November Whirlwind

November was a whirlwind! We were barely back from Dubai when we hopped on a plan to Austin, Texas for a dear friend's wedding. It was a grand affair and, although we were only in town briefly, it was long enough for us to get our fix of Tex-mex, BBQ, etc.

Shortly thereafter I was in Houston on business, a trip that happened to coincide with Rice Homecoming. While the outcome of the game was, ahem, less than desirable, the experience of reconnecting with friends, classmates, students, faculty, and the institution I love so much was hard to beat. The weather was perfect and the trip was nourishment for my soul.

The second half of the month kept me in NC and my focus turned (even more so than usual) to . . . food! I attended a wine dinner at Watts Grocery and a beer release at Beer Study that included flights of fantastic stout beers paired with Rise donuts . . . so healthy!

Of course there was Thanksgiving as well. Mom came into town and, in addition to an early Thanksgiving with extended family here in the area, we did a second Thanksgiving at our house with a fried turkey from Time Out . . . I'm still recovering!

Fortunately mixed in with the gluttony were some opportunities to work off the turkey as well. The Saturday before Thanksgiving I ran my third annual Chestnut Ridge 4-mile trail race. It's not super competitive so I finished 6th overall and 1st in my age group. It was a glorious fall day so I celebrated with apple cider and ginger bread - optimal recovery food!

Thanksgiving morning I ran my third annual Gallop and Gorge 8k road race. It's much more competitive so I didn't even come close to placing - but I did improve my 8k PR by 45 seconds, so good deal.

We also did lots of hiking over Thanksgiving weekend and we continue love living in a place where so many hiking opportunities are available.

Through all of my running in November I have been wearing a new toy: a Stryd powermeter. I'm still collecting data and formulating thoughts on it so I'll save additional commentary for a future post.

It's easy to get caught up in all the different things going on this time of year but we have still taken some time to pause, reflect, and be grateful. Each year it seems that we have more and more to be thankful for and this year is no exception. As we head into the holiday season, we are truly grateful for our blessings, family and friends - and we wish you all the same!