It was unseasonably warm here in Virginia this past week. So warm, in fact, that I wore shorts and a short sleeved shirt on all of my runs. A late night Redskins Monday night football game kept my friend Tracy and me up too late to meet our 5:30 AM running friends, so we met at 8:30. I forgot to take the GoPro along so after our run I headed back out for a few strides across the bridge behind our house. 

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Wednesday morning was quite foggy, but by the time I headed out for my solo three-mile run the fog was starting to burn off. I stayed close to home and ran along one of the many trails that runs through our community. We’re fortunate to have 28-miles of trails that meander through the common area, most in wooded areas. I know these trails like the back of my hand, and find them to be a cooler alternative to running in the sun on the W&OD Trail – especially when I need to run in the middle of the day during the summer.

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Bill and I were thinking of volunteering at Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday so I wanted to get my long run in earlier in the week, and my friends were willing to accompany me onThursday. BTW, volunteering didn’t happen when we learned that abut 50,000 other people were expected to show up and we’d be lucky to get two wreaths to lay. We had purchased wreaths in late November, so I feel good that we were able to help out in some way.

Thursday morning’s early run was extremely foggy as well. Our friend Angela set up a new course for us through her neighborhood so we could admire the Christmas lights. After returning some of our friends to the parking lot at the end of the first five miles, Dora, Mary, Angela and I ran five more miles. 

We tried to take a few pictures in the fog with the flash and here’s what we got – highlighted water droplets!

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I turned the flash off and Dora was able to get this picture of me just a few seconds later. This pic is edited in Camera+; however, the difference between the flash and no flash was huge.

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Thursday evening Bill and I decided to have Chipotle carryout for dinner. I stopped in at 6:10 PM when the line would usually be wrapped back and forth around those line dividers and then on into the eating area. I suppose Bill and I are greater chance takers than some other people after the two recent scares – one on each coast.

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Friday I put the finishing touches on our outdoor decorations with this wreath. Oh wait, this is our only outdoor decoration this year – and it’s on the deck on the back of our house. 

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Saturday morning I was pretty stoked to meet up with the Cruisers for our first organized group run in forever. At our Christmas party last Sunday, one of the Cruisers asked if we could start a “lazy Cruisers” Saturday morning running group. They don’t like starting at 6:30 AM like I do, so no one had been showing up for my planned runs. Cruisers Kim, Amanda, Beth and I have been running regularly with our MRTT friends, and for us it was usually the earlier the better. With nobody interested in meeting me, I’d quit sending weekly invites. I could always count on the Cruisers for special events like our National Running Day evening run, our annul Bunny Hop, our Thanksgiving morning post-race brunch, and of course our Christmas party.

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While out, we met Cruiser Kim on her way back from her run. She would have loved to run with the Cruisers, but we were meeting too late. 😉 Kim is running with Danielle who seems extremely happy to us!

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We were cheered on by some more of my MRTT friends, and as we ran by I told them that I was two-timing on them with the Cruisers.

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I had a list a mile long of things Bill and I needed to get done after my run, and bagging leaves in the back yard was on the list. We checked almost everything everything off our list, including bagging this long line of leaves. Bill got a new back-pack leaf blower in the spring, and man, did it make a huge difference!

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After a dinner of yogurt and blueberries (we’d each had a foot-long sub for a late lunch), I wrapped Christmas presents and watched Rudolph before falling into bed around 11 PM. It was one of those nights were I was actually too tired to fall asleep… 

This morning I woke up feeling great with zero back pain even though I spent much of yesterday bending over filling bag with leaves and carrying them up the hill and to the curb. Those core and lower back exercises are really paying off! Yippee!

Weekly Recap: 

  • Weights: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
  • Runs: Tuesday – 6.2 miles, Wednesday – 3.1 Thursday – 10 miles, Saturday – 4 miles (Total: 23.3 miles)
  • Stretching: Daily
  • Average Steps Per Day: 12,756
  • Average Hours Sleep Per Night: 6:19

 

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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap.  Be sure to check out not only the hosts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

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Have a great week!

  • Questions:
  • Would you eat at Chipotle despite the recent news?
  • Have you had snow yet?
  • Did you race this weekend?