check out this great virtual race!

just a quick post that i've been meaning to do...

you all should head over to rachelle's blog and sign up for her grandma lill's 96th birthday virtual race! she has some great prizes up for grabs and i think it's wonderful that she does this for her grandma!

i ran the 5k on saturday as a part of my 12 mile training run. you have until february 21st to get your run in!

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Brad, Riley, and I slept in then had a big breakfast and opened presents. I ran a 5K on the treadmill for Kiley's virtual race. I was going to take Riley for a walk for the 5K, but he was otherwise occupied!

I didn't really have anything Christmas stuff to dress up with, so I did my best with a green shirt and green sparkly Active Band to match.

I'm off to cuddle with my boys, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

HBBC Week 2

Saturday - not a darn thing
Sunday - ran/walked 4 miles, biked 6 miles (6 points)
Monday - biked 9 miles, stairclimber 20 minutes, elliptical 30 minutes (7 points)
Tuesday - ran 3 miles and biked 3 miles (4 points)
Wednesday - stairclimber 30 minutes (3 ponits)
Thursday - ran 1 mile, biked 6 miles (3 points)
Friday - ran 6 miles, stretched/foam rolled 20 minutes (7 points)

Total:  30 points

 I had some crappy runs this week... I'd start and feel horrible so I'd switch to the stairclimber or bike.

But this morning was just one of those AMAZING runs. When I started, I planned on doing 3.1 miles for Courtney's Hope Endures 5K. [Courtney - thanks for hosting and I know Ashlyn is smiling down on her amazing mother, today and always!]

I pounded them out and felt suprisingly good! So I figured, why not do four miles? Four turned into five, which turned into six!! I stopped at six only because I didn't want to end up pushing too far to fast. Runs like this are priceless. I started off slow at 5.0, then with each mile  I pumped up the speed a little (from sloth to say, turtle). I ran mile 5 at 6.0 which used to be unheard of. Then I ran mile 6 at 6.3-6.5.  Like I said, one of those priceless runs.

Running isn't easy and it takes a lot... but it gives back so much more!

Christmas Decorations and Virtual Races

I finally got some pictures of most of my Christmas decorations and I thought I'd share with you all. This weekend is usually when I put everything up, but I did everything last weekend since I had to work this weekend.

This is my favorite decoration. I'm not going to lie, last year I left it up until Easter (I put everything else up, I swear!) My parents and grandparents bought me the pieces for it over the past few years so that makes it even more special.

This is a new serving plate courtesy of my granny (she volunteers in the hospital gift shop and is always getting me the cutest stuff--reason number 31049732 that being the only granddaughter is the bomb.com). I thought it was too pretty to only use as a serving dish.

This is kinda boring to me, any ideas to make it more fun?





My mom hand painted the two grey reindeer, I love having them up! So many great memories!




We used to have a non themed tree, but Riley knocked it down two years ago (scared the crap outta me because I was home alone) and busted a bunch of our ornaments. So last year I went to Walmart and picked out a bunch of green, blue and pink ornaments. Then luckily I found perfect ribbon at Michael's to match so I could make a bow.

Did you do any shopping this weekend? I made it to Dick's and Target on Black Friday (only had a little time before work) then went to the mall later on Saturday. I got some great stuff for the Sock Swap!! Have you signed up yet? Don't forget the $15 iTunes giveaway!!!

I also finished my 4 miler for Ashley's 4 mile Turkey Trot, thanks for hosting Ashley!!! I have really enjoyed all the virtual races lately, they've really motivated me!

Courtney is hosting a 5k virtual race next week that you should really consider doing. It's to honor her daughter, Ashlyn (such a beautiful name, right?) 

Miles and One Big Meal

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope you all had a great day! I was super pumped for the Turkey Trot 5K this morning, mostly because Brad agreed to do it with me!! This is the first race he's done and I'm hoping he'll catch the bug! I was thisclose to a PR but I'll get into that later when I review the race.

This is my 'hokie'. Pardon my bug eyes!!

I found a new place to take crappy pictures. Just to switch it up from the bathroom self portraits! And you can see my nativity at the bottom (my favorite Christmas decoration!!).

I'm using the Turkey Trot to link up with Alissa over at Journey to Thin for her Thankful Healthy Blogger 5k.

Thanks Alissa for hosting this!!

While Brad was working on our turkey (side note:  I usually just cook a turkey breast since it's just the two of us but we got a $15 Butterball gift certificate and Brad was dead set on making a turkey) I took Rileybear for a 5k walk. We stirred up all the dogs in our neighborhood and the two next to us. Whoops.

I wanted to walk to hopefully combat the calories that I'd be getting later. I also wanted to enter Kiley's 5k as well! She's doing a whole holiday series, you should definitely check it out! I did the Halloween 5k too! Thanks for hosting Kiley!!

Sorry Kiley, but my printer is out of ink! I pulled up the bib on my iPad, but you can see how well that worked out! And my partner in crime was being SUPER cooperative!!

So that was the workout part of my day. B-rad dominated the turkey and I took care of the sides.

And we've been lazy on the couch for the rest of the day!! Oh, and not to be outdone,  Riley got a big bone for Thanksgiving:

It lasted him about 10 minutes. For reals.

The Halloween 5K

Daily Vitamin F

I LOVE Halloween!! I've got lots to share from today but first I wanted to post my Halloween 5K finish. Kiley over at Daily Vitamin F is hosting a series of virtual races throughout the holidays and the first was for today! If you missed out today, go check out her site, she's doing three more throughout the next few months, and the prizes are awesome so don't miss out!!!

 Sookie Stackhouse standing on the tub prior to my run. Classy photo right?

After my run, I forgot my bib at home!

I'll post some better costume pics in a while, plus you can see Brad and Riley's costumes and our pumpkins too!