This past week was obviously Christmas week.  I hope everyone had a merry Christmas!  I had approximately (no, exactly) five Christmases: one with my immediate family, one with each side of my extended family, and one with each side of my husband’s family.  Although it was lovely to see everyone, it took a TON of energy out of me.  I also had no fewer than three meals prominently featuring macaroni and cheese.

I had anticipated being busy and tired around the actual holiday, so I got in some workouts earlier in the week before heading out of town.  I also did pretty well on Christmas Eve at my parent’s place, with some walking (while listening to Serial), horseback riding, and hitting balls at the driving range.  I unfortunately did not make it to yoga with the fam as I had planned (aka, I unfortunately could not drag my family to BOTH the horse farm and the yoga studio, so I had to choose one).

Here’s the full summary…

Monday:  Reformer pilates and run commute

Tuesday:  3.5 miles + Orangetheory

Wednesday:  Reformer pilates

Thursday aka Christmas Eve:  Dog-walking, horseback riding, snowblower shopping, and driving ranging… trying to get in some non-running nutritious movement (that’s a Katy Says podcast reference… see my podcast post here)

Friday aka Christmas: Nope, just present-opening and mac-and-cheese-eating.

Saturday:  Zero sweats, but I did have a pretty darn healthy salad of shaved brussels sprouts, green apple, and salmon — YUM

Sunday:  Easy 6.2 mile run with the husband.  It felt good to get moving, but my legs were super heavy from all the sitting around and driving and junk food.  Since I wasn’t alone, I was able to get a photo of me running to post on this blog — see above!  (Thanks, husband, for humoring me.)

TAPERING officially starts this coming week!  (And in case you’re keeping track, no I never ran more than 17 miles — with a salad break — this training cycle.  We’ll see how that shakes out in January.)  I’m going to really focus on eating clean after the holiday not only because it’s what everyone else is doing and what society tells us we should do every new year but because I undoubtedly run better when I am less whale-ish-feeling.  (For instance, I really surprised myself with how I ran and felt at Freedom’s Run Marathon the weekend after my wedding, but I am 110% sure it was all because I was extra lean for my wedding.)

STAY TUNED FOR A BIG (NORMAL SIZED) ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT MY 2016 GOALS!

Did y’all take off Christmas week or stick with a training plan?  Any last-minute taper/training tips for my race?  And most importantly, please start sending me all the info on Jackson, Mississippi!