Off to a good start...

This morning Z and I headed out early this morning to go over to our good friend and former TNT Coach D's house for a group run. To prove you can't keep an old man down, D is running a marathon a month this year (well, he actually started in September last year). So just about every Sat. morning, he coordinates a group run out of his house in Amherst or T's house in Hooksett. It's been a real motivator for us to get out of bed knowing that there is someone waiting to meet us.

Today was definitely a lot warmer (warm meaning about 20 degrees) than New Year's Day. I did about 8 miles over the rolling hills in Amherst. I am hoping that I keep this motivation up for the coming year.

Happy New Year's

It's been a while... I've been bit busy getting married and honeymooning but now my sights are set for the upcoming year of races and other fun ventures.

I kicked off the New Year by completing the Peanut Chip Chase 5K in the small town of Temple, NH. This was the third time that Z and I have done this race and it's become a tradition for us. It was blustery 8 degrees out but that didn't stop us or the other running fools that showed up. It was definitely tough to breathe and I was also recovering from a cold (which was better than last year when I was recovering from some New Year's Eve revelry). Again it's one of these fun NH races where they like to put the hill at the last 2/10's mile of the race. Considering all this, I pulled 28:14 better than the previous two years although not my best 5K. As always, the homemade soup and cookies made it all worth it.

Next up is the Hyannis Half Marathon... and most likely the Whidbey Island Marathon

Now, I am baking Deena Kastor's pumpkin lasagna for dinner. I have made this a few times before... very yummy.

I broke the 2 hour 1/2 marathon mark!

Z and I did the Hampton Rockfest 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. I started off diligently obeying my heart rate monitor, keeping it at the 80% level but got tired of hearing it beep and having everyone pass me at about mile 4. I turned off the alarm and started to pick up the pace. I was able to catch up to the 9 min/mile pacer and had him in sight for most of the way. At the water stop at mile 10, I actually passed him. That moment didn't last long, as I heard the tromping footsteps of the pace group right behind me and they proceeded to pass me. I still kept the man in the yellow hat in sight, but he started become more and more on distant horizon. As I approached mile 11, I looked at my watch at recognized that even if I slowed to 10min/mile pace, I would still make under 2 hours. So I relaxed a bit but I was starting the feel the stress on my body and I was cursing the fact that I decided on the long-sleeve instead of the short-sleeve shirt. When I saw the finish line, I dug deep and pushed myself to the end even though I felt like collapsing. Then I saw the clock at 1:58 something and I knew made it. Actual chip time was 1:58:49. Z came in at an impressive 1:41:53, a PR for him.

As predicted, we didn't stick around long enough for the band but opted to go to Portsmouth for lunch where I satisfied my craving for a grilled cheese sandwich and fries :-)

Another Hot One for Chicago

The Chicago Marathon has been on my to-do list for a while. I am glad that I didn't make it this year either although it was a little better than the debacle from last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/sports/othersports/13marathon.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Centerpieces are done!

Totally unrelated to training but I wanted to share my craftiness. I can't believe the wedding is less than a month away. No wonder I haven't blogged in a while.

Why I Love the Fall Season

Yes, I know I can get candy corn year round these days but it doesn't seem right without the original colors.

On the mend...

The shin is feeling a lot better and I am hoping to start running again this weekend. I made a lame attempt (meaning I went to the gym once) to do some cross training this week but I just really want to run. I have a dress fitting on Saturday so I am hoping that the lack of exercise and junk food this week won't do me in.

Even though I said I shouldn't do another race before the wedding, I am contemplating doing the Hampton Half and Rockfest .One of my favorite bands, Entrain, is scheduled to play after the race. It always seems so cool when there is a band and post-race party when I sign up for these races but most of the time I just want to head home, shower and take a nap after a race. It's far enough ahead that I have time to train up for it despite this setback and I'll have two weeks to recover before the wedding. May not be such a bad idea...