The Anti-Running Runner

Technically, tomorrow is New Year's Day, but I thought I'd wish everyone a Happy New Year today since I'm here. I had a poll question in December about how holiday treats affects you and your running. I must admit, I didn't expect to run as little in December as I did, or to eat as many goodies. I also wrote a lot less than I had planned. On Writing For The Love (my writing blog), I revealed my plan to try writing 50,000 words in December just to see if I could. I didn't participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and thought, why not try it on my own and just see? December was not the best month to pick, but I did manage to write about 11,000 words and that's nothing to be ashamed of. As for running, I took a two-week break somewhere mid-December. It wasn't my intention to do so, but something amazing happened. I relaxed, I got some of those 11,000 words written, and I came back ready to run on Christmas Eve morning with my amazing runner ...

After a hard rain yesterday, the cold weather flew in on the back of gusty winds, making the Jingle Bell Run feel just about right (freezing!) at 7:30 pm. Team Hea and Bria made it, and we did awesome, I'm not ashamed to tell you. And I'd like to thank Jesus for that. For those who don't know, Team Hea and Bria is what I like to call my running partner, Heather, and I when we race together. We almost always stay together during races, and last night was no exception. We ran into a group wearing shirts with Isaiah 40:31 on the back, which drew my attention because that's the verse I repeated during the Gasparilla Marathon when I thought I would die. Then I noticed the shirt also said Calvary Chapel where I go to church. They started a running team, and the director was there and said both of us could join, too, even though Hea goes to a different church. He gave us each a long-sleeved dri-fit shirt (amazing, as you can see) and trusted that we would pay him la...

I have a hard enough time just getting through a regular road race. True, I ran an adventure run called The Claw Run in May that involved going waist deep through a river. I truly thought I would hate that...but I didn't. I kinda loved it. However, there was no mud, no getting shocked, no claustrophobic tunnels to crawl through and no ice baths to submerge into during that race. Therefore, I declined to join my husband and his team on the Tough Mudder this year, but I know my cousin, Alyssa, will be trying to talk me into it from now until next December when it's back in Florida. I did get the pleasure of spectating, which I truly enjoyed. I even got some mud sloshed onto me at a few spots, so I kinda felt involved. This amazing group completed the 12-mile challenge known as the Tough Mudder I'm so proud of my hubby for organizing the team and getting so many people to do it. They all did awesome and I got to see what hardcore really means watching this group con...