Attitude is everything.
Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. You achieve happiness by doing for others. ~my father.I tried to remember the last time I went on a hike. I think it was about six years ago up on Orcas Island when some friends and I hiked up to Mt. Constitution and back. Prior to that, I think I was about 17.
Today a friend and I went on a hike up near Granite Falls. Because, you know, I didn’t get enough activity yesterday with my 5K run. We went to Lake 22 which is up around the North Cascades in Washington. Round trip, this hike is 5.4 miles, with an elevation gain of 1,350 feet, and the highest point was 2,400 feet.
After a hot day yesterday, today’s weather was a complete change – cool, rainy, and there were thunderstorms last night, and again tonight. We went anyway – I’m not going to be kept indoors from a little rain. In fact, I welcomed the feel of rain cooling me down as we hiked up the switchbacks, over river streams and waterfalls, and through the wet smell of forest. Yummy.
Normally, I’m told, this trail is quite popular, but I think we were lucky because with the weather there weren’t too many people out. It was just a gorgeous day to me – rain or not – and my body is totally amazing me. It seems to be doing better and better. I did fine with the elevation climb and the return. I”m told I have good endurance. The only thing tonight I had to do was ice my back a little bit.
The best part? Sharing all this with a friend and enjoying the combination of sharing and silence. Just being in the moment – totally in the moment.
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Getting started.
I could sit and listen to that rushing water all day long.
Some good hiking boots and a backpack are on the list to get – soon!
Nearing the top… and into the clouds
The view from our resting spot up at the top before heading back down.
What a glorious life I’m living. I have no complaints, whatsoever.
I had the greatest time in this run. Wow, the energy, the people, the excitement. The one thing I didn’t expect to feel was the energy of the crowd taking off after the gun start. I just seemed to flow right along with them. I ran nearly the entire 5K with just a few pauses walking briskly – usually up a slight incline, but even one of those I ran. It was quite hot, and I tried to find the shady spots to run in, but even with that, this route was quite easy, really. I think the training route I’ve been doing on my own has helped, which has some extended hills.
Another observation – anything goes in these things. Seriously. There are all kinds of participants. There are serious runners, family runners, teams, walkers, walkers or runners with dogs or strollers. I even saw one little boy about the size of my 4 year old grandson who ran the whole way with his mommy.
My daughter, her husband, and my two grandsons were there to cheer me on and take pictures and were there when I crossed the finish line. I didn’t see them when I came back because there were so many people. (Stay tuned for a later post with pictures.)
My daughter told me that she cried when I started the run – that she was so proud of me and how far I’ve come. I cry just thinking about how proud she is of me.
And I’m proud of me – check out these results? How cool is this that I came in about middle of the pack for my first race ever. This is just awesome for this 49 year old woman with fibromyalgia. Goes to show with determination, perseverance, prayer, motivation, healthy choices, and the support of a loving family and friends, a person can do anything.
Oh, and after the race I felt GREAT! No sore feet, no sore legs or back – only a slight ache in one muscle, but that’s going away. Just feeling great.
Day after tomorrow – Saturday – I’m doing my first 5K run! The “Run of the Mill” in Mill Creek, WA. Woohooo! 5K is just over 3 miles. 
I’m pretty excited about doing this. I am sure I’ll do fine. The excitement is more about doing this in a large group, organized activity manner. I’ve never done this before, and at 49, it just goes to show it is never to late to try something new. (Actually, the more I do this stuff, the younger I feel.)
I’ve worked hard to get here and have a ways to go still, but it’s progress, not perfection. Yesterday I went out and did 4 miles of mostly running and about 1/3 walking and incorporating some hills – my usual route near home. Today I plan to do it again, although possibly a different route, and tomorrow will be a rest day so that I’m not too tired Saturday morning.
I’ll keep you posted with pictures of race day. I have my photographer daughter on call to photo-document the event for me! And my little grandsons will also be there cheering me on. How cool is that? Icing on the cake.
Lest you thought I’d given it up completely – I haven’t. We have had such a wonderful, beautiful, warm, sunny summer so far that the last thing I want to do right now is sit inside and sew. Besides, I haven’t been ready to cut into my nice fabric until my body shrinkage has stabilized. I’m about there, so I am planning on doing some sewing soon.
