The USWNT beat Thailand in their opening group match game 13-0. Which...apparently some people have a problem with??
Let's put this in perspective.
It has been SO LONG since my last Sunday Stroll post! No joke, it’s been almost a year since my last Sunday Stroll post on Adams Tract in Carrboro, eek!! And while I’ve been hiking and running, that’s a fair representation of how long it’s been since I went on a Sunday Stroll with my dad. We’ve only ever been on one other Sunday Stroll since then at Clemmons forest, and I just haven’t posted about that. (Also my bad.) But I’d been talking a big game about reviving our Sunday Stroll tradition, and I even texted my dad to check his availability for a recent Sunday morning, only I never actually followed up with him on when or where or how far.
So fast forward to Sunday morning. I’m lying in bed being a lazy bum, and my doorbell rings. It’s my dad. Asking, “Hey, where are we going hiking this morning?”
😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
In November 2018 I ran my second marathon. It was both my second marathon ever and my second marathon in 14 days - just two weeks after Marine Corps Marathon. In my defense, I hadn’t actually intended to run two marathons so close together. I had planned on doing the RDC full marathon as my original target race when I signed up with Fleet Feet’s speed series training program since the race registration was included in my training group sign-up. But then I had the opportunity to get a (legit) bib transfer for Marine Corps Marathon. A bunch of my runner friends were going to MCM and I had major race FOMO so I jumped at the opportunity. That race went well and I felt pretty good; I knew I wanted to run another marathon, but I wasn’t sure when exactly. How long did I need to rest? How much time did my legs need to recover so I could walk comfortably, much less run? I knew I had Run RDC coming up and I thought I might drop to the half marathon but, well, I forgot. (Okay, actually I didn’t forget. I just procrastinated too long and then realized in horror the deadline had passed for swapping distances, oh no!!)
“Well,” I said resignedly, “That decides it. I guess I’m running a marathon this weekend!”
I had to get a little creative with this month’s goals cover photo because Ryder had bilateral colorectal hernia surgery (poor boo bear!) and he’s been an absolute pitiful mess ever since his surgery. He’s got a big shaved section of his rear end for the incision sites so he looks like a cross between a poodle and a feather duster and for weeks now he’s been practicing his pitiful expression for an ASPCA commercial audition. I really had no idea what to do for this goals photo - his glum outlook clashed terribly with my festive idea for a big New Year’s glitzy glam photo, and I didn’t really have any back-up options. So I looked at my sad shaved dog. And I looked at my sad muddy yard. And I picked up sticks in frustration to make a pile for the outdoor fire pit. And once I gathered enough sticks, I realized they kinda looked like a nest. A little creative rearranging later and…ta da! A giant dog nest! Add in one pathetic-looking dog, some little wings, and a creatively draped blanket and I’ve got myself a little bird-dog. Get it? Bird-dog. Har har har.
And filling my jars with light.
2018 resolutions recap, and then 2019 resolutions, goals, or guidelines - these are things I think I want to accomplish in the coming year.
And Ryder gets to be a real snow dog
It’s not too often we get a bunch of snow, so when this big storm came through I knew I had to dress Ryder up as a proper snow dog! He was originally going to be an elf for these December pics, but a combination of his elf costume that I ordered being too big by an order of magnitude and this recent snow means a holiday-styled snow dog, yay! But first we’ll look back at November’s goals.
Officially my first road marathon!
I SURVIVED MY FIRST ROAD MARATHON!! (Actually, at this point hopefully I will have survived my first AND second road marathon, since it looks like I’m running RDC too.) (Also, duh, we knew I’d survive my first marathon, since I’d already survived my first ultramarathon. Whoops.
And Ryder pretends to be a lumberjack.
When I was a little kid I thought my dad was a lumberjack. He looked just like one! He had a big full beard and he wore plaid shirts and work denim and he’d split and haul firewood for our wood fireplace. With his sharp axe he was the rugged spitting image of a lumberjack, and yet I never understood why, when I told him he looked like a lumberjack, he’d immediately start singing Monty Python.
Now, to this day, I can’t hear the word “lumberjack” without that song playing in my head. I should probably move on to more sensitive comedy sketch songs, but nope, I think that one is going to be with me my whole life - for better or for worse.