boo welcome to melancholy november and an abbreviated kablpomo. this morning i went out to st. john’s to try out my new wide angle lens, and it was just dreary out. in the last 50 feet to my car, it started to sleet. excellent. so here are a few pics from my mile or so walk through the woods in the doldrums of fall.
as i was driving home tonight, i realized it was already november 6 and kablpomo hadn’t even crossed my mind. eyeroll at myself.
so, i guess this is here to ask if there’s anything you want me to blog about! i’m going to write myself a reminder to blog every night and hope for the best. after any suggestions, i’ll write myself a schedule! maybe i’ll start this weekend.
i’m not happy with myself for not even remembering that november started and hence kablpomo starts!
oh hello! here are some random thoughts for this almost-end-of-october day.
on fall vibes
well, not feeling the fall vibes. sure, it’s cold. and the leaves are mostly gone. the treadmill’s back in use (ugh). but i’m still not feeling like fall’s my bff. looking forward to halloween, but not in an “omg it’s halloween!” sort of way. đ maybe it’s because it was kind of a weird fall again. never really a string of 55-70Âș days like i want it to be – either hot or cold. i mean, it was 29Âș when i left work this afternoon. that’s december weather, come on.
i’ve invited my family to come for thanksgiving, as nate took the whole week off and won’t be grumpy about people (as much anyway). i don’t know if anyone is coming though. đ i guess we’ll see what happens with that. i’m kind of looking forward to thanksgiving – does that count as fall vibes?
on vsco girls.
so what is a vsco girl? i saw the term on twitter a couple weeks ago and had to google it because it suddenly became a thing. turns out that a basic b–ch is now a vsco girl (my ascertained understanding). vsco is an app that you can use to edit photos, and girls (mostly white teenage girls) will pose in their scrunchies and other brought-back 90s apparel, and post to instagram or some other photo-sharing app. i guess the terms sksksksk and i oop are also used by vsco girls, of which both terms are pretty much stolen from minority slang (and as well all have learned with “woke,” once it’s slang is stolen from the minorities, it’s jumped the shark).
meh. now i know i guess. time to find my vintage scrunchies? (carrie bradshaw is dying inside.)
i liked berger.
on the craigslist killer
i once again survived the CL killer! except, a couple caveats (no i’m not blogging from the beyond). this was actually a facebook marketplace transaction. AND it was my first successful marketplace transaction!
BUT i have a NEW LENS. and it’s my first L series from canon, which is super fancy. so, my wide angle lens kicked the bucket. the aperture is sticking and it won’t close. i checked prices to fix it, and it was anywhere from $150-200, which isn’t great for a lens that doesn’t work that well with my new camera anyway. so instead, i perused the used ads for a comparable lens, and lo! i found one on FB. i met up with the guy on friday night in the cities and got a lens and a fancy filter for a steal. i’ve already sold the filter for $80, so really? i’ve saved $150 for not fixing the one lens and made $80 off my purchase. i have yet to test out the lens, as this weekend was pretty awful weather wise, but i’m hoping for an opportunity in the next week to try it out a little better.
on scary movie month
scary movie month is not going that well. as halloween is almost upon us, i feel like i need to ramp up quickly. the good news is i’ve gotten through all the screams (the ones that count, anyway. [i’m looking at you, 4]) and seen cabin in the woods, tucker and dale vs. evil, and from dusk til dawn.
the only additional ones i really want to watch are hocus pocus and evil dead II. i getter get done with this blog post so i can watch one.
on this upcoming weekend
i’m heading to the SE this weekend! i’m going to roch on friday to meet up with jenee, then we’re celebrating charlie’s cheatin the reaper day with some cake and celebrations. i’m attempting a new recipe for a monster cookie cake, which includes oatmeal choco chip cake and peanut butter frosting. sounds delish. and on that note, i’m also not doing well on this month’s dietbet. mexico really screwed me up and now i’m not sure if i’ll make this month’s goal. i thought that november would be my downfall (curse you thanksgiving!) but it might be october. hoping i can get it together in the next four days :/
ok. fall vibes out. off for some treadmill time and then hopefully a scary movie.
i just finished up “the library book” which was excellent. it’s about the LA library fire in the 80s and just info on the library in general. i learned a lot about how it came to be, the building, the head librarians (a couple early ones were women!), and the investigation into the guy who was accused of arson.
her description of the fire itself was fantastic: how it started, its movement, the way it was a perfect fire and burned so hot that it had no color. she started the book with the fire, so this was real hook into reading the rest of the book.