Right now, my sewing room is in a state of disarray. I’m making room for the new-to-me sewing table and reorganizing things. I sold my large dress form and now need to adjust the smaller one to fit me. I’ll probably be starting out with some nice tops, and maybe even a cute knit dress.
This dress is definitely on the must-sew list – thanks to Mermaids for highlighting it. And I want it to look just like the one in the picture.
I also think I will be making some of these….
…a horse blanket and horse leg warmers. My granddaughter has these robotic horses that are so lifelike and she’s a horse nut. It’s too cute. I also need to design a front knapsac of sorts for her. She’s currently using a regular bag with the straps hung around her neck. The bag holds the horses “grass”, “carrots” and grooming tools.
First things first – I have to get the sewing room back in order… As soon as it starts raining, I will.
Bonus pics:
Did I mention that my oldest daughter now has a bicycle? We found a really cool one for her off Craigslist last Monday. Comfy seat, 21 gears, and she’s already tested out the bike trailer with it, I think. This weekend, she and I finally went out and got my granddaughter a new girly bike helmet and a bigger bike for my grandson. The one he had that he was riding on the trail last weekend was just too small and tired out his little legs. We went to three stores looking for bikes and each one Cayden was so cute. He wanted them all. He was so excited to have a bigger bike. We went back to her house and her hubby swiftly put the bike together for Cayden. Unfortunately, Cindy had fallen at my house and sprained her ankle so she wasn’t able to get on her bike and ride in the cul-de-sac with the kids but she did later this weekend, so I hear.
Anyway, here are a few pics of the kids biking. I’m so tickled that they all have bikes now. Well, except for Cody and Evan. Evan’s too little and Cody prefers his skateboard – and that gives him a workout for sure!
It would have taken 24 hours and $10 for us to have this assembled by the store. Um, Cayden wouldn’t have waited for that!
Cody and his little helper.
Ready to be a speed demon and increase the heart rate of his grandma as he speeds down the hill – not to mention the heart rate of his mama!
By the way, this bike has both hand brakes – front and back – and coaster brakes. Excellent design because as he gets bigger he can transition to using the hand brakes instead of the coaster brakes.
Dad supervising.
Look at that smile. Does that not just melt your heart?
And did you notice that the bike is Seattle Seahawks green? His daddy loves that idea.
What girl doesn’t deserve a pink bike? (I want one too!)
Getting started
Ready, set, go
The camera isn’t crooked… there really is a hill going up to the cul-de-sac. It was very hard for both of them the first day, but I hear from their mama that now they are maniacs riding up and down just fine.
And of course, I had to get in on the action. I couldn’t resist! (On Cindy’s bike…)
Seriously folks, riding a bicycle makes me feel like I’m 16 again, but better.
Sunday I tried to sleep in, but it wasn’t happening. About 10:30 or so I called my daughter to see what she was doing. I was considering a nap when she said she and hubby were hooking up the child bike trailer to a bicycle she borrowed and they were all going back to the Centennial Trail for a ride. My spirit perked up and I crashed their party. I got ready in record time and met them up at the trail and we went for a fun outing. Bike riding with Cayden is hilarious and totally enjoyable, but it’s not a session of continued, strenuous exertion. He pedals like a mad man and then stops about every 100 yards or so. Or just rides off to the side into the grass and stops. He cracks me up. His mommy decided that his bike’s wheels were just too small for the guy and hence he’s getting tired having to pedal so hard. So we’re going to be shopping asap for a bigger bike for him. He is such a trooper and keeps going anyway. I think we got in about five miles round trip, which is pretty good for a little guy and really, it was more about getting out and having fun anyway. I wouldn’t have missed that experience for anything on earth.
To cap off the day, a friend came over last night and we went for a four mile “summer stroll”. Seriously. The walk was fabulous, it was just the right temperature, cool breeze, fabulous conversation, but in the middle of the night my fibro flared and I knew I’d gotten some activity. It was all worth it – every second of every moment of the weekend. I know I’ll be in pain but I’d rather be out living life and drinking up the joy that the relationships in my life bring me.
