I don’t know about you folks, but the holiday season of 2014 – 2015 has been pretty great to me so far!

First, Christmas came to town, and we had a blast. I mean, my mama-in-law got me a tiara. Like, a legit crown.

“Put it on me, put it on me, put it on me, put it on me!”

Santa Claus was also really good to me this year, with an awesome new Under Armour hoodie in my favorite Kelly Green, a gorgeous little 13.1 silver necklace, and a brand spankin new Garmin!

I’ll be the first to admit: I love my old Garmin 305. That thing has been steadfastly there for me on every run for more than 4 years now, and I’d venture a guess to say that it probably runs better than I do (imitate rimshot here). But the thing is like running with the Startship Enterprise Command Module on your wrist. It doesn’t feel like it, but it looks ridiculous, and makes easily glancing at my stats near impossible if I’m wearing sleeves – nevermind the fact that sleeves won’t even fit over the thing. This new 610 was a welcome addition to the family, and I broke it in with a nice run Christmas morning and haven’t looked back since!

Unfortunately hubby caught a nasty cold that day, so instead of the usual post-Christmas shopping bonanza, we spent the next 3-4 days laying low.

I did make a friend on one of my runs though! He followed me for a whole block and I had to walk him back to his house.

After one day of work last week, I was laid up with the same funky sickness from the 30th-the 2nd, and while it SUCKED, I’m pleased to say that I slept for about 18 hours of every day to recover, and I loved it. After the first few days, the week was still a huge success! We rang in the new year with loved ones..

…I found cool new workout tops on sale at Kohls for $5 each…

… we had a perfectly quiet, talking about life, caffeine-filled, hot cocoa and people-watching night at Starbucks…

he’s all mine 🙂

…we took my Dad into Red Bank for a day of Surf Taco, hobby shop wandering, and comic books…

Catholicism WOW!

…and even though I had to skip 4 days due to illness, I managed to get right back on track for week 2 of my training plan with an Insanity workout (OUCH) and a totally-out-of-my-comfort-zone trail run with my friend Kevin yesterday!

The smiles before the hills.

Finally some action shots in nature!

Overcast and 60 degrees – perfect running weather! 

I had a real blast on those trails. A year ago I’d be petrified to run on uneven terrain like that: the instability in my knee, the weakness in my quads, my lack of confidence in my running… let’s just say I would have passed on this invite. But as I finished my morning coffee and looked out at the misty weather, prepping for 4 miles on the treadmill to satisfy my training schedule requirements for the day, Kevin texted me with an invitation to go out and explore. And explore we did! For 4 whole miles and change, we ran through the hills and woods of Holmdel Park discussing life, love, and the need for two laundry baskets in a relationship. In a word, this run was perfection!

And that brings us to today! I’m sore beyond words and exhausted – just like pretty much everyone else out there today who went back to work after however long they had off for the holidays – but I’m happy. At first I was super upset that I had gotten sick: there’s nothing worse than feeling like caca and having to stay home when you’ve got time off from work and want to be out celebrating and doing all the things.

But the cold or flu or whatever it was actually gave me just what I needed: down time. It forced me to relax and nap and recharge my battery, and I was able to recover with enough time to get some fun stuff done too. Instead of going at full tilt the entire 2 weeks, I was able to rest for most of it and as a result, I’m feeling relaxed, recharged, and ready to take on whatever’s coming my way in 2015!

How about you? I hope your new year is treating you well so far! Tell me all about it in the comments…