kentucky

I checked off my 23rd state! After a brief detour to Texas (#22), I made my way to Kentucky to visit my friend Katie. The last time I saw her was at her wedding a couple of years ago. It was time to see her again and why not do it in her home state.

I spent 4 days doing lots of fun things, including those specific to Kentucky. First up was the Derby miniMarathon. This was the first big race since my marathon last October. It was difficult to assess how this was going to go. I got my long runs in but some of the training was a bit sporadic. But I went out and ran consistent 8-minute miles. I finished with 1:45:46, so I was pretty happy. Later in the year I would like to PR, but will have to see what race would be best for that and where I'm at with my training.

The race started in downtown Louisville, where I passed the Louisville Slugger Museum (which I went to later in the weekend) and made my way down to Churchill Downs. After seeing a horse running on the track, I turned back towards town while passing some of the U of L campus, and later on, Katie at mile 12. After the finish I celebrated with a beer (or 2) and a fried twinkie at the Chow Wagon. Delish.

On Sunday we made our way to the Museum where I tried out Jeter's bat. If there weren't any nets I'm positive I would have hit a HR. I got to see the bats being made—including the Mother's Day commemorative pink bats—and got a mini bat to take home with me.

On my last day, I had to try some straight bourbon whisky. We drove to Loretto, KY where we took a tour of Maker's Mark Distillery. It was very nice. We walked around the grounds to the various buildings to see the full distilling process. And of course tried some of the bourbon, including Maker's 49 and Maker's White.

All in all a very good trip. Catching up with friends, running, seeing new things, enjoying great weather (minus the hail storm), and so on. What more could I ask for?

 

march book update

I of course got some more reading in last month, but only got through 3 books. I was very busy with work, and took a vacation where I didn’t spend a lot of time reading.

Faithful Place by Tana French

I finally read Faithful Place, the 3^rd book in Tana French’s Dublin crime squad series. I read the last one a few years ago and really liked it. I do enjoy reading crime novels and especially like the Irish aspect of them.  

An undercover detective is drawn back to his childhood neighborhood when his old girlfriend’s suitcase turns up in an abandoned building. It was thought she had run off to London to start a new life. As the investigation starts, it’s quickly established that never made it to London. Since this is a murder mystery, I couldn’t put the book down. Now I need to get my hands on the 4^th one in the series.

Entangled by Barbara Ellen Brink

I read Entangled while on vacation and it was perfect for it. It was a quick read. Not the most well written book (I guess that’s why it was free on my kindle), but it did the job. This woman inherits her uncle’s winery and old childhood memories start to crop up. They had been blocked out for a few decades since it was pretty traumatic. Definitely some heavy stuff, but I thought it could have been a much better book.

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I decided to re-read Scarlet Letter since I remember liking it in high school. It took a little while to get through the old Puritanical English. Parts of it infuriated me and it’s kind of amazing that this is what it was like when our country was born. Damn Puritans. I don’t condone adultery at all. But I didn’t appreciate Hester taking all the slack for it. It was nice to read this book again. I enjoy having a new perception on books that I read over 10 years ago.

Now it's time to read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet!

12/30 books in 2012.