Run, Run, Rudolph! Shelbyville Rudolph Run Race Recap

That's exactly what I did on Christmas Eve.  I got to participate in the Rudolph Run in Shelbyville with my family.  Both of my brothers and my sister in-law all ran with me.  Well, I should say they all ran ahead of me.  What a great way to start the holidays with family!  If you get the chance to do a Christmas Eve run with members of your family, I highly suggest taking part.

I spent the rest of Christmas Eve with my family at my mom's house.  We were all forced to talk to each other because her cable had been knocked out overnight by a falling tree limb.  That's right folks 6 people in a house in the 21st century without television or internet and we didn't kill each other.  We had a great dinner of steak and salmon and enjoyed each others company all day.  This finished with exchanging gifts in the evening when a lot of thoughtful gifts were given.  A huge shout out to my brother for creating a personalized Medal/Race Bib holder.  It even has the motto of this blog on it.  Check out the picture.  I am working on hanging it in my home office, but I wanted to find the exact right spot and method so I won't have to change it in the future.  I'll show you an updated picture when I hang it and put some memorabilia on it.  They also pooled together to purchase me a Garmin Forerunner 235 that I can't wait to get to use.  I even told Mrs. Re-Dan-imation that she will no longer have to guess when I will be finishing as she should be able to view my location with live tracking once I figure out how it works.

Christmas day included a trip to my in-laws to celebrate the holiday.  Again, we had great food including ham, and home made mac and cheese.  Honestly, I did try to eat at least relatively well these two days.  Again, we exchanged gifts and played a new game given to us by my mom the night before.  We had a ton of laughs and had a great time watching Mrs. Re-Dan-imation open the same card an attempted 4 times during gift unwrapping.

In the days following I have been doing a lot of research.  Mrs. Re-Dan-imation suggested that we forgo buying each other gifts this year and instead invest in a treadmill for our home.  Given the fact that it was her suggestion, I took the bait.  I like to make as informed a decision as possible at the best possible price so I finally decided to go with a NordicTrack treadmill and finally ordered it today.  I'll be pretty pumped to pick it up when they notify me it has arrived at the store.  Unfortunately I couldn't get them to throw in free delivery.  Oh well, I guess I will get in a workout moving it into a vehicle and then into the house!

As you may have seen from my recollection of the week, again there wasn't a lot of running included.  Spending two solid days with family tends to throw a wrench in those plans and, to be completely honest, we love to sleep in at our house when we are on break. With that in mind, I stepped on the scale today completely unsure about what my results would be.  I looked down to see a 262.0 lbs.  I am going to be honest that I was completely satisfied with that number as cookies tend to be the death of me and Christmas brings these in droves.  I am fine with the fact that I didn't go completely overboard on food and sweets.  So, I know over the past few weeks I have been a little down on myself, but I will again take this week as a small victory having gained just a tiny bit.  Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!

A Mile Away!!

What a week!  This has been the week right before break...and for a teacher, let's just say it's a crazy week.  I also worked an extra 3 days this week after school and helped with our Christmas concert last Monday.  It has been nuts!  By the time I got to the weekend, I just wanted to relax.

That is exactly what I did.  I literally did not take a step on a treadmill or the street this week.  I have a feeling you see what is coming in the weigh in department.  However, Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and I managed to get all of our presents wrapped for everyone.  I can't wait to see their faces when they open them.  Giving is definitely the best part of this season.  I only wish I could do it more.  If you haven't done something for someone else this year...find some way to give to others in need.  Shop for someone from an angel tree, drop some money in the Salvation Army bucket, or buy lunch for the person behind you in the drive through.  You have no idea how good it can make you feel and how much joy it brings to the person who receives the gift.  

I also managed to finally watch some of my favorite Christmas movies.  Who doesn't love watching a little Elf and Christmas Vacation.  They always make you laugh and no matter how bad/lazy of a week you have had you will enjoy having a good laugh.  

I know, I know.  You just ran another race, how are you going to let up on the gas.  It's easy to do when you are out of gas from a long week.  I am sure everyone has heard the phrase "Excuses are like ********, everyone has one and they all stink!"  I won't give excuses, I will simply accept the fact that I failed myself this week.  

After the week I had I could see my results coming from a mile away.  When I stepped on the scale this morning, I knew what was coming.  I saw 260.9.  That's an increase for the week of 0.5 lbs.  Honestly, that was less than what I expected.  Now that I am on winter break, I will be forcing myself to get back at it.  Also, I will be running on Christmas Eve morning in the Rudolph Run with my brothers.  I can't wait to do that.  I still have things to look forward to even though I had yet another bad week.  Check back next week and see if I hold together my weight around Christmas.  

Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!!