confession: officially out of the “enjoying not having anything to train for” post-Berlin mindset now. last weekend’s hilly half was a wake-up call to get back in gear, and then track yesterday was where it clicked again. I think I was a bit burnt out too and now feel refreshed.

complaint: our potted figs are taking forever to go dormant. I’ve given them some time outside in the cold during the daytime now that the weather got frigid to start signaling “go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep” - they may get promoted to living in the attic for winter (it is cold and dark up there).

uncomplaint: just got the email about the lottery for London based on having done NYC, Chicago, and Berlin. would be nice to get in! also on a waitlist for a tour operator…

confession 2: it felt good giving away Christmas/winter decorations through Buy Nothing! my wife and I had a bunch of lights, ornaments, and other items that we didn’t like, or don’t have a good spot to put up, or so on. glad they are going to homes where they will be used.

complaint: I had a four-day running streak going (inadvertently) and then lost it!

confession: haven’t run very much lately, mostly just short runs. bit low on motivation, and time crunch from work.

complaint 2: I’ve noticed that with not running much lately, my sleep hasn’t been so good either :/

confession 2: my wife and I signed up for a half despite not having done any long runs in a while (we did 9 miles like three weeks ago). still need to decide if it’s gonna be a REAL easy run, though there’s an option to drop down to a 10K too.

uncomplaint: signed up for a 5K on Thanksgiving primarily because there are always excellent post-race pancakes at this one organization’s races.

confession 3: on the waitlist for London via tour operators, signed up for Berlin lottery as well, and have a guaranteed entry for NYC next year through the 9+1 program (going to use my Thanksgiving 5K as virtual credit for my last race). equally excited and mortified at the possibility for training for more than 1 marathon in 2024.

confession 4: had to turn down dinner with coworkers the other night because I already had a ticket to a metal concert the other night. I like my coworkers but I have a hard time being social at the after-work get-togethers. plus the concert was three bands I hadn’t seen live before, and was quite awesome.

I’m pretty partial to the Head gloves from Costco - have a few of the light thickness ones and one pair of the medium thickness gloves.

they are generally pretty inexpensive and sometimes go on sale too. I want to say they retail around the $18-20 mark but sometimes go down to $12 or so. the price/quality ratio is good enough for me.

I was pretty happy that the chest lamp works with the older vests (they used the same clip part)!