KiraTani: 5 Words Per Picture

As I settle in this Tuesday morning I'm enjoying the quiet time post-cup of coffee and currently on a cup of tea before I head into the office. A cold front is supposed to arrive this afternoon. I have mixed feelings about this one. While I do enjoy a few short bouts of cold weather here and there- I am a total Californian (i.e. weather wimp) when it comes to the cold (and the hot for that matter). I enjoy the cold when I can spend some quality time inside with my book and a ~~glass of wine~~ cup of hot chocolate. Since there is that little marathon I'm training for, it means I'm going to have spend a significant amount of time outside- running in the cold. Sounds like fun...(insert eye roll here). But hey- a little cold never killed anyone- and I for sure would rather run 26.2 miles in cooler weather than the heat- so, I'll take it.

A little news on the training front- I'm up to 14 miles (which I'll be back for a recap on that). I'll be up to 22 by January and then I'll start to taper down. My goal for this first race is to feel good when I finish. I don't have a specific time goal in mind- I'll be somewhere in the 4 hour range for sure. But my main priority is to avoid injury and have a strong finish (i.e. I hope to not be dragging myself across the finish line, which could totally be a possibility). All in all, I feel good about the training so far. We've added in some weight training to accompany the yoga, bootcamp and runs throughout the week. I also have a love affair with the foam roller. If you haven't tried one- I highly recommend it. It has been incredibly useful at easing some of my glute pain (because I'm sure you all wanted to know that) and feels amazing on the shins/calves. Yoga with your foam roller video here.

Okay- onto the pictures:

1. Seen on my long run