Let The Craziness Begin!

Last week, planning ahead, I worked out on Sunday so I could move up my Wednesday weight training sessions to Tuesday. I didn’t want an easy excuse to miss a session and since I didn’t want to lift the day before my turkey trot on Thursday, a Wednesday workout wasn’t in the cards. I learned last summer how easy it is to let weight training slip to the wayside – even as a trainer…

We had a cold early morning run on Tuesday with a great turnout from my faithful early morning friends. Knowing your friends are depending on you is the best motivator there is to get out of your warm cozy bed on a cold dark morning at 4:40 AM!

Once home from the run, I headed straight to my basement to lift until the sun came out. With GoPro in hand, I headed out for some strides, followed by some stretching and foam rolling back in my warm basement.

On Tuesday evening I met some of my running friends for drinks and dinner. We declared it a social media free night, sans one picture of our margaritas and lone sangria. We had a blast and decided that we really need to take the time for each other off of the trails more often!

Wednesday was another crazy work day as I fit all of my Thursday/Friday clients in before the holiday. After finishing up with my last client I headed to packet pick-up for the next day’s turkey trot.

Later that afternoon, I saw that I’d been tagged in the following Instagram post. I have no idea why Liu Zheng chose to sketch my picture from nine weeks earlier, but I like it! 

Just for fun, here’s the original picture I posted…

Thursday morning our family started our Thanksgiving the same way we have for years – with the Ashburn Farm Thanksgiving Day 5K. There’s a 10K and 2K, but for the last several years we’ve been running the 5K. Daniel and I toed the starting line together with the plans of racing each other, but he took off and left me in his dust. I’d actually thought I might be able to keep up with him, but he finished about a minute in front of me.

After the race the Cruisers came back to our house for our annual post-race champagne brunch. Not pictured are Joseph, Julie, Bill, and Erin. Stay tuned for a complete race recap on Tuesday.

After an afternoon of making the most decadent smoked Gouda and bacon mac ‘n cheese ever (and a tossed salad), we headed to Julie’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a terrific time and are so thankful for our new extended family/friends.

Once back home, Bill set up his camera for our Christmas card pic before Joseph and Julie headed back to Chicago. We kicked ourselves for not taking a picture of the five of us on the Chicago River in our kayaks in September – a much more fitting picture for our active family.

I spent Friday putting up our Christmas tree while I had Joseph and Daniel here to help. Because I worked retail years ago, I refuse to fight the crowds needlessly these days on Black Friday. It’s a lot more fun and relaxing to stay home with my family, and since they don’t live local any more, I enjoy every second with them that I can!

Saturday morning I met my MRTT friends for our Saturday run at 7 AM. We just missed a gorgeous sunrise, but in a month the timing will be perfect.

With varying sub-groups running different distances and at different paces (my group ran seven miles at a 9:30 pace), we always meet each other a variety of times on the trail, and this is just one example. I love the opportunity to encourage and say hi to our fellow runners mid-run!

After our group run, I hit a side trail for a few GoPro shots. And yes, I slipped my jacket on for a pop of color! 

After my run, I lifted weights and worked some more on Christmas decorations while nervously watching our final regular season game of the year. It could have been Frank Beamer’s final game as the Hokies’ head coach, but a win secured a bowl bid for the 23rd time in his 29-year tenure. Yesterday’s win also brought the Commonwealth Cup back to Blacksburg for the twelfth consecutive year! And even though my mom has her master’s degree from the University of Virginia, she always cheers for the Hokies in this rivalry weekend matchup. 🙂

TV screenshot of Frank Beamer being lifted by his players

And finally it’s official, this afternoon Janet (Julie’s mom) and I registered for the Chicago Spring Half Marathon on May 22. It runs along Lake Michigan and should be an absolutely gorgeous race. Rooms are booked, and I can’t wait!

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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!

Have a great week!

• Questions:
• How did you celebrate Thanksgiving?
• Have you planned your 2016 race schedule?
  
• Did you run in a turkey trot on Thursday or another race this weekend?