long time, no blog . . . .

Yikes! I can't believe it's been over six months since my last blog entry. Let's just say that things have been incredibly busy, particularly at work. But I'm back and ready to start doing these updates more frequently.

One big accomplishment over the past months: Nick and I ran and finished the NYC Marathon on November 1st!
I can honestly say that it was one of the hardest challenges I've ever faced, both emotionally and physically. Running the mileage was hard enough, but then to throw in an incredibly difficult course was almost more than we could take. Although we finished more than a half hour longer than our goal pace, we are both really proud to have finished the race at all.

It was especially nice to celebrate post-race with some very supportive friends and Nick's parents, who were in the city from Seattle. I'm already looking forward to running the course again next year (already ran my requisite races to qualify), but this time spending a lot more time training on hills. The elevation of the bridges really kicked my butt on the course. Nick and I are also running the Goofy Challenge in Orlando, Florida this coming January. This race is over the course of a weekend and entails running both a half-marathon and a marathon in two days. The good news is that the course is incredibly flat, which we hope will help us get a much more respectable race time. The bad news is that it's only a couple of months away, and we are only now feeling (almost) physically recovered from the NYC Marathon. We officially start training again this week, after taking the requisite time off. I'm a little nervous about the races, but mostly excited. Nick and I ran the half-marathon part of the race last year and had a fun time -- great weather and an easy course should make the experience extra-enjoyable.

Other than tons of work and some running, I've been keeping busy trying to get out and about around the city. I was really bad about maintaining much of a social life because of work for awhile, but have been back on the social wagon for the past couple of months. I've caught some fantastic concerts (one of which I will need to post about later -- the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary show was ridiculous!), and had great dinners/drinks out with friends. It is so important to maintain a social life even when work is ridiculously busy, which is something I forget when I get too wrapped up with work.

Sorry that this isn't the world's most exciting blog post, especially after a long absence, but I figured it was better to keep it short and simple and let you know that I'm back on the blogging wagon, rather than keep on postponing an entry because I can't think of what the heck to write about. Hope all is well!

Workouts completed this week (borrowing this idea from my friend KB to help keep me on the exercise and training wagon):

• Monday: 5 miles
• Tuesday: 5 miles
• Wednesday: 5.5 miles (speed work -- intervals)
• Saturday: NYSC Boot Camp (this was most difficult exercise class I've EVER taken -- highly recommended for anyone in NYC looking to burn some major calories)
• Sunday: 13 miles