September 2024
Changing weather, fall foods, and sports make September one of the best months of the year. After getting fried during the summer a nice break in weather was much needed. We spent the month doing a few things, 25% of the time we had our first foster placement, 30% of the time we were sick and trying to recover in time for vacation, and the final bit of the month we were in Utah and Colorado.
The percentages may be off but you get the point.
We’ll write something in detail about our trip to Utah and Colorado, but as a quick synopsis, we visited four of Utah’s five national parks and Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a wildly busy nine days that was packed with beauty and some of the most diverse landscapes you can imagine.
This month I got back into racing after not running an official race in about 18 months. The last race I ran was a half marathon in 2023, but the last race I truly cared about was a marathon in 2022 that defeated me. I was in shape to run a PR and got sick the day before the race, I toughed it out and finished but it pissed me off and instead of going back to the well of marathons for more, I quit like a man. I continued running but nothing official, until this month.
I'm in the process of a marathon build for later this fall and I wanted to get a race under my legs just for kicks. At first, I had a half marathon on the docket in August, but that got canceled. So instead I signed up for a 10k just for fun. I picked a local 10k that benefited cancer patients and their journey to getting pregnant—super cool cause and a flat course, great combo.
I’ve been prepping for long course work and I’m about 20 pounds heavier than the last 10k I ran, but it went incredibly smooth. I went out hot cuz why not, and ended up negative splitting for a PR, first in my age group, and fourth overall out of 160 people! The final time was 45:18, which was not amazing, and at a small race, but still, I felt great.
The absolute dud of the month was the news that our basement experienced the wrath of Hurricane Helene. Now, to be clear, there are those who lost their lives and suffered catastrophic damage to their families and towns. So in keeping things in context with reality, I’ll save my melodramatic comments for my therapist.
We were in Colorado by the time we realized the hurricane was going to be a Cat 1 by the time it made its way to Georgia and our home. So there wasn’t really much I could do except get reports from my neighbor and hope the house stood up to the pressure. Long story short, as I was sitting there watching Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park I got an alarm on my phone from one of the water monitors in my basement. Now I turn my water off outside and inside the home every time I leave town, so I knew there was only one culprit.
I took a look at one of my security cameras and saw something glistening on the ground where there should be no glisten. I then began the fun process of rallying some lovely friends and family members who were all too kind and ready to go into my basement and talk me through what was happening and work to clear out the water. I’m still unsure of the long-term impact and what reconciliation will need to be done, but it doesn’t seem great. There’s plenty to be thankful for, but this was no good.
Best and Worst of the month:
Best thing I watched, read, or listened to: The final call by Jason Benetti as the Tigers neared securing a playoff spot.
Worst thing I watched: The security camera footage revealing my basement flooded whilst I was 1500 miles away
Best experience of the month: Canyon Overlook Trail @ Zion National Park
Best thing I ate: Elk Burger @ Boss Burgers and Gyros in Estes Park, CO
