Lance

So, Lance is back. I am of mixed minds about this to be honest. On the one hand, I am super stoked. I am going to have a very, very enjoyable July. It promises to be like the old days. On the other hand, I am bummed that he's really risking his legacy. It's not that his legacy will ever be really tarnished: seven wins are seven wins, but it would be a real bummer if he went out with a loss, which is a realistic possibility. There are some good young riders coming up and Lance will be 37. I am also a bit perplexed as to how this will work out logistically. I presume he races as team leader (presuming he races for Astana and Johan) but what does this mean vis a vis Alberto Contador, who is without questions the best rider in the peleton? It gets complex. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibilities that Lance forms his own team, financed by Nike, Oakley and other sponsors. WIll be interesting to see how it all shakes out. I am also a but bummed that this all got announced during the Vuelta, but I don't think he was responsible for the leak. All that being said, I'll most certainly be rooting for him and obviously I applaud the cancer awareness angle as well.

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Speaking of athletic pursuits, I hit the track tonight for some speedwork and decided to take the kids. They were playing off to the side with some friends and running occasional laps with me. Once I finished, I asked the Girl to run a cooldown with me. She runs alongside me and I'm looking at my GPS watch and -- holy cow, I notice we are running 8:40 pace and she's hanging with me no problem. We dropped the Little Boy and she runs alongside with me for a half mile. Two adults who were running at the track come up to me in amazement asking how old she is, etc. As we approach the half mile mark she asks if she can stop to get some water, but tells me to keep going, she'll pick back up the next lap. So I pick her up and we start cruising at around 8:30 pace and at the end she breaks out into a full out sprint! It was truly a sight to behold. She has major athlete potential, this one.

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Last night I watched the premier of the new JJ Abrams drama, Fringe. All I can say is: wow. There was quite a bit of action. too much in fact; it was starting to get difficult to follow (note in my typical fashion I was doing three things at once). Anyone else get a chance to check that one out?