I'm Baaaack

Really fun mountain bike clinic last night. Great job RTC and Endorphin.

It's official - I REALLY DO LOVE MOUNTAINBIKING! I'm still a hill slug and I really need to work on my cardio - I have lost any fitness level I had! I was the only one in the group huffing & puffing - so much so that it made me think perhaps I held my breath coming up the hill, but nope.

So anytime anyone wants to hit the Buttermilk trails along Riverside, let me know and I'll be ready. We can meet at my house and head out. Come one, come all. I'll speed past you on the downhills and you can pass me as I hike my bike up the hills!

Mountain Biking

I am so excited about the Richmond Tri Club's mountain bike clinic tonight! It means so many things to me:
* It's going to be 70 degrees today and it's not raining
* I will be out of work at 5 to get there and be ready at 6
* I've finally dusted off my mountain bike after 3+ years of doing nothing but road biking
* I can now have fun while getting exercise instead of just looking at my bike computer to
see how slow I'm going!

Just think, maybe I'll get back into trail running! Then I can consider the Xterra!

But wait, when I used to mountainbike, I'd crawl up the hills (hence my favorite "Hill Slug" jersey), then fly the downhills. I'm guessing that my mortality awareness factor is way up from 3-5 years ago, so I may be crawling up and down. And what if that means I don't enjoy it like I used to? Or perhaps I never really did enjoy it - maybe it's just like road tri's - it sounds like a good idea right up until you actually start doing any of the sports! Aggghhh!

My friends say I think too much. But I don't think so. (I stole this line from a comedian I once saw on TV).

I am comforted by the fact that if I don't enjoy the clinic tonight, I can always play more golf!

The Proposal

One of the blogs I read regularly recently told the incredibly super-romantic story of how she was proposed to:

http://joneslovesnewbones.blogspot.com/

Allow me to (who's gonna stop me, you?) recreate for you the truly romantic proposal I received from my lovely bride.

The year, 1990. The time, Christmas Eve. The place, Asheville, NC. OK, this sort of sounds like "Rent". We were in Asheville to visit our parents. Both sets of parents lived in Asheville at the time - Asheville is Anita's hometown and my folks had moved down from NY just after I graduated college. Anita & I met in Richmond, but my Dad worked less than a mile from where Anita's Mom lived. We truly were destined to be together.

So, Christmas Eve in Asheville. We were hungry. Not a lot of places open for a late lunch. Pizza Hut was pretty much our only choice. So, after ordering a romantic pepperoni & mushroom pie, we start chatting. Talking about how we were always destined to be together. Anita says "hey, want to get hitched?".

No ring. No candlelight. No bended knee. Just a "you've got tomato sauce on your chin" kind of statement.

Naturally, I was swept off my feet and immediately said a teary yes.

What I didn't mention to her then is that I would make fun of this proposal for the rest of our lives. She's been a really good sport. So far.

Love you Sweetheart.

The Running of the Bulldogs and the Return of Spring

What an amazing day.  6 days ago, we in Richmond received about a foot of snow and the temperature hovered at 11 for several days.  Anita & I built a snowman prior to the temperature plummeting.  We had a wonderful time doing it.

Friday it got up to 50 degrees and Saturday morning dawned with temperatures in the low 60's.

I got up early to join Annnn, Deanna & Jen for the St Bridget's Bulldog 5k.  Annnn's young daughter decided to join us at the last minute, which changed our race strategy (but only slightly).  After some significant and last minute changes to where the actual starting line was (and which direction the race would go), we started off on what was supposed to be a run a little (slowly), walk a little kind of an outing.  Turns out Deanna was sandbagging just a bit because somehow having just finished recovery from a foot stress fracture, she was fast.  OK, fast is not objective.  However, I'm here to tell you as a fully indoctrinated back of the packer that Deanna no longer qualifies (I don't know if she ever did).

That's nothing against Deanna.  Nothing.  One of the nicest and most generous folks on the face of the Earth, she can hang with us back of the back of the packers any time.  But that doesn't make her a member!

Anyway, I hung with Deanna & Jen until a little shortcut was taken by young race pack.  When we caught back up with Lulu's group, I dropped out of the overachievers and walked/ran with Annnnn, Ashley & Lulu - all dictated by what Lulu felt like.  

The whole "run" was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute.  And then it got better!  After losing Ann momentarily, we all went over to Cafe Something or Other on Grove, just a brief walk from St. Bridget's where Annnnnnnn indoctrinated us into the newest and best after-race event ever. Good wine, good friends and good food.

I'm thinking of running 100 yard dashes every Saturday, just for wine at 9am with good people!

So after a great Saturday morning, I hurry home, shower & change and hit the golf course by 11:40 with Anita & Deanna's husband, Gary.  We had a great time, though the golf was slowed dramatically be people in front of us.  Slow golf is awful, but it was offset by chatting and catching up some with Gary.

All in all, a GREAT Saturday!