I'm No. 3!

So I got up early this morning, around 630-ish, and we drove to Arlington for the Covered Bridges 12-K, sponsored by the Batten Kill Valley Runners. It's a pretty little town; Norman Rockwell used to live there, and even when we lived in New York, we'd drive the boys down to a little store on the Batten Kill for our ceramic Christmas villages.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day - cool, with a clear blue sky and a few high white clouds. The race started a little after 9a. I didn't think I ran the first couple of miles quickly but I got lulled by the Batten Kill. Felt like I was being pulled along by the river. Looked at my Garmin and saw I was running a 7:30 pace.

Rolled along for another couple of miles and hit a pretty tough hill, but kept going and passed a few people. Saw big brown trout in the river and enjoyed the wind at my back. Didn't get passed again until mile 6. Checked the Garmin again and saw I was doing nearly 7:20.

Finished the race in 54:35. Not bad for a Wheezing Geezer, third in the 40-49 age group, and 13th overall. So I was pretty pleased. It wasn't exactly a world-class, crowded field, but there appeared to be some pretty respectable runners there.

Stopped by the post office on the way back and dropped a letter off to Dad. We went into Manchester and stopped by a wood store to look at various and sundry pieces of wood. Went by Northshire Books, which is one of the best independents in the state. Got a Steven King book (Tommyknockers) for John, and a couple of cards for Dad. Headed back through Jamaica and stopped to chat with the owner of Margie's Muse, one of Lisa's friends. She and Lisa both agree: I'm going to need better yarn to learn to knit without losing my mind. So much for my Wal-Mart acrylic camo yarn, I suppose.

Not done yet. We drove into Brattleboro and looked a ridiculously overpriced canoes, went by the farmer's market (closed) and picked up staples at the grocery store before heading home for good. Dug one potato bed -- they're going great guns in the other beds -- and called it good.

I'll do some knitting tonight and hope for more of this weather tomorrow.