hair that shorter than my ears and a weight that exceeded 250pounds!

So… This picture…
I was looking and looking at my family (these are most of my own grandpa’s descendants) trying to figure out where I am, and there I am, that tall, slightly chubby woman with long hair, off to the right there. I was absolutely shocked when I figured out that was ME! I didn’t even recognize myself because I was seriously looking for the fattest girl in the picture and I couldn’t find her! That was a good feeling.
Long hair- CHECK!
Thinner – CHECK!
LOL! Sometimes it’s the little things…
Or the littler and longer things that make you feel good.

We go to Disneyland a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. People always ask us why we go and if we are tired of it yet, but we are not. We love it. Disneyland is our version of sailing, or Hawaii, or Mexico, or wherever that happy place is for you- that’s Disneyland for us! Once we get there, it is easy. No one has to worry about what we are going to do or boredom- the park provides it all!!! This year we bought season passes so we were guaranteed that we had to go at least two times in order to get our money’s worth- such a hardship! Last week we spent our time in the Happiest Place on Earth once again. Disneyland is a pretty amazing place. It’s an especially great place to be able to test your endurance. On average we walked between 20,000 and 30,000 steps per day while we were there. That breaks down to walking almost a half marathon every day! I was amazed that my kids can do it, much less me!

I know that I spend a lot of time doing before and after comparisons on this website, but I find it an imperative to do so because it makes me reflect on why I don’t want to gain weight and be a larger person/unfit person again. When Guinevere was just 14 months old, and I was 31 years old, we went to Disneyland for the first time as a family. We stayed in an inexpensive hotel that was almost directly across the street from the park, the idea being that I wouldn’t have to walk very far to get to the park and we wouldn’t have to take a bus or car to get there. I was prepared to have to walk a lot all day long to the park, but I was not prepared for the way that my body would react to that much walking! By the time we got back to our hotel every night I was absolutely exhausted. Didn’t matter that the hotel is only across the street, walking across the street the extra 500 paces or whatever was one of the most difficult challenges I’ve ever lived through in my life! LOL! To make matters worse, we were staying on the second floor of the hotel that did not have an elevator. Bradley would pick Guinevere up and carry her up the stairs while I would slowly make my way to the top of the stairs and into our room to collapse on our bed. It was five days of sheer exhaustion. Fun, yes, but exhausting!

That trip didn’t deter me, however. We have continued to go to Disneyland quite regularly. For a while that meant making accommodations for me that included having a bus that would pick us up at the hotel and drop us off at Disneyland, almost at the gate. We would also leave the park midday so that Gigi and I could nap, and our trips typically lasted nine or more days so that we could go really, really slow. It worked, but it was exhausting and I knew that I was putting significant limitations on my family.

Much like the hike to Heather Lake, this trip to Disneyland was a polar opposite experience than what we used to have back when I was heavier. We planned to stay at a hotel that we stayed at one time before, which is about a quarter mile away from Disneyland. If we were going to take a bus, we were going to have to pay extra, on top of our hotel fees, to use it. It seemed silly to do that considering we are in much better shape than we ever were, so we forewent the bus this time and just planned on walking to and from the park. I was amazed that never once on the walk home was I so exhausted that I wished that we could have a taxi. In fact, I think that our walks back to the hotel were one of the highlights of our trip. Every night on the way back we would relive the day with singing and dancing on our way down the street; I think we were probably pretty annoying to people around us. LOL!

Over the course of six days we walked a total of 57 miles. We wore our pedometers every day so we could keep track of how far we were going. I was shocked to see the distances that all of us were making, especially my son with his little short six-year-old legs, walking the same distance the rest of us much taller people went. He was such a trooper! I wore really good shoes every day, of course, and never once did I feel like my legs were sore, my knees were sore or my feet were sore to the point that I couldn’t go anymore.

I will admit that my hips were sore from my childlike running down the hill expedition that I did earlier in the week during that one workout. That probably wasn’t the best form of exercise for getting ready to go to Disneyland! I bruised my hips, or bursa sac, which wouldn’t have been a big deal normally, but walking that much for that many days in a row and sleeping in a hard bed was a little uncomfortable by the end.

