Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas!

November Was Not Fun!

November was not a good month for running. It was a good month in all other aspects of life but when I am not running things just aren't the same. I did run the Las Vegas Half Marathon because my knee felt a lot better but after that race things returned to the same as they were before. It was not fun and I haven't ran since that race. I logged a whole 20 mile for the month of November. 

It was tough not running because the temperatures have really dropped and I really wanted to be out there enjoying it with everyone else. I miss the running club as well and seeing their Facebook posts makes me sad because I want to be out there running with them.

I have seen the my doctor and all of the tests didn't show any signs of a serious injury. Nothing is broken or torn but I have this pain on the inside of my knee cap. The only conclusion that they have come to is that I have runners knee and just need to rest it.

I started physical therapy last Friday and my knee felt a lot better the next day. My PT gave me 15 minutes of electrotherapy and she also did some ultrasound therapy as well. She showed me some strengthening exercises which are definitely for my quads and hips because those exercises left me feeling a little sore this week.

I was told that I can run but I haven't by choice. My knee usually hurts when I touch it or after I run but it has actually been pain free for a few days now. I am excited about it but at the same time I am willing to wait it out because I have no big races on the calendar. I want to be healthy and ready for 2015 so I know what I have to do to get myself there. PATIENCE!

There have been lots of positive things that have happened since I have not been running. I have done some things that I have been putting off around the house and I have spent more time with my family. It has also felt nice to have an open calendar and not have to worry so much about scheduling my life around my runs. I have sleeping a little bit more and I actually did all of my indoor Christmas decorating way in advance.

I have a lot to be thankful for so I have been keeping my head up and count my blessings. 

How was your November?

Have you started decorating or shopping for Christmas?

Christmas 2013

Christmas was really fun and my house has been really busy! My sister and her family are visiting from South Carolina so we have been on the go visiting all of their favorite places in California. We have been doing lots of eating, eating and eating. They wanted to eat at El Torito for Christmas so that's what we did.

I am going to be in big trouble with all of this eating but I can't deny that I am having fun with my family in spite of it. My favorite Christmas present was my Mizuno Wave Inspire 10's....obviously!

I was really tempted to put them and go for a run but I decided to just put them on and pretend that I was going for a run instead.

The dogs enjoyed their Christmas too. I am pretty sure that Roxy will not be with us next Christmas. She did not respond well to the chemo and ended up with other issues so the treatment can no longer be administered. The thought of it makes me super sad so let's change the subject.

I had my annual Christmas party on December 26th and it was nice to get together with all of my sisters, my parents, my kids and my nieces and nephews. 

My Dad and my Step Mom

The kids had tons of presents to open and my nephew was very helpful in opening his presents as well as everyone else's. He loves those Toy Story cowboy boots and refuses to take them off! Pretty hilarious!

There was lots of laughing and talking about old times. That would be my sister dying laughing in the picture. She is a riot and she doesn't even need a drink to get her going!

The sad moment of the night happened when my mom presented this drawing of my Grandpa to my Grandma. Grandma broke down and we all felt really bad for her. She really misses him a lot and keeps telling us that she wants to go and be with him.

My sister and her family will be leaving back to South Carolina tomorrow night at 11:00 pm I will be ringing in the New Year on the road since I will be taking them to LAX. Other than that, we have no big plans for New Years Day except to sleep in, watch the Rose Parade on TV and clean the house.

How was your Christmas? Any plans for ringing in the New Year?

Merry Christmas to All!

I didn't really get into the Christmas spirit this year because so many things have been going on. With my Grandpa's passing it was tough to celebrate because I felt a little bit guilty. I barely managed to get Christmas cards out this week. Thank God for one hour photo or I would not have been able to get my Christmas cards out this year! With all of the sadness in my heart I never got around to decorating the Christmas tree. The tree is up but there are no decorations on it this year.

My sister and my nephew just boarded a plane back to South Carolina this morning and we are going to miss them. They were supposed to spend Christmas and the New Year with us but the funeral brought them out sooner than expected and they had to head back home. My nephew is a handful but is he is as cute as a button! He keeps my sister very busy to say the least!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and every one of you. I hope that 2013 brings you all much happiness and many PR's!

