Thanks to everyone who came out and showed Isaac your support - it really means a lot to him to have family there. Every time he has a meet, he asks who is coming to watch him. And he had a great showing on Saturday. Thank you.

Next week, we head to Pasco. We will be leaving Friday in order to get Isaac there to preview the course and be with his team. The race will be taking place at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. We've looked ahead and it is going to be a chilly weekend, so if you are coming out, dress warmly - it's going to be a cold day.

We're proud of Isaac -

(Front: Adina- half, Barb-half, Tracey-full. Back: Dave S.- full, Tom- full, Peter- half, Dave O.- half)
Last weekend we set out on a great adventure to participate in the Leavenworth Marathon and Half Marathon. I wasn’t sure I would ever do another marathon after my first disaster but some how while we were still in Japan we decided this would be a good idea. The rest of the family was running it so we just tagged along. There were three of us running the full marathon and four running the half plus the amazing support staff who watched the kids making it possible for us to run! I am sure that everyone has their own unique experience to share but this is my blog post so you get to hear my experience.

It started Friday night when we drove the 5 hours to Leavenworth Washington after Tom got off work. We didn’t want to waste anytime or fill up on on hamburgers so I made a pan of homemade mac ‘n cheese, salad and some smoothies to eat for dinner on the way. It was great. Then we met up with everyone at the RV park, said hello and headed off to our hotel to try to get some sleep. Originally we had planned to get an RV as well but the price scared us off and luckily Dave found a hotel room at the last minute. At the hotel we laid out our gear for the morning, coordinated wake up and shower schedules, set alarms and then tried to sleep. It’s always hard to sleep before a race, add 4 adults and two little girls in one hotel room with loud drunk oktoberfest guests all around and it gets a little worse. But none the less, the three of us marathoners arose around 5:00 and headed off to catch the school bus to the starting line. (Big thank you to Adina who let the girls stay asleep at the hotel with her, she got them up and dropped them off to Anne at the RV park when she picked up the other half marathoners...the support was amazing!!! Never could have done it with out them!! Big thank you to Anne as well!!)

So Tom, Dave and I loaded the school bus and made the long dark drive up the canyon. We got off the buses and noticed two problems right off, it was freezing and there were only 4 port-a-potties...we got in line and hoped to make it through before the start. With only 4 minutes left before the start I gave up on the line and went to meet Tom and Dave at the start. I reluctantly peeled off my sweats and made then made the worst decision of the day. I took off my running gloves because I figured I would get too hot and then what would I do with them? Needless to say, I never got too hot. Lucky for my bladder the official announced a 10 minute delay for the start, the friends I had made while waiting in line for the bathroom were still there and they let me back in line. Phew. So now I was really ready. Ready for a marathon. It was still dark and cold, 7am and about 32 degrees. They yelled start and off we went. Tom and I pulled to the front fairly quickly, so excited and having a great time. Our hands and noses were so cold we wanted to cry but we pushed ahead. A mile or two into it was pretty light out and my nose had thawed. My hands were still aching though. Nonetheless, we were enjoying flying down the mountain with beautiful scenery all around. The runners had thinned out and we were just coasting along. Tom’s hands warmed up but mine still hurt really badly and at one point he took a hold of my hand and warmed it with his while we ran. I wish I had a picture of that. It was a great moment.

We both felt great and just kept going and going, enjoying it all the time. About 10 miles in we came out of the canyon and ran through the city until we caught up to the trails by the fish hatchery. Then we looped around on this dirt horse trail for a few miles and it was really killer. It was impossible to get solid footing and we had to slow down and it just hurt all our joints. I kept reminding myself it was pretty and nice to do something different...it sort of worked. Eventually we came out and ran past the starting line where the half marathon runners were getting ready to start. Kenn was able to get our picture as we ran by! This meant we were half way and now just had to run the half marathon course. We still felt great and were really excited to reach this point.


Here is Dave, plowing through running the full marathon! What a great run!


Just twenty minutes after we ran past the Half Marathon officially started! Here is a great shot of the half marathon runners trying to be warm before their start: Barb, Adina, Peter and Dave

As each runner went by Kenn was able to snap of picture of the action!!
Adina

Peter

Dave Olsen (Peter's brother)

Barb


As the miles passed under our feet we just kept up our fast pace and talked while enjoying the scenery. I’m so glad I was running with Tom, it made the whole experience so much more enjoyable! At mile 16 we again passed a guy in a yellow shirt that we had gone back forth with the entire run. We chatted again briefly and then cheered when I saw the mile 16 marker. He murmured something about still having a long way to go and we started to agree but then stopped ourselves. Quickly we changed our out look and said, “Oh no, we’re doing great and we’ve only got 10 miles to go. How many times have you run 10 miles? We can do this!” And we took off. (Side note, turns out that guy was one of my best friends brother-in-law, they somehow made the connection after the race and she called me. Small world.)

