Hope everyone’s new year is getting off to a good start. Mine is – we have been having a great time with our boys all through the holidays and it was really fun helping them get into the spirit of New Years Eve yesterday. We had originally been planning to go to a party at some friends house, but that was cancelled when the hostess’s son came down with stomach flu. Such a bummer for him, but at least our family was able to make alternate plans. We ended up eating ham and bean soup, going to see Frozen, then coming home to drink sparkling apple cider and prosecco, and watching the ball drop in NYC before sending the kids to bed. A very enjoyable way to say goodbye to 2013.

This morning we all woke up a bit late and groggy from staying up the night before, but still wanted to do something fun together as a family. So we decided to go to Discovery park in Seattle for a hike, and then to the Lockspot Cafe for lunch. I had smoked salmon chowder and a green salad. I can tell that I am pretty much at the end of the holiday feasting because salad is starting to sound really, really good to me. I am kind of over all the holiday junk and sweets. Even the egg nog in my coffee just doesn’t seem as festive and exciting as it did back in November. It is time to put all the holiday stuff away for next year (except the egg nog – I’ll just drink that, then it will be gone).

Done.

I think I mentioned that I am training for a half marathon at the end of the month. It’s going pretty well. I did a 9.5 mile run on Sunday which felt about as good as a 9.5 mile run can. I didn’t run very fast but I did maintain a steady pace all the way to the end. My ankles were a little sore after, but that was all. Did a 5 mile run a couple days later with no issues at all. Felt great, except for a little bit of a refluxy feeling that I think is from eating junk for the last 2 weeks straight. Oh well.

As far as a training plan for the half, I don’t really have one. What I do is, I run on a three week cycle – short, medium then long. You can’t as a newbie just pile miles on every week, you have to give yourself a break. So for instance, I ran 7 miles for my long run the first week of this cycle, then 8.5, then 9.5 this past Sunday. Now I will cycle back to a shorter distance and do it again. In the next cycle the short run will be the same length as the medium run from the previous cycle. So on my next cycle, I will run 8.5, then 9.5, then 11. And that will probably be the last long run before the half itself.

So far this non-plan has been working pretty well. I guess well see how it goes as I get closer to the big day!