Kira's Latest Triathlon

From the headlines:

"Sporteve Playa Del Rey Triathlon
October 18th, 2009
Join us for the 2009 Sporteve Playa Del Rey Triathlon, a benefit for collegiate triathlon that celebrates the city’s crosstown rivalry. Set along the beautiful bluffs of Dockweiler State Beach in Playa Del Rey, the Sporteve Playa Del Rey Triathlon encourages students, alumni, and the community at large to “throw down the gauntlet”, as a portion of the proceeds are donated to the UCLA & USC Triathlon Teams. In its first year the event raised $5000 for collegiate triathlon! Competitors will swim 600 meters, bike 20K, and run 5K on one of the flattest and fastest courses in Southern California."

Well Kira did it again! She battled through an ocean swim with 5 foot swells, a windy bike course and then a flat and fast run course.

The 7:00 am start was delayed by fog for about 40 minutes, but as soon as the visibility improved, they headed out.

Kira reported after the fact that she had a great race and felt good, even hours later. Her overall time of 1:50:55 was good enough for 262nd overall, 78th female and 5th in her division. Not too shabby!

The swim, bike and run times were approximately 22 minutes, 52 minutes and 36 minutes respectively.

What's next on the calendar?

Tassajara Hills Carnival

The Pumpkin Patch

We spent a couple of hours today at the pumpkin patch in Livermore and had a blast.

First up was the corn maze. We were given a small map and then set off through eight foot high corn fields. It was a little complicated and at times I though we would be trapped for a long long time before seeing daylight again. Luckily there were clues along the way. This was truly a high tech maze as there were signs stating that you could pull out your phone and text for clues. Only in Silicon Valley!

Next up was a hot dog and corn feast. The corn was BBQ'd and tasted excellent. The hot dog was a hot dog. We decided to take our chances on the dessert and were not disappointed with the peach cobbler. Yum!

On to the "corn box" for fun. Kind of like a sand box, but it

was filled with corn kernels. The boys had a great time burying themselves and digging for treasure.

We played a while at some of the other attractions and then headed out for the all important pumpkin picking process. Both boys picked out two and loaded them on to the cart.

Before we headed out, Parker insisted on going on the cow ride, so he and I toured parts of the farm on the cow ride while Conner and Dianne loaded up the car.

All in all, a great adventure!

The Latest Models

I'm not sure how Conner and Parker talked their mother into purchasing a couple more models, but they did. Conner picked out the Star Wars lego variety with several hundred pieces and a 50 page manual. Parker was more into the Bionicle scene.

After dinner and tubs, the projects came out. Conner had his assembled in about one hour, and Parker watched and waited. Conner was gracious enough to help Parker with the building of the Bionicles model so that, in the end, they both had completed projects. The boys spent the evening flying around the house and battling the bad guys. The world is now a better place!

Saturday Night at the Glynn House

Out riding with John today. Watch the video here:

Primo's Half Marathon and 5K Walk

Every year there is a huge fund raiser for the local schools. I think every family with kids in school are pressured to sign up for the 5K walk, run or half marathon. We have done this for many years and in the past few, I have run the half marathon, leaving Dianne to handle the 5K walk with the boys. Kira and Kirk were back from Santa Barbara for the weekend so they joined in for the the walk.

The half marathon started about and hour earlier from a different location, but both ended up in the same spot, so after I finished, I walked back through the 5K looking for everyone. I spotted Ben first and congratulated him on being first in the group. Next was Kirk and Conner, determined to stay ahead of the rest. A little further back Linda, Dianne, Kira and Parker were looking good. Parker was very refreshed, because Kira was carrying him. We switched and Parker quickly decided that sitting on my shoulders for the last mile was a good thing. He let me know I could put him down after the finish, and by the way, we needed to finish ahead of everyone in the family.

When we crossed the finish line, everyone looked great. The kids were all in good spirits and proud of their accomplishment.

By the time we got back to the finish, they had started to post the results from the half marathon. We wandered over to the wall and looked down the list. We saw my name on the list and noticed I was 18th. Kira said that was pretty good to finish 18th in my age group, and I said, "No, I think I was 18th overall". We looked again and then over a few more columns. Yup, 18th overall and 1st in my age group of 40 to 49 year olds. As usual, after every race Parker inquires if I won. For the first time, I guess I can say yes.

No cash, but a medal that Parker wore for a while.

All in all, a fun day.

In With the New

Three months of thinking, looking, and agonizing for Dianne came to an end on Saturday. She has been considering an upgrade to her 2005 Honda Accord for a while, and now she can ride around in style. Kira wants the car when she graduates from college, Conner wants it when he turns 16. Somehow I think Dianne will run it in to the ground.

Saturday's weather cooperated and we made good use of the retractable roof. Think I'm going to need a hat. When the kids get in the back (I'm sure that will be a rare occasion!) they will need lots of hair gel and a pair of sun glasses.

Dianne spent Sunday like a person possessed looking for dirt, scratches, marks and other "issues" with the car.

Lexus has a washing service whereby you can bring your car in every week and they will clean it for free for you. I think Dianne plans to set up a weekly recurring appointment.

No sure if I'm allowed to drive it, but it sure is fun being a passenger :)

Out with the Old

Today we bid farewell to Kira's car. We decided to sell the car as she is now in Santa Barbara and really not in need of a car. No where to park them and besides, everyone rides a bike.

I posted the car details on Craigslist at 9:30 Saturday morning. Within 15 minutes e-mails were piling up. I talked to the first person to respond and he came directly from Walnut Creek to look at the car. His wife's car had just broken down and they were looking to replace it. They were in the market for a Honda Civic, but the ad for the Accord caught their eye.

Five minutes of discussions and a 5 minute test drive later, they wanted the car. They pulled out one huge pile of cash and asked if the price was negotiable. A minute later we agreed to a $300 discount and we were done.

Things happened so fast I didn't have time to think a couple of issues through.

California requires all cars sold to have a smog (emissions) test completed within 90 days prior to a sale. The new owner agreed to follow me down to the smog testing place and while the 10 minute smog test was being completed, we filled out the paperwork for the sale on the hood of his car.

At the end I gave him the car key and the two fobs I had. One didn't work and I assumed the battery was dead. I also gave him the valet key, but it didn't work, so I took it back. I told him if I found the extra keys that I would call him and arrange to get them to him.

We parted ways and all was well....until I talked to Kira, frantically looking for the valet key and the fob that was on the counter. I had taken the keys to Kirk's car. Oops!

A quick search of the house turned up a couple extra keys. I called the person back, we met, I gave him the two sets of keys I had and he gave me back the fob. All's well in the Glynn house, and Kirk has keys to his car!

Mount Diablo Challenge

Mount Diablo Challenge this morning. Bike race up the big local hill. Gold standard for guys is one hour. Last year 1:00:30. This year 59:48! A few seconds makes all the difference :)

A small group of us from our local triathlon club, Forward Motion Racing Club, met at the top for a photo opportunity and then we hung around for an hour and a half until we were allowed to head back down the hill again.

I'm now a proud owner of a new extra large "finish in less than one hour" bright red T-shirt.