Vacation: Running and Nashin' It Up, AND WE BOTH WON THE LOTTERY FOR THE NYC HALF MARATHON IN MARCH!!!

So Merry Christmas to us, winning the lottery to run the NYC Half. Start in the park, run through the Square, and u at the Seaport... pretty cool! But, as for the vacation... First, we ran 20 miles on Christmas Eve. And we DID it. Awesome. Then, Christmas at the Cositores'. Then, the next day, Brad and I went to go visit his family in Franklin, Tennessee (right outside of Nashville) during the holiday vacation. We stuffed ourselves full of delicious BBQ care of Hog Heaven, Whitts, and Jack's. We went to a hockey game to see the preds beat the Minnesota Wild in an awesome shoot-out. We honky-tonked and line danced at Wild Horse Saloon, and had some JD at Losers after eating dinner at Winners. And, of course, we ran. First, a nice, easy 5 miler in the rain followed by some ice skating and wings at McDougals. (Free ice cream!). Then, the 10 miler around the streets of Franklin, on a beautiful, warmer, sunny day. Saw the Parthenon, learned that Nashville is the "Athens of the South." Had some Sweet CeCe's Frozen Yogurt. Had a blast. Nashville is an awesome city--small town feel, but a lot of events. We were there during a crazy busy time, considering there was the Zac Brown band in town, the Music City Bowl between Mississippi State and Wake Forest, and of course, the Battle of the Bands and New Year's Eve shindigs. Driving there was a little more than 15 hours, with puppy in tow, through the rambling nothingness of West Virginia and Kentucky. Driving back, we took 81 S the entire way to switch it up, and ended in Tabernacle to celebrate Christmas with Brad's other family. We also ran, again, another 10 miler. Then, we ended with a super fun 80s themed New Year's party, tighty whities and all. Loved it! photo tour: "The Melissa" at Athens
Hog Heaven, featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. BBQ!
Temple to a Goddess
Hog Heaven 'Que
Honky Tonkin'
The Fam
preds, in awesome seats!
pbr truck
Titans Stadium, and still flooded in background!
JD Sunset
Open Tennessee highway
Wonderful and Wild
Getting Ready for Battle of the Bands + Music City Bowl + New Year's!
So The Training Continues, with us continuing our taper for the next 2 weeks until Marathon Saturday!!! So proud of me and 'ford. We rock!