Hood to Coast 2018

After Hood to Coast 2017 I told my team I probably wouldn't be able to run in 2018, but said Rog would run to hold my spot. However, when I had that second miscarriage in June, I suddenly was available to run. At first I was going to run instead of Rog, but then a spot opened up and we were both able to run it together. We were initially assigned to van 1 with a lot of fun people, but then we got moved to van 2 with a group of people we didn't really know. 

TJ and Breanna Finlayson were in the Mountain Gate Ward when we got moved back in. They hadn't been in the Sunnyside Ward when we were in it before. They seemed like a cute family and I was interested in getting to know them/becoming friends with them, but then we found out they were moving to Hood River. They had actually moved down there before Hood to Coast. Zoe Clegg's family is in our ward, but she is going to college down at Oregon State University. Finally Andrew Quiroz had been in the Sunnyside Ward with us. We knew and liked him, but he was moving to San Diego shortly after the race. All this was a bit discouraging because we knew we'd spend 2 days in a van with these people, get to know them, and like them, but then hardly ever see any of them again! We were right - that was exactly what happened, but we still had fun!

The best part about being in van 2 is that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive up to Mt. Hood to start. Our team started at 5:00 am, but van 2 didn't start until about 10:00 am and the place we were starting was much closer to home than Mt. Hood, so we got to wake up at a normal time of day. Starting with a good sleep was much better than last year when I started with only a few hours of sleep!

The team had opted not to make shirts, but I did make a logo with our team name and cut that out in vinyl to put on the back of both of the vans. I also cut out our names to put around the logo.

Zoe was our first runner. She passed off to TJ.

TJ passed off to me. (Let's take a minute to appreciate those beautiful clouds and gray sky behind me. 👌The weather couldn't have been better and along with the cooler weather came a shift in the winds that cleared out the smoke that had been hanging around.)

My run was on the Springwater Corridor Trail that starts in Boring and goes all the way into Portland.

I ran 5.48 miles (medium difficulty) at a pace of 7:41. I passed off to Breanna.

The missionaries in our ward were 2 of our 3 volunteers. Their mission president approved it as long as it was during daytime hours and in mission boundaries. I signed up for them since the signups were during the day when they were out doing missionary work. It was a little stressful while I was trying to get them signed up because the site was so slow (everyone was trying to do it at the same time) and I had to make sure they got the specific leg that ran through our ward at a good time. It all worked out and we actually saw them volunteering while Breanna was running.

Hood to Coast only allows certain headphones that go outside your ear rather than in your ear. Last year I bought pink headphones that fit that requirement. I asked Rog if he wanted me to order him his own headphones this year (not pink), but he said we could share and the pink would be fine.

It was actually Breanna's birthday, so as she was running in, Rog got everyone to sing to her. She passed off to him.

Rog ran 4.80 miles (medium difficulty) at a 9:20 pace. He passed off to Andrew who finished us off.

Since it was Breanna's birthday, we let her pick where we ate. The Finlaysons lived in Japan for a few years, so she picked an authentic ramen place in downtown Portland. It wasn't exactly our thing, but it also wasn't terrible.

After eating we drove to exchange 17 which was at a high school and some of us took advantage of the showers there. I always shower when given the opportunity during relays. 

We had time to rest there for awhile before we had to drive to exchange 18 to meet van 1. Rog pulled out his sleeping bag and might have actually fallen asleep.

By then the sun was starting to set and it was time to start our night runs.

We had calculated when we thought TJ would be coming in, but he must have been way faster than his normal pace because when I went out there to meet him, he was waiting and said he had been for about 10 minutes. Oops!  

My leg was the dreaded gravel portion of the course. They recommend wearing a bandana over your face to help with breathing the dust, but I didn't think I would want to run with a bandana over my mouth, so I didn't worry about it. I didn't wish I had one, but it was more dusty than I had imagined it would be. All the dust made it hard to see when I had my headlamp facing out in front of me. (It reminded me of driving in a snowstorm at night.) Things were much better when I figured out I had to tilt my headlamp down to the ground just in front of me. I ran 4.91 miles (medium difficulty) at an 8:01 pace.

