Saturday's aren't only for running

Today was supposed to be the day for an amazing race! I went to bed last night primed for a great 5k. There were other plans that I was not aware of. When Julie and I got to the 5k start line we found that we were lat not just by a few minutes but by a whole hour. It was ridiculous. A mob of unhappy runners had developed as there were two different groups that arrived for this race. The first group was the group who heard of the race by word of mouth. They were on time. The second group, which Julie and I were part of, was the group who heard the time on the internet.
We left without our desire to run quenched.

We then found out that the state was allowing a free fishing day and decided to take Jaden and Charlie out fishing. This turned out to be the true plan for the day as Jaden caught two fish, one of which we got to eat. He was pretty glad to contribute to the meal that night. We later settled down to enjoy some time together, 21st century style. It was a great day.

A week with the McCabes

One week full of kids, climbing, and of course...running! Cody an I went a run a day and even got in an 800 repeat session. Climbing included some bouldering and top roping at Table Top mountain, an old rock quarry. It was great to stretch out over the rock and try to reach for the unattainable. We have eaten well, had some excellent conversations, and plan to run a 5k on Saturday. It has been nice to reconnect with old friends and start some much needed relaxing.
Today I also got my passport. That was a frickin' mess! Cody and I went between the Passport office and other locations over four times. But it is in and hopefully on its way to Tucson in the near future. More to come.

Saturday May 31, 2008

Cody met up with me in Lewiston and off we went. The plan was to make it to Riggins, Idaho and camp and of course...run. We took a six mile run up a canyon road. After about 10 minutes of running we started hearing gun shots. The sound resonated down the canyon. We continued on trying to spot the shooter. As we neared a ranch the sound became louder and louder. We continued to look for a shooter but saw none. We thought maybe it was a cattle or sheep slaughter taking place in the barn . We ran by the gate of the ranch and another went off. This time sound was right next to use. Cody finally identified what the sound was. The rancher was firing off propane to either keep game away or as an avalanche canon. We continued up the canyon, coming to a dirt road that appeared to lead off into a meadow. We followed this up about half a mile and who do we run into? None other than the rancher and his son on a pair of dirt bikes. Cody asked if it was private land, the rancher responded..."Yes." He stood there looking at us then said, " Go on" and pointed up the hill. We continued up the road to a second of cattle grates and turned back. Since it was al up hill we were no cruising down hill, and I wouldn't fear saying that both of us were testing the other out to see just how fast we could get going. It felt great to stretch out my stride after months of running on flat frozen tundra. We headed back to camp that night, sweaty, hungry, and completely satisfied.