I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and that everyone had safe travels and enjoyed all the festivities and didn’t over indulge too much.  We are finally getting back to a normal life after a very busy holiday weekend.

Christmas

Where to begin? So much to talk about.

Jennie and I celebrated our Christmas together on the morning of the 24th.

Starting off the holiday with some holiday treats!  Donuts… Mmmmmmm.  I had to pick up a couple things at the grocery store.  As I was leaving, I saw someone else checking out with a bag of donuts.  So, I headed back into the store and got a half dozen donuts.  Just couldn’t resist.

Jennie was excited with her new desk.  I still have a couple final touches to do on it, and it could use one more coat of paint, but Christmas crept up quicker than I thought… and it turns out that winter weather isn’t the optimal condition for paint drying quickly.

The first of many running/triathlon related gifts.  Jennie got me a new Nike Dri Fit shirt and two pairs of Dri Fit shorts (can you tell I like Nike Dri Fit???).  On top of that, she got me a pair of CW-X Stabilyx tights!!! I am so excited to try them out on my long run this week.  And in case you were wondering, the fact that the blue in the shirt matches the blue in the shorts, which also matches the blue in the tights is no coincidence.  It would even be a safe guess that Jennie has her fingers crossed that the next generation of the Brooks Dyad shoes have blue accents.  Gotta match to look good!

I also got a new headband and a balaclava to help keep me toasty warm in our frigid weather.  I wore the balaclava on my run today, and it was amazing.  It kept me warm the entire time, and I didn’t overheat.

After celebrating our Christmas, it was time to pack up and begin to make the rounds.  We made a stop at my Grandma’s house, and then it was off to my Grandpa’s.  The highlight of the party at my Grandpa’s is always the White Elephant game.  I get really into prepping for it and wrapped our gifts appropriately.

The first gift was packaged in a wooden box.  This particular box keeps getting passed around year after year, and each year someone adds a new embellishment to it.  So, this year, I added hinges and a lock to the box to replace the wing nuts that had previously held it closed.  To open the box, you needed to solve a series of mathematical questions in order to determine the combination to the lock – geeky I know, but what did you expect?

The second gift, I was even more proud of.  The gift itself was a Bacon Genie.  To wrap it, I put it in a shoe box wrapped in pink, added legs made out of a paper towel roll, and a snout.  It was a big hit, and we had a couple people fighting over it- hence the pig’s broken leg.

After celebrating at my Grandpa’s, we braved the weather and headed across the state.  The weather was awful.  Freezing rain and blowing winds.  The first 30 miles or so took forever, and we managed to get up to a speedy 35 mph down the expressway.  There were cars in the ditch all over the place.  Not fun.

We even had to pull off at a rest area to bang the ice off of the windshield wipers and to chisel the ice off of the spray nozzles for the windshield cleaner.  Thankfully, after we got through Lansing, the freezing rain changed to just rain, and then it eventually dried up completely.

Christmas morning was celebrated with Jennie’s family.  Lots more exercise stuff: subscription to Runner’s World and a climbing block for the trainer.

After opening presents and engaging in a mildly violent sword battle, we had a delicious breakfast.

When the cinnamon roll is larger than the rest of the food, it is a good day.

After relaxing for a bit, it was time to head off to Jennie’s Grandparent’s house.

Posing in front of the tree with my beautiful wife, and then squeezing everyone (Bro-In-Law #1 Brad, Bro-In-Law #2 Ryan, and Future Sis-In-Law Marie) onto the couch.

The day after Christmas brought a visit to Jennie’s second set of Grandparents.  It also brought about a very rousing game of Smart Ass.  I highly recommend the game for anyone who loves a little competition and little trivia.  I think my 13 year old brother-in-law enjoyed the game simply because it allowed him to say “ass” repeatedly and not get in trouble.

Once we returned home, it was off to my Mom’s for yet another celebration.  My Mom got us one of the most unique gifts we have ever received – half a share of a CSA to the Trillium Haven Farm.  We knew about this ahead of time, and we will be splitting a full share with my Mom.  It will definitely be interesting to try.  She also got us a Market Fresh Cookbook that should help us learn to cook some of the stranger things we will get (like Rhubarb, Kale, and Eggplant).

 
Yoshie seemed to be just as interested in the Yak Trax we got my Mom as she was.  Maybe he knew that they were for going for walks.

