High School Reunion

I suspect many of you say "bah humbug" to the concept of a high reunion. Maybe high school wasn't one of your best moments, maybe you could care less about most of "those" people, maybe your school didn't have a strong sense of identity, maybe you had a huge graduating class and felt lost in the mix. There are many reasons not to go, and many reasons to go.

Last night was my 25th class reunion for the 1989 Rufus King High School Generals. Many of the people I went to King with had also been with me in grade school and/or middle school - we have a long shared history. There is a strong sense of pride to be a King alumni. For many decades Rufus King has received local and national acclaim for it's college preparatory academics. It is consistently ranked the #1 or #2 public high school in Wisconsin, and is ranked 534th amongst all public schools Nationwide. Only the best students are accepted to King, so a sense of camaraderie born out of being "chosen" is a bonding force.

Our reunion was a nod to our 1989 graduation night,wherein we boarded a boat in chill rain for an evening on Lake Michigan. This time we boarded a dinner boat in the July heat and humidity on a clear night. We were a relatively small graduating class of roughly 220, of which about 60 were on the Edelweiss. King prepared us well for future endeavors - everyone is successful be it in their careers, family, health etc. Past cliques, feelings of being snubbed, petty jealousies and trash talk were bygones last night, with people from various school cultures freely mingling (i.e., athletes, nerds, popular kids), a feat that wasn't quite accomplished 5 years ago at the 20th reunion. It was surreal to think that we're only 43 years old, yet were already having a 25th reunion. I imagine our 30th will really be mind blowing! Below are some pics taken on the cruise...

The Hoan Bridge

Sarah, Me, Rosanna, Chick we don't know, Amy

I think you know these 2 ☺

Milwaukee Skyline - The Schooner is lit up on left side of pic

Rosanna & Me

It's The Little Comforts ...

Just breathe in this picture! Can you feel the warm dry air of a Rocky Mountain afternoon with the promise of a crisp Milky Way, star studded night to come? Can you hear the silence (yes, silence has a sound!), or perhaps a croaking frog, the aggressive caw of a mountain Jay or a gentle wind brushing the tops of the surrounding peaks? Colorado, one of our favorite backpacking destinations, has been waiting for our visit ... not much longer now, Colorado, not much longer. 

Over the past 15 years our backpacking acumen has progressed, through trial and error, into a preferred ultralight  style that requires sacrificing some comforts and indulgences (especially when it comes to food), to be able to travel further and faster while keeping the body relatively fresh. There are no camp chairs, gourmet meals or extras of any kind. We have one set of hiking clothes that are worn every single day, and one set of camp clothes that are worn every single night. We eat just one hot meal per day that is cooked and eaten out of an uber light titanium pot. That one meal, usually a dehydrated soup we prepare thick, is consumed with a red .2 ounce spork. We're each allotted 2 paper towel squares per day to be used during meals and for cleaning the kettle (no sponges, dish cloths, towels or soap).

Amongst the heaviest gear any backpacker will carry is, the backpack itself, followed by the tent. Hardcore ultralight backpackers will sleep on or under a small tarp that is held up by their hiking sticks. We like the comfort of being protected from the elements and creepy crawlies, so we opt for a lightweight tent. In the early years, our "lightweight" tent was the Kelty Vortex 2. Weighing in at 7 pounds, this is a light tent when compared to car camping tents that can weigh anywhere from 10-20+ pounds, but when it comes to logging miles up rugged mountains at altitude, that 7 pounds becomes a true cross to bear.

In 2006, as we prepared for our monumental circumnavigation of Mt. Rainier on the Wonderland Trail, we knew a lighter tent was necessary. Exhaustive research led us to settle on a brand called Tarptent, which uses a single wall system with feather weight materials, no rain fly and the ability to use trekking poles instead of tent poles, for a total weight just under 3 pounds. That tent certainly lightened the load, and has been our go to shelter for the past 8 years, but after multiple occasions (snow, rain, cold) wherein we had to spend extended periods of time awake in our tent, we knew we'd have to upgrade someday. 

