Down & Out with an injury!

Nothing makes you crave a long run more than over eating for four straight days, a house full of screaming 4 year olds, a bunch of idle time on your hands (much more than usual, that's for sure!), and new running shoes!

I've been nursing an ankle injury for a week now. I had been running on a sore ankle since my last "long" run which was 14 miles. For some reason, my ankle started bothering me during that run and despite some lower miles, it hasn't recovered and with only 30 days until our next training regimen, I decided to do the smart thing and REST my ankle.

Angie and I start "official" 50k training on December 30th, so I need my ankle to be 100%. Despite feeling like a wimp and a total failure that I can't run 2 miles right now w/o some discomfort, I know I'll benefit from the rest. I'll be able to do some low impact fitness classes at work this week, so that will help get me the endorphin release I am needing right now.

About a month ago our past foreign exchange student Andre was in the States for a visit. He is from Portugal and lived with us 13 years ago. He was back 7 years ago for my wedding but hasn't been able to visit since. It was AWESOME to see him and spend a little time with him. He also got to meet all of the new kids in our family. Last time he was home it was wedding phase, now we all have kids!

He offered to go for a run with me when I was home. I ran 10 miles that day (which by the way was AMAZING - 8:06 average pace for the entire 10 miles! -best long distance pace I've had to date!). When I told him how far I was going, he said, yeah, no problem, I can do that! But he then remembered he doesn't calculate in miles, so when he figured out how far that was, he said, nah. . . never mind. . . you're crazy!

Cocktails to celebrate Andre's visit!

Andre, my siblings and all of our children!  This is a pretty special picture!

On a completely unrelated note, I have recently had an addiction to hot chocolate with whipped cream. . . . I think it's due to the cold weather and me not being able to have cup after cup of coffee because I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine so I limit my coffee intake. This is my attempt of a "coffee house" hot chocolate. I thought I'd treat myself while I was studying last week for my test!

My work. . . . not real cute, but tastes great!

This is what I was going for . . . . I guess I need more practice! :)

After I passed my test (barely, but I passed!), I cleaned house, enjoyed some cocktails on my birthday (as I mentioned in my last post) and then enjoyed a few more days at home before I headed to my parents for Thanksgiving. I got about 70% of my shopping done for Christmas and wrapped everything that I had. My husband took our son and our dog up north for hunting, so I had 10 days of quiet time. Of course, the first 5 were filled with work & studying, the last 5 were all to myself. I never get that time to myself, so I took advantage and got a lot done around the house and got some Christmas stuff done. What a great feeling!

Got a little chunk of Christmas shopping and wrapping done!

See the basket with a bunch of presents wrapped inside?? Those are books. . . I wrapped a 21 Christmas books (I need 3 more that I can't find right now) and Jackson opens one every single night in December and that is his bed time book! We did that last year and became a very fun tradition.

I'm back in Sheboygan after a great weekend at my parents with my family. My mother-in-law was able to join us as well, so it was so nice to see all of my family (except my sister-in-law and her husband). I'm looking forward to the rest of the Holiday season! I'm also super excited to recover from my ankle (strain I think) and get back to running. I'm craving a run so bad.

What do you do to get through "recovery" time when you just want to be running?~Brooke~