Move and a Mexican Cruise

So, I had a temporary job for the summer and the day after it came to an end Amanda and I were talking and trying to figure out how things were going to work. I could get a job, even if it was just a minimum wage job, and we could stay put for four or five months before my job starts, or we could move almost a thousand miles away and live rent-free in my in-law's basement. We decided on the latter. I still haven't decided if I want to find a job or not. I don't really need one, it would just give me something to do. I think I will be content, getting Ella ready and off to school. I'll also take care of Alex and do laundry and other stuff to give Amanda more time to work.

Ella was in Kindergarten for two weeks before we pulled her out of school to move. Now she has been three days here. She loves going to school. She has so much fun and gets so excited about it. She especially loves riding the bus. This week when she was at school, I took Alex to story time at the library. i think that will become a regular thing. He just sat there when everyone else was singing and dancing, but I think he'll warm up to it.

On another note, now that we are moved and settled in here, Amanda and I get to go on our cruise. We leave in two days. The only thing that is concerning me is Tropical Storm Olaf that is looming off the Mexican coast where we will be. It will weaken, so it shouldn't be too bad, but it will still be raining, more than likely. I hope the seas won't be too rough. I'll have to let you all know how it is next week after we come back. Maybe I'll even have some pictures to put up.

Hey, I just decided to put some photos on here. These ones are from back in March. Enjoy.



I didn't realize how blurry these photos were. The kids were really running fast. The only good photo is the one Amanda took. This was at a waterfall. The overlook hung out off the cliff just a little bit. It was pretty cool.

Collective Soul

Wow, a second post on the same day.

I normally only write about running, but hey it is my blog and I can write whatever the heck I want. If you have never heard or heard of Collective Soul then you are really missing out. Just a couple weeks ago they came out with a new album. I believe it is their tenth or eleventh album. I can honestly say that I really enjoy every one of their songs. I just bought this latest self titled album. I thought was a little wierd, this is their second self titled album. There are a couple of really good songs on it.

I went to a Collective Soul concert once and really enjoyed it. I almost went to one of their concerts about a year and a half ago in Alabama. If I had more money then I would go to their Seattle show that is in about two weeks. I think it would be a really good show. I guess I'll just have to wait until the next time they tour the country.

Well you should go to their site and check out their music.

Minimalist Running

So, the other day I was reading through some blogs that I follow and I read about some minimalist running. there are some people out there that don't believe in shoes, or they do but only to protect your feet from getting cut up on the rocks and stuff on trails. Specifically I was reading about a shoe that I think I want to get. It is called the Vibram Fivefinger. It is basically a protective rubber on the bottom of your foot.

Anyway, I was motivated to try a little minimalist running myself. I went out on Friday afternoon for a short three mile jog with no shoes on. Now, this probably would have been a very enjoyable experience had I driven to a park and ran the three miles in the grass. I didn't to that however. There is a course that I run a lot. about 90% of my running lately has been on this same route. I didn't realized though how much I didn't really know the course. with bare feet I reallized that well over half is paved, and of that pavement about half is pretty rough while the other half is pretty smooth. the part that I ran on the trail was not as nice as I had expected either. There were a lot more rocks than I ever rememberd there being. Don't get me wrong, this was not a bad experience. My feet were not bleeding (although there was one spot where I had to dodge some glass). I am glad I tried it, but I think next time I will run in a grass field and build up to true minimalist running. There is this one guy I read about who runs on average of five or six miles daily with no shoes on. That is on top of his 20-60 miles a day with shoes.

We'll just have to wait to see if there are any prolonged negative effects of this barefoot run. I feel fine though and it has been three days. Fun Fun.

Not much motivation to write

I'm going on vacation!! yeah,

I did the Whidbey Island Triathlon a few weeks ago. It was lots of fun. check out Amanda's blog to read about it and see photos, or go to my facebook page.

As of today I have ridden my bicycle over 500 miles this year. If I keep this up, I could easily top out over 1000 by the end of the year. Who knows maybe I'll do a ride some time in the near future.

