July 5k Recap

hot air balloon!

Saturday I ran the only 5k I'll do in July. I had planned on running the 4th of July 5k I ran (ok, walked) last year to start out my 40 by 40 goal. The course was changed for this year, so it would have been a whole new race. Unfortunately, Mr M had to work and my babysitter forgot (and I didn't remind her like I should have since I asked her to sit two weeks prior). So it didn't happen.

I ran this 5k two years ago and I hadn't planned on doing it this year since I couldn't think of any distinguishing points for it. But since I wasn't able to do the 4th of July race I decided I needed to do this one anyway so I could stay on track with my numbers.

This 5k is an out-and-back race that is mostly rolling down hills on the way out and mostly rolling uphills on the way back. So, not an easy race. I've been spending so much time and energy on the chicken coop, trying to finally get that thing finished, that I've been neglecting my training. Despite that, I did manage some time on the treadmill one day last week as well as a hike on another day.

We were in town for an oil change, so we headed out to the trail the boys and I walked in June.  The weather took our hike to new levels. 93* plus 80% humidity meant we were sweating copiously before we got out of the parking lot. Even the boys were sweating, just sitting in the stroller. Sunshine was a trooper, but was much happier going down than up. Finding wineberry vines (canes?) on our way down may have helped. This was the first time I've had them and I thought they were good- similar to red raspberries, but just a bit sweeter.

All that to say that pushing the boys uphill for two miles seems to have strengthened my leg muscles. My usual modus operandi in races these days is to run the downhill portions and walk the uphill portions. Saturday I was able to run some of the uphills, despite my serious lack of training. I'm crediting the two recent hikes up the mountain, and now I need to figure out how to squeeze a monthly trip up the mountain into our schedule. There's actually a race that's run up that trail, though the last mile is on a private road and even steeper. Part of me would like to do the race, but I'd end up walking most of it.

I fully expected my legs to be super tired and leaden while running, but that wasn't the case. I worked very hard on the chicken coop and run a good portion of Friday and was so tired when I went to bed that night. Despite a poor night's sleep I felt good during the race and was less than 30 seconds slower than the first time I ran it (35:27). I went into the race with low expectations and finished feeling good and pleased with my efforts.

I ran 3.11 miles in 35:53. The weather wasn't great- low 70s with 90% humidity, but the volunteers on the course handed out cups of ice water, which I dumped on my head, front, and back. That went a long ways towards helping me not feel so over-heated.
1st mile: 10:23
2nd mile: 11:53
3rd mile: 12:36

16th Race of 2016

Month	Event	Time
January	New Year’s Day 5k	33:01
February	Frostbite 5k	37:37
February	Mud Run	1:35:37
March	4k Walk	33:19
March	March 5k	33:49
March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	1:01:30
March	Obstacle Race	44:06
April	Glow Run	35:16
April	April 5k	41:15
April	Evening Run	34:59
May	May 5k	35:18
May	Evening Cross Country Race	43:17
June	June 5k	39:21
June	1 Mile Glow Run	11:38
June	Vineyard 5k	39:10
July	July 5k	35:53

28th Race of my 40 by 40 Goal

	Date	Event	Distance	Event Type
1.	July 2015	4th of July 5k	5k	Pregnant
2.	August	4 Mile Fun Run	4 miles	Road Race
3.	September	All Terrain	5k	Mixed surface
4.	October	Hill Valley Half	13.1 miles	Virtual half marathon
5.	October	Corn Maze 5k	5k	Corn Maze
6.	October	Kilted Trail 5k	5k	Kilted race
7.	November	Trail Half	13.6 miles	Trail Half
8.	November	Turkey Trot	5k	Road Race
9.	December	Veteran’s 5k	5k	Mixed surface
10.	December	Army Virtual Marathon	26.23 miles	Virtual marathon
11.	January 2016	New Year’s Day 5k	5k	Road race
12.	February	Frostbite 5k	5k	Cross country race
13.	February	Mud Run	4.8 miles	Mud run
14.	March	4k Walk	4k	Walk
15.	March	March 5k	5k	Road race
16.	March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	5k	Virtual 5k Walk
17.	March	10 mile race	Not applicable	Water stop volunteer
18.	March	Obstacle Race	5k	Obstacle run
19.	April	Glow Run	5k	Glow Run, 1st of 2 races in 12 hours
20.	April	April 5k	5k	Pushing jogger, 2nd of 2 races in 12 hours
21.	April	Evening Run	5k	Evening run
22.	May	10k Kayak Race	10k	Kayak race
23.	May	May 5k	5k	1st of 2 races in same day
24.	May	Evening CC Race	5k	Evening cross country, 2nd of 2 races in same day
25.	June	June 5k	5k	Pushing jogger, 1st of 2 races in same day
26.	June	1 Mile Glow Run	1 mile	Pushing jogger with both boys, 2nd of 2 races in same day, glow run
27.	June	Vineyard 5k	5k	Vineyard run
28.	July	July 5k	5k	Road race

Chicken Coop Progress, Week 10

the coop looked like this at the end of week 9

Last week I had 4 work days on the coop and no treadmill time. I also skipped our hike in favor of working on the coop. I'm ready to be done with the coop so any spare time I had went to the coop.

