Home for the holidays

The holidays are here and so is time with family, traveling, lots of food, and shopping. It’s definitely a challenge to fit a run in.

These days, it seems like most of the exercise I’m getting is battling the crowds at the mall and running to catch the streetcar. We all know that when shopping on a Saturday, you’re bound to break a sweat.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB1n3XGViOM&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Although I have less time to jog or go to the gym, I’m excited for the things I get to do with my run during the holidays.

One perk is getting to go home and run with my dog. Even though she trots as I jog, it’s still great for me to get to take her out since she tends to get less exercise during the winter too.

I’m also looking forward to getting out of the city and onto the rural roads of Nova Scotia. We live in the country so I get to run on a dirt road with fresh, clean air, as opposed to sidewalks and car fumes that I get living in downtown Toronto.

One thing I’m cautious about is how I tend to binge eat when I go home. I’m still on a tight budget and Mom and Dad always seem to have so much food. Chocolate milk, chips, cheese I can never seem to afford, and all of that bread. These things are all novelties when I visit home.

Since moving to the city, I’ve become vegetarian and have changed my diet quite a bit. This will be my first time home since I’ve made my big diet change so it will be a struggle to avoid temptation.

I’ve asked my mom to stock up on veggies and fruit to munch. Aside from that, I think it’s going to take a whole lot of will power. This will be my first non-turkey eating year.

It’s a small price to pay for getting to see friends and family. Also, I’m planning to coax my dad to go for a jog with me and looking forward to (hopefully) some new running gear (a blog post about my horrible winter gear is coming soon).

What are your favorite parts about running during the holidays?