I borrowed an additional tagalong bike (thanks Dave and Michelle!) so now the three kids and I can go bike together (and make Laura look lonely on her bike :-)
We rode into Ft. Stevens and over to see some of Laura's family who were camping. So we rode this contraption for about 6-7 miles. It's fun, but not very stable. The kids like to lean to see around me, and I was concerned for the safety of people passing us going the other way on the bike trails. Everybody came through it well, though, and it was fun getting honks, pointing, and waves from people as we passed!
I later found out that I was running on a stress-fractured tibia. Y'ouch!
Still hurts a bit . . . the orthopedic doctor had me get off of it for a couple months. Now that it's OK for me to bike, I've gone every morning for almost 3 weeks straight! I've got a lot of catching up to do. I did get over-eager, though, and was hammering too hard out of the seat. Then my leg got sore again. So, I'm still going but kicking it down a couple notches. Anyway, I love it. It's a GREAT way to start the day and get me awake and fired up.
A week ago, my brother Eric and I were among the roughly 500 people who ran the Yakima River Canyon Marathon. Yes, it was 26.2 miles (surprising how many people ask me that!). It was my first and his second, and I wasn't really ready but I did it anyway. You see, I got pretty enthusiastic back in February. I'd been using my elliptical trainer some, so I figured I'd be able to do some running. There is this thing, though, called the 10 percent rule. It's simple: when running, don't increase your weekly mileage more than 10 percent per week. I'm sure I was doing more like the 40 percent rule, which it turns out is a nice recipe for shin issues. Mine got pretty bad, so I eased off on the running for 3 weeks prior to the race and only did cycling and elliptical training. Thus it was, then, that I knew things might not go very well last Saturday. It was a brisk morning (30 degrees at start time) and it was nice to get started running. My legs hurt from the get-go, but I was optimistic I would warm up. I did, but I was back on the way to pain by about the 3-4 mile mark. This marathon has a lot of cool people and a nice low-key vibe. I ran with one guy (who was in the Marathon Maniacs club) for a few miles and we chatted about his job overseas and how he does electronic stuff for the Navy. Then, he pulled away around 8 miles and I never saw him again. I was on my own for the next 10 miles. My iPod would've really come in handy through there, but I made the mistake of believing the registration paperwork that said they were forbidden. It turns out it would've been fine. It was a beautiful, sunny day to be in the canyon, though, and I had a lot of time to look at it. There were food/drink stations roughly every 2 miles, and eventually I got smart enough to take full advantage of them (hint: drink 2 of the 1/2 full cups at each stop and down all the carbs you can stomach). I pressed onward and met some other interesting people. I passed an older guy wearing stars and stripes and carrying the American flag. As a couple passed him, he said, "God bless America!" They didn't respond much . . . turns out they were from Japan. As they talked a bit more, he explained that he's originally from the Philippines. So, this marathon gets people from all over the place. The first big hill is 14 miles into the race. I got some extra motivation and a chuckle from the booming music I could hear as I ascended. Some guys with trucks had loudspeakers at the top of the hill blaring AC/DC and they were dancing and encouraging runners as they passed. It was unexpected to hear AC/DC echoing through the canyon. Miles 14-18 took some serious resolve. Those mile markers started to come really slowly, and I could tell my pace was lagging. Frankly, I prayed and did a lot of staring at the next reflector alongside the road telling myself I could run as far as the next one. My shins were getting absolutely destroyed by the vicious side-slope of the road. Yet, I knew that Laura and the kids would be waiting at the finish line and I really wanted that awesome moment of happiness and self-triumph. Spencer W. Kimball once said that, "God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other . . ." I believe God answered my prayers using Mike and his willingness to serve others. He came alongside me somewhere around the 19-mile mark. In all my efforts to keep kids under control at the spaghetti dinner the night before, he was one of about 3 runners I'd met. My bro Eric had talked to him more and told him it was my first marathon, and Mike had said that if he found me struggling, he'd be sure I finished. And that's exactly what happened for the next 6-7 miles. He said I could set the pace and he stuck with me until the very end. (In fact, the results say I beat him by 2 seconds :-) There's a rather large hill (400 vertical feet) at the 22 mile mark, and it sailed by because Mike was there and he can talk non-stop. In fact, he can talk that much just about running because he's done around 250 marathons. He also does ultra-endurance events (like Badwater) and is in a club for people who have done marathons in all 50 states (turns out he's done this like 3 times over . . .). Knowing this, I looked at the club's webpage when I got home and there was a note from him right on their intro screen saying he's doing a 10-day, 500 mile event to raise money for Camp Sunshine (more on that here). Turns out he's a pretty extraordinary guy who's 63-years-old, a retired firefighter, and an ex-smoker. He started running marathons in his 40's and did his first 100 marathons in 8 years. Needless to say, I very much appreciated Mike and all the inspiration and motivation he provided me. In turn, I provided a donation to Camp Sunshine, which I'm betting is how he'd like to be repaid. That, and returning the favor to some hapless first-timer someday. When I crossed the finish line, I was overcome with a mix of emotions. For the first time I can remember since William was born 6 1/2 years ago, I cried. It was grueling and seemed like I'd never make it, but I kept my faith and I believe that God provided a way. Laura and the kids were there and they cheered loudly. They all had "Team Jacobsen" shirts emblazoned with Go Dad Go! on the front and numbers 1-6 on the back. Very cute and fun and cool. My wife rocks. :-) I got a finisher's medal, and the kids exclaimed excitedly, "Daddy, you WON!" Funny thing is, even though my time of 5:42 was like 3 hours from a win by the clock, it felt like a win to me. I was in it to finish, and I did. I defeated my doubts, my lack of training, and my screaming shins. And yes, I will do it again. Mark my words: I'll knock 2 hours off that finish time.
