so, tomorrow I'm attempting the 10K Trot over in FW, hoping for a PR. I last ran a 10K in 2003, as the Elder Child has accompanied me to the Turkey Trot the last two years. My time three years ago was 1:05 and change, I believe. Based on today's 5-mile time, in which I was just out enjoying the brisk morning air, and last week's 6-miler, I should be able to cut at least 3-4 minutes off that, if not actually break an hour.
I'm really just using this as an excuse to get out with some folks again, as I'm finding my solitary morning runs to be a bit, well, solitary. The Trot is always fun, and the 10K course is not terribly difficult, if I remember it accurately. I'm not going to be doing anything silly just to break an hour, but it would be nice to do so nonetheless.
I'm mostly worried about what to wear, as it's always freakin' cold standing around waiting for the 5K start, and then once you get moving it warms up too quickly for whatever you had on at the outset. I'm thinking since we don't start until nearly 9:00 I'll go with shorts, tank top and a short-sleeved tech shirt, with the freebie long-sleeved cotton tee over it until I get going.
Um, let's see, what else? Oh, yeah! :) The Skatemobile got upgraded. Hub mentioned in passing last week that I needed to trade in my car, since I was approaching 90K miles on it, was going to be quickly upside-down with each passing mile, and would probably find a good deal with the end of the year coming up. Silly man! Does he not know that I am all about the decisive action!? And that by suggesting it that I would pretty much go out and "Make it so," as our bald buddy JLP likes to say? So, yeah. After looking at the new Honda CR-V and considering briefly the new Jeep Compass, I went with one of these.... which is pretty much the same car I used to have. Except in "Wave" blue, with a sunroof. And the new one smells so... NEW. And it had 20 when my friendly car saleswoman brought it to my office. WOW!
I looked at the CR-V and even drove one Saturday, but two things, OK, three things, put me off of that car. First, it seems way too big for me. The Vibe is small, sporty, and built on a car chassis. It's low to the ground, so there's no having to hike the skirt up to get in and out. Even though we drove the CR-V over and parked it right next to the Vibe, and side-by-side they seemed the same length and width, the CR-V just seemed more THERE, and I didn't really like that. Second, the mileage I get on the Pontiac can't be beat. Even with the automatic transmission, I average 320 miles on a 12-gallon tank, and I never fill it up past 11 gallons, so I get anywhere between 26 and 29 miles to the gallon. The Honda was going to be good, but not that good. And thirdly, the last reason I didn't go with the Honda is the frilliest, frou-frou-est reason ever -- they didn't have the "right" blue. Their "light" blue is more metallic silver to me, and then they go all the way to navy blue, which looked more black, even in broad daylight. I really like the "Atomic Blue Metallic" available on the Element, but I find the Element too boxy, and the same color isn't available in the CR-V. And I really, really wanted a blue car this time around.
So, then I thought about the Jeep Compass, but it's a new model, and that always makes me nervous -- gotta give these folks time to work out the kinks. And the second thing about it is almost as silly as the Honda blue -- those stupid ads. They're the ones with the bobblehead people driving the car. They make me insane. It's just stupid. And I had a hard time wrapping my head around supporting a sucky ad campaign by buying their car, even if their base model was so cheap that I could have gotten tons of extras, like a DVD player, for the same price as the base Honda. Then, Hub kind of sealed the deal there by saying, "Um, it's your car, and you can get whatever you want, but I really don't like Jeeps..."
And we were back at the Vibe. I LOVED my old car. it was only 4 years old, and had Hub not recommended it, i wouldn't have considered trading it in. It was sporty and cute and economical and not at all prissy or fussy. A workhorse, with a few nicks and scrapes to show for its adventures. Sound familiar? Yep. So I called my old dealer and she set me up. And I love my new car. Just like the old car. But shiny and clean, and oh.so.pretty!
Peace out -- gotta go peel apples for the cranberry-apple crisp I'm making for tomorrow.
I hope you have a wonderful, joyous and grateful Thanksgiving with the people you love.
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