Final race of 2015

All good things must come to an end, and with my foot still bothering me, I've run my final 5K for 2015 with the Lakeside Viking 5K on Dec. 12. I ran it with my friends Carolyn and Susan though, so I went out exactly how I wanted: with friends.

Me, Susan and Carolyn

I am ready for a short break. But I'm also looking forward to 2016. I've got four more states lined up for sure: Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Colorado, all of which will be run with friends! I'm so excited that friends want to join me on my destination running adventures.
2015 was a great year for me, I think. I got to run with family members for the first time, I ran races in the great states of Kansas, Washington, New Mexico, Maryland and Connecticut. Five states this year! And I either ran with friends or met up with friends in each state. How cool is that?
I never realized how much fun this bucket list was going to become. How much I look forward to planning trips and then planning who I might see while there.
So, thanks 2015 for a wonderful year. See you at the starting line in 2016!

Ugly Sweaters and the Constitution State

I'm home from a short, fun trip to Connecticut, where I ran the Ugly Sweater Run in Hartford with my friend Peggy.
I didn't expect to run in five states this year. I thought it would simply be four, which I think is ambitious to begin with!
But the stars aligned and I ended up flying up to Connecticut and running one more race this year.
Here we are before the race, wearing our Ugly Sweater hats. Great hats!

Sporting our race swag -- fun hats!

Ugly sweaters on display

The full effect

Wow, we look stylish! My sweater looks like it is two sizes too big! And to think I used to wear that to work!

Along the course!

Coming into the finish

You can tell the temps were up for the race by the last photo. I had to take my sweater off! I was roasting. The race wasn't my best. My foot, which I've stayed off of for three weeks, almost immediately began hurting. It's hurting right now as I type this. Grrr...

The trip also included lunch with my friend Val, who lives in Massachusetts and drove about 90 minutes to meet me for lunch!

Val and me at lunch

It was a great weekend. Over way too fast. And my goodness it was warm! Almost a little too warm for all the sweaters I brought thinking it would be really cold in Connecticut in December. After all, Peggy said it sleeted at last year's Ugly Sweater Run.

This race in Connecticut represented my 21st state. It may not have been the right weekend for sweaters, but our ugly ones sure were fun!!