774 Miles in 2016

In 2014, my mileage was on the low side...and in the fall/before Christmas, running and I were officially "on a break."

So when I started training for my next half marathon of 2015, it was rough and slow. I was frustrated and felt like I was starting all over again and made a goal to run more miles in 2015 then the 593 I ran in 2014.

I only ran in two races this year, but they were both half marathons. Neither were my fastest times, however they also weren't my slowest half marathon times either.

My last run of 2015 happened this morning and I ran a total of 774 miles this year! That is my highest year-end mileage to date!

2016 Goal: Beat my 2015 half marathon time in one (or both) of my upcoming races this fall.  I was able to run 3.25 miles today easily at a 9:51 pace. I am hoping that the time I have put in and my recommitment to running this past year will help me achieve this goal in late March and/or May. I can't control the weather conditions/wind on race day, but I'll keep reminding myself of this goal as 2016 begins and I train for my 11th and 12th half marathon races.

Christmas Day and 6 Miles Before the Snow

Christmas Day! Santa found us again!!!

After having some fun with our Santa gifts, and mom going for a 3 mile run, we opened the rest of the gifts under the tree.

A much needed new swim bag!

And we almost made it to the end of the year without snow, but at least we didn't get as much as they were 

predicting!

It's a good thing I got my 6 mile long run in yesterday...it was cold but the roads and sidewalks were dry, unlike today.

Christmas Eve

Today we celebrated the holidays with my parents and of course the boys were excited for presents!

And Great Grandma C celebrated her 100th Christmas Eve...amazing!

We've got cookies all ready for Santa...

And we went to the Festival of Lights before Christmas Eve Service.

Full moon on Christmas Eve!

Letters to Santa are complete and the  pj's are on....

Merry Christmas from the Bunger's!

Chirstmas in Nebraska

We made it through the final days of school and Christmas Break has begun.  Unfortunately, Collin was sick the last two days of school and missed his class party.  But we were still able to celebrate Christmas with the Bunger's this past weekend in Nebraska.

We had a great weekend together celebrating the holidays with good food and family time together. As you can see there was lots of excitement and spoiling for all the Bunger Grandsons as well! :)

And just before the winter holiday break, Mitchell had his first band concert with the rest of his fellow 5th grade musicians.

I have consistently been able to log around 19 miles each week in December and also ran 6 miles for a long run each of these three weeks as well.  Yesterday I ran my longest distance (6.6 miles) that I have ran in one setting since May.  I also able to averaged a 9:54 pace on a route that included several large hills.  While I probably needed to run at least an additional 6 miles to burn off all the holiday treats I consumed this weekend, I am feeling much better about my physical fitness level as I start the training schedule for my 11th half marathon this week!

Concerts

The holidays are always busy with many events but some of those busy times bring about special pictures and memories.  Like an adorable 2nd grade Christmas Concert where your son wears an elf hat.

And both boys were a part of our church program again this year!  This keeps growing every year at our church and this year we had the most kids involved I have seen.  We are thankful for the directors who take this on....what a challenge to keep 3 year old thru 6th graders engaged and involved in a 30 minute show!

Mitchell was a clerk in this year's production and Collin was a "grumpy camel" with one of his favorite friends from church.  Again, we've got some pretty amazing directors who know the boys and their personalities well, so they both did great and the parts were a perfect fit. :)

Swimming and 700

Mitchell competed in a two day swim meet on the WSU Campus in Wichita over the weekend.

Overall Mitchell did well and improved his time in several events!

He swam in 8 events for the Marlins!

And a hotel stay means more cannon ball time for Collin.

I've now had two weeks where I have logged just shy of 20 miles each week.

This week I surpassed my goal of running 700 miles in 2015! Another 6 mile long run today...and completing this in shorts and a tshirt in December was an added bonus.

11 and 12

I have set a goal to run two more half marathons in 2016!

I am repeating the two races I ran last year because they are both close to home. I am hoping to better my time for at least one of those races. I ran both races around 2 hours and 12 minutes. Depending on the weather conditions on race day, I'm hopeful to improve this time significantly as I'll will start my training program in much better shape this year.

The sleet and ice slowed down the start of my week but I've ran another long 6 miles this week and finally ran a 5K distance in just over 29 minutes again today. Training for my 11th and 12th half marathon races starts soon!

Pool Antics

Both our boys spend a great deal of time at the pool these days with their involvement in the Marlins Swim Team, but they still get excited about pool time at a hotel when we are away from home.

Cannonball Trio:

And of course, dad's epic skills as at a large splash!

Lots of screams, giggles and pool fun always happen with all 3 of these boys!