Everything's Walking Distance if You Have the Time

Up until about 10 weeks ago, I though I was in pretty good shape. I went to the gym three times a week, walked on the treadmill, used the stationary bike, lifted some weights. The usual. I wasn't so delusional that I thought I was actually athletic, but I thought I did okay. Then mr. flyskim and I decided to train for the 2010 Portland Oyster Urban Adventure Race, and I had a very rude awakening regarding my actual level of fitness. (I know these aren't Rocky Mountain oysters, but did you really want a picture of buffalo testicles?)

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Oyster Racing Series is a string of urban adventure races held in different cities across the United States. Think The Amazing Race but in a single city on a single day. What makes this race different from other adventure races is the level of athleticism required. For example, running is mandatory, and the full course is suggested for triathletes or people who run 10k races.

I don't run. Or at least I didn't 10 weeks ago. I still don't really run, more like walking with 2 minutes of running thrown in here and there. A friend who is an experienced runner is putting together my training plan, and I am still shocked at how hard it is to run at 5 MPH for 2 minutes at a time. I don't know how people do this, but my coach assures me that if I just keep at it, the periods of running will get longer and longer until I'm running actual distances. Hopefully, my butt will get smaller, too. (About one size. Not looking for miracles, just want to wear my skinny jeans again.)

My point? mr. flyskim and I went for a walk last Friday afternoon on fairly flat ground. Mostly sidewalk; about four and a half miles. I'm in better shape right now than I've ever been due to my race training. And our four-mile walk? Still kicked my ass (insert indignant tone of disbelief here).

At least we got outside the house because we haven't been able to do much outdoors because of the oven that was Portland this last week. And since we're not going anywhere on vacation this year, I took the camera along so that I could tourist it up a little in my hometown.

Did you know that the median strip on NE Ainsworth is an arboretum? I didn't, and I needed a book to tell me about it. Heck, I needed a book to tell me that there was a median strip at all.

And I don't think I've seen a slide like this since I was seven. I remember thinking that this kind of slide was so huge and just went round and round forever, and you would be going so fast that you would just shoot off the end. But one of the dads hanging out with his family went down the slide as we walked by, and he got stuck about halfway down. Am I just remembering it wrong?
There was something very Charlie Brown Christmas about this little sticky plant. In fact, it reminds me of something we did to our lilac tree a couple of weeks ago, and my fear that we killed it by cutting it to the ground in the middle of July instead of waiting until the fall. But it's sprouting now, so it's okay.
By this point in the walk,I was hot, hungry and tired, so pictures fell by the wayside. We had lunch at La Bonita on NE Alberta, and I've never been so happy to see a taco in my life. The fact that it was delicious was just a bonus.

Oh, and here's my blister. I didn't even know I had one until we got back to our car.

It's supposed to cool back down to regular temperatures in the next week, so here's hoping for some good progress on the project back log.