Merry Christmas!

It has been a beautiful Christmas, our first in Minnesota.  My son is in town visiting from college, so all five of us are home together. That is enough in itself honestly, but with the snowfall, cut your own Christmas tree farm, and arboretum light display, it's been a really wonderful season. I got a couple of great running related gifts, fleece lined athletic pants and a Garmin Forerunner 10. I'm excited to try out the Garmin, but it's too cold to run outside most days. It will be good motivation to try to get outside any day that I can though. I also ordered two running related books today, "Run Like a Mother" and "Train Like a Mother". I realized I need a training plan to follow if I want to go further, faster and without injury. I just ran all summer, really not with a focused goal, just trying to get into better shape. The result was that I did go farther and get faster, but I also hurt myself. I'm hoping that with a plan to follow, I won't overdue it and keep injuries at bay. My hip does feel better, but it's been a couple of weeks since I've tried to run. I have to get back into training if I'm going to complete the virtual 10K in February I already registered for. Also, the first big race of this area, Run For the Lakes, is in April. I haven't decided which distance I want to do in that race, it will depend on my hip and how I feel by then, but I definitely want to participate in it because it's a big deal for the runners in this area. I'm still looking for a mom/womens running group in my area. The closest I've found is St. Cloud, but that's an hour away, which is too far for training runs. Pretty soon I'll sit down and plan out more races for 2014. I'm excited to actually make a plan for the upcoming year, it will be the first time I ever start the year with running goals already in place! Usually, I just run to get in shape. It's fine, but I like having specific events to train for better, then the getting in shape part just happens as you train to compete. :-)
Happy Holidays!