A walk through the parks

Walking through Cannon Hill and Manito Parks is about the only exercise I've had in the last five days. Here are some pictures from my little jaunt.

Turtles really come out of their shells around others.

The lilac garden is amazing right now.

The koi are being, well, you know.

Drinking and swimming.

 

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Haiku Friday

The last month or so, every Friday morning, I have been posting haiku on Facebook. A few Fridays ago, I started "doing" live readings of haiku sent my way and one haiku of mine. Tomorrow morning will be the latest installment at six a.m. on Periscope. This is five hours earlier than the usual time, but duty calls. You can ask questions while I'm reading or make jeering comments. Afterward, I will get the video up on Facebook. Here's last week's thrilling episode:

I usually dress up a bit to channel William S. Burroughs, but I didn't last week and I won't tomorrow.

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A great day and the end of the experiment...

 

I declared April "Alcohol Free April." I wanted to see what it would feel like to be a teetotaler for a month. A while back, I realized that the longest I had gone without alcohol in the last 35 years was probably seven days (SIOP nuclear alert). Of course, with my current job, I am alcohol free for two 24 hour shifts a week and a significant time before and after each shift too.

The past 22 days were interesting and I have some things to report: 1. After about a week of nonimbibing, I slept better at night. I would still wake up in the middle of the night but could go back to sleep easier. 2. I really would miss drinking a little beer or wine when I was cooking. 3. TV shows and movies actually have endings to them. 4. Drinking or not drinking had little effect on my running. 5. I was willing to risk more, not worrying about clouded judgement. 6. Not drinking is a bummer. 7. There was a good (but kind of creepy) feeling of being good to myself. 8. Friends and neighbors treated me with greater suspicion.

Today, the "day of the end," started out with an early morning run, then a trip out to the sewage treatment plant. I was lucky enough to get on the City Wastewater Management Bloomsday team. Why doesn't the fire department have a team? I don't know. But the team was having a pizza fundraiser and I wanted to meet them. I had a good time hanging out with those guys and eating pizza. The last time I was there was eleven years ago. My crew rescued a guy who had jumped from the top of a sewage digester when it exploded, sending another to his death. Here's a nice statue (but a bad picture) commemorating Mike Cmos. Rest in peace, Mike.

I hung out with my brother Joe and my mom after pizza. Joe and I were reminiscing about a 325th Bomb Squadron dining in we went to, how I stuffed a dinner roll with napkins, set it on fire and threw it at the general who was making a speech. It bounced off his chest and he stamped it out. There was much brawling and what not. Joe said I supplied our table with a dozen scoops of neopolitan ice cream for more ammo. I doubt the USAF is like this any more. Here's a picture of Joe (brand new lieutenant) and me before we headed out to the base. Some of my friends and fellow aviators used to call me The Evil Elf. I guess that kind of comes through here.

After tripping down Memory Lane with mom and Joebro, I went home and worked on some chores. Sarah calls to tell me she has missed the bus and she is drinking a beer at Black Label, would I join her? When I arrived, she gave me a big beery kiss and that's when I called the experiment complete. That's an IPA, yes sir.

 

 

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Arrow Leaf Balsam Root on the High Drive Trails

A great time to be running down there. Lots of excuses to stop and take pictures.

 

 

 

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High Drive Trail and beyond... To the confluence!

Sarah and I did a rare thing today. We ran together. We used to run together all the time and then we had little kids, so we took turns going on solo runs and it just kind of stayed that way. We ran together for a 50K race five years ago, but since then we might have started together but never finished together.

The arrow leaf balsam root is set to pop.

 

The confluence of Latah Creek and the Spokane River. There's a guy out there in hip waders fishing.

 

And of course, next to unicorns, dolphins, dream catchers, and narwhals, shopping carts are the best!

 

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Alf lives!

Back in the mid '80s and early '90s I was stationed at Fairchild AFB. I was a navigator and then a radar navigator (bombardier) aboard B-52s. Besides 7-14 hour training flights, usually twice a week, our main mission was to live out at the base for a 7-day stretch, once every four weeks (one week on - three weeks off). We lived in the "alert facility" and would start our alert tour (shift) on a Thursday morning and end it the following Thursday morning. The alert facility was next to our nuclear-weapon-laden B-52s.

Every alert tour, or so, the klaxon would sound and we would run out to our planes, start the engines, decode the messages and then shut down the engines, refuel the planes, and go back to our normal alert routine. The rest of the seven days, we would have some classes to go to. Sometimes, we would be used as a rent-a-crowd for retirements of people we did not know.

