Thursday, December 11, 2014

run, melissa, run!

as many of you know, i kicked my running routine into high gear this year. i ran marathon and 50 km distances in the early to mid 2000s before an injury sidelined me from anything over eight miles for a couple of years. once you stop running for five hours on a regular basis, it is a bit of a mental challenge to get back into the game! a change of jobs last year meant that i no longer had to commute 2.5+ hours every day, which gave me more ME time. i ran a 30 km last summer and was encouraged that my body seemed happy and injury free during my training and after the race. while i was in new zealand last spring, i got inspired by a friend who does some crazy adventure racing and the next thing i knew i was signed up for a 50 km run...and a relay race.

the first major run was the hood to coast relay from mount hood to the oregon coast. this is a 200 mile relay that is typically run by twelve people over the course of 24+ hours. i had done this relay twice before with the beloved sea monkeys, but when my best friend from 7th grade asked me to join her team i couldn't say no. michele was the only person on the team i knew before arriving in portland, but you get to know people very quickly when you are trapped in a van together for 30 hours... i ran just over 20 miles in the three legs and felt good at the end. i even went for a run on the beach the next morning.

a chilly start from timberline on mount hood

lunch at the food trucks in downtown portland while we waited 
for the runners in van #2 to run their section of the course

 van #1 replenishing carbs at the finish

 the whole team at the beach!

my next run took me back to oregon a couple weeks after hood to coast. the mckenzie river trail 50 km run is one that i have been eyeing since i lived in corvallis, oregon. the run has gotten so popular that entry is now via a lottery system. i threw my hat in the ring in march and was shocked when the email arrived in april saying i had a spot. time to start training! 

i slowly made my way up to oregon at the beginning of september and stopped to see some sights along the way, including crater lake and some oregon beaches on the way home. the run was great...as beautiful as i remembered it and a satisfying personal accomplishment. and i walked away with only one yellow jacket sting and relatively injury free!

crater lake, oregon

 mckenzie river falls - we ran in front of the falls
and then came around the backside later in the run

 somewhere around mile 18...

 one of the many bridge crossings along the trail

cool sand formations at driftwood beach

my last run for the year was a bit more spur of the moment. my sister steph and i have been talking about running the death valley trail marathon for a few years. i pushed for this year since we were both running a fair bit and our respective partners wanted to have some hanging out time as well. so we booked flights to vegas for the race weekend and registered for the run. two months later we met in vegas, kissed the boys goodbye, and headed for the desert. there were a few challenges associated with the run: 1. elevation - the course started at 3400 feet and peaked at 5200; 2. elevation change - we climbed 2000 feet and dropped 5000 feet over the last 14 miles (hello, quadriceps!); 3. desert - dry, dry air. we lucked out on the weather...mostly sunny, with some well placed clouds and 70ish degrees. the run was challenging but beautiful! neither of us had been to death valley before and were blown away by the stark beauty of the landscape (and also the loneliness - we were both glad to have each other as a running buddy).

 ready to get on the bus to the start

 top of the first climb

 the geology in this place is so cool!

 top of the second, ridiculously steep climb

 yippee! (i swear i didn't photoshop steph into this photo!)

 running through titus canyon

 running selfie...glad i didn't trip and fall!

 finished...and still smiling!

our running route is somewhere over there...

i'm excited that i made it through three long runs this year, but am looking forward to giving my legs a bit of a break in the next few months. 



Friday, November 7, 2014

scotland highlights

i had a conference in glasgow in august and pete decided he would come along and make a vacation of it. we had five days together before i had to go to my conference and then we had a day at the end of the trip before we flew home. neither of us had an extensive "travel goals" list...in fact, there was really only one - go to the highland games. 

we crossed our lone travel goal off the list on day two. we went to the perth highland games, which included many pipe bands, dancing, cycling, running, and games of strength. throwing a caber in the rain looked hard! we listened to so many pipe bands that the sound of bagpipes and snare drums was ringing in my ears for hours after we left. 


 dancers' kilts

 lone bagpiper

pipe band playing for the judges

 caber toss

from perth we headed northwest along the lyon river, around loch tay, through glen coe, and ultimately to spean bridge. the following morning we backtracked a bit to hike to a place called glen nevis. friends had told us about this spot - the highlight was the cable bridge. it is so fun to see what sorts of things other countries allow that would never happen in the u.s. there was a sign at the start of the trail warning that death was possible...

 the lovely town of fortingall

 and the 5,000 year old yew tree

magical glen lyon (there should be a hobbit on that bridge!)

vista south of loch tay

 majestic pete in glen coe

 beautiful glen coe 

 the hike from glen nevis to steall falls had a few water hazards

 and it was rainy (and no, we don't usually match)

 which made the cable crossing a little more interesting...

trying really hard not to fall into the river

we spent the next few days touring around on the isle of skye. what a lovely place! it was definitely the highlight of my trip...and a place that i could spend many more days.

 eilene donan castle and fishing pots

 the remains of duntulm castle - what a spectacular view these people had!

 the basalt pillars and cliffs of the quiraing

 pete enjoying the view

 another basalt feature - old man storr

 the lovely church just down the road from our b&b

 intertidal at elgol with a glimpse of the cuillin hills in the distance

 scottish algae! :)

intertidal sheep on our way to elgol

my conference was in glasgow. unbeknownst to me until i got there, the world pipe band championships were happening that weekend. i may have missed a few talks in favor or seeing the world champion pipers from belfast. who knew that bagpipes could sound so good?! while i was working, pete continued north into the highlands enjoying the beautiful scenery, castles, and scotch. ok, he didn't enjoy the scotch, but he said the tour was really interesting. we met back up in edinburgh at the end of the trip. it was august so the fringe festival was in full swing. we got tickets to a couple of shows, but pete scored the ultimate prize and got us tickets to the royal edinburgh military tatoo. neither of us had any idea what that was other than a show that sells out six months in advance. as it turns out, it is a showcase of military bands from former british colonies and takes place on the promenade of the edinburgh castle. it was spectacular! 

 into the highlands - pass of the cattle

scotch making in progress at glenfiddich

edinburgh was filled to the brim for the fringe

 tartan making in progress

 the ceiling of st. giles cathedral

 edinburgh castle

 malaysian military and dancers

 military band and dancers from trinidad

 all the dancers

 the full military ensemble. i think pete counted 140 bag pipers!