It's December!!!

There are only twenty-three days left in the month of December.  Can you believe that?  Nearly a year ago, I started this blog to be an encouragement to others.  I've tapered off a bit in the last several months, but I think about my blog almost daily.  It taunts me and tells me that I need to write.  I just don't always know what to write.  And last year, on the 31st, I wrote this post about my 12 for '12.  I'm not going to review those now, but I will when I get to the end of the month and get ready to write a whole new set of goals for the New Year.

My running is going great!  I've had a lot of interesting moments since August, but there is always a new challenge.  My pace is typically around 12 to 13 minute miles.  Today's training had me: warm up for 5 minutes, run at a fast pace for 10 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, and finish off with another 10 minute fast paced run.  The part that makes me laugh?  The fast pace part.  I don't do fast paced anything.  Let's just say that I ended up pushing myself more than usual.  The other part that had me laughing while running?  The strap for my HRM needs a new battery.  So even though I was panting and figured I'd keel over?  My heart rate was only registering at 70-something!  With all that, I managed to haul in 2.6 miles *even though my ticker to the right isn't letting me add it in*.  My pace *including my 5 minute warm up* was a bit less than an 11.5 minute mile.  Woot!

In addition to my running, I am sending spontaneous e-mails to a friend to remind her to get up and do:  jumping jacks, crunches, leg lifts, push ups, etc.  Not only is it good for her, but it is also good for me since I am also doing the same thing immediately after hitting the send button.  It is a reminder for me to keep moving.  Every little bit helps!

It is also that time of year when I get my new calendar.  I got it this last week.  It's still pretty stark looking, but I haven't sat down with it and added in birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  I also need to meal plan for the month of December--ick YAY!  I've usually gotten my grocery list put together and shopped by now, but it's been a bit chaotic this week.

Also, I finally got my birthday present this past week and I've been wearing it for nearly a week.  I have to say that now I know I slack on Friday's when the girls are home.  Yikes!  Oh yeah!  What is it?  It's a Fitbit One.  This is it:

It is pretty tiny.  And normally, it's clipped on my bra.  And no, I'm not taking a picture of it clipped where it should be.  So there!  I love this thing so far.  The picture above is showing how many steps I took today. 

It also tracks your mileage:

your calories burned,

your activity level *by growing a flower*,

and how many floors you've climbed.

The story on the number of floors I've climbed is this...we don't have stairs in our house.  The one floor that I got today was because of the elevation changes on my run this morning.  I even tried going up and down the stairs on our porch to get some more floors.  No dice.  Oh and it also has a silent alarm that you can set before you go to bed.

Speaking of bed...I need to go in that direction!  We have a fun day planned tomorrow.  We have friends coming over and I need to be peppy!  Don't forget to get your rest too!