Rock N Roll Weekend

Are you comfortable? Warm enough? Do you need a blanket, perhaps a beverage? No? Good, then settle in for a long post.

I miss weekends where we have nothing to do. We haven’t had one of those in a while.

Yesterday, we went to the bank right when they opened to apply for one of the zero interest loans that National Grid is offering if you have the free energy audit and need work done. We, of course, knew we’d need work done because you don’t have to be a genius to know that if you touch your wall in the winter and it’s ice cold, you probably don’t have any insulation. Which we didn’t. None. Awesome. Long story short, we decided with all the discounts they were offering we were going to go ahead with it. You can’t beat 0% interest.

After that, we headed up to Providence to go to the Expo for the race this morning. It was a great Expo! Very organized, well mapped out and lots of big name sponsors there to check out. I was able to try some bars and gels and stuff like that I’d read about. I found a few that were decent. I also got a couple of headbands. I don’t actually currently wear headbands, but I liked the sayings and decided I could try them out in the winter to see if they’d keep my ears warm.

 

My big purchase at the Expo was my birthday/Christmas/every other holiday between now and then present. I finally got a Garmin and I couldn’t be more thrilled to try it out soon!

 

Flynn decided he enjoyed the Garmin bag

 

After we left the Expo, we headed into the Providence Place Mall to pop into the Apple store and see if we could get some info about repairing our MacBook. While we were there, we happened to walk by Hot Topic on the way to get something for lunch and saw a whole Doctor Who display right near the door! You know we had to check it out!! I’m doing a virtual Doctor Who 5K and I decided these socks and shirt would be perfect for that. And then the guy told us the shirts (which were already marked down) were buy 1 get 1 half off so I got a Big Bang Theory shirt too!

 

I think I might need to get this mask for Halloween!

 

We ended up leaving the mall and opting to do another “let’s search Yelp and find someplace new to eat”. We ended up right down the street from our house at Fat Belly’s Irish Pub, which we’ve been wanting to try for a while. I couldn’t decide what I wanted so I opted for a pastrami sandwich and upgraded the fries to bacon cheese fries. So glad I did – they were amazing! Not too much cheese on them and they drizzle a bit of ranch and scallions on them which really made them pop.

 

 

After lunch it was almost 3pm and I had a lot of yard work to get done so we headed home to take care of business. We were out there for about 3 hours (shout out to the wifey for helping me a bit) but we got almost everything done I had aimed to do.

Today was race day. I was very excited about this one because we all know how much I love music and pairing a race with live bands is awesome. The race start was at 7am (way too early in my book) so we were up very early.

 

My baby Delilah didn’t approve.

 

We got in to Providence around 6am and checked everything out. It was all really well organized with large, clear signage and directions. Of course, this didn’t help the long portapotty lines that delayed the race and the fact that the corrals weren’t big enough so everyone was spilling out onto the sidewalks and you couldn’t move. But I digress.  I think we ended up starting around 10-15 minutes late, which isn’t terrible in the grand scheme of things, but it was cold and I wanted to get moving!

 

 

I started out pretty well. I had the IT Band strap on, but no KT Tape this week. I don’t know if that made a difference or not, but I was in a significant amount more pain today than last week. I thought I started out OK because I ran for more then the first 5 minutes (which was a huge uphill at the very start) and it was alright. It started aching so I walked some. It seemed I couldn’t get a good walk to run ratio going and felt like I walked quite a bit more than I wanted. I tried adjusting the strap on the fly, but couldn’t seem to get it to help so I’m not actually certain if it does or not.

 

As if it wasn’t bad enough that I can’t run a 5K, this dude was running the half while dribbling two basketballs simultaneously!!

 

We ran about the first 1.8 miles with the half marathoners and then it was like I wandered into a barren wasteland. Once we split off for the 5K Mini Marathon, there were hardly any runners. It was kind of discouraging because usually during a race it helps me to motivate myself by keeping up with or passing other people. There were probably only about a dozen people within my sight at any given time. At that point, though, we only had a little over a mile to go.

I was able to see three live bands on the route, plus 2 spots where they were playing music out of a van. One band sounded like they were doing a cover song and the other two were OK. I had never heard of any of them. We didn’t stick around for the big concert at the end because A) we avoided all the crowds by not being there when the half marathon finished and B) I didn’t want to have to wait around for 2 hours for the main stage to play because my knee hurt too much. Oh, and C) I don’t like beer so a free beer at 8am doesn’t appeal to me.