Rog ran his 4.13 miles (easy difficulty) at a 9:11 pace.

After our van was finished running we drove straight to exchange 30 where we would be meeting van 1 next. Most of us slept in the car. I slept in the front passenger seat. Rog went out and slept in the field next to our van in his sleeping bag.

We got in a couple solid hours of sleep and then it was time to run our final legs. I had developed a lower back injury during my training that didn't give me too much trouble while running, but caused me a lot of pain a few hours after running. So by this point it was killing me. I didn't want to move, but somehow I got myself to the exchange and then waited and waited for TJ. Since he had come in a lot earlier than we expected him from his second leg, we got out there early and ended up waiting for him for what seemed like forever. He was dealing with a leg injury that had prevented him from doing much training and he was definitely feeling that lack of training his last leg. 

You can tell that he's really hurting as he came into the exchange in this video.

I knew I wouldn't be able to run as fast a pace as I did for my first and second legs, so I set myself at about an 8:30 pace and just stuck with that throughout my entire run. By this point we had caught up with the Portland to Coasters who can only walk. I passed SO many of them! Our van passed me when I was a couple miles in, then I had a water stop at about my halfway point. I was really hoping that our van would stop and give me a boost somewhere along the way before heading to the exchange, but they didn't read my mind. I was definitely ready to be done when I came in. My quote after I ran says it all, "That was hard."

I ran 7.71 miles (hard difficulty) at an 8:28 pace. It would have been nice to have my longest and hardest leg for my first or second leg. It was kind of torture having to run it last, but I survived!

Roger's last leg was also his longest and hardest. I wanted to stop and give him a boost, but his leg didn't follow the road like mine had.

Andrew was waiting for him at the very back of the exchange. Rog was not happy about that! He was ready to be done and didn't want to run more than he had to. He ran 7.14 miles (hard difficulty) at a 9:49 pace.

We crossed the finish line at 31:47:07. (Last year we finished at 35:40:07.)

It was so fun to run with Rog again this year.

And van 2 with these people was awesome! Even if we rarely (if ever) see any of them.

Like last year (Kicking A$$ests), our team name could be considered questionable again this year (if you're looking for a sexual innuendo), but it was also highly accurate (at least the dirty part). Van 2 especially gets very dirty driving through those dusty, gravely legs. We were actually 4 hours faster this year than last year, so I'm not sure the slow part totally applies.

Other than the dinner we had in downtown Portland after our first leg, we basically only ate grapes and Costco muffins, so by the time we crossed the finish line, we were starving! We ate at Subway in Seaside before driving home and it was basically the best meal I've ever had (not counting the 3 meals I've had after giving birth because nothing can beat those).

Cold water is very important to me, so I was pretty proud of this. I froze two very big tupperware containers full of water and we had ice cold water the entire race!

Hooray for another successful relay!

August 2018

My parents made it back up to Portland and we got to celebrate my mom's birthday with her on her actual birthday. We went to Applebee's for dinner and I made her Pink Lemonade Cupcakes (at her request).

Peyton made her some cute homemade gifts.

I was able to help out with Activity Days Camp since they were going to be here to watch the kids for me. The first day I was in charge of the service project. They decorated the bottoms of socks with puffy paint to make them "no stick" for a nursing home.

The second day I helped out with the ring toss as part of field day. They also had had me make these medals that the girls got at the end of the camp. The theme for camp was the olympics.

While I was at camp my parents took the kids swimming at the aquatic center the first day.

And to JJ Jump the second day.

 

The July berry flavors at Salt and Straw continued into the first week of August, so we took them the last day they were available. My dad says Salt and Straw is too expensive (it's really not any more expensive than other ice cream places), so he refused to eat any, but my mom enjoyed the birthday cake and blackberries with us.

I also got my peaches canned and made into jam while they were here.

This was my longest run and one of my best paces during my Hood to Coast training.

