Holiday Party

The holidays are past and we're 'celebrating' my birthday as I type. By celebrating I mean Shane and Ash are out cold and Gem and I are trying to be quiet!

Christmas is all about family and friends and too much food. We definitely did it right this year! The girls and I spent Saturday before Christmas with my side of the family. It was great to see my mom, her husband, my aunt and uncle, and my grandmother (plus all four dogs!) and catch up on what has been going on in our lives.

Christmas morning we opened gifts at home, just the four of us. There were a lot of presents under the tree but some of them stood out more than others. Here's a sampling of what Santa left for the Brunazzi clan:

Shane got an INKnBURN handheld

 

 

 The girls got all of the My Little Ponys they were missing from their collection.

 

 

Gem was really excited about Princess Cadence

 

 I got custom drop bags plus new INKnBURN gear!

 

 

 Close up of my new drop bag!

 

 Lily got a new ball, which she promptly destroyed, and a new sweater.

 

 And our little tree peaked in from the porch (to protect it from the ferocious dachshund above)

 

In the early afternoon Shane's parents came over for Christmas dinner and we ate more ham, lasagna, veggies, and rolls than anyone has a right to. After that it was presents with Shane's side and once again we were overwhelmed with wonderful and thoughtful gifts. A new purse for me, pajamas for Ash, a sweater and a robe for Gem, new clothes for Shane. Plus a gift card for Red Lobster.

 

Being that today is my 28th (WOAH!) birthday we put that card to good use. We each ordered our fill of seafood delights and desserts and left stuffed to the brim. Hence, the sleeping half of the family! One day I'd really love to run to celebrate my birthday, e.g. 28 miles for 28 years, but this year my birthday fell on a cutback week so I only got 7 miles for my birthday this year. Maybe next year...

 

What did you get for Christmas? What was your favorite running or fitness related gift? Do you have any special traditions?

Randoms, Running and WOD's

Since signing up for Burning River 100 I have been focused on getting into training and finally finishing my first hundred. I have been plotting with an amazing ultra beast and my CrossFit coach. I've been having salad at night in front of the TV instead of M&M's (those come later) and I'm drinking more water than I ever knew I could hold. (Glad hubby pays the sewage bill!)

This week is my first week of real training since Marshall University Marathon. I was so excited (and I still am) but I forgot how much real training sucks too. It's been a fun couple days mentally readjusting to not being able to easily walk up and down stairs or get up from the couch. And it's not even a ton of mileage yet either!

Today I took it easy and ran my prescribed mileage at recovery pace. And then I hit CrossFit for some more torture training. This was the WOD I was given by my coach:

I didn't push super hard. I wasn't out of breath when it was over. I focused on slow and steady but still my legs wanted to rip themselves off and club me with my Altra shoes. As you can see I only managed 8 rounds + 2/3 of a 9th round. I really can't wait to get into shape where a 30-ish mile week and two CrossFit WOD's don't total me. Instead of being upset I'm just going to use it to fuel my fire. By July this won't even be worth doing as a WOD, maybe not even as a warm up.

In other news, Christmas is bearing down on us (which also means I'll be another year older, you can send presents). Most of my shopping is done and everything that's here is wrapped. Even the Christmas cards went out already. I'm pretty proud of myself! But what I'm really ashamed proud of is this:

My poor Lily has been walking around shivering in our drafty old house. She is always on my lap or under a blanket or trying to cuddle with our other dog. I finally took pity on her and bought her Dachshund pajamas. Yes, there are companies that make extra long clothes just for weiner dogs. And yes, I am now one of THOSE people. My dog wears clothes....

In other (odd) news, I'm not racing this weekend. Shane has signed up for at least one 5k and may do a 5k/10k combo race the next day. It's really weird for me to say no to (THREE!) races but I know I need to put in my long run and then rest up for next week. Eyes on the prize and all that jazz... What's cool is that I might be able to be a spectator and cheering squad for once!? Never gotten to cheer on Shane in a race before. Maybe Sunday could be the first!