Christmas Recap

Christmas was busy this year - in many ways more than usual. We had some driving to do such as picking up and dropping off Steph's grandmother so she could spend Christmas at our house. We also hosted Christmas for Steph's immediate family this year - long story short, her parent's kitchen is in the middle of a renovation. We drove down to spend Christmas Eve with my parents and my youngest sister and her three adorable girls... stay tuned for photos. And finally, I drove 6 hours out and 6 hours back to Ohio yesterday to see my grandmother and have an un-official family reunion of sorts, minus one sister and two nephews. Whew!

I did get some nice stuff this year - not the "all running" Christmas theme as last year, but still great stuff - stuff I wanted and needed. Some of the things I received were: new headphones for my mp3 player, a new hat to wear while I run when it's cold (underarmor), some ice/snow cleats for running outside in bad conditions (I wonder if I'll even be able to try these out?), a "marathon freak" sticker for my truck, a "26.2" coffee mug, money - gotta get new shoes (trail and regular)! Oh... I also got some dress shirts, a sweater, a cool long-sleeve t-shirt and some coffee from my favorite coffee roaster on the planet! I L-O-V-E the Hemingway's Hair of the Dog® roast - it is so smooth... the high caffeine doesn't hurt either...

The bad news is that I have not run in almost three weeks, but my reading is going well. I am freaking out on the inside, but remaining calm on the outside. The knee feels good and I have had no pain in a few days - not in the slightest. So, I am planning a run on Saturday. Hopefully I can finish a very easy 3 miles with no pain. If that is the case I will slowly get my base back up to where I was and get ready for training for my spring marathon - The Flying Pig.

As the days of 2006 tick down, I will be spending it designing my remaining plans for 2007. I believe I had hinted at this before, but not only am I planning on the Flying Pig in May, but also the Marine Corp Marathon in October. I'll need to work out the details ahead of time so it is feasible, but these are the big picture items for the year.

I wish you all a safe and Happy New Year!