Five for Friday

I've never done a Five for Friday, so there is a first time for everything...

1. I never did a race recap on the Santas Hustle the Smokies 1/2 marathon in Sevierville, Tennessee. But, I will today because I actually have time to do it. But, as a little sneak preview...here's a picture for you.

2. Hopefully I can catch up on my blogging today because it's a SNOW DAY! That's right...the Danville Schools are out of school today. WOO HOO! I normally don't like snow days because I would rather get out of school on May 10th, but hey, what's May 11th, right?

3. My favorite feeling? I love life! There are so many great things in life right now, that I feel like I can't stop smiling! :) I am so grateful for all the wonderful friends and family that I have, for my wonderful, fabulous husband, and for just being able to run. I know we want to get down when we don't have a good run, but I always tell myself, at least I can run.

4. It's high school basketball season! That means my fabulous nephew, Micah, is starting his final season of high school basketball. We enjoy watching him play so much! Yes, it makes for a busy week, but it's totally worth it! Lincoln County at home tonight! One of my favorite games of the season!

5. I know that this year is going to hold lots of blessings and great times! I'm so excited for this year to be here. I know life isn't candy and roses all the time, but I'm excited for all of it. I feel that good times and not so good times are, together, what makes us resilient people!

Thank you all for being such loyal readers!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, Christmas is over and New Year's is on the horizon! :) We've been able to enjoy 5 different Christmas celebrations, with one more to come (my extended family, his extended family, my immediate family (two of them due to divorced parents), his immediate family, and our annual Christmas dinner with Bobbie and Gerard tonight).

We definitely had a very blessed Christmas, and I'm sure we will have a blessed New Year as well. I hope all of my blogger friends enjoyed their holiday as much as I did mine!

Look out for some new reviews and giveaways in the New Year!

Rose - I am mailing your Knuckle Lights today. The holidays got to me and I just couldn't get to the post office. Look for them soon!

Knuckle Lights WINNER!

Well, I have completely failed at blogging every day this month, but I have a winner for my Knuckle Lights giveaway.

Using www.random.org, I chose a random number between 2 and 86. I didn't use the number 1 because I commented first as a test. I also added five comments for someone who couldn't comment on my blog for some reason.

So, with that said, www.random.org chose the number...

19!!!

Congraulations to Rose from Hacker Half Marathon! You are the lucky winner of your own set of Knuckle Lights! Email me your mailing info at sheridunlee@bellsouth.net and I will get those out to you as soon as I can!

Already failing...

Ha! I've already failed at blogging everyday in December, and it's only the second day of December. Blahahaha! I promise I'll do better. I didn't get home until 9:00 last night and had a 5:20 run this morning, so sleep was at the top of my list.

Anyhoo...it's not been a good week for running. I've run a total of 7 miles, 7! That's not typically normal for me, but I'll make the excuse of this: I'm running a half next weekend, so I need to be fresh! Right? Right!

My subject today are the new hats I got today! I'm so excited! I got them from the local bike store, Danville Bike and Footwear. You can visit their site HERE. The hats I bought are the Saucony Drylete Skull Cap, with a ponytail hole! I haven't gotten to wear it, but I love skull caps, so I'm excited about it and will let you know how it is! I got the one in the picture below, and a lime green one!

Beginning December With Knee Pain...and a question!!! HELP!

Well, tomorrow is the start of a new month and my goal is to post on my blog everyday, even if it's just a small thought.

This morning during boot camp, we were doing sideways squat jumps (if that makes any sense to anyone). For some reason, probably because I'm doing them wrong, my knee is always tender after we do these. Well, my plan was to do boot camp this morning and run five miles tonight. But, if I've learned anything while becoming a runner, it's that you have to listen to your body. My knee has been a little more than tender today, almost to the point of needing ice and no walking. It just feels like I 'tweeked' it the wrong way this morning, so I opted not to run tonight. I will get up at 4:00 and try it again in the morning. :)

Why does this knee pain bother me? I am running the Santa Hustle Half Marathon on December 11th in Sevierville, TN. Scared that this could be a problem? YES! If you know me, I always want to beat myself if I'm capable and I don't know how this knee issue will factor into that.

Now for the question: How do you gauge whether a pain is just a pain or an injury? Any suggestions would be helpful...

Giving Thanks!

Before I get started, don't forget to enter my Knuckle Lights giveaway HERE!

Now that the Thanksgiving season is upon us, I thought I'd take a moment to give thanks for all the wonderful things and people in my life.

1. First and foremost, my God. Without Him, life would be so different. I thank God daily for all the wonderful things in my life.

2. My husband. My Jeremiah is a dream come true and makes each day worth waking up. When I've had a bad day, all I have to do is come home and I'm brought to stomach-aching laughter because I have the funniest husband in the world. He has made my life complete!

