Christmas Festivities

After my daughter graduated and moved back home with her 4 year accumulation of stuff and her cat, Christmas came and went. 
The Thursday before Christmas was the running group yearly Christmas light run.  We run through two subdivisions near the running store to see all of the lights.  After the run we have food.   We donned Christmas lights, silly sweaters and hats to go for a run! 

Runners preparing for the Christmas light run

Lights on my hat and a beautiful Christmas sweater vest

I made a crock pot of chili and I made cookies in the shapes of a running shoe and a Christmas light bulb but I never took any pictures of the cookies.
My daughter and I did a bunch of baking the day before this party.  We also made the normal Christmas cookie shaped cookies along with the running cookies.  My daughter found a recipe that she wanted to try; she even bought all the ingredients for them.  They turned out pretty good -

Melting snowman cookies!

The Sunday before Christmas, my family had our annual Christmas get together with extended family.  This year we went to my cousin's house in Ohio.  I had found a recipe that I wanted to try but wasn't sure if I wanted to put the effort into it.  I'm pretty good at baking but I don't really do anything fancy.  It was for a chocolate loaf cake with a Christmas tree inside of it.  When sliced, the slices show the tree.  Here's how it turned out:

Yes, I really did make this!

I was afraid to cut it because I didn't think mine would turn out but it did!  The center is made from a pound cake.  The recipe calls for a frozen pound cake but my daughter thought that I should make the pound cake that I made for strawberry shortcake back in the summer.  The pound cake is sliced and the tree shapes cut from the slices, batter is put in the bottom of the cake pan and the slices of pound cake stood up in a line touching each other down the middle of the pan.  The rest of the cake batter is poured over the trees and it's baked.  Very complicated for me!!  I'm glad it turned out!  

Christmas Eve was church.  I love the Christmas Eve church service.  It is what Christmas is all about to me. 
 
 My family was originally going to get together on Christmas day at my sister's house but then plans changed because my sister from Maryland flew back on Christmas afternoon and being at my house is closer to the airport so she could leave later.  Sooooooo, because of that, we had to find ways to stash all of my daughter's stuff throughout the house so the place didn't look like a hoarder house!   My sister from California was here too!  All four of us were in the same place at the same time!

The Miller Girls

I think that's about it for Christmas.  I have been doing my long runs on Saturdays but haven't been doing very much running during the week.  I ran 10 miles last Saturday.  My run was slow and difficult which I think has something to do with three days of eating lots of candy and cookies!  I guess it's all my fault!  Saturday marked three weeks until the Key West Half Marathon!  Next week I'll run 12, the week after I'll run 8 and then it's time to go to Key West!!  Hard to believe it's getting so close! 
I still don't know where I'm running on New Years Eve.  I can't find any info on the 5K in Jackson and nobody I ask knows anything.  There is one in Ann Arbor that starts at midnight so I may go to that one. 
I'm behind on my log book so I'm not sure how many miles I'll have for the year.  My New Year's resolution was to keep up with the log book.  Oops!  I think I'll have to make the same resolution for 2014! 

Runner Nerd
survived Christmas once again

Running in Lights

Last night was one of my favorite events!  This is the 5th year I've run it. It is the Wayne County Lightfest Run Through the Lights 8K.  It's a 5 mile long drive-through holiday light display that is along a road that runs through a string of parks.  Every evening during the holidays for certain hours it is closed to regular traffic and cars drive one way through.  They always have a run on the Tuesday of opening week.  It will open on Friday.
This run is just for fun.  There are no bib numbers, no chips, no timing, no winners, no age groups or anything but an unbelievable number of people show up for this!!  They allow both running and walking, strollers and dogs too.  They say it's a dress rehearsal but I think it's a way to get extra money for the electric bill this thing must ring up!!  It doesn't cost as much as most races, I think I paid $15.00 and they give a nice long sleeve t-shirt.  I like the long sleeve t-shirts!
They give each person a glow necklace.  You will see people wearing all kinds of light up things.  A couple years ago I got the idea to attach a short string of battery operated lights that I use on a wreath to my shirt.  In other words, I run wearing Christmas lights!!!!
This is my friend and I with our lights and glow sticks: 