Do you have big plans for the holidays?

I think we are going to stay close to home and relax. We are also planning a trip to Disneyland. My son has been wanting to visit Cars Land since it opened. 

I am also determined to hit 1000 miles this year and I am about 41 miles away from hitting my goal! I will be busy working on this goal as well!

Three Things Thursday

1. I am very happy to say that my loan is all approved!! My payment is actually going to be about $320.00 cheaper a month and that is great news for me. I love saving money! I don't make my first payment until December 1st which means no mortgage payment in November! Since I don't have a payment in November, I will use that money to cover some of my prepaid costs like taxes and insurance. A notary will be coming to my house tomorrow so I can sign my life away!

2.  I can't believe that it is almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas is right around the corner.  Christmas is 60 days away to be exact! Several of my co-workers have mentioned that they have already started Christmas shopping! I have had some people tell me that they shop year round so that they don't have to beat the crowds during the holiday season. The shopping bug doesn't officially hit me until the day after Thanksgiving AKA BLACK FRIDAY! I am a big Black Friday shopper! The crowds are crazy and the lines are ridiculously long but I love it for some reason. I think it is a sign for me that Christmas is almost here.

3. My sister and her family will be flying in from South Carolina to stay with us for Christmas so we are going to have a full house! This is probably the only time of the year where we actually occupy every single square foot of the house! We have two empty bedrooms in our house that we don't use so when my sister visits the space is filled. It's going to be a busy week!

So are you a Black Friday shopper?

Have you already started your Christmas shopping? If not, when do you officially start?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  I also wanted to thank everyone who takes the time to read my blog, offer advise, comment and share in my ups and downs of running and life in general!

I am looking forward to new year full of new challenges, goals and good times running and just enjoying the sport. Even though we all have some level of competitiveness in us, it is really important for me to keep running fun and not burn myself out, especially with all of the other things I have going on in my life.

I wish each and every one of you a very prosperous New Year. I hope you achieve all of your running goals and goals in general! I will be enjoying my holiday with my family and savoring every moment of the 10 days that I have off from work!! 

Hills and Thrills!!

This week was not a very productive week in terms of running or any kind of workouts for that matter! I did way too much resting this week that's for sure! Here is how last week turned out:

Monday: REST

Tuesday: REST

Wednesday: Spin Class

Thursday: REST..I was all dressed and ready to walk out the door to go to the gym, then my daughter called me and needed to talk so I didn't make it!  I swear I was going to do my speed work but I had to be a good Mom and be there for my daughter when she needed me.

Friday: Ran 2 miles on the dreadmill and then did 45 minutes on the elliptical

Saturday:REST

Sunday: 14.81 Miles of very steep climbs for the first 6 miles.  This was by far the steepest climb I have ever done in my life! Although it was downhill at the end, it was a pretty good workout! This run may have somewhat made up for all of the resting I did in the beginning of the week!

Friday after work I met up with Maura, a friend from Daily Mile.  We have conversed and emailed for the past couple of months and we finally set up a time to meet and chat.  As I mentioned before, Maura is a great runner and I know that I can learn a lot from her. On Sunday, I ran 14.81 miles with her and she warned me about the steep climb for the first six miles! The highest elevation we reached on this run was 3000 feet. My quads are really sore now to say the least!

I enjoyed the fresh clean air and I will definitely be back to do it again!  It is a challenging run and I am sure that it will make me stronger!!  Maura and I will be running a 16-17 miler together this Friday but on a much flatter course at a much faster pace. Maura gave me lots of good tips on how to be a better and smarter runner so I will be testing out her tips and maybe I will be running a 3:17 marathon like her soon.... it's okay to dream, right?

I am also thrilled about some great deals that I scored at the REI Half Yearly sale his past Saturday!  I have been wanting to upgrade my Garmin 305 to a newer model but just didn't see the logic in replacing it when it works perfectly fine.  Well, if you can buy a used Garmin 310XT that is in great condition for much of nothing then is worth spending the money. A new 310XT retails for about $399.99 so I scored big time on this one! The 310XT can be used for other sports like biking and swimming but I will be using it just for running. I tried it out on my Sunday run with Maura and I really liked it. The face seems smaller than my 305, it feels lighter and it has the wireless data transfer option which is pretty cool too.

