wanderunner

Just finished off a crazy busy few months of work with our last conference of the season! My favorite part about going into the office is the after-work runs around the National Mall. I still feel so lucky that I finally get to live and work in one of my favorite cities.

To finish off the year before we and our friends head off to our families for the holidays, we hosted a late Friendsgiving/Christmas party. I made a vegan chickpea and rice “casserole,” and Jason made chicken parm. For dessert, I made Christmas sugar cookies to decorate, and Jason made “Sopapilla cheesecake” (pictured below). He said he found the recipe on a pillsbury can when he was 12 🙂

Our guests brought their own food to the party as well and we stuffed our faces and enjoyed each other’s company. Mera enjoyed the company too (after barking at them relentlessly for 40 minutes). She especially lightened up when Jason decided to let her on the couch for the special occasion 🙂

Now that winter is almost upon us, I am getting humbled by the below freezing temperatures. I used to think that I would never run in leggings- but this is how I walked out the door the other morning:

I would say, however, that the most helpful gear in the cold would have to be gloves and a headband. The body parts that freeze the quickest for me are my hands and ears, so if those are covered, I’m usually ok! However, if you’re running in 20-30 degrees with bare legs, that could leave you prone to injury because your muscles tense up in the cold, even though you might not notice it. I could definitely feel that effect towards the end of my 10 mile run the other day.

Speaking of that run, it was my first real “long run” of my marathon training season! I forgot how hungry I get after those. We had no food in the house so I took an early “lunch” break and went out to get us breakfast and boba 🙂

How are you celebrating the holidays?

How cold do you think is too cold to run in shorts? 😀

Happy Monday!