If you’re wondering about the lack of training updates, it’s because… well… December. Maybe you can relate – in my “spare time” I’m not writing blog posts but instead doing online shopping, decorating up the Christmas tree, and throwing a birthday party for my youngest, and working on the “other” side of running.
How cute is that smile?
I’m doing a lot of home workouts and spinning classes, but I’m also discovering the “other” side of running. You may remember that in May-June, I got my RRCA Coaching Certification. I’ve done a lot of informal leading of running groups, but am now getting into “officially” coaching. I am getting my insurance and paperwork together to coach runners individually, but I’m also one of the pace group coaches for the local running club’s Winter Half Marathon Training Program. I am really enjoying it so far!
I’m coaching the 9 minute mile group, so our long runs are supposed to be 9:30. The first week we were right on the nose.
The second week we were close – my watch went kind of crazy in the middle. Most people’s watches actually said that we were ahead of pace. I think I lost signal a bit in the woods.
Our track workouts are speedy paces – 7:15-7:50 depending on the interval – and we have the second one this evening. It’s different going from 5:45am track workouts with my LUNA Chix group to evening workouts with the training group!
I’m also discovering the “other” side of running through helping organize a local 10K. I’m finding it really fascinating and am learning a lot about being a Race Director and putting on running events. I know people will wonder how I have the time, but I’m actually really great with things I can do from my own computer or phone via email in short spurts. And it’s right in line with what I do for a living (producing events) so the organization and logistics are fun for me.
I also had two pretty cool experiences in the last couple of weeks – one at the Kennedy Center Honors as a “seat filler” (the show must be full for the television cameras!), where the President attended, the famous people walk right by, Usher stepped on my dress as we exited the theater, and then I got to meet these two cool dudes.
Why were the droids there, you wonder? One of the honorees was George Lucas. It airs on December 29 on CBS!
The other fun thing was going to the Jingle Ball concert in DC at the Verizon Center on Monday night. My daughter is a lucky 9 year old, as we had backstage passes and stood on the side of the stage where we watched Five Seconds of Summer (that’s them in the background below), R City, Shawn Mendes, Zedd, Tove Lo, Charlie Puth, Hailee Steinfeld, Alessia Cara, Natalie La Rose, and Demi Lovato.
She loves going to concerts and this was a blast with so many different artists in one concert!
My weekends have been packed with running and family stuff. Last weekend I took my daughter to FOUR different birthday parties! As a de-stressor I decided to buy a 30-minute pass to jump with the kids at the trampoline park.
Work is incredibly busy right now and I feel like I’m in meetings all day long. I guess that’s because I am in meetings all day long. And I’ve worked several evening concerts in the past couple of weeks, which also minimized my home/family/workout/everything else time.
I’m doing my best to not stress about everything going on, and thankfully am still fitting in exercise. But I decided to take a hiatus from my triathlon coach for the winter to avoid having external pressure, as I’m doing what I can. It may not always be a swim or a bike, but I’m getting in exercise.
So as for what else is in store for the month of December? More running. More coaching. More shopping. More family time.
What’s your holiday shopping status – done or have a lot still to do?
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