Oh-oh Those Summer Nights

Well, clearly we've made it to Washington. And somehow, despite changing just about *everything* about my life in the span of a month (my name, my marital status, my job, my address, etc, etc, etc), I'm starting to feel settled in. It's about time - for a week or two, I was definitely feeling over-stretched by all the compound stresses.

So. Back. And just in time - this week the elusive Northwest summer has made a guest appearance. Combine that with the fabulously long days surrounding the summer solstice, and you've got the reason that people suffer the endless grey winters. It's been amazing - while our old DC neighbors suffered through 100 degree heat waves and stifling humidity, we've been living it up in 70 degree weather under bright blue skies. Thank you, Washington - I *do* feel welcomed home.

What will we do now that the promise of summer is here? Hike, for one - early and often. We took a page from the "organized engineer" books in our brains and made ourselves a prioritized list of the hikes and backpacks we most want to do, and are waiting rather impatiently for the snow to melt off enough to let us in to the high country! In the meantime, we've been trucking up some lower elevation trails in the Olympics, including Lower Lena Lake:

Hiking is great, but really only plausible for the weekends. So during the week, I found myself... a tri group! Who'da thunk it, out here in Kitsap County? I found these guys through one of P's coworkers and have been joining them for lake swims and bricks for the last couple weeks. It's very different from my old TNT training group, but definitely fun and inspiring. The leader (who is headed to IM Switzerland this year... yowza!) started the group to help some of her girlfriends prepare for and complete the Danskin tri, and the group has grown and grown every year since. 200 members this year, which stunned me when I heard!

So I am happily getting myself back into a biking and swimming routine, and less-happily but still good-naturedly heading back out for jogs. The training load is incredibly manageable compared to the Olympic-distance focus I had last year. Which gives me time to work on other things, like the beginnings of the garden that P and I put together last weekend. Our little plants seem to have transplanted fairly well. And so do we.