Another lucky dog

*Last* Saturday I went on a 45-mile training ride with my fellow princesses in training.  We went across the Dumbarton Bridge and rode into Woodside, Portola Valley and Palo Alto.  The weather was perfect, in the mid-60's.  It was a beautiful ride with a couple of hard climbs.



Taking a break at Roberts Market



Me and Erin



Sunday, Stacey came up and we went to Garin for an eight mile trail run.  I had to work a few hours so we didn't get started until after 2:00.  It was already ~70 degrees.  I planned a route that would take us into mostly covered single track trails for the majority of the run so we didn't overheat.  Considering I had just ridden the day before, I held up pretty well.  We had a marvelous time (as always) which makes the run that much easier. 

On our way back to my house, we saw a little dog on the side of Mission Boulevard.  We pulled over, Stacey said she had a leash in the car.  I jumped out and ran down the sidewalk toward the dog.  It was an old Jack Russell Terrier.  He was covered in fleas, grease and dirt.  His fur was missing on his back, by his tail and he could only see out of one eye.  He had a collar on but no tags.  Stacey put the leash over his head and we got him back to the car.  We drove through a neighborhood that was nearby, asking people out walking if they knew the dog.  No luck.  We took him to a Pet Food Express to get him cleaned up because Stacey figured she would just take him home and we could notify the local shelter when they opened up Tuesday morning.  Pet Food Express gave us free tokens for his bath and he was very cooperative while Stacey bathed him.  Afterwards they even gave us some treats and beef sticks for him.  We asked if they knew of any place we could get him checked for a microchip at this time on a Sunday night.  They suggested a place so we drove over to get him checked.  To our complete amazement, he was chipped!  The receptionist called the provider of the microchip (Avid?) and they were going to contact the owner and then call Stacey back.  We left the vet and came to my house.  After 30 minutes, we had still not heard from anyone.  Stacey called Avid directly and after a bit of a run around, she was finally able to talk to the child of the dog owner.  She got the address and drove the doggie home.  "Harley", the 12-year old pup was back home safe.  Another happy ending for a dog.  We love those, don't we?

I worked a lot of hours this past week.  Well, 30 hours but that's a lot for me!  I went to a spin class Mon-Wed, with a BodyPump class thrown in there. On Thursday I went for a 35-mile ride with a guy from work.  We did the Niles Canyon, Palomares Canyon, Foothill loop with Happy Valley thrown in there.  For the first time ever, I was able to make it all the way up Palomares without a break.  There's one turn-out I *always* pull over to and pick up a lung catch my breath.  That my friends, is progress!

Yesterday I had another Cinderella training ride, a 45-miler.  We went out to Alum Rock Park and then headed up Mount Hamilton Road to Grant Park.  I have no idea how many miles we went up but I know it was at least half way.  It was a LONG climb at a very steady grade.  It was never too steep in any one spot and it was much easier than I had feared it was going to be.  I was quite relieved.

This morning Stacey made her way up for another trail run at Garin.  It was cool and foggy but we warmed up quickly as we climbed up one of the steepest trails in the park.  My legs were pretty darn sore from the ride yesterday, that's for sure.  We completed five miles but both agreed it felt like 10!  After a little lunch and some shopping, I crashed hard for a two hour nap.  Much deserved, I would say.

"Where's Boomer?"

"MED2011" Accountability:
02/04 - Spin, 2 mile walk
02/05 - 45 mile bike ride
02/06 - 2 mile walk, 8 mile trail run
02/07 - Spin, 1 mile walk, BodyPump
02/08 - 2 mile walk, Spin
02/09 - Spin, 1.5 mile walk
02/10 - 36 mile bike ride, 3 mile walk
02/11 - 2.5 mile run, "24SET" class
02/12 - 45 mile bike ride
02/13 - 5 mile trail run


Until later.............