Hope at a Community Level?

This morning I went out for one of my regular runs - a six miler with a few hills. Where we are in Brambleton it is great for running if you want to do 3-5 miles as you can vary it up a bit but for me to go beyond 5 miles I need to connect to some of the other communities around me so I will use the roads that connect into Brambleton to find my way into Broadlands, Dolomite Hills and Loudoun Valley. When I want to do some hills it is usually Dolomite or Broadlands as it has Croson, Ridgeway and Truro Parish where I can run hills wither early or late in a run.

This morning I did my regular 6 miler which takes me up Croson, down Claiborne and a loop through Ridgeway/Stone Hollow. Some hills and a nice safe area to run in. This morning I even saw an old friend, Mark Burns, that I used to work with and we also trained together at early morning karate classes. What I found really nice as I ran around Ridgeway was the number of kids that were walking to school. Some were walking with their parents, others in good groups but it was amazing at how many elementary aged kids that were walking to school. Most of these kids were walking at least a third of a mile, some may actually be doing almost a mile (I think that would be the maximum given the community layout). Now I do not know if it was the kids deciding themselves to do this or the parents encouraging them but given the parents I saw walking I think there may have been some parent involvement and if so then I say that is FABULOUS. We need more parents encouraging kids to get out and do things like walk to school or the grocery store, especially with a community/area like Broadlands where that is possible. Ridgeway is a bit more unique in that there is largely only local traffic through most of it but communities like Broadlands and Brmbleton have done a good job in laying out sidewalks and paths that allow/encourage walking and I hope more parents encourage it.

Maybe there is hope for a healthy generation of kids - even when they are so easily distracted by video games and iPhones - but it takes a community approach - both to build the resources to encourage activity but also to have parents involved to encourage and protect when needed.

Congratulations to those parents at Mill Run and I hope that carries over to Eagle Ridge.

First Day

As parents in Loudoun county know today is the first day back to school. Sammy was less than excited to be starting back in her junior year - not that she does not like school - but as she put it - "If they could start classes at 1 I would be much more excited about it"

Sam & Kris in her dorm

Well Kris also starts her first classes today at GMU. Her first day as a Patriot. We moved her into her dorm last Thursday and she seems to be settling in nicely. The freshmen dorms at Mason are nice. They are in a consolidated area and are low rise buildings. She has two roommates which will always present some challenges but her RA seems great and so far things have been good.

Yesterday, after my 10 mile run and spending some time with Sammy on her learning to drive a 5-speed, we took some other stuff over to Kris and then all went to lunch. It was really nice since we all could chat about things that are going on and talk about things that are stressing both her and Sam. It was kind of cool that Sam was even offering advise on tricks to make the studying easier. Lets see if she can also live those :-)

Sam also made me a cake for my birthday. the timing was great as I had finished my carrot cake a couple of days ago - so more cake is always good. We did share it with Kris's roommates as well and they seemed to appreciate some homemade cake. They will likely appreciate it more in a few weeks after being away from home for a while.

So it is a transition year. Tika is off studying in Ottawa, Kris is off to GMU and Sam has her own car and is now looking for work. I am looking forward to seeing where their choices on things take them.

Thank you!

Yesterday was a great day and it is largely thanks to Laura.

We started the day at out local Caribou Coffee where I got a free coffee for my birthday. We then packed a picnic and headed down to Delaplane to visit Barrel Oak Winery. It is a small winery/vineyard that have some of the friendliest people involved with it. Their wines are varied and good. A couple we really liked. Their grounds are just beautiful. They have about 23 acres of 10 varietals growing and were just getting ready to start harvesting some of the fruit. We rann into a couple of people that worked their while touring their production room and started to have a long chat with one of them. Turns out she is one of the owners. She was very friendly and gave us lots of insight into what it takes to run a vineyard.

After wine tasting and some lunch we picked up some lamb to have for supper and we made lamb chops with fresh rosemary, roasted butter potatoes and some sautéed green beans. For dessert I am still working on my carrot cake that Laura got for me for Sunday - and it is still very yummy :-)

Another cool thing was when I went to check something on Google I saw the following Google Doodle. For those that don't know - if you see a Google Doodle and it does not make sense to you just roll your cursor over it and it will tell you what it is about. Well I rolled mine cursor over this one and it said "Happy Birthday Gary!" I thought it was cool - but on the other hand realized that Google was pulling the dat from my Google+ and then direct marketing me (which I generally do not like - except when it says Happy Birthday Gary!)

