first day of school

Tuesday was Sebastian's first day of 9th grade, and Liesl's first day of 6th grade. New schools for both kiddos, with lots of anxiety and excitement.

LHS soccer/elbow break

This is definitely not the post I wanted to write about fall soccer at Lincoln High. Sebastian has been looking forward to playing high school soccer all summer, and training hard at PCU. He went to two LHS preseason camps, one that was entirely conditioning (literally running distance and sprints and stairs every day for a week) and one that was soccer scrimmages. And then there were three days of boys tryouts, and he made the JV2 pool. Yay! We got official uniforms and team photos, we bought training jerseys and socks, and on Monday he went to his first practice. Yay! 

And then on Tuesday, in the last five minutes of practice, he beat a guy in a 1-on-1 drill, and the player slide-tackled him from behind, and Seb fell hard. He broke his elbow. We spent Tuesday night in the emergency room getting x-rays and a temporary cast and sling, and feeling so, so sad.

He was in a lot of pain, so sleeping was a challenge. He couldn't really move the arm, and it was wrapped in a temporary hard/heavy plaster, so he couldn't take a shower. I washed his hair in the kitchen sink. Just to add insult to injury, we'd been at the orthodontist that morning for a tightening, so his whole mouth and jaw were super sore and he couldn't chew anything. Just an awful day.

We got in to see an orthopedic specialist on Thursday afternoon and things started looking up. It turns out it's a stable, single, nondisplaced fracture of the elbow, at the growth plate. He doesn't need a cast, just a molded plastic brace that is removeable for showering. He also is cleared to return to running and non-contact drills, and can rejoin his team at practices. He needs to start moving the elbow so it doesn't stiffen up, and ice it. And then he might possibly be able to return to full participation in 3 weeks. We're feeling really relieved it's not worse.

Hood to Coast relay race

I ran the Hood to Coast relay race this Friday/Saturday, my second time participating in this insane relay. Teams of 12 are split into two vans, with everyone running three legs -- 36 legs to make it the 200 miles from Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood to Seaside. I was asked a few weeks ago to join this group of women from the neighborhood - I only knew a few of them ahead of time, but they needed a replacement runner. Our team was Women who Wine; I was in Van 1, runner #2, so I had legs 2, 14, and 26. Our start time was 6:05 am, so we left home at 4 am to make the drive from Portland.

 

It was cold at 6:50, awaiting Caroline's arrival at the exchange. I was jumping up and down with nervous energy.

And then she arrived and I was off! I ran 5.65 miles, dropping 1750 feet, along the shoulder of Highway 26 down the mountain. It was by far my fastest run ever -- I ran 7 minute miles -- and my quads are still sore.

Handed off to Michelle, and then into the van. After we were finished our first legs, Van 1 drove back into Portland to shower and nap at the home of one of our runners. Kim fed us baked ziti and provided hot water and couches/beds, and it felt glorious. We got up in the mid-afternoon to go meet up with Van 2 at the OMSI waterfront area. While waiting at the exchange, Steve and the kids arrived to say good luck -- so awesome!

My second run was 6 miles, relatively flat along Hwy 30, passing under the St Johns bridge. It was boring and noisy with trucks and traffic, not my favorite run. I kept a good pace, about 8.45/mile.

It got dark soon after, and we headed into the hills north of Portland, driving from Scappoose into Jewell and Mist. Our second rest was in a huge grassy field, where there were people sprawled everywhere in sleeping bags and a tent city sponsored by Alaska Airlines. We crashed at 11 pm and got a few hours of sleep, curled up in quilts and blankets on the ground. Our third legs started at 3:15 am; mine was about 5.6 miles again, this time mostly flat until the end, when I got to finish on a downhill sprint. About 9 min/mile. Phew. Then it was just driving to Seaside and waiting for Van 2 to finish.

Van 1: me, Sarah, Caroline, Michelle, Kim, and Katie

The whole team at the finish line.

camping w Liesl and Elia

We escaped Portland for one last night of camping and lake swimming -- a very short trip back to Timothy Lake at Mt Hood. Liesl invited her friend Elia to join us and we had a wonderful time. The girls spent nearly all afternoon on Tuesday and all day on Wednesday jumping into the lake. They paddled out on the SUP and jumped from it, and they ran down the dock and jumped into the lake. Over and over and over. It was magical.

Our usual setup at site 21 -- it was a good one.

Tuesday was just gorgeous -- clear blue skies, warm in the day, and cool at night.

 

It got dark somewhat early and there's a campfire ban, so we got cozy inside the tent with the string lights, playing cards and charades, and fell asleep early.

Post-breakfast clambering on the rock piles.

And then back to the lake for more paddleboarding and kayaking and swimming and dock-jumping.