Tag: Christmas

Week 51/ Vacation Week 2

And just like 16 days have passed. For the first time, I feel like I need more time. Mostly because I feel like I accomplished next to nothing. Unless there are awards given for the number of Hallmark movies watched. 😛

In fact, since I was still sick most of this week, let’s bullet-ize this recap for expediency. Is that a word? Bullet-ize? Oh well, I’m using it anyways.

I slept… a lot.
Watched all the Hallmark Christmas movies…and Lifetime ones too.
I coughed a lot.
Finished all 11 seasons of Bones. Ok, I did start this in the summer but still.
Watched all second season of Fuller House.
Still not a huge fan of food, well, sometimes I am and sometimes I’m not.
Rode the stationary bike once for a slow 6.5 miles.
Watched Battleship for the 100th time. It’s my stress movie. More on that below.
Had my office Christmas party on Friday evening. Filet Mignon, yum.
I managed a little bit of yoga to try and loosen up. Ha!
Saw Rogue One on Thursday!!!!!!
I had an MRI on Friday and I freaked the frak out. Like full on panic attack freak out.
Went for one really short run on Saturday. Man that was hard! My legs were so confused.
Finished most of my Christmas shopping on Sunday. I think. I feel like I bought nothing. 😢

So, yeah, a stellar week of vacation. This didn’t serve to improve my opinion of vacations any. Waking on Tuesday to the news that the company I work for is being sold was also not something I was expecting. My boss texted me but even knowing, seeing the headline was not something I was prepared for. The next few months will be interesting. I’m going to put a smile on my face and do my best to be positive. Fingers crossed.

2.5 miles was all I ran this week but that’s 2.5 miles more than last week. That said, I can see I’m not going to be running any double digit long runs any time soon. Which means Carlsbad in January might not be the best idea. Boo. Good thing I haven’t registered for it yet! I’m not closing the door on it yet, but I think the smart thing would be to not run it.

How was your week?

Do you have a go to stress movie or show?

Am I the only one behind for Christmas?

Wrapping it up!!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! We had a good day here in California even though Christmas finally brought in the cold. We’ve hit freezing the last few nights and had colder days. Yes, it has been nothing like anyone who gets actual snow but it’s cold for someone like me. I think the perfect running temp is around 73 and I almost like running in 95-100º. Crazy, I know.

Christmas was good this year and I can finally share a few things I purchased for my family. I was super excited about these gifts this year, there were others but I had fun with these-

Road ID- Ok this one is mine but I ordered a similar one for my mom and I ordered a FIXX ID for my dad for when he hikes.

My mother has been saying that she wanted something with a logo on. This is the back and the front says photographer.

My family proved just well they knew me as well-

I’ve come to realize that part of the reason I may have only run 34 miles in December 2013 was that there are so many things to be done. My mileage so far this month is not where I had hoped it would be. I had two tiny weeks in a row that put a dent in my goal. But that’s ok- people first right? I have one more commitment on Monday evening and then I think I am done! Christmas is typically a lazy day with my family and I have always looked forward to it. Last year, I ran a few miles to break in the Garmin I had received but this was a return to the norm. It was so nice. We hung out and watched Love Actually and then multiple episodes of Supernatural. While enjoying yummy food of course. 🙂

Friday was back to work and I was confused all day. It was a Friday but felt more like a Monday. Even with that, I was able to restrain myself from eating cookies (Cookie Friday) which is kind of huge for me. Saturday consisted of the usual errands and waiting around for it get a little warmer before running. I admit to having little desire to run but I knew I was short on miles and also needed to get in a longish run. 10 was on the schedule but that didn’t seem like a smart idea after 2 short weeks. So I headed out around 3, figuring I would aim for 8 but would settle for 4.5 if I still wasn’t feeling it. For my longer runs, I have decided to aim for a pace around 11:15-11:30. I really want them to feel easier and be more of a focus on time than pace. Up until Saturday, it was going well.

The run felt hard from the start and my legs felt weirdly achy. I figured the cold was aggravating my asthma because I didn’t feel like I was pushing hard. I had a route in mind but going up a hill in mile 2, I changed it up and ran that hill 3 times. That section is kind of triangular so it was run up, walk a block over and run down to repeat. From there it just a series of loops around neighborhoods but I did hit that hill again around mile 6. I paused for a moment at an elementary school to check my shoes- they felt uncomfortable and just off- and use my inhaler again. It was there I noticed my pace, aside from my first mile, every other mile was in the 10’s. Slow down fool! My legs had a mind of their own and the last 4 miles were faster than the first 4. I was literally talking out loud to myself saying “slow down” but I just couldn’t seem to make it happen. I took walk breaks in every mile just to slow down. On one hand this is kind of awesome because it’s closer to what I used to be able to do but I need more self-control. I should have been able to rein it in when I need to. So yay but ugh? 🙂

Sunday called for an easy 6 and it was the perfect time to break in some new, shiny shoes. I attribute the aches from my long run to my shoes. I had noticed my neon Wave Rider’s had gone from good to not good overnight recently but I was hoping for another 50 miles or so. All of my treadmill miles have been run in my Sayonara’s and have been relatively ache free. Granted the condition of our streets doesn’t help but I had a feeling my Wave Rider’s were just done. I bought another pair in October and just stashed them until needed. What a world of difference! Putting them on today made me realize just how bad the previous pair had been, I had arch support again! Today’s 6 miles felt good, no aches other than a little soreness from yesterday. Woo hoo!

How was your Christmas?

Ever have a pair of shoes go bad seemingly overnight?

Ready for 2015? I’m getting there- next post will be goals. 🙂

Festive Follow Through

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!

