Back To "Normal"

The journey home from Lake Tahoe was not a smooth one. We were delayed at the airport for about four hours. That made us miss our already-delayed connection by just a few minutes. There we were -- stranded in Chicago. After a long wait we ended up at a nearby hotel, ordering pizza at 11:15 PM. That was odd! Then our flight this morning was delayed, yet we slept through all of the waiting in the plane. We were wiped out! We finally got to our house around 11 AM. Chasen had to go into work. I did not. So I have been keeping myself busy de-vacationing, grocery shopping, etc. (vacation pics below)

Tomorrow starts DAY ONE of marathon training. My chosen marathon is the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, Virginia on March 16th. There - I've said it. Now I have to do it. Ha! Coach Terry has prepared for me a training plan to make the most of the 9 1/2 weeks I have between now and then. And I am going to go to the group training run on Saturday with guns a' blazing!

I'm sure by this time tomorrow my fear will be alleviated... but at this moment I am asking myself "Can I still run? Am I in decent shape? Why does my ankle hurt all the time even though I haven't done much of anything for 5 1/2 weeks?" I'm sure I can still run. I'm surely in bare-minimum shape -- surely. *fingers crossed* And the ankle -- well maybe it is currently unhappy due to the skiing -- or maybe I'll have to contend with it for a long time. Oh well. Must run!

Off and on during vacation I read "Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide To Podcasting." It is oh so informative! I'm about a quarter of the way through it.

While I was away, a much-anticipated book arrived in my mailbox! It is "Chris Carmichael's Food for Fitness." It's tagline is "Eat Right to Train Right." Boy, I could use some of that. As with each training program, this time I want to "step it up" and do everything right. Or at least try! I'll let you know how this book goes. Chris is Lance Armstrong's coach and trainer. If it's good enough for Lance, I imagine it's good enough for me. HA!

Chasen takes a tumble (red jacket).

Tonight I aim to try to catch up on some sleep... back in the saddle, my friends!