September 25 - H is for …

HILLARY!
Sticking with the political theme for today. Heh.

The results are in!

Well, one of them, anyway.

I came in 36th out of 54 total runners in the 5K I did weekend before last. Official time was 36:46, which means my pace was 5.06 mph. Blistering! Blazing! Hahaha.

I have no idea how many runners were in the 60-to-64 age group. I'm guessing I was it.

Obviously the organizers of this 5K have no idea how important it is to provide as much information as possible for serious participants like me. (I'm cracking myself up here.)

I approached blaze-aliciousness yesterday during one five-minute running interval of the Cto5K program. The little voice said my pace was 10:05 – nearly 6 mph! I remember, long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, actually running on a treadmill for half an hour at a 10-minute pace.

Who was that woman, and is it too late to get her back?

So yesterday was our seventh wedding anniversary and we began the day with a nice long walk along Indian Creek. I did, indeed, leave him in my dust a couple of times. I logged 7.6 miles in the same time he logged six.

We went out for dinner. Because that's what you do when you reach a milestone like seven years of wedded bliss. I had sautéed scallops and a mixture of squash, peppers and onions, along with a salad. Left the rice on the plate and didn't even want dessert.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook (and if you don't, WHY NOT?), you've already seen what a good Democrat day I had. First, THE SHOES CAME!

My Wendy Davis shoes! The fit is perfect, and they're incredibly lightweight. LOVE THEM!

And I also forgot I had ordered this:

I'm not sure when or where it will get its inaugural wearing. It needs an inaugural washing first. It fits like a nightshirt – I'm hoping my previous experience with shrinking cotton will hold true here, and it will get shorter but not narrower.

Okay, off to work (I have a couple freelance projects that need to be done TODAY). Hope y'all have as great a Tuesday as my Monday was!

I was not meant for long hauling

Yesterday was another day on the road, this time for a West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women board meeting. The board meets quarterly, and I missed the previous meeting because I was … get ready … on the road! This month I've been on an all-day trip an average of once a week.

Pocatalico is my favorite place name 

in all of West Virginia. Just say it and  

you'll see what I mean.

Driving seems like a non-tiring activity, but it wears. me. OUT. Especially when I have to drive for three or four hours, spend three or four hours doing something and then drive three or four more hours to get home. Which is what each of the May trips have looked like.

I have 10 days to rest up and then I'm off to Nashville. Which is a seven-hour drive and I'll be there long enough to recover before I head back home again.

Does driving make you tired? I could never be an over-the-road driver, and I give them all kinds of courtesy when I travel. I'm never in such a big hurry that I can't let one in front of me. Those drivers are working and probably way more tired than I am.

So the meeting was at a locally owned restaurant in Parkersburg, WV. When I got the notice in the mail, I thought Don Emilio's would most likely be Italian, and I was prepared to order some kind of meat and red sauce with no pasta. I was pretty sure I could figure out an appropriate paleo lunch at an Italian joint.

Turns out this Don was Mexican. Or Tex-Mexican. Or Mexican-American. It was, shall we say, not especially authentic Mexican cuisine, and there was not a single entrée that I could work into the plan. So I had a mug of gazpacho (which was DELICIOUS, if you like gazpacho, which I most definitely DO) and was glad I had brought a homemade Larabar with me. No one even asked what I was nibbling on.

I'd considered stopping for dinner to break up the drive home, but I really just wanted to get out of the car and stay out, so I ate a banana and some cashews on the fly, and kept on driving. I'm pretty sure Ruby Tuesdays wouldn't have set up a cot for me had I stopped there for salmon and spaghetti squash.

The meeting itself was a little discouraging. Membership is going down at all levels. The National Federation of Democratic Women annual convention is next month, here in West Virginia (another road trip!), and only 170 women have registered to date. (It's not too late to register! If you have any interest in Democratic politics and women's issues, this is the convention for you!) Attendance at county meetings is down throughout the state.

I think we're all taking it easy until 2016. In the meantime, Republicans are taking over state legislatures. No rest for the weary.

Also. It's Monday, which means I hop on the scale for the official weekly weigh-in. I've lost another 1.5 pounds, for a total of 23 since December 26 – 16 in the last six weeks (since April 6). With any luck I'll be halfway toward my goal by my birthday. But the official weigh-in won't be recorded until two days later.

I had some time to kill before the meeting yesterday and bought a pair of capris that are a size smaller than the ones I've been wearing this spring. They fit fine, but really? I hope they shrink a little.

That's a nice problem to have for the long haul.