Then and Now: October

Another month over, another month closer to a new year. October was a fun filled month and I love sitting down and looking for photos to put on my monthly round up. However, as I was sorting photos to do this post, I got a little sad. Last year in October, I went to California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New York. This year, I went to....California, and I didn't even move around very much. Comparing the two years makes me realize where I am doing things differently. Sometimes this is a good thing and other times it makes me realize that there are areas where I need to get back on track.
Without further ado, here are the Who, the What and the Where of October 2011 vs October 2012.
THE WHO:
In 2011, I got around.  I hung out with the Parentals, the East Coast family, running friends,  work friends and high school friends.

 In 2012, it was local family all the way.  I even accidentally ran into some of them at a Giants game!  I also spent time with my favorite girls and some new friends too! (The bagpipe player is my cousin. He can wail on that thing!)

THE WHAT:

Running Miles:
2011: 147 / 2012: 149
In 2011, I was ramping up for my first marathon, so I was putting in a lot of training miles for that. In 2012, I was busy doing more races with only a few miles thrown in on the weeks between. Raced miles counted as about 40% of all miles run this month.
Races:
2011: 2 / 2012: 4
In 2011, I did the cupcake classic (virtual race) and The Green Stride Half in MA. This year, October was the month of races and I had a race every weekend of three different lengths! They took me to Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Cloverdale and San Francisco! See my races page for more info.
Reading:
In 2011, I read a whopping 7 books, my favorite probably being The Hunger Games or Room. In 2012, I read three books and all of them were about running. None of them knocked my socks off. Check out my bookshelf for more info.
THE WHERE:
2011:  Home, Newport RI, NYC, Missouri, Cambridge MA

2012:  Oakland, San Francisco, Marin Headlands, Sonoma County

The Verdict? Like I said, last year I went all over the place, but this year I only went to the four places where I had races (see above). I am realizing I need to make some travel plans! However, this year, as far as the Who portion, I am really loving getting more time to spend with some of my favorite people, which I was not able to do as often when I was traveling for work. It's really nice to be able to do things with people on shorter notice (and more often) rather than having to make a big thing out of the times when I was home. I have been having lunches or brunches with friends and I am remembering how important those little half an hour visits here and there really are!
How has your year been different than last year? How has it been the same?