Race for the Light - Race Report

I really had no intentions of doing any more races in 2014.  I thought I was done racing at least until 2015.  To be honest, I really haven't been doing much since the Whistle Stop Marathon back on October 11th.  Well, I take that back, I should say that I really haven't been doing much swimming/biking/running.  Because honestly, I have been doing a lot of stuffing my face with treats, candy, and beer - not that I am even remotely proud to admit it.  But, none-the-less, I have been in full-fledged off-season mode.  A couple weeks ago, I received an email at work about a local 5k in Oshkosh, WI, and our Sheriff's Office was looking for some people to run in it as part of a team.  I jumped at the opportunity as a way to get out the door for a race since it has been nearly two months since my last race.  The race is called Race for the Light and is run through the Oshkosh Celebration of Lights in Menominee Park.  The race was run in the evening, starting at 4:30pm.  That way, you get the opportunity to run through the park when it is fully illuminated with Christmas lights.  We have made it a family tradition over the past 3 years to bring the family and our parents to Celebration of Lights and then go out to dinner afterward.  We decided to use this race as a way to combine the lights with some good old fashion exercise.  I also wanted to try out something completely new during this race.  One of my impending Christmas gifts this year is going to be a Contour Roam2 action video camera.  Basically, it is the cheaper comparable version of a GoPro.  I ordered it from Amazon during Black Friday and wanted to try it out to see how it works during a race.  You can see the resulting video below.

Training for This Race

As I explained above, I have done more training similar to that of a lazy sack of potatoes.  Since the Whistle Stop Marathon (60 days), I have run a total of 146 miles.  In comparison, I ran 199 miles in the month of September alone (just 30 days).  So, to say that I actually "trained" for this race is just a lie.  I guess I did a couple runs to help prepare for running a hard 5k.  On the 27th, I did a 5 mile interval run consisting of 4x800m and then on the Wednesday before the race I did a shorter interval run with 4x400m sprints.  

Prerace

First off, the race started at 4:30pm...yup I said PM.  I hate afternoon races.  Well, actually, I don't mind racing in the evening, but I hate the preparations of racing in the evening.  It is something completely different.  Something I am not used to.  I work out in the mornings.  I train and race every morning.  So, when I'm asked to race in the evening, my entire "race day routine" is thrown out the window.  I was originally scheduled to work both Friday and Saturday, but after Sarah and I agreed to do the 5k, see the lights, we decided to make a full holiday weekend of it, so I took off Friday and Saturday.  We finished our Christmas Shopping and went to the Mall so our girls can see Santa.  It was a nice weekend.  On Saturday, I tried my best to avoid all cruddy foods, but still had a turkey sandwich on wheat bread for lunch and had a bowl of Cheerio's for breakfast.  I at least finished eating any meal by 1:00pm, about 3-3.5 hours before the start of the race.  We picked up my dad and were at the race start by 3:30 and picked up our race packets.  I was really pleased with the race shirt, which was a nice long sleeve t-shirt with a nice design.  An added bonus was the pair of running socks with the race logo on them!

Nutrition Plan

My nutrition plan was simply to stick with what works and try not to destroy my race with piss-poor nutrition throughout the day leading up to the start of the race.  I feel like I (kind of) stuck with my goal of eating decent before the race.  Then, an hour before the start of the race, I took, Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps, Race Caps Supreme, and Mito Caps.

Gear/Equipment

New Balance 890v4

Nike Element Thermal Tight

Hammer Wind Cycling Jacket

My brand new Contour Roam2

Miles 0-3.1

My Splits

1 - 5:36

2 - 5:57

3 - 6:04

 

