Saturday hurt . . .

I wanted to get around 3.5 hours in Saturday which would probably be around 24ish miles.  I started early - 5:00 a.m. - and planned to run out to the group (Boardtown Runners) and then do another couple of hours.  The first 8 or so miles went fine, but for some reason around mile 11 I felt awful.  I was dizzy and felt just plain bad.  I thought I had plenty of sodium and carbs but just was not myself.  

I debated heatedly with myself on calling it a day at 11 miles, but fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view) I just sorta gutted it out.  I ended up running 3 hours which was about 20 miles.  After the wall at 11 miles I felt marginally better for the rest of the run.  Not great, but decent.  

Suffice it to say this was one of those days that you are just glad to be finished with.  It hurt.  Hopefully this week will be significantly better or Mountain Mist will be a long day.

A Christmas wrap-up . . .

Wow.  Wow!  It is truly remarkable the decibel level Larkin can reach with nothing more than his naked voice.  I mean it is incredible.  He is only 3 yet commands attention when he wants by simply unleashing his vocal cords.  When he does . . . watch out.  Larkin has been, how shall I say, less than "good" to merit a visit from the ole' jolly one himself.  Yet on Christmas Day there were gifts for Larkin.  That prompted Jack to say "surprisingly Santa came to see Larkin also."  So true.  So true.  

Thus far (I say "thus far" because we are Episcopal and celebrate the 12 days of Christmas that begin on Christmas Day and end on Epiphany 12 days later - we keep our trees up, etc. until then) we have had a wonderful Christmas, although I am continually amazed at the commercial side of it.  There is not a trinket made that our boys don't have.  We have done much better the last couple of years.  Santa now brings only 3 main gifts with a few other items for the stockings.  Our boys now know and understand that despite a list of 5,321 things, they are likely to get only 3.  They are now okay with that.  Banks was making his list to send on up to the North Pole before Christmas and only had 3 things on it.  Jamie inquired why he didn't put more on there.  His response, "well, if I only put 3 things on there and Santa brings 3 things, I'm sure to get all 3."  Pretty intelligent move I suspect.  Guess what?  Santa indeed brought all 3.  (we're suckers).  At the end of the semester in kindergarten, Banks's class was assigned a task of writing to Santa with their Christmas wish for gifts.  Banks's wish?  "to get all the presents on my longer list."  Nice.

Larkin is infatuated with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.  Nothing strange about that for a 3 year old; however, here's where it gets a bit odd . . . he insists on watching the episodes in Spanish.  I know, I know.  I cannot explain it.  You can walk in the back of the house and there is Larkin engrossed in some Batman episode in Spanish.  

Wow, it has been, well, a long time since I've posted.  Frankly since I am fairly certain I have like 3 readers, I do not think anyone cares.  Nonetheless, I should probably keep the blog a little more up-to-date.  

Fair amount has happened since my last blog entry.  Historically, we have elected Barack Obama as the President-Elect of the United States of America.  Whether you supported now President-Elect Obama or not, I hope you can truly appreciate this incredible accomplishment.  Time will judge President-Elect Obama's ability; however, at this point I think it safe to say he is a tremendously inspiring person. 

On the family front . . . things continue to hop at our house.  With 3 boys ages 7 and under it would be an understatement to say our life is normal or subdued.  Frankly though I wouldn't want it any other way.  Watching our boys as they interact with each other (read another way that sentence might say "watching our boys as they jump off the bed onto each other and continue to hit, kick, punch, and pound each other . . . ".  I'm kidding.  We are super fortunate that our kids are awesome and play very well together.) is a true joy.  There is not one single thing I would change.  My poor wife is the one that endures the brunt of the "issues" at home.  

The latest addiction at our house is Buzz the elf.  You may have seen the "Elf on a Shelf" at your local bookstore.  Basically, if you are a really good little boy or girl an Elf flies down from the North Pole to your house during the night to check on you.  The Elf has magical powers; however, he is not to be touched by children or he will lose his magical powers and will not come back.  Each night the Elf appears in a different location.  Our boys absolutely LOVE to find him.  They are completely captivated by him.  They named him "Buzz."  So, now when they are, shall we say, not on their best behavior, I threaten with a little "hmmm, wonder what Buzz thinks of this."  Works like a charm.

On the running front, I took most of October off.  I rested a good bit and ran only 4 or 5 times of 5 or so miles each.  It felt good to sleep late and just relax.  I started back in November and now I am getting ready for Mountain Mist 50K the end of January 2009.  I will not be in great shape but should have enough of a base to be okay.  Having not run the course I'm not sure what to expect time wise.  I doubt it is as difficult as GEER with its 8800' of elevation gain, but is probably more difficult than the Ouachita 50K.  I would be pleased if a ran in the 6:05 - 6:15 range, but admittedly I am not in race form at this point.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and finds a way to enjoy it without the stress of the commercial side of Christmas.