3. My wonderful family (mine and my in-laws). I have the best parents and step-parent that anyone could ask for. On that note, I have the MOST AWESOME big sister in the world! (That's us in the picture.) We have so much fun together. We can have a conversation in a room full of people and be the only two people laughing. We also have our own secret language in which we talk when we don't want anyone to know what we're talking about. She also gave me the best niece (Gracie) and nephew (Seth) that I could have every asked for. Not to mention, a pretty cool brother-in-law. I also have a fabulous set of in-laws. They have taken me in like I'm one of their own and I will be forever thankful for that.

4. My friends. I have some great friends, near and far. I have my Cole, who has been with me through the long haul. We can go a month without having a conversation, and just fall into our old friend habits. We've been together since middle school. Love her so much! Then there's Erin. Erin and I became college roommates when we were freshmen in college. At first, I didn't think that (neither did she) we would ever be close friends. But, God has a funny way of working things out. Now she's one of my best friends and married to one of my best buds as well. I was in her wedding and she was in mine. How's that for not thinking we would be good friends? My running buddy, Bobbie (and all of the other running pals out there). We began running together and have fallen into a habit that's hard to break and one that doesn't need to be broken. We've gotten to the point where it hurts to run a race without the other. That's friendship. My school friends (old and new). I just started a job at a new school, so I had to leave my friends behind. But, the good thing is, I still get to see them and spend time with them. We get together once a month to make sure we don't lose touch. And last but not least, all my other friends out there, thank you for being you! (That means you KWOWW! )

5. A warm and wonderful home, with a puppy who loves me. I love my house and everything about it. And I love the wagging tail that meets me at the door! I'm thankful for a warm home where I can build a family with my husband!

6. RUNNING! (Should probably rank higher, but other stuff comes first!) Running is sometimes my sanity. On days when I feel things can't get worse, going for a run makes me realize that it could be so much worse than it is. At least my legs can carry me on a run where I can clear my mind and spend some time with myself or with a good friend.

7. My job and my husband's job. In today's economy, there are so many people who are out of work, and I am so thankful that we aren't those people. We may complain about money sometimes, but we have to remember that at least we have jobs that pay us money. Others aren't so fortunate.

8. My health and the health of others. I'm thankful that I am healthy enough to lead the life I want to to lead. I'm also thankful for the health of my family and loved ones. Also, for the individuals who choose to go into the healthcare profession so that we can stay healthy, even when we are sick.

9. I am also thankful to live in a wonderful community where "everybody knows your name" (insert Cheers! music here). Not quite that small, but small enough to be able to get anywhere within ten minutes and where you can see someone you know while running down Main Street. I love Danville!

10. And last, but definitely not least, I am thankful that I have the life I have. I don't get myself down about things very often, but when I do, I just have to remember that it could be so much worse than it is. I count my blessings daily and always try to remember how great life is!

Have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Knuckle Lights GIVEAWAY!

Well, I know it been awhile, but I'm back! And...it's time for a GIVEAWAY!

Back in October, myself and 11 other ladies ran in the Bourbon Chase, a 200 mile relay race across the great state of Kentucky. We were divided up into 2 vans, handing the baton after each run. Needless to say, everyone had at least one leg of running that was run in the dead of night. So, I thought this would be the perfect time to try out my new toy, Knuckle Lights.

Knuckle Lights are worn on your knuckle, during night hours, to help you see while running at night. If you're like me, sometimes you can't hit the pavement until after sundown, so Knuckle Lights are perfect. They strap to your hands and weigh only ounces. You would think that while you're running, the light would bounce around, but they don't. They each have 4 LED lights in them and run on AAA batteries. The 4 LED lights produce a wide beam versus a spotlight, so bouncing is to a minimum. I have run with them several times and LOVE THEM! They are very handy for being able to see potholes and changes in the road. Being someone that's fallen before while running, something like Knuckle Lights could save you from falling or worse. The picture below isn't a great pic, but you can see how they fit on my hands and you can see how bright the lights are on the ground so that I could see out in front of me.

You could win your own pair of Knuckle Lights! You may enter the giveaway by receiving one entry for each one of the following criteria:

1. Be a follower of my blog and leave a comment telling me that you are.

2. Post my giveaway on Facebook.

3. Visit the Knuckle Lights website HERE and tell me one fact that you learned about them.

4. Tell me which color of Knuckle Lights you like the best.

5. Like the Knuckle Lights Facebook page HERE and post a comment.

5. Post my giveaway on your blog.

This giveaway will end on Thursday, December 1st at 11:59 p.m. A winner will be chosen using http://www.random.org/ and will be announced on Friday, December 2nd.