Fall is Coming!

First, I am really bummed that I am not getting that viewing of my most recent post.  I was super excited about it.  It is pretty long, but it has some really great pictures (so I think) from Ironman Louisville 2011, and my underpants run pics are not anything worse than what you would see at the beach.  I think my vacation pictures I posted from the ocean are more revealing than what I posted!!!  I put the link on my f/b to try to get some more views.  Perhaps I should have made it two posts so it wasn't so long.  Anyway, ranting over, I will get back to the topic at hand.

FALL IS COMING! 

I love fall.  I just put a long LONG comment on Erika's training blog, and then another on my friend Elizabeth's blog about how I love fall so much, I figured I had better just do a whole post to it. (above photo is from fall last year in MI).

Here is what an almost perfect* fall Saturday is to me:
Getting up early, heading out to Kensington, running 10-20 miles, coming home, quick shower, head over to Parmenter's Northville Cider Mill (or Three Cedars), gorging on cinnamon sugar donuts and apple cider (fabulous for the stomach after a long run, but so good for the mouth), and then watching some college football with Ryan in Ann Arbor.  Maybe throw in a mountain bike ride through the changing leaves.  AWESOME

*almost perfect is because I am a Buckeye can't watch OSU play if I go to Parmenters after a long run, unless it is that one fabulous Saturday every other year when OSU plays MI in Ann Arbor.  If it is that Sat, then it is perfect, if it is another, it is almost.  Or, unless it is a night game and we are drving in the middle of the day, but that never happens either. 

I don't get too many of those fall days anymore.  As a grad student training for my first marathon, that ws the schedule.  We had season tickets to UM and no kids.  I would get up and run, Ryan would ride, and then watch football.  Things have changed a bit now that we have kids and can't both workout at the same time.  It worked out well last year that Ryan would ride in the morning, and then I would run in the afternoon, during the football, and just read about it or watch highlights.  AFTER my cider and donuts.  Still not the greatest for the stomach during a run, but it was pretty worth it.  I feel like now that I have kids, watching live television is just not worth the time it takes.  It has actually been awesome knowing that Ryan will want to watch a game and actually be at home for 3-4 hours in a row, and I will just use that time to work out by myself.  This year will be even better, because we actually have more than 1 TV, so Ryan can put a movie or TV show on for the kids and watch football on the TV.  We had to use the computer before and so we couldn't access the DVR for the kids.  However, now that we have kids, taking them to the cider mills and farms is way more fun than just eating there.  They love to play and run around.  What fall isn't complete without a picture of kids in a pumpkin patch???? (Erwins, 2009)

It will be interesting to see how this fall shapes up.  I am already missing the MI fall.  It is weird that Keira is in school already and it is still so hot. I am a gymboree addict, and LOVE fall clothes for the kids, and it is too hot to let them wear them.  The cider mills are opening, and I miss having about 5 or so in close proximity.    One thing that I am very excited about right now is that we do have a fall break.  It coincides with the Detroit Marathon (half), so we are planning on staying in MI for at least 1 extra day to hit up the cider mills after my race, instead of before.  I also am planning on heading back for a baptism I think in a couple weeks.  I have another fall half marathon on the radar that is here and on a Saturday.  It is the 11 12 run 13.1, and once I enter officially, I will post more details.  I guess it is hilly.  There is a flatter one here also on 10/30, but that is a Sunday, so I don't want to do it.

Finally, I stayed up super late a couple nights ago and unpacked, sorted, and then repacked a bunch of our holiday decorations.  The movers labeled a zillion boxes "holiday decor", and they have all the holidays mixed together.  I even found the wheels to our Burley trailer in a box that actually said "Christmas Decor".  I guess that is what you get when you let others pack for you.  I did get all of our fall/Halloween items located and then reboxed everything.  I love decorating the house for fall.  We have a huge front porch, and I can't wait to get a bunch of tall cornstalks for it and pumpkins.  I cleared off the dining room table (hiding our undone framing projects beneath) for our apple centerpeice, and have our fall basket set up.   I hung one of our wreathes already, and it is one we kept up all year round that is fallish, and never took down in the old condo.  After this weekend, it is going to look like fall in the house, even if it is still hot outside!