The State of Meri - 8/23/2013
I don't even know where the times goes, but apparently, the summer is almost over and I haven't said much of anything fannish to anyone. I saw there was some meme going about posting every day, or something like that. Truthfully, I'd like to get back to posting once a month.
Some points of interest about my life:
Marathons:
So, I ran the Hatfield McCoy Marathon in Williamson WV in June. This was in a tiny town on the WV-KY boarder. There were only about 440 marathon runners, which is much more my preference than the 45k runners in London. The race was a terrific amount of fun. The whole town got into the act, dressed up as either a Hatfield or McCoy, had tons of food at the water stops, and just made the race. At mile 6-7 there was this mountain to climb up. I ended up walking the last bit of it because it was so steep. I could hear a semi's horn blasting the whole way up, and at the top, there sat a huge truck. I have no idea how they got it up the narrow roads of the mountain. Very carefully, I suspect.
There was this awesome swinging wooden bridge at 18 and another very large hill at 23 (but not as high or as steep as Blackberry Mountain at 6). I walked a lot of the last part of the race because it had gotten hot and I am so not a good hot weather runner. Hot weather always adds about 1/2 an hour to my time. I was having such a good time with the race that I didn't mind having to walk, usually I'm pretty miserable if I'm walking. At the end, there was 2 guys dressed up as Hatfield and McCoy complete with fake shotguns slapping five with all the runners as they crossed the finish line.
The whole thing was just so well done and so much fun. If it wasn't the middle of literally nowhere, I'd do it every year. I'll definitely go back.
In July, I ran the Light at The End of the Tunnel Marathon in North Bend, WA, marathon #39. It was another small race with only around 400 starters. The town of North Bend is very small. There was really only one motel. It was circa 1960. Seriously. At least, it was clean. It's hard to believe that Seattle was only 35 miles away.
The race name comes from a 2 mile dark (no lights at all) tunnel at the start -- it used to be a train tunnel. It was pretty awesome running through it. About 100 yards in, you see a speck of light that grows at you run towards it. Everyone was carrying flashlights or headlamps, so it wasn't really that dark. Once out, the race was a very gentle downhill through some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen on a race course. I lost a lot of time stopping to take pictures. The views from the bridges along the route were just breathtaking.
This is another one I will totally do again. It's a little easier to get to since SW flies right into Seattle.
My next race is going to be the Chicago Marathon in October. I'm currently training for that. I also have 2 (Marine Corps and Richmond) more marathons after that, and possibly a 3rd I'm signed up for, but truthfully, I might do the half in Rehoboth.
In January of next year, I've signed up for the Disney Dopey Challenge. It's a 5k on Thursday morning, and 10k on Friday morning, a 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning and a full marathon on Sunday morning. I think the worst part is going to be the 5:30am race start. It means getting up at 3:00 to make it to the start for all of those races. Oh, well, the medals are going to be spectacular as only Disney medals can be and I'm going to get 6 total for all the races. What? Would I run a 48 miles in 4 days for a medal? Clearly, so.
As if I don't do enough running and crossfit, I'm thinking of trying my hand at a triathlon. I've done enough marathons that barring catastrophic injury, if I make it to the start line, the chances are good that I'll finish. I think I'm looking for another challenge. This would require me to take swimming lessons and get a bike.
Fandom:
As I was on my way out the door of fandom to run another marathon, Person of Interest sank its claws into my back and pulled me back through the door. I'm hooked. I absolutely love the show. The relationships in this show are amazing, and not just between Finch and Reese, though they are totally awesome, but also Carter and Fusco. And the other characters, too. So, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with it this season.
I would love to see more fiction written for POI, even gen. Though Finch and Reese are so perfect for each other that it jumps off the screen and hands you the slash.
Writing:
I haven't written anything new in a year or more. I'm hoping POI will spark something. I am spending so much time running these days, it's hard to find time for anything else.
Life:
My job is good. I'm still in the surprised things worked out as well as they did mode. It's been almost 18 months since the transfer and I'm still not used to good management. Or even a director who says good morning and asks how your weekend was.
I went to Santa Cruz last weekend with some of my girlfriends. We all met in HP fandom years ago, and now we spend one weekend a year somewhere together hanging out. It is always so good to see them. I think we all miss having the kind of community that we had in HP when it was new. We talked about how fandom has changed and how we feel isolated from it. We miss the conversations and meta that we used to participate in.