Here I am finishing the race. I think I look awful in this picture, but I’m my own worst critic.

After I limped away from the finish line with my medal and chocolate milk, I got my stretch on so I wouldn’t lock up on the drive home. I hope these PT exercises I got on Friday will start helping me soon. This not running business is for the birds!

 

 

After we got home, we totally went back to bed. It is lazy Sunday after all.

I still don’t know what my official time is, but I suspect it may have been just under or right at 40 minutes. My RunKeeper said around 40, but I started it before we crossed the start line and didn’t stop it until I was out of the finishing area. Who knows! We’ll find out tonight I think. I thought I remembered reading something about results going out by 7pm the day of the race.

I really need my leg to feel better. It’s really affecting my mood.

 

Advertisement

Excuse Me. You Have Something On Your Lip.

Tomorrow is Rock N Roll Day (though I’m only doing the Mini Marathon-5K). Today, was the Expo. Lots to tell, lots of new “toys”, but after too much yard work this afternoon, it will have to wait until tomorrow. But just think…by posting tomorrow I’ll be including my race recap. I know. You’re welcome.

For now, you get this:

 

Face The Music Friday #2

First things first: if you missed my initial Face The Music Friday, check it out here.

Now, onto the big business. Drumroll please!

My weight this week is:     184.1

Beginning: 240

Last week: 185.6

This week: -1.5 lb

Total loss: 55.9 lb

I’m honestly surprised that I had as good of a loss as I did. Like I mentioned last week, I typically have two good weeks per month and this happened to be the first of two (if I stick to schedule). Maybe I just lucked out that the junk that I did end up eating this week was on a good week and not a bad week. Dumb luck I suppose.

I had my PT this morning (finally) for my knee. She confirmed it was my IT Band causing my knee pain. She said that I had been doing everything right that I’ve been doing so far in terms of rolling, icing, etc. She gave me some strengthening exercises to help me out because she said that my inner thigh muscles down near my knees (I forget the name of it) were weaker. She also said something about patellar tracking – I guess the kneecap should kind of zig zag as you bend and flex the knee, but mine just goes in a straight line. Who knew!

She also happened to check out my hip (that I injured last year and still bothers me) and said it was most likely also from the IT Band on that side and could be my left knee is bothering me from overcompensating for the right. I’m a hot mess. I tried to tell her just how inflexible I was before she examined me, but little did she know until she saw for herself!

 

 

After we went through the exam and exercises, she did some ultrasound for about 5 minutes with some topical cortisone and then some manual massage for a minute or two. She finished up with a quick minute of ice massage and then I was off to work! It hurt like hell (still kind of does as I write this at almost bedtime!) but I’m hoping it helped overall. She OK’d me using my elliptical, which I had been concerned about, so I’m pleased with that. She wants me to lay off the running for now (which I’m glad I haven’t done other than 1 x per week during races). I have to go back to see her in around a week and see how I’m progressing so maybe we’ll see how long till I can give it the old college try again.

Now to my favorite part of the post: the music!!

This week I picked Florence + The Machine’s “What The Water Gave Me”. I like how it starts out kind of slow and quiet, but builds faster and louder. I can’t really describe the intense feeling I get when I listen to the song.

Fun fact about this song too: the title was inspired by the Frida Kahlo painting of the same name. Frida is also tied for my wife’s favorite painter (with Georgia O’Keefe) so that adds to the fun!

 

 

Now enjoy some Florence!

Puttin’ On My Big Girl Pants + A Race Recap

The weekend was kind of a whirlwind! Between oil changes, randomly replacing a toilet seat (because the cat knocked it off and broke it), a twin 7-year-old birthday party, grocery shopping, a random stop at a neighbor’s yard sale, visiting with family who are out here from Indiana and a 5K race on Sunday morning I’m surprised we got anything done around the house.

And, oh yeah, we came home to this:  Boil Water Advisory! That’s been lots of fun the last few days. We’re still on the advisory, but two clean tests so far mean we may be done by tomorrow if a third comes back clean. Gross.

 

 

On Friday and Saturday we visited various grocery stores to gather our bounty for the coming week. We also decided on Saturday night to stop at Trader Joe’s (where we don’t normally shop). We perused the aisles and checked everything out and ended up taking home the most random stuff. While at all of these stores, I found one thing or another that was NEW to me to try. Look at me being a big girl and trying new things!

 

 

Let’s examine the new things I’ve tried (so far).

