Thursday, September 29, 2011

Somehow it's the end of September…

Wow. It's been a while. Quick recap.

June brought us to St. Maarten!! What a great trip!! It truly was paradise!


July brought a family vacation to Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. And Moka learned to swim!

August brought Hurricane Irene and a washed out friend vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We went, instead, back to Deep Creek Lake. All dogs had a great time. So did their humans.

September brought a very quiet house. DD went off to college after a year at Northern VA Community College last year. She is now a sophomore at VCU in Richmond, a Sorority girl and loving every minute. Her brother is a "Super Senior" also at VCU. We are hoping he will graduate in May. (5 years is our max for tuition payments!)

SO it's just us and the dog… and cats.

September 24th, I went with 7 friends to ride the Rappahanock River Ride yet again. In the rain, yet again! It was a blast! We rode in a double paceline for the entire 63 miles and finished in just over 4 hours. Fastest Metric Century I have ever done! Lots of great food, great laughs and great views!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

O.M.G.




I am just back from my mountain climbing expedition!

No, really! I rode my bike in the hills/mountains around Blacksburg, VA for the first two days of Bike Virginia. It was epic. I have ridden in a LOT of organized rides. From the really flat - Seagull Century - to Lake Tahoe and Solvang, California. But this was unlike anything I have done before! All I could think of while climbing those hills was "builds character, right?"


The gorgeous views almost made up for the pain of the climbs!

Here I am at the lunch stop, after almost 40 miles on day one.

To paraphrase Mary, "This is the New River. The name of the Bike Va ride this year was The New River - Roll Through Time. It really should have been The New River - CLIMB Through Time, and don't die while you are trying."

Or from Suzanne, "Dicky named it the "5/30" ride; you're either riding 5mph up a hill or 30 mph down the hill!" Very appropriate too.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

W5R3

OMG!! A twenty minute run this morning! It was good, and now I'm on to week 6. With a two day Bike Virginia Ride in between. I hope the hills are manageable. :)

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Where Did Week 4 Go?

I'm almost through week 4 - with a 42 mile bike ride to Bethesda thrown in on Sunday. Week 4 has two reps of run 3 min, walk 90 sec, run 5 min, walk 2.5 min. No shin pain and no IT band pain. I'm feeling good about this program! The ride was great! Even though I had not been on my bike in well over a month! And it is a 7 mile climb to Bethesda. Week 5 will get a little more challenging, and my schedule will be off, so I'm thinking I might stay with week 4 a little longer.

I have acquired 3 more balls of Noro Silk Garden for the Blanket. This makes for great travel knitting, and I needed more colorways anyway…

Friday, May 27, 2011

W4R1 and it Didn't Kill Me!

I was really a teeny bit apprehensive about the 5 minute runs, but it turns out, they weren't that bad! I wish I had gotten out a little earlier in the day, though. I went out at noon and the temp was over 80. So much for Spring.

There was rhubarb in my box from the Green Grocer. So I made a Rhubarb Raspberry Crostata. It's in the oven and smells yummy!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

3 Down

Finished week three! The three minute runs were ok! I think I may have a little bit of shin splints in my left shin. Ice tonight.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Back on the horse…

Okay, yesterday I ran week-2-run-3 over again. I felt good. Not strained. No soreness to speak of. I had anticipated a bit, since I had taken 10 days off with the everlasting migraine. And I ran in the new shoes! Tomorrow I will start week 3.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Sidelined

The weekend was great! Drove to Richmond for a day with Chris. He fit me for running shoes, and gave them to me for Mother's Day. We then saw the Picasso Exhibit at the VMFA, had dinner at Legends Brewery and spent the night at the Linden Row Inn and had a great brunch at Belly Timber Tavern on Sunday.

Then we drove back to DC via 301, stopped in at my parents, visited for a while, got back in the car and went to his parents for a while, then home. Looong day.

No wonder I migrained on Monday… it's Tuesday, and it's still lingering… no running yet.
Don't think I should attempt anything strenuous on percocet.

Maybe tomorrow? I want to try my new shoes!!!

Thursday, May 05, 2011

That Pesky Old IT Band

Is doing it's thing again. At least this time I recognize it's pain and have hit the foam roller!

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

I LOVE ZAPPOS!

Yesterday, I ordered a cute new running skirt from Zappos. It came today before noon.
It's a SkirtSports Marathon Girl Ultra. And it is so comfortable to run in, Not too short, no bunching, no riding up.
And I just finished W2R1!

W1R3

Finished Week 1! The third run was a little harder for me, but I suspect it may have had more to do with the lack of sleep and the over consumption of various rum drinks the night before! I was at a lovely little beach house on the Delaware Bay with many good friends! But I did run! Woot!

I have also cast on for Square 6. The Blanket is coming along nicely.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Couch to 2.26 miles…

Today marks the beginning of Couch to 5K. Day 1 - not too sore. there were 8 segments of running for 60 seconds followed by brisk walking for 90 seconds. Sandwiched between two 5 minute warm up and cool down walks. Success.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

4 square

Started the fourth square. And I made a big mistake. I picked up the stitches from the wrong side of the first miter. Didn't notice until I was finished with it. I don't know what made me not cut the yarn this time, but I didn't, and only had to rip back. So, Now I am on to the log cabin part of square 4.

Pulled Pork in the oven… yum. Using one of my Corolla Light BBQ sauces. There's a reason I buy a dozen or so of those every time we go down there…

Friday, April 22, 2011

Ride like the Wind…

Or, rather, into it! 18 miles yesterday. Hoped to ride to Bethesda, but the wind was just too much!

And I'm making progress on the Mitered Squares. Almost finished with number 3.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Counting Steps…

Pedometer came yesterday. Goal is 10,000 steps a day. Now to get the clock set right…

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Yum

Spinach Artichoke Cheese Strata tonight. I know I filed the recipe somewhere online. Now to find where.
Found it!
Food & Wine's Artichoke-heart, spinach, mozzarella bread pudding.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

More Squares







The squares are multiplying! I have at least one in each color and will eventually have at least three. There are three basketweave sizes, so I'll alternate them in the finished blanket.



And I have a new Square project. The Mitered Crosses for Japan Blanket.


This is a really fun square to knit. And It's Noro Silk Garden which is lovely to knit with! There will eventually be 12 squares, each with a different colorway in the center, but all with purples, greens and rust.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Square One

The first square for our New Zealand wool blanket. I have lots of thrift shop worsted wools to use for this.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

March on

Into the third month of 2011. Ordered new tires for the bike. Trying to revive my RSX STI shifters on my old bike to use in the trainer. New batteries in the cycle computers. No more excuses.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Time Flies

My to-do list is slowly getting shorter, but I swear I don't know where the time goes. I don't feel like I have wasted any this weekend, but on the other hand, I don't feel like I got much accomplished.

The dog did get a trip to the dog park… at least.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Groundhog Day (a week later…)


I have knit and re-knit these same two rows three times now. And with 267 stitches, I can tell you, It is getting old. Fast. I think I found the problem this evening, waiting for the oversized down comforter to dry in the laundromat. I hate the laundromat.

Oh, and I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight. Called Creamy Potato Lasagna. Actually, it's au gratin or scalloped potatoes with Alfredo sauce (Florentine sauce), ham and cheese. Smells good.