I survived the onslaught of consumerism. The mountain of toys wasn't as bad as in the past and the amount of parties and get togethers were fewer than previous years which I appreciated. I ate and drank pretty much the same as I always do just had more family time than normal. If anything I sat down more, did less. I also managed to take advantage of having the wife not working and had a few really nice runs during the day. Getting back on my hilly 10 mile road route was a nice confidence boost. It's a wonderfully difficult but beautiful run. 

The holidays are always a wrench in the routine so I decided to pre-start things to be able to slip back into it a little easier. This also focuses my mind away from the US; this time of the year is always hard being away from family and close friends. I always wonder why New Years Resolutions are such a thing. Why not start now? From my perspective I guess that holiday wrench screws it all up, makes me rethink things, I start making "lists" of things I should do more or better. I do not have any resolutions I guess but the timing of it all resets my plan and I'm excited for that. 

2017 seemed to be a pretty consistent year for me running. I managed 1756 miles which I'm happy with. Looking ahead I may consider going for 2000 miles in 2018, that ends up averaging about 38 miles per week. A nice round number, 2000. I know I can handle 40 miles per week without injury so I may just keep that goal in the back of my mind. Event-wise I believe all I did was Western States 100 which is a pretty big deal. I still struggle to recall the week with all the jet-lag and the culmination of running the race. I plan to return at some point. I'm not sure what the allure is but I think it's not the race but the people and the place having lived there for a while.

2018's big change for me will be the little guy going to "nursery" (or day care) a few days per week starting next week. He's definitely ready for it. Here the government gives families money for this so kids get socialized earlier. Pretty cool in all reality since child care is so expensive. In turn I'll be working at the running store another 8-12 hours per week. My boss is fortunately super flexible and is letting me work four hours a day when I can. He has kids and understands the routine and issues involved with little ones which has been probably far more significant to us than we realize. Thanks boss!  So two to three of my days will consist of dropping kids at school/day care then drive to work for four hours, then home to pick kids up. It will be nice to have a little more money for bills (i.e. Storage unit! I haven't forgot!), I barely scrape by each month. 

I got a dumb idea of dropping out of the Thames Path 100 (WS100 qualifier) and entering the Ultra Trail Snowdonia instead which is a week later in May. Then also entering the Autumn 100 (WS100) in October. The Snowdonia race is brand new, 100 miles, and a brutal 39,000 feet of ascent. It's very intriguing and close to home, a true alpine race much like Tor des Geants and some races in Spain. It's not a qualifier for anything other than true bad ass points. So, in order to have a go at the Western States lottery I'd need to run the Autumn 100 too. I'd be running Thames Path specifically for its WS100 qualifying, there's no other draw to it for me. UTS100 is exciting, scary, and in a phenomenally beautiful location on much of the Snowdonia 50 terrain I've previously ran. I don't know how I feel about this decision but there's 40 spots left so I have a little time to mull it over. 

Well that's about it for now. The things in my head. The rest of the week for me will be tough. The wife is back to work and out of town limiting my running options in the morning. Night running, although an option, sucks. I'd like a 40 mile week and I'm running out of days, I'll make it happen.