Rio Chama

At the beginning of June, Mike and a few co-workers decided to raft the Rio Chama and patrol since some of the river is on BLM land.  They had to check out a few places that are only accessible by raft as well.  Another wife and I decided to join for the 3-day journey.  So the five of us put in the river around noon on Friday and took out early evening on Sunday.  I had never done any sort of rafting so it seems logical that they put me in my own one-man ducky.  ;)  It really wasn't too bad because there were only about 6 rapids over the course of 30 some miles and the most difficult we faced was class 3.

Me and my ducky.  A hat and my water keens were critical for this trip!

Mike also had a ducky - during the class 3 rapid, he did run into the rock cliff...eh hem...but I didn't.  :)  No one flipped their ducky's during the rapids but I always wore my helmet when we got close to the rapids...just in case.

 Here's our crew - three of us were in ducky's and then 2 were in the raft carrying all of our gear, food, tents, coolers, dry bags, etc.

A lot of sunscreen was critical for this trip!

These zip off pants were the BEST! When zipped off they became bermuda shorts(perfect length) and they were super comfy!

We took a few short hikes.

Our view from our tent on Saturday evening.  Two in our party were veteran rafters so they thankfully knew what they were doing, planned all of our breakfasts and dinner, & knew where some great camping spots were.

Campfire - of course we had 'smores!!

It was a really fun trip because it was not busy on the river at all - for this river, you have to have a permit to raft so the number of rafts and groups were very limited.  Like camping, I really enjoyed disconnecting from the world on this trip and getting to know some of Mike's co-workers a little better.

eye problems...and heart issues?

I had to take my poor love bug(aka Stuart) to the vet this afternoon because he's had a goopy & gunky eye for about a month now.  It's something that gets better than gets worse again...and it always seemed to be the worst right after we picked him up from boarding.  (we've had to board Stu about 3 times over the last month because of various travel/etc)  I decided it was time to get it checked out after some self diagnosing from the good 'ole web.

Vet visit was fine - nothing serious, gave me some cream stuff to put in his eye and an anti-itch pill.  While the vet was checking out Stu, she listened to his heart and said..."his heart beat is really slow and sounds a little abnormal."  Kirsten- "Umm...what?"  She took another listen, for longer this time, and indicating his heart rate was 56 beats per minute and was fairly irregular.  She indicated dogs, in general, have a heart beat between 90-160 beats depending on the type of dog and the size.  She recommended we get him an ultrasound and EKG to check it out further.  She said as he gets older he could need a pacemaker depending on the seriousness.  Seriously??!!

You'll be surprised to hear that I did not breakdown in tears at the vet...but I did start crying when explaining it all to Mike.  Just news I certainly don't want to hear about my bambino.  In all Stu's checkups, no one has ever mentioned this(he probably goes to the vet about twice a year) so at this point I'm not going to panic.  He's been a little lethargic lately anyway so maybe he was extra relaxed at the vet...I'm going to give his eye time to heal and then see how he's acting.

A pacemaker for a dog?  Doesn't that make you laugh out loud a little bit?...in spite of the seriousness of a slow/irregular heart beat.

a birthday in Sedona

We spent my birthday in Sedona, AZ in early May.  We also ventured on a day trip to the Grand Canyon but the GRAND CANYON most definitely deserves a GRAND post of its own so more to later on that.

Welcome to Sedona, AZ ~ red rock country

We arrived on my actual birthday, settled into our cottage, enjoyed a dinner out, and a few cocktails.

We did A LOT of hiking so we got a lot of great pictures of the amazingly beautiful landscape.

So lovely!  I wish I could post every picture we took ~ so amazing.

~ Chapel of the Holy Cross ~

View from the entry area of the Chapel of the Holy Cross

One day we took a longer hike of 6 miles in a nicely shaded trail that crossed a creek bed about 10 times.  It was a fairly easy hike and fun to see all the wildlife and, once again, the beautiful red rocks.

We visited Slide Rock State Park where there is a natural rock slide that you can actually slide down.  It was incredibly slippery/slimey anywhere that water hit the rocks...it's a "you should be on all fours" type of slippery because you have no grip whatsoever.  Right when we got there a 70 year old gentleman slipped and hit his head on the rocks and wouldn't come too.  The woman he was with started screaming and I starting freaking and Mike took off running back toward the Ranger station because no one had cell service.  Luckily the gentleman did eventually "awaken" and Mike brought the ranger back and the ambulance showed up shortly after.  What a scary and helpless feeling!

Here is the slide.

Sliding down the slide ~ it was SO cold so I only ended up going twice.

Mike's turn.

Enjoying the day at Slide Rock.

More hiking and wonderful views.

I'll post again to relive the Grand Canyon and Bearizona...such a great trip full of adventure and beauty! 

The warm weather in April really got me thinking again about running another half-marathon and I've decided to go for it.  The race is 9/16 here in Santa Fe ~ anyone want to join me?

Here is the schedule I'm using - this is sort of a combination of various training schedules I've used in the past.  Besides strength training (which I've really never done in the past while training and I now know is way more important than plain 'ole cardio, so I hope to be consistent with 2-3 days of strength each week), Thursday's are going to be a "mix it up" day so I don't get bored.

Throughout the training:

• Wednesday's and Friday's are strength days - I'm going to do my best to achieve my strength days!!
• Thursday's are HIIT/Cross/Downhill days - HIIT=High Intensity Interval Training which means I'll use the treadmill and do something like 30 second sprints/30 second rest for 30-45 minutes(which includes a 5 min warmup and 5 min cooldown).  If I don't do HIIT, cross-train, or downhills, I'll run 3-5 miles, depending on where I am in my schedule.  I've been doing some HIIT and am really enjoying it!
• Sunday's are Rest/Strength/Yoga days - depending on what I accomplish during the week will determine what I do on Sunday's. 