I truly had no clue what to expect with this race.  Obviously, my goal was hang with the leaders and contest for the win.  I had no clue if that was too ambitious or not.  As I mentioned above, I was participating in this race as part of the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office Team and part of that obligation was taking a team photo before the start of the race.  I didn't want to be a turd at the start of the race, but I really wanted to get in a decent warm up before the start of the race.  We ended up taking a team photo about 5-10 minutes before the start of the race...NOT conducive to a thorough warm up.  Immediately after our team photo, I darted out the door to get in a quick warm up.  I ended up getting in a 3-5 minute warm up, not great, but it was going to have to do.  I nearly missed the start of the race, but just made it to the start line in time.  I ended up way too far back for my liking at the start and was forced to duck and dodge between all the other racers in front of me.  I took off as fast as I could knowing I was starting behind the 8-ball.  After the first 400 meters or so, I knew I was in the top 6-8, but really couldn't tell.  By mile 1 I felt as though I was in the top 3 or 4, but knew I was running at a pace I couldn't sustain.  I did my best to hang on though.  By mile two I was breathing way too hard and because of that I knew I was going too hard.  I ended up losing 2 places, putting me in 5th or 6th in my mind.  My goal was to just hang on to where I was at this point.  I was able to hang onto my place and finished with a surprising 18:03 (5:49/mile) which was good enough for 6th place overall and 2nd in my age group of M30-39.  My video from the Contour Roam2 turned out pretty good.  Obviously, I sped it up about 8x faster, just to speed up the video from 18:00 to 3:00.  I think I just need to work on the positioning of the camera to focus more parallel to the horizon, because as you probably noticed, the video is angled up a bit too far. 

Post Race

After the race, my dad and I jogged the course backwards until we met up with Sarah and the girls.  Maya had been walking the entire distance to this point.  I started walking with Sarah and the girls and talked Maya into running the final 0.5-1 mile of the race.  She agreed to do it, and did pretty darn well for a 5 year old.  She finished under and hour, and I was thoroughly impressed.  After everyone had finished, we piled back into our car and then drove through the Celebration of Lights and stopped at The Elf's Workshop and to see Santa's Reindeer.  After checking out the light display, we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant for dinner and to watch the last half of the (terrible) Badger-Ohio State football game.  It was a great ending to a great day.

The Day in Music

For my second installment of my "Day in Music," I chose Run Run Rudolf by Brad Paisley & Steven Tyler.  Again, the goal of this section is to summarize the race in a single song, just for shits and giggles.  

What's on Tap

I'm going to leave this pretty open.  All I will say is that I have high aspirations for 2015 and will delve into my goals, resolutions, and hopes for a future post!  I will just say that my initial rough draft of my 2015 race schedule has me nearly as excited as I was going into my big Ironman year!

Christmas with the Kohls

As they usually do, the holidays have come and gone within the blink of an eye.  It feels like just a couple days ago we were setting up our Christmas tree and getting set for Christmas and now here I sit and it's January 14th, what the hell?  It has also been quite a while since I just did a simple post about our family, my training, and just what the heck has been going on in our lives lately.  So here we go...

First off, with me working odd schedules and rarely is it guaranteed that I will get all/most of the Christmas time off from work, we have to make at least some adjustments to our family get together's.  Plus, once you add my job schedule on top of the restraints of our brothers and sisters travel plans and their holiday plans with their respective families, just getting together for a day anywhere near the holiday seems like a blessing.  Fortunately, I was lucky enough to be able to take off both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from work, so Sarah and I were able to schedule our family gatherings, pretty close to our traditional schedules from growing up.  We had to make one small adjustment in our holiday schedule however, and that being our Christmas celebration with Sarah's immediate family, which we were able to get everyone together on December, 21st.  My sister-in-law gladly opened her house for the family for a full day of eating hors d'oeuvres for lunch leading up to a spectacular feast for dinner.  For the past two years now we have been doing a beer exchange, which is a newer tradition I admittedly stole from my dad's side of the family which they have been doing for 3 or 4 years now.  We have 5 guys on Sarah's side of the family, which is just the right size for a small beer exchange.  It's rather simple, really, pick out your favorite beer (must be a specialty beer - no Coors, Miller, Budweiser, etc) and bring enough beer to share for everyone else participating.  Then, everyone gets one can/bottle of the beer you brought, and presto!  You have a fine selection of beer to sample!  This Christmas was also the first attempt at an ugly sweater & 'stache bash with the family.  This lead to some pretty classic pictures to say the least!  Other then the guys doing our beer exchange, the day is literally for all the kids in the family, which seems to be growing exponentially by the year.  Sarah's parents now have 4 grandkids (technically 5 as of today), 3 granddogs, and 7 kids/kids-in-laws, and still room for more to love - trust me :)

The kids spent the night opening presents from just about everyone there and it was a blast to just watch their faces light up as they open each gift thinking it's the greatest thing in the world until they open the next gift.  After spending the day at Lisa's house, we headed home for the night and went back the next day to catch the Packer game and finish off some of the massive amounts of left overs from our feast the day prior.  That Sunday was also our league championship weekend for our 12-team PPR fantasy football league, that is taken pretty seriously between family and close friends.  In the championship game was my brother-in-law, Jake, who seems to be in the championship game just about every year and then ME!  Who literally has never been in the playoffs since starting this league 6 years ago!  The stars must have lined up perfectly for me this year, because I ended up laying a beat down on Jake and claiming my first ever Fox Valley Fantasy League Super Bowl Championship.  Not only does this come with a nice little financial pay-out, but also bragging rights for the entire year...which I plan on using more than the money!