Last Wednesday, I got a call from a friend (Dan) who has this plane (a beautiful twin-engine Cessna). The weather has been sunny lately, and we HAD TO go flying!
Due to the fact I'd grabbed camera batteries that were dead, I had to shoot all the photos with my iPhone. The artifact in this one is the propeller. Anyway, you can see Mt. St. Helens in the foreground and I like how the blast zone's treelessness is shown by the snow.
Then we flew on up to Mt. Rainier. We flew up around 16,000 feet, so it's a good thing his plane's pressurized. I'd like to climb this mountain . . . someday. ;-)
Well, this is about as up-close-and-personal as I've been with Rainier's summit. The air was glassy. We didn't even have updrafts coming off the slopes. It was great!
We finished by flying in over Astoria. What a fun way to spend an afternoon. Call me anytime, Dan!
So we had some cinnamon rolls and some leftover frosting from the Halloween gingerbread house. A good thing to eat before going to the dentist . . . I'd laugh, actually.
In fact, I had to give it a try! Now if THAT isn't a scary smile . . .
Our scary Halloween house my severed-headed ladies.
Here's a GPS-based track of the ride. It's a kml file you can open in Google Earth. And, Mt. St. Helens is impressively hi-resolution, which makes it all extra neat to see. You can get the file by clicking HERE.
It just blows me away (no pun intended :-) to envision how high the mudflow (and some blast maybe?) must have been right here to break trees this high up on the ridge. It's also weird to see the mix of dead/damaged/living trees so close together.
By here, you're pretty much at the top of Ape Canyon. Also, my legs were wrecked and I was running short on time. So, I just followed the trail up around the corner and called it good.
This is the top of Ape Canyon. It goes clear down to Smith Creek and I have no idea if you can get into it. Alan, Justin and I were pretty disappointed the first time we laid eyes on it back in the day.
It's cool to see some amount of regrowth and also how the knoll shielded some of the trees from the blast and mud/ice/rocks.
The trail really was the epic great descent I'd imagined. So, I didn't stop much on the way down to take photos. And, as the changing leaves tell you, I doubt I had much more time this year before it would've only been accessible with skis and snowmobiles.
It seems to me that everyone has something they love doing enough to wake up at 4 AM. For a lot of people, fishing/hunting fits the bill. If stores open that early (like the day after Thanksgiving or something), shopping could be it for others. For me, mountain biking is one of those things. OK, and I've gotten up that early to road bike too. About 7 or 8 years ago, I led a somewhat ill-fated circuit of about 25 miles on the Southeast side of Mt. St. Helens. We began by ascending to Ape Canyon, crossed the Plains of Abraham, passed by Windy Ridge, descended the trail to Smith Creek, followed (and repeatedly crossed) the creek, and ascended the Lava Canyon road to the car (except Mike, who eventually realized he'd taken a wrong turn in his effort to go ahead and get the car . . .). It was really really brutal and only sort of fun. But I discovered one cool thing. As we ascended the 5 miles of singletrack trail to Ape Canyon, I told myself that it would be very cool to descend that route someday. And, with summer waning, I decided this was the year to satisfy that dream. So it was, then, that I arose at 4 AM, started driving around 4:30, and started riding around 7 AM.
I'd done enough homework to know Road 83 had been washed out. As you can see, it's actually pretty close to being fixed. But they still won't let you drive on it. We non-construction people had to park our cars 5 miles from the Ape Canyon trailhead. So, the first 5 miles of my "mountain bike ride" didn't really require one.
The mountain, the man, and the machine.
Mt. St. Helens looks good by the dawn's early light! This is looking up a mudflow path ("Lahar") from the 1980 eruption.
It's cool to see this and visualize the path of destruction.
One thing I LOVE about the trail is all the HUGE old trees (they obviously didn't get swept away in the mudflows in 1980). And, they make for handy bike stands!
I ducked out early on a Wednesday recently so we could pick W up from school and head south to Oswald West State Park. It's one of my favorite hikes. You go down from 101, past Short Sands beach, and out to the end of Cape Falcon. It's 2 1/2 miles each way, and probably the farthest E or W (or AC sort of . . .) have hiked.
Who loves hiking?!
Looks like I'm pulling his ears out. Really, it was just windy and that hat kept flying off.
We're a happy cozy family . . . and we're holding the kids to keep them from running off down that cliff. :-) E recruited some kind people out at the end of Cape Falcon for the picture.
I live on the Oregon coast with a lovely wife of 8 years (L) and 3 charming little youngsters, W (a boy, age 6), E (a girl, age 4, and A (a boy, age 1 year). Education: Astoria High School, BYU, OHSU School of Dentistry, Ongoing Home Study Course: Raising Little Kids
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