Iron Beginner

I did something spontaneous yesterday- I signed up for a triathlon! It’s next weekend!

I haven’t been training for it obviously, and I didn’t think I would even do a tri this summer. But I have gone swimming a couple times. Today I went and swam the race distance (1/2 mile) in the pool without stopping, so that makes me feel good. I have also been riding my bike quite a bit – sure, mostly my mountain bike, and sure mainly just to and from work and the rock gym a couple times a week. But I’ve been running a ton! I am not the most prepared I could be, but it sounded fun so I’m doing it.

I am a little nervous, especially about the swim. I’m going to do an OWS next week with Alisa and Amy to practice. I am also going to get on my road bike once next week since I’ve only been on it twice this year. Meanwhile, I’m getting into the thick of my ultra training so I will need to be keeping up on that mileage.

I am just going to do it “for fun” and just try to finish. I feel like such a beginner. I haven’t done a triathlon for over a year and a half, but I need to remember the last one was an Ironman. I think I can handle this!

 

 

4th of July Super Weekend

Weekends like this remind me why I live here. We put up with months of grey, rainy weather for these glorious summer days. Portland really shines and there is just so much to do. We definitely took full advantage of the beautiful weather and the extra long weekend! Here are some highlights and lots of pictures:

Friday I got off work early and went for a summeriffic walkabout (um, hike) in Washington Park with Amy. We visited the Aboriteium and the International Rose Garden with great views of Mt Hood. After that, we went to my house and sat in the garden there drinking lemonade and relaxing in the sun. We met Alisa for a nice swim in the local outdoor pool and I swam 1000 yards! Yay swimming 2 Fridays in a row! Zach met us after and I ran home alongside him as he rode his bike. It was my day off running , but it's just about a mile home so no big deal.

Saturday we had our long trail run. We drove up to Forest Park and ran on the Wildwood. I did 14 miles in about 2 1/2 hours and felt great. So beautiful - it went by really fast! It was the perfect place to run on a hot day. This finished off the week of running for me with 33.6 miles total: one 6 mile run with my new speedy running buddy on the waterfront (low 8's pace), one easy solo 5.1 miler, one fast-paced 7.5 mile trail run with Zach, one mile run home from the pool, and then the 14 mile trail run. Good week of running!

(no pictures from the trail, refer to the  millions I’ve posted before)

We stopped at the farmer’s market, and then spent the rest of the day doing stuff around the house and then having friends over for a dinner party. I got my sofa delivered finally (I ordered it 3 (!!!) months ago) and hung up some purdy new artwork. Zach cooked some amazing food- veal osso bucco and parmesan orzo and sausage stuffed-shrimp and almond tortes and wine pairings for everything. Ah. Mazing. 

PSU Farmer's market:

 

Sofa and art:

Dinner:

 

Sunday we slept in, walked to breakfast, and then to the farmers market. We spent a few hours on some more fun crafty/decorating/gardening stuff around the house and I took a long nap. Finally we got out of the house and drove up to Sauvie Island for a bike ride! I've only been on my road bike once this year for a couple miles so this was my first real ride in months. We did 18 miles and it was just so fun and gorgeous up there. I even saw a bald eagle! USA! After the ride we stopped at one of the little farms and picked a bunch of strawberries and bought some veggies at their market. Back home we bbq'd and ate the veggies and watched a movie on our comfy new couch.

Sauvie Island:

 

Monday - fourth of july! I lit some sparklers in the morning, my favorite. We lounged around and I sat in the sun reading all morning. I finished up my craft projects and made a pie from the berries we'd picked and some rhubarb we bought at the farmers market. We went to a bbq at Amy's where we at tons (tons) of great food and lit fireworks and drank beer and all that. It was a late night but the perfect end to the holiday weekend.

Crafts: painted frames for Paris photos

 

Painted old Paris map/poster onto canvas (idea from HERE):

 

Pie project (baking a pie in your bikini is so 4th of July):

 

 

That's it! Whew! I am looking forward to lots more weekends like this. I love summer. I love my house. I love Portland! I want to bottle this feeling and sprinkle it on the winter weekends when I need it. I wish it worked that way…

Back to reality now, a busy week at work but at least a short one. Have a great week, thanks for reading.