Dan~My mother is an artist and painter.  She had a large collection of art books that I would page through for hours.  I was infatuated with the work of  James Whistler and Winslow Homer.  In one of the books there was a double page fold out (it was fabulous!) of Homer's painting "Girl in the Orchard".  I looked at that page every day and wondered of the woman portrayed in the painting.  I also grew up in the middle of a pear and apple orchard planted by my father's parents in the early 1900's.  It was a magical place to grow up and filled with adventures in every season.  When I run, this is the place my mind returns to.  Although I'm a city girl now, I'll always be the girl in the orchard.

Deb- love that story, that's really great!  I remember now you mentioning growing up in that pear and apple orchard.  The art books makes the story even better!

AZ- that's a long run no matter where you do it, but on TM & indoor track, that's amazing.  Enjoy your taper!

NHRich- good luck with the snow!

Ray- I have a feeling you are going to hit that MP quite well.  Good luck!

The good news is our car insurance will pay for the repair after we pay the deductible.  I would never have thought that an oil pain repair could be that expensive!  Wow.      Bad news is our whole house dehumidifier died last week, and it's a year past it's warranty.  OUCH! That's another big bite.

Chantilly- yes to the truck, that's why I drive a 95 Chevy 1500 around here most of the time. (When I'm not on the motorcycle in the good weather!)

Wednesday, 11/26... day off due to the weather, it's been snowing for about an hour now and really coming down.

Chantilly... I had my own 3 pie challenge here at the house this morning, Pumpkin, Apple and Chocolate Cream... Pre-baked the 2 crusts yesterday so those 2 pies finished up pretty fast this morning.     The Apple came out of the oven about an hour ago and looks good, but the critics will let me know tomorrow how it tastes... lol   I wouldn't do good in one of those cooking challenges, I'm too slow...lol

it is COLD today ......but 'nice' with the SUN in the bluebird sky!!  Currently (about 7:25 pm), according to the weather site, it's -6 (minus 6!!), 7mph wind, feels like -20!! DH had to drive to ND for an overnight trip.  Didn't go with him, had to get my run in today.  The high around here was 11 degrees, feels like 5 degrees.  Didn't feel like driving to the gym so bundled up again in my red/pink 'ninja' winter gear and finished 8.5 miles!! Slow but steady run, took 30 sec walk breaks after each mile.  Not so bad after a couple of miles.  The sun really tempts me as I know there will be more cloudy, miserable days than there are sunny days for the winter.  Anyway, pretty much thawed out now, LOL!!

Ray:  One is never really 'ready' for a FM .......always wishing for more training runs.  However, for some odd reason, as long as I have been running, I don't get nervous about races.  I'm as ready as I'll ever be so I just run my run. There will always be races. I miss dirt trail running for sure and it's not fun 'training' for a FM in the midst of polar vortices but that's just the way it goes.  You are doing awesome in your tapering.  Good luck with the series finish, I know you'll get top honors!!

NH:  Can I, Can I be a pie critic?!? LOL!! Sounds so delicious!!  Day off is always good.  Lots of talk about the storms up thataway!! Stay safe.

Deb:  thanks for sharing the story of "girl in the orchard" ........good to have some roots that far back with family.

Chantilly:  when is your next race event? Sorry if you mentioned it.

Dan:  NOV not treating you so well .......glad those repairs are repairable (?) though.  Any upcoming races or waiting for next year?  Lucky you with a home TM!! Have you tried the exercises suggested?

Wishing you and yours a safe and warm holiday!!

Hope everyone is having a Happy Thanksgiving!

Az - Taper time for you?  Hard work is done in all that cold weather.  Gotta feel a little good about that.

Chantilly - Watching the parade?  Good for you.

NHRich - How did the pies turn out?  Or, maybe I should say the judging   Were you able to do your Turkey Trot?

Turkey Trot 10K went  pretty well.  44:12 or there abouts,  finished 4th in AG and 9th or 10th male.  Could have gone a bit better, but ran about as well as I dared and better then I expected time wise.  DS1 and DW ran 1/2 marathon with DW getting 1st in AG and DS1 4th in AG.  DS1 did win a turkey!  A very good race day.

