A new doggie addition – Moby – has moved in across the street. Kathy and Mike so enjoyed having the visitor from New Orleans, that they decided on a dog of their own. Moby is about 8 months old. He likes to bark at me just like Toby next door.
Roger is holding Brownie (we are not real original with what we name our piggies) , AKA the Browner or the Million Dollar Pig (she had expensive surgery about 5 years ago to remove a tumor….). She is our alpha pig and is getting pretty old – she stopped eating a couple of days ago, and we are feeding her by hand for now.
Another early morning decision – get up and run in the cold, or stay in bed. Well, happily, the run won out. Today was VHTRC’s annual Fat As, er Butt, Run. It had snowed enough Thursday night, that I was worried that the trails would be hard to run on. Not to worry – conditions were excellent.
About 90 people showed up for this “fat ass” run – no fees, no aid, no wimps, no whining, etc. We started at Hemlock Overlook Park near Clifton, Virginia and headed to Fountainhead Park. The distance was 50K, but I only planned to do about 16 miles or so. But I was moving along so well, that I ended up doing 18.
This tree caught my eye on the way back – it looks like camouflage… Behind the tree is a snow covered foot bridge. There are quite a few new bridges on the blue trail.
I ran with Lucia for most of the time. Good company, not too cold, and decent footing. Thanks VHTRC! It was a great day for a run!!
We got the second light snow of the week overnight – enough to close schools, but not enough to keep the rest of the employees home. As I was warming up the car this morning, and taking some pictures, Toby came out to do some business. I called his name and he came tearing towards me – barking like crazy! I was laughing so hard. Rita was hollering for him to come back – and eventually, he did. He is such a ferocious sissy dog. It made my morning.
Sarah met me at the Wheaton Regional Park orienteering meet today. We went out on an Orange course together – very challenging because I was gabbing so much, I often lost track of where we were. Luckily, Wheaton is a park with many trails, fields, a lake, etc., so I could easily relocate. We took a ride down a slide when a playground was on the way to a control. Too bad the miniature train wasn’t running! Many thanks to Sarah for joining me.
Heidi handled the electronic punching very capably in my absence. It was her first time, and she did great! Thank you Heidi (and David for setting an excellent course).
After orienteering at Fair Hill, Maryland a couple of weeks ago, I came across a trail run being put on by the Trail Dawgs at the same place. I liked the idea of going back and running the trails without the pressure of competing. I asked Sandy if she wanted to join me, and she did. Tom, the Fair Hill Long O course setter, also ventured out on this cold, windy morning.
Driving for two hours to run in the cold didn’t seem like such a great idea when I got up at 4:30 AM. But I ended up having a fun time – Sandy and I stuck together for her first trail run of this distance (advertised as 18K, but closer to 17K). And we got to see new areas of the park – like the dog training area, and the cows – which stood still while having their picture taken with me. Well worth the trip!
The last month of the year is here already – time to roll out the December calendar quilt for Janet. This is another Piecemakers pattern.
Ted, Darcy, and I ran in the Symphony of Lights 5KM race in Clinton, Iowa. Darcy grew up in Clinton. It was a lot of fun, and Ted finished 4th – no, 3rd overall!! All three of us finished 2nd in our age groups.
Sandy and I review the event setup at the Fair Hill Chapel Sprint this past Friday – two heads were often better than one this weekend.
Thanks to Julie Keim for the use of this great picture.
Three days of beautiful weather, excellent courses, and superb company made for a great event this past weekend at DVOA’s Fair Hill A-Meet (sprint, classic, and long over three days). Sandy and I formed the electronic punching team. We had interested parties from NEOC learning the SportIdent process throughout the weekend.
Photo courtesy of Julie Keim.