The next 4 miles were still good, we nearly missed a turn but luckily caught it and enjoyed running through a river side park. Tom’s knee was starting to bother him more and he was beginning to feel the 20 mile "wall" coming. Our training program was not conventional and a little less than ideal. His knee had been causing him pain so he hadn't been able to finish training the way he had hoped and it was catching up to him. At that moment in my mind I was about the reach a great point in the race. I had told myself I was running miles in sets of 10/10/6. This summer I made a decision to change my short runs to being at least 6 miles, so I knew I could easily hammer out 6 miles, I just had to reach 20 first. I’m not sure what Tom was thinking but he was not getting the adrenaline rush I was getting. He began to lag behind a bit and I wanted to be with him but he told me to just go, to push it as hard as I could and to just do it. I looked down at my Garmin and saw that I was still well under 3 hours and the 20 mile mark was just up ahead. I swallowed my last gel chew, gulped some water and powered up the only hill on the course.

With just 6 miles to go I put my music on and forged ahead. I couldn’t believe I was really going to make it at my goal pace. I couldn’t believe I still felt good. I couldn’t believe that people on the sidelines were shouting to me that I was the first woman! This just made me want to run faster! So I went. The last two miles caught up to the sand trail again and it was agony. My hip flexor was over tired and the unsteadiness of the sand nearly did me in but I was so close I just kept thinking of my running friends that would be so happy for me. I wanted to so badly to finish and go call them so we could rejoice together! Thankfully I survived the sand, kept up my pace and crossed the finish line while the clock read 3:14:40. Faster than I had ever dreamed of running. The crowd was actually all cheering. I’ve never finished a race and had the crowd cheering. It was awesome.
(There was a minor error in the course shorting us about a 1/2 mile of the distance so my actual finish pace was 7:35, time of 3:20, still plenty fast to qualify for Boston's new time requirement of 3:35!)

I waited at the finish line and just 5 minutes later Tom came powering through with a time of 3:20. So amazing!!!! His knee gave him grief but he managed to push through it anyway and didn’t give up. He just kept going and going, dragging his leg along and PR’d by nearly 40 minutes!!! Outstanding! No one was at the finish line so we just hobbled around and got some snacks and such. My hip flexor was killing me and I was dragging my leg around but we made it back to the finish line in time to cheer for Adina, Peter and Dave O. as they ran in from the half marathon!

The stats were posted and we were able to see that in fact I actually was the first woman to finish the marathon! There were only 9 men ahead of me. Tom came in close at number 14. He took second place in his age division! What an accomplishment!!! We waited around for the awards ceremony and it’s a good thing we did because we both got nice pint glasses for winning in our age divisions and I got a glass boot and a beer stein for being the first place finisher!!!



You can check out the race results here: http://www.accustatsportstiming.com/results3.asp?ei=108

After finally sitting down and taking a brief rest my hip felt better and I was just so happy and excited. The race was actually fun, enjoyable thanks to having Tom’s company and exciting in the end to actually win! Calling my friends and family was as fun as I had hoped it would be. It’s great to have friends who love you so much they are so happy for your success. All around a great race. We spent the rest of the day in Leavenworth but I was too tired to remember much of it. I do remember my favorite part was sitting around the fire eating delicious tri-tip. Thank you everyone. The list is long including the help with getting the hotel, the food, watching the kids, encouraging me to run, pushing me to run fast, and simply cheering from the side lines. For being such an individual sport it sure does take a whole team to make it happen!

I don't know what to call us... but we live on M Court so that will work for now. Life has been a bit crazy and stressful lately and I obviously haven’t taken the time to write but there is much to be grateful for and many happy memories to preserve so I need to take a moment to record them. This is in no way all inclusive but just a few snippets that come to mind. (We have misplaced a bunch of pictures, like the first day of school and such... so those will have to come later as well. Also, I use this post for our family website as well so some of it is redundant to you or will sound weird like explaining that we live close to DnA but oh well... at least I posted something finally)

The House: We all love the new house and are constantly busy trying to keep it clean while decorating and finishing the unpacking. It was quite the saga getting our stuff from storage in San Diego but after several months it finally came. I will post pictures as things get put together, if they ever do...

