I think I will continue with weekly workout recaps on Monday mornings. I’m no longer following a training plan, so my workout regiment will become a lot looser since I’ll just do what I want to do/feel like doing each day. If these end up getting boring or monotonous, I’ll probably just stop doing them. But I enjoy seeing a snapshot of what others did for the week as a whole for workouts, so I’ll keep doing them for now.

I didn’t lay that out for you, buddy.

 
Wednesday- Cross training. Walked Hank and Scout by myself for 90 minutes (in the 20 degree weather with 30 mph winds and snow). I needed to wear them out and needed something to do while my sister got her hair done at the salon. At times my heart rate was up when we achieved a brisk pace, but this was mostly an arm workout while walking two 100+ pound dogs myself.

Thursday- Drumstick Dash 5K. My dad and I drove up to Roanoke on Thanksgiving morning to do the runner/spectator thing. I pushed myself, but not too hard since I think my muscles are still recovering from the marathon. It was a cold morning, but a fun run.

Friday- In the morning we had my own version of “overnight oats” for breakfast. This is a recipe that my dad gave me that is pretty good and it isn’t what you’re thinking when I say overnight oats. It’s actually just oatmeal that cooks all night in the crock pot. Before going to bed you place two sliced apples, 1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in the bottom of the crock pot. Top that with 2 cups oatmeal, 2 cups milk, and 2 cups water. Cook on low 8-9 hours overnight and voila! breakfast is ready when you get up in the morning.

My food pictures always look kind of gross. I’m sorry.

As far as exercise goes I did some cross training in the form of a brisk 3 mile walk with my dad in the afternoon. Unthinkingly we went by Wal-mart on the way home to pick up some ingredients for Saturday’s dinner and both of us completely forgot that it was Black Friday. My dad realized what day it was after we had checked out and were walking out of the store. I can now say I have been shopping at Wal-mart of all places on Black Friday.

Saturday- 2 mile run with Sven followed by a Jillian Michaels 30 day shred workout. The original plan was to warm up for 1/2 a mile, run the middle mile comfortably hard, and then run a 1/2 mile cool down before Jillian. But then as I started to pick up the pace it felt good so I continued to bump it up throughout the run. Then I did a brief cool down walk before hitting the yoga mat for my 30 day shred workout.

Sunday- 6.3 mile run in Radford, half on paved bike paths and half on trails. I’m going to do a separate post on this run in the next couple of days, but here’s a picture from the trail to hold you over. 

After I got home I did some cross training in the form of wrapping Christmas presents. I’m counting it since I spent two hours standing on my feet wrapping gifts after my legs were already tired from running.

My dad is probably shaking his head right now at the fact that I wrapped gifts on December 1, but I like to be surprised right along with the gift recipient when they unwrap the gift I got them (since I can never remember what it is).

Total Miles: 14.44 running / 7 walking

 

So I don’t really know how to wrap up this post. I have no schedule to share with you for this week. I will tell you I ran 83 miles in November and broke 1,000 miles for the year during this past month. I would have liked to have been above 100 miles for the month, but this month started with tapering for the marathon, running the race, and now recovering. For the rest of this year I am planning on just doing what I want to do each day. Usually I’ll plan what I want to do in the morning, which mostly guarantees a workout in the evening and keeps me from getting home and just taking up residence on the couch. 

When you’re not following a structured training plan, how do you decide what to do each day?

If you celebrate Christmas, when do you wrap your gifts? 

I started my Thanksgiving holiday last night, with a meet up with friends at a cupcake shop. Kim, Nicki, and I used to all run together back in the day until Nicki moved to Texas. Kim and I still run together on the weekends, and actually met through Nicki. It was great to all meet up, catch up, and eat cupcakes together (kind of the opposite of running, huh?).

Nicki, Kim, and me

My family also got into town for the holiday yesterday. Hank has a new buddy, named Nana, to hang out with on the couch now. He’s pretty pleased. Nana not so much.

This morning my dad and I headed up to Roanoke for the Drumstick Dash 5K. I ran the race and Dad acted as my personal race course photographer. It was a chilly 23 degrees outside, and I think they said it was around 13 degrees with the windchill. Brrr!

I think that may be the coldest race I’ve ever run. I finished the race in 28:08. I pushed, but not too hard. I think I probably could have finished in under 28 minutes had I realized we were approaching the finish line. There was a white banner about 2 blocks past the finish line, which I thought was the actual finish line. But then we ran over two mats and the race was over. Oops.

Once we got back from Roanoke it was time to start cooking Thanksgiving dinner! We ate a little later than usual, since Barry had to work today and wouldn’t be home until this evening. Here are the obligatory Thanksgiving dinner pictures:

Mashed potatoes, rolls, and stuffing

Turkey, cranberry sauce, green beans, cinnamon applesauce, and sweet potato casserole

Egg custard pie and pumpkin pie

And now it is time to watch ‘Home Alone’! This became a tradition in my family back when all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins used to eat Thanksgiving dinner at my Nana and Pop Pop’s house. After dinner all of the adults would fall asleep, so us kids would always watch ‘Home Alone’ and the tradition was born. Of course we also watched the end of the parade this morning and have watched football throughout the day.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is having a great day. May you always have much for which to be thankful!

