3 Amigos

Did a 9 mile run followed by a 45 mile ride today with two amigos - John and Joel.

The day started at 26 degrees. It got up into the 40s some time today.

The run: met a group of runners at the running store in West Chester. I did 2.25 mile run to the store before we started.

We stayed with them for the first half of the run. Then John and I got to the front of the group and started shooting the shit and before you knew it, we were running a 7min pace and had dropped most of the group. Joel is a good runner, but 7min pace is his race pace, so he fell behind. We did 5.25 miles with the group, then I ran another 1.5 miles home, changed my clothes and got on my bike to meet back up with John and Joel.

We met with the rest of the bike club, but only one brave soul (Todd) joined us for the second part of our workout. The first 20 miles were a bit of a struggle, but we were pretty steady. John kicked it in at the last mile or so of the first twenty and we dropped Joel and Todd, but took a nutrition break. On the way back, Joel, John and I were all strong, but Todd was struggling to keep up. I used my rear-view mirror to keep him in sight when he was right behind me, but if someone else was behind me, I couldn't tell if we were dropping him, and we did, a few times. Not to worry, Todd knew he was a bit out of shape and wasn't worried about getting dropped. We soft pedaled often to let him catch up, so it's a bit difficult to gauge our average speed.

I stopped at Ironhill Brewery for a beer after the ride - Joel joined me and one of the runners from early joined as well. Kevin was also there to let us check out the new Tri Jerseys. We almost got kicked out because we were taking off our shirts to try them on... the bartender was not too pleased with us.

Then I rode 1.5 miles home. I wonder if there is a law against drinking and riding. Don't worry, one beer didn't impair my balance... just wondering.

my lunch box

I've been eating pretty healthy, but I stepped it up a notch lately. Carrots, Celery, Tomatoes, Grapes, Hard Boiled Eggs, Clementines, Grapefruit, and one of my all time favories, PB&J on whole grain white bread and 100% peanut ingredients in the PB.

Yeah, it looks like a lot of foot, but better than eating junk.

Those bananas hiding in the back go into my big bowl of oatmeal.

ride to french creek

ahh - one of my favorite local rides - about 60 mile round trip from my house - lot's of flat, and about as many hills as I want to add along the way

my wife is the best - it's valentines day, so we make plans for the afternoon and I'm off on my morning adventure


it's been a while since I took this ride - funny, I wasn't looking forward to it, but once you get going... well, you know

about 24 degrees at the start, but I'm used to it by now - knowing it would warm up as the day went on...



I threw in harmony hill at 5 miles in (really warmed things up), and climbed to the north entrance of the park when I realized that I wasn't going to hit 60 miles if I didn't.

I get to the lake and it's been kind of warm lately, so I was amazed to see this old dude ice fishing in the middle of the lake. It looked to me that about 30 percent of the lake was thawed already.

Here are some pics.

and the zoom...

And I thought I was crazy!

big blue bowl and green mug

I got a big blue bowl from my daughter a few years ago.

The bowl sits on my shelf at work.

Every weekday morning I load it with oatmeal, walnuts, roasted almonds, raisins, and bananas.

It's the perfect size for my healthy appetite.

Some days I use it for a bowl of soup, or some left over spaghetti or chili.

My blue bowl is good for the environment - I used to use a new Styrofoam bowl every day - not so good for mother nature.

I like my blue bowl - it makes me smile.

My green mug was made by my daughter - it makes me smile too. It is thick and heavy and keeps my water cold. It is blue on the inside and makes my water look cool and refreshing.

Sometimes it is the little things in life that make me most happy.

I hit a deer

or should I say, the deer hit me?

Driving home from work, not going fast, a deer appeared out of the woods. I slammed on the breaks, skidding to a stop, while the deer simultaneously ran into the side of my car.

In one moment, I see the deer bouncing off my car and the next moment, it is laying on the side of the road. I figured it was dead for sure and I watched at it for a minute, but there was a truck behind me waiting for me to move on, so I drove home (which was only a quarter mile away).

I felt pretty sad about it.

It had sprayed some nasty brown crap all over my car - I thought it was literally crap, but it didn't have a bad smell.

After I got home and had dinner, I went to wash my car, but the deer was gone. I'm assuming it wasn't hurt that bad - one can hope anyway.

The brown stuff was very sticky and was difficult to spray off the car, even with a high pressure hose. I have no idea what it was - may need to do some research.

Now I have to get the dent in my front quarter panel fixed. What a pain.