I was really sad when my half marathon memorial day weekend was canceled. I had trained so hard and was so excited to do back to back half marathons. thankfully I had already signed up for the See Jane Run … Continue reading
In life as in running there are many obstacles that get in our way. We have to push through, climb over, crawl under, and run fast to conquer this obstacles and beat the odds. Many times the obstacles never get … Continue reading
Since I moved here in April, I have wanted to hike Lassen Peak. Right now the peak hike is only open certain weekends because they are doing construction on the path. My friend Sam and I decided we were going to hike the peak the weekend in October that it was open.
Suddenly the weekend was upon us and we were finally able to hike the peak! We arrived around 10am so we would have time to hike the whole thing slowly and hangout after. The hike to the peak is only about 2.5 miles long and it goes from 8,000 ft elevation to 10,500 ft elevation. So in 2.5 miles you hike 2,500 ft up. We didn’t realize how steep that would be until we were hiking.
This hike was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. The elevation made it really hard on our lungs and the steepness made it really hard on our legs. I love hiking with Sam because we can both complain and be real when we are exhausted and wanting to die.
Finally we made it to the peak. It was beautiful up there! We could see so far and there was snow at the top. We really enjoyed the hike and the reward of our packed lunches at the top.
After our beautiful hike, we did a small walk to lake. At the lake we hung our hammocks and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
It was such a perfect day! I can’t wait for the next day we can get out and enjoy the Lord’s beauty!
I love where I live. Lassen Volcanic National Park is a pretty quick drive from home and I am able to go there pretty often. I love hiking and enjoying nature. Lassen is the perfect place to enjoy a day off work.
In August my friends Sam, Meredith, and I decided to go hike in Lassen. We decided to hike to Bumpass Hell. Bumpass Hell is the volcanic area where you can see hot pool and stuff.
A Few weeks ago, my friend Mindy and I went to Lassen and the Subway cave. The Subway Cave is located near Lassen. It is a cave/tunnel that was formed by Lava flow. I had read about it and was excited to go explore.
We put our headlamps on and our jackets (it is 46 degrees in the cave) and headed for the cave. It was really cool! The Subway Cave is a cave/tunnel that was formed by Lava flow. I had read about it and was excited to go explore.
After the cave Mindy and I decided to stop at Lassen National Park to eat our lunches. We decided to hike Kings Creek Trail to the falls. Every hike in Lassen is beautiful! The whole hike is along this creek and ends at this beautiful waterfall. We enjoyed every piece of the hike. There is this little bridge across the water and we sat for our lunches there. After talking and eating we decided to head back. During lunch we took off our shoes. With our shoes off we decided to hike the trip back shoeless. Since I love being barefoot I enjoyed this experience and can’t wait to hike again barefoot.
Can’t wait till our next barefoot hike!
For a long time I have wanted a hedgehog as a pet. I love hedgehogs! They are so cute! I finally committed to getting one and found a breeder in Oregon that had them available. For a few weeks I … Continue reading
It’s hard to believe I am so far behind on my posts. I have been so busy with my new job that I am too exhausted on my days off to write.
A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to take my day off and go on a long hike. Fortunately before moving here, my mom bought me a book of day hikes in this area. I looked up a few hikes and decided on the Quartz Hill area and the Hornbeck Trail. It said that it was around 8 miles round trip. This was before it started getting really here.
I set off around 10am and drove to the hike starting point. This hike was absolutely beautiful. It was all along and above the Sacramento River. I loved every part of it.
It was such a perfect day out and it was so nice to enjoy the Lord’s beautiful creation. I took a few detours down to the water and the lookout so my hike ended up around 9 miles. I didn’t realize that I wasn’t totally prepared physically for 9 miles hiking. I was so sore the rest of the day and the next couple of days. I even ended up with blisters on my feet because I chose to wear older shoes.
Next time I will be more prepared.
When we arrived at the Glider port at the top of Torrey Pines we were met with once again a crazy amount of vans. It was chaos driving in. Finally we found a place to park and settled in for a little while. I knew I needed to sleep a little so I stretched out in the front seat and closed my eyes. I was finally able to sleep about an hour off and on. After I got up I realized that I might be sick because of dehydration and started drinking a lot of water and Nuun. After a few bottles I was starting to feel a little better. We walked around the glider port and waited for our other van. Finally they said they were on our way. We were so excited for our final legs. We were also pretty jealous of all the people walking around already finished with their final legs. Being van 2 is hard because van 1 is finished and so excited and we were just starting on a few more hours of running.
Holding up our third leg
After a lot of pictures and silliness, Helen was finally running in. There we so many people there and we all cheered her in and cheered Amy off on her final leg. Once Amy was running we got in our van and headed for the next exchange. We stopped to get gas along the way. While we were at the gas station, my mom and I ran across the street to a liquor store to pick up some beer for Amy as she finished her leg. She loves beer and kept talking about running for beer so we knew we had to get her some. We stopped at one point in her run to check and see if she needed anything as well. The place we stopped was a blind turn and we directed a lot of people to turn there as the sign was hard to see. We were worried that someone was going to miss the turn. As she finished her leg and handed the bracelet to my mom, she was so excited to be finished with her final leg. We surprised her with her beer and headed to the next exchange.
