While Daddy Runs SD 100...

We had  a lot of fun going to Lake Cuyamaca.  The little cabin was right across the lake from the start/finish line.  Lake Cuyamaca is really beautiful and we loved being in such a pretty place.  The first night we were there we had a yummy dinner, went for a walk along the lake, and roasted smores. Then it was early to bed, so we could see Dad off in the morning.

  
The pretty fireplace perfect for smores.  Lily found a pink bedazzled "Bride" goblet in the cup board.  She thought it was so fancy!


The view from the cabin.

Walking along the lake at sunset.




We woke up really early to take Dad to his race.


We decide to rent a pedal boat and go out on the lake.  The kids loved it.  Mom's legs got really tired from pedaling for an hour solid.  The kids liked taking pictures out on the lake and having the ducks swim right next to our boat.








That night we made another fire and relaxed and watched movies in the cabin. Early in the morning mom got everyone up to pick up Dad at the finish line.  He had a great race!  Mom had ordered him a big hamburger at the restaurant and kept it in the fridge for him to eat at 2 am when he got home.  She also poured him a big glass of chocolate milk.  We were glad he was done, but had a very fun day!


The next morning we found the beautiful church in Julian to go to church.  It was their fast and testimony meeting.  There were only about 40 people total in attendance, but the spirit was really strong.  The people in that area were all really good humble people.













After Church we went for a walk along the lake and fed the ducks.  The kids loved this.  Once our bread was all gone we went back to the cabin and relaxed.

San Diego 100 Mile Run

Dad ran the San Diego 100 Miler on June 6th. He signed up for it earlier in the year and ran the two 100K races to prepare for it, but he waited to say much about it to anyone because it takes a lot of time to train for a 100 miler. He agreed with Mom that he'd drop from it if it was ever too much or caused too much stress on the family.
Dad also wanted to run another 100 miler to try to erase some fears and bad memories Mom and Alex had from the finish of the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Miler he ran last year in July. At TRT100, the finish line volunteers had Dad sit around by the space heater at the finish line to get warm. However, because Dad wasn't up moving around after running for so long, he got light headed when it was time to stand up and go home. He needed help walking back to the car, which got Mom and Alex worried. Dad's number one goal was for Mom and Alex to have a better finish line experience at the SD100 so they won't worry about him when he finally gets into and runs Western States someday.
The San Diego 100 Miler is in Lake Cuyamaca at about 4500 feet elevation in the mountains east of San Diego. It follows the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for several miles, loops through an alpine meadow, loops through a deep desert canyon, then connects back to the PCT and backtracks to the start.
Dad finished in 20 hours and 33 minutes, which was good enough for 8th place overall. Most important, the finish line went really well this time. Dad kept moving and got some much needed solid food on the walk back to the car. He took a shower to wash off 20 hours of dirt, and then climbed into bed for some overdue sleep. Because he finished in the early hours of the morning, everyone was able to get some good sleep, wake up in the morning, and go to sacrament meeting at the Julian Branch (another goal Dad had for this race).

 At the start line

 With the kids before the run started.

All the runners stomping away from the start. 

Our cabin rental was on the hill across from Lake Cuyamaca start/finish area. 

  It was a beautiful start to the morning.

 Picture Dad took along the PCT about mile 28. It wasn't really hot, but it was sunny and exposed.

 Also along the PCT, just before heading into the shady pines again.

 The meadow at mile 52.

Climbing out of a deep canyon around mile 62 in 9th place at the time. There are two guys catching up to Dad here. They eventually caught him and dropped him to 11th place. But Dad passed them both later on when they sat down at aid stations to rest.

Waiting for Dad to get done! 

 Dad at the finish talking to the race director, Scott Mills. Alex and Lily were glad to have Dad finish!

The whole family at the finish. Glad to be done with another 100 miler and ready to drive back to the cabin.

The big dig.

We started saving our pennies for a pool as soon as we moved into our house in Folsom.  This January we were finally able to start the building process.  Little did we know it would take 4 1/2 months to get all of the permit and HOA approvals.

This past week we finally got the last permit and were able to schedule the dig!

They moved our palm tree first.

Then they started digging.

It took 2 days total just to dig out all of the dirt.  There were some really big blue granite rocks pulled out from the very bottom of the pool.  Mom made Dad ask the digger guy if we could keep them.  At first he wasn't too excited, but then he pulled a huge one out and said it wouldn't be able to get it in the dump truck anyway.  So, he was happy to not have to move them very far.

So far so good!  We will keep you posted on the progress.

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.