Photo Adventure 11/1/2015

My weekend didn't feel complete without a photo adventure.  I was doing laundry this morning and decided that I really needed to go somewhere to play with my camera.  I got a Lensbaby Spark this week, and I wanted to experiment with it.  I also wanted to play with my macro lens.  I decided to head out to Anthony.  It's only 30-45 minutes away, and there are some good views on the way there for capturing what's left of the fall foliage.

The last few weeks have been really busy and hectic for me at school, and last night I went downtown with some friends, which turned into a very long and loud night.  Sensory overload.  I don't do well with crowds or loud noises, and it was very draining for me.  But a friend was in from out of town who I don't see often anymore, so I tried to be social.  After all of the noise and chaos, it was incredibly nice to be alone in the woods by the water today, taking my time, playing with my camera, and enjoying the peaceful quiet and solitude.

The lensbaby creates one spot of focus with everything else blurred.  

Plus it's bendy so you can move the focus around.

It's fun to play with.

Bubbles!

Coleman Cliffs

The view is really awesome from the edge of the cliff, but there were a lot of 

no trespassing and tow zone signs posted so sadly I did not go out to the edge for photos.

The Greenbrier River at the boat launch in Anthony.

the adventure-mobile

Macro-Fun

and of course, no adventure is complete without some jumping shots

it's a new rule

Gorgeous and windy days

I missed this week's Pub Run because of a Board Meeting.  I figured it could only be good for my foot to skip a week anyway.  But I have really been missing running and it's stress-relief properties.  By Wednesday afternoon, I really really really wanted to run.  I tried to hold out, I really did.  But I had been having more and more trouble falling asleep at night, and I could feel that Wednesday night was going to be another rough one.  I ate a bowl of ice cream.  But that didn't make me feel any less restless.  Somewhere around 8:15 I gave up and decided to go for a run.  There was a light rain, but that didn't deter me at all.  I headed out the door.  I focused on keeping an easy pace.  No overdoing it like the last time I tried to go for a run.  It felt really good to be out there.  I had zero foot discomfort until about mile 3.3.  I kept going for another mile, and the foot discomfort never got too bad.  Sleeping has mostly been better since then.

It was super windy on Thursday.  I felt like a leaf in a hurricane.  I did manage to keep my bike on the road, but there were a couple times I thought I might end up in a ditch.  I'm impressed that I managed to get my average pace as high as it was.  It felt like I was crawling for a lot of the ride.

This week : 

M : bike 24.3 / 19.4 mph / 1739 ft

T : sweatfest 30 min / 8.2 miles

W : run 4.3 / 8:22 pace / 265 ft

R : bike 27.2 / 17.5 mph / 2218 ft

Sa : bike 24.1 / 16.8 mph / 2083 ft

total bike miles : 84

In other news, my lungs are super not happy with me right now.  I frequently notice myself short of breath, but I mostly ignore it.  I'm not going to start using the inhaler every time my breath is a little bit short.  I need my lungs to build back up, not think they can rely on an inhaler all the time.  I do ok mostly, it's just a little harder for me to bike really hard, and after each bike sprint it takes me a little longer to recover.  Exercise built my lungs up before, surely it can do it again...  I cancelled my follow-up appointment with the pulmonologist because I need to see how badly my new health insurance cost is going to hurt before I go pay for a doctor's visit and tests.  It makes my blood boil whenever people try to talk about affordable health care.  The health insurance company takes all my money and then barely gives me any back when I go to a doctor.  So frustrating. 

The brief return of shorts weather

Last Sunday, I decided that my break from early morning exercise should be over, so I planned to get up early Monday and do a sweatfest ride.  I was hoping to get back into my early morning routine, because it was working really well for me, until I quit getting up so early.  I managed to get up Monday morning and do my trainer ride, but I gave up again after that.  I've been consistently getting up around 5, but 4 is just too early right now.  It's been too hard for me to get to bed by 8.  Also, it seems slightly silly to be getting up super early to exercise at 4:30 AM when the weather is gorgeous and warm-ish in the afternoons.

This week : 

M : 30 min trainer (7.3)

4.8 mile Pub Run

T : bike 19.7

W : sprint bike 13.4 (19.4 mph, 886 ft)

F : bike 25.3 w/Byron

Sa : bike 13.3 (race photographer)

total bike miles : 79.3

When I first started biking, I felt like it did nothing for my lungs.  They ended up getting weaker because biking was not keeping them in shape like running did.  Now my lungs have gotten so weak, biking is hard.  I have been getting faster on the bike, and now my legs are strong enough for me to ride pretty hard, but I keep running out of oxygen and having to slow down.  I'm hoping that since biking is now making my lungs work harder, it will also help me start to strengthen them back up...

Run United 13.1 & Zombie 5k 2015

3rd annual Lewisburg half marathon and Zombie 5k.  And as of now, the last year of the Lewisburg half marathon.  Plans are to change it to a 10k next year.  It's too bad that I didn't get to run it this year, but at least I got to be a part of it through photographs!  And I got my exercise sprinting around on my bike trying to get as many photos as possible of both the half marathon and the 5k.

