Age Group Winner

Kathy is doing a half marathon every month this year. I signed up with her to do the Richland Run Fest half marathon. I wasn't really looking forward to the run yesterday. I hadn't trained sufficiently and it was supposed to be windy and rainy. Fortunately, the weather situation improved and we only had wind to deal with. We started together but ran our own races, although we both were setting out to run and finish, not race.

After two miles I realized I was running a nine-minute mile pace. I told myself to slow down to ten. I was concerned I'd run out of gas since I hadn't trained. My training had consisted of several four-mile runs over the last month and one six-miler two weeks ago. At the four mile mark I was still at a nine-minute mile pace and again told myself to slow down. Although I thought I was, I wasn't. When I reached the halfway point I was feeling pretty good so I kept up the pace.

With about four miles to go I took my Vibrams off and ran barefooted.

Side story: We had a new judge come on board last month at work. I hadn't met her yet because she's in our Yakima courthouse. While running barefoot I passed a woman who was also running the half and she asks me, "Hey, do you work at District Court?" I said I did. She introduced herself and I got to meet our new judge. My IT guy in the Yakima office had told her I'd be there and that I like to run barefoot so I made it easy for her to pick me out.

Running barefoot felt great at first but then my gas tank started running low. My legs were starting to flag and it was affecting my form, which meant blisters if I continued barefooted. So after two miles of naked feet I put the Vibrams back on. I reached the finish at 1:59 and some change. I was pleased I did so well, more so because it's been so long since I've done any distance running after trashing my ankle almost three years ago. The ankle felt great during and after this run so I'm confident it's back to 100% now.

Kathy's second half marathon this year.

Surprisingly, I got third place in the men's 55-59 age group, which meant I received an age group winner award--a beer glass. How appropriate.

Prepping For Prep Time

I'm slated to ride the Idaho Hot Springs Loop in July with my brother John and my oldest son Geoff. Part of my preparation will be to load my bike up and ride it to work. The reason for this is to reduce the amount of time my training takes me away from Kathy. I can leave the house and spend a couple of hours on my commute so that works out well. She travels a lot for work and on the days she's gone I can load up and do a s24o with some extra mileage. So I did the Strava thing and I've been exploring and mapping out some routes to work. Anything involving Argonne Hill seems to work really well.

 I like this route the best because it has some gravels roads and more elevation gain.

Favorite Commute Route

I took the long way to work this morning and it was worth every minute of the two hours I spent in the saddle. I get to ride almost 26 miles and don't hit a traffic light until I arrive at work. Rutter Parkway and the Centennial Trail and quiet and soothing, in spite of the climbing involved, during the wee hours of the morning.

 

Obligatory route map.

 

 

 View of the Spokane River.

  

 What's not to like about riding to work with this beside you?

 To top it off, I have John Speare, aka Mr Cycling Spokane himself, 

greeting me while I wait for my only traffic light to change.

Almost Forgot

This is what the beginning of your ride looks like on Strava when you suddenly remember you forgot your helmet.

The Future's So Bright...

...I gotta wear shades.

I dropped the Haulin' Colin Porteur rack off to get painted. Neon orange will look horrific on the NFE, which is another way of saying it'll be awesome. Since one pound was the smallest amount of powder I could order I decided to have my old Specialized Rock Hopper frame painted too. That'll give me a good reason for building that bike back up. It'll look good next to the neon yellow Elephant and neon pink Viscount single speed.

I think that orange is just bright enough.

Taking A Big Step

Almost six years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law and after many failed attempts to repeal it and after many unanswered questions as to what Republicans would replace it with, Cathy McMorris Rodgers has finally seen the light.

"We've got to write the specific replacement to the Affordable Care Act." 

Given the lack of specifics she's given on any questions asked of her on her Facebook talks and at town hall appearances, I don't expect to see much progress.

But still, it's encouraging to see an 11-year member of the United States House of Representatives come to realize that offering replacement legislation may be a viable alternative as opposed to the failed 50-60 repeal votes over these intervening years.

It's like running into a brick wall over and over and over and then realizing, "Hey, let's try the gate."