Pining for the Fjords

If you’re a consistent viewer of the blog (Stephen King calls these folks his Constant Readers.  I call mine Mom.  Hi, Mom!), you may recall that while I didn’t make it into my first choice fall marathon, the Marine Corps race (MCM) in DC, Chris did.  Thus, soon after our trip west to Long Beach, it was time to turn around and head northeast for some time visiting friends and running (well, for him anyway). On Thursday, 10/22, we headed to the airport early, as our flight took off at 7:15am (who the heck booked that?).  We had a brief layover in Austin, which was just enough time for us to enjoy some of the fruits of the Lone Star State, including beer and BBQ: The label on the Lone Star reads, “the national beer of Texas.” Oh Texas, bless you. We got into DC around 5ish, and my best friend from college, Toni, and goddaughter, Juliet, met us at the airport.  Once our bags finally arrived, we hopped in the car and headed to dinner.  Grabbing a Juliet-Au

When last I blogged , we were heading to bed on Saturday night in Orange (after watching the thankfully successful conclusion of the Florida State-Miami game), getting ready for an early morning on race day.  On race morning, we were awake and moving around way before the sun came up, and it was already getting toasty outside.  Due to rains in the Phoenix area the week before coupled with unseasonably hot weather in LA, it was actually hotter in Long Beach than it was at home for race weekend.  Super awesome. Knowing that it was going to be hot (I think the high temp in Long Beach ended up around 90 that day, all told), Risa offered to let me use her cool wrap bandanna; we popped it in the freezer the night before and brought it in a cooler to the start line, fully frozen.  Although it eventually became the same temp as I was (but not until the last quarter of the race or so), it really worked out well and helped keep my core temp lower than it would have been otherwise. R

Last weekend, Chris and I traveled west on the 10, out to the greater Los Angeles area, for my fall race, the Long Beach Marathon.  After I didn’t get picked in the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon, I searched for other races around the same time period, and Long Beach fit the bill; it was in mid-October, it was in a place with normally decent weather (dramatic foreshadowing!), and it gave us the added benefit of being able to spend time with Dad and Risa, whom we hadn’t seen since the New Year’s holiday.  On Friday, we both took off work and started our drive west after the morning traffic abated in Phoenix.  The drive was uneventful, and we made it to Dad and Risa’s around 3, before the afternoon traffic kicked up in earnest in LA.  We settled in and then headed out to visit some breweries in their area.  First up was Old Orange Brewing; although I wouldn’t be drinking much of anything alcoholic until after the race, I was able to enjoy a sip of each brew that came in OOB’s

As I mentioned lastweek , some of the new fall television shows we tried out didn’t live up to our expectations (even when those expectations were somewhat low).  Thankfully, other new shows are keeping us intrigued, at least for now. First up, Blindspot : It’s okay Jaimie Alexander - we actually like your show. This one has been publicized quite a bit, so you may know the premise already.  If that’s the case, forgive the duplication, but I’ve got a blog to write here, people.  I need to find words to fill up the page.  Anywhoo.  Jaimie Alexander (Lady Sif from the Thor movies and other Marvel creations) wakes up naked and covered in tattoos in a duffel bag in Times Square, her memory wiped completely blank.  She gets taken to the FBI, as one of her tattoos features the name of an agent in the local office.  Said agent and tattooed woman use her tattoos as clues to solve crimes and whatnot.  “Kicking shit and taking names! Blindspot!” I’ll admit

The fall television season officially started on Monday, September 21 st , and as connoisseurs of only the finest programming (hahahahaha!  Oh, I kill me), I feel more than qualified to weigh in on the shows we attempted to watch but ultimately decided against. First up, The Bastard Executioner: This one is Kurt Sutter’s newest creation, and we wanted super hard to like it.  We watched every single minute of Sons of Anarchy , despite the final few seasons being almost uniformly crappy (one of the shining lights was Jimmy Smits as Gemma’s love interest – he was incredible).  Regardless of the ridiculous finish to the show, its high points were outstanding, and we were hoping Sutter’s latest vehicle could recapture that level of greatness. Another shining light -  Walton Goggins as Venus Van Dam. Yasssss, Queen! Anywhoodle, we had high expectations.  The two hour debut was super bloody, which seemed excessive, but okay fine, and the actors involved in