I didn't run today. I had a dentist appointment, and it ate away all of my free time. No cavities, though.  ¶ 9:23 PM

 

I ran six miles after work this evening. With three solid weeks of training under my belt, my legs actually felt pretty good. The problem was my stomach did not. I've been eating a lot of beans lately. While they're easy to prepare and taste good, there is a price to be paid—namely, gastrointestinal distress. But that's probably more than you wanted to know.

I didn't run at all over the weekend because I was too busy organizing or recovering from Angie's birthday party. It was a good time, and I think we've never had more people inside the house. We've certainly never had more babies. At one point, there were seven at once. I think we had nine babies over in total.

Speaking of babies, the Little Dude turned five months old on Friday. He's cuter than ever.

  ¶ 7:01 PM

 

I've managed to run every day this week. I'm on a roll. For all of 2006, I ran more than 20 miles in a week twice. I've already equaled that in 2007. Last year was pathetic as far as training and racing, and I hope to reverse that trend.

In other news, Tyler Hamilton is racing professionally again after serving a two-year ban for doping. He signed a contract with Tinkoff Credit System. He can't race at the highest level of professional cycling for another two years, but he's only one step down. Tinkoff is hoping to get wildcard berths to ProTour events, most notably the Giro d'Italia, but I've got a feeling it's not going to go well for them—they have too many old dopers on the team. The UCI wants to distance itself from the merest whiff of scandal, so even though Tinkoff is a strong team, they'll probably get passed over frequently. I'm glad to see him back, and I hope he stays clean.

  ¶ 9:03 PM

 

Yesterday, I carpooled with Jake all the way to Mount Vernon, where we competed in an orienteering meet at Fire Mountain. I did terrible, and Jake did well, kicking my ass by nearly fifteen minutes. Simply put, I made too many mistakes, only one of which I can blame on the map. (I was looking for a rock in a clearing. On the map, the clearing was empty. In reality, there were many structures in it. When I saw all the structures, I assumed it was the wrong clearing and kept going. Many people made the same mistake.) The blackberries weren't quite as bad as advertised, and this was the first course I've ever done that had a control at a cave.

After the race, Jake and I had lunch at the Skagit River Brewery. Neither of us had ever been. I ordered the Highwater Porter, which was quite tasty.  ¶ 10:42 AM

 

Last night, Evening Magazine ran a segment on orienteering—more specifically, the Bog Slog. Here's a link to the segment. If you watch closely, you can see my dad hand over his money at the registration table.  ¶ 9:35 PM