**The answers to Monday’s game are at the bottom of this post. Be sure to check out Monday’s post before reading this one, if you want to play along!

Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Year’s. Barry and I are planning on having a quiet, low key New Year’s at home since he is working today and tomorrow. Just as well after all of the traveling we have been doing lately.

Last night we got home from my Dad’s house. We spent the weekend and the first part of the week there celebrating Christmas #3 with my side of the family. We enjoyed lots of time with family, good food, some nice gifts, and an all around fun time. While we were up that way, I took a trip to the dentist (who happens to be my uncle) and had my first-ever cavity. That part was not so much fun. But I survived.

With today being New Year’s Eve, I am reflecting on the past year as a whole, as well as the past year in running. Recently, Jan posted a really neat graphic recapping her 2014 racing. I thought it was really cool and decided to join in, too. Mine’s not as cool as hers, though.

I have five more days off of work (including Saturday and Sunday) so I’m planning to soak up the last of my freedom. My main goal is to get outside and run, and especially put in some time on the trails. My workout schedule got really out of whack during the busy holidays, but it’s time to get back on track. My first race in the trail series I signed up for is on January 10. That seems far away, but it’s actually next weekend. Oh boy! I’m probably going to pay dearly for my lack of running lately, but between now and then I plan to get in as much running as I can so that the race isn’t a total bust.

Have you ever had a cavity?
What are your New Year’s plans?
Do you have any resolutions for 2015?

*Monday’s answers: 1. A Christmas Story; 2. The Santa Clause; 3. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation; 4. Elf; 5. Home Alone; 6. Christmas With The Kranks; 7. Four Christmases

**Sorry if you saw this post earlier and none of the pictures were showing up. I think I have it fixed, now.

We are still at my Dad’s house enjoying the last of the holiday festivities. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to play a little Christmas-themed game.

Below are a bunch of snapshots from some of my favorite Christmas movies, along with a clue for each one. Your job is to try and guess the movie!

1. Do you remember a Christmas when you were a kid, where there was one present you wanted most of all?

 

2. Who would have thought you could get roped into being Santa Clause by a sneaky contract.

 

3. Things can get pretty crazy when you decide to have “a real family Christmas.”

 

4. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

 

5. I’m not sure I could have managed something like this when I was eight.

 

6. Would your neighborhood turn against you if you decided to skip Christmas?

 

7. When you’re in a relationship with someone, meeting each other’s families (all in one day, I might add) can be pretty stressful.

 

Gold star if you can guess them all!

*All movie photos are from the Internet Movie Database.

Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Yesterday after I finished up with work, I spent the majority of the day making more cookies (like 5 hours). I’m usually a purist when it comes to gingerbread, and will only make gingerbread men, but I decided to branch out this time.

Once the cookies were done it was pretty much time to start making dinner. After Barry got home from work, we sat down to a Christmas Eve dinner of Cornish game hens, roasted red potatoes, and brussel sprouts.

I tried to trick my Dad into thinking we had roasted two of our chickens, by texting him pictures of them in the cast iron skillets, but he wasn’t fooled! After dinner, Barry and I made a gingerbread train (instead of a house) while we watched A Christmas Story. I think this may be a new tradition in the making. 🙂

And before bedtime, it was time to set out some treats for Santa. Last year instead of cookies and milk I left Santa energy gels and water. This year I decided to go a different direction…

Some pickled eggs and a “boy soda.” It looks like he was pleased, as there are gifts under the tree and no coal in our stockings.

I hope everyone has a great holiday! We will be headed up to visit my dad this weekend, and to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family.

Merry Christmas!

 

What are you Christmas Eve traditions?

 

This past weekend was my third weekend of traveling in a row. I’ve been seeing a lot of Interstate 81 lately. This time we headed down to Barry’s parents house to celebrate Christmas with them for the weekend.

