Cant Run, Cant Drive...

Bummer weekend. BUT, Coulda Been Worse. Rich and I were all prepared to run the Moab Other Half Marathon http://www.moabhalfmarathon.org/other/other_half.html - trained hard and were ready. Until, we got struck by the bug. The cold wet camping trip did me in as I had begun that with a cold already and Rich caught a bit of the flu. We headed down to Moab, anyway, hopeful that a couple of good night's sleep and we would be good enough to go. Nope. A short trial run convinced me to hang it up and Rich tried an easy bike ride but soon discovered that he couldnt breathe and had no energy. Oh, well. I got in a very nice hike with Jen and Patti on Saturday anyway (see pics) and Rich got to try out his new single speed a little. But then, on Sunday, we were ready to get home and be home and hop in the hot tub and warm up and be comfy... alas, the van died. The alternator decided to quit and leave us stranded. Fortunately, Jen and Patti could get us back to SLC, however, we had to wait about 4 hours for them to finish the race and be ready to go! Now we have to travel back down to Moab next weekend to get the van. One the good side: the mountains got a couple of feet of snow! And, yes, that ski picture was taken this month!

Rain, Snow, Sleet and Hail

And a good time was had by all! Camping for 4 days with our 7th grade students on the first of their 3 adventure experiences. The kids were amazing - such great attitudes in the face of some really hard weather. They were soaking wet and cold and didnt have all the best gear, for sure. The focus of this adventure was backpacking as a skill, and WWII as curriculum as that is what they are studying in their expedition classes. The camping trip was designed to give them an empathic idea of what it would be like to be a soldier. They spent the first day in "basic training" where they learned map and compass skills, basic first aid, teambuilding and physical training. They also learned backpacking skills. The weather didnt permit us to do our overnight backpack, but we made the best of it. The students went out anyway, for day trips to fulfill their "missions". They had to use their compass skills to find the food that was "dropped" in the wilderness, and to find the "enemy camp". They ate real MRE's for dinner and journaled from a soldier's perspective. It was a great learning experience and even though it was difficult they had a great time!

Cyclocross!!

Saturday, the 6th, started cyclocross season. Rich went out and played in the snow and rain and mud. Cyclocross, for those of you who dont know, is one hour of all out riding without stopping, with mud pits and barriers thrown in the way. Rich loves this stuff! Me, I am the dutiful pit crew, standing around handing my stallion a water bottle as he passes. hahahahaha. Anyway, cross races are super fun. Rich did well, although, his bike didnt cooperate, chain jumping off at unexpected times and causing him delays. This week he is opting out of racing in lieu of a long ride to get some miles in before his half Ironman in November.