So.

I pretty much suck at this whole blogging thing. And I really, really suck at this whole fitness thing. Granted, I'm about ready to amputate my foot - just walking around all day on Saturday was enough to make it hurt enough to produce tears every time I took a step on Sunday - but it's not like I've really been doing anything in the meantime. The Duke City HM is completely out...I could do the 5k if I want, but I'm not sure I do. Sure, I'm disappointed in myself, but I'd be a big, fat liar if I said that I haven't enjoyed some of the time off. But speaking of, I will be big and fat(ter) before too long if I don't get back into things soon here.

But while I'm trying to do that, I've decided that this blog needs some life, so all of you who read this (who could be no one at all for all I know) will now get a close glimpse into my life. I'm - by far - not an interesting person, but I don't want this thing to die off. I also don't want it to turn into a "woe is me" thing either. And considering I haven't done much running lately, I really don't have anything to say about that.

Really, I'm a little shocked at myself. I worked so hard a couple of years ago to get myself to Denver and then it all just slowly unraveled. I go back to the podiatrist next Tuesday, so hopefully he'll have some good news for me and that can get me going again.

Ok, now I'll step away from the "woe is me" thing. For real.

For those of you who have stuck around, thank you. I have a lot to work out and it's nice to know that some of you are still there. Lets hope this can get going again.

Week 1 - Complete

Well, it kinda bled into Week 2, but I'm actually on track to make it to the Duke City Half next month. The next two weeks will be completely insane...I have some training for work from Sept 13-16, but I'm flying in on Saturday afternoon and leaving Friday afternoon. Come on, I'm not going all the way to Orlando without make a stop at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. :)

So I'll get home from Orlando on Friday night, go to a concert here on Saturday night (Zac Brown Band) and then fly out on Sunday night to Dallas. Thankfully, I'm only going to be in Dallas for 3 days and my time there always goes so fast. Unfortunately, my Dallas trip is only one in a sequence of them. I'm assigned on a project out there till mid-November, and while I enjoy my co-workers in that office and the change of scenery, it will wreck havoc on my training.

At least I have something planned for now. Now it's just a matter of actually registering and keeping up with the training. Oh, and buying a new pair of shoes. :)

A Man With a Plan

Ok, so I'm not a man, but I do have a plan...and it's about damn time.

I'm going to run the Duke City Half Marathon. It's not ideal and I've been avoiding this (local) race for the past couple of years for a few different reasons (can you say "disorganized"?) but I need some kind of a goal besides seeing how many times in a day I can run to the fridge from the couch. So I have about 7 weeks and am starting out on Saturday at 4 miles. I know I can do this, but I need to commit 100% to it.

And this probably means skipping out on the Albuquerque Beer Festival the day before. FML.

Break Time = Done

Ok, I'm going to admit it. I haven't run in about a month. I have no excuse besides the fact that I enjoy sleeping, so I did a lot of that. I don't miss getting up at 4AM every Saturday just so I'll have enough time to eat without having to worry about puking on my double digit run. I don't miss spending hours of my weekend on hot, hilly roads. But this past week I realized that I did miss being active and actually moving around. So even though I skipped out on my circuit class at the gym tonight (PS, I also took about 3 weeks off from that...last week I went twice though) I figured I was already dressed, it was overcast, breezy and not 95 degrees....so I went for a run.

Just a small run. A 2 mile run. That was uphill both ways (ok, only a little uphill on the way out but a huge, long, steep uphill on the way back). It sucked and it was slow, but I only walked a total of three times, a minute each time.

And now I'm sitting on the couch, all stinky and gross, and I feel fabulous.

Maybe - MAYBE - I'll get up and do this again in the morning. Or maybe I'll sleep in.

Hard decisions

I've decided to drop out of the Chicago Marathon. Just saying it out loud makes me sick to my stomach. I'm in a really weird place over it. I want to do it...running a marathon is indescribable and I've enjoyed every second of my hours upon hours of the two I've done. After running NYC last year, I was so looking forward to doing Chicago. Plus, I have an amazing friend who lives out there that I haven't seen in a really long time and another friend was going to be there the same weekend. But between an injury for the hubs (although he's feeling better now) and my PF acting up on a daily basis, plus a new house (with a new mortgage to go along with it) it's just hard to justify.

And what's probably the most important reason to skip it...

