OKFree Training

This morning Lori started her new year of training for, possibly Ironman, and almost certainly a half-iron triathlon. Her coach (Duano) had her riding a 56 miler. Here's her pic before leaving.



I was invited to go along, but I didn't really like the route and I'm not a big group rider. Not because I can't ride w/ a group, I just don't enjoy it that much unless everyone is the same fitness level. Anyway, I decided to ride on my own to Muir Beach and then north to meet the group as they came back from Pt. Reyes.

It turned out to be a beautiful day. It was a bit cold to start (45 degrees) but warmed up to the low 50s, and it wasn't too windy. I met up with the group north of the curves in Bolinas, and then rode back with them. It was actually pretty fun for that short distance. So, anyway, I got my 35 miles in for the OKFree. Tomorrow I'll have to put some more miles in. Otherwise, I will get behind on my training and end up paying for it in June.

Here's some more pictures from Stinson Beach this evening. Cookie needs here evening romp you know!

Yesterday afternoon we drove up to Middletown, CA to visit with our very good friends, Patrick and Victoria. They have a house on Hidden Valley Lake with a great view and a huge grill. We grilled up some flank steak, red peppers, and various un-grilled foods. We spent the night and it was all good -- though I did get whipped at wii bowling!

At Patrick's house and then on the way home I snapped some pictures of Lori for the 365 project.





After getting home Lori went swimming and I took a nap. Then I got a little run in on the Mountain. It was windy, so the 45 degree temperatures felt much colder. It may have been cold, but it sure was nice to spend some time on the mountain! Not great OKFree training (I admit), but at least I got my heart rate up for 50 minutes or so.

My new coffee bean roaster arrived today. They say home-roasters are for fanatics. I don't know about that yet, but I'm willing to find out. Better to be a coffee fanatic than an exercise bulimic -- I'm going to hold the labelers to one label at a time, so I'm claiming coffee fanatic today. Anyway, I roasted some Sumatra G1 to "Full City" for tomorrow. It smells great, so hopefully it will taste good.

Two more days and life at the salt lick begins again. I would have said salt mine, but I don't think my life is quite that hard, so salt lick it is. We will be making the most of these two days with lots of exercise and fun. Stay tuned... :-)

Project 365

I am going to attempt to complete the "Project 365" -- shoot and post at least one photo a day.  There are several (many) groups on Flickr that do this, so I joined a couple.  I will try to post them here too.  365 blog posts?  I doubt it, but maybe.

Happy New Year everyone!  I fell asleep at about 9:30 last night.  Lori fell a sleep a few minutes after me.  I woke up around 11:10 p.m., woke up Lori, and tried to convince her that it was the new year.  It almost worked.  Anyway, we went to bed and dozed off at about 11:40 p.m. to wake up to a foggy new year.  We went down to the beach for a bit of tug with Cookie.

The Last Sunrise Until Next Year

Today looks like another beautiful day on the mountain. You can see that Mill Valley is fogged in, but that's not a problem for us or Mt. Diablo in the distance.

Lori, Cookie, and I went for a hike this morning. Since I carried the Hasselblad, those pictures won't show up here for a while, if ever. Film does have its drawbacks. I think there might be some good shots though.

Anyway, today is a run day. Maybe I'll be "extreme" and do another 11 miler. Or maybe shorter and then a ride to train for OKFree. Yeah, that's the ticket. Gotta train for the OKFree.

Here's an article to read. I think this is really just another excuse for exercise bulimia, don't you?

Happy Old Year, and see you in the New Year!

Ms. Pastry Chef

Today's picture is of yesterday's pastry chef. We rode to the top of Mt. Tamalpais today on our mountain bikes. Lori, in the spirit of competition, decided to push the pace. I think she might be an exercise bulimic (read yesterday's article link if that sounds weird to you). I guess that is someone that exercises until they puke. Of course, Lori usually only does that on half and full iron distance triathlons. I guess it is a mild case.



Anyway, the picture is with the G9 and a bit of flash to help out with the sun behind her head. It was another gorgeous day on the mountain for us.

Oh yeah, we went down to Stinson Beach for a walk on the beach with Cookie. It was super beautiful as the fading sunlight reflected off the wet beach. Too bad I left my camera in the car...

Then we had burgers at the Sand Dollar. It's always a roll of the dice when you go in there. We have had very excellent meals, and very, very bad meals. The last couple were so bad it took us six months to go back. We figured that the burgers were the lowest risk tonight. They were okay, but McDonald's can make edible burgers (most off the time), and McDonald's fries are better. Problem is, the Sand Dollar is way closer than McDonald's. Baby steps I guess, and maybe we will be able to eat there again every once in a while.

Eating Cookies to Run

I ate some of these yummy cookies before my 11 mile run today. Lori made them this morning - she's the best. No wheat either (for what that is worth). Anyway, does this mean I have a cookie addiction that I mitigate with exercise? Whatever... Sorry to give you a link to such a weak article.