The issue with our current tent is that it is a mummy style tent. It is widest and tallest at the top, or the entrance, and then narrows towards the feet, while the ceiling lowers too. This means we cannot sit up or easily change clothes (once in a while there are people in the wilderness nearby, and dressing in the open is not possible). The tent is great when all you're going to do is sleep in it, but sometimes Mother Nature dictates you stay in for prolonged daytime hours. Our most miserable experience with this happened in Idaho. We'd had 90°+ weather for 2 days and then the 3rd day we awoke to 6" of falling snow and temps in the 20's. We could not continue to climb the talus slope above us with the snow covering the route. We'd have to stay put for the day, read our books and hope for better weather the next day. Having to lie down, in the confines of a tight mummy sleeping bag for that long cold day, was torture for the body (sore joints, stiff muscles) and the mind ("OMG, I want to sit up so bad!"). Other incidents since that time compelled us to cough up the $300+  to have more comfort in the backcountry.

Our new Tarptent Double Rainbow, pictured below, will arrive by August 1st, and be used on our Colorado adventure. There is enough room for us to sit up, and check it out - instead of one main entrance, we both get our own entrance and vestibule to store our boots and packs, and best of all? We get all this "luxury" without additional weight. This beaut still comes in under 3 pounds ☺

Shameless Bragging Alert

I'm used to tooting Joe's horn, but now it's my turn to pat myself on the back. Just three weeks after my half marathon PR, I've logged a week of breakthroughs, culminating in an unexpected medal! Each week, I have written goals. I find writing the goals down, rather than thinking them, somehow makes them happen. Examples of weekly goals I have had: get more sleep, stop eating so many "extras", use the foam roller more, be smart with letting that blister heal, etc. This past week, my primary goal was to begin transitioning to a new "easy" pace on the treadmill (TM). Every 2-3 months, I try to increase my easy pace (easy meaning, I can breathe unencumbered, my HR stays in the low 140's and it feels like I can go on for a long time) so I don't become complacent, since the only way to become a faster runner is to run faster! This week I began moving away from the 8:57 pace I've held and grown accustomed to, to an 8:49 pace. That went well on Monday.

Tuesday, a speedwork day, I ran 400 meter (~.25 miles) repeats with my fastest repeat being a 6:53 pace (which, incidentally, Joe runs as his normal TM pace!), and did a second shorter run in the afternoon heat as part of my plan to do a two-a-day run each week.

Wednesday, Rosanna and I logged our fastest "recovery" run with a 9:30 pace (we were trying to go slow, and this was the best we could do☺).

Thursday I killed the neighborhood "Look Out Hill" Route, finishing with a 9:11 pace - just a month prior I had run my fastest time on that route with a 9:32 pace.

Friday, a picture perfect 4th of July, Joe and I headed to the Nordic Trail for a 10-mile trail run. It was hard as hell - so hilly and taxing - and I took many walk breaks, and yet, I ran that course 1-minute per mile faster than I ran it last year! Huge accomplishment.

And just when I didn't think the week could get any better, I headed out early Saturday morning to run the Trail Assail Independence Day Run 5k at Fox River Park. I was doing this event as a recovery run and as a way to spice things up. I truly was not concerned about a finishing time, or with doing well. As the race wound it's way, snake-like, up and over, down and around the woods bordering the Fox River, I noticed I was passing people. I wasn't running with reckless abandon, I was just running at a normal doable pace, but I seemed to be in the first half of the group (I'm accustomed to being in the second half - closer to the front of the second half, but still, in the back half). As I crossed the finish line I observed just a small number of runners milling about the food stations, as more poured in and I got to thinking, "is it possible I placed in my age group?!" I decided to wait around for the results to be posted - dodging swarms of mosquitoes while easily chatting with random runners. Once the times were released, I was stunned to see I took second in the Women 40-44 age group, and that the woman who took 1st only beat me by 9 seconds ... did that stop for water at the aid station take 9 seconds? Could I have come in first if I'd pushed on without agua? I never in a million years thought I could place in a race - even in a small race of several hundred. The medal is a heavy, high quality one, just as nice as some of the half marathon medals I've gotten. It was the icing on the cake of a week wherein I saw my training efforts pay off. Today, Sunday, I am fully resting - no walks, no yard work, no nothing ☺