Chobani Flips – I tried 3 different flavors. I really like the Coco Loco and Key Lime, but the Vanilla was just OK. I would eat it again if nothing else was available, but not a top choice. This is HUGE news. Like, gigantic. Yell it from the top of a mountain big. Wanna know why? I hate yogurt. Chobani has the best texture for me but I can never get over the bitterness. I don’t know if it’s the flavors being mixed in or what, but hey, whatever works!

 

 

The next new things I bought were a bunch of bars. All different kinds. I’d only ever had Clif Bars before, but I am trying to branch out. I’ve only tried one of them so far, the Cinnamon Apple Crisp flavor Larabar Alt. It was surprisingly delicious. I wasn’t sure how close it would come to something that tastes so yummy, but it was really good! P.S. I’m really bad at food photography and always forget to take them until the things are half eaten or gone!

 

 

Lastly, and most importantly, this is the BEST new thing I tried this weekend. By far. Above and beyond my wildest imagination. I love you PB & Co. Marry me.

 

 

OK, enough about food because I’m getting hungry! How about a quick race recap? Right then…

Sunday was the CVS Downtown 5K in Providence. I had watched the weather all week and looked like we’d be OK, but on Saturday it changed and got pushed back. I got lucky, though, because when we left the house it showed 0% precipitation starting at 9am through the day (race start was 11:15am). Mother Nature had other plans. We were sponsored by my company as a free entry and got free team tech shirts to wear for the race.  We were waiting around to take a picture with my company team when all of a sudden, the sky opened up and downpoured on us. Luckily it only lasted maybe 10-15 min so I was psyched about that.

 

Me starting out – biggest race I’ve ever done at over 3300 people

 

My knee was/is still bothering me, but I got an IT Band Strap to try out for the race just to get me through it. I don’t know if my IT Band is just getting better (it’s been a few weeks now) or if the band actually helped but I felt like I was able to run more comfortably for longer distances in between walking spells when it started hurting again. I guess that’s good news for now. My first PT appt is on Friday so I’m hoping they’ll confirm that’s my actual issue, otherwise I feel kind of stupid. My NP seemed to think it was my IT band, so I don’t feel too stupid guessing using Dr. Google.

 

Me finishing the race out (green shirt)

And one of a fireman in full gear – what a beast!

 

Race 3 of 5 in a row is now in the books and I’m looking forward to the Rock N Roll Mini Marathon this Sunday. I can’t wait to run to live bands. That’s gonna be so fun! Then one more (Electric Run) and I get a few weeks off of races.

Face The Music Friday

I decided I’m going to create my own little day theme like lots of other people in the blogosphere. I was going to call it “Fess Up Friday” because I plan on posting my weight for that week and any updates on losses/gains.

Well, that was taken, so I decided to go with Face The Music Friday. Essentially the same idea, but now I get to incorporate my love of music into it as well! Genius!

Anywho…on to the moment you’ve (not) been waiting for! My weight this week is:

185.6

Beginning: 240 – 185.6 = 54.4lb total loss (you can catch up on the journey here)

The week wasn’t bad. I’m coming off my bad week(s) of the month which I tend to not lose much (if anything), so I expect the next week (possibly two) to be pretty good if it follows pattern. I’m surprised I’ve done as well as I have considering I’ve done little exercising other than an elliptical here or a walk there due to my leg. I got my IT Band Strap from Amazon today, so I’m hoping it will help me for my race on Sunday.

Now on to the fun part (for me anyway)! I decided on this post each week I’ll post a song I love, or love to run to, or am really digging at the present time. Maybe I’ll turn you on to something new or we can reminisce about bad hair!

This week, I chose a personal favorite of mine when it comes on my running playlist. I always jam out to this song, even when I’m running, which must be pretty funny to see me talking to myself while I run.

Barroom Hero – Dropkick Murphys

 

My Weight Loss Journey

Disclaimer: if you make it through the end of this post, you deserve a medal. And you have my undying gratitude.

 

I was always the chubby kid. Even though I was pretty active and played multiple sports, from childhood to high school, I’ve always been overweight. I’ve never really been excited with how my body ever looked. I can’t remember one single time this was true. Not one.

 

Not really sure what I’m doing, but it’s highly amusing!

OMG the cheeks!

Am I a sailor? I’m not sure.

 

I’ve done plenty of dieting throughout the years. I’ve tried Atkins (which worked well but wasn’t a maintainable lifestyle) and Weight Watchers (which was OK but too much math for me). I’ve lost 50 lb here or 20 lb there but without fail I would gain it back.

