Running

Wow, where to begin?!  LOL

My 2 miler on Thursday was a bit of a disaster.  I had hit the mile marker and had just turned back when I saw a cyclist coming up on me fast.  He had a headlamp on his bike, I was wearing white AND had my steady red light attached to my shoulder.  There was no way he did not see me.  There wasn’t anyone coming up along side me, so he had plenty of room to go around me.  He wasn’t budging.  So I darted over to the walker path.  See, the trail has spots where it splits the “walker” path off from the main trail.  The problem with the walker path is that it isn’t very well maintained~ there are many, many places where tree roots have torn up the trail and these spots haven’t been repaired (we’re talking for years).  When I run in the dark (which it is at my normal running time of 5am), I stick to the main part of the trail because of the damage.  I cannot see these bad spots so I cannot hop over them like I can when it is light out.  So…  you guessed it – I hit one of these root eruptions & down I went…

The culprit - hard to see, but it sticks up about 6 inches from the trail - as captured on my long run today...

... and the resulting damage to the knee!

I’ve officially begun my training plan for the Gulf Beaches Holiday Halfathon.  I already messed up the first week, but I think I can recover.  I’ve reinstated my Sunday morning long run, yay!  Last Sunday I went for 8 miles, running a couple of them down the beach.  I got out the door late, so it was rough going.  The temps have been back to the 90’s ~ with the heat index, we are looking at over 100º!  Insane.  Anyway – last weekend was an 8 miler, today was a 9 miler.  Let’s just say I got a late start and was running with a heat index of 105º – you can imagine how awful the run was from just that much.  A “bit” of walking was definitely involved.  It was a very slow 9 miles, but I am actually ok with that.  I am at the point of focusing on the distance, not the speed!  As I know full well, trying to concentrate on both distance and speed is the short path to injury.  So I”m sticking to worrying about the distance ~ 2010 will be the time to start looking more at my speed, I think.

Knitting

I started a pair of socks for myself while I waited on some new yarns to arrive.  These socks are just fun socks dyed with Kool-Aid in bright colors that aren’t normally my thing.  But I love how the yarn turned out & I’m really liking how the socks are knitting up…

Not the best shot, but I had to use this one because of the adorable camera hog in the background. LOL

Then I realized what time of the year we are heading into…  and figured I’d better start working on holiday gifts during the times the manlets are away!  So I cast on a 2nd project – which is unheard of for me most of the time!  LOL

Simple manlet socks

Naturally, then the yarn I was waiting for arrived!  LOL  So I broke all records for myself & now have 3 socks OTN.  These are for ShelbyB, an awesome indie dyer that specializes in Harry Potter colorways.  Let me tell you, she has some absolutely gorgeous colorways!!  I was very honored when she asked me to design sock patterns for her colorways – I am so excited about them!!  Take a look – aren’t they fantastic?!  YUM!

Narcissa Malfoy

Lucius Malfoy

Lord Voldemort

Chocolate Frogs!

Whirlwind of Activity

So I had an absolutely FANTASTIC time with my friends from across the pond last week.  We went to the beach, walked down Indian Shores, collected sea shells & tried to capture Great Blue Herons on camera.  One in particular wouldn’t cooperate, he kept grooming himself every time we’d go to take his picture.  LOL  Then we went to Panera Bread to meet up with my knitting group, where everyone got to meet Kate & Charl.  I even convinced the elusive Sayyida to come out & join us for the fun.  Charl doesn’t knit, but I think she still had a good time.  :)  On Friday we went out to dinner with the manlets, who finally got to meet Kate & Charl.  We ate at their favorite place, Village Inn (LOL).  The oldest surprised me by being more outgoing than he usually is & was actually rather chatty for once.  The youngest did not surprise me at all & was his usual painfully shy self.  When we got back home, Charl totally made the oldest’s year by asking if he would like to take their rental out for a quick spin.  They had gotten upgraded and were driving a brand new Charger – a car that he drools over all the time.   I can honestly say that I have never seen his face light up THAT much.  He was shaking, he was so excited to take it around the block.  :)  After that, I drove us down to Georgie’s Alibi, the bar where I’d gone to my first drag show.  We met up with some of my friends from work & hung out for a bit.  Sadly, no drag show, but the guys did get more of a show than we bargained for in the form of hired dancers.  One was quite a bit more …  exhibitionist than he should have been.

