Crazies in Camo

Last night we had our first "official" Mud Run practice. This involved Lisa, Erin, Alicia, and I running around the woods hopping over Hurricane Ike downed trees (our stand-in Mud Run obstacles) in our boots and camouflage like mad women. We did like 5 feet worth of "military crawl" practice since the ground is hard and full of bugs. Good enough, when we have to do that for real it will be in giant mud pits so we'll deal with it when we have to. All in all it was great fun and I felt like I was 8 years old again trekking through the woods with my sisters. Plus, being in the woods like that down here almost made me forget I was in Houston.

Sad news is that we may be one woman down for the real run. Melissa has a torn muscle and will likely have to be our cheerleader/team photographer instead. We can still run without her, but can't compete for prizes, HA like we were going to finish in the top 3 anyway. It would have been more fun with Mel in the race, but she does need to heal up. Get Well Soon Melissa!

Weezing After Weezer

Last night John and I went to see Weezer with the Sholls (that is now an official reference too, not just a *pending* upcoming wedding event reference, congrats Erin adn Cory) and the Marshiks. This was an outing in celebration for Charlie's birthday which was a few weeks ago and Weezer is one of his favorite bands. It was good times and it was a good concert. I had to shove a flailing drunk girl out of my own personal bubble at one point but that was the only minor blight for a good evening out. Happy Birthday again Charlie, you are the Charliest Marshik I know!!

Given that we were out late, getting up early to workout wasn't going to happen. Good thing too, because even trying to run after work was less than stellar too. Probably something to do with drinking a bunch of beer the night before and not much water before trying to run.

Fall has Fallen!

YAY!! Today I went outside to go to work and it is NOW officially fall! I know everyone not in Houston reading this is saying what is she talking about, fall started a month ago (or if you are in Seattle it started 3 months ago). But no really, a cold front pushed through last night and now it actually IS fall in Houston. The high today is 68deg, the first day since probably April to pull off something like that. Today, I am a happy camper, this is weather I like even if it is short lived. Sunday's high is back to 81deg! :)

Runway Runaway

Last night brought a close to the latest season of Project Runway, which is one of my addiction TV shows. It has been an interesting season, but I am glad that there have been more "I might actually wear those clothes" designers than "crazy fashion only size 0 people would wear on runway clothes". Leann won which I was expecting since her clothes were very well done, but I was really pulling for Korto. After seeing Korto's runway show, I wanted her to even more. I really liked her clothes and specifically this green dress. This was far and away my favorite outfit of the night and given the chance I would buy this dress, assuming her new found fame doesn't mean it's going to cost mega-bucks, which it probably does.


But the best part was seeing snarky Kenley get unceremoniously dumped quickly. She had two decent outfits (I like the one with the painted flowers), but really does anyone want to wear something Joan Collins might have worn in 1985?

10 Toes for 10 Miles

This morning was the United Space Alliance 10-Mile Race and I entered last week since I had previously expected to be out of town and wasn't. I was SUPER glad to do this race because a) I am actually in training for the marathon and b) my training had taken a backseat the last couple weeks due to hurricane cleanup and travel.

So the race wasn't "easy" by any means but I did very well and I ran it in 93:17, which are 9:19 mile splits and is a great pace for me on a long run. I was afraid of bonking in the beginning of the race after going out in the first mile in 8 MIN!! I really reigned it in after that since it was very hard to figure out my pace in the initial surge of the crowd when everyone is full of energy.

One race down, many more miles of training to go and a huge race coming up in January. Please help me raise funds for the Gulf Coast Recovery Fund to help those in need that were hit so very hard by Ike by making whatever size contribution you can on my marathon website. One aspect of the race that makes this especially poignant is that it took us right along Clear Lake, the neighborhoods along the water, and even the NASA Hilton which were all badly damaged by Ike. Just a reminder of why I'm trying to raise money with this run!

Pictures Speak More Words Than Me

Instead of doing a recap of our trip to CT and PA, I'll just add the photo albums. It was a wonderful time in both places and a beautiful wedding, see for yourself below.

Connecticut:
Yes, those are TWO John E. Merancy's in the first few pictures. The picture of John driving is taken in his Grandfather's Porsche Carrerra, you can tell by the blur of trees going by.


The Sholl Wedding and Events in Lancaster, PA, with some Philidelphia pics too. All wonderful friends and good times celebrating to wedding of two soulmates.

Race in the Place of Travel

Since I am unexpectedly "in-town" this coming weekend, I just signed up for the USA 10-Miler which I previously didn't think I was going to do. This race starts at UHCL and loops around on Bay Area to Red Bluff, Kirby, and NASA Road 1. Race time 7am Sunday!

This will be my kick-start for the long-run training I was missing while getting our house back into shape post-hurricane and on vacation the last couple weeks, although I did get several short runs in during this time.

Back in H-town

This will be a short post but I will get an update on here longer. John and I are back home in Houston after a whirlwind week in CT with John's family and then PA for the Sholl wedding. We had a great time visiting everyone in CT and saw as many people as possible in a very few days. We do hope to get John's cousins Kara, Kirby, and Kassie down for a visit sometime so maybe we can work that out in the next few months when they have breaks from school.

As for PA, we both couldn't be happier for the Sholl's to tie the knot!! It was a beautiful wedding and it was so nice to be there for it and celebrate with them and all their friends and family. We had lots of fun throughout the extend parties and BBQ and Nujoud even braved the cold PA river water for some brief wakeboarding. We hope they have a great time on their honeymoon (how could they not ;) and I will get pictures uplinked when I am not so tired from vacation.

As for right now, I have happily removed the "soon-to-be-Sholl" from the weblink to their blog. Congrats you two!