Here are some photos of Sunday’s outing with the grandkids. I got some cute shots as we went along, and some scenic ones as well.
This is just the cutest picture ever. This is totally not staged. Cayden kinda fell over from all his excitement before we ever got started – nothing serious – and got a couple scrapes on his hand. He sat there for a bit like this, shook out his hand, then got up and we took off.
My littlest blond grandson, Evan, in the trailer. He hated that helmet, but safety comes first.
We spied these pretty horses coming along. The smaller one on the left was out for her very first walk ever. What a treat. My daughter captured some photos with her professional camera for my granddaughter who is a horse-crazy nearly eight year old.
These photos don’t do those horses justice. They were gorgeous. Dark espresso coffee colored horses. Just lovely.
Cayden and his daddy looking over the fence into the river for “craw-doods” aka crawdads.
Cayden trucking on ahead. Man, can that boy pedal fast. A couple of times he caught up with me and I had to up the intensity to keep out of his way, or he would have run me off the trail!
Some scenic little vignettes along the way.
And there you have it. A great weekend. Now back to work! At least we’re scheduled to have sunshine all through the week.
Boy, I’m sure racking up the mileage on my bike. I realized yesterday that I’ve only had this bicycle since March and now I’m up to over 30 miles a ride. Holy cow–considering I hadn’t ridden a bicycle in decades prior to that, I am impressing the heck out of myself. And for a 49 year old woman, that ain’t too shabby. (I still feel 39.)
Saturday morning was my normal walk with my steady walking buddy. We walked a portion of the Burke-Gilman Trail and I calculated the round trip to be about six miles. We usually can do more, but it was hot out and she’d been doing some gym work the days preceding so was more tired than usual.
After my walk, I came home and rested up, ate, and changed and got ready for my bike ride with my bestest biking friend (BBF). While sitting outside eating my lunch, this is what my backyard thermometer said. Easily 80 degrees. About time! Love it.
Finally we got going and we started in Snohomish at the south end of the Centennial Trail. (Click the link to read more.) This is a trail that is paved and goes along an old rail bed. Don’t let the idea that because it used to be a railway that there aren’t some deceptive hills. Not huge, but steady slight upward grades that for a newbie cyclist like me can be pretty challenging. I made it through them because I kept my head focused on the return downhill part! Woohooo! (Not to mention the steady encouragement and praise from my BBF.)
Here’s an image of the trail map, but you can go here to see the full-size PDF. The trail goes from Snohomish through Lake Stevens to Arlington and is 34 miles round trip. We did the WHOLE trail.
What an amazing day. We couldn’t have had better weather and the trail is absolutely phenomenal. I like this trail better than the Burke-Gilman Trail. It’s less populated, wider, and the views are breathtaking. At one point you are elevated above the Marysville valley farmland area looking westward through forests of cedar trees. Look the other way at times and you see snow capped mountains flanking beautiful lush farmlands sprinkled with horses, livestock, and quaint farm houses. We passed a campsite of bikers (motorcycles) enjoying a summer bike ride. There must have been 75 or 100 bikers. Impressive. And we passed (or were passed by – depending on my stamina level) many families with children out cycling.
Speaking of families, as we hit the Lake Stevens area, who did we spy but my daughter, her hubby, and my two grandsons out for a walk, ride, and skateboard. Cody was on the skateboard, Cindy and Evan were walking – ok, Evan was in the stroller – and Cayden was riding his bicycle. Man does that little guy go fast and love to put on the brakes fast. Then he pops up his front wheel saying, “Look at this!” What a wonderful treat to run into them. And they got to meet my bestest biking friend, so that was cool too.
Here I am at mile marker 12 on the way up to Arlington. (Pictures taken from my cell phone, so, sorry for the poor quality. The black strap around my waist is holding one of my water bottles. Even with two water bottles, it wasn’t enough. Must remedy that.)
