Our country had a birthday last week. We celebrated by wearing red, white, and blue clothes. We had to dash to Walmart early in the morning to get Rose a red shirt so she could join in the patriotic color scheme. Amber wore Rose's hand-me-down dress and was such an AMBY that morning that I had to throw the dress in the wash half way through the day to clean it up for the afternoon. We also hosted a friends fun run at our house in the morning of the fourth of July with a post-run watermelon feast on the front porch. Happy birthday, USA!
Girl pictures! I wore my star spangled shorts for the run and wished I had something that fun to wear the rest of the day.
Barbecue lunch at Grampa Dan's house with the cousins. Amber and Grayce are 13 months apart and they wore these darling dresses that Layne and Rose wore two years ago.
I always jump on any opportunity to take a cousin picture!
Stubborn at picture time, as usual.
Freedom. Independence. Such happy, high-flying words. Freedom has been on my mind all month, and not just the fireworks-and-flags type of freedom. I realize that there are many kinds of freedom, but right now, freedom to me is:
- A long run
- A beautiful view
- A happy family
- A clean house
- Quiet
One of my favorite things about summer break is the freedom to get up and run without having to worry about what to do with the kids. During summer, Jeff and I take turns running and watching the kids--the pattern is in place and it's our groove. In spite of my semi-reluctance to train for a marathon, I do still enjoy long runs. I have gone on some gorgeous leisurely runs this month with amazing views. Since it's summer, I run with my hydration belt which has a pocket for my phone. That means: mid-run pictures! I never stop running to take pictures; all of my running pictures are taken in motion. It is kind of a fun challenge, with a variety of amusing results. So here are pictures of one of my best summer freedoms: running!
Run #1: Badger Mountain, July 2nd. It was hot, the sun was blazing, and the hills were steep. I got sunburned too. But that view! My brain likes to choose a song to play over and over during long runs, and I was amused when I realized that I was mentally listening to the theme song from The Man From Snowy River on repeat while I ran along the windswept ridges of Badger Mountain. It was just right! My subconscious can be an amazing DJ.
Sage brush rubbing shoulders with vineyards: normal.
So much color, so little rain. That's the Columbia River waaaay off in the distance.
I must confess to feeling a smidge jumpy on this trail. Last time I ran up there, a baby rattlesnake squiggled across the dusty path right in front of me and I had to do a last minute wild pirouette-type leap (accompanied by a squeal) to avoid it. Thankfully I did not meet any rattlers on my most recent Badger-run.
I can't find the temple in this picture, but I love being up high and seeing the tiny white temple down there amidst all of the buildings. It feels like a divine nod ever time I spot the temple from up high on Badger.
Run #2: Apple orchards north of Sunnyside, July 8th. I was probably trespassing, but I did not touch anything but the dirt and I simply could not resist the fascinating tour-de-apples up in those hills. And all of the workers were friendly and waved at me, so I didn't feel too terribly guilty for running around the massive orchards. Mental soundtrack: Days in the Sun from the new Beauty and the Beast. It fit.
Golden grass on the left, baby apple trees on the right. Faintly visible up ahead in the distance: Sunnyside.
I ran past a 30-foot-high city block-sized megaplex of apple boxes and couldn't resist a quintessential Washington selfie.
After the orchards, I still had a fair few miles left so I took a turn around the other orchards and dairies nearby before heading home. That's Mt. Adams on the horizon, directly above my shadow head.
Corn and Mt. Adams.
Run #3: Gifford Pinchot National Forest, north of Mt. St. Helens and next door to Iron Creek Campground, July 12th. We went camping for two nights this week in the forest and I absolutely basked in the depths of those giant trees. So much greenery and sunlight! It was cool, green, and rich--the type of run where hymns were playing in my head. Most specifically/typically: How Great Thou Art. During the second half of the run, I had to grin when my mental radio started playing the "You're Welcome" song from Moana. While I don't visualize deity to be pompous like Maui (demigod of the wind and sea,) I do think that there are many ways for the spirit to communicate, and when I let my mind wander while running, I think the spirit sometimes speaks through my mental radio.
I have a thing for sun-dappled trees.
The Cispus River
Mega mossy branches
Confession, I paused my run for five seconds to take this picture. I was pleased to remember that these are foxgloves. I love their clustered trumpets, turned and singing towards the sun.
A bridge through The Evergreen State.
Run #4: July 15th (this morning). The Shoreline 10k along the Columbia River in Howard Amon Park. I ran the 6.2 miles in 48:28, averaging 7:48 per mile. It has been a while since I really raced, and it was hard work! But somehow all of my long slow marathon training runs built me up enough to hold my pace (with difficulty) and kick it in hard, barely passing another girl at the line to claim third place overall. I actually felt kind of bad for sneaking up on that nice girl--we ran together for most of the race and we both agreed somewhere in the middle of the race that we were barely hanging onto the self-imposed torturous pace. Then she scraped me off on a small hill about a mile from the finish, and I worked my booty off to reel her back in. It felt good to be able to even catch up to her! I slid past her inches from the finish line in the final sprint. It was an excellent race. The hard-fought victories are always much more fun and satisfying than the lonely ones.
ROSE! Rose is really getting in to running. Her iron will and refusal to give up do wonders for her running. This summer she has been running half a mile per day five days each week. We signed her up for the 2 mile fun run today and she owned it! Jeff ran with her, pushing Amber in the stroller. I think Jay tagged along for some of it, but I was running the 10k at the same time so I don't know many details. I wish the 2 mile fun run was either before or after the 10k so I could've seen Rose run! She ran her first ever two miler in 17:25. That's a mind blowing time for a six year old, especially for her first time ever running that far. While it's not necessary for kids to like the same activities as their parents, it sure is FUN when they do!
My friend Leslie ran the 10k too, and won her age group.
Running a grueling 6 mile race in July heat is not exactly in the same category as the previous three zen-runs, but it was still a free feeling to feel tired and done at mile four but then not only decide to hang on, but to be able to stick with that girl and pass her! Throughout my nearly 20 years of running, I have not had much racing left in me at the end of a race very often. In college I was usually too exhausted from all of the daily workouts to feel very good during races, and in high school, my coach didn't know how to train distance runners. In general, my racing "career" has been blighted by fatigue or lack of preparation. Freedom is finishing a race on my terms.
Jeff went on a run after my race, during which I watched the kids play on the fun Howard Amon Park playground. Typical Amber chose to dig in the dirt in front of the giant awesome play structure, but I kind of love that she likes dirt best. Eventually she did go play tag with Rose further afield.
Amber wanted in on a picture, so Jay jumped in too. Silly kids saw me bending over to get on their level and copied me, thus defeating the purpose of my lean.
After Jeff finished running, we all took a quick dip in the cold clear Columbia River before heading home. (no pictures of the river-dip because the kids started throwing rocks with atrocious aim and in spite of parental warnings, we were all pelted by pebbles and had to leave soon thereafter.) But washing my sweaty face in the river was a delightful reward after a hot hard race.
This post has finally rambled its way to a conclusion: I love having freedom to RUN, freedom to RACE, freedom to enjoy family, friends, and nature, and freedom to be HAPPY.
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