I’m about to admit to an embarrassing fact. At my heaviest, around Feb 2012, I weighed in at 240 lb. That’s almost double what my “acceptable” weight would be for my height. Horrifying. I don’t remember what my “a ha” moment was, but I knew it needed to stop. We bought an elliptical to use in the basement (since gym fees to the YMCA were too much and we don’t like gyms anyway-too embarrassing). I also started using MyFitnessPal and counting calories. Nothing fancy.

We started eating better and eating out less. I wanted to lose weight for my best friend’s wedding at the Mystic Aquarium in July 2012. I had a long way to go, but whatever I was able to lose by then would be better than nothing. I don’t actually remember what I was able to lose by the time of the wedding (I feel like it was around 15 lb) but I know they had to fix my bridesmaid’s dress to make it smaller to fit me, so I felt that was a huge step. As was wearing a dress!!

 

I got to pet PENGUINS!!

 

During this time, in late June 2012, the elliptical broke. When I say broke, I mean that it wouldn’t change resistance. I still could have used it but it wouldn’t have been very challenging. I had heard a lot of friends talking about C25K and how they were able to run when they never thought they could. I thought I’d give it a shot.

Right around the time I started, my company said that it would sponsor entry into the local CVS Downtown 5K for anyone wanting to run/walk. My C25K program wasn’t going to be finished, but I’d be close, so I decided to register and I would walk it if I had to. I was doing really well, progressing right along as I should, when I noticed a soreness in my right hip. I’d experienced practically anything there was to feel when I started running (shin splints, sore knees, etc) so I figured it was just one more thing I’d have to fight through to get to the other side. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After about a week of pain, (mostly after running, not during) I went out for my programmed run and was getting close to home when all of a sudden I was completely hobbled and could barely walk. I somehow managed to limp my way home from two streets over in our neighborhood. I didn’t have an iPhone then, so had no way to contact Tara.

When I got home, I could barely get up the stairs, couldn’t walk down the hall, couldn’t do much of anything! I thought I’d just take some Advil, throw some ice on it and get some rest and maybe it’d feel better in the morning. Nope. Negative Ghost Rider. I woke up in even more pain, which I didn’t think possible.

I decided it was pretty bad, so I asked Tara to take me to the ER because I knew I’d done something serious. I asked her to take me to work first though, because I wanted to set up an out of office and let my guys know I’d be out (our reps can be very needy). Sometimes I feel too much obligation, but I’d also only been at this job for around 6 months when this happened and wanted them to see me in person to know how hobbled I really was.

Anyway, after a quick pit stop to the office, we headed over to the hospital. Luckily there wasn’t much of a wait, which was nice. After looking around Dr. Google, I was certain I had a stress fracture and when the doctor examined me he thought I might. They sent me off for an X-ray and then referred me to an ortho. I actually had to ASK them for a pair of crutches because I couldn’t walk (which is weird to me that I had to ask for them).

I called the ortho the second they released me and I was outside. I had to wait for Tara to come back and pick me up anyway so I figured it would kill the time. I couldn’t get in there until the following Monday so I had the whole weekend chilling at home, not being able to do anything. This was unfortunate for Tara because we had JUST adopted two kittens the weekend before it happened and they were little hellions as babies! Poor, poor Tara had to do everything for a loooong time. I think I was on crutches around 4 weeks or so and limping long after that.

 

Flynn thought it was fun to play with my crutches. Please ignore the messy basement and focus on the cute cat.

 

Anyway, after I met with the ortho and he examined me we scheduled an MRI to confirm because the X-ray didn’t show a fracture of any kind. I had the MRI done and they didn’t find a fracture that way either, so he diagnosed it as a severe strain. They did, however, find I had 2 cysts on my ovary, so that ended up turning into a visit to another imaging center to have an ultrasound for those. Luckily, they were nothing to be concerned about and I was good to go.

During this time I had PT exercises to do, which I wasn’t great about. I admit it. I was good for a few weeks and then kind of let it slide more than I should have. I couldn’t walk without a limp until around mid January 2013.

While I was out of commission, I ended up seeing a video for DDP Yoga. It was a dude named Arthur who was on braces to walk and couldn’t even stand up straight without pain. He did this yoga program and eating plan and ended up losing a ton of weight…but he could also RUN! I was so inspired by him that I ended up ordering the yoga program, not so much for the weight loss, but the yoga itself. I thought maybe yoga would help me be more flexible and aid with the pain of walking.

