Autumn Classic

Somebody - my mother, I think - mentioned that there was nothing new to read on the blog, so it must be time for another entry.

Yesterday we all went to Lake Lansing Park so Cindy and the kids could run in the Playmakers Autumn Classic. What better way to welcome the change of seasons? The Autumn Classic is an 8k that circles Lake Lansing on a mix of paths and paved and gravel roads (that's 5 miles, for those of you that are stuck in the old ways). The morning was cool and foggy and just perfect for a running race through the trees and wetlands that surround the lake. I wish I had run it, too. Cindy had a great run, finishing in 45:54, with a 9:14 min/mile pace (note that we're still thinking pace in miles here). I can't say much about Cindy's run, except that she finished in great time and didn't complain of any pains or problems. I'm very impressed with her progress this summer and really looking forward to seeing her finish the half-marathon next month in Detroit!

Here are a few photos. I took three of them, but the picture of Cindy was taken by Dan Carey. The kids photos are quite blurry, but I posted them anyway because it's fun to see them in motion.






Quinn and Abbey didn't run the 8k, but chose to do the kids 1/2 mile run instead. The kids runs are always a little wild, but loads of fun, with a variety of sizes and ages represented. It won't be too long before Abbey's ready to start running longer events, and then of course it's likely that Quinn will be right behind her. Abbey's participating in Girls on the Run this year, so she stays after school twice a week to play games, exercise, and train. The Lansing Area Girls on the Run culminates with a 5k event on November 8th. Abbey plans to follow the Girls on the Run event by running a 5k with me. She wants to do the Polar Bear 5k this year - if it happens - an event in which I ran on the last Saturday in January this year. Brrr. It was cold, and most of the course had a couple of inches of snow. More than anything else, I think she's picked the Polar Bear 5k because of the polar bear. We've also got the Turkeyman Trot on Thanksgiving Day - not sure how we'll decide who gets to run that one.

So... my head spins with thoughts of spinning cranks and spokes and wheels. After the ODRAM, in which I had such a good time, I was dreaming of more fast road biking. Maybe finding a group of roadies to ride with once a week or so - to hammer out some high speed miles. Back in Seattle, I loved the Monday rides around Mercer Island with NOAA Fisheries cyclists. Maybe I'd revive my old Fuji - or build a Gunnar! Something suitable for that sort of thing. But the kids have been continuing to express an interest in mountain biking. On our regular run-n-rides, they're always bugging me to run the trails in our local parks. In Okemos, we have a few easy paths open to running and riding, with just a few short climbs and drops that challenge them. Slightly less locally, but still only 20 minutes to an hour away (by car, of course) we have several choices for mountain bike trails, including Burchfield Park, Sleepy Hollow, Rose Lake, and Pinckney Recreation Area, but how could we make that work? Run-n-rides on the trails? Cindy and I could run while the kids ride? Cindy and I only have our old mountain bikes that are set up for commuting - they could be perhaps be put back into trail service again. Could Quinn really ride trails on his BMX bike? Run-n-rides on the trails? We have the mountain tandems, too? And then there's that trip to Colorado we've been thinking about? Tandems? Singles? Roads? Trails? So many miles - so little time, so little money - can we do it all? Back in the days of Oxford, OH, my biking buddies were mountain bikers - that was good fun and good exercise, too. I still dream that someday I'll own a dual-suspension mountain bike - a new Stumpy? A Blur? A Hawg? A Rush? A reality check?