In all honesty, the last two weeks of running have been more miss than hit. I started December strong but went a little off track once my vacation was over. I drive past the lake path every night and wish I was running there instead of the gym. Driving home last night I noticed that the sunset lingered a little more than usual. I then did a happy little cheer in my car once I realized the solstice was the day before. Here’s for gaining more daylight every day!

Between Christmas activities, shopping trips and my stomach, longs runs have been non-existent the past 2 weeks. It’s not like I have a 25K in 5 weeks right? Oops. Actually, that was the first time I counted and now I am scared! Now I am really glad I followed through tonight. 🙂

I have over 400 Christmas songs but I love these. So odd, I know.

By the time I was off work, I had lost all desire to run- at least on a treadmill. But it was my only option, so I told myself to tough out 3 miles and head to the gym. I have been tired lately, and reading 80/20, so I set it to a 10:46 pace after a short warm up. I had Christmas music playing in my ears and there was hardly anyone in the gym, so that was nice. I found myself distracted by one of the tv’s; it was playing a show called North Woods Law. I admit that the extent of my reality tv is the Biggest Loser so I had no idea what it was. After a few minutes I gathered that it was like cops but with game wardens. 5 miles later I was still watching.. and running. Sweet! A new episode had just started but I didn’t think another 5-6 miles would be the best idea. Driving home, it occurred to me that after my warm up of .5 mile, I ran the rest without any walking breaks. So my stomach let me run 4.5 miles straight, woo hoo, bonus Christmas gift!! I kept the pace easy but other than the usual treadmill aches, I felt good! Oh and my shoes came untied 3 times. Seriously? I really need to put new laces in my Sayonaras.

I hope everyone is all caught up and prepared for the upcoming festivities. Hopefully not too many last-minute details. As for me I am looking forward to a shorter day at work before dinner with my family. And a little bit of re-wrapping. Putting gifts under the tree early apparently was too much temptation for the puppy-Do you run to holiday music?

Ever have a pet open/ damage a Christmas present? When my brother and I were kids, one of the cats clawed open the wrapping on a Sega Genesis- we knew what we were getting that Christmas!

Are you ready?

Unseasonably Warm

It’s December 28th and my run today happened in shorts and a tank top. Say what? Christmas day was in the 70’s and sunny. Boo hoo, I wanted clouds. 😦 Where is winter? I know I should stop complaining, it will be cold soon enough and I will probably complain about that too. I’m fickle like that 🙂 I passed one guy running in heavy black pants and full sweatshirt and hood followed by another 4 blocks later running only in shorts. I’m not sure which one seemed more out-of-place.

I did start out wearing a long-sleeved shirt but I lost it by mile 2. Ever have one of those runs where you felt like your stomach was leading you? I know I said that I wasn’t going to worry about December and maybe indulge a little, but I really shouldn’t have stepped on the scale this morning. Wah. And to continue the spiral, I ate a tri-tip sandwich while out shopping (Christmas returns) followed by a cinnamon roll at Panera. So counter-productive. But I think I have finally figured the new diet restrictions, so fingers crossed I level out soon. Plus my training plan starts Monday so bring on the calorie burn! Hopefully half marathon ready by February 15th 🙂

Today’s run was an easy 5.5 miles around the neighborhood. I normally don’t run after eating a lot of food because my stomach with its issue just doesn’t like it. But I am trying force myself to run through it. I usually don’t eat anything pre-race, even on half-marathon days. I know that I need to change that in the future. So like I said, I felt like my stomach was leading the way. That being said it was a pretty good run. Ran the first 3 in 30 minutes, with only a little walk break. As I rounded the top of a hill, I saw my mom and Zoey coming up it. I met up with them and walked with them for .5 mile. It added in another little hill but oh well, it had a big downhill. I took Zoey’s leash while we were walking but she must not have noticed, because about 3/10 of a mile in she looked up the leash and was very surprised to see me holding it. The look on her face was priceless. I left them at the downhill and ran on. I looped around and met back up with them at the school, water stop! I walked a bit more with them before running on to finish my run.

I love my new Garmin, and all its shiny new data. Even If I am still trying to figure it all out. I was able to send workouts to it but I have not made it to the track yet to test them out. Right now I all I know is that my pace is all over the place and my cadence is really low. More things to work on 🙂

I have one last guilty lunch with my family planned for tomorrow hopefully followed by a run. I also have boring errands and laundry to catch up on 😦

Anyone racing tomorrow? If you raced today, you rock!!!

Can you believe it’s almost 2014?!!

A Christmas 4

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you and yours are having a truly wonderful day!

Christmas day is the one day a year that I usually take my Slacker-ness to a whole new level. Like stay in my pajamas all day, Slacker, But that’s ok right? Christmas is one day of the year that it’s acceptable to wear matching pajamas, right? That was my plan for today. However things changed a bit after opening presents this morning. My amazing parents sprung for a Garmin for Christmas!! So I had to test it out right?

After a yummy breakfast and gift opening, we relaxed watching movies. Choice for the morning- Red 2. I then joined my mom and Zoey for an early afternoon walk. Well it was supposed to be a walk, but I really wanted to play with my new toy. So I would run ahead and then double back. I only almost lost them once. I threw in a hill loop and it took me longer to catch back up. It upped an easy run into a temporary tempo, ha! I ran with the Garmin and the Nike App, just to compare. They were pretty dead on to each other. 4.25 miles to 4.23. I love being able to check my pace as I am running. This may make me more neurotic than ever, haha.

Then it was time for an amazing dinner of Beef Stroganoff and the previously mentioned matching pajamas. Fleece ones this year, so much better than flannel. Then it was time for the Doctor Who Christmas special, a tradition these past few years. I won’t lie, I may get a little misty eyed this time around.

Hope everyone has had a great day!!

How many of you got running gear for Christmas?