Partying and Walking

Friday night was a bit of a family reunion. My Sisters in Crime family, that is. The publication of Rebecca Drake’s third thriller, A Dead Place, was celebrated at Mystery Lovers Bookshop with a gathering of “Siblings” including a number of long-lost “Sisters.”

Nancy Martin was there, back on two feet again. New mom Kristine Coblitz took advantage of a Get Out of Jail Free card to come mingle. Meryl Neiman brought her kids. A lot of our regular gang was there, too: President Martha Reed, Lila Shaara, Tory Butterworth, Sandy Stephen, Mike Crawmer, Gina Sestak, my Pennwriters roomie, Brenda Roger, as well as my future Bouchercon roomie, Joyce Tremel.

Here’s a picture of Mary Alice Gorman introducing Rebecca:

And here’s a shot of some of the Sisters chatting:

Saturday morning, I had to be up and out before dawn for a 5K walk benefiting the Montour Trail. I figured A.) it would be a good thing to support the trail since we use it so much and B.) it would be a good practice in preparation for the 5 MILE walk I’m doing with the Shanti Om Yoga Studio team next weekend to benefit the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

I’ve never done a 5K anything before. I’d love to say I did the 5K run. There was a half-marathon, too. Saying you’re going out for a “run” or doing a 5K “run” sounds much cooler than saying I’m going for a walk. However, I have tried running during my walks this summer. My knees and ankles do not like it. They much prefer walking. And since I try to stay on good terms with my joints, I have settled for the slower mode of transportation.

Still, I must confess my competitive streak kicked in during the 5K walk and I left a number of other walkers in the dust. Not all of them. Just some of them. I’m pleased with my performance.

On the other hand, all I wanted to do the rest of Saturday was to nap. I didn’t. But I did sleep 10 hours Saturday night. And yesterday, my legs felt like lead. I’d say I’m too old for this shit, but there were people there older than I who did the half marathon.

Anyway, I have hopes that since next weekend’s event is just a walk (not combined with a race), perhaps the competitive spark will not rear its ugly head and I can STROLL the five miles.