Goals for 2016 #thefitdish

The best part about the end of a year is it gives you a chance to review what you've done and set goals for the upcoming year. Since I'm done racing for this year I have been thinking ahead to 2016 and what goals I'd like to accomplish. Kind of funny, when I ran my first marathon, I thought that I'd met all the big life goals I had set for myself. Then I turned 50 and had this whole--"oh my gosh, I want to maximize the time I have left!". Pretty dramatic, I know. I've calmed down since then, but I haven't been complacent either! In fact, I've decided to kick middle age squarely in the ass. In the past 3 years, I've set PRs for every distance I've run. Just goes to show you that you should never let yourself be defined by a number.

So, looking to the future, what do I have in mind for next year?

Instead of focusing on speed and setting more PRs, I've decided that 2016 is going to be...drum roll, please...

"THE YEAR OF DESTINATION RACES". 

I'm not quite sure if my husband is completely on board with this, but so far I'm committed to (and he's agreed to them) 2 races. I'm signed up for the Sarasota Half Marathon in March and the Big Sur International Marathon in April. Becky and I have been discussing my training, and it's going to be a lot different than my training for Chicago. When I trained for Chicago, I was chasing a BQ. Although Big Sur is a Boston qualifier, this is a bucket list race for me, and I plan to enjoy the course and the scenery without the pressure of running for a time goal. The course has a net elevation gain (and loss) of 2000 feet, so my training will include a lot of glute strengthening and some hill work. This is new for me. It's pancake flat here in the Chicago area, so I need to work on that.

I'm not planning on running any other marathons in 2016, but I've got my eyes on a couple halfs that I'd like to do. After seeing everyone's posts on RnR Las Vegas, I'm going to put that race on my must-do list. My husband is completely on board with that. I told him he could go to the casino while I run. I see that as a win=win all around. I know this is super crowded and I'm not one for big races, but RnR LV just looks like so much fun! 

There are a few other races I'm considering for later in the year as well, including local races, but I'm not thinking much past Big Sur at this point. Stay tuned.

Something you might not think about but is a very real concern for me is that destination races take me out of my comfort zone. Let's face it, waking up in my own bed, eating my own food, and driving my own car to a race is pretty simple. Traveling throws my pre-race routine for a loop. So not only will this be a physical challenge, running the races, but it will also be a mental challenge for me. The struggle is real. I continue to make some nice progress in the mental toughness department, and I'm looking forward to stretching even further beyond my comfy routine. Yes, this is a goal.

One of my favorite mantras.

Another goal includes my perpetual goal of hitting at least 100 miles per month. I've done fairly well with this goal for the last couple of years. I'm on track to hit close to 1200 miles for this year. Only 3 weeks to go, and I'm at 1165 miles for the year.

I'm hoping to connect with more bloggers in real life through all these destination races! Mary Beth, Kristina, and Teresa...I'm talking about you! Kim...thinking Iowa might be in the plans this year!

Finally, take notice that I have no time goals. No PRs. You all know I love me some speed. But this year is all about enjoying the ride. And if some speedy finish times just happen, well, that's all good too!

How about you? Do you have any exciting goals for 2016? 

Be sure to check out Jill and Jessica's blogs to see what everyone else is saying!

I'm also linking up with Marcia, Patti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run!

A Whole Bunch of Nothing

How was your week? Mine was great. I was on a high all week from my spontaneous, speedy, fun half marathon that I ran last week. I finally got the proofs from the race photographers, and they captured me in all my glory:

FYI, I purchased this one!

Of course, if you follow me on Facebook, you've already seen this. This picture puts a smile on my face every time I look at it. This was at about mile 10 or 11, and I knew I had this thing in the bag. That girl behind me? We played cat and mouse for the rest of the race. I looked at the finish times, and we came in together. She's 25. Just sayin'... Anyways I initially posted the proof of this photo and got called out by a commenter for "stealing" the picture. Apparently his wife is a photographer and has "runners stealing pictures" all the time. His comment really bothered me. Who was he to judge me? He later apologized, but still....

