Pear Blossom Run has Come

April 14, 2012 at 7:00 AM the race started with about 1788 other runer counting myself.
The air was a little cool, and some mist in the air, that looked like it was going the rain, but it never happened.

Here I'm coming into the finish, just edging around the female runner, and caching the guy in the black.
I ended up passing about 4 or 5 in the last 150 feet or so.
Being I only had about 6 week to train hard, before the race, I did ok.
Last year I started training right after Thanksgaving, 3 days a week, on the track, at the high school, in the dark most night after work, that was about 6 months.
I felt better this year, through the hole race then last year, I was dead at 2.75 make(last year), and had to slow down to cache my breath, this year I did better.
The time 30:53, for some reason, this is 10 sec. slower then last year ??
I went up in the age group, now being 55 years old, I raced against the 55 to 59 year old guys.
So I  came in 9th out of 26 old guys. In the Top 10 is always good.
Out of all the male runners 598. I came in 293.
And 545th out of 1788 runners.
My mile pace was 9:56 per mile.
My number was 6767.

Open Range?

I did a road trip over Green Spring hwy.

I past by Lincol and Keno and coup very small place and this was alone the way.

A good Ha Ha.

The Train Tunnel Cache

This tunnel started in August 1883 for a train to go through the mountain.

It only goes back about 150 feet to the back wall, and very tall, about 30 + feet high and about 20 wide. The work lasted about 6 months all end on Feb 8, 1884, run out of money.

Buck Rock Tunnel More Buck Rock

About 3 miles round trip and was able to miss the rain and snow, but the high winds was blowing pretty good.

I need to go back and find the other tunnels. Cache.

I did not go in it was to wet and muddy.

Salt in Salt Creek ?

To the left is Salt Creek Falls.

Nice falls, dropping about 60 feet or so.

And a cache there also Salt crek Falls.

Up the road is a place called "Salt Creek" and why is it called Salt Creek?

The old timers (1900) would take water from this spring that dumps into the creek and make salt from it by boiling it down till all that was left was salt. And then take it into town and sell it.

The spring to the right is about 3 feet above the creek and about 25 feet from the creek.

Below you can see the salt build up on the rocks and the other to the lower left is the build up of salt, it must be about 3 feet deep.

The Pear Blossem in 30 day.

I started running last week, in plans of running the pear blossem.

I did run threes day, with a top time of 22 minutes, with some foor problems.

I have about 30 day to get in shape for Pear Blossem run.

The plans was 29 minutes, but because of the short training time, just hoping for 34 minuts.

Up date. 4/1/2012

My training is going will, and I have add arch support to the shoe and I doing even better.

The shoes are about done for I have about 550 mile on this set, but its to close to the Pear Blossem to buy new ones and get them broke in, so I will make it another 3 week on these.

I have been training, based on time, starting at 20 minutes and going up each week by 5 minutes, I'm up to 40 minutes this week and the last real training week, next week will just be a warm up and then I run on Saturday at 7 AM.

The Blue car is on the road.

The old white subaru died the other day on the way home so the Blue (Blue Sky) Geo was but to work a little quick then planned.

It runs will and I have about 400 miles on it and its getting over 40 mpg.

I got most of the meld dew smell gone, I had to run the heater on high for about week.

Still lots of little things to do.

I have done the brakes and door hinge pins.

Found and nice radio at the P and P yard for $10 its a AM/FM, CD and cassette.

As of now I used 37.6 gal of gas on 1600 miles with an 43.9 mpg averaged.

The almost the last snow of the year.

The snow just seem to not run out.

But here is picurer of one of the last storm of the hear.

When I started this I thought the snow was over, but I was so wrong.

We had lots of little storm.

I was in Willams pulling buses out of 8 inches of snow.

I had two buses stuck pretty good, I got one out in about 15 minutes with a shovel, after driving for 45 minutes. Ha Ha.

The other one had drop off the road in to a ditch by the time I had gotten there.

I didn't have my camera with me but it was fun.

