Better late than never

As I sit here at my kitchen table at 5:30am on a Tuesday morning, I'm reminded of the beauty this world possesses. While we've had only a brief glimpse of spring, I can hear the birds chirping outside. . . . .I can see the tulips and daffodils slowly poking out of the ground. . . . . . the sun is resting for it's big debut of the day (maybe). . . . . .my puppy is doing hot laps up and down the hallway while my husband tries to get a few extra winks of sleep today (usually he gets up with her).

This past weekend Mother Nature was in a spectacular mood, bringing us warm temps and sunny skies. Saturday I had the most spectacular ride, even if it was on the gravel trail. I set out on my own, with my iPod cranked to a selection of tunes that kept me smiling. I headed north, and while I think the wind was more at my back. . . . . .it was still as windy as could be. There were people scattered here and there along the trail, some cleaning up the debris from the winter, some walking their dogs, others jogging or riding their bikes. But everyone had a smile. Good weather does that to people. . . . .it puts a little smile in our hearts.

I figured since Bill was off on his own ride and the puppy was tired from her "play date" the night before, I could take a good 2+ hour ride without any "guilt". I headed north about 1:15, almost making it to Eden. I peeked at my heart rate a few times as I knew I was riding a LOT harder than I needed to. . . . . . .but I didn't care. It felt spectacular and so I pushed on.

Getting back took almost the same amount of time. The sun warmed my skin, the wind blew my hair through my helmet, the wheels spun at a nice pace on my bike. My heart rate responded nicely. All in all, 2:33, AHR 163.

Sunday was a different story. Apparently I used up all my mojo on Saturday because the hellish winds were nearly impossible for me to battle on the road bike, even with 2 other peeps as shields. My legs filled up with acid the moment I tried to exert them and raising my heart rate above 166 seemed like an impossible feat. I decided to just take in the sunshine, chalk up my lack of energy to a hard ride the day before, and call it a day after 90 minutes out and about. Hard. . . . .painful. . . . .but STILL enjoyable.

Later in the day we took Thunder for her first walk in the woods. She loved it. I told her she had to get used to the trails because we'd be spending a LOT of time down there raking and hopefully building some new stuff. I think she's in.

We're waiting for her ears to BOTH stand up, and stay standing up. Right now she looks like a special ed. dog. . . . .but she's far from it. Intelligence oozes from this one. She's already catching on to many things. I think she's "gifted". Yeah, I know she doesn't "look" it though.