I’m bacckkkkk!  If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging.  I guess part of the reason for that is because I didn’t really have any exciting runs or races to share.  In fact, I only ran 4 races in 2018.  For perspective, I completed 14 races in 2014 when the race bug first hit, 15 races in both 2015 and 2016, and 8 races in 2017.  Surprisingly, I did manage to log a few more miles in 2018 than I did in 2017.  Much of that mileage was in preparation for the Shamrock marathon (recap here) that I completed back in March.  Since then, I continued running lower mileage on and off throughout the year and finished with a total of 427 miles for the year.

Other than random mileage here and there, I did run the Busch Gardens Christmastown 8k since my last update.  This was my 3^rd year racing it.  I love that this has become a family event and each year we have a few extras join us.  I’ll cover more of that in a separate race recap post, hopefully soon.

I was hit and miss with strength training throughout the year.  I stopped going to Body Pump at the gym, but did sometimes do my own version at home with hand weights (Kimbo Pump, as I like to call it).  Unfortunately, our gym closed its doors at the end of November and we were forced to join another gym.  Ultimately, we decided on Planet Fitness and we are still adjusting to it.  I don’t like that there are no group classes and I find myself missing body pump (even though I hadn’t taken it in a while I’ve always ended up going back to it over the years).  Of course the gym has been super crowded.  I don’t think I’m the only one who over indulged a bit in December and gained a few (or 10) pounds.  Ughh…weight comes on so easily and then takes so long to shed.  But I’m a sucker for cookie dough and oreo balls so I think it was worth it ;o) 

Steven and Makayla have a membership as well so we try to go together a few days a week.  Gabby doesn’t usually have time to go because of swim but she managed to squeeze in a stretch/walk session with us once.  Sam is also a member so we try to help motivate each other.

On the food front…I’ve been scouring the web for healthy recipes and have found a few that look promising.  I found a delicious salad on Skinnytaste that I will definitely be making again.  I am not great in the kitchen so it took me FOREVER to prep the salad.  In the future, I think I’ll sprinkle the cranberries, almonds, and cheese (maybe feta) rather than rolling individual goat cheese balls into crushed almonds and cranberries.

As for my 2019 plan, I am still trying to decide which race I want to do next.  Sam and I would like to run another half marathon together in the spring but our schedules are crazy so it’s been hard to nail down the exact race.  We considered running Shamrock again but are kind of itching to run something different.  We were thinking about the Charlottesville, VA half marathon.  The date seemed perfect…Saturday race with the Friday off before would have been great.  But…she realized that it is prom weekend for our girls so we had to throw that one out.  Right now, we are thinking about the Love Run in Philly.  We are going to try to make a final decision by the end of the month.  This race also offers a 7k so it would be nice for other family to join us if they are interested!

P.S. Sorry about the quality of my photos.  I will be trying to step up my pictures game in the future.