Holidays = time off for play

I could have been writing more, I guess, but I decided to be lazy and read your posts instead. I even commented on most some. And then there was Facebook - an addictive time killer that it is. I am so glad I am not doing Twitter (yet).  Finally I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could write a sentence or two so you guys are not the only ones doing all the heavy blog work. 

Christmas was fun. Some of you may remember that I asked not to be given any stuff for Christmas since I have too much of everything. Well, I did not get *stuff* but I will be going to Tahoe for some skiing in February. Having some time off will be greatly appreciated by this poor, overworked, and stressed out ;-) 
person. 

Now all I need is... snow because I want to do a lot of cross country skiing and finally get good half way decent at it. Maybe I should have asked Santa for something after all - like snow. That sort of *stuff* I could certainly put to good use. Hello winter, where are you?

Holidays was not all about eating and vegging out. We made a short trip to Yosemite. For the first time in a long, long time, Tioga Pass was open this late in the season so I checked the park website, called to make sure it was really true and off we went. The best part of the trip was slipping and sliding on frozen Tenaya Lake. Had my brain been working before the trip, I would have rented skates. 

So being able to hike and play in areas normally not accessible to mere mortals in winter was fun but all that was possible only because we have not had any decent snowfall in a long long time, haven't I mentioned that already?
I hope we are not going to have a drought year. 

Our teens quickly vanished into the fog

And then there was a hiking trip with friends who have never been to Mt. Diablo State Park. This is one of my favorite hiking places in Bay Area, with stunning views, long trails, varied habitats so I was very happy to share this place with others. Too bad it is a bit of a drive from where I live, I would be hiking and running those trails every week. 


We had a very foggy and chilly start but soon we climbed above the fog to some stunning views. As it kept geting warmer, or maybe it was us warming up, we kept on peeling our layers off and soon hiked in tanks. Our California winters are spoling us rotten.


I am still getting over my cold or flu or whatever has been bugging me lately so my lungs worked overtime but I was glad to see that my hiking legs are still with me. I am seriously considering doing John Muir Trail again this summer so I will be good to start my training with some solid base. 


Our kids, of course, again put us to shame by running most of the trail with very little effort. I knew this was going to happen because just the other day I challenged my teen to a 7mile hilly run. He's been exercising, so he claims, but I could see he was not putting enough effort into it. Of course, our opinions differ on that subject. He goes for a run but the most he does is 3miles. His other workouts, in my expert opinion, suck too. So being a good mother that I am (please, do not argue with me), I gave him a very stern lecture, like all good mothers would, right? And then I informed him that he was going for a decent run with me. We ended up doing almost 8 miles. I was expecting him to die if not on hill number two, then for sure on hill number three. Before we took off, with my evil grin I told him that I realized it was a longish run so it was fine with me if he, poor unfit child, needed walking breaks. Not only did he not die, he ran all the hills to the very last one (number seven, I believe), stronger than I did or maybe he was holding his breath because I did not hear him breathing at all, while I... well, I'll blame my heavy breathing on my cold. And as for walking breaks... right... wishful thinking, mom.

I will have to work on my future lectures about fitness. In one run he destroyed all my arguments. 

My runs these days are not that long (you know, "I have a cold" excuse) but I am keeping my running streak going, right now I am up to 123 days. I am kind of proud of myself. Streaking surely keeps me motivated to get my a$$ out there, rain or shine... oh, wait, we haven't had any rains lately.   


BTW, in case you have not noticed, this year is almost over. It was a good, good hiking, running, and weight lifting year.