This past 4th of July weekend was our first attempt at dragging Linnea through a multi-day ultimate frisbee tournament.  Overall, the event was a success and Linnea had a good attitude on the field.   There was one other bbay (14 months) on the team with us.  Miguel and I picked up with a group of players from Nanaimo, B.C.  We didn't know most of the team but we wanted to play in the tournament, so we accepted the invitation.  As the days drew nearer, I had thoughts of bagging out so we could leave the chaos and unknown behind us.  How was she going to sleep on the field?  Food?  How would we heat up the food and what if she cries the whole time?  Think of all the packing and unpacking and ugh - what a lot of work!

Soon it was Saturday morning and the alarm sounded.  Miguel and I went into action and had the car packed up, kid changed and in the carseat, and were heading down I-5 by 7:45am.  The tournament was 3 days long.  We played 6 hours of frisbee each day and overall, Linnea did great.  Miguel and I would trade her back and forth as we played a few points and came off the field for a few.  We passed her off to welcoming teammates and everyone helped out.  We only had two major problems.  1- Napping.  We tried and tried and could not get this girl to go to sleep.  To her credit though, Potlatch is not really a sleeping environment.  At any one time, there are people yelling, blowing horns, playing loud rock music, dancing, hooting for drinking games, running around in chicken suits, full body pink spandex, moose heads and clown outfits.  It is doubtful that anyone could sleep through the chaos.

Our first night, we paid for the lack of sleep during the day as Linnea woke up screaming at 10pm in the hotel room.  We tried all we could think of to calm her down, and we must have put that pacifier back in her mouth a hundred times before we resorted to taking her for a drive.  The car was more of a soundproof box than anything - as I was certain we were keeping the entire building awake.  Within 5 minutes of driving, Miss Linnea was sound asleep with the pacifier hanging loosly from her lips.  We drove for 40 minutes and transferred her back into the crib successfully.  She woke again in a couple hours and so I put her between us in the bed - where she slept until morning.  It was a rough one for all of us.  The next day we learned to feed her more throughout the day, and to nurse her laying down in the bed until she fell asleep.  We also learned that we love King size beds.  

2- Drinking.  Our child loves to eat and drink everything.  Well, out on the frisbee field, that includes adult beverages - and they are everywhere!  PBR, Gin & Tonics, Coors Light, Red Bull.  Whatever we're drinking out of those shiny containers sure looks good to Linnea, and she'll scream and twist and churn if we don't give it to her.  Luckily we made it through the weekend without our 9 month old getting sloshed from an unattended drink - but there were a few times when I had to pull her entire fist out of someone's mixed drink.  

Our team was placed in the D-Pool (out of pools A-F) and we won 4 and lost 4 games throughout the weekend.  We played hard and Miguel had his usual stellar catches and throws that turn heads up and down the field - so that was fun for all of us.  Linnea was a good sport and she cheered for mom and dad - especially when prompted.  Thanks "7 Potatoes" for a great weekend.  Our big adventure comes to a close and Linnea is once again happily sleeping in her own little bed.     

This weekend was my first game of "women's" ultimate in over a year.  The day before Chick Flick, a women's hat tournament in Seattle, I rallied 2 Bellingham women to join me, Jessee and Betsy, and Erika was already planning on it.  The four of us piled in my car at 6:30 in the morning and headed down to Seattle.

Unfortunately, 2 days prior, I came down with a cold that was either passed to me by Miguel from his students or from my co-workers, who had all fallen ill in the previous 2-3 weeks.  I was battling the headache and congested feeling, but decided I was well enough to play; regardless of the fact that it was supposed to be cold, overcast, and possibly raining.  

We took a few wrong turns on the way to the fields, but eventually found the place in good time.  The four of us were on 3 different teams, which was nice so that we could meet new people.  I joined the "Psyche" team with my friend Annie, who used to live in Bellingham.  Our fine team included KK fron Riot, Eva from Riot, and Gwen from Fury (since they have webpages, I thought I'd link to them), two 8th Graders named Jesse and Sonya, and several other fine women from the Seattle area.  Being one of about 2 women players in Bellingham for a couple of years causes me to get pretty excited when I have a chance to play good ultimate with all women.  

And boy was I spoiled this weekend.  I'd have a few photos to show you if I hadn't left my camera's memory card at work, but I'm sure you've seen ultimate photos before.  Our team had a lot of energy, and although we made a habit of getting a slow start (scoring 1 out of the first 6 points, for example), our SOUL seemed to kick in, along with our Mojo, and we somehow pulled together a win for all 4 of our games!  It feels pretty different having all women on the field, and narrows the gap a bit between the skill level and speed.  It was really great seeing 14 year olds "going to" the disc and getting "up" to catch a high disc.  It would have been so awesome to have played ultimate in 8th grade!  