All in all, I would rate Disneyland as a fit person way higher than when I was heavier. Disneyland is slow hot and hard when you’re a heavy person. At 210 pounds, which is about where I’m at right now, it wasn’t hard, it wasn’t hot and it was a lot of fun! On top of that, while I was there, I kept looking at women’s fashion. Turns out that you don’t need to be a tiny little stick anymore to wear short shorts or a bikini, so I wore my short shorts with my saggy thighs the entire vacation, and even came home and went to an event last night wearing my short shorts. So, I suppose I will rock the 3 inch inseam now!

Disneyland is such a magical place for me. I love it there. It is where I’ve seen my kids come alive and awake to the world. Each time we’ve been we’ve seen leaps in imaginative storytelling and, when they were little, massive vocabulary growth- they would rapidly work to accumulate the language needed to tell all about their adventures. It’s been a place where we can let go and let our kid side come out to play. It’s where love and whimsy rule, now I appreciate that tremendously. Now, for me, it’s also a test of my fitness every time. If I can endure Disneyland, I know that I am doing ok. Doesn’t it just seem appropriate that I run the half marathon there??

Celebration:
I got on an airplane this morning. In the past, the airplane was like an instrument of torture. The whole process of getting on and off of one was challenging enough. Not only did I have to squeeze my extra wide hips down the aisle while managing a toddler and a carry-on suitcase, I also had to navigate the seatbelt, hoping against hope it would contain my girth, hoping against hope that I wouldn’t have to ask for a seatbelt extender! My biggest fear, always, though, was that they would ‘Kevin Smith’ me and force me to purchase an additional ticket to accommodate my mass. It never happened, but it was a real fear founded in authentic airline policy based on authentic passenger space needs. I get that, but ouch and blush! It is funny to think of all the extra worries I carried with me along with my extra weight.
This morning was great though. I fit on the plane and in the seat with 7-8 inches of spare seatbelt hanging out. Pretty awesome. On top of that, Bradley and I were able to share a carry-on suitcase this time. My clothes are small enough now that I have plenty to wear with room to spare, so the Lj’s only brought three bags this time round!

I Heart NKOTB
It’s no secret that that my midlife crisis has been founded in the exact boy band that propelled me into adulthood. It’s been one year since I saw them live in the Tacoma Dome last year (how 1989 does that sound?! Lol!) and my adoration hasn’t waned one bit. They played Vegas last weekend, accompanied by an NKOTB flight (the fans and talent all in one flying container!!), pool parties and after-parties galore. Of course, they posted all of this to twitter and Instagram and OMGosh! How bad did I want to be there?! How sad was I that I didn’t pony up the 2000 it would have cost to see them in Brittany’s theater? Very. That’s how sad.
I was a sad little Blockhead as I felt like the only Block Nation member who wasn’t in Vegas rubbing my face against the elevator door emblazoned with DDubs gigantic face on it, passing out with exhaustion in the hotel hallways or seeing them doing their special thrusty/grindy moves that they have down pat so beautifully. Sigh.
Maybe next year they’ll make their way the the beautiful PNW again and I can pony up 400 instead of 2000. 🙂
To be clear, I’m not sad in a whiny entitled way, just in that way that I realized how hyper-aware I was that I was missing out and I didn’t know how much I really did want to go!
You may be wondering why you are hearing about these men – yes, a ‘boy band’ full of 40+ men, these days, but ‘man band’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it- now, when you thought you left that back in 1993, but I feel like Shazam isn’t just about my weight and fitness. It is focused there, for sure, but if I only talked about fitness and nutrition, nobody would wanna read that! At least I wouldn’t often! I’d be all like. “Boooring.” I feel the need to know as much as possible about the bloggers I read and hope you feel the same. 🙂