Finally, a League Championship!

After our Christmas celebration with Sarah's family, we had a short two day break before Christmas Eve.  Now is when the family traditions kick in.  This is the also the first year in my 3 years at Winnebago County, that I have had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, so needless to say, I was more then excited to see my aunts and uncles and spend the holidays with my family, as opposed to my coworkers.  Christmas Eve always starts with Christmas Eve mass at the Church both Sarah and I attended as kids and got married at.  We have been going to this mass together with both of our families pretty much since we started dating...way back in high school!  After mass we head over to my mom's side of the family for a dinner and gift exchange at my Grandma's house (the one who sells trees).  It has been about 10 years now since my Grandpa passed, so to commemorate this, one of my uncles brought a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon to share - my Grampa's favorite beer.  We all shared a drink in his honor.  The night continued and we shared stories of spending time at the cottage in the summer and random memories together, had dinner, and did our annual gift exchange/gift stealing game.  

As midnight approached, Sarah and I bundled the girls up and headed home to get them into bed for the night so Santa could come.  But first, we had to put out cookies and milk for him.  Earlier, before leaving for church the girls and I put out Reindeer treats in our front lawn that Maya's teacher gave to her.  It consisted of oats and glitter (oats for the reindeer to snack on and glitter so they can see our house from the sky).  After we had everything set perfect for Santa with their letters and cookies, the girls quietly laid in bed dreaming of Santa bringing their perfect gift.  

Christmas day morning came and the girls both woke up with excitement in their eyes, while I woke up to about 3-5 inches of fresh snow to shovel.  I poured a hot cup of coffee in my thermos and headed out to clear our driveway while the girls patiently waited for me to come back in to open all their gifts from Santa.  We spent the morning as a family and it was relaxing and really enjoyable to just spend this time with the 4 of us together as opposed to all the hectic (yet enjoyable) time with our extended families.  

Merry Christmas to me!

Running shoes for Delaney too!

After opening all the gifts from Santa and exchanging gifts between Sarah and I, we packed up for a long day and headed over to my parents house for a brunch and gift exchange.  We spent the morning with my parents, my brother and his girlfriend and me and the girls.  But, after brunch, the gift exchange, and a little time to play with some of the new gifts, we were packed up and heading over to my dad's brother's house for the Kohl Christmas luncheon.  This was the birthplace of the now annual Kohl Family Beer Exchange.  This year, we had 14 people participate, and believe it or not, we didn't have a single duplicate!  It was so nice for me to get over to my dad's side of the family and see many family members that I literally haven't seen in over a year and some even longer!  We are lucky enough to see many of my mom's side of the family throughout the summer months at the cottage and at other gatherings, but rarely do I get to see some of my dad's family.  Plus he comes from a family of 12 brothers and sisters...yup, that's a big family and just that much more difficult to get the family together.  

Now that's a beer exchange!

Right around dinner time, we left for our last family Christmas, this time, it was Sarah's mom's family.  I have been lucky enough to be able to attend this gathering most years due to my work schedule and it always being an evening dinner get together.  

By then end of the night, Sarah and I were left thinking, "Wow, its already over, Christmas has come and gone."  I went back to work the next night for just a couple nights, before I had another long weekend.  Christmas may have been done, nut we still had our annual "Tree Hopping" to get though, and not to mention New Years Eve.  "Tree Hopping," is another tradition started on my mom's side of the family rooted in their love of Christmas and the Christmas Tree.  It's rather simple actually, you just go from house to house and see their Christmas Tree, hence, "Tree Hopping."  For New Years Eve we spent the first part of the night at Sarah's uncle's house who has an annual New Years Eve party.  As the night wore on, we left to see my parents who were at my mom's cousin's house - yea, we're all pretty close to just about all of our extended families.  We watched the ball drop in Time Square and then cheers-ed to the Central Time Zone New Year and headed home shortly after to bring the girls home to get them to bed - as they were exhausted, as I'm sure you could imagine. 

