Oh the holidays. Most folks treat this time of year as a recovery phase, and everyone interprets recovery in a different way. I like to spend my recovery time doing absolutely nothing that resembles what I did during my training time.

While I'd like that to be lying around in my pajamas, unfortunately it cannot, because that's what I did a lot of when I should have been training this year. So I am doing my very best to put my cabin fever to good use this winter and get strong and flexible, not just for spring, but for tomorrow and for the next day and for every day after that. When I read Toby Tanser's run column this month I felt inspired to reassess what I was doing for my body and why.

I like to choose a mantra around this time of year that helps me stay focused and positive around the holiday season. Last year it was "Less is More," which has worked out quite well and I continue to remind myself of it a whole year later. This year I'm going for "How do you feel?" This year's mantra is a question because I think that the motivation behind our actions is as important as the actions themselves. In order for this to work I have to set a benchmark for myself, which is "Fantastic." I don't want my workouts or my holiday eating or anything else to be driven by what I see in the mirror, by numbers on a scale, or even by numbers at the gym or at the track. I want to ask myself the question every day and be as close to fantastic as possible, given all the circumstances that will inevitably try to derail me through the holidays and in the snowy, dark days ahead. Feeling fantastic relies on many factors, but my goal is to have my workouts and my outlook be driven by my answer to that question. How many of us haven't thought that the reason we push ourselves, the reason we go out for that run at 9 p.m. after a long day at work is because we know how much better we'll feel after we do it? It's the same reason we do most things, because it makes us or someone else, feel good.

And on that note, let's get to the gift-giving, the other part of the holidays that should always make you feel fantastic. We've chosen some items for our gift guide that we think are fun to help you choose thoughtful gifts for your sporty loved ones. But this year we also included some experience gifts to hold onto the "less is more" policy we've adapted over the year. Buying someone a chance to do something they've always wanted to do like gliding, like running a marathon or even getting a bike fit are a great way to think outside the gift box without adding to an already bulging sports closet. Happy Holidays!