WSU 100k Relay Race

Last Sunday (Easter), it seems like we spent the entire day eating and lazing around. This Sunday was a completely different story. Greg and I were part of a 10-person team that ran a total of 1o0 kilometers (62 miles) around the Pullman area. The race started at 7:30am and our team didn't finish until sometime around 5:00pm. The weather was great and everyone seemed to be feeling okay (both before and after running), so it was a pretty fun event. This race was started in 1990 as part of WSU's centennial celebration. The purpose was to run 1 kilometer for every year of the school's existence. The race was such a hit that they've continued it every year since. Although some great runners turned out, the most impressive team was a group of Canadian men, all of whom were over 55 years of age, that blew away the competition. Unfortunately, they all had a penchant for wearing WAY too short shorts! :)

The race started at 7:30am just outside the fieldhouse on campus. Travis ran the first leg for our team. That's him in the green t-shirt. As a side note, that little guy in front wearing the long-sleeve white shirt was an awesome runner. He pretty much left everyone in his dust right out of the gate.

Greg ran the second leg of the race for our team...about 5.6 miles. He had just received the high-five from Travis here.

Greg managed to pass 12 people during his run. Way to go. See, running's not SO bad, is it?? Although he was giving the thumbs up here, he was paying the price later with blister-covered feet. I'll spare you all the pictures. And yes... he did take pictures.

Greg handed off to Ray (in the yellow and purple) who had a seven-mile run downhill through the canyon for the third leg of the race. His legs were about to give out on him afterwards...it was a steep, relentless downhill! He then handed off to Shannon who ran almost 8 miles along the Snake River (the pictures we posted a few weeks ago). I didn't get pictures of the other runners on our team (legs 5-8) because I had to go back home to change and eat before it was my turn to run.

This is Michelle (9th leg) who handed off to me for the final section of the race.

At last! After waiting around all day, I finally got my turn to run.

By this time, the teams were so spread out that I ran my entire 4-mile leg without another person as far as I could see in front, or as far as I could see in the back. It was pretty boring running by all the farms and fields.

Since I was the 10th and final leg of the race, my run took me back onto campus, into the fieldhouse, and finally across the finish line. It was after 5 o'clock when I finished...our team had started at 7:30 that morning.

This is our team in the order that we ran. (Back, l-r) 1-Travis, 2-Greg, 3-Ray, 4-Shannon, 5-Derek, (Front, l-r) 6- Alex, 7-Melissa, 8-Cassie (not pictured), 9-Michelle, 10-Lindsey. Dixie and Ginny served purely as moral support! Trust me, Dixie wants NO part of a 62-mile run!

Modeling yet another set of matching t-shirts.
That, of course, is Shannon behind us being ridiculous! :)

Next weekend's adventure will most likely be homework.
Stay tuned for those exciting pictures! :)

Happy Easter

No sight of the Easter bunny today, but the sun made an appearance for awhile! Greg and I attended a special church service right on campus, and then headed up to Travis and Shannon's for Easter dinner. Shannon fixed a ham and we had plenty of other good things to round out the meal.

The spread.

Waiting to eat with Ginny & Dixie.

The elusive Easter Bunny.... taking a nap.

Greg looks a little worried!

Things have been pretty quiet for us the last few days. Greg gets busier each day, with only about 3 weeks left in the semester. The weather has been pretty cooperative. The big news of the week... we finally got a bed! After six months on the air mattress, the bed feels pretty nice. Furthermore, we FINALLY bought a dresser and nightstands. Maybe now all those rubbermaid containers can be shoved in a closet where they belong! I think we are now as "furnished" as we've ever been.

This time next week, I hope to have some interesting pictures from the 100k race. Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine!

Long Time, No Write

Before anyone sends a search party after us, just take a breath! We're still here. We've just had some technical difficulties that has made our internet access a little sporadic. So, to catch up...

Although these previous two days have been gorgeous, we really haven't been into much recently thanks to the crummy weather. Rain mixed with snow has been the highlight of every day for the past two weeks. Let's hope that's gone for good now. I painted my toenails though, so I probably just jinxed any good weather that was headed our way. :)

Dixie is doing just fine. Greg is still plugging away at school. And I'm still into my usual. Greg has joined an intramural soccer team since our last post. He seems to be picking up pretty quickly on how to play, but the season will be over this week. (I'll put some pictures up as soon as I reinstall my camera software!) I ran a 5k last weekend with Shannon right here on WSU's campus. Greg and I both have signed up to be part of a team that is running in a 100k (a little over 60 mile) race on April 19th. It is a 10-person relay team, so Greg's leg of the race is 5.6 miles, and my leg of the race will be 4.1 miles. I can't speak for Greg, but I'm pretty excited about it. Apparently the course winds all around the Palouse area and begins and ends here in Pullman. And our biggest news of this week is that we are finally getting a real bed. We've been sleeping on our air mattress since the yard sale back in mid-October. After 6 months of that, I imagine our bed is going to feel pretty nice when it's delivered later this week.

We're both looking forward to the end of May when we'll be heading back to WV for a visit. Unfortunately, Dixie will be staying behind with Travis, Shannon & Ginny (the weiner dog). I don't think she knows this yet, and I'm going to make Greg tell her!! :) I don't want to be the one to break her heart.

And finally, a big HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY to Jen!