Fun Flavors of Fall

     

     Autumn my dear readers is a beautiful season, especially here in Nebraska. On campus the trees are turning so many colors: red, yellow, orange, and pink, all with different variance of these shades; there are even trees with multiple colors on the leaves, one side might be red while the other side is yellow! And as a college student and Biology major, Autumn is the busiest time of the year, with tests to take, papers to write, projects to do, books to read, classes to attend, and lab experiments to conduct. I still managed to have some fun though, and even make a couple of new good friends.
     In early October I attended a small fall festival at the church by Union's campus. The festival was put on by the the George Stone Elementary school (which is housed below the Union girls' dorm) to raise money for their school.

Some of the kids even performed. 

This guy was pretty good.

     Due to its pagan origins I have never, and still don't celebrate Halloween. However, I love that because of Halloween you can dress up in a costume during this time of the month without people thinking your nuts, and this year I took advantage of it. So I grabbed whatever I had handy in my dorm room, and for one day I went to classes as a wood nymph. What fun I had! =D

     When November came about three things happened: (1) It got colder! Brrr..., (2) my workload got heavier, and (3) some of my favorite fall fruits became available, Fuyu persimmons, cranberries, honey crisp apples, and dragon fruit! Persimmons and dragon fruit I prefer to eat as a mono-meals. While its true that persimmons and dragon fruit taste good with a lot of different fruits and raw recipes, there is just something delectable about sitting down to a large meal of sweet, soft, and juicy persimmons or dragon fruit. Mmmmm...

     And when cranberry season arrives, so do the honey crisp apples, and I get to make one of my favorite fall breakfast, raw cranberry sauce:

    
     Today is the last day of classes for me. Tomorrow morning I get to fly home for Thanksgiving Break. It's going to be wonderful. A whole week without classes or labs to go to and no tests to take. . . I can't wait! I plan on running the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon again this year. It's the same course as last year so I'll get the chance to see if I can beat my PB for this course from last year. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

One More Day to Go

     It's almost here! The Georgia Publix Half Marathon (formally known as the Georgia ING Half Marathon) is this Sunday. This will be my third half and my second time running this particular half. 

     The Expo was held in the same place as last years: the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta. When I got there I experienced an acute feeling of deja vu. It felt like it was just yesterday I was at the Expo last year, picking up my packet, so nervous because it was going to be my first race, and it was all so new. 

 I came out in my full "lifestyle advertising" get up: Vibram Five Fingers, "Go Fruit Yourself" 30 Bananas a Day T-shirt, and my Tree of Life Pendant. Yup, I was a walking stereotype. . . hehe. =P

   Things weren't exactly the same though this time. Since Publix is now the primary sponsor of the race since ING stepped down, the color scheme, the layout, and some of the booths were different this year. One of the changes I liked best, was the addition of a fruit stand. While their selection was very basic (apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemon, and limes) it's a step in the right direction. =)

     The Expo also had added a booth to sell Vibram Five Fingers. Go Vibrams! Unfortunately, it was the one thing I forgot to take picture of (bad Amanda! LOL).

    In order to be reduce stress and get as much sleep as possible the night before the race, my race day cheerleader/photographer mom and I will be staying at a Holiday Inn that is right next to the starting line in Centennial Olympic Park. Last year I had to wake up at 4am to get to the race in plenty of time, not something I want to do again. I'm hoping that decrease in stress and increase in sleeping hours will improve my overall running performance so I can set a new PR.

     Stay tuned!