As you might guess, we would find ways to occupy our time. Often we would hang out at the base's Buger King, The Burger King was having an "Alf" promotional, and I bought an Alf hand puppet. We placed him atop the rotating beacon on the roof of our six-passenger (6 pack) pickup truck. This truck was used to travel at break-neck speeds back to the bombers, if for some reason we were not at the alert facility when a klaxon occurred. Flashing lights above the streets would warn motorists to pull over because we could be coming their way. Somehow, we were all pretty good at being positioned far away from the alert facility when a klaxon sounded so we could drive at 100 miles per hour up the runway and into the area where our planes were parked.

Alf quickly became an alert force mascot. Soon, like all celebrities, he became a target of extortion and even kidnapping.

I was going through some old papers yesterday and I found this ransome note:

Yesterday, I also found Alf while spring cleaning. His hair grew back. He hasn't aged at all and has settled into a nice retirement. I must have paid the 100 beers.

 

 

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Last XtraCycle mod

While preparing to transport my leaf blower, it occurred to me...

 

 

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Chuckanut 50k

Like a carrot in front of me, Bellingham's Chuckanutt 50K kept me training all through the winter. I put in big miles with lots of hills. Some days I just ran up and down hills for hours. I had a circuit with three major hills and I just repeated it over and over again.
On the way to the coast, with a stop at UW to visit Aidan and his girl friend Natalie, I could feel myself getting more nervous. Why? It wasn't like I was going to win this thing and I was pretty sure I would finish under the allotted eight hours. I expected Sarah to beat me. She has been faster than me lately. I guess I was anticipating that it was going to be hard, and it was.

The start was windy and rainy with temps in the high 40s. Most of the runners had jackets and tights on. I knew this would be too hot for me so I took off my rainshell right before the start and wore shorts, arm warmers, a buff on my neck and a baseball cap. I also had fluorescent orange compression calf sleeves. These solicited a few laughs and some "those are great socks" fromothers. I informed them that "they were gifts."
Once we got onto the interurban trail, into the trees, everything warmed up. After six miles there was a fast turn into a heavily wooded area. The first series of a long climbs started. Luckily, I had surrounded myself with people who walked up steep hills. Good idea. I started looking forward to hills just so I could walk instead of run. Some were so steep that we basically crawled up them. In my backpack I had my two bottles of water, one with electrolytes, some gels and protein bars, a change of socks and a shell. It was an extra 10 pounds I probably didn't need. Never touched a gel. At one point I was going downhill, fairly fast, still well under control, and I hit one of the early patches of mud which slid me toward a precipice. My feet took hold right before the plunge. At that point I was grateful that I was also packing a lighter, a survival blanket, a knife and a cell phone.
This first mud patch was a small harbinger of an overarching theme for the run.
There was a trail that went atop a crest. It was foggy and dark with some wind. I had to really watch my footing. Coming down off of this crest, I picked up speed, made a turn, slid out on mud and fell on my side. I heard others gasp. The fall was a cheap chiropractic treatment and I felt more limber than before. Later in the race, Sarah and I both heard a blood-curdling scream. It turns out a runner fractured her ankle and had to be carried out. Her two requests from her rescuers? A down jacket and a helicopter!

Ike said it had not rained in Bellingham for a while, so the inches of rain received the day and night before the race steeped into the dry dirt and made some amazing mud. Some places, the mud was so deep it threatened to suck the socks and shoes off your feet. In other areas, it was a gray mire that smelled like a cow pasture. One long juncture, there was a forest service road that rose at a steep incline. Each step forward resulted in a sliding back almost the entire length of the step. Moving over to the side would help a little. Your best bet was to head for standing water. That was a sign that there was firm ground underneath because the water couldn't seep through. I admitted to another runner, who was also slipping her way up the hill, that the stretch seem to be a little demoralizing. At the top of the hill, I saw a small sign saying "chin scraper." I knew chin scraper was toward the end of the mountain stage, and at the sign we headed steeply down into another forest with tangled switchbacks. It was a long way down. At the end was an aid station where I picked up a piece of peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I stuffed most of it in my mouth and surprisingly started the steepest climb of the route. I guess this was the actual chin scraper, which makes sense as runners clawed their way up the steep terrain. I shoved the rest of the sandwich in my pocket next to a half-eaten energy bar. I was 20 miles or so in and I was starting to feel a little sick. I led a pack up the hill and when it was time to fly down the hill, I said "after you." I was slowing down.

At the mile 25 aid station, Ike was waiting for me and Sarah to cheer us on. What a wonderful sight! It really buoyed me for the next 6 miles into the finish line. Sarah was just six minutes behind me. What a great feeling to finish. We hit the shower in our nice hotel after trucking in copious amounts of mud and detritus.

A great pizza dinner, beers and a bath made both of us feel better. I didn't sleep well that night though. My legs hurt. In bed, my mind was still racing. My eyes darting around for the next place to put put my foot on the trail, and my face was still smiling. Would I do it again? Hell yeah!

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Waxwing visitors.

