I'm Back!

I'm back!  Did you all miss me?  I know I missed checking in with all of you on a daily basis, I'm sure I've missed a ton since last Wednesday!  Last Thursday my family and I headed up to Oregon to see my little niece graduate from High School!  Even though we were wicked excited to see her and my little nephew (little being relative, he's 6'3" and 17!) it was a stressful trip since we were forced to see my brother's horrid ex-wife in the midst of it all.  Just a little background with out going too deep, but she and my bro had a bitter divorce which ended with his ex taking the kids away and moving to Oregon when the kids were 1 & 2 years old.  It has always been very difficult to be a part of their lives since she was so good at brainwashing the kids into thinking we were all horrible people.  The good thing I can say is that my bro never stooped to her level.  He never let the kids hear him say bad things about her.  He kept his dignity through it all.  And even during this crazy weekend, when she was still pulling her usual tricks, he kept cool.  Needless to say, it was an interesting trip!

We were right on the northern coast of Oregon, in a little vacation town called Manzanita where the kids live.  Let's just say, it's a bit "oakey."  They're mountain folks up there!  But the views and scenery were beautiful and we could see why the kids are in love with living there.  We were about 40 miles south of the Washington boarder and about 30 miles north of Tillamook, you know, where all that cool cheese is made!

Aside from all the crazy that was while we were there, I got dragged my sister to go running every morning while we were there!  It was so beautiful to run along the beach.  It was perfect running temps, and it even rained on us one morning!  If you have ever seen the movie "Goonies," and can remember the scenery, that is exactly what it looks like!  Just breath taking!

Erin looking a little sleepy out there!

I was in runner heaven with the weather!

You can tell she just loves being out there!

She would pretty much last until about four miles each day so I took it, and didn't press too much!  She actually kept a really good pace the whole time, too!  We ran between 8:30's and 9:00 miles.  I wish she liked running more, but since there was no gym in sight she had to make do!

We also made our way up to Astoria, OR to see where they filmed the "Goonies!"  Yes, it was hoakey, but really there isn't much to do in there!  It was very comical because they were having the Goonies 25th anniversary party in that little town.  People were dressed up as the characters and they were giving tours of the house.  Yeah, we opted out of that, but you could still drive up and see the house and the views.  Also, the school where they filmed that crappy movie "Kindergarten Cop," with Arnold Schwarzenegger is just down the road from the Goonie house.  We were in nerd heaven :)  They even had the whole cast there, including Corey Fledman, making an appearance, LOL!

Erin and I in front

Erin, my nephew Charlie and my SIL Suzie at the Goonie House

The Goonie House!

All in all, we all survived and had a really nice time celebrating my niece Amanda.  She is headed off to a small college about an hour away and we're really excited for her.  We all played nice, which we weren't too sure was going to happen!  It was nice to finally see where they grew up.

I got some smaller runs in while we were there and came home yesterday early to get my long run in.  12 miles in the warm heat!  Apparently the Bay Area had some nasty weather while we were gone - heat and humidity! Ugh! 
12 miles  1:42:46  8:34/mi pace
Another marathon training week in the books.  I'm feeling pretty strong and am really enjoying it this time.  I'm just going to keep rolling with the punches and see where I end up.  October, I am sure, is going to come fast!

I'm off to catch up with all of you!  You all had some busy weekends of racing and running!
Happy Tuesday and Happy Running peeps!