Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Just an little jog around Issaquah while I waited for SnoFlake to run her 5K. 

49F, calm, dry, dark.  Easy run.  20 min. weights.

My legs feel pretty good, though slow. And the stamina is not back yet.  Lots of little walk breaks.  Just one monkey left, holding a pathetic little goodbye note from the others: "Gone to Chicago and Portland to await duties there. See you next time."

The most extraordinary Halloween displays have popped up over the weekend.  Huge, brightly lit extravaganzas.  I think my favorite was the 20 foot high, 3-4 foot wide, glowing pumpkin tower.  

44F, clear and starry. Dark side of crescent moon very visible. Nice morning - easy run. 

About 10 days post-marathon now, and still waiting for certain muscle cells to return.... sluggish.

The sky was absolutely dazzling this morning.  I'm definitely not used to the chill anymore, 44 felt quite nippy and my house was cold for the first time in months.  I'm not quite ready to retire my skort for the season, hence the season's inaugural Wearing of the Smartwool Top.  

We now have two traffic warning signs in the neighborhood that say "Deaf Child Area."  That's great; I'm all in favor of not running said child over in my car.  The thing is, other than one street where some boys are always playing ball, I never see any children playing in any streets around here, deaf or otherwise.  I don't know where they go after school - most likely soccer (which btw I believe is a Cult, but that's another topic) - but they are not hanging around playing as far as I can see.  What we really need is a sign that says, "Spaced Out, Half-awake Runner." Now that would be useful. 

44F, another clear and starry early-morning.  Easy run.  20 minutes strength conditioning. 

Today was my first day of feeling like my legs were "back."  The past two days have been pleasant, but sluggish, and today I felt really good.  My pace is still in the toilet but that will come back soon too.

Everyone go over and congratulate April on her wedding!   

Jupiter has been incredibly bright this week, with the added bonus of not being covered up by our usual Northwest cloud layer.  We got our telescope out last night and looked at its moons.  And btw, I think  Ganymede and Callisto would be great names for cats. 

54F, w/ wind picking up.  Easy run. 

Best wishes to the many bloggers running a marathon this weekend!  

Mid to upper 50s (big difference between my house and down in the valley), light showers. 

Very pleasant run, the longest yet since the marathon. Everything feels great, and I even had plenty of energy coming up the Parkway (Leg Builder Hill). No one at the club for me to run with, so another nice jog with my invisible friends.  That's fine with me. I'm not sure why I even go to the running club meetings, but I do enjoy it. Maybe it's just the 5 minutes chatting with other runners - heck, other grownups! - or maybe it's the excuse to come down the Leg Builder Hill and run different streets once a week.  Change of scenery.  The elk were screaming their heads off in the woods down near North Bend. (Mating season.)  It sounds like a bosun's whistle.  

Movie Review... SnoFlake and I went to see Secretariat yesterday. (Naturally, a horse movie of this magnitude needs seeing right away when it comes out, SnoFlake being the equestrian that she is).   If you can get past the usual jerkin-my-chain emotional bits that come with every sports movie ever made (you know the kind - lose the music and you'd have nothing), it is a tale well told.  I loved the actors in it, and the cinematography was excellent.  Ok, we all know how it ends, right?  So the way that they made an historical fact into a nail-biter was quite interesting. There was a great deal of focus on Secretariat's owner and trainer, and their personal struggles, but the real coup was making that horse's victory feel surprising.  Don't see the movie if you are a boy if you strongly dislike highly emotional movies. But if you can get past that (or enjoy it), this one is worth seeing.  And this is a stretch, but the phrase "loves to run" comes up often enough to give it special appeal to the likes of us. :)

I should probably go do something productive, but as long as I'm recommending things, I love the audiobook I'm "reading:"  The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  Excellent narration.  Very good story.  Sad without being depressing.  Admirable characters.  It's one of those audiobooks that makes me glad I'm not reading the print version.