Anyway, I don't need to talk your ear off about it.  Obviously I have an affection for women's ultimate.  There's a hat tournament next weekend.  I've also got a wedding function to attend, but I think I can squeeze it in.  I'm hooked.

When we first moved here, "going to ultimate" involved throwing the dogs, cleats, water bottles and "light and dark" shirts in the car and heading to a grass field.  We'd arrive in the parking lot and wait for the cars to start filing in.  At first, we were the newbies, and we noticed the tight-knit group of friends that made up the rest of the group, with all their sexual inuendos, heckling and good hearted jabs at each other.  This was the group that eventually comprised our entire group of friends here in Bellingham.  This was the group that after 5 years helped Miguel and I make the decision to stay here, rather than move back to Oregon as first intended.

For several years we lived it up, travelling to frisbee tournaments all over, within about an 8-hour drive.  We were awesome as a team, and almost reached ultimate victory for a local squad; one point away from heading to regionals.  That glory  lasted for about 3 solid years.  Thing started changing about 2 years ago when couples on the team, who brought us our experience and stability, started having children, college players, who brought us our sass and young legs, started finding jobs and higher education in other towns, injuries put people on the sidelines, and we lost our umph.

For the last 2 years it's been difficult to get a real game going, even in good sunny weather.  We're especially struggling to find women that want to play.  Pick-up has turned more into a teaching exercise to try and "build the community", rather than a good, gut wrenching workout.  This summer, however, we did have an influx of a few motivated players that have taken on the organizational aspect of the community game.  This is what we've been lacking; someone willing to put it all together.  So we actually had a successful fall league this year, with 4 teams!  That's pretty good, considering the last several leagues we've had have dwindled from 4 teams to 2 pick-up teams. 

Since we've lost the original field we used to play on due to development,  we now put our shoes, water bottles and team shirts in the car, and head to the turf field.  We pull into the parking lot, never sure of who is going to pull in after us.  There are several unnamed faces throwing discs around on the field, sprinkled with a one here and there who used to play.  I'm always delighted to see one of those "veteran" faces again, but I've come not to expect them anymore.  The game has changed, and I still have a glimmer of hope that we'll again play on grass where the dogs can chase a disc on the sidelines, with all that heckling and grab-ass that made the ordeal so much fun.  For now, however, I'm glad to be playing at all, and to have the opportunity to help new players learn the game. 

In a fleeting moment, I decided to go dancing weekend before last, since nobody showed up to play frisbee, and I was home by myself.  I danced West Coast, Cha-Cha and a bit of Night Club 2-Step, and came away with several dance workshop fliers.  One of them was for a camp put on by National Dance Champions the following weekend (last weekend).  Miguel came home from his 3- day climbing trip, and in his moment of weakness from not seeing me for 3-days, he agreed to take the 12 hours of a "Dance Camp Crash Course". 

Friday night we walked to the studio, and had a lesson for an hour on the basics, which was quite helpful.  We rotated every few minutes, so had a chance to dance with everyone there.  The instructors turned out to be not only fabulous dancers, but also quite hilarious as well.  They are constantly cracking jokes at the students and each other, which really lightened the whole event.  By Saturday afternoon, 1pm, we were at it again, with 5 full hours of lessons.  By the time the final lesson and the dance rolled around, we'd pretty much forgotten all the patterns we'd learned, and could barely muster enough energy/memory to do the 5 basics again.  

We kept dancing, me with a few different leads here and there, until about 11pm.  I don't know if our dances at the wedding will show the magnitude of improvement we mentally made this weekend in our dancing, but hopefully we'll be able to do a few spins that will keep things interesting.  Lucky for you we don't have video of us dancing, but this video of our instructors is worth a look.

We actually did pretty well this year, in spite of ourselves.  We pulled together 16 or 17 handsome and sexy ultimate players from Bellingham to make "The Merkins".  Adam was a huge part of our success because he took our discombobulated spirit and actually produced a few props so we had something to show off (a necessity at Potlatch).  First of all, he whipped up the Merkin shirts.  You can see them in this photo.  Yes, if you know what a merkin is, you can determine what is on our shirts.  Also, and possibly a tight runner-up for awesome-ness is the "pub" that Adam wheeled onto the field on Friday morning. 

He told me he was going to make a "bar", and we all know that Adam can pretty much make anything out of two nails and a piece of plywood, but I had no idea how important the "Pubic Pub" would be to the success of  the entire weekend.  Enid had a major part in the human artwork, which in no way could I ever hope to match.  Sean provided the wood and a bit of ingenuity on the wheels.  This provided the perfect template for our infamous "Pin the Merkin" game, which was a huge success for all the 9 teams that had the chance to partake.  