As far as my training, it has been going far less then stellar - to say the least.  I have been developing a moderate dull pain in my lower right shin for the past couple weeks.  It all culminated on the weekend after New Years.  I had a 10 mile run scheduled on that Saturday which I started feeling the pain about 1-2 miles in and after about 5 I debated stopping it all together but sucked it up and grinded out the last half of my run.  The next day, I planned on running 6 miles, which I started on a treadmill with hopes of a softer ride.  That wasn't the case at all, I ended up having the worst pain at that location since it started and I literally just could not continue running, it was so severe.  I stopped the run about 2.5 miles in and called it a day.  I decided to rest it for a week and see if it got better, then I saw a local running store (Fleet Feet Sports Fox Valley) had a free injury screening and it fell on my off day so I nabbed up the last time slot.  I went in and the PT thought it was a possible stress fracture and encouraged me to get a professional opinion.  I did just that on Friday afternoon and saw an Orthopedic Sports Medicine Doctor.  He diagnosed me with a "Stress Reaction," which is the lowest grade stress fracture you can have.  In fact, from what I understand, it isn't even really a fracture, just the beginning stages of one.  Long story, short, he recommended 3-4 weeks rest of no activities that cause me pain (basically running).  So, it has now been a little over 1 week since I last ran and have been filling my time with swimming, biking, and mimicking running the best I can on an elliptical.  I have been going nuts to say the least.  I had huge plans for my running in 2014, including a sub 3 hour marathon this May at the Green Bay Marathon and my first ultra marathon with the Fall 50 miler in October.  I am still not ruling out the 50 miler, but am taking my sub 3 hour marathon goal off the table for now until I start running again in a couple more weeks and then will re-evaluate my goals for the Green Bay Marathon.  

In hopes to increase my longjevity in the sport of endurance running, I ordered a pair of Hoka One One running shoes (which I recently learned is properly pronounced Ho-ka O-nay O-nay - NOT Hoka 1-1).  Hokas are a newer shoe brand and one of the first max cushioned shoes on the market.  They are geared more toward ultra runners or runners who are looking for a highly cushioned, softer ride in their shoes.  I do not plan to wear these shoes all the time, as I do not want to become reliant on the impact absorbing properties of the shoes.  I run my short to medium length runs in Newton Gravity's and then use the Hoka's on my long runs 16+ range, to lessen the beating my body takes on those longer runs.  I will also race all races from a half marathon and shorter in Newton MV2's this year.  I also plan on wearing these shoes for my higher intensity workouts, such as mile repeats, tempo runs, and high speed track workouts.

I also made a couple changes to my 2014 plans.  First, I will not be racing at the Winnebago County Triathlon in July, but will be racing at the USA Triathlon Sprint Distance Age Group National Championships in early August, in Milwaukee, WI.  My primary goal of this race is to qualify for Team USA.  Based on last years qualifying times, I will need to put together a great race to make cut off times, but believe that this is a challenging, but definitely, realistic goal.  As far as my personal goals, I am maintaining my "Run the Year Goal," of running 2,014 miles in 2014, although, with my severe cut in running mileage this early in the year, I highly doubt this is obtainable, but who knows.  As I said my my Looking Forward post, I mentioned doing the Whole30 cleanse/30-day diet.  Again, I am still planning on doing this after this upcoming weekend, in which Sarah and I are surprising the girls with a trip down to Chicago to visit the Shedd Aquarium - but will write a post about the logistics of how and why I am choosing to do this diet.  Lastly, I have added one more additional goal for 2014 outside of my racing goals, and that is to make a shift to using more "All Natural" products around the house and on my body.  This can be accomplished either through making my own personal products or just purchasing all natural products.  My goal this year is to change to at least 5 all natural products from the traditional chemical filled products.  Some examples of products I plan on changing to include, tooth past, deodorant, soap, shampoo, and lotion.  We'll see how that goes and how they compare to the popular "unnatural" products.

There...I think I am all caught up to date now....so until next time - Be fast, be strong, & carry on!

Cheers!

A Couple of Videos

I was pleasantly surprised today with a video that Google+ created of my family and I recapping 2013.  I did absolutely nothing for this video except take pictures, which are automatically stored to my Google+ account.

