The End of the Shitshow

December 2016 started with death and ended with the holidays. It brings to an end the smoldering dumpster fire that was 2016, but that's another story. I did still manage to get some work done in December.

Swim: 18,300 yards, 7 swims
Bike: 11 miles, 1 ride
Run: 37.4 miles, 6 runs
Strength: 2 times
Yoga: 3 times

So the running was a bit light because of a foot pain. Don't really know what that is yet, or what I'm going to do about it. The one time I hit the bike (first time since June) was actually great cross training. I could feel the muscles around my knees starting to stabilize, so I knew that was going to help the foot pain. And it did. Yesterday I ended the year getting 13.4 miles in Umstead:

Starting out so full of smiles

About 8 miles in, not quite conditioned for this anymore

The decreased running led to more swimming whenever I could get into the water. I had one solid week with 3 swims and 2 runs in there, but the first few days were out and all of the holiday travel provided plenty of rest. I just totally gave up on yoga and strength training. Overall the month was really slack and I kind of let myself go.

Topless Year
We did have 2 days that were over 70* in December here in Raleigh, so I was able to take advantage.

This was 12/18 leaving church after the Christmas Cantata

Late night office depot run after we got back from SC Christmas on 12/27

12 in 12 Update
I was able to add 2 more races in December, truly stretching it out to 12 months. I finally registered for the Boring marathon just outside of Portland Oregon! And I have really been looking forward to visiting the pacific northwest for quite a while. Still have a ton of other logistics to work out but that's going to be a fun trip.

Then on Christmas Eve the Yeti Trailrunners opened up a 50 mile option to the Yeti 100! It sold out in a few hours, but I managed to get in. Very excited about this as I have a ton of friends who are going for the 100 mile so this is going to be a blast. Both of these races are in September.

It also means my year is getting longer. I want some opinions on the Javelina Jundred. Cousin Ryan has already registered for Javelina as his first 100 miler. I want to register for the 100k and be there to support him when he finishes. That puts my 2017 looking like 3 marathons in march, 2 50k's in april, marathon and 50 miler in September and a 100k in October. Plus, flights to Phoenix and Portland are both fairly expensive but I think I can pull it off. Technically October 28 is after the Oct 1 cutoff date for my 12 in a year goal, but I think that's just a label now anyway.

Family Stuff

Ella had another swim meet in December. We had Cousin Donnie's funeral mentioned before. Evil Genius had a get-together with her Indian Princess tribe that was a lot of fun. Kelley and I got a few nice date nights. Overall it was a busy month with lots of ups and downs.

EG's tribe

Date night at my company Christmas party

Ella ready to dive into the pool after a meet

NO! No valentines day candy before Christmas. Don't do it retailers!

First selfie with the new phone

December had some fun and some not so fun stuff. Lots of holiday cheer, lots of family time, it was the best possible way to wrap up the year. Hope you had a good month too!