Wilderness Systems Tarpon 140!

I’m super excited about my purchase of a new kayak! It’s actually a 2006 model I found on Craigs List, but it is new to me! For nearly a year I’ve wanted a kayak, but I’ve struggled with finding the right deal at the same time I had the money to spare. The stars finally aligned today.

A couple weeks ago I received my tax refund check. The first thing I did was pay off an old debt with a majority of the money. It felt really good to pay off a bill, but the remaining money has been burning a hole in my pocket.

For a short time I was considering attending the 2011 Death Valley running camp hosted by Marshall Ulrich and Ray Zahab. I have tried to attend this camp the last two years, but again, I never quite had the money. I spoke with Marshall a few weeks ago and he offered to help me with a significant discount, which has been hard to refuse. The truth is disheartening, even with his generous discount I’d still only have half of the registration fee and this doesn’t include my flight to Las Vegas and back home. I considered setting up a donation page on FB and my blog. Something didn’t feel right about the idea, so I abandoned the dream.

Now I have a super cool kayak, which should be a lot of fun during the hot summer months. Shopping on a budget enabled me to also purchase Alison a new bicycle and I still have enough funds leftover to ensure me and the kids have a fun-filled spring break (camping at; Yogi Bear Jellystone Park). By “rewarding” myself with a kayak and spending money on my kids, I feel a lot less selfish with how I allocated my money.

This morning I went for my ultrasound. The tech said the results will be read by the radiologist later today and should be reported to the doctor tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don’t see my doctor again for three weeks. I’ll probably take Karen’s advice and make some phone calls and see what I can find out.

Later in the day I left my house on my road bike, which I’ve never done before. I rode to River Grove Park. I found a fairly safe 2.3 mile loop to ride. The short thirty minute ride kicked my ass. I’m happy with the results of the recent fit of my road bike, but my fitness sucks. In the beginning it felt easy and I went out hard, which is a probably why I ran out of gas. Either way, I’m trying. I have time… lots and lots of time.

Road Bike:
9.08 miles
33:41
16.17 mph

Its been a great day.