Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate!

I took some time out to enjoy the holidays with my family and with Sean. I also had the distinct pleasure of losing my job on December 23 (sense the sarcasm?). My former employer certainly had a sense of humor when it came to handing out pink slips.

But the good news is that I always come up swinging. I have been working on a huge project and it's finally a done deal! I am going to be working with a big name company, their marketing reps, and a big city marathon. As soon as I have permission to share all the details I promise I will!

I also scheduled my ACSM Certified Personal Training exam for the end of January. Thanks to this I may have a job at my gym. They hope to be hiring a new trainer in February so the timing may just work out perfectly!

Last but not least, I have applied to be an adjunct instructor at a career school. I'm awaiting a review of my qualifications and transcripts but hopefully I will also be teaching classes such as Kinesiology and Anatomy & Physiology in February!

 Post-Christmas lunch cuddles

I've still stuck to my plan through all of this. I started week 8 today and Sean has been going with me every day for the most part. It's been hard being surrounded by treats and junk food. I can't say I haven't fallen off the nutrition wagon a few times but I'm still doing the best I can. I have 4 weeks to make the best of my lean out phase after this week and I intend to kill it.

Christmas Selfies at the gym

On a final, and much funnier, note I saw the weirdest and coolest thing ever while at the gym yesterday. I was on the treadmill doing my long run and I glanced up out the window to see a man with a leash in his hand. Attached to the other end was a large, brown animal. I assumed it was a dog at first but then I realized it definitely wasn't!

I thought maybe my pre-workout was the problem or maybe I was hallucinating. And then the man on the elliptical behind me exclaimed, "That man is walking a deer!" I let out a sigh of relief and then tried to get Sean's attention so he could come see. I didn't succeed so I did the next best thing and grabbed my phone!

Merry Christmas! Here is a pic of a man walking a deer! 

The Anti-Gift List

As a blogger, a mother, a girlfriend, and member of the good old USA I tend to get smothered with (and sucked into) gift buying just like everyone else. I look at a pile of presents and wonder if it's 'enough'. I take on even more overtime to buy 'stuff' for the people I love. And then the holidays come and go and all that's left is a pile of wrapping paper. So instead of writing another 'what to buy the (runner, man, child) in your life' post I am writing the antithesis!

1.) Decorate your home/tree/yard together!

Go as big or little as you want. Put up inflatable Santas or wire and light reindeer. Make your own Charlie Brown tree. Bake salt dough ornaments. Or go all out Clark Griswold style!

2. Bake something!

You can make cookies or a cake. Make it as healthy (or not!) as you want. Get flour all over, feed eachother cookie dough, and laugh at the ridiculous cookie cutters Great Aunt Nancy gave you.

(Photo Credit: Tumblr)

3.) Get outside or workout

Throw snowballs, build a snowman, take a walk, head to the gym, or even shovel some white stuff together! 

(Photo Credit: PopSugar)

4.) Break out the home movies!

What else makes you feel closer to your loved ones than laughing at their bad perm or braces?

(Photo Credit: The Ellen Show)

5.) Make breakfast in bed

Because why not?!

(This is actually a tee shirt!)

6.) Write a letter

Yes, with a pen and a piece of paper. Grab and envelope and a stamp and send someone far away (or near!) an old fashioned note.

7.) Build a blanket and pillow fort

Because you can!

That's it! Get on with it! Go make some memories and save yourself the headaches of fighting crowds, tracking shipments, and losing the scissors or the tape while wrapping!

Training Week 4

Well my highest mileage week in probably EVER is over! And I survived! I can't believe I can say I ran 50 miles this week with no ultras or marathons to pad my total. And I ran all of those miles in 9:23:32. Wish I could do that when I run a 50 mile race! We also had our first snow of the season this week so it made for some interesting runs!

Gem in the snow

So what does a 50 mile week look like?

Monday: Walk 3 miles at 15:08 average pace on a 1% incline plus weights.

Tuesday: 1 mile warm up, 6 miles at steady state pace, 1 mile cooldown. Total: 8 miles @ 9:50 average.

Wednesday: 8 miles of 9/1 run/walks on the trail. Total: 8 miles @10:59 average.

Altras in the snow

Thursday: 1.5 mile warm up, run 5/4/3/2/1/2/3/4/5 minutes hard with 2 minutes recovery between, cool down. Total: 7.5 miles @ 9:45 average.

Friday: Walk 6.5 miles on 1-7% incline increasing .5% every .5 miles. Total: 6.5 @ 14:58 average.

Saturday: Hang out with family and exchange gifts. Stuff face, drink too much wine, and laugh a lot while the kids play in the snow.

Ash in the snow

Sunday: 17 miles @ 10:40 average pace. Really nice day on some easy trail and road plus one giant hill!

Elevation profile of Sunday's long run

Totals: 50 miles/9:23:32 or 11:15 per mile average.

Now I get to reward myself with my first cutback week just in time for Christmas! And hopefully just in time to PR at a NYE 5k!

How's your training? Got any fun holiday plans?