This week I'm participating in a blog link up called the "Friday Five." Each week Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia at You Signed Up for What and Mar at Mar on the Run pick a topic for our weekly linkup. This week's theme is "favorite fall activities."

August through December is easily my favorite time of the year. There are just so many fun things going on, lots of races to be run, and holidays to be enjoyed. It was hard to narrow my list of favorite fall activities to just five, but I managed (with a few honorable mentions thrown in there). And while I do miss the changing leaves and beauty of fall both back home in Pennsylvania and in Charlotte (North Carolina falls are pretty perfect), Charleston is still a wonderful place to be for autumn festivities. 

1 - Fall training season (and running in general)

I love fall training, mainly because it's the best time of year around here to actually train hard. After a summer of slogging through soupy, heavy air in blazing heat, the weather gets cooler, the oppressive humidity starts to dissipate, and all of that slogging starts to pay off. For me, fall training season starts when my training ramps up in August and ends with the Charleston (half) Marathon in January (I know, a little past fall, but that's my overall fall training cycle). Some of my favorite races happen in the fall as well, which brings me to my next activity...

2 - Charleston Turkey Day Run 5K

I've run this for the past two years, and it's always such a fun race. Last year my brother- and sister-in-law were in town and they ran it with us. They had so much fun that they're coming back again this year! Can't wait for this race again this year. It's also a fast, flat course, and I'm sure I'll be in PR shape at that point. 

3 - Boone Hall Pumpkin Patch

We took Little B to the Boone Hall Pumpkin Patch last year, but he was too little to really know what was going on. I'm looking forward to going again this year and taking him on a hay ride and letting him pick his own pumpkin from the patch! 

4 - Heading to the beach

Fall at the beach in Charleston is glorious. Both the summer crowds and blazing heat are mostly on hiatus until May, so that means plenty of space and gorgeous weather for the locals to enjoy some much-needed beach time. Whether it's walking the beach (or running!), splashing in the last remnants of summer's warm ocean, or combing for shells, there's nothing quite like autumn at the beach. 

5 - Halloween

Halloween has changed a bit for me over the past year. I'm still a firm believer in celebrating Halloween at any age and I will continue to do so forever, but now in addition to watching scary movies and dreaming up my own costumes, I get to enjoy kids' activities through my son's eyes that I've not experienced since I was a kid myself (okay, okay, I still watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown long before Little B arrived). I can't wait to dress up the little guy this fall and take him Trick 0r Treating! He's going to be so cute!

So that's my fall list. A few other honorable mentions: eating all of the fall foods, Thanksgiving, and wearing shoes other than flip flops (although my flip flops stay out year round around here).