The weather forecast for this weekend included a severe storm warning which predicted 6" to 12" of snow! It started falling Friday night, and by the morning we had a nice blanket of snow, with more still falling.
Blanket of snow
Conditions were terrible, but I wanted to explore and see if any stores in my nearby shopping center were open. So I dug out some snow gear from my days in Seattle, and hiked over to the plaza. I found empty parking lots, with a few other hardy souls out, plus a few trucks plowing the parking lot. Most stores were closed except for one grocery store, and I got the feeling they were going to close early.
After returning home, I lazed out and watched TV and played computer games.
Today was bright and sunny - the snow stopped falling. I went outside to survey my car, and found it covered with a foot-and-a-half of snow. The road inside the apartment complex was slushy, and some trucks were driving around spreading salt. I got my snow shovel, another piece of equipment from my days in Seattle (I guess the stuff I had to buy for the Mountaineers courses on snowshoe and scrambling came in handy!), and dug out my car, so I won't have to do it tomorrow morning.
Once again I decided to walk over to the nearby plaza, since the neighborhood roads were still snow-covered and slushy. This time, the plaza was jammed since the storm stopped and the major roads were plowed. I ate a nice salad at Panera, had a delicious cafe mocha, and walked home.
One day after the snowstorm.
No more snow is in the forecast, so the roads should be fine. I wasn't able to run this weekend (I skipped out on a 5 miler in Baltimore on Saturday, due to the conditions) but I at least got two snowy walks in. :)
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Board Games
I found a local board games group, and attended a meeting.
The group meets at a local mall, Savage Mill, a historic building. The Mall consists of several connected building, originally part of an old saw mill. The stores inside are all local-owned and unique, and several teach classes.
One that caught my eye is Terrapin Adventures, because they have a zip-line obstacle course setup outside! It reminds me of the Sanford Zoo's course, and I will check it out when the weather is warmer.
Anyway, only two other people made today's board game meet, and we settled on playing Dominion, a card game. The game worked similar to a collectible card game, where you try to build a deck to play with, except it thankfully doesn't involved buying/collecting cards - all the ones you need come with the game. Each turn you use a set of your cards to get new ones, which grant more abilities or victory points. I liked the game enough to buy a copy right afterwards!
The group meets at a local mall, Savage Mill, a historic building. The Mall consists of several connected building, originally part of an old saw mill. The stores inside are all local-owned and unique, and several teach classes.
One that caught my eye is Terrapin Adventures, because they have a zip-line obstacle course setup outside! It reminds me of the Sanford Zoo's course, and I will check it out when the weather is warmer.
Anyway, only two other people made today's board game meet, and we settled on playing Dominion, a card game. The game worked similar to a collectible card game, where you try to build a deck to play with, except it thankfully doesn't involved buying/collecting cards - all the ones you need come with the game. Each turn you use a set of your cards to get new ones, which grant more abilities or victory points. I liked the game enough to buy a copy right afterwards!
Saturday, December 05, 2009
OUC half marathon weekend
I return to Orlando for the OUC half marathon, and to also visit friends. I knew the weekend would be as busy as I wanted it to be, because the Orlando Running Club would be having events for the exchange runners! So I planned ahead and flew in Thursday evening.
Friday, I went to lunch with a group from the Seminole Cyclists - they were coincidentally having the monthly lunch gathering when I would be able to make it. So we had a nice lunch at Fuji sushi in Lake Mary. Friday evening I went to dinner in Winter Park with the running club, and got to see several friends there.
It rained pretty heavy all Friday, so there was concern the race would be in fairly lousy conditions. It was sprinkling lightly Saturday morning, and the forecast called for a break so we hoped that would hold true. Charles took this picture of Beth, me, and Mai before we loaded up and drove to Lake Eola. Charles and Mai had run the Space Coast Marathon the week before (!), and in order to rest, Charles wasn't running. But Mai did in order to support Beth, who had been training for this event for months - her first half-marathon.
Beth, me, Mai
We were lucky and it didn't rain during the race, except for some very light sprinkles for a few minutes. Since my training has been rather lackluster, I was quite happy with coming in under 2 hours!
The ORC holiday party was that evening, and I had a fun time talking with running club friends. Before leaving on Sunday I was able to have lunch with Paul and Allison (whose wedding I attended last month) and heard about their nice honeymoon in Hawaii.
Overall it was a really good weekend!
Friday, I went to lunch with a group from the Seminole Cyclists - they were coincidentally having the monthly lunch gathering when I would be able to make it. So we had a nice lunch at Fuji sushi in Lake Mary. Friday evening I went to dinner in Winter Park with the running club, and got to see several friends there.
