It's Race Week (Again) & Pictures with Santa

First things first: Family Photos with Santa at Petsmart! Let me just say that I was very disappointed with Santa this year. He certainly wasn't very jolly (as you can see from his facial expressions he looks thrilled). I thought maybe it was because I freaking brought my entire extended family to get our picture taken (my parents were still in town from VA so they came along) as well as two hyper basset hounds...but he was really sullen with everyone. Didn't say a word or move an inch. I wanted to tug at his beard to see if he was even alive.

Anyhow, after about 100 attempts, we managed a few decent photos, though still dysfunctional looking. ;) They are scanned, so excuse the poor quality.

[I realize I probably lose major street cred by taking my dogs to have their photo taken with Santa and then posting them on the internet, but whatever, I am a 100% dog lover & enthusiast through and through]

The entire family. As you can see, both Santa and Dan are thrilled to be there.

The four of us with bad Santa

It's also race week! On Sunday, I will be running Marathon #21 in College Station, Texas. This is actually a race I have not run before, so I am excited. I love touring places I've never been on foot!

I really struggled with some runs last week (both with motivation to do them and the actual runs themselves being crappy), and I also had some good ones. At this point in the year, I've logged countless miles and raced more times than I can count, fell short on some goals and accomplished others, ran 4 marathons, did a half ironman and off season is just around the corner so I think it's normal to feel my flame burning low.

As is typical in December in Texas, you never know what you're going to get as far as weather. Sunday looks to be on the warm side and humid. Slightly better than what I ran in last month in San Antonio though (not as windy and maybe a degree or two cooler).

The weather doesn't concern me; I know I can take what the days gives me. I know I'm tough under less than ideal circumstances. And, I really don't have anything to lose on Sunday. There's not a number on the clock I am trying to hit. I simply want to finish the year strong and run a race that I am proud of. And that's what I'll set out to do.

I hope everyone has a good week! If you're running College Station this weekend and see me, say hello!