So I went to yoga on Wednesday, to stretch it all out. At the beginning of the class, we chant OM three times, followed by an invocation. Chanting OM used to make me feel uncomfortable, but over time, I've really grown to enjoy the harmonious mingling of everyone's voices. It really sets a nice tone for the class. EXCEPT for that one guy with the very big voice who can't carry a tune. When we first start singing OM, it takes a few seconds for everyone's voices to come together. But when this guy comes to class, he never gets on board with the OM. His voice is so loud and discordant that it makes me tense. He also holds the OM for way longer than everyone else. We're all just waiting for him to finish. Instead of relaxing me, his OM really gets on my nerves. I know, so un-yoga of me. Thankfully, the instructor started us out in a supportive reclining backbend, and the tension I was feeling melted away.

One downside to that race is that it made my PF very angry. Everyone and his brother have been throwing suggestions at me. I wonder what Peyton Manning is doing about his? I'm pretty sure he has the National PF Expert working on this. I've got the sports med doc at work. We talked and I am now sleeping with a homemade strassburg sock. This sock is designed to keep your foot in flexion. I didn't want to buy the real thing, so I turned to Google and found a blog post (on a running blog no less!) with instructions.  Becky suggested trigger point injections with lidocaine. And Mr. Off-Key OM suggested steroid injections. Interestingly, the clinical guidelines I found do not support the use of any type of injections. They also don't support time off the feet. Marcia suggested ART, which as a manual therapy, is highly recommended by the research. I think this will be my next step. More to come on this topic.

No wonder my husband sleeps on the couch.

And speaking of Becky, I finally got back to CrossFit this week! We were supposed to start up 2 weeks ago, but she was really sick. She still sounded bad when I saw her on Thursday. She's having me do a strength cycle again, but is changing things up a bit. Yes, we are still firing up the glutes. Yes, there will be deadlifts. But instead of back squats, I am learning to clean the bar into a front squat. This takes some major coordination, but I think I did pretty well, if I do say so myself. No pictures, but trust me when I say that I am majorly sore in my posterior region. Pain never felt so good.

Becky was not at all upset about me running that spontaneous half marathon. Whew! No burpees! In fact, she was really pleased because I followed her instructions for my recovery, which included the ok to do a couple of longish runs. I have to laugh though, I set this goal to run at least 100 miles per month this year, to get to my final goal of 1251 miles (2015 km). For October and November, I was just shy of 100 miles. October was 99.07 miles and November was 99.7 miles. I probably should pay better attention to my mileage.

Finally, today was the final day of my giveaway. I was really pleased with the response to both my giveaways, the FLYJOY bars and the UP move fitness tracker. I'm thrilled that Tricia won the FLYJOY bars and Tamieka won the tracker. I'll be hosting another giveaway this month, for a pair of SLS3 compression socks. Stay tuned!

So that's a wrap! Tell me what you think about posting race proofs? Stealing? Would you call someone out for it? Ever been disturbed by the discordant OM? Tell me your best tip for PF.  

Have a wonderful week! And be sure to check out all the other posts at Tricia and Holly's Weekly Wrap!

Staying Healthy Through the Winter #humidifyme

yep, I am dressed as Doc McStuffins because that's how I roll...

Today I'm coming to you wearing my lab coat, because I'm all about staying healthy and fit this winter! I've already been seeing a ton of sick kids in the clinic and it isn't even flu season yet. I don't know about you, but I don't like getting sick, nor do I have time for illness. If I have to miss a day of work, there's no one to see my patients, which means a lot of cancelations. Plus I don't like missing a day of running. A lot of people ask me what I do to stay healthy, and I wanted to share some of my advice with you.

1. Wash your hands. You all know this. Wash your hands as soon as you get home from anywhere. Before you eat. After you use the bathroom. But what is the best way to wash your hands? Warm water, lather with soap and rub all surfaces for at least 20 seconds, rinse, dry your hands, and turn off the faucet using the towel. What about hand sanitizers? Hand sanitizers are a good back up plan but they do not eliminate all germs--particularly norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea. This is the culprit behind those nasty cruise ship illnesses. So all those hand sanitizers on the ship? Not all that helpful. Just wash your hands with soap and water. And keep your hands away from your face.