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? 

Who else ran a race today? Anyone doing a weekend Thanksgiving race?

This is random and from a couple of weeks ago, but I still wanted to share. Scout has a certain spot where she always lays on the love seat in the living room. If you sit in her spot, she will usually get in your lap or sit next to you and stare at you until you move. On this particular day, Hank had decided to crawl into her spot to cuddle with me. Scout wasn’t having that (she also gets jealous), so she just climbed right on top of him and laid down. The crazy thing is Hank didn’t seem to mind. It didn’t last long, but still.

Sorry it’s grainy, it’s a cell phone picture

One of the perks of Barry working on a farm is that he comes home with surprises around the holidays. Last year it was a file box full of oranges, grapefruit, and various other citrus fruits. This year it’s 40 pounds of beef in the form of ground beef, t-bone steaks, cube steaks, beef liver, roast, and ground beef patties. Needless to say our chest freezer is very full now.

Since this is first and foremost a running blog, I should include something running related (I guess). I recently came across this collection of 41 running-inspired tattoos. Some of them are pretty wild, especially the really colorful ones of specific races. I think this one with the 26.2 and a dot for each successive marathon is pretty neat.

Since Thanksgiving is almost upon us, I also wanted to discuss Black Friday (dun dun duuuun). I have never gone out shopping on Black Friday and hopefully never will. The only purchase I’ve ever made on Black Friday was buying our giant dog crate (I kid you not, “giant” is the next size up from XL) and that purchase was made online. I know you have cyber Monday and all that, but this deal was available Friday.

Usually by the time Black Friday rolls around the majority of my Christmas shopping is done. For example, this year about 75% of it is done (don’t hate me). Here’s the great thing about that: when you wrap gifts in early December, you tend to forget what they are by the time Christmas arrives. Then when your friends and family open their gifts its as much a surprise for you as it is for them!

Do you have any tattoos? What are they?
No tattoos for me! I’m not necessarily opposed to them, but I’ve never been able to commit to what I’d want or where I’d want it.

Are you a Black Friday shopper? Share your stories from the trenches!

The holidays are finally here! Let’s talk about holiday running and racing. I have been waiting all year to post this picture!

Oh Elf, how I love you. With the arrival of the holidays comes holiday-themed racing. Thanksgiving Day 5K’s (or longer), Jingle Bell and Santa Shuffle runs pop up all around the country this time of year.

I love this time of year and especially love the holidays. There’s nothing better (in my opinion) to get you into the spirit of the season than a holiday-themed race. It’s also the time of year when that big goal race you trained for all summer has probably already taken place, so it’s a good time to relax and run a race or two for fun (sans training plan).

I am registered for the Drumstick Dash 5K on Thanksgiving Day, and my dad and I will be headed up to Roanoke for that. What better way to kick off a day centered around giving thanks and stuffing your face sharing a meal with family and friends?

From the 2012 race

December is right around the corner, and that means it’s time for the Jingle Bell 5K! This year I tricked roped Barry into running the race with me. I think he will run a PR for sure. Everyone ties jingle bells on their shoes for this race (which I love) and it is going to drive Barry nuts. So his only option will be to run very fast out in front of everyone else. Seriously, he’ll probably win the race.

One of my most favorite movies (not even favorite holiday movie, just favorite movie) is ‘A Christmas Story’. In the December issue of Runners World I read about a themed race in Cleveland, OH, centered around the movie. Runners actually get to run by the house and then get free passes to tour the ‘A Christmas Story’ house & museum! Someday I will drive to Cleveland and I will run this race! Google Maps says it’s only 6 hours away.

One of the main reasons I love the holidays so much is all of the family time. Spending time with family and upholding traditions is really important to me. We are often busy around the holidays, which can make it difficult to maintain a regular running routine. I am usually coming off of a fall race, so I’m not following any sort of training plan. But I do try to make sure I get in 3-4 runs per week. I find that the best way to do so is to run/workout in the morning/before the day’s activities so that nothing can get in the way.  You have to make it happen.

And you can’t let the weather get in your way, either!

Do you like to run any holiday races?

How do you maintain your workout routine during the holidays?

Do you have a favorite Christmas/holiday movie? If so, what is it?
It’s hard for me to pick one. My all time favorites are A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, and Elf to name a few.

Yesterday afternoon Barry and I headed up to Claytor Lake State Park for my first ever trail run! As we rolled into the park, I had butterflies in my stomach much the same as the ones I get right before the start of a race. We parked at one of the trail heads and took off into the woods. Right away we were climbing.

I need to get Barry to stop taking pictures of me while he’s standing on a hill. I’m short enough as it is.

I know some think it’s pretentious, but I earned it. And I’m not bragging, I’m celebrating my accomplishment.

Speaking of accomplishments, I forgot to mention that I surpassed 1,000 miles of running in 2013 during the week of my marathon. That’s something I’ve never done before, but was hoping I would accomplish this year with the added miles for marathon training.

Clearly I didn’t know I would be sharing a picture of my running log when I wrote so messily.