Going, going ...

Gorgeous day. Too bad I almost spoiled it by oversleeping. Got the boys to school on time, but ran behind almost all day for a bunch of reasons. Anyway, the snow is melting quickly. Seems faster than usual, but at this rate, it'll all be gone next week.

The stepdaughter needed a ride to town to catch a bus to New York; her last weekend of fun before basic training. So instead of running after I dropped the boys off, I came right home. Ack. She wasn't anywhere near ready, missing her bus. So I went for a hill run around the house. Ouch. Whine. Hurt.

Everyone had their maple buckets hanging, though, which was nice. I'm a big fan of homemade maple, as long as it doesn't involve a kitchen that's perpetually sticky. Which means I'm a big fan of homemade maple, as long as it's not boiled down in my house. And at 40 gallons of sap per 1 gallon of maple syrup, that's a lot of stickiness.

Eventually got the stepdaughter to the bus station, ran by the grocery, and then down to Main Street to drop our mountain bike off at the shop for its annual tuneup. Tim, the owner, gave me some advice on the kind of bike I need to be looking at. Mountain bikes get uncomfortable pretty quickly, but then again, so does sleeping under a bridge after paying several hundred for a new one. But I suspect I'll have to break down sooner or later.

Anyway, Tim said there used to be a triathlon from town all the way to our little mountain. The company that sponsored it pulled out quite some time ago, but it involved a river swim, then a bike ride past our house to the mountain, finished with a mountain run. Tim said it was so hilly that grown triathletes wept during the run.

Hmmmmm. Anyway, I picked up a new helmet and pair of gloves. Ran by the eye doctor's on the way out to set an April appointment for John (needs new glasses or contacts).

Came back to the house, ate a quick lunch, put a marinated brisket in the crockpot, and did some of the day job. Ran out to the gym mid-afternoon for a 13.2-mile bike ride and a 3/4-mile swim. For whatever reason, the gym was crowded. Sigh. And they're going to be repainting the pool, so it'll be closed for two weeks. Double sigh.

TGIF.