I started a few weeks earlier this year and have incorporated some catch-up weeks.  When I travel, I usually don't follow my schedule very well, if at all, which is why I incorporated some extra weeks.  I also didn't have the best "base" of miles prior to starting so the first few weeks are pretty light.  If I jump into lengthy runs without a good base, I usually end up having IT band problems so I'm hoping to steer clear of those issues by adding a few extra weeks.  :)

Week of 6/4:
Mon - 3
Tues - 3
Sat - 4

6/11:
repeat week of 6/4

6/18:
repeat week of 6/4

6/25:
Mon - 3.5
Tues - 3.5
Sat - 5

7/2:
repeat previous week / catch-up

7/9:
repeat week of 6/25

7/16:
Mon - 4
Tues - 4
Sat - 6

7/23:
Mon - 4
Tues - 4
Sat - 7

7/30:
Mon - 5
Tues - 4-4.5
Sat - 8

8/6:
Mon - 5
Tues - 4.5
Sat - 10

8/13:
repeat previous week / catch - up

8/20:
Mon - 5
Tues - 5
Sat - 10

8/27:
Mon - 6
Tues - 5
Sat - 12

9/3:
Mon - 6
Tues - 5
Sat - 8

9/10:
Mon - 4
Thurs - 3
Fri - 2-3
Sun - RACE!!!

I have my schedule in an easy to read excel doc posted on my refrigerator but wasn't able to get that format imported into the blog.  Hopefully you can follow the plan ok.

Let me know if you'd like to join me on 9/16!!  :)  I ran this race last year and starting at mile 3, it is a slight downhill all the way to the finish line so it's a fairly "easy" course.

finally!

I'll be in my current position with my employer for about about a year in August and I now have final travel dates to visit Manila, Philippines(the location of the Contact Center I work with).  And...I think I may stay a few extra nights on my own time at one of their beach destinations.  Certainly, this white body may go into shock if it gets exposed to the sun but I'll wear plenty of sunscreen.

The details are still to be worked out but I'm super pumped that I finally have some dates and am even more excited to meet my partners/co-workers/friends in the Philippines!  :)

I'm sure I'll have lots of stories to tell you!

camping must-haves

We went camping this weekend but our time got cut short because it was exhaustingly windy.  We camped near Taos right on the Rio Grande river.  It was a great camp ground and we had a great camp site...25 feet from the river.  Mike went up Friday morning(he actually worked all weekend so I was on my own most of the time) and Boulevard and I headed up Friday after work.(wasn't sure how Stu would do so we boarded him)

A few camping must haves:

1. REI Campbed 3.5
This camp pad was AMAZING...so amazing that I didn't even hear the nearby campsite(maybe a 1 minute walk from our site) that was being so loud that the police were called around 11:30pm by the camp host.  HA - Mike even responded to the call and I didn't even know it happened or woke up until Mike got into the tent for the night.  Like I said, the sleeping pad was amazing!

2. Wet wipes - I used the Wet Ones brand for my hands and Neutrogena for my face.  These were CRITICAL due to all the blowing dirt and the fact that the power went out on Saturday so there was no running water.  The Neutrogena wipes were great to wash my face right before dozing off on my sleeping pad.

3. Tuna Salad - It was so windy, any type of fire was out of the question but since I make an impecable Tuna Salad, I did not starve without a grill.  Soooo yummy!

4. Walk Easy - This is a harness/collar/bra thing for Boulevard.  The camp host actually saw Boulevard dragging me around the camp site so he brought this Walk Easy over and it was fabulous.  No pulling or yanking my arm off any longer!  I will be purchasing one.

(Boulevard after swimming in the river - you can sort of see the Walk Easy)

5. Bandana/hat - Used to keep my hair out of my face,(I have shorter hair now so a pony tail isn't an option) protect my head from the sun, & I pulled it down to protect my ears from the sun as well.  I preferred a bandana so I could also wear my sunglasses.

(after a short little hike for us after Mike left for work - bandana = must have)

6. Kindle/Book - I spent 80% of the time reading and playing games on my Kindle.  Boulevard was exhausted by noon on Saturday and was not interested the 4th time I took him to the river to swim so I did a lot of reading.  I swear every time the camp host came to visit I was in the same spot - sitting in my camping chair with my feet propped on the picnic table for practically the entire day.  I finished "Heaven is For Real" ~ great book if you're looking for a new read.

Here are a few more pictures:

(our camping headquarters)

 (three of the best guys in my life - Stu is too!)

 (Mike and Ranger relaxing before going to work - the morning's were beautiful!)

 (the view from Boulevard and my hike - view of the Rio Grande - our camp site was beyond the bridge)

We live in an amazing place - New Mexico really is the 'Land of Enchantment!'

travel memories

I know you're probably saying, "Two blogs by Kirsten in one day?"  Writing about our upcoming vacation made me think of my morning ritual(green tea and/or coffee) and my favorite mugs I drink from.

After we moved to D.C. I started collecting Starbucks mugs representing all the places we have travelled.  Some places we go do not have mugs :( but here is my collection.  You can probably guess that the D.C. mug was my first and the only one that I personally have not travelled to get is the Puerto Vallarta mug(it was a gift from Mike's parents)...that said, though, I can't wait to have the opportunity to travel to Puerto Vallarta.

Top Row: San Diego, Colorado, England

Middle Row: Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Paris, France

Bottom Row: Arizona, Washington D.C, New Mexico, Las Vegas, New York, London

We have an exciting trip in the Fall planned of cruising the Mediterranean so I'll probably need an extra suitcase to bring home all my new mgs.  :)