This was a video I took last night while Sarah, the girls, and I went out to look at all the Christmas lights throughout the area.  This by far, is the best.

'Tis the Season

Christmas is in full swing in the Kohl household!  Sarah has had the house decorated since Thanksgiving, our Christmas tree has been up since December 3rd, and it has been snowing like crazy here in Wisconsin.  I must admit, I usually don't get into much of a "Christmas spirit," until lately.  It seems like every since my daughters have started to really get excited for Christmas, I too, have started to appreciate the holiday for what it is.  A time to enjoy time with family and friends celebrating Christmas.  Yes, I still feel Christmas is over-commercialized and it seems that the true meaning of Christmas has twisted into a semi-commercialized belief of giving "just the right gift"... from their company, of course.  But, regardless, this Christmas has been fun thus far and I must admit, I feel like the Grinch, whose heart grows three sizes almost in a matter of minutes.  Between the Elf on a Shelf, nightly Christmas stories, the excitement over something as simple as Christmas lights throughout the neighborhoods, and all the anticipation for "the Big Day," I have been left with an increase love for the Holidays.  Below are just a few photos from our holiday activities.

 

The Elf on the Shelf

Blizzard stole the camera and took a bunch of Selfies...or "Elfies"

Snow angels in sugar.

Drawing mustaches on pictures.

Dinner with the Princesses.

More Elfies...

Joy riding with Ariel.

Another "Elfie"

The Christmas Tree

My mom's family growing up, at the tree farm.

I'll admit it, I have been spoiled throughout my nearly 30 years of life.  You see, my grandma and grandpa have owned a Christmas tree farm since before I was born.  For as long I have have known, there has been a direct relationship with my mother's side of the family and Christmas trees.  I honestly have no idea, how or why, or even for how long they have had this relationship with Christmas trees, all I can tell you is it's there.  Every year in the late fall, early winter I recall driving up north to my grandparent's tree farm to harvest trees for that holiday season.  Each and every year my grandparents would sell trees from their home, hundreds of them.  Just as going up north to harvest the trees was an annual tradition, so was spending nearly every night at my grandparents house helping grandma and grandpa selling and flocking the trees, making wreaths, and keeping their yard stocked with trees.  It's memories like this I truly cherish, especially now, as I age, with children of my own, and also since my grandfather is no longer with us.  My grandma still sells trees from her yard to this day, with help from her only son and other members of our family.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the busiest time of year for my grandma, as she spends most of her time making some of the most beautiful wreaths you will ever see.  She has made wreaths for many business and churches throughout the area.  A tree from her tree farm was even selected one year by the Green Bay Packers to be in front of Lambeau Field.  She still makes her wreaths from hand from hand trimmed branches from her tree farm up north.  As far as trees, she doesn't sell nearly the volume of trees they had in the past, but continues to enjoy the social aspect of selling a Christmas tree.  Selling Christmas trees isn't about making money to my grandma.  Hell, for the amount of time and effort she and the family puts into the act of selling trees, it's hardly worth it.  But it's not done for money, at least for our family.  A Christmas tree is apart of your family and it has been this way with my family for as long as I can remember.  My family has made it a point to travel around to each and everyone's home just days after seeing everyone on Christmas Eve simply to see their Christmas tree.  We usually do this within a week of Christmas and have always called it "Tree Hopping."  The simple Christmas tree has always meant so much more to my family then most.

My Grandma, her children, and her tree at Lambeau Field

Yes, Christmas has become very commercialized, there's no denying that.  On nearly every corner you can find some commercial Christmas tree lot, looking to make a quick and easy buck.  But, that's not how it should be done.  See, buying a Christmas tree is like buying a pet.  Each and every tree is unique, there is no other tree quite like it.  You have to care for it throughout it's stay in your home.  As much as some people don't like it, there is work involved with putting up a natural Christmas tree.  Buying one, should take time.  Everyone looks for "that perfect tree."  THIS is why my grandma sells Christmas trees, the social aspect of it.  She enjoys talking to the regular folks who have been buying Christmas trees from her since they started.  She enjoys meeting new people each and every year come in to find their "perfect" tree.  I imagine she enjoys seeing their faces light up when they inevitably find that "perfect" tree.  This is what buying a real tree is all about.

