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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I had to split this into two posts, since the decorations portion ended up hogging an entire post. Here are the rest of our Christmas traditions!

Christmas Cards

Although it nearly gives me carpal tunnel, I love writing Christmas cards. It’s fun to sit down and write a special note in each one and then decorate the envelopes with stickers. 🙂

In return, it’s also fun receiving Christmas cards. I like to keep all of ours in a basket in the living room.

Cookies

My ‘signature’ Christmas cookie is gingerbread men. I started making them a few years ago. I’ve since tweaked my recipe a few times, and have it exactly how I want it (for now). The gingerbread men are pretty labor intensive, because I decorate each individual one. But there’s nothing like a cookie that smiles back at you.

This year I also made pumpkin snickerdoodle white chocolate chip cookies. I came across the recipe on HRG‘s blog, and gave them a try at Thanksgiving. Everyone raved about them, and I ended up making several batches just over the holiday weekend. I think they work well as Christmas cookies, too.

We take cookies with us when we travel to see family, and I also mail cookies to family members who we’re also mailing gifts to.

Music/Movies

I am a huge fan of Christmas movies. I have a large collection, and at least five or six that would qualify as favorites. It would be impossible for me to pick just one! During the holidays, I try and make sure I sit down to watch each one if I have time. I also like having them on in the background as I wrap gifts, bake cookies, and decorate.

I also love Christmas music, but I have to be careful not to OD on it. For me, it’s easy to cross the line into “too much” territory and I will get tired of it. This year I bought a Duck Dynasty Christmas CD thinking it would be funny, but it’s actually a great album!

Traveling

Since my side of the family and Barry’s live at opposite ends of the state, we also spend a lot of time traveling during the holidays. It takes a lot of planning in advance to coordinate schedules with everyone, but I make sure we’ll see everyone during the holidays. This year Barry has to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so I’ll be home with the dogs. We’re actually in Bristol visiting Barry’s family this weekend and we’ll be heading to the other end of the state next weekend to see mine.

Gift Wrapping

This one goes at the very end, because the gifts aren’t the real reason for the season. But they are a big part of it. I love putting lots of thought into gifts and then wrapping them as best I can.

 

I really want each one to look great, because that makes receiving the gift even better. Unfortunately, I am a bit limited because of my poor arts and crafts skills, but I do my best. I’ve gotten a lot better at tying bows this year!

Do you have a ‘signature’ cookie or other item you make for the holidays?
What’s your favorite Christmas/holiday movie?
Do you travel a lot during the holidays?

 

Only one week left until Christmas. Commence freak out! If you celebrate Christmas, I hope that you have been able to get the ‘tedious’ things out of the way so you can sit back and enjoy time with friends and family.

There are lots of traditions that go along with the holidays this time of year. For me, none of them are allowed to start until after December 6, which is my dad’s birthday. But once December 7 rolls around it’s time to kick it into high gear, like the flip of a light switch. Get ready for picture overload!

Decorations

I was a bit worried about how I would get all of my decorating done this year, since I am out of town every single weekend in December until New Years. But with being sick all last week and not running at all, I was able to get most of my decorating done!

My favorite thing about decorating the house is taking out each item and remembering all of the memories associated with it. Even Larry the Quilt Lamb, who was an awesome surprise gift last year from my in-laws, is getting festive.

Marvin the Moose made an appearance again this year!

He hangs outside with the rest of our Christmas lights. We have two Rhododendron bushes in front of our house, and I think they look kind of tropical with the Christmas lights on them.

And of course we have our advent calendar. I love this one, because we get to reuse it each year, and you get to hang an ornament on the tree each night.

New additions this year included a Christmas runner for our dining room table, a light up tree (in the center of the table) and a train! I’m sure our guests won’t mind eating at the table as the train goes around 🙂

Of course the centerpiece of the decorations is the Christmas tree. Our tree is a little 4 foot tall pre-lit artificial tree. It’s loaded down with ornaments! I think nearly every branch is full 🙂 Maybe it’s time for a bigger tree?

Going along with the tree is our mantelpiece decorations, including our stockings (hung by the fire with care, yada yada).

And that about does it! Since this is already entirely too long, I am going to split the rest of the Christmas traditions into a second post. Tomorrow I’ll share about Christmas cards, cookies, and all those wonderful Christmas movies.

Do you put up a lot of holiday decorations? If so, what’s your favorite one? I love the tree with all of its ornaments, and I really like my new train.

