Western States 100 (trail run) - can you say inspired?!?

I watched the live stream last night of the overall male winner Kilian Jornet of Puigcerda, Spain run the 100 mile distance in 15 hours and 34 minutes 24 seconds. The first woman finisher was Ellie Greenwood of Banff, BC Canada with a time of 17 hours and 55 minutes 29 seconds and she was 18th place overall - wow!!!

Click here for photo's of the course and elevation profiles

Here are the highs and lows of the course -

The start was, Squaw valley: 6,229 ft (1,899 m)
The highest point on the course was, Watson's monument: 8,713 ft. (2656 M)
The lowest point on the course was, No hands bridge: 543 ft. (166 m)
The Auburn finish was, 1292 ft. (394 m)

The first 50 and over woman (setting a new 50 - 59 record, breaking the old record of 21 hours 58 minutes 37 seconds) was, Meghan Arbogast of Corvallis, Oregon with a time of 18 hours and 50 minutes 19 seconds AND she placed 29th overall. The next woman of the over 50's was Angie Pozzi of Granite Bay, California with a finish time of 24 hours and 37 minutes. Such a huge time gap between the two.

I thought the woman's 2nd place finish was really exciting, because after running 100 miles they ran in just a couple seconds apart. Kami Semick of Bend, Oregon took second with a time of 18 hours and 17 minutes 34 seconds and Nikki Kimball of Bozeman, Montana at 3rd with a time of 18 hours and 17 minutes 39 seconds. There was a story of a mama bear on the trail protecting her cub that may have slowed down some of them. This is according to the chat window that was going beside the video stream. I don't know if that was actually the case, but it does make it a bit more daring. *added later Kami's blog about the bear and the close finish. click here for her post

Such a hardcore group, I'm in awe and admiration for all of them and their accomplishment.

Our first North Cascades highway crossing of the year

North Cascades highway is Washington states farthest north mountain pass.

It's usually the last one to open because of the snow depth and avalanche danger. We thought there would be more snow at the top than there was. Turns out there wasn't so much.

Liberty Bell as seen from
the Washington Pass Overlook rest area

There is a tradition on opening day each year by a woman named "Tootsie" to greet the people that line up at the gate for it's official opening with cinnamon rolls. She gets up at 1 A.M. and makes them herself. She is 90 years old this year. She has been doing this for at least 20 years.
 Click here for the "Thanks for the Tradition" WSDOT article .


Lexis in "her" element, one happy dog!

Here's a record of the opening and closing dates of the highway since it opened in 1972.

SR 20 - North Cascades Highway - Opening and Closing History

Year	Opened	Closed
2011	05-25
2010	04-16	11-29 (temp. closure-4 p.m.) 12-1 (closed 8 a.m.)
2009	04-24	11-07 to 11-10 (temp. closure) 11-13 (temp. closure-3:30 p.m.) 11-17 (closed - 8 a.m.)
2008	05-01	12-11(temp. closure) 12-15 (closed for season)
2007	04-26	12-04
2006	05-01	11-13
2005	03-10	03-26 to 04-04 (temp. closure) 11-04 (temp. closure) 11-07 (closed)
2004	04-08	12-08-04 (temp. closure); 12-13-04 (closed) - Rockslides
2003	04-14	10-17-03 - Flooding, Mudslides
2002	05-07	12-14-02 (temp. closure) 12-16-02 (closed)
2001	03-22	11-14-01 (temp. closure) 11-19-01 (closed)
2000	03-30	11-26-00 (temp. closure) 11-27-00 (closed)
1999	05-05	12-06-99
1998	04-02	11-20-98 (temp. closure) 11-24-98 (closed)
1997	05-07	12-16-97 (temp closure) 12-22-97 (closed)
1996	04-24	11-19-96
1995	04-28	11-06-95
1994	04-07	10-31-94 (temp. closure) 11-08-94 (closed)
1993	03-24	12-08-93 (temp. closure) 12-10-93 (closed)
1992	04-09	12-08-92 (temp. closure) 12-11-92 (closed)
1991	05-02	11-18-91 (temp. closure) 11-25-91 (closed)
1990	04-18	11-09-90 (temp. closure) 11-28-90 (closed)
1989	04-21	01-03-90 (temp. closure) 1-09-90 (closed)
1988	04-20	11-20-88 (temp. closure) 11-23-88 (closed)
1987	04-15	12-09-87 (closed)
1986	04-11	11-18-86 (temp closure) 11-26-86 (closed)
1985	04-12	11-15-85 (closed)
1984	04-04	11-02-84 (temp. closure) 11-19-84 (closed)
1983	04-20	11-24-83 (temp. closure) 12-5-83 (closed)
1982	05-06	12-02-82 (temp closure) 12-15-82 (closed)
1981	04-24	11-30-81 (temp. closure) 12-6-81 (closed)
1980	04-18	11-27-80 (temp. closure) 12-2-80 (closed)
1979	04-10	12-15-79
1978	04-21	11-11-78 (temp. closure) 12-15-78 (closed)
1977	not closed	11-23-77
1976	05-21	not closed
1975	05-16	11-22-75
1974	06-14	11-21-74
1973	04-27	11-21-73
1972	09-02	11-21-72





 

Frustrations galore...calf still sore

In my quest to be patient, I've been looking on-line for fun facts to help me. Here's a link with one of the many articles out there.
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/legpainandinjuries//a/calf-strain.htm?p=1

It has 3 grades of strain and their estimated recovery times. I am now past the Grade 1. Bummer, looks like I'll have to be a little more pro-active in my rehab approaches.