Washougal: I like the town we live in. It’s pretty and within 1/2 a mile of my house you are on beautiful country roads with deer, rabbits and so many other beautiful sights. Yesterday Tom and I went on a trail run that is just three miles from our house and went around a beautiful creek and some waterfalls. We can go to the beach of the Columbia River just 2 miles from our house and it is beautiful, with sand to dig in and water to play in. It’s not Okinawa but helps us get our beach fix!

Portland: Living near a big city is great, we’ve been to lots of great places to eat and are hitting the concert scene! We’ve seen The Naked and Famous and Andrew Belle. We’ve got tickets to several more coming up!

Hood to Coast: We were fortunate enough to run Hood to Coast on a team with Tom’s brother Dave, his wife Adina, their friends and Tom’s sister Anne and her husband Peter. It was so much fun. It deserves a post all on it’s own but somehow it didn’t get done. The runs were great, the company awesome and we felt great (except when we lost our beloved inflatable shark decoration off the top of the car..so sad...)










Tom: Aside from being a super triathlete and participating in a Tough Mudder he is busy getting settled in at work. He works Wed, Thurs and Friday with his brother at Discovery Dental. They got a new sign with Tom’s name on it and it looks great. He loves being there and is getting adjusted to the new staff and the different way things are done. Now he just keeps hoping for more patients. Is it okay that I pray for people to break their teeth?

Tracey: I have been running to stay sane and enjoy the variety of places to run here after running around Camp Foster for three years. I miss Okinawa dearly and miss my friends so much but have really enjoyed the chance to be closer to family. Although I have a million different places I could shop I find that old habits are hard to break and I always go to the Safeway down the street and want to do the rest online. I’m busy trying to get the kids settled in, helping them make friends and get involved. I am Hayden’s cub scout leader which is fun and challenging. I look forward to making some more friends here and having game nights again!
My parents came to visit in September and we had a great time! I have been trying to convince them that it doesn’t rain here all the time like they think it does and it was great weather leading up to their visit but then of course it had to start raining the day after they arrived. We still braved it and went up to Mt. St. Helen’s and luckily the clouds parted just in time for us to see the volcano. It was freezing outside, we nearly ran out of gas and the visitors center we went to was closed for the season but somehow it was just fun to be together and we found a nice lake to walk around. It was so fun to have them here, we picked wild blackberries and made a cobbler and my awesome dad even painted our living room for us!!





Hayden: Loves living close to his cousins and wishes he could just move in with them. We are one mile away from Dave and Adina and Morgan is actually in his class at school. School started off a bit slow but Hayden understood he was the “new kid” and it would take some time. Things are going well now and he’s got some friends in his class and we found two boys his age down on the end of our court that he is working on getting to know them. One advantage to not having many friends is that he plays with his sisters a lot. He’s even been training them on how to play the Wii and they all love it. But mostly he wishes he could just play x-box all day and gets mad when I force him outside on the days it’s not raining! I’m sure he’ll have plenty of inside days in the months to come! He's been enjoying reading the Harry Potter series lately and comparing the books to the movies. He's now on book 5 and just keeps finding more differences!

Danica: Has grown up a ton since starting kindergarten. She loves school and has made lots of friends. As usual it’s been funny to watch how her and Hayden are such opposites. Hayden and Danica usually sit together on the bus. But, one day she got off the school bus laughing and smiling talking non stop about the funny boy she sat with on the way home. Hayden got off that day crying because the bus driver made him sit with someone else and he didn’t like it. Hayden’s favorite class at school is P.E. Danica hates P.E. so much that she constantly asks me if it’s Tuesday and begs me to not make her go. The teacher lets her go and just sit and watch but that’s not enough, she still stresses non stop. I finally agreed to go with her today and it seems that she is afraid of the teacher who is a giant of a man...we’ll have to work on that. She still loves gymnastics and has been going to a gym here. Last week they approached us and said that Danica is doing so well they want her to try out for the advanced group. She tried out yesterday, did well and enjoyed it although it was 2 hours long and she got tired. Now we just have to decide whether to take on one more big thing. When we are home her favorite thing to do is ride her bike, she always says "I just love it mom, I just love it!!"