The half marathon started at 9:00.  I got photos of the start, then I rode to the two mile mark, and got photos of everyone as they passed that point.  After the last runner passed me, I had just enough time to get back downtown and into the first cemetery on the 5k course to capture the 5k runners as they began their race.  Then, I caught most of the 5k runners around their halfway point before sprinting my bike back out Fairview Rd to get the half marathoners again.  I had to jump off the bike and whip my camera out of my backpack a few times when I came upon the front runners.  But I eventually made it out to the turn-around spot where some teachers and students from my school had a water table.  I stayed there until the last runner passed, and then I rode back to town.  I took Rt 219 back to town instead of Fairview because it's shorter and flatter.  It also has much heavier traffic, but I decided it was worth it because I was tired from sprinting out Fairview and didn't feel like working too hard to get back to town.

Half Marathon

Zombie 5k

Winter is Coming

I was pretty lazy for the first half of the week.  I was tired and busy with long hours in my classroom, and decided not to force myself to make time for exercise.  I did manage to bike enough at the end of the week to at least get my 3 hours of bike time in though.  And I ended up riding my horse 3 times this week, which is a lot more than just my usual Sunday trail ride!

The Pub Run this year had the biggest group so far, there were 7 of us plus a dog!  We actually got to break into two groups.  I ran with the faster group, and we ended up doing 3 loops instead of 2.  We were kind of hoping we would lap the slower group, but it didn't happen.

This week :

M : Pub Run 4.8 miles @ 7:42 pace

R : Bike 21.2 miles @17.3 mph, 1611 ft

Sa : Bike 27.3 miles w/Mark @16.1 mph, 2251 ft

Su : Bike 23.3 miles w/Dan & Todd @15 mph, 2516 ft

total bike miles : 71.8

Both weekend bike rides were pretty cold, with Saturday's in the mid 30s and Sunday's even colder.  But, I layered up with some of my warmer running clothes, and tried out my new bike shoe covers, which aren't very thick, but they are waterproof  and helped block the wind.  And I think they helped keep some of the heat in.  I also got to try out my new warmer bike gloves this weekend.  They are really stiff which makes it hard to drink without stopping the bike, and it is hard to grab the brakes from the drops, but as long as I stay in the hoods when I need to brake they are fine.  And they did keep my fingers warm enough, which is awesome, of course.  Especially given my history of trouble keeping my hands warm!

Bike/Photo Adventure #4

Falling Spring Falls

I woke up at 5 AM on Saturday morning.  The same time I have been getting up all week.  Saturday should have been my day to sleep in, but I had this photo adventure planned.  And it involved meeting someone at 9 for a bike ride.  Last time I did the bike ride first and then took photos, the light was awful with the sun too high overhead. So this time I figured I had better do the photos first.  And besides, with early morning photos, you get the chance of also capturing the fog rising.

Falling Spring Falls is actually only about 40 minutes away from Lewisburg.  Yet somehow, I had no idea it existed until less than a year ago.  And I didn't get around to visiting it until yesterday.  Better late than never!  My luck, Friday night was the first frost of the year.  It was in the high 20s when I woke up Saturday morning, and there was a good layer of frost on my car when I left home around 6:20.  I was treated to a great sunrise as I was driving east towards Covington, VA.  The color started around 6:40 AM with streaks of pink and purple.  It was tempting to pull over and take photos, but it was still so dark out, it would have required setting up the tripod, and it seemed like too much work for the side of a highway.  So I just drove along and enjoyed the view as the sky turned various shades of pink and purple for a solid 20 minutes.  Then the sky went gray for awhile.  Pink streaks appeared again briefly sometime closer to 7:20.  I arrived at the Falls shortly before 7:30, and snapped some photos from the overlook.

Once I was done taking photos from the overlook, I hopped the fence and took the well-worn dirt path over and around boulders until I was a bit more than halfway down the hill.  I didn't go all the way down to the Falls, mostly because of time pressure.  I want to go back in the summer and get up close when I won't mind getting a little wet.  

As I was headed back to my car, I noticed another path that looked like it headed towards the top of the Falls.  Curiosity got the best of me, and even though I was pressed for time to meet someone for a bike ride, I had to take the path.  I'm glad I did.  

Once I was done taking photos, I headed back down the road to Covington, where I met up with someone who took me on a gorgeous ride around the area.  We did a few good climbs, and saw lots of gorgeous views.  Around 19 miles, we split off.  I headed 6-7 miles back to Covington, and he continued on for a 60 mile ride.  The whole ride was cold and windy, but it was tolerable with company.  As soon as I split off on my own, I ended up going into the wind the whole rest of the way.  Fighting that wind was harder than the climbs we had done earlier.  It was brutal, but I eventually made it back to my car.  

Want to see even more photos?  

Visit GMcD Photography, where photos are available 

for purchase as prints and digital downloads. 

WVSOM All for One 5k

The second best thing to experiencing the adrenaline rush of race day firsthand, is to document others' joy as they experience the love of the run.