Running Chick

I was initially sort of blah about the past year.  But then I decided that there must be 10 interesting things that I did or that happened to me in 2009, so I sat down and contemplated.  And contemplated.  And he’s what I came up with.

In 2009 I….

- paid off my truck and my trailer.  Payment-free, baby!  Man, did that feel good. 

- saw my mile splits start dipping into the 9’s (inconceivable!)

- ran 10 miles in 1:39 (9:55 ppm PR!)

- PR’d Journey’s HM with 2:19:12

- PR’d 5-miles with 49:04

- got custom orthotics to take care of the medial tibial stress syndrome I developed due to my high arches. Then spent most of the summer sidelined with posterior tibial tendonitis, which developed because I waited too long to take care of ignored my MTSS.  The running gods giveth, [then I break the cardinal rule of running by not listening to my body] and they taketh away.

- had a great 50-mile ride around Lake Gogebic.  I’m already looking forward to next year’s ride, although I’m contemplating heading to Louisville, KY that weekend to cheer on my friend Tina as she competes in Ironman Louisville in August.

- ran the Kimberly-Clark HM in September on a wing and a prayer and was only 30 seconds slower then the previous year.  That still cracks me up.  I suck so bad. 

- completed the 100 Pushup Challenge

I only have one goal for 2010, and that is to stay injury-free. Fingers crossed!

Hello!  It’s been a couple o’ weeks since I last blagged.  How was your Christmas?  Mine was good.  I got the camera I’ve been lusting after for a while now, the Canon Rebel XS. Very cool!

I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to learn all the photography terminology (ISO, aperture, shutter speed) and taking tons of pictures.  Some are pretty good, some not so much. Here are a few of the okay shots.

Keweenaw Brewing Company

Anvil Ale, Keweenaw Brewing Company

Bring me more beer!

Work!  Supermodel!

I am happy to announce that come January, Running Chick will refocus to running!  Yep, training will start up again after a three month hiatus.  So, be prepared for major bitching about how out of shape I’ve become, slow mile splits and various aches and pains.  Honestly, though, I can’t wait to get back to a fitness routine.  My shoes are lonely and in the fall I bought a swanky Brooks running jacket that is just begging for me to take it out for a spin.  That baby’s supposed to be hurricane/tsunami/avalanche-proof and I’m anxious to test it out.  I can report that it stands up to beer spills just fine. 

Happy twenty-ten all!

We almost made it to Christmas without having any snow. Almost.

Then, last weekend, it started to snow. And snow. AND SNOW. And it didn't stop for seven days straight. Each day we got 4-8" of light, fluffy lake effect snow, and each day cleaning up my yard took at least 90 minutes. 

Damn you, Lake Superior! *shakes fist*

In total, I figure I tallied about 12-13 hours of snow removal last week.  That’s a part-time job!  Too bad I don’t get paid for it.

Anyway, the snow’s tapered off enough for me to start thinking about taking some snowshoe hikes or renting classic skis.  My skate skis can stay in their ski bag, I’m still pissed at them from our little disagreement two years ago.

Hopefully this week (and the next two since I’m on vacation for that long after this Friday w00t! ) I’ll be able to actually enjoy some fun snow-related activities.  I’m also hoping **fingers crossed** to stay healthy over vacation.  Last year, I was super sick the entire time and finally felt better the day before heading back to work.  Suck.

It’s time to start thinking about what I want to accomplish with running in 2010.  Goals, and such, ya know.  I would really like to move up to a marathon, but I’m not sure how my legs are going to handle the mileage.  Heck, I can barely make it through training for a HM before something breaks.  Right now, I don’t think I’m going to sign up for anything.  I’ll start running in January and see how things turn out with my (hopefully healed) tendinitis. 

Know what I really wish?  That by some miracle from the running gods, I will have finally achieved the right combination of shoes and orthotics that I run injury-free.  I didn’t get that over the summer, because I couldn’t rest enough for the tendinitis to make a recovery.  All I was doing was running one week and cross training the next.  That was no fun.  Actually, it was depressing, frustrating, and defeating all rolled into one.  No fun, indeed.  I have no idea how long tendinitis takes to go away.  I haven’t run a step since mid-September and I hope that’s enough.

Guess I’ll find out soon enough.  Ciao.