The Twelve Days....err Gift Baskets of Christmas

Christmas is usually my favorite time of the year. I wait all year for it! I love the music, the decorations, wrapping gifts(even though I suck at it) and all the gift baskets we receive at the office. Okay, maybe I love the gift baskets a little too much. Fortunately and unfortunately with the recession the baskets have not been arriving quite as often. I will admit, I am one of those people who tend to put on a little weight during the holiday season and, this year is no exception. So far, I've put on a pound. Yes, one whole pound! I'm not following the Weight Watchers plan. Haven't even really thought about it much. My life is sheer stress and hell these days and the thought of measuring, journaling and holding myself accountable for what I put in my mouth takes energy I simply don't have right now, which is utterly ridiculous! Can't even believe I thought that let alone typed it. It's thoughts like these that causes the pounds to creep up...thoughts and actions. Let's see...I need something to celebrate? Oh, I have remained under 200lbs. I will celebrate the small things. Ha!

It's been 5 days since I've worked out or done any running. Five very, very long days! I'm down to the wire with this school semester and every waking moment I'm not at my desk I need to be studying plus, I'm still pretty banged up and sore from my car accident. Luckily for me, I'm too depressed and stressed to overindulge. Wait, did I just type luckily and depressed in the same sentence? I usually overindulge when I'm happy or anxious. Clearly skipping meals because I'm depressed is not the healthiest way to be but, it is what it is. What is healthy is, I plan to venture out on a nice 5 mile run this weekend. Hope all goes well!

With the year coming to a close I counted 8 organized races I ran so far this year(I say so far like I have more planned...I don't!). My goal was to do one race a month. Actually since I set that goal back in September of 2010 I've ran 14 official races which included 4 10 milers and one half marathon!! Yay me! I was so upset about my time at the VA Beach Surf N Santa that I forgot why I do this. I discovered why I 'train' better than I race...it's because when I train it's just me and nothing but time! :-) I saw this quote on a Facebook Group page and instantly loved it, "You are a RUNNER! There is no such thing as slow!". I was really disappointed in my attitude. Instead of celebrating my FINISH and not just any finish, a finish that was my best 10 mile finish ever, I was bitching about nothing. Lesson Learned!

VA Beach SurfnSanta 10 Mile Race & Frosty 5K!!

Unfortunately this race will always be eclipsed by the awful 7 car accident that I was involved in on the way home from the race. We had ran/walked, celebrated, cheered with beer and was heading home when, 30 minutes later we were involved in a pretty bad accident. It was my girls first race and they as well as I was thrilled for them! They even had a finishers medal to prove it! Haha!!

At any rate, I did the 10 miler and was able to set a PR for my 10 mile run. I was not pleased with my time. Yes, even though I set a Personal Record! I was on course to finish my race in 1 hr and about 48, 49 minutes. At 1 hr and 27 minutes I was already well into the 8th mile(lately, my time for 8 miles has been 1.32). Then....cramped legs and toes hit me! It was God awful! My feet and toes normally goes numb at about mile 9 but I've never experience this and I couldn't figure out what was going on with me. I started to feel them going numb at mile 7 which was odd. This guy said to me 'what are you doing? you're motivating me lets go!". Then again at mile 9 when I was just barely making it I stopped to stretch my calves in hopes that they would release the death grip that my toes were in so that I could run across the finish line, when this woman said, "come on, you're motivating me, I am pacing with you and I need you to bring me home!". Wow! I told her you're the second person to tell me that today. I actually felt like a failure because they both finished the race ahead of me and, I was hobbling to the finish. I don't know what it is but I've been told that many times during a race when I would start to struggle..."come on, you're motivating me or come on I'm pacing with you". I figured I must look very confident and strong during my races or, they like looking at my ass. Either way, works for me! :-)

(every time I would straighten them out, they would cramp up again...my sister looked on with both horror and laughter, lol)

In the end, I finished strong sprinting across the finish line! It took me 1 hour and 53 minutes. I'm literally shaking my head in frustration just thinking about it! I actually wanted to cry and not from the obvious pain I was in but because I was feeling sorry for myself. Thinking why does this always happen to me?! Who knew that a little over an hour later I would really have something to cry about? The trip home from hell! That car accident really put things in perspective. I was laying in the back asleep without my seat belt and anybody that knows me knows that I don't play around when it comes to safety. I don't care how old you are or where you sit in my car a seat belt is mandatory. In fact, I constantly get teased about my strict ways! It was scary thinking my sister and bff were crushed then scary when I remembered I wasn't buckled-up. Thank goodness we all were okay. Including the passengers and drivers of the other 6 vehicles! That 1 hours and 53 minute time finish seemed like heaven compared to that! Today I am really sore, have a really bad headache and have a car that may or may not be totaled 200 miles away! But, I got the coolest medal ever! A medal that goes from a medal to a key chain to a bottle opener and not just any bottle...beer! Which I could use lots of after the trip I had!

The Good:
1. I finished the race with a 10 mile PR (personal record)
2. My sister and bff walked their first 5k...so damn proud of those ladies!

3. Great post race celebration that included great stew, a great band and beer and plenty of funny costumes to laugh at!

The Bad:
1. Numb, cramped, deformed toes and legs for the last 2 miles
2. Feeling like I let myself down

The Ugly:
1. Car ride home from hell!
2. Very briefly feeling like my toes would be deformed for life(dramatic much?)
3. Being told by the ER doctor that I have a heart murmur (all I could think was, what does this mean for my running). I'm always thinking like a runner!