FYI- that title is totally misleading.
I mean, well, it is true that if I’m involved, the awesomeness factor goes up tenfold, but it’s been pretty mellow round Lj House. So mellow, in fact, that yesterday I was about climbing the walls, trying to figure out something to do. I was seriously revisiting the childhood summer doldrums where you lay around on the couch… whining about the heat… and how bored you are. I’m sure you hate all teachers right now as you contemplate a return to your desk job tomorrow… Really, though, when a kid is like that, they’re just being lazy. I know this because I was being a lazy bum and I needed to just start doing something.
Back in the day, I was never bored; I was a crafting queen. My resume reads like Laura Ingalls Wilder meets Martha Stewart. I threw myself into homemaking as soon as I could. I started baking and taking care of small children when I was a preteen. I loved baking so much that I decided I wanted to be a baker for my career, until my mom informed me that bakers rise at 2:AM so the bread has time to rise and is ready for consumers. That squelched that dream, but I’ve always baked until recently. Now baking is reserved for special occasions and for when the kids want to make something. I find myself spinning my wheels during down times- my goto activity has always been baking, but baked goods also are fatty, carby and usually the ones I like to make are also unhealthy, so I don’t do it so much anymore.
Did you know I also used to have my own paper making and soap making business? In my early twenties, I was one of those people who would rent a booth and I would go to all the farmers markets, bazaars and festivals hawking my wares. My evenings, after I put in eight or more hours at my childcare job, were spent melting fats, cutting soap bars, waxing batik covers for my handmade-hand bound journals, picking flowers to color and texturizing my handmade papers- I was a ridiculously busy girl. I always had something going on!
When Bradley and I met, we made beer together, i made candles by the dozens, we made furniture, I picked up gardening from him- we even tried our hands at self sufficiency. I learned to grow, can, dry and preserve food in an effort to work toward not relying on modern conveniences like stores. We did pretty well but never became even close to self sufficient. I started quilting and using clothing scraps for things like handkerchiefs and cloth napkins. For years, I refused to purchase Christmas and birthday gifts. Everything had to be handmade!
Paper came into my life in a big way right around the time when Gigi was born. I found scrapbooking when I ended high school and embraced it as an art form, but it languished until the scrapbooking/stamp craze took over, and then I was truly smitten. I was an expert gift wrapper and bow maker, I’d craft anything that had to do with paper- I loved paper! Paper took over for me as my primary artistic outlet. I joined collectives and collaborative online groups where we made books together via mail, while I still created art pieces, cards, entire books of collated/stacked/embellished pages. I loved it!
Over the years all of these things have been lost for one reason or another. In my job, every once in a while a need is called forth and I’m way impressed with the acumen of frontier-woman-style knowledge I have. This year I canned applesauce, made butter, quilted, and crafted with my students. It felt good to know how to do that. I tie dye with my students every year, homage to my batik and tie dye days in my late teens and early twenties, but I do little else.
Until yesterday. Yesterday I got all of my beautiful papers out, my marvelous adhesives, my lovely embellishments and I went to town. I left everything out all night so I could return to the table again, today, and at the end of it I have two dozen handmade cards that remind me that I can still do this stuff. My kids are big enough now that I have time to process, to think, to compare patterns and colors and play with templates. It was really, really fun. I’m planning to play with paper again, very soon.

Just because I was crafty today doesn’t mean I neglected your passionate need, your driving desire to see my derpy run pic of the day. I wouldn’t withhold that from you, dear reader, because, indeed, I did run today. I ran pretty well because it was gorgeous and in the 60’s when we went. I tried running downhill a new way today. And I mean steeper hills- the ones I usually walk down because I realized I’ve been tightening up my hips and bracing my knees on hills which makes me really jar hard as I go down. When we hiked down from Heather Lake, I used my thigh muscle so like shock absorbers and it felt really good, a lot like what I observed a record breaking triple jumper doing as she ran to the pit, so I tried that kind of running. I’m telling you what, I could fly down a hill like when I was a little kid again- fast, furious and not scary at all. It was amazing! It made me want to go run downhill again, I could actually remember why running down a hill was fun. I’d call that a pretty awesome nonscale victory! 🙂
and in case you were wondering, I was running downhill during this pic!