Sunday, July 31, 2016

Portland Trail Series No. 3 (7/20/16)

Last week's Portland Trail Series race was advertised as "5.56 miles of Forest Park goodness." (Race #1, Race #2)

Two days before the race, organizers post the map and tiny description: "What? Downhill? This week's race includes Holman Lane, which we usually send runners up, but not this time."
Most of the other racers run regularly in Forest Park, but because I don't, I'm really running blind. I just follow the people in front of me and try to hang on. So I was pretty excited when it mentioned downhill. The problem was, we paid for that steep downhill with a long uphill after:
Ugh.

And since I don't know the routes, I don't know if I should go hard or hold back because of what's still to come. Also... my TomTom seems to lose signal a lot in the canyons so I don't have a good sense of how long I'm actually be running. My GPS had this at just 5.17, and I was happy to be done a half-mile "early"! :)

I finished in 56:36. My pace, calculated on the 5.56 distance, was 10:10. I placed a bit better this week - 11/16 in my division, 42/55 in females, and 102/125 overall.

I will say it again... these are TOUGH! I am in way over my head. But I'm so glad for the challenge and for the experience. :)

Friday, July 29, 2016

Angel's Rest (7/16/16)

Two weeks ago, Dad and I went to the Columbia River Gorge for a hike. We didn't have time for a mid-week adventure, so we went Saturday morning to Angel's Rest. Big mistake! It was like a freeway out there!

We know better, but we didn't really think it would be THAT bad. It was.
There were dozens of people at the top, but it was still a great view!
High clouds kept the temps down and we still had a view up and down the gorge.
This is a short, steep hike close to town. It's great for a quick trip - just not on a July Saturday :)

Friday, July 22, 2016

No. 26

Gizmo helped finish off  No. 26, Say No to Murder by Nancy Pickard. 

This was a simple murder mystery with a couple twists. Nothing special, but a good read :)

Thursday, July 21, 2016

It's in my blood

Eryn and I are co-vice presidents of OSEA Chapter 51, representing more than 400 classified employees in the Tigard-Tualatin School District. This incredibly diverse group of non-licensed workers includes secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, instructional assistants, food service, bookkeepers, registrars, electricians, plumbers, security, groundskeepers, learning specialist assistants and library media assistants. It also includes all the non-managerial positions at the district office, such as accounts payable, payroll, etc.
With a new chapter president this year, our vice-president duties increased tremendously. And with those additional duties came several trainings: leadership, steward, worksite organizer.
In one of those trainings, we all shared why we were part of the union leadership. Eryn and I both said we had to - it's in our blood. Really!

We come from a long line of working-class, union people: teachers, custodians, police, longshoremen, carpenters, social workers, hospital workers. I've always heard stories of my great grandfather's involvement in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

At the Fantz family reunion last weekend, Uncle Chuck showed me this DVD case for a PBS documentary about Harry Bridges, founder and first president of the ILWU:
The back:
See the guy holding the banner on the right?
That's my great grandfather, Jim Fantz!!!!

(That photo is also the banner on the Harry Bridges Project Web site!)

Seeing this DVD case prompted a lot of Internet research, and I found proof of the family lore I've heard my whole life.

In the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Bridges was investigated for being a Communist. His immigration and deportation status was up in the air while he was repeatedly investigated and tried.

According to an extensive interview posted on the University of California Web site, "In 1940 there was a bill in Congress, specifically calling for Bridges's deportation. That was dumped by the Senate because the Constitution says, "No state...shall pass any bill of attainder..." By dictionary definition, a bill of attainder is "...an act of legislation finding a person guilty of treason or felony without a trial." In other words, the Constitution bars the specific use of a person's name in a legislative bill."

"There was something relentless in this round-the-clock surveillance and the avid prosecutorial hunt to run this man to the ground—to wipe him out by jail or deportation," journalist Sidney Roger said in the interview with Julie Gordon Shearer for the ILWU Labor Oral History Series.

This went on for decades, until March 1953 when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the case. Afraid that Bridges and vice president, J.R. Robertson would be imprisoned, interims were elected... and this is where MY GREAT GRANDFATHER comes into the story.


"At the ILWU Tenth Biennial Convention, delegates voted to prepare for an interim period—in case Bridges and Robertson were tossed into jail.... The convention elected two men without opposition. From Portland, a longshoreman, James Fantz, as interim president, and from Hawaii, Joe (Blurr) Kealalio, as interim vice president, to take Bob Robertson's place," Roger said in the interview. 
"What was James Fantz's political stance?" Shearer asked.
"He was left of center. Everybody liked Jim—a quiet-spoken, very honest, decent, young longshoreman with a bent toward socialism. And Kealalio was respected as a hard-working, tough union man," Roger replied.

This was big news!

