CHRISTMAS WEEK RECAP (NEW WATCH!)

Christmas Eve dinner. Don't mind my mom not looking at the camera, we took another one but this one is better of me.

Had a really good Christmas this year! It landed on a weird day this year, Wednesday, so I had a half day on Christmas Eve Tuesday. Since I was off work at 2pm, I ended up taking advantage of the daylight and running three miles on what is normally a rest day. It was fun!

Christmas morning I woke up and joined a group at 9am that was running from the Starbucks in Tualatin. A lot of people ended up showing up, probably 15 or so, and it was a good time. I expected us to really not see anyone else, but it turns out there were a lot of people out that morning. Unless you have kids and are doing that whole thing on Christmas morning, I guess that makes sense though. It was a beautiful sunny day so why not get outside and enjoy it?

So another five miles Christmas morning then over to my parents' house for the family Christmas. That was a ton of fun as well. Pretty small group, but all my favorite people. We had cioppino again, which was delicious. I had complained about it on past Christmases, but I've been in love with this dish the last few years. Yum! Overall, I think I have gained a new perspective on the holiday. When I was in college Christmas had lost its magic and I wasn't a sentimental adult yet. Now, I just love being with family and the holiday is really special again.

Me at the Christmas morning run. Notice
how festive I am! (for me)

The highlight present of the year was a GPS running watch, the Garmin Forerunner 220. Yay, so excited! I now don't have to use my phone to track my runs and have that clanking around in my pocket. I kind of liked the security of having the phone with me, but I guess I'll get used to running without it. It will be so nice to be able to have "lap pace" and not have to yank my phone out to pause the run! I also received some t-shirts (Beavers and Blazers), nice gin (yum!), and some candy.

This weekend is shaping up to be busy. My goal is to run twelve miles on Saturday but I have to golf around noon. So I'll have to get up early. Since I ran Monday (5), Tuesday (3), and Wednesday (5), I'd like to run tonight but I don't want to tucker myself out for the run in the morning. I'm thinking maybe I'll just do three miles again. That combined with Tuesday's run will make the six miles I usually do during the week on Thursday.

Maybe that is a plan that will stick. Instead of running four times a week, I can run five and just break one run into two. Is it easier to motivate myself for two 30 minute runs in the cold and dark compared to one sixty minute run? I have no idea. The dark and cold is really bothering me.