This is where we take our inspiration! People like the Coate/Spaldings and the Hayes! Go on guys!

Crazy as it might seem but a few days before the movers came to pick up our household goods we decided the proper break for us would be to do an adventure race. We did a ‘super sprint’ for “very” beginners and the ones that aren’t quite in shape ;-) Today was break time from “all things PCS”. My husband, Tim, had signed up both of us with an adventure race here in Washington. Considering we hadn’t trained at all, I was a bit sceptical how things were going to work out. What is an adventure race? An adventure race is an outdoor multi-sport event. Sports may include: Mountain biking, orienteering,navigation, trekking, kayaking/canooing - more advanced and longer races provide an opportunity to show your repelling and climbing skills. While I think it sounds fun not sure if I could compete on this sort of level. Today, there were two categories of race durations: the sprint racers (4-6 hours) and the super sprint racers (2-4 hours) - that was us! Should you feel up for it, you can find races at any length. Some folks love 24hour races. Ever since our PCS shifted into high gear and we had cancelled our gym membership, Tim and I had not done much endurance training at all. Little here and there, but we started this race today pretty much cold turkey, however, we needed this break today. Heck, I had been painting, digging, sorting and cleaning for a week now. My gosh, how much stuff is there to do? The truth is , that if we were packed tomorrow: We’d be fine! It seems as though this move is an opportunity to do what we haven’t done for years….clean garden tools, sort out things that I had been holding on to…. Back to racing. Adventure racing sounds much more intimidating than it actually is. Our disciplines were orienteering, mountain biking and trekking. In all categories we had to find markers in the park that had punchers tide to them. We had a map and on foot or on bike we raced to find them and we marked our papers once we were successful. YOU can do a race like this. Can you walk? Can you ride a bike? Then you could have done what we did today! No kidding. A super sprint race is a great way to get started. You should check your ego at the door (park gate) and try to just have fun! Don’t be intimidated, chances are that the ‘fancy’ teams are in a different racing group anyhow. I should also mention, that there are also urban adventure races. While still challenging, usually these races are laid out or fun! You can dress crazy and you’ll have a lot of fun completing tasks a la “Minute To Win It”. The biggest races I know of are the “Urban Oyster” and “Urban Assault” (brought to you by the Belgium Brewing Company, if that tells you anything!). My, then 15 year old, and I participated in the Urban Assault last year, when my husband was deployed, pretty much as an ode to him - since he, my husband, is really into this kind of thing. It was a great bonding experience for my son and I. Only a few weeks after Tims return from Iraq he participated the race as team “What just happened?” Side note: My son was appalled when Tim stopped to get a coffee in the middle of the race! So much fun! Try it! And now, I am on the couch, unable to move and blissfully exhausted. Tomorrow is the last day, before our household goods are being packed up. i am very curious, what we’ll do tomorrow. Find adventure races all over the country:

• + usara.com - US Adventure Racing Association
• + The Merrell Oyster Urban Adventure Race
• + Urban Assault
• + active.com - for all competitions not just adventure racing

I am posting all those adventure races but I just want to show you where my mind is!

We’ve done the smallest of the races here in Washington: the Ridge to River in Wenatchee and only always as a team, one of these days we’ll be in shape to do all of it. In fact I’d do it right now. who cares if it sucks.

iamlegit:

cape disappointment, washington.

Mothers Day Weekend 2010 slide show.

My wife made this video for her 83 year old dad in Germany, so please never mind the German comments AND the music….

This weekend is packed!!

We have a jampacked weekend ahead of us - let’s see if it all happens the way it’s planned. We’ll compare notes Sunday night or Monday

Friday evening:

* play raquetball with friends and family
* have dinner at “The Rock” our local awesome pizza joint in Lacey, WA (that’s where you gotta go to eat!)
* Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at the neighbors house

Saturday:

* Mountain biking with a friend and son in Capitol Forest
* Wifey is working out with Fitness for life
* 1pm leaving to participate in a Duathlon in Elma, WA (kids will do duathlon or a 3miler, adults do duathlon 2mi-13mi-2mi)
* Evening: Birthday party at the neighbors’ house

Sunday:

* Mothers Day Breakfast
* Upon request by Mom visiting Title Nine in Seattle
* Open…the rest of the day I guess?

Tim took a Panasonic/Lumix photo class in Seattle. Here are some photos Seattle 4/2010

Finally getting into some fun stuff again!

It looks as if we are leaving this year. Nothing is set in stone but most likely and it seems that we might be moving back to Colorado. Ft.Lewis was our home 2006 through 2010 hard to believe that it has been 4 years. Lots has happened. We loved skiing in Crystal - White Pass wasn’t bad either, but Crystal was our favorite ski resort out of the ones in the area. At Snoqualmie we actually never skied but we went tubing up there, snowshoeing or plenty of times cross country skiing.

Here a picture of Tim and the kids skiing at Crystal. He broke his skies and his poles up there…ts ts.