Helen handing off to Amy
At the next exchange my mom handed off to Kathy and I started to get nervous for my last run. My last run was 7.5 miles. Thankfully I was starting to feel better and was looking forward to getting my run over with. I also knew that my run was supposed to beautiful around Mission Bay. Finally we reached my exchanged at Mission Bay and I prepared to take the slap bracelet from Kathy. When she finally came in I took the bracelet and ran off. I only ran a few feet before I got stopped at a stop light still in the exchange. Finally I was able to run and hit the Mission Bay board walk. It was a beautiful area, even though it was very crowded. I enjoyed watching the people and making myself keep running. Thankfully I wore my garmin this time so I knew my distances.
Kathy Ready to go
Mom passing to Kathy
Kathy coming in
Kathy passing to me
Me waiting at the light
At mile 2 my van met me with water and pictures. It was nice to finally be cheered on during a run. At mile 3 I turned a corner and was met with 31 stairs up. I thought I was going to die as I ran those stairs. I kept running and running and running. At one point there was a group of people standing on the side of the road cheering for all of the runner and holding beer yelling “this is what you’re running for.” It was a fun run but I was getting really hot and tired. My legs were starting to feel terrible. I knew if I stopped to walk for a little I wouldn’t be able to start running again. Finally after what seemed forever, I saw the one mile to go sign. After that I was hit with a lot of wind and smoke from camp fires. It made for a really long last mile. Finally I saw the exchange and all I could think of was jumping in the water. As I handed off the bracelet I took my shoes off and put my feet in the water. Such a good choice!
Ready to finish
waiting for me
So excited to see this sign!
Finishing!
My moment of joy after finishing!!
We had planned to meet Casey at about 3 miles and Tina would take over for her there. Casey’s feet were really blistered and she was hurting. After that 3 mile mark there were some big hills on her leg. As we waited for Casey I changed, foam rolled, and stretched. I was feeling really stiff and sore but was so happy to finally be done with my legs.
As Tina took over we cheered for her and went to the hills to cheer for her there. She gave us the Finger as we drove by. These hills really were killer. Next we met Tina at the exchange to see how she was doing. Tina is so funny. She came into the exchange yelling, “what do I do, where do I go.” We just looked at her and laughed. She decided she was feeling good and kept running. We then started heading to the finish line. After getting a little bit turned around in downtown San Diego we finally made it to the convention center and the finish line. We were so excited to realize we were finally finished with our legs! We waited and waited and waited for Tina to come. It seemed like her leg was taking forever and we were worried that maybe she got lost.
running up what is now called whore hill
Tina running into the exchange through our toilet paper finish line
Finally we saw her as my mom and Kathy ran in with her. Once she was in the last hundred feet or so the rest of us met up with them and ran over the finish line together! We were all so excited to be finished and receive our medals. We took pictures and signed the Ragnar wall.
Our team at the finish!
Van 1 had bought us all cupcakes so we celebrated together by eating cupcakes. After our cupcakes we headed back to the van and to find some food. We originally had planned to go to this Pizza place but it was too crowded (it was a Saturday night). Instead we decided to keep driving. I was driving and everyone else was sleeping in the back. I decided we should just stop at Chipotle closer to Shannon’s house.
We ate our Chipotle and headed to Shannon’s house to unload and drive home. Finally by time I was home all I wanted was a nice warm shower and to go to bed!
I loved the entire Ragnar experience! I was really proud of myself for running all of my legs without stopping and felt like I really accomplished something great! I am definitely look for my next Ragnar and may just be training for a half marathon in the near future.
With Ragnar being less than a month away I thought I would give write a little update on my training and getting ready for Ragnar Relay. If you missed my earlier post on what Ragnar is you can read it here Ragnar Relay Socal
I now know my legs and as of the changes made this week hopefully they will stay this way. I have been training and was planning to get to a consistent 5 mile run and then keep pushing my distance on my Saturday run. With all the snow and only being able to do loops around my sister’s neighborhood I am not quite there yet! I am currently running consistent 3-4 mile runs and not really longer on Saturdays. I am not always that tired from my runs though and am hoping to pick that up now that the snow is melting!
I have been training and was planning to get to a consistent 5 mile run and then keep pushing my distance on my Saturday run. With all the snow and only being able to do loops around my sister’s neighborhood I am not quite there yet! I am currently running consistent 3-4 mile runs and not really longer on Saturdays. I am not always that tired from my runs though and am hoping to pick that up now that the snow is melting!
My assigned legs are 6.7 miles moderate
2.1 miles easy
And 7.5 miles hard
The 2.1 miles will be done before I know it and I probably will forget I even ran those. The other two legs however will be challenging. They are mostly on trails and have very little if any van support. Basically that means that I will have to carry a water bottle and I will have no one cheering me on. I guess I will have to run from Zombies. Did I tell you about that fun app? It’s call Zombies run! and it has definitely helped me to keep running.
