Holidays and the return to fitness

I'm back!

We were in Virginia for about a week visiting our family. It's not something we get to do very often, so we pretty much saturated ourselves with family and friends the entire time. It was exhausting at times. Crazy - spending an entire day with my wacky 79 year old dad, and my entire "quirky" family. Unexpected - my mom ended up in the hospital on Christmas eve, but she is totally fine now and shouldn't have any further issues. And it was fun - backyard fires, cookouts, beer, games, and just hanging around. The weather was all over the place - 80 degrees, then pouring rain, then 35 degrees. But I got some great walking time with my mom in her neighborhood - golf resort with tons of walking trails. I even snuck in a quick run. I ate whatever the hell I wanted, which includes many many cookies and just other not good for you stuff. We had a good time on our trip and enjoyed seeing everybody, but now I'm glad to be back in good old Georgia.

Of course I have to share my Christmas loot. Since we didn't have a huge budget for gifts this year (when do we ever???) I told my husband what I wanted/could really USE - a GPS watch. Lo and behold ...

YAY!

He got me the Nike Sportwatch! My husband is one of those people who will research products till he's blue in the face to find the best one. He said this one seemed to have the best user reviews and website, and so far this watch definitely does not disappoint. I have never owned a GPS watch before, until now I've just been getting by with a regular one and guesstimating how far I've gone. So I have no prior comparison, but I can definitely say this is pretty easy to use - simple interface, but it shows you everything you need to know. I don't want to be out there on the trail fiddling with buttons and menus, so the fact that it cuts to the chase is very good. The website is awesome. There are graphs, charts, stats, all time personal records, you can set goals, you can compare yourself to other Nike users - very dangerous for my competitive self! You can find anything you'd possibly want to know about your run - there is a map showing where you went, where you slowed down and sped up, and of course elevation, terrain, and even the weather/time of day. Yeah, pretty awesome stuff.

Here is my Nike Plus stuff for whoever is curious

Some of the other stuff I got - some snap reflective bands, kinda like those snap on bracelets from the 90's. Under Armor hoodie, a balance board, some headbands, reflective hat, and a little runner Christmas ornament. I got $150 cash and a gift card for Dick's, so I went there today and picked up a winter coat, the Nathan belt in the picture below, and a yoga block - stuff I needed badly!

I tested out my new watch on this morning's run - 5 miles at the canal. Once again, not alot of button mashing, just a few clicks and off I went. Man, after not running much for the past 2 weeks it was really hard to run 5 miles. Maybe it was a bit ambitious of me for my long run to be the first thing I do, but I have no time - the Augusta Half is coming and I need every weekend for long runs! I had cramps on my bad side, because for the last week I've been sleeping on a saggy bed and sitting in cars all the time. My pain flared up pretty bad last week, but it's getting better now that I'm back in my own bed. I got the 5 miles done despite the hurt. While I had a great holiday and enjoyed seeing our family, I was going nuts not exercising! I have seriously become addicted - I feel pent up and stressed if I go too long without it. Feels good to be back.