The stats aren't nearly as impressive as the aswesome gallon-sized mojitos we gave to each of our competitors, but even so, we ended up in 3rd/4th-ish place in C-Pool.  We won 1 of 3 games on Friday, won 0 of 3 games on Saturday, and won 2 of 3 games (wow) on Sunday.  So, overall that puts us at winning 3 out of 9 games and still coming in in the top 30 teams out of 100 at Potlatch 2008.  Not bad for a team that can't get a practice together, or even a real game of ultimate.  Thanks, Adam and Enid, and Sean, for the encouragement and swag.  Adam, even though you didn't get to play this year, we all appreciate you being there and keeping our "spirits" high, and next year, we'll be making sure you're out on the field too.

Alright, here goes my first attempt at a blog entry on our website.  I'm expecting lots of comments from all of you out there reading this.  If you give me some good feedback, I might even invite you out for the next ride!

Heather and I have recently reinstituted our weekly mountain bike rides at the cost of missing a bit of Frisbee here and there.  It's funny how difficult it is sometimes to get the motivation to gear up, load the bikes on the car and hit the trail.  Once we get going, however, it is a different story and we always enjoy the excursion on the local trails.  Last week was no exception.

Since it has been fairly hot recently, we decided to go for a ride in the evening (7:00).  This way we could take both the dogs and not worry about them passing out from heat exhaustion.  Heather wanted to ride in the Chukanuts and so we parked at Highline road and began making our way up Cleator.  This is a 3.5 mile climb that pretty much works us every time.  I wasn't especially looking forward to it on my single-speed.  I had also ridden with some friends that morning for about 3 hours, so I was already a bit worked.

I should also mention that Heather had the brilliant idea of stopping by Diego's to get some fish tacos and a burrito so that we could eat dinner at one of the tables on top of Cleator.  I also brought along a frosty malt beverage to enjoy with my Mexican food.

The ride up took about 45 minutes and was actually quite enjoyable.  Once at the top, we ate our dinner along with a little help from Mocha and Lucy.  Who knew those two would like fish tacos and burritos so much?

After dilly-dallying for a bit longer, we got on our bikes and started heading down.   The first trail is called 'double black diamond' by mountain bikers and is affectionately known as 'chinscraper' by the local running community.  This trail is pretty steep and had some fun root and rock challenges.  We made it down in the dwindling light and Heather took the challenging upper exit onto Fragrance Lake Road.

Once we got down to Fragrance Lake, Mocha and Lucy had to take a quick swim, drink a bit and unceremoniously shake off the water on some innocent bystanders.  Due to the ever-growing darkness, we quickly got back on our bikes and rode around the lake to the '2-dollar' trail.  By this time, we started hearing a bit of thunder off in the distance and it was now dark enough that the trail was difficult to discern.  At this point, it was time to employ the 'loose arms' technique of mountain bike riding.  Since it was nearly impossible to 'read' the trail for roots, rocks and small drop-offs, we had to keep our arms loose so they could extend or contract when necessary, kind of like shock absorbers.  About 1/3 of the way down the trail, the thunderstorm really started to pick up and we began seeing flashes of lightening.  Based on my rough estimates, the storm was still at least 10-12 miles away.  We began to feel the excitement of riding in a thunderstorm at dark and quickened our pace as much as was reasonable. 

After some pretty fun riding, we found ourselves back on Cleator road with just a short jaunt back to the car.  The sky was really starting to light up and we saw lots of lightening bolts out over the San Juans.  As the thunder grew louder and the storm got closer, we arrived back at our car, just as the first drops of rain were starting to fall. 

Isn't Bellingham a beautiful place?  There aren't that many places out there where you can get out to awesome trails in such a short amount of time.  We really are fortunate to be living up here where we can enjoy so many different outdoor activities.

Enjoy the trails.  

Miguel 

Last night we did something most of you probably have never done.  We had a Merkin Making Party.  We are going to a frisbee tournament for the 4th of July weekend and our team name is "The Merkins".  I'm still not sure who came up with this idea in the first place, but I have heard the word passed around here and there.

The tournament is called "Potlatch" and the idea is that we give a "gift" of some sort to the other team.  Our gift this year is a game of "Pin the Merkin on the Manhood".   You've played pin the tail on the donkey at some point in your life; this is just a new variation.  The winner of the game gets a huge jug of a fresh, mouthwatering Mojito on the field to share if they wish, with their team.

