Family Vacation and Catch-Up

Hi Everybody!  Sorry for not posting consistently over the last week.  Bern and I went back to Western Washington to spend the 4th of July holiday with our families and to take a little bit of rest and relaxation.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to get on the computer and update this blog since we were constantly running around.  I jotted some notes down in my journal to share with you all, but since it's late here and one of the things I wanted to talk about is kind of a lengthy topic, I will be putting that off until later.

Here is what we have accomplished since my last post:
July 2nd: An easy 10-mile ride from our apartment and out past the Pullman Airport on some beautiful rolling hills.
July 4th: A 35-mile ride from my parent's house in Marysville, WA to Snohomish and back (plus a little extra rolling around on Centennial Trail).
July 5th: A 30-mile ride on Centennial Trail from Marysville to Snohomish and back.

The ride on the 4th was great, a lot of traffic from folks who had the day off, but we kept a really great pace.  On the 5th, we set out for a "recovery ride" and ended up going much farther than planned at a leisurely pace (about 11-12mph average, I think).

I only did a little .66-mile lap in Bern's parents' neighborhood on the 6th so that I could log something on MapMyRide.com (you can enter once per day to be eligible for their prizes).  On the 7th, we drove the 5ish hours back to Pullman and found that while we were gone it had turned into a total oven (it was over 95 today, yuck!) so we decided not to ride. Today, we did another longish ride--I went 35 miles and Bern went about 38.  He did an extra lap but I was having some issues with what I call my "chub rub"--I managed to put a hole in my $55 cycling shorts from them rubbing on the underside of my saddle--so I headed home while he added an extra loop.  Not happy about the shorts but I think I can reinforce them and use them for a bit longer...

I have a bit more to talk about but since I have to be up at 6:30 tomorrow I'm going to wait a bit and then give you all something more substantive.  Since we're back at home and I have access to the desktop, I should be able to update more regularly for the rest of the challenge.  Thanks to everyone who is reading and keeping up with my progress--if you want to hear something from me, go on a group ride, or send a little encouragement, leave me a comment below...or talk to me in person since most of you reading this know me!

Here is my progress so far:

Miles Completed Since 6/30/2012: 142.82

Miles to Go by 7/22/2012: 401.18

Days Left in Challenge: 14

At this rate, I will have to go 200 miles per week to reach my goal in time...eek!