I also bought four other Garmins that were super cheap.  I bought two 305's, a 405, and another 310XT. Some do not have boxes and are missing some of the parts but those can be replaced for much of nothing. I will have to find homes for all of these once I test them all out and make sure that they are working properly.

I have touched on the fact that I love cupcakes, right? Well, I was also thrilled to death when I received the special Christmas menu from my local cupcakery!  Their Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake is to die for!!  It tastes just like the real thing in the form of a cupcake!  I have never tried some of these special flavors so I guess I will be buying a ton of the minis and sampling them all! 

I am still catching up on wrapping presents but managed to finish up all of my last minute Christmas shopping. Buster kept me company while I attempted to wrap presents. He is just the sweetest little boy. Just two more days of work left and then I will be off for ten days!  Time to relax and spend some much needed quality time with the family....

What is your favorite treat that makes you cheat? Mine is obviously cupcakes!

What are your plans for the holidays? I will be home spending time with my family.  My sister will be visiting from Florida so we will be busy catching up and trying to squeeze in a million things into a weeks time.

I Am Running.......Out of Time That Is!!

It seems like the holiday season takes forever to get here but when it gets here, it comes and goes so quickly!!  I am usually on top of my Holiday "To Do List " which includes Christmas shopping, decorating, tree decorating, Christmas cards, gift wrapping and party planning but this year I have fallen way behind.

All of decorating was done on time and I got a little bit of shopping done early on. I usually try to come up with a cute idea and take a special Christmas picture but this year I ended up using a picture from my last half marathon.  Does it look familiar? We even hired a new photographer this year.  Thank you Shawna. I think I am going to force her to run more races with me so she can take pictures of me and my family. My husband is always the one who has to run into the picture and beat the timer on the camera.  He usually ends up messing up the picture and we spend the entire day trying to get it right! We usually include the dogs too and that can be very challenging as well!! This is what our Christmas card looks like this year.

I haven't wrapped a single present...not even one! I have most of my shopping done and I have everything stored in my closet.  I have created a major traffic hazard in my closet and I can barely get to my work clothes.  

Good thing able to access the other side of my closet that has all of my running clothes. That's all that really matters, right?

Is it weird that I hang all of my running clothes?

I ended up taking two days off after the Holiday Half Marathon for some reason or another so as a result of my laziness, I will be busy cramming all of my workouts in the remainder of the week.  I was planning on running last night but my daughter called me and wanted to come over to talk so I ended up not going to the gym.  It was raining so road running was not an option for me. Running isn't looking good for today either because I am meeting up with a friend that I met on Daily Mile.  We are practically neighbors and she is an amazing runner.  She runs 50+ miles per week and has conquered the Los Angeles Marathon in 3:17:40!! She swears that her secret is just putting her mind to it and believing in herself.  I guess I need to borrow her mind on race days! I am just not that confident I guess.

As much as I love Christmas, I am starting to feel a little stressed out!! I have yet to send out the invitations to my Christmas party on December 26th!  I really need to do this right away so that my family and friends don't make other plans.  My sister and her family will be arriving from Florida on Christmas Day to visit and they will be here through January 4th. I am looking forward to seeing them and spending some time together.  I have already warned her about my busy training schedule that must go on in spite of her visiting and she's fine with it.  She likes to bike ride so I might drag her along with me to carry my water and keep me company.

I will be free from work starting on December 23 until the New Year so I am also looking forward to the time off.  I love my job but we all need a break once in a while and I never take more than a couple of days off of work at a time.  I also have plans for Buster (the stray dog that I found back in October) during my time off.  Let's just say that Buster is not going to be very happy with me when he finds out that I am scheduling an appointment to  take his manhood from him....

Buster is kind of blending in with couch behind Roxy.

So is everybody else ready for Christmas or is it just me who is running behind?

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things with Hills and My Favorite Holiday Goodies!

