What I Read: October

I always love reading spooky and creepy books in October and this year was no exception. I didn't make it through as many physical books as usual and I'm not really sure why. I guess just busier on the weekends.

Books:

• Free Falling by Lyla Sage- I love me some Lyla, but this book was a bit of a flop for me. I didn't feel the spark or sizzle with the main character love interests. The ghosts were an even smaller part of this book than the first one. The fake dating troupe was so forced, it was slightly annoying. I didn't struggle to finish it, it just never really brought much. I did fall asleep reading it twice which I've never done with Lyla before.

• The Birthing Tree by Amanda Peters- There was so much beauty in this book. I finished it with a feeling of hope and wonder. I loved the glimpses into Mi'kmaq birthing practices. There was a lot of heartbreak in this story as well. I liked how she referred to the family from The Berry Pickers a couple times.

• Nimona by N.D. Stevenson- Carter really wanted me to watch the movie they made based on this book with him. It was really good and I was pleasantly surprised. Afterward, he kept telling me about how the book was different and told me I just needed to read the book to see how it was different, so I did. It was really good. I actually liked the movie a bit more because it gave more detail on some things.

eBooks:

• The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love by Alice Hoffman- When I first started this book, I was worried all of the short stories were going to be about dogs that died. The first story I read had me in tears. But there was a good mixture in the book. Some were sad, some were heartwarming, but all were reminders why dogs are such great companions!

• Carmilla by J. Shridan Le Fanu- Lyla Sage referenced this in Free Falling and I immediately added it to my want to read list. A vampire book that came out before Dracula, this was written in much  the same way. You were reading letters written describing the encounter with a vampire.

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson- A friend recommended this as a spooky read. I was surprised because I found it very slow and boring. It didn't pick up until about 60% through the book.

Audiobooks:

• Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II: An Indigenous Horror Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.- I liked this even more than the first anthology! The stories were so dark and creepy and I enjoyed every single one. Some were more my style than others, but I still enjoyed them all. I was super stoked Stephen Graham Jones was included this time!!!

• A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan- I loved this book! I was in the mood for something witchy and this fit the bill perfectly. I also loved the historical part of the book.

• Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher- A friend recommended this book to me when I mentioned I've been in the mood for witchy books. It was exactly what I was looking for. I really enjoyed it!

• A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman- I really enjoyed this one. It was one of my favorites. The car races were awesome and I loved the characters that were added. The boss battle at the end was epic and I loved some of the pieces he tied together at the end.

• Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto- I enjoyed this book even more than the first one. Vera's character is just so lovable. This one had me laughing quite a few times.

• The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Canas- A demon possession but also a bit of a love story thrown in the mix? Yes, please. The start of this book was so good I had to read it to my parents. I'm excited to read some of her other books now!

• Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice- I was not impressed. The plot was okay, although super slow. The characters were meh. I was bored out of my mind for most of the book, but there were enough interesting points scattered throughout that I decided to keep going in case it got better. It did for a little bit toward the end and then, boom, back to boring.

Gorilla Grind 5k

After running 21:01 at Run the Rails, I really wanted to run another 5k to break 21 minutes. I happened to see the Gorilla Grind was on a weekend we would be in town visiting my parents. I mentioned it to my mom and she immediately signed us up. I was a bit hesitant to go for it at that race because it tends to not be as competitive and it's so much harder to run fast when you are running alone. Then they posted the race course and I realized it would be a much harder course to run fast on because there were so many turns and there were a few small hills. The Run the Rails 5k was an out and back course so it only had one turn which makes it very fast. It was also very flat with 23 feet of elevation gain for the whole race! The Gorilla Grind was also very flat, but had 79 feet of elevation gain, so more than the Run the Rails! I ran this race back in 2018 and they haven't changed the course so I looked it up on Strava and saw the course measured 3.17 per my watch and I ran 6:38 average pace and barely broke 21 minutes. That gave me a nice dose of reality to not get my heart too set on sub-21 as it may not be in the cards for me on race day. I went into the race hopeful that I could run under 21 minutes, but realistic that it may not happen.