The News-Review, April 11, 1953 (Roseburg, Ore.):

Register-Guard, April 12, 1953 (Eugene, Ore.):

Capital Journal, April 11, 1953 (Salem, Ore.):

Sunday Herald, April 12, 1953 (Provo, Utah):

Long Beach Independent, April 11, 1953 (Long Beach, Calif.):

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 12, 1953 (St. Louis, Mo.):

The Statesman, April 12, 1953 (Salem, Ore.):

ILWU The Dispatcher, April 17, 1953:


It wasn't necessary for my great grandfather to take over the duties of president. However, he remained very active in the organization, locally in Portland and also at higher levels.

I found a couple photos in the ILWU newspaper:


While Papa Fantz (that's what the family calls him) is a couple generations away, I actually have lots and lots of memories of him. He lived a long life and died during my junior year of college. He's not a far-off person way back in my family's history.

I am so proud of the incredible work he did to fight for workers' rights - and how respected he was in the movement! I'm glad that DVD prompted me to dig and learn more about my family and this part of history. It really makes me extra proud of the hard work I'm doing with OSEA Chapter 51 - fighting for the rights of my fellow classified workers!

:)

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Adventure Thursday: Mount Talbert Nature Park

A few weeks ago, Dad and I explored a new (to us) park for Adventure Thursday.

On the advice of our Metro newsletter, we checked out the Mount Talbert Nature Park in the Clackamas area.

Armed with a map, we hiked most of the park's trails. And we spotted this guy: 
It was a beautiful, peaceful nature area with great trails! I want to go back with my running shoes :)
:)

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Portland Trail Series No. 2 (7/13/16)

Last Wednesday was my second Portland Trail Series race in Forest Park. (Race #1)

It was advertised as a 6.56-mile out-and-back course:
I don't know if the distance was way off, or if I lost signal in the woods, but my TomTom had it at only 6.1 miles. But considering this hill, I'll take a half-mile short :)
I walked much of the uphill after the turnaround, and once I got up on the flats, I stuck behind a couple guys who were running a good medium pace. Then we hit that downhill, and I took off! I passed both guys I'd been trailing and managed to pass a young woman in the final section on Leif Erikson.

I finished in 1:08:19, an 11:12 average based on my shorter 6.1 distance.
I'm used to finishing in the middle or upper middle at my races. But there are some seriously hard-core people in this series, and I'm getting my butt kicked. Before this week's race, I heard others discussing their recent 100-mile ultra marathons and such. They aren't just trail runners - these are ultra marathoners (30-100 miles, usually on trails)! This week, I finished 13 out of 15 in my age group, 53/61 in females and 108/126 overall. But since I'm just out there for fun, that's OK with me :)

This week's route is supposed to be 5.56 miles with lots of downhill! We'll see :)

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Nos. 24 and 25

Summer reading!

No. 24 was another David Baldacci book from Brad - The Camel Club:
And then some silly mystery fun from Mary Daheim - Nutty as a Fruitcake:
:)

Friday, July 15, 2016

Sisters run around a lake

What happens when you're marathon training but also camping? You run around a lake!

Eryn's calendar called for 11 miles last Saturday. The trail around Timothy Lake is about 11 miles. Perfect!
Because the weather was coolish, we didn't have to get up crazy-early to hit the dirt. We ran 9 minutes and walked 1 minute over and over until reaching the end (or is that the beginning?). It ended up being 11.66 miles in 2:56.
There was a 50-mile ultramarathon going on at the same time, and we had fun cheering for the leading racers on the PCT. Later in the day, we saw our camping neighbor come limping back to his site and realized he'd been racing! I'm in awe!

If you have to run 11 miles, you might as well run somewhere beautiful! :)

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Portland Trail Series No. 1 (7/6/16)

I really enjoy running on trails! But because I'm a women, the unfair world we live in prohibits me from going alone. (Well, I could, but I just don't think that's a good idea for me)

When I saw the Portland Trail Series of five mid-week races for just $75 total, I jumped at the chance to do some trail running by myself! (along with 100 other people!)

The summer series is every Wednesday in July in Forest Park. It's all very low-key. You show up a bit early, grab your bib, run when they ring the bell, cross the finish line, grab some water, turn in your bib for next week and go home.
They announce the course the Monday before the race. The first was listed at 4.9 miles: 
Yep - that's what it looked like:
The entire first 1.5 miles was uphill. Oh, my calves! Then some downhill before more uphill. But the downhill finish felt great!
My TomTom read a bit short at 4.69 miles. I finished in 49.44 - a 10:35 average. Considering the hiking uphill, I'll take it!

There was a little bib-number raffle, and I won a huge thing of Trail Butter! I love that stuff :)
It felt a bit awkward to be by myself at a race. I should go make friends :)
Looking forward to No. 2 :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

A race... and a parade!

One of the best things about the Freedom 5K is the parade after!

Photo highlights:
"Giant Street Parade":



Tiny marching band:


Ram Rodeo Series:










Moose!

Live music!


God Bless America!


Rockin' it!


Smoky Bear!

Jesus??






The End:
Small-town Fourth of July goodness :)