Alyssa: I don’t know where to start with her. She is my smiley little buddy. Quick to give hugs and wants to make sure that I am always happy. If she sees me sad she rushes in to assure me that I will be okay soon. She goes to preschool two mornings a week and goes to ballet on another morning. It’s perfect for her. Some days she wishes she were 5 and could just do everything Danica does but she enjoys our one on one time as well. But no matter how much fun we’re having she still loves to go to the bus stop to wait for the kids to get home. She is learning to read and loves being big like every one else. Her goal in life is to make everyone laugh. The first weeks of ballet she kept acting silly and not following directions and I kept talking to her about it until finally she said “But mom, I have to make them all laugh!” I now see this in so many parts of her life, it makes all of her behavior so much easier to understand. She was the first kid to make a new friend here and loved to go around talking about “my friend” this and “my friend” that. She didn't know her name. There are little kids in our cul-de-sac and she just loves to go out and ride her scooter and bike with them.

Okay, I”m sure I have a ton more things to add but they will have to trickle in... I need this post up there. House pictures coming soon... honest... I am lucky enough to have guests coming this weekend so I’ll have to clean! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jpXhENo7s&feature=youtube_gdata_player

We live in Lacey but our address is Olympia and "The Olympians" sounds way more cool than "the Laceys."  Plus, my daughter that is obsessed with Percy Jackson will love the name.  It is way too easy to justify not taking the time to write on the blog now that we are here in the same state but it really has been quite a while since we have seen family and will be a few weeks yet.  So...here's the lowdown.

Last week we made the 14-hour drive down to Mike's graduation, it was a great trip, brief, but great.  We had so much fun and it was very satisfying being able to watch Mike graduate after all the hours and hours and hours and hours of work he has done.  The Carlisle's came down for the graduation and our delicious lunch on Fisherman's Wharf.  They gave Mike a framed flag.  It was the flag they flew from 9/11 until Mike got home from Afghanistan, a very touching tribute to Mike and his service.  It still makes me tear up when I look at it.  We were all excited to see Grandma Barb and Papa since I think we saw them more when we lived out of state than we have the past few months-).  Besides graduation we were able to spend a little more time walking our favorite running route with the kids, going out for bread bowls and Ghiradelli chocolates, dinner with our good friends, the Burton's, a girl's night out for me, and a weekend that included a few glimpses of Jane as she made her way from one social event to another. Then we loaded up Mike's apt and took off at 10:30 Saturday night.

Now we have Mike home and it is heavenly.  We all love having daddy around.  Sawyer is his daddy's little shadow or his battle buddy.  Ellyn takes his hand and drags him around with her or curls up in his lap for snuggles.  Jane and Sadie tolerate his constant teasing.   I have a running buddy and someone that makes staying up late more appealing than just climbing into bed exhausted every night and falling asleep.  I'm pretending that he is not leaving again.

Family news-

Jane has a huge group of friends and is always doing something with friends or begging to do something with friends.  It's a cute group and I have no complaints.  She has a hard schedule this fall and at first I was freaking out with the amount of homework she had, but she is getting it done faster and isn't as overwhelmed as she was the first few weeks.

Sadie is queen of the neighborhood.  She plays with all our little neighbor kids until dark.  We have four LDS families on our street and three of them are old enough to play with Sadie and Sawyer, they all just run and bike around from one house to the next.  Sadie is the very oldest so most of the time she is the MC of all activities.  I'm not a huge lover of little cookie-cutter neighborhoods but it really is fun after having the kids so isolated from friends in Carmel.  Besides playing, Sadie is doing piano and doing well in school.  She and Ellyn go to the same school and my cute Sadie is so excited when she sees her sister in the halls and loves playing with her the few recesses a week that Ellyn is integrated into the general school population.

Ellyn is doing great.  I panicked the first day of school.  I walked into her classroom and it was a regular classroom.  No play area, no craft table, no bright happy colors everywhere.  I really just wanted to yell at them  "DID YOU NOT EVEN PAY ANY ATTENTION TO ANYTHING THAT I SENT YOU MONTHS AGO?"  The answer to that is- No, they hadn't.  BUT... they assured me that Ellyn would be fine and basically told Mama Bear to go home.  At the end of the day they asked if we could meet as soon as possible.  We did, they've been able to get to know Ellyn, and they have made some adjustments and what is awesome is that Ellyn seems to be thriving.  She is saying lots of new words, starting to make little one word answers, and is really happy.  She has great new after school tutors and a new respite person from our ward.  It is always an excellent feeling to have our girl feeling good.

