17.1 mile long run, NASM, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Yikes! Being sick most of the week truly affected my blogging! Now I need to play catch up! Where to start?
Let's start with the K Cup Swap over at It's a Harleyyy Life! We were given someone to swap with and then we would send each other a selection of our favorite K Cups to try out. Now, I don't drink coffee *at all*, never even tried it (weird, huh?) but the Hubs and my Teenie LOVE it, so I jumped right on board! I sent out a selection of their faves, and waited for ours!

They arrived with a nice note and 2 coupons for oiselle! Yay! The Hubs and the Teenie are having fun trying new coffees! Thanks Katie!

Another exciting item came in the mail last week! Last month I won a tee in a contest from DPI tees, which was really exciting! I was having a bad day when I got the email, so it really brightened up my mood!

LOVE!!!! I haven't worn it yet, but it such a nice shirt! I can't wait to wear it!

I am participating in a wonderful challenge, Happy New Year...Now.  I picked my goals, and I have made some progress:

1. Run 3 days a week: week one yes, week 2 I was sick and missed 2 short runs, but ran 17 miles for my long run
2. 30 Day Shred Challenge: Week one I did it 3 times, week 2 (sick!) I did none :( I am glad that I rested tho, the 17 miler was key to my training, and the most important!
3. 5-7 freggies a day: I have been getting 4 on most days, definitely something to continue working on, but progress is good!
4. eat less junk food: I am doing well here, not perfect, but defnitely less than usual!
5. Read 3 books: one down, 2 to go, and I am halfways through 2 books right now. so I am optimistic about this goal!

I am also following along with the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! You get points based on your workouts, your freggies, and other challenges along the way. I feel like I am doing really well with this challenge. It is definitely keeping me on track. Those few sick days I took this week made me itchy, lol. I still have today's workout to do, but here is my week so far:

Another big decision I made this week was to get my Personal Training Cert again. I haven't been certified in over 10 years! My last cert was through ISSA but I went with NASM this time. I can't wait to crack the book! I got my kit the other day, it came in the cutest box. It looks like a locker! It also came with an awesome backpack that I will use to hold everything in one place.

And last but not least, my long run was yesterday, 17 miles! I was so nervous, it was my longest distance yet. My friend Colleen and I ran together, leaving from her house. We ran around town, and the town next door, since we are restricted as to where we can run, due to Sandy damage. The first 10 miles were awesome, not too tired, great conversation. Here is the view from mile 11:

After that it got ugly! I hadn't run all week, and my legs knew it. We stopped to walk a few times, but we always kept moving. At mile 13.1 we stopped at Colleen's house for a pit stop, and then we finished out the last 4. The only time we stopped to walk this leg was on the second bridge (for this leg.  We ran over a bridge and back in the first 13 as well). It was steep and at mile 16 it was just too much! We stopped at mile 17 to take the pic of Colleen's watch, since mine got stopped somehow during the pit stop.

Oh yeah, and I earned my medal for the HoHoHo Winter Wonderful Half! woot! I was so very tired after this run, and at first I was really mad at myself for struggling. There was definitely some worry about the Marathon. BUT
I know that I can do it. I don't need to run the whole thing, and stopping to get pics with the characters will help! I can't wait! 6 weeks to go! WOW!

Thanks for sticking around this long! It was a crazy week but we are all caught up! I will leave you with one last pic, and a question:
If you celebrate Christmas, is your tree up yet?