Lawyers Have Heart 10k

So this last Saturday, I decided to run another race and see how much I have improved since my first race. My running career started last December, when at the spur of the moment, decided to run a 10k with no training. My goal was just to finish without stopping. Well I did my at a time of 1:00,04 I felt there was a lot of work still left to be done. So this being my second 10k, I was curious to find out my time. The race was located down in Georgetown and it was a great morning for a race, albeit on the hot side. There were thousands of runners as we started the race. Click here to see the map:

http://www.runlhh.org/_assets/pdf/LHHRaceMap%202007%20Final.pdf

The first part was not all that bad but as I made the halfway point and headed back towards the finish line, the sun started to heat up. This made the race brutally difficult as I was trying to keep my pace up. The stretch from mile five to six was not fun at all as we were out in the open with the sun beating down and being magnified by all the surrounding concrete. It was a difficult stretch and at times, I felt as though I needed to stop. But I told myself to keep going. I did pass the finish line with a time of 54:14 so I was able to improve by about six minutes. I was shooting for 52:00 but with the heat and the water stops, I was not able to make it but I do feel good about it. Check out the results:

http://www.runwashington.com/results/searchable.html

So after that, I was checking out the report on the race and was looking at the photos. To my surprise, I made the website write up! Check it out and look at the second photo towards the left at the guy in the yellow shirt and red shorts! Not all that impressive but it's a start!

http://www.runwashington.com/news/jun07lawyersrpt.html

Livin' it up with Penny...DC style

Well, after many months, I finally got my ultimate wish as Penny came out over Memorial Day weekend to spend the weekend together. This was something that I was looking forward to ever since she came home from Oakland and perhaps longer. We definitely packed it in with the limited time that we had and all the fun stuff that there is to do out here. It was filled with fun events, good meals, lot of humidity and heat, linda's fudge cake, picnics, canoes and a whole bunch of other stuff. We had some good times being that we were on our own and were able to spend the most amount of time with each other.

Joe's Ride and Stride

I signed up for another bike ride in Olney, Maryland. It was another 30 mile ride and it took a little over 2 hours so I am getting faster but still not all that fast. It was a great morning for a bike ride but a little chilly, hence the beenie!

Bike to Work Day

BIKE TO WORK DAY

As part of National Bike Week, I decided to join the fun and ride my bike to work. I mapped out a course and set out on my ride a little after 6:30. I anticipated it taking about two and a half hours and somewhere in the range of 25-30 miles. I woke up numerous time before my alarm due to my excitement and the time finally rolled around. I got my stuff my ready and headed on out. It was a little on the cold side so I sported the long pants and long shirt motif. I avoided the rain which was a bonus. I was surprised that I did not see more people along the way. When all the dust settled, it was a little more than 29 miles into work and about 2:45 in time. It was a lot of fun even though I was at a snails pace!

Celebrating at Freedom Plaza with the rest of the bikers!!! It actually happened to be right outside my building.

Much needed pit stop in Bethesda where I filled up on a banana, juice and a bagel!!

Tour de Carroll

Last Saturday I decided to do a bike ride up in Carroll County which is up near Pennsylvania. I signed up for the 30 miler but due to a detour, I ended up almost in Amish country and turned back around. It ended up being a six mile detour so when all the dust settled, it was 36 miles and change. It was a great day for a bike ride and some great scenery. There were a fair amount of hills which made it tough at times. I maxx'd out at 30 mph at one point and averaged about 12 miles for the whole ride. It certainly did not seem like we were just an hour outside of DC. Most of the photos were taken while I was riding so bear with me. Hopefully there will be more bike rides in the future!

Easter and Zooobieland

I was able to go home over the Easter weekend to spend some time with Penny and see some of the fam as well. With Rebec, high-tailing it to Scottsdale for some sun and shopping, I was able to stay at her house which was a total hook-up. It was nice as it seemed as though I had my own place. I got in Thursday night and Penny picked me up at the airport and we went to PF Chang's. We were able to spend some quality time over the course of the six days that I was there. We did such things as shopping, picnic lunch up Millcreek Canyon, Easter with the fam, trip down to zoobieland and much more. It was a lot of fun. Here are some photos.

Cherry Blossoms

So living in DC, you get to see some pretty cool things. Every spring the cherry blossoms come out and if you can brave all the tourists, you can see some pretty cool stuff. The other day after work I cruised down there to take some photos. I went there last year and it seemed as though they were more pink last year but they were still pretty cool. So take a gander at these!