I had gained some weight back during this time, so when we started measuring and taking “before” pics for the program I weighed in at 226 (still down 14 lb at least). I found the program tough. It’s not a “relaxing” type of yoga. We were constantly moving from position to position with very little rest, if any. I found myself becoming more flexible and the eating plan wasn’t too bad either. We didn’t go past level 1 (levels 2 and 3 were gluten and/or dairy free) so I didn’t find it terribly difficult to maintain. It was just basically clean eating, not a ton of sugar/white flour, etc.

Each month, we take measurements of key areas. We chose to do chest, waist, hips, arms and thighs. We note what our weight is at that time (although I weigh myself daily). I weigh myself daily simply because I want to see how my body progresses throughout a day/week/month. I still weigh myself every morning and every night. I find it interesting to develop a pattern from it. I’m a geek.

Long story short, I’m about halfway to my goal loss of 110 lb. I was aiming for 150 lb for my goal weight, but after looking at my height and whatnot, decided I might as well “go for it” to reach 130 lb for a goal weight because then I’d be in the “healthy BMI range”. I figured if I was aiming for that high of a loss, 20 more pounds wouldn’t be that hard! I’m a little crazy like that.

I’ve decided I need to be held more accountable. I’ve been slipping lately. I tend to be an emotional eater (which I’m trying to work on) and when I get injured, like lately, I tend to get depressed. I’ve gained a couple of pounds over the last few weeks and don’t want to start going backwards again. I started using MyFitnessPal more regularly again and am working on figuring out what I’m capable of doing without aggravating my injury.

Since I made this decision, I figured why not make myself accountable to complete strangers on the web (LOL!). Seriously though, I’m going to start posting every Friday about what my weight was that week and if I’m up or down and how I’m doing/feeling.

I hope you’ll stick with me on this journey, just as I hope to stick to it myself.

 

Columbus Day weekend 2012

Around Xmas 2012

July 2013

 

August 2013

 

 

Things That Make Me Happy (and an update)

An update on the knee/IT band:  I tried out using the elliptical downstairs last night for 1/2 hour. I took it pretty slow because it started out pretty sore, but I was able to do the whole 30 minute fat burner setting.

Tonight, Tara and I took a walk for a little over 2 miles. I decided to perform a test and took my patellar tendon strap and wrapped it above my knee (instead of below where it goes) as if it were an IT band strap. It definitely improved feeling while I ran (I periodically left Tara and tried running for a 1/4 mile here and there) but it still bothered me after a few tenths of a mile. Not as bad as Sunday though…so I guess that’s a start. I ordered an *actual* IT band compression strap to try out on Amazon that I should get on Friday. The patellar strap was too tight because it’s not big enough for above the knee so it was a bit uncomfortable for it’s size.

I saw my doctor for my yearly physical yesterday so I asked her for a referral while I was there but couldn’t get a PT appt until next Friday, 9/27. I want it gone sooner rather than later, so I’m doing everything I can in the meantime. Ice, rest, elevation when possible, compression when possible, Advil when I need it and lots and LOTS of foam rolling. Going to figure out some stretches I can do that I’ve found online and see if that helps in the meantime.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

1. My loving, sweet, beautiful, kind, caring wife. My best friend. My everything. You get the idea!

 

2. A roof over my head. I’ve worked very hard in my life and always wanted to have my own home. That dream finally came true 5 years ago when we bought our first home. We didn’t realize all the issues the previous owners had left us, but we couldn’t ask for better neighbors. It’s a really nice neighborhood.

3. Snuggles from my fur babies. We adopted them just over a year ago and I can’t imagine life if we hadn’t decided to adopt again.

4. Two of the best friends anyone could ask for.

5. Amazing family that supports me no matter what shenanigans I get into.

My parents, visiting from Vegas, got to see my first mud run!

6. A job. I may not like it on most days, but I know how hard it is to find and keep one in this economy so I’m still glad to have one.

7. Running.

8. Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

9. Doctor Who.

10. Macintosh apples

And one extra for good measure…

11. I Can Has Cheezburger. You’re welcome.

Yep. It’s Like This.

I’m a ridiculous competitor. My own worst competitor. And this sums it up pretty well.

(I can always find something in life to reference back to a Friends character)

Worst Race Ever

The day started waaaay too early for the Surftown 5K at Misquamicut Beach in Westerly, RI. And it was freakin’ cold!