Enjoy those Thanksgiving Dinners!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Yes, it has been quite a while since my last post.  I have missed quite a bit, and will not even try to catch up on everything.  As always, you are all running so well. I am still reading back through the past month's posts, and will catch up with some comments along the way.  I fully intend to jump back in on a regular basis with you guys.  You all inspire me...and I'm going to need it.  Threw my name in for the holiday streak, shooting for 105 miles in December.

A quick catch-up on where I am.  After my achilles injury, I took a long slow road back, and am still not running at the level I was before the injury. However, I am doing quite a bit of cross training.  I sat for the exam with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America to be certified as a Personal Trainer, and am expecting the results any day now. I have started working with a small, personal training fitness studio just around the corner from the house. I figure I have a little more credibility with clients if I am in good shape myself. And I have said many times that I wanted complete fitness, not just running fitness. So I've been working out quite a bit, and still running, around 15-20 miles per week. I am still in school, awaiting word on acceptance into the Physical Therapy Assistant program. I will continue the personal training on the side until I finish school, and even after I start Physical Therapy work. After many, many years in sales, marketing and management, I am thoroughly enjoying this new phase.

As for races, I decided to bypass all competitive running while I worked my way back from the injury. I am planning to run the Reindeer Fun Run next weekend, but have not decided whether I will run the 5k or 12k. The 5k Reindeer Run is the first race I ever ran, one year ago, and is what started me on this journey that has led to so many changes in my life. I may run the 5k, just to see how much better I can do than last year.

I look forward to catching up on all the happenings. Oh, and since this is the November Runs forum... I squeezed in a measly 1.5 miles this afternoon, just to start the holiday streak.

Run safe, everyone.

Friday, 11/28.... woke up yesterday morning to a foot of new snow, so the 5K went off without me.    I just got back from a 5 miler today, running in the new windy and cold winter wonderland that's arrived...   The main road out of town has a nice wide breakdown lane and with the pavement clear of snow, the running was ok.   At a mile and a half I turned left onto the road that takes me through the covered bridge and that road was narrow and slippery enough to make it dangerous and I thought, "Get used to it Dickey Boy, this is the new normal."...lol  Anyway, spits were 9:25, 9:10, 9:13, 8:57 and 8:57.

az... my daughter's in-laws ate Thanksgiving dinner with us also and her mother-in-law kept asking my son-in-law whose Chocolate Cream pie he liked best, hers or mine.    I'm not into that sort of thing, putting people on the spot, but she kept it up until he finally told her mine...   That doesn't make you a critic, but I could share a recipe if you'd like...   I'm curious, will you ever train for another marathon this time of year?   You're doing great!!

Chantilly... don't you just love snow shoveling as a way to cross train?    I wonder how many of your non-running contemporaries could do the physical work you do.   More solid running from you as usual, WTG!

Ray... congrats to you and your family in the 10K.    With everyone running the race, your family must have had a late meal, eh?    Anyway, you ran a smart race, with the CIM so close, you certainly couldn't go all out.

Fletch.... good to see you post again!    Sounds like you're making good progress with the career change and like you're happy and that's what counts, good for you!

Hello all,

I can't keep up with you (close to) daily posters but I can say hello the once or twice / week that I do log in.

Here it is the end of the month and I see rmcj posted 209 mi and justrun has 54 mi logged so far. Way to go. I hope to close in on you someday.

It looks like several of you have gotten snow - I love running in the snow. I am sure that I will see it soon.

Nice pace on your run, Rich. And I saw your three wheeler in an earlier post. Looks like a fun workout on that thing!

Sluggo, I don't get to run often in the snow, but enjoy it when I do. Makes for a very scenic run.

Dan - nice Turkey Trot. Hope you were able to find enough dry road for your long one today.

Chantilly - nice cross training with the snow shovel. And your running is always impressive.

We drove up to the mountains of North Carolina for a few days with the daughters and their families. Snow on the ground here, but the roads are clear. Got a nice 3 mile run in this morning before we headed out to cut our Christmas trees. Hoping to get a longer one in tomorrow.

Run safe, everyone.