OTOH, we've all moved on to other things, too. For me, it's been the marathon running that eats my time.
So, my flist, what are you doing these days?
Some points of interest about my life:
Marathons:
So, I ran the Hatfield McCoy Marathon in Williamson WV in June. This was in a tiny town on the WV-KY boarder. There were only about 440 marathon runners, which is much more my preference than the 45k runners in London. The race was a terrific amount of fun. The whole town got into the act, dressed up as either a Hatfield or McCoy, had tons of food at the water stops, and just made the race. At mile 6-7 there was this mountain to climb up. I ended up walking the last bit of it because it was so steep. I could hear a semi's horn blasting the whole way up, and at the top, there sat a huge truck. I have no idea how they got it up the narrow roads of the mountain. Very carefully, I suspect.
There was this awesome swinging wooden bridge at 18 and another very large hill at 23 (but not as high or as steep as Blackberry Mountain at 6). I walked a lot of the last part of the race because it had gotten hot and I am so not a good hot weather runner. Hot weather always adds about 1/2 an hour to my time. I was having such a good time with the race that I didn't mind having to walk, usually I'm pretty miserable if I'm walking. At the end, there was 2 guys dressed up as Hatfield and McCoy complete with fake shotguns slapping five with all the runners as they crossed the finish line.
The whole thing was just so well done and so much fun. If it wasn't the middle of literally nowhere, I'd do it every year. I'll definitely go back.
In July, I ran the Light at The End of the Tunnel Marathon in North Bend, WA, marathon #39. It was another small race with only around 400 starters. The town of North Bend is very small. There was really only one motel. It was circa 1960. Seriously. At least, it was clean. It's hard to believe that Seattle was only 35 miles away.
The race name comes from a 2 mile dark (no lights at all) tunnel at the start -- it used to be a train tunnel. It was pretty awesome running through it. About 100 yards in, you see a speck of light that grows at you run towards it. Everyone was carrying flashlights or headlamps, so it wasn't really that dark. Once out, the race was a very gentle downhill through some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen on a race course. I lost a lot of time stopping to take pictures. The views from the bridges along the route were just breathtaking.
This is another one I will totally do again. It's a little easier to get to since SW flies right into Seattle.
My next race is going to be the Chicago Marathon in October. I'm currently training for that. I also have 2 (Marine Corps and Richmond) more marathons after that, and possibly a 3rd I'm signed up for, but truthfully, I might do the half in Rehoboth.
In January of next year, I've signed up for the Disney Dopey Challenge. It's a 5k on Thursday morning, and 10k on Friday morning, a 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning and a full marathon on Sunday morning. I think the worst part is going to be the 5:30am race start. It means getting up at 3:00 to make it to the start for all of those races. Oh, well, the medals are going to be spectacular as only Disney medals can be and I'm going to get 6 total for all the races. What? Would I run a 48 miles in 4 days for a medal? Clearly, so.
As if I don't do enough running and crossfit, I'm thinking of trying my hand at a triathlon. I've done enough marathons that barring catastrophic injury, if I make it to the start line, the chances are good that I'll finish. I think I'm looking for another challenge. This would require me to take swimming lessons and get a bike.
Fandom:
As I was on my way out the door of fandom to run another marathon, Person of Interest sank its claws into my back and pulled me back through the door. I'm hooked. I absolutely love the show. The relationships in this show are amazing, and not just between Finch and Reese, though they are totally awesome, but also Carter and Fusco. And the other characters, too. So, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with it this season.
I would love to see more fiction written for POI, even gen. Though Finch and Reese are so perfect for each other that it jumps off the screen and hands you the slash.
Writing:
I haven't written anything new in a year or more. I'm hoping POI will spark something. I am spending so much time running these days, it's hard to find time for anything else.
Life:
My job is good. I'm still in the surprised things worked out as well as they did mode. It's been almost 18 months since the transfer and I'm still not used to good management. Or even a director who says good morning and asks how your weekend was.
I went to Santa Cruz last weekend with some of my girlfriends. We all met in HP fandom years ago, and now we spend one weekend a year somewhere together hanging out. It is always so good to see them. I think we all miss having the kind of community that we had in HP when it was new. We talked about how fandom has changed and how we feel isolated from it. We miss the conversations and meta that we used to participate in.
OTOH, we've all moved on to other things, too. For me, it's been the marathon running that eats my time.
So, my flist, what are you doing these days?