My weekend got an early start with a short workday Friday. I spent the rest of the day getting packed, giving the dogs baths (they were getting a bit hound-y smelling), doing laundry, etc. I also snuck in a little 3 mile run on the treadmill. This was the first time I’ve run in 12 days. I was finally feeling well enough to try an easy run. It didn’t feel all that easy, probably because I’m still not totally over my chest congestion (I felt a bit short of breath during my run) and because of lost fitness. But I did enjoy watching one of my favorite Christmas movies while I ran: The Santa Clause.

After Barry got home from work Friday evening, we hit the road to head down to Bristol. On Saturday we enjoyed lots of family time and got to spend some time visiting with friends as well. The day also included several trips up and down Barry’s parent’s driveway while walking Hank and Scout. They have a really steep driveway, and it is a lot of work to walk up it. I think I got in some good training for all of my trail races this spring!

On Sunday we went to church and enjoyed a really great service. We got a tour of Barry’s sister’s new house, and then headed back to Barry’s parent’s house for lunch with Barry’s parents and his sister and her boyfriend. We spent some time watching the Steeler’s football game and then exchanged gifts. After that it was time to hit the road and head home. Two puppy dogs were pretty worn out by that point.

Barry has to work all week this week (including Christmas Eve and Day), so we will be home for the week. I’m working Monday, Tuesday, and then have a half day Wednesday and then I’m free for 10 days in a row. I can’t wait! Next weekend we’ll be making our last trip of the year up to my Dad’s house to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family.

Do you get time off for the holidays?
Who else is doing some traveling during the holidays?
If you have a Christmas Tree: real or artificial?

This is the final Runners Tell All link-up of 2014! Where has the year gone? First off, I want to thank Beka @Sunshine to the Square Inch and Amanda @The Lady Okie for hosting this great monthly link-up this year. I have really enjoyed participating in it, and reading other’s thoughts on each month’s topic. It has led me to some new blogs which I now enjoy reading on a regular basis. It has also given me the opportunity to pause and reflect on various moments throughout my running career. Which brings me to this month’s topic: 2014 reflections and 2015 goals.

2014 reflections: All the miles.

I dubbed 2014 as my “race palooza” year. I decided I just wanted to run any and all races that were within a reasonable distance from where we live, so I did. My other goal was to establish a decent endurance base, to where I could run a half marathon any time I wanted. I guess that worked out, since I ended up “hopping” into six half marathons this year without specifically training for any of them. In total, I ran 18 races, which is the most I’ve ever run in a year.

Oh yes, I made a graph. The miscellaneous category includes a 17.75K race, a 25K trail race, an obstacle race, and an overnight relay.

This year was a pretty big year for me, running-wise. I have run more miles this year than I ever have before in a single year, thanks in part to the Hansons marathon training plan (seriously, these guys should be paying me at this point…). The year isn’t over, yet, but so far I have logged 1,129 miles.

The desire to run my second full marathon topped my race wish list for “race palooza.” I wanted to run a big race, and I did so by running the Marine Corps Marathon in October. Despite not meeting my A, B, or C goals I still had an amazing experience. I hadn’t ever run such a large race like that, and it truly was awesome. Even more so since it was put on by the Marines and there were thousands of service men and women out there on the course cheering us on. They even said thank you to us at the finish line, for running their race. All I could think was “no, thank you for what you do every day.”

2015 goals: More trails!!

I did a little exploring on trails at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. I also ran three trail races. Honestly, after my experience at my very first trail race, it’s a wonder I signed up for another one. It had a really cool name, just not ideal conditions for your first trail race.

But I did sign up for more trail races, and I had an amazing experience at the next two. My second and third trail races were the final two races in a series called the Roanoke Non-Ultra Trail Series, put on by Mountain Junkies LLC.

In fact, I had so much fun that I signed up for the series in 2015. The series kicks off with the Frozen Toe 10K on January 10 and culminates with the Conquer the Cove 25K (25K for me, there’s also a full marathon option) on May 31.

In total, I’ll be running five trail races between January and May! In fact, the only road race on my schedule right now is the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. But let’s face it – despite that race being run entirely on pavement, it’s more like a trail race than a road race. That’s why they call it ‘America’s Toughest Road Half Marathon.’

I can hear the trails and mountains calling my name, and I can’t wait to answer their call!

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