Apparently we all are going to "wear" a merkin during play, which is bound to add a few interesting photos to our collection.  After pulling out my "art bucket" last night, we came up with a few variations on the merkin that you might be interested in.  We've even named some of them, such as "Grandma's Merkin, Surfin Merkin,  Super Merkin, Muscle Merkin, and Married Merkin.  Cheers to a new party game everyone.   

Our annual Ski to Sea event here in Bellingham usually goes by without much emphasis in our household.  Its an adventure race starting at Mt. Baker.  The legs are X-country ski, downhill ski/snowboard, run downhill, road bike to town, canoe down the river 2 hours, mountian bike a flat trail, sea kayak to Fairhaven.  Prior to this year, I had done the race once; the kayak leg, with a group of teachers from the middle school I was teaching at.  That was my 2nd time in a sea kayak and needless to say I wasn't very competitive.  Nobody was at the starting or finish line to cheer me on; it was a lot of waiting for little payback that year.  Generally, when Memorial Weekend strikes in Bellingham, we get out of town, or lay low.

This year was something different, however.  Alex set up the team way back in the winter and I managed to get the Mountain biking leg.  Miguel was going to do the run; a leg I vowed never to do, as it is downhill all the way on asphalt (2000 feet of descent).  Unfortunately Miguel's knees still aren't recovered from the 50K back in March, so we switched events and ended up back in the run.  Argh.

Total teams for 2008: 345 teams.  Total Racers= 345*8 = 2760 racers 

Our line up for Team Disco Embargo:

• Alex: x-country
• Adam: snowboard
• Heather:run
• Johnny: road bike
• Sam & Matty: Canoe (Matty building his own canoe!)
• Miguel: Mtn. Bike
• Nate: Kayak 

We had a pre-race meeting where we got t-shirts and talked over each other for most of the evening trying to figure out who was going to pick up who and where the bags were going to be, etc. 

This year it felt like more of a real "team" event and I actually knew everyone.  I wasn't too proud of the swag bag, as it included a desk calendar full of plastic and photos; sure to be in the garbage for a lot of folks.  The t-shirt has a photo of an actual guy running on it, which could have easily been some abstract image so I'd actually want to wear it.  And with 70 degree weather, we were given packets of hot chocolate mix.  Alright, who cares about the swag; we just hate seeing all that waste.

Day of race Heather gets up at 4:25 to get to Alex's house by 5 am.  OUCH.  We dropped Johnny off and arrived at the top with plenty of time to spare.  FYI if there is a gigantic line-up of porta-potties and people outside, it IS worth your while to check to see if the inside bathrooms are open.  I must have waited 20 minutes to use a porta potty and apparently the bathrooms were empty.  

Alex started the race with a big BOOM of dynamite and I could see he was very close to the front.  I stayed at the announcer's station for a brief runners meeting, went back to the car to take my coat off, and by the time I made it back to the starting line, #233 was being called!  To my surprise, Alex was already finished with his leg.  Alex's bad ass time: 26:56 (30th overall).  Luckily Adam's leg was next and he was out hiking up to the top with his snowboard in hand; I had about 20 minutes before it was my turn.

The runner's started getting anxious and there was a big confusion as to what we were supposed to do.  Skiers & snowboarders started coming in and nobody was calling numbers ahead of time.  We could see the skiers from far away, and I knew people were calling out numbers somewhere, but none of the runners could see or hear.  What a cluster$%^#!  Finally they let the runners get closer and the number calling started about one skier before Adam.  Our handoff was smooth as could be.  Adam's kick ass time: 26:31 (34th overall)

So I dreaded this run.  I've heard of toenails falling off, knees being mangled, blisters, ankles, etc.  I took all the precautions I could with coushy socks, blister protection, and a speed that was my own; not trying to impress anyone.  I didn't think about the fact that I'd be running on a quiet mountian road with no cars, looking at the mountiain view and cruising by the rushing, cool waterfalls that are scattered throughout.  The air was crisp and sunny, and it was beautiful.  I tried to find a shoulder wherever I could, to get off the asphalt, but for the most part I had to tough it out.  My biggest pain was a sustained side-ache which never went away.  Downhill running almost always gives me a sideache....oh, and the other pain was the tap tap tap clunk clunk clunk smash smash smash of people constantly coming up from behind and passing me.  I was actually getting to a point of pissed offed-ness that they had the nerve to keep passing me.  Only 2 women and 2 blue teams though, so it wasn't enough to make me go faster.  The handoff with Johnny went perfectly and my sideache went away after about a minute of stopping. Heather's supercool time for 8 miles: 54:54 (196th overall).