it was also really encouraging to read about how the LA library system is evolving as it grows. because it had to basically start over in the early 90s, it was one of the first libraries to go electronic. and now they’re trying to figure out how to help the homeless population and the patrons who want to utilize the library for more than just books. i love how libraries have always been about more than just books, too. the first head librarian wanted to add tennis racquets to the loan list.
interesting fact: the fire happened on the same day as chernobyl, so the media coverage of it was almost nil. i had never heard that the LA library had a major fire (neither had the author; it’s why she wrote the book).
so, highly recommend reading the book to learn more about the LA library fire, the investigation, and libraries in general.
so i went to mexico! usually i bring a laptop with me when i travel and i blog every night, but i didn’t want to bring one with me this time, so i am blogging post haste at home before i forget what we did.
wednesday
lori picked me up and we headed to jane’s house around 4 p.m. from my house because we had to leave for our flight at 6 a.m. the next morning. the most exciting thing we did was go with jane to get her some flipflops.
thursday
the next day was almost entirely travel. we left MSP and had a layover in mexico city, where we changed money and had lunch, and then we caught another plane to puerto vallarta.
we left at 6 a.m. and got to puerto vallarta around 8 p.m. in the rain (no time change!). no one told us it was the rainy season! the good news is that it rains mostly in the evening and night, so our mornings and days were pretty nice. hot and humid, but nice. that night when we got in, we took a brief tour and then headed to one of the restaurants for buffet supper (food wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad).
friday
our first full day in mexico! first, i have to say that i was impressed with how much spanish i understood and how much came back to me. i was able to converse somewhat coherently. we woke up bright and early on friday because we had an excursion planned. we partook in the breakfast buffet, which was the best part of the all-inclusiveness of our resort. the bread in mexico is awesome.
then we got in a cab to go to our jump-off point for the one tour we had planned. we took a hosted ride up to san pancho and then sayulita. it was nice because we learned a lot about the area from our guide and got to drive through the rainforest and mountains to each little town. on the way, we stopped at a roadside stand to try some local fruits (jackfruit, pineapple, tamarind, coconut, etc.) and i got some vanilla extract – 3 liters for $20!
san pancho was quiet and small, and we visited a chocolate shop, a community center, and the beach. i have to say i am totally impressed with mexico’s recycling program. not only do they have a good one in place, but the people actually recycle. score one, mexico.
then we headed to sayulita, which was a little more intense.
we stopped at a tequila shop so liz could buy something for doug, and then we went on the beach where we stopped and had a piña colada and tried to ignore the vendors strolling about.
after that, we headed to a quieter location where our tour group fed us some pretty awesome tacos and i had a spicy mango margarita. (also: no fresh mangoes down there! i was a disappoint.)
we got back midafternoon and then it was beachtime!
the ocean was warm. the sun was hot. my sunscreen held.
that night we decided to try out the “steakhouse” at the resort, and it was mediocre at best. my “medium” ribeye was well done. the good food on our plates was the fried bar food – onion rings, fries, etc. but the view was nice and we saw some baby turtles hatch and make their way down to the water!
saturday
this was a lazy day! we started off at the beach after breakfast at the buffet (the breakfast was, once again, the best thing about the food). i also need to point out that all of us were usually drinking each morning by 10 a.m. i guess one good thing about all inclusive is you can find a bartender at any time.
there was a pool with a swimup bar, so we took advantage of that! then we’d head out to the beach and listen to the waves. after lunch on saturday (another mediocre buffet except i managed to just eat a plate of vegetables [good job self] and i had this amazeballs butterscotch cream puff), i requested we walk down the beach because i thought i’d seen a massage hut, and lo! we found it! i got an hour massage for $30USD including tip. i pay $70 for an hour massage here without tip and that’s relatively cheap. jane and i both pretty much flashed everyone at the beach because it was an open air massage, but you gotta take that if you’re gonna get a massage next to the crashing ocean.
that night we decided to go somewhere else for supper. i found a little restaurant right on the beach that had 4.5 stars on google, so we got in a taxi and braved all los topes (speed bumps) into buceria to mar y sol. we started off on the beach with our feet in the sand and ended up moving indoors when it started to rain.
we ordered some chips and guac and then some giant drinks. liz and jane each ordered basically two entrees, which neither finished. i got a plate of fresh seafood in a garlicky sauce.
