Sam I Am

This week's beer is... Sam Adams. I have to admit, I am not a fan of their Summer Ale. However, I may have to try one of their fall or winter brews this weekend, while I am at...guess, guess....

You guessed it, I am in Massachusetts this weekend, racing in the Newburyport Green Stride Half Marathon. I am probably running right now, as you are drinking your coffee and reading this post. So, you know the drill, put down the coffee, grab a beer, and look what happened to me this week! (Inspired by Kim) (photo credit)

It was another busy week, but in a different sort of way this time. On Monday I finished up with my last client in Cape Girardeau and headed to Columbia to check out of the office. Now I am once again jobless! Back to the old drawing board. But first, let's start at the beginning...

Last weekend one of my very dearest friends came to visit me! She and I have been friends since...well probably about 20 years. We played little league together. Her nickname is Red.

We decided to do some hiking at the Trail of Tears State Park. Along the way, we found....More Ponies! These ones let us touch them! 

Then we went hiking! It was great! Except I told Red that the trail had "a few hills". I didn't remember that it was quite strenuous! We took her dog Lucy and poor Lucy was tuckered out afterwards (and so were we!)

Even though she was tuckered out, she was happy to dress in this banana split costume and pose for the camera. Can't you tell how happy she was? 

The foliage, or as my family likes to jokingly call it, FOILAGE, is beautiful right now!

After Red left, I took at 16 mile run, my last run in Cape. It was 90 degrees. It was brutal. This is the Cape LaCroix Creek trail, where I have been running for the last 4 months. 

And then it was time for me to leave Cape. A departing shot of my "home", the Candlewood Suites.The drive to Columbia is about 4 hours. It rained the entire time.

I had to check out all my equipment and I said goodbye to my friends in the office in Columbia. More importantly though, I checked the color of my urine against this chart in the bathroom. My favorite? The second one from the top...in case you can't read it, it says, "You're just fine. You could stand to drink a little water now, maybe a small glass of water." Who writes these? And who has pee the color of the bottom one? If you do, you better get to the doc ASAP! (or maybe you ate beets?)

And then? One last run in Missouri. This time the weather was in the 40s. 

Total miles this week: 30.

And now? 

Wish me luck. Hopefully I get a beer when I am done!

What did you do this week? Do you live close to your best friends? What friend have you had the longest? Have you ever dressed up your dog in a costume?

Going Round in Circles

You may remember the post that I wrote when I first got to Missouri. I was just getting back into running. I had just arrived in Columbia and had found a great running trail: the MKT. The day I wrote that post, I ran 2.5 miles at a 9:33 pace. It was not easy. At the same time, I set a few goals for myself. They were:

1. Find a training program
2. Get in Shape.
3. Speed up pace.
4. Sign up for a Fall race. 

After the day of that run, I was sent to Cape Girardeau, which is about 4 hours south of Columbia (and also the home of Rush Limbaugh). I didn't get to run on that trail but that once.

Tomorrow, I am leaving Missouri. Remember the change I was talking about? It's changed again. Instead of moving to a different place in Missouri, I will be heading home for a while to see some friends and family and regroup and wait for the next job to come along.

The job here has been good. I have met and worked with some interesting people and been involved in some interesting situations. I have to say I am not totally sad that I am leaving at the onset of winter. I spent a winter in Iowa and as much as I love snow, I do not love -47 degree windchill. But I was not quite ready to go home. Oh well. I am now.

Before we leave, we have to check out through our office in Columbia. So I drove to Columbia to get all the logistics taken care of. After taking care of that, I took my last run (ever? for a while?) in Missouri. It was a lot different from the one I took 4 months ago. The weather was about 30 degrees cooler and the fall colors are out. I have satisfied all my goals from above.

1. Find a training program Hal Higdon
2. Get in Shape. lost 10 lbs
3. Speed up pace. current average: 8:45
4. Sign up for a Fall race. (x3)

What wasn't different was the trail. I went back to the location of my first ever run in Missouri and did my last run in the same place. It was very therapeutic. It felt like a place I already knew.

I have come full circle. 

Goodbye Mizzou-rah.

