I'm not crazy...I'm just bored!!

34.77 miles away from QP's door. I can feel the sisterly love already! SO close! I might even have time this year to take a nice little long run WITH QP once I get there. I really wasn't sure I'd make it and without injury. This year has been amazing as far as my running goes. I've had my cake with 12 marathon+ distances run a PR in the marathon, Boston, pacing, HOMM challenge...wow. I'm not sure what to tackle next year. Suggestions? Maybe QP will have some suggestions when I get there :)

Shaggy Mountain Loop with Dave. Chad is a work-a-holic lately and George is broken. So, poor Dave had to go slow with me. But, I got it done and I think the last miles were a pretty decent pace. First time since I got my Yak Trax 2 years ago for Christmas that I've worn them. I actually like them :) I think I will start using them more often in the winter.

Traditonal Christmas Eve run with Kim, Scott, Kelli, Amy, Scott, Dave and Jerry. A great group! We headed 3 miles up Butterfield Canyon and my Yak Trax got me up with little problems. The deeper snow still was tough to break through, but overall it was nice...especially coming down! I love running downhill and just letting it go. I can't run uphill to save my life, but downhill is quite nice :)

Then we went the back way to my house, past the stake center and over to Kim's house. A total of 10.5 miles. I think the road miles were low 8's, or maybe it was just one of the miles that someone said. My darn garmin is toast so I just don't even try anymore.

We had an incredible breakfast and stunk up Kim's house for all his kids :) good times...certainly good times.

Christmas Eve I got new trail shoes. I went with some Solomon shoes. The nice thing is that I got them at Cabelas and they said I can bring them back anytime in the first 90 days for any reason (even if they'd been used), then on top of that I could bring them back for any manufactures issues (torn seams/holes etc) within the first year, no questions asked and trade them in for a new pair. I remarked to the salesman "really?!? I don't think you know what I can do to a pair of shoes in a year!" He said "Yup. Isn't it great? Free pair of new shoes!" So, I now need to break these suckas in. Bring on the trails.

So, I got a group together for Shaggy Mountain...again. Kim, Scott, Dave and I did the classic loop. I really like my Shaggy Mountain loop. If anyone ever wants a hybrid road/trail running route and is in my area, please give me a call and I'll take you on an incredible journey!

I think I finished a little faster than Monday, but I've been eating waaay to much crapola. My butt is draging and I can tell that I'm not giving my body the fuel it needs. I'm using cheap fuel, not the quality stuff and I'm not performing like I should...go figure.

So, what to do when you need to break in trail shoes...go run Lake Mountain! Ding!!

Dave, Kim and I (aka the Solomon crew, since we're all cool enough to have Solomon shoes) hit the trail. Man, I suck. I really am losing any uphill running fast lately. I don't know why I can't run uphill and it keeps getting worse, but it does. Oh well. I was still running patches at 2.5, but then I walked the rest of the way to the top. Oh what a glorious morning!!

First thing, I tagged the peak! The "green" way :)

Took a Picture of The Solomon Crew

Then I took the epic Solomon picture :)

There are some places in this world only your feet can take you :)

(okay, yes 4 wheelers can go up this route, but still...stick with me in the moment here, would ya?!?)

I was excited to start the way back down, because with a packed trail the technical and steep parts I normally have to dance down to not fall and kill myself, were all packed in and ready for easy running. Well, they were still steep! I lost Dave and Kim on the first little trail down to the road, because I still couldn't run down that steep thing! But, after a couple miles I caught Kim and Dave...well, he was long gone. It was an incredible morning!! The worst parts were down near the parking area where the sun melts the snow creating ice. A little ice skating there for the guys, I just stayed on the un tracked out stuff and I was fine :)

New shoes performed well and I had a great time! Legs aren't nearly as sore as the other times either. I'm liking this trail more and more and more :) So, I posted about getting a group together on NY Eve. Anyone and everyone invited!

The most EPIC part of this run, was that I finally surpassed my goal for the year! I made it to QP's house! What a run to finish on as well. This is the first time I've actually made and completed (with breaking my foot and having to compromise) a mileage goal! I know 2186 miels isn't all that many for the majority of you, but it is my biggest year. I've done 12 marathon + distances, a half iron, became record holder for the stair climb, paced a ton of races, met and got to run with some of my favorite people in the world, drove 18 hours (one way) to pace a marathon with my BRF Becca, 3rd overall Oquirrh Man (trail half Friday, road full Saturday - men and women), Epic Boston that changed us all, PR in the marathon this fall and SO many other amazing things. This has just really been an incredible year. I'm SO greateful that I have remained relatively uninjured and didn't have to sideline myself for any reason other than recovery from back to back races. I am one happy girl! I think I really got my cake and got to eat it too!! I won't press my luck next year :) The only thing that would've been better was if I REALLY ended up in QP's driveway Friday morning :(

Well, a Saturday with no running...crazy, crazy, crazy!! I think I need my head checked! But, it was fun anyway :) Our rec center does a 100X100 challenge in the pool every year near the end of the year and today was the day! This year I brought Lauren along with me to show me up. Since I haven't been swimming in MONTHS I wasn't sure what today would bring, but I had my new little counter toy and 3 hrs 40 min to just swim (we got there late, because mom always takes too long to get ready and snoozes too many times).

Lauren kicked some trash and got all 100 done. According to my counter I only got 82 done. I kind of wonder if I didn't properly lap it, because lots of people that were swimming the same time and speed as me around me finished. I don't quite get it, but I'm okay with the 82 and living vicariously through my incredible daughter! She also got sick to her stomach and finally threw up so that she could comfortably finish the last 10. Poor girl...never eat bananas before swimming!!!

I was going to run afterward, but being all chloriney I wanted to shower. My hair was all tangled and gross and I didn't want to shower, dry my hair then run outside. I didn't want to run with wet tangled hair at the gym...ugh. Plus, no one was there to run with :( So, I bagged it and figured almost 4 hours of swimming would be good for the day.