Have you ever heard of the sport of cup stacking? Oh yes, it’s a sport. In fact, is has grown into a worldwide sport, and is now known as Sport Stacking with it’s own World Sport Stacking Association.

I discovered cupstacking when I was in sixth or seventh grade, when it wasn’t a widespread, well-known activity. In fact, I don’t think it stretched beyond the borders of the U.S. at the time.

Before I go any further, I should probably explain to you what cup stacking is. It’s a sport that involves stacking specialized cups in a specific series of formations in as little time as possible. There are three different sequences used in competition (yes, there are competitions!). There’s the 3-3-3 stack, the 3-6-3 stack, and the cycle. The cycle stack is a series of 3 stacking patterns that go from a 3-6-3, to a 6-6, to a 10 stack. Still not getting it? Here’s an example of the cycle stack:

Sorry about the video quality, but it was a miracle I managed to make a video and post it at all. By the way, that’s the first time I’ve ever appeared in a video on my blog 🙂

I never actually competed in any competitions, but my little sister and I would often compete against each other. Even back when I first learned about the sport, when it was relatively new, there was still a World Championship for cup stacking and there was a world record holder. The record holder at that time was Emily Fox. Interestingly enough, her father got her started with cup stacking when he introduced it to her PE class in elementary school. Four years later, at the age of 16, she set the first world record in cup stacking with a time of 7.43 seconds. Interestingly enough, she also knew how to ride a 6 foot unicycle like me!

Shortly after I began stacking, I entered a writing competition online, put on by Speed Stacks (the cup manufacturer). I ended up winning a stack mat autographed by Emily Fox and a free set of cups. I still have both, and the stack mat is the one I’m using in my video. It has touch pads that you use to start and stop the built-in timer.

Today, sport stacking has become a pretty big deal. The World Championships is now a huge event that draws kids from over 18 countries, and sport stacking is now included in the AAU Junior Olympics. The competitions include kids stacking individually, as well as on relay teams and as doubles (where one person is the right hand and the other is the left hand). These kids mean business and they’re really fast! In case you’re interested, HERE is a video of the current record holder. I have no idea how that kid’s hands move so fast!

Cup stacking is great for kids. It teaches them concentration and helps improve hand-eye coordination. It’s a great activity to introduce to elementary school-aged kids in PE class, and that has been done in many schools across the country. It’s definitely a lot of fun, whether you’re a kid or an adult!

Have you ever heard of cup stacking?
What unusual sports/activities have you done?

Last week was a pretty rough week. I mentioned last Monday that I had a bad sore throat. By Monday night I had gone way downhill and had a bad, full blown sinus infection that was also in my chest. It was worse than the one I had in September/October, but luckily I got myself to the doctor Tuesday afternoon instead of waiting three weeks like last time 🙂 I got some antibiotics, which are in the process of working their magic now. Due to the chest congestion (and due to being worn out walking up the steps) I didn’t run all week or weekend. I’m still not feeling back to 100%, yet, but I was feeling well enough to stick to my weekend plans.

Saturday morning started out with a trip to the vet for Scout, just for routine vaccines. She used to love going to the vet, but ever since we had her ‘fixed’ I think she always thinks we are going to leave her there when we go.

Trips to the vet always exhaust her, so she pretty much slept the whole way home and the rest of the weekend. Hank chose to ‘sympathy sleep’ with her all weekend. Bums.

On Saturday afternoon, I left the sleeping dogs and headed up to Charlottesville for my Dad’s girlfriend’s brother’s Christmas Party. Barry had to work, which was a bummer, so I flew solo this weekend. But the party was a lot of fun. I met a lot of new people and got to check out an amazing house. I also found the coolest/funniest Christmas decoration I have ever seen, which was hand sewn in the 60’s.

I spent the night in Charlottesville Saturday night and after a delicious brunch on Sunday morning, I was back on the road home. Once I got home, I spent the afternoon writing my Christmas cards and doing a bit more gift wrapping. Nearly done!

Now I just have to make a gazillion batches of cookies this week!

P.S. Be sure to come back on Wednesday! I’ve got something to share with you that I’ve been working on for awhile (no – it’s not a baby announcement). I bet a lot of you have never heard of it before! 🙂 Plus I will be appearing in a video for the first time on my blog. Yikes!

What did you do this weekend?
Do you send Christmas/holiday greeting cards? They’re a lot of work, but I love sending them!