Sawyer is a such a happy, cute, little guy. I can't believe our baby will be four in a week! Sawyer is his mom's daytime buddy, he is sweet and loving to each of his sisters, and loves playing with all of his new friends.  "Soy Bean" does preschool four days a week with our preschool co-op.  We have all sorts of fun, each momma takes one day and all the kids love it.  Sawyer now has "red days" and "purple days." He picked the colors.  It's a sign on the fridge, two sided.  Red is a no video game day and purple is a yes video game day.  This little system has saved my sanity.  No more nagging all day long, three days yes, four days no.  Of course with daddy home there have been many more yes days.  

I am just being the mom.  I wake up at 5 with Jane and hit the sack after I get everyone to bed and spend some time talking with Mike on Face time (not now of course).  I don't know when we'll fit in talking when he is three hours earlier than I am.  I am finally on a regular work out schedule and slowly integrating running back into my routine.  I have X-rays on my feet tomorrow and then they are going to make me some lovely orthotics.  I'm hoping I'll get to finally heal up (I want to run that trail run in December by the way, have to check the schedule).  I chopped my hair off last month- short.  I figured it would just hang down my back wet all winter long.  It is much easier and I only miss it when I'm around Meagan and I get a teensy bit jealous.

That is the OLYMPIAN update.  Sorry it is sooo long.  Love you all.

This is Max - one of Taylor's best friends and a fellow 'dancer' for Illumination Dance Company - Taylor's latest hobby. It's a non-profit dance company for kids, and Taylor has figured out that if he participates, he gets to do the waltz with Isabelle Dayley. Anyway - they have a performance on January 5th here at Washougal High and I have gone ahead and purchased 10 tickets. They are $8 a piece, kids 3 and under are free. The performance is kind of a tribute to classic Disney songs - the kids are actually hoping to go to Disneyland in December to perform. So - if you think you'd be interested in attending, please let me know and I will get the right amount of tickets.

Adina

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110930/PREPSSPORTS/109300350/Olys-improve-4-0-CVC-volleyball-praise-coach?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

Even though mine was the last post on here, it was just pictures so I suppose I will write out a full post updating those that read this blog on my life. I'm gonna do this bullet style though because I am too lazy to write out full paragraphs.

• I can't believe it is almost October and it will soon be a full year since I moved up here from San Diego.
• I watched a few new(ish) movies recently, all of which I recommend to some or all of you: X-Men: First Class, Bridesmaids (not for everyone), Moneyball, Conan O'Brien: Can't Stop (on Netflix Instant)
• Work is extremely busy. I had an intern over the summer to help me out with my ever-expanding workload but he went back to school last week so he left us. Since then I have asked the bosses for some changes in regards to my job and our department's structure. They are thinking it over but in the meantime, I am supposed to be getting a temp and I am anxiously waiting for our HR department to find that person as soon as possible so I can actually do everything that needs to be done.
• Four of my best friends are coming up to Portland next Thursday to visit for my birthday, the big 3-0 (yikes). Most of them are staying for a whole week so I am very excited to see them and show them around my new town. I anticipate a lot of eating since Portland has more than enough places to fill the week with deliciousness.
• Things are still going well with Kevin (the guy I am dating for those who don't know) and I'm enjoying the time I get to spend with him. I promise you guys will meet him soon...maybe. :)
• Speaking of, you should all watch "Grimm" on NBC starting October 21st. It is the TV show that Kevin works on. Let's do our part to get it picked up past the pilot!
• I'm taking a quick weekend trip down to LA at the end of October for Halloween fun with my friends that couldn't make it up here for my birthday. We'll be going to the Universal Studios Horror Nights again this year and I am very excited to see what changes there will be and see how absolutely terrified I can possibly get. I will miss the family Halloween party but you guys will just have to take lots of awesome pictures!
• I have a couple new restaurant recommendations in Portland for those of you who are here: Stepping Stone Cafe (breakfast), Casa del Matador, Screen Door, Pine State Biscuits, The Venetian (in Hillsboro)
• I am very excited for the iPhone 5 announcement that is happening next Tuesday for those of you who don't know (and care). I have been waiting for quite a while to upgrade my phone so I'm hoping these rumored possible shortages do not happen so I can get one as soon as possible.
• Pinterest has sucked me in and is a spectacular waste of time. But I still like it.
• I wore boots for the first time this season today and I have to say I am excited about the cooler weather, if only for the expanding wardrobe possibilities. Of course, I am fully aware that I will be complaining wholeheartedly come January. But for now, I am happy it's fall.
• You should all be blogging or on Twitter or both.
• Happy birthday, Adina!
• That is all.