What happened to November (recap of month)

It's seriously already December- is it just me or did fall just fly by?!?! I'm not sure if it's me getting older, or if work was so busy and having to work long hours. Regardless December is here and my November was quite sad... 

Onto the Breakdown 

Total Mileage:  A whopping 44 miles. What is so awersome about that is  November was not my lowest mileage month- I managed to get in a whole 40 in October (and 26.2 of those were races- probably why I didn't do an October recap because everything was hectic)
December : Currently I have 20 miles logged for the month and I still need 104 more just to be able to hit 1000 miles for the year... man I'm so behind. I'd like to hit 1000, but having my highest mileage month after 2 of my lowest mileage months just is asking for potential injury, so we shall see.

Highest Mileage week:  wait for it..... 17!!! (technically 13.1 of those 17 were on Dec 2nd, but the majority of the week was Nov so we're counting it!)

December: I'm going for realistic, but still forcing myself to run more- 30 sounds about right. 

Races Planned / Completed: 1/1: No half mary's this month. Instead I did the Turkey Trot 5 miler back home- Recap HERE. I did get a new PR 38:31 (only ran 2 5 milers, but hey a PR is a PR)

December: I have 3 races planned. 1 was the Las Cruces 1/2 I did in NM this past weekend. Next up is tonight,  the annual Rudolph 5k that Becca and I do every year:

2010

2011

I know you're thinking it, and and the answer is YES, I will be wearing the same outfit again for this year (tonight actually) 

Lastly I am doing a beer run-whoop whoop. It's called barely a 4k and entry is $5 and then bringing $20 worth of toys on race day to go to one of the local charities here in Nashville for Christmas. What a great race fee and cause! 

Fun Trips:

Catalina Island for Mark's Marathon:

Home for Thanksgiving with the Family 

Accomplishments for November:

• 5 mile PR
• Finished my busy 3 months at work (December is breather and January may be hell again)  
• Accomplished and LOVED my "new to me" cross-training- "Just Dance" on wii!

Current Book: I read 2 in November:

Seven Years To Sin:- For those of you that liked "Bared to You"- this is same author. I was having a hard time finding the follow up to Bared to You, 'Reflected in You', so I picked this up. This one takes place in the 18th century England where women have the traditional role of being a "lady" and marrying off at a young age to the wealthiest bachelors so they can provide them children, preferably boys. The main character is married for 7 years before her husband passes. As she journeys on a boat to Jamaica to tie up loose ends with business deals after his death, she finds comfort in a younger man who has been lusting over her all this time. -- i'm actually really bad at recapping books via typing it out. Writing is great, lots of little stories going on in the book--- especially her sister being married to an abusive husband. It's not super raunchy and is a nice quick read.

Oh man how I love this book, and the fact that is a TRILOGY. If you like Hunger Games, you will love these series. Rather than try to do my take on it, I found a perfect description online: Matched is the first book in the series, and is set in a dystopian future, where the mysterious society dictates every part of your life — who you marry, where you work and how long you live for. When main character Cassia turns 17, she takes part in a matching ceremony where she is paired with her perfect partner. The question is: what happens when your chosen match isn’t the boy you love? And just how far do you go to defy the society?

I'm so excited to start the second book- "Crossed". Also looks like they are in works with making a movie... YES!!!

Current Excitements/ Obsessions:

• Christmas- duh!
• Planning my first 6 months of 2013 races. I have a hard time doing all year right away. 

Current Goal

• I decided this morning that I am going to do Jill's 13 in 2013 for half marathons. Normally this would be an easy feat as I did 15 this year ( I think, may have to double check) What will be challenging for me is I only have 14 states left and I don't think I'll be able to do all 14 this year, so I will be looking to repeat some local races or repeat some states?
• Lose 10lbs so I can set myself up to go sub 1:40 for half
• Make a decision before the New Year if I will attempt another marathon which would be HUGE EUGE in April ;) 

Current Dislikes:

• For once, I am content. Life has slowed down a bit and I'm finally just enjoying my time. 

November is what I would like to call a "set up month"- it allowed me to take some time off for running and just get through life so that I can have a few successful follow up months. I really tried to focus a lot on figuring out work/life balance and its FINALLY paying off. I'm excited to see how the rest of December and all of January turn out!