All that effort came at a price though. It was hot all week with high humidity, which meant so much sweating was going on. It was so gross. On the plus side, my weight is down a bit. Whether it's a result of cleaning up my diet or dehydration is unclear.

Last week I purchased the roofing materials and linoleum, plus wood (2x2s and a sheet of plywood) for the outdoor brooder. The chicks were two weeks old at the beginning of the week and had already outgrown the two plastic bins in the house, but they still needed the extra protection of a brooder and couldn't go straight out to the coop. The chicks have grown a lot faster than I expected. I know they're  only supposed to take 8 weeks to get to butcher weight, but seeing it in action is totally different.

I started the week with the goal of getting the roof on, but changed my mind on Wednesday to focus on the brooder. Before I changed my focus I installed the cross pieces on the rafters to secure the roof panels to and then attached the hardware cloth to the eaves. I also put hardware cloth on the windows. I could only wear gloves part of the time because I found it too awkward to pick up screws and washers with gloves on, so my hands definitely suffered from working with the hardware cloth.

crosspieces on the rafters, hardware cloth on the eaves (with lath securing the lower edge), and hardware cloth on the windows

I put the hardware cloth on the outside because the windows will be hung so they can swing inward

After I changed my focus, I started working on the brooder. I wanted to install the linoleum first, but an afternoon downpour derailed that plan. While I waited for the floor to dry out a bit I built the frame for the brooder.

The next day I laid the linoleum out, which was a pain since I had to work around the brooder- shifting it around as I shoved the linoleum under it. Awkward, but it worked in the end. However, the linoleum I bought was the cheapest available, and it is indeed cheap. I'm curious to see how long it actually lasts.

Why the linoleum? It would be optimal to have a dirt floor in the coop to help the bedding (straw/shavings/etc) break down into mulch, but with the elevated floor that's not an option. The linoleum should protect the wood a bit, but could cause traction issues for chickens. We'll solve that by employing the deep bedding method, so the chickens won't be touching the floor.

I got the inspiration for the brooder from this video, you can see his brooder at the 1:20 min mark, and again at 4:57. We've actually gotten a lot of inspiration from Justin Rhodes and have enjoyed watching his youtube videos.

completed brooder

I purchased 2x2s for the frame of the brooder and a sheet of plywood for the lid, but the rest of the wood was from my scrap pile. Leftover pieces of coop siding are on  the back, sides, and half of the front of the brooder. The other half of the front is made from the pieces I cut out of the top of the brooder. I wanted more sturdy plywood for the section that can open, so I used that instead of the siding. I also used random 1x2 pieces from my scrap stash to secure the hardware cloth on the lid of the brooder.  I used lath/1x2 pieces/not sure what to call these pieces of wood from the stash of wood our neighbor gave us to secure the bottom edges of the hardware cloth attached to the eaves.

scrap wood securing the hardware cloth on the lid, the dark lath on the back wall covers the seams between pieces of siding

I took the hinges and handle from the cooler box- I've been using it as a table for the mitre saw and it's time to take it apart and re-use what I can and burn what I can't. It was made from scrap plywood and it hasn't weathered the years very well. It served its purpose and it's time to move on. The hinges were used on the lid of the brooder along with another set I purchased, and the handle is also on the lid. The two sets of hinges on the front panel and the two locks on the front panel were also in my stash. The brooder was a great stash buster!

the hinges on the front panel allow it to open, which will be handy once the outdoor run is open- we can leave the door open so the chicks will be able to leave the brooder

we can just leave part of the door open if needed

After working hard all week, I finished the brooder enough to move the chicks into it Saturday night. There's no roof on the coop, but since the brooder is a self-contained unit, they're still safe. The only thing left to do is change the front locks (the current ones can't actually be locked in place) and add locks to the lid. The locks I purchased for the lid weren't long enough to attach properly. So cinder blocks are taking the place of locks for now. Redneck, but it works.

the bin looks ridiculously small next to the brooder

I didn't get the chicks into the brooder until 8:30, and it was getting too dark for decent pictures

The cinder blocks to keep critters out- I'm erring on the side of caution and am probably overdoing it, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. And the roof is still missing, so the coop itself is not critter-proof.

Since the windows and roof are missing, I put a tarp over the brooder to keep out the rain. The wood chicken ladder is from our neighbors and will be used when the run is finished.

The roof above the brooder and the window behind it should have been done before the brooder, but I just couldn't handle the chicks in the house anymore. Like I said, they've grown faster than I expected and they were just too big for the bins, which meant they were also getting stinky. So when we put the roof on we'll just have to work around the brooder.

Though I may actually be manhandling the brooder so it backs against the south wall instead of the west wall. I'm not really thrilled with the idea of putting the door to the run in the north wall, but it's my only option right now. If I move the brooder I can put the door in the west wall, which would be a slightly better location. I think. I'm still deciding....

Getting the chicks out of the house is massive progress and it shouldn't take too long to get the roof panels attached. The run on the other hand, will take more time since I'm digging through rocks and tree roots.