Thank you Sweetheart for a wonderful birthday.

Happy 138th Birthday Honey!!!!!!!

I would like to wish my sweet husband a very happy 138th birthday, sort of. In cake math its 48. HT's ran out of 4's so I figured a 1 and a 3 would suffice and he could do math anyway and you know that's just how it worked out. Kris suggested getting a "+" and an "=" candle but I didn't see any. Audrey, I never ventured to calculate how old that would make his mom because cake math is different. So don't even worry.

On a more serious, and less mathematical note, I would like to express my deepest most heartfelt thanks to you honey for taking such good care of me, especially lately. You are always supportive- I think you read more food labels than I do just to make sure I don't eat anything but meat and rice- and never complaining. Even I am complaining about eating meat and rice, and salt. Okay, maybe I don't complain about salt. You are a true source of strength for me, always by my side. Which is where I want you, the perfect spot. I love you and I would never trade our lives for anything. Even ketchup.

Happy Birthday, I hope its the best year ever.
Laura

Kris is braces-free

So yesterday I took Kris to her orthodontist to get her braces off. She was very anxious about getting them off before she started at Mason and they went right down to the wire as she moves in a week from today.

The process itself was a couple of hours but she was very happy and smiling afterwards. She did say that it would take her a while to get used to not having them but I am sure she will adjust quickly.

Before

After

Congratulations Kris!

Some Shoe Success

I know I was complaining about the manufacturers of shoes always changing things and creating new variants of their existing shoes. It is funny that I just read an interview with the guy that wrote the definitive book on barefoot running and he said the same thing.

Well I did find a pair of my existing shoe model online and they we delivered Friday in time for me to do a good 9 mile run today. I will still try out the Nike Zoom Structures but on shorter distances until I am comfortable with them.

Speaking of 9 mile runs - when I was just at about the 5 mile point I ran into a race. It appears they were having a triathlon in Broadlands. It was a bit convenient as it restricted car traffic on Claibourne so I could basically run where I wanted but just before I turned on Ridgeway I realized that there were still bikers using the lanes so I had to do a quick run across the street to make sure I did not mess up any bikers. It was a good run tough - at a very good pace - better than 8:20 for a reasonably long training run. Maybe I am a runner?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Frustrations of Fashion

OK - Maybe it is not fashion for everyone, certainly not me, but every year the manufacturers of running shoes seem to make changes to their shoes that means the ones that I have gotten used to and like are no longer being made. This of course means two things need to happen - I need to go out and find as many pairs of the ones I like and buy them and keep a couple of pairs in reserves or I find new ones.

Like I said - I do not worry about fashion

Well it has gotten to the point where finding as many pairs of the ones I like is no longer an option. It seems they are now out of stock everywhere - so now the new search for new running shoes. What gets additionally frustrating here is that when manufacturers release a new version it seems they make some minor change that means the new version of what I was using does not fit the same way so not only am I looking for shoes but also looking for sizes.

Now I am certainly not one to complain about technological advances that make the running experience better - but REALLY - I loved my Brooks Adrenalines when I had the 2010 version. I came to like the GTS 11 and bought multiple pairs so I would not face this problem too quickly - but now I find the GTS 12 just do not fit the same.

So off I go trying new shoes from other manufacturers - some I have used before - Asics, Mizuno and some I have never ran in before like Nike. I guess it will take a few weeks to find what I like and in the meantime I will run in the 11s I have, wait for delivery of the one pair I found online and experiment with other ones.

Wish me luck.

I think I have figured it out ...

As you all know I have been running now for a few years. The last couple of years I have even been able to get better with my races - improving times in all race distances, 5 milers, 10Ks, 10 Milers and half-marathons.

Usually when I crank up my training I do find that I get more sore - a few aches and pains in the legs but over the last few weeks I have not had those aches and pains - even with an increase in running. Today was a medium run - just under 6 miles with some good hills - I am so glad that they finished the Croson Road link to Belmont and then of course Ridgeway has another good hill. The run felt great.

So what exactly is it that I figured out - I think it is core cross-training. On my non-running days I am doing an hour of kayaking and a couple of those days a half hour in the gym where I keep it basic. I think the kayaking and gym work have really helped my core strength and that in turn helps my running. Interesting how all these things relate.

The other great thing about kayaking is it is so relaxing. I go mostly in the mornings and what a great way to start a day - it is quiet - very few if any people - just me - some herons and a lot of open water.

Maybe that sanity break is helping too :-)