i mean, yum.
after liz and jane stuffed themselves and we left a huge tip, we put our food in doggie bags and our server said he’d hang onto it for us and to come back so he can get us a taxi (finding a good taxi is necessary). we took a walk down and couple blocks and back to check out buceria. THEN i found the best thing ever: a churro stand. huzzah! i got fresh churros stuffed with nutella. we also stopped at an art gallery where jane got a couple pieces.
we were about a half a block away and our server was waving us over telling us he’d already gotten us a taxi and that we should have a seat, pulling out a couple chairs. (that’s how i knew we left a huge tip.)
once we got back, i ate one of the churros, and it was probably the best thing i ate on the trip. it was still hot and crispy, covered in sugar and cinnamon and stuffed with nutella. even the next day when it was cold and slightly soggy, it was still delicious.
then it was saturday night! we played some bad rounds of quiddler and then headed down to the resort’s dance party. we found some awesome mexican tĂas (or, they found us), and we danced with them. the best was when achey breaky heart came on and EVERYONE LINE DANCED. wat.
after the dance party ended, the discoteca opened up, and we went in there and danced for a while. jane left early, then liz made a creepy friend on the dance floor. after lori and i thought liz had been kidnapped by the drug cartel, we all made it back to the hotel room. whew!
sunday
our last day! sad face. once again a buffet breakfast, then to the beach and pool. the waves at the beach were giant – i decided i did not want to get in there. then liz got slapped in the face with a fish and the fun was over. we spent some quality time at the pool; we got there early enough to sit at the swimup bar and order some drinks early on. we did some water aerobics with a group of people who were no younger than 50, but it was super fun. the instructor was jazzed and i was tipsy enough that it was a blast.
another veggie-licious buffet lunch for me, then we all took a nap to recover from saturday night a bit more before heading out to puerto vallarta’s malecon, a streetwalk of sculptures and art along the beach, which then crosses over into the gay district.
at this point, it was getting pretty steamy and we had been walking a while; jane was ready to call it quits. we decided to sit on the top floor of a restaurant and get some snacks to see how we felt after that. the breeze was nice, the guac delicious, and the fish tacos even better. but the best part was the view.
after that we walked another couple blocks and then caught a cab back to our hotel, just in time for a fantastic sunset on the beach.
then it was time to pack đ
you’ll be happy to know that, unlike california, all my junk fit quite nicely in my trunk. including the 3 liters of vanilla!
we hit the hay early because we needed to be out the door by 6:30 the next morning.
monday
travel day. we had two layovers: one in mexico city and another in atlanta. i got the middle seat with two strangers during the flight from mexico city to atlanta, so that was fun.
but the plane back to MSP was ginormous and not full, so lori and i shared 3 seats and liz and jane shared 3.
we headed out the doors of MSP into 40Âș weather and whispers of october snow that fell while we were gone. when we opened the car door at jane’s house, it smelled like fall. and so now i sit at home again with routine lulling me into my false sense of time to be had. time to travel more.
and even though you’ve heard it many times when returning from travels, i leave you with my favorite quote by michael perry:
“…to this day my two favorite things in the world are solitude and motion. I’ve found them in the next county, in a semi crossing the Nevada state line, on a Hungarian train, and on a bus approaching the Guatamalan border. In times of trouble, motion is my morphine. But as much as I love to run, I love even more to come home. At every latitude, my compass swivels to point back here, to little old New Auburn. This place is my true north. A stray dog running, as it turns out, is just circling the rug.”
i’m doing a transformer dietbet, which is 6 months long, and they have regular prize drawings (i guess to keep us motivated). anyway, i won a $100 giftcard to whole foods!
i’d never been to a whole foods in my life. i’ve been to trader joe’s (like it), my local food co-ops (love them), the byerly’s in town when i need something weird and i know they have it (it’s ok but i don’t go regularly). but i’d avoided whole foods because of the whole “apples cost $20 for 3 of them” chatter that the internet proliferates.
but now i had $100 to spend that wasn’t my money, and i guess it was time to set foot in a whole foods. the closest one is in maple grove, so nate and i hauled down there** to go to duluth trading company for a return and nate’s purchase of underwear (guys, i guess the bullpen boxer briefs are where it’s at – be prepared to spend $30/pair though) and then go to whole foods to use the gift card.
