Burpee time

I ran 1,246 miles in 2013, my highest annual mileage. I love every single mile.

BWAH HA HA. Just kidding. 

Now, onto a new challenge: Burpees, also known as squat thrusts. Here's a video. You can also visit burpeessuck.com and like them on Facebook. I do not like them right now so I do not like them on Facebook.

One of my running friends, who has also wrestled with core and glute strength issues like about every runner out there, came up with a burpee challenge -- 20 a day -- every day in the month of January. It's great for developing core strength, really great for runners. They're also really, really hard.

Since it's January 1, I started today. I managed them in five-burpee increments and returned to the couch, panting.

Holy moly. It's going to be a long month.

********

Some musings from the last year and random thoughts and goals for 2014:

--I did not enjoy all 1,246 miles, nor did I enjoy every run. But I enjoyed a lot of them.

--Best race of the year -- Halloween kids' dash in Evanston with M, 4, and C, who is 2. And won her age group.

--I am undecided on which is worse: running at 5 am when it is 80 soggy degrees, or running at 5 am when it is 4 degrees with a wind chill of -17. (The latter describes yesterday's NYE run) Jury's out. They both suck.

--On many recent runs, I may have had running through my head the theme songs from "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", "Team Umizoomi" and "Paw Patrol" ("no job is too big, no pup is too small!" My two-year-old daughter frequently belts out)

--I think I hate marathon road races.

--I thought about my kids on every run. I thought about how I could be a better parent on a lot of those runs.

--Some toenails just never totally recover.

--How can there be so many coyotes in Chicago? Yesterday (and I have witnesses!) I saw one chasing another near the running path. It was surreal.

--Speaking of wildlife, Chicago has a lot of skunks. They like to wander out when I am running alone and in the dark, and scare the heck out of me.

--Speaking of summer, probably one of my favorite runs ever last summer was a 4 am special in which we laughed with drunken 20-somethings playing in a warm Lake Michigan (they told us WE were crazy, ha). I'm pretty sure that was the same morning we stopped at a water fountain and listened to some, um, lovebirds get it on in the bushes near North Avenue beach as my friend Margaret sang a line from Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" "she's up all night til the sun, I'm up all night to get some".

(Better yet, re-watch Stephen Colbert's video to this song from last summer. OMG, still dying as I re-watch it.)

OK, OK, get to the 2014 goals:

• Trail races
• Winter, spring half marathons
• Ultramarathon (fall)
• Yoga, lots of yoga
• Cover up toenails with dark polish.
• Eat more cookies.

Happy new year!!