Just Sunday(March 18), on the way from church, we had about every weather you could guess,

Snow, hale, sleat, white out, blowing sides way and flat sides, but we did not see any snow, snowing up yet, Ha Ha.

A Anniversary to Mark the Month Febraruay

Rochelle and Dan were married 33 years ago on Feburay 9.

It seem just like yesterday, that this took place.

We went out to a movie and dinner and had a good time.

Boy what a long time, my parent last only 25 years.

It seem to get easier, some ways and harder in other ways.

But you gotta laughing every day, its to hardar to cry.

These are the only pictures I have, I lost all the goods one when the computer crashed last year. I'll let you guess who is who. Ha Ha.

The Running is Slowing Down

Last week I was running at the RR track and was doing some short speed runs.

And I injured my left foot, or danage the arch area of my left foot.

So this, happened to my right foot about 8 years or so ago, and took more then a year for it to heal, but it never really completely healed.

Now I went out tonight and jogged about a 1.5 miles, with some changes to the arches of the running shoes and it seem to have helped.

We will see how the week goes.

Rogue River Run is February 19 :(

New Plates

Had to get license plates for the Blue Geo

It a "SHARE THE ROAD" plate.

The funds go to "Cycle Oregon" and "Bicycle Transportation Alliance"

Its only $10 more for the set, and the best of all its

a one time cost, it is not every time you renew the tags.

So, I haven't come up with the words for this acronym.

F E J A - For Every Jumping Ahead.

That not very good.

Any ideals.

The Blue Geo

Been looking for another Geo Metro, to replace Red one.Would like a four door, but none around right now, so I pick this one around the corner on Pine Grove, for a song and a dance, the motor and trans seem realy good, some small leaking to fix.But the carpet is really bad, and the inside is pretty dirty, and it needs a pair of front tires.I have already found a replacement driver seat and pull the old rug out.Should have this all done by April, just in time, I hear that gas prices are going up, this spring and into summer, this would be a good time to sell the Red Geo rag top.For the miles on it, it runs pretty good, 165,000 miles.

Move Night

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Rochelle and Dan went out tonight (4:30) and caught this move.

A good move and lots of action and a good ending.

A little long over 2 hours.

A good one to see if your looking a good one.

Off and Running Again

And up date from 2011 and my running.
I did four 5K races and one Duathlon.
I started training after Thanksgaving 2010, I think I could just jog about 1/3 of a mile with out stopping.
And the first race was in April and I ran it 30:42.
And I seem to get slower after that.
And the Duathlon, it was 13 mile mountain biking and then you get off and run 5 miles, this about did me in, but I finshed, 2:36:20. Not sure this will happen again.
So the plan is to do four 5k and get my time down to 29 minutes.

The Great Amazing Cache

The Great Amazing Cache July 2011.
They had this great caching event in Central Point, Oregon.
Had lots of placex and trophies
And had a 15 stage Multi-Cache.
You had to find all find 15 legs whitch had one number in each find, to make up a coordinate, at the end you had to put together all the number and find the last spot or box.
There was about 50 people that show up.
I joined up I-seek 1 and I-seek 2 as a team, and did pretty good.
We went after the avage time it took to find and finish and complete.
We need to match 1 hour and 13 minutes, our team came at 1 hour and 24 minutes, so we came in 2nd place.
There was a young couple who showed up with no GPS, so the guys that was running the thing set they Cell phone up so that there could go and play.
They had a great time for the first timers do this Event.

Save the Retiles, Day

I kept coming across little animals that needed saving from cars.

This one was laying across the road up in the mountains and I just missed him or her with the car, went right under it, right between the tires.

I stopped and got out to get this guy out of the road and He would not move, then I bumped him with my foot, then He was moving pretty slow.








Then a day later I went out jogging and at the mail box was a blue belly lizard on the road.
Again He would not get off the road.
Then I bumped him with my shoe and off He went.


So when I get round the corner, and up Redthorn road, there is this box turtle in the road, walking really slow. He is about 6 inch across his back.

Will he was moving any ways, even if it was slow.

And you know when I bump Him with my shoe He just stopped right there.