 Here we are by one of the light displays:

 Here we are helping the elves:

We had so much fun!  My friend in the pictures is also running the half in Key West.  When I run with her she pulls me along faster than I'd normally run.  I ran with her and running group friend who usually runs a lot faster than me.  I ran the 5 miles in 49:22, a 9:52 pace, quite a bit faster than I have been running on my own.  My foot behaved and the weather wasn't as nice as last year (mid 50s); it was 35 degrees, which isn't bad for running. 
I have two more holiday themed races, one is in the evening so I will get to wear my lights again!!  The other is in the morning so I will just wear my red and white knee socks!

As for the other part of my life - college - I will be done with classes in 3 weeks!!  I will be graduating in 31 days!!!  I'm almost done being the world's oldest college student!!

Runner Nerd
runs wearing lights

Almost There

The end is in sight!!  Tomorrow I have 2 finals.  It has been a nightmare of a weekend studying for 2 finals plus a little studying for a 3rd which is on Wednesday. 
I ran the Holiday Hustle yesterday afternoon with much guilt hanging over me for abandoning my studying.  Oh well, it was fun!  When else may one wear Christmas lights and Santa knee socks and jingling bells in public???  I have pictures but that is going to have to wait till after Wednesday.  (as if there are people waiting to see them) 
The weekend after Thanksgiving is always a big sale at my running store of choice!  I went over there Friday to get my race number and got a winter shirt that I drooled over all last winter!!  I was so excited when I saw it on the 50% off rack!!  There was even one in my size!!!!!!  (usually most of the 50% off stuff is either extra super small or extra super large)  All last winter I would walk over and just touch it when I was there for running group!! (I know, what a dork!)  It was just toooooooo expensive; even 50% off was too expensive.  Well, I now own it!!  I would have loved to have worn it at the race yesterday but it wasn't cold enough to wear this shirt.  This shirt is going to be for those sub zero days in January and February.  I'm secretly hoping that since I now have this miracle shirt that I won't even get to wear it because we will have such a mild winter and it will never get into the single and negative digit temps!!  Wouldn't that be wonderful!!!  I can wish but I am sure that I will get to wear that shirt quite a few times.
Well, I must be getting to sleep so I can go and rock these 2 finals tomorrow.  They are going to be tough.  I'm nervous. 

Runner Nerd
all studied out

More silly running - Lightfest 8K

This time of year is what many runners consider to be the offseason.  During the offseason it's a time to forget about real training.  Running still happens, of course.  There are a bunch of holiday themed races and fun runs where people have fun and dress funny!  I ran a halloween 5K where I dressed in a big pumpkin shirt and spider knee socks!!  My "costume" was minimal compared to many of the participants. 
Last night was another fun event.  It was the Wayne County Lightfest 8K.  Lightfest is a drive through light display that opens this coming weekend.  On Tuesday of the week of the opening they have a run through the lights.  They say it's a dress rehearsal to make sure everything is in place but I think it's a ploy to get hundreds of people to pay $20 so they can pay the electric bill for all those lights!!  It's crazy how many people show up for this run.  It's not timed, there are no numbers, no chips, no winners; it's purely for fun.  I said to one of my running group friends that this proves that runners don't need much of an excuse to run!  I wore a string of christmas lights and a flashing bracelet and glow braclets around my wrists and a glow necklace on my head!! They give everyone a glow necklace to wear since it's a night run.  The first year I did this run the necklace bobbed up and down and hit my nose constantly.  The last 2 years I wrapped them around my lower leg but this year I saw someone else with theirs on their head so I tried it and found that it would stay there!!  This year was the warmest it has ever been for this race; it was 53 degrees!!  I only needed one layer!  It's usually cold.  Last year it was not only cold but rained the whole time and I remember being frozen and soaked.  I was really happy this year!! 

Before the run.
  When else can you wear Christmas lights and a glow thingy on your head in public and be perectly acceptable!



