Happy Holidays (Run-idays)!

As Christmas day dawns upon us, it’s time to wish all of you the best over the holiday season. Christmas is a time to reflect on the year that was, hug those you love, create new long lasting memories, and to EAT ALL OF THE FOOD! Don’t kid yourself, we are all excited to add on 10 pounds during the next two weeks, then burn it off as a part of the New Years resolution. Funny, but true. Christmas is also a time when you can bully your younger sibling to put up the tree (thanks Lauren!). In all seriousness though, Christmas is a special time of year; nothing beats the feeling of waking up to presents under the tree, watching the years best basketball games on TNT and ABC, building an igloo in the backyard (not in southern Alberta this year), playing hockey on the lake with all of your neighbors, and having a full dinner with the people that mean the most to you.

As 2014 departs us, I thank all of you for making it one of the best years of my life. That may sound very cliche, but those that have been close to me over the last few months know the magnitude of my gratitude. With 2015 right around the corner, I don’t know what the future has in store, but there are two things I do know; the days are getting longer, and I’ll be healthy headed into the New Year.

Since this is my run blog site, I had to include a little something something regarding my recent progress. Physically, I’m in the best shape of my life. The past two months have been considered a base mileage period; a time when you run a lot of miles at a comfortable pace. I usually log in 75-80km per week over 5 days when I’m training for a specific race, but over the past two months, I’ve managed to safely increase those numbers to 140-145km per week over a 6 day period. Yes, that averages out to 24km runs. At the beginning of this progression, my body had a tough time adapting. Mid-day power naps were a must (sometimes they were in the back of my car between store visits) and your diet gets thrown out the window. Literally anything and everything is fair game when it comes to meals. Those numbers may sound crazy, but pushing your body into a zone its never experienced before is a beautiful thing (nudge nudge, New Years is here; try something new (don’t run as much as I do though)). Other than that, we’ll keep race talk out of the picture and save it for February after the First Half Half.

As I log out for 2014, I’ll leave you all with a beautiful picture of a beach called Zante. It’s located near Zakynthos Greece. The purpose behind this picture is to add some beauty to my page, give you a possible vacation destination during our dreadful winter months, or to hint at one of our new shoes from NB.