2. Get a flu shot. Trying to convince patients to get the flu shot makes me feel like a used car salesman. I know that about 50% of you are going to comment on this one. You're going to tell me that you "got sick" the last time you got a flu shot. Or that you "don't believe in the flu shot". Or that you "never get the flu". No matter what you think, you can't dispute the fact that the flu shot decreases your chance of getting the flu. If you do get the flu, most likely you will have a milder course of the illness. And you will be preventing the spread of the flu. Oh, and by the way, you cannot get the flu from the flu shot.

3. Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night. As if you have to convince me to get sleep, there are actually people who fight this recommendation. Besides all the other benefits of sleep, lack of sleep actually impairs your immune system and in one study, demonstrated that less than 6 hours of sleep makes more susceptible to illness.

4. Eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Oh, if I had a dollar for every patient who told me they don't like veggies. The ones who don't like fruit I don't even understand. While there's no magic nutritional bullet to keep you healthy, the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of a diet that is heavy in "minimally processed food, close to nature, predominantly plants". There are a lot of you bloggers out there doing it right. Me, I could do better here.

5. Stress reduction. Multiple studies show the deleterious effects that stress has on the immune system. Short term stress can lead to increased susceptibility to illness. Raising teenagers is extremely stressful. Even though, I run to burn off stress, endurance events count as a stressor. About a week after that last marathon I ran, I came down with a nasty bug. Luckily, I bounced back quickly. Yoga, deep breathing, exercise, and relaxation can all help reduce stress. I found this nifty blog post last week--she has a great technique for a 2 minute meditation.

6. Use a humidifier in your home. We have a humidifier on our furnace, but sometimes even that isn't enough. The air in the house can get pretty dry. Dry air can affect the cilia in your nose, which are one of your defenses against the viruses that cause illnesses. Using a humidifier can help keep those cilia moist. Research also shows that the influenza virus survives better in dry conditions.

Recently, I was sent this Honeywell Console Humidifier from Influenster to try out. Even though I received the humidifier free to trial, all opinions here are my own. 

When FedEx brought the box, I felt like Santa came. It was huge. I was pretty excited to open it.

The Honeywell Top Fill Console Humidifier is perfect for this time of year. For most of us, during the winter, the windows are closed and the furnace is running. The air is dry in our homes. This humidifier is designed to provide invisible mist to extra large rooms or multiple rooms. There are three speeds and an automatic shut off once the desired humidity level is reached. The two tank design makes it easy to fill and clean. On low settings, the humidifier can run for 24 hours. And it comes in white and black.

I really liked the ease of setup--once I took the humidifier out of the box, it was easy to fill the tanks and turn it on. Within 5 minutes, the moisture was misting out of the device, although the mist isn't easy to see, you can feel it. Even though the humidifier is rather large, it's quiet, and you kind of forget about it once it's going. Actually, it makes the home environment so comfortable that you don't even realize it's working. 

Besides the health benefits, my skin gets really dry (can you say wrinkles?) in the winter, and the extra moisture is really beneficial. 

I don't see any downsides to this humidifier. You can purchase it on Amazon or Walmart.com.

What do you do to stay healthy in the winter? 

I'm linking up with the DC Trifecta for their Friday Five link up! Courtney, Cynthia, and Mar host this awesome link up. Be sure to check it out! 

I'm also linking up with Jill Conyers for Fitness Fridays! She's talking about Making Time for Fitness, which fits in nicely with my staying healthy theme. Check it out!

Why I won't be #RWRunStreaking

If you are on Facebook at all, you may have noticed a lot of runners posting about this year's Runner's World Run Streak. The goal of the streak is to run at least one mile per day for the 37 days between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. The purpose of the streak is to keep you moving through the holidays. Runners are encouraged to post their runs and hashtag them on FB, IG, and Twitter. It's a tradition that RW has been hosting for the past couple of years.

This is one tradition I'll be taking a pass on.

You know I love to run. Sure, I've Turkey Trotted the last couple of years. I run on Christmas Day and on New Year's Day. Last year I ran in the Underground Polar Express run and I'll be doing that one again. I'm not above running traditions. But run every single day during the holiday season? Actually during any season?

Karen, me, Penny, and Michelle at last year's Underground Polar Express

No thanks. I have a couple of friends who have been streaking for much longer than 37 days, which is pretty cool. You probably have a few of those friends too.

But I've got a few reasons not to streak.

