December Challenge(s)

Get some hot coco and settle in as this is going to be a long one.  Or just run away now!!! :-) 


It's that time of year, no not the holidays, but apparently the time of year I go crazy and decide to try and make a ton of commitments and some how try to stick to them.  Why would I do this to myself you ask?  I have no idea.  I'm not very good at saying no is one major reason.  I try to give up a commitment and I get asked if I would reconsider a week later and I give in!!! ;-)  I'm afraid of completely losing myself into "mommy" and "work" world so I try to maintain contact with the groups that I feel I identify with and keep a little part of who I really am but then realize work and life demands don't always allow for that (especially when hubs needs all of my free time to watch the little guy so he can study).

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day.  I was at one of my favorite relays that my local running club puts on and I've written about it on here many times before because I have so much fun at these handicap runs my dad did this one with me which was awesome!  I mentioned that I had signed up for the Run Every Day in December Challenge on FB.  She said "Oh yeah I did that last year but decided not to do it this year.  I found that I used it as an excuse to only run 1 mile since that was the minimum so I ran every day but fewer miles."  I hadn't thought about it that way before.  I on the other hand signed up and it has been a great choice since I am so competitive with myself way more than with others and when I make a commitment to myself and on top of that vow to post about it online every day with this group I get this sense of urgency with the goal!  So for me the hardest part is usually getting my foot out the door.  The effect this has on me is well I promised myself so I better get out there and do one mile.  Then as soon as I'm out there I'm like I made it happen I'm out here I might as well take advantage of it.  So I end up running more miles than I normally would have because I force myself to make time for it so I build on that.  Now I'm like wow I can do this running every day thing now let's see if I can add to my running miles from last week.  See as a triathlete and a not very fast runner I never understood how some people get such high running mileage in.  Now I know how, all you do is run, if you don't do any other sport then the miles tend to add up faster and you can't hide behind the bike or under water.  All in all this challenge has been a good decision for me and my dog approves with two huge paws up!  It's gotten me out there on cold nights after 8pm and for a quick lunch run when I'm feeling overwhelmed at work.  This December Challenge I have been very thankful for.

My friend and I are also putting on what has turned out to be a very fun 5k for a second year in a row the Festivus 5k for the Rest of Us which this year not only are we having the theme and costume contest but also get to benefit the UNM Cancer Center and get some of the Running505 kids out there running too.  Each year we hope to grow it just a  little bit so that we hopefully don't experience growing pains.  That has been a lot of work for both of us but we are super excited to see the benefits and results and have as much fun with it as possible.  That culminates this Saturday with hopefully a much warmer day than last year.

Work has been insane as I was covering my work along with my assistants due to her being out after a bike accident but she is back and I am very thankful that she is doing a lot better and we are slowly starting to catch back up and my over time has dwindled thankfully!  I hope to wrap up all the lose ends before we are out for the Holidays and start the new year fresh and refreshed!!  With an expansion and build out in the near future we'll need to be prepared for lots of new hires and everything that comes along with that.





On the home front there has been hubs going through finals and we are truly living separate lives right now and are definitely not the example of positive and productive communication.  We will grin and bare it until some how we hit smoother waters, maybe in about 4 years once he's out of school?  In the meantime we've been making time for our son and letting him enjoy all the wanders of the season since last year he was barely able to hold his head up let alone enjoy lights and festivities.  He's such an amazing little human and brings me joy every day.  I'm also not ever allowed to go into a toy store because I found out I will want to buy everything for him and I get way too excited!  I some how ended up with 2 pretend cameras when I got home apparently he had grabbed one and I had too and didn't notice it at check out.  Toys for Tots will benefit from that one!  Thanks to friends and family helping I've been able to still fit in a few fun runs and take the stroller out for some shorter stuff around the house whenever I can't find any coverage.  Now if this weather would just cooperate and I could try to get a ski day or two in this season that would be awesome I haven't been in 2 years!!!  I guess the "Winter Welcome" and the "Let it snow" signs I have up at our house wasn't enough of a hint for mother nature.  Still not sure if the in-laws will make it for Christmas but I'm sure the house will clean itself right?  I'm not even going to try to think about coordinating Christmas dinner yet, maybe everyone else will do the coordinating? ;-)  I'm cursed with being a planner.

I'm trying to get a running group up and running, pun intended or maybe not, but it has been a slow start mainly due to scheduling conflicts but I really am excited to hopefully give it more attention in the new year.  Hubs has a nonprofit he has also decided to get up and running at the same time so again living separate lives and spending time elsewhere.  Apparently this is why he is constantly on the phone and FB so we will both patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) wait to reconnect.

I have temporarily given up on my return to triathlons as I know I don't have time to train for all three sports.  Although I did hear that Toughman is bringing a 70.3 race to NM which is huge news for our triathlon world and very tempting to want to check it out! But that course will not be something to be laughed at and I will need to start out smaller once I do venture back.  I have to figure out how the heck to make time for the bike and pool time!!!  Running when I'm in charge of Aiden is doable with the jogging stroller pool and bike not so much.  I have been trying to stick to my healthier eating habits and at least to consistent running and weight training and I think my work pants are finally starting to fit comfortably again! WooHoo.  I haven't lost any additional weight (I have been back at my pre pregnancy weight) which means the extra ab work I've been doing might finally be paying off.  I will not give up!

Ok I warned you this was going to be a long one.  I think that's almost all of what has been going on.  Things should start to ease up a little here soon.  But if you don't hear from me before then Happy Holidays!! and Happy Training!!