A Conversation in the Truck on the Way Home From the Gym

Chad: ( A lengthy dialogue on the GOP candidates, what they stand for, and who he would vote for, but really is too long to type word for word here)

Jessica:  You know since we moved here I no longer have any idea what is going on in the world.

Me:  You mean you don't know what is going on in the world since we left Oklahoma and you are no longer forced to watch Fox News all day long at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Jessica: (laughing) Exactly!

Chad:  You know, you could go to Fox News on the Internet and read about what's going on in the world.

Jessica:  Nah, that's too much work.

Gym Day

I made a little video of us at the Gym!!! 

The exercise we did at the end is called Flexed Hanging Arms. You hold yourself up as long as you can until your arms are fully extended. It is a killer. In the Marines the best you can do is 70 seconds. My goal by the end of this year is to surpass that.



Here are our times for the Flexed Hanging Arms:

Me: 43 seconds

Cody: 15.52 seconds

Ryan: 3 seconds :)



Ooh we want to have a contest on who had the best face during our Flexed Hanging Arms......... Let us know!!!

 

Check It Out...We Got Snow at 75 Feet Last Night

Yes, it did snow last night.  The kids are out playing in the snow with the neighbor boys a couple of houses down.  The snow at our elevation excites me because that means there is alot of new snow on the mountain.  We hope to make it up this Saturday.  BTW, check out my new skis.  They are last years model.  The guy I bought them from said he needed larger skis.  All I need now is a pair of boots and I'll be set.  I was told that the upper lodge at Baker will sell used rental boots for 40 bucks.  I hope that's true.  See ya on the slopes!!!!!!

The Challenge Update

Okay, week one in The Red Dirt Lovers Runners' Challenge.  How did we do?
     I know we discussed putting up our results at the end of each month, but anyone who knows me knows that I can be pretty impatient (especially when it comes to something I am excited about).
     I have to admit that this has been a little hard for me.  I went from not running at all to running and working out at the gym, which I hadn't been doing either.  I was sore and my legs always felt "heavy", but I did it anyway.  Chad has a good work ethic, one that he learned from his father.  When something needs to be done you just get up and do it!  It is just the way it is done when you live on a farm.  That is a great attitude to have and one that I actually love about him, but not when it comes to running.  I am tired and sore and his attitude is just get out there and do it.  "You can run 3 miles no problem.  It's just one foot in front of the other."  All I want to do is stop and rest.  On the other hand is Coach Jim, a very laid back kind of person.  Even while showing his excitement.  During work outs all he says is "Good job."  Every once in a while when Jess is done with a work out he will come up to her and say, in a quiet gentle voice, "Rah, Rah, Rah," while pounding his fist in the air.  We know then that she had an excellent work out.  So, yesterday while we were at the track with Coach Jim, we were discussing what I would run.  At first it was going to be three miles with two breaks in between.  I just felt tired and wasn't sure I could do it, although I had done it the week before.  Jim then said to run 1 mile, 2 half miles, and 4 quarter miles.  I asked him if that was actually going to help me get into better running shape.  His reply was simple.  "What did you run three weeks ago?"  Me, "Nothing." "Then you are already improving."  He went on to tell me that all we are doing is trying to cover the distance and to take it slow.  Speed will come later.  So I went out there and did it.  Hmm, Chad is right (I, Chad, wrote that last part :).  After further discussion with Tammy I have discovered that its all in the presentation.  I guess I should be more gentle or kind in my encouragement, Ha Ha).  By the way, I, Tammy (not the guy trying to steal my blog post), ran everyday last week.
     Cody is now less argumentative about running, although, she still fights us on it.  Jess is still battling her leg injury.  Ryan has improved a lot.  She just gets out there and does it.  The other day she was running with Jess during a two mile run and they were just jabbering away as they passed me.  Noah still fights us about running and is always trying to find away out of it.  It hasn't worked yet.  The other day he did tell me that running the two mile route was getting easier.
     And speaking of routes...I think it was Wednesday, I was running while Ryan rode her bike.   I stopped at my usual stopping point, the marina.  As I was resting I turned to look at the boats that were docked and there was a seal swimming in the water.  He came up out of the water and dove back in two different times and continued to swim around while we talked to him.  Now, you don't get to see that on your runs in Oklahoma!
     Okay our totals for this week:
Chad:  49.32
Tammy:  16.03
Cody:  12.72  (she missed a day because of a migraine)
Jess:  22.3
Ry:  14.72
Noah:  19.31
     Total:  134.4

Up Mt Galbraith

Today I ran up Galbraith Mountain with Emily and Jess.  It was awesome!   Total we ran 6.77 miles and climbed at total of 813 feet.  We didn’t set any land speed records with an avg pace of 10.37, but it was fun none the less.  The run reminded me of the runs we would run with Jason, Jennifer, Mason, Mattie, and Mora back home around one of the local lakes.  We would run the horse trails to the back side of the lake.  Our prize?  Oranges and granola bars atop the sandstone boulders at the end of the trail and the opportunity to get a glimpse of the eagles that had built a nest in the tall cottonwood tree that is growing on the detention lake dam.   Yes, we do have eagles in Oklahoma, and yes, they’re bald.  I have noticed a difference between Oklahoma eagles and Washington eagles.  For one, the Washington eagles are much bigger.  I would say the mature Washington eagles are almost twice as big.  Secondly, they are not as shy as Oklahoma eagles.  If you get a chance, check out the pic of the eagle on Jess’s Flickr page.  She walked right up to the bird and snapped her pics.  Anyway, check out the pics and videos of today’s run below.

A New Baby for the New Year!

I am Officially a Great Aunt today.  Congratulations Dawn!  My niece just gave birth to her daughter a few hours ago, 19 inches, almost 8 lbs and a full head of black hair.  I am so excited.  I just love little babies. I love you both.

A Challenge

Okay, dad, I have a challenge for you.  You other people reading this continue on, some of you are next.  Okay, the challenge.  Dad, this is the start of a new year, so I challenge you to walk 365 miles this year.  Some can be on the treadmill, but only if the incline is on 2.5 or higher and most of the walks have to be outside.  One mile a day that's all I am asking.  You don't have to walk every day, just 365 by the end of the year.  You can keep track of your mileage in a running log.  My favorite is http://thinnmann.com/runlog.htm.  I will help you set it up if you choose to take the challenge.  In return I will run 365 miles this year.  You don't have to do it, but I am putting the pressure on making it public :^)

Mom, you can go with him.  365 miles.  You can do it too.  Mr. Ugly can go also.  We don't want him fat.

Jennifer, my friend, I know that you can run and run a lot longer distances than me, so you have to at least double my 365.  730 is awful close to a thousand.  I say go for the thousand.  I know not fair that I only run 365 to your 1,000, but like I said, you can run a lot longer distances than me.

Michelle, in 2011 you ran your first marathon and I remember your excitement at Chad running his ultramarathon.  So I challenge you to run an ultra.  Remember it doesn't have to be a 100 miler anything over 26.2 is technically considered an ultra.  But 26.3 I think is cheating, so at least a 50K, 31 miles no biggie for you.

Okay, anyone else want to join in leave a comment below.  For those of you I challenged...  Well,  Jessica says,"Git-R-Done!"