Grade 1 Calf Strain: The muscle is stretched causing some small micro tears in the muscle fibers. Full recovery takes approximately two weeks.

Grade 2 Calf Strain : There is partial tearing of muscle fibers. Full recovery takes approximately 5-8 weeks.

Grade 3 Calf Strain: This is the most severe calf strain with a complete tearing or rupture of muscle fibers in the lower leg. Full recovery can take 3-4 months and, in some instances, surgery may be needed.

Patience, Patience....

Argh, tweaked my calf

I was sick the week before the last hike I went on a week ago Thursday, thought I was well enough a couple days before the hike to be able to go. I felt unusually tired during the hike that day. I didn't get sick again but the next day I did a light running workout and felt a slight twinge in my left calf. I immediately started walking and walk/jogged the rest of my workout. In the days following everytime I tried to run I felt the same twinge. So now I guess it's time to really focus on re-habing, ice and heat will be my friend. Over the weekend I just walk/jogged and when I jogged it was VERY slow. No twinges, but extremely tight. So now it's no hiking for me till I'm completely sure my leg is healed. Bummer, I was really enjoying the hikes and getting to know the "Trailblazers".  Running is my exercise of choice. I really enjoy running the 1/2 marathon distance, so hiking will have to take second place for awhile. When I do feel my leg is ready to hike with my running workouts I guess I'll have to re-evaluate how hard to workout on the days before and after the hike. What is that saying? - Patience is a virtue. It's been  11 days - at this point I'm not very virtuous.

Will our malamute really stay in the boat?!?

All suited up and ready for her first trip in the raft. 

We decided to take our dog with us fishing at Lake Padden. She's 8 1/2 and never been in a boat. We had the booties and the vest and thought why not, so we took her with us today.

Wondering if she'll stay in......

- such a happy dog! Yes she really stayed in and laid down most of the day.

What a great day to be on the lake!

She thinks we should do that again!

I caught the only fish of the day - yay for me!!!

My dad the Marathon man - The North Olympic Discovery Marathon

Charles Milliman (78 years of age): June 5, 2011 NODM - 5:51:40, 1st place 75 and up



Click to enlarge
with his "Hurricane coffee" Latte in hand at the start and then at the finish!

This was his 5th running of this event. My dad has now run 61 marathons in his life!

It was a great day, temps were in the low 70's, after our cool spring it was a quick and warm transition for the marathon runners.

I put together some collages of the day - enjoy!

Click to enlarge
The start at Carrie Blake park -  Sequim, Washington

Click to enlarge
Bridges and creeks on the course

Click to enlarge
Running the course Start to Finish

Click to enlarge
The finish: Port Angeles, Washington

Fragrance Lake/Burnout Hike

my gear

Today's trailblazers hike was to be an out and back in the Fragrance lake area. There were 14 of us setting out from the Clayton beach parking lot. The weather was cloudy and cool as we headed out to the interurban trail to where it has a junction with the Fragrance lake trail. We were all enjoying the hiking and the camaraderie. We decided to stop and look at Fragrance lake before heading up to a logging area (Burnout) and to check out the view from there.

We quickly realized that three of our group were no longer with us. As we pondered what to do, Alan (our fearless leader) shared with us his concern that he didn't think they knew where we were heading.  There are many trails in the Chuckanut mountain area that link to each other, so there was a number of directions they could have gone. We pressed on to where we had planned hoping that they knew where to go. The clouds were low but there was still a fairly good view.

More pondering...........

Farther down the trail we decided that part of our group would head down to the parking lot to wait and see if anyone showed up. Cell phone numbers were confirmed and we split up hoping one of our groups would find our missing men. As it was getting on in the morning the group I was with (the search party) decided to stop at the Fragrance lake - view point for lunch.

Another great view -

After lunch we decided we would head back up to Fragrance lake and see if there was any sign of them, hoping we wouldn't have to go all the way to Lost lake to search. As I was preparing myself mentally to possibly do quite a bit more hiking than was planned, our trio of  wanderers came ambling down the trail! Hurray!! After much sharing of stories we happily hiked "together" back to the parking lot.

All in all another wonderful day of hiking (9 miles) and I'm very thankful for the happy safe ending for us all.

Djan's version of the fun:
http://djanstewart.blogspot.com/2011/06/alls-well-that-ends-well.html

Bright lights in times of tragedy

A Raven (Ray Lewis - Baltimore Raven football player) a Panther (Reggie Howard - Carolina Panther football player) & an Elephant!

In the midst of trying times it is so wonderful to see when people step up and help others in their times of need -

A few months ago I did a post about the tragedy of LaShandra Armstrong. Read it here

I was so saddened by her story that day, that she felt that was what she needed to do and that she took the lives of three of her small children at the same time. One of her children managed to escape. I've wondered how he is and how he is surviving with this in his past. I was so glad I happened to be watching the "Today" show this morning and they did a follow up to his story. Read about it here . It tells of how Ray Lewis (I know he has a past that is highly debated, but this is a different story) & Reggie Howard have embraced 10 year old La'Shaun Armstrong as their brother. They want to mentor him and provide emotional & financial support. They talked about an opportunity to help with a college fund for the young man.

Another story that's been in the news is the devastation of the Joplin tornado. I thought it was great that a circus that had been scheduled to do a show used the elephants to help them move the large objects that needed to be moved. In the video there is a controversy of opinions about if this is exploitation of the elephants or a ploy for free advertisement for the circus, but it seems the reaction of those from Joplin is just "thank you", See video here

I'm thankful as well that these "bright lights" have stepped up to help make these people lives a little brighter.