Nostalgia

It's that time of year again- I suited up my $7 neon jacket I got at ACO years ago over top of my running gear because I was going for a run in a snow storm close to night time. I trotted along for the first half of my run with a great tail wind. I couldn't see the sidewalk and it was more like hopping than running. When I turned around, though, it was a super head wind so I decided to get on the slippery street. Blah. I'm not entirely a fan of winter running. Buuut, it did make me think of the old days. Marley &  I used to do so many night runs in the snow. I can't tell you how many falls we both have taken while running together on ice. Then, sometimes we'd get hot cocoa from Tim Hortons after and ramble about all the exciting things in our lives. I miss those days. We ran a race in 2008, and I remember it being so snowy. Every breath of air I took in, I got a huge mouthful of snow. I also miss my old dog, Roxy. She used to run with me in the snow and she loved it. My other dog, Matilda, who I still have, and had before Roxy (when I moved in with Ryan & Mason, we had to get rid of her. She was too crazy and big for a family of four, and our living arrangements were really tight for the first month- there wouldn't have been any room. I'm a firm believer of once you get a pet, you keep them forever, but it just wasn't feasible, and I will always keep Matilda, who I've had since she was 8 weeks old)- won't run with me. Matilda barely gets up from her bed to eat, let alone running. She's the laziest dog ever and super timid. I just wish that sometimes she would go with me. It'd make it more enjoyable to trot through the snow. Roxy used to run ahead then eat the snow, then come back super excited. Then when we'd get home, she'd plop herself down in the yard and roll around.

I'm super excited to do a night run on Christmas Eve like I do every year. It's always super calming to run through a decorated neighborhood, knowing Santa's coming in a few hours :)

I'm gearing up, trying to get ready for the Ann Arbor 1/2 in March. You may recall I originally said I was going to do the Ann Arbor FULL, not half, but I thought it was in June, not March! It gets kinda lonely training by myself for such long races, and I have nobody around except Bonnie, who I only run with once every or every other month. I saw at the local running store they had a sign for a run club. I don't think I'm ready to go to a new run club. I miss my Lapeer friends an awful lot. I feel like the runners here are either super fast and snooty and all "hoity toity" about everything, or they're just older, slower, not really giving a poop about running and just want to socialize. I totally know that's me being prejudice and mostly anti social when it comes to meeting new people, but that's ok. Maybe, just maybe, I'll go to their running club meet up one day. Maybe.

The other run I'm planning in the nearish future is the Bolder Boulder in, well, Boulder. Perfect excuse to go to Colorado to see my Dad, Step mom & brother. I already talked to work about it, I just need to start looking for tickets at the beginning of the year.

The plant based diet is gong well. I went to my work holiday party last weekend and had cheese for the first time in some spinach & artichoke bites and my stomach was in cramps for 2 days. Bad idea! I've lost 13lbs since Halloween. That's a lot considering I'm not  big and wasn't THAT big to begin with. I love the way I feel, and I am starting to feel good about the way I look again. My goal is 6 more pounds, maybe 8. Anything under that, is probably under weight, and I alllmost look sick.

I never know how to end these. I'm not much of a writer, I'm more of  a rambler. So.. until next time :)

hashtag running post

I have no real point to this post, just feel like typing about running.

I have decided to jump into the "Holiday Streak", where I don't take a day off between Thanksgiving & New Year's. A lot of runners do that, and that'll most likely spark me to keep it going like I had before. Started the streak off on Thanksgiving with an easy 3miles & I even made a hand turkey in the snow:

It was a super peaceful run between Canton & Wayne, and although it was along the 4 garbage dumps, I actually kinda like that run.The next night, I ran a short run in the dark around my subdivision, and even clocked a pretty quick mile. Then that leads to the next night: I have to run in the dark a lot, either in the morning when I get to work, or at night because of scheduling. If it's the morning, I run in Ann Arbor, and it's pretty lit and there's several other runners out & about, too (today I saw a guy running with his giant standard poodle- so cute!) If I do it in the evening, I just run my subdivision loop over and over because it's conveniently a 1/2 mile exactly. Nobody's ever out, especially now, it's cold. But that night, I freaked myself out so bad. Your mind wanders when you run, and I started thinking of how someone was going to kidnap me and murder me, and all the details in between. I started planning how I'd beg for the kidnapper to let me go because I had kids who needed their mom and started panicking because what would they do without me?! Sooo. I went home and showered after one mile because I couldn't take the anxiety. So incredibly stupid. Generally, my mind wanders, but it's things like recipes, I should call my grandma, I wonder if my friend can play the bongos.. etc. Not how I'm going to plea with my kidnapper.

Yesterday I ran with Bonnie- my high school running partner. We found a pretty nice state park in between both our houses and got a solid 6 & a half. Felt really good, and I missed running with someone. Isabel hasn't wanted to run with me because she says it's way tooooo cold! I miss my dog, Roxy. She always ran with me. My dog, Matilda, who I still have, barely wants to even go outside to use the bathroom and she rarely moves from her bed. She's lazy. And she's only 4. Maybe if I had a big running dog, I'd not be afraid of murderers. (hint hint Ryan...)

The veganism is going swimmingly. For thanksgiving, I bought Ryan one of those $5 chickens from the grocery store so he wasn't meatless, and made an entire meal without any animal products. My vegan pie I got from Whole Foods somehow got moldy in my pantry, so I had to improvise & have Oreos for dessert. (yes, they're vegan!)But it was a lovely holiday, just us two, (the kids were gone with relatives) and I never got out of pjs except for my garbage dump run.  AND I was stuffed from all my yummy food :)