Have you ever been to a place that you just can't wait to go back to? That has a special place in your heart? Where is it and why did you love it?

Taum Sauk: High Point 4

My Dad wants to hike as many of the highest points from each state in the US as he can. He has hiked many more than me, but I have been lucky to hike several of them with him. We started with our home state of California. Mt. Whitney is the highest mountain in the continental US. I was 17 and I enjoyed the hike a lot more after I reached the top.

Luckily, and maybe becuase he took me on the most difficult one first, our next stop was Florida. The high point of Florida is the LOWEST high point in the USA. After that, we had "bagged" the highest high point and the lowest high point in the continental US. Since then we have been working on the in between ones.

Last weekend we went to the highest point in Missouri, Taum Sauk Mountain, which is 1,772 ft above sea level. The funny part is that you drive to the top. Afterward, you can then hike around on the Ozark trail, which is what we did. The Ozark Trail is in Southeast Missouri and goes all the way to Arkansas. (info source)

The Ozark Trail. 

 Fall has sprung! Look at those colors already!

 A stick bug. I almost stepped right on him.

We had a great hike and then afterwards went and ate lots of fried foods. Because driving up to 1,700 feet above sea level REALLY makes you hungry. Stay tuned for more photos on Thursday when I am doing the 12 weeks to Better Photos course on Composition!

California Highest Point: Mt. Whitney, CA -- 14,494 FT -- California Elevation Map
Missouri Highest Point: Taum Sauk Mt., MO -- 1,772 FT -- Missouri Elevation Map
Louisiana Highest Point: Driskill Mt., LA – 535 FT-- Louisiana Elevation Map
Florida Highest Point: Britton Hill, FL – 345 FT -- Florida Elevation Map

You can get elevation and location information for ALL of the high points HERE.

Do you have any strange experiences like this that you "collect"? Do you like hiking? Have you ever been to any of the high points?  

*************Also, check out my post about Why I Travel over at WRTR!

Marvelous Marin

If you have never been to the Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur, you need to hightail it down there right NOW and get yourself a Point Reyes Porter. If you have never been to Point Reyes, you should go there either before or after going for a beer. Your choice. It is a little sticky outie thing (a point, hence the name, I guess) about an hour north of San Francisco that has the cutest tiny little lighthouse on it. You can walk down to the lighthouse or you can go surfing or beach-combing nearby.  {Photo Credit} **If you are from the Bay Area, you are hopefully have fingers crossed with me that the Giants are kicking Diamondback booty! (or already did, depending on when you are reading this)**

If you are new here, welcome. What we do each Sunday (inspired by Kim's Grab a Beer and Look What I Did Last Week) is get comfy on the couch, get your favorite brewsky out of the fridge and check out what happened last week! You can join in by going to Kim's site and leaving your link there! Let's get started!

____________________________

As you may have already heard about my race recap post, my Dad came into town and we did some Missouri style sight seeing. This may be my new favorite barn. 

We took a hike at the Trail of Tears State Park. You walk along the Mississippi for a while and sometimes the bluffs are pretty huge! It's a lot different from the Mississippi that is near New Orleans!

Then we headed to the district fair. Where we ate copious amounts of fried foods in the name of carb loading.  And we saw things like this. Huh, camouflage is a good look for a pickup and is only enhanced by the addition of the hand-made sign on the back.

I found a new ride. Sweet, huh? I'm really loving the color and it handles like a dream. 

Then there was the race. This girl whupped my butt. Probably because she was more streamlined than I was. And had sportier glasses. Actually, this was before the race, where I said to my Dad, "huh, I bet she is from South Africa". So he, being the Dad that he is, goes up to her and says, "where are you from?" "South Africa," she says. "Can  you take a photo with my daughter?" Aw, DaaaAaad! Some things will never change. (PS she was a good sport and a very nice girl)

After the race, I ate a whole ramakin of cheese. And a strawberry shortcake. In the name of recovery.

A few wise words: 

And...last night I parked my car in the "red car" parking section. If you think you are smart and are going to take down my plate number and find me in rural MO, you are wrong. It's a rental and you may just be stalking an overweight, hairy, biker. But that would be funny. I shouldn't have told you. You would have had quite a surprise!