I was really sad to see Kate & Charl leave, but I know after 3 weeks away from home, they were more than ready to get home.  :)

The next day, I had the Race for the Cure with my knitting friend Monica.  Unfortunately, all the walkers didn’t listen to the announcements asking them to start at the back, so Monica & I were quickly separated as we tried to zig zag around them.  I ran ahead once I lost her, but once I finished the race, I went back and found her so we could finish it together.  She literally just started running again less than a month before the race and she ran the entire thing without walking one time!  I was SO proud of her, she did fantastic!  Not to mention the fact that she looked utterly adorable with her pink outfit & matching pink flower in her hair.  :D

And lastly, the oldest manlet came down sick with the flu this past week.  His temp hit 102ºF for a very short time on the 2nd night, otherwise, his temp stayed to a low grade fever.  He had all the usual symptoms, but the body aches hit him really hard.  He stayed in bed or on the couch for 2 days straight and didn’t even ask to watch TV or play video games.  That tells you how sick the poor guy was!  I don’t know if it was the swine flu or just plain regular flu – I understand that swine flu is much the same as the regular flu, but with a high fever.  Since he only hit 102ºF for about an hour the one time, I think he had the regular flu.  :)

Needless to say, all this activity has put a real crimp in my Doctor Who watching!!  However, I have managed to get in reading a Doctor Who book as well as listening to 3 of the Doctor Who audiobooks.   All 3 were read by someone other than David Tennant.  It just wasn’t the same, I must say.  One was read by Freema Agyeman called Wetworld.  I enjoyed it & she wasn’t bad as the narrator.   Then I tried to listen to Forever Autumn read by Will Thorpe.  He was good until he attempted American accents.  Sadly, since the story takes place in the U.S., he attempted it frequently.  It became too much and I just couldn’t finish it.  I’d have been happier if he had just read it without trying for different accents/voices.  The best one took me by surprise – The Forever Trap read by Catherine Tate.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it – I love Catherine Tate, even though she’s not my favorite companion.  But that book is what kept me company on my long run today and she did a fantastic job of it!  Really terrific – take a listen if you get the chance.  David Tennant is, hands down, my favorite, of  course…  and I can’t wait to get my hands on ‘The Day of the Troll’, which was just released in the U.K. this past week.

Today’s Ravelry Search

So, in honor of my friends from across the pond, check out some of these patterns from today’s search!  As always, click the picture to go to the Ravelry page for the pattern.

The absolutely stunning Rose of England - I am so going to make this one day!!

* England football jumper!

The 'London Calling' sweater/jumper from Stitch & Bitch Nation

* I am seriously beginning to think there is a dishcloth for EVERYTHING. ;)

* What a terrific baby hat! I love it!

* Naturally, a soccer, er, football had to be included, right?? :D

* Ok, this one was in the results because of the suggested yarn, but it just reminds me of the 4th Doctor's scarf too much not to include it. LOL

* English Garden Felted Carpetbag - what an interesting project!!

I would love to see this tea cozy actually on a pot to see how it fits! Cute idea.

* An English driving cap, lovely!

Oooh, it's the English Garden Mile-A-Minute afghan! I've made this one, it's fantastic! :)

LOVE! I love these mittens.

Pretty argyle styled crochet blanket!

* King's Cross socks!

* English lace - gorgeous!

Prince of Wales vest - this one HAD to be included. :)

Giggle... I have a love/hate thing with this hat. I love it, but I would never wear it myself. :)

* English Garden shrug - it's a lovely crocheted one!

* Can't have this sort of search without something from Doctor Who! So I decided to stick to the classic & most well known item. ;)

* Free pattern

Happy Sunday, all!