Sunday Funny

The other day I'd opened the gate in the living room to let River go up the stairs. Ocean was on the other side of the room, so I left the gate open. A few minutes later, Ocean started crawling around and noticed the gate open. He gave a happy laugh and started crawling to the stairs as quickly as he could. As he started crawling up the stairs he continued giggling happily. Even when he noticed me standing right behind him to keep him falling he was voicing his happiness at being able to climb the stairs.

I'm not sure why the stairs are so exciting for him, but they are. Maybe it's because they're forbidden fruit?

June Mileage

River has decided he'd rather walk than ride in the jogger

we go a little slower and I don't get quite the workout I did when I was pushing him, 

but it's good for River to get his exercise too

My mileage decreased a bit more in June, but so did my treadmill time. Only 4 days in June versus 7 in May, though I also did 3 hikes and 3 races. I compensated lost treadmill time with more work days- 11 in June. The coop project has dragged on longer than I wanted, but I'm close to finishing it. Of course, there's always more projects lined up, so just because I finish the coop doesn't mean I won't be getting my cross-training in.  I do need to get better about spending time on the treadmill on the days that I'm not out working on the coop, so my goal is to increase my treadmill days in July.

June's mileage:

4 treadmill walks + 3 hikes + 3 races (June 5k, 1 mile glow, 5k)= 21.46 miles total

May's mileage:

7 treadmill walks + 1 hike + 2 races (May 5k, evening 5k) = 23.87 miles total

April's mileage:

6 treadmill walks + 1 hike + 1 outdoor run + 3 races (glow 5k, April 5k, 5k) = 27.17 miles total

March's mileage:

4 treadmill workouts + 3 hikes w/stroller + 4 races (4k, 5k, 5k, 5k obstacle) = 25.7 miles total

February's mileage:

9 treadmill workouts + 2 races (5k + 4.8 mile mud) = 26.15 miles total

January's mileage:

8 treadmill workouts + 1 race (5k) = 16.17 miles

Chicken Coop Progress, Week 9

the coop looked like this at the end of week 8

Last week I did the finish work on the coop. That meant I added the rest of the screws to secure the plywood to the studs, finished attaching the rafter ties to the rafters, swept out the coop, and got everything in order so I could finally start painting.

I painted the interior white to make cleaning the coop a little easier and to make it a little brighter and more cheerful. No dark, dingy chicken coops for us! I used our paint sprayer, but wasn't consistent about checking how thinned out the paint needed to be, so the first coat of paint went on thin and drippy. 

I only wanted to do two coats of paint, so I was much more careful when I was painting the second coat, and it went on much smoother and with better coverage.

I also didn't want to spend time taping off windows, doors, and rafters, so I used a roller on the outside. The paint sprayer is quicker, but there's a lot of overspray and I didn't want red paint inside the coop.

(I forgot to take a picture before I started putting the trim up)

I used the sprayer to spray a couple coats on the trim boards (cheap 1x4s), which was much quicker than rolling them would have been. 

After the trim boards and walls were dry, I started adding the white trim to the coop. I started near the roof line so I can add the roof as soon as I get the materials. I figured it would be easier to put up that trim before the roofing went on. I can put the lower trim up regardless of whether the roof is on.

River decided to "help" me in a moment when I wasn't paying attention.

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The chicks are growing fast. At just two weeks old I'm already trying to figure out how to give them more space in their brooders. Possibly dividing them into a third bin? If I can get the roof and windows on the coop I can put one large brooder in there. Dealing with large numbers of chicks (we're still holding strong at 27) adds a degree of difficulty to the normal logistics of caring for them. It's definitely giving me things to think about for our next chicks- I'm still debating a second batch this year and I'm already thinking about next year's chicks, which we'll do in one large batch.

I bought a portable dog run so the chicks could start spending time outside every day. They weren't sure what to do at first, but then they realized how fun it is to be on grass and they had a blast. The bars of the run are far enough apart for the chicks to squeeze through, so we put chicken wire around the run. The first time we put them out I didn't have the chicken wire attached to the run, so we just propped it up as close to the pen as possible. Not pretty, but it worked.

The next day I cut the chicken wire down and attached it to the run with zip ties. It's so much easier to move the run and it's more secure. There are stakes to secure the pen to the ground and it stays in place quite well. We put a fitted sheet on top to give shade and hopefully keep aerial predators out. I'm not sure how much protection it would actually be, but it's better than nothing. I'm still deciding about building a wood framed screen to put on top for more security. 

I was doing dishes today and heard the chicks cheeping louder than usual, so I went outside to see what was going on. A hawk was sitting on the grass next to the pen, eyeballing the chicks. The chicks were huddled up next to one wall, cheeping frantically. When I went outside, the hawk flew off, but it took awhile for the chicks to calm down. The one who was closest to the hawk just sat there for a while, trying to recover. So Sunshine's out on the porch, keeping an eye on them. 

It's quite funny to watch the chicks- they love the space and several of them have taken running jumps while flapping their wings, like they're trying to take flight. One of them really wanted to make a dust bath in the grass, but couldn't quite figure out how. The first time we put them in, several chicks were fighting over a dead leaf one found on the ground.