Weekend Wrapup

The Christmas decorations went up at JSC over the weekend.  I noticed this as I drove in with my windows down, because it is almost 80 degrees outside.  Yep, feels like Christmas to me…

I saw a couple houses decked out in lights as we came home from dinner on Saturday night.  It must have been a weekend project for a lot of our neighbors.  It’s a weekend project for me too — only it’s on the list for NEXT weekend.  I will admit that I’m anxious to decorate for Christmas myself — I like decorating the house — but I will hold off until after Thanksgiving.  Other people in our neighborhood do not buy in to that “wait till Thanksgiving” mentality.

We were supposed to go flying yesterday.  The original plan was to meet up with Jason and Becca in Victoria and have lunch, but the winds in Victoria were pretty strong.  So we decided to fly down to Galveston instead so Jose would still be able to practice talking to the tower, but when we got to the airport in Pearland, we found that the winds were pretty strong HERE as well.  You wouldn’t think that winds would be a big problem, but if they’re blowing perpendicular to the runway, it’s an issue.  We ended up not going anywhere.  As Jose said:  “I’d rather be down here wishing I was up there than up there wishing I was down here.”  (That’s a commonly quoted aviation truism.  Another of my favorites?  “There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.”)

The warm weather made for a rough long run yesterday.  I had planned to go 14 miles, but I ran out of time (since we had to leave for the airport at 9:30) and out of energy.  Around the 7-mile mark, I passed John who was also out for a run.  He was on the other side of the street but he waved, so I waved — but it wasn’t until he was past me that I realized that I KNEW him, and he wasn’t just another neighborhood runner.  When I got to the 10-mile mark, I called it a day.  I finished with 10.5 miles.  It wrecked me for most of the day — I felt worse yesterday than I did after my 12 miles a couple weeks ago — and those 12 miles were done faster too.  Oh well.  Next weekend I’m going to do 12 miles, then do a mild taper before the RunGirl half on December 12.  I’m not sure what my goal for that race is.  On a flat course, I’d be aiming for the 2:15-2:18 range — knocking on the door of my 2:15 PR.  But the course is hilly — at least hilly for Houston — and I don’t know how much that will affect me.