Planet Smoothie Ride

Yesterday turned out to be such a nice day. Samantha and I decided to go out for a short bike ride. This is us riding along a park not to far form the house. We actually ride past 2 parks on the way to planet smoothie. Part of the ride takes us out on San Jose Blvd. There is a car parking lane most of the way. Of course this is used as a bike lane except towards the end  by the church that almost always has cars parked. 

For a day in mid November it was really nice weather. The sun was shining, the temps were in the mid 70's and there was just a touch of breeze. We had a group of 4 cyclists pass us during the ride. They weren't going that much faster then us and I asked Samantha if she wanted to try and draft off them, she declined. We sat outside and drank our smoothies before returning home along almost the same route. We rode past the other park and looked for Joleen who was out kayaking. We rode through the neighborhood to avoid some of the traffic, plus it makes for a quieter ride. The ride was about 4 miles a nice little distance and I got to spend some time with Samantha enjoying a short break in our day.

Long Shadows

This morning Marilyn and I went and rode with the Velobrew crew. We ended up getting in 50 miles. We rode at a good pace, about 35 miles into the ride they sprinted away and we couldn't hang with them. We started the ride pretty early as the sun was rising. When it first came up over the trees we were riding directly into the sun. We were about 50 of us in the group riding into the blinding sun was tough, but the group slowed slightly and we spread out a bit. The picture above was taken on the way back. We were still casting pretty long shadows. It started out pretty cool this morning and warmed up as we went. I had a few layers on and was able to take off a few and stay comfortable. The best part was I finished up around 10 am.

Grocery shopping by bike

Untitled by emorymc at Garmin Connect - Details

Samantha and I did something not to many people do now a days. We rode our bicycles up to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I have been trying to get out and do some of my errands by bike. My bank is close enough as well. I got a few miles in and got to enjoy some really nice weather and spent some time with my daughter. Doesn't get much better then that.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

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Untitled

Tonights run through the neighborhood with Tami and Andrew. I felt real good on the run. It was a little cool when we got started but it was a really comfortable temp. for running. We kept a pretty good pace and even threw in a few sprints. I had just came from masters swim class and I was feeling good. I am enjoying the running who knew that would ever happen.

Another bridge another run

Today Tami, Elaine and I met downtown to run along the river. The course we chose took us along the river from the school board building over the Main Street Bridge, past the Jacksonville Landing, over the pedestrian bridge which crosses over the rail road tracks and down to the Fuller Warren Bridge. Then we turned around and retraced our steps. The Main Street bridge pictured above complete with fireworks at the top of the span is the 1 mile mark. We started our run at 6:30 pm this afternoon so it was still pretty hot.We ended up covering 5.5 miles. I checked the temperature at home at 8:30 pm and it was still 89 degrees. So that made for a pretty warm run. The only thing that saved us was there was a slight breeze blowing off the river. I really enjoy running the bridges as there isn't any traffic to deal with. I like the variety of surfaces we run on and I like running on the bridges. There are water fountains and rest rooms spread out along the course. There are always people to see. You get runners, walkers, cyclists, homeless people, business people, fishermen, and people out for romantic walks. It seems to be a good slice of people all along the course. Then to be running with friends makes it all good. Running has been wonderful for me I have meet lots of good people, visited many parts of the city and gotten in much better shape physically.(Thanks Laura for getting me running) I may run many other places but along the St Johns River with my friends is my favorite.

You get lemons make lemonade

So the rains finally came. We had a bit of a rain storm this afternoon. It was raining very hard. And it wasn't very long before the backyard was flooded. I swear we got like an inch of rain in 30 minutes.

It wasn't long after that Samantha was asking if we could put the canoe in the backyard. Ethan was soon asking as well. So after changing into my bathingsuit and getting the camera. Here we are in the backyard. We aren't wearing life jackets since the water was less then 6 inches deep I figured we could risk it. 

The kids sure had a good time. I even got into the act and we moved the canoe to some deeper water. Ethan and I are by the swing set having fun. 