I pick up the turtle and and was carrying Him across the ditch, when I slipped and fell down and drop the poor thing, but lucky for the turtle He has a hard shell, and all was alright.
That is the day of the great Reptile migration

Dominic In The Bouncey House

On June 25 the City of Central Point, had this Battle of the Bones, near were Molly lives, about two blocks away.
Its a big food thing, seem like a lot of money for the small amount of food you get, and it tasted pretty good.
But the three bounce houses were cool and Dominic love these.

And they were FREE.


There was a bigger one, but I didn't get a picture of it because I was inside with Dominic.
There were these air block you had to clime over and a hill and at the end, a big slide.

We raced though it. LOL

The Granite-Man Duathlon 2011 Ride # 18

On June 11 they have a triathlon and duathlon at Applegate lake.
The race starting in the swimming area and ends there.
So I did the Duathlon 13.5 miles of mountain biking, mostly single track trails.
Then after that's done, you park the bike and jog 5 miles back to the park were I started with the bike.
John Bermea also was there, but He did the Triathlon, and that is a .75 swim, then He bikes and runs the same distance that you do in the duathlon.
So there are about 21 people doing the Duathlon solo part so we line up and start one at a time, because the trail is so skinny.
We leave about ever 30 seconds or so, you have to walk your bike across the mates, this is to make sure your time is pick by the 4 pads, you can see them behind me in the picture, above.
As I started the ride down this black top path, past camping area, and into a boat ramp parking area, and then you pick up a little dirt trail next to the boat ramp.
I get down the trail about 1/4 mile and I come around a corn this bike is down over the bank and the rider is crawling up hill on all fours to get to his bike and drag it up the hill with him, I yelled out to see if He was ok. and He was, I'm hoping that I'm not the next one to fall the trail.
In about 100 yards, you come out on the main road for about 3/4 mile and lots of passing going one at this point, I got past by 4 other riders and I past 2 myself.
Thin the single track trail comes up, very nice trail, and you drop down into a creek crossing with some rock to get around, about 100 feet past this there is a bike fixing a front flat tire.
For the next 10 miles I pass 3 more and and get pasted 2 times, shoulder hit one tree, and the bike only went over the bank a little ways one time.
Right near the end is a big hill climb about 1/3 mile long, the the super rider caught me on the hill.
I did this part in about 1:22 and then I start jogging really slow.
I was really tired, only 5 miles to go.
I ran about 4 miles and walk maybe a 1 mile. I got pasted lots of times, and I pasted 2 person and I caught 2 just before the finish line.
I did the hole thing in 2 hours and 36 minutes.
I came in 18th out of 19 solos.
I came in 1st in my age group, I was the oldest doing it solo and only one in my age group.
And John caught me about 2 minutes from the finish line, He was really happy about that.

One More 5K Done

Saturday I ran in the Bridge the Gap run.
A 5K and 10K, I just did the 5k.
It all started at 8:30AM with a all start at once with no real clock to show the ones at the back of the pack losing 10 to 30 sec. of time.
This started at the Rail Road Park,in Medford, off table rock road.

My Game Face. My place on the board.
I cane in 50 out of 145.
Number 5 in my age group, of 50 to 60 year old male and females.
And cut 40 sec. of my best time for 30 minutes, should have been better, but till me 10 sec. get to the start line.

Table Rock Hike

The RS need and couple of Priesthood holder to go on the hike with them 2 Saturday ago.
So I went alone.
I learn why the upper table rock is call UPPER, it is because it is up river from the lower table rock.
(up the Rogue River)
Marcia Winteer works for the BLM as a botanist and seems to know all about the flower grown on and around table rock.
So have some video of the flow names.

Easter Time

Easter at the Ford house.
We had a fire in the fire pit and had hot dogs and salads of different types.
Paul and Robyn and kids.
Sari and Andrew and kids.
Mike and Brook and kids.
Mike and Heather and kid.
Lots of eggs to find.
The weather was very good to uses.
A small sprinkle of rain.
Had a great time visiting and caching up on what everyone is up to.
The old swing was rediscovered out back, I did not get out there for the pictures.
All had a good time.