The past few weeks have been quite busy, with the Thanksgiving holiday, lots going on at work, babysitting for family friends... I've been back and forth between San Francisco and Davis, and the travel isn't ending anytime soon! On Thursday morning I'm headed to North Carolina for USA XC Club Nationals with my team, New Balance Silicon Valley! I'm excited to rep the orange jersey and hang out with some awesome women this weekend :) Post-race updates will follow!

But in the meantime, here's what I've been up to the past few weeks...

I was so lucky to have Avi home for a week at Thanksgiving -- he finally got to see my new place in San Francisco, and also got to see me race at PA's in Golden Gate Park. It was wonderful having him on the West Coast for a few days! He and I headed up to Davis to have Turkey Day with my family, where we ate a ridiculous amount of delicious holiday food. My mom and grandma prepared quite the spread and my dad spent hours BBQing the turkey... I come from a family that expresses love through food, so good eats are never lacking at my house. I seem to have inherited the "food = love" gene, as I feel the need to bake/cook like crazy when Avi is home and feed him as many baked goods and desserts as possible! In the week he was here I made pumpkin bread, pumpkin-banana bread, pecan pie bars, and more!

Thanksgiving desserts (we had a TON of leftovers!)

Thanksgiving feast!

In Davis I enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving run, traversing familiar trails with my trusty running buddy and big fan Bryce, who accompanied me on his bike. Bryce is such a fun person to have join you for a run, because he'll talk your ear off and before you know it you're halfway done with your run! Even better, he's super impressed with your mile splits and thinks you're so fast you'll go to the Olympics... I hate to break it to him that I'm actually not that fast, but when I explain to him that the 2012 Trials are the goal, he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. Gotta love having such a great supporter who believes in you no matter what! :)

Fall colors in Davis

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection, and I've got a lot to be thankful for this year. A few things I'm thankful for include...

-a supportive family who believes in me and fosters my running dreams

-an encouraging boyfriend who listens to me talk about running for waaaaay longer than he cares to listen (he's such a good sport!)
-my health (a year ago at this time I was battling a stress reaction in my shin, so I'm SUPER thankful to be injury-free!)

-a job that allows me the flexibility to train and compete (thanks bosses!!)

-a team who shares my athletic goals

-a coach who reminds me to always run joyfully (love you Dad!)

What are you thankful for this year?

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In the weeks since the holiday I've been super busy at work and also got sick, but I still managed to get in some good training. In between tempo runs and rainy long runs, I caught up with the F.A.G.s (Former Aggie Greats) at our annual Hallothanksmas celebration, hung out with some former teammates, and briefly got to see my family. In the next few days I'll be at a conference for work called Dreamforce, and then it's off to snowy, cold North Carolina for Club Nats!

Until next time, happy running and happy holidays!