Winter makes me lazy. It gets dark so early, and is cold, and windy, and is discouraging. I blame my laziness on winter. I realized I have not blogged in almost a month. Laziness (aka winter) is the only reason I can think of that's caused the delay.
That being said, December has been a great month. We had the girls for a majority of the time and it's been awesome having them around so much without work or other interferences. We have done "good deeds" with them including writing holiday cards to wounded soldiers and volunteering at the local food pantry. Jess and I were also able to get away for a weekend at Oakwood Resort in Syracuse, Indiana. It's this little resort on a lake that's about 2.5 hours away. You would think a place like that wouldn't be much fun in the dead of winter, but we love this place because it is so quiet and peaceful. It's a great escape from all the hassles of life where you can simply rest and recharge. This month, we also had our annual family Christmas party at our house. This day, where my parents and my in-laws come over, is one of my favorite days of the year. And it always amazes me how it takes over a month to plan for this day (and the holidays in general) yet the time when they are here goes by so quickly.
However, not all of December has been lazy. Jess and I ran our first Christmas 5k on Christmas day. It benefited the Indiana School for the Deaf and is truly the only 5k ran on Christmas Day in Indiana. Jess set a new PR busting almost 2 full minutes off her previous best! It has really opened her eyes as to what she may be able to accomplish with a legitimate focus on training. Tonight she impressed me again by doing some speed and hills on her treadmill workout. It's also made me get a little more focused on my goals. I realized that it appears I will end the year with about 750 miles of running. Next year, my goal is at least 1,000 miles. In theory it doesn't seem that difficult - just about 5 miles more per week than what I did this year. But that's the goal - it's on the internet now so there is no going back.
Here's to a successful 2016!