A Sky Full of Stars

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Dirtiest 5K to date

I'm kind of surprised that I'm still awake...

Yes, it's only 8:00pm, but it's been a busy day.

A DIRTY day, too.

Today was the Dirty Girl Mud Run!

3.1 miles of mud, sweat, and obstacles... made for an AWESOME good-time!

So here we are... all pretty and clean... ready to run...

Me and my sister

Team Brave Tarts

3000 women... need many port-o-potties

We're all checked-in... it's time to RUN!

... and then the obstacles begin...

(apologies for any of the low-res photos...
I was using a throw-away camera during the run - to catch ALL the Dirty Girl action!)

The Barn Burner

Water Pit

The Wall (highest section is 8' tall)

Blurry action-shot, on the trail

Tire Pump

... then a little more running...

The weather was nicer than it looks here

... then back to obstacles!

Utopian Tubes

What?! More running??

Slip-n-Slide

Cargo-net climb

Me, snapping a photo of Jamie (pink shirts)

My photo of Jamie!

Finally... we arrive at the finish line...

What an amazing day... this run was all about fun... and it exceeded all my expectations.

I can't wait till next year!

Extra special thanks to my Dad, for being our team-photographer at the start/finish lines. He took a bunch of great shots with my Digital SLR.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

It feels like Fall today. It's crispy cool, there's a chance of rain, and I'm all snuggled up on my pillow seat talking about books. So nice.
It's also Tuesday, September 6th - the first day back to school for many of the kids I know. AND... it's Turn the Page... Tuesday (brought to you by our good blogger-friend, Adrienne). Check out Some of a Kind to learn more, or to join in each month to talk about the book(s) you're reading.

So what did I read in August?
As usual, my eclectic tastes took me all over the world (and the time-space continuum).

I finished Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson. It was the final book in his Sprawl trilogy based in the future where people jack into computers to live (and trade and steal) in an alternate reality. As I've mentioned in previous posts, it's The Matrix meets Blade Runner... and so much more. I quite enjoyed the final chapter in this series, happy endings for most of the characters and a nice wrap up of the plot lines. I'll admit, Gibson's writing style is not the easiest to follow all the time (it feels like you've walked in on conversations sometimes - missing the important explanations so you have to "catch up" while reading), but this challenge adds to the intensity of the stories.
If you're into sci-fi dystopic worlds, read this trilogy... it won't let you down.

I was let down, however, by the second book I read... Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors.

www.pbs.org

From the Author's website -

Set at the height of the Mughal Empire, Beneath a Marble Sky recreates the remarkable lives of those responsible for the Taj Mahal's existence. From the famous lovers who inspired it, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, to the architect who designed it to the man who sought to destroy it, Beneath a Marble Sky recounts the stories of those who oversaw the rise of the world’s most famous building.

Maybe I shouldn't say 'let down' - more like 'not wowed'.

This book had been on my shelf for at least two years. I don't remember if it was a hand-me-down from a friend or if I picked it up in a book sale... but from the blurb on the back cover it seemed to have an interesting story to it. I had hoped this could be a book I recommended to my Book Club. It sounded like it had everything we all love to talk about - historical fiction, character interactions (the political side of romance, for example), and a setting unlike the one we live in.

It just didn't seem to grab me... it felt predictable and unoriginal. I didn't LOVE any of the characters or root for them to succeed. I wished I had been given that feeling, but it just didn't happen.

After Marble Sky I had to make a choice... read one more book that I could use as a Book Club recommendation or move on to The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (our September Book Club selection). I tried to do both.

I started Jacob de Zoet. I'm a few chapters along in it.

I also started Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

We all "know" the story... but do we really know it? I've never read the book, but I hear it contains a lot more than the story of the crazy doctor who creates a monster. It's about the struggle of life and acceptance, the quest for immortality and the conflicts in science. I'm also curious to read it because the author is a women. Writings like this, by women, were very rare in the early 1800s. I want to know (and want to talk about) Mary and why she created a story like this. I hope it's selected by the Club, but if not, I'm certainly going to read the story on my own.

