Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Weekends Rule!

What a weekend we had. Fortunately activity filled weekends are one thing that hasn't changed lately. In years past the weekend was an excuse to sleep late (and I mean late!), lounge all day and do nothing. Occasionally I'd clean house or go shopping but really I could only handle one activity per weekend. Really, just one. Now weekends are more about how much I can squeeze in!

On Saturday we decided to go for a mountain bike ride before hitting the pool. I remembered an easy nearby ride that had been suggested to us by the bike shop where I purchased my bike. We still hadn't checked it out so I found it in my Mountain Biking Marin book and away we went. The route, Rush Creek, is 4.2 miles in total and winds around marshes and through some shady areas. Here I am about a mile in riding past a beautiful tree.


The weather was perfect as you can see. We got to the turn around point and noticed this sign pointing off to another trail.


Bikes OK is practically an invitation. Plus we were barely warmed up so we decided to check it out. My fitness confidence has increased so much! When I first started mountain biking this spring there is no way I would have jaunted off to mystery trail. I would have been afraid it was going to be too hard (which, at that time, chances were good it would have been!). Anyway, now I just carry on knowing that if it gets that bad I can turn around. But this trail was fine. Little hills here and there and just enough rocks and roots in the path to make navigating it fun. The trail was just beautiful.


We ended up riding a little under 9 miles altogether! I was feeling pretty good because I had planned on this easy little cruise but got in a little workout instead. From there we threw the bikes on the car and headed to the pool. The pool was fun because Miguel was with me. I swam for about 20 minutes and then we sat in the sun relaxing and drying off. We had our camera with us so Miguel snapped a few pictures of me in the pool. I like this one because it makes my arm look muscle-ly and strong.


And this one is just fun!


And finally, and I can't believe I'm posting a picture of me in a bathing suit like this but...


Notice my extremely large arm? It's just huge! I've always had big arms. My arm fat hangs on for dear life. I'd probably have to be underweight before it'd let go. Ah well, with age comes acceptance. And despite their still being disproportionately larger than the rest of me I'm sure they are smaller than they were. Oh, and I know they're disproportionately large because more often than not a top (with non-elastic arm holes) will fit my body but the arm holes will be too small. Does that make sense? Aannyway...

After the pool we dashed home to clean up for the bike race, the Carrera de San Rafael. Some friends were meeting us down there and we planned to have dinner during the kids race. The bike race was fun! I'd never been to anything like that before. They gave us free little cow bells to ring and we cheered and hollered for all the racers. I had fun trying to capture the energy and excitement on my camera.

Men's Elite:


Women's Pro (or Elite?):


Men's Pro:



That's the little cow bell they were giving out. I told Miguel to be sure to hang on to that as he'd need it at my Sprint this weekend! The last race was 90 minutes! When we heard that we were sure we wouldn't stay until the end but we got caught up in the fun of it all and hung in there. Finally, the winners...


So on Sunday I went to One Hawaii. Shockingly it was a hot day (the part of SF that Stern Grove is in is usually foggy and cold) and I roasted in the sun! Unfortunately the Hawaiian food vendors I was hoping for weren't there but our group brought lots of good picnic food and I certainly didn't go hungry. The bands were a lot of fun and I had a good time. Of course I have to post a couple of pictures. First is Kaukahi and second is a Hula Girl.



Pretty, ya?

Well, another action packed weekend comes to a close. I won't tell you about my eating and weight. As you may have noticed I've been sort of mum on those issues of late. Don't worry, I've been weighing myself. I wish I could say my eating has been good but it's been mediocre. Not an all out gorge-fest but not great either. I've got a little intervention planned for myself. More to come on all this.

Are you watching the Olympics? Aren't they fun? FYI - The Women's Triathlon Event is on Sunday evening (the 17th) and the Men's is the following night, the 18th. That should be a lot of fun to watch!