Short week, long days

I haven't gotten used to it being light out until 9pm and now the days are already getting shorter. Last night Pam and I ran our short short route and stood around chatting afterward. We got a late start but didn't realize what time it was when we finished. I got in my car and was shocked that it was well after 8pm. The sun was still up, it was still warm out. I didn't get around to fixing dinner until 9-ish. No wonder I don't sleep at night.

I used my Garmin again last night. It has trouble finding a satellite in Danville which will be a pain in the neck once winter comes. I don't mind standing around waiting for it when it's warm and pleasant, but when it gets cold and wet (assuming this drought doesn't last) I'm sure not going to be hanging around for 10 minutes just to get my training tool going. Not worth it. I was happy to know that the route I'd been calling 3.2 miles was, in fact, 3.21 miles according to Garmin.

I enjoyed my knitting class on Saturday, despite getting the rock into my windshield on the way over. Petra taught us how to knit the straps on the Temescal Bag. She showed us 3 strap options, from stockinette to i-cord. I decided on the first option, a stockinette that was flared at the base. I didn't really get too much knit in the 2 hour class but I know how to do it and now just need some knitting time. I realized I didn't have enough of the last color to do both straps so they'll be two-color straps. I was very surprised at the lack of knitting skills from some of the other people in the class. Petra was wonderfully patient while she showed them how to knit. I'll have to give these women credit for tackling a hard project when they're such beginners.

Today's Gratuitous Bear of the Day is another medal bear. The first marathon that I did without TnT support was the Silicon Valley Marathon in San Jose. This was my fourth full marathon. Although I was on the team and mentoring at the time, this wasn't a team event. I trained with my friend Heather who was also on the team and running that race. We'd arrive at team trainings a couple of hours early to get in our extra miles, then finish our runs with the team. There were lots of very early mornings that season. My sis sent me a good luck bear for my first solo performance. She's a Vermont Teddy Bear with attitude. Her shirt had a personalized message for me.

The race went very well. At that time I was still striving for a personal best at every marathon and I ran it hard. I didn't expect the couple of hills and I certainly didn't expect to almost get lost on the route. There were so few people that at one point I couldn't see another runner. I wasn't sure which way to go and took a wild guess which happily turned out correct. Heather and I passed each other a couple of times throughout the race and I finished a bit before she did. I managed a huge PR, more than 12 minutes. At the time the medals from this race were the biggest ones around, and also had a silicon chip embedded on them. I know that I didn't like having such a heavy weight around my neck after I had run so hard. Sili has to sit because the weight is too heavy for her.

I probably won't post tomorrow since it's the Fourth of July. I'm running a local 5k in the morning then I plan on doing everything that didn't get done this past weekend. Have a happy Independence Day!