Glorious Fall Weather

We have entered a week or two of glorious fall weather, the kind of weather that brings visitors to Highlands and makes them wish they lived here.  The rains of this summer are long past, the leaves are beginning to turn, and the sky is that deep blue of early fall.  And the forecast shows several more days just like this:  sunny, sunny, sunny, sunny, sunny.

This is ideal weather for running, of course.  It's cool enough (42 degrees this morning) that gloves and a long-sleeved shirt feel good, but I can still wear shorts.  The streets were filled with visitors, most of them on the sidewalks downtown, but many of them in big groups spread across the road outside of the commercial area where we usually run, carrying cups of coffee and dressed a little more warmly than we were.  They all looked as if they were enjoying this glorious day as much as I was.  "Beautiful morning!" I would say, which would always elicit a friendly reply.

Some of our running friends have been going to races, which have started up again in our area.  In fact, our Mayor and another friend completed a 5-K in Suwannee, Georgia last weekend and both set PRs, not an easy thing to do for an aging runner (the Mayor is the same age as I am).  There is a 5-K in Tallulah Falls, Georgia, tomorrow that we would love to run - the Autumn Breeze 5-K - staged on one of the most beautiful courses we have ever seen.  But we just don't feel ready for a crowded starting line with the Covid-19 pandemic still raging (this week even extending to the President and top officials in his government).  Here we were two years ago at the race, the beautiful lake created by Tallulah Falls Dam behind us.  Martha won first place in her age group on that day.

But we won't be running any races anytime soon.  I have been working on increasing my weekly mileage, as noted in previous posts, and in the absence of any races on the calendar not completing any speed or hill workouts.  Instead, I have increased my runs in the middle of the week from three or four miles to six miles, with a long run on Saturday.  Today I completed eight miles for a weekly total of 22 miles, the most weekly mileage for me all year.  Gone are the days when I would be training for a fall marathon this time of year and completing 22 miles in one day.

This cool, gorgeous weather has inspired us to turn to heartier meals.  Last night I prepared vegetable lasagna (shittake mushrooms, onions, and spinach).   And Thursday night, Martha surprised me with her take on that British standby Fish and Chips.  Instead of the traditional deep-fried fish (usually cod), Martha substituted flounder dredged in a delicious parmesan-based crust and baked in the oven, and instead of the chips she substituted roasted fingerling potatoes.  She even served it on the traditional newspaper.  Healthy and delicious!

Soon it will be time for soup, grilled-cheese sandwiches, and rich, hearty stews and seafood chowders.  I think I look forward to eating this time of year almost as much as I do running!

But this weather won't last, and as November turns to December the cold gray rainy days will move in, and then the snow and the ice.  That is when we begin to long for those warmer conditions we find in Atlantic Beach.  Martha's Aunt Lizette has been generous enough to let us stay in her condo there for the past five years, as readers of this blog will know, where we have enjoyed pleasant runs out to Fort Macon and sometimes even out on that flat, wide beach itself at low tide.  We have been able to stay active on those annual sabbaticals, and we have also been able to read and write.  I am working on a book of poetry right now, in fact, which will include many poems written in that beautiful place. We are looking forward to going again this year!