HBBC Virtual New Year's Day Race 2011

Amanda, over at Run to the Finish, put together the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge that I talked about in this post. Jan 1st was the beginning of the last week in the challenge. I am a numbers person, and I love spreadsheets and love to "track" things! Plus, I love to run, so I signed up for the challenge right away. I have enjoyed participating and pushing myself to earn those points!

As a way for the participants to earn extra points, she put together a Resolution Fun Run for New Year's Day. The run was taking place in Miami, but for those of us not actually there, we could do the run virtually. What better way to start the new year than with a run, right? I did wait until about 4 pm when it was warmer (if you know me, you know I hate the cold). She didn't have a set distance that the run was going to be, but had people do whatever distance they felt like doing. I originally thought I would do 4 miles, but after about a half mile, I decided I would go 5. With the route I had, it actually ended up being 5.3 miles. My time was 52:50 with a pace of 9:59. I loved having a "race" to do on New Year's Day since there weren't any official ones in my area!

Below is my Daily Mile race report from the Virtual Race:
Race Report

My Race Bib

Me after my race

Harry Potter!!!

So, I took some time out for myself this afternoon to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I went and saw the 3rd movie in the theater with one of my friends many years ago. I went to that movie without reading any of the books. I thought the movie was really good, so that is when I decided to start reading the books. So once I got caught up on the books and the first 2 movies, I've been slightly addicted ever since! My husband does like the Harry Potter movies but he was working and I just couldn't wait for him to see it with me. I told him that when the 3-D version comes out, we'll go see that together, because I'll have to see it more than once in the theater!

I thought the movie was great and although it wasn't my favorite movie in the series, I give it 2 very big thumbs up! It is the darkest movie yet, and rightfully so since it is nearing the end of the series and the battle between Harry and Voldemort is taking place. While sitting at home, I prefer to watch the earlier movies as they are happier and more innocent. But, this movie's special effects were outstanding and I'm sure it will be even better in 3-D! I can't wait until July 2011 when Part 2 comes out. But I will also be very sad as that will be the last movie in the series. So, basically, go see the movie if you are a Harry Potter fan!

The Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge started yesterday. I got 3 points yesterday (1 for each mile I ran) and then I also got 3 points today (1 for each 15 minutes of cardio I did). I just started a training program for a half marathon, so I'll post about that some other time. Today was a non-running day, so I decided to cross train by doing an Insanity workout. If you've never heard of Insanity, check it out! I'll definitely post about Insanity some other time also. But right now, I have to fold some laundry. Not my favorite thing to do, but it has to get done whether I like it or not!

Some help to stay motivated over the Holidays!

I saw this on one of my friend's blogs a couple weeks ago. Amanda at RunToTheFinish has a contest going from Nov 20th-Jan 7th. It is an excellent way to stay motivated and possibly win some really great prizes. So head on over there and check it out!