So other than the training I have been doing a lot of organizing and blog reading for Ragnar. I can’t tell you how many times I have Googled “Ragnar Tips” or “Ragnar packing.” It should probably just pop up when I open my computer.
I have made list after list and lists for my lists. I looked at everyone’s paces, and distances and done calculations more times than I care to remember. Needless to say I should be ready for anything! The only problem is I have never done a long distance relay before. Hopefully I don’t forget anything?
What is one thing you would definitely pack for a Relay? Should I bring my hula hoops and water guns?
For months I have been trying to decide on a name for my blog. I have gone through so many different names trying to pick the right one. I wanted something simple that would sum up my life/my writing. I wanted something unique and somewhat catchy. I have google searched “blog names” and “coming up with a blog name” and so many other things. I have texted my mom (thanks mom) a million different names to see what she thought. All to still have a hard time deciding.
I realized recently that I am never going to come up with the “PERFECT” name. I realized that whatever I name it will become the perfect name. It’s not about what you name it but what you make of that name. So I have finally settled on a name. I introduce you to (drumroll)….
Barefeet, Boots, and Running Shoes
I was playing around with the idea of this name and decided I like and it’s kind of stuck. It sums up my traveling, my running/activities, and my loves. Let’s be honest don’t all women have shoes that reprent them? High heels, wedges, vans, toms, sandals, rainbows, boots? These three things are what I live in.
Barefeet: I love to be barefoot you can read about some of my barefoot adventures on my New Zealand Blog here. I went the entire month of May last year barefoot. Sadly, because I live in the US I can’t walk around barefoot everywhere so I wear sandals but I would rather be barefoot! (sandals just didn’t have the same ring to it as barefeet)
Boots: I also love boots. Every fall I look for a great pair of boots that I can wear while it’s too cold to go barefoot. Plus they look really cute! Also when I am hiking, hiking boots are essential.
Running Shoes: In case you don’t already know I also love to run and do all sorts of active things. For this reason I am in running shoes all the time.
When I travel I always bring my sandals, a great pair of boots, and my running shoes. These three are my go to items that I couldn’t live without! They sum up my blog through my traveling, my running and activities, my love for the outdoors, my love for life, and my love for the Lord.
So there you have it! Over the next week I will be revamping my blog a bit and hopefully getting a banner picture done. I have also created a facebook page you can find HERE. (like my Page) There I will be posting more about my running and activities, as well as other random things that go with this blog!
What shoes sum up your life? Are you a high heels type person? Maybe an army boots person? Or a simple barefoot person like myself?
(Photo from pinterest)
There is something about the cold and cloudy weather that is totally unmotivating. Winter always brings the clouds and makes me want to just stay in my PJs and watch movies all day. I want to eat soup and drink tea and never get off the couch or out of bed.
Last week I found myself lacking motivation in everything. I didn’t want to go out and run. I didn’t want to read my bible. I didn’t want to make food or take a shower. I really didn’t want to do anything. Do you find yourself feeling this way?
This week I have decided it’s a new day and a new week and I am going to seek motivation!
I am going to seek motivation by being thankful. I will thankful that I can read because there are people all over the world that cannot read, people that have never had the opportunity to learn. I will be thankful that I can run. There are people without legs, or with diseases and other problems that make them unable to run or even walk. I will be thankful for food and the ability to buy it and make it; there are people all over the world that would love the opportunity to eat what I can eat. I will be thankful that I have plenty of clothes to wear and that I can get out of bed. There are people that don’t have another change of clothes or a shower to wash in. I am going to do things for those that can’t and think and pray for them while I do it!
I am going to be motivated by thinking of the future. Sometimes all the motivation you need is thinking of the end result and the future! Will I regret it if I don’t do this today? Will I regret it if I don’t run today? Will I regret it if I don’t do anything today and waste my day? Will I regret it if I don’t read my Bible today? Most of the time the answer is yes I will regret it! I want to be better in the end and therefore I need to start today!
I will be motivated by knowing that I will feel better after. I always feel better when I get up take a shower and take care of myself. I always feel better after I workout or run. I always feel better after I have eaten healthy instead of crap. I always feel better after I have read in the morning! We know that it will improve our day and we will feel better after. Just remind yourself before and during.
I will be motivated by being accountable. Sometimes the best motivation is knowing that someone is going to check on you and knows when you are cheating! I love working out with other people or running other because I know that they will expect me to be there and I don’t want to disappoint them (sadly I don’t have these people right now). Find someone that you can be accountable to. Some that will ask you how your run went or what you did today. Have someone to talk to about what you are reading in your Bible. Find someone who you can be accountable to and keep yourself accountable. You can all keep me accountable! BTW I have been doing great on my writing challenge although it hasn’t been that long yet:)
What are you unmotivated to do? What are your tips for motivation?
What ever it is, Get up and get out and do it!!
Barefeet, Boots, and Running Shoes 