Oct. 18 2009--Somewhere on Tiger Mtn.

Fall! Colors. No crowds. Slick rocks and leaves---well, that's any time, around here.

Short jaunt (despite Garmin's claim of 5ish a better GPS called it 6.6) uphill and back down with Jeff and Robin--through the stiles and up. Trees seemed bigger and closer together than I remember from, say, Cougar.

No blueberries here, and having failed to pick up any Shot Blox I was reduced to carbing up with--Dots.

Thank goodness for Robin's awesome apple crumb cake in the parking lot!

Sept. 13 2009 Mt. Pratt Lake plus

Great day! Clear skies, soft trail (well, in between rocky stretches); fresh fat blueberries! Tracy, Ali, Becky, Suzanne; Finn and Jenna from dogworld...

Yummy.

Aug 28 2009 Orcas Island--Mt. Constitution

Fun up-n-down trail day during a great family week up on the beach. 8+ miles beginning at Cascade Lake at ~300 ft and climbing to 2400ft+ and GREAT VIEWS!

See the deer?

Lotsa folks up top thanks to the road. Trail was beautiful.

Sorta makes you want to do the Orcas Island 25/50K in February, eh??

WR 50 Preview 2 7-12-2009

Fun for all--moreso for myself and Ali who missed the first 6 miles along Skookum Flats and so did 17ish v. 23--
Grey skies and threats of thundershowers cleared to hot sun late in run; beautiful day to be out. I heard, then saw (but got no pix of) a good-sized owl; looking up/listening online, seems probably to have been a female barred or spotted owl. Can;t help you beyond that. Beautiful sight!

Can't lie--I hate the 6+ miles of gravel downhill. Picked up enough speed there last year to beat the cutoff (with early start) but otherwise nothing good to say.

Finished and had a delightful tailgate session with Ali cupcakes to toast Tracy's birthday, Robin's muffins, and Tracy's cookies. Good life!

So with a 20 min/mile pace vs last year's 17 min/mile and a couple of missed cutoffs in 50Ks this year, along with the knowledge that I have not successfully made time midweek to train, I'm out for White River and will happily volunteer instead. Good ol' Scott McCoubrey rolled over my entry fee to 2010.

So now I'm ramping up weekday training and aiming for the Cle Elum 50 K 9/19/09! Gotta keep moving!