Yoshie was all ready to head out in the snow when he tried out Jennie’s new rain boots.  Maybe he thought that if my Mom got Yak Trax, he needed something to protect his feet.

And finally, another group shot with Jennie and I along with my brother and his girlfriend Nancy.

Running (The Actual Purpose of This Blog)

My running was very minimal the past week. But that is OK, because it is what the schedule called for.  It felt weird to have a long run of 6 miles and the rest of the runs only 4 miles.  Despite being relatively short distances, they were very mentally challenging runs to do.  Part of it was that there was so much going on that they were hard to fit in.  But, the other part was that it didn’t seem like it was worth getting all bundled up and cold for a 30 minute workout.  It probably took more time to get ready before the run and then shower after the run than it did to actually run.

Today, though, was back to the normal routine.  I had an 8 mile run scheduled.  I was sort of dreading it all day because I didn’t know how well I would transition back into a long run.  However, my legs felt better than I expected.  The rest did them good.  I finished the run in just over an 8:00 min/mile pace and felt amazing.

The rest of the week is going to busy with both work and running.  My long run this week is going to be 16 miles on Friday.  Yikes.  I haven’t done 16 since the Grand Rapids Marathon in October.  Hopefully the weather isn’t too bad and I don’t have to spend all my energy trudging through the snow.

Thanks for staying with me during this long post.  I’ll try and keep up on my updates this week so that I can keep them short, sweet and to the point.

This is a rest week for my marathon training schedule.  So, one would assume that with less time spent running, I could spend more time blogging.  Not so apparently.  With Christmas approaching and the shit hitting the fan at work, I’ve been otherwise occupied.

Nevertheless, I thought I would provide a quick update on how my training is going.

Long Run Friday

Last week saw a long run of 14 miles.  I actually felt pretty good on this run other than being starving.  I started the run later than I had wanted and ended up running through the lunch hour.  By the time I got home, I was famished.  I remedied this by consuming an entire frozen pizza.  This was also my longest iPod-free run.  Going into the run, I actually was dreading the distance and feared that I would be missing the music towards the end of the run.  Mile 12 is when I actually thought about the iPod.  And it wasn’t because I was missing it.  I basically thought, “Hmmm, this is about where I thought I was going to be wanting some music – I guess not.”

Long Ride Saturday

Saturday was a biking day.  I did 2 hours on the trainer; my longest effort on the trainer this season.  I tuned into the Ironman Kona coverage at 4:30 and hopped on the bike.  It made for good motivation to keep going.  I even found myself enjoying the commercials and not fast forwarding through them.  However, I wish the coverage would have been longer and that they would have focused on more age groupers. 

Sunday

I just had to do an easy 6 on Sunday.  After 14, the six felt like nothing.  I actually ended up just running wherever my feet took me.  It was probably the most meandering route I have done it a while, but it was nice to just cruise along without a care in the world.

Monday/Tuesday

Monday and Tuesday were off days for running.  I can’t remember that last time I took two days off running in a row.  Even after my last marathon, I was back two days later for a short 3 mile run.  However, I decided to follow the schedule and give my legs some rest.  It should be especially good for my hamstring which acts up on me every once in a while.

That said, I couldn’t simply do nothing.  So, instead of running, I have swam both days and biked on Tuesday.  On Monday, I did 2500 yards straight at the pool in about 45 minutes.  After the swim, I went out to lunch to Yesterdog with a couple guys from the pool.  Nothing like a couple of Yesterdogs to cancel out the benefits of a long swim.  Tuesday was another 2500 yards, but in 500 yard intervals this time instead. 

I followed up the swim on Tuesday with 60 minutes on the trainer.  Didn’t really want to do it, but I want to keep my legs (and butt) in shape for when I can bike outside again.

And On

The rest of week continues to be an easy week run-wise.  I’ll total out the week at only 18 miles which will be both weird and nice.

I probably won’t be back blogging until next week sometime after the holiday craziness winds down a bit.  Until then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!  I hope Santa brings everyone the Cervelo, Garmin, and other tri-gear they want!

I got two packages in the mail yesterday.  One expected and one unexpected.  The first was the book I won on Jon’s blog give away.  This book in full of information; almost overwhelmingly so.  However, nutrition is something that I could always know more about.  I am generally a healthy eater (minimal fast food, lots of fruits and veggies, etc.), but sometimes I get into the mindset that I can eat whatever I want as long as I keep running.  This should help me develop better eating habits during my training.  Thanks Jon!