I'm just not that into it.

I feel so guilty for even thinking that way, but really...I just don't wanna. I've pushed through two marathons with other big life events going on in the background (CPA exam, job changes, etc) and now that things are calming down a bit I just want to sit. Well, maybe not "sit" (but that sounds really good too...) but go without a focus. I'm in decent half marathon shape right now and there are a couple of those coming up over the next couple of months. Maybe I'll do those. Or maybe I won't. Maybe I'll get up and run 6 miles on Friday...or maybe I'll make it 4 and decide that I'm done for the weekend...or maybe I'll get to the 6 and decide to keep going (unlikely).

So it looks like 2010 is shaping up to be a pretty interesting year. I'm curious, and a little nervous to see where I end up, at least fitness-wise.

Also, I know this is totally unrelated, but I wanted to send out a quick congrats and "I love you" to my sister, Hope...she's marrying an amazing man on Saturday! Pictures to come!

I swear...

I don't know where the time has gone, but I've gotten really, really bad about blogging. I guess that all I can do for the time being is to give you all a quick little update about what has happened in the past month.

First, the hubs and I closed on our new house on June 17 and promptly moved in. Somehow all of our stuff made it into the garage by late morning on the 18th thanks to a group of dedicated friends and family. It was shocking how fast it all went. The unpacking on the other hand...not so fast. The kitchen and dining room are completely done, the living room is about 95% done but all three bedrooms upstairs are a complete disaster. Thankfully the hubs's friend is coming to stay for a couple of days on Tuesday so I'll finish the guest room tomorrow.

Running is slow-going, but that's not unusual. We have both paved and dirt trails literally right outside our front door, so I'm digging that. It's been great to be able to just step outside and go. Because of that I've been a teensy bit better about going in the morning before work, but I'm always late when I do it because I just can't get myself up. I'm hoping this coming week will be a little easier. Also, I was getting ready to leave for my 10 mile run yesterday morning when my Garmin Forerunner refused to turn on, so I went blind. Somehow I got 11.21 miles in, so at least I wasn't under. But the extra mile plus the heat and humidity and the fact that I forgot to eat before I left caught up with me about 7 miles in. I really struggled with the end of that run and actually stopped at home around 8 miles in to re-fill my water. I'm really surprised that I went back out and finished instead of laying on the couch the rest of the day.

Also, thanks to the recommendation of some of my running friends, I've joined Southwest Sports Institute (SWSI) and am loving it. They really focus a lot on using your own body weight to work out, coupled with the fact that absolutely everyone is welcome. It's a great gym and I'm having a lot of fun going. I've been pretty good about making it to the circuit class several times now and they just started offering yoga, so I'll be getting more into that once I buy a new mat (thankfully this blog post is now updating my shopping list for tomorrow).

So happy 4th to everyone and hopefully I'll be a little better about updating this thing in the future. :)

Eeeek!

It's been about a month since I had time to blog...I can't believe how fast the time's gone!

Quick updates:

House: We close in two weeks from tomorrow! The kitchen looks absolutely amazing and is by far my favorite room in the house...and we don't even have appliances yet! All that's really needed still is appliances, carpet and toilets (although that may have been done over the past couple of days). Now that it's getting so close, I'm getting super excited!

Trip: The hubs and I got back from our big trip of the year almost two weeks ago. It was fabulous - 5 days in Belize! Well, it was supposed to be 6 days, but thanks to a mishap at the ABQ airport, we were stuck in Houston the night we left. Oh well, it was still a wonderful trip to celebrate 3 years of marriage...which I really can't believe at all. I absolutely loved the trip though and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Running: Well, not much to report. I think I'm laying off races the rest of the year and will just focus on Chicago this year. I really want to do well (I know, I've said it about 9,000 times so far) so I'm going to try focusing

on just one thing. I'm getting some speedwork in now thanks to my friends at Fleet Feet Albuquerque. So far it's going really well even though I just started...I did a quick 6 miles last weekend and was shocked with my time, especially considering it was hot and hilly. Here's hoping I can meet my goal for Chicago! And no, I'm not telling you what my goal is. :) Only the hubs has been told and I'd be willing to bet money that he doesn't even remember.

So that's pretty much it. Not a lot. I know (and hope) the next two weeks fly by and then we'll have the adventure of getting the house set up and reasonably ready for visitors!