Fall is my favorite season all year long. I love the changing leaves and jeans weather. I also love seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets!
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On Saturday, Maestro and I trekked up to Yards Park in DC to experience our first VegFest. We found street parking pretty quickly and walked to the festival. It was packed!
We wandered around looking at all of the booths, stopping for some dog treats along the way. Then, it was my turn to eat. For my appetizer I got a brussel sprout salad and winter squash soup. The salad was pretty tasty, and the soup was ok. The roasted peanuts on top of the soup made the whole thing meld. For lunch I stopped at a vegan food truck, The Randy Radish. I ordered the bbq jackfruit sandwich (minus the bun), coleslaw, and some chips (instead of fries). Though I have heard about it before, it was my first time having jackfruit. It has the consistency of pulled meat, but is a bit sweet. I think it needed more sauce to help with the sweetness. For dessert I had coconut bites, which were to die for! They were so delicious, and certainly did not even taste a bit gluten free. They were so moist and yummy. It was a good experience going to VegFest, and I can't wait until next year! Below is the shirt I won at one of the booths. It means to keep calm and "do no injury". Pretty fitting for a vegan festival! I decided I needed some fall color in the front of my house. Most of my flowers and plants are spring/summer and not fall-ish. I planted three new plants and transplated one to a different location. I also added some new mulch.
By the way, don't sunflowers just cheer you up when you see them? Last night I had 35 minutes before yoga class and I wanted to get this virtual race in since I didn't do it over the weekend. I was dressed way too hot for the gym because I forgot my socks and all I could find was compression knee-highs and l was wearing long capris. Way too hot.
But, I started running. My first mile and a half was at 6.0 but after I did a minute of walking I moved up to 6.2. My last mile was about 6.3, and I gradually brought it up to 7.0 as I got closer to the finish. Halfway through got really tough because this guy got on the treadmill next to me and his smell kept wafting towards me and it was soooo gross. Anyways, I finished my 5k and I got a personal record! My fastest 5k. I was pretty exhausted at the end, and had a rough time at yoga, but it is still pretty cool... While in New Hampshire I ran a 10-mile race. I was super excited to find this race in Nashua where we were staying for a wedding.
I got up early and got to the starting point. The race was a trail run through Mine Falls Park. The course was 4 loops through the park. Towards the end of my first loop I tripped and fell. I ended up skinning my knees and hands pretty bad, but I knew I had to keep going. At the water stop I rinsed off my knees, but couldn't find first aid anywhere. So, I got to continue running with blood running down my legs! After the fall, not only did my knees and wrists hurt, but my IT band started to act up as well. This was disappointing because it hadn't been hurting in a while. I blame it on twisting my leg when falling. Anyways, I had started out at running 3:15 to :45 intervals, but after my accident I gave up and ran as far as I could until I needed a break, and then walked. I looked pretty pathetic while "running" (really I was hobbling along), but I wouldn't quit. I HAD to finish. And I did! I actually had a surprisingly good time. I beat 2 hours, which was my original goal! Go me! I was almost one of the last finishers, but who cares! (This race was a state championship competition, so there were a lot of fast runners) I had a great time despite my accident and came home with a finishers medal and a pint glass for being one of two dressed up festively. Thanks for the confidence to know that I can continue towards my goal despite unfortunate odds. Coming up on October 5 is the Tower of Terror Race Weekend. I will be arriving in Orlando late Thursday for a quick trip to Disney World. Friday will be spent at packet pick-up and expo, as well as some time in the parks. Saturday morning is the Happy Trails 5k, which I will be running with Nathan and Madre. That evening I will be running the 10-miler with Marty and Heidi. After the all-night party at Hollywood Studios, I will be flying home early Sunday morning (and then I will sleep all day before returning to school on Monday). A week after the Tower of Terror weekend I will be running in the Heritage Half Marathon in Gainesville, VA. This will be my 2nd half marathon and I am hoping to beat my time from my first (which was just awful...). The day after the Heritage Half I am going to force myself to get up early before school and run a virtual 10k for practice for Dopey. This race is in support of Give Kids the World. The medal glows in the dark, but I don't have a picture of it to post at this moment. On November 17, Marty and I are going to run the Lake RidgeRunners 10k Turkey Trot (like we did last year). Yes, I will be dressing up like a turkey once more :) I have some other virtual races planned and really need to get more running miles to prepare for this January. I am really excited about my races coming up!!!!
A few weekends ago, Nathan and I took at trip down to Appalachia country to attend a friend's wedding. What we had originally thought was going to be a 3-4 hour drive, was, in actuality, an eight hour drive. We drove through farms and forests, and finally made our way through the mountains.
It was very eye-opening to be driving through this part of Virginia. Some of the houses were the size of my kitchen, and most were run down beyond belief. So, on Friday, we drove to Breaks and went to the wedding rehearsal at our friend's house (where the wedding was being held). Afterwards, we went to Breaks Insterstate Park (where we were staying at the lodge). The rehearsal dinner was at the park restaurant. Pretty much all I could eat was some microwaved frozen vegetables that the chef made me. Bleck. Oh well. After the dinner we had some friends come over to our room to play a card game, and then it was bed time. Saturday morning brought golf in Tennessee for Nathan, and hiking for me. I went out with my friend Dawn and her son and checked out some trails, and the awesome view. I signed up for this virtual race because it was inexpensive. BUT, it was a lot of fun. This race was actually a part of a real race on Wedrose Acres, which is an animal sanctuary in Illinois. After the 5k through the farm, they were having a vegan potluck, which is what I think would have been fun to attend.
Maestro and I ran this 5k together. He was pretty tired at the end, but did a good job keeping up. He enjoyed sharing the medal with me. |