Saturday, July 25, 2009

July Ends

Hi all,
Well July is almost over. Boo hoo, summer is going by so fast. This will be a short entry because not much is going on. I had a rest week as far as running goes so I didn't do much there. I also didn't bike that much. And I ate too much. So, you know what that means. Yes, the pounds are piling on. I really need to get back into more cycling especially since on August 16 I am riding in the Tour de Organics. It should be fun. A bunch of Bella Fiore girls are riding so we are renting a house in Sebastopol for 2 nights during the weekend we ride. I am looking forward to it. But I need to be putting more miles in to get ready. Today I have book club so that should be fun. We are reading Rosewater and Soda Bread. It is about 3 Iranian women who move to Ireland and open a cafe there. It is a great book. So Chris is hosting and since she lives way out there I am riding with Maeve since she knows how to get there. Nothing else is really new. We are interviewing people for two tasks. We need better lighting in our kitchen and family room. We also want advice on how to improve the look of our general living area in the house (family room, dining room, living room). We also are interviewing people to do some landscaping work in the back yard. So, sometime in the future I will have to do the old babysit Maggie thing so she is not too upset while work is being done. Not the most enjoyable task because I don't have as much freedom to bike ride and run when I am taking care of Maggie. Nothing else eally new. Hope your days are going well.
Clyde

Friday, July 10, 2009

Fighting Laziness

Hi all,
Well this week has been the week of new furniture and appliances. Andy and I decided to upgrade our appliances to stainless steel so we bought a new refrigerator and a new dishwasher. We also wanted to fix up the guest bedroom so that it had matching furniture instead of the hodge-podge of furniture we had. So, we looked around and found a nice bedroom set at Scandinavian Designs. It is very pretty . It is white with a topping and edging in oak. The drawers are especially made well and have an assisted closing mechanism. So, we had to clear out the bedroom of all the old stuff and have Salvation Army take it away. That happened Tuesday morning. It is pretty easy to have it hauled away. You just scheedule a pick-up online. Then Wed. morning they came and installed the dishwasher. In the afternoon the refrigerator was delivered and then Thursday morning the bedroom furniture was delivered and set up. We have to put up the mirror ourselves because it involves the wall and they won't do anything that involves house materials. Because the bed had slats you don't need the boxspring so I am now trying to have Salvation Army pick that up also. So far they haven't come today but I scheduled it just yesterday. I hope that it time enough in advance.

Another thing which is new is that I have a new goal of running in the California International Marathon which is in Sacramento on Sun. Dec 6. I would like to run the marathon in 4 hours or less. My best time ever was 4hours 20 minutes. And that was when I was faster. I am now very slow. To assist me in my efforts I have enlisted the help of Julie Fingar as a coach. She has won many ultramarathon runs and she owns FITTORUN, a coaching business. I have met with her once and she has set me up with a schedule a month at a time. So far, I am 2 weeks into the schedule. I am sore today because I did speed workouts on Wed. at the track. She charges $125.00 a month so it is a splurge for me. I plan to focus more on running and a little less on biking until the marathon is over and then I will focus more on cycling again. Unless, of course, I do well and make the cut-off time in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon! Then I will be training for that.

Nothing much else is new. Andy got new wheels and a new cluster for his Felt. He wanted more gears so he could perform better for Levi Leipheimer's Granfondo ride in October. We are both planning to ride. Andy will do the GrandFondo (100miles) and I will do the Mediofondo (65 miles). We will do this in celebration of Andy's birthday (oct. 12) since it will be a weekend away. The ride takes place in Sonoma County and starts in Santa Rosa. Coleman Valley Road will be part of the ride. Deja vu. We did this as part of Sierra to the Sea.
I'll sign off now. Have a good weekend. Clyde