1. I'm prone to injury. Right now I'm battling plantar fasciitis. And yes, it's painful. It doesn't hurt when I run, but it hurts like hell when I'm done. Taking a day or 2 off between runs really helps it calm down. I probably shouldn't be running at all, but heck, it's PF, and it is what it is. But a daily run probably wouldn't be my friend.

2. It's cold this time of year, and getting dressed to head out the door for a run would probably take longer that running the actual mile. I just don't think I could swing it on those days that I'm at work for 9 hours. Sure, I could run on the treadmill. Sure.

3. I don't need any more incentive to run. I run 4 days per week, and I rarely miss a run. But I bet I'd start to feel pretty burnt out running every day!

4. The extra laundry would put me over the top. I have teenage boys, remember, and their laundry baskets get filled if a shirt touches their body for even a minute. Add to that 7 running outfits? Ayyy.

5. Not that I care what people think, but my neighbors already think I'm nuts. Although Mrs. Kravitz would certainly be on top of neighborhood happenings!

To those of you streakers out there, I bow down to you. Your devotion and tenacity is admirable. But for me? Streaking just isn't going to be one of my holiday traditions.

Do you streak? What has been your longest running streak? Are you in the Chicago area? You should consider the Underground Polar Express Run, which benefits the Batavia Suicide Prevention Services. It's a great cause and a really fun day.

I'm linking up with DebRuns for Wednesday Word, which this week is Tradition. I thought about writing about our family's Christmas traditions, but as the boys are moving through their teenage years, a lot of our traditions have gone by the wayside. Getting them to participate in any decorating or baking is like pulling teeth. It's not fun and makes me sad, and I didn't think it would make a great blog post! Plus this is a running blog after all...

Running Confident #thefitdish

Once again, the #FitDish comes up with a great blog prompt.

When do I feel most confident?

For most of my life, I lacked self-confidence. I don't know why. Was it being the first born? Living in the shadow of my blonde, cute, smart younger sister? Being pushed to always do more, be better?

Is confidence innate? Are people born confident? How can you develop confidence?

Even in my own family, I've got 2 boys who couldn't be more different. My oldest son, who has struggled a bit the last couple of years, has always lacked confidence. He hasn't done great at school, even though he's bright. Tried sports in his younger years, but quit everything, even though he has a ton of natural ability. He doesn't have a lot of friends. In contrast, my youngest son has an easy confidence about him. He isn't naturally gifted at sports but pushes himself to achieve. He's well liked by everyone he meets. Raised in the same home, only 2 years apart, I can't believe that I did anything hugely different with them.

My mom would say the same about my sister and me.

Of course, time has passed for me, and as I have gotten older, I've developed a strong sense of who I am. This self-confidence hasn't come easily to me, and there have been a lot of stumbles on my journey. But I can say with 100% certainty that one thing that has made me confident is running. It didn't happen overnight. In fact, I ran many years before I could even identify myself as a runner. Running was just something I did. It was when I started running half marathons that I fully realized that this is something I was pretty good at. In spite of my success on the road, I was also pretty good at self-sabotage, too. If a race wasn't going well, those negative voices were hard to shut down. I crashed and burned more often than I care to admit.

A lifetime of bad habits is hard to break.

Running my first marathon, which was a disaster, sent my confidence into a tailspin. But because my growing confidence had spilled over to other areas of my life (work, motherhood), I was able to move on fairly easily. It did take me a couple of years before I attempted that distance again, and with my success the second time around, I finally felt like a full-fledged runner.

My most recent 2 races sealed the deal for me. Between last week's half marathon and the Chicago marathon I ran in October, I've come to the point where I am confident with my ability to run a race, even when things don't go as planned. Instead of falling apart at Chicago when I realized that the heat was going to prevent me from reaching my goal, I changed my strategy, ran a smart race, and salvaged the race, finishing strong with my new, alternate goal. That smile on my face at the finish line wasn't as much about my finish time as it was about me feeling confident enough to pull back, to stay mentally strong, and to run through feeling pretty awful. With this past weekend's half marathon, I had no plan but to go with the flow. I didn't train for this race, signing up at the last minute. When I started to run, I dialed into my feelings and knew how to pace myself. I didn't run with the crowd. And I knew when I could push myself.