The other thing I like about this trail is that there is a long stretch where roads cross the trail but the cars are required to stop for the cyclists, pedestrians, etc. Oh, and there’s even an equestrian trail that runs parallel to the paved trail. Drivers up in that area, when they had the right of way, were so courteous and stopped to let us cross. That was not lost on me. Usually drivers are so rude to cyclists (I’ve been guilty of that at times and now I’m sorry.)
We are definitely going to do this trail again. We’re talking about taking along a lunch next time and parking at the picnic bench that they have that overlooks the valley. It was so quiet along portions of the trail that it is just an ideal place to sit and enjoy a bit of serenity and soak in the gloriousness of life.
Saturday mileage recap:
- Walking – 6 miles
- Bicycling – 34 miles
- Total mileage: 40 miles.
What do I love best about all this activity? That the next day I’m no longer so stiff that it hurts to stand up and walk, and that the tightness that is developing in my muscles feels incredible. My spirit feels rejuvenated and alive, and I feel like I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. My confidence level and outlook on life has been rocketed into a different dimension. It’s just mind blowing, really.
(PS. My cycling buddy has done “Century” rides in the past – 100 mile rides. Guess who will eventually be doing this too? But not alone!)
Check out this review of the Pashley Poppy bicycle by London Cycle Chic. My original wish when I was bicycle shopping was to have a pink bike. Except for the seat, this has the appearance of everything I wanted as far as looks go.
I could so see myself as a Sarah Michelle Gellar lookalike. Heels and all.
Seriously. If I had an extra whatever, I’d order up that bike just to have a second one for funning around down and wandering up to the grocery store or farmers market for fruits and veggies.
Love her top too. How cute is that? (Except it threatens to look a little maternity.)
The bike I did get is very similar, don’t you think? 
Life is grand. The “recession” is hitting us all and very close to home, but I have so much to be happy about.
First off – I woke up to sunshine and birds singing today. There may be some high clouds threatening to cover up that beautiful sunshine, but whatever. It’s floating into my office right now, and that always is a recipe for a good day.
Last night was Weight Watchers. I really didn’t expect a good result because I wasn’t so precise or diligent with my tracking last week. However, I do tend to repeat the same types of foods and I’ve been at this long enough to know the points values of some of the foods I eat, so I had an approximate idea of how I did. I just expected to maintain this week, but the scale surprised me. I lost 2.4 pounds and hit another 5 pound goal. I have now lost 71.6 pounds total.
Whenever you get an award at a Weight Watchers meeting, the leader usually asks you how you are feeling now or what feels different to you. The biggest difference – aside from the smaller clothes sizes – is in my activity level.
When I started this journey, my weight, back disc degeneration, and my fibromyalgia meant that activity was close to impossible. In fact, I planned on doing Weight Watchers without the activity part of the program. Now I can walk, run, and bicycle for significant distances. The fibro still flares after activity, but it’s so much milder a flare, and the change is that I recover quite quickly. For example, after a 2.5 HOUR walk on Saturday, my hip was hurting but by evening, I felt much better. Sunday night, after a day packed full of heavy gardening, I was in pain all night but by yesterday afternoon, the pain was just a memory.
My daughter pointed out a few differences too. She said that I play with my grandkids more now – bicycling and doing active things, rather than crafts and making caramel apples.
Before:
After:
Anyhoo… Today is a great day. I’m busy-busy with work and that’s good too. I think my grandsons are stopping by to see me this afternoon and we’re going for a walk. How cool is that?
Gotta run! Work calls.
PS – the first picture above is Evan last year at the Willis Tucker spray pad near my home.
Check out this review of the Pashley Poppy bicycle by London Cycle Chic. My original wish when I was bicycle shopping was to have a pink bike. Except for the seat, this has the appearance of everything I wanted as far as looks go.
I could so see myself as a Sarah Michelle Gellar lookalike. Heels and all.
![[gellar.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AbeuvUun-Xg/Sje_PCbdjKI/AAAAAAAAAAk/BPndYSYGqhE/s1600/gellar.jpg)
Seriously. If I had an extra whatever, I’d order up that bike just to have a second one for funning around down and wandering up to the grocery store or farmers market for fruits and veggies.
Love her top too. How cute is that? (Except it threatens to look a little maternity.)
The bike I did get is very similar, don’t you think?
