Warm Weather

Temperatures over the past couple of days have been unusually mild and warm for late November in Northern VA. Today's high was in the 70's! Of course, I've been taking advantage of the nice weather that we've been having -- I've continued my 1/2 marathon training on local trails and taken Tahoe and Ashley out of the house for their walks as well.

On today's walk around the neighborhood we saw lots of people out in front of their homes hanging up Christmas lights and decorations. Ashley also had some "off the leash" time.

Ashley and Tahoe on the run

Ashie enjoying her freedom - no leash!

Walking past Christmas lights

This evening marked the last Team Challenge group run before race day (Dec. 4, 2011).  Our team met up at East Potomac Park in Washington, DC. Our workout was to run for an hour - with race day less than a week away our workouts are shorter and designed to help us taper. I ran 6.9 miles in 57 minutes. The run felt much better than last weekend's run - thank goodness! It's hard to believe that in a few days I'll be headed out to Las Vegas!

East Potomac Park

The waterfront at East Potomac Park

Washington Monument in the background

The Day After the Feast

Yesterday afternoon, Brian and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for our family. Our home was filled with family, merriment, and of course.... lots of FOOD!

Family & Merriment...

Food - our Thanksgiving feast!

That was yesterday. Brian and I had a lot of fun prepping and cooking the turkeys and spending time with family. Thank goodness for today though... We all (Tahoe and Ashley included) needed a day to recover from all of that food!

Tahoe and Ashley in particular, got more than their share of rich turkey and ham yesterday - I observed several handouts from family throughout yesterday's feast - and I swear the tryptophan has had them knocked out for the past 24 hours! O.k., maybe it wasn't the tryptophan in the turkey but, Tahoe and Ashley have literally spent the entire day napping.

Dog-tired!

Ashley, catching some zzz's

Ashley & Tahoe

Tahoe snoozing

Giving Thanks

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving filled with love and gratitude -
Have a good one!

One of two turkeys Brian is cooking for today

Meeting Mr. Kringle

Over the past several weeks, the focus of my blog has shifted slightly as I have been updating you with some of the training that I've been doing to prepare for my first 1/2 marathon. It's hard to believe that the race is only two weeks away! Yesterday morning was my last "long-run" with my Team Challenge teammates. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of my better runs. I think I had mentally psyched myself out before I even started - it was cold (32 degrees) and I was tired. I managed to run 12 miles.

What did I think of my run?

So you get the picture... I wasn't having the best morning. And then, waddling down the trail, who did my eyes fall upon? No other than Santa Claus himself, jogging his way towards me with his rosy cheeks and long white beard.  I quickly grabbed my camera and ran up to him and asked him for a photo. He kindly obliged and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather pouch. He called me a "princess" and pulled a coin out of the pouch and placed it in my hand. I thanked him and ran to my teammates to show them what I got. When I turned around Santa was gone - continuing up the trail no doubt, training for his 24-hour around-the-world marathon on December 25.

Santa Claus!

My North Pole Christmas coin...

Good for one wish!

Package for Brian

Yesterday evening a package for Brian arrived at our door. Tahoe's and Ashley's noses were going crazy!

Hmmm... perishable - what could it be?

Brian carefully removed the packaging as Tahoe looked on

King Crab legs!

Yep, Brian received a shipment of King Crab legs as a birthday present from Babu.  Thanks Babu - We can't wait to eat them!

Speaking of Babu, you may be wondering how life is treating him out in his new home in Tucson, AZ. Well, he seems to be happy as a clam and having a good time. The weather is sunny, dry, and warm. He gets out everyday and does some sort of activity like hiking, swimming, biking, or going to the gym. Below are some pictures that he's sent along from Tucson.

Palm trees in Babu's apartment complex

Babu's swimming pool with Pusch peak in the background

A scenic overlook of Oro Valley, AZ

A Birthday Celebration

Brian's birthday is on Saturday, November 19. Unfortunately, he will be busy all weekend long so tonight was our night to celebrate. Let's just say I had a few special plans up my sleeve...

The birthday celebration started at 6:00pm with surprise #1: Dinner at Honey Pig in Centreville, VA. We ordered a seafood pancake, galbi, and pork belly. Brian ate so much that he slipped into a food coma -- a happy food coma.

The Birthday boy

Yummy!

After dinner, I took Brian to Centreville High School for surprise #2. Why did we go to a high school? Well, Brian has a thing about "A Christmas Carol." You know, Dicken's classic tale about Ebenezer Scrooge... Simply put, Brian LOVES "A Christmas Carol." Tonight was the opening night for the play "A Christmas Carol" at Centreville HS. It was actually pretty good - the young man that played Scrooge stole the show!

Standing outside the theatre

The Playbill

After the play, we headed home where I had one more little surprise... It's not a birthday without cake! Brian doesn't eat many sweets so I got him one small vanilla cupcake. Of course, he couldn't resist sharing his birthday cupcake with his two favorite buddies.

Ashley with her eye on Brian's birthday cupcake

Let's eat cake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!

Jack is Back!

Yesterday Brian, Henry, Claire and I met up with friends at the Verizon Center to watch the Georgetown Hoyas take on the UNC Greesnboro Spartans. It was the second game of the season for the Georgetown Men's Basketball Team and one of the first Opening Games for the Maui Invitational Tournament. Georgetown won the game, 86 to 45.

