It's Tyranena week

My last run



It's been four weeks and one day since I last decided to go for a run.


I'm not hurt. I just don't have the motivation to lace up my shoes and head out the door. I've missed some pretty spectacular fall running days, but I've also missed some terribly miserable fall weather. There's part of me that just can't quite face the idea of running to nowhere on a treadmill yet.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem.

But I'm actually registered for a half marathon this weekend. It's Tyranena Beer Run weekend. And I'm all registered to run the half marathon for the third year in a row.

See how the four weeks and one day since my last run is a problem?

Actually, it's not quite so problematic. During that run a month ago, I was running on the WIOUWASH Trail, which is quite similar to the Glacial Drumlin Trail where a good chunk of this weekend's half marathon is run, and I came to a realization.

I didn't want to run long distances in an attempt to get myself somewhat ready to tackle 13.1 miles. I just didn't want to. So on that bright, sunny, early October day, I decided to drop down to the sixth-barrel race, which is 4.4 miles. Much more manageable to wing it for that distance.

And then I stopped running.

So this weekend will be interesting. The weather is looking less than ideal, but I just keep telling myself that other than the turkey trot on Thanksgiving, this is my year-end race. But more importantly, it's a race weekend with my running friends. So we'll run, we'll eat, we'll drink the post-race beer and we'll have a good time.

Last year at Tyranena.

Because even though there are many times that I (along with so many other people I know) think running is completely stupid, it's connected me with a really great group of friends.

October reading recap

Another month, another round of books that I read.

In October I finished seven books for a total of 2,456 pages. That brings the yearly total to 76 books and 25,366 pages. Yup. I'm definitely going to hit that 77-book goal for the year. With two months to go, maybe I should consider revising it. One hundred seems like a scary number and that would mean I'd have to read 12 books a month for the last two months. Maybe I'll just aim for the "read as many as you can" kind of goal. Although it would be pretty cool to hit triple digits.

So what'd I read?

Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis
Instant Gratification by Jill Shalvis
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes
The Secret Place by Tana French

And now for the brief reviews, complete with number of stars given out on GoodReads. Follow me here if you’d like a more timely update on what I’m reading, what I think and what’s been added to my to-read list.

Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich  ****
Not going to lie. I'm glad to be done with this series. Well, at least for now. It was OK. A typical Stephanie Plum book.

Instant Attraction  **** and Instant Gratification  *** by Jill Shalvis
Total chick lit. Girl meets boy in remote mountain village. Fast and enjoyable reading. I did enjoy the first one more though. I've got a request in at the library for the final book in the trilogy.

The Vacationers by Emma Straub  ***
I'm not sure why I picked this up. Or kept reading it. It was a fairly short book, but it dragged. I didn't really get where it was going. My recommendation? Pass.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty  *****
One of my favorites this month. Think chick lit with a murder thrown in. I liked this one even more than The Husband's Secret, which a lot of people raved over. A must read.

Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes  ****
I didn't have any intention of reading this, but I saw it was offered through a program at the library for everyone (as in, no holds necessary). Plus a few friends were also reading it at the same time. I struggled for a bit with this book, wondering where it was going. But I definitely had one of those "a-ha" moments during the last quarter of the book and everything finally made sense.

The Secret Place by Tana French  *****
I really, really like this author. I had been waiting to get my hands on this so I was excited when I finally did. It's your typical French book. A murder to be solved full of twists and turns throughout the investigation that keeps you guessing up until the very last pages. A definite must read.