Christmas Eve

So this is Christmas...

The drive yesterday ended up being just fine. We stopped and bought chains before we left our neighborhood. Then when we got on the road we tuned in to the traffic update again and found out that the chain requirement had been lifted to "traction tires advised" which is a pretty significant downgrade. This made for much more enjoyable drive.

This next part is probably going to include some yucky descriptions of bodily fluids and whatnot...

Just as I was setting out for my run Mr. C asked me to keep it to 40 minutes. So this is what I ran then. Which was just fine. It was cold. I wouldn't mind running in the cold so much but I really don't like that hot-cold thing that happens. I start to sweat, which makes me hot yet even colder than before because I am wet. And I wear all of the technical fabrics that are supposed to wick away sweat, but I don't think there is much that can be done about this in the cold. My hands get really cold, and my pullover has little thumb holes (which I prefer to gloves). But as I get hot then I want to push up my sleeves to cool myself down a bit. But even when I am hot/warmed up my hands still get cold because I have this thing called Renaud's syndrome (I think that is how it is spelled) which effects the circulatory system...hands and feet get cold really easily and the capilaries have a tendency to shut down (hands and feet turn white/go numb due to lack of blood circulating) which is really yucky. So I go through this whole process of rolling up my sleeves, then unrolling them and poking my thumbs through the holes...then back out and rolling the sleeves up again, etc. I guess it keeps me busy.

In additon to it being cold outside, I still have a cold. Running with a cold is supposed to be just fine for you. I have read in several places that as long as the cold is "above the neck" then you are ok to run. When the cold is below the neck--lung congestion--you aren't supposed to run. But when I got sick just before the marathon it was definately lung congestion (I had disgusting yellow mucus chunks constantly and was taking special medication for it in addition to theraflu for the cough, sore throat, etc.). I ran anyway because, hey--I was two weeks away from a marathon that I had trained hard for. As far as I know, the running didn't cause any real damage. So here I am with a cold that is definately above the neck--my sinuses are completely full of clear snot--which somehow gives me the geen light to run. I am 100% sure that I would rather run with congested lungs any day of the week over sinus congestion. I felt like I was drowning! It was disgusting, but I had to spit every mile or so. I hope no one saw me and/or got grossed out. It was absolutely necessary, though.

It felt good to run otherwise, though. I'm not sure what the leg-thing is, but it kept bothering me for the rest of the day. When we were in the jeep on the long drive I gave it a good massage and it feels like it is a calf-issue. The very bottom of the calf (perhaps the insertion area?). At any rate, it is feeling better today. I should get on the treadmill. I am for sure NOT running outside here because there is snow on the ground and it looks damn cold outside!

In here very subtle, round-about way Bernadette got to the "question" about when we will TTC again. She worked it in when we were talking...somehow related to training for another marathon. I'm glad that she tries to be sensitive. She did say, at some point, that she feels like by next Christmas we will have a baby to hold. I said that I sure hope so--talk about the understatement of the century!

Things are pretty quiet around here right now. We had a nice lunch then everyone needed to relax--take naps, watch football, get on the internet...

Tonight is the big Christmas gathering here, though, and there will be a housefull. I don't think I know any of the guests this year--no family besides us this year. There are an abundance of treats as well. I am most looking forward to Mr. C opening his presents tomorrow morning. I realized that there are two presents in addition to the two that I purposefully left behind for him to open when we get back home. One I was aware that I forgot. I kept leaving it in my car because it is kind of big and I didn't want to deal with trying to wrap it yet...now I guess I won't. The other is a subscription to the weekend additon of the Seattle Times. He loves reading the paper on Saturday and Sunday mornings, so I got that for him (it comes on Friday, as well). I was going to get a copy of the newspaper before we left and wrap it for him, but it totally slipped my mind with everything else that was going on. So it should be waiting on the front porch when we get home (today's paper was the first of the subscription set to arrive).

Here is the big question...do I go get into my running clothes and hop onto the treadmill, or do I just go and find some Christmas treats to indulge in? I suppose it doesn't have to be an either/or, really.