The gang at the game

Brian getting one-on-one time with Jack the mascot

Jack the Bulldog is back!

Tahoe and Ashley got a special treat today...
While I was at work, Brian took Tahoe and Ashley out for a walk.  The weather has been unusually warm and mild for the past few days so it was a perfect afternoon for a walk.

Run, run, run!

Can you find Tahoe?

Ashley, off-leash for over half of the walk

Am I Really A Grinch?

Have the signs of the Christmas holiday been popping up all around you too? In our area there are Christmas-themed commercials and movies on tv, the radio is promoting their "holiday music" (which starts on Nov. 18!), shopping centers have hung their Christmas banners and wreaths from their parking lot light posts, and of course, the stores are filled with Christmas galore. What really shocked me though is on Saturday as I was driving home in the evening, I drove past two homes decorated and aglow with Christmas lights! Did I miss something?

Billy Goat Revisited

Yesterday morning, my brother and I met up and tackled the Bill Goat Trail A together. It was his first time on the trail and I think he enjoyed the hike. The trail looked much the same as last time although there were fewer leaves on the trees and there seemed to be more people on the trail. As mentioned last time, dogs are not allowed on the trail. Unfortunately, that didn't stop one crazy family from trying to encourage their old dog along - poor pooch.

Come on - is this sign really that confusing!

Smiling with the Potomac River and VA behind me

Can you see the rock climbers?

The Billy Goat Trail goes over rock beds that used to be covered by the river

Kayakers - they were actually kayaking backwards?

A scenic overlook

Winner!

I entered a contest. Yep... I entered a contest that was held by one of my new *favorite* health food companies, Hail Merry. The contest was to post a picture of yourself in your Halloween costume enjoying one of Hail Merry's snacks to their Facebook page. And guess what... I won!

Today, my prize arrived in the mail... thanks Hail Merry!

Thing 1, enjoying Hail Merry pecans

Tahoe and Ashley sniffing the prize

Pecans, Grawnola, and Macaroons... yummy!

The Dark Nights of Winter...

The dark nights of winter have begun. Sunday, at 2:00am we set the clocks back one hour for Daylight Savings. What's nice about setting the clocks back is that it means that sunrise will occur earlier - before 7:00am again. What's not so nice is that it also means that the sun will set earlier too - around 5:15pm now! This means that my evening walks with Tahoe and Ashley are going to be in the dark for at least the next two months. Ugh!

Walking in the dark (this was at 5:30pm!)

Ashley

Weekend Recap

Running. Rowing. Walking... and sleeping in.

On Saturday morning, I met with my Team Challenge teammates in Arlington, VA for another training run. The plan was to run for 60 minutes. (Now, why couldn't that have been the plan last Saturday?) Our coaches started the practice with an overview on proper nutrition. With the race being a nighttime race, they recommended that we think about the meals that we will plan to eat throughout the day prior to the race start time.

The Coaches - Lisa, Mary, and JT - giving a nutrition overview

After the quick overview, we were sent off running. Our path took us on the Custis trail running towards Washington, DC. Since we were doing a shorter run, I decided to push my pace a little and I quickly found myself running alone in front of everyone else. The plan was to do an out and back (30 minutes out - turn around - and 30 minutes back). At 23 minutes in, I had reached the Key Bridge. I continued on for another 7 minutes and than decided to run an extra 5 minutes to get myself past the Memorial Bridge to a good turning point on the trail. (I later learned that our coaches had told us to turnaround at the Key Bridge - where the Custis Trail ends. Doh!) I ran for an hour and 10 minutes... I'm not quite sure what my total distance was but I felt pretty good, even on the uphills on the way back.

In the evening, Brian and I took Tahoe and Ashley our for their walk. Brian has started to let Ashley off the leash again which makes me really nervous - especially when I know that we have deer nearby in the woods. So far, so good though (I'm knocking on wood). Ashley hasn't wandered off too far or gotten herself into any trouble... not yet.

Tahoe AND Ashley walking off-leash

Today I participated in my final rowing race of the season - the Head of the Occoquan. I rowed in the Women's Club 4+ event where we came in 1st place and the Women's Club 8+ event where we came in 3rd place. I received medals for both races - not a bad way to end the season, right? While the end of the season means the end of racing, it also means the end of early morning practices. (I've been getting up a 4:30am, Monday-Friday since August. I can't wait to sleep in, even if it's only for an hour.)

It's Friday!

Friday is finally here which means... it's time for the weekend - yay! After a very busy week at work, I'm looking forward to a couple of days away from the office. Of course, there's no better way to kick off the weekend than a Friday evening walk with Brian, Tahoe, and Ashley.

Trotting on the sidewalk

A view of the lake from the road

Ashley - she has such a keen nose!

A blanket of leaves on the ground

Recently, we've seen a number of deer in the woods during our walks. In fact, after the above photo was taken, we saw two deer off to the right past the trees. One of the deer that we keep seeing is a large buck with antlers. I would guess that it's probably at least a 10 point buck. With the deer running around so close to the trail, I'm having to hold onto Ashley's leash extra tightly. If given the chance, Ashley would dart after a deer and chase it for hours!