That's all for this month, thanks for stopping by. I think I'll go make some tea, snuggle up with the dog & a blanket and read for a while. Hope you have a chance to do the same.

Monday, September 5, 2011

99/100 Challenge - Success!

It's September 5th - the last day of the 99/100 Challenge.

First, many thanks to Elizabeth & Tee for throwing down the gauntlet this summer.

So, how did I do?
Well, see for yourself... here's the grand-sum total of all my activities these last 99 days.

Want to see EVERYTHING (all my workouts, that is)? Go here.

As you can see, thanks to the Challenge (and a couple Triathlons thrown in there), I made it!

115.2 running miles

I'm SO proud of myself.

I still don't love to run, but it's become a very important part of my life. I didn't run yesterday and I was yearning to go (the plan was to do a long trail run again, but my sore muscles from Saturday's strength-training workout and the rain stopped me from going). I never would have thought I'd actually WANT to run.

I should point out... that in addition to each of us achieving great levels of fitness, there was a "not just about me" reason for this challenge... to help others less fortunate than we. Elizabeth and Tee selected Shepherd's Pantry (food pantry serving the south coast of Massachusetts in Fairhaven) as our cause. I decided that I would donate 1/2 of my running mileage to Shepherd's Pantry - which brings my amount to $57.60 (I'm going to round it up to $60).

$60 is actually a pretty interesting number since many of the races I participated in this summer cost $60-70 to join. So, it only makes sense that I pay my 99/100 Challenge "entry fee" like I did with all the others.

So what's next on the list of challenges?? This coming weekend is the Dirty Girl at Emery Park (5K with obstacles!! Can't wait!) and the following weekend is Sprague Brook Park's 8 in the Rough (haven't committed to this 8-mile trail run yet, but I likely will do it). October is another (5K) trail run at Sprague Brook the Autumn Challenge so, you won't see my running mileage drop off any time soon.

How about you? What's your next challenge?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Playing with Blogger... trying out some new formatting and backgrounds.

I think I like it.

Do you?

Friday, August 12, 2011

12-of-12: August 2011

What a day!

We had a plan (picked out a couple good geocaches to go after)

and then our plans got all turned around.

But that didn't seem to matter, we had a great time and took some amazing shots!

We also broke the rules for the 12-of-12 this month...

Two of us were snapping photos (the hubby and I).

We took a TON of shots (171 for the day)...

and we couldn't edit them down any further.

So we figured, since we're making up our own rules today....

and since there were two of us, you get 24 photos! :)

If you want to get more info on the 12-of-12,

visit Chad Darnell's site, he's the one who started this fun little project.

So where did we go and what did we do?

We spent this afternoon "lake hopping" around New York's Southern Tier.

We traveled through Cattaraugus & Allegany Counties, at first looking for geocaches...

then just looking for cool places to visit.

BTW... for each photo below, you can see a full-size version by clicking on it.

To hunt our first cache, we stopped at the Harwood Lake MUA (Multiple Use Area). Harwood Lake is a 34-acre man-made lake used for flood control in Cattaragaus County. The website says there are mowed paths... but except for this first entry into the park... there wasn't much mowed.

Trail?

Once beyond the tunnel of brush, we found this guy...


Eastern Kingbird

The nicely mowed trail soon ran out...

I'm 5'4... these Joe-Pye Weeds were HUGE!

And we could no longer see a path to the cache we sought.

So, we bushwhacked through the tall weeds till we came to an opening...

and found Harwood's Meadow

A gentle Monarch Butterfly

and Bumble Bee

on thistle

What's this?! A dog on a bale?

loving the tickle of the grass

... finally arriving at Harwood Lake!

The skies weren't really than ominous - just the clouds playing tricks.

We had blazing sun not moments before the 1st photo was taken.

From here, we visited Lime Lake in Machias, NY. The lake is almost entirely inaccessible to non-homeowners, so we were only able to catch a glimpse of the area.
Be sure to view the full-versions of these next three shots... SO MUCH DETAIL you don't want to miss!