Since my last post, I ran in another 5K with my Mom, Dad, and children the second Saturday in December. It was a Santa run where everyone was dressed up like Santa as they ran through the street of St. Charles. We had a beard, glove, hat, and a long sleeve shirt that looked like Santa's coat. It was a cold day, so we were layered underneath our shirts. I ended up with a finish time of 30:30. I was a bit disappointed that it was slower than my previous 5K time. I hadn't run as much in between the two runs. Also, we started and ended on cobblestone, which was a bit awkward to run on. I was afraid to twist my ankle, and a did see someone fall. There was also more of a hill than in the Turkey Trot, and there were many walkers starting too far forward in the line up, so I spent alot of time having to get around people to get into my grove. Overall, it was fun and I would do that race again. A nice way to end the year of running.
Throughout the holidays, I continued to find times to run at least 2-3 days a week. I varied my lenghths of runs between 3-7.5 miles. I mostly ate what I wanted to at all the holiday get togethers, but I am in my second week of following the South Beach strict two week phase again. From Thanksgiving-New Year's my weight had been hovering a little higher than it had been when I was in my half training, so I have managed to get it back down where it was. I would still like to drop 10-15, but we'll see. I can't maintain this level of very limited carbs and still have the energy to run. Next week I get to add my healthy whole grain carbs back in. The key, I think, is to continue to watch my portion sizes and limit the snacks. If I could only stay away from the glass or two of wine in the evenings. I've been resisting snacking or if I'm really hungry having a handful of nuts or a spoonful of peanut butter and drinking some water. It's sometimes hard.
The holidays were a difficult time, because we definitely noticed the absence of my mother-in-law, Heidi. I was happy to get through this first holiday season and get it behind us. Now with school resuming, it has been crazy busy getting back into the daily grind. We only 1 week and 2 days off of school, so it really wasn't much of a break anyway. I have a "Teacher Candidate", the new term for a student teacher, this semester. I'm enjoying having another teacher in the room. It keeps me on my toes and feeling refreshed and excited about teaching to see the excitement from a teacher in training. It also helps the classroom run more smoothly, and allows more students to receive help and attention.
I've signed up for 2 half marathons this spring. The Go! St. Louis Half Marathon in April 15 and then the Chicagoland Half Marathon in Schaumburg, IL is May 20. I am considering trying a full marathon in the Fall. Dave is also running both of these half marathons. It will be time to officially start training again the week of January 22. We also signed up to do a 4 mile run in February, the "Truffle Shuffle". It included post race chocolates and a sweetheart category. Sounds fun, but it could be cold. Looking forward to 2012. I think it will be a year of new challenges and continued growth and change.
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