 

 

I got up around 3:30 and chugged a bunch of water, then went back to sleep until 4:15am when we got up and started getting everything ready. The race start was supposed to be 7:30 according to the Hartford Marathon Foundation website. It only listed one race start, so I figured the 5K and Half Marathon runners would all start together. Once we got there, we found out this was not the case. Due to ridiculous lines at the Portajohns, they ended up delaying the race for at least a 1/2 hour. Not only that, we found out when they made early announcements that the 5K would start 15 min after the half marathon. In reality, we ended up starting about 10 min later, but it was just pure disorganization. I digress…

Packet pick-up started at 6am so I planned on us arriving around 6:15. Sunrise was at 6:31 so I was excited we’d be able to see the sun rise at the beach.

 

I can’t even handle the gorgeousness.

 

After enjoying the beach for a bit (and trying to stay warm) I started getting my game face on. I walked around in the knee brace I have for a while, debating whether I’d wear it to run. I couldn’t get it in a comfortable position, so at the last minute I ended up deciding I’d forgo wearing it. I also peeled my KT Tape off last night because it started coming off on it’s own. Because my leg felt better, I opted not to put any new KT Tape on. Both of these may have been huge mistakes, but hindsight is 20/20, right?

 

 

Once we finally lined up, I got this super nervous, bad feeling about it. Maybe I worked my own negative mojo on myself, but I didn’t even make it 1/4 mile before I had to stop and walk because it hurt so much. It was very hard to make my brain force my legs to stop running so I didn’t injure myself further. What the most frustrating thing was is that when I walked, the pain went away. SO annoying! I probably ran a total of 4-5 times, but walked the majority. I haven’t even checked my finishing time as of typing this post because I don’t even want to know. I’m definitely my own worst competitor and to have so many people pass me, and to finish so far back in the pack was the worst experience I’ve had to date in a race.

I’m glad I had Tara, Julie and Dan there cheering me on and to give me a big hug when I just started crying after I crossed the finish line. It’s very disheartening to know I can do it and my body is like “fuck you”. I train all the right ways. I do all the right stretches, all the right foam rolling, all the right EVERYTHING.

On a lighter note, we decided to go out to breakfast together afterwards before Julie and Dan headed home. We looked at our old friend Yelp and found Fatti Mac’s. It was a teensy place, but cute. They had huge servings for cheap prices and it was really tasty.

When we finally got home around 11:30 or so, Julie and Dan packed up to head home and Tara and I settled in for a nap. Let’s be real, it’s Sunday and we were up at 4:15am!

I’m feeling slightly better after a couple more hours of rest. Still upset, but handling it better now as I write this. I have my yearly physical on Tuesday so I’m gonna talk to my NP and ask her about my knee, or at least for a referral to a new ortho. The last one I went to for my hip was a joke.

For now, I’ll continue my regimen of no running, icing, stretching, rolling and tons and tons of elevation when possible. Got 3 more races for the next 3 weeks and I am NOT losing any of that registration money! Even if that means I crawl across the finish lines!

 

Fall Fest

Today was such a fun day! Started way earlier than I expected considering how early we need to get up tomorrow, but we got a lot done!

Tara made an awesome apple cake using some of the Macs we picked last weekend that we warmed up and had for breakfast. Delish!

 

 

After breakfast we settled in to do some work! Julie has a couple of craft shows coming up in October (Lakeville Arts Festival and Scituate Art Festival). They’re always her two best shows of the year and they are HUGE. We’re helping her ramp up production so she’ll have plenty of jewelry to sell at these shows. We set up shop in our living room and, of course, Flynn wanted to help.

 

Supervisor Flynn

After all his hard work, he decided to take a nap in his favorite bag

 

After a couple of hours of work, we all got ready and headed to Confreda Farms for their Fall Fest that has started. We jumped on the tractor wagon and they took us down to the corn maze, across from their pick your own pumpkin patch. We thought it would take longer than it actually did, but we had a lot of fun while we were in there.

 

 

We just had dinner and am putting in some more work on the jewelry and then it’s an early to bed/early to rise kinda night. We need to leave the house around 5:30am to head to my race in the morning. It will be the first time I’ve run since last Saturday when I hurt my leg during that race. It’s feeling pretty good after a steady regimen of ice, rest, foam rolling and KT Tape. I’m hopeful it’ll be OK, but I’m definitely going to take it slow!

I hope the weather tomorrow is as gorgeous as it was today because it will be perfection for running!