Yum & Yuk

This morning I volunteered alongside kids at a local organic farm, and was incredibly heartened to see that farm education really works. Amazing kids saying things that sounded like ads for farm-to-school programs: "I'm not usually a fan of vegetables, but these are great!" "Home grown veggies are so much better than ones from the store!" Kids forgot about video games and the mall and ran around catching butterflies, picking carrots, learning about herbs and compost, and eating food they helped grow - really incredible stuff.

Image: source: me!

Since my acupuncturist told me to take another month off from running, and I'm high on the recent century ride, I'm trying to get more into biking. Mainly, I'm trying to bump up my bike commutes into work to 3xweek, instead of 1 or 2. That would mean about 100 mi/week in bike commuting, which is decent!

Related: now that I'm spending more and more time outdoors, I'm thinking of getting a RoadID or something similar. I try not to think too much about the risks out there - getting hit by a car, especially - but I know that they exist, no matter how safe you are as an athlete. I always, always wear my helmet when I'm biking - due to a combination of liking my brain, and having a mother who spend decades helping people rehab from serious injury - and I feel so uncomfortable and angry when I see people biking without helmets. Please wear your helmets, everyone, wear visible colors, and carry ID!

Also related: watched video of Ironman races at lunch yesterday. Now that I've completed two of the Ironman events (ran a marathon, biked a century), I'm feeling a renewed hope that I could complete a "half Ironmn," or 70.3, event. As always, the big challenge would be the swim, but maybe I can commit to it this winter. I can't even think of committing right now, having just pulled out of the August 70.3 I registered for, and still being on the mend physically, but it's neat to start to feel excited again after a few months of post-marathon and injury malaise....

See the amazingness for yourself! The Spirit of Ironman, Kona 2010: "Perhaps the most magical time during any Ironman race is the last half hour before midnight [the cut off for finishing the race]. Seventeen hours seems like a long time to cover 140.6 miles, but for some amateur athletes that last 30 minutes is the most important. It is in that last 30 minutes before midnight that all of the training and effort comes to a glorious crescendo of victory." (I cannot watch this without tearing up - these people rock)