Christmas Runs & New Toys!

Back from another whirlwind Christmas.  It was by far the best I've had in years.  The kids were at a wonderfully fun age this year.  We were able to see all of our extended family and still squeeze in some quality time for our little family of four.

And I kept my run on through it all!  On Christmas Eve, I joined up with Sole Sisters Patty, Laura and Karyn as we tackled 9+ miles on a sunny but very cold morning.  We ran the Pekin trails, which are one of my favorites.  I wasn't feeling it that morning, but so happy I had company to push me through the miles.  I'm totally late in recapping for the virtual Christmas 5K, but my 5K split was 32:02.  The backhalf of the long run was to complete the virtual Home for the Holidays 10K, so my official time for that race was 1:04.

Christmas Eve run... Our hats/headbands were covered in frost!

And then the food coma began.  Let's just get it out there... I ate like crap!  My stomach hurt so badly from the rich (and delicious) food.  Yesterday morning before we left Wisconsin, I pushed myself out the door for a run.  Again, I was totally not feeling it, but I knew even a short run would make me feel better.  I told myself at least 3 miles and then see how it goes...  I ended up with 6 miles.  There's something I just enjoy about running back in my hometown!

But now to the really fun news... NEW RUNNING STUFF!!

I'm most excited about the YakTrax.  It was the "one" thing I wanted for snow-running this winter.  But look at all the other stuff too... gloves, Luna bars, foot repair cream, knee high socks, gum, nuun, GU packets, BondiBand headband, clip-on light for a hat and a $25 gift certificate to our local running store.

Of course, last week I already received my new treadmill...

And yesterday, we stopped at four car dealerships during our long drive home looking for one of these...

Dodge Journey in Pearl Blue... Yup, one is in my future... real soon!

So what running toys did Santa bring you??