Good morning everyone! I hope that the season finds you in good spirits. I am sitting at home sipping my brew (hopefully after a nice morning long run!) – and if we were having coffee together, this is what we would be talking about (or at least my one-sided conversation!)! I am joining Coco, Deb, and Lynda for the Ultimate Coffee Date this month!

 

I we were having coffee, I would ask you…

Do you listen to podcasts? I spoke with a co-worker a LONG time ago about some of the podcasts that she listens to. She suggested listening to the Totally Laime podcast (thanks Ashley!). Well, I just finished listening to the entire run of Totally Laime (5 years, 1 hour weekly recordings). This is a comedic podcast where the host and co-host (Elizabeth Laime Rosen and Andy Rosen, wife/hubs duo) interview interesting people and talk about everything (life, not so much careers, bodily functions, everything!)! I am a little sad that I am done listening to this podcast, but now I can switch gears to 2 of their 3 other podcasts – Totally Married and Totally Mommy (Andy has Totally Beverages & Sometimes Hot Sauce, but that would be more for my hubs). I think I will start with Totally Mommy – because I am a mommy and I like hearing the good/bad/funny of everyone else’s mommy experiences J

 

If we were having coffee, I would tell you…

My good friend Marisa was induced with her first baby, a little girl, on Thursday! Granted, her due date was Friday…but it still feels so soon! We are going to stop by their house to let their dogs out at some point and give the property the once-over, and I am thinking about leaving them some fun things! I quickly came up with a few meals that I am going to try and prep on Saturday to take over and leave in their freezer 🙂

 

If we were having coffee, I would tell you…

Well…I finally signed up for my first marathon this past week! I am going to be training for the Garmin Marathon in Olathe, KS (my hometown and where I can beg friends and family to come support me!). I had a mini heart attack this morning when my training plan was to start next week…a little early! The dates were wrong…phew! I start training the last week in December! I am really excited to try a new training plan and am looking forward to crossing “First Marathon” off my bucket list next year! (Hey Steph, remember 3 years ago when I wanted to run to be able to run Garmin? You better be there yelling loud!)

Speaking of training plan – I am using my Garmin Forerunner 225 16-week Marathon training plan. I was glancing over some of the workouts and workout days…and this is going to be interesting for sure! I look forward to the challenge both physically and mentally.

 

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I did something crazy…

Speaking of training and miles, I signed up to complete 2016 miles in 2016 with Run the Year, powered by Run the Edge. I am excited to log my miles each day/week to work towards such a lofty goal! I believe that with my training and longer distance races/runs throughout the year, the 2016 miles will be attainable…or at least, I will be trying for it! Are you interested? You can use this link to get more information and register for the event!

Speaking of annual mileage – this is the last month of the year! I wonder how many miles I have run since I started back up this past year?

• No mileage recorded…I am not sure why I was using any device to record workouts at this time…
• Ditto from January…
• 120
• 164
• 155
• 184
• 219
• 187
• 155
• 149
• 115
• 1 – so far!

= 1461.1 miles minus 3 months (roughly) – If those 3 months were added, I wouldn’t have been too far from a 2015 mile goal this past year. I think that 2016 in 2016 is doable…and should be fun to try!

 

If we were sipping coffee together, I would bring up…

I am so glad there is a winter farmer’s market indoors, it is starting to get COLD! I will be heading to the local Farmer’s Market in a few hours with the little man. He enjoys looking at all of the food and crafts and trying everyone’s snacks! I hope that I am able to find some veggies for food prep this week. I am also going to look for more holiday gift ideas! I know I saw toffee there the last market weekend, and that would be something to try and make rather than purchase. I am excited! J

 

If we were drinking our favorite brew, I would mention…

My little guy has always been friendly to people, yes, even to strangers…until the past few months. He has a healthy case of “stranger danger”. I am fairly alright with this, for the obvious reasons. But the “danger zone” should be exempt from (1) people he has met before, it has just be a while since he has seen them, (2) family, (3) Santa. The little man and I went to the Holiday parade and lighting of the Mayor’s Christmas tree last night. By the end of the parade, he was strung out and needing to go home and to bed…but since the lighting was on the way to our car, we stuck around. All he wanted to do was run around…which I wouldn’t have been so against except for the fact that it was dark…and there were a couple hundred strangers milling about. After the lighting of the tree, there was a short line to see Santa. So, what the heck, I’ll give this a try – he did GREAT last year! I was prepping him, grooming him to sit on Santa’s lap…and when it came for his turn, he freaked…not just a little freak out…but it was a loud scream freak out. Oh well…better luck later this month when we try and brave the couple hour wait at Bass Pro to meet the Santa there again. Yes, he will probably scream again…but the pictures are priceless 😉

 

If we were having coffee, I would mention…

I have been doing well with the Runners World Run Steak this winter! I am not completely surprised, but it surely kicks me in the back-end when I would rather be lazy and take the day off. An easy 1 mi run makes me feel so much better – and there isn’t residual guilt from not working out or running. Am I the only one that feels like a day is lost without sweating a little?

 

Now that I am full of caffeine, I have a busy day full of a super early, cold morning group run, a Farmer’s Market visit, a running store visit, possibly bringing the hubs lunch, grocery store trip, meal prep for my next week, and making meals for a friend with a new baby! Make the most of every day and have a great weekend!

 

Do you listen to podcasts when you work or workout?

Are you training or preparing to train for any 2016 races?

 

I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment and spark up a conversation!