Well this was not a very exciting week in photos, but probably because work has been super busy! We are getting close to finishing up in our area and who knows where we will be off to next. A new hotel, a new running trail, a new set of coworkers, like I mentioned earlier this week. 

What about you? What did you do this week? Has your week been busy/slow? Boring/fun? Are you doing anything fun this weekend?

Also, I added a new thingy -- if you like this post, you can Stumble It. The icon is right at the bottom of the post (probably right below this line here).

Best Time Ever

You all know I was a little excited/nervous for my half marathon, which was on Sunday the 18th. However, as you all predicted, the day of the race went just fine. But let me back up a little.

My Dad came for the weekend to cheer me on and to run the 5k that was also happening on Sunday. On Saturday night, like any good, healthy runner, we had to carb load. At the fair. Yum (Okay, honestly, I had pasta for lunch too. But I did eat almost that entire funnel cake).

Then I got everything ready for the next day (the race was at 7:30 am). 

The next morning, we got up bright and early and went to the starting line. This guy was checking out my butt during the National Anthem. Don't you think? I think he was.

The race was good! I was trying to get under a 2 hour half, which comes out to about 9 minutes per mile. To do this, I set my Garmin so that the PACE was showing and I just made sure to keep it under 9. I didn't look at how many miles I had gone or what my total time was; I just kept making sure it was under 9 minutes/mile. So I did not try using the Yasso method, just the old tried and true.

Afterwards, I had a beer with Dad. Because beer is a really good post workout fuel.

And then we went and did the most important thing, rewarded ourselves with a huge meal, complete with cheeses and a huge desert! 

It was a great race! I am so glad my Dad could come. It sure is nice to have some company, moral support, a cheerleader and a photographer! He even jumped in at the very end and ran the last tenth of a mile with me!

In case you are interested, below is the pace (blue) and elevation (green) graph. It was really hilly and I had to stop and pee around mile 3, but otherwise I kept under a 9 minute pace the whole time.

And the numbers: 

Miles: 13.1

Race Time: 1:52:36

Average Pace: 8:37

Which is 7 minutes faster than my goal had been overall!!

 And 10 minutes faster than I have ever run a half, which makes this:

A NEW PR!

How was your weekend? Did you run any races? What races do you have coming up? How do you reward yourself after doing something tiring?

Make sure to link up with Jill for Fitness Friday! 

Cheers Bro!

source

This beer may have an obnoxious name, but it is actually quite good. You can find it at the Stone Brewing Co or maybe even at your local grocery store.

This week was a very busy one for me, with visits to friends, different cities and much going on at work. We are now working less hours but are still expected to get the same amount of work done. So... I need one of these beers today!

I am looking forward to the next few weekends, since I will be meeting up with friends and family pretty much all of the September weekends and many of the ones in October! So, between the busy weekends and training during the week, this girl has been busy. But never to busy for a few photos!

Speaking of Arrogant Bs, today is my Brother's birthday! He loves beer, so it is fitting that this post, the beer post, falls on his birthday.

First, I had to go out in the field for work, so I took along my camera and took photos of some historical stuff (circa 1800). 

Old Church

Old School

Old Post Office

 I went grocery shopping and finally broke down and bought some cherries. I love them so much but they have been over 3 dollars a pound all summer. I miss China Town, where fruit is always cheap, even if you have to fight an old Chinese lady for a place in line to buy it.

I went to St. Louis to meet up with my Dad and some friends for a visit to the Arch and a baseball game.

There's my Dad! Do you like his shirt? 

A-LO-HA!

The view from the expensive seats. 

Of our seats. And the Arch. 

I figured out how to make my legs look more tan. 

Wear my new (WHITE!) running shoes. See, it's easy!

(1) new shoes

(2) old shoes

I figured out how to potty train....

...my boyfriend.

How was your week? 

What are you up to this (long) weekend?

Have you figured out how to get your man to put the seat down?

This post is linked up with: 

Kim at Yep They're All Mine

Comment Love at FTLOB