Washington wildlife

Well one thing that I don't get in the gym, and don't really get in the wilds of London is the beautiful wildlife that I get to see on my runs around here. We have SO many deer around our house, and hawks, it is great!

Here were two cheeky buggers outside in the yard.

Get to see lots of these guys too - they are all over the place looking for little voles and stuff - one likes to hang out in our tree and he is massive!

But, this one last week was an absolute joy - I wish I had had my camera with me to capture it as they are so rare around here! A bald eagle! It was one of those runs that I wasn't really feeling too, and I went a way outside my normal route, so I was really lucky to catch it.

Just beautiful and so majestic. It was really inspirational!

The week in running has been okay. I managed a long one on Saturday after a bit of late evening, but did it backward to avoid some of the heavy wind of the week before. Bad idea! It meant it saved all of the hills until the end, and they were brutal! Gorgeous day out though - we got a couple days of warm weather and sunshine, so that was a nice break!

Have been in the gym a few more times too, just chugging along. Oh, and I did my first track workout outside in weeks - it was a bit of a killer - 9x800 - but I managed surprisingly well after the hiatus!

Family stuff is going okay too. We had a good weekend in that Dad came up to the mountain (our condo at a local ski hill) for the day on Sunday to watch the football playoffs. Again, it was a bit of a mission, and took some convincing, but it was great! (well, the football wasn't that great). He hadn't realised how hard the steps would be, after months of not doing any, so those were a bit of a killer. But they have been a good motivator in that now he is super keen to try to work on getting stronger and practicing some more, so that he can do more things - he said he likes his 'outings', even if I do have to pout a bit to get him out there!

A woman who helps run the regional amyloidosis support groups came over yesterday - she has been in remission for 5 years and was worse off than Dad when she was diagnosed! It was very good to get to talk to her - she knows as much as anyone about the disease and is obviously very positive about getting through it, despite the odds. She had a different type of the disease to Dad, but she still puts a lot of it down to attitude and positivity to help get her to where she is today! It seemed to really have an effect on him, though he was also thinking inaccurately that he had the same type as her. All the same, we need to just keep thinking positive - and running, or flying, with the wind!