Sweet 16

Sixteen years ago, this happened: Yes, we were 12! ;)

Happy Anniversary, Sweet Pea! Here's to many, many more :)

A Benihana birthday

My little sis celebrated her big 3-6 yesterday, and she was craving Hibachi Shrimp!

After feasting on an excellent Benihana meal (I tried the tofu and really liked it), it was time for song and sundae!

And the obligatory photo. Remember when these were Polaroids??

Happy birthday, Eryn!!! :)

Morning treadmill + laughs

I had time for just a couple quick miles before work this morning. 

I opened the garage doors, turned on the Daily Show and fired up the treadmill. It was already hot at 6:15!

 

Just 2 this morning - but enough to get the blood flowing and the muscles moving.

Kickboxing after work! Man, it hurts so good :)

It's gonna be a hot one!

My driveway tomatoes are loving the heat!

I got all my seeds planted this weekend, and my little garden is already starting to show!

:)

No. 22

After loving No. 21, I picked up the only other Sidney Sheldon book in the THS library, hoping for the same twisty excitement.

The Sands of Time was interesting. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I did eagerly read to the end to find out what was going to happen.

It was about some nuns who end up on the run with some terrorists. Everyone has a convoluted back story, explained in back-and-forth, present-past storytelling style. The style took some getting used to as I wasn't always sure who we were talking about.

Overall, not a waste of a week but not the best book I've ever read. :)  

AM biking buddy

I talked Dad into joining me on another early-morning bike ride!

I wish this photograph adequately portrayed the brilliant pink glow just before the sun breached the horizon:

We tried a new route, riding through the very chilly, foggy Cook Park and into Tualatin. It was going great until we crossed the very narrow Tualatin River bridge on Highway 99W and Dad hit his handle bar. He apparently had a spectacular crash (I was in front and missed the show)!

Thankfully, he was a bit shaken but otherwise unharmed. And he didn't go over the rails into traffic OR the river!! I promised not to try and kill him on our next ride :) 

See... he's OK:

It was a lot colder this morning than last week, and I wished I had warmer clothes. Lesson learned for next time :)

Spring Sunday

I really had a great weekend!

Saturday's ride left me feeling strong and empowered! I've been really feeling weak since having to drastically cut back on running. Doing a big event - and kicking butt at it! - felt so good.

Sunday was the annual firefighter pancake feed in Newberg. So after first service, Brad, Mom, Dad and I walked the two blocks from church to the firehouse and loaded up on all-we-could eat cakes, eggs, sausage and juice. Excellent as always!

Dad headed off to spend the day with Grandpa and Brad met up with a friend for some climbing prep. Mom and I hopped in the big truck and went to Canby for the annual plant sale.

We got tomatoes and other veggie starts and gawked at the amazing metal garden art. I wanted several pieces that were way out of my price range. ** Pa - perhaps we could commission you to build something for us?? **

After a lovely reading/napping session, I did some chores, made dinner (leftovers went into the freezer for lunches), worked out and did a bunch of yard work. So productive!

Surprisingly, my legs felt good despite the 34+ miles on my bike. So I did some running on the treadmill. It was so muggy!

I ran/walked for a total of 4.0 miles, running three 1-mile chunks.

My Achilles hurt at times - a sudden stabbing pain that lasted just a split second - but was fine most of the time. I sped up as I went, and once I hit about 10:30+ average, it stopped hurting. Must be something that changes in my stride when I speed up - less time on my heels, I assume.

I had a very pleasant, satisfying weekend! I hope you did, too :)

Ride Around Clark County (5/3/14)

Because I haven't been running much, I've been trying to bicycle more. I've also looked at some summer events to fulfill my race craving.

I've ridden the Bridge Pedal about a thousand times, and I've done Sunday Parkways a bunch. But I've never done a real, group bike club event before. I decided Saturday was as good a time as any!

Crappy mountain weather cancelled Brad's North Sister climb, so he agreed to join me for the Ride Around Clark County, sponsored by the Vancouver Bicycle Club.

Bike tours are a bit different from running races. Instead of an official start time, there's a several-hour window to hit the road. We arrived about 8 a.m. at Clark College, registered, grabbed a snack and a map and headed out. 

The plan was to do the 18-mile route, but we were feeling great at the turnaround point and decided to bump up to the 34-miler. That meant some big hills, but it also meant we got to hit this amazing rest stop at Lacamas Lake:

There was SO much yummy food. My favorite? Tiny bean and cheese burritos! Now that is something you definitely don't eat while running!!!

We learned a lot about bike events and had a great time! And I'm so glad we decided to push ourselves and do the longer ride.

While the Parkways and Bridge Pedal are more about celebrating Portland's weirdness, this was more serious. No frankenbikes. No boomboxes. No dogs in trailers. I felt a little out of place with my crazy bike. In fact, when we approached stop lights, everyone turned at the sound of my spokies clicking at low speed.

BUT... every time we hit a hill, my low-geared mountain bike killed it, leaving all the road bikes in the dust! Mountain bike for the win!!

We were very impressed by the whole event! Hopefully we'll do it again next year - maybe the 66-miler next time :)