Absolutely favorite month of the year. Perfect weather. Leaves changing. Pumpkin errrthang. Boots. Non melting morning runs. And Scarves!

As fall begins, I’m smack dab in the middle of my second whole30 nutritional reset as part of a gym-wide challenge with GymFed CrossFit. So far, so good. No cheats. That’s pretty huge. My first one was last January and I completed without any non-compliant foods. If you’ve never heard of it, check out whole30.com. One of my favorite things about these challenges is that they get me back into the kitchen. I’ve discovered new recipes every time and how to make my own condiments! Hooray! This time around, while giving up my beloved preworkout concoctions, I rediscovered coffee. Oh coffee. Back in January I didn’t tempt myself because I only love my coffee loaded up with stuff, and that went by the wayside long ago. A friend of mine in our challenge group shared a non dairy, coconut milk based creamer recipe that is incredible and let me caffeinate responsibly once more! I also tried out a local Tyler-based coffee roaster (Porch Culture Coffee Roasters), amazing stuff. I’ve also decided this fall to enter back into a few races and pick back up some distance running. It’s a great time to start for all the upcoming spring races, such as our local FRESH15.  Before tackling that, I’ve entered a local CrossFit competition called Festivus that is held in just a couple of weeks. I’ll be sharing more about that experience later.

Sometimes it’s easier to think of this time of year as approaching the finish line, things winding down. But I say, what better time that now to set goals. Start a plan. Find a rhythmn now before the holiday-you-know-what starts.

Happy fall, ya’ll!