Here's to 2009

Hiya.

I know I've been missing for a while and not commenting on any of your blogs. I'm a little (lot) swamped. My lateral move (promotion?) at work is really going good and keeping me outstandingly busy. I cannot get on the internet for a SECOND during the day. School is coming to an end and I'm hustling to produce an 8-10 page paper and study for finals. (I cannot WAIT until school is over. I probably won't be taking classes next semester. It's just too much stress.) My parents were just here for 5 days, and I have lots of family drama to talk about - about which I'm still royally pissed the fuck off, by the way. I didn't get to celebrate my birthmonth the way I normally do because I had 3 - count 'em, THREE - cold things in the past 3-4 months. The last one was so bad I used an entire box of tissues at work on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

I may have missed my chance to enter St. Anthony's because I can't afford it until Friday, but if I can get in Friday, I can do FL 70.3 next paycheck OR I can squeak out IM KY. We'll see.

And Ko-no-no-na has graduated. A full 70 pounds, he's been officially out of the crate for almost 2 weeks. His behavior has improved tremendously, even though he's still a jackass at times (and, in unrelated news, has the STINKIEST F'ING FARTS IN THE WORLD!) (Seriously. He just dropped a silent but deadly bomb that could clear the room and made it smell like something crawled up his butt and died. Weeks ago.)

Anyway, I'm on the longest taper known to man right now. I was feeling a little nervous about this weekend's half marathon when I started reviewing my race results (road race only), and I noticed something. The year I started racing (2006), I was running 5ks at an 11.25 min/mile pace; 5milers at 11.75 min/mile; 10ks at 12.3 min/mile; and my first half marathon at 12.6 min/mile. The next year, I could run a 10k at a 10.3min/mile and this year a 10k at 11.8min/mile.

If I'm following that same logic, I should be able to complete this year's half marathon in less than 12:39 per mile. I'm hoping for a pace not too different from my 10k pace, but you know that will probably not be possible.

Anyway, instead of sitting here lamenting my slowness and how bad I'm going to do because I haven't trained much the past few weeks, I'm feeling pleased that I'm kicking back into marathon-training gear and speeding up, slowly but surely. Besides . . . the last half marathon I did? Was at the end of a 56-mile ride and a 1.2-mile run.

And the best part of it is . . . the progress is quanitifable.

Here's to 2009 . . . a 9.75-minute/mile 10k, a 10.5 min/mile 5k, and an 11 or less 13.1 . . . and a whole lot less bullshit than 2008.

Celebration Health Founders Day 10k
11/09/2008
1:14:39
1:13:50
11:52.9
Celebration of Running 3.0
08/19/2007
32:29
31:17
10:25.6
OUC Half Marathon
12/02/2006
2:45:53
2:45:04
12:39.7
U Can Finish 5 Miler presented by Florida Hospital
10/22/2006
59:35
59:00
11:47.9
Disneys Race for the Taste 10K
10/08/2006
1:20:06
1:17:14
12:25.7
Autumn Rock n Run 5k Presented by Florida Hospital
09/30/2006
35:28
34:53
11:13.4