My sincerest apologies in failing to update the blog on a regular basis like I promised I would. A lot of things have happened since we last met. Most importantly, I have severely reduced the amount of running I have been doing. Now, this doesn't sound like a positive thing to you, I'm sure, what with 2 half-marathons looming in the not-so-distant future. But it is a positive thing. You'll understand in a bit.
My previous post was a little less than a month ago, and I was off to Mexi's bachelorette party the next day. Well, Mexi's big day has arrived! I cannot believe that the world will lose one of its most beloved monograms, LHM, on Saturday. This day has been very long-awaited by many, and I am very excited to be standing up there with one of my very best friends in the world when she marries the man (he's a man?! what?!?) she was created to spend her life with. Tearing up just a little. For as long as they have been together, whenever I have thought of the two of them, the song "A Page Is Turned" by Bebo Norman always comes to mind. I won't put the lyrics to the song here, but I encourage you to look it up and/or have a listen. It's a great song.
Next came Thanksgiving. For those of you who do not know, I had the amazing opportunity to be able to fly another of my very best friends in the world home to Columbia from L.A. for Thanksgiving to surprise her mom. No, I do not have $600 laying around, I won a voucher for a ticket from work and realllllly wanted my little hippie to be able to come home and spend some time with her family (and me, of course!). So, Thanksgiving night, after ridiculous amounts of food and a large cup of coffee, I drove to Charlotte to pick her up and we surprised her mom (her dad was in on it and helped coordinate and keep the secret). The look on her face was absolutely priceless - I have never seen a person be speechless (everyone always says "I'm speechless!" but they clearly aren't, because they just used the power of speech to inform you that they were "speechless"...), but her mom literally stood there with her mouth wide open (sorry Anne!) for a good 60 seconds. It was one of the better moments of my life, being able to make that happen and especially being there to witness it.
Clemson v. South Carolina ended badly for us Clemson fans and alumni. Curly and I sat with my siblings in the USC section and I swore that if I heard the phrase "...must be ACC referees..." one more time, I was going to hurt someone. We all made a "no taunting" pact before the game, so it wasn't terrible. But hey, if we won all the time, it wouldn't be much of a rivalry, now would it? The rest of the weekend was spent soaking up family time and I loved every minute of it!
So, you've probably noticed that not anywhere in this post so far have I mentioned any form of running. You are correct. Hence the title of this post. Call it an excuse if you want, but I would so much rather spend time with great friends and family (and eat!) than run. But don't fret, dear readership. The week after Thanksgiving, I got up at 6:00 am on Tuesday and Thursday and ran 2 miles on the treadmill, in preparation for the 19th Annual Reindeer Run, benefitting the MUSC Children's Hospital. The race was on Saturday morning, and Gilly and I planned to run, and again, because my job is awesome, we got our entry fee waived. So we met there, cold and wet (steady rain and 50 degrees) at 8:45 am for a 9:00 start time that eventually was pushed back until 9:20. Meanwhile, we were all standing at the START line getting soaked to the bone.
Here's the positive side of the fact that I reduced the amount of running I was doing: I had to stop and catch my breath THREE times during the 5k, and I am so embarrassed that my butt will be in the gym (or on the bridge with Gilly) as much as possible in the next few weeks. Below is a picture of my bib. I've decided I'm going to keep the bibs of all the races I do from now until forever. Maybe Mom will make me a quilt out of them? My official chip time was 34:27, which is under what I was shooting for (36:00), but I have a lot of room for improvement.
That about sums up the past month, and I promise to get into a more regular pattern - of both updating the blog and of running. My next post will be about my big trip, which I leave for 5 months from SUNDAY! Cannot believe it!
On a side note, I asked my mom to send me her Christmas list yesterday, and she did. Now, for those of you who might not know, my mom is the kindest, sweetest, most caring person I have ever met. She had a couple things on her list: #3 was a stainless steel toaster, #2 was a cheese grater that holds the cheese (she's also the most adorable person I know!), and #1 was another bead for her charm bracelet and a donation made to a charity. Hmmm, I wonder what I'm getting her??? Think about what's on your Christmas list this year. Of course, there's nothing wrong with asking for things you really want or need (I know I am!), but I wonder what our world would be like if more people put "donation to ______ charity" at the top of their list?
Also, speaking (3 paragraphs ago) of MUSC Children's Hospital, if you haven't already bought Christmas cards, visit the website to check out the Holiday Cards they have available. All the cards are designed and drawn by patients and/or their family members and your money goes to support one of the best children's hospitals in the country. Look out for the card drawn by Rachel Edwards, a personal hero of ours at work and if you're interested, check out her website. Her story will amaze you.
XOXO,
Jenny
