First things FIRST: let's get HOLIDAY STRONG by signing up for the Fitness Protection HOLIDAY STRENGTH CHALLENGE We start today!!! If you want to see Coach MK in a tiara, join the private Facebook group and DON'T MISS A THING! More details here: https://www.fitnessprotection.com/event-details/fpp-holiday-strength-challenge   Coach Sarah talks with Running Life podcast producer Kris Zarnoch (without whom NONE OF THIS WOULD BE POSSIBLE!) about what Black Friday has meant for the two of them from their younger days to now. As you might imagine, it’s not quite as simple as just “the day I get great deals on the stuff I need every year!” After comparing our own Black Friday memories (Kris used to work at Victoria’s Secret during the midnight Black Friday rush, OMG!) we read stories that our listeners sent in about what they have done in the past and what they do now.   The tough part of Black Friday is that we’re supposed to be grateful and generous this season. We’re supposed to think about others and those with needs greater than our own, and we’re supposed to look outside of ourselves. At the same time, we’re supposed to TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE DEALZ NOW because this is OUR ONE CHANCE TO MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF OUR DOLLARS! And we’re intimiately familiar with the trap of thinking that we can only buy things for ourselves when they are on sale...if that’s a belief ingrained in you, then Black Friday is uniquely designed to pull you in all different directions in the name of OPTIMIZING and OPPORTUNITY.   We encourage you to look at it a little differently. Like Coach MK discussed on her Twitch channel last year, we invite listeners to think about what they need to get this year as they look at the deals being offered on running tech, clothing and accessories. What do you need to upgrade and what are you paying for if you choose to spend slightly more money on a new piece of tech (we talk specifics about what Polar and Stryd tend to offer). What options are you leaving on the table if you decide to spend less money? On a similar note, what are the essentials that you use every day that offer a year’s worth of their service at a discount only once a year? Finally, what’s one piece of (nonessential) cool sh*t that you could add to your repertoire this year only? Many of the things we runners use are produced by small companies that can only afford to offer one coupon a year - how to healthily incorporate that fact into our decisions about what to buy?   Spending money on ourselves and others is an emotionally fraught topic even without the need to optimize our spending dollars, and we delve into what this season of shopping and giving and receiving brings up for us other than credit card statements and receipts. Gratitude is a tricky topic that readily becomes a bullshit stick we beat ourselves up with, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As Kris shows us with a beautiful reflection on her family, gratitude divorced from shame and “should” can be a beautiful mechanism to keep us grounded and at peace throughout this season.   So if you are ready to be INTENTIONAL with us here at the close of 2019, join the Strength Challenge AND sign up for our 2020 Planning webinar! What we DON’T want is to end this next month feeling like we are digging ourselves out of a hole (hello New Year’s Resolution bullshit). Black Friday kicks off a month of consumption, and THAT’S OKAY - that’s the culture we live in! Think about upgrades that are going to add something to your running and essentials you know you need! Do the things you want! Love the things you love (and really love them! Instead of saying “oh I REALLY shouldn’t”). Drink the buttered cider! And HAVE A PLAN for what you need to get, now and in 2020.   Other Links Work Play Love episode episode 63 (on Mary Cain and eating disorders) Knuckle Lights NoxGear