Friday Quick Hits: It Is Fall Y'all!

This week brought one of the best days of the year - the first day of fall!  It is officially my favorite time of year.  Time for the State Fair of Texas, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, candy corn, and the best running weather of the year.  The school year is off to a great start and marathon training is going strong now as I prepare for California International Marathon on December 7.

Tour des Fleurs
The Tour des Fleurs is one of my favorite races of the year because it begins and ends at the Dallas Arboretum with a terrific after party on the lawn.  We've had to miss it the last couple of years, so I was happy to see that it would work with our training schedule this year.  We signed up for the 20K, but had 18 miles on the plan for the day - so we parked 3.5 miles away and ran to the start of the race. It worked out perfectly and I enjoyed being able to practice my long run in real life race conditions. It was nice to have the on-course support with aide stations every few miles.  I also enjoyed crossing the finish line, taking a break to visit with friends, enjoying a beer, and then finishing up the rest of my miles as I ran to the car.

Ironman Chattanooga
This is a big weekend for a few of my friends as they take on the challenge of Ironman Chattanooga. It has been fun to cheer on Baha, Stude, and Drum as they train for their latest Ironman challenge (I say "latest" because none of them are rookies at this distance).  I was privileged to get to share in some training time on the bike with Drum this summer.  I use the word "share" liberally as she was always WAY ahead of me, even on her "easy pace" days.  She always wears a big smile on her face and I know that Sunday will just be her victory lap to an incredibly strong training cycle.  Good luck to Drum, Stude, Baha, and the rest of the gang!  Listen closely and you can hear us cheering all the way from Texas.

Have you ever seen a bigger smile on a bike? (photo: Mama C)

KittyCat Quince 
Last weekend I attended a unique event - a Quinceanera for Oliva the beloved cat of That Pink Girl. You may laugh at the idea of a Cat Quinceanera, but it was really quite a brilliant idea.  What a great way to gather your friends together while collecting towels and sheets for a worthy animal charity? There was cake and a piñata and the singing of Happy Birthday - it really was a fantastic evening.  My Maggie dog will be fifteen next summer, perhaps she would enjoy her own Quinceanera!

Photos Courtesy of That Pink Girl

Summer 2014: The Dirty Dozen

Labor Day has come and gone and school has been up and rolling for more than a week now. I was running and riding my bike and having fun this summer and got behind here with my blog. There is just too much to write it all down, so I picked out some of my favorite pictures to sum it all up.

This summer I...

Toured the Hill Country with these people (photo: Mama C)

We waited out the rain at Tulsa Tough

Spent some time in some beautiful surroundings with these girls 

Got some bonus miles at Collin Classic

Was wowed by the beauty of the Texas Hill Country

Made our debut album cover on Enchanted Rock (photo: Mama C)

Hosted some terrific friends in our home on July 4 (photo: Mama C)

Met a new friend

Spent countless hours on my bike (photo: Mama C)

Hung Out With This Guy (photo: Mama C)

Learned a few new tricks

The End (photo: Mama C)