Earthquakes and Stampedes

Good Morning, Readers!

EARTHQUAKE

Last week was an exciting one, as far as weeks go. Certainly the talk around West Michigan has been the 4.0 earthquake centered several miles south of Galesburg.

It just so happens that we were camping at Fort Custer State Park in Galesburg when the earthquake quaked(?). And let me tell you, it was noticeable. We were surrounded by RV's that are not all that stable, so when the earth shook, they were rocking and rolling. Mostly rocking. All of them rocking and none of them literally rolling.

Sage, who was inside the camper at the time, was knocked to the ground thinking the RV was collapsing. She ran outside and asked Chad if we had an earthquake, at which point he replied "no, we don't have earthquakes in Michigan." Children, let this be a lesson that parents are not always right.

Shortly thereafter emergency sirens sounded and military helicopters were flew overhead. It was disconcerting but, thankfully, turned out to be no more than an interesting story to share.

For geeky information on the earthquake, check out WZZM's Bills Blog.

STAMPEDE

The annual Fort Custer Stampede mountain bike race was held on Sunday. Sage raced Beginner 10 and Under, Bear competed in the children's race, and Chad made a return to Sport.

Sage and Chili Dog at the Beginner 10 and Under Start. Look at all the awesome kids!

This was the first race of the season for the family and I'm happy to report that everyone had a blast. Sage was excited for the race swag. But as a parent, the best part is seeing the perma-smile when she crosses the finish line.

Bear was all business at the Kid's Race

While Sage was set on racing all weekend, Bear, on the other hand, insisted he wasn't going to. Bear and I planned to hang out at the campground. That changed 30 minutes before the start of the kids race. Bear and I were sitting around the campfire when he suddenly jumped up and started bouncing excitedly. He was struck with the urge to race.

We rode our bikes as fast as we could from the campground to the race venue (2-3 miles) and arrived just in time. I rarely see such a look of determination etched on his face. When they said "go," he stood and hammered for the entire two laps.

Both kids are looking forward to the next race and can't wait for Dirt Dawgs to start. The Brewer Family's next stop will be the Hanson Hills Challenge in Grayling. Look for us in the large Jayco. And it appears that I will be making a return to racing. I can't wait.

A few more photos from the weekend:

Sage is working on mastering the log pile.

No pollution. No signs. Just the trail and nothing to be bothering me. --Bear

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you on the trails,
Heather

Iceman: Slushcup Edition 2014, PT 1

Icemans of Past 2010 and 2012) 

This was my first year attending Iceman as a Slushcupper. I was worried that once we arrived at the expo that I would have regrets about not signing up for the whole shebang. Let me tell you, that was not the case. It was AWESOME!

The dreaded weather report of 34 degrees, rain and wind (arguable the worst conditions for a mountain bike race ever) was a blip in my radar--after all, I was only going to be out there for an hour. One can endure just about any kind of conditions for that long. Sleep and nutrition--other aspects that generally heighten my nerves were of no concern. I wasn't racing! There was, for once, no pressure. I was looking forward to a day of riding with awesome, inspiring kids followed by indulging in the spoils of one of the biggest parties in Northern Michigan.

Sage, Gage, myself, and a photobomber sizing up her competition at the Slushcup start line

My riding buddies of the day were my daughter Sage and a friend of ours, Gage. Sage has gained some mountain bike racing experience this summer having competed at Big M, then doing her first solo races at Skirts in the Dirt, and Pando Fall Challenge. I had never ridden with Gage before and was uncertain what his experience was to that point, but I knew his family rolled with Team Troll. I could tell both Sage and Gage were very nervous.

We were assigned Wave 4 (the last wave in the Slush Cup). As each wave proceeded to be ticked off and the crowd amassed forward, both Sage and Gage were inclined to stay put. Eventually it seemed like there was a good 20 foot gap between us and the rest of Wave 4. I casually mentioned moving to the front but S(G)age implored me to stay right where I was. The crowd was clearly increasing their apprehension. I think if S(G)age had their way, they would have had a Wave 5 created just for them.

My competitive nature was twitching to shove both kids to the front of the line. But, this was their race and I was just along for the ride ;) If we never, ever passed one person (Sage has been known to start last, catch someone, stop, let them get ahead again before starting to ride) then that's what we were going to do!

Before we knew it the race had started! And S(G)age each had one foot on the peddle and the other on the ground, letting the chaos at the start line clear while they stood motionless for the moment.

. . . But then we were off!

The End of Part 1.
I'll finish the rest tomorrow! This mom only has so much time to write in one day . . .

Our home at Iceman / Timber Ridge

Forget Your Goals.

That "care-free" smile is deceiving . . .  

My daughter likes to go running with me. We hadn't gone in quite some time—our schedules getting jammed-pack in the spring with soccer, work, and school events. When soccer ended a few weeks ago it marked the advent of the running season. I have my running partner again.

