Last week of the year!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is over! Aaron and I had a wonderful holiday. We saw many family and friends and attended numerous parties. The holiday flew by in a whirlwind, and Aaron is now back to work. Lucky for me, I don't go back until Jan. 4th!

Nothing really new on the running front. I only made it outside for one run last week: my 11-mile long run. With the holidays, I was so busy, it was just easier to jump on the treadmill to get a few miles in. I still don't feel like I am in training. The mileage is lower than normal, and I feel like I should be stepping it up. I don't want an injury, so I am trusting the program.

I got really lucky with the weather for my 11-miler on Saturday. I woke up, and Aaron wanted to run some errands for our basement remodeling project. Normally, I need to get right out the door for my long run, but it was rainy, so I didn't mind putting it off til later. Every place we wanted to go was closed, so I headed out the door for my run around 11ish. I don't know what I was thinking when I got dressed, but I wore way too many layers. I wore my under armour shirt, a tec shirt, and my fleece. I then put on a headband with a baseball hat on over it. I looked silly, but it was rainy and I like to keep the rain out of my eyes and I hate it when my ears get cold. Well, about a mile into my run, I was dying! I could feel my face getting flushed, so I took off my fleece and tied it around my waist. I planned to run a 6 mile loop, but the weather cleared up, so I jetted into Wilkes-Barre. Since it was the holiday weekend, I decided to check out downtown Wilkes- Barre. There were tons of people around which was nice to see. Downtown has come a long way in a short amount of time!

After looking around the square, I ran over the Pierce St. Bridge. There was this weird guy on the opposite side of the bridge. I think he was trying to race me! He was walking, but when he saw me running, he started running. I would speed up, and he would too. I would slow down, and he would as well! So weird! I was getting really annoyed, so I finally crossed the street and ran right behind him for awhile. He finally slowed down, so I passed him and that was the end of him! I took my 20oz handheld water bottle, and I drained that with about 3 miles left, so I was glad I had it. My pace was 9:03, which surprised me.

One more thing I wore on my run....my new runner id bracelet! Lex and Greg got me one for Christmas. I have had several events while running that have made my family nervous that I don't run with a cell phone or any id. They have been on my case for awhile (along with mace, which I still need to get), so I was very happy to get this gift! Now when I fall (it's only happened twice!) or almost pass out (once), or get dehydrated (twice), I won't be lying on the side of the road with no id!

Yesterday, my knee was sore. It wasn't my IT band, but my actual knee. It made me nervous, but i went running today and it was fine. I just have to keep an eye on it.

Here is the schedule for Week 3
Monday: 3 miles (completed this morning on my treadmill...too chilly for me outside)
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: 4 x 800 (8.7 speed with 1% incline on the treadmill with about 4 minutes recovery in between)
Friday: 6 miles pace run (I aim for 8:20 pace.)
Saturday: It is a cutback week and I am supposed to run 8 miles, but I will probably run at least 10.

On a personal note: Our basement is almost done! My job is to paint the crown molding, so I did the first coat this morning. I will probably do another coat this evening. The goal is for the entire basement to be finished for the Super Bowl. This has been an enormous project, two years in the making, so we are very excited. Poor Aaron has been busting his butt lately just to finish it. It is going to add a lot to our house, and it is great that the end is in site!