Random Thoughts on My Last Night in Portland

• I swear if I eat another pancake, I’m going to turn into batter. Blueberry, banana, granola…We’ve had them all…
  
• When I get back to Austin, I’m going to walk to the store and ride my bike to work EVERY DAY.
  
• Oh yeah, it’s still like really hot in Austin. Maybe a few times a week.
  
• I could get used to sleeping in until 7:00am every morning and going for a casual run whenever the mood strikes.
  
• There is some damn good coffee in these parts and it doesn’t have a green Starbucks logo on the cup.
  
• They call the area around Austin “The Hill country.” Apparently, they haven’t been out west to catch a glimpse of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and the upper West Side of Portland.
  
• Our friend Shane is awesome. He rides his bike to work every day and cooks at home pretty much every night with vegetables from his own garden. I swear I’m going to do that when I get home.
  
• Ummm…what’s thyme? What do you cook with Rosemary?
  
• Never mind, that’s why Whole Foods already has prepared dishes.
  
• When I get back to town, I want to go trail running and mountain biking more.
  
• Oops—I signed up for an Ironman so the next 6 months of my life are basically already scheduled with 90 mile road rides and 20 mile runs. While I'm excited about fulfilling this dream of Ironman, I'm also dreading the constant "I should be working out" feeling. I hope I can balance well.
  
• I want to quit my desk job and just be a writer so that I can work ANYWHERE.
  
• I want a second house in Portland…or Boulder…or Seattle…or I could just be content with the one I’ve got.
  
• How much weight can one gain by being gone for a measly 10 days?
  
• How long will it take to lose that weight that one has gained by being gone for a measly 10 days?
  
• I never thought I’d say this, but I’m actually missing the Jack and Adam’s Corture Classes…so much so that every other day, I’m doing my pushups, 5 minutes of plank, leg lifts and scissor kicks.
  
• I believe they call that “guilt.”
  
• I’ve also gone running pretty much every day. It hasn’t involved fartleks, track work or intervals, but it has involved sightseeing and running in beautiful parks along the bay in Seattle and Williamette River in Portland.
  
• I really don’t want to go back to reality, but how can I complain when my reality is so wonderful?
  
• I do miss my cat who I’m sure hasn’t noticed that his parents have been gone for over a week.
  
• Did I mention that I’m feeling particularly large for some reason? Lots of pancakes will do that to you, I suppose.
  
• Shane and Genny know how to find great chocolates! (Moonstruck on 23rd—yummy)
  
• Oregon and Washington wines are pretty spectacular. Of course, they all start tasting the same after about the 15th sample of the morning.
  
• Yes, I said “morning.”
  
• Did I mention something about feeling a little large?
  
• I swam once in Seattle at the local 24Hr Fitness and have committed to getting up on my last morning of vacation and going to the pool with Shane. I’m such a loser.
  
• Actually, I’m excited because I know I’ll learn a thing or twelve from his expertise.
  
• I spent one morning running up Mt. Tabor and decided it was the most spectacular way to start a day. I ran from the house to the park and up some of the trails to the top of the hill. It felt like a victory of sorts…Of course, I then had to run back down and head back to the house.
  
• I wonder how my tri bike is doing. I haven’t been on a bike in two weeks. They say you never forget how to ride a bike. I hope it’s true. I've got a Half-Ironman in 3 weeks.
  
• How weird that the Buckeye football game that we went to was already a week ago. Let’s hope the team worked harder than we did this week.
  
• Let’s also hope they didn’t eat as many pancakes.
  
  Home Sweet Home tomorrow night…Back to reality. (and plenty of Kashi cereal)