Boom! Christmas shopping is done! I’ve even gotten all the wrapping paper and whatnot taken care of, I’m just that awesome. 😉

Accidentally spent WAY too much on Jeff and, thinking he’d be mad that I’d gone over our limit, I told him so as to clear my conscience. Instead, he is on the couch giddily ordering more presents for me since he knows I went over. WIN. 😀

I am so glad to have that stuff all out of the way, it’s been taking up so much of my time and I’m ready to do other things. Like exercise.

I have really fallen off the wagon with fitness. I haven’t gained any weight or anything, but I can tell that I’ve lost some muscle and strength from the lack of activity. It’s just so cold outside! I know, I live in Georgia, how cold can it really be? Well, because I grew up in Georgia, I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to cold temps.

Because of that, I think I may be ready to start at a new gym after the holidays. Strangely, I love treadmills. The term “dreadmill” just isn’t in my vocabulary, I really don’t mind them! It’s nice to be able to set a pace and know it’s consistant without glancing at my Garmin every few seconds. I’m really obsessive, I like having all that information right in front of me.

So, if I’ve accepted that I’m just not going to run outdoors this winter then I need to be doing something else to stay active, and if that means paying for a gym membership until springtime, then so be it. It just sucks because I don’t really expect to use the gym for anything more than the treadmill. I would really like to start building a home gym, but we don’t exactly have the space for it right now.

I might start taking some yoga too, so maybe I’ll find that I’m plenty active this winter, we’ll just have to see.

Do you change up your fitness routines for winter?

So guys, before I even get started, lemmejustellyou……that today…….I drop-kicked my PR by a whopping 5+ minutes!!!

You probably can’t read my time card in this picture, but I finished in 37:38, down from 42:56!! For some reference, I was hoping to do 40 minutes flat at best.

Holy. Mother. Of. Pearl.  I never thought that I could accomplish what I did today, and I am so proud of myself.

Here’s how it all went down…

Got up just before 7am, and showered. (Yes, I shower before exercising. I find that I do poorly when I feel gross, so I like to at least be clean for the first part of the run, then I have a good reason to be gross thereafter.)

Ate a banana and had a cup of pu-erh tea, stretched a bit, then got my stuff in order. We were out the door at 5 til 8 and at the cemetery by 8:10.  I wanted to be early to pick up my race number and shirt.  I tried to do this several days ago but realized that I’d gotten my dates mixed up and had missed the last day of pre-race packet pick-up.

Jeff thought it would be cute to take pictures of my butt walking in…

And here I am at the entrance…

We got to pass by a ton of beautiful graves as we hiked to the packet pick-up area.

I guess everyone else was smart and got their’s in advance, cuz the lines were tiny.

I couldn’t pin my number on myself so I had my sister help me…

We stood around for a while listening to the band warm up then made our way down to the start area.

I got in the start-up line while Jeff and Danielle found a place to watch from. Turns out that there weren’t too many spectators, so they were alone most of the time that I was running. They snapped a pic of the band as it started playing the opening song.

Can you find me in the pack?

There I am!

It’s worth noting that because we didn’t have those tracker strips that you put on your shoes (I don’t know what they’re called,) everyone had the same start time on this race regardless of how long it took to actually make it through the line to the start point. It felt like longer than it probably was, but I’m sure I clocked at least 30 seconds of time that wasn’t actually part of the race. Kinda sucks, but it’s not that big of a deal.

Here’s where the fun part kicks in though.  As the band started blaring their opening tune, I cranked up my iPod and focused myself for the test ahead of me.  I listened to Florence and the Machine the whole time, cuz I’m rather obsessive about my music and that’s who I’m obsessed with right now.  It felt so good to start out to these lyrics:

Florence And The Machine: Dog Days Are Over

Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with her drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You cant carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head
Struck from a great height by someone who should know better than that

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your loving, your loving behind
You cant carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

 

That really charged me up!

I don’t know why, maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the herd mentality, but I just felt so ON in that moment. Previously, my record for distance ran before needing to walk has been about 1.2 miles. This morning, I didn’t take my first break until after the 2 mile mark!  It wasn’t even a serious break either, I did about 20 steps worth of fast shuffling while I took a few deep breaths, and then I was back at it full force.

The way back was very hilly and I was definitely not at my best, but I didn’t feel like I was really struggling.  There were two girls that I had been just behind for most of the race that I felt were running at an appropriate pace for me, so because I didn’t have any other way of tracking, I used them as a way to pace myself.  If they were way ahead of me then I needed to pick it up, if I passed them that was cool but it was also a warning that I was probably setting myself up for fatigue later.

I allowed myself to walk a bit in the last mile, but I’m positive that I didn’t walk more than a cumulative .2 miles total.  Towards the end though, I was really breathing hard, and I knew that we were gonna need to bring it home soon if I was going to run it in.

I pushed hard to make myself run the last .25 miles through the cemetery, and just when I thought I was going to have to stop I saw Jeff and Danielle!

I knew the finish was just around the corner. I could hear a man yelling through a megaphone in the distance and I thought I heard him say “37!” and I thought, “Wait, does he mean 37 minutes!!??”  I let out an obscenity as I realized I was about to finish a sub-40 minute race!

I did it.  I did it in 37:38 and that’s more than I ever imagined.

I hugged Jeff triumphantly. I turned in my race card. We went home. Stuffed my face with carbs and took a nap.

Today was a great day. I have achieved more with my running than I ever thought possible.

SO READY to sign up for another one. I’ve got the bug!

Checked the weather for tomorrows’ race and discovered that it will be in the low to mid 40’s the whole time I’m out there. This is good because I don’t get as fatigued in cooler temperatures, but bad because I don’t have anything quite warm enough for that kind of weather!

This of course, prompted a trip to Target, where I purchased a few much needed items.

I have been looking for running leggings and they finally had them! I feel most comfortable running in tight bottoms and fit but comfortable tops. I have a jacket that I’ll probably pass off to the husband just before start time.

Ok, need to get these in the wash now to be dry before tomorrow. And need to charge my camera battery for my first ever blogger meet-up tonight!