well, i guess that the costly apple analogy isn’t entirely wrong…we spent $99.13 (after amazon prime discount) and here’s what we got:
when i got to the checkout, i realized i needed the whole foods app in order to take advantage of the amazon prime sale/discounts, so i quickly got that on my phone, and that saved $13. good grief.
you know what i could buy at aldi for $100? 3x this amount of food. and overall, aldi isn’t bad about the whole organic, cleanish food thing.
whole foods reminded me a lot of byerly’s, except fewer old people. but the prices, the food, the pretentiousness – yes. the prices weren’t THAT far off from a trader joe’s, but i feel like TJ’s is a lot more “fun” if that makes sense.
if i hadn’t had that gift card, i probably would never have set foot in a whole foods ever. i guess i can now, and i’ve got some food that i wouldn’t have gotten otherwise!
*omg i haven’t blogged about this at all! did you know i’m headed to mexico in 5 days? i’ve gotta pack!
**megan – we need to reschedule our visit! i would’ve invited you to come with me on this, but nate and i had this planned before i even planned our visit đ stupid work. i’ll figure out a day and send you a calendar invite.
oh lord, what have i gotten myself into. at least i can safely say that all my regular readers/followers can agree that DT is an idiot. (at least i hope my father thinks he’s an idiot.)
but, since impeachment is being investigated and the white house is vehemently pushing against it even though every day DT seems to start a new dumpster fire to extinguish the one he started yesterday (which happens to be still going; the world is just one big trumpster fire at this point).
so i thought i’d compare what DT been doing in comparison to other presidents who’ve been impeached, convicted, and/or resigned due to impending impeachment processes.
and really, i don’t know how much i want to dig in to what he’s been doing. i will do some digging, but i feel like it’s a LOT and
so i think i’ll take a look at presidents who have faced impeachment and see what he’s done relative to them. this may be 10 pages long*.
*(oh you know i like research papers.**)
**really i do. i’m not lying.
ok, but first, what is the process for impeachment? a president can be impeached but still remain in office, as was the case with bill clinton. in order for a president to be removed from office, s/he needs to be impeached by the house of representatives and then convicted by the senate after a trial.
as it happens, it’s actually called out in the constitution that the president has no power to pardon him/herself in the case of impeachment. (good news. and unfortunate that it needs to be spelled out.)
not only that, but it’s called out in article II, section 4, that:
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
other high crimes, in this case, is kind of vague. the meaning of them is not defined in the constitution, which is probably why nancy pelosi has been hesitant to pull the impeachment gun until now.
at this point, congress generally has defined three categories for grounds for impeachment:
EYE.ROLL. .
(excessive period intentional.)
now here’s an interesting quote by gerald ford: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the house of representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”
so there’s that, which is great.
ok, so there have been 17 impeachments voted on by the house. here are the presidents:
other presidents who had unsuccessful impeachment attempts include john tyler, george W. bush, and barack obama.
ok, so i want to go over what nixon did and what clinton did because they are the most aligned with what DT possibly has done.
first, clinton because it seems a little easier.
clinton lied under oath and obstructed justice. paula jones filed a sexual harrassment lawsuit against clinton from when he was governor of arkansas, and after ken starr put his report together for the house judiciary committee, impeachment proceedings began. the jones attorneys wanted to prove a pattern of behavior of clinton with women, and linda tripp secretly started recording convos with monica lewinsky. after it was shared, lewinsky was put on the witness list, and clinton started to try to bribe her to cover up their relationship.
clinton gave a sworn deposition where he denied having a sexual relationship with lewinsky and that he was ever alone with her. he also publicly stated the now infamous “i did not have sexual relations with that woman.***”
ultimately, the judge threw out the jones case because they failed to show damages, and clinton settled after jones appealed.
BUT that was not the end of this.
ken starr was gathering info on the whitewater issue (another day) when he found out from linda tripp that lewinsky was planning on lying to the courts about her relationship. starr looked a little more into this and found emails between clinton and lewinksy that showed they did have a relationship. clinton tried to assert that his “there’s nothing going on between us” statement meant nothing going on right at the moment of his deposition. the house of representatives took the starr report as its investigation, and after newt gingrich passed his speaker seat on and during a repub lame duck session, the house impeached clinton on perjury with a 228-206 vote and obstruction of justice with a 221-212 vote.