It rained pretty heavy all Friday, so there was concern the race would be in fairly lousy conditions. It was sprinkling lightly Saturday morning, and the forecast called for a break so we hoped that would hold true. Charles took this picture of Beth, me, and Mai before we loaded up and drove to Lake Eola. Charles and Mai had run the Space Coast Marathon the week before (!), and in order to rest, Charles wasn't running. But Mai did in order to support Beth, who had been training for this event for months - her first half-marathon.
Beth, me, Mai
We were lucky and it didn't rain during the race, except for some very light sprinkles for a few minutes. Since my training has been rather lackluster, I was quite happy with coming in under 2 hours!
The ORC holiday party was that evening, and I had a fun time talking with running club friends. Before leaving on Sunday I was able to have lunch with Paul and Allison (whose wedding I attended last month) and heard about their nice honeymoon in Hawaii.
Overall it was a really good weekend!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wounded Warrior 5K
Grace, a running friend from Orlando, came up with her husband to visit some relative in the DC area. We made a plan to do a race together. After searching the local race calendar, we signed up for the Wounded Warrior 5K, a fundraiser for wounded veterans at Walter Reed.
It was a nice event, the course was on closed roads or in Rock Creek Park, and crossed from Maryland into Washington D.C. and back. I was happy with my 23:37.
Grace and Me after the race.
It was a nice event, the course was on closed roads or in Rock Creek Park, and crossed from Maryland into Washington D.C. and back. I was happy with my 23:37.
Grace and Me after the race.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Paul and Alison's Wedding
I visited central Florida this weekend, to attend the wedding of my two friends Paul and Alison. I used to work with Paul, and we also were on a bowling team together (good thing it was a handicap league because I was by far the worst person on the team!), gamed together (computer and board games), and kept up meeting for lunch over the months after I was gone. Alison likes board games too, and would join us for Power Grid, Puerto Rico, or others.
The happy bride and groom!
The ceremony started in the evening at the Lake Mary Events Center, right on Crystal Lake, visible in the picture. It was getting dark so my pics didn't come out that great. I'm sure they'll post some after returning from their honeymoon in Hawaii!
The happy bride and groom!
The ceremony started in the evening at the Lake Mary Events Center, right on Crystal Lake, visible in the picture. It was getting dark so my pics didn't come out that great. I'm sure they'll post some after returning from their honeymoon in Hawaii!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Grapevine 8K
I signed up for the "Run Through the Grapevine 8K", held at a local winery, after seeing several people in the tri club mention it. It was a bit of a drive, through some pretty rolling hills and windy country roads.
The event itself was tough. Really tough. I thought it would be a trial run, as opposed to a road (or other paved surface run), but it was even tougher than that. Most of the course didn't really have a defined trail - it was just over grassy rolling hills. And between grapevine rows, hence the name I suppose! There was a small stream to jump, a muddy steep trail section more suitable to hiking in drier times, and lots of undulating grassy hills with very uneven footing.
But, it was also a ton of fun. I ran carefully in order to avoid twisting an ankle (there were some tricky sections: curve/turn left while running down a steep part) and finished up in 50:02.
Afterwards, most of us gathered at a club member's house for some hot soup and munchies.
The event itself was tough. Really tough. I thought it would be a trial run, as opposed to a road (or other paved surface run), but it was even tougher than that. Most of the course didn't really have a defined trail - it was just over grassy rolling hills. And between grapevine rows, hence the name I suppose! There was a small stream to jump, a muddy steep trail section more suitable to hiking in drier times, and lots of undulating grassy hills with very uneven footing.
But, it was also a ton of fun. I ran carefully in order to avoid twisting an ankle (there were some tricky sections: curve/turn left while running down a steep part) and finished up in 50:02.
Afterwards, most of us gathered at a club member's house for some hot soup and munchies.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Dawg Dash
This year's Dawg Dash went better than expected - I finished in 51:44 despite not running all that much since moving to the DC area. Unfortunately I couldn't map since my Garmin was dead but the course was the same as last year's.
Francesca's post-race waffle fest was a hit, drawing more people than last year even though a few (Krisanne, Eric) have moved away from Seattle! Joe was in town, and it is always interesting to catch up with him.
In the evening I had dinner with Kandi and family. Their kids are growing huge amounts now that I only see them once a year. Sam is a junior, Jacob is in 6th grade and basically fluent in Spanish (he's in the immersion program), Ellie is in school now... wow!
Francesca's post-race waffle fest was a hit, drawing more people than last year even though a few (Krisanne, Eric) have moved away from Seattle! Joe was in town, and it is always interesting to catch up with him.
In the evening I had dinner with Kandi and family. Their kids are growing huge amounts now that I only see them once a year. Sam is a junior, Jacob is in 6th grade and basically fluent in Spanish (he's in the immersion program), Ellie is in school now... wow!
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