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Getting ready for Santa

We have been decorating away so Santa can find our house. Lights on the front porch with a couple of inflatables to add some kid attraction.  The tree is up and actually filled with presents underneath.    I am done with shopping and actually have a lot of the Christmas cards in the mail--Yes!  I still do a few cards to family and some school friends from college and high school.   During the year is very difficult to keep up with everyone and the Christmas cards let them know what my latest info is for addresses and phone numbers.   Old fashioned, but it actually works pretty well.  

We have also been doing some work around the house to get ready for the kids ( all adults now) who will start arriving on the 23 rd and stay thru the 26 th and then all disappear again.  It should be a lot of fun, we try to get everyone in the same room at least one time a year and this year we get them all at our house.  It is typically a very energetic couple of days and this year should be no different.  So as we slowly creep towards the arrival days, we will continue to cram stuff into closet and other spaces to make room. 

I took last week off from any sort of training activity.  My gout got the best of my left foot and I needed to get that under control.  The previous week I was out of town and ate two steaks in a period of 3 days ( they were pretty goods steaks) and I think that was the catalyst that set off the pain.  So this week I ate no meat and tried to keep my diet limited with gout foods.   After a couple of days, things started coming around and I ran some yesterday at the gym treadmill.  Things felt OK.  I also am getting some plantar fascia pain in my left heel, so hopefully I can keep that under control as it heals( I hope).    My feet are still my weakness, but I manage to keep up some sort of training regardless of the resistance that they throw my way. 

My training has changed away from running to a  weight lifting based sessions to build strength and rest the lower body joints. I still do some 800's to keep some fitness.  Linda likes the new emphasis on weights, her opinion of a skinny husband ( in season husband) are not that high.   As the running is reduced, the weight and muscle definition increase and that is the look she prefers.  

I have been some recruiting at the gym.  One of the new gym employees and I got to yakking about running and he ran track in college against some pretty elite talent.  I encouraged Zack to check out USATF and run some meets.  He is starting to get involved and I gave him spikes I was not very fond to help get him started.  He is in his late 20's and I hope he can kick some butt as a sprinter!!  New blood is always needed. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone who checks in on me.  I appreciate your attention.

Jack 

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