This morning I actually set my alarm, got up and ran outside! There is no photo evidence because it was pitch black the entire time. It was finally warm enough (17 degrees) to get outside so I was excited to get out even if it was still pretty cold. Four cold miles later and the third day of the run streak, check! There was still some snow but it wore my trail shoes and had no issues with slipping.

Yesterday my dad had to have a small surgical procedure done, I got to hang out with their super cute golden-doodle tucker while they were at the hospital.

Luckily Dad got to come home last night, sleep in his own bed and start recovering. I hope that his recovery is fast, please send him good vibes!

I am still trying to figure out my 2019 race calendar, usually I have races for the next year figured out by the fall, but this year I keep bouncing around on what I want to do, I think it’s an issue of wanting to do it all (work on speed with shorter races, run all the ultras, and run a bunch of marathons) I know better than trying to accomplish more than one goal at a time. I am leaning towards a 50 miler sometime this year. I was set on running one in the summer of 2017 and training was going pretty well but I broke my toe on the 4th of July and missed the race. Then I was pregnant with Emmy so this is my first chance to try again. I have been toying with an early or late summer race. In June there is the North Fork 50 Mile, I ran the North Fork 50k in 2017 and LOVED it.

But waiting until the end of summer gives me more time to gradually build my base, and much more daylight to run on trails. I will just need to suck it up to run in the summer heat. I also am looking at Run Rabbit Run and it’s a very difficult course, not exactly a beginners course. The Leadville Silver Rush 50 was the race I was planning to do in 2017 and there are a few others still on the list….WHAT TO DO. So torn.

Once I have an A race picked out I can fill in the blanks, maybe a marathon and 50k as training races.

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How do you choose your races? Any big races in 2019 you are so excited about?

Today was a return to some routine at our house. My alarm went off at 4:30 am ( I allowed myself to sleep in 30 minutes extra) and Cory returned to work. My day started out with a three mile run on our treadmill and a little strength training.

I was worried that the kids would have a hard day since they have gotten used to slow mornings and Dad staying home.

But everyone had a great day and Cannon even took a nap. Recently Cannon has started refusing to nap at least once a week. I cry when I think of him not napping every afternoon but I think the end is near.

Also Cannon has been becoming more and more attached to Emerald. He started whining at her door this morning, saying he wanted Emmy. I don’t love the whining, but it’s just too cute that he always wants to be with his sister. One of his favorite things is to help me get her up after naps, and she squeals with delight when she sees him.

It’s officially goal setting season and I LOVE it, I love a fresh new year and all the motivation to reflect, dream and prioritize goals. I know some people are not into resolutions and all the new year hype but I am the biggest dreamer and I. AM INTO. IT.

I have been spending time reflecting and digging deep into what I want 2019 to look like. More on that soon, but one thing I knew I wanted to do this January was a run streak.

There are a lot of opinions about run streaks for and against, I fall in the for category but only within reason. My reason for wanting to do a run streak is to help myself reset habits. In December training wasn’t great because of illness, holiday hustle, cold, dark, laziness, etc, etc. When I do a run streak it feels easier, there is never a question if I am going to run or not I just get it done. When I run everyday for a month I feel like I set some really good habits to take with me into the rest of the year. I make my streak short and simple to avoid burnout and injury. Since it’s my streak I set my own rules and it’s simple run at least one mile (walking is allowed) once a day, everyday for all of January.

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Are you for or against run streaks?

Ever done one? If so what’s your longest streak?

Happy New Year Friends! I hope you had a wonderful night celebrating a new year, fresh possibilities and another chance to make a trip around the sun.

As for us we partied hard, at noon.

I took the kids to a noon years eve party at a friends house. It was so cute and so much fun. There were homemade (kid safe) party poppers, a Netflix countdown and a confetti/ballon drop at noon.

It was a great way to celebrate the new year because there was NO WAY I was going to keep these kids up until midnight.

In the evening, we stayed in, it snowed all day long and was about 5 degrees. I actually turned in around 10PM. A few years ago I wondered why people didn’t stay up until midnight to ring in the new year. But now I totally get it. In this season of life, sleep is precious and being tired just makes everyone miserable. These kids rarely sleep past 6am, they don’t care what day it is.

Cory and I had planned to run 13.1 miles on today to celebrate the new year. My parents had graciously agreed to hang out with the kiddos so we could run together. This is something we had done every year since 2010. The last three years we haven’t done it because of babies:

• 2015 = Pregnant with Cannon
• 2016 = Body wasn’t ready to run that far after having Cannon so we ran 8 miles instead
• 2017 = Pregnant with Emerald

*I know you can run 13 miles while pregnant, it just doesn’t feel good to me to run that far. We were so excited to get out and run together, something we rarely do. Sadly my father came down with a medical condition and has to have surgery sometime this week! Understandably they weren’t feeling up to watching the kids so we scrapped our plan. Since it never got above 15 degrees and was icy out it was likely a good thing we didn’t try to get out.

This morning I got up early with Emerald and enjoyed some cuddles and coffee before the boys got up. I often miss mornings with the kiddos because that is my time to run but since this was Cory’s last day of vacation I took advantage of him being home and waited until later to jump on the treadmill for a few miles. So grateful to have a treadmill in our basement on days like these.

The rest of the day we played in the snow, snuggled and watched movies. Pretty great way to start the year if you ask me!

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Do you always stay up for midnight on New Year’s Eve?

What is the coldest temp you will go outside to run in?