***i was a first year at st. ben’s while this was going down. in college, you don’t watch the news, and you’re so concealed from EVERYTHING outside of the college experience. i went home in january one weekend and was like, “who’s monica lewinsky?”
how clinton’s impeachment relates to DT
so, JUST TODAY (10-1), we find out that DT may have lied to the mueller investigation about his knowledge of the contact his campaign had with wikileaks during the 2016 campaign. (this seems a lot more serious than lying about a BJ in the oval office. just sayin.)
apparently (saying this because this is all just suggestion at this point), the house of rep. legal team cited a passage about paul manafort (DT’s campaign manager) testimony that he recalled DT kept asking to be kept updated about wikileaks’ email dump.
there is some redacted text surrounding this that may be key. if the president did know about wikileaks and then lied on the written response to the special counsel, that could be likened to perjury and/or obstruction of justice.
but what did DT ultimately give to mueller? DT’s lawyers did everything they could to keep him from having to give a face-to-face testimony. in the end, his legal team said he submitted answers to mueller’s written questions. is this akin to a deposition? probably not, but who knows what the redacted text in the mueller report shows!
now, this is not to say that DT doesn’t lie. the dude lies ALL.THE.TIME. it’s just that he hasn’t lied under oath. probably.
onward and upward.
what did richard nixon do, anyway? what the heck was watergate?
five burglars broke into the democratic national committee headquarters at the watergate office complex (hence watergate) in 1972. the fbi did their thing and found a connection between cash found on the burglars and a slush fund for the nixon election campaign (this is why you launder money, folks. or use paypal).
former staffmembers came forward to testify in an investigation, and it was found that nixon had recording systems in his offices and had recorded many convos. SCOTUS finally rulled that nixon needed to release the tapes, and on those tapes, well. it was found that he attempted to cover up activities that happened after the breakin and used federal officials to try to deflect the investigation.
some more details: during the burglary, they photographed DNC campaign docs and installed wiretaps on the phones. then they “burglared” again to fix a faulty wiretap. it was during this attempt that a security guard noticed some weird stuff going on and called the police, who then arrested 5 guys. at this point, nixon and the white house started to cover up the crime and the president’s connection. the burglars were tried and either pled guilty and /or convicted.
now comes the fun part.
the fbi found a couple names in two of the burglars’ address books who were white house peeps whose job it was to stop security leaks and investigate super secret activity. but i guess what really got the ball rolling was the money trail. $25K was found to be deposited in one of the burglars’ bank accounts. the check was made out to the president’s reelection fund – it was a campaign donation. a bunch of people making private donations for reelection were actually donating to the wiretapping. they found that all five burglars were directly or indirectly tied to the reelection campaign, which prompted a judge to suspect conspiracy with higher-ups (ya think).
what’s interesting is this news came out a month before the presidential election, and nixon won in a landslide. i’m going to try avoid covering the media involvement in this because this is about nixon. but you should all watch “all the president’s men” if you want to know more about that.
one of the burglars wrote a letter to the judge saying that the defendants had been pressured to remain silent. then there is a whole bunch of white house turmoil, with nixon asking for a bunch of resignations (that sounds familiar). a bunch of former aides were indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to hinder the watergate investigation. and, here’s something noteable: nixion was named an unindicted co-conspirator because a president can only be indicted after he leaves office.
at this point, the white house release the tapes that were recorded in nixon’s offices, and at first it had a positive reaction for releasing them, but after listening, more and more people called for impeachment.
“He is humorless to the point of being inhumane. He is devious. He is vacillating. He is profane. He is willing to be led. He displays dismaying gaps in knowledge. He is suspicious of his staff. His loyalty is minimal.” – chicago tribune. several newspaper op-eds said things to the same effect, and it was agreed that there may not have been an indictable offense, but nixon was contemptuous of the US, its institutions, and its people. the difference between today and then is that the republican party members believed he should step down.
but, here’s the gist of what was on the tapes:
and, parts of the tape had been erased on purpose (not just redacted).
it was looking gloomy and doomy for nixon, and the house decided to recommend an obstruction of justice impeachment and then abuse of power, then contempt of congress.
THEN. here’s the nail in the coffin.
on august 5, a tape recorded a few days after the break-in was released. a couple aides brought up the breakin and explained a cover-up plan. nixon approved the plan, and after more info on how the reelection campaign was invovled in the break-in and how the CIA was going to obstruct the FBI (i mean, really, what), he said  “You call them in. Good. Good deal. Play it tough. That’s the way they play it and that’s the way we are going to play it.”