On the bus after the run with a running group friend

 This run is a point to point.  After the run busses take runners back to where we parked.  The bus had crazy music playing and had lights that flashed with the music and a strobe light somewhere down near the floor. 
So, that was fun!  I ran the 8K in just over 47 minutes which is pretty good for me these days.  I'm always amazed at how runs like these are always over so fast. 
In a couple of weeks I will be running another christmas themed run and I'm going to have my christmas lights again!!  I also have a pair of red and white striped knee socks to wear.  I was going to wear them last night but it was too warm at 53 degrees!  The week after that I have one more Christmas run; it's a women only run. 

This semester is winding down which cannot happen fast enough!  I had a good week last week!  I rocked a very difficult exam - I got 105%!!  I missed one so I actually got 98% but the teacher ended up throwing out 2 of the questions so I got an extra point for each of those since I got them right and there was 5 extra credit point problems which I got right!!  True nerd style!!! 

Runner Nerd
runs with lights!

It's tough being the world's oldest college student

Well, it has been an exciting weekend!!  Friday I had to go to school; normally I don't have class on Friday.  Last week was Respiratory Care Week and, as a member of a respiratory therapy program at a community college, I learned that it's a big deal in the world of respiratory therapy!  We had a ventilator race at the college as a fundraiser for a camp for kids with asthma.  I have learned that old, outdated, retired ventilators get used in ventilator races at colleges and hospitals all over.  Our college has 2 old ones, very heavy old ones I might add!!  We decorated them up.  I used the bumble bee wings I wore in a halloween race last year and we used yellow balloons and made the bumble bee ventilator!!  The other ventilator was pink!  We wrapped it in pink paper and pink balloons.  We also had some smaller machines - something along the line of a BiPAP machine on stands and wheels.  We decorated one as big bird and the other as a christmas tree.  We raced as teams of 2.  The race was around a circular drive in front of the building.  It wasn't a very big lap and there were 5 laps.  My team mate and I won!!!!  It was harder than I thought it would be.  The old ventilators are big and heavy and hard to steer!  It was a really nice day just a tiny bit chilly.  It was fun.  

Ventilators ready to be raced by a bunch of crazy RT students!





Running and pushing an old, heavy, cumbersome ventilator

After all that fun, we headed back to the classroom.  We have had so much work to do lately that all of us are behind.  We just worked on stuff that we needed to catch up.  It is a good feeling to finally be caught up on all the little things like quizzes that are done on a computer in the class and our simulations that are also done on computers in the class and finishing up various worksheets,etc.  I was there about 3 hours working. 
After I left school I went for a much needed run!  As usual, I changed in the back seat of my car thanks to the miracle of tinted windows!  I did a loop around a park and a few miles on the paved trail for a total of 5.5 miles.  All of my miles were in the 9s!!  I am getting back to how I used to run!!  It feels so good to push myself again! 
Saturday and Sunday were just full of fun!  Both days I sat on my butt in a chair in the library all afternoon doing homework and studying.  Today after the library closed I went running around the small town where the library is located since I had a very short window of daylight left.  It was a great run.  I combined several routes from a walking tour brocure I saw at the library and also some places I remember from when I ran with a marathon training group in that town several years ago.  I ran 4.5 miles and, again, all miles in the 9s!  I just felt great afterward.  Today was the first time I wore a headband to keep my ears warm this season.  I guess I can't do anything about winter moving in.  I dread it but I know there will also be fun times.  The Lightfest 8K is coming up, is there anything more fun than running at night with christmas lights wrapped around your body!!  I registered for an all womens 5K that I did last year - Jingle Belle womens 5k.  It was a blast last year.  I remember people wearing christmas themed clothing so I'm ready this year!!  I bought a pair of red and white striped knee socks to wear to christmas themed races this year!!  There is also an evening run planned on 11-11-11 that is just for fun; it's on a trail around a lake.  Of course, there is a party afterward!! 
Well, I have a few things to finish up and then have to get to bed so I can be ready to resume my role as the world's oldest college student tomorrow morning! 
Happy running
Runner Nerd
digging out the cold weather gear