October | Blissfulbritt

As we say goodbye to October, my favorite month, I want to share a few highlights. October is my favorite for many reasons. The transition to autumn warms my soul, the weather changes to cooler days, and spooky season sets the tone for month after month after month of celebrations. For the last four October seasons, Duncan and I have made a habit (along with many others) of visiting a pumpkin patch/corn maze. To me this signifies the official change from September to October.

We have two main rules when it comes to this pumpkin patch tradition: the patch must ALSO have a corn maze (no maze, no go), and we must go to a new patch/maze each year. No repeats.

This year, my first October highlight (and our new to us pumpkin patch/corn maze) brought us about an hours drive away to Carpinito Brothers Farm. At first glance I wasn’t sure I would like this one because it was right off the freeway. Thankfully we were able to feel like we were tucked into the farm without hearing the cars driving by.

We chose to start with the corn maze, and thankfully Duncan is directionally savvy, because I am not. I tried to read the map at the same pace he did and I have no idea how he walked so fast knowing which way to go. I am someone who likes to have control over most of my situations, but this is one I’ll happily pass the baton with. Let me be the wandering corn troll over the fearless leader.

After Duncan finished finding each location within the maze, I needed a snack.

Plain roasted corn without anything on it allowed me to scour the pumpkin patch for this years chosen gourd. It didn’t take long, partially because I was boiling due to my mistake of wearing a sweater on the last 72 degree day of the year, and partially because the corn wasn’t sitting well. We both found our choices and completed another successful early October adventure.

This adventure gets me into the spirit of my favorite month, but it didn’t quite feel like enough. I haven’t participated in anything Halloween related for a while, and I felt like this year I needed a physical goal after a long season of hiking. For October highlight number two I decided to sign up for a Halloween 10k. I spent a month getting myself from hiking shape back into running shape.

I had no expectations for this race, I just wanted to show up and have a good time. I wanted to dress up, but also wanted to be able to comfortably run, so I settled on an easy classic.

This race was so much fun, and there were hundreds of other costumed runners. Surprisingly I only saw two other Waldo’s (I expected to see a lot), but I saw a TON of Forrest Gump varieties. I hadn’t been running much at all since my half marathon back in May, and I was hoping that 27 days would be enough time to get me into shape for a 10K.

Each of my training runs I dragged, and I was certain I would have to walk at some point (or at least run verrryyy slow), but not only did I manage a 10:02 pace for this run, I placed third in my age group! This will never happen again, and I credit this to the fact I was running a themed race amongst many who might not run much, but I will take the win where I can get it.

*My Garmin captured a 10:02 pace as I went a bit off course and had more than 6.2 mi.*

I didn’t notice the award winner section until after I was home, many hours after the race. I discovered I was supposed to pick up a 3rd place ribbon and I was bummed that I missed this, so I sent an email to the company. The race director wrote me back saying he would mail it to me, and when I say this made my week I am not exaggerating.

This is a small victory for average runners alike. LOL.

The race just so happened to be about 2 minutes by car from my current favorite GF bakery (this was soooo not planned), and Duncan and I promptly went after I was done running. We had a feast of treats, and I can’t think of a better way to finish running 6.2 miles.

I’m still in a coma from those beautiful baked goods. Pumpkin is the theme for October, cliche or not I go all in. To round out all the October highlights, Duncan and I carved our pumpkins from the patch just before Halloween. We decided to carve surprises and not tell each other what we were doing. Imagine how hard I laughed when we revealed our masterpieces.

Duncan said mine (the big one) looked somewhat like a red panda, and he thought his (the small one) had a neck that looked like it spent too much time in the gym. Because of this he wanted to put a ribbon on the neck, and I think it looks great. I was happy with how they both turned out, and they looked even better illuminated on Halloween.

If you’re having a hard time telling what mine is let me help you.

While I was sad to say goodbye to October, I look forward to settling into the slower pace of life that November and December will bring. November brings a special birthday for Duncan, and the restlessness that I will inevitably feel will encourage me to do something impetuous. Like sign up for a spring half marathon to give me a winter training focus. Who knows…

Q: What’s your favorite fall activity? I have yet to go apple picking, and I think that would be so lovely.

Last Sunday I completed my sixth half marathon, and it was absolutely fantastic.

This was my second time running the Poulsbo half, and it is the only half I’ve repeated thus far. This is also the course that holds my current PR from last year. Everything about this race is my favorite from the course to the time of year. October makes for perfect running weather.

This year Lily was in town to run it too, and she took second female overall. No big deal.

As for me, the race was just what I expected. My training was on point, and although I didn’t get a PR I was CLOSE. I felt strong the entire race, and didn’t feel the desire to walk despite the massive hills throughout the course. My time was about 2 minutes and 23 seconds slower than last year (and my current PR,) which I was more than OK with.

I finished with a time of 2:11:52, a 10:03 pace.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this race because despite finishing all my long runs, my mid week runs were slacking the last couple weeks because I was so wrapped up with school. I also didn’t have “fresh legs” because of all the exploring/hiking Lily and I did the two days prior.

I think I’ve come to a point where running half marathons are not longer a “big deal.” I didn’t feel nervous, and I was only moderately tired/sore after. I did run this entire race in my Vibram’s, which I had never done before. This contributed to some sore calves, but otherwise they were great. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this race.

I’d also like to thank my giant spaghetti feast and this Texas sized cookie for my prerace fuel.

My mentality throughout my entire training process and the race itself was they key to my successful run. I smiled, I laughed, I cheered on other runners, and I knew that I had the ability to finish strong. I’m still on such a runners high, & I’m searching for half marathon number #7!