Rachel Lake from Rampart Ridge
Second backpack trip in June done! This time we decided to do a shorter but steeper route to Rachel Lakes, Rampart Ridge and Rampart Lakes. There were some early morning thunderstorms happening up at Snoqualmie Pass yesterday so we waited until about 8:30 to leave and drove up I-90 to Exit 60 and finally up along Kachess Lake to Box Canyon Road and the trailhead. We got our packs on and headed to the trailhead.
It has now been 60 days since I took any antimicrobial herbs and I must say, I’m feeling pretty darn good. Is the SIBO gone? No, I don’t think so since I still get some symptoms if I eat a bit too crazy on the FODMAP scale but overall I’m doing well and out enjoying life every single day. I had a few days where I considered starting herbals again but that passed and I blame it on a restaurant meal that just didn’t sit right with me. My liver enzymes went back to normal after 30 days off the herbals, AST at 25 and ALT at 20 which was a big relief. Everything is testing in a good range at this point. I’m going to review my Organix test next week and expect that will just be adding in some vitamins and maybe a few supplements. My weight is still on the low side but still I’m holding steady with a hunter-gatherer BMI with typical up and down fluctuations based on what I eat or how active I am.
When I signed up for the Rattlesnake Ridge run back in the winter I had hoped to be ready to do the half marathon up and over the mountain but that wasn’t going to happen so I switched over to the 5-mile run which isn’t even on Rattlesnake proper but instead does an out and back on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. Nice smooth, gravel bike trail with only a few hundred feet of elevation. Pretty easy and fast.
I arrived at 6 a.m. to do setup and registration in the morning. I got through the 50k people by 7:15 or so then the half marathoners began showing up and that went until about 8:30 when they moved the last of registration for that over to the start line. Then I did the 5-mile registration and finished up just in time to go tear off my pants and jacket and get into my sandals. The Lunas got a lot of comment from other runners, they could not believe anyone would run in sandals and this was the most sandal friendly course I’ve ever used them on.
We started out fast, I didn’t want to get behind a bunch of people. On the way down to the turnaround there were 3 people in front of a pack of 4 of us and we just kept changing lead position but were not going to catch the leaders. At the turnaround I was shocked, I’d been keeping a pace barely over 7 minutes a mile! I climb better than many so the slight uphill was nothing and I got past two of the guys in the group easily while one passed me and continued gaining on the next guy. I just kept going fast since I was feeling good and crossed the finish in 37:43, a 7:34 pace! That is the fastest trail 5 mile I’ve ever run, the fastest road 5 mile I’ve run even. 5th overall, just like the Cougar 5k last week. Next up, Lord Hill 10k in July.
Sunrise on Tinkham Peak from Mirror Lake
In May when Catherine and I were in Portland she brought up the idea of maybe doing some backpacking again but trying to go ultralight instead of dealing with the heavy gear we had before. We went to REI down there and it just so happened they were having a huge sale the next day and there is no sales tax in OR so we jumped in and bought gear. Finally yesterday we got a chance to use it for real aside from setting up the tent in the backyard and lighting the stove just to be sure we could do it.
photo by Takao Suzuki
It had been a few months since I’d run an event but I started running again lightly a few weeks ago and decided it was time to get back with my tribe and do an event. The Cougar Series had already started and I wasn’t up for 8.2 miles so I signed up for the new 5k option which was mainly for beginning trail runners to get acquainted with the sport but heck, Eric Bone was running it too so I knew there would be a few of us who were not newbies.
The day was perfect, temps in the 50s at the start and the trails were in great shape since we’ve had no rain to speak of. I opted to run in my Luna Sandals since it was such a nice day and I knew the 5k loop was pretty mellow with only 350′ of gain. I toed the start line so I could stay ahead of a lot of the new runners and hopefully not have to pass on the single track at all. We started and a few of us took off fast, Eric was cruising from the start like Flash. The run started down the road and I was pretty much immediately in 5th place overall and ended up staying there. I lost track of Eric before the single track turn-off but could still see everyone else in front of me make the turn.
The loop was easy enough, some single track, some road. I got passed by a few of the longer distance fast runners but by no one doing the 5k. On downhills I’d occasionally hear someone getting closer to me but then on the uphill I’d gain distance again. I picked it up when there was about 1/2 mile to go but then realized I’d picked it up a bit early when I got to the real final stretch but I was able to keep going at that pace. Crossed the finish in 26:59 officially, my watch showed 26:44 so I’m not sure what that was about. Kept an 8:30 pace which is pretty good for me on a trail run, that was my old half marathon road pace when I was 20 years younger. 5th overall, and 2nd in my age group. Eric, by the way, ran a course record of 19:44. The Lunas did great, glad I chose to run in them and it was good to be back out there on the trails. Next up, Rattlesnake 5-mile on next Saturday. I originally was hoping to do the half there but there is no way I’m up for that climb yet.
I just cannot stay away from Portland, it is the only town where I can go out and eat without any worry about my crazy diet. This last weekend I was down for the SIBO Symposium with my doctor and some SIBO friends and got to check out a new restaurant and a few old favorites from our last visit.
On Friday night three of us walked downtown to go to Departure since it was a beautiful day and sitting out on the terrace just seemed like the thing to do. It was either that or go wait in line at Ox and hope we got in before we starved. We ordered a LOT of food, tables full of food. We ate for 2 hours non-stop. It was great. I think, if I remember correctly we ended up ordering:
What a weekend. I got back last night from several days attending the SIBO Symposium in Portland and crashed hard all night after a few nights of too little sleep, too much sitting, a ton of information and a lot of good food and fun times with friends. I’m going to try and summarize what I learned and how it applies to my case in particular.
On Friday my local ND Christine Bowen, my friend and fellow blogger Shari (sibobreakup.blogspot.com) and I did the drive down to Portland to start the adventure. There we met a few friends from Facebook who were also attending the symposium. We all stayed at the very funky Jupiter Hotel, the only hotel I’ve been in so far that gives you a free condom on your bedside table.