It was perfect running weather that morning - cloudy and cool, without any rain. As I was running I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if the weather was like this for Hood to Coast." Spoiler alert: it was! 👌

That afternoon we went to my dad's Uncle David and Aunt Mary Lou's house for lunch. We were going to eat lunch at the park, but there was a miscommunication between David and Mary Lou and we ended up eating on their back deck while we waited for David to get home. Mary Lou thought he had just gone out for a walk and would be home soon, but turns out he was waiting for us at the park. 

Later that evening we took my parents to the Waterfront for a bike ride. The kids brought their bikes and the adults rented BIKETOWN bikes. 

Rog stayed with Logan while the rest of us rode the loop around the river.

I saw my mom eyeing the pink Voodoo Doughnut boxes everyone was carrying around, so we made a stop there before going home. I hadn't been terribly impressed with the other donuts I had tried there when we first moved here (and we hadn't been back), but this time I just got the regular maple bar and it was superb. 

We celebrated my dad's birthday a few weeks late with a blackberry crisp.

On Monday we made Pooh masks for Make Something Monday and then we took the kids to see Christopher Robin.

Logan was very excited about Pooh after we left the movie.

We went to get the rest of the stepping stones we needed to finish our yard.

Corbyn had put Jamba Juice on our summer bucket list, so we went there.

And apparently that was the most exciting thing we did while my parents were here! 😂

On Tuesday we dropped them off at the airport. Then we came home and did some water balloons for Time to Get Wet Tuesday.

And busted out some popsicles too.

What Park Wednesday was at our Pfeifer Park this week. We walked and I remember it being so muggy and pretty miserable! I taught Peyton how to swing like a spider with Norah Bond.

The kids and I had picked up Harry Potter shirts from Target. It worked out that they had these houses in our sizes, but they all seemed pretty accurate as well. Logan loves making a snake sound and pretending he's a snake, so Slytherin worked for him.

I'm a sucker for limited edition Cheerios and theses did not disappoint!

Logan was on a Winnie the Pooh kick for a few weeks after seeing Christopher Robin.

For Time to Read Thursday we went to Barnes and Noble and turned in the kids' summer reading logs from there. They got to pick out a book each.

The kids cashed in one of their summer reading rewards from the library (Mini Murph pizzas) for dinner Friday night and we called it Something Fun Friday.

Saturday morning we went to the garage sale at REI and scored an air mattress, a CamelBak (missing the bladder), and a camping chair.

Rog's Grandpa Phillips was in town visiting his son, Rog's Uncle Ron. They took him boating and they let us tag along. It was our kids' first time boating and they enjoyed it immensely!

In addition to the actual boat and the huge tube, they also had rented some inflatable paddle boards.

And an inflatable canoe. It was a fun day at North Fork Dam.

On Sunday we had Grandpa Phillips, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Linda over for dinner. Rog was very excited to show his grandpa or built-in shelves because he is very into wood working.

We made bracelets out of cut-up straws for Make Something Monday.

Peyton had put sundaes on our summer bucket list, so we went to Burgerville for our FHE treat. She got a caramel sundae and was disappointed. The blackberry that Corbyn and I ordered was very good.

Rog and Logan enjoyed their chocolate sundaes.

Peyton had her last day of the jazz/tap combo class she took with Wren for the summer.

We had planned a camping trip down to Crater Lake with the Bonds, but we were having major smoke from wildfires.

So we decided to go to Beverly Beach where it was less smoky instead. We stopped at the Tillamook Factory on the way.

We got lunch and ice cream there. Unfortunately the ice cream was too melty for my liking and I decided I'd stick to the kind you buy in the grocery store from then on.

We got to the coast and it was still a little smoky, but fortunately it cleared out overnight.

We had only planned on dipping our toes in the ocean, but the kids got a little more wet than that. We had to go find the showers at our campground to rinse them off. They were actually warm showers which was very fortunate because they were all freezing!

These shoes aren't meant to be worn with socks, but my feet were cold. Styling!

The kids were all very interested in watching Rog split the wood with a hatchet.

No camping trip is complete without s'mores!

We went back to the beach in the morning - this time with swimsuits on for those who wanted to get wet (Rog took one for the team and wore his).

Group picture before we took down the tents!

