Herman is relentless!

I took my new training buddy, Herman, for our first workout today. The good thing about Herman is that he's always ready to go for a run--he never thinks it's too cold or wants to go for hot chocolate instead. But he sure does crack that whip!

"Speed up! Go faster!" he tells me. I tried to explain that it's been a week and several potlucks and batches of fudge since my last run so he should give me a break, but he'd have none of it. He just rubs it in: "Your heart rate's a little fast, don't you think?"

Yeah, well, who's ahead in the end? In your face, Herman!

Merry Christmas from the family!

It works!

Pies!

De Leo Wall

It's Sunday morning and I have the day off. My Christmas shopping is done and the sun is shining brightly. The apartment's dirty (but it can wait), so what to do? How about a hike? Hmmm..need to be home early this afternoon...how about a walk in the park? Sounds like a fine idea!

I decided to go up to De Leo Wall, a.k.a. a large hill in Newcastle with one rather steep side to it. The weather was cold and clear so I had a good time taking pictures of ice and frost:


The view from De Leo Wall is pretty obstructed by trees, but nice all the same:


Unfortunately, it was incredibly windy! I was being showered the whole way by tree debris, some of it alarmingly large. I watched one whole tree blow over about 50 yards up the trail behind me. Here I am posing with the largest branch that actually hit me, luckily on the bounce:

One week 'til Christmas!

Christmas at the Market

The mountain is out! Victor Steinbrueck Park

Waning gibbous over Queen Anne, Kerry Park

December is for...

Playing Scrabble...


Learning to ice skate...

Mt. Si

I hiked up Mt. Si yesterday with Ryan, Kevin, and Matt. There was plenty of snow and ice on the trail (yes, I have a lovely bruise on my butt), but it was such a beautiful day! More pictures here.

Marathon Photos

Pictures from the Seattle Marathon are available here. See? I really did do it! :-D

Carkeek Park

Carkeek Park this morning...wait is the sun setting already?? Ack, winter!

Like snow off a duck's back

Yes, it was snowing this morning at Green Lake!

And it was starting to stick on my way home

And it's still coming down! Hello, December!