Speed Record

I have been riding my bicycle to work every day and today I took a new route home. It was about twenty miles and it was mostly a very nice ride. I found an awesome hill that went down to the river. I love trying to see how fast I can get going. I started pedalling hard and looked at my speedometer. I pedaled hard until it got to 45, then because it was such a big, steep hill, I kept accelerating even after I stopped pedalling. I watched the speedometer, 47, 48, 49, 49.2, 49.9, then finally 50.0. By that time I felt like I was going a little too fast for comfort. As I slowed up coming to the bottom of the hill I realized that if for some reason I were to crash, I could get hurt really badly. The rush was totally exhilarating. Next time I'll try for 51 or 52, maybe.

So Far This Year

So, I really like keeping track of how for I run, bike and walk or whatever else I do. I've been walking to school every day, and at the beginning of the year, I started logging those walks which is about two miles each day. I probably to a bit more than that, but I log usually only two miles per day. So far this year I have walked 208 miles. And that is just what I have logged.

I have also started to ride my bike recently. I really enjoy riding the trails around here. I rode about only about five miles or so today, but it was really fun and I can't wait to get out there and do it again. So far this year I have ridden my bike ten times to total 140 miles.

My running has been pretty sporadic as of late. I went for a week without running, then I did a 17 mile run, and then since my knee was hurting after that I have only ran once or twice a week since then. And those have been short, very easy runs of only about three miles. My running has totaled 382 miles so far this year. More than a quarter of the total was done in February and another quarter was done in March in preparation for the Marathon I did on April 4th.

Anyway, I think this numbers are cool. maybe by the end of the year I can cycle 1000 miles and run 1500 miles and walk/hike 500 miles. Probably not though, because now that school is getting out I will probably not be walking two miles every day. I might increase my running and biking though, so those numbers are somewhat realistic.

I need to go to bed now, My mind is just rushing, so I probably won't sleep, but it is past midnight, so I'll go now. More later.

More biking

Since my knee has been bothering me, I've decided to start riding my bike a bit more. I've been riding several times. Today, I decided to go for a 40 mile ride. There is a nice paved trail near here called the interurban trail. It is pretty nice because there is no traffic. It took me just less than three hours, averaging 15 mph. I'm pretty tired now, I think I'll go wash up.

Call me crazy

yesterday when I got home from school, I decided to go for a run. It had been over a week since I had run at all, and a month or more since I had done anything this long. I ended up running 17 miles. It felt great except for the last two or three miles when my right knee started to hurt a little bit. It still hurts today. I hope I didn't really hurt it. I'll probably be able to still run on it, I'll just need to take it easy.

Ella's Ballet

Here is a little video that I put together of Ella's ballet a few weeks ago. She was so cute. The video is about 13 minutes long. It is really low quality, so I hope you will be able to see it alright.

Morning Bike Ride

Yesterday morning I decided to go for a bike ride before school. It was pretty darn cold. I think the temperature was 39 degrees. I looked up a wind chill chart and 35 degrees and 30 mph winds (my max speed was 39mph) the wind chill is 22. At 40 degrees and 30 mph the wind chill is 28. Anyway, I guess my point is that it was cold. Especially since I was only wearing fingerless gloves. I should have worn sunglasses too, because my eyes were watering most of the ride. It was a 12 mile ride. The first two miles were down hill, that is why I got so cold so fast. Also, the last two miles were up hill, so I slowed way down and worked harder. I was warmed up a bit by the time I got home. Well, I took some photos, so here they are.





All but this last one were taken while I was riding. I didn't want to stop because I didn't have much time and I wanted to ride as far as I could.

This ride and a ride on Tuesday were the first time I had ridden my bike since almost a year ago. It feels good. I've been thinking about doing a longer, organized bike ride. The Tour de Whidbey is a ride that my dad had done a few times. There are a variety of distances including a 100 mile version. I think it would be fun to do that. I've also been thinking about doing a triathlon. I've wanted to do one for some time, and I might actually be able to do one this summer. I really just need to find one and do it. The one I am looking at swims in a warm lake, so I wouldn't need a wet suit. anyway, that is just me rambling on again.