State of Meri 12/29/2013
There will be a year in review post later. Maybe. So, what has been going on with me? Not a whole lot fannish, unless you consider running a fandom, which I totally do.
The Fall Marathons:
In October, I ran the Chicago Marathon. Marathon #40. This one was number 2 on my bucket list of marathons to run. It was well organized and I was pretty well trained. I loved the course. It ran through all of downtown Chicago. There was plenty of support on the course for the runners. Both food/drink and people in all the neighborhoods getting out to cheer. It's a huge race with a small town race feel.
I was hoping to do well, but I went out too fast, and had really bad calf cramps starting about about mile 15 or so. I plowed on, and was in some amount of pain by the end of the race. As I was going up the one hill in the race (at mile 25.5), my hamstring spasmed and I was hobbling so badly the medical people came over to ask if I wanted to go to their tent. I was like, no. I just want to finish the race. It was only half a mile, I could crawl that if I had to. But I knew the spasm would ease as soon as I was going down hill. Which it did. And I jogged it into the finish.
The end of October, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon. Marathon #41. I suspect that it wasn't a good idea to run 2 marathons in 2 weeks. I wasn't recovered from Chicago. I started slow and maintained my pace pretty well until about 20 when the calf cramps hit again. I only ran about 1.5 miles of the last 6. The finish is a sharp uphill and that about killed me. I limped across the finish line.
In November, I ran the Richmond Marathon. Marathon #42. After 2 races where I was pretty much hobbled by calf cramps, I didn't have a lot of hope for this one. But Richmond has never let me down and it didn't this time. I was slow, but I had a good race. I ran the entire thing almost completely without calf cramps. I had my fastest time all year (which wasn't fast, but it was still good). I enjoyed the race a lot. It is one of my two favorite races. Disney being the other.
And Disney is coming up next -- in about a week and a half. I'm actually doing the The Dopey: 5k, 10k, half and full marathon on consecutive days. There's no training for this. There's only getting up at 3am (races start at 5:30) and doing it. In costume, of course.
Fandom:
I am still all over Person of Interest. Yes, I know they killed off a major character and yes, I was sorry that happened. I still like the show a lot. I'm not one of those people who actually trusts the TPTB's to do anything other than what they want. And well, they are in it to sell ad space. If I can find something that entertains me, I'm okay with that. And if I can't, I'll fix it with fan fiction.
Speaking of entertaining, have you been watching Sleepy Hollow? You should be, the show is so entertaining. I love it. I might even be a Ichabod/Abbie shipper at some point soon. I also love the police captain, Frank Irving. He is the perfect buttoned up cop who has had his world rocked.
Sadly, I'm not writing at all. I don't even have ideas. I think about it occasionally -- finishing some of the many HP WIPs. But I don't have the time.
Life:
Life has been crazy the last 8 weeks. First, The Richmond Marathon was a week later this year and that left me less time to recover. Then, Hanukkah started the day before Thanksgiving this year. My dryer died right before Thanksgiving and had to be replace. In December, the heat went out on a really cold morning and had to be fixed. I had work stuff, doctor stuff, my holiday party, and then had to go to Boston for a wedding. It was a lovely wedding and I had fun, but the weekend before Christmas (even if I don't celebrate it) is a bad time to travel.
I look at my calendar and it's bam, bam, bam with one thing after another. OTOH, I'm very grateful I have the means to take care of everything that was going on. So, it's all good.
Hope you all are having a great holiday season.
The Fall Marathons:
In October, I ran the Chicago Marathon. Marathon #40. This one was number 2 on my bucket list of marathons to run. It was well organized and I was pretty well trained. I loved the course. It ran through all of downtown Chicago. There was plenty of support on the course for the runners. Both food/drink and people in all the neighborhoods getting out to cheer. It's a huge race with a small town race feel.
I was hoping to do well, but I went out too fast, and had really bad calf cramps starting about about mile 15 or so. I plowed on, and was in some amount of pain by the end of the race. As I was going up the one hill in the race (at mile 25.5), my hamstring spasmed and I was hobbling so badly the medical people came over to ask if I wanted to go to their tent. I was like, no. I just want to finish the race. It was only half a mile, I could crawl that if I had to. But I knew the spasm would ease as soon as I was going down hill. Which it did. And I jogged it into the finish.
The end of October, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon. Marathon #41. I suspect that it wasn't a good idea to run 2 marathons in 2 weeks. I wasn't recovered from Chicago. I started slow and maintained my pace pretty well until about 20 when the calf cramps hit again. I only ran about 1.5 miles of the last 6. The finish is a sharp uphill and that about killed me. I limped across the finish line.
In November, I ran the Richmond Marathon. Marathon #42. After 2 races where I was pretty much hobbled by calf cramps, I didn't have a lot of hope for this one. But Richmond has never let me down and it didn't this time. I was slow, but I had a good race. I ran the entire thing almost completely without calf cramps. I had my fastest time all year (which wasn't fast, but it was still good). I enjoyed the race a lot. It is one of my two favorite races. Disney being the other.
And Disney is coming up next -- in about a week and a half. I'm actually doing the The Dopey: 5k, 10k, half and full marathon on consecutive days. There's no training for this. There's only getting up at 3am (races start at 5:30) and doing it. In costume, of course.
Fandom:
I am still all over Person of Interest. Yes, I know they killed off a major character and yes, I was sorry that happened. I still like the show a lot. I'm not one of those people who actually trusts the TPTB's to do anything other than what they want. And well, they are in it to sell ad space. If I can find something that entertains me, I'm okay with that. And if I can't, I'll fix it with fan fiction.
Speaking of entertaining, have you been watching Sleepy Hollow? You should be, the show is so entertaining. I love it. I might even be a Ichabod/Abbie shipper at some point soon. I also love the police captain, Frank Irving. He is the perfect buttoned up cop who has had his world rocked.
Sadly, I'm not writing at all. I don't even have ideas. I think about it occasionally -- finishing some of the many HP WIPs. But I don't have the time.
Life:
Life has been crazy the last 8 weeks. First, The Richmond Marathon was a week later this year and that left me less time to recover. Then, Hanukkah started the day before Thanksgiving this year. My dryer died right before Thanksgiving and had to be replace. In December, the heat went out on a really cold morning and had to be fixed. I had work stuff, doctor stuff, my holiday party, and then had to go to Boston for a wedding. It was a lovely wedding and I had fun, but the weekend before Christmas (even if I don't celebrate it) is a bad time to travel.
I look at my calendar and it's bam, bam, bam with one thing after another. OTOH, I'm very grateful I have the means to take care of everything that was going on. So, it's all good.
Hope you all are having a great holiday season.