Weather Day

Today the weather finally seems to be co-operating. After last week of 7 days of rain, and getting like a foot of it. We are ready for some better weather. This morning the kids and I took the dog for a morning walk around the neighborhood. We walked our mile and the kids even ran the last bit home. After getting the kids going on their school work I went out and cut the grass. It wasn't as bad as it could have been but it sure looks better when it is cut. I think we are in the pattern of afternoon or early evening thunder showers. Hopefully I will be able to get my swim in later today. 

Twenty-nine

Day 29

Today started out with rain and ended up clearing. It was still partly cloudy but we are past the rain. Now we have cold weather coming.  We went to dinner at Gino's pizza tonight. They have really good pizza. They brought out some dough, sauce and cheese and let the kids make their own pizzas. Tonight Miles and I went for a walk. We did 3 miles in the neighborhood. 

Twenty-eight

Day 28

Back from a run. Miles and I went for a little run this evening. We did 3 miles in the neighborhood. The road was wet like it had rained a little bit. While we were out it was nice. As I am typing this now it has started to rain again. This is typical winter weather for us. We will have a gradual warming trend and then it will rain and get cold again. The rain doesn't bother me it is the cold weather I can do without. While running I was listening to my ipod which is built into my iphone. I even got a call while I was running. The phone pauses the music and you can answer the call. After the call the music automatically turns back on. It is all seamless and very cool. I love my iphone. I can also track my run using a program called mapmyrun. It uses the built in GPS and google maps and keeps track of the time and the distance covered. Unfortantely it wears down the battery fast so I only us it if I am doing a different run then normal.

Twenty-seven

Day 27

Call to ride. I was just about to go for a ride today when I got a call. I talked on the phone while Samantha took some pictures of me. After the call I went for a short ride. I rode 6 miles in the neighborhood. I rode at an average speed of 16 mph. I am working on my speed. Of course I have several stop signs on the route so this slows me down a bit. It was a really nice day for a ride. It was just cool enough to make it pleasant.

Sixteen

Day 16

Today comes to a close with this picture of me trying to stay warm. It is cold outside compared to how warm it has been. We just put the extra comforter on the bed. The sad thing is it is only supposed to make it into the low 30's maybe the high 20's. Living in Florida will spoil you like that. A couple days ago I went running and commented how nice it was. I am wearing 2 long sleeve shirts in the picture plus a t-shirt. Of course the shorts don't help much. 

Fourteen

Day 14

The weather finally cleared up and I was able to go for a bike ride. I did a 9 mile ride this morning. It took me about 35 minutes. I just rode around the neighborhood. It takes several loops to get the miles I want but I am never far from the house and there aren't too many cars about. It was 40 degrees when I started this morning. I had plenty of layers and gloves. After about the first 10 minutes I warmed up and it was a pleasant ride. This picture of the day project is going well.

 It isn't too hard remembering to take a picture every day and I can even come up with enough stuff to talk about. More tomorrow

Thirteen

Day 13

Today I awoke to the sound of rain. Not only that it was cold outside as well. This is a picture of how we dress for the weather in Florida. I decided not to wear my flip flops and went for the keens as they keep my feet warmer, plus they do a better job of staying dry. This evening I had a class at Woodcraft on pen making. I had 6 students tonight and the class went well. Everyones pens came out good. And they all seemed to have a good time. Hopefully the weather will be better and I can get back to some training tomorrow.

Eleven

Day 11

Tami and I and Miles went for a walk/run last night. We ended up doing our 3 mile loop through the neighborhood. At around the 2 mile mark we saw some lightning and it started to mist lightly. We decided to carry on. At about 2 1/4 miles it started to rain harder. We started running and the rain kept getting harder the closer we got to the house. The temperature was quite nice. By the time we got home we were all quite wet. 
This is where the shoes spent the night. The fan was blowing on them all night. They were dry by the morning. I am still working on this weekends laundry along with the wet clothes and towels. Rain during the winter in Florida typical means cooler weather. It will warm up nicely and then rain and then it will be cold for a few days. The rain is good but I sure like the warmer temperatures.

Seven

Day 7

Checking the weather. I was hoping to get in a short bike ride this morning. However since I don't want to ride my new bike in the rain I will have to wait. Perhaps this afternoon it will clear up. It is so nice to be able to stand barefoot in shorts and a t-shirt in January. Ethan took todays picture.