A Little Bit of Everything

Wow, there I go starting another blog and then immediately abandoning it. I'd like to think I have a reasonable excuse - I've worked 58 hours in the past 5 days. Whoa. But I'll try to be more regular so they're not all so long.

I'm not quite sure yet how comfortable I am writing about my work. There are confidentiality issues and it's also something I'm not quite sure yet how to talk about, but the general gist of it is this:

I'm an environmental education instructor with the Mono Lake Committee, a fantastic non-profit organization based in Lee Vining, CA. I get to live right next to Mono Lake, a 55,000 acre terminal lake on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains and 12 miles outside of Yosemite National Park. Some mornings I have to pinch myself to make sure this is really my life. The kids we spend time with are inner city youth, a large majority of whom come from Los Angeles County and have not had the opportunity to spend much time outside. During the 5 days they spend with us, they can't use cell phones, ipods or any other technological devices. They spend at least 12 hours/day outside learning the natural and political history of this beautiful basin that I get to call home. Many of them have never touched snow, never seen the stars without light pollution, or have never walked alone in the woods. Selfishly, it's really wonderful to hear them talk about the changes in their perception of the outdoors, "nature" and conservation when they leave. Though they only stay for five days, we get to know them pretty well and it's really rewarding when they begin to open up to us, engage in what we're teaching, even ask about how they might be able to come live here someday (that hasn't happened to me yet, but I've heard it's pretty common). It's mentally and physically exhausting, but I can already tell it's going to be super rewarding. Ok, haha I just realized I said I couldn't talk about it much, then proceeded to write about it for like 10 minutes. It's the day-to-day stuff that I can't write about much, but I'll try to talk about some of the hikes we lead, lessons we teach and cool things we get to see around the basin.

This week we had some weird weather - we were supposed to get snow, then rain, but both of the days this was forecast it turned out to be beautiful for the most part. The hikes we took with this group were pretty short, but it was great to be outside with them. Because I was working so much, I missed a few of my workouts, but I also fit a couple in which I was pretty proud of (and consequently exhausted by). I'm following Hal Higdon's 12 week half marathon training program for novices which can be found here. I just completed the first week, with a few adjustments. My second 3 mile run was on Tuesday and I followed the same route as my first - Utility Rd to 120 to 395 and back home. I completed it in about the same time, but this time I didn't walk at all. Though you can hardly call what I was doing up Utility Rd "running," I was proud that I kept my feet moving the whole time. My body whined about that all the next day - my hamstrings were REALLY sore and my knees were a little tendonitis-y, but the hike we did with the kids the next day really helped break up all that nasty lactic acid. To me, this run was a big personal accomplishment. The day before I was supposed to do a 2 mile run or cross train which I was a little too lazy for, but our hike up to Parker Creek plus all the walking we did around South Tufa probably added up to more than 2 miles, so I didn't feel too bad about that. Thank god Wednesday was supposed to be my rest day because I worked from 7am to 11pm with 1 hour off in the middle. No time/energy to run. I also missed yesterdays 30 min cross training session because after I got off at noon I slept for the ENTIRE afternoon. Then, a good friend of mine arrived in town and we spent most of the evening catching up and hanging out. So as far as sticking to the program goes, this week was less than perfect, but I felt like I got a decent amount of exercise overall.

But I have today off, so I couldn't come up with any excuses not to run the prescribed 4 miles. Thanks to Google pedometer (thanks, Shayna!) I found a great route (or so I thought) south of town among the Aeolian Buttes (the awesome bouldering spot). The great thing about Google pedometer, which can be found here, is that is also includes a topo map. I apparently didn't pay too much attention to that when I mapped out my route this morning, neither did I take into account that the dirt road I would be running was actually about 4 inches of sand on top of graded gravel. I did all 4.16 miles, but it took me a LOOONG time because it was steeper than I planned on and it felt like I was running through quicksand. And by running I mean running on the downhills and walking most of the uphills. Luckily I had downloaded an episode of This American Life that got me through this painful run. After my Utility Rd success earlier in the week I was feeling pretty good, almost cocky, about the running condition I'm in, but this run did a lot to take me off my high horse and remind me that I truly am a beginner. I have a long way to go before I can think about racing 13.1 miles, even farther if I want to complete a full (ugh, no super tacky puns intended). But rather than discourage me, it also put the fire under my butt a little bit to be more strict with myself and my "program." On the plus side though, my pushups are going really well! I can already feel myself getting stronger and I LOVE that tired muscle feeling that I get from doing the real ones.

Ok, here are a few photos of where I live. They weren't taken this week, but they're of some things I've done in the past few days.

The view from Black Point looking back over Mono Lake at the Sierras.

The view of the Sierras from the Aeolian Buttes (can you tell I'm obsessed with these mountains?)

Bodie State Historic Park - the largest unrestored ghost town in the country. From left to right we're looking at an old bar/liquor store, dance hall and general store.

4.14 mi run/walk / 53 min (ouch!)