Whew! They're over!

What a busy few weeks we have had getting ready for the holidays. It's so much fun to get ready, but so nice to be done too! We had my family over for Christmas dinner, which was fun. Mike and I made steak and turkey kabobs, lots of veggies, a variety of fresh fruits, mashed potatoes, and a few other things. The veggies were probably cooked a little long, but overall the meal was pretty good if I do say so myself. It's tough to steam big bunches of vegetables. We made strawberry mousse for dessert which was yummy and easy - just fresh strawberries, fat free cool whip and strawberry Jello. Just 70 calories per serving. Overall a healthy, fairly low-cal meal that tasted pretty good. I have been beating myself up for days now for dipping into the Christmas cookies and Chex Mix and blowing a pretty good meal. It's so hard to be good all the time!

My parents got us subscriptions to RW and Triathlete magazines and Michele and Jeff gave Mike a couple really cool training books that we keep looking through. They got me a cute pink bike jersey too - perfect choice, I am loving the pink this year. Several weeks ago, I had a discussion with my niece Taylor about those sports headbands and hair ties that are rubberized and how I had bought some headbands at the Adidas outlet and was disappointed that they didn't have the rubbery part to make them stay put when I exercise. Anyway, she remembered that and got me a set of the sports bands. I thought that was pretty cool that she remembered that and was so thoughtful. She is a pretty neat kid.

We had a few nice days to run, including a nice 4+ miler around the neighborhood the afternoon of Christmas Eve. I just feel spoiled by all the mild weather we have had this month - I wish it would stay like this the rest of the winter, but that's not too likely. A girl can dream...........

I took a 20 mile spin on the bike yesterday afternoon too. It was pretty cold out for that - about 36 degrees - but not too windy and the sun was out which seems to at least make it feel warm even though it's not really. Every time I take a bike trip this winter I learn something or at least think of something else I need for winter riding. It's really just a trial and error process to put the right outfit together to stave off frostbite. I suppose I will have it down by the time Spring comes then I will have to learn it all over again next year! I think I have it down now - several layers of jackets and fleece, bike shorts with thermal running leggings over top, neoprene booties over my bike shoes, and my Sub4 running beanie with a fleece neck gaiter over that so I can pull it up and down as needed. The gloves need some work - the fingers got pretty cold this last ride so I need something a little more substantial. I'll need to dig around in the glove bin in the closet for a different pair to try. I think I'll try some toe warmers too on the next ride. The feet stayed pretty warm, but did start to numb up about 2 or 3 miles from home.

We went to the bike shop last night and got ourselves a little Christmas present - a Blackburn Ultra trainer. Now we will be able to ride our bikes indoors all winter long in the comfort of our living room. Santa is also bringing us each a new pair of running shoes. Mike got the new Brooks Beast and I am going to try the Asics Gel Nimbus from Jamie at FootRX.com. I think I have figured out why I gravitate to mens running shoes. Ladies standard widths are a B and mens standard are a D width. Since I have some pretty wide Flinstone feet, I have always bought wide ladies (a D width) in regular shoes, but ladies tennies have always felt too narrow, especially Nikes. The light bulb has clicked on - I like mens tennies because they are D width - DUH!