Happy Fall, Y'all

I am not one of those people who goes ga-ga over the fall but I do love a lot about the season and have plenty to be thankful for as I think about this time of year winding down.

First, as today is my birthday (!), I am thankful to those who gave me the gift of life and all those who, like them, have done a wonderful job contributing to making it a great one so far.

I am also thankful for my running buddies who come up with cool ideas like running field trips and super not-lame catch phrases like "America's Fast-time."

On Saturday, our field trip coordinator, Kevin, pulled a bunch of us together for our second official trail fun run - this time in Saltsburg. Most of the group decided to go for 13 miles, but Kevin and Arthur, as hard core as they are, pulled out 18. We had three bikers so water was not a problem - even less so as the run was out and back with a fountain at the turn-around point by the dam. The trail was beautiful and despite a few challenging hills, not too difficult. Though a bit late in the season, we lucked out with temps in the 50s and were still able to enjoy the pretty leaves.

Afterwards, we went to the Olde Salt Restaurant for lunch, where I was given more butter and syrup for my French Toast than 10 sugar-hungry little kids could have handled. We also took a cheesy Brady Bunch-esque picture on the stairs. Nice.

Gotta love this season...and though we may be close to the next one, you won't be hearing me say "Deck the Halls Y'all" until after Thanksgiving.

Just a seventeen mile jaunt through the woods

As yet again, it has been too long since I have written a new post. I'm beginning to think that is my mantra on here. I would prefer a better one. Such as, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" or "Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind." (Hmm...why did I immediately go to two Disney movies for my mantras? I probably should have gone to the Jesus Prayer first. But then you would have been Jesus Juked, and nobody wants that.)

And as usual, I digress.

So several weeks ago (before Alaska!) I went on a lovely run with some lovely people. What do you do for fun on Saturday mornings, say around 8am? Still sleeping? Dreaming about brunch? Yeah, me too. But this particular Saturday, I hopped (correction: stumbled) into my car to meet up with some friends and headed to Ohiopyle. From there, we all packed into two cars, leaving the rest, and drove to the next town, Connellsville. Actually, this part was an adventure in itself as George decided to unwaveringly trust his GPS and we off-roaded for about 5 miles.

Then, the real adventure began. Armed with camelbacks and energy bars, we took off (well, George and Arthur did, the rest of us probably shouldn't be compared to jet engines) on the 17 mile trail back to Ohiopyle.

So it begins...(or 3 down, 47 to go)

This summer my friend Chrissy and I made the same life goal. We each decided we would run 50 races, in all 50 states, by the time we are 50. I got the idea from a guy I met when I ran my marathon who is doing the same thing with some friends, except they are doing 50 half-marathons.
Read more about my first marathon here: http://mylifeinthreed.blogspot.com/2007/09/i-did-it.html



We are a little less ambitious. :-) Our only stipulation is that each must be an officially organized race-- and must include running-- distance does not matter. The tricky part of course will be all the traveling. If I could count all the states I have run in, I would definitely have more than 3 by now...and I have to travel back to some far away places I have already been. Oh well...I suppose I can try to get some kind of excitement about having to go back to Hawaii. sigh. :-) Anyway, my first race ever was in California with AmeriCorps-- 10k-- just under 1 hour. And I have done plenty in Pennsylvania, including my best (and only) marathon (pictured left)- 4:29:41, best 10k- 50:37, and my best 5k- 23:30. And just this weekend, Chrissy and I flew in to North Carolina to cheer on our friends running the Charlotte marathon while we ran the 5k Jingle Jog with our other friend Emily.




Here we are on the way to breakfast post race. Emily and I ran wearing the hats- and it was a good thing that we did because it was COLD! :-)

47 to go...


Stay tuned for more running adventures!