Snow Lake

We hiked back to Snow Lake on Saturday - a nice 8-mile jaunt. The snow had been well packed by previous snow shoe'ers, so we managed ok in boots most of the way. Here we are at the lake. Eure doesn't like being still. "Lame!" She says - look at that serious face.


Joey actually managed the dogs most of the way - I wasn't as bold on the slick packed steep snow...

You can see Eure's goofy smile in this one. She really was smiling Saturday, something my serious girl rarely does (do we understand why she's 'my' dog yet?).

Harper acted more like a puppy than she EVER has since she came to live with us. It was amazing to see her enthusiasm - again, I cannot imagine her previous life where she was secluded in a kitchen ALL the time. She looks calm here...

...but this pic is a fluke. She was crazy most of the trip - a real delight to have along.

Anyway, I wrapped most of my x-mas gifts today - just one left and I actually need an entire day to create it still... Poor planning wee? Soooooo this little engineer is back to work tomorrow and going to have a BUSY week wrapping things up for our travels.

Dog Butts

Yeah, I watched dog butts for 2 hrs on Saturday as we took on a 12-mile trail run. I only had the girls in harness for a few miles and they pulled strong the entire time - even w/out a lure to follow. Harper's endurance absitively amazes me. She seemed tireless and ran when I asked...and still tried to run when I asked them to walk. Eure, however, is my listener. She walked when I asked and ran when I asked (I need to work on turns w/her). She's going to be the brain of the operation - Harper is my brute force. Eure clearly started to tire w/in the last 2 miles and stopped wanting to work ahead of me (she's more comfortable next to me, where she's been taught to run anyway). Anyway, I was exuberant and we all enjoyed the workout. The girls were OUT for the rest of the day. It's only too bad we don't have trails closer to home...we spent 2-hrs driving to spend 2-hrs running.

This little engineer w/second-hand dogs is out.

Pretty cool song. Feather, Fur, & Fin by Danny Michel.

City Girl Herding

I'm sure we're ruining her...

A) Repainted the wall above the fireplace.
B) Hung up a picture from our wedding stretched on canvas.
C) Put up a vinyl application that reads, "Love is just a word until someone special comes along and gives it meaning."

This little engineer is out.

Summer Closure

This summer, I tried to hold onto my running though it was spotty due to wedding planning (and general unfocused frustration). Early July, I sprained my ankle pretty damn bad on a 10-mile trail race. That lead to nearly 3-months off from running - it was for the best though it left me restless. Mid-September, after the wedding, I found my restlessness culminated to anger over the fact that my summer seemed so unaccomplished compared to previous summers. Soooo, w/the goal of the Seattle 1/2 Marathon in the back of my mind, I started out huffing and puffing over running 3-miles - omg, I was out of shape. It took me 2-months to get to a STRONG 8-mile run...and that's all I managed b4 it was time for the Seattle 1/2. I followed through w/my goal though - I've found a new mental maturity for running that has allowed me to push my times further than my training alone should support. I held a solid 9 minute mile pace through mile 9...haha, where I felt my body scream for not having trained it. I pushed through though... and still managed a PR of 2:04 on the nose (placed 204 out of 839 in my age/sex group). My last 3.1 miles took roughly 34 minutes...to tell you how rough they were. It makes me wonder just how awesome (for me) my time would've been had I been able to train further than 8-miles b4 the race. This course was easier than the San Fran 1/2, which could also explain how I beat my previous PR.

(My Chip time was 1 min 46 sec faster than the clock time.)

Anyway, I topped off the 1/2 by going home and falling down the stairs. I blame it on my fleece socks...and then my fleece pants, which let me slide nearly all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. My body hurts from that fall more than from the race, I think... outside of my feet - my feet r-heally hurt. After Eure, Harper, and Joey all consoled me, we were bums for most of the rest of the day.

Aaaand now it's back to the daily grind for this little engineer.

NOHLS. Wish I had known about this when I was still in college and free.

My life is becoming to polarized.

There are 2-portions of my life.

1. Work. Lame.

2. Adventuring. Awesome.

Everything else just seems to be filler and makes me restless. The hard part about this is that the adventuring is becoming more and more amazing...which just makes the work portion seem that much more lame. It's difficult because I 'like' my job as much as I'll ever like work (I think). I could be damn good at it if I could engage my tenacity to take on work like I take on the rest of life, but I'm horribly distracted by the fact that I can't make it matter in my mind. What's the point of earning money for a huge corporation? Soooo, I do my hours and push myself as hard as I can during those hours, but I guarantee you schemes for my next adventure are always in the back of my mind.

Take, for instance, the fact that the winter has barely started and I'm peeved we haven't gotten out in the snow yet. Eure is ready to take the next step in canicross/skijoring and get out on some trails. Harper has just come of age to really start training, so it's difficult to have them at odds...especially since I'm the only driving force for training them. My heart can't wait to be flying down the trails w/them. The last 2-weekends I was dieing to get out snowshoeing even...but timing hasn't worked out w/these short daylight hours. Poop.

This is a short week for work - today and tomorrow b4 a 4-day break. I'd say we could get out snowshoeing then...but I have the Seattle 1/2 marathon on Sunday. I need to take care to save my legs since I'm a little under trained. It looks like I've rather doomed us to some forced relaxation this long break - hopefully we'll use the time to tackle some organization/gear storage issues. Ha. Maybe we'll finally finish painting our house, too.

Amway - back to that daily grind. Tonight we'll run the dogs in the field be my final run b4 the 1/2 on Sunday.

This little engineer is out.

PS Our new indoor bike trainer is amazing. I highly recommend something like this for anyone struggling w/these short daylight hours and a commitment like pups that keeps you from riding on weeknights.