Seems like this is where I always up: apologizing for not keeping up with this blog. Acknowledging that I fell off the writing wagon. Yea, well… this probably won’t be the last time, I s’pose, but I’m going to give it another go. Maybe it’ll “stick” this time.
So – I finished my marathon last year (just in case any of you were hanging on the edge of your seats waiting for my victory post) — and it was as good a marathon experience as I could have hoped to have. I was trained, I dealt with race day variables (another warm marathon day), and can honestly say that while I didn’t hit my sub-4 hour goal, that I pushed as hard as I could, every step of the way.
I’m proud of my 4:09 finish and happy to finally say that I did a marathon the right way, to the best of my ability, and I feel absolutely no need to have another go ’round with it to prove anything to myself.
(don’t quote that back to me when I sign up again…)
Now, a year later, I’m sure you’re wondering what the heck I’ve been up to. Right?
Well, this year has been tough in terms of training — some personal stuff that I’m just now taking care of has kept me off the roads. Things are starting to turn around, though; I’ve signed up for a fun little 10-mile race that’s coming up in a couple of weeks… and I’ve even gone through some training spurts to get ready for it (it’s still gonna be ugly, though).
This year has also provided me with a new way to get rid of my money: I’ve fallen in love with mountain biking. On a whim, I went down to Brown County to partake in a women’s only mountain biking camp (they gave me a bike to use, how could I refuse?), and after just a day, I left there determined to buy a mountain bike sometime before the very next weekend so I could start hitting the trails. I’ve never denied being an impulse shopper!
It’s a great sport — I usually don’t know what I’m doing, but I haven’t broken any bones (yet) and I’m having a blast with it. The best way to describe it is that it’s like being a kid again: all adrenalin and speed and dirt and fun.
On the nutrition front, I’ve had a similar arc to things: started out great, took a dive bomb around March, and since then I’ve been battling my way back from my highest weight in years. I’m about 6 weeks into eating whole, healthy foods, and am about 10 pounds away from my goal weight for the year (which is 7 pounds lighter than what I weighed on January 1st). I’ve been logging over at MyFitnessPal.com and that’s been a great site for me — the community is really keeping me accountable for maintaining good eats (meaning: they yell at me when I get too far off plan…heh…).
Now that I’ve caught everyone up, I promise I’ll start putting together posts that are, you know, interesting and funny and all that other stuff. I’ve been saving it up for a year now, right?