New Year's Day 2011

Neither my New Year's Eve nor my New Year's Day turned out how I predicted. Nor my 2010. All, in the grand scheme of things, turned out better!

2010 was the year that my sweet little baby transformed into a very, very active toddler. Oh well - whatcha gonna do? Ha. It was also the year that Chasen started the best job of his life (in my opinion, at least) that afforded us much, much more time together as a family and a more stable future. And he got to literally circle the globe in October! And speaking of better futures, two words come to mind: Dave Ramsey. I am immensely thankful that his "Financial Peace University" program was offered at our church this year. It has changed our present lives, our immediate futures AND our long-term futures, I think. And I mustn't forget our new house and the saga involved with selling the old one. Aaaaah - we are super relived that it is all done and we are so happy in our new house. I never would have been able to predict all of the change that came our way, but I'm surely glad it did.

On the running front, unless I am forgetting something, I believe I only ran ONE official race this year: the Chicago Marathon. It was a hard year for running in the sense that I chose the hottest time of year to train for a marathon (summer). I won't be doing that again! As as for non-official races, I had the time of my life going to Florida to do the Mojo Loco relay. I am already planning to participate in the Mojo St Loco in St. Louis, Missouri six months from now. Viva el Mojo!

As for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, as I said before, both surprised me. Our new neighbors invited us to their house last night. Chasen was glued to the bowl games, plus someone needed to be home with Isaac, obviously, so I went alone. I had THE BEST TIME! We played a very, very fun team card game called Sequence and I probably laughed more than the previous six months combined! And I met some new, fun people. Considering that I planned to just sit at home, I'd call that a red letter night.

I did NOT get up at the crack of dawn to do my 12 miler today. And any time I have to postpone a run, it never seems to go so well (read: early or bust!) I made it out at about 3 PM figuring I could finish up right at dusk. Since last week's 16 miler went so surprisingly well, I thought today's run would be far less spectacular (because that's how it usually works for me). Well... get this... I did GREAT! Seriously, folks, I am managing to get faster. Check out these cold weather splits:

12:04, 12:02, 12:09, 12:07, 12:10, 12:12, 11:48, 11:55, 12:07, 12:14, 12:08, 11:41
Average: 12:04

Man oh man! My goal marathon pace (which I am bravely going to just "put out there") is *gulp* 12:30, so I aim to do longruns at 13:30-14:30. But when I get out to run, I just coast along after walking the first .05 of each mile and these splits turn up. Holy moly! My mid week speedwork and pacework sessions must be doing the trick. They ought to do something, since they are 6-8 miles each.

As long as my body holds up, I think the Cowtown Marathon is going to be a good one for me. I put it that was because recently my right ankle/foot has been bugging me a little. Yes, that ankle/foot of 2008 torn tendon fame. So I am trying to be as cautious as I possibly can be. Ice, ice baths, you name it. And I massage my soreness-prone hips with a roller ball thing after each run now. They are improving!

So there ya have it. Bring on 2011!