Friday Favorites & Day Four of the 10 "Day" Challenge...

My schedule seems to be "off" this week. Today is my usual running day, but a few things have altered my "usual" activities so I didn't run this morning.
It's the week before Christmas (& the week before the start of my vacation) so things have been busy at work, but in the midst of the flurry of activities I finally found my Christmas spirit!

I even ventured into the "war zone" (aka the mall) and started Christmas shopping...

(I'm not putting up a tree this year so the gifts will stay here until I come back form vacation)

I haven't been "paleo compliant" as much as I should be but a part of that has been stress related eating. I've decided that I'm just going to do my best to maintain my eating plan as much as possible, but won't get too more stressed out about eating non-paleo snacks or food items. Hence last night's "non-paleo" snack...

Since we're on the subject of non-paleo food items...yesterday Kai and I went to Tijuana Flats and (in addition to the food) we enjoyed the artwork on the wall...

This weekend my long run will be solo. It's been a while since I did a double digit mile solo run, but I'm looking forward to my weekend running session (sessions?) regardless. I want to use 5:1 intervals this weekend and continue to focus on building up my endurance. The Milepost quote this morning was especially fitting...

(I always say this, but I still like to be reminded: "I'm only competing against myself")

I'm doing this week's 10 "Day" YOU Challenge today...

Fears are never easy to discuss. But here we go anyway. I'm only mentioning 4 fears because if I had to list all my fears then I probably should have started the 10 "Day" challenge with the "fears" category. Instead you will be privy to four random fears...

1. I'm afraid of the dark

Yes I do happen to be an adult (a 34 year old adult in fact), but still being alone in the dark is a fear of mine. I know I'm not the only one with this fear but I'm probably one of a few people that will admit it in public.

2. I'm afraid of getting injured 

This is a new fear obviously. I never gave injuries a second thought before I started running...and started getting injuries. I'm not so much afraid of getting hurt (I can deal with pain) but I'm afraid of getting hurt and not being able to run. 

3. I'm afraid of driving on the highway. At night. During a thunderstorm. Between two semi trucks.

Yeah it's a bit dramatic...but it stems from the most vivid nightmare I had years ago (that recurs ever so often). It was like my own personal version of "If I Stay" minus being orphaned and regaining consciousness. There might be a deeper issue associated with having the same recurring dream of my demise...I should probably get that checked out. 

4. I'm afraid of lizards

And frogs, and snakes. and anything that is slimy creepy crawly gross and generally insect or creature-like. The main fear is with lizards though because they jump on me. Well...it only happened once, and it's likely that it fell...but it was the most life-altering traumatically devastating 3 seconds of trying to get it off of me. I get chills just thinking about it. I'm scarred for life. 

Next week I will share my 3 lessons!