Before heading home we stopped at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse where we saw some whales.

Finally we went into Newport and saw the sea lions on the wharf. 

When we got home Corbyn lost two teeth before bed and the tooth fairy forgot to come.

Rog and the kids stained our deck (with much higher quality stain than we had used previously).

I finished my August door hanging.

We knew the BYU 50 drop was happening in Portland between 12:00 and 2:00, so we drove downtown and drove around aimlessly until they posted the drop location. It was right by the Voodoo Doughnuts we had been to just a few weeks previously, so we knew right where to go.

There was a good turnout and we didn't win, but it was still fun!

When we got home I did a run in the middle of the day to practice for Hood to Coast. I was running leg 9 and knew 2 of my 3 legs would be in the middle of the day. I was thinking it would be hot and I'd need to carry my own water. I ordered a waist pack with a water bottle that my sister recommended and I wanted to practice with that before the real thing. Turns out we had the most perfect weather for Hood to Coast and I didn't end up using it, but I was glad I had it just in case.

We made popsicles out of tissue paper for Make Something Monday.

The Tutts invited us to go see Smurfs: The Lost Village with them. It was part of Cinemark's Summer Movie Clubhouse where all the films are $1.

Logan went through a phase where he was taking all the cushions and pillows off the couch everyday. It was not my favorite phase.

We went to story time at Barnes and Noble and the Disney Store. The kids were quite pleased with the free bookmarks they got from the Disney Store. Corbyn also got a new lunchbox (a Star Wars one) because they were on sale and he needed a new one.

My friend, Shannah, asked me to help her with a bigger project on my Silhouette. I also had a bigger project I was needing to do for church, so I took the opportunity to buy a 12x24 mat for my Silhouette.

She had me cut out the word's to the Shel Silverstein poem, Tree House, to put on her stairs.

Time to Read Thurday. Logan really got into character as the dog this week.

I made spaghetti when we watched the Yates for date night swap. Hudson couldn't get enough of it. And I had to take a picture of him in one of Peyton's pink bibs to send to his parents.

Dixie came into town to watch our kids while we ran Hood to Coast. (I'll post about Hood to Coast separately.) This was taken Saturday night after we got home. Ironically it was Logan who fell asleep on me.

We had a pretty chill Sunday recovering from the race.

While she was here I finished the top of a pillow to go with Peyton's quilt and sent it home with her to quilt, so it would match the quilt.

On Monday we took her to Biscuits Cafe and Salt and Straw before dropping her off at the airport.

We made camping scenes with popsicle tents for Make Something Monday (except I think we made them on Tuesday).

We went to the aquatic park for Time to Get Wet Tuesday.

Peyton was finally tall enough to ride the water slides. 

We had back-to-school night coming up, so we went to Walmart to pick out new backpacks. Even Logan got one since he was starting preschool.

Third grade was the only grade that had to buy supplies this year. They had a very specific list I had to fulfill.

I decided to get some new paints while we were buying school supplies. Logan had to try them out as soon as we got home.

We had a couple books left to read from Everyday Reading's list of 100 Picture Books to Read This Summer. They were not available at our library, so we went to Powell's to read them there.

That night was back-to-school night. We found out Peyton got Mrs. Christensen (hooray!!) and Corbyn got Mrs. Boyes (meh). I hadn't heard the best things about her from Melissa (Kingston had her last year), but Corbyn was excited because every year she has a class pet. She hasn't been that bad (especially compared to Ms. Rowland from last year).

Rog and I happened to be wearing the same shirt, so we had one of the kids take our picture.

One day Peyton devised this creative reading spot.

We used a summer reading reward to go mini golfing for Something Fun Friday.

Logan's form is terrible, but he is sure cute!

We had to hurry back to get Logan to a dentist appointment. 😎

Rog and I finished this Aladdin puzzle. 😍

I finished sewing enough blocks for my Holiday Patchwork Forest Quilt, so it was time to put them in order and sew them together. It sure felt like Christmas in my craft room.

There was a sale on bark dust at Home Depot, so we bought a few bags to fill in a few spots in our backyard that needed more.

And that was our August.