Twelve Thousand Picture Thursday - Chihuly at the Dallas Arboretum

YMCA Turkey Trot Race Report

I was reminded by Chunky Wonder Woman's race report that I hadn't done mine yet!

Thanksgiving morning I ran in Dallas' YMCA Turkey Trot 8 miler.

We stayed in the host hotel, but I was unable to pick up my packet ahead of time, so I left at 7am for a 9am start, thinking if I got extra time I could always come back.  But the walk was kind of long, so even though packet pick-up was easy, we decided to just hang out at the start.

Which was awesome, btw.  They had bounce houses and a freaking petting zoo for the kid.

Petting zoo complete with pony rides!

Eventually, just after 8, I decided to get in line for the porto-cans, and P and Z headed back to the hotel to tool around.

At 9 we were off!  Errr.... not really.  It took me 12 minutes(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) to get across the start line.  And I was ONLY maybe halfway back.

At the start line with 30k of my closest friends.

Arg, I had forgotten what a total clusterfuck this race is!

Immediately I'm dodging walkers who lined up too close to the front, and I don't just mean walkers.  I mean old people in jeans and holding hands walkers.  And I have nothing against those people.  I am pleased that they have a healthy tradition on Thanksgiving morning, and I'm proud to share the road with them.  I just wish they'd start at the back.

So it took an expectations-adjustment because I was running around people, hopping curbs, bumping, weaving, and generally wearing the shit out of myself for the first almost-3 miles.  Ironically (NOT) right up to where the 3 milers turned off.

After that it was glorious.  A little warm, sunny, still crowded, but in a moveable way.  Definitely ready to be done by the end, though.

Where I was headed.

Chip time: 1:29:20
Gun time: 1:40:42 (!!!)

Oh yeah.  And I was banging out a sub-9 in the finishing straight, so I left too much in the tank.  But given the insanity of this race, I'm cool with that.

Afterwards, I was really frustrated with my complete inability to find food.  I had forgotten a Honey Stinger, which is BAD for me on runs over an hour.  I was really feeling depleted, woozy, even, at the finish.  I started wandering around asking people where they found their food and get sent all over creation.  One nice man took pity on me and gave me one of his bottles of Gatorade, and I almost immediately perked up.  (I was thankful for him!)  Soon after I located yogurt, which I ate on the way back to the hotel, and which continued to help.

So, note to self: for traveling races, don't forget the food!!  Also, the Dallas Turkey Trot is not, nor ever will be, a PR race.  It is about the experience of going out and being thankful for being alive and being a runner with 30,000+ of your closest race-day friends.  And I was and am thankful. :-)

80 Shades of Deep

Fiiiiiiiiiire Drillllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Giving Thanks

I am grateful for:

My Kid, because she is the best thing I'll ever do.

My husband.

My parents.

My family.

Old friends and new ones.

Judgment and lack of judgment.

My job, which I usually love.

Running, because it helps keep me healthy and sane.

Reading, because it allows me to escape.

This year, in which I rediscovered myself.

The Universe, for being so big and beautiful.

Recent Running

Ooooook, so where were we?

Ah, yes.  After my bitchy run last week I did get in another short run Thursday.

Then I started having severe gut issues, so I ended up skipping my Saturday long run.  So Sunday morning I headed out with a simple goal: more than 6.  (I'm running the Dallas Turkey Trot on Thursday, which is 8, so I didn't want to overdo it.)  6.14 miles later, done!  And I saw 4, 4!!!, blue herons. 

I really love running on the weekends in the daylight.  I also tried staying along the bayou and actually going under the bridge.  It is definitely a bat colony, smelled like guano, and I was a little creeped out by the twittering, but it is a viable path when it isn't wet.  So yay!

Another little short 3 miler this morning.  Legs felt really dead, so I just tried to go easy.  Easy is starting to be a little faster than it used to be, so that is cool. :-)

HHM Photos!

For once, I actually bought race photos!


This: (feet off the ground and smiling on the home stretch!)

 And this!

The Right Side of the Bed is a Dot to Me

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  So far on the wrong side that the right side may as well be in frigging China.

First, I woke up before the alarm.  NOT COOL.  And then it was cold.  I love running in cooler weather, but only to a point.  45-60 is just about perfect, and this morning I was seriously pissed that it was 43.  That's how unreasonably pissy I was.

Then I go outside to run, pissy because I'm not sure my long sleeve tech shirt and capris are appropriate for the temperature, pissy because my spi-belt rides up whenever I switch from shorts to tights, pissy!

So I'm running along listing in my head everything that makes me pissy, and I hear, I shit you not, a freaking DONKEY braying.  I had no idea that there were donkeys in my neighborhood.  But somehow I almost instantly knew the universe was telling me that I am being an ASS.

