Mother's Day

Mom enjoyed a very nice Mother's Day yesterday.  The kids all made cute cards and Dad made breakfast. 

 Sarah took this picture with mom on Mother's Day.  Mom saw it and thought she looked a lot like her mom in it. 

 In the evening Dad made really good pizza and salad for the whole family.  It was a wonderful day... because mom has some pretty great kids and a really nice husband that take good care of her. :)

Dad and the Quicksilver 100K run

Dad ran the Quicksilver 100K in New Almaden, CA, one week after running the Miwok 100K. Last year he took a wrong turn just before the last aid station in Quicksilver, ended up 10 miles from the finish line, and decided to drop from the race. He kept the shirt and wore it running all year. Every time he put it on he would think about how he still needed to finish that course. So early this year he signed up for the 2015 run. He was excited to try Quicksilver again, even though he wouldn't be fully recovered from Miwok the Saturday before.

The Quicksilver park is on the southwest side of San Jose. Dad sees the mountains in this run from the Intel shuttle several times a month when he goes to Santa Clara for work. The race goes around a prominent peak in the San Jose area called Mount Umunhum (or "Mount Um").

Mom and the kids went to the Tech Museum in San Jose while Dad ran. He was expecting to take about 12 hours, maybe 11 and half hours best case, because that's what his time would have been last year. But he felt good all day and was keeping about a 10 minute per mile pace overall. Once he got to mile 54, he realized he was going to finish much earlier than expected, so he texted Mom to head to the the finish line an hour and a half early.

Mom had some trouble finding where the finish line was (it's tucked away in a neighborhood) and they had to walk a long way because there weren't any available parking spots at the finish. So, unfortunately, they missed the actual crossing of the finish line. But James Player, one of Dad's pacers from the TRT 100 miler last year, was the person who finished just ahead of Dad. James got this picture with Dad's phone right after he finished.

Dad finished in 10 hours, 22 minutes, which is more than 40 minutes faster than he ran Miwok one week earlier. Dad thinks Quicksilver is a harder course than Miwok because there is about 2000 ft more climbing. Obviously, he didn't get a lot faster in one week (especially being not fully recovered from the last 100K). He thinks he ran it faster because he started out slower and he knew Mom was there to drive part of the way home (thanks Mom!).

Enjoying San Jose

We had a fun mini-vacation this weekend in San Jose.  When the kids got home from school we drove down to San Jose.  We made it to pick up Dad's race packet with just 5 minutes to spare.  Afterward, we went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner.   After dinner we headed to our hotel and relaxed then went to bed.  Dad had to get up super early for his 4:30 am race start.  

Mom and the kids slept in and then took their time getting breakfast.  Our hotel was around the corner from the Tech Museum of Innovation, so we were able to walk over.  

The Museum was really fun.  We all had a good time.  The exhibits were really well done and fun for the kids to explore.

We took our time at the Museum until we all started to get hungry.  Just as we were getting ready to leave, we got a text from Dad saying he only had about an hour left!!  Which was about and hour faster than his fastest time.  So, we hurried and left to get some late lunch and meet him at the finish line.  After lunch we hurried and drove up to meet Dad.  We knew he would be finishing any minute and when we finally walked up to the finish area, there was Dad already done!  

After the race Dad ate some food, talked with some friends, and relaxed for a bit and then  we all headed home.  It was a wonderful trip. 

Dad and the Miwok 100K run

Dad ran the Miwok 100K on Saturday May 2nd. Sarah had a band event the same day, so Mom and the kids stayed home to make sure she got there and back ok. So Dad went on his own for the race. Miwok 100K starts in Stinson Beach, follows trails along the coastal mountains down to the north end of the Golden Gate, and then turns around to go north up to just east of Point Reyes. It is a very hilly course, but has beautiful vistas of the ocean, the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Mount Tam. It goes through grassy hillsides, coastal chaparral, and redwood forests. Dad did well, but the last part of the race was hard for him. He probably went out too fast, because he came to the finish on fumes. Uncle Mark and Aunt EJ were there at the finish line to meet him. He was glad they were there to keep an eye on him because he was felling kind of sick until he had some ginger ale. They all went to eat dinner at a restaurant afterward. It was a good day!