BEFORE this tape, nixon denied any involvement in watergate. but this was what did it.
the ten loyalists who voted again the articles of impeachment announced they would now support it when it came up to vote. there were enough votes in the senate to convict – only 15 were willing to acquit (50 peeps in the senate).
nixon resigned on aug. 8. he claimed innocence until he died in 1994.
peace out dude.
how this relates to DT
so there is a LOT of stuff with the mueller report that i’m not going to go into, but the most recent is the ukraine debacle. a whistleblower complaint was filed in july by a member of the intelligence committee. the director of national intelligence refused to send it to congress, as directed by LAW (come on), saying the white house had told him not to. the whistleblower complaint was regarding a phone call to ukraine.
rudy giuliani and DT had been trying to get ukraine to launch an investigation into joe biden and his son hunter. in late july, the topic came up on a phone call with the president of ukraine. at that point, DT blocked distribution of military aid to ukraine. DT asked the ukrainian president for a “favor” – to investigate biden.
so then the white house released the transcripts from the phone call.
” The other thing, There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it… It sounds horrible to me.”
i don’t know. that sounds like, oh, any one of these impeachable offenses:
and that’s what finally broke nancy pelosi’s anti-impeach stance. one thing i’d like to know is if a whistleblower complaint against a president automatically instigates an impeachment investigation.
SO. that’s what we’ve got. at this point, it’s not a matter of if DT is guilty (cuz if you think he’s innocent, you’re drinking the MAGA koolaid); it’s a matter of if republicans in the senate can see past their own party loyalty and to their loyalty to their country, the constitution, and the american people.
Sources
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/30/trump-mueller-house-democrats-lie-1520156
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Counsel_investigation_(2017%E2%80%932019)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-transcript-call/index.html
i do not advertise my photography skills to peeps. i probably could if i felt like it would be viable and i was past the whole “yeah this is ok but i’m not great at this” mindset.
that said, i will take photos of people i know who request my services. before this month, i’d done less than 5 weddings, several family photos. but like i said, i don’t generally agree to do photos for peeps because:
so, when i got a referral from a former coworker for a wedding this month and then talked to another coworker who was getting married also this month, i ended up with two weekends in a row of wedding photos.
i haven’t taken wedding photos for compensation in seven years!!! (i took reception pics for my cousin molly in 2014 but that was really low key.)
so my one qualification for me to do your wedding pics? NO BRIDEZILLA. this must be STRESS FREE.
and so i ended up with two weddings this month.
the first was at a yacht club, and the second was at the albany pioneer days grounds. i knew more people at the yacht club one and i had fun, but man the pioneer one with strangers was a blast.
so, a couple pics from the first wedding that i’m glad turned out.
next weekend i’ll work on the second wedding!
(note to self: always ragnar.)
(down the road from our out-of-the-way campsite)
this year i had the chance to take some photos on the saturday of ragnar, and i didn’t want to give up the opportunity to make some cash. but i also wanted to ragnar. so, i did both.
addendum: my one red loop i ran was great. i shaved 20 minutes off from last year. is that due to my better running times lately, or is it because i ran it on fresh legs and it was the only loop? (normally i run it last.) next year may be an indicator…
holy toledo, i haven’t given you an update on RAGNAR!
ragnar is in ONE WEEK. but here’s the deal: i’m taking wedding pics on day two of ragnar, so i have to skip out friday night. that means i’ll run the red loop (almost 8 miles in the woods) and then do the volunteer shift. so it’s not quite as overwhelming as doing all three loops, and i’m actually looking forward to it a bit more.
that said, i haven’t been training as much as i would have in years past, which is OKAY. i’ve run out at st. john’s a handful of times, and last weekend i did 8 miles out in the woods. but while the past couple years i’ve been out there 2-3 times a week, this year i was lucky if i got out there once.
see what happens when you only have to run one loop?
this afternoon (like, right after i finish this blog post) i’m heading out for a 9 or 10 mile road run. we’ll see what my time is like; i have been averaging a faster minute this summer, and whether that’s due to me no hauling around as much weight or just trying a little hard, i don’t know (probably both).
so, in one week we’ll see how i do on the red loop. the past couple years it’s been my last loop when i am so tired and muscles are out of juice. two years ago i did it on a sprained ankle. at that point, it’s lucky i was able to finish, let alone run a little bit of it (seriously, i bet i walked 3/4 of it each year).
next week goals: no injuries. run more of the red loop. dare i say finish in under 2 hours? that would mean shaving off 15 minutes from the past couple years. hmmmmm. we’ll see what it brings!