Getting caught up!

Life gets busy, doesn't it?

Running...

- Is going okay. Not great, but okay. And right now I am happy with okay.
- Training for Hellgate took a few hits between a lot of travel and, er, something called Beer Relays which I do not recommend the night before a planned 30 mile training run...
- Two 30 mile runs (on days not following Beer Relays) at Murphy in November was as good as it got and minimal hill training having not made it to Hyland in a long time. And the planned night run at Afton over Thanksgiving got reduced to 10 miles with about an hour before dawn. But heck it was a beautiful run. Followed by a lovely time catching up with friends and "family" at the Pederson Benefit Run. Check out the link if you didn't make it out there.
- So the race starts at midnight tonight. I am super excited about it. I know that I am way off my fitness and training level from last year but I am thrilled to be able to run a race like this. The last few months of "downtime" have been good great for me! It's a race I hope to do for many years to come. Last year I had a goal of 14 hours and despite wanting to drop at mile 20, followed by a mini pity-party-for-Helen when I took a good spill, I was able to get my head into it, knew I had put the training in, and ended up smiling my way through the second half, finishing in 13:25. I have no such expectations this year though I suppose I'd like to finish in under 15 hours if I can. I will go out easy again and just see if I can keep it going.
- After this race, I'll be traveling for the next few weeks, CA for work, back to Ireland for Christmas, MN for New Years and more work travel in January. So my plan is to just run when I feel like it and try to get back into a better routine of yoga and spin next month. I don't care so much that I am not in good shape right now but I do have BIG plans for 2011 so I need to get back a bit of discipline!

Life...

- Is an incredible journey. I wasn't looking, but I found it. And it's great. Just great.
- The weeks and months are flying by way too fast. It's busy, always busy. But in a good way. And anyway, I wouldn't be happy if it wasn't.
- I had a wonderful time in Hawaii in October (there is a draft post somewhere with photos that I will eventually get back to!) - my Mum & sister came to visit and after a fun weekend in MN over the Twin Cities Marathon weekend, we headed off to Kona for a week, toured the island, enjoyed the beautiful beaches, amazing scenery, the Volcano, sunset from atop Mauna Kea, the lush green northern loop, and at the end of the week we had a blast supporting Pam at Ironman Hawaii! Getting to the World Championships in an incredible achievement, smiling your way through the final leg on the marathon is why we know this won't be Pam's last trip to Kona.
- I'm excited that my brood of nieces and nephews will be added to in the spring! Going from 1 to 6 in 3 years is a sign of the above average number of sibings I have :)
- They are above average people too!
- Work is going well. The past few months have been kind of hectic but I can't complain. I am doing something I love and I know that's not something everyone can say.

We flew into DC last night. Found the cheapest motel ever ($38) in Front Royal and have about a 3hr drive now to get down to Fincastle and Camp Bethel. Thought I was doing great fitting all my gear into a small backpack for the trip until we got here last night and I realized I had FORGOTTEN both headlamps! That discovery was followed by A LOT of swearing, general bad humour and feeling totally fed up. But alas, there was a Target store across the highway!

OK. Time to get back on the road.