They only stayed for an afternoon, but were fun to watch.


















































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A nice article on the Brew Run Run!

Can be found here.

Thanks Rick!

Brew Run Run

The brew run run was a great success. There were about 15 of us at the starting line I think. We picked some more up along the way until we were about 25 of us or so. The weather was perfect. You can look at the pictures and see that everyone was having a very good time. We started a little after one and we were finishing up dinner after eight.

I woke up last night with a smile on my face thinking about how much fun I had. It was hard getting back to sleep. It was like I was really excited for something that had already happened.

It was a good mix of bicyclists and runners. There was even some Uberist activity. We will have to do it again in the summer. In the meantime, anyone can do it as long as the breweries are open, the thirst is abundant and the legs are working.


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Spokane Brew Run Run Design

This design is an adaptation of something you probably have seen before, especially if you run the streets of Spokane. Can you guess where it came from and what's different from the original design? No fair, if I have already told you where it came from!

Springtime in the basement...

Onions, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant. All have sprouted.

Eating Drinking and running.

A question always comes up when I mention the Brew Run Run. “How do I do this running, eating and drinking thing without throwing up?” Well, who says you’re not going to throw up? No. Just kidding. Like many pleasant events, the BRR is easily accomplished without any retching or nausea. You just need to not get too crazy and stick to a plan.

**When it comes to food, gauge where you are and where you want to be**. If you are a little hungry, have a little food. All of the legs of the run this year are fairly close together. No need to carbo load with a plate of onion rings at every eating opportunity (unless you want to). And the eating opportunities are limited. The reason there is a little time built in at NoLi is because there may not be much food for the next few hours. There is popcorn at Budge Brothers. I am going to eat some but not a whole bunch. Why is their popcorn so good? Because they pop it in butter, that’s why. No harmful vegetable oils. It is better to run a little hungry than a little full.

Many of the breweries say they will have a food truck on Saturdays. But, you can’t always count on them to be there, nor, in terms of speediness or portion control, can you always count on them if they are there.

Black Label has a bakery right next door and it looks like some kind of Asian food place will be opening soon. I am guessing Asian because there were four big rice cookers still in their boxes in the construction area.

And don’t forget “beer is food.” At least, that’s what my mom always told me when I was in elementary school. There will be no shortage of this liquid nutrition. 

**When it comes to beer, gauge where you are and where you want to be**. I find running with a slight buzz one of my most pleasurable experiences, in my very limited repertoire of pleasurable experiences. My legs move effortlessly. There’s a song in my heart and probably on my lips. Hops seem to be nature’s advil - working their subatomic fingers, massaging your mitochondria into an intercellular happy ending. But there can be too much of a good thing.

I limit myself to one (sometimes two) beers at each stop. There is no shame in asking for water instead of a beer at a brewery. That kind of hurt typing that, but it’s true. The breweries are in it for the long haul. They would rather you have a pleasant time at their place and come back again and again, instead of you being forever scarred and the centennial trail temporarily marred by drinking beer when you shouldn’t.

**When it comes to running, gauge where you are and where you want to be**. This is easy. If you are going to run this thing, realize walking counts the same as running. So does riding your bike, taking the bus or getting a ride. This isn’t a race. By simply showing up you are a winner (positive affirmation time). I hope we all get to be together at different places, but you may want to hang out at one place longer than the other. Or, you may want to vamoose half way through. You may be starting about the same time we’re finishing. That’s cool. Don’t hurt yourself. Have a good time and see Spokane in a way very few folks get to.

Thanks!

Brew Run Run Details

I set up a Facebook page for the upcoming Brew Run Run. You can find it here.
Also, here's the map for the run with details at each stop.

I will tweet at each stop and then it should go to Facebook.

My twitterfeed is here.

If you can run it, great! You can also bike it, walk it, bus it, or just meet us at one of the breweries.

Slowly getting ready to run ultras again.

Last week, 50 miles. This week, I am planning on 55.

The Christmas before last, Sarah gave me a running vest. I just started using it this year - for commuting to work and some of my longer runs. I think it has made a big difference to stay hydrated and to eat some food on longer runs. I should probably do some kind of review on the vest. It really beats carrying water on your waist.

Here's my route from yesterday's 20 miler. Riverside State Park's trails are beautiful right now.

If you want more details on the route:

Brew Run Run Deux in the works!

Planning on a second-annual brewery run on March 7th. It looks like we will have 7  breweries  to run to in the urban core of Spokane. The route will be around 7 miles. Do you see a theme? I am waiting for some more info from the breweries. I will plan a route and then post it here with times and other info. We had six breweries last year, but Black Label has finally opened and fills a gap of thirstiness that we encountered last run. Of course, you can ride a bike, take the bus or jetpack this event, as well. Here's how it went down on last year's test run: