Smug Marrieds: A Fitting Year End

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Most bloggers round out the year with well wishes for their readers' good health and happiness. Not me. I'm ending with a Smug Married. What can I say? I'm a truth teller. 

Dena, arriving home from her afternoon workout, bursts in the door: Guess what? I deadlifted 185 today at Crossfit. 

Blair: That's great. 

Blair is cleaning the house, so Dena runs upstairs to grab the vacuum to help. On the way back down she accidentally swings the vacuum against the wall, almost taking out a piece of plaster. 

Dena: Oops. 

Blair: Woman, you're lying to me. I know you can't deadlift no 185 pounds when you can't even carry a vacuum down the stairs. 

And so the Smug Marrieds move on to 2013.

From our home to yours,


HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

New (Free) Shoes!

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What's better than new running shoes? FREE new running shoes!

I recently participated in the Wake Forest Runner's Study and my reward was a $100 gift certificate to New Balance shoes in Winston-Salem. I'd been needing trail shoes for months so it was the perfect match. Almost.

I'm a Brooks running shoe girl. Always have been. I feel like I'm cheating on my brand, sneaking the New Balance into the house. Plus, they're much more minimalist then I'm used to. They feel like the thin paper baggies you slip over your shoes at a new home showing versus an actual shoe. I'm going to need to do some short trail runs and build up my endurance for wearing these. 

But free is free. These were on clearance so I had $15 left over and I bought some gaudy rainbow colored socks to wear with them 'cause that's how I roll. Plus, I don't want to get lost on the trail. You see some runner out there in turquoise shoes and purple socks, sobbing about how her paper baggie shoes failed her, yeah. That's me. Throw me a Gu and point me in the right direction.

Cheers,

Dena

What To Look For In the New Year

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It's that special time of year when I skip workouts, avoid scales and revert to my college wardrobe of sweatpants and t-shirts regardless of what the social occasion calls for. God, I love the close of a year. 

Bad personal hygiene habits aside, I also enjoy the end of the year because it signals a chance for a fresh start in the new one. That's right, I'm a resolution girl. Nothing makes me happier then to pull out pen and paper and catalog the ways I will be not only better but PERFECT in the New Year. 

Here's a glimpse into my "Dena, only better" goals for 2013.  

  1. Write Every Day. Could be 50 words, could be 5,000. I will write new words every day and blog posts don't count. No time off for holidays, birthdays, weekends, etc. either. Write, Dena. W-R-I-T-E.
  2. Publish 4 Magazine Articles. 
  3. No TV for January. I know I can't go all year with no TV, but I'd like to spend less time zoning and figure cold-turkey is the way to go. 
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The First Annual Barefoot Josh Elevational Invitational Halfish Marathon

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Today at 9 a.m., with great fanfare (we said, "Ready? Let's go."), four of us set out on The First Annual Barefoot Josh Elevational Invitational Halfish Marathon.

This thing kicked my butt. The only saving grace is that going in, I knew it would. The route is only a couple of miles from our house and Josh and I had run it years ago when training for The Blue Ridge Relay and Blair ran it when he was training for the Grandfather Mountain Marathon. It's a nasty 2.7 mile stretch that Josh--in his evilness--decided we should all run five times, out and back. 

The course. Check out the elevation profile. I walked that big mother of a hill you see in the beginning of the course. And walked several short hill stretches on the way back. Plus, I only made it 4 laps. I could have struggled through five but Josh was practically ready to lap me at that point and everyone else had already quit running, so I was happy enough to call it quits with close to 9 miles under my belt. 

It's too bad a lot of people had to cancel last minute because it was a beautiful run and the weather was perfect. Plus, Blair and I put out a post-run spread of bagels, almond butter, chocoloate-chip cookies, rice-krispie treats, and Costa Rican egg-nog (oh my God... YUM) and coffee. 

I've got a couple of 15-mile trail races coming up in January. After today's run, I expect they'll seem like cake. 

Cheers,

Dena