The Whole Half - Weeks 10 and 11

Week 10 ended a while ago, and week 11 is almost over, so this post can cover both. The holidays are something else. I can't come up with a single adjective that describes the month of December's effect on me. I have such a romanticized view of Christmas and yet throughout the Christmas season I am usually stressed out and unhappy. Go figure. It seems like a lot of people are this way. Maybe this phenomenon is similar to when mothers forget the excruciating pain of childbirth and volunteer to have more babies (don't comment on that line there, I know nothing about babies, having them, or having more of them). The actual day of Christmas is usually pretty good, which must make up for all the frustration throughout the rest of the month. I enjoyed spending time with my family, we ate a lot of food and people liked the presents I got them. It wasn't restful at all - we were running around every day I was in Arkansas - but that's okay. My two days back in OKC have been good and I've experienced something akin to rest.

Last Sunday's run was postponed due to the fact that it was Christmas and I'm pretty sure it's illegal to run on Christmas. So I did a short run (4.5 miles) with my sister in law on the Saturday before and we did our long run of 7.5 miles on Tuesday morning. I got to meet one of Christine's friends and running buddies who is also training for the half marathon in April. We had a great run and I discovered that Siloam Springs is a fun place to run around. It's scenic, there are nice running trails, and the danger of getting hit by a car is much smaller than it is in OKC. Santa brought me a new fleece running jacket and brand new running socks for Christmas, so I broke out all the fun new stuff for our long run. Below is the picture of the feet of a serious runner (don't my socks make me look like a serious runner?). Sadly, the feet of this serious runner are pretty darn ugly. They are covered in blisters and missing a toenail. Fortunately, I think that's kind of cool. My future as a foot model was never very promising, so what do I care?

The 7.5 went great, and I'm already itching for 8. By the way, 7.5 was also a new personal record for me! I've never run that far in my entire life. Pretty crazy, huh? From now on, each time I increase my mileage it will be a new personal record. That is really exciting! After having such a great time with my running buddy Emily on Tuesday, we made plans to do another 4.5 miles the next day. At the time the idea sounded great, but my knee violently protested the next morning at 8:15 and we had to walk for at least a mile. Apparently my body isn't as excited about me becoming a serious runner as I am. I thought that icing, taping and ibuprofen-ing my knee would have been enough for a quick recovery. I was wrong. Oh well. Now I know. Running two days in a row is not something I'm cut out for. Hopefully I'll be okay by my next long run day on Sunday. Aside from the painful knee thing, I had a great chat with Emily and really enjoyed her company. Seriously, if I have to run for multiple hours I'm glad I'm doing it with interesting, encouraging, intelligent people. This half marathon thing will be a piece of cake!

I made it home from Arkansas Wednesday night with my new Kindle Touch, my new DVD player, and a slew of other cool things. My family does a great job of getting me exactly what I want for Christmas (probably because I tell them exactly what I want; they're good at following instructions). I'm trying to get as much of my life in order as I can, since I'm starting grad school in a couple weeks. I'm really excited and pretty nervous about the whole thing, but I think it'll be great (and if one more person who is in or has just finished grad school tells me how miserable I'm going to be soon, I might have to slap them. It's not often that I am optimistic about things. Just let me ride this train for as long as I can, okay? Realistic Corrie is still alive and well, she's just staying quiet and letting Optimistic Corrie have a chance to shine. Let her shine).

I'm planning to spend New Year's Eve downtown with a friend. I've heard OKC puts on a pretty good party, but I've never experienced it. Then I'll finish up Week 11 of my half marathon training on Sunday by doing a long run with my OKC running buddy Mike. I'm back to work on Tuesday, and the kids come back Wednesday. Vacation goes by so fast! I plan to enjoy these last few days to their fullest. You do the same. Have a great week!