Catawba Falls Hike

Brad and I were both off on Friday so we decided to check out a local trail. We chose a shorter one because we both had other stuff we needed to get finished during the day. 

Trail details:

Catawba Falls

3074 Catawba River Road Old Fort, NC

Directions:  Take I-40 E from Asheville to the second Old Fort Exit 73. Before the ramp ends, take a RIGHT on Catawba River Road. Follow it to the end (about 3 miles). 

This was a great short hike with the option to really challenge yourself with some technical hiking/climbing at the end. I have no idea how long it was because my Fitbit died and I wasn't wearing my Garmin. I'm guessing round trip maybe 2.5 miles?

Brad continued by himself on the steeper part (heading to the top of the falls). I'm afraid of heights and while I was confident in my ability to climb up, I was not so confident in my ability to rappel down (there were ropes tied by God knows who to assist). He said the view up there wasn't worth all the trouble. 

This was a great, short hike. It had beautiful views, several water crossings, and what looked to be several good places to get in and cool off. I'd definitely recommend it if you're in the area!

Weekly Workouts

well, funny story. i haven't been writing down my workouts. the past two weeks have been a blur. i had a chest cold/sinus thing, e started preschool, then she either picked something up there or got what i had (or both), then it turned into an ear infection. so yeah. i always think i'll be able to remember, but YEAH RIGHT. i can barely remember what i ate for lunch today. so here's what i remember from the last two weeks:

last monday:  trail run (i have no idea how far) then... my first fundamentals class at Beer City CrossFit! it wasn't a workout, more of a run through of some basic movements. 

i planned to get up and go to 6am WOD the next morning, but I was up sick all night. no go. 

wednesday:  first WOD at BCCF.

  shoulder press (6x2 shoulder press, climb to AHAP) (35#, 55#, 60#, 65#, 65#, 70#)

  metcon (AMRAP)

  shoulder press, 1 set AMRAP at 80% (55# x 10)

  metcon (time)

  10 to 1

  box jump 30/24

  toes to bar

  KBS 2/1.5

  *following every set of KBS, 100m single arm KB carry (switch half way) I think my time was like 18 something. I didn't write it down. 

thursday, friday, saturday:: work, work, work, work work. i was able to get a short trail run in on saturday. luckily i didn't take me phone with me because i got about a mile in and the sky opened up. total downpour. 

sunday:: i ran and brad and i walked about 3 miles in downtown asheville. 

monday, tuesday, wednesday:: work days but i ran after e went to sleep a few nights. no idea which days or how many miles.

thursday::  WOD at BCCF

metcon (time):

3 rounds

  10 alt turkish get ups

  50 flutter kicks (4-ct)

  :60 front leaning rest Leaning rest my ass. It's a plank. 

metcon (time):

20 rounds

  5 single arm KB row (each) 1.5/1 pood

  10 ring push ups

  15m walking lunge I can't remember my times and i'm too lazy to look them up on Wodify.

friday:: stroller walk/run with E (she's home sick with an ear infection).

sunday::

today e was feeling better so we loaded up and went to dupont state forest. so my workout was about 3 miles of trails with a 30 pound baby on my back!

here's to a good week! hitting it hard (and writing it down)!

jackson hole vacation :::: part 4

okay last part [five years after the fact]! friday we reluctantly left the ranch and went to the airport to pick up a car. then we drove out to the grand teton ski resort area to check into the hotel terra. we decided to stay out there versus in jackson because the rates were so much better. once we arrived we found out that they'd upgraded us (perks of booking in the off season!).

the room was amazing, but we didn't really spend too much time in it! we dropped off our stuff and headed to a trail that one of the ranch hands recommended.

we had teton thai for dinner and it was great! the next morning we got up and headed to the snake river to go rafting. the rapids were a lot more technical than anything i've ever been on before, so fun! unfortunately the trip only lasted about 45 minutes.

after rafting we went to downtown jackson for lunch and to look around. we had lunch at cafe genevieve (delicious!) and then shopped around a little. we went to the million dollar cowboy bar and sat in the saddles to have a drink.

i can't remember if i mentioned it, but FYI most of those are elk antlers and the elk shed them every year. i didn't know this when we arrived and i was a little disturbed!

after we left downtown, we drove around to try to find animals and we had pretty good luck!

you can't see in the picture, but there was a calf with that moose. we got to see it nurse! we didn't see a single bull moose while we were there, just the ladies.

we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at the blue lion. great atmosphere and food. we both had elk steaks and really enjoyed sitting out on the porch and listening to the guitar player. great way to end the trip.

the next morning we got up a little earlier than we needed to so that we could drive through the national forest at dawn on the way to the airport. we saw another moose and some deer. we were really sad to leave, this was my favorite vacation we've taken.

jackson hole vacation :::: part 3

tuesday morning i got up early for yoga, what a great way to start the day! afterwards i came back to get brad and enjoy the tea that was delivered to our cabin. tuesday was the only morning that yoga was offered so on the other days we got into a great routine of waking up when the tea was delivered, stoking up the fire and having quiet time and reading our Bibles before breakfast. loved it.

the three main things we did were hiking, horseback riding, and fly fishing. i guess it's probably easiest to just post the pics and go from there!

while we were riding shelby taught me a lot about the wildflowers that were all over the place. aaaand i don't remember the name of this one :)

where we stopped to eat lunch on our first ride

my horse for the rides, devish

ready to go fishing!

brook trout!

we fished near those willows on the left and you can see our cabin a little further up

getting ready for our second ride to disappearing lake

grizzly scratches

disappearing lake (it is filled by snow melt, then evaporates by about july)

riding back to the ranch (our new friend faye up front)

we rode into the gross ventre wilderness --- no wheels or machines allowed!

the creek (i saw the moose here when i was running, by myself, with no camera... so everyone acts like they don't believe me)

south ridge

i guess that's pretty much it as far as the ranch went. i completely recommend the ranch if you're into that kind of thing. i hope we'll be able to go back, we both really enjoyed it! 

.:weekend in the smokies:.

friday [after my mini meltdown] brad and i headed to tennessee for a weekend with friends. after we made it through the ridiculous traffic we checked our cabin. it had been raining for most of the day but it gave us the opportunity to see the 'smoke' over the mountains. beautiful.

when shannon and chris arrived we went to dinner at the smokey mountain brewery. the food was just alright but the beer was great.

saturday we got up and headed to cade's cove, where we were able to spot several white tailed deer and turkey. after lunch we hiked up to grotto falls. it was a great hike and we also saw a black bear on the way up.

it was a great weekend, and it was so good to see shannon and chris. even if i saw shann every weekend it wouldn't be enough! we lived together for 4 years and i forgot how much i missed just being in the same house as her. i'm blessed to have her as friend.

thank you all for your sweet comments and encouragement about my last post. i hadn't heard of post marathon blues but i'd say i've got all the symptoms! it's nice to know i'm not the only one who's ever been through it, and hopefully i'll get back to my 'normal' soon!