Dang

Thanks to my friend Jessica for sending me the link to the Rainier route map. I wasn't nervous about the climb until now. Aside from a bad case of vertigo, this picture also gives me the motivation to train like never before.

I think I got off to a good start this weekend, though. Steve and I did some mountain biking at Yankee Springs on Saturday. It's so pathetic but I don't think I've been down there in two years. I forgot how much fun the trail is and except for a few boggy spots, the trail's in great shape. It still kicked my butt - I don't know if it's because I'm out of shape or because my lungs were on fire. I'm sure it had something to do with the cold, but I've never had such a hard and painful time trying to breathe.

Today was better. I met Margo at her house and we set off on a 20ish mile ride on our cross bikes. It was pretty cold and really windy but we had a great ride. No kamikaze bus driver incidents or dirty rednecks in kidnapper vans licking their windows at us so I gotta say it was a good day. I'm planning on doing Margo's yoga class tonight at the gym. I'm definitely not as bendy as I used to be. I've also started having some issues with my right hip and I'm hoping the the yoga will make it stop hurting so much. It's not a big deal - it's been acting up on and off for the last year or so. I think all of the walking and standing around during the Ford funeral events really aggravated it. Surprisingly, I think all of the riding this weekend made it feel better for the time being. Let's hope....

I'll leave you with some super sweet action shots of Steve and me tearing up the trail at Yankee. We slammed like thirteen Mountain Dews apiece before we hit the trail. Yeah dude!