It's been awhile!

New shoes to break in after Portland!

Have I stopped running?!?  No way. :)

I got a job promotion so between traveling and training for that, just about all I've had time to do is hang out with my family, work, and train for my half marathon.

I know the health benefits for running are vast but the stress relief alone has made running completely worth it to me these past several months!

Curiosity finally got the best of me and I stepped on a scale.  I'm down 30 lbs since I started running. :)  It's still just a number to me but it's measurable and it does make me smile.  I knew I had lost weight when I had to replace my work wardrobe but I honestly didn't think it would have been that much. 

Good night/morning, moon...

I've gotten over my fear of running in the dark so I'm running in the mornings now and I absolutely love it.  Running under the stars with no music while watching the sun come up is pretty much the best way to start my day.  Plus my workout is done and I feel like I can accomplish anything that comes my way the rest of the day.

After my Cowtown 10k debacle... the race I ran with what turned out to be walking pneumonia... I decided I needed a do-over at the 10k distance before my half.  I can be a bit of a headcase and so much of running is mental so a do-over was in order. :)  I beat my previous time by almost 25 minutes so that gave me a lot of confidence going into my last few weeks of training for Portland.

My hair really isn't that red.  But Steve's is.... ;)

I'm still a slow runner but I keep reminding myself that I've barely been back to running 6 months and 3 months of that was working (walking/running) up to running a solid 60 minutes straight.  So when I look at it in those terms, I've come a long way... especially for someone who had reconstructive foot surgery and was told that running might never be possible again.

Now I'm not gonna lie, being slow still frustrates me so to combat that, I've come up with a plan.  I'm a planner by nature so it's no surprise that I am finding encouragement in having a training plan that will lead to more improvements and finishing more races.  Here goes...

San Antonio Rock & Roll half  - November 17, 2013

and....

The Cowtown Marathon - February 23rd, 2014

Yes, a full marathon.  After my last one 10 years ago I was pretty sure I'd never do another one but after training injury-free for the Portland half, I've come to realize that I can listen to my body, not over-train, and actually succeed in preparing for a race.

So that's what I've been up to...  I'll try to be better about updating things around here now that my life seems to have slowed down a little bit. :)