Saturday morning, I competed in my first official 5K race. It was HOT. Half the course was in the direct sunlight. I had to run up Sabino Canyon and back with about 300 other people. I think it went fairly well, though I didn't do as well time-wise as I had hoped. Those hills just killed me - especially the last one on the way back that is about 200 meters from top to bottom and has an angle of about 45 degrees. I managed to run to the top of that hill, but had to walk for 20 seconds at the top before I ran the final half mile or so. My final time was 46:59. I was hoping for around 40 minutes. Oh well -- I will try again next week (I am doing another race on Sunday).

Sunday morning, I went for a big ride with another woman I met at swimming. It was great, except for still being a little on the slow side on the bike. I was riding the Lemond that a friend had lent me and things went swimmingly until I was flying down a hill and managed to line up my front tire with a sharp rock -- POP! There went the front tire! So I pulled over and sat down and changed the tire. My friend was there to make sure I did it correctly, as I had never done it before, and it went really well. It only took about 15 minutes, and I bet I could do it faster if I had to. I think it is important that I know how to change a tire myself, so I was kind of glad this whole thing happened on a leisurely ride, rather than in a race. I am also glad that it was the front tire and not the back one since I have no idea how to get the back tire off the chain cassette.

In other news, I went by the groomers to make an appointment for Redford and they asked me if I was interested in adopting another dog. I said no, but let's see him anyway. It was a black standard poodle that had been rescued from a puppy mill. I ended up taking him for the weekend so he wouldn't have to go to the kennel. He is a great dog, but I don't know if we are going to keep him since Redford seems sad. I don't think that Redford wants to share his people. The dog's name is Major Payne. It is on his papers. If we were to keep the dog, that name would have to be changed. I was just talking to Ron about Major and he doesn't want to keep him. I guess I will take him back to the rescue. Major cannot share (our affection) with Redford and Redford was here first. This is too bad, but Redford takes precedence.