The second package of the day came from a friend from Leelanau, MI. They are actually the family we bought our house from and have kept in touch since.  I helped them with some computer work earlier this week and they sent this as a thank you.  It is a bike jersey for their coffee house in Lake Leelanau, MI, Pedaling Beans Coffee House.  If you are ever in the area, stop by, I highly recommend it.  Thanks K!

The Leland/Leelanau area of Michigan (hold up your left hand and point to where your pinky and ring finger meet and that is the Leland/Leelanau area) is great for some serious biking.  Lots of big hills to give you a good workout. (check out the course map and elevation chart from the Tour de Leelanau).

 
The front and back of the jersey.  The back includes a map of the entire area (in case you get lost – haha)

 
Sporting the new jersey

Thanks again everyone!!!

It is 7:30AM.  It is too damn early to be awake.  Not only is it too early to be awake, but it is WAY too early to be awake and have already swam.  I am not a morning person.  At all.  Jennifer will vouch for that.  However, my schedule today is going to be out of the ordinary, so I had to get my swim in early because I won’t be around for the normal lunch time swim.

I got to the pool at about 5:45 for the early open swim.  The crowd was about the same size as the lunch crowd.  Much quieter though; I think everyone was half asleep like myself.  There is nothing like jumping into a cold pool to jumpstart the system though.  I ended up doing 2500 yards with 5 x 300’s as the core workout.  I have pretty much settled into a 3 day a week swim schedule where one day is short intervals, one day is longer intervals, and one day is a long continuous swim.  Seems to work well and doesn’t get too boring.

On the running front, I changed up my schedule a bit.  I am switching weeks 3 and 4.  I am doing this mainly because of the holiday season.  Week 3 was scheduled to be a light week while week 4 picked it back up with a long run of 14 miles.  That long run fell on Christmas.  No thank you.  So, I am doing the heavier week this week and the lighter week next week and will only have to do 4 miles on Christmas.

I have 6 miles scheduled today, but may turn it into 8 depending on how I feel.  I had 8 scheduled on Monday and while I completed it, it was an absolutely miserable run and I had to walk/jog the last 3 miles because I was nauseous.  It was extremely unpleasant and a very unsatisfying run.  Hopefully I can make up for it today.

That is, if I manage to stay awake… ZZZZZzzzzzzz………

Busy, busy, busy.  That is how to explain this past weekend.  A little Christmas decorating, a visit from the in-laws coupled with a trip to Holland filled up the weekend quickly.  I managed to get in a short ride on the trainer and an easy 4 mile run.  I also managed to cut down and wrestle a Christmas tree on top of the car which was more strenuous than the ride and run combined.

Yes, I know the tree looks bigger than the car.  Getting it off the ground on on the car
was the hardest part of the whole ordeal

It was worth it though.  It is a perfect fit in our living room.
The actual decorating will come later this week.

After getting the tree setup, we spent the afternoon with the Jennie’s family.  It was a day filled with college football, fajitas, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (hence the title of this post) – the greatest Christmas movie ever made, and gingerbread houses.

Jennifer showing off her work of art

After a weekend with limited exercise, I jumped back into the swing of things today with a 2900 yard swim followed by an 8 mile run.  I had hoped to get a swim in over the weekend to make up for missing Friday’s swim, but there was a USA Swimming event at the pool on Saturday and Sunday and no open swim. 

Today’s swim was mainly 200 yard intervals followed by 10 x 50 yard intervals.  I rounded out the intervals with some kick drills which really tired out my legs.  I didn’t realize how tired they were until I started my run.

Later in the afternoon, I headed out on my run.  I wasn’t planning on doing 8 miles today, but I decided to switch up my marathon training plan.  Rather than following Hal Higdon’s plan again, I am switching to another plan I found here.  I like this schedule a little better because the rest weeks have an extra day off for rest and it incorporates 22-23 mile run rather than only 20 milers.  We’ll see how it goes, I’ll keep you posted!

I ended up finishing the run in just under an 8:00 min/mile pace, so I can’t complain.  My legs felt very heavy and lethargic though.  I think I overdid it with the kick drills in the pool today.  I’ll have to plan better in the future so that I can make the most out of my runs during marathon training.

And finally, a huge congrats to Alli and her friend Roxanne for finishing her first marathon – the Memphis Marathon – on Saturday.  She kicked butt and is already looking to do another one.