4 Days Until: W&D Weekend 2024
So, I've been getting some of my runs done, but I've also been spending a lot of time blowing leaves in the yard. Sometimes both in the same day. I also had pointless work training days that disrupted my schedule.
Recapping since my last post:
I had the Excelsior Spooky Sprint on Saturday, October 12. 39:38, so not too bad. I tried to do 30/30 intervals, but my app wasn't cooperating. I ended up using 60/60 about halfway through, but 60 seconds run is too long for me, so it really killed my pace in the last mile. Also, they decided to have a super steep hill in the last quarter of mile 3 that was just mean on the part of the organizers. I wore my Minnie Mouse costume from the DL 10K in January. After the race, there was hot chocolate (which was mix-your-own and barely lukewarm), and s'mores (the 2 fire pits were overrun by children, and when I opened my chocolate bar at home later, it had obviously melted and hardened and was very crumbly, which would've been pretty bad for s'mores) Overall 163/222, Gender 99/135
Oct 15: 4.10 miles in 56:58 (13:53 pace)
Oct 20: 2.99 miles in 43:56 (14:39 pace)--I got overheated on this run and had to stop running halfway around the loop
Oct 20: 3.41 miles in 1:02:46 (18:23 pace)--Walked the rest of the loop. Actually, I walked a mile and half, and then switched to 1 min/4 min intervals just to see what kind of pace I could get to. I was at 20:54 with just walking, and got down to 16:23 for the run/walk portion. I think I would do better with 45 sec/3 min, and I will try experimenting with that in the back half of other long runs.
Oct 26: 3.33 miles in 44:42 (13:24 pace)--I ran up to my polling place, voted, and ran home again. Voting only took 11 minutes, which included having to wait for and fill out the absentee-in-person form. I wouldn't want to run on the road to town hall on a regular basis, because the speed limit is 55 and that's faster than I like cars to go past me, but it was a fun way to check 2 thing off my to-do list at the same time
Oct 27: 4.12 miles in 57:29 (13:56 pace)--I spent 3 hours blowing leaves between breakfast and lunch, and I think I got a bit dehydrated, and the wind and sun during my run dried me out even more, so I only got 4/6 miles. But I'm not too worried.
So...I suddenly have plenty of time to finish my Dopey training. I lost my job today, completely out of the blue. I don't anticipate finding a new one in a hurry, and I'm lucky that I live with my grandparents and have a certain amount of freedom to find the right job, instead of having to settle for whatever I can get just to pay the bills. I don't have to cancel W&D or MW because those are already paid for, and Springtime Surprise is far enough in the future that I'm not worrying about it for the moment.
Anyway, enough of that depressing, anger-inducing stuff. Here's some random pictures!
I had a shoe tragedy when I went to see Some Like It Hot (which was amazing) at The Orpheum. Partway through Act 1, I moved my foot and realized that my shoe was coming completely apart. I had to take my shoes off before the ovation, drop them in a trash can on the way out, and walk to the car (in a parking garage across the street) in my stocking feet. That'll teach me to wear dress shoes from high school
Lovely fall colors from my loop run/walk on Oct 20. Funny story from the loop: my playlist had randomly picked "Why Should I Worry" from Oliver & Company, just before I passed a family going in the opposite direction with 3 boys, one of whom was named "Oliver"
And a little noodle friend (toe of my shoe for size reference) from the same day; I nudged him off the path after this pic, I didn't want him run over by cyclists.
The Great Leaf Snake of Oct 23, 2024--as photographed the morning of Oct 24. I spent 2 hours blowing leaves after work (and half an hour on my lunch break) and got them into this long pile for my grandparents to rake into a leaf hauler and dump in the "the leafy part" off to the right of this picture. I would've just blown them over there on my own, but I ran out of daylight.
The other big pile of leaves from Oct 23, also ready to be loaded into the leaf hauler (I think this alone ended up as 3 loads)
I got to see 2 different shows this weekend. Friday was a locally-created musical called Poe: A Rock Musical, which wasn't bad, but mostly a lot less dark than one would expect.
The other was Patrick Page's (Hades from Hadestown, Scar from The Lion King, and Claude Frollo from Hunchback of Notre Dame) one man show All The Devils Are Here. Patrick Page is extraordinary and I would watch him in pretty much anything, but this was really neat. He goes through the evolution of Shakespeare's villains throughout his 21 year career, alternating between a sort of academic lecture and scene performances. Then he takes audience questions for 15-20 minutes afterward. If it tours near you, I highly recommend it (next stop is DC 12/6-12/29, then Santa Monica 4/9-4/20)
These things can have a habit of working out better overall in the long run (no pun intended)
sprint but boo to the hills 
uncalled for 
