Two Times We Could Have Gotten Arrested – In One Week

Le’s get the boring stuff over with first so we can jump right in and talk about taking liberties with selfies and putting ourselves in a precarious position with the law. I lifted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I’m feeling great which has caused me to pause and reflect on how someone who lifted religiously three days a week for over twenty-five years found herself struggling to hold herself accountable for the last fourteen months. Since I think this can be a useful post for others who either can’t/won’t make time to lift, or just plain don’t like strength training, I plan to dedicate an entire post, just to that topic sometime early in 2016. 

I so wanted to sleep in on Tuesday, but when my phishing text to Tracy on Monday night hinting that I might run later in the morning didn’t generate an, “Oh cool, I think I’ll join you,” I decided I’d rather get up and run with the group than run alone later in the morning. As usual we had a fantastic time and after five miles four of us stopped while sending two of our other friends on to run nine miles. 

Lupe, Tiffany, Tracy, and I decided to get a fun selfie of us with one of the nutcrackers in front of the restaurant where we park. When that didn’t work out (we were getting pictures of us with the nutcracker’s crotch), we decided to get a picture of us with the Christmas tree inside the restaurant. While taking those pictures, one of the girls mentioned that we were probably showing up on their surveillance cameras…

Photo collage courtesy of Tracy

Once home, I headed back out with my GoPro for a few strides in the daylight, just to get a fun Instagram photo of me wearing shorts and a tank in mid-December. It’s how I roll…

Wednesday evening our MRTT chapter held a Holiday Lights Run. It was 50° so I showed up in a tank and shorts dressed for once I warmed up, not for standing around waiting for the run to start. I was bummed that I didn’t have a Christmasy looking tank, but I normally wouldn’t be wearing a tank in mid-December – thank you El Niño!  

After breaking my GoPro protective case (Bill fixed it when I got home), realizing I’d left my tail light at home, and having dead batteries in my headlamp, I was in a foul mood by the time I got out of my car. Running with my friends and admiring the beautiful Christmas lights was exactly the thing I needed to improve my mood!

Photo courtesy of Erin

We had several different pace groups and I eased into one with about twelve of my friends. We stopped in front of several houses to take pictures of the beautiful Christmas displays, but at this particular house, these ladies asked for me to take a picture of them with the reindeer and lights.  They ran onto the lawn, knocked over one of the reindeer, and then tripped over the lights turning them all off!

After setting the reindeer back up, they started working on the lights – thank goodness for headlamps to help get hard-to-see chores done! Meanwhile, during all of these shenanigans, the dog in the house started barking madly.

After a little fumbling, the lights came back on, I snapped this picture, and then we took off before the homeowners called the police. We could still hear the the dog going nuts as we ran away!

We decided that since our friend Jen couldn’t join us, we would stop by her house and sing Christmas carols. We sang Jingle Bells much to the delight of her daughter, and me since I had been caroling since high school.

I decided that since I would be visiting my mom on Saturday, that I would get my long run in on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, my ten-mile run turned into five miles when my calf (sciatic nerve pain) started bothering me around mile three. I hung with the girls until mile four when I sent them ahead. Listening to my body, I slowed my pace, took a couple of walk breaks, and dropped from 9:30’s to an 11:35 final mile. 

My leg has continued to bother me, especially on the drive to and from from my mom’s house. Oddly, that’s when it bothers me most – on long car rides. I don’t plan to try to run again until Tuesday, but if necessary, I’ll wait longer. This year the pain hit on the day after our Christmas lights run, last year the day of, and that injury sidelined me for five or six weeks. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but… 

Friday, as I mentioned earlier, involved a very core focused weight lifting session, followed by icing my lower back, and then some last-minute Christmas shopping. Both of the boys were home for the evening and my heart was happy. Joseph and Julie are home for a little over a week, and Daniel will be stopping by regularly and spending a few nights. 

Friday evening after dinner, we watched Christmas episodes of The Office from several seasons, broke open the Southern Comfort egg nog, and just enjoyed being together. It was so relaxing and fun, and exactly what I needed after talking about stress on Wednesday Word.

Yesterday I didn’t feel like I was missing out on the Saturday morning running fun with my Cruisers and MRTT friends since we were visiting my mom. I guess it worked out pretty well since I suffer from FOMO.

Switching gears, Charles and Sue Ellen (their names just popped into my head), my two newest adorable elves, wish you a happy week!

And with another busy week ahead of us, let the festivities continue; and here’s hoping next week’s recap will include some running stories. Fingers crossed…

Weekly Recap: 

• Weights: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
• Runs: Tuesday – 5 miles, Wednesday – 3.45, Thursday – 5 miles (Total: 13.45 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!

Have a great week!

• Questions:
• Have you ever gone on an evening Christmas lights run?
• How difficult is it for you to listen to your body?
  
• Did you race this weekend?