It's feels good to be getting back on track in terms of training. The previous week was pretty unproductive so I had to get myself back on track this past week.  I managed to get all of my workouts in but being sick caused me to cut one of my runs short.  I was finding it a bit difficult to run and cough like crazy at the same time.  I was also out of energy and pushed myself to do as much as I possibly could before calling it quits.  Here is what last week looked like: 

Monday: XT Day#1: Spin Class 

Tuesday: 5.25 miles (Should have been 8 but too sick to finish) 

Wednesday: REST DAY

Thursday: 6 Mile Speed Workout on Treadmill (Seemed much easier on the treadmill) 

Friday: REST DAY (Went to the movies to see Jack and Jill..pretty funny!)

Saturday: 13 Mile Run @8:42 (We finished the last three miles strong!) 

Sunday: XT Day#2: 45 minutes on Life Cycle  

Total Miles for the Week: 24.25 

Holiday Half Marathon:

Shawna and I will be running the Holiday Half Marathon this Sunday so we did a mock run on part of the course this past Saturday.  We were not able to cover the entire course since we did not have access to all of it but we ran a good portion of it.  It is a pretty hilly course so I am not expecting to PR on this course by no means. My quads were feeling it after the mock run on Saturday! I guess they warned us by using the word "HILLS" on the Elevation Chart.

Shawna and I have decided to dress up and look very festive for this race so I don't know how comfortable we will be. I am in it strictly for fun this time but I am not so sure about Shawna! This is the last race of 2011 for me so I will spend the remainder of the year enjoying the holidays but will continue to stick to my training plan.

My Favorite Holiday Goodies:
All of the Christmas decorating is done at home and it is already starting to feel like Christmas at work.  I added some lights on my monitor and all the goodies are starting to show up at work too.  

I can resist most of the junk food at work but there is one thing that I wait for every year and it showed up today!

Linda's Homemade Toffee!!

A co-workers wife sends us a huge can of homemade toffee every year that just melts in your mouth.  I absolutely love it!!!  Is it rude that I took half of the can for myself?

While I am on the subject of my favorite holiday foods, have you heard about the 12 Days of Yuletide Yumminess at Yogurtland?  Don't miss out on these flavors!!  I haven't been!!

Source

What are some of your favorite goodies that only come around during Christmas time? How do you resist all of the goodies at work?  Or do you not??

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

My favorite holiday by far is Christmas!  I love decorating my house both inside and outside and I throw a big Christmas party every year and invite my whole family over.  My sister and her family come to visit from Florida and it is probably the only time we get to see them. This past weekend was a very productive one in terms of preparing for Christmas.  My husband's job is to decorate the outside of the house and my job is mostly the inside. 

I really need to invest in a better ladder for this man so that he can put the lights all the way at the top!  My dream is to decorate my house Clark Griswold style but I don't think we can afford the electricity to fuel all of the lights!

Source

I think we are the only people on the block who decorated the outside of our house.  My neighbors are either running behind, very boring or they do not celebrate Christmas. My son has his own little Christmas tree in his room as you can see through the window on the second story.  My husband somehow links all of the lights together and all I have to do is hit a button on a remote control and it all lights up at once!

While he was busy decorating the outside, I was busy decorating the inside with my son.  Our bodyguards, Roxy and Buster, supervised us while we decorated the tree and Buster kept sniffing the tree like he had other ideas of what the tree was for.  I have an artificial tree because I am allergic to the fresh ones. I really like the idea of not having to spend $100 on a "real" tree every year because you just throw it away!

Some of my favorite decorations are my Charlie Brown Christmas tree and my giant Christmas ball.  I added the light up "Merry Christmas" sign to my decor this year. I bought it from Home Goods and it was super cheap.

I collect Hallmark Keepsake ornaments so my tree is decorated with these ornaments and nothing else.  Every year they come out with new ones and they always have super cute ones that I must buy. I keep saying that I will stop collecting them but it never happens. It is time consuming to decorate the tree because each ornament has to be unpacked from it's box. Taking the decorations down and putting them back in the individual boxes is even more work!

I haven't done much Christmas shopping at all so I need to get busy shopping so I have something to put under my tree.

Do you decorate your house for Christmas? What is on your Christmas list this year? Are you done with your Christmas shopping?