New Year!

The last few hours of 2008 are ticking away! This has been a superb year, but I am eagerly awaiting 2009. Like I said yesterday, I need to post my exercise for today. I did an hour of Pilates, 30 minutes of cardio and a little over an hour of snowshoeing. Now I'm going to get cleaned up and go for a yummy dinner at my favorite Indian restaurant. I hope everyone has a happy and safe new year!

**Only 10 more days until my snowshoe 5K!**

A Fun-Packed Month

I can't believe in five weeks our vacation month begins! Troy and I are spending the first week of February in California, we'll return to Park City for a week then head to Hawaii for two weeks. The thought of spending three of the four weeks of February in a bikini has given me great incentive to get in better shape. I am still following my running schedule, but the holidays have thrown me off track. Today I was supposed to x-train, but I opted for a long run instead. I need to rev up my workout so for the next week I will be posting my daily workouts along with my posts. This will give me motivation because I refuse to write "I didn't exercise today". :)

Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my friends, family and anonymous readers. I hope you all had a wonderfully festive week; I know I sure did. The Madsen's adventure started Wednesday with a long commute south to Price. Troy and I spent about an hour with his family then retired to bed at the Strate household. None of my sisters or brother could be home this year so needless to say, my parent's house was ideal for a restful night's sleep.  Christmas morning we opened presents and went cross country skiing with Ben and Melanie. Though the day was chillier than expected, the skiing was great and the scenery couldn't have been more beautiful. 

Troy and I headed back Friday after lunch with my parents, but returned to Price on Sunday for sweet Emi's baby blessing. Yesterday we traveled to Alta for a quick ski trip. The skiing wasn't very good (too crowded and the warm temperatures made for icy runs), but it was great to take part in the family tradition. I can't speak for Troy, but I had a great time with the Madsen crowd. I can't wait for next year!

Running Schedule

I adopted a running schedule a few weeks ago to help with my training. I am currently following a 16-week schedule, but this setup could easily be shortened or lengthened. Here it is:

Monday:     run 30-45 minutes

Tuesday:     cross train 45-60 minutes

Wednesday: run 45-60 minutes

Thursday:   run 30-45 minutes

Friday:        cross train 45-60 minutes

Saturday:    long run 8-15 miles (varies by week)

Sunday:       rest

For cross training I have been attending spin classes, snowshoeing or cross country skiing. If I choose snowshoeing or cross country skiing, I make sure to do it for at least an hour and try to push myself with speed, distance and steeper terrain. 

Volunteer: Sundance

In an effort to familiarize myself more with the local scene, I signed up to volunteer with the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Since Park City is synonymous with Sundance, I figured there was no better place to get my foot in the social door than on Main Street. I combined my love for this amazing city and volunteer work by dedicating 26 hours over a four-day period. The hours are great and as a movie lover, I am excited to attend some free screenings. I will let you all know how it goes! Honestly I have yet to have a negative experience at any of my volunteer events. Troy and I will be sure to still attend a few shows while I'm not volunteering. You have to take advantage of being a local!

Park City Snowshoe Stomp

Today I was browsing running events in SLC and Park City when I stumbled upon the Park City Snowshoe Stomp. I was looking for a few 5k - 1/2 marathon runs to help me meet my challenge for 2009 and I could not pass on this delight. This 5k is held in mid January and is ran on snowshoes! Just the thought of it gave me the giggles so I couldn't resist signing up. Usually I only sign up for marathons - I definitely have the "go big or go home" mentality, but I figured a few small runs would be a fun change of pace. I'll let you know how it turns out!

**I do have a running goal for 2009, but I'll share it at a later date. I don't want to jinx myself before everything is set up. ;) **

Christmas Greetings

Two days ago, Troy decided he wanted a family photo to document our winter of 2008. The problem with three dogs is you can't get a decent photo. Out of our 10 tries, these are the best shots we got.

I realized after we should have turned off the football game.

Abby was being stubborn and refused to stand. 

Of course when Troy decided to take photos, I was asleep. 

I was still too tired to care that I was disshevled.

Pilates

Well I am finished with my Pilates certification, but still awaiting my test date. I have to log a few more teaching hours before I take my test and my sweet husband has been more than happy to be my student. Today we made it through the whole essential workout and I am extremely pleased to hear he enjoyed it! His abs are burning and his sore spine feels relief. He even lined it up so I teach him three times a week! I'm so excited to have such a willing participant.

**I am going to post some of my favorite exercises later for all of you to try at home!**

Skiing!

Today I'm venturing out for my first ski day of the winter. The lack of snow caused a postponement of the resorts' opening day, but now a few runs are ready for business! This year Troy and I purchased season passes to The Canyons, which currently only has two runs open. I figured the lack of runs will mean fewer skiers and consequently, fewer people who could potentially watch me fall. :)  One of my goals this year was to improve my downhill skiing and snowboarding and now the time has arrived! I am also looking forward to beginning skate skiing, but we are still too shy of snow for any form of cross country skiing.