Both these races were fun. It's really awesome to be at this point in my running to have the confidence to know how to run a race. If you've been following me for a while, you know that I have worked really hard to get to this point. My mental toughness training is as rigorous as my physical preparation. Just ask my coach. It's still a work in progress, but it's all forward progress. I couldn't be more happy.

I feel most confident when I am running.

How about you? When do you feel most confident?

Be sure to check out the other posts on Jill's and Jessica's blogs. I'm also linking up with Tuesdays on the Run aka Marcia, Erika, and Patti for today's topic...TMI! Heck, I bared it all here...so show me what you've got!

And don't forget to enter my giveaway! Only 5 more days to go...you won't want to miss out!

Schaumburg Half Marathon Race Recap

This race was not on my radar at all this year. After I ran the Chicago Marathon, I made a promise to myself (and my coach) that I was going to devote the rest of the year to recovery.

Right.

Full disclosure: I have been very diligent about my recovery. I've kept my mileage low. Two weeks ago, I started throwing a long run back into the mix, running a 10 miler. Weekly mileage has been around 20-22 miles. I've been doing yoga at least twice/week. One thing I haven't been doing is working with Becky. We were supposed to start up again 2 weeks ago, but she got sick and then Thanksgiving happened. I'm going back to see her on Thursday this week. It's been 6 weeks since I've lifted a thing.

I've started to get antsy. I've never been good at behaving myself. Knowing that this last half marathon of the year was coming up, I started to entertain the idea of running it. I've run it before, and so I knew what to expect. I started stalking the weather. On Tuesday, the forecast for the race showed 40 degrees and no rain. I decided to sign up.

Even this morning, as I prepared to head out to the race, I was having runner's remorse. What was I thinking? I had done one longish run in the last 6 weeks! I was out of Tailwind, but I decided to fuel with Clif Gel, which is what I used in the past. Since it was supposed to be cold, I knew hydration wouldn't be an issue. The night before the race, I had my usual pizza and wine. My husband, knowing that I was running in the morning asked me, "no sausage, right?"

Yep, race prep at it's finest.

As I got ready to line up for the race, I passed a familiar face. It was Pete B from The Lakefront Trail! I knew he was going to be at the race, but we had never met before, and I wasn't sure exactly if it was him. He recognized me right away, and we chatted for a few minutes. He promised to meet me at the finish, and we got ready to run.

Pete and me prior to the race. My "new" throwaway sweatshirt, which only made it to this one race.

I had to crawl through the fence to get into the race corral. I lined up with the 8:45 minute milers. At the last minute, I took off my throwaway sweatshirt, and was immediately chilled. I was wearing the new shirt that I picked up at Dick's Sporting Goods the night before. Once we got moving, I felt a little less chilled but wow, it was cold!

The race course took us through the Busse Woods forest preserve. I've run and biked there in the past, and I was pretty familiar with the trails. Part of the preserve was under construction, so we were doing a lot of out and backs. The first out and back was right away, and I saw Pete with the front of the pack. I started out at an 8:30 pace and I could not believe how many people were passing me. I didn't let myself get caught up in the rush, though, telling myself to fall into my pace. I kept a close eye on my Garmin the entire race. My legs felt light. They felt really good. I was a little scared of that. Cautiously optimistic, I thought to myself that this could be a good race if I played my cards right.

I continued to run at this 8:30-8:40 pace for most of the race. A couple of hiccups though: at mile 3, I started to feel a little off, and stopped at the water station to take a gel and drink. This was was before I had planned on stopping to fuel, but after about a half mile, I felt much better so I knew I did the right thing. Then at mile 6 I started to get a side stitch. WTH? I've been plagued with those all year. I breathed through it, making sure to exhale on the opposite side. After about 2 miles, it finally went away. I took another gel and water at mile 8.5. It was hard to get the water down because it was so cold!

At that point, I knew I could push my pace. My legs continued to feel good. My PF was quiet. And my tummy? Nothing happening there either. This was crazy. I have never felt this good during a race. Ever. There were no thoughts of "how much longer" or "I hate this". I smiled at the few spectators along the course. High fived a few kids. Waved to the photographers.

Still cautiously optimistic, at mile 9, I picked up the pace to something about 8:00 min/mile. And felt fine. Seriously. Who am I?

