Hi, it's me again.

What's going on? Actually a few things has happened since my trip to Peru. Since my return I was invited to accompany the Kenyon's and friends on the annual Russian River Barrel Tasting. This was a blast and yes I stocked up on a few more bottles of wine :)

A couple of weeks after the wine trip I started to really miss hiking and actually just being outdoors in nature. So I headed across the Golden Gate Bridge and went on an early morning hike in Muir Woods with Chloe. It felt great to smell the trees again. After the hike there was still tons of daylight left so I made plans with Tim to go on a bike ride. I need to mention here that the day before, I got persuaded by Tim to get a road bike. I've been holding off for a while because I'm used to riding a mountain bike and I was a little concerned about those skinny tires. Well long story short I got peer pressured (it doesn't take much) into a new 2009 Fuji Roubaix Pro. So we started from Tim's place and rode through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach, down the Great Highway, around Lake Merced and back to Tim's. Being that this was the first time I rode a road bike in over 20 years I think I did good for doing 16 miles.

After the weekend of activities I felt pretty good so during the week I get an invite from Barney to join him in the second annual Rhodes Race 5K charity race around Lake Merritt. If you know me I can't run for a straight mile to save my life. I can sprint but anything over a quarter-mile and I'm dead. I went around and asked a few co-workers that if they do it I would do it. To my surprise Tim, Angela and Chloe said they are all in. So now what? Crap!!! I have less than a week to train. Again I mentioned I have never ran for a straight mile before. So I trained every other day, running around Lake Merced and on a treadmill at the gym. Well race day came up fast and it was time to "Just Do It". We meet up with Barney and Kelly in the morning and at exactly 9 AM we were running. Tim, Barney and Kelly took off and eventually they were far ahead of me. Then came Angela who threw it into fifth gear, passed us and kept on going. I felt pretty good after mile one. I was just glad that I went a mile without stopping. After mile two I was like hmm I think I might be able to do this. After mile three my legs started to feel heavier and heavier after each step. Chloe threw some words of encouragement and with that it gave me enough strength to head around an uphill turn to go into the final 50 yards to the finish line. I made it!! Ran the whole 5K without stopping once. I didn't get the best time but heck I'm just happy I finished the race without stopping or even worse, quitting and playing possum on the course. The awesome thing was Kelly came in second for her age group. Way to go Kelly!

Feeling great after the race and it being only 10AM we decide that we should go for a bike ride as well. So Barney, Cinzia, Tim, Angela, Chloe and myself met up in the parking lot at Sports Basement and set our goal on making it to Tiburon. After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, strolling through Sausalito and 16 miles later we arrived in a beautiful waterfront town of Tiburon. At this point Chloe and I decided to kick it at Sam's for a few drinks and catch the ferry back to the city while the others rode back.

 

Last weekend I headed down to LA to visit family, attend a few birthdays including my grandfather's 88th birthday and the one year anniversary since my moms passing. Wished I could have stayed longer but I got to head back to work to pay the bills.

Coming up next weekend I'll be attending my first Kentucky Derby. So more on that after I return.

Photo Albums:
2009 Russian River Barrel Tasting
Hiking Muir Woods
Rhodes Race and Ride to Tiburon