The most unfortunate part of the race was the fact that the sunny weather was causing the river to rise so fast that they ended up cancelling the canoe leg of the race.  We were all bummed that Sam and Matty didn't get a chance to participate...along with the other 1000 or so racers that had been planning on it.   "I would especially like to commend Sam for his stunningly athletic contribution to the canoe leg. We managed to get a time 30 minutes faster than we planned, even using a beat up old aluminum canoe!" Said Matty. Sam & Matty's unbelievable time: 2 hours, 6 minutes.

Johnny was surprised that #233 was called so soon (thanks to Alex and Adam), as he was surrounded by aerodynamic helmet racers at the starting line when I got to him.  He found out that there is something to the aerodynamic shapes and the training they must do, as he was passed rather quickly by a few of them.   Still, he finished his 38 miles within his goal of 2 hours.  Johnny's killer time: 1:57:08 (291st overall)

Miguel's leg went great as well.  He rode his bike to the starting line for a bit more of a workout and had to go through a big puddle in the middle of the race.  That was about the extent of the technical parts he had to endure, but his time was good enough to put us in position for a solid 2nd place finish. Miguel's bodacious time: 33:57 (42nd overall).

Finally, we tried to be there for Nate's grand finish, but since they shortened the kayak leg due to choppy water and wind, he beat us.  Apparently he did squeeze in front of an older woman to ring the bell though, so for that he deserves a gold star.  Nate's grand time: 52:15 (259th overall).

And we finished up in 2nd place for the recreational open category!  We celebrated with a BBQ at Alex's house and picked up our plaques.  So this year was a nice experience in camaraderie and commitment, and I think we all had a great time.  Team Disco Embargo's Time: 6 hours 25 minutes..something  (30th place overall) 2nd Place in Recreational Open Division (125 teams)!

Thanks Alex, and everyone else for putting this together!  

We played in our annual Gnarly Gnines ultimate tournament last weekend put on by Bellingham Ultimate.  Somehow our team managed to pull in at 15th out of 18 teams.  This is a bit astonishing and heartbreaking at the same time.  Really, it came down to a couple of games that we lost by 1 point, which put us in a lower bracket, but come on people, 15th?  All it is is practice.  We need some...any, really.  This past year, our lovely Bellingham squad has had a hard time getting enough players, especially women.

I'm trying to put together a women's team for Flowerbowl, and I've only got 2 people interested - for the funnest (not a word, but appropriate) tournament of the year!  Why is this so hard?  Well, people are having babies for starters.  People that used to be heavily into the sport are starting to retire from it and nurse their tired ankles and knees,  people are trying to graduate, and people are injured.  I'm hoping this is just a dip in the wave of ultimate around here, but from what I'm seeing, it could simply be a recession of the waters.  Ultmate really is a great workout and a fun way to spend time with friends.  Hopefully we can bring some of that back, because we really do love it.

Well, let me tell you.  The race was do-able.  Ashley was there to see the whole thing, cheering all of us on at every aid station, which I thought was really great.  When you're totally focused on "making it", it is nice to see a familiar face telling you you "can".  Umm, by the time I had 8 miles left of downhill and flat, I was this close to letting tears roll down my face.  Then, at about 5 miles to go, a woman passed me!  She had the &%#@ing nerve to pass me like it was a morning jog.  For the life of me, however, I couldn't keep up with her...but I did speed up, I think.

Made it to the finish line and Ashley was there again.  I threw myself onto her and asked if it was really over.  For the next 30 minutes, I felt like I was being tortured from the inside of my legs out. Sitting, Standing, walking, laying down, nothing made the pain go away.  Miguel finished 30 minutes in front of me, so he beat his goal of 5 hours by 2 minutes.  After he finished he thought he had time to go to the car to change before I came in, but he missed me finishing...I was thinking I'd be about 6 hours, but I finished in 5:28.  Matty and Tyson finished too, at 6hours, 30 min.  They were in much better shape/mood afterwards than Miguel and I

Eventually, after we couldn't eat anything.....oh, I almost forgot to mention that the Monday prior to the race, Miguel had to go to a conference in Portland and managed to get the 24 hour flu, so he was puking all day and nauseous for 3 days, and when he was starting to feel a bit better, he went out for a little jog.  He pulled his hamstring in the 15 minutes of running.  But he ran the race anyway.  He was 37th overall, I was 68th overall and 8th for women.....anyway, after the pain started wearing off, we limped back to our car and went home.  Miguel was still nauseous, but I got a chocolate milkshake at Boomers.  So, we did it!  50k....and we haven't been running since :)  Miguel's knees are still hurt from the run, actually, so hopefully next week he'll be able to run again.