I paced a couple of miles with a girl wearing shorts. Her legs were red from the cold. I chased her all the way to the finish line. There was an incline at mile 13, and I felt a little ragged, running that fast up the hill. Once I got to the top, I could see the finish line. I got my breathing under control, and flew towards the finish. I saw Pete at the finish and he had his phone up to take pictures.

Flying to the finish line! Thanks Pete!

I crossed the finish line with a huge smile on my face--I saw the finish line clock and it said 1:52:32. Negative splits too! I was thrilled! And I felt great. Prior to the race, I didn't know what I had in the tank, but it looks like I did my post-marathon recovery right. Throughout the race, my legs felt amazing. No hamstring tugging, at all. My foot didn't bother me. I'm also happy that I had no tummy issues, since there weren't a lot of portapotties along the trails. This was my strongest half marathon that I have ever run. It was #15 for me. This was my 2d fastest half ever, and only 24 seconds slower than my best. Wow. Just wow.

BTW, I came in 6/54 for my AG, 118/771 women

Looks like spontaneity is the way to go...

Pete came and found me and we compared notes. He did great, winning his age group, and coming in 16th overall! We waited for him to get his award, and then we left. It was so cold.

This is one of those races that gets little attention, but really should be on everyone's radar. Since it is the last half marathon in the Chicago area, the race attracts some really fast runners, the course is mostly flat and run on paved paths, and the cost is pretty cheap. There were about 1400 runners total, but since they don't cap the number of participants, this is a race you can decide on at the last minute. Parking is a breeze, and they have shuttle buses to the starting line. This race is a favorite of mine--it probably won't be the last time I run it!

Have you ever signed up for a race at the last minute? How did it go? Ever totally surprise yourself at a race? What was your best race ever? Why?

I'm linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap! I can't wait to read about everyone else's weekends!

And with Julie's Best of the Blogs linkup!

Runfessions for November

And once again, it's time for Runfessions--the monthly clear the conscience air it all link up hosted by Marcia at Marcia's Healthy Slice. I can hardly believe it's the end of November! Where has the time gone? Seems like we were all complaining about how hot it is, and then boom, we got hit by a snowstorm...

Speaking of snow, that leads to my first runfession...I love running in the snow. But I hate winter. How can this even be a thing?  Thankfully, Mother Nature made this snow event a brief one. After only a few days, we warmed up and melted that white stuff.

Actually, I'm fine with snow until January, and then I'm ready for spring to come. I have to admit that a white Christmas is a good thing. The snow does help a little bit, to get me in the mood for Christmas. But runfess that I'm a bit of a scrooge. It just seems to me that Christmas is so over the top these days. A few weeks ago, the mall near my house had Santa's arrival, and it was a major BFD. And no, Santa didn't come in a sleigh. He arrived in a helicopter. Complete with fireworks. Man, do I feel like I was deprived as a kid. We just went to see him at the local park shelter, fixed up to look like Santa's workshop. And we were so excited to see him. Kids today don't know how good they have it.

I runfess that my dog goes to bed with me at night and cuddles next to me. It's pretty sweet. She sleeps on my husband's pillow, and when he comes to bed, she reluctantly moves to the middle of the bed. The other night, I woke up and reached over to stroke her soft fur. It's so soothing. I was half asleep, and as I petted her, I started to realize that her fur felt a little coarse. I thought maybe I was petting her stomach. I realized I was petting my husband's leg! He was like, "what are you doing?" and I told him I thought he was the dog. I'm still chuckling about it, although I don't think he thought it was funny at all. He left to sleep on the couch.

Looks just like my Cleo!

I'm embarrassed to admit--I know this, is runfessions, but still...last weekend, I was not nice, ok I was--I'll just say it--I was rude to a customer service representative on the phone.

