Day 59 – Bridges & Weekend in Review


Sunday was a pretty good day. First off, the picture. This is an old train bridge outside of Salem, Oregon. I wish I could have gotten closer, but liked the wooden frame and the old steel of the bridge.

As you can tell, it was a gorgeous day in Oregon. We were definitely in the 60 degree range – blue skies – sun – and no wind. As we drove through here, we had the windows of the car open and the sunroof open. It was great. Can’t tell it was the last day in February.

But, this is how it was after the clouds burned off. Garbanzo and I ran in the Tumor Shooter Benefit Run at Oregon State University. It was a fundraiser for the assistant cross country coach at the college who is going through treatment for a second brain tumor. Her first one occurred at 19. She is an avid runner and has qualified twice for the Olympic Trials. It sounded like a fun run – a good cause, so we drove down there.

I ran the short course – 3 miles. The course was going to be hilly – and I decided 3 miles of hills sounded a lot better than 7 miles. I kicked ass. I was 37th out of about 100 people. And, I was first in my age group. The second person in my age group was almost 9 minutes behind me. When I saw that on the results sheet, I was shocked. I was beyond shock really. I couldn’t wait for Garbanzo to finish so I could have him look at it and confirm. Yep, that was me. I’m still a bit amazed at myself, truth be told. I felt good running. I knew I was doing better than most.  And the muddy portion was a lot of fun but slowed me down despite the downhill which made me a bit concerned. I guess I more than made up for it. It’s what I needed in terms of getting my head back into running again.  (Oh, and Thank You to those who congratulated me on Twitter yesterday. I do appreciate it!)

Then Sunday after the run, we hung out with SG and his wife at their house. Garbanzo got conned by their dog into a never ending game of fetch as we talked about life as we sat outside enjoying the sunshine. Their kids were floating around. We heard their oldest talk about his tourney yesterday. His friend was pretty funny too as he gave his own comments here and there. We got to meet their middle son’s girlfriend which was interesting since I have heard many stories already. It was just nice being away and relaxing with friends. Kind of a forced lazy day away from everything.

And on that note, I’m off to bed. Hope people had a great weekend!

5 Comments Add yours

  1. Kallie Grace says:

    Congrats! That’s awesome. I always wanted to get into competitive running but running on the road/woods bothers my knee.

  2. Babe Lincoln says:

    From the picture, it looks like you had a beautiful day for a run. I’m so envious, especially since I don’t see a spot of snow on the ground in that pic! Maybe another month and us Chicago runners can get outdoors without fear of falling into a snow bank??

  3. Great picture, as always. Seems I look forward each day to the pictures as much as the words.

  4. frances says:

    Congratulations on your run! How exciting. I’m jealous of your abilities AND your weather. 😉

  5. Ms Scarlett says:

    Great picture, and AWESOME run!!! Congrats Emmy!

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