So it seems I could be a candidate for having the most neglected blog ever...just realized it's been about a MONTH since I've updated it. Oops. When I let it go for a while, I start thinking that well...too much has happened to catch it up, it's all old news, and now there's not that much happening...I mean all the interesting stuff makes me too busy to blog and then when I have time I'm kinda boring. But...there were some cool things to report and today has been a stellar holiday, so I'm back.
OK...quick catch up on the last month: I finsished massage school (see photo above of my favorite classmate, Mari, and me at last Wednesday's graduation), I took (and passed) the massage licensing exam, I have made a few feeble---and not particularly successful or pain free---attempts at starting to maybe run but they're really to lame to even document, I supported Seujan at her 4th Ironman, and my I biked 4 of the last 6 days (140+ miles this week!). Oh, and I'm working on a few upcoming events, including the Seattle Century. And the weather has been beyond great the last week...lots of sun and I'm loving it!!
Today Seujan and I drove out to Enumclaw to bike the course of this coming September's Black Diamond Half Ironman, the next race on her list. It was nice to have the whole day free and to have a change of scenery...as much as I love riding Mercer Island, it is nice to get out of town and do something different. And it didn't hurt that there was almost NO traffic and no stoplights. We did manage to get a little off course on the first loop, but we never got truly lost. This summer, "riding together," has come to really mean just riding simultaneously as Seujan is uber-fit and I'm still struggling to get the hamstring functional and recover my cycling fitness. Fortunately, both of us are fine to ride alone and we end up in the same place within a few minutes of each other. After one of our route diversions today (OK, can I just say that Seujan over-shot a turn about 5 minutes after we discussed that we'd both be taking a left...and she had already dropped me, of course, but was in my sight, creating an uninvited interval for me as I watched my HR monitor go up and chased her down), we were backtracking on Kent Kangley road when a car just in front of us slowed slightly and a big black BEAR sprinted from our side of the street to the opposite side. Yeah, that's right, a bear!! A runner coming toward us commented on how fast the bear was running and I agreed whilethinking I was glad to be on 2 wheels and not 2 feet just in case...
Anyway, Seujan did a few more miles than I did in between the 25ish mile loops and we both went around the course again, ending up back at Nolte State Park a little after 2:00. I was at just over 48 miles and thought I should make a patriotic gesture in honor of the 4th of July and do 50 miles for 50 states. I was feeling pretty flattened and didn't feel like pedalling any more, but managed to get it done, probably because I knew I'd get to hop in the lake at the end and because I knew she had to do a brick and run after the ride. We both went for a brief post-ride dip in the lake and, after not getting invited to any of the barbeques going on by the lake but smelling all the grills raging in full force, we headed home (via 2 grocery stores for sustenance). It was a great day and a perfect way to spend the 4th of July!
And below is Foxy Belle (seriously, I'm dogsitting for straight people, not gay men, though I didn't ask who may have named this one, maybe someone has a brother...). Foxy is 2 and, like most small dogs, "large and in charge" as far as attitude goes. There was a note about the possibility of "dingleballs" that could occur (doesn't sound so "foxy" to me, how about you?) and where the soap for such occasions might be...I'm hoping I can pretend I didn't see that note and/or any dingling things that could necessitate finding that soap (yikes, that's worse than dealing with a litter box, dontcha think?).
There's a cat around here, too...named Pixie...but we all know that I generally consider cats an after thought....except, now that I mention the cat topic, I need to admit that I've become almost-friends with Wally, Seujan's (kinda dog-ish and that's why I like him) cat. He's pretty cool...so perhaps I'll give this Pixie a chance.