Ok. There it is. I was trying to upload pictures to Shutterfly. They had a free calendar offer, and I wanted in. I've used Shutterfly a million times in the past, but for some reason, I could not upload pictures to the website. Apparently, Shutterfly no longer supports Mac iOs. But they decided not tell us Mac owners, even posting an "easy extension" to help upload pictures from iPhoto directly to their website. I wasted several hours trying to get this to work. I should have just walked away. But no. I had to have my calendar. So I finally sucked it up and called customer service. I was on hold for an eternity. When my turn came, I patiently answered all the CSR's questions. But when she told me to "clear my cache and my cookies", I kind of lost it. I mean, really lost it. Why do they always ask you to clear your cache and cookies? REALLY? I asked to be transferred to someone in IT, and she sent me into purgatory. I'm sure I deserved it. After about 10 minutes on hold, I finally hung up and went back to working on my project. Eventually, I figured out a work around and got my pictures uploaded. The calendar is in the mail. And I'll feel guilty every time I look at it. Not really.

Finally, I have a huge runfession. Remember, how I was not going to run any races until next spring? I was taking it easy? I'm in recovery mode, right? Well...the last local half marathon of the year is this Saturday and I signed up. I had been considering running this one, even though I'm not in half marathon shape. But it wasn't until Tuesday night on my way home from work that I had this text exchange with Sara...

I was hoping she would tell me she was running it. That would have sealed the deal for me. But as I drove home from work and thought about it more, I realized that I really wanted to run this thing. No, I'm not in half marathon shape. Could I even sub-2? Who knows. My PF is still there, improving but still bothering me. And yet, my next race isn't until March. Oh, and then there's my coach. I haven't seen her for 6 weeks...maybe she won't even know. This race brings me to an even 15 halfs, and you know what? My OCD likes that. 

And so there it is. I signed up, and I'll be lining up at 9:15 am on Saturday. The last time I ran this one, it was a spur of the moment decision as well. I hope that the good karma I brought to that race follows me here. Regardless, it's a pretty course through a forest preserve that I'm familiar with and the weather forecast looks good. Don't judge me. The guy at packet pickup asked me how my training was going and I was like, "training? What training?". 

Oh, and I'm out of Tailwind...

Don't forget about my giveaway! I'm participating in a Holiday Blog Hop with about 15 other bloggers and everyone is giving away something good. And that's my final runfession--I've gotten no holiday shopping done, but plenty of packages are arriving...for me! Ayyy...and that's the struggle! Anyways don't forget to check it out! The post is here and there are 25+ other bloggers all giving something away.

Have you ever gone off on a customer service rep? Signed up for a race at the last minute? Do you let your dog in your bed? How do you feel about running in the snow? Have you entered my giveaway? Checked out the blog hop?

Sure, I'm linking up with Marcia, but I'm also linking up with the Friday Five aka Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia! Because, yep, 5 Runfessions right here...

Beautiful bounty

This past weekend, the Chicago area was hit with an abundance of snow. This may, in fact, have been our largest snowfall this early in the season ever. Interestingly, our neighbors to the north in Wisconsin and Minnesota were spared.

Official total? 11.5 inches. Thankfully, the temperatures are warming back up, and we are going to see the ground again very soon.

But in the meantime, what did I do with our bounty of snow?

I ran during the storm. It was beautiful. It was peaceful. But very slushy and wet. When I got home, my feet were soaked. My hands were soaked. I was chilled to the bone. That post run shower felt heavenly.

The day after the storm was sunny. But it was really cold. Winter-like cold. January-like cold. I put on my cold weather gear and my running shoes and took it to the trails where I do so much of my training. The park district plows these trails. While they were somewhat clear, the trails were a little bit slippery. I took it slow. And managed to stay upright for the entire run. For my efforts, I was rewarded with a feast for my senses.

Snow. Sun. Blue skies. Crisp, clean air. Solitude.

I felt almost euphoric when I finished. There's just something special about running in those conditions. When so many runners throw up their hands and head to the treadmill, there are a few of us who take it outside, no matter what Mother Nature throws our way.

Instead of cursing the weather, I looked at this bounty of snow as a gift.

Transformed by the bounty of snow, my very familiar world took on a whole new look.

It's been at least 9 months since I ran in snowy conditions. We're still in between seasons, and the leaves haven't entirely left the trees.

I felt pretty lucky. Sure, I complain about the cold. I say that I'd love to live where the winters are mild. But every winter, I'm reminded about how beautiful the change of seasons can be.

Remind me to read this in March...

Do you like running in the snow? What are your favorite running conditions? What's your weather deal breaker?

I'm linking this post with DebRuns for her Wednesday Word link up. Today's word is bountiful! Be sure to check out the other posts!