And Cue Autumn

With the official start of fall 2 days away, we're gearing up for our featured autumnal half marathon - the 3rd Annual Purdue Boilermaker Half on the campus of Joe's alma mater. The race is 10/18, really right around the corner, so our weekend long runs are cranking up again. Today, on a not so fall feeling morning (warm & humid - ugg), we logged 10-milers, and as I crossed the home threshold, I hit 1,000 miles!

My hiking group at work started this week, strategically scheduled from mid-September to mid-October to catch the fall colors. There was little to no color change on our hike at Fox River Park on Wednesday, but today, Saturday, change is under way. While we didn't have colors, we had stellar hiking weather and found this Great Blue Heron and goose-topia along our path.

I will take on a new endeavor next week when I join a month long aerial yoga class. Aerial yoga entails doing yoga moves within a hammock of sorts that hangs from the ceiling. In some pictures and videos, the hammock looks more like a thick ribbon or scarf. The hammock can hold your body weight and really requires you to activate your core to steady your body more than you would need to when doing yoga on the floor. It will be an adventure in the air, with a hard floor below. Talk about motivation to keep it all together!

Those of you who aren't early risers may not know that the sky typically starts to lighten about 30 minutes before the official sunrise. That was helpful to us through much of the late spring and summer, as it allowed us to run outdoors from home more often then having to go to the gym for the treadmill. With sunrise approaching 6:40a.m. now, it's getting harder to get the distances done in even a weak light and still get to work on time. However, we're loathe to give up these extra outdoor runs, and may soon be investing in a plethora of reflective gear to aide us with running safely in the dark. It'll also be good practice for the night running we'll be doing in the 2015 Ragnar Relay... the what you say? Stay tuned, readers, stay tuned. More on 2015 race plans later.