This time Sage has set a goal for herself. My amazingly strong-willed daughter has decided that she wants to run a 10k. This goal was cemented and reinforced with steely determination when I told her matter-of-fact that she could not possibly go 6 miles—our longest run has only been 1.5 miles.

In an effort to empower my daughter (after having cut her down significantly), I downloaded the Couch to 10k Program. For those unfamiliar with the C10k program, it is a training program designed for people who are inactive, with no running experience. In 13 weeks it takes someone from zero fitness to being able to finish a 10k run. I had heard somewhere this was a good running program for children.

I explained to Sage that we should approach the schedule like we would a ladder. The bottom rung is where we are now, running anywhere from 3/4 of a mile to 1.5 miles while the top rung, the last week of training, is the 10k race. We can't get to the level of the 10k race without doing every workout, climbing each rung in between. If we follow each step, before we know it, we'll be able to run all 6 miles!

This is a difficult concept for people to digest. Most people look at the end goal, in this case 6 miles, and assume they can't do it. They think about how hard it is to run for five minutes and how much worse it must be to go all 6 miles. It becomes overwhelming, paralyzing even. People give up before they start. I know this because I do it myself. Which is why I planned to keep the training plan a secret and only reveal each days workout as we progressed with the simple promise that by the end of the summer we could do our 10k race.

For three mornings a week I've tapped Sage on the shoulder at 6 AM and whispered in her ear "Ready to run?" It takes her five minutes to be dressed and ready to go, fueled by her enthusiasm and motivation. In spite of the early hour she always wears a smile and is bouncing with energy.

That is until the day she stole the training schedule from me. Her eyes skipped down to the last two weeks of training which included a 40-minute run.

That morning we didn't get halfway down the block before she quit, crying "I can't run for 40 minutes!" We only needed to accomplish several intervals of 4-minute runs that morning, what would normally be an easy task for Sage. That 40-minute workout loomed in her mind like the dark face of Mount Everest. She was at the base of the mountain looking at the peak, at the bottom of the ladder and trying to reach the top. Instead of focusing on reaching the next step, the very-achievable step that would bring her closer to her goal, she focused on what she could not yet do. And gave up.

As you know from my writing I am believer in setting big dreams for ourselves. But it is my firm belief that most of us, after getting our ladder set up and mapping our plans, should forget about that big dream . . . for the time being.

Achieving the next step towards the goal will be challenging, it will be uncomfortable, it will push us beyond our limits, it will take a lot of our energy and focus. Do that first. Do the first step first and then take the next step, then the step after that. Let the end result be at the end. And I promise you, if you are committed to your own "C10k program" you will accomplish your goal.

My uncle likes to remind me of this quote (and I'm glad he does):
By the inch it's a cinch, by the mile it's a trial.

Vacations Over.

Hello? Anyone out there?

Probably not. I apologize for my sudden and lengthy absence from the blog. Shortly after I wrote my last post I developed a stress fracture in my foot during Zumba class. Unfortunately the injury changed the landscape of my winter training plans and my waistline.

A stress fracture occurs in a weight-bearing bone and is usually caused by repeated stress.  While my body was experiencing the debilitating effects of the stress fracture to my foot, the rest of me was feeling beaten down from the accumulation of life stresses.

January was a uniquely stressful month for myself and my family. We refinanced, had to switch daycare providers (if you've had kids you know what a difficult decision that is), held my cats as they went to sleep for the last time, and for the first time I experienced what its like to represent a company on the front lines—something that is simultaneously rewarding and difficult.

However, at the end of January we somehow managed to pull everything together, hitched up the trailer and headed south for two full weeks of camping at Fort Wilderness Resort.

Our days were filled with walking, biking, swimming, reading and napping. It was divine. We even managed to make it to each of the parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. It was a wonderful time of family-togetherness and recuperation.

Sidelined with an injury, I had to take out my aggression on some alien-life-forms at Epcot.

Sage's homework assignment while on vacation was vlogs to her classroom about Disney World:


I'm back. My foot is slowly healing. I should be able to start biking in 2-4 weeks and running sometime in April. Lumberjack and Iceman registration are just a couple of weeks away . . .

Christmastime

Merry Christmas!!!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend with their loved ones.
I read a lot of status updates on FB of those who felt 'blessed' this Christmas. Is it bad that I was feeling spoiled?

Chad surprised me this year with a Kindle Paperwhite (I wanted a Kindle just for reading--access to other things is too distracting for me!). And a beautiful bracelet made out of a bike chain and has a bike charm. Chad said there is also a "handlebar" charm on there, I won't tell him that its just the clasp.
My mom got me a necklace with an axe charm (for LJ100) as well as a few other beads and charms I can add or remove as I like. I'm going to start collecting charms for some of the events I participate in each year. Lastly, my dad made me the tiled trivet everything is sitting on! It matches our cabinets and goes great in our kitchen.

Here's a summary of our Christmas Day in a video made by my dad (who makes great videos):