It ended up being 39 degrees for the race start which felt especially cold since I had been running in 90 degree weather all the way up until a couple days before the race when it cooled off to the 70's. I packed shorts and capri tights and decided on the capri tights since I am not used to the cold yet. I wore a long sleeved tech shirt under my race tank along with a headband and gloves. I ended up not getting too hot. I wore my gloves until about halfway through the race and didn't get all that sweaty. I got up at 6am for the 7am race start so I could do yoga and drink some coffee before the race. I ran my warm up to the race. I ended up doing 2 miles with a mile to the start and then added another mile to get in some strides. I felt okay on my warm up, but not great. I told myself to just run what felt right and not worry too much about time during the race. I met up with mom before the race start to get my bib and then stopped with Elise to help her with her shoes before heading to the race start. When I got to the starting line, I looked around and didn't see anyone fast. I thought, I might be able to win this race outright. I hoped not because I really wanted to have someone to run with. I heard a guy next to me tell his friend he was hoping to run 6:45-6:50 pace so I was hopeful I'd have him to run with. They shot the cannon and we were off. There was a young boy who took out way out in front, then a man was next, and then me. The guy who said he was going for 6:45-6:50 pace took off behind me and I never saw him during the race. I felt comfortable and was slowly reeling in the 2 guys ahead of me. I passed them both a bit before the mile mark and was leading the race. I went through the first mile in 6:44 and knew unless I had a pretty decent negative split, I was not going to finish in under 21 minutes. 

It was still a little dark at the race start!

Once I had the lead, I focused on holding onto pace and not slowing down. I felt really strong and wasn't hurting. I was disappointed to go through the 2nd mile in 6:51. I was 5 seconds over pace and knew, to make that up, I needed a 6:39 last mile without even calculating the amount I'd need to be under to make up for the extra distance I would run. I thought I might have it in me because I felt so comfortable and focused on pushing the pace down as much as I could. I felt a bit discouraged when I looked down and saw I was averaging 6:51 pace still. I had looked at the course map but expected to be able to follow other runners so I didn't pay attention to which roads we would turn on. Thankfully, they had volunteers at every turn to tell you which way to go. I noticed the volunteers would tell me to turn and then it would be a decent gap before they told the guy behind me to turn. I knew I had a decent lead, but kept telling myself he was gaining on me so I needed to push to stay in front. I made it to an out and back section with about a half mile to go and told myself it was go time. I felt like I was really pushing the pace, but each time I looked at my watch, my pace stayed around 6:50. I felt really comfortable and wasn't hurting, but I just couldn't find another gear and couldn't for the life of me drop back under 6:50.

 

I came to the turn toward the finish and there wasn't anyone there telling me to turn, I was pretty sure I needed to turn back toward the gym so I turned anyway. It turned out to be right and then I had one last turn onto the trail to the finish. I had a hard time getting a finishing kick in with 2 turns in the last portion of the race after the 3rd mile mark. I was also a little afraid to sprint the finish if I had turned in error and needed to run back and add distance to the race. I went through my 3rd mile in 6:52 and my finishing kick was 6:48 pace. I felt like I could have run longer at that pace, but I just couldn't go any faster. It felt more like 10k pace with how comfortable I was. I was a bit bummed to see my average heart rate for the race was 154 bpm while my heart rate at Run the Rails was 164. I know it was cooler, but I also felt like I just wasn't able to push as hard for some reason. I'm sure running the whole race from the mile mark on alone didn't help. At Run the Rails I had people to chase the whole race. 

I watched 2nd and 3rd place finish, I ended up winning by 22 seconds, and then started my cool down out to run in with Elise. She was running with Pippin and I got to her a little while before he stopped to poop so she lucked out that I was there to pick it up and carry it for her. After she finished, I ran out to mom and walked in to the finish with her. Once she was finished, we went inside to warm up for a bit and then they started awards. I was 1st out of 74 overall, 1st out of 49 women, and 1st in my age group with a time of 21:35. My Garmin had my average pace as 6:49 so although I didn't run the time I was hoping for, I was still pleased with my average pace and I know I put in the effort, it just wasn't there on this day. Dad finished in 29:40 which put him 12th overall, 5th out of 25 men, and 1st in his age group. Elise finished in 36:09 which put her 39th overall, 27th female, and 5th out of 11 in her age group. Mom walked the race with Jaxson in 58:22 which put her 73rd overall and 4th in her age group. She thought she got last place and enjoyed telling people I was first and she was last, but the results have someone finishing after her.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Cheese pull on a mozzarella stick from Chili's.

Tesla met our friend's dog.

Boootanical Garden

Carter is very excited about his Halloween costume.

I had a sub for Elise's meet and when I came back one of my students had made a bed for my stuffed animal.

State Fair

Elise's last cross country meet in Coweta.