And I laughed.  Out loud.  Alone on my run.  (Like a crazy person.)

By the end of the run, the song of the day is Reel Big Fish's "Everything Sucks":
I know everything sucks, yeah.
I know everything sucks, whoa.  *air drumming, badly*
I know everything sucks, yeah,
But this is gonna be the last time you hear me complain. *scatting, terribly*

Thank you, Universe, for calling me an ass.  Ha!

Wordless Wednesday

Dog playing poker?

Super safe.

All together now, "Awwwww...."

Dr. Z, Medicine Woman!

Halloween Fashionista

Z had one outfit for school, where there were festivities.

Then dressed up as a princess for trick-or-treating at probably about 10 houses.  She was so cute - the first house was my parents', and they had Dots, and after that Z walked around with a box of Dots in one hand and her pumpkin in the other, stopping every time she finished a Dot for another Dot.  After we got around the cul-de-sac, I sherpa'd her home on my shoulders because it was getting late.  Astonishing how much time it takes to hit 10 houses when you're only 3 feet tall!

And finally, a skeleton sleeper for bed.

What a cutie!

Forgive Me, Runners

For I have sinned.  It has been a week since my last run.

But I'm headed out this evening for a run with Billy!

Time to get back on track.

October Book Reviews

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines: loved. Very neat concept - the magic comes from the collective belief in books.  So you can reach inside a book and draw out anything that is there - Excalibur, the healing potion from Narnia, a communicator, weapon, whatever.  Think of this as fantasy for the true book lover.  If you love books, and you love fantasy, you should love this one.

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: did end up abandoned.  This is a book for my committee, so I'll try again in a month or two.  I just couldn't get past the writing style.  I did try having P read it to me, and I did not hate it quite as much that way, so I may try the audiobook version for my sanity.

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker: I liked the writing style of this one, and I liked what she had to say.  It felt very... real to me.  For example, in the book, they find out that the earth's rotation is slowing.  This is bad, a crisis, and the way that she describes how this family reacts to the news on the TV about it felt *just* like 9/11 to me.  Just very real, very well said.  But it is made me... moody.  The message was there, and it was real, but damn, what a downer.  I mean, for me, this was a 5 star book that I could only give 4 stars to because I was so depressed at the end.

Started but not completed:

Frost on His Shoulders by Lorenzo Mediano: I'm not far enough into it to really pass judgment on the story/plot, but it is a translation, and I can tell that it is a translation, and that is a bit of a hang-up for me.  We'll see how it plays out.  It is a small book, so even if it drives me nuts, I should be able to finish it.

I went ahead and bought Prisoner of Heaven and Restoration for the Kindle (the cheapest of my required reading) so I'll start one of those asap.

Monthly Goal Review

Goals for the Year:
Lose 12 pounds in 2012.  Weight on 1/1 was 138.8.  Weight on 10/1 was 133.2.  Weight on 11/1 was 133.2.  Steady is good, but not where I want to be.
Read at least 12 books (other than to my child) in 2012.  Still having trouble ditching my romance novel kick.  Only 2 "required" books read, probably at least 20 "fluffy" books read.  We'll call that a good guesstimate to get my total to 91.  Sheesh!
Race 12 times in 2012. 4 races this month!  4!!!!  In 3 weekends!
And I have one other secret 12 goal. Heh, I've actually lost count, oh yeah!  But I'd say at least, AT LEAST 15.  Making my current total 39.  I cannot accurately communicate how pleased I am with my progress on this one.

Goals for October:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals.
Throw a successful beach birthday party for my (OMG) precocious 2 year old (OMG).  Done.
Keep up the consistency on the run, building to 10 mile long runs.  Done!
Complete 3 (!!) scheduled races.  4.  Bitches. :-)
Continue with the core work and other "fun" working out the rest of the time.  Totally dropped the core.  Enjoying myself very much reading fluff while trainer-biking, though.  So half-check.
Financial goal: liquidate SMH account and reallocate to J.  Fail.
House goals: finish cleaning out AD house, make progress towards floors in my house.  Great, excellent progress on AD's house, though we didn't completely finish.  And we finally got a quote on my house!

Goals for November:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals.
Keep up the consistency on the run!
Complete 1, maybe 2 scheduled races.
Start core work again.
Start reading for my committee again.  I don't have to stop with the fluff, but I need to find a better balance.  Quickly.  Let's say... at least 4 books completed for the committee.  At least.
Financial goals: liquidate SMH and reallocate to J.  Get direct deposit for N.
House goals:  get another quote on the floors, pick a company, and get started!  Finish cleaning out AD's house AND get the maids in there AND get a quote on the work we need done there.