The tree farm during summer.

It bothers me when I hear people say they have made the change from real trees to artificial trees.  Truth is, more and more people are making the change to artificial trees.  From 2001 to 2007, artificial tree sales went from 7.3 million to 17.4 million, just over a 238% increase.  The reasons are usually the same; real trees are too messy, real trees are too expensive, real trees are too much of a hassle, or artificial trees are just easier.  Sadly, I think this is just another case of an easy decision to take "the easy way out."  All to often I see people opting for the easy, short cut option; such as premade food options, magic diet pills, get rick quick schemes, even professional athletes take steroids as a get fit quick option.  It's sad because, you miss out on so much during the process of getting what you want.  Most of the times, the process is when you learn valuable lessons, and more times then not, its the more memorable aspect of the end result.  It's been said that, "How you reach the mountain top is more important then reaching the top."  The same can be applied to life, and opting for the easy way out to avoid the quote unquote "hard work."  You see, when you purchase an artificial tree, you're missing out on so much more then you are gaining.  Buying a real Christmas tree is a family event, it's something you should bring the entire family out to do.  Everybody has their own visions as to what kind of tree they are looking for.  It's an adventure looking for a tree to bring into your home, to be apart of your family.  You're missing out on the smells a single pine tree can bring into your entire home.  I also believe there is a Zen like attribute to having a fresh tree inside your home.  It almost makes you instantly in a better mood.  The unique shape of a real tree gives the tree character, it seems to give it a personality.  I have never owned a tree that reminded me of a previous tree.  Each tree is truly unique.  You just can not say that about artificial trees.

If you're even more ambitious then most, I would HIGHLY recommend taking a trip to your locally own tree farm to cut down your own tree.  This is something my family has done for years and a tradition Sarah and I have continued to share with our daughters.  Each year, usually on the weekend following Thanksgiving Thursday, we make the trip up to my grandma's tree farm and spend the day as a family walking through the rows and rows of fresh pine trees to find literally, our perfect tree.  What is even more special about it now that we are older, is that many of the trees we are cutting down now are the same trees my cousins and I planted as kids years ago!  I find spending the day together as a family walking through nature is a relaxing and peaceful way to kick off the holiday season.  I'll admit that I am not your typical Wisconsin outdoorsman who hunts, fishes, and camps.  My idea of getting outdoors is usually a quiet bike ride on a county road or a quiet trail run at a local state park.  So, any time I get the opportunity to just get out into the woods with my kids, it's a pleasant change of pace.  It's as though time slows down, just for a moment.  Plus, on top of simply getting back to nature, I get to share my same passion and love for Christmas trees as my parents and grandparents did with me as a child.  It's for these reasons alone, I will never own an artificial tree and I urge you to opt for a real tree, opposed to an artificial one.

It's simple really, buying a fresh cut, locally grown, real Christmas tree is not only a great family friendly activity, it supports your environment and your local economy.  On average, for every Christmas tree purchased, that farmer will plant 1-3 additional trees to replace that one tree.  Christmas trees are truly all American, where majority (if not all) artificial trees are produced over seas.  Most often, Christmas trees are grown on soils which are unable to support other crops, better supporting the environment.

If you are interested in starting a new tradition and putting up a real Christmas tree in your home this holiday season, here are some websites to help you locate local Christmas tree farms and farms that will allow you to cut your own Christmas tree.
www.pickyourownchristmastree.org
www.christmas-tree.org
www.realchristmastrees.org

Below are some tips learned from my grandparents on having a successful real tree last.

1. Pre-measure your floor to ceiling height, then find a tree that is slightly taller than that height.  Cut your tree as close to the ground as possible.
2. When you bring your tree home cut at least a 1/2-1" section off the bottom of the tree (if not more) before putting it in the stand.  This will allow the tree to better absorb water and thus live longer.
3. Allow the tree to "fall" before fully decorating it.  By giving your tree 12 or more hours will allow the branches to fall and the tree to open up.
4. Water your tree every day to ensure proper hydration and prevent it from drying out.  This will ultimately keep the needles in tact and lessen the mess around the house.  
5. Place a small tarp or garbage bag underneath your tree stand to make clean up easier at the end of the season.
6. Do not place your tree in front of or near your heat registers...see below.

   

   By setting our tree up directly next to our heat registers,
   the warm, dry air completely dried out our tree.