Mud Runs and Book Signings

Wow.  Has it really been two weeks since I last posted about my life.  No wonder I feel like I need to do that.

In the last two weeks, I have gone to three book signings.  The first was for Rhys Bowen's new book Royal Blood.  That was in Pasadena, and I was able to meet up with my friend Luke who I did the July mud run with.  Then I went to the launch party for Sue Ann Jaffarian's Murder in Vein.  Finally, Sunday I met up with Angelique for the launch of Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke and Laura Levine (and Leslie Meier, but she wasn't there and I don't read her books.)  Lots of great reading material ahead of me.  Now, if I could only find the time to read it.

As you might have noticed Saturday, I have way too many TV shows I'm watching right now.  I am seriously looking at how I can cut back, and this time I mean it.  I've got two shows all but ready to leave my DVR with another couple I'm thinking about.  That would make my weekly life so much less stressful.

See, I'm trying to spend all night every night watching TV plus averaging over a review at day at Epinions.  I just don't have that kind of time.  Something must give.

Especially when I am going to go home and run 5-6 miles tonight.  That's take me at least an hour.

But I need to do it because my next mud run is this Saturday.  I'm doing the Volkslauf up in Bakersfield in a team of four with a friend who lives up there now and two friends of hers.  We're doing the 10K, and I don't know if I'm ready to run that distance.  Plus the obstacles are going to be killer.  But we're in it to finish and have fun, so I'm not too worried.  I just don't want to slow us down too much.

And I've signed up for my next mud run already.  I'm doing the Gladiator Rock 'n Run in December with a friend I've made from my ultimate Frisbee pick up game.  The obstacles look so cool, at least the ones they've post so far.  I'm worried that it will be freezing cold that weekend, but we've paid our money, so we'll just have to hope for the best.

And I'm trying to recruit a friend to do Tough Mudder in May.  Just saying.

The upside of all this running I've been doing is how I'm improving.  Monday, I was running with my roommate, and I was setting the pace, and I won our sprint to the finish.  That never happens.  Last night, I started chasing one of my former jr. highers (who is now 20) for the fun of it, and I was keeping up with him.  That never used to happen.  Okay, so that speed seems to come and go, but when it is there, I love it.

It's not looking good for my Saturday afternoon pick up ultimate Frisbee game.  I've sent out an e-mail asking for feedback, and gotten maybe half a dozen responses back.  I don't know if that's enough to keep it going or not.  I must admit I'm not very faithful about going right now, so I guess I shouldn't be saying too much.  But it is still very sad.