Life Lately (December 22)

Hello, readers! Merry (almost) Christmas! How was your weekend? 

Big news of this week: I was accepted as a Nuunbassador for 2015! Nuun is my favorite sports hydration drink—they have tablets that you add to your water and the come in a bunch of great flavors. I’m super excited about this amazing opportunity to work with such a great brand, and it’s my first brand ambassadorship for this blog!

As of Saturday, I am officially and FINALLY a master! The graduation ceremony at the University of Dayton was on Saturday. I didn’t walk but I now am officially graduated with my Master of Arts. This called for some celebrating, and in true runner fashion, all I wanted was some pizza and beer on Saturday night. 

Speaking of food, as some of you probably saw on Instagram, we were all about German food this week. When I lived in Germany, Christmastime was a big deal and all the cities were filled with Christmas markets, so I associate German food with Christmas time. German Christmas markets are popular in our part of the Midwest, and even though we didn’t make it into Chicago this year for their Christmas market, we enjoyed some delicious brats, sauerkraut, and beer. 

This weekend we got into the holiday spirit and went all three of us (yes, Charlie came along) to see Christmas lights around Valpo.  Seeing lights is one of my favorite parts of Christmas, and this year was no exception! Charlie got really confused, especially when we drove through a big light display at a local park. 

We also saw Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies this weekend and really enjoyed it! Ryan and I are both Lord of the Rings fans but had not enjoyed the first two Hobbit movies as much. This one was really good and did not seem like it was 2.5 hours long. 

After being sick last week and unpleasant weather early this week, it felt so nice to finally get outside again to run! Between the weather and being sick, this was the first time I ran outside in almost two weeks.

I took advantage of the nice weather and ran along one of my favorite paths in Valpo. Even during winter, I love the scenery! Actually, I’m just really loving winter running lately. Since there’s no ice or snow yet, I can go at a good speed and the cold weather feels exhilarating.  

I only got in four runs this week, but they were all really good runs. I’ve been loving off-season running and just running as far as I feel and at a pace that feels good.

Monday: 4 mile progressive run on the treadmill, starting at 8:49/mile pace and finishing at 8:13/mile pace. I also did this 15-minute core workout from Women’s Health. 
Tuesday: 6 miles on the treadmill with a 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 fartlek at 5K pace (7:23/mile). 
Wednesday: 8 miles outside (finally!) with some rolling hills. 7 miles on my own at 8:23/mile pace plus one untimed mile with Charlie
Thursday: 20 minutes recovery yoga and the same 15-minute core workout as Monday
Friday: 7 miles outside with some gentle hills, 8:06/mile pace average—I even got three miles at a around a 7:48-7:58/mile pace! It felt so good to get some speed without pushing myself too hard. 

Finally, we spoiled Charlie this weekend (his birthday is coming soon!) with his own little puppy pancake. He loved his special treat and gobbled it right up!

Question of the Day:
How was your weekend? 
Do you make special treats for your pets?